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During the quarter century the number of clergy in Bishop Doane's jurisdiction has grown from sixty-eight to one hundred and thirty. This diocese, over which he now holds sway, is largely missionary ground, containing 20,800 square miles and including the nineteen counties of Northern New York. A number of beneficent institutions have been established in the diocese. The more noteworthy are St. Agnes School, the Child's Hospital and St. Margaret's House, all of this city. It is to these institutions particularly that Bishop Doane has given greatly of his time and efforts. The St. Agnes School was established first, and its home is valued at $150,000. The land was given by the late Erastus Corning and it is called the "Corning Foundation for Christian Work." This institution, started in 1870, is for the education of girls, being similar to other female colleges. It accommodates 225 pupils. Tuition fees are $500 a year, though daughters of clergymen are educated at a less cost. Features of the school aside from its delightful building, are the library and the collection of geological specimens.
The Child's Hospital, located for thirteen years in a smaller building, and now in a large new one at the corner of Elk and Hawk streets, cares for one hundred children, eighty of whom are under treatment. The institution is absolutely free to every sick child and to cripples, and they may come from anywhere. It is supported by money paid by different cities for poor support, by a small endowment and by private subscriptions.
A nursery for babies — St. Margaret's House — was established in 1884, in connection with the Child's Hospital. Here eighty foundling babies and orphans are cared for every year. All of this work is in charge of the Sisterhood of the Holy Child Jesus, which cares, also, for the St. Christina Home in Saratoga, where girls are trained for domestic service. The Diocesan Sisterhood was organized by Bishop Doane in 1873.
All Saints' Cathedral is the chief glory of the bishop's work as a founder. For thirteen years the old Townsend foundry, which had been fitted up, was used as a church. Finally, on land given by the present Erastus Corning, the present cathedral was built. The corner stone was laid on June 3, 1884. Though the exterior is only partly finished, $450,000 has been spent on the cathedral. Its interior finish is grand and imposing. Massive stone pillars, beautifully carved, divide the auditorium into three sections. The altar is a solid block of Carlisle stone, twelve feet long, and rests upon a separate solid foundation of stone built up from the ground. In the choir aisle and sanctuary are a mosaic pavement and four mural mosaics, among the most beautiful features of the building. The furnishings and windows, with the architectural beauty of the place, make this one of the notable cathedrals. Three thousand persons can be seated comfortably in it. All seats are free, and the church is supported entirely by free will offerings. There is now no debt, the last $75,000 having been raised in 1893.
The most important work the bishop has done outside of his diocese is that in relation to the revision of the prayer book. For six years he was chairman of the committee on revision. His eflforts were so thoroughly appreciated that in the general convention held in Baltimore in 1892, the following resolution offered from the standing committee on the revision of the prayer book, was unanimously adopted:
WHEREAS, By action of this house in passing upon the fifty-two resolutions which propose various alterations in the book of common prayer, the work of revision has been on the part of this house finally completed; therefore
Bishop Doane is a man of strong personality. His vigorous intellect makes him one of the most prominent, perhaps the most prominent of the American bishops, with an influence that radiates far beyond the limits of his own diocese. Affable, kindly and courteous in his personal intercourse, scholarly and refined in his tastes and culture, dignified and eloquent in the pulpit, a man of strong spirituality, and withal of practical affairs, he has built up, here in Albany, an influence for good, for activity in church work, which is felt and responded to beyond the limits of his own denomination.
Like most men of large activities, Bishop Doane finds abundant time for reading and writing. He retains his knowledge of and interests in the classics, and is interested in all the intellectual movements of the age. Surrounded by a large and well assorted library, he loves the companionship of books, works readily with his pen, and is a frequent contributor of verses which possess a high order of literary merit, among them the familiar "Sculptor Boy." His sermons are polished, thoughtful and direct, and bear the stamp both of the culture and spirituality of the man. Many of his poems have been published, as have also a number of his sermons, his annual addresses to the diocesan convention and his addresses to the graduating classes of St. Agnes. In addition to these, he has issued: "The Life and Writings of Bishop Doane of New Jersey," four volumes; "Questions on Collects, Epistles, and Gospels of the Church's Year, and Their Connection;" "Songs by the Way," poems by Bishop Doane, Sr.; "Mosaics; or, the Harmony of Collect, Epistle, and Gospel for the Christian Year," which was published in 1882. He frequently contributes to the "North American Review" and other standard publications. He was elected a regent of the University of the State of New York in the winter of 1892, the candidate of both parties in the Legislature. In September of that year he was elected vice-chancellor, succeeding the Rev. Dr. Upson, made chancellor to fill the vacancy caused by the death of George William Curtis.
