USA > New York > The diocese of Western New York : a history and recollections > Part 28
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In his address the Bishop says :
"When, at a late hour of the evening, I bade you farewell a year ago at Elmira, I had no time to speak adequately of the great import- ance of the work you had there achieved. Let me begin, today, where we left the matter, reminding you of the fact that in erecting a new Diocese we have taken a step of the utmost importance to the Church and to the people of the State ; and that it now remains to press it vigorously to its conclusion. This overgrown Diocese is the best evidence of the wisdom of the measure ; for where would West- ern New York have been, as a portion of the American Church, but for the bold venture of those who led the way, thirty years ago, to what was then a new thing, giving to the whole Church a splendid example of united faith and works? If one year ago I felt that the time was then ripe for another example of the same kind, much more do I feel so today, after another annual survey of the field. It is white to the harvest. Large regions of this State are almost destitute of regular ministrations of the Gospel in any form. Thousands of the people are living in virtual heathenism ; and the ignorance in which children are growing up to be men and women is such as threatens the most alarming consequences in another generation. The course you have so solemnly adopted will meet the necessities of the case in some degree. We shall double our forces. There is
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undeveloped zeal and talent and wealth among the Churchmen of this Diocese, which it requires the new organization to bring out ; and I feel emboldened by my own experience to predict that, as soon as the two Dioceses are thoroughly engaged in pushing the work into the rural districts, the results will be surprising."
The sermon at this Convention, by the Rev. George Morgan Hills, was a review of the history of the Diocese commemorating Bishop De Lancey and the faithful Clergy and Laymen who served under him, and the results of their work thus far. I can only say of it here that it was exceedingly able and interesting. The representatives of the Diocese who listened to it numbered 114 Clergymen and 163 Lay- Deputies.
In the Gospel Messenger of August 6 is a very clear and forcible editorial on the " See Principle," a subject which was at that time largely before the Church through the able papers of the Rev. Dr. William Adams of Nashotah, and others, in the Church Reviewe. The position contended for in all these was precisely that of Bishop Coxe's sermon at Pittsburgh, that the See or seat of every Bishop, the centre of his work as well as his home, should be the principal city of his Diocese, and that every city which was such really, as well as in name, should have its Bishop. What made a real " city " was a further question ; but in Western New York there were four, at least, about whose claims to such a title there could be no doubt. That each of these should be an Episcopal See was, in the conviction of Bishop Coxe, and of many of his Clergy, only a matter of time, and of very short time. A few earnest and intelligent laymen,-intelligent, I mean, as having really given some study to the history and teaching of the Church,-stood heartily with them ; but the great body of the Laity were in this matter neither earnest nor well-informed.
Dr. Gibson's admirable editorial, after pointing out that it was " no matter of accident," but " the true law of the Church's development and growth," which had named the Diocese in every Christian age and country from the Bishop's See, or Cathedral city, considers the practical difficulties supposed to attend the question in this country. First, and most serious, that of an endowment based on the theory that a Bishop cannot live without an " Episcopate Fund as long in figures as that grandiloquent word itself." The answer to this is that an American cathedral, which is simply a parish church under the Bishop, can itself furnish largely the support really needed. The next difficulty is the autocracy of city Presbyters, which might
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make the position of a Bishop in every city no more a bed of roses than it was in the Primitive Church. For this " it will need a process of education to bring us back to the order and efficiency that arose out of the real unity and brotherhood of the Primitive Church. It is a growth, and the exigencies of the Church from generation to gen- eration will produce the thing most required." Finally he points out that the solution of these and other real or imaginary difficulties is largely in a Provincial system which is the natural and necessary complement of the See Episcopate ; which would obviate the supposed necessity of equipping every Diocese with separate Funds and Insti- tutions for all objects, and making it in all respects independent of all others. Central New York might include both its larger cities for the present in a " Diocese of Syracuse and Utica," or it might accept the generous offer which the Churchmen of the former city were preparing to make, to furnish a permanent and suitable residence for the Bishop in the place which should bear the See name.
