USA > New York > New York City > A discourse delivered in the North Reformed Dutch Church (Collegiate) : in the city of New-York, on the last Sabbath in August, 1856 > Part 2
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of the Pope, and rejected the unscriptural doctrines of the Church of Rome. The name arose in 1529, when six princes of the German empire formally and solemn- ly protested against the decrees of the Diet of Spires, and it has since been the distinctive name, in universal use, as applied to the glorious Reformation. During the progress of the Reformation, a difference occurred among the Protestants on some points, and particularly on the real presence of Christ's humanity in the Lord's Supper. Those who held to it, with the great Reform- er, Luther, were called Lutherans, and they who rejected it, Reformed. When the Reformation from Popery took rise, it advanced at the same time in Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, Scotland and England, through the labors of Calvin, Zuinglius, Knox, Cranmer and others. The Reformed Churches of France, Switzerland, Ger- many, Holland, and Scotland, were in close affinity with each other, not only in holding the doctrines of grace, as embraced in common by all the churches of the Re- formation, but in their views of the Lord's Supper, and also of Presbyterian church government and order. The name of our church derives REFORMED from the portion of the early Protestant churches so termed, and DUTCH, from the branch of the Reformed Church form- ed and organized in Holland. At an early period of the Reformation in Germany, the spirit of religious in- quiry spread throughout the Netherlands. A contest of unexampled severity, for civil and religious liberty, against the colossal power of the empire and the Papacy ensued. There is no spot in Europe in which, during the sixteenth century, so many thrilling inci- dents occurred, as in the struggle in the Netherlands,
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which ended in the independence of the seven northern provinces of Holland, and in the subjugation of the ten southern provinces of Belgium to the imperial and Papal power. Within a short time the interest of the public has been attracted to the history of the struggle in the Netherlands in the 16th century, by two works of great research and classic finish, from the pen of American authors. I allude to the "Reign of Philip the Second," by Prescott, and " The Rise of the Dutch Republic," down to 1684, by Motley. These works have spread information and inspired interest in the his- tory of the heroes and martyrs in the Reformation struggle in Holland, before unknown and unfelt. The religious inquirer will be most deeply interested in the contest for evangelical truth, and in the evidence of the deep-rooted faith and piety which nerved the arms and staid the hearts of the confessors of the truth under persecutions and oppressions, severe and continued, al- most without a parallel. The Martyrology of the Netherlands, during this struggle, would furnish as rich a page as can be drawn from any other field. The confessors, " scattered and peeled," holding their lives in their hands, amid the violent and excruciating deaths of thousands, for the truth's sake, bore a no- ble and persevering testimony. They termed their churches, at the time they were first formed, " The Churches under the Cross." In 1563 the ministers and confessors of the truth held a meeting at Antwerp, and formed a synod of the churches, and adopted a system of principles and rules which laid the founda- tion, and, in a great measure, formed the full texture of church government and order adopted by subse-
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quent synods. The Confession, Catechism, etc., now constituting the doctrinal standards, were soon after adopted. After the emancipation and independence of the Seven Northern Provinces, or Holland, they rapidly advanced to signal prosperity, commercial, naval, liter- ary and financial, so as to rank among the first States of Europe. The Reformed Church of Holland soon became distinguished among the churches of the Re- formation for her well-trained theologians, her devoted pastors and the combined evangelical purity of faith and experimental and practical religion. Such she was in the seventeenth century. No branch of the Reformed Church was in more intimate correspondence and sym- pathy with the other branches than that of Holland. Her bosom was the refuge and the resting-place of the persecuted Huguenots, Waldenses, the Covenanters of Scotland and the exiled Puritans. Her universities were resorted to from various parts, and many youth were trained in them who became shining lights in other countries. The works of her divines of that day still retain their high reputation, and are sought after. Such, at that time, was the Reformed Church of Hol- land, from which the Reformed Dutch Church in America deduces its origin.
