USA > New York > The centennial history of the Protestant Episcopal church in the diocese of New York, 1785-1885 > Part 8
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I am Sr Your affectionate Brother and Humble Servant,
WILL: VESEY COM.
Archives of the Society for the Propaga- tion of the Gospel, New England, &c. 1738-9, No. 103.
NEW YORK, June 4th 1739.
Revd Sr
Inclosed you'l Receive a copy of my circular Letter to the Revd Clergy of New York & New Jersey Desiring them to meet at Trinity Church In the City of New York, on the second day of May Last. They all accordingly met Excepting only such as were prevented by sickness and other accidents ; And they have delivered to me the state of their Income and Parochial accounts which by this conveyance I have transmitted to you to be layd before the Honourable Society, who by this means will have a View of the condition of the Church and Clergy in these provinces. If in any affair I can be serviceable to that Venerable Body no per- son will be more ready to do it than
Sr Your Very Humble Servant
WILL: VESEY.
P. S .- I presume Mr. Harrison and Mr. Miln will get their accounts Ready to be Sent by the Next Ship.
New England &c. 1738-9 pp. 101.
.
PROCEEDINGS AT ST. THOMAS' CHURCH.
85
PROVINCES OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY, ANNO DOMINI 1738.
New York.
Missionary's Income from their Congregations for the Year 1738.
The Reverend Mr. Charlton, the Society's cate- chist for the city of New York ...
Income by Subscription.
£ s. d. to £ s. d. 82 IO 5
Mr. Standerd.
West Chester
Settled salary.
52 50 3I 5
Perquisites by estimation
Mr. Colgan.
Jamaica, Long Island
60
36 7 3
Perquisites by estimation.
3
I 17
Mr. Jenney.
Hempstead, Long Island.
Salary settled by law of the
Province.
A glebe of 172 acres of upland and 25 of meadow land.
60
36 7
3
Perquisites by estimation New Rochel .
I3
2 6
8
Mr. Whitmore.
Rye ..
Settled salary.
50
30
6
Perquisites by estimation.
5
3 0 7
Albany
37
22
8
5
Perquisites by estimation.
2 16
I 15 IO
Mr. Browne
Brookhaven
I6
2
9 15 I
Perquisites by estimation 2
I
4
8
New Jersey, 1738.
Mr. Vaughan
|Elizabeth Town .
IO IO
6 10
Perquisites by estimation.
6
3 I3 3
Mr. Skinner
Amboy. ..
O
O
0 0
Mr. Campbell
Burlington. .
IO O
And from another place
IO
0
I2 2
5
Mr. Pierson
Salem .. I5
5
9
5 0
Perquisites per estimation.
5
3
3
2 6
Mr. Nichol.
Monmouth County. Perquisites
per estimation.
Mr. Harrison
Settled salary.
Staten Island. Perquisites per estimation. A parsonage house 40 and glebe of 60 acres and a con- siderable plantation left by will of Elias Danbury.
0 0 24 4 3
6
I7
IO
Mr. Stoupe.
Perquisites by estimation
Mr. Barclay
Perquisites by estimation.
I 16
I 9 (
Perquisites per estimation.
Paper'and
Equal Ster- ling moneys.
Currency.
Salary settled by a fund of the Province.
86
CENTENNIAL CHURCH HISTORY.
Reverend Sr .:
The above accounts were delivered to me by my Reverend Brethren the Clergy, in order to be transmitted to the Venerable Society by Sr.
Your very Humble Servant,
WILL: VESEY.
To the Reverend Doctor David Humphreys, Secretary to the Honorable
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, London. [New England, &c., 1738-9 p. 105.]
[The interesting sketch of the Early History of the Colo- nial Church in New York has been kindly contributed to this volume by Dr. De Costa, at the request of the Publication Committee, as an Introduction to the foregoing valuable His- torical Address. The two contributions cover the entire history of the Church in the Colony and Diocese of New York.]
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PROCEEDINGS AT ST. THOMAS' CHURCH.
THE CHURCH AND STATE IN NEW YORK DURING THE CO- LONIAL PERIOD.
