t^l dp 
 
 -ZOKK. 
 
LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 TSHOP PR0Y00ST, 
 
 OF NEW YORK. 
 
 JOHN N. NORTON, A.M., 
 
 RHCTOR OF ASCENSION CHURCH, FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY J AUTHOR 
 
 OF "rockford parish," "short sermons," "life of 
 
 BISHOP STEWART," ETC. 
 
 " How sacved is the relation between two persons, who, under the appointment 
 of a Christian Church, had been successfully engaged together in obtaining for it 
 the succession to the Apostolic office of the Episcopacy ; who, in the subsequent 
 exercise of that Episcopacy, had jointly labored in all the ecclesiastical business 
 which has occurred among us ; who, through the whole of it, never knew a word, 
 or even a sensation, tending to personal dissatisfaction or disunion I" 
 
 Bishop White. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 (Keneval Protestant 2Epfscoj)al <S. Scjool Simon, 
 anti (ftjurcj 3Sooft Society, 
 
 762 BKOADWAY. 
 
 1859. 
 
 UK* 
 
*%$ 
 
 
 '01 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, 
 
 By the General Protestant Episcopal Sunday School 
 Union and Church Book Society, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
 Southern District of New York. 
 
 RENNIE, SHEA & LINDSAY, 
 
 Stereotypers and Electrotypers, 
 
 81, 83, & 85 Centre-street, 
 
 New York. 
 
TO 
 
 THE REV. GEORGE H. NORTON, JUN., 
 
 RECTOR OF TRINITY CHURCH, COLUMBUS, OHIO. 
 
 My Dear Brother : 
 
 When our good mother put her hand upon our heads, 
 in the days of our boyhood, and said, " I should be so glad 
 to see you both grow up to become clergymen!" perhaps we 
 little realized that her heart's desire would be granted. 
 And yet she has lived to see it come to pass. 
 
 The Hand of Providence which led you to the School of 
 the Prophets, at Alexandria, and me to the General Semi- 
 nary, at New York, has fixed our spheres of labor in differ- 
 ent dioceses ; but I know full well, that you are quite as 
 zealous for the advancement of God's Holy Church, as I can 
 possibly hope to be. 
 
 As a token of affection, I place your name at the opening 
 of this volume, in which some important items of the 
 Church's history are noted down. May we both be stimu- 
 lated by the examples of the good and the devoted who 
 have gone before, to make full proof of our ministry. 
 
" The Episcopate itself had its appointments from God. The office of 
 a Bishop was instituted by the authority and denned by the ordinance of 
 God. Let them give us such an hierarchy, in which the Bishops may so 
 bear rule, that they refuse not to submit to Christ, and to depend upon 
 Him as their only Head ; let them be so united together in a brotherly 
 concord, as that His truth shall be their only bond of union ; then, indeed, 
 if there shall be any who will not reverence them, and pay them the most 
 exact obedience, there is no anathema but I confess them worthy of it." 
 
 John Calvin. 
 
 " I would to God it lay in me to restore the government of Bishops. 
 For I see what manner of Church we shall have, the ecclesiastical polity 
 being dissolved. I do see that, hereafter, there will grow up a greater 
 tyranny in the Church than there ever was before." 
 
 Philip Melancthon. 
 
 " I declare once more, that I live and die a member of the Church of 
 England, and that none who regard my judgment or advice, will ever 
 separate from it." 
 
 John Wesley. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The authorities from which the writer has derived 
 his information, in preparing this work, are generally 
 noted at the foot of the pages. But after having 
 gathered his materials, most faithfully, from every 
 printed source, the volume would hardly have been 
 written, but for the kindness of an old and valued 
 friend, Mr. Thomas N. Stanford, who suggested a 
 way in which some of the private papers of Bishop 
 Provoost might be obtained, and, of the Rev. S. H. 
 Weston, of Trinity Parish, New York, who took the 
 trouble to make application for them. 
 
 Although the first Bishop of New York will not 
 rank with the most zealous champions of the Church, 
 and his name can never arouse such emotions as that 
 of Hobart, or Griswold, or Ravenscroft, or Chase must 
 excite, he certainly occupies no mean place in the 
 Church's history ; and the times in which he lived, 
 and the scenes in which he mingled, render his life 
 most interesting. 
 
" Then shall Religion to America flee ; 
 They have their times of Gospel, e^n as we. 
 My God, thou dost prepare for them a way, 
 By carrying first their gold from them away ; 
 For gold and grace did never yet agree ; 
 Religion always sides with poverty. 
 ****** 
 
 As the sun still goes both west and east, 
 
 So also did the Church, by going west, 
 
 Still eastward go ; because it drew more near 
 
 To time and place where judgment shall appear." 
 
 George Herbert. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Dr. Francis' historical discourse — Some items about Bishop 
 Provoost — What our readers may expect — Birth and parentage 
 — The Huguenots and their sufferings — New Amsterdam and 
 the Dutch — Bowling Green and the Fort, and cabbage-gardens 
 — The English and Dutch engaged in war — New Amsterdam 
 is called by another name — More wars and bloodshed — Lake 
 St. Sacrement 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 No mean progress made in study — Enters King's College — Its 
 first president, and the influence he exerted for the Church — 
 Samuel Provoost' s early religious training — The Dutch 
 Reformed Church — Something more about King's College — 
 Laying the corner-stone — The first commencement — Young 
 Provoost graduates— Influences which led him to the Episco- 
 pal Church — Political affairs — The fortunes of war changing 
 again — Mr. Provoost goes to England, and becomes a fellow- 
 commoner at Cambridge — Various explanations given — Re- 
 sisting temptations — Dr. Jebb 21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Thoughts turned to the ministry — Unbiassed choice — Right 
 views of a most important subject — Ripe scholarship — Ordi- 
 nation — Chapel Royal of St. James' Palace — Historical asso- 
 ciations — A solemn question — Why Mr. Provoost was so soon 
 advanced to the Priesthood— Romantic incident — Benjamin 
 Bousfield — His mother and sister pay him a visit, and im- 
 portant consequences thereof— Mr. Provoost' s marriage— 
 Return to America — Chosen assistant minister of Trinity 
 Church, New York 29 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Very little pulpit eloquence — Style of English preaching in 
 those days — John Wesley's advice — " The finest wheat from 
 the desk" — Dr. Franklin's opinion of the Church service— 
 The effect produced by the Litany — The clergy of Trinity 
 Church — Mr. Provoost as a preacher — Visit to Ireland — Dif- 
 ficulties which met him upon his return to New York — Dif- 
 ferent ways of accounting for them — Mr. Provoost retires to 
 his farm — New York city surrenders to the English — The 
 great fire — Trinity Church destroyed — Due credit to Mr. In- 
 glis . 35 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Why East Camp was chosen as a place of refuge — How Mr. 
 Provoost passed his time — Various honorable appointments 
 offered to him — His reasons given for declining them — Calls 
 to several parishes — Endurance of poverty and privation — 
 Selling furniture and other expedients — Anecdote of the Rev- 
 olution — Almost a fighting parson — End of the war — The 
 British troops leave New York — Rejoicings upon the return of 
 the American forces — Gleams of hope for Mr. Provoost. . . 42 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Trinity Church during the Revolution — Dr. Inglis resigns the 
 Rectorship — The Rev. Benjamin Moore appointed his suc- 
 cessor — A new scene opens — Vexed questions, and difficulties 
 not a few — tt Council" appointed by the Legislature — Changes 
 effected in the affairs of Trinity Church — The election of Mr. 
 Moore declared null and void — Mr. Provoost chosen Rector — 
 His return to the city — Recovers his property — Exercise of 
 hospitality — Appointed Regent of the State University — Re- 
 moval of Congress to New York city — Mr. Provoost elected 
 Chaplain — The authority of Congress in those days — Adop- 
 tion of our present Constitution 49 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 No Church organization as yet— Efforts towards securing this 
 desirable end— Bishop Seabury's consecration— The action 
 of Churchmen in the several States outside of Connecticut — 
 Our Federal government considered as a model— The Epis- 
 
CONTENTS. 11 
 
 copal Church shown to be in strictest harmony with our civil 
 institutions — John Adams, and his exertions to secure the 
 Episcopate for the Church in America — Applications to vari- 
 ous countries — Satisfactory arrangements made at last — Mr. 
 Provoost chosen Bishop — Sails for England 54 
 
 CHAPTEK VIII. 
 