The Collegiate Reformed Dutch Church of this city, the first founded in North America, dates from the first settlement on Manhattan Island. After its discovery by Hudson, in 1609, commercial adventures were made by Holland merchants, and small trading-posts were formed at Manhattan and Fort Orange, as early as 1613, connected with the fur trade. But it was not till after the formation of the West-India Company,
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in 1621, that measures were taken for an agricultural settlement: in New-Netherland, which took place in 1623. Among the small number of the first settlers were some Walloons, who, during the severity . of the religious persecution in the seventeenth century, had fled from the French Belgic provinces to Holland, and had become domesticated there. The first-born white child was the daughter of George Janse D' Rapalje, one of these Walloon settlers who located at the Long Island shore at what is still termed the Walleboght, the name being derived from the first settlers, and meaning the Walloon cove. It was stipulated by the West-India Com- pany, whenever emigrants went forth under their aus- pices, and that of the States General of Holland, to send out a schoolmaster, being a pious member of the Church, whose office it was to instruct the children and preside in their religious meetings, on the Sabbath and other days, leading in the devotions and reading a sermon. until the regular ministry should be established over them. An individual was often designated as a Zieken- trooster, (comforter of the sick,) who, for his spiritual gifts, was adapted to edify and comfort the people. These Ziekentroosters were often commissioned as aids to the ministers of the Gospel. As early as 1626, two individuals (whose names are preserved) came out with Governor Minuit, in the above capacity. In 1633 the first minister, Everardus Bogardus, came over with Governor Wouter Van Twiller, and associated with him was Adam Roelandsen, as schoolmaster, who organized the Church school, which has been handed down, in regular and constant succession, to the present time, having proved an instrument of much good to the
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Church and the community. A history of this school was, a short time since, carefully prepared by the present worthy principal, and published in a small duodecimo volume. The introduction here, at the early period of the settlement of our country, of the Church and school combined, can not therefore be claimed as the peculiar distinction of the Puritan emigrant, as the direct aim and the provision made in the early settlements by the Dutch was to extend and preserve in the midst of them the blessings of education and religion.
In 1626, after the arrival of Governor Minuit, a reg- ular purchase of Manhattan Island from the Aborigines was made. We quote from Brodhead's History of the State of New-York a reference to this purchase. " As soon as Minuit was established in his government, he opened negotiations with the savages, and a mutually satisfactory treaty was promptly concluded, by which the entire Island of Manhattan, then estimated to con- tain about twenty-two thousand acres of land, was ceded by the native proprietors to the Dutch West-In- dia Company for the value of sixty guilders, or about twenty-four dollars of our present currency. This event, one of the most interesting in our colonial annals, as well deserves commendation as the famous treaty, immortalized by painters, poets, and historians, which William Penn concluded sixty-six years afterward, under the great elm tree, with the Indians at Shacka- maxon." There is an accompanying plate referring to the formation of the treaty conveying Manhattan Island.
At first, religious meetings were held in temporary buildings. It is recorded that as early as 1626, " Fran- çois Molemaker was employed in building a horse-mill,
JIMI AND SO
THE TREATY BETWEEN GOV. MINIIT AND THE ABORIGINES FOR THE SALE OF MANHATTAN ISLAND IN 1626
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with a spacious room above, to serve for a congregation ; and a tower was to be added, in which the Spanish bells, captured at Porto Rico the year before, by the West-India Company's fleet, were intended to be hung." After the arrival of the minister, Bogardus, in 1633, the loft was relinquished, and a plain wooden building was erected, situate on the East River, near what is now Old Slip, and at the same time near this church a dwell- ing-house and stable were erected for the use of the Domine.
The early Dutch emigrants continued to worship in this frail edifice till 1642, when measures were taken, at the instance of the famed navigator, David Peterson De Vries, for the erection of a new edifice. He relates in his journal that dining one day with Gov. Kieft, he said to him "that it was a shame that the English, when they visited Manhattan, saw only a mean barn in which we worshipped. The first thing they built in New-England, after their dwelling-houses, was a fine church. We should do the same." This led to a con- ference as to the best means to be employed for the accomplishment of this object. A committee was ap- pointed, and efforts used for procuring needed funds from individuals and the West-India Company. After discussion it was resolved that the new edifice should be erected within the Fort, (now the Battery,) at its south- east corner. Its dimensions were seventy feet by fifty- two, and built of stone. This continued to be their house of worship until the church in Garden street was opened for service in 1693. It was then relinquished to the British Government, and occupied by the royal military forces for public worship, until 1741, when it
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was burned down and not rebuilt. On its first con- struction there was a stone placed in front with the inscription, "An. Dom. MDCXLII., W. Kieft Dir. Gen. Heeft de Gemeente dese tempel doen bouwen." "In the year of our Lord 1642, W. Kieft being Director Gen- eral, has this congregation caused this temple to be built." In 1790, when they were digging away the foundations of the fort, on the Battery, to make way for the gov- ernment house, built on the site of what is now the Bowling Green, this stone was found among the rub- bish. It was removed to the belfry of the church in Garden street, where it remained till both were destroyed in the great fire of December, 1835.