STANDING upon some headland of the Atlantic coast dur- ing a calm day when no movement is perceptible in the air, the loiterer is nevertheless conscious of the fact that movements are taking place in the sea. No breeze ruffles the shining expanse, but anon there comes a long, swelling winrow of brine, rolling silently landward, until it falls with a crash upon the sandy shore. Whence the mysterious wave on this calm day? It is the result of an unreported cyclone that smote some remote sea. Similar movements take place in modern society, and we are not without some experience of them in what anciently formed the Province of New York. Occasionally the wave from a distant storm centre, two hun- dred years away, breaks suddenly against the walls of a vene- rable church or institution of learning. The surges assume a variety of shapes, social, political, and ecclesiastical, but whenever and wherever they strike, the impact is the product of some old agitation, the significance of which few understand. The Colonial days formed a stormy period. Let us, therefore, make some examination of the times during which the English laid the foundations of Church and State, especially since various writers have represented that both Church and State were founded by injustice and usur- pation.
I. Thus far hardly more than a single historian really worthy of the name has essayed to write the history of the State of New York, and the work of this writer, as we must all regret, ends with the year 1691. Mr. Brodhead writes with unquestioned ability, bringing to his task a full and critical knowledge of the authorities employed, and yet his exaggerated estimate of the Dutch, notwithstanding his de- sire to be fair, repeatedly renders him insensible to plain con- siderations. Besides, since his first volume appeared, histor- ical geography had made rapid advancement, and is now shedding fresh light upon old subjects.
88
CENTENNIAL CHURCH HISTORY.
There is a general understanding that New York was settled by the Dutch, but the first colonists, those of 1623, were chiefly French Huguenots, while Germans and Jews mingled with the later Dutch. In 1621 there was a distinct movement set on foot for an exclusively French colony in this neighborhood, based on the feudal principle. The leaders desired special authority to style themselves " nobles," but the plan miscarried, and the Huguenots, called Walloons, came two years later, under the Dutch. In 1656 the French ele- ment was so important that public documents were drawn up in the French tongue. It has been estimated that, in 1685, the French constituted about one-fourth of the population. In 1552, French religious worship had become prominent, and in 1682 that French Church was founded which survives in our day. This mixed population maintained a mild type of the Reformed religion, and it was not until a later time that New York became inoculated with that hostile political ecclesiasticism against which the Church of England was obliged to strive.
If called to say what nation was entitled to the territory of New York by right of discovery, we might be obliged to award the claim to the French, who were conducted thither by Verrazano in 1524. Verrazano wrote the first description of the Bay of New York, his letter being addressed to Fran- cis I. Prior to this time Pope Alexander, by a decree, had given away all America to Spain, but that was trifling with the subject ; while we are told that the Dutch were entitled to the country by reason of occupation based upon the voy- age of Henry Hudson in 1609, and some explorations three or four years later. This is trifling with the subject, too; since Henry Hudson was only one of a long line of naviga- tors who followed Verrazano. A Spanish expedition suc- ceeded the French within one or two years, naming the Hud- son River " Rio Antonio," probably in memory of St. An- thony, whose day falls upon June 13.
Besides it is now known that the French were actually living here in 1613, when a child was born. Yet Mr. Brod- head, writing of this particular period, says that, after Verra-
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PROCEEDINGS AT ST. THOMAS' CHURCH.
zano, no European vessels, except those of the Dutch, had yet visited the region around Manhattan. His statement is distinctly disproved by a legend found on the Dutch Figura- tive Map, presented to the States General in 1614, which de- clares that the French ascended in their shallops as far as the present site of Albany, to trade with the Indians. Mr. Brod- head praised the map, but he does not seem to have discov- ered the legend. In this connection we may refer to a bit of hitherto unnoticed testimony found in Champlain, who was in Canada in 1615, and was told of the Flemings trading on the fortieth degree, three of whom were captured by his allies and released on the supposition that they, being of the same language, were the friends of the French in Canada. Many evidences exist proving the knowledge of this region pos- sessed by the English, who did not plant their colony in Vir- ginia in 1584 without any examination of the country on the border of which they sat down. The coast was often run by the English prior to the settlements of Raleigh. In 1583, Christopher Carlisle drew up proposals for a colony in this neighborhood, and his reasons therefor show an intimate knowl- edge of the country and the nature of the voyage required.
