College Letters
College Letter No. IX
April 1st, 1891
A MEETING IN BERLIN
CHANGES IN MEMBERSHIP
BIRTHS IN THE ACADEMY
For Private use of Members of the Academyof the New Church. Please read carefully, and, when read, return immediately to the undersigned.
No. IX, __ Philadelphia, April 1st, 1891=121.
DEAR FRIEND: A beloved member of the Academy, Cornelia, the wife of the Rev. N. Dandridge Pendleton, after having had the great happiness of being, in the hands of the LORD, the means of bringing a human life into the world, was herself born into the Spiritual World, on the twenty-fourth day of January of this year.
On the following Monday evening a memorial meeting was held at the house of Hugh L. Burnham, Esq. Mr. Pendleton desired to reply to a toast to himself and his wife, and made a long and impressive address. He expressed his gratitude for the kindness, love, and sympathy shown them. He said that we could not, and that it was not best that we should, see the particular reason why she had been taken. We know the general doctrine why our loved ones pass into the other world at a given time, and we should be satisfied in the confidence that the LORD does for us what is best. Her going was of the Divine Love. The LORD causes the Church in the other world to grow first, and from that, the Church on earth. Every one who goes from here helps to strengthen the Church in heaven, and consequently here, for the LORD uses the angels as means to establish the Church on earth, and for this purpose she was taken. She will help us there ten-fold more than she could have done here, or the LORD would not have taken her.
A MEETING IN BERLIN. top
THE following account comes from Berlin, Ontario, in Canada, where an Academy meeting was held on the 30th day of December last, at the house of Mr. Richard Roschman. There were present: Bishop and Mrs. Tuerk, the Rev. Pastor E. S. Hyatt, from Parkdale; the Rev. F. E. Wælchli and Mrs. Wælchli Mr. and Mrs. Richard Roschman, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Stroll, Messrs. Rudolph Roschman and Joseph Em. Rosenqvist.
Bishop Tuerk having read the xxiii Psalm, and all the members having repeated the LORD's Prayer, the meeting was declared open.
A letter from Mr. Henry Dœring was read in which regrets were expressed that he would not be able to be present at this meeting.
The Bishop announced that he had received a College Letter, and that it was on account of this that the present meeting had been called.
By request of the Bishop, the Rev. E. S. Hyatt read the College Letter and also n. 6221 from the Arcana referred to in the same.
A conversation touching the contents of the Letter then ensued. It was the unanimous desire of the meeting that the heartfelt sympathy of all the Academy members in the Dominion of Canada be expressed, and, through the Corresponding Secretary of the Academy, tendered to the family of our beloved and departed Brother, Mr. William Gibbs, of London, England.
The desire of having Academy meetings at least every second month was expressed by nearly all members present. The Bishop could not see any difficulties in the way for such arrangements; he also mentioned that he had heard the Rev. Mr. F. E. Bowers express his desire of again becoming a member of the Academy.
After some further conversation, the Bishop announced the first part of the meeting to be ended.
On invitation, the party now repaired to the dining-room, where a table loaded with splendid and delightsome refreshments awaited it. The party was barely well seated when the Bishop was called upon to propose the introductory toast for the evening. The Bishop then proposed a toast to The Academy of the New Church, to which he also was requested to respond. He spoke of the uses of the Academy, that they were such that if the Academy did not exist they would very likely not be performed. The Academy was the safeguard of the Church, especially in this respect: that it upholds the authority of the Writings as Divine, without which the Church could not exist. He felt glad and thankful to the LORD that the Academy existed, and he believed that it would prosper.
The SECOND TOAST was to The New Church, understanding the General Church of Pennsylvania in its new form. Mr. Rudolph Roschman, responding, said that there was undoubtedly great joy in heaven for the birth of this child, and we were glad and grateful to the LORD that now the New Church seemed to be really established on earth. We ought to look to this general body of the Church as a mother Church, and he hoped that it would get many children. It was a great and important step in the New Church, and we were all to benefit by it, especially as he hoped that we before long would join it.
The THIRD TOAST was to Father Benade. Mr. Rosenqvist responded. He said that although the LORD alone does all things, still, He uses men as means to perform His will. As Swedenborg was from his childhood prepared by the LORD for the office he afterward was to fill, so we could rest assured that Father Benade also was prepared from his childhood by the LORD for the performance of the grand work, the effects of which we all at the present time behold. As true soldiers are proud of their beloved General, so we Academy boys, and all true and loyal members of the Academy, feel proud of our dear Father Benade, whose eminent example of loyalty to the Academy we all want to follow.