This church was built during the ministry of Dom. Bogardus; and the elder Megapolensis, Drisius, the young- er Megapolensis, Van Neuwenhuysen, and Dom. Selyns ministered in it. Dom. Selyns was settled in 1682, and died in 1701. I have in my possession a small manu- script volume of Dom. Selyns, dated 1686, in which there is a register of the members of the church, arranged according to the streets. These streets are found below Wall street, and east of Broadway, while the remaining families are placed " along shore," on the East river, above the fresh water or collect, and also on Gov. Stuy- vesant's bouwerie or farm. The manuscript volume was doubtless prepared by Selyns to direct him in his course of family visitation. The baptismal and other records of our Church commence with 1639, though it is well known a church organization existed for years previous, extending back at least to 1626, and probably beyond. The records from 1639 to 1700, are all in the neat handwriting of Dom. Selyns, who appears
0 0
HOWLAND. SC
١ VIEW OF NEW
AMSTERDAM IN 1656.
THE CHURCH BUILT IN THE FORT.
[NOW THE BATTERY.] IN 1642
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to have collected the existing materials, and carefully arranged them, while, doubtless, the record previous to 1639 had been lost. The church register, from that early period, has been carefully continued and pre- served to the present time. The colony of New-Ne- therland remained forty years after the first agricul- tural settlement, when, in 1664, it was ceded to the British Government, by a treaty which secured to the Dutch their ecclesiastical and civil privileges. The colony had gradually grown, particularly during the administration of Gov. Stuyvesant. The Dutch popu- lation extended from New-Amsterdam to the adjacent shores of Long Island and New-Jersey, was found at Esopus, now Kingston and vicinity, and at Rensselaer- wyck, now Albany and vicinity. The population of New- Amsterdam at the time of the cession, was about fiften or sixteen hundred, and that of the colony in its whole extent ten thousand. After it became a British pro- vince there was quite a small amount of emigration from Holland, while a number of the colonists returned to their fatherland. But the natural increase in the families of the Dutch inhabitants, joined to some occa- sional accessions from Holland, and the parts of Ger- many bordering on it, as well as of Huguenots, led to the spreading of Dutch settlements, and the increase of churches, during the latter part of the seventeenth, and the early part of the eighteenth century. They were found particularly along the North river, in the valleys of the Hackensack, Passaic, and Raritan rivers, and in Monmouth county, New-Jersey, and along the Mohawk and Schoharie rivers, in New-York. . A list, in chronolo- gical order, in the Appendix of the Ministers of the Re-
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formed Dutch Church, in North-America, down to the close of the last century, made as full and accurate as materials in hand could enable, will show the course of increase.
Dom. Selyns had ministered at Brooklyn, and Gov. Stuyvesant's bouwerie, from 1660 to 1664, with great acceptance, when he returned to Holland, just previous to the cession of the province. Such was the impres- sion he left, that on the death of their aged ministers, Megapolensis and Drisius, the Church of New-York sent a call on Selyns to Holland, which he declined. Subsequently, after the death of Dom. Van Nieuwen- huysen, the call was renewed, which he then accepted. In 1682 he became sole pastor of the church, and con- tinued such until Rev. Gualterus Dubois became asso- ciated with him in 1699, two years before his death. Dom. Dubois continued in the ministry till 1751, hav- ing been in the pastoral office fifty-two years. Soon after the entrance of Selyns on his pastoral labors, the subject of building a new church edifice attracted general interest, and the first steps were taken by the Consistory, in 1687, when a subscription was circulated generally, in which there were liberal contributions in money, and, in many cases, of building materials and labor. The old church in the fort had become incon- veniently located, was beginning to decay, and the popularity of Dom. Selyns called for more spacious ac- commodations. Tradition says that a diversity of opin- ion existed as to the site to be selected, a portion of the congregation contending that the spot afterwards chosen was too far out of town. The deed conveying the site is dated in 1690, and defines it as being in Garden
THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH IN GARDEN STREET.
