USA > New York > New York City > A history of the Brick Presbyterian Church in the city of New York > Part 10
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William Soares SohnAdams Bink Egbert
Grown Highs
dergood
John Mills John Hannay Thrusters
FAC-SIMILE OF THE CALL OF GARDINER SPRING
THE CALL OF GARDINER SPRING 123
bold and unequivocal statement of the views I then entertained upon the subject of human ability," a burning question in that day. Had not Dr. Miller declared that he himself must be included in any condemnation of Mr. Spring's views on this matter, it is likely that an adverse vote would have resulted. As it was, the ultra-orthodox comforted themselves by the reflection that the gentleman was young and that a better acquaintance with Presbyterianism would soon modify his views. Dr. Milledoler, who was one of the first to attempt to acquaint him more fully with the Presbyterian system, and to produce the expected modification, is said to have exclaimed, at the close of a prolonged discussion, that in his judgment the best way of curing a man of such views as those which Mr. Spring obstinately professed was to dip his head in cold water. This incident, how- ever, occurred at a slightly later date, and meantime on Wednesday, August 8th, 1810, Mr. Spring was ordained and installed in the Brick Church. On that occasion Dr. Milledoler preached the sermon, and Dr. Miller and Dr. Romeyn delivered the charges to the pastor and to the congregation respectively. Dr. Rodgers was present and united with the others in "the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery." The pastorate thus begun was destined to last for more than sixty years.
Mr. Spring was of New England ancestry. His father, the Rev. Samuel Spring, of Newburyport, Mass., was a man of ability and influence. He had served with credit as Chaplain in the Revolutionary War, accompanying Arnold's army on the arduous expedition to Quebec, and his subsequent call to the
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Congregational Church in Newburyport, on the strength of the single sermon preached by him to the colonial soldiers on the eve of the expedition's depart- ure, was not unlike his son's call to the Brick Church. His entire life was given to the ministry in Newbury- port and to the duties which grew out of his position there. Perhaps his greatest public service was ren- dered in connection with the founding of Andover Seminary and of the American Board of Commission- ers of Foreign Missions. Of the spirit which, in addition to his undoubted talents, made him a suc- cessful minister of the gospel, enough perhaps is said in quoting the remark of one of his hearers: "I love to hear Mr. Spring pray, because he prays as though he loved God." *
For his mother Gardiner Spring always cherished a very tender affection. "She was a sweet mother," he says of her. "She was our earthly refuge. The church loved her as much as they did their pastor. The whole town, with all their denominational differ- ences, loved and respected Mrs. Dr. Spring. She was at the head of their charitable institutions, alike honored by the rich and sought after by the poor."
From both his parents Mr. Spring had received the most thorough Christian training, and their influence upon his later religious life can hardly be overstated. It is reassuring, however, to learn that he was a real
* His epitaph is suggestive. It reads in part: "A man of an original and vigorous mind, distinguished for a deep sense of human depravity, and especially of his own unworthiness, and for his exalted views of the character and perfections of God the Redeemer; of great integrity, firm- ness, benevolence and urbanity; an able, faithful and assiduous pastor, an example to the flock over which he was placed; a kind husband, a tender father, and a sincere friend."
t "Life and Times," Vol. I, p. 51.
THE CALL OF GARDINER SPRING 125
boy before he was a good one. Our evidence comes from his own pen when he was over eighty years of age, and it is in a tone of self-accusation that he writes; but, reading between the lines, it is possible for us to take a somewhat more genial view of the youthful perversity which he confesses. "I was born," he says, "in the town of Newburyport on the 24th of February, 1785. I recollect nothing of my infancy, very little of my childhood, and nothing so early as my proneness to evil. As far back as I can remember anything, I can remember that I was a selfish, wilful boy, and very impatient of restraint. As I grew to riper years, my sinful tendencies were expressed, sometimes in bold and sometimes in de- ceitful forms. . . . I was by nature a child of wrath. I had no outwardly vicious habits, but was impatient of control, and thought it a hard and severe discipline that I was not allowed to enjoy the ordinary amusements of boys of my age, and only wished that I was old enough and strong enough to flee out of my father's hands."* And yet, when at the "ripe" age of twelve, he was sent away to school, he soon showed, according to his own confession, a quite different character. "I had no heart for study," he says, "I had no heart for anything but home."; We may say, then, that at the outset he had the good fortune to be very much like other boys of his age.