This proposal appears first in a public meeting of the Churchmen of Syracuse, Sept. 26, 1868, at which the Mayor of the City, the Hon. Charles Andrews, presided, and, on motion of the Hon. George F. Comstock, resolutions were unanimously adopted expressing the hope that Syracuse might be the name of the new Diocese and the home of its Bishop, and pledging in that case an Episcopal residence at a cost of not less than twenty thousand dollars. This action was communicated to a Committee appointed by the Bishop in advance of the Primary Convention, to "prepare for definite action" in the organization of the new Diocese.
On the 15th of October the Bishop called the Primary Convention of the new Diocese to meet in Trinity Church, Utica, on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1868, and at the same time announced that he had decided to remain in the Diocese of Western New York. At this Primary Convention there were present all but three of the 64 clergymen entitled to seats, and 149 Lay Deputies representing 66 parishes. The Rev. Dr. Rogers was chosen President, and the Rev. Mr. Good- rich Secretary. The first act of the Convention after organizing was to place the Diocese under the full charge of the Bishop of Western New York, who accordingly took the chair. A Minute was read by the Rev. Walter Ayrault and unanimously adopted by a rising vote, expressing the regret of the Clergy and Laity in parting from Bishop Coxe as their Diocesan, their regard for "the hallowed memories which linger around the sainted name of DE LANCEY," and their
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determination to " carry forward into our new Diocese the principles and policy which he planted among us, and which have been, under God, the source of our unity, stability and growth." They assure the retiring Bishop that " his zeal and self-devotion " will be an incite- ment to emulate him " in devotion to the best interests of the Church," " and that his words of wisdom and eloquence from the Pulpit and the Episcopal Chair will be cherished by us always." Committees were appointed on the Support of the Episcopate, the Constitution and Canons, and the Name of the Diocese. On Wednesday morn- ing the Holy Communion was celebrated in Grace Church, with a Sermon, by Bishop Coxe, on the considerations which should govern the choice of a Bishop.
First, maturity in years and experience. Second, sound learning, such as no man within or without the Church could despise. Third, godliness ; especially because "the moral tendency of the day is downward," and we so often see in public men no sincere regard for Truth and for the Divine precepts; and because " elevation to the Episcopate brings out whatever is most characteristic in a man." Such godliness must especially include humility. " The multiplica- tion of dioceses will prove to be a blessing only in proportion as the primitive spirit marks the corresponding development, in all other respects, of a primitive institution. With the notion that a bishop's dignity depends upon the greatness of his chief city, or the extent of his diocesan area, it is impossible for a reflecting man to have any sympathy."
The Convention by unanimous resolution thanked the Bishop for this Sermon, and ordered it printed.
At the reassembling at three o'clock, the Convention proceeded to the election of a Bishop, Veni Creator Spiritus and Collects being said, preceded by silent prayer. Gen. John A. Green of Syracuse moved that it was expedient to elect a clergyman of the Diocese ; which was ruled out of order. No nominations appear to have been made.
After the first ballot, the Rev. Dr. Paret read a Report from the Committee on the Support of the Episcopate, communicating the action of the Churchmen of Syracuse in regard to the Bishop's resi- dence ; stating that the income of the half of the Episcopate fund accruing to the new Diocese was $1,739.06, that contributions from the Parishes amounted to $1,428 ; and proposing that the Bishop's
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salary be fixed at $3,500, and an immediate and earnest effort made to increase the Fund to at least $50,000. This resolution was adop- ted finally with amendments making the salary $4,000 and a house ; and the amount of the Fund to be $60,000.
The first ballot for Bishop gave for the Rev. E. M. Van Deusen, D.D., Rector of Grace Church, Utica, 12 clerical and 17 lay votes (out of a total of 61 and 68), for Dr. Littlejohn, of Brooklyn, 8 and II, for Dr. Leeds, a former Rector of Grace Church, 6 and 5, for Dr. Babcock 5 and 6, for Dr. F. D. Huntington 5 and 3, and several each for Drs. Rankine, Goodrich and Schuyler, of the old Diocese.