 Short and safe passage — Arrival at London — Kindness of Mr. 
 Adams — Tedious delay — Letter from Dr. Provoost —Makes 
 the acquaintance of several Bishops — Meeting some old friends 
 — Kind attentions — The widow Jebb — The old Bishop of 
 Carlisle — " Cold, fat goose-pie" — Glimpse of the king — All 
 arrangements ended — Bird's-eye view of Lambeth — Solemn 
 ceremonial — Signing the certificates — What the reader will 
 hardly believe 62 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A great object accomplished — Preparations for returning to 
 America — Dr. Inglis in London — A kind letter — Departure 
 from Falmouth — Long and boisterous passage — Sea-sickness 
 — Arrival at New York on Easter-day — Bishop Provoost wel- 
 comed by his Convention — Address of the Eev. Abraham 
 Beach— the Bishop's reply— God's blessing invoked 72 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Early history of the Church in New York — Services in the old 
 fort — Increase of the congregation — Colonel Fletcher's zealous 
 efforts — Eoyal grant for the benefit of the Church — Honored 
 names — Queen Anne's gift — The " Queen's farm," then and 
 now — " The finest church in North America" — Choice of a 
 clergyman — Mr. Vesey — Interesting particulars concerning 
 him — The various rectors of Trinity Parish, to the days of 
 Bishop Provoost — Prosperous condition of the Church. . . 80 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The progress of the Church beyond the limits of New York 
 city — Westchester county — A church built and a minister 
 called — The Eev. John Bartow, and his labors — Many per- 
 sons brought over to the Church — Preaching in a barn — 
 Petty annoyances at Jamaica — The Presbyterian preacher 
 takes possession of the pulpit — Disgraceful scene in the after- 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 n00 n — Lord Cornbury, the governor, interferes— Death of 
 the missionary — His successor, and some account of what he 
 did for the Church — Primitive specimens of architecture — 
 Six months cold and six months hot weather — Condition of 
 the negro slaves in Westchester — Death of Mr. Standard — 
 Mr. Milner and Mr. Seabury 87 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 New Kochelle— The Eev. Daniel Bondet — His history in a few 
 words — The first French Church and minister in New Eo- 
 chelle — Mr. Bondet becomes a missionary of the Society — 
 Gradual transformation of his congregation — Their final 
 adoption of the English Prayer-book — New church built — 
 Mr. Pelham's gift — Death of the missionary — The Eev. Mr. 
 Stouppe — His troubles as recited by himself — The Eev. 
 Michael Houdin — A romantic history — Guide for General 
 Wolfe— Becomes the guide of the flock at New Eochelle — 
 Charter from George III. — Mr. Houdin' s death 97 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 An omission which would be unpardonable — Devoted laymen — 
 Colonel Heathcote — Curious cause of emigration — Becomes a 
 prominent man in the province of New York — Various honor- 
 able offices which he held — Services rendered to the Church — 
 The stately manor-house — Eeverenced by the poor — Sudden 
 death — Last will and testament — Some account of his de- 
 scendants — Colonel Lewis Morris — His character and habits — 
 Influence in the political world — Devotion to the Church — 
 Dutch Prayer-books — Timber for Trinity Church — Stopping 
 short, for want of space to say more 105 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Missions among the Indians of New York — Memorial of the 
 Earl of Bellamont — The Eev. Thoroughgood Moor — Is there 
 any virtue in a name ? — The Mohawks' castle — Indian deceit 
 — The mission fails — Lord Cornbury's outrageous acts — Im- 
 prisonment of Mr. Moor — Lost at sea — Four chiefs go to 
 England — New mission to the Indians — The Eev. William 
 Andrews — First view of the Indian country — Customs of the 
 tribes — Hopes of doing good — Eepeated discouragements — 
 Withdraws from the field — Other laborers succeed him — The 
 fruits of long and patient waiting — Honored names 112 
 
CONTENTS. 13 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Religious instruction of the blacks — A school opened for them 
 in New York in 1704 — Elias Neau — His sacrifices and labors — 
 Reliance in God's promises — Prayers of the Church — Two 
 hours' teaching — Public catechizing — Unmerited reproach to 
 be borne — Negro plot for burning New York city — Loud and 
 angry clamor against the teacher — W ho were guilty ? — Jeal- 
 ousies and suspicions — Action of the Common Council — Gov- 
 ernor Hunter quiets the alarmists — Neau's death — His work 
 carried on by others 120 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The personal history of Bishop Provoost resumed — Letters of 
 friendly congratulation— The Rev. Uzal Ogden, and his pres- 
 ent of Newark cider — Long before the days of Church news- 
 papers — Gleanings from the past — The first Ordination held 
 by the Bishop — Columbia College sends a good representa- 
 tion to Church on that day — Non-Episcopal Clergymen in- 
 vited to attend — Mr. Wright's strong Church sermon, and 
 the sensation which it produced — The dry question which 
 Dr. Rodgers asked — The first Confirmation in New York — 
 Mrs. Owen's Reminiscences — Old and young confessing Christ 
 — Colored servants, and the part they took — The Clergy who 
 were present — Letter from Bishop White — Crowds attending 
 Ordinations 128 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Statistics not accurately kept — The first Confirmations in the 
 Diocese — An old soiled paper, and its contents — Old families 
 well represented — No union of Church and State — Great na- 
 tional pageants in which the Episcopal Church has borne a 
 conspicuous part — Inauguration of President Washington — 
 The procession and the speeches — Services in St. Paul's 
 Chapel — Bishop Provoost officiates — Mr. Boardman's recol- 
 lections of Washington — Waiting to see the President enter 
 the church — His dress and bearing — Diligent in the use of 
 his Prayer-book — The two pews with canopies, in St. Paul's 
 Chapel — Pictures with antique frames 137 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The first Ordination ever held in New Jersey — Bishop and 
 Rector — An anonymous letter — Stabbing in the dark — Com- 
 
 2 
 
14 CONTENTS. 
 
 plaints about the preaching in Trinity — General Convention 
 of 1789 — Adoption of the Constitution of the Church — Letter 
 from Albany — An introduction to the Eev. Thomas Ellison — 
 "A portly gentleman in black" — Kind reception given to a 
 stranger, and the consequence thereof — A journey of a hun- 
 dred ana twelve miles, and what missionary work was done 
 — Prejudices 147 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The first published list of the Clergy of New York — An im- 
 portant point which is established by a reference to these 
 fifteen names — Noble gift to the church at Duanesburgh — 
 General Convention or 1792 — Bishop Provoost presides — A 
 Bishop consecrated for Maryland — Three other General Con- 
 ventions briefly noticed — Death of Washington — Some inter- 
 esting things in a note — Funeral services in St. Paul's Chapel 
 — The grand procession — Funeral urn — Gouverneur Morris's 
 oration — The Bishop's prayer 156 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 What natural inclination would have led Bishop Provoost to 
 do — The effects of bereavement upon his troubled mind — 
 Kind letter of condolence — Dr. Stanford and his son — Bishop 
 Provoost retires to private life — Election of his successor — A 
 most important act somewhat unfolded at large — Chosen to 
 one office, and consecrated to another — Years pass away be- 
 fore the evils of the legislation were felt — The new Bishop 
 enters upon his work 165 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Bishop Provoost in retirement — Bishop Moore's illness — An 
 assistant chosen — Hindrances in the way of his Consecration 
 -—All difficulties arranged — An immense assembly held in 
 suspense—' 4 He's come !" " Thank God !" — Something about 
 wigs — Bitter opposition to Bishop Hobart's election— Bishop 
 Provoost persuaded to do a very inconsistent thing — Difficul- 
 ties in Maryland— Firm and resolute once more— Sudden 
 death — Funeral — Extract from Bishop Hobart's Convention 
 address — Traits of character— A trying case— Conclusion. 173 
 
LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 CHAPTER FIRST. 
 
 Dr. Francis' historical discourse — Some items about Bishop 
 Provoost — What our readers may expect — Birth and parentage 
 — The Huguenots and their sufferings — New Amsterdam and 
 the Dutch — Bowling Green and the fort, and cabbage-gardens 
 — The English and Dutch engaged in war — New Amsterdam 
 is called by another name — More wars and bloodshed — Lake 
 St. Sacrement. 
 
 HE venerable Dr. Francis, in his 
 discourse before the New York His- 
 torical Society in 1857, remarks con- 
 cerning Bishop Provoost, that "his 
 learning, his liberality, and his patri- 
 otism have been too much overlooked. 
 He had the bearing of a well-stalled Bishop, 
 was of pleasing address, and of refined manners. 
 He imbibed his first classical taste at King's 
 College, and was graduated at Peter House, 
 Cambridge. He became skilled in the Hebrew, 
 Greek, Latin, French, German, and Italian 
 languages, and we have been assured he made 
 
16 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 an English poetical version of Tasso. He was 
 quite a proficient in botanical knowledge, and 
 was among the earliest in England who studied 
 the Linnsean classification."* 
 
 From this little sketch of the first Bishop of 
 New York, we are prepared to find many 
 things in his history which will repay us for 
 the trouble of collecting and arranging them 
 in due order. Our readers, however, must not 
 be disappointed if the subject of this memoir 
 does not prove to have been as full of mission- 
 ary zeal as some with whose lives we are 
 familiar ; but they will have no cause to re- 
 gret that they have made the acquaintance of 
 Bishop Provoost. The times in which he lived 
 will lead us to speak of many interesting and 
 important matters. 
 
 Samuel Pkovoost was the son of John and 
 Eve (Rutgers) Provoost, and was born in the 
 city of New York, on the 26th of February 
 (O. S.), 1742. It is curious to observe, as an 
 instance of the superstitions of the times, that 
 his father was not only very particular to 
 record in the large family Bible the exact hour 
 and minute when his children were born, but 
 he also set down the appearance of the heavens. 
 
 * " Old New York," p. 52. 
 
THE HUGUENOTS. 17 
 
 Bishop Provoost's father was a descendant 
 of William Provoost, of a Huguenot family, 
 who made his escape from France at the time 
 of the cruel massacre of St. Bartholomew,* 
 and came to New York (then called New Am- 
 sterdam) in 1634. At the time of the birth of 
 our hero, the famous city in which he first saw 
 the light was nothing like what it is in our day. 
 It was then only a hundred and twenty-eight 
 years since the Dutch had landed upon Man- 
 hattan Island, and established a town, which 
 they called New Amsterdam. The population 
 
 * As we endeavor always to keep our younger readers in 
 mind, we will here explain that the Huguenots were French 
 Protestants — a sect which had its birth during the reign of Francis 
 the First. In doctrine and dsicipline there was little to distin- 
 guish them from the disciples of John Calvin. Notwithstand- 
 ing the opposition of the Bornish Church, the new sect spread 
 and multiplied, until at length Francis, and Henry II., who 
 succeeded him on the throne, deprived the Huguenots of many 
 of their privileges as citizens. 
 
 The winding up of a long series of persecutions was the ter- 
 rible massacre of St. Bartholomew's day, August 24, 1572. 
 Charles IX. had invited many of the principal Protestants to 
 Paris to attend a royal wedding, a solemn oath being given of 
 their safety. At daybreak, on the festival of St. Bartholomew, 
 the barbarous massacre began ; the city of Paris was ravaged, 
 and ten thousand persons were put to death. The same cruel 
 proceedings extended throughout the kingdom — the Pope and 
 the authorities of the Eomish Church sanctioning what was done. 
 
 It was in consequence of the persecutions of Eome, that the 
 Provoosts, and hundreds of other Huguenot families, sought 
 refuge in America. 
 
