“To the Glory of God ‖ and ‖ in Enduring Memory of ‖ Levi Parsons Morton ‖ 1824-1920 ‖ Vice-President of the United States ‖ Governor of the State of New York ‖ and ‖ of His Wife ‖ Anna Livingston Morton ‖ 1846-1918 ‖ Whose Gifts Made Possible the ‖ Building and the Furnishing of ‖ the Choir of this Cathedral ‖ Yea saith the Spirit that They ‖ May Rest from Their Labours ‖ and Their Works do Follow Them.”
THE FOUNDER’S TOMB
The Founder’s Tomb, containing the remains of Bishop Horatio Potter, sixth Bishop of New York,[31] in the Ambulatory between the fourth and fifth great pillars opposite the entrance to St. Saviour’s Chapel, is a beautiful example of an “altar tomb” such as are seen in many English churches. Its position, immediately behind the High Altar, is that traditionally reserved for the Founder of a cathedral. It is designed in the English Gothic style of the 15th century after studies of the tomb of Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey. The sarcophagus, the recumbent figure of the Bishop and the figures of the five ornamental niches of the front are of Indiana limestone. The figures, from left to right, are those of (1) Edward the Confessor, with crown, scepter and orb; (2) St. Remigius, with cup and scourge; (3) St. John the Divine, with pen, book and eagle; (4) St. Isidore, with miter, pallium and crozier; and (5) St. Theodosius of the Eastern Church, wearing a coronet with cross, holding a staff and reading from a scroll. Above the niches is a decorative moulding of oak leaves and acorns[32] with little squirrels at the ends. On the edge of the slab on which the Bishop’s figure rests is inscribed:
“Horatio Potter, D.D., D.C.L., Oxon. ‖ Sixth Bishop of New York, Founder of this Cathedral. Died 2d Jany. 1887, Aged 85 Yrs.”
On the rear of the sarcophagus is inscribed “St. John’s Day ✠ Anno Domini 1921,” the day on which the Bishop’s remains were transferred from Poughkeepsie to this tomb. Above the tomb, reaching to a height of 15 feet above the pavement, is a canopy of American oak with richly carved frieze and cresting, supported on corbels springing from the great granite columns on either side. A narrow stairway behind the columns and the tomb leads to a landing which permits a closer view of the figure of Bishop Potter. The architect was Mr. Thomas Nash of New York and the sculptor of the figures was Mr. Isidore Konti of Yonkers, N. Y.
The Brownell Memorial Tablet on the wall of the bay at the entrance to the Chapel of St. Ansgarius reads as follows: