The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier., Part 68

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt. : Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press
Number of Pages: 1064

USA > Vermont > Washington County > Montpelier > The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier. > Part 68

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During the incumbency of the Rev. Mr. Manser, 20 couples were united by him in the bonds of holy matrimony. Deaths, baptisms and confirmations, as I have said, are not recorded.

By the Rev. Mr. Putnam, 9 couples were united in the bonds of holy matrimony, 43 persons were baptized, and during his term of office 17 were confirmed by the Bishop.

During my own rectorship there have been 31 marriages, 67 baptisms, and 50 confirmations.

Thus, altogether, since the foundation of the parish, 60 couples have been mar- ried according to the rites of the church. There have been, so far as the records in- form us, 107 baptisms and 67 confirma- tions.

This record I quote, not to rejoice in its fulness, not to glory in the fruits, but simply to tell the truth in its meagreness. Perhaps more work might have been done, and more ought to have been done. These are only the beginnings and first fruits. If only thus few have been baptized and con- firmed in the most holy faith, yet these re- sults are not unimportant. God only knows what blessed influences may spring from these few persons if they only lead the rest of their lives according to such a be- ginning. Not a single rite has been per- formed of which it is possible for us to estimate the multiplied and diversified in- fluences. What can be more beautiful and impressive than the marriage service according to the ritual of the Episcopal Church? Who can go away without tears from the quiet altar, or fail to feel the holy benediction which is bestowed on the heads of the young couples, and can they, however thoughtless, have ever goneaway, and the particular form in which this cer- emony was celebrated, according to the church, have had no effect upon their after lives? Will nothing proceed from the acts of those who have brought their children in faith to the baptismal altar ; and when you have witnessed the beautiful rite of confirmation, and have heard the pa- triarchal benediction pronounced therein, have you considered that this, notwith- standing its temporary impressions, was but a mere empty show? Let me tell you that feeble as are the human agencies, little as we can boast, few as are the nu- merical results which we can show, there is not an act which has been seriously and reverently performed in this church, during these two score years, which will not work with a never-ending, and still widening in- fluence. Those who have kneeled with

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you at this altar in times gone by are scat- tered everywhere. They are thousands of miles away, but they remember what was done here, and they are inspired thereby with pleasant thoughts and sweet affec- tions, and away off in the wide prairie, or some remote wilderness, they go and plant an offshoot of the little vine which they have helped to nurture here; and that, too, will grow, and leave out, and blossom, and bear fruit abundantly.

But let us further review our course thus far. This church, in the aggregation of its first members, consisted of a mere nu- cleus. It was so very small and weak as hardly to excite in the minds of others not attached to it, the apprehension that it would encroach unduly. Those first mem- bers were not men of great wealth. The most of them had not been educated or brought up in the Episcopal Church. Col- lected around them there were a few others who lent countenance and material sup- port. Some came from mere personal re- gard for those who have in turn adminis- tered to you ; some from a sentiment of predilection for the mild, genial, liberal and uncensorious spirit of the Episcopal Church ; others from a true admiration of her forms of prayer and liturgic worship. They were drawn by all these causes rather than by a particular perception or regard for her apostolic constitution or distinctive principles. It was not a homogeneous society. Many who had a distinct faith of their own, differing in important particulars from our confessed standard of doctrine, very kindly, and with a very liberal spirit, notwithstanding this difference, gave of their means and do to this day. And I take this occasion to say, that if some few of them, not many it is to be hoped, should go out from this fold, where they can find those precise shades of doctrine which they profess to hold, we should be, in turn to them as individuals, well wishers, and rather remember their kind offices in the past than feel inclined to censure them for what they may choose to do, and have a right to do in the future. For myself, they will have my personal esteem and re- gard. The smallness of your numbers was

then the first drawback, but that was pre- cisely the same as attached to the first origin of Christianity itself. Outside of the pale there was, as was to be expected, the usual amount of prejudice and mis- apprehension on the part of those from whom we differ in constitution and gov- ernment, rather than in essential Chris- tian doctrine. This might have been greater had not your first rectors been men of placable temper and of good judgment. A rash, zealous, impracticable churchman might have destroyed this new project in the embryo.

