Christ Church, July 18th, 1836.
RT. REV. AND DEAR SIR,
At a joint meeting of the committees from the Vestries
of Christ Church, St. Peter's Church, and St. James' Church,
this morning, it was
Unanimously Resolved,
That the Bishop of the Diocese be respectfully requested
to pronounce a Discourse on the occasion of the interment
of the late venerated Rector of said Churches:
And that the chairman of this meeting communicate this resolution to the Bishop.
Very respectfully,
Rt. Rev. Sir,
Your ob't. servant,
W. MEREDITH, Chairman.
Rt. Rev. H. U. ONDERDONK, D. D.
Bishop, &c. &c.

 

Philadelphia, July 18th, 1836.
DEAR SIR:
Though I feel unable to do justice to the elevated character
of our departed Bishop, yet as the committees of the Churches
of which he was the Rector, have assigned to me
the duty of delivering a discourse at his funeral, I hold myself
bound to comply with their wishes.
Very respectfully
Your ob't. serv't.
H. U. ONDERDONK.
W. MEREDITH, Esq.
Chairman, &c. &c.

RIGHT REV. AND DEAR SIR:
I execute with great pleasure and satisfaction the duty
enjoined by the unanimous vote of the joint Committee
representing the Vestries of Christ Church, St. Peter's Church, and St. James' Church,
in conveying to you their acknowledgments for the Discourse
at the funeral services of their Rector, this morning,
and respectfully asking of you a further compliance with their wishes,
by furnishing the copy, with a view to its general distribution.
With great respect,
Rt. Rev, and Dear Sir,
Your most ob't. serv't.
W. MEREDITH, Chairman.
Rt. Rev. H. U. ONDERDONK, D. D.
Bishop, &c. &c.
Wednesday afternoon, 20th July, 1836.

Philadelphia, July 21st, 1836.
DEAR SIR:
At the request of the joint committee, I furnish the copy
of my discourse at the interment of Bishop White;
though it is imperfect as a composition, and much more so as a memorial
of that most venerated christian and father in the church.
Most respectfully,
Your ob't.. serv't.
H. U. ONDERDONK.
W. MEREDITH, Esq.
Chairman, &c. &c.

Philadelphia, July 21st, 1836.
RT. REV. AND DEAR SIR:
In behalf of the family of the Rt. Rev. Bishop White,
I beg to communicate to you their acknowledgments
for the able and discriminating discourse pronounced by you
yesterday in Christ Church; and their desire
that you would consent to its publication.
With great respect,
I remain your sincere friend,
and humble serv't.
W. H. DELANCEY.
Rt. Rev. H. U. ONDERDONK.

Philadelphia, July 21st, 1836.
RT. REV. AND DEAR SIR:
At an adjourned meeting of the Clergy, held after the funeral
of the Right Rev. William White, D. D. in the Vestry room of St. James' Church,
this day, the following resolution was unanimously adopted,
which I have the gratification officially to communicate to you:
Resolved, That the Clergy unite in the request of
the Wardens and Vestries of Christ Church, St. Peter's and St. James' Churches,
for the publication of the able and impressive discourse
delivered by the Bishop of the Diocese at the funeral
of their late beloved and venerated Father in God,
the Right Rev. William White, D. D.
J. W. JAMES,
Secretary.
To THE RT. REV. H. U. ONDERDONK, D. D.
Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania.

 

A DISCOURSE, &c.

Job I. 8,--Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth,
a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

When the long farewell has been uttered, and the darkness of the sepulchre is closing upon the relics of a friend--when his soul has gone hence in exactly that degree of preparation, in which it must appear at the tribunal of final judgment--it is natural to ask, how was that friend qualified to meet his God? It is the voice of all scripture, that with the cessation of mortal existence, the whole trial ends, by which our eternal condition is decided. Very natural therefore, and most interesting is the enquiry, whether our departed friends were so prepared that to them "to die was gain."

In indulging such anxieties however, the greatest caution and diffidence are necessary. No certainty of their fate can be attained by any who yet remain on earth. The Searcher of hearts, and He only, can determine the true character in which they left the world. In some conspicuous cases indeed, we can be reasonably sure that the "inheritance for ever" has been gained: and we ought to praise God that our hope in their behalf is so firm. More than all, we should improve departures so encouraging to our own preparation; to a review of the principles to which we ourselves must be conformed, if we would pass happily from our probation to God's judgment seat. This is the soundest contemplation, and the most proper anxiety, arising from the view of death. We are led by the providential act to a fuller study of the perfection [7/8] and uprightness, in which, through Christ, we shall obtain the commendation from on high pronounced on Job; and also, as we humbly trust, on that other man of God in whose obsequies we are now engaged.