 2* 
 
18 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 of New York at the time of Samuel Provoost's 
 birth was about twelve thousand. But this 
 was a wonderful improvement, since the honest 
 Dutch had built their little fort and trading- 
 house on what is now known as the Bowling 
 Green. The march of civilization at first was 
 gradual. " Around this fort a progeny of lit- 
 tle Dutch-built houses, with tiled roofs and 
 weather-cocks, soon sprang up, nestling them- 
 selves under its wall for protection, as a brood 
 of half-fledged chickens nestle under the wings 
 of the mother hen. The whole was surrounded 
 by an inclosure of strong palisadoes, to guard 
 against any sudden irruption of the savages. 
 Outside of these extended the corn-fields and 
 cabbage-gardens of the community, with here 
 and there an attempt at a tobacco plantation ; 
 all covering those tracts of country at present 
 called Broadway, Wall-street, "William-street, 
 and Pearl street."* 
 
 With the exception of occasional difficulties 
 with the Indians, the Dutch settlers of New 
 Amsterdam went on very quietly, until they 
 had some misunderstanding with their English 
 neighbors. King Charles declared that the 
 
 * Knickerbacker's New York, chap. viii. I hope that all of 
 my readers will make the acquaintance of this charming book of 
 Washington Irving' s. 
 
ENGLISH AND DUTCH WAR. 19 
 
 lands occupied by the Dutch, within the terri- 
 tory of New York, belonged to him, and he 
 accordingly gave them to his brother, the 
 Duke of York and Albany. James (for this 
 was the duke's name) appeared before the lit- 
 tle fort at New Amsterdam with three ships, 
 in 1664, and obliged the people to surrender. 
 The name of the place was then changed to 
 New York. In 1673 the town w r as retaken 
 by the Dutch, but the next year, w T hen peace 
 was concluded between England and Holland, 
 it was restored to the English. The first 
 pavements were laid there in 1676, and so the 
 city went on improving, until the strip of land 
 which w T as bought of the Indians for twenty- 
 four dollars, was covered by the largest city of 
 the New "World. 
 
 The little boy, whose birth we have men- 
 tioned at the opening of the chapter, was a 
 subject of the King of England, and will con- 
 tinue so for some years to come. He was only 
 a year old when George Clinton came over as 
 governor of the colony, who was warmly wel- 
 comed by the people. 
 
 In 1744, England and France were involved 
 in strife, and George the Second being then 
 upon the English throne, the contest is known, 
 in history as King George's War. During its 
 
20 LIFE OF BISHOP PEOVOOST. 
 
 continuance Saratoga was destroyed, and vari- 
 ous parts of the colony of New York suffered 
 much. Some Indian braves came to Albany, 
 and concealing themselves in the neighborhood, 
 they lay in wait for prisoners ; and one, more 
 daring than the rest, ventured within the city 
 itself, and carried off people by night. But 
 Samuel Provoost was too young as yet to take 
 much interest in these exciting scenes. 
 
 In 1755, when the English and French be- 
 gan hostilities again, he was thirteen years of 
 age, and of course the sound of drum and fife, 
 and the gay uniform of soldiers, parading 
 through the streets, excited him somewhat, 
 and no doubt he joined with all loyal subjects 
 of the king in hoping for victory for his coun- 
 try's arms. 
 
 Braddock's defeat at Fort Du Quesne was 
 rather a clamper upon them all, and when, 
 about two years later, Montcalm captured 
 Fort William Henry, on the banks of Lake 
 George,* the English had little cause for 
 self-gratulation left. 
 
 * Horicon was the Indian name for this beautiful sheet of 
 water. The French missionaries called it St. Sacrement, because 
 they thought its waters too pure for any purpose but the ordi- 
 nance of Holy Baptism. See a beautiful ballad by the Eev. A. 
 C. Coxe, D.D., entitled "St. Sacrement, a legend of Lake 
 George.' ' 
 
CHAPTER SECOND. 
 
 No mean progress made in study — Enters King's College — Its 
 first president, and the influence he exerted for the Church — 
 Samuel Provoost's early religious training — The Dutch 
 Eeformed Church — Something more about King's College — 
 Laying the corner-stone — The first commencement — Young 
 Provoost graduates — Influences which led him to the Episco- 
 pal Church — Political affairs — The fortunes of war changing 
 again — Mr. Provoost goes to England, and becomes a fellow- 
 commoner at Cambridge — Various explanations given — Ke- 
 sisting temptations — Dr. Jebb. 
 
 Ssrr 
 
 ^* H ATEVEE interest Samuel Provoost 
 n If may have felt in the contest between 
 A&A England and France, he was kept 
 steadily at school ; and although his 
 •thoughts must have often wandered 
 when tidings of success or defeat were 
 brought, he made no mean progress with his 
 books. Having completed his preparatory 
 course, he entered as one of the early students 
 of King's (now Columbia) College, then occu- 
 pying a frame building in Trinity Church-yard. 
 The charter for this institution was granted 
 in 1754, and Dr. Samuel Johnson,* an Episco- 
 
 * See Life of Bishop Seabury, p. 16. 
 
22 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 pal clergyman from Connecticut, was cliosen 
 the first president. A more admirable selection 
 could not possibly have been made. 
 
 It has been thought, and that too with good 
 reason, that young Provoost may have had his 
 mind turned towards the Episcopal Church by 
 President Johnson, who was a very zealous 
 advocate of what he believed to be the truth. 
 Indeed, a man who had sacrificed ease and the 
 prospect of worldly happiness for the sake of 
 religion, could not remain indifferent, so long 
 as it was possible for him to bring others to 
 the light. 
 
 Samuel Provoost's ancestors, for several gen- 
 erations past, had belonged to the Reformed 
 Dutch Church,* and his early training was in 
 accordance with the teachings of this body. 
 
 When King's College was organized in May, 
 1755, " Trinity Church conveyed to its govern- 
 ors the land inclosed by Church, Barclay, and 
 Murray streets, to the Hudson River. The 
 only conditions of the gift were, that the presi- 
 dent should always be a member of the Church 
 
 * The Dutch Kefornied Church in this country is derived 
 from the National Church of Holland, and its history, with us, 
 dates back to the early days of New York and New Jersey. 
 They received as their rule of faith, the Confessions of Faith, 
 &c.j of the Synod of Dort. 
 
king's college. 23 
 
 of England, and that its liturgy should be used 
 in the service of the college. Beyond this, 
 there was to be no exclusion for religious opin- 
 ion. The college seal was adopted from a de- 
 vice prepared by the president. 
 
 "Application was made to England for 
 funds. James Jay went over as an applicant, 
 and associated with Dr. Smith, provost of the 
 college in Philadelphia. A large sum was 
 collected for both institutions. On the 23d of 
 August, the first stone of the college building 
 was laid by the governor, Sir Charles Hardy, 
 who had favored the object at the outset, on 
 his first arrival."* On this occasion, President 
 Johnson made a short, elegant Latin address 
 to the governor of the college, to Sir Charles, 
 and to Mr. De Lancy, congratulating them on 
 this happy event. 
 
 The earliest commencement was that of 
 1758, when a class of eight young men re- 
 ceived the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Sam- 
 uel Provoost was one of these. He was then 
 seventeen years of age. Two students from 
 the college of New Jersey were admitted to 
 the same honor. " The degree of Master of 
 Arts (says Dr. Chandler, in his interesting life 
 
 * Duyckinck's Cyclopaedia of American Literature, vol. i. 
 p. 379. 
 
24 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 of President Johnson), was conferred upon 
 others, who had spent some time in the col- 
 lege, and were thought qualified for it ; and 
 several who had taken that degree in other 
 colleges, were admitted ad eundem. The 
 whole number of graduates amounted to up- 
 wards of twenty, and made a very respectable 
 appearance." 
 
 We have already expressed the opinion that 
 Dr. Johnson had a good deal to do with young 
 Provoost's turning Churchman. 
 
 King's College having then but few students, 
 the president was enabled to become more in- 
 timately acquainted with them, than he could 
 have done under other circumstances ; and no 
 person could remain long with him, without 
 being more or less influenced by him. More- 
 over, although Dr. Johnson had no pastoral 
 charge in the city, his popularity as a preach- 
 er was so great, that the vestry of Trinity 
 Church employed him as a lecturer in that 
 church, where he officiated in turn with the 
 rector and assistant ministers. No doubt the 
 students of King's College, whether Churchmen 
 or not, would occasionally attend service at 
 Trinity, when their honored preceptor was ex- 
 pected to officiate ; and thus they became 
 familiar with the mode of worship, and other 
 
ENGLISH AND FRENCH WAR. 25 
 
 peculiarities of the Church. Few persons of 
 good taste and refinement could fail to be im- 
 pressed by the solemnity and grandeur of the 
 ancient prayers and anthems, and by the de- 
 cency and order which distinguished every part. 
 
 It is possible that young Provoost did not 
 actually become a member of the Episcopal 
 Church until some years afterwards, when he 
 received Confirmation in England. 
 
 About the time he left college, the for- 
 tunes of the English in the war with France 
 began to change. William Pitt, a statesman 
 of commanding abilities, was placed at the 
 head of affairs; new officers were appointed 
 to head the armies of the king; and, ere long, 
 the capture of Louisburg, on the island of 
 Cape Breton, Fort Du Quesne, and Frontenac, 
 showed the wisdom of these appointments. 
 
 The year 1759 was marked by successes 
 still more brilliant. Quebec, Niagara, Ticon- 
 deroga, and Crown Point were taken from the 
 French, and soon the whole of Canada was 
 surrendered to the British. 
 
 These items of history have merely been re- 
 ferred to, that our readers may bear in mind 
 what was going on in the country, while young 
 Provoost was preparing to enter upon the ac- 
 tive duties of life. 
 
 3 
 
26 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 In the summer of 1761, he embarked for 
 England in order that he might enjoy the rare 
 advantages offered to ambitious students, by 
 the celebrated universities which are the 
 crowning glory of our fatherland. He arrived 
 at Falmouth in September, and in November 
 following, he entered Fellow-Commoner of St. 
 Peter's College, Cambridge, 
 
 It should be remembered that an English 
 university embraces several colleges, each of 
 which is a distinct body, and bound by its 
 own laws ; while all are controlled, in certain 
 particulars, by the paramount authority of the 
 university. This general government is ex- 
 ercised by a chancellor, a vice-chancellor, and 
 other officers of various ranks. 
 