Three years before the voyage of Henry Hudson, who was an Englishman, half his crew also being English,“ this re- gion was doubly covered by patents issued by King James to the North and South Virginia companies, who in 1607 com- menced colonization in both New England and Virginia. The whole country was pre-empted, as the Dutch very well knew, having been claimed, too, at an early period by the English on the ground of Cabot's voyage. In New England the English were active and repelled French intruders. On the Hudson, in 1613, they boldly asserted their supremacy. Plantaganet, who was followed by other writers, stated in 1648, that Argall, from Virginia, found some Dutch traders at the Hudson in 1613, and received their submission. This is repeated in a manuscript of about 1663, now preserved in the
* The voyage of Hudson was used by the English to support their own claim. On his return voyage, Hudson entered an English port, where his ship was de- tained for several months on account of his intrusion.
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CENTENNIAL CHURCH HISTORY.
British State Paper Office, which speaks of the Dutch at Man- hattan as having made an engagement with "Sir Samuel Argall that they would come thether noe more."
In 1620 the Englishman, Captain Dermer, found the Dutch trading here, and told them that they were violating English rights, when they professed ignorance. At this very time the Leyden Pilgrims were preparing to sail for the Hud- son, whither they would have come, but for a storm which drove them into Massachusetts Bay, where they settled at Plymouth. The next year the English Ambassador at the Hague brought the Dutch intrusion to the notice of the States General. That body replied that they had heard of "no such thing," and that "it was without their authority." They also said that they knew of no colony there " planted " or " intended." It was a private venture. In 1623, however, the Dutch West India Company was completed, for the pur- pose of operating against Spain, and under this company a colony, composed chiefly of French Huguenots, called " Wal- loons," came over. Wassanaar says that the ship New Netherland arrived in the beginning of May, 1623, "with thirty families Walloons." Yet the same season the English knew what the Dutch authorities were doing, and a plan was arranged to dispossess them. What was actually done we cannot say, as the ship arrived in Virginia late in the year. This incident is drawn from an unpublished letter written off the Isle of Wight, on board the Bonnie Bess, May 4, 1623. The writer says: "We are by commission from the Lord of Southhampton, Governor of the Company, and other learned counsel, and divers great Lords, to discover the very top and head of that river [the Hudson], and if we there find any strangers, as Hollanders or others, which is thought this year adventure there, we are to give them fight and spoil, and sink them down into the sea, which to do we are well provided with a lusty ship, stout seamen, and great ordnance."*
In the course of a controversy on the subject of Dutch rights, the Governor of New Netherland, October 6, 1659, said
* From the Duke of Manchester's Kimbolton MSS.
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PROCEEDINGS AT ST. THOMAS' CHURCH.
that " the King of Spain did renounce and give over unto the united Republic of the Seven Provinces aforesaid all his right and title in such countries and dominions as they have in process of time conquered and settled in Europe, America and elsewhere, wherefore the above said Province of New Netherland became, in this regard, the true, proper inheritance of the Dutch nation."* The same year he declared, we "take our origin as vassals and subjects from the King of Spain, then the first finder and founder of all America."+ A few days later the governor made another statement, saying, "The King of Spain was at the time of the discovery of America our King, and we were as much his vassals and subjects as they [the English in Maryland] were the subjects of their King or Republic of England, but afterwards, when we were obliged to take up arms, and achieved our liberty, the King of Spain conveyed over and to us, in full propriety, by lawful right and title, all his own and other conquered lands in Europe and America."} Again in 1660 the Directors of the West India Company made the same claim. § Mr. Brodhead ignores this transaction.
An attempt has also been made to bolster up the Dutch claim, on the ground of purchase. In this connection the historian of New York is quite eloquent. Mr. Brodhead says : "This event, one of the most interesting in our Colonial annals, as well deserves commemoration, as the famous treaty, immortalized by painters, poets, and historians, which William Penn concluded, fifty-six years afterwards, under the great elm tree with the Indians at Shackamaxon." | This compar- ison, however, is doubly unfortunate, since the researches, by some of the Pennsylvania antiquaries, men jealous of all that regards Pennsylvania's fame, completely fail to prove that the treaty between Penn and the Indians ever took place. It has been said that the comparison was doubly unfortunate, and for the reason that the Penn treaty has always been described as a genuine treaty, while the purchase of this isl- and, according to the Dutch, formed a sharp bargain. Hence
* N. Y. Col. Docs., II., 80. + Ibid., 91. # Ibid., 93. § Ibid., 139. | History of New York, I., 164.