It was the earnest desire of many of the clergy and laity to elect a Western New York man, and some of these had long ago agreed upon Dr. Van Deusen, a man of sterling excellence of character and rare qualities as a Pastor and in diocesan work .* But there were others who did not wish to have him or any one else from the old Dio- cese, and the largest vote which he received was 17 clerical and 20 lay. Dr. Leeds, who was well known and much beloved in Western New York, and especially in Utica, his former home, had on the third ballot 22 of each order. On the fifth ballot Dr. Littlejohn, who had been steadily gaining in votes after the first, was chosen by 38 clerical votes out of 60, and 42 lay out of 65. The election was made unani- mous, and Gloria in Excelsis sung, but, I imagine, by no means so heartily as in the same church in 1864. The next week Dr. Littlejohn, as every one anticipated, was elected Bishop of Long Island, and ten days later he had accepted that election, which also seems to us now a foregone conclusion ; but, of course, those who voted for him in Utica must have somehow persuaded themselves to the contrary.
On the following morning the Rev. Dr. Coxe presented the Report of the Committee on the Name of the Diocese.
They " find the subject so complicated and involved, so attended with difficulties and subject to conditions," that they might with pro- priety report it inexpedient to recommend a name. If the Conven- tion chooses to accept the offer of the Churchmen of Syracuse, that settles the matter ; but they think it would have been better for the interests of the Diocese if Syracuse had made an unconditional offer to give $20,000 to the Episcopate Fund. They are sensible of the importance of uniformity in naming the Dioceses of the State, and
* In this movement George Morgan Hills, who had himself been suggested as a candidate, took an active part.
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presume that the See principle will prevail in both the Dioceses set off from New York ; but on the other hand that principle of uniformity may perhaps be "sufficiently honoured " if the two other Dioceses " adhere to the hitherto established principle." They " admit the tendency in the Church towards the See principle," but think that "no reason has yet been developed why we should adopt it." Finally they find three courses open to the Convention ; to " accept the liberal offer of the Churchmen of Syracuse," with its conditions ; to delay action ; or to adopt the name of "Central New York." They recommend neither of the three, "because, as one more com- plication, they do not themselves agree, the lay members inclining to the name of Central New York, and the clerical to that of Syracuse."
With what emotions Bishop Coxe heard this Report can be imag- ined .* It was followed in the afternoon by an animated debate, in which most of the Clergy were on one side, and most of the Laity on the other. The adoption of the name " Syracuse " was earnestly advocated, both on general principles and in consideration of the noble offer of the Churchmen of that city, by Drs. Gibson, Van Deusen, Paret, Clarke, Ayrault, Babcock, and others, and opposed by several laymen, and one clergyman, but, so far as I find from the report in the Messenger, without the shadow of an argument on that side. It must be said that the action of the majority of the laymen appears to have been discreditable, entirely aside from the merits of the question. A motion asking the Bishop to express his views was objected to by Judge Hunt, on the extraordinary ground that the Bishop " was not a member of this body," and though carried by a vote of two-thirds, was not complied with. t The name " Syracuse and Utica " was proposed by Dr. Van Deusen in hopes of reconcil- ing the local jealousies which were evidently at work in the laymen, and was met by one with a sarcastic proposal to add the names of several other cities and towns, and by another with "facetious remarks " about " Pompey Hill, Onondaga Hollow, and Salt Point." One does not like to chronicle such things, and we are only concerned with them as they affected Bishop Coxe. In the end, the clergy, after
* Dr. Gibson calls it in the Messenger " an exposition of the see-saw principle." The Bishop gives his opinion plainly enough in his Address to the Special Con- vention quoted below.
t For the negative a lame apology was made later by Gov. Seymour, to the effect that the laity did not wish to oppose the Bishop's views, and therefore preferred that he should not express them.
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voting down the name "Central New York " by two to one, gave way to a reconsideration, and the name was carried with the singular pro- viso " that this Convention is not to be understood as voting for or against what is called the 'See Principle.'" The Bishop announced his consent, " recording, nevertheless, his sincere regret that another conclusion had not been reached."*
On the 13th of January, 1869, a Special Convention to elect a Bishop met in S. Paul's Church, Syracuse, at which 57 clergymen and 147 laymen, representing 66 parishes, were present. The Bishop in charge gave a brief Address, from which I quote his remarks on the action of the late Convention on the name of the Diocese.
