Glass. Fu- Book__ui2AU 1^\%Hxub\ anb B^stripfitip ^hpfr^ Church of the Pilgrims, BROOKLYN, N. Y Reprinted from the Congregational Quarterly, January 1871. BROOKLYN: H. M. GARDNER, JR., PRINTER, CORNER FULTON AND YORK STREETS. 1871, ^ 3 S.OS 01 7 l./'X- THE CHURCH OF THE PILGRIMS, IN BROOKLYN, N. Y. The completion of important changes in its house of wor- ship renders a notice of this church one of timely interest. And since it has never had special attention in the Quarterly, it is fitting that the statement of those changes and their re- sults, should follow a sketch of its history and work. The third, in membership, among the churches of our order, in the United States, its position in a city which has, perhaps, more existing church organizations, according to population, than any American city — is one of recognized and deserved pre- eminence. The eldest of nearly twenty Congregational churches in Brooklyn, it is cheerfully owned as the mother of a .great line of children here, while its disposition and ability to bless have been abundantly experienced in our own and foreign lands. Its life and growth have been coincident with the marvellous growth of the city. In 1 844, Brooklyn covered an area of twelve square miles, had a population of 59,000, and perhaps forty churches. None of these churches stood for the old ecclesi- astical order of the New England fathers. The time, however, was ripe for planting one that should ; and impulse was clearly given to movement in this direction by providential circum- stances. Hon. RuFUS Choate, on the 22d Dec, 1843, de- livered his oration — " The. Age of the Pilgrims our Heroic Period" — before the New England Society of New York. Speaking of the residence of English exiles, in the reign of Mary, from 1553 to 1558, at Geneva, and of the politics which pilgrims learned there, he declared in an effective passage, amid enthusiastic plaudits, — ^^ There was a State without king or nobles ; tJiere was a church without a Bishop ; there was a i)eople governed by grave magistrates which it had selected, and equal laws which it had framed!' ^ The celebrated Onder- donk trial having been concluded a short time previous to this, all listeners were quick to catch and note the words. Rev, Dr. Wainwright, afterwards Bishop of the Diocese of New York, who was present at the dinner of the Society, in the evening, referring to this sentence, maintained in entire good nature, that such a church was, at the least, unscriptural. His remarks led to the speedy appearance, in the New York Com- mercial Advertiser, of a communication from Rev. Dr. George Potts, pastor of the University Place Presbyterian Church in New York, denying Dr. W.'s thesis, and challenging him to newspaper discussion of this and kindred points in issue be- tween Episcopal and non-Episcopal denominations. The chal- lenge was readily accepted, and the discussion prosecuted for some months ensuing. Christian brethren, moved to lay the founda- tions of a church in Brooklyn, were taking heed of these things, and ultimately saw, as they thought, that the tenable ground for church polity was that Congregationalism under which most of them had been born in the Eastern States. And early in the year 1844, David Hale, W, C. Oilman, S. B. Hunt, and R. P. Buck, met one evening, over the office of the New York Journal of Commerce, on the corner of Wall and Water Streets, in that city, to counsel and deliberate upon the incipient meas- ures to that end. Here among the tea chests, — which, with their contents, had been disposed of at an auction sale on the premises, that very day, — after prayer by David Hale, the resolution was reached to endeavor to establish the Church of the Pilgrims, in Brooklyn. . The first meeting of persons pro- posing to unite in the organization, was called for the first day of December, 1844, at the house of Richard P. Buck, corner Clinton and State Streets, in Brooklyn, Here a committee of five was appointed to prepare Articles of Faith and Covenant,^ * Choate's Works, vol. i, p. 379. Boston : Little, Brown & Co., 1862. These words of the orator gave rise to the stirring song by Rev. C. H. Hall, in honor of the Pilgrims, whose stanzas end with the couplet, — " And to a howling wilderness, this glorious boon they bring, A CHURCH WITHOUT A BiSHOP — A SXATE WITHOUT A KiNG." * The result of the labors of this committee was, for substance, the present Articles and Covenants of the church, based mainly upon those of Park Street Church, in Boston. .HLKDll OK THE PIUiKI.MS, U1UR)KLV.