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BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE
SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND
THE GIFT OF
Hcnrg HI. Sage
1891
ft.3o H-SH-i.................mxjlb,
9306A MEMORIAL
MRS. NATHAN WARREN,
FOUNDER
OF THE
llkiflit of % Jjflljr fas,
TROY.
“ Her children rise up and call her blessed.”—Proverbs, xxxi. 28.
NEW YORK:
DANIEL DANA, Jr., 381 BROADWAY.
1 859.
* MJ-
*
h
3 cv
In
moriam.
Pass sweetly to thy rest, beloved of the Lord,
The outstretched arms of angels beckon thee to come,
As one too long delayed from their embraces;
While their sweet voices, tuned to one accord,
In joyous accents, bid thee welcome home,
With all thy pure soul’s more than earthly graces !
From all earth’s sighs and sorrows disenthrall’d,
Thy loving heart, the Master’s voice hath called
Home, to thy storehouse of well-garnered treasures—
Home, to thy recompense of heavenly treasures—
Never again beyond those crystal walls to roam !
God gives us license now thy loss to weep—
Thy memory green within our stricken hearts to keep:
Who wast so well beloved here on earth;
And yet our tears with joy are mingled, that thy gently sleeping
Soul has ’waked to life seraphic in that heavenly birth;
And, while around thy precious ashes we stand weeping,
Has passed full-winged to His own loving arms’ eternal keeping!
February 8, 1859.
H. C. L.
4A MEMORIAL
OF
MES. NATHAN WAEEEN.
A family, in tears, desire to preserve the memory of a
beloved Mother. Their wish is confided to one who sym-
pathizes deeply with them in their bereavement; who,loved
and venerates that Mother, and who now undertakes the
task of commemorating her virtues, as a work of affection
and respect—hallowed by the desire thereby to promote
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the manifestation
of the power and loveliness of His grace in the life of
one of His, saints.
So much will suffice to explain the motive which prompts
this Memorial, and the feelings with which it is prepared.
Parsonage of the Holy Cross, )
Easter-Monday, 1859.	)CONTENTS
A SHORT MEMOIR:
PAGE
EARLY AND MARRIED LIFE, .................. 7
THE SCHOOL,........;.....................  20
THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS,............  30
IN THE FAMILY,...........................  45
CHARITY,.................................. 51
DEVOTIONAL LIFE,.......................    60
LAST ILLNESS, DEATH, AND FUNERAL,......... 72
ADDRESS MADE AT THE FUNERAL BY THE RT. REV.
GEORGE WASHINGTON DOANE, D.D., LL. D., BISH-
OP OF NEW JERSEY,..........................   83
THE SERMON PREACHED ON THE FOLLOWING SUN-
DAY BY THE REV. J. IRELAND TUCKER, D. D., PAS-
TOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS..........	95
REMARKS MADE ON HIS VISITATION TO THE CHURCH
OF THE HOLY CROSS, THE FIFTH SUNDAy IN
LENT, BY THE RT. REV. HORATIO POTTER, D. D.,
LL, D., PROVISIONAL BISHOP OF NEW YORK ___ 117
OBITUARY NOTICES..........................   123
NOTES
135A SHORT MEMOIR.
EARLY AND MARRIED LIFE.
Mbs. Nathan Warren was born in Norwalk,
Conn., April 21st, 1789.
Her father, Nathan Bonton, was a descendant of
John Bouton, a French Huguenot, who, on account
of his adherence to the principles of the reformed
religion, emigrated to this country in the year 1635,
and was associated with the early settlement of the
town of Norwalk, where members of the family have
ever since resided.
The house in which Mary Bouton, the subject of
this memoir, was born, and where she passed the first
fifteen years of her life, was pleasantly situated on
the Five-mile Fiver, near the boundary of the ad-
joining township of Stamford.
In 1804, Mr. Bouton removed to Troy, the same
vessel bringing with him the Rev. David Butler and
28	MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
his family. And, in the course of the year, the first
Episcopal Church (St. Paul’s, afterwards St. John’s)
was "built at the corner of Third and Congress streets.
Mr. Bouton was one of the first Wardens of this
Church, and continued in office more than thirty
years, as is recorded on a tablet in the Church of the
Holy Cross.*
His daughter, Mary, was sent to Mrs. Hull’s school,
in Lansingburg, and afterwards to Mrs. Starr’s school,
in Albany, where she remained till a short time be-
fore her marriage.
This event took place April 24th, 1808, and she
then assumed a name which is identified with the
early enterprise and prosperity, of Troy, and associ-
ated with the best interests of Christ’s Holy Church
throughout our country.f
Nothing can be gathered from the past to throw
light upon her childhood, but, as one of her earliest
friends, in speaking of her, said, “ Mary was always
good.” We are permitted to believe that the elements
of her Christian character soon began to manifest
themselves, and that the autumn fruits were but the
ripened buds which gave sweetness and loveliness to
the spring-tide of her life.
After her marriage, Mrs. Warren became much in-
terested in every thing connected with St. Paul’s
* See Note A.	t See Note B.EARLY AND MARRIED LIFE.
9
Church; was zealously engaged in the Sunday School,
as her class-books, full of names and. extracts, tes-
tify ; and was prominently occupied in the Mission-
ary and Benevolent Societies, which came under the
more particular patronage of the ladies of the parish.
One, whose acquaintance with the subject of these
memoirs began in 1817, in referring to a package of
her letters, dating back as far as 1820, and continu-
ing through a period of many years, speaks of them
as “breathing from the first, and throughout, th§
same affectionate interest in the welfare of her friends,
the same benevolent feelings towards the poor, the
sick and the afflicted, and the same deep, humble
piety, for which she was so distinguished in after life,
and which makes her loss a great public calamity
and then adds, “For active, unobtrusive, disinterested
benevolence, she had no superior, perhaps no equal,
in our country.”
These encomiums of a dear friend—the Rev. Dr.
Dorr, Rector of Christ Church, Philadelphia—are
applicable to Mrs. Warren, during that period of her
life in which she waited upon the ministrations of
the venerable Doctor Butler, of whose loyalty and
zeal in his Master’s cause, and affectionate interest in
the welfare of all committed to his pastoral care, she
was wont to speak in words that could best express
her love and reverence.10
MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
With similar feelings of Sympathy and pious re-
gard, she availed herself of the faithful services of
the devoted pastor who succeeded Doctor Butler in
the responsible office of Rector of St. Paul’s Church,
and who has been called from the cares and labours
of a parish to dedicate his talents and energies more
particularly to the cause of our Domestic Missions.
How Dr. Van Kleeck valued the friendship and
appreciated the many virtues of her, who for years
had been his parishioner, may be best -learnt from
his own words: “Very, very seldom,” as he assures
Mr. Warren, in a letter of condolence to the family,
“are those high, sublime and consoling words of
Holy Scripture, and our Burial Service, either said
or sung of any with so much truth and reality, as at
the bier and the burial of your lamented and sainted
mother. Let their heavenly music soothe and
strengthen your sad and sinking hearts: ‘1 heard
a voice from Heaven saying unto me, Write, From
henceforth, blessed are the dead who die in the
Lord: even so saith the Spirit; for they rest from
their labours.’ We may add, ‘their works do fol-
low them.’ Their works of love and mercy go
before, and follow after those who rest from their
labours. Her works of faith and love, how long,
how many, how varied, how beautiful, how blessed!
—in the Sewing School, the Parish School, the Sun-EARLY AND MARRIED LIFE.
11
day School, in the Church of the Holy Cross—that
Cross she loved and bore so well—the blessings of
the poor, the tears of the widow, the smiles of the
orphan and sick, as her gentle feet drew nigh, and
her voice consoled. ‘Her record is on high,’ and
seeds of light and love are scattered along her path
of pilgrimage and her life of faith. I feel that I
have lost a friend, and ask the privilege of a deep
and real sympathy with you, and your whole family,
in this your time of sorrow and of need.”
Mr. Nathan Warren died August 13th, 1834, re-
gretted as a man of sterling principles and generous
impulses, and as a Christian, honoured for the firm-
ness with which he held his religious convictions, the
consistency with which he maintained them, and the
liberality of his efforts to widen the influence of that
Church to which he was attached with all his heart
and mind.*
In Mrs. Warren’s Diary, if such a title be applica-
ble to a collection of detached thoughts and reflec-
tions, written at what would seem to be important
epochs in her life, the afflicted widow, in touching lan-
guage, describes the desolateness of her spirits, occa-
sioned by her bereavement.
“Oh, the anguish of my heart, when I presented
myself to receive the Sacred Symbols without my
* See Note 0.12	MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
beloved husband by my side! The void was agoniz-
ing and overwhelming. But then, again, I was
enabled to rejoice, in having that deep void filled in
part by two of his orphan children. ...	. And
must it ever be thus, that God must speak in such
tones of severity, and lay His hand so heavily upon
us, ere we can open our eyes to discern His will %
Yes, even so it is. May this heavy affliction sink
deep into our hearts, and cause us to continue that
course of religious discipline which may make us
meet for a heavenly inheritance.”
The death of a fond and devoted husband seemed
to give a deeper colour to her religious feelings,
to bring out more in relief the features of her spiritual
character, to shape, as it were, her future conduct,
and give it that heavenly tone of meekness and love
which mellowed the years of her widowhood. At
least, so we would infer from her own record of her
thoughts and feelings, in the time of her sorrow.
Sept. 'lth1 1834.—“On the Sunday evening after we
had received the Holy Communion, I then, for the
first time, commenced having Family Prayers, which
afforded me great comfort. I felt that I had then
done my duty, and I also felt at peace with my
Maker and the world. The world I willingly relin-
quish, for heavenly-minded peace. My feelings are
inconsistent with it. I relish worldly company andEARLY AND MARRIED LIFE.	13
worldly things less and less. My heart-strings
have hitherto twined closely around them: now,
these strings can hold no longer. ‘ Could I pluck
from the memory this deep-rooted sorrow,’ all might
appear as lovely as ever; but, God be praised, I do
not wish it. If I know my own heart, and what it
most desires, it is that my thoughts may always be.
heavenward bound.
“ ‘ Soul of our souls, and safeguard of the world,
Sustain—Thou only canst—the sick at heart;
Restore their languid spirits, and recall
Their lost affections unto Thee and Thine.’ ”
When Mrs. Warren speaks here of having, for the
first time, Family Prayers, she means conducting the
worship of the family, the first time, since her hus-
band’s death.
Dec. 5th, 1834.—“Oh, that I may be renovated
and entirely conformed to the will of God, and that
I may live a devoted and useful life. It is my earnest
desire that, in life and death, I may be entirely
resigned to the will of the All Wise God and Saviour.
Though I have not obtained that perfect enjoyment
and holy delight which the principles of our holy
religion ordinarily afford; yet, through a series of
the deepest afflictions, they have been my sole
support. Although I have been deprived of my14	MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
dearest earthly enjoyments, and of almost all that
can make life desirable, and doomed to the endurance
of loneliness—in the midst of all this, with a firm
belief that the Judge will do what is right, and that
it is in mercy and compassion that He afflicts, I
desire to be enabled to say, ‘ It is the Lord; let Him
do what seemeth to Him good.’ ”
The next event which left its holy impression
upon her chastened heart, was the death of Mrs.
Phebe Warren. To the last sickness and departure
from earth of that “ Mother in Israel,” we find this
affecting allusion in the Diary:
January 1, 1835.—“It is sorrow which teaches us
to feel for ourselves, and properly for others; and it
is sorrow which makes our experience. We must
feel deeply, before we can think rightly. Our
Heavenly Father makes us sensible that this life is
not the scene of our happiness, and that we never
shall be at rest until we leave it, and it was for that
reason the Apostle longed for. things that are eter-
nal.
“ New Year’s evening, I stayed with Mother War-
ren. It vyas the last I was permitted to pass with
her, except on a bed of sickness and suffering. She
became seriously ill in less than one hour after -I
left, and continued so until her death, which was on
the 17th of this month. Saturday morning, at half-EARLY AND MARRIED LIFE.
15
past six o’clock, she was attacked by a dangerous
and serious illness, occasioned by a cold, which pro-
duced' a pleuritic fever, and resisted the most power-
ful medicine.
“ In the midst of* her protracted sufferings, it was
truly edifying, in a high degree, to observe the re-
ligious feelings which mingled themselves in all she
said and did. The suffering poor was a never-end-
ing theme for her to dwell on. She repeatedly re-
commended them to us, to feed and clothe, and the
little school, which, for twenty years, she had charge
of, was commended to our care.
“ It was, indeed, a sad loss to all who knew her
worth, or who had lived within the influence of
her benevolence or friendship. All classes of society
seemed to have an interest in her. The poor, espe-
cially, evinced great concern for their benefactress.
It was a most distressing scene for us to pass through,
but it is to be reflected on with comfort.
“ Such pious zeal and true Christian humility are
rarely to be met with. She was engaged in prayer
most of the time, in her wakeful moments, throughout
her sickness.
“ She lived to number eighty years. The changes
and vicissitudes of life had been many. She was not
exempt from the trials and troubles of this world, nor
did she exclude herself, in her deepest sorrow, so as to16
MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
shut out the wants or troubles of others, from her
view, or her warm sympathies. If she gave utter-
ance to her sorrow, it was to make it instructive, by
showing forth an humble trust and submission to her
Maker’s will. To make others happy was, in her, a
desire, superior to all considerations of personal or
private indulgence.
“ Where, I can truly ask, was there ever an in-
stance in which the friends left behind had brighter
comforts and joys to suppprt them, under the loss of
one so much loved and venerated ? It has been my
happiness to see much of her, and to receive her
sympathies and advice, daily, since my husband’s
death. I have had an opportunity of knowing her
real character well. Seldom have I known one so
humble, conscientious and consistent in her Christian
walk—so in love with religion and all that belongs
to it—so raised in heart from things of this perishing
world to the joys of the eternal. She possessed such
a lively reliance upon Christ, in all that she was or
expected to be, that we, indeed, have no reason to
mourn her departure, but, when selfishness of our
nature can in any measure be subdued, rather to
rejoice that she has gone before.
“ Faith lifts the veil which conceals from our view
that world of glory, and points to our dear departed
friends, as happy spirits around the throne of God,EARLY AND MARRIED LIFE.
IT
while hope sweetly whispers, that we may so live as
soon to join them there.
“ I would observe, that as the life of my aged mo-
ther approached its termination, her thoughts, often-
times, seemed to soar to far distant scenes, and some-
times to be lost in visions of eternity. She would
frequently exclaini, after rising from sleep, ‘ where
am I; have I come back again % O, what beautiful
things I have seen! how beautiful! how sweet!’
And again, 1 what beautiful candlesticks I have seen,
for the Church ; so surpassingly so, that they- are in-
describable !’
“ I sat with her the night but one before she died,
and she requested me to read to her from the Bible.
I read the 14th and 15th chapters of St. John, and
the 15th chapter of the 1st Epistle to the Corinthians.
She was still, while I was reading, with her hands
clasped in devotion. Many of the verses she would
repeat with me, and precede me. Psalms and
hymns, and passages of Scripture were . constantly
breaking from her lips. Prayer to God was the last
thing she uttered—her every breath was prayer.”
On the fly-leaf of a copy of “ The History of a
Pocket Prayer Book,” is written, “ To the children of
the School of Industry of St. Paul’s Church, Troy,
founded by Mrs. Phebe Warren, in 1815. A faint
delineation of the character of this aged Christian, and18	MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
of the noble institution which her pious handg estab-
lished, is given in chapter xv. pp. 138-145, of this
little volume.	B. Dorr.”
September 13, 1842.
Respect for the memory of a saintly woman, no
less than the desire to give completeness to our nar-
rative, induces us to borrow a few'extracts from this
delineation, sketched by a loving hand :
“She was truly a ‘Mother in Israel,’ and, like
Dorcas, whose praise is in the Gospel, ‘ was full of
good works and alms deeds, which she did.’
“ One of her most useful charities, which I take
pleasure in recording, was a School for Industry
which she had established in her own house. On
every Saturday afternoon, the poor female children
of the village—those especially belonging to the
Sunday School of her own Church—to the number
of thirty or forty, assembled at her house; where she
taught them to sew, and knit, and employed them in
making up coarse but comfortable clothing for them-
selves and their little brothers and sisters, that they
might all appear decently clad at church on a
Sunday.
“As a proof of her unwearied perseverance in
well-doing, it may be mentioned that, at the time of
her decease, her Sewing School had been continued
in her own house without interruption for aboutEAELY AND MARRIED LIFE.
19
twenty years. Her interest in it was unabating to
the last; and a few days before her death, she said
to one of ber near relatives,* ‘What will my poor
children do?’ That relative kindly promised to
superintend and to continue this most useful and
unostentatious charity; and she has fulfilled her
promise: the Saturday School continues as useful as
ever. After what has been said of this pious widow,
it scarcely need be added, that she died in the
confidence of a certain faith—in the comfort of a
reasonable, religious and holy hope. That faith,
that hope, was ‘ only in the cross.’ ”
* The subject of this memoir.20
MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
THE SCHOOL.
Under the date of January 31, 1835, Mrs. Mary
Warren discloses the feelings with which she under-
took to supply the place of her revered relation in
the Sewing School.
Jan. 31, 1835.—“This afternoon I commenced the
Saturday School; had seventeen scholars. I can
freely and truly say, that I have seldom passed an
afternoon moTe agreeably than this, surrounded by
so many poor of the parish; and children, too, from
five to nine years old—too young to have committed
much sin—of an age that may truly be termed inno-
cent; and of the like to whom our Saviour says, ‘ Of
such is the kingdom of heaven.’
“ It was a source of unmitigated pleasure to feel
that, in this respect, I was endeavouring to follow the
example of their aged preceptress, in giving them
instruction. The time passed rapidly by, and the
afternoon was not long enough for what I found to
do.
“ If I can. only employ the time that is allotted toTHE SCHOOL.
21
me, so that I can render a good account hereafter, I
have no apprehension of not passing it to my satis-
faction, while it pleases a kind Providence to continue
my health; and this, notwithstanding many of my
friends, think that I have undertaken a disagreeable
employment. I am aware, however, that it demands
much discretion, as well as patience, on my part; and
,yet, I am encouraged to the task that occupied one
for many years, and whose whole life has been
passed in objects which were to afford comfort to the
distressed and needy.”
In writing to her son, Stephen, then at school at
Utica, Mrs. Warren thus speaks of the pleasure which
she found in the performance(of her new duties:
March 1st, 1835.—“I can say with truth, Saturday
afternoon is the most agreeable one I have during the
week. My only wish in regard to it is, that it would
• not pass away so quickly. The children come at one
o’clock, and remain as long as they can see to sew.
After I get through quilting, I intend to commence
making dresses and bonnets for them, so that they
can be all dressed alike for Easter Sunday.
“I know that it will give you pleasure to hear my
plans, and I hope that you will be at home to see
the children on that day.”
With what efficiency she carried out these plans,22
MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
we learn from another letter, addressed to the
same.
