USA > New York > New York City > A history of the parish of Trinity Church in the city of New York, pt 1 > Part 29
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1 Records, i., 349. See also the Venerable Society's connection with the subject in, N. Y. Doct. Hist., vol. iv., 375. The literature of the Vermont controversy is very extensive.
9 The New- York Journal, October 25, 1770.
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An address to the new governor was prepared, accord- ing to custom, and duly sent to him in the course of the week.1
About this time the degree of M. A. was conferred on the Rev. Mr. Inglis by the University of Oxford.
The Rev. Dr. Auchmuty writing to Sir William John- son from New York, May 20, 1770, says :
" The Clergy are much indebted to you, worthy Sir, for your strong attachment to the present happy Establishment in Church and State, and for your animated Letters to the Ministry setting forth the neces- sity of an American Episcopate, and a proper notice and regard for the American Churches ; which, at present, are left destitute of Counte- nance and support.
"I am ordered in the Name of our Convention, which met at my house, the last week, to thank you for the many good services you have honored us with ; and to assure you that we should esteem it as a most providential Event if your power to serve us was adequate to your in- clination-happy should we be was this the case. I therefore Sir, as president of the Convention pro tempore return you our most sincere and grateful Thanks, for the exertion of your Interest, in favor of the Church of England in America, and for the many favors we have re- ceived from you, as clergymen. . We most ardently wish you every Temporal & Spiritual Blessings, & beg leave to assure you that we retain a grateful sense of the honor you have done us, in becoming our Friend & Patron. This will be delivered to you by my worthy brothers Cooper and Inglis. The latter travels for health, the former because he has too much. I almost envy them their happiness."
Speaking of the state of affairs at home he says :
"Our great men, instead of being careful pilots, and anxious for the safety of the Nation, are inveloped in false politic's, rack their
1 Similar addresses were made to Governor Tryon, July 12, 1771, on his arrival (The New- York Gazette, July 15, 1771), and to the same functionary, by a convention of the clergy of New York and New Jersey, May 25, 1772. ( The New- York Journal, May 28, 1772) ; to General Gage, on his departure for London, June 8, 1773 ( The New- York Journal, June 17, 1773) ; and to Governor Tryon, on his departure, March 2S. 1774 (Rivington's New York Gazetteer, March 31, 1774) ; also to Lord Howe and General Howe, March 3, 1777 ( The New- York Gazette, March 3, 1777).
2 The New- York Journal, Sept. 27, 1770.
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The State of the Church 333
invention, & exert their utmost abilities to aggrandize themselves, and their families, and suffer, for want of true principles their Sovereign and their Country to be tossed to and fro with every wind of popular discontent, without guiding the Helm with prudence, caution, and Res- olution. The Lords Temporal are wholly engrossed in a system of Politic, which must end, if persevered in, in the ruin of themselves, and their Country ; and the Lords Spiritual, while they can unmolested enjoy their opulence, & weight in the Government, pay too little atten- tion to the distresses and injustice that the members of the best church in the world labour under, in America." 1
Truly an acute and intelligent criticism on that dark period in our Church history !
We have Sir William Johnson's reply :
"JOHNSON HALL, May 27th, 1770.
" SIR,
" I thank you most kindly for your letter of the 20th by our Friends D' Cooper & M! Inglis whom I very highly Esteem and in whose Society I have spent many agreeable hours during which we have Conversed much on the affairs of the Church, Their speedy return prevents me from Saying much to you by this opportunity. I cannot however avoid agreeing with you in the truth of your Remarks on the present unhappy state of affairs, which greatly contribute to check the growth & prevent the Success of the National Church, I hope the Gov- ernment will at last discover the Importance of giving it all possible Countenance, & that whenever party shall so far Subside as to enable them to act without the apprehension of giving offence to others its Enemies, that they will afford it the required support.
" I most kindly thank the Convention for the favorable sentiments they entertained of my endeavors in the Cause of our religion, and I assure you & them that I shall omit no opportunity for demonstrating the sincerity of my attachm' thereto, by promoting its Interest as far as my little Interest & abilities shall Enable me, at the same time wishing that we may spedily hear more agreeable news from England & you that I am always with Great Truth Sir &c." ?
It is well known how strong was the opposition to the Church, on the part of the dissenting and latitudinarian politicians of that day, and how impossible it was for her
1 Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 266. 9 Ibid., 267.