\. N. Y. Vifiv on Henr> Slrr^t. i 5 and to make suitable arrangements for formal organization. Meeting again December nth, it was unanimously " resolved, that in view of the solemn responsibilities connected with the formation of a church of Christ, Friday, the 20fh instant, be observed by us as a day of fasting and prayer, concluding with religious services in the evening." This having been observed, a council convened, to consti- tute the church, at the house of Hiram Barney, No. 70 Pierrepont Street, Saturday, December 21st. There were present, Rev. H. Bushnell, d. d., pastor of the North Con-, gregational Church in Hartford, Conn., Bro. Sam. C. Hill, delegate from the Tabernacle (Cong.) Church in New York, Rev. Benj. Lockwood, pastor of the Congregational Church in Jersey City, N, J., with Bro. Thomas Weldon as delegate. Rev. John Marsh, Rev. Milton Badger, d. d., Rev. J. Brace, and Rev. A. Camp, of New York, and also Rev. Samuel Backus, of Brooklyn. Of this council. Rev. Dr. Badger was moderator, and Rev. Mr. Bkace, scribe. Having voted all pre- vious proceedings regular, the council voted to proceed to the constitution of the church on the following evening, Dec. 22d, at the Lecture Room of the Lyceum (now Brooklyn Institute), corner Concord and Washington Streets. At that time, sixty- one persons (thirty male and thirty-one female) were duly recognized as a church, and entered into covenant with God and with each other. ^ Ten others (five male and five female) were received during the same week, and it was voted that their union with the church should be understood to date from its original organization. Of these seventy-one persons, eigh- teen are at present in the church, eleven are starred in the manual as dead, and forty-two have been dismissed to other churches. In the services of recognition, the sermon was preached by Rev. Mr. Brace, the moderator performed the formal office of constitution, and the fellowship of the churches ' From the ist N. S. Pres. ch., Henry street, Brooklyn (Rev. S. H. Cox), 34 from the South Pres. ch., Brooklyn (Rev. S. T. Spear), 8 ; from ist Cong, ch, Hartford, Ct., 4 ; from Madison st. Pres. ch.. New York, 3 ; from 2d Pres. ch, Brooklyn (Rev. I. S. Spencer), 3 ; from ist O. S. Pres. ch., Brooklyn (Rev. M. W, Jacobus), I ; from Bleecker st. Pres. ch., New York, 3 ; from Pres. ch., Hunting ton, L.I., 2; from Mt. Vernon Cong, ch., Boston, 2 ; from Bowdoin st. ch., Bos ton, I. was expressed by Rev, Dr. Bushnell. The ecclesiastical society was organized Dec. 24th, 1844. " We worshipped," writes one of the oldest members of the church, "from the date of organization, until March, 1845, ^^ what is now the Brooklyn Institute. Then we began to wor- ship in our lecture room (of the present church building), and continued to do so, hiring a supply of various ministers, sometimes for several weeks, and sometimes from Sabbath to Sabbath." Among these clergymen was Rev. George Shep- ^ARD, D. D., then Professor of Sacred Rhetoric and Homiletics at Bangor (Me.) Theological Seminary, who supplied the pulpit for nearly two months, and in the year 1845, received an unanimous and pressing call to take charge of the new enter- prise. Such efforts were at once made, however, by the friends of the Seminary, to endow his professorship, as induced him to remain in it, and decline the invitation. Similar declension having subsequently been received from Rev. William Adams, D. D., of New York, a call to the pastorate was extended in the summer of 1846, to Rev. Richard S. Storrs jr., then of Brookline, Mass., which call was accepted, upon its renewal in the fall, and its recipient installed November 19th, 1846. From that time his connection with his people has been un- broken, and the seal of divine favor upon the relations then estabhshed, has been signal. Additions to the church from its beginning, by profession of faith and by letter, have been as follows : — In 1845, 34. 1111851,49, In 1857, 61, 1111863, 29, " 1846, 37. " 1852, 62, " 1858, 100, " 1S64, 34, " 1847, 69. « 1853, 63, " 1859, 24. " 1865, 52. " 1848, 35. " 1854, 32. " i860, 30. " 1866, lOI. « 1849, 66. " 1855, 48. " 1861, 36, " 1867, 42. " 1850, 60. " 1856, 38, " 1862, 24. " 1868, 21. Ill 1869, 57 ; in 1870, 60, Summary, — Members received on profession of faith from the beginning, 461 ; do. by letter, 875 ; dismissed to other churches, 552 ; died, no; watch and dis- cipline withdrawn, 3; excommunicated, i. Members, Dec. i, 1870, — male, 25S; female, 412 ; total, 670. At the present writing (December, 1870), the city of Brooklyn has a population of four hundred thousand ; covers an area of nearly thirty square miles, and the Church of the Pilgrims is one of two hundred and thirty-two named in the Directory for 1870. Passing from these figures, if inquiry be made after its life and power, the answer is fruitful of matter for thanksgiving. The only pastor of this people has been permitted to do a great work with and for them. Widely known and regarded as he is, it may be in place to set down here, his matured judg- ment of the church, to be found in a sermon preached Nov. i8 1866, after twenty years of his ministry. An extract is as follows : — " I do not certainly intend to affirm, — you would not believe me if I did, and would not credit me with sincerity in saying it, — that this has been a perfect church. As we measure it against the ideal of the New Testament, which will in future times be realized, it has been far enough from that ; and none can feel its deficiencies more keenly than those who have long been associated with it, and accustomed to pray