March 30th, 1835....................... “Your
sister and myself are now much occupied in making
dresses for our Saturday School. We have twenty-
eight scholars, and are making their frocks of one
kind of calico, which is very neat and good for spring
and summer wear. The "bonnets, too, are to "be alike,
made of chamTbray, lined with buff of the same
material. Several of them are already made, and
they are in style of the Shaker straw bonnets, that
have been so much admired and worn by children.
“ Perhaps you recollect the poor deaf woman that
your dear grandmother used to do so much for, and
always sat by her in church, that she anight point out
the different places for her in the Prayer Book dur-
ing service. Well, I have employed her to make
the children’s bonnets, as she several years ago learned
the milliner’s trade. She seems very thankful for the
employment, as she has had no means of supporting
herself and three children, except by parching corn,
and then sending her little son about the streets to
sell it by the pennyworth.
“ I wish, my dear son, you could have witnessed
the joy and gratitude she expressed, when I told
her how much work I would give her; and then,
again, she burst into a flood of tears when she spokeTHE SCHOOL.
23
*
of the irreparable loss she had sustained in the death
of your grandmother. She talked over her thousand
kindnesses with such a depth of feeling as I have sel-
dom witnessed.
“We intend to have all the children’s clothes
ready to wear for the first time on Easter Sunday. I
really wish you and Mrs. D., and her sisters, could
look in upon us on a Saturday afternoon in our base-
ment. I can truly say it is the pleasantest afternoon
I pass in the week.”
The school, after being maintained by Mrs. Warren
for five years as the Saturday Sewing Sc7woly'm the
year 1839 became a day-school, for “the instruction
of girls in reading, writing, sewing, knitting, marking,
quilting, Sunday-school lessons, catechism and Church
music,” and it then necessarily engrossed more of her
time and thoughts.
But she was well repaid in the pleasant conscious-
ness of being profitably employed; and seven years
after she assumed the charge of the school, she thus
alludes to the satisfaction derived from the discharge
of daily duties towards Christ and His poor:
“ Since my time has been so much occupied with
the school, I find that I am happier. I am persuaded
that I am doing my duty to these little children,
whom my Saviour loves.
“It is seven years and five months to-day since my
324
MEMORIAL OP MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
dear husband departed from this, and went to a
brighter world than ours.
“ Who cannot tell of loved ones departed, and who
does not love to think of them and speak of them?
From the dark grave spring none but fond regrets
and tender remembrances.
“ I cannot help feeling assured that my dear de-
parted friends are permitted to look down upon me,
and give me their blessings on the undertaking I am
engaged in. If I did not feel that it would meet
with their approbation, and that of my heavenly
Father, I should often despond. I often, very often,
meet with discouragements by the way. My children
are sometimes dissatisfied with my giving so much of
my time to the school. I do not feel, however, that
by it I neglect them or my domestic duties. I look
continually to a kind Providence to direct me, and
am convinced that in no way could I be better em-
ployed.
“ I am persuaded that I have duties to perform
while in this world, and that time is fleeting, and that
soon, very soon, we shall all be scattered like chaff
before the wind, and find our resting-place in the
grave. From its peaceful bosom we shall be awak-
ened at the last day by the trump of the Archangel.
If we have been found faithful followers of ourTHE SCHOOL.
25
Saviour, we shall then meet all who have been near
and dear to us in some bright circle in heaven.
“ Oh, it must be so! that in the world above, the
ties which death has severed shall be again united—
those friendships we have so 'fondly cherished shall
again be renewed, and those who have been so long
separated shall meet to part no more forever.”
On the 19th of July, 1844, the school was removed
from St. Paul’s Sunday School Rooms to the Vander-
heyden Mansion House.
At the time of the removal, the Misses Pierce were
the teachers, and fulfilled the arduous and responsible
duties of the office with great faithfulness and success,
until the death of the sister, Delia.
This event took place November 4th, 1853, and
brought grief to many hearts that felt the influence
of a life devoted with conscientious watchfulness
and pious cheerfulness to a daily round of humble
duties.
The charge of the school wTas then entrusted to
Miss Clementina Jones, who, with great earnestness
and 'efficiency, applied herself to the instruction and
moral improvement of the children confided to her
care.
But before two years passed by, Miss Jones was
induced by considerations of health, to exchange the
labours of a public establishment for the more quiet26	MEMORIAL OP MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
and less exacting duties of the select school; and
thus Mrs. Warren was deprived of the valuable aid
of an experienced teacher, who was no less will-
ing than able to co-operate with her in her work of
love.	•
The school is at present in charge of Miss Isabella
Warr and Miss Lilly Green, who, in the character of
pupil or teacher, have been connected with it for
fifteen years; and, under the supervision of their
pastor, prove themselves entirely competent for the
duties of their responsible position.
As Church music forms so important a part of the
exercises of the school, it is proper to add that Mr.
Wm. Hopkins has been associated with the institu-
tion, in the capacity of Professor of Music and Organ-
ist of the Church of the Holy Cross, for over eighteen
years, and that to his assiduous and patient labours,
his successful endeavours to secure the confidence and
affection of his pupils, and the interest which he has
always exhibited in the several objects to which tfiey
are so closely related, no less than to his professional
skill and taste, the Church of the Holy Cross is in no
small measure indebted for the reputation it has
gained by the performances of its choir.
About seven hundred girls have been connected
with the school since Mrs. Warren assumed its care
and maintenance.THE SCHOOL.
27
When her health permitted, Mrs. Warren was in
the habit of visiting the school daily. It was not an
unusual thing to find her in the school twice on the
same day. When there, she was listening to the
children, as they happened to be singing or reciting
their lessons, looking over their needle-work, and
occasionally reading to them.
But any bare statement like this conveys nothing
like a true idea of the time, thought, and energy
appropriated to the school by its generous and
anxious patron.
Not content with watching the improvement of
the girls in the school-room, she followed them to
their homes; in this way informed herself of their
circumstances—found out what were their needs,
what she could do for their comfort, and thus con-
vinced them and their parents of her affectionate
solicitude in their behalf. Not content with giving
the children the advantages of a good education, she
was constantly engaged in efforts intended to gratify
their youthful [fancies and minister to their innocent
amusement. Indeed, she loved these little girls that
were confided to her tender care, and because they
were so close to her heart, she was always trying to
anticipate their wishes and promote their happiness.
The new uniform in which they were to appear on
Easter morning, so anxious was she to please her28
MEMORIAL OP MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
young friends, while following her own ideas of taste
and propriety, actually cost her much more thought
and trouble than she expended throughout the year
on her own attire.
For seventeen years past, on Christmas Eve or
night, the members of the school were invited to her
house to get their first view of fairy land, as they
gazed on the tree brilliant with tapers and gleaming
with all its dazzling splendours. Carols were sung,
and then presents—cakes, candies, handkerchiefs and
books—were distributed. But what pleased most
of all, and will be remembered the longest, were the
sweet smiles and kind words with which their gen-
erous benefactress made them welcome in her own
home.
When we recall to mind the active efforts of Mrs.
Warren to make Christmas a happy time for young
and old, how truthful seem her own words:
“ December 25tht Christmas Day.—This holy sea-
son seems to stir up our dearest affections to our
Heavenly Father, and our most lively gratitude for
the gift of His Son. It is also intended to enliven
our warm feelings for all who are near and dear to
us, and our sympathies for all the poor and needy,
and to quicken our desires for their comforts, but
more especially for their spiritual good. There is
something beautiful, exceedingly "so, in the blend-THE SCHOOL.
29
ing of religion and benevolence at this holy sea-
son.’
On St. Peter’s or St. John the Baptist’s Day the
children participated, every year, in the delights of
a strawberry fete at the Cottage, the residence of her
son, Mr. Nathan B. Warren, where the mother passed
her summers for nearly twenty years.
On this occasion, tables under the trees were cov-
ered with fruit, ice-cream, and other delicacies. And
all who were once favoured with a sight of the pleas-
ant scene will not easily forget the gentle courtesy
with which the genial-hearted hostess received her
young guests: the bright looks of sixty happy girls,
the crisp sound of their many merry voices, and the
wild mirth as they frolicked on the glade to the
enlivening strains of the band.
. The brightest days of many women are those
which recall the memory of one whose pleasure
was to make them and others happy; and their
holiest thoughts are those which are associated with
her who, by word and act, taught them to inter-
weave feelings of love and gladness with the recol-
lection of a Saviour’s Birth and Resurrection and the
memory of His blessed Saints.30
MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.

THE CHURCH OE THE HOLY CROSS.
' The corner-stone of this Church was laid on St.
Mark’s day, 1844.
The official record of the services by the Rt.
Rev. Bishop, Onderdonk, is taken from the Church-
man. “ In the afternoon laid the corner-stone of the
Church of the Holy Cross. Divine service,
with the psalms and lessons appointed hy the
Bishop for such occasions, had been previously
performed in St. Paul’s Church, the Rev. William
I. Kipp, Rector of St. Paul’s Church, Albany,
reading evening prayer, assisted by the Rev. Ken-
drick Metcalf, Rector of Christ Church, Duanesburg,
Schenectady County, who read the lessons. At the
laying of the stone an address was delivered by the
Rev. Robert B. Yan Kleeck; and on the same occa-
sion, as well as in the service at St. Paul’s, the choral
parts were conducted by the children of the charity
school sustained by Mrs. Mary Warren. There were
present at the services, besides those officiating, the
following of the clergy:—the Rev. Horatio Potter,31
THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS.
D.D., the Rev. P. Teller Babbit, the Rev. John Wil-
liams, the Rev. Maunsell Van Rensselaer, the Rev.
Alvi T. Twing, the Rev. W. H. A. Bissell, the Rev.
Richard Cox, the Rev. Win. H. Hickox, the Rev. R.
R. Fairbairn, and the Rev. Edward Selkirk.
The church is to be erected at the sole cost of the
above-named Mrs. Warren. Her excellent and truly
Christian charity school, now comprising eighty schol-
ars, was the means by which the Holy Ghost put
into the heart1 the good desire of erecting this house
unto the name and glory of God. The school was
commenced about thirty years ago, by the late ven-
erable Mrs. Phebe Warren; and when she was taken
to the saints’ everlasting rest, about eight years
ago, Mrs. Mary Warren adopted it as hers. In at-
tending to its proper support; and in her benevolent
exertions for enlarging its sphere of usefulness, Mrs.
Warren had powerfully impressed on her mind a
sense of the melancholy privations which a large
part of the population of the city were suffering, and
of which the parish church could not furnish the re-
medy. She, therefore, determined to build a church
which, besides furnishing accommodations to her
school, should be truly open to all, without reference
to their pecuniary means. Such is to be the Church
of the Holy Cross, in which, should God prosper the
pious design of the foundress, will be provided not32	MEMOIR OP MBS. NATHAN "WARREN.
only an object of delightful contemplation to the
Christian, who will love to think of the spiritual and
eternal good to flow from it, but an admirable model
of beautiful and appropriate ecclesiastical architec-
ture.
It is to be built of stone in early English style.
A leaden box deposited in the corner-stone, contains
a Bible and the Book of Common Prayer, and has
engraved on it the following inscription:
“THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY &ROSS
WAS FOUNDED
IN THE YEAR OP GRACE, 1844, BY
jfHtarjj Wamtt,
AS A HOUSE OF PRAYER,
FOR ALL PEOPLE, WITHOUT MONEY
AND WITHOUT PRICE.
Glory be to the Fatherland to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
An extract is here made from the address of the
Rev. Dr. Van Kleeck, with the view of setting forth
more fully the designs of Mrs. Warren in building
this church.
“ This is the fifth instance in this Diocese in which
a church has been erected by the liberality of an in-
dividual, while it is, as we believe, the first (may it
be followed speedily by many more,) which has been
projected and devoted as ‘a Free or Mission Church.’THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS.
33
“ The prominent feature of this enterprise we wish
to he distinctly understood.
“ The church now founded on this corner-stone, is
to he ‘a Mission Church;’ its Minister to he a City
Missionary; its doors to he open, its privileges free
for all; its object and design to gather in the scat-
tered and to bring hack the lost, where every man,
women and child shall feel themselves at home;
where none shall say ‘ to the man with a gold ring
and the gay clothing, ‘Sit thou here in a good
place;’ nor ‘ to the man in vile raiment,’ ‘ Stand thou
there, or sit here under my footstoolbut where, as
on a level in the presence of - the High and Holy
One, ‘The rich and the poor shall meet together,
with equal rights and equal privileges, as they are
all partakers of a common nature, common woes,
common hopes, common joys and the common sal-
vation.
‘‘More than six years’ experience in the arduous
pastoral charge which has devolved on me in the
city, (and my brethren and my companions here will
confirm the testimony,) has more and more convinced
me of the urgent need of just such a church as that
which is here intended, with its missionary, whose
whole time and care shall he devoted to this interest-
ing and necessary work.34
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
“ A church founded on the Bible and Prayer-Book
can never go astray. It will outlive all temporary
agitations, assaults, devices, fears, and even dangers;
and remain, like its Divine Head and sure Founda-
tion, ‘ the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.’
“We have been thus explicit, because some have
expressed their fears that in this church it would be
otherwise; that there was the desire and the design
to remove the ancient landmarks which our fathers
have set, and forsake the old paths of rest and peace.
“In the name of the founder of this church—-in
the name of the Church to whose principles it is
devoted—in the name of the ecclesiastical authority
of this diocese, here present and acting—in the name
of the reverend clergy assisting and concurring, we
repudiate the idea. There is no such design; there
will be, there can be no such result.
“ To carry out the Bible and Book of Common
Prayer, as the latter has come to us from the Martyr-
Reformers of the Church of England,, adopted and
matured by the Fathers of our Church in these United
States, in all their blessed truths, and wholesome
provisions, be this the only issue, as it is the sole
design of this Christian undertaking.”
In the Diary, Mrs. Warren thus concludes an
account of the services:
“We had a bright and glorious day for our serv-THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS.
85
ices, which, I trust, is an omen of the smiles and
approbation of an over-ruling Providence on our
undertaking.
“We have had much to discourage us ever since
it has been known that we contemplated building
this church to God.
* * * * *
“The corner-stone of this church was laid on
St. Mark’s Day, it being the birth-day of my son
Nathan.
“ This church, when completed, is designed to have
the Daily Service.”
The church, though open for the celebration of
Divine Service on Christmas Day, 1844, by reason
of the peculiar circumstances of the diocese, was not
consecrated until December 6th, 1848. The Right
Rev. Wm. Rollinson Whittingham, Bishop of Mary-
land, who was performing episcopal duty in the
diocese at the time, assisted by many of the clergy
from this vicinity and the City of New York, offici-
ated on the occasion. On the following day the pas-
tor of the church and the Rev. John W. Shackelford
were admitted, by the same distinguished prelate, to
the holy order of the priesthood.
In allusion to these services, a writer in “The
New-York E'cclesiologist” thus expresses himself:
“We are sure we are speaking within the truth36	MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
when we say that, in our branch of the Church, there
has seldom been such solemn and impressive services
as those which.we attended in the Church of the
Holy Cross on the 6th and 7th of this monthon
the first day the church being consecrated, and the
day following an ordination being held therein. And
we also say, that unless the church edifice had been
built with a view to the proper celebration of the
Church service, such could not have been the case.*”
Mr. Nathan B. Warren is to be regarded the archi-
tect of the Church of the Holy Cross. He suggested
the plans, and Mr. Davis furnished the details of
the nave, and Mr. Upjohn those of the chancel, which
was added the same year the church was consecrated.
Mr. Henry Dudley, under the directions of Mr. War-
ren, has supplied the drawings for the proposed alter-
ations, which were suggested by the Ante-Chapel of
New College, Qxford.f	-	.
It was the earnest wish of Mrs. Warren that
these alterations should be made as soon as circum-
stances would allow. And the week before her
decease, she had the satisfaction of knowing that
the architect was at work on the plans. Her wish
and intentions, with respect to the enlargement of
the church, will be fully carried out by her children;
* See Note D.
f See Note E.THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS.
37'
and in the course of a few months the Holy Cross,
to its other sacred associations, will join the thought
of filial affection consecrated by liberal efforts, to
fulfil a fond mother’s holy desires.
The altar-piece, representing “ The Evening of
the Crucifixion,” was presented by Robert W. Weir,
Professor of Drawing at the Military Academy, West
Point. The Bible was the gift of Amos S. Perry,
Esq., of this city, and the Prayer-Books for the altar
were an offering from the Clergy of Northern New
York, “ who were unwilling,” as Dr. Potter writes to
Mrs.. Warren, “ to allow the consecration to pass
without some expression of their deep sympathy
with the feeling that has prompted this enterprise.”
The following letter accompanied the .Prayer-
Books :
“ Dear Madam :—Several of the Northern Clergy
unite in the wish to make an offering of the accom-
panying Service Books to the Church of the Holy
Gross, expressing, at the same time, their best wishes
for the success of the pious plans connected’with its
erection, and their deep sense of the value, in every
point of view, to the Church of Grod, of the noble
gift which He hath put into the heart of its founder
to offer to our spiritual Mother. May the promises
be indeed fulfilled, which assures to those who do for
the Lord, in the person of His poor, that they shall38
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
have manifold more in this life, and in the world to
cotne life everlasting.
“ Epiphany Season, 1845.”
How these evidences of Christian Sympathy were
regarded lby her to whom they were tendered, we
may learn hy a reference to the Diary:
“ 15th December.■—Received a "beautiful note from
Dr. Potter this morning, in the name of the North-
ern Clergy, asking my acceptance of an elegant
Prayer-Book for the Holy Cross. I have also re-
ceived from Mr. Amos S. Perry, a very beautiful
Oxford Bible for my little church. Such precious
mementos rejoice my heart in its despondency, and
lead me on my way with new and brighter hopes.”
The daily morning service was introduced in the
Church of the Holy Cross on Ash Wednesday, Feb.
4th, 1845, and has been continued, with short inter-
ruptions, up to the present'time.
, What may be regarded as the peculiarity of this
church, is its choral service on Sunday afternoons,
and in the mornings and afternoons of the greater
festivals. Time, labour, and money have not been
spared for many years, to give completeness to this
service, and to blend therein the niceties of art with
“ the beauty of Holiness.” The end as yet has been
but partially attained. It is no small undertaking to
attempt, with the limited resources of a small parish,THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS.
39
what is often but imperfectly accomplished in the
cathedral establishments abroad.
However, the compositions of the best writers of
the English school of ecclesiastical music, and those
of the continental masters, are rendered with good
effect, Sunday after Sunday, by the choir of the Holy
Cross, which is made up entirely of amateurs,, and
their efforts have gained for them much commenda-
tion. Our late, beloved Diocesan, who, before he was
Bishop, on different occasions, intoned the service
when officiating in the Church, after an evening
service, exclaimed, “ he felt as if he had been at
Westminster Abbey; there he had heard the very
same anthem, ‘ O, where shall wisdom be found?’ ” and
Bishop Wainwright, no poor judge in such matters,
as will be generally conceded, with his usual kind-
ness and urbanity, complimented the organist upon
the admirable performance of the choir. Mrs.