" It is strongly impressed on my mind that Divine Providence has thus dealt with us, [in the declination of the Bishop-elect, ] in order to suggest the inquiry whether there may not have been something in the action of our former Council which it becomes us to review. The general surprise and disappointment of the Church has been so expressed, as to deserve to be felt, with respect to the name you have fixed upon your diocese. Is it, indeed, a fixture ? Can it not be re- moved ? Our beautiful geography is disfigured by a nomenclature which gives an air of buffoonery to our map. Every reflecting man must lament the ignoble taste which has so sadly marred the beauty of a region to which the very savages gave names expressive alike of its loveliness and of their own sense of its charms. Surely, it might have been expected of a Synod of the Church, that when it had the opportunity, at least, to accept things as they were, it would not have made them worse. I grieve to say that this diocese has given itself the very worst name to be found in our Church records.
" But that is not all. In choosing a name of awkward and un- couth device, you deliberately forfeited one of the most liberal pro- posals that could have dignified your beginnings as a diocese. . Was it worthy of practical men to reject an offer of $20,000 coupled with no unworthy conditions, when no other city of the diocese was prepared to make a similar tender ?; Is it possible that any feeling of
* Journ. C. N. Y. Primary Convention, pp. 28-33. Gosp. Mess. XLII. 187. In the course of the debate it was asked, " What if the Bishop should refuse his consent?" and answered that "he must consent !" The vote adopting the name was not by Orders.
t At a meeting of the Churchmen of Utica, Nov. 2, (in which Drs. Coventry and Watson, Judge Hunt, Messrs. Graham, Benedict, and Jackson are mentioned as taking part,) " the Clergy of the city reported the state of this question [the Episcopal residence] in the Diocese." A committee of one layman from each parish was appointed to procure subscriptions " with a view to secure the Episco-
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worldly rivalry, such as is inseparable from our civil conventions, was allowed to intrude into the sacred precincts of Church legislation ? I trust not. This has been suggested as an apology. I will not per- mit myself to credit what would be a gross aggravation. On the contrary, I am compelled to believe that this mistake, for so I must call it, was occasioned by some doubts as to the See-system itself-a system on which I have ever spoken so freely that my opinions are well known and cannot be doubted. I could wish that, in parting with a portion of my diocese, from which I have never received, in any other form, less of respect than I covet, some deference had been shown to the opinions of a Bishop who is not conscious of any dispo- sition to extremes, and who has demonstrated in a published sermon the Scriptural and Primitive character of that system.
" These remarks are not dictated by any other feeling, however, than that of extreme disappointment. Do not imagine that a single corporate act of this kind has been allowed to efface the recollection of the thousand personal kindnesses which I have received from the Clergy and Laity of this Diocese. To the Churchmen of this city, more especially, my warm acknowledgments are due for the courtesy and affection with which they coupled their offer of a See-house with the expression of a desire that I might continue to be their Bishop and live to enjoy therein the benefit of their munificence. I ask once more, my beloved brethren, is there not something to be reviewed in the action of your Primary Convention? Putting this inquiry upon record, however, I have discharged my own duty, and there I leave the matter, with little doubt of your ultimate conclusions."
Of this address no notice was taken by the Convention .* A com- munication on " the See Principle " appears in the Gospel Messenger a month later, in which the opposition of the Laity is asserted to be on the ground that around a " cathedral " will cluster " clergy and seats of learning, and from thence will proceed benevolent institutions and charities, etc., etc. This is just one of the things the laity object to." Such things "as a grand and expensive cathedral, and its cluster- ings of chapter-houses and Deans and Canons and Prebendaries, as too expensive a luxury for our wealth and the wants of our country, as tending to Ritualism, and to Rome, and to Sacerdotalism." And so on.f
pal residence " in Utica, and to report a week later. But I find no mention of any report. (Gosp. Mess. XLII. 178.)
* It is printed, however, in the Journal, p. 10.
t I need hardly say that I do not give this article as expressing the views of the laity of Central New York generally. It was written by a delegate from Grace Church, Utica.
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Another spirited but fruitless effort was made to elect Dr. Van Deusen as Bishop; and on the third ballot the Rev. Dr. F. D. Huntington was chosen by 31 out of 55 of the Clergy and 48 parishes out of 63. In accepting the election, he fixed his residence at Syracuse, which thus got the See, but not the name, nor the See House. He was consecrated April 8, 1869, in his own parish church, Emmanuel, Boston, Bishop Coxe not only taking part but preaching the sermon, one of great power and eloquence, on " the Messengers of the Churches and the Glory of Christ " (2 Cor. VIII. 23). It is published in the Messenger of April 22, 1869.