The FOURTH TOAST was to the Canada Association. The Rev. F. E. Wælchli, in response, said that the reason why we love any one, ought to be that we find something good in the subject of our love. Only so far as there is some good in an individual we ought to love him, and only so far as there is any good in any corporation of individuals, that corporation or association ought to receive our love and sympathy. Now, the first and real good is to shun evils as sins, and as the Canada Association has shown itself disposed to shun at least some evils as sins (it is just now shunning the evil of disorder and non-acknowledgment of the Writings), he thought it was but right that we should express our hopes that it may go on and shun evils as sins, and thus come into a better order. His good wishes were with this body, and he hoped that it may prosper in the only true direction by following the Divine Law of order as laid down in the Writings.
After Mr. Wælchli had concluded, the FIFTH TOAST was proposed, to the Church in England. Mr. Richard Roschman responding, said that he believed that the Church was being established there at present through the efforts of the Academy. The prospect of the Church in that country, which for some short time ago was anything but promising, had now changed its face, and there were now good and solid hopes of the Church's prospering since the establishment of an Academy School in London, and the judgment so lately executed on the pretentious New Church in England. He also wanted to express our deep sympathy for the members of the Academy in their recent struggles.
To the SIXTH TOAST, the Three Bishops in the Academy, Pastor Hyatt responded. The priests of the Academy were the only priests on earth who really believed in and were desirous to be under subordination. It was now for the Bishops to do their duty, and to exercise that authority over the priests under them that was agreeable to their office. There rested with them a great responsibility. They were the head and ought to take the lead, and thus to help along to the best of their ability.
The SEVENTH TOAST was to the Academy Schools. Mr. Stroh, responding, said that the Academy Schools were not only necessary, they were indispensable. We had them, and they were the joy of our hearts. It is to their efforts that we have to look for the true growth of the Church, and as they are the LORD's Schools, they must prosper. His expressed hopes that our School here in Berlin may soon become an Academy School was warmly applauded.
It being known that the sixteenth anniversary of the marriage of the host and hostess was to be celebrated the day following (and it was now 11.30 P. M.), a toast to the happy continuation of their marriage was drunk, after which this very pleasant Academy meeting was dissolved.
CHANGES IN MEMBERSHIP. top
As stated in the last College Letter, the history of the past two years cannot be written at present, but the Council has enabled us to acquaint you at least with the changes in membership that have taken place during that period.
The following persons have resigned their membership, nearly all in consequence of the disturbances raised by the one whose name heads the list. The history of these disturbances has been presented in full in the volume published within the past year, and entitled, "Documents concerning the Disturbances caused by the Rev. Louis H. Tafel in the Academy of the New Church and in the General Church of Pennsylvania." The dates are those on which notice was given of the acceptance by the Council of the resignations.
March 12th, 1889, Rev. Louis H. Tafel, Dr. F. E. Bœricke.
April 1st, 1889, Mr. Adolph J. Tafel, Mr. Frank L. Bœricke, Miss Clara A.
Bœricke. October 2d, 1889, Miss Anna Tafel, Mr. F. Muhlert, Mr. John Czerny.
February 8th, 1890, Mr. Felix A. Bœricke, Mr. Edgar A. Parker, Miss Edith Anshutz.
March 14th, 1890, Mr. Jacob Anshutz.
October 15th, 1890, Mr. Martin Grebenstein, Mr. Daniel MacGregor.
March 2d, 1891, Mr. Edward P. Anshutz.
On March 12th, 1889, Edward S. Campbell, Esq., Mr. Arthur Faraday, and Mr. Charles A. Ahrens were separated from membership in the Academy.
It will be understood that by these changes the following ladies, the wives of gentlemen named above, have likewise ceased to be members of the Academy: Mrs. Louis H. Tafel, Mrs. F. E. Bœricke, Mrs. Adolph J. Tafel, Mrs. F. Muhlert, Mrs. John Czerny, Mrs. Felix A. Bœricke, Mrs. Edgar A. Parker, Mrs. Jacob Anshutz, Mrs. Martin Grebenstem, Mrs. Daniel MacGregor, Mrs. Edward S. Campbell, Mrs. Charles A. Ahrens.