Spencer, who, with her husband, the late Lord
Bishop of Jamaica, was, for a few days, a guest at
the cottage, during the summer of 1850, in a letter
written on her return to England, tells Mrs. Warren
that “she often thinks of the chaunting of the Holy
Cross,” and which, she assures her, “ sounded to her
ears more beautiful than any she ever heard, save
that of the Sistine Chapel.”
Perhaps it may not be deemed inappropriate to
440	MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
our subject, to preserve iu this place the pleasant
reminiscences associated with the following verses,
which were addressed to Mrs. Warren, by Bishop
Spencer, on the occasion of the visit, to which
allusion has just been made:
*	*	*	*	*	*
&	*	¥r	*	*	*
“Yet have I seen thee never to forget,
Life’s later charms that still around thee glow,
When time has mellowed, hut not injured yet—
Thy light of eye, thy purity of brow,
And that sweet grace it could not overthrow,
Leaves younger loveliness behind thee far—
Well may we quit the sun’s meridian glow,
In the mild radiance of an evening star,
Which cloud and mist pass o’er still impotent to mar.
“ But there are things of more enduring power,
To which all earthly charms .are dim and tame,
And long as yonder hallowed turrets tower,
The Holy Cross associate with thy name
Shall heavenward bear the all-prevailing flame
Of pious love ; while by thy generous care
The smoking flax shall kindle into flame,
And thou shalt be a blessing and a prayer
To thousands yet unborn thy deathless gift to share.”
Aubrey G. Jamaica.
Mount Ida, 5th July, 1850.
Every thing connected with the Church of the
Holy Cross was dear to the heart of its pious
founder.THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS.	4l
Her greatest delight was to participate in the
services of this house of prayer, which she had
erected to the honour of Almighty God, for the
poor and all people. To know that others ap-
preciated those solemn and beautiful services afforded
her, too, pure and unreserved enjoyment. Carefully,
then, she garnered up the words of commendation
sent in their letters by kind friends, who,- to encour-
age her, would manifest their sympathy by describ-
ing in favourable terms the impression made by ser-
vices in which she herself was so much interested.
And it is easy to realize the pleasure with which she
read these lines in a letter from Dr. Jarvis, under
date of June 14th, 1851:
' “But my New Year’s day was not what it would
have been at the Holy Cross. Indeed, I have no-
where enjoyed the devout services of our Church as
I have done there, and at the Advent in Boston.”
Ho less gratifying must have been the contents of
a letter addressed to her son, by the Rev. Dr. Wil-
liam CrOswell:
“I have wished,” he writes, “over and over again
• that our singing men and women could be within
the reach of the influences which so powerfully
affected me in attending on the services of the
Church of the Holy Cross. I have just received
a delightful letter from Dr. Jarvis, in which he42
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
dwells with, great enthusiasm on his providential
detention in Troy over Christmas, and his enjoyment,
not only of your hospitalities and good cheer, but of
the blessedness of those services which, says he,
‘ elevate the soul to God.’
“ Among the brightest spots in my remembrance
are the two short hours so spent, and which cannot
be renewed too often by those who would spend the
flower of their days happily. God bless you and
the mother of your honoured household, and the
dear little ones training under her care for that life
which is nearest to Heaven, and teach many in all
time to cherish and emulate ‘the good deeds done
to the house of our God and the offices thereof.’ ”
The visit of Dr. Jarvis, to which the letter alludes,
was passed during the Christmas holidays, 1850, on
which occasion the doctor presented Mrs. Warren
with a copy of his “ History of the Church,” accom-
panied by this quaint and flattering inscription:
"TO ONE
WHO EMULATES HIMSELF IN UNIVERSAL KINDNESS ;
ONE WHO SHARED WITH HIM THE SYMPATHY OF DOING GOOD;
ONE WHO EXCEEDS HIM IN REAL CHARITY FOR ALL GOOD LITTLE CHILDREN ;
TO MRS. N. WARREN, OF TROY,
ST. NICHOLAS SENDETH GREETING AT THIS HIGH AND JOYOUS FESTIVAL
OF ANGELS AND MEN, AND BEGS HER ACCEPTANCE FROM HIM
OF THIS SMALL TRIBUTE^OF LOVE AND AFFECTION.
CHRISTMAS, 1850.”THE CHURCH OF THE HOLT CROSS.	43
Before leaving tliis part of the memorial, which
refers more particularly to the Church of the Holy
Cross, it is deemed proper to put on record that
the pious act of Mrs. Warren in building a church,
and consecrating it to the service of Almighty God
for poor and others, was properly appreciated not
only by individuals, but by no less a distinguished
corporation than the vestry, of Trinity Church, New
York, which venerable body, in presenting her with
a copy of “ The History of Trinity Church,” thus
express their sense of the piety and zeal which
induced her to appropriate as the founder of a Free
Church her wealth to the glory of God and the good
of men.
“ Office of the Corporation of Trinity Church,
New York, October 9th, 1847.
• Madam :—As the munificent founder and bene-
factress of a church in the same communion, you are
respectfully requested by the Vestry of Trinity
Church to accept a copy of its History.
I am with great respect
(	your obedient servant,
Wm. H. Harisow, Comptroller.
Mrs. Mary Warren, Troy, New York."
The Missionary Convocation of Northern New
York, which met at the Church of the Holy Cross44
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
on the 7th of March, thus expressed their sympathy,
and attested their sense of the value of Mrs. War-
ren’s. many benefactions:
Whereas, It has pleased our Heavenly Father
recently to remove from the scene of her long life
of Christian usefulness, Mrs. Mary Warren, the
founder of the Church of the Holy Cross in this
city—Therefore,
Resolved, That we the clergy of this Society, and
of the Northern Convocation of the Diocese of New
York, meeting on the spot where her piety and
munificence erected a House of Gfod, and maintained
its offices in their fullness and beauty, and where the
school, supported by her liberality, has so many years
been a source of great, wide-spread, and permanent
blessings to the Church, and to the community,
desire to record our sympathy with the bereaved
family of the departed, and with the parish with
which she was so long identified, and our lasting
sense of the value of her benefactions, our admira-
tion for the example of a life so religiously spent,
and our affectionate regard for the memory of one
so richly adorned with all good works towards the
Household of Faith.
Resolved, That this expression of our respect and
sympathy be entered on our minutes, and that a
copy be transmitted to the afflicted family.IN THE FAMILY.
45
m THE FAMILY.
Mbs. Warren obliged, on tlie death of her hus-
band, to assume the more immediate direction of the
household, felt the responsibilities of her situation,
and resolved, by the grace of God, to fulfil the new
duties which it imposed upon her.'
With tenderness and affection she would try to
supply, as far as she could, to the orphaned children,
that guidance and protection of which they had beem
deprived by the death of the fondest and most
devoted of fathers. Chastened, as she was, by many
afflictions—the loss of infant children, severe illness
and accident which befell two of her sons, the decease
of a husband on whom she had learnt to lean with
confidence, at the very time, too, when she most
needed his sympathy and counsel—“casting all
her care upon God,” she determined to sacrifice
every earthly pleasure and comfort to the interests
of those children, now doubly dear to her, since she
felt, as they clustered around her in their sorrows,
that they brought to her, in their stricken hearts, the46
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
love and honour which ere this they had shared
between father and mother.
And all who knew her and the circumstances of
the family, can attest the faithfulness with which
she carried out this determination—can witness to
the fact, that her Christian principles were as con-
spicuous in the household, in the care she manifested
to minister to the comfort and enjoyment of her
children,’ in the interest she displayed for their spir-
itual welfare, and in daily acts of self-sacrifice to con-
form with their wishes and accomplish their designs,
as they were eminent in the school-room, in the
Church, and by the bed-side of the sick and dying.
One who only saw Mrs. Warren in the family
i would have supposed that her life was devoted
exclusively to her sons and daughter; that she
thought of nothing else, cared for nothing else, and
worked for nothing else but their happiness and best
interests.
And, perhaps, it is no slight evidence of her being
a good housewife, that she found time for her pri-
vate devotions, for the daily service, for the school,
for the poor, sick and afflicted, and for the ordinary
demands of society, without allowing any of these
duties to interfere with the strict and conscientious
performance of one obligation which devolved upon
•her as a mother and the head of a family.IN THE FAMILY.
47
Although on every occasion she seemed disposed to
follow the inclinations of others rather than her own
wishes—to please those about her rather than her-
self—yet she always retained her just authority in
the household; and used a proper influence over her
children, for the purpose of guiding them along the
rough path of duty, and of securing their hearty
co-operation in her holy enterprises.
In ordinary conversation, when the subject could
with propriety be introduced, and in the many let-
ters written to them when absent from home, Mrs.
Warren endeavoured, with all love and earnestness,
to impress upon the minds of her children the
importance of seeking first “ the kingdom of God
and His righteousnessand .their solemn obligation
to obey the commands of duty without regard to
personal or worldly considerations.'
This anxiety for the eternal welfare of her chil-
dren will be exhibited more fully in another part
of this Memoir, where particular reference is made
to her devotional life. An extract from a letter to a
son while at school is here introduced, however, to
show how diligently Mrs. Warren devoted herself
to the religious training of her children:
“July 15$, 1885.—	*	*	* Think, my
dear son, how much better off you and all of us are
than that bereaved family. Your dear father left us48	MEMOIR OP MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
for another world shortly after theirs; but in what
different circumstances! Why is this marked differ-
ence, my child ? Certainly not because we are any
more deserving than they. We are left with an
abundance of this world’s goods, but we must remem-
ber that we are to account for them hereafter. Now,
my dear son, think of this always; and whenever
you are disposed to spend your money foolishly
or extravagantly, think how much good you might
do with it by giving to some poor widow or orphan
children such as those I have named. It would be
the means of affording you far more pleasure, because
then you would feel that you were doing your duty;
and you would, at the same time, be laying up treas-
ures in heaven.”
In her youth, like many other girls, she was taught
to read her earthly destiny in the 31st chapter of
Proverbs, which gives “ the properties of a virtuous
woman.” The verse corresponding with her birth-
day is the 21st, which reads as follows:—“She is
not afraid of the snow for her household; for all
her household are clothed with scarlet.”
The childish fancy was more than realized in the
comforts and elegancies of an establishment over
which she presided for about fifty years. And
“ the scarlet” which adorned “ her household,”' was
the warm, glowing love which coloured with brightIN THE FAMILY.
49
‘hues the daily tasks and duties of a Christian
home.
While nothing was omitted that was consistent
with her position and religious principles, in the ar-
rangement of her household every thing was ordered
by a strict rule of economy, which shunned a vulgar
display of wealth.
Hospitality was not neglected. Few houses in
this our city entertained so many guests. Poor and
rich were alike welcome. Many passed days and
weeks under her hospitable roof, and were gener-
ously admitted there to all the genial delights of
friendly intercourse.
Those seasons of quiet enjoyment, when now re-
called by memory from the past, shine in the dis-
tance like bright spots on which more sunlight
seemed to fall than on the beaten path of life.
Clergymen were- always treated by her as favoured
guests, whom she loved to honour for their office, and
“ for their work’s sake.” And not few “ ambassa-
dors for Christ” will long cherish the memory of her
who regarded with reverence their holy calling, and
showed herself ever ready to sympathize with them
in their zealous wishes, and assist them in their
pious labours for their Master’s cause. Perhaps the
assertion of a Bishop, who sends his expressions of
deep sympathy from the distant shores of the Pacific,50	MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
will be confirmed by the hidden feeling, of many
hearts:
“No one could be removed whose loss would be
felt more by the clergy through our land—”
“Fervent in spirit, serving the Lord/’Mrs. "War-
ren was no less actively employed in the discharge
of all the common duties of the family, as if it were
her vocation to minister to the wants and wishes of
those who were more especially dependent upon
her care and love. In this particular she is remem-
bered as a beautiful model of the Christian mother,
who tries to fulfil the precept of the Apostle:
‘ Whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all in the
Name of the Lord Jesus.’ ”CHARITY.
51
CHAEITY.
In referring to the charity of Mrs. Warren, the
fact immediately suggests itself, that though the
possessor of a moderate fortune, she was generally
thought to he a person of great wealth. Perhaps
what may be regarded then as a popular error, is to
be attributed to a generous liberality which the world
mistook for an exuberance of riches. The idea of
her affluence was proportioned to the common report
of her benevolence.
And this led sometimes to false hopes and dis-
appointment. A man, for instance, who had been
in town but a few days, applied to Mrs. Warren
for three or four thousand dollars to establish himself
in business. He received assistance; not of course
what he sought, but much more than he deserved.
A person by letter asked her to furnish a young
lady with means to finish her musical education in
Italy. And not to mention other like instances, a
woman from Hew York, who represented herself a
widow in needy circumstances, not obtaining from52	MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
Mrs. Warren a promise of permanent support, said,
'“•now she had nothing to hope for; if Mrs. Warren
could not help her, no one would or could.”
While individuals here and abroad were assuming
Mrs. Warren’s great wealth on the grounds of her
extended charities, she was gratifying her generous
and kind sympathies at an annual expense sometimes
of one-third, at others of one-half, of her limited in-
come. And her benevolence was, therefore, the evi-
dence of care and self-denial, rather than the indica-
tion, as was too generally supposed, of superfluous
riches. It will be remembered, too, by those who
witnessed or shared the benefit of her acts of love,
that the charity of Mrs. Warren could not be pro-
perly estimated by* any actual outlay of money. A
poor woman nearly expressed the true idea, when she
said, “ one dollar from Mrs. Warren was worth more
than four dollars from other folks.” A gentle man-
ner and pleasant ways, kind looks and feeling words,
the heart’s language to speak its sensibility and sym-
pathy in the presence of the needy and suffering,
gave the charm and the blessing to deeds no less
well done than lovingly prompted.
One who has accompanied her on many of her
visits of mercy, during a period of fourteen years,
would characterize her charity as human sympathy
directed and controlled l>y Christian principle. HerCHARITY.
53
acts illustrate the sentiments contained in one of her
letters : “ Among a thousand instances of the Divine
wisdom and goodness, as exhibited in the constitu-
tion of our nature, there is none more to be admired
than that which interests us in behalf of each other.
What would become of the poor unfortunate if his
sufferings, instead of exciting compassion and secur-
ing the kind relief of his fellow-creatures, drove
them away from him ? What would have become
of us all in infancy, in sickness or in misfortune, if our
very helplessness and misery had not endeared us to
parents and friends ?”
She was drawn towards those who were in pain
and sorrow. It was a relief for her full heart to grat-
ify its impulses of sympathy and love, by helping to
assuage the agony of the suffering, and wipe away
the mourners’ tears. One of her chief pleasures on
earth, was found in doing good to others; and she was
once heard to say, that if she had not other sacked
duties to perform, she would choose to devote herself
exclusively to works of mercy. In truth, the many
acts of kindness, which have induced her friends and
the community at large to call her charitable, were
but the bubblings on the surface of the generous
movements of a heart whose every throb was an
impulse of love. The most delicate sensibility had
been refined, and made more prompt and keen in its5 4
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
perceptions, "by tire flames of God’s Holy Spirit.
So that as soon as she saw want, suffering or grief,
or heard the sad story of need and sorrow, she was
moved by the strongest feeling of commiseration to
bring or send succour. Suffering, under whatever
shape it presented itself, secured her sympathy and
aid, so that it has sometimes excited surprise to see
how readily she listened to a stranger’s complaints
and entreaties; and to witness, on other occasions,
how without an effort she entered into the feeling of
those- around her, and took her share of the heavy
burden of care and sorrow. While her health per-
mitted, Mrs. Warren scarcely allowed a day to pass
by without visiting among the poor and afflicted.
An extract from her Diary will show how busily she
was employed in this way, during the Lent of 1847:
■“ February V&th.—Visited the school, and read to
the children for more than an hour from a small vol-
ume on Festivals and Fasts, written in a plain and
simple style for young persons, as a dialogue between
a god-mother and her god-child. After reading, I
visited Mrs. Harrison, Mrs. Wells, and Mrs. Mur-
ray.
“ February 19th.—Attended Service at 9 o’clock,
and then went to the school to read to the children
a continuation of the book which seems to interest
them much. Visited Winnifred (an old domestic).CHARITY.
55
Visited Mrs.-------, and her son Joseph, who has
been alarmingly ill. Also visited Mrs. Murray, and
had a long conversation with her and her husband
about the Church. In the afternoon went to the
school with Nathan to hear the children take their
singing-lessons, and thence to prayers at Christ
Church. *
“February 21 st, Sunday.
“February 25$.—Attended church with my family
this morning at 9 o’clock, and after church went to
the school, and read an hour to the children from “The
Festivals and Fasts.” They listened attentively, and
I asked them questions on the subject I had been
reading to them, and they answered with great cor-
rectness.
^February 28$.—At the school in the afternoon.
The children’s catechetical instructions are deeply
interesting.
“ March 2d.—After service went to see Mrs.
Brown, Mrs. Keller, Mrs. Emmons, Mrs. Orr and
Mrs. Wells; also Mr. Binns and Mrs. Rooney, who
are yet sick. Afterwards visited Mrs. Gail, whose
child is sick, and Mrs. Raymond, who is very ill of
consumption. Attended St. Paul’s Church in the
evening.
'•March 3d.—After service went with Mrs. Van
' Kleeck to see Mr. Orr. She gave him some money,
556	MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
and lie told me lie was delighted with the chair, and
that he was enabled to use his limbs much better
after exercising. Went again to see Mrs. Wells, and
took her some work.
“March 4th, Sunday.—After service went with
Harriette to visit Mrs. Ludford, who is quite ill.
This evening attended service at St. Patd’s.
'■'•March 5th.—I had a pleasant walk up to see Mr.
Binns. Found him very feeble.”	.	*
In the Diary there is an allusion to a visit of pecu-
liar interest, as the family to which reference is there
made were recipients of Mrs. Warren’s bounty for
more than forty years, and the daughter spoken of
has been confined to her bed for more than twenty
years, during which time she has been, to Mrs. Warren
and her family, the object of unremitted kindness.
‘•'•July 9th, 1844.—This morning, at ten o’clock,
who should come in but the Rev. Mr. James Rich-
mond. He went with me and Mr. Williams to the
school, and heard the children take their singing-
lesson. Mr. R. addressed the school, and afterwards
I went with him to see Mary Ann Oothout. He
talked and prayed with her, and made arrangements
for her to receive the Holy Communion this after-
noon at five .o’clock. Mr. Van Kleeck, Mr. R., my
sister and myself went at the time appointed to
receive the Blessed Memorials of our dear Lord andCHARITY.
57
Saviour, with Mary Ann, her aged mother and her
aunt, it being the first time she had had the Sacred
Emblems offered to her from the hands of a minister
of the Church. It is a great relief to my mind, and,
no doubt, a great comfort to her, to have been made
a partaker of this heavenly food. May God grant
that it may support her in her sufferings, and lead
her on her way of rejoicing, until her life is at an
elid.”