 Cambridge University includes seventeen 
 distinct colleges, and it was as fellow-com- 
 moner of one of these that young Provoost 
 entered, as was before stated. This term, fel- 
 low-commoner, will be new to many of our 
 readers, and we therefore add, that these are 
 generally young men of fortune, who, in con- 
 sideration of their paying a larger sum, are 
 allowed to sit at the Fellows' table, to have 
 the first choice of rooms, and various other 
 privileges of the sort. 
 
 The main body of the students are called 
 
RESISTING TEMPTATIONS. 27 
 
 Pensioners, while the Sizars answer to the 
 beneficiaries of our American colleges. 
 
 The&e last are aided by the funds of the col- 
 lege, and dine at the Fellows' table, free of 
 charge, after the regular dinner has been 
 served.* It may readily be supposed that a 
 young man whose rank or wealth enabled him 
 to enter as a fellows-commoner, would be ex- 
 posed to many temptations, from which one 
 in humbler circumstances would be compara- 
 tively safe. Those, therefore, who, while shar- 
 ing in the innocent enjoyments about them, 
 are kept from the excesses to which even 
 harmless indulgence may naturally lead, should 
 receive some credit for their prudence and self- 
 control. When we say this, of course we do 
 not forget that it is God's grace alone which 
 can enable us to think good thoughts, or per- 
 form right actions. 
 
 The young IsTew Yorker, while he enjoyed 
 the society of his companions, and joined 
 freely in the prevailing amusements at Cam- 
 bridge, prosecuted his studies with the most 
 commendable assiduity and zeal. 
 
 In English colleges those who are able to 
 afford it engage a private tutor, whose busi- 
 
 * For further particulars, see Bristed's Five Years in an En- 
 glish University, vol. i. p. 17. 
 
28 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 ness it is to aid them in their preparation for 
 recitations and examinations. Mr. Provoost 
 was peculiarly fortunate in this respect. The 
 celebrated Dr. Jebb became his tutor, a man 
 of distinguished abilities, with whom he formed 
 an ardent friendship, which lasted until the 
 death of Dr. Jebb. 
 
CHAPTER THIRD. 
 
 Thoughts turned to the ministry — Unbiassed choice — Eight 
 views of a most important subject — Eipe scholarship — Ordi- 
 nation — Chapel Koyal of St. James' Palace — Historical asso- 
 ciations — A solemn question — Why Mr. Provoost was so soon 
 advanced to the Priesthood — Komantic incident — Benjamin 
 Bousfield — His mother and sister pay him a visit, and im- 
 portant consequences thereof— Mr. Provoost' s marriage — 
 Eeturn to America — Chosen assistant minister of Trinity 
 Church, New York. 
 
 ^fl OUNG PEOYOOST had not been 
 long at Cambridge before lie decided 
 to devote his life to the sacred minis- 
 try. We trust that this determina- 
 tion was formed after due reflection 
 upon the awful responsibilities of the 
 office of an ambassador for Christ. It is evi- 
 dent, from the letters which passed between 
 him and his father, that this was his own un- 
 biassed choice. Persons have no doubt turned 
 their attention to the ministry to gratify 
 their friends, or because they regarded it as a 
 highly respectable calling, or with a view of 
 securing a comfortable living. Now, these 
 
 3* 
 
30 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 motives are low and debased, when viewed in 
 connection with, a step so solemn and im- 
 portant. 
 
 On the other hand, if the Spirit of God has 
 touched the heart, and disposes one to devote 
 his time and abilities to the service of Christ 
 and His Church, it should be regarded as a 
 voice from above calling him to buckle on his 
 armor, and go forth to the battle. 
 
 Mr. Provoost was certainly a good scholar, 
 and he had not only gained an accurate know- 
 ledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, but he had 
 also made himself master of the French and 
 Italian languages. In a letter to his father, 
 dated April 15, 1765, he says : " I can get my 
 degree and commendamus here whenever I 
 please ; nothing but my being too young for 
 orders eonld prevent my returning home next 
 summer." 
 
 One year more removed this difficulty, and 
 accordingly on the 3d of February, 1766, he 
 was admitted to Deacon's orders, at the Chapel 
 Royal of St. James' Palace, Westminster, by 
 Dr. Richard Terrick, Bishop of London. 
 
 Thirteen years before, Samuel Seabury (after- 
 wards Bishop of Connecticut) had been ad- 
 mitted to the same degree, and four years after 
 the ordination of Mr. Provoost, William White 
 
A SOLEMN QUESTION. 31 
 
 (so long the presiding Bishop of the American 
 Church) was made a Deacon in the Church of 
 God. 
 
 St. James' Chapel, where Mr. Provoost was 
 ordained, was surrounded by many historical 
 associations. Here, for ages past, the sover- 
 eigns and princes of England had kneeled be- 
 fore the footstool of Him who is King of kings 
 and Lord of lords. 
 
 It is a small, plain place of worship, with 
 seats running along the wall, like stalls in a 
 cathedral ; and, as on other occasions when the 
 Holy Communion was to be celebrated, the 
 massive golden vessels were displayed upon 
 the altar. 
 
 When the venerable Bishop turned to the 
 candidates, who stood at the chancel-rail, and 
 asked the solemn question, "Will you apply 
 all diligence to frame and fashion your own 
 lives, and the lives of your families, according 
 to the doctrine of Christ ; and to make both 
 yourselves and them, as much as lieth in you, 
 wholesome examples of the flock of Christ?" — 
 it is to be hoped that each one was able to 
 answer, with unaffected sincerity, "I will do 
 so, the Lord being my helper." 
 
 As it would be asking too much of Mr. Pro- 
 voost to require him to take another voyage to 
 
32 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 England to be ordained Priest, arrangements 
 were made so that he could be admitted to this 
 higher degree of the ministry without the usual 
 delay. Accordingly, he was advanced to the 
 Priesthood on Tuesday before Easter, March 
 25, 1766, in King's Chapel, "Whitehall, by Dr. 
 Edmund Kean, Bishop of Chester. 
 
 And here we have rather a romantic incident 
 to record. Very strong and lasting friendships 
 often spring up between young men at college, 
 and it so happened that Mr. Provoost and 
 Benjamin Bousfield became quite intimate at 
 Cambridge. 
 
 The latter was the only son of Thomas Bous- 
 field, a man of wealth, and, at that time, the 
 only banker in the city of Cork. The son 
 afterwards became a prominent member of the 
 Irish House of Commons, and ex-sheriff of the 
 county of Cork, during the political distur- 
 bance in that unhappy country. 
 
 He was a man of some literary abilities, and 
 wrote an answer to Edmund Burke's celebrated 
 book on the French revolution. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Bousfield died, and during the 
 son's continuance at Cambridge, the widowed 
 mother and her daughter Maria paid a visit to 
 him at the university. 
 
 Of course Mr. Provoost became acquainted 
 
EETURN TO AMERICA. 33 
 
 with the mother and sister of his friend, and 
 the young people soon formed a mutual attach- 
 ment, and very important consequences fol- 
 lowed. They were married in St. Mary's 
 Church, Cambridge, by one of the senior 
 Fellows of Trinity College, on the 8th of June, 
 1766. 
 
 Probably these arrangements were consum- 
 mated more speedily than might otherwise 
 have been the case, from the fact that the ves- 
 try of Trinity Church, New York, was then 
 building St. Paul's Chapel, and the young 
 clergyman had received some intimations that 
 the intention was to offer him a position in that 
 important parish. 
 
 Soon after his marriage, Mr. Provoost re- 
 turned to New York with his bride, and in 
 December, 1766, accepted a call to be an as- 
 sistant minister of Trinity Church. Besides 
 the parish church, there were at this time two 
 chapels, St. George's and St. Paul's, belonging 
 to the corporation of Trinity. The Rev. Sam- 
 uel Auchmuty was Rector, and the Rev. John 
 Ogilvie and the Rev. Charles Inglis (afterwards 
 Bishop of Nova Scotia), assistant ministers.* 
 
 * As it is proposed to give a full sketch of the history of 
 Trinity parish, in connection with the life of Bishop Benjamin 
 Moore, we do not dwell upon it here. 
 
34 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 That our readers may remember at liow 
 early a day Mr. Provoost began to discharge 
 the duties of his sacred office, we would re- 
 mark, in passing, that only one year before 
 this, the first permanent white settlement had 
 been made in Tennessee, and that it was not 
 until 1769 that Daniel Boone made his visit 
 of exploration to Kentucky. 
 
CHAPTER FOURTH. 
 
 Very little pulpit eloquence — Style of English preaching in 
 those days — John Wesley's advice — " The finest wheat from 
 the desk" — Dr. Franklin's opinion of the Church service — 
 The effect produced by the Litany — The clergy of Trinity 
 Church — Mr. Provoost as a preacher — Visit to Ireland — Dif- 
 ficulties which met him upon his return to New York — Dif- 
 ferent ways of accounting for them — Mr. Provoost retires to 
 his farm — New York city surrenders to the English — The 
 great fire — Trinity Church destroyed — Due credit to Mr. In- 
 
 HEN Mr. Provoost began his min- 
 istiy in New York, there was very- 
 little, either in this country or in 
 England, of what wonld be called 
 puVpit eloquence. Fortunately, the 
 beautiful services of the Church are 
 always the same, and do not depend at all 
 upon the abilities of the minister; but preach- 
 ing is a different thing. 
 
 The sermons of the English clergy had long 
 been of a prosy and lifeless cast, — correct in 
 style, and unexceptionable in morals ; but 
 rather dry essays than stirring appeals to the 
 
36 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 consciences of sinners, or warnings and in- 
 structions for professed Christians. But even 
 allowing that matters had gone farther than 
 this (which a strict regard to truth would not 
 permit us to admit), it would have been wrong 
 for any one to forsake the worship of the 
 Church, in order to hear preaching more to 
 his taste elsewhere. 
 
 John Wesley showed his wisdom, and his re- 
 gard for the authority of Christ's holy Church, 
 when he said to one of his followers who urged 
 upon him the deficiencies of the clergy as a 
 cause of separation from the Church of Eng- 
 land : " If you have nothing but chaff from 
 the pulpit, you are abundantly fed with the 
 finest wheat from the desk." 
 