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to obtain justice. To this state of things allusion is made in letters from Sir William Johnson to the Rev. Charles Inglis and Dr. Auchmuty. Writing to the former under date of March 27, 1771, he says :
" I have great Reason to apprehend that the Generality of the men of Rank are but Cool in matters of Religion, otherwise I should think that a plan of that sort would come with great Weight & strict propriety from His Grace of Canterbury, or the Bishop of London in their Eccle- siastick Capacity, and I am really concerned at reading that part where you say That similar applications from the Society first, have been fre- quently postponed, and neglected because it is a proof that my appre- hensions are but too well founded otherwise I cannot see why a Religious Society in which are some of the Greatest Men in England should not meet With all Imaginable Countenance on any Religious Subject, where the Object appeared so meritorious, whilst every species of Dissenters finds favor, and Support on the application of the mean- est Engines that can be found out-This extraordinary lukewarmness in matters of this nature, may I believe in some measure be attributed to the peculiar cast of Modern politicks, It being first forged by the Dissenters, & then echoed by every Scribbler, as now to be too gener- ally believed, That the Missionaries busy themselves mostly in convert- ing worthy & pious Dissenters, and that these pious people will be alarmed.
" I remember to have read of a king of France, forbidding a neighbour- ing state to build a single Galley as his fleet was sufficient to scour their seas, and I am certain the conduct of the Dissenters greatly resembles that of the Monarch, but that their power is as yet less than his. For those of consequence amst them, tho' many of them are Libertines in their sen- timents, yet all of them are strongly interested in whatever regards their profession, and in this Country they foresee that if the Established Church is encouraged, its Comeliness may, with' much Efforts of our Missionaries draw many of their people to it as well as regain sev1 of its old Members who for want of any other places of Worship in some parts have become Dissenters, But as pride & policy forbid their dis- covering the True Causes, they affect apprehensions that our Church may pursue unwarrantable measures to acquire a Dominion over their tender Consciences and In America presume even to take offence at any additional Establishment in our favr. That Their party is not to be disobliged at all in England seems to be a maxim amongst the Great, which is a plain Confession of the strength of their Union, Whilst from
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this Country they endeavor to persuade men in power of the general prevalence of their opinions, and the great Dread of a people Jealous of their Rights who fled from Religious persecution. Tho' in truth they can boast of no superiority, if the members of the Church, The Foreign Protestants, Quakers, &c., are taken together as they may be for these hav& no design agt us, Do not in fact Joyn them in opinion, or enter- tain any apprehensions so Injurious to the Chh of England, so that as I formerly observed this artfull false representation should be enlarged on at home, and Eradicated, for untill that is done I do not see much prospect of encouragement, and I believe the great are so much afraid of the imputation of being priest ridden, that they dare not give the Church that Countenance or the injoyment of all its rites and Cere- monies, which is so highly necessary & reasonable in a Land of Liberty, according to the Dissenters own arguments, if the meinbers of our Church are allowed to have any Conscience at all." 1
The following from a letter to the Rev. Dr. Auch- muty, April 4, 1771, is to the same effect :
" I cannot but think with you that there is a Want of becoming zeal amongst many whose duty it is to promote the Interests of the Church, and to procure its members the full Enjoyment of all their rites & Ceremonies, to which they have surely an undoubted title. If other denominations find free indulgence, But as the neglects of Superiors in Church & State must be ascribed to the artifices of those who persuade Men in Europe that its Members here are few & Inconsiderable, Such Notions must I believe be eradicated before much assistance can be expected. The prospect which is at present afforded in this increasing country is so great that, I hope when Men in power are more disengaged from Domestic Concerns, they may turn their Eyes to America, and without any attempts on the Consciences of other Men, endeavor to strengthen the National Church.""
Thus, through the jealousy of Dissenters 3 and the luke- warmness and cowardice of Churchmen unworthy of their name, God's faithful priests and people in this land were
1 Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 276.
9 Ibid., 278.
3 In a letter of March 8, 1774, to the Rev. Dr. Hind, who was Secretary to the S. P. G., Sir William Johnson speaks of " the Sly Artifices as well as public attacks practiced " by the Independents and other Dissenters against the Church of England in America. Ibid. 310.
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kept under the ban, and allowed to suffer and protest un- heeded against the grossest injustice on the part of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities at home.