BUILT IN 1693
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street, and adjacent to the orchard belonging to Eliz- abeth Drisius, the widow of Domine Drisius. I find an account of the expenses of the church, audited in 1695, which amounted to 64,178 guilders, or 27,671 dollars of our money. This, considering the compara- tive cheapness of the times, and that the lot was a gift for a merely nominal consideration, and also that labor and materials were, to some amount, furnished, was sufficient for the erection of a substantial and valuable edifice. It was opened for divine service in 1693, be- fore it was thoroughly finished. I find in a manuscript the following reference to the style of the building of the old church in Garden street. It was an oblong square, with three sides of an octagon on the east side. In the front it had a brick steeple, on a large square foundation, so as to admit a room above the entry for a consistory room. The windows of the church were small panes of glass set in lead. The most of them had coats of arms of those who had been elders and magis- trates, curiously burnt on glass by Gerard Duyckinck. Some painted coats of arms were also hung against the walls. This house continued the only house of worship for our Dutch ancestors, till the building of another at the corner of Nassau and Liberty streets. After the erection of the church in Nassau street, the church in Garden street took the name of the OLD, and in Nassau street that of the NEW ; and when the church at the corner of Fulton and William was erected, it took the name of the NORTH, when the Garden-Street Church was designated as the SOUTH, and the Nassau-Street as the MIDDLE. The terms old and new, however, continued
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to be applied to the two latter for a long time sub- sequent.
With the increase of the congregation the need of ad- ditional ministerial service, and of larger church accom- modations began to be felt. In 1714, the Rev. Henricus Boel was settled as the colleague of Dom. Dubois, and the subject of the erection of a new church edifice was soon entertained. In 1726, the Consistory, with the advice of the Great Consistory, resolved to take mea- sures for its accomplishment, and appointed committees for devising the best means for meeting the expenses, and also for selecting and procuring a suitable site. In July of this year the committee reported that they had agreed with Mr. David Jamison for the plot of ground directly north of the French Church. It will be remembered, that the French Church was on the lot just east of Nassau, between Pine and Cedar streets. The price paid for the ground was 575 pounds. At this time the location was quite on the verge of the more compact part of the city. It was at the same time resolved that the church should be built in the middle of the lot, that the length should be one hundred feet, and the breadth seventy feet within the walls, and that a foundation should be laid, and a tower erected at the north end of the edifice. The church was opened and set apart for divine worship in 1729. At its first erection it had no gallery, and the ceiling was one entire arch without pillars. The pulpit was in the middle of the east wall, and the entrance was by two doors in front, on the west (Nassau) side. In 1764, after the introduction of English preaching, material
....
This CHURCH
The Rev
una founded
WalterDuBois
M.HenryBoel
AD/731
Ministers
To the Honourable RIP VAN DAM. Esq PRESIDENT of His Majesty's Council for the PROVINCE of NEWYORK This View ofthe New utch Church is most humbly Dedicated by your Honour's most Obedient Ser Wo Burgis
REDUCED FAC-SIMILE OF PRINT PUBLISHED 1731
Engraved by W HOWLAND.
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changes were made in the interior of the building. The pulpit was removed to the north end, and galleries were erected on the other three sides, and the entrances were formed on the north and south sides, as it is remembered by us, previous to its being relinquished and devoted to secular uses. The building still pre- sents the exterior aspect of its early days, and calls up in the minds of the older inhabitants of the city, espe- cially those of Dutch descent or affinities, impressive remembrances. There was a plate of the Old Middle Dutch Church, as it appeared at its first construction, struck off in 1731. It is dedicated to the Hon. RIP VAN DAM, President of his Majesty's Council for the Province of New-York. Mr. Van Dam was often a member of his Majesty's Council, and also its President. In 1731 and 1732 he was, during an interregnum, Acting- Governor, as President of the Council. A fac-simile of the original plate, (furnished to us by Rev. Mr. Strong of Newtown,) neatly and accurately executed, on a re- duced scale, will be found among the plates accom- panying the printed discourse. It will attract interest. There is inscribed on the plate: "This Church was founded A.D. 1727, and finished A.D. 1731, the Rev. Mr. Walter Dubois, and Mr. Henry Boel, ministers." The corner-stone was laid in 1727. It was opened for worship in 1729, but it was not entirely finished in the interior and the fences, etc., till 1731.