This commendation on Job was spoken in that earlier period of his course in which he appears to have been less conscious of the "vileness" which his severe trials brought him to acknowledge, and which we all should wish to feel. And such a case implies the possibility of being in an acceptable spiritual state, though our religious experience or sensibilities be not fully manifested or perhaps developed. The case is not common; but it is probable that one is now before us. Our meditations therefore will fall under two heads: we allow but two conditions in which we would be willing to be taken to our final account. The first, making the general rule, includes both a holy life, and all holy sensibilities; with sound virtue, a deep experience of sorrow for sin, and of joy and peace in believing, added to hope and confidence in the merits of the Saviour, and absorbing love to crown all these emotions and make them perfect. The other condition, genuine however but rarely, exhibits practical holiness in even greater perfection, but only an indistinct experience of penitent feelings; there is ample purity of heart and of life, and unquestioning confidence towards God, through Christ, and entire love of God and of Christ; but not a deep and harrowing conception of the "vileness" of personal depravity, or the kindred joy of an escape from its curse and "receiving the atonement." No one of a religious mind, can welcome death except his preparation be according to one or other of these standards. Of the two, I deem the former the most safe, as the object of our exertions; and the latter the most honourable: of [8/9] latter stamp was the piety of our lamented father in God. It is safest for men in general, for christians and even good christians in general, to feel distinctly and clearly the depravity of our common nature; because they bear so many of its less or greater fruits. Yet if this depravity has been so early subdued, that its more conspicuous fruits have been kept from expanding beyond the bud, and that to the end of a long season of probation--and so it was with the venerable man we have lost--this case is the most honourable, though the experience of christian emotions also be only as a bud, and never advance to maturity.

I. I cannot but suppose it beyond question, that those who have seriously examined the whole fabric of personal christianity, will commend to all the standard which comprises both the deeds of the new life and the sensibilities, clearly defined and noticed, of the new heart and new spirit. Need I refer to scripture to sustain this opinion? Need I refer you to the psalmist, who complains, "thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore, neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin"--"my iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up: they are more than the hairs of mine head; therefore my heart faileth me?" Need I refer again to him, for the grand maxim, "the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit?" or to our Lord for the same, "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven?" These passages show the fundamental point of godly experience. And the further and happy experience that follows, may be gathered from the exclamations, "make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice"--"the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that [9/10] ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost"--and from the very words of the High and Holy One who inhabiteth eternity, "I dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." How beautiful, how valuable an economy in the affairs of the soul! Such a train of experience is indeed no test of piety, for sometimes it is not manifested, and there can be no standard for the feelings. Yet it has the authority of scripture, flows naturally from a penitent heart, and is obviously beneficial.

As the general rule therefore, the appropriate religious feelings should accompany our practical religious improvement. And, as all men are sinners, sorrow for sin is the emotion to be expected in the outset of a religious course. This, though it should not be artificially roused or aggravated by the forcing power of enthusiasm, should certainly not be repressed, in its genuine form, through the fear of enthusiasm. As this sorrow is assuaged, sin being renounced and forsaken, and in proportion commonly to the feeling of this stamp, will afterwards be the peace and higher emotions of the soul. These also are valuable. They make us stedfast in life: they more especially make us confident in death. The soul is urged on and animated through its whole course by these impulses; and thus advances in repentance, in faith, in love, during its pilgrimage; and acquires a large growth in a comforting and sustaining assurance in the days of sickness and dissolution. The entire holy influence, from its dawn to its consummation, is from heaven; and towards heaven it continually draws the soul.