If, in the course of her visiting, Mrs. Warren
found instances of distress, she promptly relieved the
pressing necessities of indigence, by recourse to her
purse, or, in returning home, gave directions to have
those wants supplied; and as she Would not allow
any family, whose circumstances were known to her,
to be destitute of those articles that are essential to
comfort, so she took pleasure in anticipating the
wishes of the sick and convalescent, by sending such
delicacies as she thought would tempt a feeble and
capricious appetite, and assure them of the interest
of one friend, who thus proved that she had them in
her-mind. Frequently the subject of religion was
introduced as the topic of conversation during these
visits, and she never failed to impress upon those
present the importance of attending to their Chris-
tian duties; and this was done in such a gentle and
winning way as to draw persons towards her, even58
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
when exposing their omissions, and warning them of
the consequences of their neglect and carelessness.
Mrs. Warren showed great facility in adapting her-
self to persons and things around her, and was
always ready to say or do what was most likely to
cheer, console, or encourage. It thus happened that
many, instructed by her counsels, and animated by
her hearty assurances of success, were enabled to
struggle through difficulties 'thrown in their way by
poverty and misfortune, and, in her, at last, to see
the benefactress, who, under God’s blessing, secured
for them temporal happiness and regard. All that
has been written, or could be written, respecting the
loving impulses and the charitable deeds of the sub-
ject of this memoir, might be confirmed, if neces-
sary, by many remarks similar to those which accom-
panied, on different occasions, an allusion to her
decease.
“Mrs. Warren will be missed, W.” “Yes, sir,
and wanted, too,” was the prompt reply.
“ You have lost a good friend, Mrs. L.; Mrs. War-
ren was very kind to you.”. “ Very true, sir; but to
whom wasn’t she kind V
“ My dear Mr. T., I have done nothing but cry
since I have heard good Mrs. Warren is dead. She
has been a friend to me—a friend, dearer than a
brother—for more than forty-five years.” “ The richCHARITY.
59
will miss her more than the poor. They can enjoy
no more of her feasts and entertainments; hut u^e
can keep, and keep forever, what she has done for
us,” was the remark of another individual.
A little girl of the school, about six years old, was
possessed with the idea that Mrs. Warren had risen
from the dead on the Sunday after the funeral. Her
mother asked her why she thought so, and the answer
was, “ Why, ’ma, was not our Saviour buried on Fri-
day, and did He not rise on Sunday from the grave ?
and is not Mrs. Warren just like Him ? did she not,
like Him, go about doing good ?”60
MEMOIR OP MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
DEVOTIONAL LIFE.
In what has been already written, may be traced
the evidences of a devotional spirit in her whose
charity was not merely the impulsive movement of
a sympathetic heart, but the outward development
of a principle of holy love. However, to render the
sketch more complete, to bring out more in relief
every feature of the saintly character which is here
depicted, it is necessary to appropriate a separate
chapter to the consideration of those traits which
specially bear the impress of the Spirit’s holy influ-
ence, and show the soul’s immediate relations with
its God and Saviour.
Mrs. Warren’s religion was based on the great
truths which, in her mind, were associated with Holy
Baptism and with every rite of the Church, which
from infancy she had been taught to regard with
reverence and devout affection. Her religious prin-
ciples, and pious yearnings after truth and holiness,
were developed in and through the institutions of
the Church. Her communion with her blessed LordDEVOTIONAL LIFE.
61
was sustained by an humble and faithful use of the
means of grace which she believed that Lord had
ordained, and by which, as she trusted, He would
strengthen and confirm the faith of His disciples in
Him as their adorable Redeemer. With her ideas
of religious truth and convictions of duty, it was but
consistent with what she thought and felt, to be
zealous for that Church which was pictured on her
mind and heart as “the Church of the living God,
the pillar and ground of the truthas that “ body”
of which the Lord Jesus Christ is “ the Headto
pray and work for its extension* and glory, and by
her acts to acknowledge, its exclusive claims upon
her faith and obedience. Few embraced with
greater heartiness and zest, than Mrs. Warren, all
the privileges offered in the Church. When circum-
stances allowed, she was present at the Holy Cross as
often as it was opened for the celebration of Divine
Service ; and, with great reverence and earnestness,
took her part in the solemn offices of the sanctuary.
Until within six months past, she was a regular
attendant at “ the Daily Morning Prayers.”
How she appreciated this privilege, can be best
expressed in her own language:—
“August 3d.—Attended church this morning;
had a very good congregation. This is the last
morning we assemble for prayers until the church62
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
is painted ; and I deeply regret not to be per-
mitted to attend our beautiful morning service,
so soothing and heaven-like is it to my feelings. It
seems to consecrate the day to me. How thankful
I ought to be that my Heavenly Father should have
put in my heart to build that dear little church, and
dedicate it to His service ! for some of the pleasant-
est hours of my life have been spent there—certainly
the most satisfactory.”
To admit the reader to a closer view of the secrets
of that spiritual life which is “hid with Christ in
God,” extracts are here inserted from her letters and
Diary which disclose her religious feelings at inter-
vals from the year 1836 to 1853:—
Extract from a Letter'toBishop Doane, 1836:—“I
sometimes wish that I enjoyed promiscuous society
more than I do, for I know that I must appear very
stupid to people generally; but the truth is, I never
was intended for a woman of the world. I like my
own quiet fireside, with my own family and a few
choice friends gathered around me ; and there, too,
I like to think of and talk over days and years gone
by, and of beloved ones that are departed. Sad and
bitter thoughts, indeed, they are to me ; but, for all
that, I love to cherish them. If I now and then
allow myself to think of enjoyment in prospective,
then the end presents itself and mars all my visions,DEVOTIONAL LIFE.
63
so that I endeavour to content myself with the past
and present, and trust to a kind Providence for the
future. The fact that the future is uncertain, leads
me to hope and to make new resolutions for a more
perfect guidance of my future course, in the hope of
Heaven.”
From the Diary. January l<s£, 1842.—Another
year has gone, and I have been permitted, by the
blessings of a kind Providence, to enter on a new
one. Oh ! that I may not allow a single day to pass
without asking myself how my accounts stand; and
in what way, by word or deed, have I offended my
Heavenly Father. Oh! Thou who seest and know-
est the secrets of my heart, and my many sins, give
me grace humbly to repent of my misdoings, and to
look to Thee only for pardon: so that when I shall
appear at Thy great tribunal, I may not be num-
bered with the condemned.
“Each coming Hew Year brings with it many sad
reflections, and makes me feel more and more that I
and my dear children are created for eternity; that
this is not our abiding-place, and we should be looking
towards a better world—that every day, every hour,
yes, every moment given us, is but a period of proba-
tion for our last eventful change. May we pass the re-
mainder of our days in the work of our salvation. In
every temptation to which we may be exposed, direct64	MEMOIR OP MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
and guide us, O most merciful Father! help us to resist
and overcome all evil, and give us that blessed assur-
ance that we have through Christ, our Saviour, for
another and better world.”
Extract from a Letter to Miss ---------:—“I am
aware that your time and feelings are fully occupied,
but I trust that it will not prevent you lending your
aid to his cause. It is true, he has no claims on
you for the performance of any such duties. It is,,
however, the beauty of the Christian religion, that it
adorns and sanctifies every duty and every relation
of life; and the purest incense that is offered to our
Heavenly Father, from the altar of a contrite heart,
loses none of its fragrance by being mingled with
the performance of any of the duties of friendship or
affection.”
Extract from a Letter of February 27,1843:—■“ It
is truly impressive,' the 'sudden death of the Presid-
ing Bishop! How many persons among our own ac-
quaintance are taken from this world, in an instant,
with the disease of the heart! It has become almost
an every-day occurrence, and I have been impressed,
for a long time, that I shall some day be one of its
victims. Most earnestly do I pray God to forgive
me my many sins, and prepare me for the eventful
change. But poor human nature shrinks at the
thought of death, and has many fears as to the un-DEVOTIONAL LIFE.
65
certainty of an hereafter. Every instance of that
disease startles and saddens me, and seems to say,
4 Be ye also ready.’ ”
From the Diary, March 19th, 1843: — “How
chequered has been my path! filled up at interme-
diate times with joy and sorrow, which, I pray God,
may be the means of preparing and fitting me for
another and better world, where grief, pain and sor-
row will have no entrance; but joy, peace and happi-
ness shall reign triumphant.”
44 October 15$., 1843.—I have been suffering for
the last two days, with severe pain in the heart, and
through my shoulder. I feel that every new attack is
worse, and dread the consequences. Should it de-
stroy me suddenly, I pray God that I may be pre-
pared for the change, come when it may. Oh ! make
me to be fully resigned to Thy will, and to be always
ready to say, ‘ Thy will be done.’ ”
44 Whit-Sunday, May 11$, 1844.—-I cannot feel
sufficiently thankful to our great Creator for all the
1 blessings He so bountifully bestows on me and mine.
I see His hand in every thing that concerns me.
441 have, for the last ten years, resigned myself and
all that belongs to me, or that I am interested in,
to His guidance, feeling assured, that whatever be-
falls us would be for the best. With this assurance,
I go on my way rejoicing, and have the greatest rea-66	MEMOIR OP MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
son in the world to feel happy, in "being so highly
favoured and blessed by my Heavenly Father in
my undertakings. May He continue to smile on my
humble endeavours, until I reach my journey’s end,
which cannot be far distant, and when I have passed
this vale of tears, may that ever dear and blessed
Saviour receive my soul as it leaves this frail body:
may it be attended by the bright company of angels,
and commended to the Almighty Father, whose
creature I am, and who formed me out of the dust_
May I not be terrified at the approach of death. Let
not Satan impede my journey, but may the Ador-
able Saviour, who suffered death upon the cross for
me, deliver me from all torment and from death
eternal, and place me forever within Paradise ; and
may the Good Shepherd receive me among His
sheep, and pardon my many sins.”
An Extract from a Letter of Mrs. Warren’s to her
sons, Stephen and George Henry, while in Europe:
—“ Oh! my dear sons, how sad it makes me feel
when I think of your absence. What would I not
give to be with you when you suffer, and nurse you
with a mother’s care and watchfulness! My eyes are
running over full of tears when I think of you, and
of the many weary miles that separate us. But as a
kind and merciful God has watched over, and
shielded you from all danger, and permitted youDEVOTIONAL LIFE.
67
to enjoy so much, and continued you in good health,
I feel that I have the greatest reason in the world to
rejoice and be thankful, and to believe that He will
continue to protect you from all danger, and will
permit us to meet again in peace and happiness.”
Extract from a Letter dated 29th November, 1850:
—“ How often do I recall the fact, (and it troubles me,)
that there are no blessings in the Holy Scriptures
given to the rich, but to the poor. We never find,
blessed are the rich ; but blessed are the meek, and
blessed are the poor, and blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
“ If we have riches, we are commanded to give
them away. Think of this, my dear son, and do not
spend your money too freely in the follies and vanities
of this world, but give it to God, as a treasure laid
up in Heaven. You will not thank me, perhaps, for
what I have said to you, my dear son, but you must
forgive an ever-anxious mother, who has your welfare
so much at heart, not only in this world, but in the
world to come: I should not feel that I had discharged
my duty, if I did not sometimes talk to you in this
way. If you do not aU do well, the fault cannot be
charged on me.”
From a Letter dated November 21<s£, 1853:—“ I re-
ceived your letter, dear George, written on Saturday,
in which you tell me of ^our birth-day. I surelyMEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
was not unmindful of it, and should have written you
then, if I had not been suffering so intensely in my
head. Little Albert came in to see us that evening,
looking as bright and clean as a new pin, and told
me it was his birth-day. I could not help thinking
of you when you were of his size and age, your eyes
sparkling with joy and gladness at the return of an-
other birth-day. And so they have passed, one after
another, and then each year shortening as they
advanced, and have brought you unto manhood and
the prime of life; and you have been permitted to
become a husband and a father, with as much of
this world’s happiness as could well be given to any
mortal man. And yet you, like all frail human
nature, are looking forward to something more, and
will continue to do so as long as each succeeding year
hastens you on to ‘ the sear and yellow leaf.’ If that
looking forward and reaching for something more
were the one thing needful, and you should pos-
sess it at last, what a happy and enviable man you
would be. Excuse me, my dear son, for my moral-
izing mo.od, and attribute it to the anxiety of an ever-
loving mother.”
These extracts help to give an insight to the feel-
ings which shaped themselves in deeds of love and
acts of humble reverence and devotion. They expose
the roots and germs of principles and motives whichDEVOTIONAL LIFE.
69
blossomed and ripened into the fruits of the Spirit,
and allow us to watch the mysterious process of
the seed springing up in “ an honest heart, and bring-
ing forth fruit with patience.”
With the same intention of disclosing some of
the more secret influences which, through the blessing
of the Holy Spirit, combined in giving firmness,
symmetry and beauty to the character which is here
imperfectly portrayed, it may be mentioned that
the companions of her hours of meditation at differ-
ent periods of her life, were “ The Complete Duty of
Man,” “Law’s Serious Call,” “The Imitation of
Christ,” “Bishop Andrews’ Devotions,” “The Spiritual
Combat,” “ The Manual for the Afflicted,” and “ The
Comforts of Old Age,” by Sir Thomas Bernard,
Baronet.
A few days after the funeral, her sons, looking
through the cottage for some words in writing, to
console them for the loss of words which they would
like to have heard from the lips of their dear mother,
found “The Comforts of Old Age,” on a table in
her bed-room, with a marker at this passage:—
“ I have no doubt but that I have lengthened my
life and preserved my health, by the calmness and
composure which I derive from frequent meditations
on this subject. For what can be more delightful
and invigorating to the mind, than to contemplate,70	MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
, with the eye of faith, a period, now no longer distant,
when I shall arrive at the eternal mansion, where
the glory of God shall lighten it, and the Lamb
shall be the light thereof? The earthly house of this
pilgrimage shall be dissolved, and I shall have a
building of God—a house not made with hands,
eternal in the Heavens—and shall exclaim with the
Apostle, ‘ I have finished my course, I have kept the
faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
shall give me at that day.’ , The sun shall there no
more be my light by day, neither for brightness shall
the moon give light unto me ; but the Lord shall be
my everlasting Light, and our God shall be my glory.
Nation shall not then lift up the sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more: for there
shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying;
neither shall there be any more pain. And is not
this a subject, my dear friends, to awaken all the
enthusiasm of gratitude in my breast, and abundantly
to recompense for the little aches and pains, the
weaknesses and infirmities of old age ?”
A IjJragcr,
FOUND AMONG HER MANUSCRIPTS, WRITTEN IN THE TEAR 1817.
“ And, now, O Blessed Redeemer, my Rock, my
Hope and only sure Defence, to Thee do I cheerfully
commit both my soul and my body. If Thy ProvidenceDEVOTIONAL LIFE.	7l
see fit, grant that I may*rise in the morning refreshed
with sleep, and with a spirit of cheerful activity for
the duties of the day; but whether I wake here or
in Eternity, grant that my trust in Thee may remain
sure, and my hope unshaken.”
672
MEMOIR OP MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
LAST ILLNESS, DEATH AND FUNERAL.
So far back as the year 1841, as appears from a
letter of that date, Mi's. Warren suffered pains which
she was forced to regard as symptoms of an affection
of the heart; and the apprehensions of a sudden
death would seem to have been not the least power-
ful incentive to watchfulness and fidelity in the dis-
charge of the various duties which devolved upon
her as a Christian mother, the founder of a free
Church, and the'benefactress of the poor.
About two years ago, the symptoms of her disease
assuming a more alarming appearance, her faithful
and “beloved physician,” Dr. Brinsmade, felt con-
strained by professional and friendly considerations,
to confide to Mr. George Henry Warren the critical
condition of his mother:	From that time, she was
subject, at intervals, to paroxysms of pain, difficulty
of breathing, and extreme debility. After a severe
attack of suffering and consequent weakness, how- *
ever, she would*rally, and show so much interest in
every thing that was going on around her, in theLAST ILLNESS, DEATH AND FUNERAL.
73
family, the church, and the school, that friends, and
even the members of her own household, could
scarcely realize the fact that she, who manifested so
much energy in the execution of her wishes and pro-
jects, was carrying the heavy burden of years, was
worn by care and pain, and was the subject of a dis-
ease no less sudden than fatal in its consequences.
During the past winter, she was compelled to con-
fine herself much to the house; but, to her great
joy, and the gratification of the devout wishes of
many friends, she was permitted on Christmas Day
to participate in the sacred and social pleasures of
the festival.
The last time she met with her fellowr-disciples to
commemorate at the altar the death and sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ, was on Epiphany; and the
last occasion she worshipped in the Church of the
Holy Cross—that “ house of prayer ” hallowed by so
many of her fervent, earnest supplications and wil-
ling offerings, was the second Sunday after the Epiph-
any. She was obliged to leave before the end of the
service, and did not hear the sermon, which, near its
close, thus spake of the generous love of some of the
disciples of Jesus:— '
“The generous love that prompted the humble
penitent to anoint the feet of her Lord with the pre-
cious spikenard—that induced the noble counsellor74	MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
to prepare a new tomb for the body of bis crucified
Master, and that hastened the holy women early to
the sepulchre to anoint that Sacred Body with
costly spices—has impelled others to lavish their
wealth in preparing ‘a furnished room’ where the
glorified Saviour comes to bless His followers with
His presence, and make Himself known in the ‘ break-
ing of bread.’ Their memory is associated with
God’s glory—their names, with His holy Name—-their
monuments are the sacred walls of His sanctuary.”
On Monday, February 7th, Mrs. Warren was ap-.
parently much better than she had been for several
days.
In the afternoon, she was observed by one of the
domestics to go into the parlour, and take down an
engraving which had been presented to her by a
clergyman on Christmas last. The engraving rep-
resents the scene narrated in St. Augustine’s Confes-
sions.
“ The day now approaching whereon she (his
mother, Monica,) was to depart this life, (which day
Thou well knowest we knew not,) it came to pass—
Thyself, as I believe, by Thy secret ways so ordering
it—that she and I stood alone leaning in a certain
window which looked into the garden of the house
where we now lay, at Ostia; where, removed from the
din of men, we were recruiting from the fatigues of aLAST ILLNESS, DEATH AND FUNERAL.	75
long journey, for the voyage. We were discoursing
then together, alone, very sweetly; and ‘ forgetting
those things which are behind, and reaching forth
unto those which are before;’ we were inquiring
between ourselves in the presence of the Truth, which
Thou art, of what sort the eternal life of the saints
was to be, ‘ which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
nor hath it entered into the heart of man.’ But yet
we gasped with the mouth of our heart, after those
heavenly streams of Thy fountain—‘ the fountain of
life’—-which is ‘with Thee,’ that being bedewed
thence according to our capacity, we might in some
sort meditate upon so high a mystery.”
