USA > New York > The diocese of Western New York : a history and recollections > Part 33
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
* Journ. 1896, pp. 63, 68.
3,36
DIOCESE OF WESTERN NEW YORK
of what Christian education is, that training of the threefold nature of man for which Hobart and De Lancey and Hale and Jackson and Coxe gave the best of their noble lives .*
The De Lancey Divinity School, continuing from year to year its quiet and humble but most useful work in Geneva under Dr. Rankine, received in 1882 a large addition to its endowments, from bequests by Mrs. Mary Clark Proctor of Rochester, and from 1883 had as an additional instructor, chiefly in Biblical Learning, the Rev. William B. Edson, D.D., Rector of the little parish of Phelps, a Harvard graduate and an accomplished scholar, who gave devotedly the last and best years of his life, through constant suffering from disease, to the double work of a Parish Priest and a teacher in Theology. He died in 1892, and it was my privilege to succeed him as the colleague and helper of my life-long friend Dr. Rankine until he was taken to his rest Dec. 16, 1896. At that time the School, from its beginning at Hobart under Dr. Wilson, had given training to a little more than one hundred candidates, seventy-five of whom had been under Dr. Rankine's personal care.t
* Under Dr. Potter's successor, President Robert Ellis Jones (1897-1902), two fine buildings were added to the College equipment, the Coxe Memorial Hall, given by the Diocese in memory of its second Bishop at a cost of $40,000, and Medbery Hall, with rooms for 60 students, the gift of Miss Catharine M. Tuttle. The Demarest Library building has been completed with a considerable endow- ment, by gifts of $50,000 from Mrs. Agnes Demarest. An addition of $30,000 to the already large provision for students for the Ministry has come this year by the bequest of the late Matthew O'Neill. Dr. William P. Durfee, who has been Professor of Mathematics since 1884, and Dean of the Faculty since 1889, acted as President during the vacancies of 1897 and 1902.
t In 1900 the work of the School was enlarged by a course of bi-monthly lect- ures by clergymen of the Diocese appointed annually and giving their services gratuitously. The Library, in the new Library Building of Hobart College, is increased to more than two thousand volumes, some of them very valuable, and has now become very useful to the students and to some of the clergy of the Diocese. Bishop Coxe was a munificent contributor to the Library, in addition to the great help which he gave to the School by his annual lectures and other personal work.
COXE MEMORIAL HALL
MEDBERY HALL
CHAPTER XLVII
DIOCESAN WORK: SEMI-CENTENNIAL, 1888
N a revision of the Canons of the Diocese, begun in 1877 and completed in 1884, a provision for an Ecclesi- astical Court was added, somewhat like the admirable one of the Diocese of Maryland, but with two features suggested by Bishop Coxe, which, so far as I know, were first enacted in Western New York : a provision enabling the Bishop to hear privately any charges on the request of the accused (but with the concurrence of two Presbyters), and give judgment practically as an arbitrator ; and a detailed system of " Ordinances " for the government of proceedings in the trial, in addition to the gen- eral provisions of the Canon. The effect of these provisions is obviously to simplify the procedure to the great advantage both of the Court and of the clergyman to be judged by it. But, if I remember right, the whole history of the Diocese since 1838 has seen but two ecclesiastical trials, one in Bishop De Lancey's day, and one in Bishop Coxe's .*
In the Address of 1881 are some remarks on the " Revised Ver- sion " then just completed, well worth reading again by those, clergy- men and laymen, who may have the Journal within reach. Their conclusion, in a few words, is all I can give here :
" Let this be my recorded testimony; the new work, thus far, helps one to a better estimate of the old, and increases my respect for it. 'I use it as a commentary, and value it very highly as such. Whether it is worthy to supersede the old version is a question wholly separate from any comparative view of its merits. We must also inquire as to the felicities of rendering ; have we a purer Eng- lish, a nobler style, a more rythmical and readable Lectionary for the public Service ? Have they given us only such changes as are necessary to the better understanding of God's Holy Word ? And have they been guided by the great lights of Catholic interpretation, the Creeds and Liturgies, and the doctors of the Church, in all mat- ters otherwise dubious and uncertain ? It is not so easy to up-
* Both of these resulted in the deposition of the accused clergyman, and without any outside clamour.