II. Were we to decide upon mere theory, we should doubt whether a true piety could ever vary from the above standard. We should fear, that when [10/11] the sensibilities did not follow, very clearly, the train and progress described, there must be other than religious principles operative in producing correctness and amiableness of deportment. But there are a few cases, in which christian works are shown out of a good conversation with unquestionable meekness of wisdom, while yet there appears but an obscure perception of the darker or deeper feelings of christianity. There are a few individuals, who, though they love the Redeemer, evince little personal sensibility to the call to repentance, to expostulations concerning human depravity, to the declarations of the joy experienced by the changed in heart: and yet they "walk," like the parents of the Baptist, "in all the ordinances and commandments of the Lord, blameless," they are not, of course, free from the stains of a fallen nature; yet they are eminently "pure in and as eminently pure in life; they fulfil with hallowed motives, all religious services; but like Job, they never "remove their integrity." God himself commended the patriarch who is their head. And though he chose, by griefs unequalled, to break down even this upright servant into a more definitely humbled spirit, yet we cannot but believe, that had Job been called to his account in the days of his first prosperity, he would have had a secure interest in him whom be termed "my Redeemer," and in whom he showed his faith by the rite of sacrifice. We hence acknowledge with satisfaction that cases may exist, in which true religion has the features of mere amiableness and undeviating rectitude, without those penitent movings of the soul, or at least with little manifestation of them, which, in their due exercise, are so peculiarly satisfactory.

It would require a large observation, larger perhaps [11/12] than belongs to any individual, to determine all the circumstances which may occasion such an aspect of religion: perhaps there may be a strong antipathy, early imbibed, against all spiritual display; if so, the feelings named may exist, yet neither be told to others, nor made account of by the person himself. We take the case however as man sees it, and regard the emotions as not known to exist. Of such a condition of a bosom truly pious we remark, that it is incongruous to expect it in any but those who have been perfectly exemplary from their youth, and have never since fallen into neglect or irreligious courses. If any considerable portion of life has been given to carelessness and oblivion of God, more especially if it has been given to vice and wickedness, it cannot be but that sorrow will be felt; repentance will inflict upon the soul either its greater or its less thorns. I know not therefore how we can admit that a true saint can escape these thorns, unless he has escaped very entirely both vice and carelessness. He must have been sanctified from childhood; like Joseph, like Samuel, like Timothy, like the Baptist, and like the Redeemer, waxing strong in the Spirit, in the very earliest years. He must have retained much of that simplicity of a little child which our Saviour declared to be the model for those who would enter the kingdom of heaven. Thus must his faith have ripened into perfect love, with so little of fear to cast out that none of it dwells in the memory.

To this amiable and placid form of piety, ignorance of the delusions and wickedness of the world, will greatly contribute. We may perhaps deem the very knowledge of the undisguised evil of human nature a sort of contamination whereas, the simplicity of heart which is without this dark sagacity is allied, more nearly at [12/13] least than any other condition of fallen man, to innocence. And if any one be really unconscious of evil to the degree here supposed, and is living in integrity and purity, it cannot be expected that he should have very deep emotions of repentance; for the genuine sorrows of contrition can be only proportioned to the sense of actual guilt.

Such is the other but far less common standard of the perfection and uprightness in which a christian hopes, through the Saviour, to obtain peace at the end of life, and the eternal recompense of reward.

In reviewing our subject, brethren, before adducing its final application, two remarks occur worthy of remembrance.

1. We have said that no one can die in peace but in one or other of these conditions. We may rather consider these as the two extremes of good character, between which the great majority of the pious will be found. Very few reach the full standard of christian emotions and christian practice united and in the highest perfection. And yet fewer possess that simplicity and ignorance of evil, that calm and placid purity and amiableness, which enables religion to flourish without the severer cultivations of the spirit. The far greater number of the godly mingle these two qualities. In some degree they are happy in their virtues--and in some degree they lament their sins and the power of sin, or rejoice in the pardon they hope they have attained. And if in this mingled composition of their piety there be no disguise, and no excusing of wilful depravity, it is not in man to deny that they will "enter into the joy of their Lord."

2. Of the two states we have described, the former is to be preferred; because the latter presumes so much [13/14] excellence of character, and so unmingled, as only the very few, whom there are "none like in the earth," can be allowed to possess; and to arrogate this holy equanimity without the exalted holiness which alone makes it reasonable, is but drugging the soul into the sleep of spiritual death. We know that all are sinners; and we must fear, as a rule next to universal, that if any do not feel this their burden, they are as deficient in holy principles and affections, as in the proper religious sensibility. Amiable and correct as may be a favoured individual, we know that in many things he, like all others, does offend; and though his offences be of a lighter sort, and his heart of a generous simplicity which deems itself forgiven of God as readily as itself would grant forgiveness to man, yet, with the great mass of even exemplary christians, there is danger in such views--the danger, that virtue may be over-estimated: nothing but the manliest faith will prevent such ideas from obscuring the supreme and exclusive merits of the Saviour. But there can be no risk in founding all our hope through Christ on a clear and penetrating conviction of sin, and in allowing no triumph in the soul but that which follows the humble trust that our iniquity is taken away and our sin pardoned. This is the road on which the gospel sheds its full light. Let us never forget, therefore, that though great examples of christian virtue are sometimes given to the world, to help in sustaining the general tone of virtue, and to bring it more homage, their very rarity is a striking admonition to us to be conscious of our sins and lament them, and put them away with all penitent fidelity: for this is our only way of approaching the excellence which, through Christ and the Spirit of Christ, has been matured for our emulous admiration; our only [14/15] way of gaining the heavenly reward with which, for Christ's sake, that excellence is crowned.