He was not so fortunate in the fact that his studies were unduly pushed, so that he entered Yale College } when he was but fifteen years old, the youngest of
* "Life and Times," Vol. I, pp. 74-76.
t Ibid., Vol. I, p. 76.
Į He tells us that in the college "at that time there were but three pro- fessors." Ibid., Vol. II, p. 285.
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his class. He was, he tells us, "a severe student and as ambitious as Cæsar,"* and the result was that his eyesight was injured and his health impaired, so that he was forced to drop out of college for a year, and finally graduated in 1805. He was the valedic- torian of his class, and in his address, he says, was "foolish and wicked enough to adopt the vainglorious maxim Aut Cæsar, aut nullus."i
The boy of twenty who thus once more assures us that he was entirely human, had, during his college course, passed through a very decided religious experience. During a revival in the college he had been led to give to the subject of religion a measure of that awful consideration which was then regarded as indispensable. He speaks particularly of one Satur- day afternoon which he devoted entirely to prayer, endeavoring to reach the assurance that he had se- cured the divine mercy. "There," he says, " "in the south entry of the old college, back side, middle room, third story, I wrestled with God as I had never wrestled before." į For a month he thought he had succeeded in his purpose, and then on the Fourth of July "marvellous to be told, amid the arrangements and speeches, the songs and glee of that memorable day, my religious hopes and impressions all vanished, as 'a morning cloud, and as the early dew.'"§ It is noteworthy that although he did not "abandon [his] closet nor forsake the society of [his] religious class- mates,"|| he now considered that he was leading a distinctly irreligious life. This belief was strength-
* "Life and Times," Vol. I, p. 78. t Ibid., Vol. I, p. 82.
į Ibid., Vol. I, p. 80. § Ibid., Vol. I, p. 81.
Il Ibid., Vol. I, p. 81.
THE CALL OF GARDINER SPRING 127
ened by the fact that at the time of another revival in the college during the next summer, though he "rejoiced to see so many students pressing into the kingdom of God," he himself felt that he had "no lot nor part in this matter." *
It will probably seem to readers of the present day that a less wooden conception of the process of con- version than was then current would at once have assured this young man of the essential Christianity of his thoughts and purposes; but the extreme con- scientiousness, which the old view inculcated, cer- tainly played a most important part in the building up of that stalwart Christianity by which our grand- parents were distinguished, and unless we have some knowledge of these passages in the early experience of Mr. Spring we shall not be prepared to understand some of the strongest and most characteristic elements of his later life and work.
On leaving college he began to prepare himself for the profession of the law, but this was shortly after interrupted by an opportunity to go as school-teacher to the island of Bermuda. One of his letters, written while in that position, displays in the most singular manner the religious perplexities in which he was then involved. At one and the same time he first expresses in the most feeling terms his inclination to turn to the ministry as his life-work, and then with equal force declares his haunting fear that he is not even a Christian. He tells frankly the best and the worst about himself, as far as he is able to see them. The best could hardly be better, and the worst was not so bad after all. "I am attached to the world,"
* "Life and Times," Vol. I, p. 82.
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he confesses, "I am avaricious; and in the present state of my family, make money my god. I strain honesty as far as I can to gain a little. . . . I serve God and Mammon."*
One clause in these damaging accusations informs us of an important element of the story. The "family," to which he refers, consisted of his young wife and their son, three months old. For Mr. Spring, while still in New Haven, had fallen in love. Miss Susan Barney was a pupil at the weekly singing school; Gardiner Spring was the teacher; and "before I was aware of the attachment," he says, "my heart was led captive by one who had captivated more hearts than mine." t
When he first went to Bermuda, however, he was so ill provided in a financial way, that marriage was as yet out of the question: indeed, it is evident that his acceptance of a position so far away, and out of the line of his intended profession, was influenced by his desire to provide as soon as possible the necessary income. Even when, in the spring of 1806, he claimed his bride, making a hasty journey to Connecticut for that purpose, and taking her back with him im- mediately to Bermuda, his circumstances could not be called affluent. He was still teaching and saving money, at a little place called the Salt Kettle, when he wrote the letter to his father already quoted, and one may conclude therefore that the conditions and problems of his life, quite as much as original sin, accounted for that attachment to the world and alarm- ing avarice which he there confesses. But at last
* "Life and Times," Vol. I, pp. 87 f.