In the book of your records there is fre- quent allusion to a church debt unliquidated, and discussion of means and steps to be taken to wipe it out, for no society can make satisfactory progress with an over- hanging debt. Such was the condition of things in 1854, when I first entered upon the duties of rector. Of the remaining matters it is now more difficult and delicate for me to speak, yet you will expect that something should be said. The society was then small ; it is so still, for it is yet comparatively in its infancy, and those who have gone before me, as well as my- self, have been only pioneers. The best years of my life and the best fruits of my education have been given here, with very imperfect results for the present, but when better men shall come after me, they will reap. The past will not have been in vain. For eleven years I have administered in this parish, and though neither very strong or very robust, have been kept from this desk but one Sunday by sickness. It might be alleged, and no doubt justly, that it might have been possible for me to have advanced the cause of the society with more onset and vigor. You have had the best opportunity, by the longest ac- quaintance with me, to know those im- perfections which are bound up in my very nature. At the same time I trust it will not be considered indelicate if I refer to some of the general principles which I have endeavored to follow out in the di- rection of this parish. Here there is, we may say, a comparatively fixed population with regard to numbers-not otherwise,

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for our young people are drained off when they might be of service to us, and go to contribute their energies to the develop- ment of the mighty West. There is no surplus population as in some teeming, overflowing town, where an active, bustling minister could go forth into the streets and alleys and gather a flock. The ground had been pre-occupied by religious bodies, with their prescriptive limits well defined, and a mere proselyting spirit would, it seems to me, have accomplished little in attempting to cross these bounds, nor have I directly or knowingly interfered with any one's rights, or wounded any in their preposses- sions or prejudices. Spasmodic move- ments of any kind have not been tried, but the quiet, regular routine of the church in the regular administration of the ser- vices and sacraments, on all the principal appointed days throughout the year, wheth- er fasts or festivals, has been trusted to work its slow, steady, but ultimately sure, results. With thin numbers, and an in- clement season nearly half the year-mem- bers of the parish living at far distances- I have not attempted to carry out the cathe- dral system of the church to any greater ex- tent ; firstly, because in a given time I am on- ly capable of accomplishing a given amount of intellectual work, and secondly, be- cause, in my judgment, our present circum- stances did not seem to warrant it. While no great stickler for minute forms, nice in- terpretation, and slavish adherence to ru- brics, or to whatever, according to my own common sense, I regard of small moment compared with weightier matters, I have endeavored to conform to the general sys- tem of the church in all its essential par- ticulars-but that I should stand up here and assert that I have performed my full duty, God forbid. Outside of official min- istrations it has been my endeavor to keep the members of this flock together by the cords of kindly fellowship, in the unity of spirit and in the bonds of peace ; to assuage differences and to heal wounds. Of the sacred ties which have connected me to An edifice, strong, substantial, beautiful in architectural proportions, will be built at some time after I am gone. I should many in a place, where, notwithstanding my mistakes or faults, there has been ac- corded to me so long an almost unequalled have accounted it an honor, had you

kindly sentiment, I do not propose to speak now. In consequence of new movements, you have reached a phase which will call for the exercise of your best judgment, and I would desire to state correctly the posi- tion in which the parish now stands. The church debt, which had been an incubus from the foundation, has been cleared away. There is not, to my knowledge, a cent of it remaining. This is not due to my activi- ties, but to those of others, yet it is a source of gratitude to me that it has been done in my time. You have an organ of the finest tone and most perfect workman- ship, and the constancy and effect with which the attractive musical services of the church have been maintained, has been extraordinary for a parish of limited extent and means, and is known and acknowledg- ed throughout the State. In the Capital, where many resort, it is of the utmost im- portance that the Episcopal services should be rendered as perfectly as means will permit, in all their parts.

With regard to numbers at present, of those directly or indirectly, from principle or from preference, attached to this church, there are more than enough, when fully brought together, to fill all these seats. You have, in fact, sufficient strength for the day and generation-only comparative weakness. The root is firmly implanted in the ground. It cannot be torn up-by the grace of God-no, never. You who have stood by when that germ was sown, may live to rejoice in the luxuriant foliage and fruitage of the vine. But you must give to it a more assiduous culture. There must be more corps d'esprit-above all, more ardent affection for the cause of Christ, as well as for this church of Christ -more perfect co-operation, unity of pur- pose and brotherly love. Perhaps with even a little interval of flagging despond- ency, the slow work of years might be un- done. Stand together with more decision than you have done before, and you are stronger than you ever have been.