At the time of the erection of the Church in Nassau street, and a series of years subsequently, the preaching was entirely in the Dutch language, while the want of preaching in the English language was deplored, and its
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introduction was strongly desired by very many. The Eng- lish inhabitants had continually increased in number, in- termarriages between English and Dutch families were constantly occurring, all public business was transacted in the English language, and the young of the congre- gation became more and more unprofited by the service in Dutch. This naturally proved prejudicial to the in- terests of the Church, and led to the gradual with- drawal of individuals and families to other denomi- nations, especially the Episcopal, in the communion of which will be found for some generations past some of the early, time-honored Dutch names. This influence, so adverse to the prosperity of the Church, was deeply felt by a large portion of the members ; but there was a strength of opposition among the older members, which it was deemed best to seek to allay, and, if prac- ticable, to overcome, before active measures should be employed. Early in 1761, the subject was brought be- fore Consistory by a petition signed by a majority of the congregation, (by the young generally,) urging the necessity and importance of the introduction of Eng- lish preaching. At once a strong and violent opposi- tion arose from a considerable number of the older members of the Church and congregation. The Con- sistory and Great Consistory were decidedly in favor of the measure, but took a course of measures to conciliate the opposition by holding conferences with them, and making the most reasonable and generous proposals to them. A large body of minutes on this subject is found on our records. All proved unavailing, and the oppo- sition refused every overture, and resisted the introduc-
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tion of English preaching at all. In 1763, it was de- cided by a large majority of the Consistory and Great Consistory, to prosecute a call to be directed to the Classis of Amsterdam, and by them to be placed in the hands of ARCHIBALD LAIDLIE, minister of the Scotch Church at Flushing, in Holland, in connection with the Reformed Church there. This call was accepted, and Dr. Laidlie arrived in New-York, and entered upon his duties in April, 1764. Some of the opponents to the introduction of English preaching instituted a suit in the civil courts, which was decided against them. As we look at this period in the lapse of time, we are dis- posed to wonder at the blind prejudice which actuated them. But when we consider how deeply is the feeling of attachments to old customs, associations, and even language, lodged in the human mind, we will be led rather to deplore than to wonder. The colleagues at the time of the building of the Old Middle Church, Domines Dubois and Boel, had died, the former in 1751, and the latter in 1754. The ministers now offi- ciating in the Dutch language were Domines Ritzema and De Ronde, the one settled in 1744, and the latter in 1751, both trained in the universities of Holland. Dr. Laidlie proved an eminent blessing to the Church here. He was a native of Scotland, and thoroughly educated there. He took charge of the Scotch Church in Flushing, Holland, where, for some years, he was a member of the ecclesiastical courts of Holland, and held in high estimation. He thus became acquainted with the Dutch language, and cherished sympathy in all the interests of the Dutch Church. His mind was vigorous
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and well stored, he was kind and conciliating in spirit, and judicious and wisely practical in conduct. Con- sequently, his influence gradually and surely soothed the spirit, and disarmed the opposition which existed at his coming, and peace and harmony succeeded. He was a richly evangelical preacher, powerful and per- suasive in manner, and a large measure of spiritual blessing rested upon his labors. After the congrega- tion dispersed, on the occupation by the British, he re- tired to Red Hook, where he died in 1778. His course of service was of few years, but it left rich fruits. The New (or Middle) Church was designated to be occu- pied on a part or parts of the day, for English service, by Dr. Laidlie. The favorable impression made on the community by him soon crowded the church, and the Consistory at once took measures to make the alter- ations before adverted to, and build galleries on three sides. The house soon became filled, and the desirable- ness of another and third house of worship was felt. At this time, 1766, the old Church in Garden street, which, from the length of time since its erection, had become considerably decayed, was thoroughly repaired, and in some degree remodelled at considerable ex- pense. Early in 1767, measures were taken by the Consistory, for the building of a third church, by the circulation of a subscription, etc. In June of that year it was resolved, that " the church should be erected on the grounds of Mr. Harpending, that it should be one hundred feet in length, and seventy in breadth, that it should front Horse and Cart Lane, and be placed in the middle of the lot." The grounds of Harpending
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