338
DIOCESE OF WESTERN NEW YORK
lift an impartial balance, and to put into the scales everything that claims to be weighed against the ponderous fact that we have now
. a common English Bible more perfect than that Septuagint which the Blessed Apostles and Christ Himself condescended to use unamended."
In the same year he notes as " special objects of beneficence, the building of a becoming See House, gifts of books and manuscripts, and bequests for the increase and repair of the Cathedral Library, heretofore called the Episcopal Library ;" such bequests and gifts to be made to the Cathedral Chapter. Also, he " reminds the benevo- lent that parish endowments are injurious in their operation, unless they are conditioned upon corresponding efforts among the parish- ioners " ; and gives a formula for such bequests providing that they shall be available only when a sum equal to their income shall be annually paid for parish objects, "primarily for the liberal support of the Rector." Such bequests, he adds, should always be made to the Trustees of the Parochial Fund. There are several parishes in the Diocese whose history has shown more or less fully the disastrous effects of neglecting such conditions.
In 1882 he calls the Council to S. Andrew's, Rochester, " to set before the eyes of his whole Diocese the example of a costly church, well-appointed and complete, and made emphatically so by the adjoin- ing rectory and parish-building "; a free church, a " house of prayer, specially designed for the constant offering of the commemorative sacrifice of Eucharist, that great soul and central idea of Christian worship "; held also by a deed to the Parochial Fund by which it is to be claimed for a Cathedral on "the erection of the Diocese of Rochester, which is sure to come about before long."*
I would call attention to his wise words in the same Address on " Temperance " (not necessarily " Total Abstinence "), " Religious Newspapers," the decease of Dr. Pusey and Dr. Hill. Of the former he says (in how different a tone from that of the miserable contro- versies of only ten years before !)
" It is a very solemn thought that this very day our brethren in England are gathering about the bier of one who has lent a name to the most important movement of our times in the Mother Church. To make an estimate of Dr. Pusey's real share and influence in that
* Journ. 1882, p. 41.
339
THE BISHOP'S ADDRESS, 1881-82
movement would be at this time premature, if not an impossibility. We may thank God for his triumphant defence of the prophecy of Daniel against rationalistic assailants, and for the example of his attainments in Oriental learning. Time only will enable wise men to do justice to his character and to assign his figure to its proper niche among the august array of Anglican doctors and scholars. We may affectionately say, May he sleep in peace and rise in glory ! The great Catholic movement I have watched from its very beginnings, owing to exceptional circumstances which, even as a child, inspired me with the keenest interest in the Church of England. It is a mis- take to say that Dr. Pusey founded the School which is popularly attributed to his influence, or that the Catholic revival to which Keble gave new forces was anything more than the triumphant fruit and out- growth of teaching that had never been intermitted among Anglicans."
And then he adds a warning against misapplication of these " sound ideas " by " unreal and unsubstantial " copy of their prac- tical results, remembering that as a people we are apt not only to copy but to exaggerate every foreign fashion.
Of Dr. Hill, the venerable Missionary to Greece :
" In the very footsteps of S. Paul, he has revived the Apostle's work; and his name, and that of his estimable wife, are forever asso- ciated with those of ' Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris.' Among all the isles of Greece those names are honoured and beloved, and Christian mothers teach them to their babes as the names of saints indeed, the greatest modern benefactors of Hellas and the Hellenes. Who follows? Who will go forward and prolong their most Catholic work, amid those Apostolic Churches that first believed in Christ?" *
The year 1883, it may be noted here, was one of great bereave- ment to the Diocese in the death of its two oldest and most honoured Priests, Edward Ingersoll, D.D. (Feb. 6), and William Shelton, D.D. (Oct. 11), of both of whom I have had much to say in former chap- ters. Nearly all their long ministry was in Western New York ; Dr. Ingersoll's from 1842, Dr. Shelton's from 1829. They were bosom friends in Buffalo for many years, although so very different in many ways, and they sleep side by side in the beautiful Forest Lawn ceme- tery of that city. i
* Journ. 1882, pp. 53, 55. At this Council the Bishop delivered a Charge to the Clergy (which he calls his Fifth) on the Christian Elements of Social Science. I have not been able to find the Charge itself, or any report or notice of it, in print.
t See Notices in Journ. 1890, pp. 187-8.