for its perfec- tion. But without the smallest disposition to exaggerate, or, certainly, to flatter, — which you will bear witness that I have not been wont to do hitherto, and which I do not intend at this late day to begin, — I may say, as a reason for grateful acknowledgment to God for his goodness, that nowhere in the land, in all the wide circle of churches of different names to which I have occasionally ministered, have I found another more full than this of intellectual and spiritual force ; more attentiveto the truth, or more responsive to its appeals ; more ready to give, and personally to labor, for the advancement of the kingdom of Christ ; more eager and tender in its solicitous sympathies toward those who are inquiring for the way and the hope of the life everlasting ; more glad and grateful, when God has been pleased to bless it in his grace (as from time to time he has done) with signal and powerful effusions of his Spirit ; more ready to seize on every opportunity to make an influence for goodness and for God widely felt in the land and the world." To bring on this condition of things, Rev. Dr. Stores has, from the first, made faithful and happy exertion. He has reso- lutely and freely given himself to the work of Christ, as a min- ister, and has left none who know him well, in any doubt that he counts it the charm and joy of his life, to labor in the gospel, with those over whom the Lord has placed him. Summoned repeatedly to other fields of labor, every such solicitation has been refused. He enjoys the love and confidence of his own church, to a degree rarely equalled in pastoral experience, and has acquired a regard, and wields an influence in Brooklyn, not 8 inferior to that of any other citizen. This was manifest in 1869, when, upon his urgent call to the Central Congregational Church in Boston, he received from all quarters of the city such tender and hearty remonstrance against his departure, as must have had weight in determining him to remain. His doctorate was conferred in 1853, by Union College, and after- wards by Harvard University. This is not an article in which indulgence should be given to an inclination towards determining, by analysis, the sources of this ministerial and social power. Something may be inferred concerning them, however, from the results wrought by God's favor in and through the church. This assembly of believers in Christ, then, is intelligently, and decidedly, in matter of faith, what its founders prayed and labored that it should be, an exponent of New England Puritanism. Few are better. The great doctrines of God's unity, — of God revealed in the Scriptures as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, these three One God, and in all divine attributes equal, — his creative power and wisdom, his vital and perfect administration of a moral government, — the original holiness of man, from which he fell by sin against God, and that by this fall all men are natur- ally wholly inclined to sin, destitute of holiness and alien from God, — are exhibited in its Confession, and insisted on in the preaching from its pulpit. So, too, the truth that as a mere act of mercy, God gave his Son to die for the sins of the world ; that Christ made an atonement by his death suffi- cient to redeem all men ; that pardon and life are open to all men upon conditions of repentance and faith, with the other truth, that all men refuse these conditions except through a change of heart by the agency of the Holy Spirit, — and other fundamentals understood and trusted by the fathers, — these have all and always been taught and urged here, as of the utmost import to those who have heard them, and to the human race. Clear in symmetric conception of religious truth, alive to the importance of its application, ready to follow it to any logical issue, subordinating his varied and growing culture to the end of impressing truth upon his people in private and social as well as in the public means of grace, the pastor of this church has witnessed about him, for years, the best fruit of CHURCH OK THE PILGUIMS, BROOKLYN, N. Y. View on Rtmaeii Street. the ministry, — that development of Christly character to which he refers in the sermon previously quoted. The uniformity, moreover, "with which he centres his preaching on the person- ality and life of the Lord Jesus, makes the gospel, as he pro- claims it, a thing of unusual force and beauty. And this Christian gospel of the Puritans has proved itselt anew by this church, a beneficent gospel. Parent of our churches in Brooklyn, there are very few of our churches in this vicinity which have not looked at some time, nor vainly looked, to its pastor and his flock for help or direction. So struggling and anxious churches over the land, colleges and seminaries of learning and theology, public asylums and libraries, societies oi literature and art, as well as an imperiled country and the cause of Christian missions, have long found here those who have held it a privilege steadily and habitually to make willing offering to every such good