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CENTENNIAL CHURCH HISTORY.
neither painter nor poet has troubled himself to adorn the transaction, which a Dutchman here at the time disposes of in a laconic fashion, under date of November 7, 1676, say- ing, "They have bought the Island Manhattes from the Indians for the value of sixty guilders," about the price of a puncheon of gin, in which commodity it was probably paid. When Heckwelder, the Moravian missionary, came here, he heard the lament of the Indians over this transaction. They gave its history in a distorted form, yet we recognize the main truth in their account, which says, that the "great man," as they call the governor, wanted only enough land to raise greens for his group, but on the land allowed them for a garden they planted great guns and "afterwards they built strong houses and made themselves masters of the island." *
Another Indian lament comes from a different source. Turning over some manuscripts in the British Museum in the summer of 1885, the writer came upon a petition sent to the British Government by one Kohhewenaaunant, who says that the ancestors of his tribe, then living on the Housatonic, from " time immemorial lived on the River called Hudson River, and were the original and true owners of the lands lying on said River, and when the white people first made settle- ments on said River they found the tribe aforesaid the sole possessors of said lands." The petitioner, continuing, says : " The white people taking the advantage of the ignorance of us Indians, and taking away from us Indians what they never purchased, your petitioners have lost all foothold on said Hudson's River. " + Thus at the end of nearly a hun- dred and forty years, the memory of transactions, which the eulogist of the Dutch thought so worthy of the attention of poets and painters, rankled in the Red Man's breast. Here we get a glimpse of the foundation of the Dutch claims urged in opposition to those of the Church. But we must leave this part of the subject, and hasten to notice what followed. In 1632, eight years after the seizure of Man-
* Penn. Coll., Vol. XII., p. 77.
{ Add. Mss. 22679, p. 4. The particular lands contended for lay on the upper Hudson.
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PROCEEDINGS AT ST. THOMAS' CHURCH.
hattan, a Dutch ship which came over was held on her re- turn in the port of Plymouth, England. The Dutch also failed to make any claim to jurisdiction in opposition to England based on occupation, and it was left for one in our day to claim the country for them on the ground of discovery and actual possession. Nevertheless, though without any valid claim, the Dutch continued to hold the country, the English being absorbed in struggles which prevented the Crown from giving due attention to its rights. The Dutch, however, as the years rolled on, felt a growing sense of insecurity, and understood that the day of reckoning must come. Realizing, therefore, the absurdity of their position, the representatives of the West India Company through their agent here, main- tained that Holland derived her claim to America from Spain. The foolishness of this position was not apparent to the Eng- lish then living on the Delaware, but elsewhere it was perfectly understood ; and in 1663, the convenient time having arrived, the English Government sent out Commissioners, who quietly took possession in the name of the Crown, and received the Dutch obedience, changing the name of New Amsterdam to that of New York.
So far as technicalities went, the English were entitled to the soil, but morally also England had the superior right, and was charged with a superior obligation, possessing as she did the evident ability to insure to the people a greater degree of happi- ness and prosperity than could be guaranteed by any other nation ; while politically, whatever may have been the prior- ity of the Dutch, it would have been a simple impossibility for New Netherland to exist, dividing, as that jurisdiction did, the Northern American Colonies from those in the South. On every principle New Netherland must at last have been ground between the upper and nether millstone. Partisan wri- ters have wrangled over the subject, while the sentimental essayist has dropped his tear, but the fact remains that the English brought a better and more reasonable government, and a superior type of civilization. It hardly needs to be added that they brought a superior type of Christianity. In time the Dutch themselves appreciated the advantages
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CENTENNIAL CHURCH HISTORY.
enjoyed, having retained all civil and ecclesiastical rights. Indeed, the day after the surrender of the Dutch, "the Court of Burgomasters and Shepens assembled to transact their usual business, proceeding to administer Justice as though nothing had happened." At this point we turn from the State to consider the position of the Church.
II. It has been stated that the first English residents of New York were those Connecticut men brought here in 1635, after their capture on the Delaware. It would nevertheless, perhaps, prove a difficult task to trace the growth of the Eng- lish population. At the time of the occupation it must have been small, though it was increased by the arrival of those who naturally followed in the train of the Royal Commis- sioners. The first governor was Nicolls, one of the Com- missioners.
In 1664 a code of laws, known as the Duke's Laws, was given to the people at Hempstead, Long Island, and the Protestant religions were all put upon a common footing, nothing being said about Common Prayer .* In 1668 Nicolls
* For the understanding of this period it is very important that we should study the Duke's Laws, which were settled at Hempstead, L. I., March 1, 1664. It is stipulated as follows :
I. That in each Parish within this Government a Church be built in the most Convenient part thereof, Capable to receive and accommodate two Hundred Persons.