Mrs. Warren considered herself so much better,
that just before going to her room, she told her
coachman that she hoped to take a drive the next
day. Previously, in the evening, Mrs. Schriver,
who, with most devoted affection, had been day and
night for the past month with her mother, was
induced by her assurances and solicitations to return
to her own home.
Mrs. Warren retired at her usual hour. About
two o’clock she called her maid, who was sleeping
on a couch at her bedside—swallowed a few drops of
medicine—told the servant to remove the light from
before her eyes; and then placed her head back on
the pillow. The watchful attendant detected a sud-76	MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN 'WARREN.
den change in the countenance, and hurried to call
her sons. Mr. Stephen Warren was immediately
by the side of his mother, but only in time to press
with fondness her hands as she drew her last breath.
The other members of the family, her pastor and
physician were promptly summoned.
All, for a while, were staggered by the blow.
That she was dead, none were willing or able to
believe. That one so much needed and so much
loved—one on whom so many leaned—to whom so
many were bound by the closest ties of kindred and
affection—that one almost idolized by those children,
who repaid a mother’s warm and constant devotion,
a parent’s anxious and tender solicitude, by the gene-
rous return of a ready and cheerful compliance with
all her wishes—that one who was God’s instrument
of good to so many of His servants, whose very
presence, and whose voice and smile brought joy
and peace to so many hearts—that one who was the
object of so much love and honour, one so useful
on earth in promoting her Saviour’s glory and secur-
ing the best interests of her fellow-creatures—that
one who would be so much missed and regretted was
dead., it was difficult, indeed, to realize.
Here the veil is drawn on a scene of sorrow and
faith too sacred to be recorded elsewhere than onLAST ILLNESS, DEATH AND FUNERAL.	77
the tablets of the hearts of those who were present
and witnessed it.
How abrupt seems the end of a life of faith and
obedience ! How different its close from what the
surviving friends, in the first emotions of grief, would
wish! Ho opportunity for the last offices of love,
for words of sympathy, affection, of prayer, or of
blessing.
Yet it was what had been foreseen, and for which
preparation, through the grace of God, had been
made by years of humble devotion,, patient self-
denial, and liberal charity. The Master, indeed,
came suddenly ; but His faithful servant, with lamp
well trimmed, and with oil in her vessel, was ready
to obey His summons, and join the bridal procession
of saints, martyrs and confessors, who, in the New
Jerusalem, are to celebrate the Marriage Supper of
the Lamb.
Her departure was more like a translation than
death. “She was not, for Grod took her.” Or, as
we hung around her bedside, and looked upon those
features, beautiful in the repose of eternal peace, we
could not feel that she was dead, but sleeping: “ for
so He giveth His beloved sleep.”
On the afternoon before the funeral the teachers
and pupils of the Girls’ School went to the residence
of Mrs. Warren, to take their last look of their best78
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN- WARREN.
and dearest friend; and as they kneeled in the pres-
ence of the sainted dead, the sighs and sobs, mingled
with the broken petitions of the Lord’s Prayer,
showed how closely, by gentle words and kind acts,
their liberal patroness had drawn them towards her,
and how deeply she had impressed her image on
their tender hearts.
In making the arrangements for the burial, it soon
became apparent that the Church of the Holy Cross
could receive but a part of the funeral procession;
and the Rev. Dr. Coit very promptly offered the
. use of St. Paul’s Church for the obsequies. It
was thought, however, proper to decline the kind
offer, and to carry the remains to the church which
is peculiarly associated with the name and memory
of Mrs. Warren, even though in doing so friends
might be exposed to inconvenience or disappoint-
ment.
On Friday, at eleven o’clock, after prayers said
at the house by the Rev. Dr. Tucker, and the bene-
diction pronounced by the Right Rev. Bishop Doane,
the long procession followed the body to the Church
of the Holy Cross. On arriving at the church the
Bishop, followed by the Rev. Dr. Coit, the Rev. Mr.
Twing of Lansingburg, the Rev. Mr. Reed of Albany,
the Rev. Mr. J. Brinton Smith, the Rev. Mr. Scarbo-
rough, and the pastor of the church, proceeded to theLAST ILLNESS, DEATH AND FUNERAL.	79
chancel reading the sentences. The lesson was read
by the Rev. Dr. Coit, and an address was made by
Bishop Doane. The anthem, the 124th hymn, and
“ I heard a voice from heaven,” were sung with feel-
ing and good effect by a full choir.
The coffin, covered with black cloth, relieved by
silver mountings with a cross and crown of flowers
upon it, was placed in front of the chancel on a plat-
form, over which was stretched a pall having a white
cross running its whole length. On either side of
the bier were the girls of the school. The church
was trimmed with crape, caught up with violet-
coloured rosettes.
The service at the Holy Cross was concluded with
“ The Prayer for Christ’s Church Militant,” and the
lesser benediction.
At the Oakwood Cemetery the Bishop said the
service, with the exception of the commitment.
The body was deposited temporarily by the side
of her sister in the Cannon Vault, there to remain
until the completion of a Mortuary Chapel, which is
now being erected.
♦BISHOP DOAHE’S ADDRESS.ADDRESS,
MADE AT THE FUNERAL, BY THE RT. REV. GEORGE WASHINGTON
DOANE, D.D., LL.D., BISHOP OF NEW JERSEY.
Within that sacred dust, what loveliness, what
excellence, was tabernacled! what a daughter! what
a sister! what a wife! what a mother! and oh, let
me add, what a friend! And, then, to pass beyond
the sacred circle of domestic charities! How the
whole law of love was energized in her! How she
Realized and beautified that sacred picture of the
good Samaritan! How instant, constant, perfect, in
her following after that “Jesus of Nazareth, who
went about doing good !”
I am not here in any official, or in .any public re-
lation. I stand here, as a mourner; as one bereaved
with those who are the most bereaved, in this
bereavement. I have no speech to make—no address
to deliver; but can but let my heart run out—broken,
indeed, if iii this life, only, we had hope—on these
beloved ashes. The mourners who are the most
afflicted, in this affliction; and the true priest, who84
MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
was, for fourteen years, lier friend and counsellor—-her
own pastor and the pastor of her lambs ;—they will
appreciate my feeling. And you, dear friends, for
their sake, will permit and pardon it. I never loved
so much any, that did not bear my name. And few
loved me more.
It wants but little now of five-and-thirty years,
since I became the guest of Nathan Warren-—a true
Christian nobleman. His name will never be forgot-
ten. His memory will be green forever. The three
brothers, identified with all that is best and most
precious in the interests and institutions of this city,
and their venerable mother, were then alive, and
active in all good works. Her excellent and venera-
ble parents were still living, and her lovely sister.
She was in the early prime of life, with her little
ones about her knees. I had never seen a lovelier
woman. I never have. There is none. She was ex-
emplary in all the duties of a wife and mother. She
was already widely felt in acts of courtesy and
charity. A severe illness detained me for a while by
that most hospitable hearth, and knit more closely
a love which has never faltered, and will live on,
through eternity. For many years, I was a frequent
visitor in Troy; always her guest. I saw, year after
year, the progress of the church from that small,
plain, brick building, to that which you see it now.FUNERAL ADDRESS.
85
I was of their closest and most sacred councils, in re-
gard to all these things. The venerable Dr. Butler
was still abroad, erect and gracious, in his catholic in-
tegrity and pastoral simplicity. Among the good
works of that honourable matron, the mother of the
noble three, was a Saturday Sewing-school. The
children gathered at her house, were taught the
Catechism, and familiarized with the Prayer-book.
She had begun this in 1815, and continued it to her
death, in 1885. From that time, as she had promised
the aged saint, our loved one carried it on. In 1839,
then four years, in that sacred estate of widowhood
which God honours and she adorned, she made it an
every-day school for all the branches of a plain Eng-
lish education, with sewing and other household acts,
and in connection with the daily service and continual
catechising. How the good work grew in her heart,
and how her heart grew with the work, you all are
witnesses. This beautiful church, soon to be enlarged,
and the adjoining most commodious parsonage, are
perpetual monuments. This faithful shepherd of the
sheep, these five-and-forty weeping girls, the twin-
school for the training of as many boys, are living
attestations. In these good works, active in every
office of humanity, a true sister of mercy—while yet
she lived among her children and administered her
house, and exercised the widest, the most beautiful,86	MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
the most gracious hospitality—our dear one walked by
faith; and that, a faith which worked by love.. It
"may be said of her, in David’s words: “The zeal of
Thine house hath eaten me up.” Never strong, the
pressure of so many cares, and of such continual
activity in works of piety and charity, was too much
for her. • She intermitted nothing which her hand
could find to do. She looked well to her house.
She was the stay and comfort of her family. She
was the Counsellor and encourager of her pastor.
She was attentive to all the wants of all the poor.
She was the careful mother of her five-and-forty
children. But the time had' come when she must
rest from her labours. She had established her ad-
mirable school, of which more than seven hundred
have enjoyed the benefits; many of the elder pupils
women, that adorn the doctrine of God, their Saviour,
in all things. She had seen the boys’ school well in
progress. She had given the benediction of her
presence to the newly erected parsonage. She had
secured the enlargement of this holy and beautiful
house. She had well-nigh reached the Psalmist’s
threescore years and ten. . She had kissed and
blessed her grandchildren. She was “ready to be
offered.” On Monday evening last, she retired to •
her room, as usual, at nine o’clock. She had been
uncommonly well that day, though silent and in-FUNERAL ADDRESS.
87
dined to be alone, and even tenderer than her sweet
wont. She gave directions for the breakfast as she
passed along, and said that she felt so well she would
drive out the next day. Towards two, on Tuesday
morning, she awaked, and asked the hour. She was
not so well; but declined the service of her faithful
maid, on the characteristic ground, that she would
not trouble her. She laid her dear head on the pil-
low, which it had consecrated so long, and, in an in-
stant, was asleep in Jesus. “ Lo! He giveth His be-
loved sleep.”
MkRY. Warren was, pre-eminently, a childlike per-
son. There was fulfilled in her, what Jesus said:
“ Except ye be converted, and become as little chil-
dren, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
She was childlike in her tastes, childlike in her man-
ners, childlike in all her ways, and so beautiful in her
childlikeness ! With all this—let me rather say, the
more for all this—she was a woman of great wisdom,
singular prudence, unwearied energy, and unchange-
able determination. She was made (rod’s steward,
for a large estate. She was the mother of a’numer-
ous family. She had peculiar cares to meet, and
trials to endure. Her responsibilities were great and
arduous. She met and bore them all. The tender-
ness that nurtured infants, was the stay of strong
men.
788	MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
Among the leading traits of our beloved was un-
selfishness. With most abundant means, she spared
but little for herself. Lavishing, in her bounty, to all
others; in all her personal expenditures she was frugal,
almost to parsimony. She would insist on entertain-
ing those who were not attractive; and so, were
overlooked by others. She walked in His footsteps,
who made Himself poor, that He might make many
rich.
Nor was her self-denial a mere negation: it ran
out into an unbounded lovingness. The law of love
was on her lips: the law of love was on her life.
She was most forgiving. She was most charitable,
in her construction of evefy one. She had no cen-
sures, no condemnations: I need not add, no calum-
nies. She visited the fatherless and widows, in their
affliction. She gathered in, and taught the children.
She fed the hungry: she clothed the naked: she
nursed the sick. With her own hands she once did
the last offices for the dead, in the home of poverty.
And her whole life was love.
Another of her striking features was her unworld-
liness. Placed, by Divine Providence, in eminence
and affluence, she “ cared for none of these things.”
There was no value for any thing in this world in her
sight, but as she could use it for the good of men and
for the glory of the Lord. The feasts which sheFUNERAL ADDRESS.
89
preferred to make, were for the poor. The clergy
were always welcome to her table ; and she followed
them, with thoughtful eye and liberal hand, into the
seclusion of their poverty. In the last year of her
life, more than one-third of all her income was laid
out in works of piety and charity.
And, finally, our loved one was most beautiful in
heavenly-mindedness. The Church was her heart-
home. She never wearied of its service. She was
never away from its instructions. She never absented
herself .from its heavenly banquet. To her, to live
was Christ. I can find nothing that is so like her as
that beloved Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard
His word, and caught His loveliness by her contin-
ual gazing on it. With that beloved Mary she has
entered on the rest' which He consecrated. With
that beloved Mary she waits for that heaven which
He has opened for all believers. Sheltered, in her
life and in her death, under the Cross, which lies in
emblematic beauty on her breast, she looks for His
appearing, Who shall crown her with that immortal
chaplet of which the love-twined emblem rests upon
her coffin-lid. “ Be thou faithful unto death, and I
will give thee a crown of life.”
To those who wait upon the service of the Church,
with constant feet, beautiful coincidences are pre-
sented. It was so in the case of our beloved.90
MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
Her last communion was on the Feast of the
Epiphany: knowing Him then, hy faith, whose
manifestation to the Gentiles she rejoiced in; that
so she might now have the fruition of His glorious
Godhead.
Her last attendance on the public worship of the
Church, was on the second Sunday after the Epiph-
any. Listen, now, to the Epistle for that day, and
see how perfectly she realized it all. It is her char-
acter, delineated by St. Paul:—“ Having then gifts,
differing according to the grace that is given to us,
whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the
proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our
ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he
that exhorteth, on exhortation; he that giveth, let
him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with dili-
gence ; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.
Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which
is ' evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly
affectioned, one to another, with brotherly love; in
honour preferring one another; not slothful in busi-
ness ; fervent iu spirit; serving the Lord; rejoicing
in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant
in prayer; distributing to the necessity of saints;
given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute
you; bless, and curse not. .Rejoice with them that
do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be ofFUNERAL ADDRESS.
91
the same mind one towards another. Mind not high
things, but condescend to men of low estate.” All
you who knew her, say, if this is not her picture to
the life. Find, if you can, one trait that was not
hers. We have been apt to think of the sacred
portraiture, as to be realized in the whole body of
the faithful: some of its traits in one, some in an-
other. But God’s grace, in Mary Warren, has com-
bined them all.
The text of the sermon at the Holy Cross, last
Sunday, was from a portion of the Holy Scriptures
which she especially delighted in—the Sermon on the
Mount. The words of it were-—“ Blessed are they
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for
they shall be filled.” It was her own beatitude. In
her sense of utter sinfulness and helplessness, she
hungered and thirsted after a righteousness which is
in Jesus Christ: by faith in Him for which she hun-
gered and thirsted. Her spiritual hunger and thirst
led her to the Church, as the Bethlehem, or house of
bread; the Bethesda, or house of effusion, or of».
mercy. What she sought for she found there : in its
teachings, in its worship, in its sacraments, in the
peace which passeth understanding, and the hope
which layeth hold of immortality. And she has
found it now, forever, in the marriage supper of
the Lamb, which is forever spread; and in the pure92	MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
• -
river of the water of life, which issueth forever from
the throne.
Sweet spirit! he it ours to follow thee as thou hast
followed Christ; to hear with thee His Cross, to wear
with thee His crown! We ask it in His name who
died for sinners ; and unto Him, with Thee, Almighty
Father, and the Divine and Holy Spirit, shall he
ascribed the glory and the praise now and forever
more. Amen.REV. DR. TUCKER’S SERMON.SEKMok,
PREACHED AT THE CHURCH OP THE HOLT CROSS, ON THE SUN-
DAY FOLLOWING THE FUNERAL, BY THE REV. J. IRELAND
TUCKER, D. D *
“Blessed are they that mowm: for tJiey shall he com-
forted.”—St. Matthew, v. 4.
It was the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ “to
preach good tidings unto the meek, to bind up the.
broken-hearted,” “ to comfort all that mourn, to
appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto
them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that
they might be called trees of righteousness, the
planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified.”
And this mission He fulfilled, by acts of mercy in
which Divine power was exerted in order to accom-
plish the promptings of His loving heart. So that His
miracles were evidences of His compassion, no less
than proofs of His supernatural power. ' Not only
when He approaches with love and sympathy the
widow who is following to the grave her only son,
and bids her “ weep not;” or when standing near the
* See Note F.96
MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
sepulchre of him whom together with his sisters He
loved, and as He sees Mary “weeping, and the Jews
also weeping which came with her,” “ groans in the
spirit, is troubled,”—and weeps; or, as He comes near,
and beholds the city, soon to be compassed with
armies, and its glory to be laid even with the
ground, and wept over it:—not only on these par-
ticular occasions did our blessed Lord manifest ten-
derness and sympathy in the presence of human
affliction, but His life was passed among the suffering
and sorrowing. “ He bore their griefs, and carried
• their sorrows.” Thus while He was upon earth, and
now, when we contemplate Him as a “great High
Priest who has passed into the Heavens,” we are
urged by an apostle “ to hold fast our profession,”
by the consideration “that we have not a High
Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of
our infirmities,” and are therefore exhorted to “ccfme
boldly ’unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
The mission of the Son of God to this earth,
whether we examine it by the light of prophecy, or
study it in its details as presented in the record of
the Evangelists and Apostles, is associated with sym-
pathy—sympathy with His brethren in the flesh, in
their pains and sorrows. “He took our infirmities,
and bare our sicknesses;” and those who felt theSERMON.
97
weight of earthly cares, or the burden of a wounded
conscience, He called to Him with words of love,
that He might refresh them. That sympathy He
has carried up with Him “ into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for usin
the holy city, it is the light of His glory which shall
wipe away all tears, and cause that “ there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, nor any
more pain.”
There is great realness or truthfulness, then, in the
promise of our adorable Saviour, “ Blessed are they
that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” It is the
assertion of One who has the will and the power to
accomplish what He declares—the promise of One
who, by the exercise of His divine energy, and
through the succours of His grace, will “comfort
those that mourn,”—by His words of tenderness and
love, which show His compassion, His words of life,
which quicken the soul with the hope of incorrup-
tion and immortality,—by His example, “theMan of
sorrows, and acquainted with griefHis submission
to His Father’s will, His draining of the bitter cup
of human agony and shame, His tasting death for
every man—showing, by His meek and ready obe-
dience, His quiet and patient suffering, how much
may be endured for the testimony of the truth and
God’s glory, and how, “for the joy that was set98	MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
before Him, He endured the cross, despising the
shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
throne of God,”—inspiring the hof>e that they; too,
who by His grace overcome the thoughts arid inter-
ests of self, the temptations and trials of the world,
“ will sit with Him on His throne, even ps He also
overcame and is set down with His Father on His
throne.” He will comfort those that mourn with the
consideration of His own death and resurrection, so
that, “ concerning them which are asleep,” they will
not sorrow “ even as -others which have no hope;
for, if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with Him.”
We are all here t*his morning, my brethren, as
mourners. One distinguished by all the graces of
the Christian character could not be removed from
this little circle of believers without causing common
sorrow. One so intimately associated with the Church*
of the Holy Cross and its congregation as the saintly
woman whose earthly remains on Friday last we fol-
lowed to the tomb ; one so identified with the origi-
nating* and founding of this establishment; one so
closely bound by sympathy and deeds of love with
every individual in this parish, with every little
child, and that little child’s parents and brothers and
sisters; one who has linked us all together by theSERMON.