object. Reckoning from the com- mencement, as far as can be ascertained, such donations by the church and congregation, outside ordinary church contributions, are estimated by those most conversant with facts, as probably reaching the sum of $280,000. Regular church contributions, from the beginning, have been as follows : — In 1845, $334.56 " 1846, 398.16 " 1847, 2,729.93 " 1848, 3.128.77 " 1849, 3.896.30 " 1850, 4,306.23 In 1851, $7,853.67 " 1852, 7,899.05 " 1853, 10,038.33 " 1854, 7,417.01 " 1855, 6,110.07 " 1856, 6,260.00 In 1857, $6,169.09 " 1858, 7,712.12 " 1859, 6,195.58 " i860, 8,014.37 " 1861, 4,806.99 " 1862, 12,920.86 In 1863, $12,352.36 " 1864, 12,311.64 " 1S65, 14.779.81 " 1866, 15,151.19 " 1867, 21,206.10 " 1868, 16,535.04 In 1869 , $14,839.87; in 187c , $15,290.79 ; Total $228,657.89. Special objects of interest and gift have been Foreign and Home Missions, and the work of the Brooklyn City Mission and Tract Society, of which Rev. Dr. Stores has been the presi- dent, since the decease of the lamented Rev. Dr. Cutler, rector of St. Ann's Episcopal church, in 1864. The annual col- lection for this object is taken in November, and for a few years past has averaged about $6,000. The present schedule of yearly offerings embraces the American Home Missionary Society, the Brooklyn City Bible Society, the American Congregational Union, the Congregational Publishing Society, the cause of Christian Education, the American Seamen's Friend Society, American and Foreign Christian Union, Brooklyn Children's 10 Aid Society, American Tract Society, American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Brooklyn City Mission and Tract Society, and the American Sunday School Union. Attendants at the Church of the Pilgrims learn to give to good causes. They are trained to do so from the constraint of principle, — therefore constantly, wisely, and in great meas- ure according to ability. Allusion has been made to the work of propagation which it has been given to this church to accomplish. In the city, it has virtually colonized, time and again, giving birth and aid to churches of like belief and kindred zeal. Plymouth Church, the South and Clinton Avenue Churches are illustrations, each having had some of their best members from hence. Warren Street Mission, now an independent church, was its own child. The sustenance by its members, for years, of the Navy Mission Sabbath School, in a sunken and vicious part of the city, near the United States Navy Yard, resulted, in 1867, in the organ- ization of a church which was abundantly blessed of God. Much of the vital force of the flourishing Sabbath school con- nected with the German Evangelical church in Schermerhorn Street, is due to the happy labors, week by week, of devoted Christians from the Church of the Pilgrims. Probably from eight hundred to one thousand youth and adults are regularly taught by men and women from its membership, in the Home and other Sunday school and Bible classes. The nurture of the young has always been a thing of prayer and effort here. Pains are taken, to a good degree, to empha- size the need and beauty of religion in the household-. Re- corded baptisms of children number from the beginning of Rev. Dr. Storrs' pastorate, 447; and, since 1862, a finely- bound imported English Bible has been presented to each child so baptized, when it reaches the age of seven years. It is the gift of the church, through the pastor, with date of birth and baptism inserted, and bears the inscription in gilt, — From the Church of the Pilgrims to a Child of the Covejiajit. By the constitution of the church Sunday school, church and pastor stand in closer relations to the school, than in many, perhaps most, of the Congregational churches in the land. II Article I provides that the Sunday school shall be under the charge and oversight of the church, and the constant su- pervision of the pastor, who is requested to visit the teachers at their meetings, and the school at its sessions, at least once in every month, and oftener if practicable, and to take such personal part in the instruction as may seem to him desirable. By-Law No. 2, of the school, is as follows : — In the election of officers of the school, only those teachers shall be eligible to office, or shall be entitled to vote, who are members of the Church of the Pilgrims, and who have been connected with the school three months previous to the elec- tion. The last article of the Sunday-school constitution provides that the constitution and the by-laws of the school shall not be changed, except by a vote of the church, at its annual meeting. Previous articles make the pastor, superintendent, and vice- superintendent, standing committees on classification and disci- pline, on the library and on finance. The interest of Christians in our churches in the question of the best order for public worship on the Lord's day, has been and is of late years a greatly quickened interest. It may there- fore be profitable to notice here the order observed by this church, all the more because it is not unfrequently, in divers ways and from divers places, the subject of inquiry and com- ment. It was thoroughly canvassed by pastor and people in. 1865, at the time of its introduction, and adopted by a decided vote of the church. Lapse of time and experience have con- firmed the judgment of those who thought that it would pro- mote God's service. Its value has practically ceased to be matter of question here, and it is the source of comfort and joy in the house of the Lord. The morning service is given, i brief. That for the evening is the same, somewhat shortened. I. After prelude on the organ, the first measures of Old Hundred are played, and the congregation rise and sing the Doxology, " Praise God from whom all blesshigs flowT 2. Prayer of invocation. 