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chosen to accord it, not to a stranger, but to me, who have spent here the best portion of my life, to see, at least, the incipience of that undertaking. But perhaps at some future day when I shall come here, my eyes may be greeted by the tapering spire, surmounted by the cross, and my ears charmed by the sound of musical chimes on the clear mountain air, upon some golden Sunday or on some festive holiday.

Present or absent, my thoughts shall often recur to these courts endeared to me, not only by mournful, but by all pleasing and delightful associations, and I shall hope to join with you in the same prayers which we have repeated to-day, and to have my soul uplifted by the same sacred melodies.

It will be a great trial of my life to part with you, and I trust that I can say with the Psalmist David, when he expressed his joy at being called on to go up to the sanctuary, and when he extolled the Holy City-" Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For - my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee."

REV. FREDERICK W. SHELTON, LL.D. BY H. A. HUSE.

Frederick W. Shelton was born in Ja- maica, Long Island, in 1814, and died at Carthage Landing, N. Y., June 20, 1881. He was the son of Nathan Shelton, an eminent physician. His preparation for college was at the Jamaica Institute, and he graduated from the College of New Jersey, Princeton, and from the General Theological Seminary. He was ordained in 1847, and was rector successively in Huntington, L. I. ; Fishkill, N. Y .; Mont- pelier ; and Carthage Landing, (Low Point,) Dutchess County, N. Y. He for some months in 1848 officiated in Montpelier in the absence of Mr. Manser, and was rector of Christ Church from 1854 to 1866. Dr. Shelton went from here to Carthage Land- ing, where he remained rector till his death. 'His home at Carthage Landing was beautifully situated on the banks of the Hudson, and his situation there was one well suited to a man of thoughtful and genial temperament.

He left a widow and two sons. Mrs. Shelton, who now lives in Carthage Land- ing, was Rebecca R. S. Conkling, daugh- ter of David S. Conkling, (a brother of Judge Alfred Conkling,) who married Isa- bella Fletcher, a daughter of Col. Fletcher of the British Army, who was a descend- ant of Fletcher, the dramatist. Of the six children of Dr. and Mrs. Shelton, four are dead. The two oldest, born in New York city, died of scarlet fever in Montpelier the second year after they came here ; a baby; 8 months old, also died in Montpelier. The second year after they went to Car- thage Landing, a boy of thirteen died. The two youngest sons are now living, and are in business in Omaha. The older of them graduated at Trinity College, Hart- ford, in 1879.

Dr. Shelton was a man of marked influ- ence on the parishes of which he had charge, and this, though he had, and none knew it better than he, but little of what is known as executive or business ability in his make-up. His preaching was of the best, and his own life was, in its Christian graces, a model.

Dr. Shelton's writing, whether in ser- mon or in book, had many charms for all who heard or read. In an article in the "Churchman" of July 23, 1881, is found the following :

One might say that Dr. Shelton's literary faculty amounted almost, if not absolutely, to genius. His invention was fertile and various, his fancy delicate, and his humor ever fresh and delightful. His mind was of the same type with Washington Irving's, although it was marked by a mystical force and tendency, evinced by the romance and allegory it gave birth to, which the elder and greater writer has not exhibited. While a collegian he became a contributor to the Knickerbocker Magazine, then and for many years afterward the chief organ of American periodical literature. Before he came of age, Bartlett & Melford pub- lished for him a satire in rhyme entitled, " Trollopiad ; or, Travelling Gentleman in America," annotated with sketches of the series of foreign travellers whose flippant descriptions of the land of freedom once provoked the ire of our native writers. Besides many papers buried under the covers of divers magazines, he published "Gold Mania," 1850; "The Use and Abuse of Reason," 1850, and other minor

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works, and " Salander and the Dragon-a romance," 1851 ; "The Rector of St. Bar- dolphs," 1853, (second edition, 1856) ; "Up the River," 1853; "Chrystalline ; or, The Heiress of Fall Down Castle-a romance," 1854; "Peeps from the Belfry; or, The Parish Sketch Book," 1855, (second edi- tion, 1856.) Latterly he has spent much time and labor upon a translation of sev- eral of the " Dialogues of Plato," and it is believed that his manuscript is ready for the press. It should also be said that his sermons were characteristic compositions, original in thought, brightened often by unconscious strokes of humor and quicken- ed by touches of genuine pathos.