 And Dr. Franklin gave the best advice pos- 
 sible to his daughter, when he wrote to her, 
 on the eve of his departure for England, in 
 1764 — " Go constantly to church, whoever 
 preaches. The act of devotion in the Common 
 Prayer-book is your principal business there ; 
 and if properly attended to, will do more to- 
 wards amending the heart than sermons gen- 
 erally can do; for they were composed by 
 men of much greater piety and wisdom than 
 our common composers of sermons can pretend 
 to be." 
 
CLERGY OF TRINITY CHURCH. 37 
 
 It is a well-known fact that some of the 
 most wonderful effects of Whitefield's minis- 
 try in Wales, and elsewhere, were produced 
 by the earnest manner in which he offered up 
 the supplications of the Litany. 
 
 We have every reason for supposing that 
 the style of preaching in the several Episcopal 
 churches, in New York, was after the ordi- 
 nary model of English sermonizing of that 
 day, — orthodox in doctrine, but somewhat 
 tame and unimpassioned in the delivery. 
 
 Dr. Auchmuty was an excellent and devo- 
 ted pastor, and much beloved by his people ; 
 and Mr. Ogilvie read the service remarkably 
 well, and in the discourse delivered at his fu- 
 neral, the words of St. Paul were happily ap- 
 plied to him : " Ye are witnesses, and God 
 also, how holily, and justly, and unblamably 
 he behaved himself among you ; how he ex- 
 horted, and comforted, and charged every one 
 of you, as a father doth his children, that ye 
 might walk worthy of God, who hath called 
 you to His kingdom and glory." 
 
 Mr. Inglis, another assistant minister of 
 Trinity, who was associated with Mr. Provoost, 
 was regarded as a powerful preacher, whose 
 bold rebukes of profane swearing and intem- 
 perance, and other offences against morality 
 
 4 
 
38 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 and religion, were in striking contrast with the 
 quiet, philosophical disquisitions, which too 
 often took the place of earnest Gospel truths. 
 
 Although Mr. Provoost could not be con- 
 sidered as greatly distinguished for his intel- 
 lectual abilities, he ranked above the common 
 order of clergymen, — and we certainly should 
 have expected this, as he had enjoyed peculiar 
 advantages for improvement. 
 
 His chief attractions as a preacher consisted 
 in a fine, imposing appearance, a good voice, 
 and a happy command of language. He used 
 little gesticulation, and his manner would not 
 be considered very animated by those of the 
 present generation, who are accustomed to a 
 stirring and earnest delivery. 
 
 In 1768, Mr. Provoost visited his wife's re- 
 lations in Ireland, and upon his return to this 
 country, hdrfound an unpleasant state of things 
 existing among some of the parishioners of 
 Trinity, which it is not altogether easy to ac- 
 count for. 
 
 Mr. Whitefield had been preaching in New 
 York, and many persons had been captivated 
 by his soul-stirring eloquence. Mr. Provoost 
 was inclined to attribute the dislike to himself 
 to the fact that he was not considered suffi- 
 ciently evangelical, — while others suppose that 
 
EXTRACT FROM A LETTER. 39 
 
 he showed too much sympathy with the colo- 
 nies, in their disputes with England, to suit 
 the views of the members of Trinity parish 
 who took sides with the mother country. 
 
 The following extract from a letter which 
 he wrote about this time will serve to illus- 
 trate his religious views and feelings : " I should 
 think my situation perfectly agreeable, if it 
 were not for the bigotry and enthusiasm that 
 generally prevail here among people of all 
 denominations. Even the Church, particu- 
 larly the lower members of it, is not free from 
 the general infection. As I found this to be 
 the case, I made it a point to preach the plain 
 doctrines of religion and morality in the man- 
 ner I found them enforced by the most emi- 
 nent divines of the Church of England. This 
 brought an accusation against me by these 
 people, that I was endeavoring to sap the 
 foundations of Christianity, which they imag- 
 ined to consist in the doctrines of absolute pre- 
 destination and reprobation, placing such un- 
 bounded confidence in the merits of Christ as 
 to think their own endeavors quite unneces- 
 sary, and not in the least available to salvation ; 
 and consigning to everlasting destruction all 
 who happen to differ from them in the most 
 trivial matters. I was, however, happy enough 
 
40 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 to be supported by many of the principal per- 
 sons of New York." 
 
 We are sometimes very poor judges in cases 
 where our own interests and happiness are 
 concerned, and it is possible that Mr. Provoost 
 did not discover the real cause of opposition to 
 himself. While he was undoubtedly a man of 
 extensive reading, amiable and benevolent in 
 disposition, and prompt in the performance of 
 every duty, yet his manner in the pulpit was 
 far from being popular. Natural diffidence, 
 which sometimes produced painful embarrass- 
 ment, often affected it unfavorably ; and his 
 anxiety to keep clear of any approach to reli- 
 gious enthusiasm, diminished the interest and 
 force of his instructions. 
 
 And when we add to this, the position which 
 he felt bound in conscience to assume, in re- 
 gard to the difficulties which ended in the 
 War of Independence, thus rendering himself 
 offensive to the most influential portion of the 
 parish, we have discovered two reasons why 
 he became unpopular. 
 
 Under all the circumstances of the case, Mr. 
 Provoost thought it best to leave his post in 
 Trinity Church ; and soon after taking this step 
 he retired from the city, removing to a small 
 
TRINITY CHURCH DESTROYED. 41 
 
 farm which he had purchased at East Camp, 
 then in Dutches county, New York. 
 
 The state of political affairs was becoming 
 stormy enough. In August, 1776, a powerful 
 British army came in ships to attack the city 
 of NeWrYork, where Washington then had his 
 headquarters. The Americans were obliged 
 to leave the place, but the British troops had 
 hardly taken possession of it before a fire acci- 
 dentally broke out, by which nearly five hun- 
 dred houses were consumed. Few of the 
 inhabitants being left in the city to check the 
 progress of the flames, they spread with alarm- 
 ing rapidity. Trinity Church, the rector's 
 house, and the charity school were reduced to 
 ashes. St. Paul's Chapel and King's College 
 would have shared the same fate, but for the 
 prompt and energetic efforts of Mr. Inglis, 
 who sent a number of persons on the roof with 
 buckets of water to protect them. 
 
 This disastrous fire occurred on the 21st of 
 
 September. 
 
 4* 
 
CHAPTER FIFTH. 
 
 Why East Camp was chosen as a place of refuge-*How Mr. 
 Provcost passed his time — Various honorable appointments 
 offered to him — His reasons given for declining them — Calls 
 to several parishes — Endurance of poverty and privation — 
 Selling furniture and other expedients — Anecdote of the Kev- 
 olution — Almost a fighting parson — End of the war — The 
 British troops leave New York — Eejoicings upon the return of 
 the American forces — Gleams of hope for Mr. Provoost. 
 
 j?f JKT selecting East Camp as a quiet resting- 
 place until the close of the war, Mr. 
 Provoost was influenced, in some degree, 
 by its being in the neighborhood of the 
 Livingston families. Walter and Rob- 
 ert Cambridge Livingston had been 
 fellow-students with him at the English uni- 
 versity. 
 
 While the fierce and long-continued con- 
 test was going on, Mr. Provoost remained in 
 perfect retirement, devoting his time to liter- 
 ary pursuits, for which he had a great taste. 
 Had he been a private citizen, instead of a 
 clergyman, he would have proved himself a 
 valiant soldier in the cause of independence. 
 His political sentiments were well known, 
 
DECLINES VARIOUS APPOINTMENTS. 43 
 
 although he took no active part, and his name 
 was placed at the head of a list of those who 
 were to be delegates to the Provincial Con- 
 gress ; but he very properly declined to serve. 
 When the convention which formed the first 
 constitution of the State of New York, met at 
 Kingston in 1777, Mr. Provoost was elected 
 chaplain. He refused to accept the appoint- 
 ment, assigning the following reasons for so 
 doing : " In the beginning of the present war, 
 when each province was endeavoring to unite 
 the more effectually to oppose the tyranny of 
 the British court, I remarked with great con- 
 cern, that all the Church clergy in these 
 northern States, who received salaries from the 
 society, or emoluments from England, were 
 unanimous in opposing the salutary measures 
 of a vast majority of their countrymen ; so 
 great a harmony among the people in their 
 particular circumstances pretty clearly con- 
 vinced me that some, at least, were biassed by 
 interested motives. As I entertained political 
 opinions diametrically opposite to those of my 
 brethren, I was apprehensive that a profession 
 of these opinions might be imputed to merce- 
 nary views, and an ungenerous desire of rising 
 on their ruin. To obviate any suspicions of 
 this kind, I formed a resolution never to accept 
 
44 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 of any preferment during the present contest ; 
 although as a private person I have been, and 
 shall always be, ready to encounter any danger 
 that may be incurred in the defence of our in- 
 valuable rights and liberties." 
 
 The same motives which led him to decline 
 the appointments before mentioned, made him 
 refuse a call to the rectorship of St. Michael's 
 Church, Charleston, South Carolina, which 
 was tendered him in 1777, and another, in 
 1782, to take charge of King's Chapel, Boston. 
 
 Had Mr. Provoost been a man of fortune, it 
 would have required no great sacrifice on his 
 part to remain firm to his principles, as ex- 
 pressed in the communication given before ; 
 but it w T ill be seen from the letter which fol- 
 lows, that this was far from being the case : 
 
 " I have no salary or income of any kind, 
 the estate which formerly supported me having 
 been in the hands of the enemy ever since they 
 took possession of the city of New York. The 
 place on which I live is so far from maintain- 
 ing* my family, that I am now in debt for the 
 greatest part of the w T heat they have consumed 
 since the beginning of the war. Besides selling 
 part of my furniture, etc., and running in debt 
 for various necessaries, I have, from time to 
 time, borrowed money of my friends to consid- 
 
ALMOST A FIGHTING PARSON. 45 
 
 erable amount. My mother and family are 
 refugees from the city, and nearly in the same 
 situation with myself; and I am prevented by 
 the constitution of the State, and canons of the 
 Church, from entering into any secular em- 
 ployment." 
 