3. Opening hymn by choir and people (book in use — " Songs of the Sanctuary" — Psalter Edition), 4. Reading of Scriptures by the minister, 5. Prayer of gen- eral supplication, ending with the repetition by minister and 12 people of the Lord's prayer. 6. Lesson from the Psalter,^ read responsively by minister and people, and at its close the Gloria Patri sung by choir and congregation. 7. Notices. 8. Hymn announced by minister and sung by choir, 9. Ser- mon. 10. Closing hymn by choir and people. 11. Closing prayer and benediction, in one. Leaving, at this point, the history and work of the church, it remains that we speak of its edifice, engravings of which accompany this article. As this church has had but one pas- tor, so has it had but one church-home, strengthened, enlarged, and beautified from time to time. Steps were taken for its erection before the organization of the church itself, a com- mittee having been appointed early in 1844, to secure funds for a site, and building. The sum of ^25,000 having been sub- scribed, those who had given that at once doubled their con- tributions, as the best means to compass their undertaking. ;^ 10,030 was paid for five and one-half lots of land, corner of Henry and Remsen Streets, and with the balance, the work of church erection was entered upon, the corner stone being laid July 2, 1844.^ It was dedicated May 12, 1846, Rev. Geo. B, Cheever, d. d., of 'New York, preaching the sermon. The architect was Richard Upjohn, of New York. The Building ' Psalter constructed of Psalms i, ii, iii, iv, v, viii, ix, xv, xvi, xvii, xviii, 1-35 ; xix, XX, xxiii, xxiv, xxvii, xxix, xxxiii, xxxiv, xxxvi, xxxvii, l-ii, 22-40 ; xli, xlii, xliii, xlv, xlvi, xlvii, xlviii, li, cxxx, Iv, Ixi, Ixii, Ixiii, Ixiv, Ixv, Ixvi, Ixvii, Ixviii, Ixxii, Ixxvi, XXX, Ixxxi, Ixxxiv, Ixxxv, Ixxxvi, Ixxxvii, Ixxxix, 1-34 ; xc, xci, xcv, xcvi, xcvii, xcviii, xciii, xcix, c, cii, ciii, civ, cv, evil, cxi, cxii, cxiii, cxiv, cxv, cxviii, cxix, 97-128, 129-160 ; cxxi, cxxii, cxxiii, cxxv, cxxxiii, cxxxiv, cxxxv, cxxxviii, cxxxix, cxliv, cxlv, cxlvi, cxlvii, cxlviii, cxlix, cl, Isaiah xi, 1-9; xlii, 1-12 ; Ixi, 1-7; Iv, I-13 ; xl, 1-13 ; 22-31 ; Ix, 1-20, — in forty-eight lessons. ^ A sealed box was deposited in the corner-stone, containing the Holy Bible ; 27th Ann. Report of Am. Bible Soc. ; 34th Ann. Report of A. B. C. F. M.; i8th Ann. Report of Am. Home Miss. Soc; 18th Ann. Report of Am. Tract Soc; 20th Ann. Report of Am. S. S. Union; 28th Ann. Report of N. Y. S. S. Un.; 5th Ann. Report of Foreign Evang. Soc; Ann. Report of Am. Seaman's Friend's Soc; Report of Exec. Com. of Am. Temp. Soc; Maps and Illustrations of the Missions of A. B. C. F. M., 1843 5 Covenant of the First Church at Plymouth, Mass., in 1620, as established by the Pilgrims; Missionary Herald for May, 1844 Sermon before A. B. C. F. M. in 1843, by Rev. T. H. Skinner, d. d.; A Disserta tion on the Rule of Faith, by Rev. Gardiner Spring, D. D.; The Cambridge Plat form of Church Discipline ; View of Congregationalism, by Rev. Geo. Punchard : "The Dead are the Living," a Sermon by Rev. S. H. Cox, D. D.; the Am. Al manac for 1844 ; Manual for the Officers and Communicants of the First Presby ! WM CHDKCH OK THE I'lLGRUIS, i;U001vLYN, N. Y. ViewoflnlMinr. CHURCH OK TME PILGRIMS. KRUOKLYN, N. Y. Floor and Gallpry Plans. 14 The expense of this alteration was ^18,000. And for a dozen years or more, no further change in the church was needful. In the flight of time, and under Divine blessing upon church work, it became evident, near the close of that period, however, that the best interests of the church demanded an enlarge- ment of accommodations. This was especially requisite for a convenient and commodious lecture-room, and for the further- ance of the Lord's interests in the Sabbath school and Bible classes, and in meetings for prayer and social intercourse. To these ends, plans for alteration and addition to the building were prepared by Mr. Leopold Eidlitz, of New York, as architect, and adopted by the pew-owners in March, 1868. These plans involved the lengthening of the main auditorium, with the erection of a new two-story building upon the rear of the old church, on Remsen Street. They are now carried out, and in reality much more than was at first contemplated has been done, at an expenditure of ^135,000 for land and improve- ments. The building committee have been Messrs. D. John- son, Chairman, J. P. Robinson, G. L. Nichols, A. Baxter, J. M. Van Cott, S. Green, W. T. Hatch, F. R. Fowler, A. Woodruff, M. Hulbert, C. Storrs, S. B. Chittenden, J. C. Brevoort, and G. W. Parsons ; the committee in charge 01 the work, — Messrs. Nichols, Chairman, Robinson, Green, Johnson, Hatch, and Hulbert. Forty feet of ground on Remsen Street, in rear of the church, extending one hundred and five feet in depth, was purchased, and the whole edifice has now a total depth of one hundred and seventy-five feet on Remsen Street, from the tower on Henry Street. The extended southern front, thus secured, is, archi- tecturally, one of the most imposing in Brooklyn or New York. The tower over the side entrance on Remsen Street is a con- necting link between the church proper and the newly added building. It may be the precursor of a new spire to be erected on the Henry Street tower. The audience room in the church now has an inner width of sixty-five feet, with eight feet added at the transept on the southern side. It is no feet in length, including gallery in front ; its height from floor to nave is 46 feet 3 inches ; from floor to ceiling over the side galleries, 35 feet. In all other 13 Committee were R. P. Buck, Chairman ; J. Humphrey, H. Barney, J. L. Hale, C. P. Baldwin, S. B. Hunt, D. Per- kins, S. B. Chittenden, E. T. H. Gibson, T. L. Mason, J. Battelle, J. P. Tappan, J. Slade jr. and C. G. Carleton. The walls were of gray sienite, from a quarry on the East River, and the stone used in the late additions has been brought from the same place. In these, however, the trim- mings are of Ohio freestone. Many persons who read these pages, have observed a fragment of the old Pilgrim Rock from Plymouth, Mass., set into the tower in the S. W. front corner. It is still there, a token of the regard entertained for the memory and work of the passengers by the Mayflower. The cost of the building, estimated in 1845, had been set at 1^40,000. But, as always, in church erection, estimate was below actuality, and upon completion, in 1846, it was found to reach ^53,000; so that the enterprise was encumbered with a debt of ^13,000. In 1848, this debt, then increased to ^18,- 000, was discharged after brief effort, from January to April. As first planned, the roof stretched in a single span from wall to wall. It was soon found that the roof timbers were of inadequate size and strength, and a truss-bridge was carried longitudinally from end to end. Side galleries, not at first designed, were also put in. In 1854, this bridge seeming insufficient to sustain the roof, it was taken down, and eight columns (four on either side of the church), based on founda- tions of stonework, were carried up to the roof, inside the audience-room. These columns, now numbering ten, form a solid support for all weight they will ever be called on to bear. terian Church in Brooklyn, now under the charge of Rev. S. H. Cox, D. D.; Man- ual of the Broadway Tabernacle Church, New York ; Historical Sketch of the city of Brooklyn and Vicinity ; N. Y. Evangelist, Observer, Journal of Commerce, Express, Commercial Advertiser, American, Evening Post, Courier and Enquirer, Shipping and Commercial List, and other New York newspapers ; Brooklyn Daily Advertiser, Eagle, and Star ; Map of Brooklyn, and Map of New York, colored ; Map of the North River ; List of the Building Committee ; List of the Subscri- bers to this enterprise, with their places of birth ; a piece of old Plymouth Rock; D'Aubigne's History of Reformation in Germany and Switzerland, 3 vols.; Cole- man's Primitive Church; Congregational Catechism, New Haven; Manuals of Park street, and Essex street, and Bowdoin street churches in Boston; the Hierarchichal Despotism, by Rev. G. B. Cheever, D. D.; Watts' Psalms and Hymns, and a Collection of church music ; Brooklyn Directory, 1843-44 ; New York Directory, 1843-44. 15 rooms in the building, the height of ceihng from floor is 19 feet, except in the Sunday-school room, where it is 44 feet 6 inches. The lengthening of the main audience room has greatly improved its proportions ; and the inherent beauty of its arches, together with other features yet to be spoken of, make it one of the most attractive and elegant places of worship in this or in any country. The pews have been rebuilt in oak (this wood is used throughout the building in trimmings), and number on the ground floor, 192 ; in the side galleries, 54 ; in the front gallery, 16 ; total, 262, with a seating capacity of 1,240. They are doorless, upholstered and carpeted in crimson, arranged on the ground floor in two double rows, with an extra tier of wall pews on either side, and four rows in front, two on either side the pulpit. The windows, four on either side, are as they have been from the first, of ground glass, with stained borders, hav- ing Scripture sentences inwrought. A peculiar sociability be- tween the occupants of the galleries, and the congregation on the ground floor, is secured by placing