Dr. Auchmuty, writing to Sir William Johnson from New York, June 11, 1771, says in reference to letters from the Secretary of the S. P. G. and the Bishop of London refusing further grants on the plea of the low ebb of the finances of the society:
"These Letters effectually stop all future application for new mis- sions, which must greatly retard the Growth of the Church in America." 1
On the subject of the American Episcopate he adds :
" Before I conclude, I must just observe to you that his Lordship of London & Dr. Burton are both silent with regard to an American Bishop ; and indeed, such are the confusions at Home and Religion so little adverted to, that I see no prospect as yet of succeeding ; unless, the late applications of the Maryland clergy, backed by their Brethren of Virginia, which I have reason to think is now about taking place, should demand a little attention and convince the ministry that the American clergy are determined to pursue such steps as Conscience and loyalty suggest, till they succeed in what they have as Christians and dutiful Subjects an undoubted right to petition for. The Bishop of London informs me, that his Grace of Canterbury & himself in a very particular manner recommended to my Lord Dunmore 'the pro- tection of the Church and Clergy in the province of New York.' You will doubtless conclude that he has taken great notice of the recom- mendation." ?
In reply Sir William writes on July 4, 1771 :
" I am inclined to hope that the Application you mention of the Maryland & Virginia Clergy, being an additional proof of the General Wishes of the American Clergy, will Merit some attention. I look upon that Establishment to be a Grand & Important object, including in it almost everything else that we should never lose sight of, and I am persuaded that perseverance will at last obtain it.
"I am sorry the recommend" of his Grace of Canterbury, & the
1 Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv., 281. ? Ibid. 281.
1771] Relief of Widows and Children of the Clergy 337
Bishop of London, has met with so little notice from a certain quarter, which I understand to be the case from the close of your Letter, per- haps it is owing to his being of different Religious Sentiments, or to a total Indifference in these matters."
In the month of October, 1767, at a meeting of clergy held at Elizabethtown, a plan was considered for the foundation of a society for the relief of the widows and children of clergymen of the Church of England. Sub- sequently, at Perth Amboy, May 12, 1768, Drs. Auch- muty, Smith, and Cooper, and the Rev. Mr. Cooke, of Monmouth, met and agreed on a plan providing for char- ters in three provinces. The Pennsylvania Charter was signed February 7, 1770, and that for New York was given by Colden, September 29th. A few days later Dr. Auchmuty preached the first sermon on behalf of the new corporation. He shows that the incomes of the clergy were wholly inadequate to enable them to make any pro- vision for those dependent ones whom they might leave behind. To excite the compassion of his hearers the preacher, in imagination, took the congregation to view the desolate home which the clergyman left behind him, exclaiming in his special application of the subject to woman :
" Ye Daughters of Israel-Ye fond and indulgent Mothers, behold the distress to which your Sex is liable, and the Wants and Misfortunes of Innocent Children."
The subject seems to have attracted much attention. The sermon was printed and referred to in the public papers, as follows :
"Yesterday, for the benefit of that benevolent and necessary institution, The Corporation for the relief of the widows and children of clergymen in
1 Dec. Hist. N. Y., 284.
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the communion of the Church of England in America, at Trinity Church in this City, before a numerous audience, consisting of most of the principal inhabitants, &c. and at which about twenty eight clergymen of the church of England of this and the neighboring colonies attended, an excellent ser- mon on these words, The 4th chapter of the 2d Book of Kings, verse the Ist. 'Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, thy servant my husband is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord, and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen,' was preached by the Rev. Dr. Auchmuty, Rector of the church. Several pieces of church musick, before the sermon, and after it part of the celebrated Mr. Handel's Ora- torio of the Messiah were performed by a considerable number of male and female voices, accompanied with the organ, very much to the general satis- faction of the audience. A considerable sum was collected for the benefit of the charity."-The New- York Journal, October 4, 1770.1
Before the sermon the following officers were elected ; President, the Rev. Richard Peters ; Treasurers : for New York, Jacob Le Roy ; New Jersey, Dr. Chandler ; and for Pennsylvania, Francis Hopkinson. The collections up to that time had amounted to " 10693 " dollars.2
1 A SERMON preached before the CORPORATION FOR THE RELIEF OF THE WIDOWS AND CHILDREN OF Clergymen, in the Communion of the Church of England in America AT THEIR ANNIVERSARY MEETING In Trinity Church, NEW-YORK on TUESDAY, October the 2d, 1770 TO WHICH IS PREFIXED A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE CHARITABLE CORPORATION WITH AN ABSTRACT of their PROCEEDINGS, &c &c By Samuel Auchmuty, DD. Rector of Trinity Church ; and Chaplain to the RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM EARL OF Stirling Published for the Benefit of the Fund NEW-YORK Printed by H. GAINE, in HANOVER-SQUARE M, DCCC. LXXI.