The reflections now offered you, my brethren, I have deemed appropriate to the occasion; because the distinguished father in the church over whose remains they have been uttered, was one of the most conspicuous and perfect examples of the kind of piety which approaches to innocence, and which consequently manifests but little of the emotion that springs, directly or indirectly, from a consciousness of deep sin. Amid all his points of eminence--and many such were his--this was the greatest eminence of all. He was eminent as the minister of religion in the councils which gave liberty to his country; and as the friend and the pastor of Washington. He was eminent as, through a long life, the centre of affection to a large community, without a foe or an evil wisher at any time, but beloved and revered by all. He was eminent as one of our first Bishops; for nearly fifty years the Bishop of this diocese; and for more than forty years the Senior Bishop of our communion, always exercising in it a wide influence, mild and paternal. But he was more eminent as a "perfect man and an upright," the "good and faithful servant" of his divine Master, "keeping innocency and taking heed to the thing that is right," ever "walking blameless in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord," and "having always a conscience void of offence towards God and towards men." He belonged to that very small class of christians, who bear from infancy the image of Christ, and never deface it by vice, by worldliness, or by flagrant neglect, and who thus, though they know and feel that they are sinners, and have no hope but in the cross, do not so feel it as to exhibit the clear train of converting experience which other christians [15/16] undergo, whose piety was not so early, or has not proved so uniform and consistent. Emotion, which, if not arising from constitutional temperament, implies either change or the apprehension of a change, could have little power over one whose bright course was so undeviating. With a character so pure, it has been said of him, and not unaptly, that he was sanctified from the womb. His whole life, from infancy to extreme old age, spent in one community, neither that community, nor an individual either there or elsewhere, has even a whisper against him. So ignorant was he personally of evil, so far from conceiving how widely and in how many ways it operates, that he was as free from suspicion of others as from guile in his own bosom: indeed he was often too reluctant in the caution which foresees the natural workings of human motives. Thus pre-eminent in all good qualities and dispositions, it is not wonderful that his character was allowed by every one to have been that of a perfect man and an upright.

With all this excellence, unquestioned and unquestionable, the principles of our venerable father had no affinity whatever with those which recognise the merit of human virtue; which rest the hope of immortality on moral accuracy, even as combined with punctilious religious performances; which look for acceptance with God to any source but the merits only of the Redeemer. Those who rely on such principles do so--sometimes, in the spirit of self delusion, their morals being far less perfect than they presume them to be--sometimes, that they may elude the requisitions of religion, postponing them to those of morality--and sometimes, to absolve themselves from the obligation to the spirit of religion, in the fond imagination that its outward observances, are, with a fair worldly reputation, all that [16/17] God expects of us. Such however, such in no degree, with all his acknowledged and unswerving rectitude, was BISHOP WHITE. Hear his opinion concerning the value, in this light, of "faith, repentance, and obedience:" "Merit, none of them can have; but conditions they all are." [* Comparison, v. 1. p. 312.] Hear his opinion concerning the whole fancy of human merit: "there is no one point at which their instructions [those of Scripture] are more directly aimed, than to the battering down of the conceit of merit on the part of man. Were there no revelation; self-knowledge, accompanied by a correct apprehension of the divine perfections, might have led to the same conclusion. But besides, there are precepts going to the suppression of every sentiment of self righteousness. Above all, to guard against it, there is exhibited another ground of merit, in the sacrifice of the death of Christ; which being evidently a dispensation altogether independent on any act of man, and yet plainly held out to us as the only procuring cause of his salvation, and the only ground of the acceptance of his person and of his performances; there is not the shadow of excuse to any professor of christianity, to arrogate merit: whether because of works imagined to be good, or because of a comparative freedom from such as are evil." [* Do. v. 2, p,. 517, 518] Hear, yet further, his most expressive opinion of the imbecile-moral condition of those by whom the claim of merit is fondly entertained: "Let it be remarked, that no case is here stated, of a man leading a life of true obedience, or, as scripture says--"living godly, righteously, and soberly in this present world;" and yet arrogating the favour of Heaven, as his due. It is supposed, that such fruit [17/18] cannot grow on the barren stock of pride; and therefore cannot come in competition with evangelick faith, which is their nourishment."