The following new members have been received into the Academy, at the places and dates named:
Pittsburgh, Pa., November 18th, 1888, Dr. and Mrs. Edward Cranch, Miss Carrie Hobert.
Huntingdon Valley, Pa., June 19th, 1889, the Rev. Leonard G. Jordan and wife, of Oakland, Cal.; the Rev. Carl T. Odhner, A. B., and wife, the Rev. William Henry Acton, Th. B., the Rev. N. Dandridge Pendleton, Th. B., Miss Cornelia V. Vosburg, of Philadelphia.
Philadelphia, May 9th, 1890, Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Walker, Mr. and Mrs. Carl Hj. Asplundh.
London, England, July 9th, 1890, Mr. and Mrs. George Dicks, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas C. Stebbing, Mr. and Mrs. David Denney, of London; and Mr. and Mrs. McQueen, of Colchester.
Berlin, Canada, September 10th, 1890, the Rev. and Mrs. Edward S. Hyatt, of Toronto; Mr. and Mrs. Joseph E. Rosenqvist, Mr. Rudolph Roschman, of Berlin.
Pittsburgh, September 21st, 1890, Mr. and Mrs. George A. Macbeth, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Schœnberger, Mr. Adolph Zinn.
Philadelphia, October 20th, 1890, Mrs. Theodore Bellinger, and Mr. O. Homer Synnestvedt, A. B., Th. B.
Chicago, Ill., March 26th, 1890, Mr. Alvin E. Nelson.
Mr. C. J. Whittington was restored to the College, at a meeting of the Council held last December. A new Manual of Addresses is in preparation, and will be sent out soon.
While on the subject of names of members, it should be stated that in the College Letter, dated September 1st, 1888, the name of the wife of Mr. C. F. W. Jungé should be corrected. It is Phebe Freeman Jungé. It was also erroneously stated that two of his children are members of the Academy. There are three: Mr. William H. Jungé, Mrs. E. C. Bostock, and Miss Susan Minot Jungé.
BIRTHS IN THE ACADEMY. top
THE last official notice of births in the Academy was sent out on September 1st, 1888=116. The following names have been added to the list:
1888:—Reginald Constantine Smith, Tustin City, Cal., May 5th; Raymond Whittington, Hornsey, England, September 24th; Venita Julia Roschman, Berlin, Canada, October 21st; Madeline Glenn, Philadelphia, November 6th. A total of eleven in the year 1888.
1889: —Eliot Gifford Cranch, Erie, Pa., February 15th; John Benade Gyllenhaal, Chicago, Ill., March 19th; Silvia Wells, Philadelphia, April 2d (died April 6th); Felix Jungé, Boston, Mass., April 27th; Eleora Pendleton, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., June 10th; Cornelia Stroh, Berlin, Ont., June 29th; Helen Virginia Means, Allegheny City, Pa., July 7th; Gertrude Starkey Childs; Philadelphia, September 16th; Miriam Wells, North Wales, Pa., October 6th; Margaret Bostock, Chicago, 111., October 12th, Sanfrid Pendleton Odhner, Philadelphia, December 10th (died July 24th); Beatrice Burnham, Chicago, Ill., December 11th (died December 14th); Olive Tilson, London, England, December 26th. A total of thirteen in the year 1889, of whom three have since died.
1890:—Ottley, London, England, January 12th; Ethne Price, Philadelphia, January 22d; Earl Sonntag Smith, San Diego, Cal., February 13th; Margery Wells, Philadelphia, May 2d; Olivia Wælchli, Berlin, Canada, May 7th; Sarah Kirk, Allport, Pa., June 13th; Carina Glenn, August 18th; Theodore Acton, Chicago, Ill., September 25th (died October 1st); Thalemasou Pitcairn, Philadelphia, October 29th (died on the same day); Pauline Rhoda Means, Allegheny City, Pa., November 11th. A total of ten in the year 1890, of whom two have died since.
1891.—Ora Pendleton, Chicago, Ill., January 7th; Wertha Pendleton, Philadelphia, January 18th; Margaret Anna Gyllenhaal, Chicago, Ill., February 13th; Evangeline Nanette Roschman, Berlin, Ont., March 19th.
It may be necessary to observe that the list of Births sent out as a Christmas Card by Mr. and Mrs. Childs is not intended as an official record. It includes children born since June 19th, 1876, although their parents may not have been members of the Academy at the time.
Eugene J. E. Schreck
Corresponding Secretary
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