" See on the Society, Smith's Life and Correspondence of the Rev. William Smith, D.D., 423-4.
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Church Music
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There is evidence at this time of growing interest in the subject of Church music as is shewn by the following advertisement :
"PROPOSALS For publishing (by SUBSCRIPTION) Two SELECT PIECES of CHURCH MUSIC
" Ist. AN HYMN, (by way of an ANTHEM) consisting of Solos, Duets, one Trio, and 4 Chorusses; together with a PSALM Tune adapted for any charitable Church Collection, and first design'd for the Benefit of the FREE SCHOOL belonging to TRINITY CHURCH, in New- York, to be performed in the Churches at the annual Collection ; the School being chiefly supported by Charity ; the Words of the Hymn, by a Gentleman of King's College.
"2. A Performance adapted for a FUNERAL, consisting of three Dirges, (or Chorusses) the Words, Part of the Burial Service ; Together with an Anthem, and a Psalm Tune suitable on the Solemnity of a Funeral or Interment of any person of Note, &c. The whole never yet perform'd, being very lately set to Music by WILLIAM TUCKEY, for some Years a Professor of the Theory and Practice of VOCAL MUSIC, Vicar Choral of the Cathedral Church of Bristol, and Clerk of the Parish of St. Mary Port in said City, now Resident in New York.
"The Subscriber to pay Two Shillings at the time of subscribing, and Two Shillings more on the Delivery of the Work (New-York-Cur- rency) which is to be neatly engrav'd on Copper Plates, and worked off on the best Paper : And when ready to be deliver'd, Notice will be inserted in the New-York, Philadelphia, and Boston Papers ; The Sub- scribers to be at the Expence of sending their Subscriptions, and for their Books to New-York, either to Hugh Gaine, Printer, or the Pro- prietor, William Tuckey.
"N. B. No more will be work'd off than what are subscribed for, so that none will be sold by any Bookseller but those who subscribe, who will be entitled to the usual Discount." i
The commencement exercises of King's College were held in Trinity Church, May 23, 1771, the Earl of Dun- more, General Gage, and the Council being present, forming a noticeable part of a brilliant assembly. The 1 The New- York Journal, March 28, 1771.
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programme was an interesting one. Benjamin Onderdonk, who died the next year, had an English oration on " The Effects of the Passions," and young Gouverneur Morris had an oration on "Love." Young Benjamin Moore subsequently was among the graduates, and gave the valedictory on "The Fatal Effects of Misguided Ambi- tion." The editor of the New-York Gazette closes his account of the exercises in a somewhat sarcastic manner. 1 Nevertheless the graduates went off in high spirits. De- grees were conferred as follows :
B. A. John Copp, Clement Cooke Clarke, Henry De Wint, Thomas Knox, John Searle, Ichabod Best Barnet.
M. B. Benjamin Onderdonk, Michael Sebring.
M. A. Gouverneur Morris, James Ludlow, Charles Doughty, Benjamin Moore, John Stevens, and Caleb Cooper.
M. D. Samuel Kissam.
The degree of M. A. was likewise conferred on the Rev. Jonathan Boucher, rector of Annapolis, in Mary- land. After which the company dined together in the College Hall.
1 He quotes from a correspondent who speaking of the comments made in the audience gives a sample : " That is a very learned young Gentleman, -a very learned young Gentleman indeed : And after he had seen a little more of the World, and has been kicked down Stairs two or three Times for his Impertinence,-he will be much the better for it." The New- York Gazette, May 27, 1771.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE RECTORSHIP OF DR. AUCHMUTY, CONTINUED.