99
kind and holy wishes of her generous heart, and
brightened even our holiest days and seasons by her
smiles of pious joy, and the sweet tones of her gen-
tle voice—such a woman as our dear friend, a per-
son of her devotion to her heavenly Master’s ser-
vice, and the interests, temporal and spiritual, of
those around her; a disciple of Jesus, so zealous, so
hopeful, where the honour of her Saviour was in-
volved ; one so humble, so tender-hearted, so unwea-
ried in well-doing ; who was so ready to share alike
our joys and sorrows, and apt to teach us by her
beautiful example how “to bear one another’s bur-
dens, and so fulfil the law of Christone who has
so fervently engaged with us in our solemn services,
so devoutly participated in the same holy rites, and,
when absent in person, was ever looking towards
the holy place—her soul, like David’s, “longing, yea
fainting for the courts of the Lord, her heart and
flesh crying out for the living God;” one whose heart
was so enshrined within these consecrated walls—■
whose thoughts, wishes and hopes, for time and eter-
nity, were intertwined with all the prayers and psalms
and hymns which in this House of Prayer were
blended with the Saviour’s name, and with those
holy symbols which set forth His grace and glory-
such a person, a woman whose memory as we look
back for years is so closely interwoven with all our100	MEMORIAL OP MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
holiest thoughts, and feelings, and purposes, and
hopes, could not he removed from our sight; we
could not he separated from the influence of her
presence, not to see again those features lighted up
with “the heauty of holiness,” and hear in that
voice the breathings of a pure and tender heart; no
more to watch her countenance for the winning smile
of approval, or the glance of an eye beaming with
zeal and hope for encouragement and incentive to
work, to duty, to patience and faith ; no more to
have before us day by day one by her words and
deeds to remind us of our Lord and Saviour, of His
promises ancl judgments, of His acts of self-sacrifice
and mercy, to exhibit the beauty and loveliness of
Him who, above all others, “ went about doing
good—we could not be separated forever while on
earth from such an earnest-hearted believer, such a
faithful follower of our common Master Jesus Christ,
without feeling sorrow, without grieving—-without
mourning.
The sphere in which we, my brethren, as Chris-
tians are acting is not so large but that the energy
and kindness, the charity and devotion of such a
woman as Mary Warren can make themselves felt
in the heart of every fellow-worshipper in this holy
place. At her departure we cannot but grieve : we
mourn. It is not the same sorrow as theirs whoS'EKMON.
101
shared more of her love, and had a stronger claim
upon-her affection ; but it is as real a sorrow. We
mourn and we seek for consolation.
And where shall we find it ? Not to the world,
surely; will we go for comfort. A wounded spirit
will find nothing to soothe its grief in the glare of
' earth’s sunshine. Its warmth and light cannot reach
the heart nestling in the dark covert of its own sad
thoughts. It will only make it cling more franticly
to its memories, and deepen and broaden the shadow
of its regrets. We must go, my brethren, to Him
who has promised to comfort those that mourn. It
is in connection with thoughts and hopes associated
with the Name and Person of our Lord Jesus Christ
that we must seek for consolation; and such thoughts
and hopes are wreathed, like a crown of glory, around
the memory of the holy dead.
She, whose sudden departure we mourn, reached
the limits of a long life. “She has come to the
grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh
in his season.” The opportunity has thus been given
to her of accomplishing much for the glory of God
and the good of men. Faithfully she used the talents
1 entrusted to her charge; and we may anticipate her
reward when the Lord of the servants cometh and
reckoneth with them : “ Well done, thou good and
faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few102
MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
things, I will make thee ruler over many things;
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” We may
console ourselves with, the reflection, that her good
works have followed her into eternity, and will shine
round her in that day when “the Lord of Hosts
maketh up His jewels,” and when we “ shall be able
to discern between the righteous and the wicked—
between him that serveth God, and him that serveth
Him not.”
While she was with us upon earth, “ she did what
she could” to manifest her faith in God, her love for
her Saviour, and her charity towards poor and all
people by building this edifice and dedicating it as a
, house of prayer to the service and worship of the Fa-
ther, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; an act in which her
charity was no less conspicuous than her faith and zeal.
She appreciated, as few do, the privileges of the
sanctuary. No words could more aptly express her
feelings than those of the Psalmist: “ I was glad
when they said unto me, we will go into the house
of the Lord.” Blessings, which she so highly prized,
she piously wished to bring within the reach of all.
As far as she could, she wpuld extend the limits of
Christ’s kingdom, and add to the number of His
faithful followers ;—would bring to ears that other-
wise would not hear them, the words of eternal life
and the offers of salvation would lift up, as it were,SERMON.
103
a new cross on which to inscribe the name of “ Christ
crucifiedand thus draw men’s hearts towards Jesus,
that they might look up to Him and be saved. She
would swell, with new voices, the anthems on earth
which, with the antiphon echoed in heaven, ascribes
“ Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power unto
Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the
Lamb, for ever and ever.” She would add to the
number of the great multitude who shall stand
“ before the throne and the Lamb, clothed with
white robes, and palms in their hands, and cry with
a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which
sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb.”
In carrying' out her holy wishes for the glory
of her Adorable Master, Jesus Christ, and the
eternal welfare of men, she employed, in this house
of prayer, instrumentalities which were intended
not to work on this generation exclusively, but
on generations yet unborn; whose influence was
not to be circumscribed by the confines of time, but
to stretch out into the boundless space of the never-
ending future. So, as that Rock which followed the
Israelites in their wanderings, was Christ, these walls
were to encompass “ a well of water springing up
into everlasting life,” here, year after year, to “ be an
abiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the
tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place; as the
8104	MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” And in
distant ages, band after band of careworn pilgrims
will be here refreshed by the showers of grace, and be
cheered by the light of truth hence reflected on their
path, and darting its beams far into the valley and
shadow of death, even illumining the sepulchre with
the glories of the eternal world.
For centuries to come the name of the founder of
this church will be associated with the glory of God,
and the happiness of poor and all people. When our
frail bodies have long since mouldered in the dust,
those that follow us shall see, in these sacred walls,
the monument of a woman who had the piety, or the
faith, to plan and execute great things for the glory
of God, and for the temporal and eternal interests
of her fellow-creatures. And if, in behalf of the
centurion whose servant was sick, it could be urged,
in pressing his claims upon the sympathy and love of
Jesus, “ that he was worthy for whom He should do
this, for he loveth our nation and hath built us a
synagogue and those claims were admitted, and
Jesus went with them to do the soldier’s will, to
reward his faith and charity,—may we not believe
that she who builds a house of prayer and dedicates
it to His honour, and by it would strive to glorify
His Cross, and gather men around it to share the
merits of His precious death and sacrifice, will haveSERMON.
105
even stronger grounds than those on which the
friends of the Roman centurion pressed his claims
on the interest and mercy of the compassionate
Saviour ?
Can we not feel, my brethren, as if He who al-
lowed the woman in Bethany to anoint Him with
the very precious spikenard—who acknowledged it as
“ a good work wrought on Him”—who proclaimed
that “ wheresoever this gospel shall be preached
throughout the whole world, this also that she hath
done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her—can
we not feel that He who commended and glorified
the one deed, and the one great principle of doing
what we can to show our love, will remember, with
mercy, at the last day, the humble, faithful, zealous
disciple, who, in honour of His cross, with thoughts
•of His burial, with thoughts of His rising from the
tomb, of His ascending with triumph into the
heavens, and with thoughts of His coming again in
glory to judge both the quick and the dead, reared
this building, and hallowed it with His Name and the
symbol of His salvation ?
We comfort ourselves, my brethren, with the con-
sideration of her charity—her attention to the wants
and wishes of the poor and the afflicted. Notwith-
standing what seemed the unremitted attention of
our lamented friend to the desires and interests of106
MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN "WARREN.
the separate members of her own family—her constant
care, her watchfulness, her assiduous purpose to dis-
charge all the duties of a fond Christian mother—she,
without an effort, could sympathize with suffering
and sorrow, whenever or however affliction or pain
could show itself.
While I have been almost the daily witness of her
affectionate solicitude and anxious endeavours to min-
ister to the comfort and happiness of her own chil-
dren—-her quiet, self-sacrificing, loving efforts to sur-
round their home with all the sweet attractions of
domestic joy, and the genial delights of social inter-
course ; for a period of fourteen years, I have been
the witness, too, almost day by day, of her constant,
patient, willing labours among the poor and the
afflicted. Until her strength failed her, she walked
through our streets like an angel of mercy. Where-
ever she entered, she brought light, peace, and joy,
however sad and desolate the dwelling. By her
pleasing manners, her ’ affectionate inquiries, her
soothing words, her kind sympathizing looks, she
inspired confidence and hope in the gloomy hearts
of the most spiritless and desponding. She seemed
to open a way for the sunshine of heaven to
pour its cheering, quickening and sanctifying
beams into those dark and dreary abodes where
poverty, sickness, and sorrow had made their home.sermon:
107
By the bedside of the invalid, . trying by every
delicate attention to assuage pain—in the presence
of the afflicted, offering as a solace to the bruised
spirits the soothing words of Christian faith and
hope—to the young and friendless, offering herself
as a protector and guide—to the aged and forsaken,
as the affectionate companion, ever ready to bear
with the infirmities of years, and patiently listen to
the complaints wrung from hearts chafed by disap-
pointment and regrets.
Her charity welled forth from a heart that beat
responsive to every throb in others’ breasts of sor-
row and gladness. It showed itself in deeds of active
benevolence. Like the charity of the good Samari-
tan, it wras exercised in personal acts and services of
generous love. Not by the deeds and offices of
others, did she gratify the kindly feelings of her
nature. Her noble and holy impulses brought* her
into close contact with the bodily forms of human
suffering and sorrow—until, in the persons of His poor
and afflicted brethren, she ministered, with her own
hands, to the wants of her blessed Lord and Saviour.
May we not, then, my brethren, earnestly believe
and devoutly hope, that when that Lord and Saviour
“ shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels
with Him, and shall sit upon the throne of His glory,
and beipre Him shall be gathered all nations,” and108	MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
He shall reward whatever has been done unto one of
the least of these His brethren, as done unto Him-
self, she shall then be with those on the right hand,
unto whom the King shall say; “ Come ye blessed of
my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world V
In one especial form of charity—attention to the
wants and religious training of children—we find
another source of consolation, when we would seek
the comfort which our Blessed Saviour promises to
those that mourn.
On the death of the venerable Phebe Warren, she,
whose loss we now deplore, assumed the responsibility
of carrying out her benevolent purposes. And we
all know, my brethren, how faithfully she discharged
that responsibility; how, so far as health and
strength permitted, she multiplied her cares and
duties in supplying the necessities and ministering
to the innocent delights of the girls entrusted to her
affectionate care; how she interested herself in the
mental improvement, the religious and moral train-
ing of every pupil of the school ; how, in many
instances, she followed them out into life, and
anxiously watched their development into woman-
hood ; how her interest was manifested, not only in
the school-room, but at their separate homes; how
she has linked, with the sweetest memories of kind-SERMON.
109
ness and enjoyment, the sacred festivities of Christ-
mas and Easter.
Could you have knelt with me and those little
ones in the chamber of death, and heard their throbs
of anguish, you would then have realized how con-
stant and tender the care, how affectionate and win-
ning must have been the love that could thus bind
to her, with cords stronger than death, so many
young, trusting hearts. And if we believe that
“ whoso shall receive one such little child in His
name receiveth Him,” we must also believe that
she, whose virtues we are now commemorating for
our comfort, received Christ-—was blessed by His
presence, favoured by His grace, .won His mercy, and
shared His confidence and Divine regard. And if
the love of the holy Apostle was proved by the
injunction, “ feed my lambs,” we may estimate her
love to the Saviour by the solemn duty which seems
to have been imposed upon her—a duty so faithfully
discharged—-of watching over the tender lambs of
the flock; and hope that “ the Good Shepherd,” on
that day, when He divideth the sheep from the
goats, will reward, with everlasting blessedness, her
love and fidelity.
We have, my brethren, the example of our dear
friend to comfort us as we mourn her departure to
the world of spirits.110	MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
She had great, faith in the goodness of God, and
in the mercy of His dear Son. Ho clouds of unbe-
lief obscured from her soul the light of the Son of
Righteousness, and disturbed her confidence in that
Saviour on whom she rested her hopes for time and
eternity. Never, by word or look, could I detect
the shadow of a doubt as to any truth or mystery
of the faith. Every doctrine and every solemn rite
to her were realities, which brought her into commu-
nion with her Heavenly Father, her Lord and His
grace. She was devotional in her habits, “ continu-
ing instant in prayer.” As often as this church was
open for the celebration of Divine Service, when not
prevented by illness, she was in her wonted place,
and, with great reverence and earnestness, engaged in
the exercises of the sanctuary.
Among her favourite devotional books, for several
years past, were—“ The Manual for the Afilicted,”
“Law’s Serious Call,” “The Imitation of Christ,” and
“The Comforts of Old Age.” Of late her daily
companions were, “ The Spiritual Combat” and
“ Bishop Andrews’ Devotions.” To show her real-
ness in the performance of her religious duties, I
would mention that when conducting the devotions
of the family, she was in the habit of adding to the
concluding prayer, uor unprepared.” So that it
read, “ Make us ever mindful of the time when weSERMON.
Ill
shall lie down in the dust; and give us grace always
to live in such a state that we may never ,be afraid,
or unprepared, to die.”
She was zealous for Christ and His Church. Firm
in her convictions, charitable with respect to the
opinions of others, she warmly maintained what she
believed to be the cause of truth and holiness. Her
worldly means were freely spent in upholding that
cause. Her chief delight seemed to be to devote
her wealth, time and energies to the service of her
Divine Master and the interests of His holy Church.
This love for Christ and His mystical Body, led
her to devise great undertakings for the glory of her
Saviour and the eternal interests of her fellow-
creatures. By the aid of her devoted children she
was able to accomplish much that her ardent zeal
and generous love prompted for the honour of her
Lord and the salvation of men. It will be now the
pious resolution of those children to carry out every
wish of their beloved mother, whether expressed by
word or writing. They will thus make this House of
Prayer the memorial of filial love as well as the
monument of a mother’s faith, hope, and charity.
In the daily life Mrs. Warren displayed all the
fruits of the Spirit: “ Love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temper-112
MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
ance.” As we think of this, and think, too, of her
humility, her lowly opinion of herself, of her inten-
tions and works, of her humble dependence on the
grace and mercy of the Saviour, we may believe, my
brethren, that she had the spirit of little children,
—the sign of those converted from sin to righteous-
ness,—and that she was thus fitted for entrance into
the .Kingdom of Heaven. We may confidently hope
that she is now among the u blessed dead who die in
the Lord,” and u who rest from their labours.” And
her holy example may strengthen our faith, animate
our hope, increase our zeal, and warm our love—may
thus lead us on the way of eternal life, and brighten
the prospect before us as we are moving onwards to
the grave.
Those faithful disciples of Jesus who go before us
to their rest, help to smooth down some of the diffi-
culties of a the straight and narrow way.” We see
in them the triumphs of Divine Grace, and the more
resolutely u press towards the mark for the prize of
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” We long
to follow them, and would try to bring together the
separated links of that golden chain of Christian
sympathy and hope which bound heart to heart.
The example of our departed friend may be thus,
my brethren, ever before us, while on earth, to com-SEKMON.
113
fort us, as it reminds us of lier peace and joy, and
excites us to imitate lier virtues, that we may obtain,*
with her, “the crown of righteousness which the
Lord, the Righteous Judge, shall give unto all them
that love His appearing.”REMARKS OF BISHOP POTTER.REMARKS',
MADE AT HIS VISITATION, ON THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT, BY
THE RT. RET. HORATIO POTTER, D. D., LL. D.
At the conclusion of a Sermon on the active duties
of the Christian life, the Bishop alludes thus affec-
tionately to the founder of the Church of the Holy
Cross:—
“ But how can I speak of works of charity in this
holy place, without seeing rise up before me the
image of one long dear to the affections of you all,
long associated with these offerings of prayer and
praise, and with those works of labours of love which
were here hallowed by daily devotion; the image of
one now taken to her rest! Here, every object that
the eye rests upon, recalls her presence, and speaks
her praise. The church which she founded, is her
monument, and stands as the fitting memorial of her
daily, unobtrusive, but ever earnest, devotion to the
duties of piety and charity.
“ In the midst of affluence, she had little to do with
the pleasures of the world. Her heart was in the
Church, and in the midst of those little ones which,118
MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
year after year, she patiently and tenderly sought
out, and gathered into her Christian school, to he
nurtured under most purifying influences; those fos-
ter-children whom she followed to their lowly homes,
with maternal care and kindness, lavishing upon
them her encouragements and her well-chosen gifts,
and with whom she was daily to be seen here kneel-
ing in this House of Prayer.
“ And, my brethren, let me venture to say to you,
that far beyond what you perhaps have had oppor-
tunity of knowing, I have had occasion to observe
that the influence of her example, and the influence
of her admirably conducted charity, and of her most
reverential and fervent worship, here set up and
maintained through her instrumentality, has extended
into distant portions of the Church, impelling to
similar efforts, and awakening a desire for more care-
fully-ordered and more animated devotions.
“ It is more than thirty years since I first shared in
the hospitalities of that Christian home. There the
clergy were ever welcome, and ever sure to find kind
and sympathizing friends. And through all the in-
tervening years, to enter that hospitable dwelling
was to meet a heart, open to every holy cause of
God and man—it was to find yourself breathing an
atmosphere which savoured more of things sacred and
heavenly, than of things earthly and perishable.REMAKES.
110
“ As our thoughts linger around that life of daily
devotion and unwearied love, and pause over its
peaceful close, we may almost fancy that we hear the
voice from heaven, saying unto us: ‘ Blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord, even so, saith the Spirit, for
they rest from their labours?
“ Here, in this holy place, her removal impresses us
with a sad feeling of something wanting. But blessed
be God, her image is inscribed on these walls, her
memory is enshrined in thousands of hearts, is asso-
ciated with all these devotions, and with all those
labours of love which these devotions hallow and
sustain, while there lingers here in the midst of us,
and* long will linger, the light of a blessed example
to animate our hearts, to show us what we ought to
be, and to do, and to beckon us on toward the
heavens.”
9
«
%4OBITUARY NOTICES.OBITUARY NOTICES
IN WHICH A FEW INACCURACIES ARE CORRECTED.
From the Troy Daily Times.
Death of Mrs. Nathan "Warren.—We are extremely pained to learn
that the venerable Mrs. Nathan Warren departed this life very suddenly
about tt?o o’clock this morning, at the good old age of seventy years,
which she had just attained. Her disease was a spasm of the heart,
though it was not chronic.