 The son-in-law of Bishop Provoost, the late 
 Hon. Cadwallader D. Colden, has recorded the 
 following interesting anecdote, which belongs 
 to this period of his life : 
 
 a When the British fleet ascended the Hud- 
 son River, and burnt Esopus, after they had 
 set fire to Judge Livingston's house, which was 
 but a little way below Mr. Provoost's farm, a 
 detachment of soldiers from the fleet w r as ob- 
 served approaching the shore not far from Mr. 
 Provoost's dwelling. He and a number of his 
 neighbors armed themselves, with a hope that 
 they might defend their property. The sol- 
 diers were seen to land and leave their boat in 
 charge of a guard of two or three men. It was 
 immediately proposed by the armed citizens to 
 surprise the guard and destroy the boat, which 
 would insure, with the force that could soon be 
 raised in the country, the capture of the whole 
 detachment. With this design, Mr. Provoost 
 and his party crept along the river, concealed 
 by the rocks and bushes till they got so near 
 
4:6 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 the boat as to be on the point of executing 
 their design, when, to their great disappoint- 
 ment, the soldiers who had left the shore met 
 with something which hastened their return, 
 and the reverend gentleman and his associates 
 were glad to keep themselves hid, not without 
 fears that they would be discovered. If this 
 had happened, they certainly would have been 
 the captured instead of the captors ; and very 
 probably would not have been very easily ex- 
 changed, as the British officers might have 
 chosen to exhibit in England a rebel fighting- 
 parson as a curiosity."* 
 
 Mr. Provoost remained upon his farm in 
 Dutchess county for fourteen years, from 1770 
 to 1784. His patient endurance of poverty 
 and privation gained for him the reputation, 
 with the American party, of a patriot clergy- 
 man, and almost a martyr. 
 
 At last the war of Independence was brought 
 to a close, and, in 1783, a treaty of peace be- 
 tween Great Britain and the United States was 
 signed. On the 25th of November, the English 
 troops left the city of New York. It w T as a 
 clear and brilliant morning, cold and frosty, 
 when the American soldiers, commanded by 
 
 * Evergreen, vol. i. p. 195. 
 
THE BRITISH LEAVE NEW YORK. 4:7 
 
 General Knox, marched to the Bowery Lane, 
 and halted at the present junction of Third 
 Avenue and the Bowery. 
 
 " There they remained until about one o'clock 
 in the afternoon, when the British left their 
 posts in that vicinity and marched to White- 
 hall. The American troops followed, and be- 
 fore three o'clock General Knox took formal 
 possession of Fort George amid the acclama- 
 tions of thousands of emancipated freemen, 
 and the roar of artillery upon the Battery. 
 "Washington repaired to his quarters at the 
 spacious tavern of Samuel Fraunce, and there, 
 during the afternoon, Governor Clinton gave a 
 public dinner to the officers of the army, and in 
 the evening the town was brilliantly illumin- 
 ated. Rockets shot up from many private dwel- 
 lings, and bonfires blazed at every corner."* 
 
 A friend of Mr. Provoost's writes to him 
 from New York city, under the date Decem- 
 ber 3d, 1783, as follows : 
 
 " I have to congratulate you most cordially 
 at the happy alteration in affairs here. Gen- 
 eral Washington, with the American army, 
 entered last Tuesday amid the joyful acclama- 
 tions of thousands, with such decorum that no 
 
 * Lossing's Field-Book of the Revolution, vol. ii. p. 838. 
 
48 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 riot or disturbance ensued, as was expected. 
 The Tories who stayed behind on the embarka- 
 tion of the British remained quiet within their 
 dwellings, and are still unmolested. 
 
 " We have lately had two dreadful alarms, 
 first w T ith a conflagration which destroyed the 
 brewhouse and buildings of Aunt Rutgers, and 
 burnt the roof of our large red store, and lastly, 
 with a severe shock of an earthquake which 
 happened on Saturday night. No evil effects 
 were the consequence of the latter in this city, 
 but at Philadelphia many stacks of chimneys 
 were thrown down. You have a very strong 
 party here, who will spare no exertions for you. 
 They even talk of making you Bishop of New 
 York, on the same footing that the Rev. Mr. 
 Smith has lately been appointed Bishop of 
 Maryland. This is the universal topic. In 
 short, I am as sure that something very hand- 
 some will be done for you as I am of my own 
 existence. There is to be a public meeting of 
 the Whig Episcopalians this evening by notifi- 
 cation. It is generally imagined that your name 
 will be mentioned in their debates." 
 
CHAPTER SIXTH. 
 
 Trinity Church during the Kevolution — Dr. Inglis resigns the 
 Rectorship — The Eev. Benjamin Moore appointed his suc- 
 cessor — A new scene opens — Vexed questions, and difficulties 
 not a few — " Council" appointed by the Legislature — Changes 
 effected in the affairs of Trinity Church — The election of Mr. 
 Moore declared null and void — Mr. Provoost chosen Eector — 
 His return to the city — Eecovers his property — Exercise of 
 hospitality — Appointed Eegent of the State University — Ee- 
 moval of Congress to New York city — Mr. Provoost elected 
 Chaplain — The authority of Congress in those days — Adop- 
 tion of our present Constitution. 
 
 TTRING the greater part of the Revo- 
 lutionary war, the rectorship of Trin- 
 ity Church, New York, had been held 
 by the Rev. Dr. Inglis, and he occu- 
 pied this position at its close. Being 
 unwilling to sever his connection with 
 England and transfer his allegiance to the new 
 republic, he resigned his charge on the first of 
 November, 1783, and returned home with the 
 British army. 
 
 The Rev. Benjamin Moore, who had been 
 serving as an assistant minister for several 
 years, was now chosen rector of Trinity 
 Church. " A new scene soon opened upon the 
 
 5 
 
50 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 parish. On the memorable November 25th, 
 1783, the independence of our country having 
 been acknowledged by England, the British 
 troops evacuated this city. Those friendly to 
 the American cause, who had long been exiled 
 from their homes here, returned. An entirely 
 new state of society was introduced. Those in 
 whose hands affairs in the several civil and 
 ecclesiastical departments had been, were di- 
 minished in number by the removal to the 
 British dominions of many who had opposed 
 the Revolution, and continued to own alle- 
 giance to the mother country. Between those 
 of this class who remained, and those favorable 
 to the Revolution, who returned to their old 
 homes in the city after years of suffering exile, 
 and finding great injury done to their property 
 here during what they regarded as its unjust 
 possession by an enemy, it of course is natu- 
 rally to be supposed that there could not, as a 
 general thing, be any very cordial feeling of 
 confidence and esteem. Yexed questions might 
 be expected to arise between them on a variety 
 of issues hard to be settled. Things requiring 
 mutual co-operation between parties thus re- 
 lated, would be very likely to be injuriously 
 neglected, or entangled with fictitious diffi- 
 culties. 
 
THE STATE LEGISLATURE. 51 
 
 " It was natural for the Legislature, as 
 guardian of the public welfare, to feel anxious 
 as to the faithful holding and use of trusts, if 
 left in the hands of those who might, not un- 
 reasonably, until time was allowed to prove 
 them, be supposed capable of feeling a hos- 
 tility to the then present state of things, — not 
 an unnatural product of the view taken by 
 some, that the Revolution was but a success- 
 ful rebellion. 
 
 " The fact is, that under the then existing 
 circumstances, the Legislature of the State had 
 deemed it their duty to appoint a council for 
 the temporary government of the southern 
 parts of the State, whenever the enemy shall 
 abandon or be dispossessed of the same, until 
 the Legislature can be convened." " This 
 council," says the Documentary History of the 
 State of New York, "had been vested with al- 
 most dictatorial power," — a very reasonable 
 alternative, considering the confused and anom- 
 alous state of things in which it was to act, and 
 the promptness with which it must, in many 
 cases, have been necessary for action to be 
 had. 
 
 " The members of the Church who had con- 
 tinued true to the American cause, and now re- 
 turned to their old homes in New York, were 
 
52 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 not satisfied with the then recent appointment, 
 as rector, of a gentleman who had been un- 
 friendly to that cause ; or to the continuance 
 in office of wardens and vestrymen of whom it 
 could hardly be expected, with any certainty, 
 that they would manage the affairs of the cor- 
 poration, considered in its civil capacity, as 
 true-hearted American citizens. After an un- 
 successful appeal to the vestry, 'to endeavor 
 to induce them to adopt such measures as 
 might produce an amicable arrangement,' they 
 appealed to the above-mentioned ' council.' 
 This body was addressed by eminent lawyers, 
 on both sides. The result was such an exercise 
 of the powers granted them by the Legislature, 
 as led them to vest the temporalities of Trinity 
 Church in nine trustees — St. George's and St. 
 Paul's Chapels (the parish church being in 
 ruins), as well as all other property; which 
 trustees invited Mr. Provoost to officiate in 
 those chapels. The invitation was accepted. 
 The council also ordered a new election of 
 wardens and vestrymen, which resulted in the 
 choice of gentlemen friendly to the newdy es- 
 tablished order of things. This vestry unani- 
 mously elected Mr. Provoost rector of the 
 parish ; acting upon the principle avowed by 
 the council, that the late election of Mr. Moore 
 
MR. PROVOOST RECOVERS HIS PROPERTY. 53 
 
 was, under the circumstances of the case, null 
 and void."* 
 
 A deputation was sent to Mr. Provoost, re- 
 questing him to accept the office. He consent- 
 ed to do so, and he soon afterwards returned, 
 with his family, to the city. 
 
 Mr. Provoost now recovered his property, 
 of which he had been deprived during the 
 war ; and this, together with his revenue from 
 the Church and his farm, relieved him from 
 all pecuniary difficulties, and enabled him to 
 exercise that generous hospitality for which he 
 was distinguished. * 
 
 In 1784 he was appointed a Regent of the 
 University of the State ; and in November of 
 the following year, Congress having removed 
 from Trenton to New York, he was elected 
 chaplain. 
 