Sir William Tryon, Governor-View of the Policy of the Home Government towards the Gentry and the Church in the Provinces-Founding of the New York Hospital- Clergy Present an Address to Governor Tryon-Death of George Harison-Marriage of the Rev. Mr. Inglis-Address to General Gage-Marriage of Stephen De Lancey and Miss Barclay-Death of Mrs. Mary Goelet-Anneke Jans Heirs-Robert Leake- Schismatical Attempt to Organize a New Congregation-Bogardus Claimants-Lieut. Gov. Colden-Death of Dr. Ogilvie-Rev. Benjamin Moore and Rev. John Bowden Elected-Rev. John Vardill.
I N the year 1771, Lord Dunmore was transferred to Virginia, and Sir William Tryon, Baronet, took his place at New York. For three years thereafter, there was a show of peace outside, with no end of trouble fer- menting within. It was but the lull before the tempest ; men knew it, and their hearts were already failing them for fear, and for looking on those things that were coming on the earth. The churches had rest, however ; the gov- ernor made handsome gifts to St. George's Chapel, as we have already seen ; and the pious and scholarly Auchmuty, with his assistants, the gentle Moore, the sensitive Bow- den, and the stanch Inglis, were doing their work, thought- fully and anxiously, and praying for peace. The record of those days is weird enough ; royal governors flitting to and fro, now arriving and anon disappearing ; citizens and soldiers brawling in the streets ; tea riots adding an aro- matic flavor to the highly charged atmosphere ; assemblies obsequious to the executive ; and weather-casts through- out the sky, showing the deep-fermenting tempest brewing in the air.
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Dr. Auchmuty, writing to Sir William Johnson, May 20, 1770, affords, as we have already seen, a glimpse of the condition of things, where he says :
"Our great men, instead of being careful pilots, and anxious for the safety of the Nation, are inveloped in false politic's-rack their in- vention, & exert their utmost abilities to aggrandize themselves, and their Families, and suffer for want of true principles, their Sovereign and their Country to be tossed to and fro with every wind of popular discontent without guiding the Helm with prudence, caution, and Reso- lution. The Lords Temporal are wholly engrossed in a system of Poli- tics, which must end if persevered in, in the ruin of themselves, and their Country : and the Lords Spiritual while they can unmolested en- joy their opulence & weight in the Government, pay too little attention to the distresses and injustice that the best Church in the world labors under, in America. The True principles of a good Church man, are, a true regard to the Laws of his God, and a zealous attachment to his lawful Sovereign." 1
Referring to the observations of Mr. Auchmuty on the outlook in his day, I propose, at this point, to express some opinions, with which the reader may concur or not as it pleases him. There were, at the epoch which we have reached in the colonies, but particularly in the Province of New York, certain elements which the home government might have turned to better account in their efforts to maintain their supremacy in North America. If, for instance, the colonial aristocracy had been encour- aged in their wish to remain loyal to the Crown, and if the Church had been permitted to complete her organiza- tion with the freedom accorded to every other religious body, the course of affairs might have been modified. But the home policy seemed to be, to cripple the Church, overlook and despise the landed gentry, and harass and provoke the common people ; and thus the way was paved
1 .V. Y. Doc. Hist. iv., 266. The documents in this volume, especially in rela- tion to Sir William, who did so much for the Church, are worthy of careful study.
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for changes not anticipated by any class in the com- munity. As the social system, quaint customs, and genial manners of the Dutch had already given way before the march of English conquest, so now the colonial society, with its culture and refinement, high-bred tastes, aristo- cratic tone, loyalty, and conservatism, was destined to fade away.
It cannot be doubted that the gentry of the Province were opposed to separation from the mother country ; their traditions, their instincts made them loyal ; nor was it until after long discipline that they were induced to espouse the popular cause. In civilized states the men of education and culture, by force of intelligence, knowl- edge of the world's history, attainments, and personal inter- est in a stable government, form the main bulwark of the social system. To develop and maintain in their just posi- tion such a class of citizens is deemed by wise publicists the policy of the nation which would preserve its life intact and its honor unsullied. Such a class existed here before the Revolution ; but the home government did not turn their good-will to account in the strife at which the world gazed expectant.
We are writing of events in the Province of New York. Its higher classes had peculiar characteristics, not else- where readily discerned.
In New England, where individual ownership in the soil was more general, men lived on small farms, which they tilled with patience, their minds working meanwhile on theories of independency, and their hearts hardened by Calvinistic theology. In New York, on the other hand, a different social influence prevailed, with wider views and a more gentle temper. Under the Dutch régime, men had become proprietors of vast landed estates. Their right to these was secured by the English law ; and so there grew
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