2. That For the making and proportioning the Levies and Assessments for building and repairing the Churches, Provisions for the poor, maintenance for the Minister ; as well as for the more orderly managing of all Parochiall affairs in other Cases exprest, Eight of the most able men of Each Parish be by the Major part of the House holders of the said Parish Chosen to be Overseers out of which Number the Constable and the aforesaid Eight Overseers shall yearly make Choice of two of the said number, to be Church Wardens and in case of the Death of any of the said Overseers and Church Wardens ; or his or their departure out of the parish, the said Constable and Overseers shall make Choice of another to Supply his Room.
3. Every Overseer is to take the Oath of Allegiance at the time of his Admit- tance into his office in the Presence of the Minister, Overseer and Constable of the parish, besides the Oath of his office.
4. To prevent Scandalous and Ignorant pretenders to the Ministry from in- truding themselves as Teachers ; No Minister shall be admitted to Officiate, within the Government but such as shall produce Testimonials to the Governore, that he hath Received Ordination either from some Protestant Bishop, or Minister
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PROCEEDINGS AT ST. THOMAS' CHURCH.
was succeeded by Francis Lovelace, whose instructions were similar to those of his predecessor. He brought the Duke of York's approval of the Laws, and in a letter to the Home Government he described himself as " being in a middle posi- tion of the two distinct factions-the Papist and the Puritane."
During the war with Holland, in 1673, the city passed back into the hands of the Dutch, but with the return of peace the English recovered the territory, and Edmund Andros came over with instruction from the Duke of York, who had
within some part of his Majesties Dominions or the Dominions of any foreign Prince of the Reformed Religion, upon which Testimony the Governour shall in- duce the said Minister into the parish that shall make presentation of him, as duely Elected by the Major part of the Inhabitants house holders.
5. That the Minister of every Parish shall Preach constantly every Sunday, and shall also pray for the Kinge, Queene, Duke of Yorke, and the Royall family. And every person affronting or disturbing any Congregation on the Lord's Day and on such publique days of fast and Thanksgiving as are Appointed to be observed, After the presentment thereof by the Church wardens to the Sessions and due Conviction thereof he shall be punished by fine or Imprison- ment according to the merritt and Nature of the offence, And every Minister shall also Publiquely Administer the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper once every Year at least in his Parish Church not denying the private benefit thereof to Persons that for want of health shall require the same in their houses, under the penalty of Loss of preferrment unless the minister be restrained in point of Conscience.
6. No Minister shall refuse the Sacrament of Baptism to the children of Christian parents when they shall be tendered under penalty of loss of preferr- ment.
IO. That no Congregation shall be disturbed in their private meetings in time of prayer or preaching or other divine Service Nor shall any person be molested fined or Imprisoned for differing in Judgement in matters of Religion who pro- fess Christianity.
II. No Person of Scandalous or Vicious Life shall be Admitted to the holy Sacrament who hath not given Satisfaction therein to the Minister.
CHURCH WARDENS.
That Church wardens shall twice every year (viz.) on the Second day of the Sessions, to be held in June ; and on the Second day of the Sessions to be held in December, In open Sessions deliver a true presentment in writing of all such misdemeanours as by their knowledge have been Comitted and not punished whilst they have been Churchwardens. Namely, Swearing, prophaness, Sabbath breaking Drunkenness, fornication, Adultery, and all such abominable Sinnes." Under " Charges Publique" it was ordered that "Every Inhabitant shall Con- tribute to all Charges both in Church and State, whereof he doth or may receive benefit according to the equal proportion of his Estate."-Col. N. Y. Hist. Soc., 1809, Vol. I., p. 332.
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"CENTENNIAL CHURCH HISTORY.
regained his former position. The Duke was a Roman Catholic, disabled by the Test Act, and felt wondrously kind toward those who suffered like himself; therefore he gave religious liberty to " all persons," instead of " all Christians."
Dongan, the next governor, arrived in 1683. He was a Roman Catholic, and a liberal and enlightened man, who de- serves a high place in our estimation. His services to New York have been recognized. In 1686 the Duke of York, now in the second year of his reign as King James, sent out new and full instructions respecting the Church. The Roman Catholic King straightly commanded his Roman Catholic Governor to maintain "Common Prayer " and the "Blessed Sacrament " according to the Church of England .*
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