The distinguished excellence of character, then, of our departed patriarch, was strictly and entirely christian; he knew nothing, whether for his own hope, or for that of others, but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And this should be ever borne in mind by those who would draw from his virtues a basis, transferred to themselves, for their confidence towards God. Do any of you, my brethren, seek within yourselves the ground of your salvation, and plead that this man of God could have done so? O think better, ere you give this illusion the mastery: first examine whether you are as free from vice, from all offence, from worldliness, from neglect, whether of social obligation, of the soul, or of God, as was HE; and then, recollect that HE built not on even this, to human judgment, most splendid foundation. Let then your chosen exemplar, your teacher most worthy of your choice, and most accepted, and most allowed of all, put to shame this unchristian theory, or, if it be so, this unchristian inclination of your souls.

And let me add, my brethren, though it be a point of less importance--should there be others of you who undervalue a sound christian experience, the due sensibility to religious sorrow and religious joy, a wholesome watchfulness of the current of spiritual emotions, because in this perfect and upright man, there appeared few manifestations of them--let rue offer to you also a friendly admonition. Have you as little to answer for before God, as we all trust he has had? is your conscience [18/19] as void of offence, in regard to sins of omission, as well as unequivocal wickedness, as was his? If not; and alas, very few can make this claim; if not, then you have more depravity to feel, and you ought to feel it; nay, you will feel it, if you are indeed penitent: and then, as repentance completes its work, and a firm interest in the Saviour is apprehended, the spirit of heaviness will be relieved by the garment of praise. Of course, I mean not that these emotions are tests of piety, that they constitute piety, or mark it either necessarily or indelibly, so as to be at any period its authentication; but they are highly useful, as aids, as incentives and encouragements, as consolations. Perhaps our lamented father in God knew more of them than his calm temperament allowed him to express. But I take him as for a very long period manifested to human cognisance. And, thus viewed, while I hold up his virtues to universal imitation, I affirm that those whose imitation of them is imperfect, are neither to expect nor desire the complete religious equanimity which he ever displayed. He was placed, by the Spirit of God, in the very highest rank of piety: we, my brethren--may I not say it of us all?--we are far below such an exaltation, and we must not arrogate to ourselves any of its privileges.

My brethren, I offer you no detail of the virtues and actions of the illustrious man whose remains are before you, because it would be but a recital of the catalogue the human duties, with the declaration that he fulfilled them daily and hourly. His domestic love, his social excellences, his professional assiduity and fidelity--the latter (permit me to say) conspicuous in the seasons of Yellow Fever and Cholera--all these are known to you; but they were so constant, that to name examples [19/20] would be to leave unnoticed far more of the list than could be laid before you. In all these matters, "his witness is in heaven, and his record is on high."

Nay; his witness and his record are here also--in your memories, in your hearts. Which of you has not beheld him, and gazed after him, with eyes of veneration, when you have met him abroad; while your bosoms overflowed with the homage, "there, is a true servant of God, and a crowning honour to men!" Which of you who belong to his branch of the household of faith, has not welcomed his appearance in the house of prayer, and acknowledged that never has a sanctuary presented a minister more worthy to offer your devotions to the Most High, or to declare the message of God, through Christ, whether to His faithful people, or to the world lying in wickedness! Even when the infirmities of age reduced the vigour of his ministrations, which of you has not loved to see him in the sacred places, and felt that what was thus lost was more than repaid by the hallowed thoughts which his living imbodying of excellence brought to your minds.

But he lives no more--for men he lives no more--he is with those departed who "all live unto God." His change from mortal existence to immortality was like his whole course, calm, peaceful, serene. No tumult of mind, no agitation of the body, disturbed his dying moments. Tranquil as childhood had been his soul during life--tranquil as childhood was it in its departure. Except that the mortal fabric remained, it may be said of him as of Enoch, "he walked with God, and he was not, for God took him; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that HE PLEASED GOD."