the side gallery stairs in the auditorium itself, the first step being just within the en- trance door of each side aisle. The choir and organ gallery have been removed to the eastern end of the church, and are above and behind the pulpit, which is lifted six risers from the floor. This gallery is in fact the second story of the hall-way between the main audience room and the lecture room in the new building. It is thrown into the church proper, over and in rear of the pulpit screen, only separated from it by a series of stone columns and arches, which are surmounted by a stone screen reaching to the main ceiling. At the right (facing the audience room) of this gallery, is a new and powerful organ from the celebrated factory of Messrs E. & G. G. Hook, of Boston, described as follows : — There are three Manuals of 58 notes, compass from C^ to a*, and a Pedale of 27 notes ; compass from C. to D^. GREAT MANUALE. 16 ft. Open Diapason, 58 Pipes. 8 ft. Open Diapason, 58 " 8 ft. Viola di Gamba, 58 " 8 ft. Viol d'Amour, 58 " 8 ft. Doppel Flote, 58 " 4 ft. Flute Harmonique, 58 " 4 ft. Octave, 58 " 2f ft. Twelfth, 58 Pipes. 2 ft. Fifteenth, 58 " 3 rank Mixture, 174 " 3 rank Acuta, 174 " 8 ft. Trumpet, 58 " 16 ft. Trumpet, 58 " i6 SWELL MANUALE. 14. 16 ft. Bourdon, 58 Pipes. 15. 8 ft. Open Diapason, 58 " 16. 8 ft. Stopped Diapason, 58 " 17. 8 ft. Keraulophon, 58 " 18. 4 ft. Flauto Traverse, 58 " 19. 4 ft. Octave, 58 " 20. 4 ft, VioHna, 58 Pipes. 21. 2 ft. Flautina, 58 22. 3 rank Mixture, 174 23. 8 ft. Cornopeau, 58 24. 8 ft. Oboe and Bassoon, 58 25. 8 ft. " Vox Humana," 58 SOLO MANUALS. 26. 8 ft. Geigen Principal, 27. 8 ft. Dulciana, 8. 8 ft. Melodia, 29. ft. Fugara , 58 Pipes, 58 " 58 " 58 " 30. 4 ft. Flute d'Amour, 58 Pipes. 31. 2 ft. Picolo, * 58 " 32. 8 ft. Clarionet, 58 " 33. 16 ft. Open Diapason, 27 Pipes. 34. 16 ft. Bourdon, 27 " 35. io| ft. Quint, 27 " 36. 8 ft. Violoncello, 37. 16 ft. Trombone (reed), 37 Pipes. 27 " MECHANICAL REGISTERS. 38. Great to Pneumatic Coupler. 39. Swell to Pneumatic Coupler(Swell to Great), 40. Solo to Pneumatic Coupler (Solo to Great). The above couplers are operated by pneumatic power, and are controlled by small thumb-knobs placed above the "Great" Keyboard, so as to be accessi- ble without removing the hands from the keys. 41, Great to Pedale — Coupler, 42, Swell to Pedale — Coupler, 43, Solo to Pedale — Coupler, 44, Swell to Solo — Coupler, 45, Swell Tremulant. 46, Bellows Signal. PEDAL MOVEMENTS. 1. Piano Combination Pedal, to affect the Great Manuale Stops. 2. Forte Combination Pedal, to affect the Great Manuale Stops, 3. Piano Combination Pedal, to affect the Swell Manuale Stops. 4. Forte Combination Pedal, to affect the Swell Manuale Stops. 5. Pedal to operate on Solo Manuale stops. 6. Pedal to operate " Great to Pedale " Coupler. 7. " Adjustable " Swell Pedal. SUMMARY. Great Manuale, Swell Manuale, Solo Manuale, Pedale, Total speaking Stops, Mechanical Registers, Pedal Movements, 13 Stops. 12 " 7 " 1 " 37 9 46 986 Pipes. 8x2 ♦' 406 " 135 " 2,339 Pipes. The organ bellows is filled with air by the action of two powerful hydraulic engines placed in the cellar of the church 17 by Mr. I. N. Forrester, of Bridgeport, Conn. They are set in operation by drawing a stop at the key-board. The ventilating and acoustic properties of the room are found to be all that can be desired, and in closing what is said of it, its decoration alone claims attention. In this, polychromy has been fully employed, under direction of a committee, con- sisting of the pastor of the church, with Messrs. J. C. Bre- vooRT and G. L. Nichols. The result is so rich and as yet so novel, especially among our Congregational churches, that we speak of it at some length, borrowing from an article in the N. Y. Evening Post of June 1 5th, 1870. " A few years ago," the writer says, " decoration in color was practically unknown in this country. White, glaring white paint, was the sole coloring of the interior of churches, court-rooms, theatres, and banks, as well as of private dwellings. The best efforts of modern decora- tion in color, moreover, in Europe, do not date back further than 1835 ; that art, as well as glass-staining, was revived by the king of Bavaria, under the management of the architects who built the All Saints' Church and the Basilica, in Munich. In the United States, decoration, we may say, h^d to educate a public taste for itself; or, what is the same, had to overcome a rooted popular prejudice. Yet, in the last ten years we have made immense strides in that direction, and it may be safely asserted that in proportion to population we exceed even Eng- land and France in the number of well-decorated buildings. Nor is it at all surprising that our people should love color, in a country where nature has produced a most brilliant display of it, illuminated by a tropical sun, and reflected and varied by an almost constantly clear sky. " In the Church of the Pilgrims, it must be admitted, the cheerfulness of expression and dignity of the audience room as it now is, are largely due to the decoration. " The