Among the resolutions passed by the clergy present at the funeral of Dr. Shel- ton, was one in which they said, " we bear our willing and grateful testimony to the delightful personal character of our dear friend, to the exquisite charm of his con- versation, to his genial hospitality, to the high principle which singularly distinguish- ed him, and to the sweetness, humility and devotion of his Christian life and walk."

Two weeks after his death, a committee, consisting of Charles Dewey, Fred E. Smith, J. W. Ellis and T. C. Phinney, for the wardens, vestry and parish of Christ Church, said in a letter to Mrs. Shelton, of which a copy is spread upon the parish records :

We remember the loyal service which he did for Christ while Rector in this Parish. We recall how he faithfully ministered the sacraments of life. We think of the in- structions which his lips gave and his walk enforced. We review the memory of his presence when joy was warm and fresh in our homes, and when sorrow brooded heavily upon us. We think of him as the genial friend who was with us, and whom we rejoiced to have with us. We call up the past relations which he bore in this community as a man and citizen. And al- though we have but recently learned the story of his declining health from his own lips, and felt, with him, that his life could not be protracted very long, the news of his going away has come to us to awaken a host of memories which we cannot name, but only suggest. We desire to assure you that at this hour our prayers and thoughts are with you, and that we are only repre- sentatives of many in whom the recent tidings have revived many fond recollec- tions of that one who has gone on but a little while before.

From several unpublished poems of Mr. Shelton, which, with the historical sermon, were kindly sent to us by Mrs. Shelton to select from, we give :-

THE SKEPTIC TO HIS SOUL.

" Animula, vagula, blandula, Hospes comesque corporis, Qua nunc abibis in loca, Paliidula, rigida, nudula, Nec, ut soles, dabis jocos ?"

Invisible one! little elf! Who makest my boson thy liome,

Hid away in the midst of myself, I have asked thee, like Hadrian of Rome,

Have implored with a passionate cry, With a tear of affection, a sigh, Come, tell me a part or the whole, What is it, what is it to die ? But never a word in reply, Oh i'syche, my Darling, my Soul!

Say, is it not due to my love, Thou close-nestling one, winged-dove, Since thou hast been with me from birth,

Though thou camest down from above, And I am a clod of the earth ? Near, near as my tremulous heart, Why far, far away as the pole. Guest of mine that thou wilt not impart, Nor tell thy poor friend what thou art, In a voice or as soft as a breath As it slips from the chill lips of death, Or loud as the thunders that roli, While I stand with expectance and wait, Like a beggar for crumbs at a gate, Olı Psyche, my Darling, my Soul!

Forever I count thee within The retreat of thy innermost shrine, But enwrapt in a body of sin Shrink as if from a presence divine. And vain are my struggles to win What no art of the living e'er stole, The key of the mystery dread, And rifle it from thy control.

Thou giv'st it alone to the dead, As he lles in his cold, narrow bed, Oh Psyche, my Darling, my Soul!

Thus I con thy enigma, my wife, One more blind than the Sphinx could propose, That we, fondly wedded through life, Should be only acquaint at its close. Ah! cause of contention and strife! That thou wilt not breathe in my ear What is writ on thy mystical scroli, But keep'st it away from thy dear As if it were something to fear, Oh Psyche, my Darling, my Soul!

In the twilight of groves I have stood, In the shadow of solitudes vast, Where nothing of earth could intrude, To qnestlon my soul as I would And wring out the secret at last. But the night, it is coming on fast, When thon shalt be winging thy flight Toward the rivers of crystal that roll Through the regions of beauty, thy goal; I shall know what thou knowest, aright, 1 shall go where thou goest that night, Oh Psyche, my Darling, my Soul!

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EXTRACTS

From a Poem entitled "THE SIRENS," delivered be- fore the Literary Societies of Norwich University, Aug. 17, 1865.

Ye who embark as with the risen sun, On the rude sea, life's voyage just begun, Ev'n as the East the rosy day-dawn streaks With purple light of youth upon your cheeks, Ponder the story well, Whatever shore you reach, wherever you may dwell! When ye approach the realın Of weird enchantment, steady hold the helm. For soon the Siren strain Will visit you again, Impalpable and fine, As if it were divine, Sweet as it was of yore, ·

Beguiling evermore, Lure you to ruin on the rock-bound coast, Where all your precious argosy is lost. Hence ye delusive joys! Stop, stop your listening ears with wax, my boys! Or mixed with silvery voices'you may hark The sea dogs bark! Lo! Sylla and Charybdis on each side Are yawning wide!