 The general government of the country had 
 been carried on since 1776 by the authority of 
 Congress, which body had then the exclusive 
 right to declare war, conclude peace, borrow 
 funds, issue bills of credit, and make requisi- 
 tions upon the States for men and money. 
 
 Our present constitution was not adopted 
 until July 14th, 1788. 
 
 * Churchman's Magazine, vol. i. p. 338. 
 5* 
 
CHAPTER SEVENTH. 
 
 No Church organization as yet — Efforts towards securing this 
 desirable end — Bishop Seabury's consecration — The action 
 of Churchmen in the several States outside of Connecticut — 
 Our Federal government considered as a model — The Epis- 
 copal Church shown to be in strictest harmony with our civil 
 institutions — John Adams, and his exertions to secure the 
 Episcopate for the Church in America — Applications to vari- 
 ous countries — Satisfactory arrangements made at last — Mr. 
 Provoost chosen Bishop — Sails for England. 
 
 S yet, the Episcopal Church in the 
 United States consisted merely of con- 
 gregations scattered about through the 
 several cities and towns and rural dis- 
 tricts — some with pastors, but very 
 many without, and having no tie to 
 bind them together, except the com- 
 mon bond of brotherhood and union in the 
 faith. 
 
 No sooner, however, had our political inde- 
 pendence been gained, than vigorous efforts 
 were made by those who loved the Church, to 
 do something to further her interests. 
 
 As we have traced the several steps which 
 were taken, in completing the necessary ar- 
 
bishop seabuey's consecration. 55 
 
 rangements for her organization and govern- 
 ment, in tlie Lives of Bishops Seabury and 
 White, we must refer our readers to those 
 little volumes for the particulars of this im- 
 portant work. 
 
 The Eev. Samuel Seabury was consecrated 
 Bishop of Connecticut, at Aberdeen, by three 
 Bishops of the Scottish Church, on the 14th of 
 November, 1784. 
 
 Meanwhile, a few clergymen of New York, 
 New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, had met at 
 New Brunswick, New Jersey, in May of the 
 same year, and this was followed by another 
 meeting, held in New York in October. 
 
 Thus far, a few general principles had been 
 agreed upon to be recommended in the several 
 States, as the basis on which the government 
 of the American Church might be afterwards 
 established. In making the general outlines 
 of this government, the Federal Constitution of 
 our country was kept in view as a model, — 
 the State Conventions occupying the place of 
 the State Legislatures, and the General Con- 
 vention answering to the Congress of the United 
 States.* 
 
 * " The government of the Church is purely republican. It is 
 strikingly analogous to that of the Municipal, State, and General 
 Government in this country. I cannot better describe it than 
 
56 LIFE OF BISHOP PKOVOOST. 
 
 A third meeting assembled at Philadelphia 
 in September, 1785, in which seven of the thir- 
 teen United States were represented. 
 
 by giving a brief outline of its practical operation. A number 
 of laymen meet together and organize a parish, by the choice of 
 two wardens and a board of vestrymen. To them is commit- 
 ted the management of all the temporal affairs of the parish. 
 The members of the parish choose their own minister. Once 
 a year, on Easter Monday, parish meetings are held for the 
 choice of wardens and vestrymen, who answer to the board of 
 selectmen or town council ; and for the election of delegates 
 to the Diocesan Conventions. These lay delegates, with the 
 ministers of the several parishes, meet annually in convention. 
 The Bishop presides, but has no other voice than that of a 
 presiding officer. The clergy and laity assemble together, but 
 form, in fact, two distinct houses ; and when it is so required 
 by any delegation, they must vote separately. In such a case 
 there must be a concurrence of both Orders, the clerical and the 
 lay. Thus the laity represent the House of Kepresentatives in 
 our State Legislature ; the clergy, the Senate ; and the Bishop, 
 the Governor. This Diocesan Convention appoint a standing 
 committee, consisting of three laymen and three clergymen, 
 who are a Council of Advice to the Bishop. The Bishop has 
 no right to ordain a Deacon or a Priest until the consent and 
 recommendation of this committee is first obtained. This com- 
 mittee answers to the Governor's Council. The State, or Dio- 
 cesan Convention, choose four clergymen and four laymen to 
 represent the Diocese, or State, in the General Convention. 
 This General Convention meets once in three years, and con- 
 sists of like delegations from every diocese in the Union where 
 the Church has an organization. The Bishops of the Church 
 meet by themselves, and answer to the Senate of the United 
 States. The clerical and lay deputies meet together, and or- 
 ganize by choosing one of their number as president. Both 
 laity and clergy commonly vote together ; but if the delegation 
 of any diocese require it, the vote must be taken, i. e., the 
 
JOHN ADAMS. 57 
 
 Mr. Provoost was appointed chairman of a 
 committee to draft an Ecclesiastical Constitu- 
 tion, and to make the necessary alterations in 
 the Prayer-book. 
 
 All this time, Connecticut was enjoying the 
 services of a Bishop, while the other States 
 were still hoping that the English Church 
 would listen to their petitions to grant them 
 the succession ; but various difficulties, grow- 
 ing out of the union of Church and State, made 
 this delay most painful and discouraging. 
 
 " Shortly after this period, intelligence was 
 received that the Episcopacy could be obtained 
 from one of the European Continental powers. 
 It seems that Mr. John Adams, then our am- 
 bassador at the court of St. James, had gone 
 over to Holland, and in a letter to the Presi- 
 dent of Congress, dated the Hague, April 22, 
 
 clergy and laity voting separately, there must be a concurrence 
 of both Orders, or the vote is not carried. A measure must 
 have the concurrence of the House of Bishops before it can 
 become a law. The influence of the laity in the legislation of 
 the Church may be seen by this illustration : If a measure 
 should pass the House of Bishops by a unanimous vote, and, 
 coming to the lower house, should receive the vote of every 
 clergyman, and then should be lost by one majority on the part 
 ot the laity, it could not become a law. Such is the organiza- 
 tion of our National Ecclesiastical Congress, which commonly 
 embraces many of the ablest men in the Church." — Db. Ean- 
 d all's Pitts-street Chapel Lecture. 
 
58 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 1784, he says : ' I received, some time since, a 
 letter from an American gentleman, now in 
 London, a candidate for Orders, desiring to 
 know if American candidates might have Or- 
 ders from Protestant Bishops on the Continent, 
 and complaining that he had been refused by 
 the Bishop of London, unless he w r ould take 
 the oaths of allegiance, &c.' 
 
 " Mr. Adams applied to Mr. de St. Saphorin, 
 the Danish ambassador, to know whether con- 
 secration might be obtained in Denmark : this 
 Mr. de St. Saphorin sent to his court, by which 
 it was referred to the Theological Faculty of 
 Denmark, and their answer was communicated 
 by Count Rosencrone, Privy Councillor of the 
 King of Denmark, to Mr. de St. Saphorin, and 
 by him to Mr. Adams, in a letter which was 
 as follows : 
 
 " 'The opinion of the Theological Faculty 
 having been taken on the question made to 
 your Excellency by Mr. Adams, if the Ameri- 
 can ministers of the Church of England can 
 be consecrated here by Bishops of the Danish 
 Church, — I am ordered by the king to author- 
 ize you to answer, that such an act can take 
 place according to the Danish rites; but for 
 the convenience of the Americans who are 
 supposed not to know the Danish language, 
 
JOHN ADAMS THE EPISCOPACY. 59 
 
 the Latin tongue will be made use of on the 
 occasion : for the rest, nothing will be exacted 
 from the candidates but a profession conform- 
 able to the Articles of the English Church, 
 omitting the oath called the test, which pre- 
 vents their being ordained by the English 
 Bishops.' 
 
 " This answer was transmitted by Mr. Adams 
 to the United States office of Foreign Affairs, 
 and by the Secretary of State to Governor 
 George Clinton, and by him sent to Mr. Pro- 
 voost. But the friends of the Church in New 
 York, with their friends in the States south of 
 it, were not satisfied to accept this offer of the 
 Danish government, any more than they were 
 content with an Episcopacy that could, be pro- 
 cured in Scotland (as to the latter, it proved to 
 be valid) ; they therefore exerted themselves 
 to obtain an act of the British Parliament 
 authorizing the Archbishop of Canterbury and 
 York to consecrate foreign bishops, and re- 
 moving the objections which persons not in 
 allegiance to the King of Great Britain must 
 have had to the English forms. In their efforts 
 in this respect the friends of the Church seem 
 to have been very fortunate in obtaining the 
 co-operation of the high officers of the govern- 
 ment of the United States, who appear to have 
 
60 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 taken considerable interest in this subject — 
 particularly John Adams and Richard Henry 
 Lee, to whom the State Convention (June 12, 
 1786) returned thanks for the interest those 
 gentlemen had taken in procuring the Epis- 
 copate."* 
 
 The members of the Convention of the Dio- 
 cese of New York having chosen Mr. Provoost 
 for their Bishop, he was requested to proceed 
 to England for consecration, provision being 
 made to defray the expenses of the voyage. 
 Three weeks after his election he was honored 
 with the degree of Doctor of Divinity by the 
 University of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Virginia and Pennsylvania were not behind 
 New York in their anxiety for the proper or- 
 ganization of the Church ; and the former had 
 chosen Dr. David Griffith, and the latter Dr. 
 William "White, to preside over the affairs of 
 those dioceses. 
 
 The testimonials of those three clergymen 
 were signed by the members of the General 
 Convention, held at Wilmington, Delaware, on 
 the 11th of October. 
 
 Dr. Provoost, and his friend Dr. White, 
 sailed from New York on the 2d of November, 
 
 * Evergreen, vol. i. p. 196. 
 
SAILS FOR ENGLAND. 61 
 
 1786r Dr. Griffith of Virginia would gladly 
 have gone with them, but poverty presented 
 an obstacle which he was not able to sur- 
 mount, and he was not furnished with means 
 for the purpose.* 
 
 * See Dr. Hawks' History of Church in Virginia, p. 200* 
 6 
 
CHAPTER EIGHTH. 
 