t Ibid., Vol. I, p. 88.
THE CALL OF GARDINER SPRING 129
enough money was saved to enable them to return to America. In New Haven, Mr. Spring resumed the study of the law, and in December, 1808, he was admitted to the bar.
It was not until now that this essentially good man, who, both in his outward observance and in his inward purposes, had been living a life of which many Christians might be envious, thought himself fitted to unite with the church. The truth was that he was at the same time prepared for a still further step, though he did not at once realize it. The state of his own mind was revealed to him by the sermon preached at the college commencement in 1809, at which he was present to take his degree of A.M. and to deliver an oration. The sermon, preached by the Rev. Dr. John M. Mason, started from the text, "To the poor the gospel is preached," and to tell in a sentence its overpowering effect upon Mr. Spring, he left the church possessed by the one thought that he must devote his life to the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It was, as may be imagined, no easy task for a husband and a father to make so radical a change, to abandon the law for which he had now prepared himself and enter upon a preparation for the totally different profession of the ministry. His wife, how- ever, when after some delay he told her of his purpose, rose to the occasion in a brave spirit of loyalty which must have greatly cheered him, and which was all the more creditable to her in that she did not at that time entirely share his convictions.
The new seminary at Andover was the place chosen by Mr. Spring for his theological studies, and there,
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in the extraordinarily short period of eight months, he completed his preparation. During that time he had for a number of weeks supplied the pulpit at Marblehead, and for this purpose he had written eight sermons. With these as his visible equipment, and with such preparation of head and heart as he had received from his home-life, from his own reflec- tion and experience, and from his brief period of study at Andover, he set out, being now twenty-five years of age, on the journey to Philadelphia which led him, by God's providence, to the pulpit of the Brick Church.
CHAPTER X
THE TEMPORALITIES: 1810-1850
"I will make them keepers of the charge of the house, for all the service thereof, and for all that shall be done therein."-Ezekiel 44 : 14.
"The house does not belong to us, but to him; and therefore we are bound to husband the property entrusted to us, for the best interests of his kingdom." -- GARDINER SPRING, "The Brick Church Memorial," p. 39.
T HE period of forty years upon which we now enter is crowded with events, and we are fortunately provided with full information in regard to it, so that we shall be able to follow the history in all necessary detail. It would not, however, be desirable to proceed by a strictly chronological method. Various interests of the church developed side by side, and it would be only confusing to attempt to deal with them all together in one interwoven narrative. It will be best, therefore, to treat each main group of subjects in a separate chapter, with the understanding that each of these chapters covers the same period, and that the events and develop- ments described in any one of them were contem- porary with those described in the others. This arrangement is the more feasible because the whole period may be regarded as a unit: it was not divided into parts by any events of critical importance, but consisted of one continuous development.
The material may be conveniently divided into five parts; first, the temporalities of the church, its
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lands, buildings, and general finances; second, the work of the minister as pastor and theologian; third, the church's religious and moral progress; fourth, the history of the church's schools for secular and religious instruction; and fifth, the growth in the church of missionary and philanthropic enterprise. The present chapter, then, will be devoted to the first of these five divisions, and will give an account of the changes which took place, during the first forty years of Gardiner Spring's pastorate, in the lands and buildings upon and within which the history of the Brick Church was enacted, and of its financial problems and achievements during that period.