340
DIOCESE OF WESTERN NEW YORK
In 1884 the Bishop reiterates his strong warnings against the moral dangers to the young in many of the habits and associations in our public and private life, our common schools, even religious gather- ings ; he calls on the clergy to " cry aloud and spare not," on the judges to interpose in their charges to juries, to warn against tempta- tions to intemperance, to gambling, to unchristian divorces, to "the secret poison " of licentiousness ; on the physicians " to become the moralists of the family in details which they only can know ; on the press to make laws of journalism to exclude from families every news- paper unfit for the eyes of decent people ; on the householder " not to imagine that he saves anything by letting his children go on without pastoral oversight, without catechising, without the educating influ- ences of the Prayer Book, without that doctrine on which in the fiery trials of after-life, they must depend for the vital forces of character and for support amid inevitable sorrows." *
But we might fill page after page with his warnings on public and private morals through successive years.
In the same year the revision of the Diocesan Canons was com- pleted after seven years' work, and so thoroughly done that they have required but little change since that time. Their codification, in which I had some part, was a work of much time and labour for a year or more. Two or three important additions were made at the suggestion of the Bishop; a Canon of "The Due Celebration of Marriages" providing for the consent and presence or representation of parents ; one of " Parish Registers" with specification of details to be recorded in them, and power of inspection by the Bishop or the Dean (a Canon which I fear is little attended to by many Parish Priests, though much more generally than in former years) ; and a Canon on " The Solemn Election of a Bishop," whose admirable provisions were carefully observed, as the Bishop wished them to be, in the election of his successor. Another Canon adopted at this time on " The Registration of Communicants," though unquestionably right in principle, was after some years' trial repealed as impractica- ble in the larger parishes.
In 1885 the Church in Buffalo met with another great loss in the death (Aug. 1) of the Rev. John Martin Henderson, for twenty-four years Rector of the Church of the Ascension, and a man of remark- able purity and integrity of character as well as of excellence in all the work of a Parish Priest. The Rev. George S. Teller, who had been
* Journ. 1884, P. 55.
341
COUNCIL OF 1885
Rector at Geneseo and Mt. Morris, died on July 6 of this year, after seven years earnest work in the Diocese .*
The Council of this year (1885), being the semi-centennial of the first ever held in the old Diocese of Western New York, (see Chap. XVIII. p. 100 above,) was graced by the presence of two of its for- mer clergy, the Rev. Drs. James A. Bolles and William Staunton, each of whom gave, to the great satisfaction of the Bishop and all present, an address full of interesting reminiscences of old days ; to that of Dr. Bolles I am indebted, as will have been noticed, for some important facts in regard to the erection of the old Diocese and the election of Bishop De Lancey. The Hon. William Constable Pierre- pont, of Pierrepont Manor, another member of the New York Con- vention of 1835, was also cordially invited, but was prevented by ill- ness, which a little later resulted (Dec. 20) in his decease. He was the steadfast and intimate friend of Bishop De Lancey, and the his- tory of the Diocese records no instance of a layman using great gifts of mind and estate more faithfully and unselfishly for the work of Christ and His Church. ยก
It should be noted here that the twentieth anniversary of the Bishop's Consecration was marked in Buffalo by a special service of thanksgiving, at which he made an address reviewing the recent his- tory of the Diocese, and the presentation to him of one thousand dollars ; and by himself with a contribution of the same amount from himself and others towards the Mission at Athens, of which he had so long been the devoted friend and champion.
The Council of 1886 took an important step in Diocesan work in adopting a Canon on the Organization of Missions, like those in force for some years in Maine, Wisconsin and other dioceses ; provid- ing for a simple organization including the adult members of the
* See notices in Journ. 1890, p. 190. I should also notice here the decease of the Rev. Henry Lockwood, one of the oldest and most revered of the clergy of old Western New York, who died at his home of many years, Pittsford, Nov. 21, 1883, at 76. The beautiful church of that Parish is his memorial. His son, the Rev. Henry R. Lockwood, D.D., is Rector of S. Paul's, Syracuse.
t For the addresses of Drs. Bolles and Staunton, see Journ. 1885, p. 151; and in regard to Mr. Pierrepont and the Church at Pierrepont Manor, see above, Ch. XIX. p. 107. At this Council the Bishop delivered a charge to the clergy on " The Church of Law and the Law of the Church," which was printed in part in the diocesan paper, the Church Kalendar, Vol. VI. pp. 289 seq. (Sept .- Nov. 1885.) I shall refer to it later.