APPENDIX.
________

[22] The Right Rev. WILLIAM WHITE, D. D. was born the 4th of April, 1748, in the city of Philadelphia. He was educated at the College and Academy of Philadelphia, now the University of Pennsylvania, at which institution he was graduated in 1765. Having prosecuted the study of divinity, he crossed the Atlantic and was admitted to the holy order of Deacons, on 14th Dec. 1770, by Bishop Young. He remained in England until he was ordained Priest, by Bishop Terrick, which took place on the 25th April, 1772. Returning to Philadelphia, he was on Nov. 30th, 1772, elected assistant minister of the then United Churches of Christ Church and St. Peter's, of which the Rev. Jacob Duchè, was Rector, and the Rev. Thomas Coombs, the other assistant minister. The events of the Revolution of 1776 dispersed those clergy who adopted views adverse to the Declaration of Independence. Both Mr. Duchè and Mr. Coombs, left the country in that year. And the Rev. William White, was on the 15th April 1779, chosen to the Rectorship, which he accepted with the express understanding that in case Mr. Duchè should return he might be permitted to surrender the parish to the former incumbent. From 1776 to 1780, Mr. White continued to officiate without assistance, alternately in the morning in one Church and the afternoon in the other. In 1782 the degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by the University of Pennsylvania. On the 14th Sept. 1786, Dr. White was elected Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, and proceeding to England in company with Dr. Provoost of New York, was, with him, consecrated, 4th February 1787, to the Episcopate, in the Chapel of the Archbishop's Palace, at Lambeth, by the Most Rev. John Moore, Archbishop of Canterbury; the Most Rev. Wm. Markham, Archbishop of York, and the Rt. Rev. Bishops Charles Moss, of Bath and Wells, and John Hinchliff of Peterborough, being present and assisting. Upon [22/23] his return to the United States, in the same year, he continued to reside in Philadelphia in discharge of his duties as Rector of Christ Church, St. Peter's, and St. James', [*St. James' Church was erected, and added to the Parish, in 1809. It withdrew in 1829. The other two Churches separated in 1832. Each of the three retained the same Rector.] both before and after their separation, as Bishop of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, and Senior Bishop of the P. E. Church in the United States, until the 17th July 1836, when he calmly expired a few minutes before 12 o'clock, mid-day, at his residence, No. 89 Walnut Street, in the bosom of his family, after a brief illness of 15 days, resulting more from natural decay than from disease.

The following are the details connected with his interment:--

The Funeral of the Right Rev. Bishop White, moved from his late residence, 89 Walnut Street, precisely at 11 o'clock, on Wednesday morning, the 20th July, under the general direction of Isaac Roach, Esq., in the following order:

Sextons.
Officiating Clergy.
Rev. George Sheets,
Rev. Wm. H. De Lancey,
Rev. John W. James.
Bishop of the Diocese,
Rt. Rev. Henry U. Onderdonk.

PALL BEARERS. {BIER}
Rev. Levi Bull, Rt. Rev. Bishop McCoskry,            Rt. Rev. Bishop Doane
Rev. Dr. Abercrombie, Rt. Rev. Bishop Kemper, Rt. Rev. Bishop Bowen

Family.
Physician to the Family.
Clergy of the Protestant Episcopal Church, (in their gowns) as Mourners.
Wardens of Christ Church, St. Peter's, and St. James', as Mourners.
Vestries of the same, as Mourners.

[24] Standing Committee of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, as Mourners.
The Clergy of Various Denominations.
Wardens and Vestrymen of Protestant Episcopal Churches.
Candidates for Holy Orders.
Trustees and Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania.
Judges of the United States and State Courts.
American Philosophical Society.
Mayor, Recorder, and Aldermen.
Select and Common Councils.
Protestant Episcopal Academy.
Society for the Advancement of Christianity in Pennsylvania.
Protestant Episcopal Diocesan Sunday School Society.
Bishop White Prayer Book Society.
Philadelphia Bible Society.
Prison Discipline Society.
Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb.
Institution for the Blind.
Philadelphia Dispensary.
Other Institutions with which the Bishop was connected.
Episcopalians.
Citizens.