The interior of the church itself first demands our attention. Whether in 1810 the old pulpit, lifted high on its supporting post, still existed, is not certain. Mention of the fact that in 1813 certain ladies had presented "the curtains for the pulpit," combined with our knowledge that after the pulpit had been changed to a platform against the rear wall, with the usual desk, curtains were then hung across the win- dow behind it, leads us to suspect that the change may have been made at that date. On the other hand, in 1822 extensive repairs were undertaken with the express purpose of rendering the church more easy to speak in, and we learn, incidentally, that these repairs involved the removal of certain pews, all of which might readily suggest some change in the pulpit. In any case, the change was made at some time dur- ing this period.
One other relic of antiquity was early removed. The two "Governor's pews" for the use of strangers, had in 1811 been exchanged for six of the ordinary
Church
26304
18271 302.59 485.36
il. min.
Plan of the Brick, Presbyterian Church in Beckman 149 de below, as uttered in the year 1822-
Anmbombaich Dec. 74-1822
GROUND-PLAN OF THE BRICK CHURCH ON BEEKMAN STREET AS ALTERED IN 1822
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THE TEMPORALITIES
size. A few years later the addition of some form of mahogany trimming for the pews throughout the church was authorized, and no doubt added a good deal to the general appearance. Indeed, any modest adornment must have been welcome, one would think, in that severely plain apartment, whose main features, the whitewashed walls and the plain glass windows with interior shutters, made a somewhat cheerless effect. Even the mahogany trimmings did not satisfy some of the worshippers, who accordingly introduced, of their own accord, certain decorative changes in the pews which they had rented. This led to a curious declaration of the trustees in 1824, in which they "discountenanced, not to say prohibited, the lining of pews with green cloth or painting them the same color." In 1840 the trustees themselves caused the pews to be lined, but the color is not mentioned.
There was in the church one decorative feature which must not be overlooked. This was a shield surrounded by conventional foliage, carved in wood and painted in white and gold. Upon it was in- scribed in gold letters the words HOLINESS TO THE LORD. It was placed over the high window behind the pulpit, and no doubt in those days, as in later times when it was removed to a corresponding posi- tion in the church on Thirty-seventh Street,* it offered a grateful object of study to the wandering eyes of the children of the congregation.
How was the church lighted in the early days of the nineteenth century? A bill of over £30 for
* Though no longer a part of the church's decorations, it is still pre- served, together with the large clock from the downtown church.
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candles paid in 1813 gives us our answer .* Five years later brass lamps were proposed, and after a year of consideration they were installed, a row with reflectors ranged along the wall in the galleries, and others, for lighting the main floor, suspended from the gallery fronts. In 1830 the lamps were in their turn disposed of, and gas was introduced.
During the first part of this period the heating of the church was by stoves. Some £23 were paid for their erection in 1810, and it may be that until that time the worshippers had had no other source of heat during the long services than the old-fashioned foot- warmers. In 1813 two "Russian" stoves were pro- vided, but four months later, whether because of ob- jection to stoves in general or dislike of the particular design chosen, it was ordered that "the committee who were appointed to have stoves erected in the church be directed to have them removed." With the coming spring the matter was then dropped for the time, but the frosts of the next December produced the following resolution: "Whereas it is represented that a number of persons who worship in the Brick Church are desirous that stoves should be erected in said church, . . . Resolved that stoves be erected." This time they remained, and at about the period when gas was introduced we hear also of furnaces.t By that time the idea that worship was best carried on under a certain degree of bodily discomfort had given way to the more luxurious modern view.
We now pass to the outside of the building and
* The candles were supported in brass "chandeliers," this word then having its true etymological significance.
t Croton water was introduced ten years later,
HOLINESS
to the
LORD
SHIELD FROM THE BRICK CHURCH ON BEEKMAN STREET
-
INTERIOR OF THE BRICK CHURCH ON BEEKMAN STREET IN ITS FINAL STATE
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THE TEMPORALITIES
consider first its surroundings. Its situation was certainly attractive, for the City Hall Park, which formed its western boundary, was probably, in the early years of Dr. Spring's pastorate, the most attrac- tive part of the entire city. The City Hall, which still ranks among the most admirable of New York's buildings, was completed in 1812, while the Park itself during this period "is described as having been a beautiful place, the walks and grass-plots being trimly kept, and shaded by groves of elm, poplar, willow and eucalyptus."* Fronting upon it were some of the most important buildings of the city in that day, such as the New York Gardens, Mechanics' Hall, the London Hotel, the Park Theatre, then the city's most fashionable place of amusement, and Tammany Hall, besides the Brick Church; while St. Paul's Chapel stood opposite the Park's southern point, for in those fortunate days the open space in- cluded the site of the present post-office.