CHAPTER XLII
THE CATHEDRAL-LAYMEN
N his Address of 1866 the Bishop says that he had accepted an offer from the Rector and Vestry of S. Paul's Church, Buffalo, " to adopt their Parish Church as a temporary Cathedral." He hopes that this may be an important step towards the development of a See Episcopate, " if only an efficient Cathedral System can be set on foot, and worked actively. For this, time and experience will be neces- sary. Around such a cathedral should be grouped institutions of mercy and of education." It need hardly be said now that the Bishop's expectations were not realized in the least, and that the offer and its acceptance served only in the end to defeat the object which he had so much at heart. He had already, in his sermon at Pittsburgh (Ch.XXXVIII. p. 261 above), set forth very plainly his idea of what a cathedral should be. There was nothing and could be noth- ing like it in a parish church of which he had no control whatever (nor even the right of officiating except when it was not needed for paro- chial use),* whose pews were as nearly private property as pews can be under the laws of New York, which had then and long after neither daily service nor weekly Eucharist. I believe this " pro- cathedral" arrangement was the greatest mistake of Bishop Coxe's Episcopate, and such was certainly the feeling of many Churchmen of Buffalo and elsewhere in the Diocese, then and in later years. The Buffalo papers of April of that year " hear on all sides an earnest desire expressed for the erection of a Cathedral for the Diocese." Of course they go on to say that " it must be an edifice of command-
* Evans-Bartlett History of S. Paul's Church, Buffalo, p. 102. "The Vestry ap- pointed a committee to propose a plan to carry out the design of making S. Paul's Church at the same time a parish church and the Cathedral Church of the Diocese." This Committee never having reported, the matter was brought up again on the election of Bishop Walker, and the Rector and Wardens were appointed a Committee to confer with the Bishop, if he should so desire. No further action appears to have been taken up to April 16, 1903. (Id. pp. 214-62.) The pews of S. Paul's, it should be said, are no longer private property since the restoration of the church in 1889, and there is now daily service and weekly Eucharist.
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ing proportions, and imposing architectural beauty, a structure of vast extent, capable of holding thousands of worshippers," all which had nothing to do with any present expectation or desire of the Bishop or of those most deeply interested in the matter. But I have been repeatedly assured by those who must have known, that abundant offerings for the beginning of a Cathedral would have been made at once when the Bishop should call for them. Meantime he was offered (in substance if not in form) the absolute control of a free church, in a well-situated temporary building seating six hundred, with a con- siderable congregation already gathered, daily service and weekly Communion established,-a church which under his leadership might have been indeed " the development of a See Episcopate" and a real Cathedral. Why the Bishop lost this and all opportunity of carrying out his cherished ideals will perhaps remain an unsolved mystery. Certainly it was from no loss of interest in the subject, to which he repeatedly called the attention of the Diocese in later years. In 1879 he asks the approval of the Council to a movement for the incorpora- tion of a Cathedral Chapter, which was duly given, and the Chapter incorporated in 1880 by an Act similar to those for the Dioceses of Long Island and Albany, providing for Trustees to be continued under a Constitution adopted by them with the approval of the Bishop and the Council ; for seats in the Cathedral to be always free ; and empowering any parish of the Diocese to transfer its property to the Chapter for a Cathedral. The Bishop also proposed to convey to the Chapter, for the Diocese, his own library .* In .1882 he reminds the Council that the Cathedral Chapter can receive "gifts and bequests for the establishment of a true Cathedral."
" I have never wished," he says, " to hurry forward the design of such a foundation, but it is taking root, and by God's blessing it will find a fitting shape at no very distant day. For the parade and titu- lar dignities of a Cathedral I care very little. I think the American Cathedral must be a growth, and must embody practical ideas suited to our age and circumstances. If I could make a beginning, I would secure a place, however humble, for the daily service, and for the weekly Eucharist. It should be always kept open as a retreat for private devotions, and on Sundays it should provide a succession of services from six o'clock in the morning till nine at night. It should
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