342
DIOCESE OF WESTERN NEW YORK
Mission (without distinction of sex), with a Warden, Treasurer and Clerk ; no legal incorporation, but mission property to be held by the Trustees of the Parochial Fund ; all this with the Bishop's approval, and with the right of incorporating as a Parish whenever the Mission became self-supporting. The system is too general and well-known to need any further explanation ; its practical working has been of great benefit in this and I believe in every other Diocese .*
At this Council an able report was read by the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock on the pending Revision of the Prayer Book, but, after a long discus- sion (the first of several such), was laid on the table-the usual fate of such subjects. i
The Bishop completed in 1887 a most important work to which he had given much time and labour for more than two years, and which will remain a permanent monument of his literary industry and research, as also of his deep study of Catholic history and doctrine, the editing of the American reprint of the Ante-Nicene Christian Fathers, comprising the twenty volumes of the Edinburgh Edition of 1867 in ten large volumes with introduction and copious notes by himself. It was certainly a wonderful work for a man at his time of life and in uncertain if not feeble health, and with cares and occupa- tions already too much for him and indeed for almost any one man. To accomplish it he habitually rose at a very early hour (in winter before daylight, lighting his own fire), and most of it was done before breakfast, his only (comparatively) leisure time. The Council of 1887, on the motion of Dr. Rankine, adopted unanimously by a ris- ing vote a resolution expressing
" Its profound appreciation of the value of this great service rendered by its present Bishop to the cause of Christian Truth ; and congratulates itself and him that in the Providence of God he has been enabled to mark the first Jubilee of the Diocese by the consum- mation of a work so important for the defence of Christianity in its integrity and purity." #
* This Canon was adopted at my suggestion (from experience of its usefulness in Maine) by the Dean and Convocation of Buffalo, who reported it to the Council of 1886. A Canon substituting two Archdeaconries for the four Deaner- ies was proposed this year, reported on adversely in 1887, and finally revived and adopted, as will be seen, in 1895. (Journ. 1886, pp. 20-2; 1887, p. 24 ; 1890, p. 32 ; 1895, P. 34.)
t Journ. 1886, pp. 24, 32-3.
# Journ. 1887, P. 35-
343
COUNCIL OF 1887
During the same year (1886-7) the Bishop had attended the Gen- eral Convention at Chicago, and on his homeward journey delivered before the Hobart guild of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, the first course of the " Baldwin Lectures," which he soon after published in a volume entitled " Institutes of Christian History." It is a small book, and of course a mere outline of the subject, but is written with great clearness, and with all the charm of the Bishop's style, and ought to be in the hands of all intelligent Churchmen as well as Divinity students.
The Council of 1887 met for the first time in seventeen years with- out the presence of its Secretary, the Rev. Theodore M. Bishop, D.D., who, as I have noted before,* had given the devoted service of a long and able ministry almost wholly to this Diocese. Since 1881 I had been his Assistant, and from this time filled his place by unan- imous choice of the Council till 1898. Again the Bishop urges that " it is time that the Province of New York should be made a practi- . cal part of our organization," and " its dormant Federate Council " convened. It was convened later, and accomplished some useful work, but has long since gone to sleep again, and with it, apparently, all prospect of any united action for the work and interests of the Church in the State of New York.
More practical in its result was the resolution of the same Council providing for the Semi-Centennial Commemoration of the founding of the original Diocese of Western New York, to be held in 1888 in Trinity Church, Geneva. For this purpose, and also on account of the Bishop's absence at the Lambeth Conference of that year, the Council was deferred to the last days of October, so that the Com- memoration following it fell on All Saints' Day, on which the Diocese had come into being and elected its first Bishop in 1838. At the Council itself resolutions were offered by Dr. Rankine and unani . mously adopted in memory of Bishop De Lancey as " the founder of our Diocese " --
" Realizing more than ever, in the wonderful growth and develop- ment of the original jurisdiction during the last half-century, his clear-sighted, far-reaching wisdom in laying foundations, and how precious are the fruits of his self-sacrificing zeal, which spared nei- ther time, nor strength, nor comfort, nor private means, in fostering
See above, Ch. XXXIII, p. 213.