With strong determination bind yourselves, Nor own the fetters of perfidlous elves. When the wild nymph of Pleasure from her lair Spreads her white arms and makes her bosom bare, And beckons as she shakes her flowing locks To woo, and lure you to the perilous rocks, Fly from the promise of Elysian joys, Cling to your oars for life, and pull, my boys!

Where dwells not soul-destroying witchery ? Whither we fly- To try her subtle arts On these fond, beating hearts, With necromantle spell To lead thro' Error's portals down to hell- Watching our frail barques as we glide apace, On to eternal glory or disgrace.

Around her may be amaranthine bloom, Flowers of loveliest hue and sweet perfume. And she is sometime beautiful; her wand Holds, like a goddess, in her milk-white hand: Beams a fond welcome from her starry eyes, And all the waste is changed to Paradise. Ye mariners! ye red-lipped, rosy youth, Oh! list the music of celestlal truth; For Duty is the polar star to guide To home, to Heaven, in spite of wind or tide. Should folly tempt you with its base alloys, Cling to your oars for life, and pull, my boys! Regard Ulysses in his golden prime, And reign like him upon a throne sublime.

Even vice may have a face Of bright, potential charm, A soft, bewildering grace To mitigate alarm. Of flowers she weaves her chain To biud the victim up, Love-philtres for the brain Are mingled in her cup. She with fleet and gay advances, Song and viol, mazy dances, Glancing smiles with each emotion, Like the sunbeams on the ocean, Woos you from the path of glory, Beckoning from her promontory. See thro' the flimsy gauze, and spurn her joys, Cling to your oars for life, and pull, my boys!

Where dwells the craven coward on these hills? Oft glittering with their diadems of snow,- The air is fraught with freedom, and the rills

Leap forth, and chant Its pæan as they go. The pulses beat, the heart with rapture thrills At the all-beautiful, majestic scene, Mountains on mountains plled, sweet vales between. It is the clime where stalwart men have birth, Full-panoplied as from the very earth. When the war-bugle sounds the first alarms Peak back to sun-lit peak clamors, to arms! to arms!

Once when the tide of battle raved, And rolled o'er many a blood-stained wreck, And the Star-Spangled banner waved Beneath the old Chapultepec; When Mexic legions numbered strong, And gleamed on high their pennon'd spears, A horseman bore the word along. Where stood the bold Green-Mountaineers,

" Help from Vermont, upon the right! Our ranks are reeling and unsteady ! "

Then rose the wild shriek of delight From those who never qualled in fight,

" Aye, aye, VERMONT IS READY!" Onward they dashed upon the foes, As loose the mountain torrents break, And swift the starry banner rose Above the old Chapultepec. Then ever let the watchword fly From rank to rank to rank, from earth to sky, And Echo catch the glad reply -- Vermont is ready !

SOLDIER BOY TO HIS GREEN MOUNTAIN MARY.

Oh, sweet is the breath of the morning And sparkling the dew on the lawn, When fresh is the summer's adorning, And the winter is over and gone. But my Mary is purer and sweeter, And bright as the day-star of Truth, When waking or dreaming ! meet her, In the light and the freshness of youth. She has cheered on her soldier to duty, Though afar from the scenes of his toil, From her home by the river of beauty, On the banks of the charming Lamoille.

Oh. sweet is the carol of birdlings, When the forests are budding in May, When the bobolink sings in the meadow, And Robin replies on the spray; But in silence and gloom of midwinter, In battle with treason and wrong, One thought on the face of my Mary Steals into my heart like a song. So she cheers on her soldier to duty, Though afar from the scenes of his toil, From her home by the river of beauty, On the banks of the charming Lamoille.

Oh, dear is the home of my childhood, Each valley, and mountain and lea, But vain without love is the wild wood, Without love in the land of the free. When the flag floats from ocean to ocean, And the din of the battle is o'er, I will fly on the wings of devotion, And part with my Mary no more. Then she'll welcome her soldier from duty To her arms from the scenes of his toll, By her own lov'd river of beauty On the banks of the charming Lamoille.

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The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier., Part 68

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Montpelier, Vt. : Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press Number of Pages: 1064

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt. : Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press
Number of Pages: 1064