■^w"*' =.^s»-.*.»#y-i*ji > - St. Mark's Church AN Explanation and Appeal. '^Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 'Gal. vi. 2. To all Friends of old St. Mark's past and present, Qrseting: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Chrisc ! We thank (ioJ on every rememhraiice of you." Knowing that our prosperity is your delight, our adversity your sor- row, we wish to lay before you both sides of our circumstance. Our joy is your rejoicing, and your sorrow our regret. Kor you are our plans, in your interest our purposes. Because of this, we take you into our confidence, expressing with equal freedom our fulness and our aeed. It is an easy matter t.i plan, but it is often as difficult to execute. At least Wi have thus found it all through life. The easy in purpose has proved the impossible in attainment. \ et have we not succumbed to difficulty, but in i's face have earned out, if not to the full me.isure of aim, or the greater extent of wish and desire, some of our scheiue> of usefulness. And what we thus say of ourselves, we can as truthfully say of our town. Indeed no one acquainted with the quaint old town of Niagara for any considerable length of time, can quite ignore the greatness and pro- priety of recent changes, or wholly deny the fact of wonderful improve- ment therein. To many in these regards, the place is a marvel. Of a certain preacher, noted as much for his eccentricities as for his piety, it is said, that when he first entered the town with its grass-sjrown streets and its genuine and general rustic rusticity, he exclaimed in tones dramatic, "Tread softly Sam Jones, for you walk the city of the dead!" Ten years ago, such an exclamation may have been perfectly in order; it would to-day be a libelous outrage — a gross absurdity. With our ex- cellent system of electric lighting, new buildings of every description, general renovation of cottage and mansion, gardens laden with frag- rance and filled with beauty, combined wi'h almost perfect summer service of steamboat and railway, where can be found a place more eenerally prc>gressive, more abundantly healthful and more perfectly beautiful? And, for surroundings, what is left to be desired? Not among the least of the attractions and improvements are those of the old historic church of St. Mark, in which to worship is alike our privilege and joy. "High on the bank, mid'st beauteous setting Of feathery willow, chestnut-tree and pine," CouUl anything lie more sweet and ck-an, more generally com fort -giving and restful? Nut tiiat it lacks defect, and not that all its appointments are perfect; for that would make plan a folly and improvement a pre- sumption. Yet is its atmosphere pare, its position graceful and its sur- roundingslovely; simple its worship and world-wide its influence. With its for.ndations in a past century, it has grown rich with the years in hal- lowed memorials and historic associations. Its walls are history. Its chimes are a charm. It has been visited by multitudes, worshipped in by patrician and plebeian, statesman and warrior, regal representative and humble fisherman, the man of letters and the rustic rude; while the dust of some of the best and truest sons ot England and America blend in a common peace m the sweetest resting place of mortals on this continent — the (juiet yaid, that garden of memorials, in the midst of which it stands. For the space of 104 years its affairs were directed and its ofHces ministered by but three Incumbents — the Rev Robt. Addison and Thos. Creen, and the venerable Archdeacon of Niagara, Wm. Mc- Murray, D. D., D. C. L. — the present Rector being the fourth posses- sor of the living since 1792. Facts and fabric therefore are alike venerable. If prestige mean value, what church of its kind on this continent can have greater or more? And yet in this world of uneven circumstance, riches and poverty are of- ten associated. Thus it is in our case to-day. While richinan inheritance of no common dignity, rich in ancestral associations and hallowed records, rich in the deposit of the mortal dust of the great and the good lying aroimd and beneath us, and nch in the respect accorded this fab- ric, we are but poor in comparison of what such riches demand. Poor, comparatively, m our winter population, poor in the matter of revenue and treasury, and all the more poor for our great respectability and rich exterior. Indeed our riches are our poverty. Our strength is our weakness. Our wa.it lies in our abundance. With the flight of years has come an era of necessarily increasing ex- penditure. Things must com|X)rt with position. The edifice and sur- roundings must be kept up in the interest of the liring and in honor of the dead. We may not, we should .lot and we must not, if means for its prevention are to be secured by the asking, allow decay to come with change. Change there must be, but surely not decay. For the love of the past, whose memorials we treasure; for the good of the present, whose record we make; and for the blessing of that fut- ure which yet is unfolded; we make this plea for sucteiiance We ask all friends of old St. Mark's, ncw'and old, nearly and remotely related thereto, to help us over our present difficulties. We plan daily their gratification and their glory in constant renewals and improvements, which, left to our own unaided efforts, it must be impossible to execute. To many of you the burden we bear would be light; to us it is crushing The few hundred dollars we need, to our friends happily circumsianced and blessed with this world's goods, would be a mere bagatelle to re- lieve by their gifts. Will they help us? Dear friends will you? On next Sunday morning, D. V., the opportunity will be afforded, and we ask all to join in making not a right Royal or good Republican, but a worthy Christian offering unto the Lord. We nceti a thousand; will you make an united offering of at least five hundred dollars ? Our debt is oar inheritance, not our making. Our noble women have been helping to reduce it, while assisting in making the improvements so a- bundantly visible. We thank God for them. In no mendicant atti- tude and in no beggarly spirit do we state our case and make our ap- peal — too honorable for the former and too dignified for the latter, we claim of Christian right your Christian recognition. We cannot con- tinue the accumulation of debt, and we cannot do the work recjuired of us unaided without so doing, As in the time of Daviil, it was said of Israel, so may it now be said of us, — "The people offered willingly." Sanctified by your prayers and proportioned by your means, your offer- ing must be acceptable to God, through Jesus Christ. "The Lord loveth a cheerful giver. " Yours for Christ's sal< e, J NO. C. Garrett, Rector. Sunday, July 26lh, 1896. L. M. Nelles. ) ^, , ,,, , J. B. Secord./^^"'^^^ Wardens. N. B. — It has been suggested by one of the former-day parishioners of St. Mark's, that a church Society should be formed of past and pres- ent parishioners, for the purpose ot securing an annual income for the repair and preservation of the old historic building. I need not say that to myself and Churchwardens the suggestion seems as appropriate as it is timely. . Jno. C. Garrett..