Mrs. Warren was a daughter of the late Nathan Bouton, and was one
of the oldest inhabitants of the city. But she was better known for many
acts of self-denial, and deeds of benevolence and charity. The Church of
the Holy Cross is a monument of her devotion to the cause of religion,
while the flourishing school connected with the Church is indebted exclu-
sively to her patronage and care for its success. Since the decease of her
husband, for twenty-five years, we believe, she has devoted the most of
the income of her estate to this institution. • It was her object and
delight of life to minister to the wants of the poor and ignorant, and to
extend the hand of kindness and encouragement to all who were anxious
or willing to enjoy moral and intellectual cultivation. We cannot state
the extent of her alms-deeds, but we know they have been great; and
we have no doubt the end is not yet. A good woman has gone to her
rest. Peace and love to her memory !
From the Troy Whig.
“ Died on Tuesday, February 8th, Mrs. Mary Warren.”
Such was the unexpected announcement in the papers by which many
a one among us was both startled and grieved. But it must not be that
those few words are all the comment this city has to make upon the
death of such g, person. It is not justice to the living or the dead that
one who was in the truest sense a public benefactress should be taken
from us, and we make only a brief ordinary mention of her decease, as if
a common death had occurred.124
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
We should note that another of the citizens who knew Troy at its
founding, and one whom Troy has for so many years known well, and
known only to esteem and cherish, has now passed away. She has
passed away from a field of labour and usefulness, little observed by some,
but known,and felt in the homes and in the hearts of many, very many
who had neither fostering nor protection, save from Heaven, and from her
as Heaven’s almoner; and the extent of her bounties and her efforts, and
the blessings they secured to others and returned? upon her own head, are
known but to the few who acted under her and with her, and to those
whose intimacy gave them opportunity to learn what was so unostenta-
tiously going on every day and every year. Her benevolence was con-
ducted on a system combining for the poor assistance for support, with
training and educating the young, and not forgetting that training and
education rightly tend, like life itself, to a blessed immortality, her sys-
tem, like her life,
“Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way.”
In this is the abiding consolation of the bereaved, and her own “ ex-
ceeding great reward,” and her last earthly monument would be the con-
tinuance of her works.
From the Family Journal.
Death of Mrs. Nathan Warren.—“A mother in Israel” has fallen!
The generous friend of the poor, the liberal patroness of education—she
who, like her Divine Master, literally went about doing good, feeding the
hungry, clothing the naked, and instructing the ignorant—Mrs. Nathan
Warren, is no more ! Regardless of herself, regardless^of the ease and
indulgence which her affluence placed at her command, Mrs. Warren vis-
ited, in person, the hovels of the poor, sought out the helplesstorphans and
the children of the destitute, and taking them kindly by the hand, led
them to her school, dressed them in decent clothes, furnished them with
books, teachers, and every facility for acquiring a useful, polite, and, more
than all, a thorough religious education; for Mrs. W. was well aware
that to educate the intellect without the heart was at best a dangerous
experiment. She therefore built at her own expense a beautiful little
chapel, (the Church of the Holy Cross,) and provided a faithful clergy-
man, (Rev. Dr. Tucker,) to train them in the ways of religion and truth.
Nor was this noble enterprise the result of any fitful or temporary
impulse, but the steady, persevering labour of more than twenty years of
her life. ■ At an age when most people are but too apt to think they mayOBITUARY NOTICES.
125
be allowed to retire from the field of active duty, Mrs. Warren held right
on with unfaltering resolution. Indeed, the uniform devotion, the untir-
ing perseverance, and the munificent liberality exhibited by Mrs. W. in
these labours of love are above all praise.
Happy, happy Christian! Beloved in life, and lamented in death! - While
to her, death is doubtless unspeakable gain, perhaps no one could be re-
moved from this community whose departure would be so widely and
sincerely lamented. Ripe in years, and exalted in character, she lived the
life of the righteous, and has gone to her rest, much like the favoured one
of heaven, who “ walked with God, and was not, for God took him,”
suddenly, peacefully, and without the distressing ordeal of protracted
sickness or wasting disease—leaving behind her a ^memory fair as the
lily of the valley, fragrant as the rose of Sharon 1
From the Troy Whig.
Lines suggested by the Death of Mrs. Nathan Warren.
Dear friends, 'forbear—no longer weep—
Suppress each rising sigh :
By faith, behold your Mother there
Beyond the starry sky.
Mourn not her death,—she is not dead;
The good can never die!
She only dropped her tent of clay
To soar to worlds on high.
Think not of her as if confined
Within the narrow tomb;
But in Our Father’s blest abode,
Clothed in immortal bloom.
The cords of love, which bound her here,
By death have not been riven,
But twined more closely round our hearts
To lure us home to Heaven.
Oh! may they draw us onward still,
As fast as time can move,
Until we join the blissful song,
With her we fondly love.126
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
But till we reach that blessed world,
Where we no more shall part,
Her lovely image we’ll enshrine,
In each and every heart.
Though her sweet voice and loving smile,
No more our hearts can cheer,
Her bright example will illume
Our path though sad and drear.
I fain would tell the world her worth:
But ’twould be vain to try—
Language can never set it forth—
Their record is on high;
And when the last great day has come,
Will multitudes arise
To call her blessed, and proclaim
Her deeds, through earth and skies.
Troy, February 15^, 1859.	C. J.
From the Troy Whig.
Mrs. Nathan Warren.—The death of this estimable woman will be
lamented alike by poor and rich. By her generous hospitality and liberal
charity, she drew around her a large circle of admiring and grateful friends,
who now, while they deeply deplore their own loss, most sincerely sympa-
thize with her bereaved children in their heavy affliction. It is not neces-
sary fflere to enumerate qualities which would be recognize# by most of our
readers as the features of her moral character. Adulation is unworthy the
dead; even the language of public praise seems unsuited to one who was
no less humble than liberal in her charities. We would only add the wish,
then, that her name may be long held in memory, and that the loveliness
of her example may induce others to practice the same virtues which made
her life so bright and beautiful.
From the Troy Budget.
Death of Mrs. Nathan Warren.—At an early hour this morning,
the venerable Mrs. Nathan Warren departed this life, quietly, and with-
out a struggle.
Mrs. Warren was the relict of the late Nathan Warren, and daugh-
ter of the late Nathan Bouton. r	-	'	’OBITUARY NOTICES.
127
The death of Mrs. Walken, though she had attained an age greater than
is generally allotted to humanity, will fall with saddening effect on many
minds. Her wide and ever active benevolence—her Christian character—
and public spirit—long since gave her a place in the affections and regards
of this whole community. Blessed with wealth, she, years ago, re-
solved to use, at least a portion of it in her own life-time, in doing good and
multiplying blessings to those with whom fortune had been parsimonious.
Her devotion to her religion was most prominent. The Church of the
Holy Cross was built with funds furnished by her, and nearly all, if not
the entire church expenses were borne by her. ' She also established and
maintained, to the time of her death, a school for girls, at which a complete
course of studies was pursued, and many have graduated from it to become
useful and honoured members of society.
It would be impossible, in a brief obituary notice,- to even allude to the
many acts of benevolence which characterized the life of the deceased. Oth-
er, kindly, and more familiar hands will do justice to her memory, and
draw from her noble example of benevolence, purity, usefulness, and high
Christian character, those lessons which her life so strikingly enforced and
beautifully illustrated. .
, X ,
From the Troy JSSg|£
LINES ON THE HEATH OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
BY ANNA F. GRANT.
’A “ mother in Israel ” now sleeps her last sleep !
Her life and its triumphs are o’er;
But thousands her grave will visit to weep
For the generous friend of the poor.
She lived, like her Master Divine, to do good,
To relieve the poor widow’s distress,
The naked with raiment, the hungry with food,
And the orphans with kindness to bless.
The pleasures of ease and the pleasures of wealth,
Like Him, she preferred to forego,
And seek to restore some sick one to health,
Or cheer the sad mourner in woe.
She loved to seek out the poor friendless youth,
Who jieeded instruction and care,
And teach them the ways of religion and truth,
In the school, and the chapel of prayer.128
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
In those kindly efforts to bless and improve
All around her, she spent her best days ;
Her strong faith, her untiring labors of love
• Demand all our love and our praise.
But she’s gone—not dead, for she sleepeth the sleep
Of glorified saints at rest;
Where angelic guards holy vigils keep
Round those whom the Lord hath blessed.
She has gone to our Father’s blessed mansions on high,
A glorious dawn to receive,
And the good she did upon earth cannot die—
Immortal, ’twill blossom and live!	'
From the Church Journal.
Mrs. Warren, of Troy, has gone to her rest in a ripe old age, and
leaves a fragrance in the Church, sweet with the richness of a life of
good works. The influence of an example like hers cannot be estimated.
The years of her long widowhood have been marked by such generous
care for others, that a circle far more extended mourns her departure
than any merely private sorrow could command. Her spirit, too, was
communicated to the members of her family, and they followed and sup-
ported her in her zealous deeds of love, so that in these they were all as
one. The admirable School for girls, and the beautiful Church of the
Holy Cross, which has been not only built, but, also, supported almost en-
tirely by the Warren family—these, indeed, were the salient points—the
two. things of which the world knew most; but they were only samples
of what was continually going on in private. And more charming still than
all these, was the temper of placid, calm affection, the earnestness so still
because it was so deep, the modest forgetfulness of selfj the tender care
for others, which tinctured so wholly the even flow of her daily walk
and conversation. After a life thus beautiful with “ the peace that passeth
understanding,” she sleeps well.
From the New Torlc Courier and Inquirer.
The citizens of Troy have recently felt the rare experience of a gene-
ral and unfeigned public mourning, but one of those where the cloud has
its more than silver lining. A lady whose large heart devised the liberal
act, who, from the elegant associations of a life of opulence, found the
path to the orphan home the most familiar, who raised the structure
where prayer is the voice of every day, who was the earnest friend of
that class of men who most need resolute friendship, the clergymenOBITUARY NOTICES.
129
whose record is on high, and by human eyes read only as Whittier tells of
those 1 who look through tears it is the death of Mrs. Nathan Warren
that has caused this unfeigned sorrow, and that has Maddened 'the very
heart of Troy to a mourning that belongs only to the good. Sentinel.
From the Boston Daily Evening Transcript.
A Good Woman.—Mr. Editor: When persons depart this life with
no appreciable spot on their character, and have left behind them unques-
tioned evidence of great usefulness through a period of many years, it is
due, not alone to their memory, but to society, that a generous publicity
should add emphasis to* the event. Only under such circumstances do
we feel authorized to solicit a small space in your journal for the purpose
of offering some remarks suggested by the recent death of a lady in .
Troy, who was known probably to only a few of your readers.
In the immediate community of which Mrs. Nathan Warren was a
member, she was regarded not for her wealth of means; but for the plans
she adopted in making them subservient to noble ends. She was a woman
of a great and good heart, and her character and deeds were the offspring
of it. The results of such a combination, though not in all cases so fruit-
ful of beneficent action,' never fail in producing salutary influences. Few
women within or without the compass of our observation equalled her in
manifesting throughout all the relations of life exactly those traits of
character that made it confiding, loveable and dignified.
Such examples of true Christian philanthropy and. self-sacrifice go a
great way to redeem our nature from much of the cynical satire that is
ofttimes bestowed upon it by those who are skeptics as to the existence in
the human heart of any good or unselfish intentions. The religious sen-
timent was largely developed in her, and it was illustrated in forms the
most genial, winning, and enlightened, and never tiring in its great mis-
sion. The Church of the “ Holy Cross,” as well as the School for Girls,
at which a complete course of studies is pursued, attest her liberality in
that direction.
To follow the course of this admirable woman wherever her noble heart
moved and was so signally active—relieving, cheering, and blessing
wherever Christian sympathy or pecuniary aid would be effective—will
be' done by those who were more intimately associated with and observant
of her distinguished, but«now suddenly extinguished earthly career.
W. P. P.
From the Troy Budget.
Funeral’of Mrs. Warren.—The funeral of the late Mrs. Nathan
Warren took place this morning. The assemblage was immense, and the130	MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
street, for a considerable distance, literally blockaded with carriages.
Perhaps no death occurring in this city for years has occasioned more
general remark and interest; • not that it was at all out of the usual
order of events—for the deceased had passed the ripe age of sev-
enty—but because she had filled so large a space in the field of prac-
tical benevolence and usefulness, and made herself prominent (though
ever unostentatious) in good works. It is felt that the community has
sustained a loss—one not likely soon to be fully supplied—and that while
a good woman has certainly gone to her reward, her departure has left
those who moved in the wide and sunny circle of her virtues, benevo-
lence and good example, sensibly the poorer and weaker. The close of
such a life is suggestive.
How melancholy, aye how truly wretched, is the going down of the sun
of the selfish, unfeeling, avaricious mortal, in comparison ! How different
the emotions experienced, even by the hardened and callous worldling,
when the grave is about to close over one who has shown some love for
others, and over one who has lived only for himself! Life is all too
short in which to estimate the heaven-wide opposites of a well-spent pil-
grimage on earth, and one narrowed in sordidness ,and greed, and cen-
tered in self alone.	*
From the Troy Whig.	.
Funeeal of Mes. Nathan Waeeen.—The funeral of this estimable
lady took place yesterday morning. At her late residence prayers were said
by Rev. Dr. J. Ireland Tucker, Rector* of the Church of the Holy Cross,
and a benediction pronounced by Bishop Do axe, of New Jersey. The
remains were then taken to the Holy Cross Church, where the public funer-
al took place. The services are said to have been among the mo^ impress-
ive and solemn ever witnessed in this city. Bishop Doane, who for more
than thirty-five years has been a friend of Mrs. Warren, delivered a fu-
neral discourse of much beauty—an affectionate tribute to the memory of
this excellent and truly noble woman. The remains were interred in the
Cannon vault at Oakwood Cemetery. The funeral was a remarkably large
one, and relatives were present from a distance, many of whom accompanied
the body to its last resting place.
In the death of Mrs. Warren, Troy has suffered a loss that is in many
respects irreparable. Who is there that will supply the place of this con-
sistent friend of the poor, who illustrated in her character the qualities of
a Christian—not the least of them practical charity and benevolence ? We
trust that abler pens will yet undertake the task of recounting her many
beneficent deeds, which are worthy of lasting remembrance.OBITUARY NOTICES.
131
From the Troy Whig.
Mr. Editor : We are grateful that the note of mourning for Mrs. War-
ren is still prolonged in your paper. While the heart of this community
bleeds for its loss, let not the voice of its mourning be hushed. . Nor let us
cease to regard the power of Christian love exhibited in her life, until we
have caught the inspiration to emulate it. As citizens of Troy, we are all
allied to Mrs. Warren; all owe her a debt of gratitude. She purified at
their source hundreds of streams of influence. She caused the gospel to
be preached to the poor, and their little children to be brought unto Jesus,
that he might bless them. She provided channels of blessing for the meek
and humble of heart, for them that mourn, and for them which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness. We cherish the memory of our holy dead,
for her personal ministries to the poor, whom our Lord has committed to
us. The remembrance of them will be a sanctifying influence in our city,
impelling us to love to God and good will to man. And in this example
of piety and charity, we have seen a spirit rising from the level of the world’s
pride and pleasure, wealth and pomp, to a higher spiritual region, to find
joy in the source of the Lord of life. Whence who can doubt that He
will bear it triumphant over death and the grave to the glories of the life
eternal ?	*
From the Banner of the Gross.
The Late Excellent Mrs. Warren.—The Church mourns for one
of her most devoted daughters and munificent benefactors. Few persons
have, of late, visited Troy, N. Y., without a look at the beautiful Church
of the “ Holy Cross,” and the Parish School connected with it, erected
and supported by Mrs. Nathan Warren, who, secluding herself from soci-
ety, has foi; many years devoted much of her large income and her own
time to these noble objects. The sound of mourning from .Troy, caused
by her late sudden removal from this life, will find a response wherever
there are friends of the Church and of Christian charity. In a late letter
from my sister, Mrs. W., of Troy, is an account of her death, and the
funeral ceremonies, which may be interesting to your readers.
“ I have thought mudh of you in attending the solemn obsequies of
our lamented friend, Mrs. Warren. She died, in one respect, as dear J.
did—she had not one moment’s premonition—she had not the agitation of
thinking of the immediate change of worlds, nor the suffering of witness-
ing the sorrow of friends—of parting with them, and feeling that it was
for this world a final adieu.
“ Her funeral was attended on Friday. We gathered first at the house.
On the top of the coffin a cross was formed of beautiful and appropriate132
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
flowers, such as white japonicas, and leaves of dark and glossy green;
beneath the cross was a crown, wreathed of the same material. The Rev.
Dr. Tucker, in a voice which betrayed his emotion, read a prayer, and
Bishop Doane pronounced the blessing; then the clergy went forth, pre-
ceding the corpse, the long train of mourners following with others, making
the longest funeral procession ever seen in Troy. All accompanied the
corpse to the “ Holy Cross,” which was appropriately draped in mourn-
ing ; but the Church, of course, could hold but a small part of those who
formed the procession.
“ Bishop Doane, in an extempore eulogy, depicted her beautiful charac-
ter in living lines, distinctive and deserved. He dwelt on her loving-
hearted devotion to her Master’s work, as self-forgetful she went forth day
by day, and week by week, a genuine sister of mercy, to tend the couch
of sickness and want—to gather up the orphans, clothe and teach them,
and lead them to the Saviour.
“ Before the speaker, and on either hand, sat those gathered orphans,
clad in the garments of her bounty; and as the Bishop spoke of her
cares for them, fresh bursts of their grief attested the truth of his words.
And some of them helped to sing the concluding anthem, in which the
solemn, consecrated voice of Dr. Tucker so grandly, so affectingly led
them. How was my heart moved as that voice, thus accompanied, poured
forth the holy strain, ‘And I heard a voice from heaven, Blessed are the
dead that die in the Lord.’ And was there one of that creeping assembly
but with the Spirit said, yea ? She rests from her labours, and her works
will follow her to the regions of the blessed.”
These extracts from a private letter, written by one who for more than
thirty years has been among the most honored friends of Mrs. Warren,
to one who, as a former resident of Troy, enjoyed her friendship, give
but a brief statement of facts; there will doubtless be published some
memorial of this devoted servant of the Lord, which, while it honours
her memory, may stimulate other Christian women of wealth to “go and
do likewise;” to seek to live the life of the righteous, that their last end
may be like hers. She was translated to Paradise without the pangs of
death, she was followed to the grave by the blessings and tears of the
poor, and the mourning of the Church for a benefactress departed; and
at the last great day, will she not be among those who, standing at the
right hand of the Judge, will hear the blessed words, “ Inasmuch as ye
did it to the least of these, ye did it unto me ?”	A. H. J. P.
Baltimoee, February 21s£, 1859.NOTES.NOTES.
NOTE A.
Inscription on a monument in the Holy Cross.
“ SACRED TO THE MEMOEY OF
NATHAN BOUTON,
who died May 24,1838, in his 82d yea/r;
and of Abbey, his wife, who died October 5, 1827, aged 64 years.
They are interred in the family vault in the Mount Ida Cemetery.