No bishop of the American church has received such honors abroad as Bishop Doane. By invitation he preached at Edinburgh, in 1884, a sermon commemorative of the one hundredth anniversary of the consecration of the first bishop for America at Aberdeen — the Rt. Rev. Dr. Samuel Seabury. In 1892 he received degrees at the hands of Oxford and Cambridge, the first American to have two such marks of distinction bestowed upon him at the same time. For several years he has been designated by Bishop Williams to officially visit the American churches abroad.
At the Triennial convention of the church at Minneapolis October, 1895, Bishop Doane was elected chairman of the House of Bishops. He is consequently called "the assessor of the Primus."
Bishop Doane is known to all Albanians and is admired and loved. He is a striking figure on the street. Albany has no more public spirited citizen and every good movement commands his sympathy and co-operation. His stirring speech at the organization meeting in the City Building of the committee of fifty, is well remembered. He has on many occasions spoken from the platform in behalf of practical temperance and his appearance before the legislative committees on measures affecting the moral side always ensure a warm champion of the right.
Bishop Doane bears his age well. He is as vigorous to day as he was twenty-five years ago and his voice has lost none of its strength and charm.
The Rt. Rev. William Crosswell Doane, D. D., LL. D., bishop of Albany, was born in Boston, March 2, 1832, the son of George Washington Doane, who was in that same year elected bishop of New Jersey. The family is descended from Deacon John Doane, who came over from England in one of the three first ships to Plymouth, Cape Cod, between 1620 and 1623. He lived at Plymouth until 1644, when he with six other families moved to Eastham, Cape Cod, which they founded, and in which Deacon Doane was one of the most influential members of the community, serving on important committees and in various executive capacities. The first Bishop Doane, of New Jersey, was one of the most distinguished men in the Episcopal church of the United States. He served as a young man as the assistant rector of Trinity church in New York, became a professor in Washington College, at Hartford, Conn., and was rector of Trinity church in Boston at the time of his election to the bishopric. He was the founder of St. Mary's Hall, for girls, and of Burlington College, for boys in Burlington, N. J., the author of many sacred songs and fugitive verses, and of strong and eloquent sermons which have been published. William Croswell Doane resided in Burlington until the year 1863. He graduated from Burlington College in 1850, with honors, delivering the English oration and the poem at the commencement, and immediately afterward began the study of theology. He was tutor and assistant professor of English literature in Burlington College, from which institution he received the degree of Bachelor of Theology in 1857. He was ordained deacon by his father in 1853 and priest in 1856; was his father's assistant in the rectorship of St. Mary's church, Burlington ; founded and had the care of St. Barnabas's Free Mission in that city, and became rector of St. Mary's in that place on his father's death in 1859. In 1864 he became rector of St. John's church, Hartford, Conn., and in 1867 he was called to be rector of St. Peter's church in Albany, succeeding the Rev. William T. Wilson. In these several charges the son had shown qualities of power and learning, inherited from the father, which proved his fitness for the high place, and he was called to be the first bishop of the Albany Diocese, being consecrated February 2, 1869.
Resolved, That this house desires to recognize and gratefully record its sense of the gracious goodness of God and the overruling presence of the Great Head of the church, in that during nine years past the revision of the book of common prayer has proceeded, and has at last reached a conclusion in a spirit of forbearance, harmony and practical accord.
Resolved, That in thus recognizing the divine guidance in this important, delicate and difficult matter, this house desires also to mention, with cordial appreciation, the untiring and painstaking labor of those who have borne the burden of leadership in this movement; and pre-eminently in this regard, the Bishop of Albany (the Right Rev. Dr. William Croswell Doane), whose unfailing courtesy, patience and considerateness have so greatly facilitated this happy consummation.