344
DIOCESE OF WESTERN NEW YORK
the educational institutions and building up the Missionary work of his Diocese "; and recognizing " the lasting impress of his loving firmness, and of the symmetry and dignity of his character, upon the work which he accomplished."
Resolutions which for once expressed no more than simple truth. This action was communicated to the surviving children of the Bishop, and at the same time was adopted one directing the Standing Com- mittee and the Bishop to secure from the family of Bishop De Lancey consent to the removal of his remains to Geneva ; action which it is greatly to be regretted has had no practical result to the present time. No action of the Standing Committee appears on their records .*
The Feast of All Saints, one of the brightest and loveliest days of the year, gathered in Trinity Church nearly one hundred clergymen, mostly of the old Diocese, and a congregation which filled the great church from end to end. Central New York was largely represented, but not by its Bishop, in whose absence the Eucharistic Service was assigned by Bishop Coxe to Drs. Babcock, Wilson, Brainard, Beau- champ and Duff, of that Diocese, with Dean Geddes and Canon Read of the Diocese of Niagara, Morning Prayer being said by Drs. Wind- sor and M'Knight, and the Rev. Louis B. Van Dyck. The Hymns were " Glorious things of thee are spoken" and " Who are these in bright array," and the latter, to the old tune of " Martyn," brought out such congregational singing as I never heard before in Geneva, if anywhere. After the Collect the Bishop said this Commemoration at the Altar.
" Blessed LORD, who has not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities ; we render unto Thee most high laud and worthy thanks, as for all Thy mercies which we cele- brate this day, so especially for all Thou hast wrought for us through choice vessels of Thy grace who have shone as lights of the world in their several generations, and who do now rest from their labours. Accept, we pray Thee, our grateful commemorations, as we remem- ber before Thee our venerable Fathers in Christ, JOHN HENRY, Bish- op of New York, and WILLIAM HEATHCOTE, his son and disciple in the Faith, by whom Thou hast planted and watered this our inherit- ance, and taught us to know the right ways of the Lord, and to walk
* Journ. 1888, pp. 26, 40. A valuable list of Consecrations of churches in the Diocese from earliest years, and of attendance of laymen at Councils, prepared by Mr. John N. Macomb, Jr., was accepted and printed. (Id. p. 37.)
JAMES RANKINE
345
THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL, 1888
in the old paths. And we beseech Thee evermore to keep us in the same ; to show Thy servants Thy work, and their children Thy glory. And may the glorious Majesty of the Lord our God be upon us ; prosper Thou the work of our hands upon us ; O prosper Thou our handy-work. All which we beg through the merits and intercession of Jesus Christ Thy Son, our adorable Lord and Saviour, unto whom, with Thee, O Father, and Thee, O Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, henceforth and forevermore. Amen."
Of the Sermon, or Historical Address, which the Bishop had long before assigned to me as an old resident in the Diocese and familiar with its history, it need only be said here that it was the germ of the present history so far as concerned the Episcopate of Bishop De Lan- cey and the years before it. Its text or motto was from the Litany, " O God, we have heard with our ears, and our fathers have declared unto us, the noble works that Thou didst in their days, and in the old time before them ;" and its ending " Non nobis, Domine. " It received from the Council a word of thanks, which, as it was written at their request by Bishop Coxe, I may be pardoned for repeating here :
" Resolved, That for his able and most instructive Historical Ser- mon, this day delivered before this Council, under Episcopal appoint- ment, by the Reverend Dr. Hayes, (a copy of which has been already requested for publication with the Journal,) our special thanks are due to the preacher ; whose patient research and masterly compilation of facts have enabled us, and those who may come after us, to under- stand the Providence of God in our past, and our great occasion for gratitude to Him for the precious instruments through whom He has wrought in founding His Holy Church in the Western region of New York." *
The sermon was published by the Council, with notes, and widely circulated at the time ; but there has been plenty of time since then to forget all about it. The delightful collation which followed in the afternoon in the " Alumni Hall " of the College will doubtless be longer remembered by those who had the good fortune to attend it and listen to the speeches by the Bishop, Dr. Wilson (personal remi-
* Journ. 1888, p. 41. I wish to record that the resolution was offered and seconded by two personal friends, Drs. Anstice and Rankine. The last pages of the Sermon were a plea for the practical carrying out of the Provincial System in the five Dioceses of New York, as a necessary condition of the increase of the Episcopate.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.