walls of the church are of a blue-gray, with a r&d Jleur de lis. The clerestory is decorated in two colors of red, and the ceiling is Prussian blue, with gold stars. The woodwork, in the main, retains its oak color, the deep parts being covered with vermilion, while the bright lights of the capitals and the principal mouldings are gilt. A broad gilt band runs all around the church at the spring of the window arches, while e i8 the windows, rather short in proportion to the architecture, are carried up by a pointed arched border to the spring of the roof, thus greatly improving the appearance of the separate bays, which were originally rather wide for their height. " The organ shows all its pipes in successive rows, the first being mainly blue and gold, the second gold upon red, and the third two contrasting reds ; while the more receding pipes and other parts of the organ are treated in a subdued bluish gray and a vermilion ornament. This coloring harmonizes per- fectly with the substantial character of the architecture, which is sustained by the stone of the organ screen and the solid oak of the pews and furniture. The effect of the whole is sugges- tive of genuineness and durability, while the harmony of the colors, lights, and forms of the decoration is perfectly satisfac- tory to the eye. The study of the interior may be commended to all who desire to make their church edifices attractive to the taste and impressive to the imagination." Passing from the auditorium into the new building, one enters a hall-way in rear of the pulpit and underneath the music gallery. At its. southern end is the main entrance on Remsen Street ; at the northern, a room for meetings of the Board of Trustees of the Ecclesiastical Society. Directly behind this hall-way, which is twelve feet in width, and reached through it, are the lecture and conference rooms, connecting by sliding doors of oak. Here six hundred people can find seats. As- cending from the hall-way to the second floor, are found the Sunday school, Infant and Bible-class rooms, with ample ac- commodations for six hundred persons. Here, also, is the pas- tor's study. Above, and on a third floor, is a room for social gatherings of the congregation, 43 x 38 feet. The following persons have been engaged in the several departments of con- struction, under supervision of the architect: B. Maguire, Brooklyn, mason ; Tappan Reeve, Brooklyn, carpenter ; L. H. CoHN, New York, decorator ; Mitchell, Vance & Co., New York, gas fixtures. During the progress of these alterations, which were com- menced in the early spring of 1869, the church worshipped, in the summer of that year, with the First Presbyterian church in Henry Street ; in the Athenaeum, Atlantic Street ; and with 19 the Reformed church on the Heights, in Pierrepont Street. Nearly all the time while absent from their own church build- ing, the weekly prayer meetings were held in the lecture room of the First Presbyterian church, on Remsen Street. Usually, the Sunday school gathered in the lecture room of the church of the Saviour (Unitarian), on Pierrepont Street. In Septem- ber, 1869, when the work of reconstruction promised longer continuance than had been anticipated, the trustees leased the Academy of Music for Sabbath services, and they were held there, until its completion. Very few larger audiences have statedly gathered in any place, to hear a Christian preacher, than were steadily brought thither, month by month, by Rev. Dr. Storrs. But pastor and congregation have now returned, as may be imagined, with great joy and praise to their reno- vated home. The audience room of the church was re-opened for worship, Sunday, 12th June, 1870, the pastor preaching, in the morning, from Ps. xcvi. 9, and Rev. T. D. Woolsey, d. d., president of Yale College, in the evening. During the month of October last, the pews which, from the opening in June, had been en- tirely free to all comers, were apprised at ^260,000. This sum represents the actual cost of the church property as enlarged and improved, including ^125,000 allowed to the original pew- owners, for which sum scrip had been given, when the ^ews were surrendered, — the same to be received as cash in the purchase of new pews. Of the pews thus apprised, ^170,000 worth were at once sold, on which the tax for church income for the current year is ^13,600. Additional to this, a large number of pews have been rented, the present annual income from which exceeds $5,000. About ;^20,ooo was received in premiums on the pews sold. And here in that house, whose strength and beauty have now been freshly consecrated to the Lord, possessed of and using appliances for church life and comfort that are doubtless unex- celled, may this people, owing so much to the God who has bestowed these blessings, be led on by the Head of the church to a work for his kingdom and glory on earth, of which all they have hitherto been inspired to perform, shall be the germ. H. H. McFarland. Brooklyn, N. Y. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ^^^^^^^^^H ~ 014 223 632 1 ^ W>^^^' v^^