The history of Washington county, in the Vermont historical gazetteer:, Part 68

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890, [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt., Vermont watchman and state journal press
Number of Pages: 1066

USA > Vermont > Washington County > The history of Washington county, in the Vermont historical gazetteer: > Part 68

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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 many in a place, where, notwithstanding my mistakes or faults, there has been ac- corded to me so long an almost unequalled

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.

An edifice, strong, substantial, beautiful in architectural proportions, will be built at some time after I am gone. I should have accounted it an honor, had you

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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, Pallidula, rigida. nudula, Nec, ut soles, dabis jocos ? "

Invisible one! little elf! Who makest my bosom thy home,

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 affectlon, a sigh. Come, tell me a part or the whole,

What is it, what is it to dle?

But never a word in reply, Oh Psyche, 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 earthi ? 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 volce or as soft as a breath

As it slips from the chill lips of death, Or loud as the thunders that roll, While I stand with expectance and walt, Like a beggar for crumbs at a gate, Oh 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 valn 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 scroll, 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 question my soul as I would And wring out the secret at last. But the night, It is coming on fast,

When thou 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, I shall go where thou goest that night, Oh Psyche, my Darling, my Soul!

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EXTRACTS

From a Poem entitled "THIE SIRENS," delivered be- fore the Literary Societles 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 realm Of welrd 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 volcestyou may hark The sea dogs bark!

Lo: Sylla and Charybdls on each side Are yawning wide!

With strong determination bind yourselves, Nor own the fetters of perfidious elves. When the wild nymph of Pleasure from her lalr 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 liearts, 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 lovellest 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 celestial 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 hase alloys, Cling to your oars for life, and pull, my boys! Regard Ulysses In his golden prime, And relgn Ilke 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 bind the victim np,

Love-phlitres for the brain Are mningled in her cup.

. She with fleet and gay advances, Song and vlol, 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-panoplled 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 leglons 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 reellng and unsteady!"

Then rose the wild shriek of delight From those who never quailed 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 I meet her, In the light and the freshness of youth. She has cheered on her soldier to duty, Though afar from the scenes of lls toll, From her home by the river of beauty, On the banks of the charming Lamoille.

Oh. sweet is the carol of blrdlings, 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 hls toll, 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 valn 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 Lamollle.

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CHURCH OF ST. AUGUSTINE, MONTPELIER, VT.

CATHOLIC HISTORY OF MONTPELIER. Continued from page 289.

Rev. Jeremiah O'Callaghan, a priest of the Diocese of Cork, Ireland, was sent by Bishop Fenwick, of Boston, to Burlington in the month of July, 1830. From this time till 1851, he must have occasionally visited the Catholics of Montpelier, but no records exist of his laboring amongst them. Father O'Callaghan died at Holyoke, Mass., in the year 1861. About the year 1850, Rev. H. Drolet, a Canadian priest, was sent to reside at Montpelier. He lived here till the fall of 1854, when he re- turned to Canada, where he died. He it was who bought the old Court House, which was used as a church until the erec- tion of the present edifice by Father Druon. After the departure of Father Drolet, the Montpelier Catholic congregation was at- tended by the Oblate Fathers from Bur- lington until November, 1856, when Very Rev. Z. Druon became pastor af the Cath- olic congregation, and officiated here as such until July 15, 1864, when he was re- placed by Rev. Joseph Duglue.

+ LOUIS, Bp. of Burlington.

ST. AUGUSTINE'S.

Rev. Z. Druon, while in charge of this parish, built in 1859 the present church, dedicated to St. Augustine, and purchased a church burying-ground. Father Duglue made some improvement on the church and house for the priest, and built a good school building on a lot adjoining the church, which commands a fine view of the village and State House grounds. This institution was given in charge to ladies from St. Joseph's, Barlington, who have a large and flourishing school here.

REV. Z. DRUON, V. G.

O'CALLAGHAN, Rev. JEREMIAH. A Crit- ical Review of Mr. J. K. Converse's Calvinistic Sermon ; also, of the Errone- ous proposition of Two Innovators, by the Rev. Jeremiah O'Callaghan, R. C. Priest, Burlington, Vt. Burlington : Printed for the Author, 1834. 16 mo. p. 58.

-Usury, Funds and Banks; also, fore- stalling Traffic and Monopoly ; likewise Pew Rent and Grave Tax ; together with Burking and Dissecting ; as well as the Gallican Liberties, are all repugnant to the Divine and Ecclesiastical Laws and Destructive to Civil Society. To which is prefixed a Narrative of the Author's Controversy with Bishop Coppinger,

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and of hls sufferings for justice's sake, by the Rev. Jeremiah O'Callaghan,

Roman Catholic Priest. Burlington : Printed for the Author, 1834. 8 vo. p. 380

-The Creation and Offspring of the Prot- estant Church; also the Vagaries and Heresies of John Henry Hopkins, Prot- estant Bishop ; and of other False Teach- ers. To which is added a Treatise on the Holy Scriptures, Priesthood and Matrimony. By Jeremiah O'Callaghan, Roman Catholic Priest. £ Burlington : Printed for the Author, 1837. 12 mo. P. 328.

-Exposure of the Vermont Banking, by the Rev. Jeremiah O'Callaghan, Roman Catholic Priest. Burlington : Free Press Print. 8 vo. p. 32.

-Atheism of Brownson's Review-Unity and Trinity of God-Divinity and Hu- manity of Christ Jesus-Banks and Paper Money. Burlington, Vt., 1852. R. C. 8 vo. pp. 306, (2.)

-The Hedge round about the Vineyard, Dressed up. 1844. 12 mo. p. 360.

Father O'Callaghan labored at Burling- ton with much success from 1830 to 1852. -Gilman's Bibliography of Vt.

The books of Father O'Callaghan, that we have examined, have considerable pith. The, attack on Brownson's Review was during his transformation, before he had come up to the Catholic standard. His biography (Brownson's) belongs to our next volume, or Windsor Co.

Between the visits of Reverend Father O'Callaghan and Father Drolet, was the missionary labors of Rev. John Daly for a time, his field reaching from Canada to Brattleboro. We have not learned more of him.

REV. H. DROLET,

the first resident priestat Montpelier, must have come here to reside, we think, as early as 1850, as we learn by a letter of Gen. Clarke, Secretary to the Senate, who was here at the time, that the old Court House that Father Drolet purchased, as the Bishop states, was used as a church in the fall of 1850, and we find Father Drolet, or the General for him-the General took charge of the matter-succeeding in " bor- rowing ground " of the Legislature for the society to build a vestry on in the rear of the old Court House, then used as a

church, (or to the left hand,) the site, we understand, of the present church.

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The history of Washington county, in the Vermont historical gazetteer:, Part 68

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890, [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Montpelier, Vt., Vermont watchman and state journal press Number of Pages: 1066

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890, [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt., Vermont watchman and state journal press
Number of Pages: 1066