But what was the external appearance of the Brick Church itself ? The wooden pale fence, erected, as we have seen, in 1809, continued till 1840, when an iron railing succeeded it. ; The earlier structure, besides its natural use in protecting the property, served several picturesque purposes. To it were fastened the chains which, from 1810, were on Sun- days extended across Nassau and Beekman streets in order to prevent any noise of traffic from dis- turbing the services. Against it, moreover, were placed the stands and booths of fruit- and oyster-
* "Mem. Hist., of N. Y.," Vol. III, p. 202.
t When the church was finally torn down, this fence was removed to the place of Mr. J. T. Stranahan, in South Brooklyn, where it is still standing.
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sellers, and especially of the petty dealers whose rich harvest-time was the third and fourth of July. From 1828 there are frequent indications that these en- croachments upon the church's property were making the life of the sexton * miserable. What is of more importance, the same facts suggest that by that time the Brick Church was beginning to be "down- town." On the other hand, the mention in 1815 (not many years before) of a willow tree on the church grounds, whose limbs overhung the street and oc- casionally needed trimming, reminds us that the scene would nevertheless have looked rural enough to modern New Yorkers.
Standing on Beekman Street, we look up at the front of the church and are at once reminded that its well-proportioned steeple was nearly destroyed soon after the coming of Mr. Gardiner Spring. On Sunday morning, May 19th, 1811, a destructive fire broke out in the region northeast of the Green, and, before it could be extinguished, burned nearly a hundred buildings. In the midst of the conflagration flying embers set fire to the wooden steeple of the Brick Church, and it seemed to the onlookers that at least a portion of the building, perhaps the whole of it,
* A few facts regarding the sexton's office may be of interest. By a minute of the trustees in 1814, it was declared to be the duty of the sexton "to attend to ringing of the bell, opening, sweeping, dusting, and lighting the church; and sweeping and cleaning the streets adjacent, as required by law; opening, sweeping, and lighting the session room, at all such times as are now usual in the day or evening, for the accommodation of the session, trustees, lectures, and prayer-meetings of the church." At the same time his salary was fixed at $125 per annum, while "other emolu- ments arising from the church," such as burial fees, for instance, were guaranteed to amount to $225 more. During a large part of this period the sexton was also collector of pew-rents, for which service he received five per cent. on collections. See Appendix K, p. 528.
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THE TEMPORALITIES
was doomed. How the blaze was extinguished is made plain by the following notice which was ordered to be inserted next day in the daily papers: "The board of trustees of the Brick Presbyterian Church, deeply impressed with a grateful sense for the timely and constant aid offered for the preservation of the said church from the calamitous and destructive fire of the 19th instant, make in behalf of the congregation their most sincere acknowledgments to their fellow- citizens in general, and more especially to the un- daunted mariner and several others who by the [lightning] conductor ascended the steeple and checked the fire that had then broke out, until more effectual means arrived, and were instruments in the hands of God of saving the church." At the same time one hundred dollars was voted to Stephen McCormick (evidently the "undaunted mariner"), and half that amount to four other rescuers, as rewards for the signal service thus rendered, and as the addresses of the persons in question were unknown and several days' inquiry failed to discover them, a further news- paper notice invited them to call and receive the money. It is a curious fact, commonly reported in histories of this period, though it does not appear on what authority, that the hero of the incident never claimed his reward.
If in our examination of the building we now pass around it toward the rear, and if we imagine that it is the week of Mr. Spring's installation, we observe that, adjoining the north end of the church, is a smaller wooden structure just completed. This is the "session and prayer room," which had been projected in the preceding May and was finished just
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