The PROCESSION passed up Walnut Street to Fourth, along Fourth to Arch, down Arch to Second, along Second to the South-east gate of Christ Church yard; flanked on either side by an immense concourse of respectable citizens, silent and sorrowful, the shops closed, and every external demonstration given of the deep respect in which this eminent prelate was held by the whole community. At the gate it was met by the Rev. Mr. Sheets, Rector of Trinity Church, Oxford, in the surplice, who repeated the appropriate sentences from the funeral service as it proceeded to enter the south west door of the church, and pass down the middle aisle to the front of the chancel, where the BIER was placed during the rest of the solemnities in the sacred temple, which were in conformity with the following printed order, distributed throughout the church.

[25] ORDER OF SERVICES IN THE CHURCH.

The Sentences on entering the Church.

ANTHEM--"VITAL SPARK."

The Anthem to be read by the Minister and people, taken
from the 39th and 90th Psalms, as follows:

LORD, let me know my end, and the number of my days;
that I may be certified how long I have to live.

Behold thou hast made my days as it were a span long;
and mine age is even as nothing in respect to thee; and verily
every man living is altogether vanity.

For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain;
he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them.

And now, Lord, what is my hope?
Truly my hope is even in thee.

Deliver me from all mine offences,
and make me not a rebuke unto the foolish.

When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin, thou makest his beauty
to consume away, like as it were a moth fretting a garment:
every man therefore is but vanity.

Hear my prayer, O Lord; and with thine ears consider my calling:
Hold not thy peace at my tears.

For I am a stranger with thee,
and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.

O spare me a little, that I may recover my strength,
before I go hence; and be no more seen.

Lord, thou hast been our refuge,
from one generation to another.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth
and the world were made, thou art God from everlasting,
and world without end.

Thou turnest man to destruction; again thou sayest,
Come again, ye children of men.

For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday,
seeing that is past as a watch in the night.

As soon as thou scatterest them, they are even as asleep,
and fade away suddenly like the grass

[26] In the morning it is green, and groweth up;
but in the evening it is cut down, dried up, and withered.

For we consume away in thy displeasure,
and are afraid at thy wrathful indignation.

Thou hast set our misdeeds before thee,
and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.

For when thou art angry, all our days are gone:
We bring our years to an end, as it were a tale that is told.

The days of our age are three-score years and ten; and
though men be so strong that they come to four-score years,
yet is their strength then but labour and sorrow;
so soon passeth it away, and we are gone.

So teach us to number our days,
that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The Lesson, taken out of the XV. Chapter of St. Paul's Epistle, to the Corinthians.

The following from the xvi. Psalm to be Sung:

I strive each action to approve
To his all-seeing eye;
No danger shall my hopes remove,
Because he still is nigh.

Therefore my heart all grief defies,
My glory does rejoice;
My flesh shall rest, in hope to rise,
Wak'd by his powerful voice.

Thou, LORD, when I resign my breath.
My soul from hell shalt free;
Nor let thy Holy One in death
The least corruption see.

Thou shalt the paths of life display
Which to thy presence lead;
Where pleasures dwell without allay
And joys that never fade.

THE SERMONS

[27] The following Hymn to be Sung:

HEAR what the voice from heav'n declares
To those in Christ who die:
"Releas'd from all their earthly cares,
They'll reign with him on high."

Then why lament departed friends,
Or shake at death's alarms?
Death's but the servant Jesus sends
To call us to his arms.

If sin be pardon'd, we're secure,
Death hath no sting beside;
The law gave sin its strength and pow'r,
But Christ, our ransom, died!

The graves of all his saints he bless'd
When in his grave he lay;
And, rising thence, their hopes he rais'd
To everlasting day!

Then joyfully, while life we have,
To Christ, our life, we'll sing,
"Where is thy victory, O grave?
And where, O death, thy sting?"

The anthem and the lesson was read by the Rev. Dr. De Lancey, Rector of St. Peter's Church; and the Psalms announced by the Rev. Mr. James, assistant minister of Christ Church. The very powerful and striking sermon, which precedes these details, was preached by the Rt. Rev. Bishop Onderdonk, from the text, Job I. 8.

"Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the Earth; a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil."

The procession was then formed again, and passing out with the corpse through the north west door to the family vault in the north west corner of the yard, the residue of the [27/28] funeral service was read by the Rev. John W. James: and all that remains on earth of this beloved Father in the Church, was deposited and left in the silence and darkness of the tomb to await the sound of that trump which will summon him to the resurrection of the just.
D.

 

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