Mr. Bouton was one of the first Wardens of St. Paul’s Church,
in this city, and continued in that office more
than 30 years.
This Tablet, while it records their exemplary worth,
attests the sorrowing love of their
devoted daughters.”
“ Right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”
From the Gospel Messenger of June 2, 1838.
Died at Troy, on Thursday night, May 24, Mr. Nathan Bouton, aged
81 years and 7 months.
In the death of this venerable man the Church in Troy has lost one of
its earliest, warmest, most faithful, and most active friends and supporters.
Having removed to this place at the same time and in the same vessel
with that venerable man (the Rev. David Butler, D. D.,) who was the
first Rector of St. Paul’s church, and who, together with those faithful and
devoted helpers in the work, who have entered into their rest before him,
10136
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
laid broad and deep the foundations of the Church in this city. In the
days of darkness and of difficulty, he was immediately called to a share in
its councils, and for a period of thirty-two years, until he was compelled
to retire by increasing age and infirmities, he was eminently active and
useful as one of the Wardens of that Church. Firm, enlightened, and
consistent in his attachment to the Church of his affections, he adhered to
her interests and sought her welfare, through evil report and good report.
Those who knew him in former days, remember him as a good citizen,
kind and affectionate in all the relations of life, and as a meek, humble and
consistent Christian. During the weary hours of his last illness, he was
a resigned and patient sufferer. It was delightful to see how all his Chris-
tian graces were refined and purified in the furnace of affliction. Apart
from his patience under suffering, and his quiet waiting for the period of
his release, two things may be particularly remarked.
The one is, the great value which he set upon the Scriptures, the pure
word of God. The Bible, and especially the New Testament, was literally
to him “more precious than gold, yea than much fine gold, sweeter, also,
than honey and the honey-comb.” Thence he derived his comfort and sup-
port ; there he found rest to his weary soul: its promises were his stay, its
hopes were his solace and refuge, its truths were his daily food, and the near-
er he came to his rest the more did he look upon all other books as scanty
streams in comparison with the pure fountain of revealed truth.
The other thing was this: his entire renunciation of all dependence on
himself, or his own righteousness, or any form, or services, or privileges,
and his meek reliance on the merits and all-sufficient righteousness of his
Saviour and Redeemer. Only a few days before his death, he said to his
Pastor, with an earnestness and depth of feeling which he will never for-
get, “I have nothing of my own in which to trust; I depend on nothing
which I have done or can do: my only trust is in what Christ has done
and suffered for me, and I hope to be saved by his merits, and not for my
own works and deserving.”
As one of a family who had all been spared to a good old age, he had
reached and passed the age of fourscore years, but he found during the
last few years of his life that his strength was labour and sorrow. With
the comfortable and cheering evidences, which his sorrowing friends have,
that he has exchanged a world of sorrow and of pain, for one of rest and
peace, they may not sorrow as those who have no hope; and they cannot
wish his patient spirit back again, to inhabit a body of sin and death, to
pass again the weary hours of pain, and meet again the slow and gradual
advances of the Messenger of Death.NOTES.
187
NOTE B.
An Extract from Bishop Doands Sermon at the funeral of the Rev.
David Butler, D. D., in St. PauVs Church, Troy, Wednesday, July
1842
“ When I behold, on either side, those sacred monuments,* and then
look down upon that venerable ruin, and then remember that I stand
before the children, and the children’s children, and the children of the
children’s children, I feel that I am made the providential link to bind
the present with the past. I came here first, just when that venerated
layman, (Eliakim Warren,) whom all agree to designate as Patriarch of
this household of the faith—than whose no other name is more widely or
more honorably known in all the churches—had entered into rest. The
fragrance of his virtues still was fresh as the remembrance of his fea-
tures ; and as I sat by the hearth which he had consecrated by his pray-
ers, I almost seemed to sit in the light of his venerable presence. She
(Phebe Warren) was still here, the partner of his love and life, that aged
woman, in the presence of whose trembling years, strong men confessed
the might that is in faith and piety—from whose meek simplicity the
wisest came to learn the better wisdom that is born, through grace, of
an obedient heart; and to whose cheerful self-denial, prompted by pure
benevolence, and guided by the wisest, most enlightened forecast, you are
indebted for that Christian School which is a surer blessing to you than
all your wealth and enterprise.”
* On the right hand, and on the left, of the pulpit, in St. Paul’s Church, are these monu-
mental inscriptions:—
“this tablet is erected by the vestry, in memory of
f&ltaktro Wamrc,
SENIOR WARDEN OF THIS CHURCH FROM ITS ORGANIZATION, IN 1804, UNTIL HIS DEATH.
To his zeal and munificence the congregation is indebted,
,	under God, for its origin and prosperity.
He died September 4, 1824, aged 77 years.
(Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.’ ”
‘‘ This tablet is erected by the vestry in memory of Phebe,
Relict of Eliakim Warren.
She died January 17, 1835, aged 80 years.
A mother in Israel for twenty years, she supported and conducted a
Saturday sewing school for the children of the poor.
‘ The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon her, and she
caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.’ ”138
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
Notjj 0.
In the Troy Daily Budget of August 13th, 1834, appeared the following
obituary notice of Mr. Nathan Warren:—
Another Landmark Removed.—We have to record to-day under our
obituary head the death of one of the earliest settlers of this city. A gentle-
man long known and most highly and most justly estimated: one who has
deeply participated in all the diversifying scenes of prosperity and calam-
ity which have befallen this city since it became a theatre of commercial
enterprise. We do not feel competent to write the tribute to his memory
which of right belongs to it; neither is this the time or the occasion for such
a performance. That service can be more appropriately and more accept-
ably executed by other hands and on another occasion.
The death of Mr. Warren is an event which will be felt throughout the
city. It has taken from the scenes of busy life, one who was emphatically
an honest, exemplary man; one who, by a long continued exercise of the
acts of kindness, benevolence, and charity, had won the gratitude of many
and the respect of all.
From the Gospel Messenger of August 23$, 1834.
Died on the 13th instant, in the city of Troy, Nathan Warren, Esq.
aged 5 7 years.
In this afflicting dispensation, for which our mind has been in a meas-
ure prepared, we mark the departure of a personal friend, and one of the
ornaments of a family long endeared to us by the knowledge of great worth
and the enjoyment of numerous proofs of hospitality and kindness. While
we condole most sincerely with an aged mother, and a whole household of
bereaved ones, we mourn for the Church, in whose welfare and interests
no one ever took a livelier concern, or evinced his anxiety by more sub-
stantial proofs of devout benevolence.
We give the following from the Troy Whig of the above date:
It is with regret that we announce to our readers the decease of our
esteemed fellow-citizen, Nathan Warren, Esq. He died this morning at
8 o’clock, of hemorrhage of the lungs, after a continued illness of some
months. Mr. Warren was first attacked at Washington, in the month of
May last, and was for some time (owing to the severity of his complaint,)
unable to be removed to this city. He returned here some few weeks
since, and from that time to the present has rapidly declined; having inef-
fectually tried the experiment of a change of situation, and the air at Leb-
anon Springs, and at his native place, Norwalk, in Connecticut.NOTES.
139
Mr. Warren was among the earliest inhabitants of this place, and with
his associates who emigrated from New-England about the same period,
contributed largely towards the commercial prosperity of our city, while
at the same time, by individual enterprise and perseverance, he amassed an
ample fortune. He was ever ready to contribute with his capital or advice
towards the advancement of any public improvement, designed to increase
the business facilities of the city, and was deeply interested in the several
companies which are now engaged, with energy, in carrying forward to
their completion several important avenues leading to the city.
In the private relations of life, Mr. Warren sustained a high character
for probity, tried virtue, strict sincerity and veracity, and supported
throughout the character of an exemplary and pious Christian. By his
mourning family and relatives—his wide circle of acquaintances and friends,
and by the city at large, his loss will he severely felt and universally de-
plored.
The u Missionary,” a church paper, after alluding to the death of seve-
ral clergymen, remarks: “ Scarcely less disastrous to the church as hu-
manly regarded, though not occupied in any office of her sacred min-
istry, has been the recent death of Nathan Warren, Esq., a vestryman
of St. Paul’s Church, Troy, N. Y., a man of whom it is but literal truth
to say, that of his order there was not one of our whole communion more
devoted to her interests, or more efficient in their promotion—the second
of three brothers who have made the name they bear identical with ex-
emplary piety, munificent generosity, and uncompromising churchman-
ship—a prudent counsellor, a faithful friend, a righteous man, unsur-
passed in the exercise of all that can endear the neighbor, brother, son,
husband, father—prodigal in alms, and of princely hospitality—the firm
supporter of the principles, and liberal patron of the institutions of the
church—the most devoted, yet the humblest of Christians, his life adorned
with simplicity, candour, integrity, purity, charity—his death, through
faith in Jesus Christ, peaceful, comfortable, triumphant. There are few
left whom the writer of these lines cherishes with a fonder love. There
is none departed for whom the sorrow of his heart is tempered with a
holier hope.”
The many virtues of Mr. Warren are recorded on a monument at St.
Paul’s Church, which bears the following inscription:140
MEMOIR OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
“ SACKED TO THE MEMOKY OF
Nathan ®amn,
A VESTRYMAN OF THIS CHURCH,
WHO DIED AUGUST 13, 1834, AGED 57 YEARS.
A wise counsellor, a firm friend, an upright man, of the noblest
public spirit, yet instinct with all the charities of home—a com-
passionate neighbour, an affectionate brother, a dutiful son,
the fondest husband, and the tenderest father—in his
habits simple, industrious, prudent, frugal, but
prodigal in alms, and profuse of hospital-
ity ; the most devoted, and the hum-
blest Christian; the firm sup-
porter of the principles, the
generous patron of the
institutions of the
Protestant Episcopal Church; his life adorned
with candour, integrity, purity, charity, piety; his death,
through faith in Jesus Christ, peaceful, comfortable, triumphant.
This stone, commemorating his virtues, attests the sorrowing love of
his bereaved wife.
‘ Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.’ ”
Note D.
An Account of the Consecration and Ordination Services, given in
“ the Churchman of Dec. 16 th, 1848.
New York.—Episcopal Services at Troy.—On Wednesday, the 6th
inst., Bishop Whittingham consecrated the Church of the Holy Cross, at
Troy, in this diocese. The Clergy, members of the Vestries of the neigh-
boring Churches, and other Churchmen, met at the room of the school sup-
ported by the liberality of Mrs. Mary Warren, and thence walked in
procession to the Church. On arriving at the door, the prescribed Conse-
cration Service was begun by the Bishop, the Clergy aiding in the respon-
sive and other parts assigned to them. The Instrument of Donation was
presented to the Bishop by Stephen E. Warren, Esq., and read by the
Rev. John Ireland Tucker, the minister of the Church. The sentence of
Consecration was read by the Rev. Benjamin I. Haight, D. D., Professor
of Pastoral Theology and Pulpit Eloquence in the General Theological
Seminary.NOTES.
141
The act of Consecration having been completed, Rev. R B. Van Kleeck,
Rector of St. Paul’s Church, Troy, commenced the Morning Service; the
first Lesson was read by the Rev. Samuel L. Southard, Rector of Calvary
Church, New York, and the second by the Rev. Richard Cox, Rector of
Zion Church, New York.
The Intoning of the Service commenced with the Versides after the
Lord’s Prayer, according to the use of Westminster Abbey, the Rev. Mr.
Tucker officiating. The “Proper Psalms” were chanted antiphonally.
The Litany was chanted by the Rev. Messrs. Tucker and Shackleford, the
Choir making the responses accompanied by the organ.
In the Ante-Communion Service, the Rev. Reuben Hubbard, Rector of
St. Stephen’s Church, Schuylerville, Saratoga Co. read the Epistle, and the
Bishop the Gospel.—Bishop Whittingham preached a sermon—the great
object of which was to vindicate the practice of consecrating edifices to the
worship of Almighty God. It was conceived and written in his own vigorous
method, and made an impression to be obliterated only when the solemn
occurrences of the day are entirely forgotten. After the Holy Communion
had been administered to a large number of devout recipients, in which the
Bishop was assisted by Rev. Dr. Haight and Rev. Messrs. Van Kleeck and
Tucker, and the services had been concluded with the benediction, the
Bishop stepped to the front of the outer Chancel, and in a strain of fervent
eloquence congratulated the congregation on the completion of the act of
dedication to God of a building every way fit and appropriate for the uses
for which it was designed. He said, he knew little more than an outline
of the history of the charity which then and there had so happy a consum-
mation ; but in that little he saw how one good deed leads to another, in a
succession of ever-growing results, and how blessings follow in the train
of every instance of holy self-denial. He referred to the fact that, years
ago, a mother in Israel, a member of the Warren family, had collected a
few little children, once a week, for the purpose of imparting to them in-
struction in certain useful domestic employments. The design grew upon
her hands, until the pupils constituted a large and interesting class. She
died in the full expectation of a glorious immortality. Another member of
the family continued her good work. At first she caused the beneficiaries
to meet under her own roof; but at length, the number having greatly in-
creased, they were associated as a school, and provided with instructors,
whose daily business it became to impart to them not only the ordinary rudi-
ments of a good education for girls, but also a practical acquaintance with
Vocal Music. Out of the great success with which that school has been
blessed, grew the design to erect an edifice to the glory of God, in which
the sweet and well-trained voices of those little ones might take an impor-142
MEMORIAL OF MRS. NATHAN WARREN.
tant part in the customary prayers and praise. The result was before the
congregation—an edifice of singular beauty, 'and much cost, free for all
who choose to enter within its hallowed doors, erected and endowed by an •
individual member of the fold of Christ, with a large school of children in
constant preparation for the duties of this life and the blessings of heaven,
in regular attendance on the daily services of the Church, and adding to
the beauty and, it may be, efficacy of devotion, by the skillful harmony
with which they share the choral parts. In looking at such a brief history
of a series of good deeds, who does not discern an incentive to the cultiva-
tion, in a like singleness of heart, of the charity which “seeketh not her
own ?”
Great additional interest and solemnity were imparted to the services
by the very admirable and appropriate selection of music, and by the ac-
curate and spirited manner in which it was performed. The chant for the
Yenite and Proper Psalms, was Lord Mornington’s in E. The Te Deum
and Jubilate was Mendelssohn’s in A. The anthem after Sermon, by Nau-
mann: the words from the 122d Psalm. The Kyrie Eleison, Trisagion^
and Gloria in Excelsis, by Dr. Hodges; the first having been written for
the occasion.
The Church of the Holy Cross is early English, and of stone, lined with
brick, built in such manner as to leave flues, or spaces, between the brick
and stone work, making the walls dry, warm, and substantial. It consists
of a Tower, Nave, and Chancel. The Tower and Nave were erected four
years ago, the Chancel was recently added. The Tower is connected with
the Nave by an arch, against the splay of which, on the north side, stands
a Font, of stone. The Nave is 24 by 60 feet in the clear, and 36 feet in
height, from the floor. The windows are small, and placed high in the
walls, the sills being nearly ten feet from the floor. They are filled with
stained glass, from designs given by Mr. Weir, of West Point. The organ
stands in an arched recess on the north side, which, with the correspond-
ing arch, or little transept, on the south side makes the ground-plan, cru-
ciform. The Chancel is 18 by 19 feet, making the length of the Church
in the clear, 92 feet, 8 inches. There are three steps to the Chancel, and
three more to the Sacrarium and Altar. There are two double lancet win-
dows on both north and south sides, the wall on the east end being al-
most entirely covered by a picture, painted and presented to the Church
by Mr. Weir. There are open roofs to both Nave and Chancel; that of
the former being much plainer than that of the latter. The Sacrarium is
paved with encaustic tiles, and the floor of the Presbytery and Choir with
marble; the Aisles and Tower being flagged with stone. The Altar, and all
the steps of the Chancel, are of white marble. There are three Sedilia, ofNOTES.
143
black walnut, on the south side, with canopies, and a Credence against the
opposite wall. There are three stalls on each side of the Presbytery, with
desks in front of them, and a Fald-stool in the middle, facing the Altar.
The Lectern stands on the south side, near the chancel-arch, and a small
octagonal Pulpit stands partly on the Nave, and against the splay of the
north side of tbe arch. A door, on the north side, between the stalls and
arch, opens into the Vestry. There are seats arranged for a double choir
on each side of the Nave, next to the Chancel.
On the ensuing morning, (Thursday, 7th,) at the Church of the Holy
Cross, the Bishop admitted to the Priesthood the Rev. John Ireland Tuck-
er, minister of the Church, and the Rev. John Shackelford, missionary at
Cohoes, Albany Co. The Rev. R. B. Fairbairn presented the candidates.
The Rev. Samuel Buel, Rector of Christ Church, Poughkeepsie, began the
Morning service; the Rev. Joshua Weaver, Rector of Trinity Church,
West Troy, and the Rev. A. T. Twing, Rector of Trinity Church, Lan-
singburgh, reading the Lessons. The Prayers were intoned by the Rev.
Mr. Geer. The Bishop preached a sermon most appropriate to the occa-
sion, and highly instructive; and afterwards administered the Holy Com-
munion, assisted by the Rev. Dr. Haight, and Rev. Messrs. Buel and
Southard. The music was the same as on the previous day, save that a
different chant, one of Aldrich’s, was taken for the Venite and the Psalms
for the day.
There were at these services, beside the Clergymen already mentioned,
the Rev. Philip E. Milledoler, M. D., Rector of Bethesda Church, Saratoga
Springs; the Rev. G. Jarvis Geer, Rector of Christ Church, Ballston Spa;
and, at the Consecration, the Rev. Edward Lounsbury, Rector of St.
John’s Church, Troy; and at the Ordination, the Rev. Wm. Payne, Rec-
tor of St. George’s Church, Schenectady.	C.
NOTE E.
The addition to the church is to be built of stone, and m the most
substantial manner—there is to be a crypt or vaulted basement under
it, to support a stone floor—the piers, arches, tracery of rose window,
door-jambs, etc., are to be of Aubigne and Caen stone—an open screen
of black walnut will separate the addition from the nave—the rose win-
dow in the west gable will be divided into thirteen compartments—there
are lancet windows on all the sides except the one next to the parsonage—
the front of the building, inclusive of the parsonage, will be eighty-three
feet—the tower, which is over the south-west corner of the addition, will
be nearly eighty feet from the ground to the top of the battlements—the144
Memorial of mbs. nathan warren.
extreme length of the church from east to west will be one hundred and
twelve feet.
NOTE F.
Rev. De. Tuckee.
Rev. and Dear Sir:—The undersigned, in behalf of the congregation
of the Church of the Holy Cross, beg leave affectionately to thank you
for your touching tribute to the memory of Mrs. Warren, and—with you
and the bereaved mourning her loss—ask that your sermon may, if agree-
able to her family, be published by us.
H. C. Lockwood,	W. T. Willaed,
George L. Eigenbrodt,	C. B. Russell,
E. J. Cridge,	G. Robertson, Jr.
J. D. Lomax,	Thomas Maguire,
James Ware.
Troy, February 14, 1859..