 Short and safe passage — Arrival at London — Kindness of Mr. 
 Adams — Tedious delay — Letter from Dr. Provoost — Makes 
 the acquaintance of several Bishops — Meeting some old friends 
 — Kind attentions — The widow Jebb — The old Bishop of 
 Carlisle — "Cold, fat goose-pie" — Glimpse of the king — All 
 arrangements ended — Bird's-eye view of Lambeth — Solemn 
 ceremonial — Signing the certificates — What the reader will 
 hardly believe. 
 
 HE good packet-ship, with her pre- 
 cious burden, plowed safely on her 
 way, and after a passage of eighteen 
 days (the shortest then known), Doc- 
 tors Provoost and White arrived at 
 Falmouth. They proceeded at once 
 to London, where they were introduced to Dr. 
 John Moore, Archbishop of Canterbury, by . 
 Mr. Adams, the American minister to the court 
 of St. James. 
 
 " In this particular" (says Bishop White, in 
 his Memoirs of the Church), " and in every 
 instance in which his personal attentions could 
 be either of use or an evidence of his respect 
 and kindness, he continued to manifest his con- 
 
LETTER FROM DR. PROYOOST. 63 
 
 cern for the interests of a churcli of which he 
 was not a member." 
 
 Some delay in the consecration of the 
 Bishops elect from America, was occasioned 
 by the desire of the Archbishop to lay before 
 the English Bishops — then generally absent 
 from London in their several Dioceses, and not 
 expected to return until the meeting of Par- 
 liament, about the middle of January — the 
 ground of his proceedings. 
 
 Early in the beginning of the new year, Dr. 
 Provoost thus writes to his wife at New York : 
 
 " Parliament- street, London, January 3, 1787. 
 
 "My dear Maria — It is with real satisfac- 
 tion that I inclose, for your perusal, a most 
 affectionate letter from your brother, which I 
 answered immediately, and consequently ex- 
 pect him in London in a few days. I was in 
 hopes our business would have been completely 
 finished before the sailing of this packet ; and 
 the not knowing how soon we might have 
 been called upon by the Archbishop for con- 
 secration, kept me so constantly in London, 
 that I have not yet paid a visit to my friends 
 in Cambridge. We were introduced to the 
 Bishops of London and Oxford a day or two 
 after my writing to you, and the latter in- 
 
64 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 formed us that he had seen the Archbishop, 
 who was perfectly satisfied with our testimo- 
 nials. We dined lately with his Grace, and 
 before we parted he told us that he waited for 
 the coming of some more Bishops, to consult 
 with them concerning the mode of our conse- 
 cration. I regret this delay, but as they will 
 certainly be in town before the Queen's birth- 
 day, which is the 18th, I still firmly believe 
 that we shall be in time for the February 
 packet. The only company we had at the 
 Archbishop's was Dr. and Mrs. Lort, and Dr. 
 Inglis. You remember spending an afternoon 
 with Dr. Lort, when he was Greek professor 
 at Cambridge. The Archbishop is very polite, 
 but neither inquisitive nor communicative. 
 Mrs. Moore appears to be a very amiable 
 woman. Mrs. Lort, who was of Cambridge, 
 and an acquaintance of Miss Donovan, made 
 many polite inquiries concerning you and 
 family. 
 
 " It is imagined that a Bishop will soon be 
 appointed for Nova Scotia, but whether Dr. 
 Inglis will be the man or not is yet uncertain. 
 Let your daughter inform Miss Inglis that I 
 dined last Sunday with her papa, brother, and 
 sister at Mr. Duche's, in the Asylum. The 
 sister is really pretty, and the brother one of 
 
LETTER FROM DR. PROVOOST. 65 
 
 the smartest boys for his years I ever met with. 
 Mr. Duche and family could not have treated 
 us with more kindness and attention if we had 
 been the nearest relations. Apropos, — Mr. 
 Duche has a daughter about the age of Maria, 
 who had been a long time afflicted with ner- 
 vous complaints, and the same kind of swell- 
 ings in the neck with which you are troubled, 
 but she has received the greatest relief, and is 
 now nearly cured, by the constant eating the 
 dried leaves of hemlock upon her bread and 
 butter. By the by, hemlock must be used 
 with great precaution, and in a small quantity 
 upon the first trials. 
 
 "My good friends Adair and Wilson are in 
 very flourishing situations. Adair, besides his 
 office of recorder, has a multiplicity of business 
 as a lawyer. Wilson has been knighted, and 
 since our arrival has been made a judge. This 
 appointment has given universal satisfaction, 
 as he owes it neither to solicitation nor party, 
 but, what is very uncommon here, entirely to 
 his own merit. 
 
 " The widow of my dear old tutor Jebb has 
 been very ill, and looks indeed like a widow\ 
 
 " The old Bishop of Carlisle is still living, 
 and though eighty-seven years of age, the 
 Archbishop told me he saw him at the last 
 
66 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 meeting of Parliament going to make his din- 
 ner of a cold, fat goose-pie, too luscious for the 
 stomach of his Grace. 
 
 " The Bishop of Llandaff is come to town, and 
 paid us a very friendly visit yesterday morn- 
 ing. He was surprised our business was not 
 concluded, and I am convinced will use his 
 endeavors to accelerate it. 
 
 " The English papers have been premature 
 in announcing our consecration. I expected 
 we should have been the subject of frequent 
 witticisms, but the following paragraph, which 
 appeared in the Herald, is the only one I have 
 met with : 
 
 " 'The ordination of the two American 
 Bishops is an event concerning which the 
 ■universities have formed strange conjectures. 
 These new Bight Beverends will, in the Ameri- 
 can device, restore the primitive fathers, and 
 distinguish themselves by stripes.' 
 
 " Mrs. Henry White has lost her husband, 
 and proposes returning to America. As you, 
 no doubt, often see my worthy friend the 
 Mayor, and communicate to him the intelli- 
 gence I send to you, I don't trouble him with 
 a letter. Tou will conclude, from the annexed 
 list of engagements, that I lead a desultory 
 life, not quite congenial to my natural disposi- 
 
a week's engagements. 67 
 
 tion. To-day, being Wednesday, at Mrs. 
 Johnson's, aunt to Mr. Hopkinson of Philadel- 
 phia ; on Thursday, to Mr. Robert Barclay ; 
 Friday, to Mr. Kemp ; Saturday, to the 
 Bishop of Llandaff ; Sunday, to the Recorder ; 
 Monday, to Dr. Jackson, prebend of West- 
 minster ; Tuesday, to Mr. D. Barclay. My 
 paper being just filled, I must conclude with 
 my sincere regards to my mother and brethren 
 of every description, and love to the children. 
 " I remain, my dear Maria, with the most 
 ardent wishes for our speedy meeting, 
 
 " Your most affectionate husband, 
 
 "Samuel Provoost." 
 
 The venerable Archbishop did all in his 
 power to render the delay as little irksome to 
 the American clergymen as possible, and we 
 have one evidence of it in the following note, 
 found among the papers of Bishop Provoost, 
 which have been kindly placed in our hands : 
 
 " The Archbishop of Canterbury informs 
 Drs. White and Provoost, that his Majesty sets 
 out from St. James's to-day at half an hour af- 
 ter two ; that if they are at the House of Lords 
 at that time, he apprehends there will be no 
 difficulty about their admittance. But at all 
 
68 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 events, he will be there at a quarter before 
 three, and take them in, if they are not al- 
 ready admitted." 
 
 The two American clergymen were presented 
 to King George III., who gave them a yery 
 kind reception. 
 
 An act of Parliament having been passed 
 authorizing the measure, the 4th of February 
 was fixed as the day for the consecration. 
 This was Septuagesima Sunday. The place 
 was the chapel of the archiepiscopal palace at 
 Lambeth. " Its dingy brick, and solemn little 
 windows," remarks the Rev. Dr. A. C. Coxe, in 
 his beautiful volume of English travels, " with 
 the reverend ivy spreading everywhere about 
 its walls, seemed to have the decent and comely 
 spirit of religion itself; and we could almost 
 gather the true character of the Church of 
 England from a single glance at this old eccle- 
 siastical palace, amid the stirring and splendid 
 objects with which it is surrounded. Old, and 
 yet not too old ; retired, and yet not estranged 
 from men ; learned, and yet domestic ; reli- 
 gious, yet nothing ascetic ; and dignified, with- 
 out pride or ostentation ; — such is the ideal of 
 the metropolitical palace on the margin of the 
 Thames. I thought, as I glided by, of the time 
 
LAMBETH PALACE. 69 
 
 when Henry stopped his barge just here to 
 take in Archbishop Cramner, and give him a 
 taste of his royal displeasure ; and of the time 
 when Laud entered his barge at the same 
 place to go by water to the Tower, ' his poor 
 neighbors of Lambeth following him with 
 their blessings and prayers for his safe return.' 
 They knew his better part."* 
 
 But we must enter the palace with those 
 who passed its gates on the 4th of February, 
 1787. We go on, through winding passages, 
 until we reach the oldest part of the irregular 
 and extensive pile — which is the chapel. It 
 consists of two apartments, divided by a richly 
 ornamented screen, and measuring together 
 seventy-two feet in length by twenty-five in 
 breadth. The height of the ceiling is thirty 
 feet. Although every thing about us is so 
 plain and simple, we feel that we are standing 
 on holy ground. 
 
 A most important transaction is about to 
 take place. Two Bishops are to be conse- 
 crated for the New World. The venerable 
 Archbishop Moore is presiding. We will learn 
 the names of the Bishops who are to assist 
 
 * Impressions of England, page 38. There are two views of 
 Lambeth in the Penny Magazine for 1832, p. 260 and p. 3M» 
 
70 LIFE OF BISHOP PKOVOOST. 
 
 him when they come to sign the certificates 
 of consecration. 
 
 Morning Prayer and the sermon ended, the 
 solemn Office of Consecration begins. The 
 searching questions are asked, and answered ; 
 earnest prayers are offered ; the candidates are 
 kneeling now. Then the Bishops lay their 
 hands upon their heads, and the venerable 
 Archbishop says : " Receive the Holy Ghost, 
 for the office and work of a Bishop in the 
 Church of God, now committed unto thee by 
 the imposition of our hands : In the name of 
 the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost. Amen. And remember that thou stir 
 up the grace of God, which is given thee by 
 this imposition of our hands ; for God hath not 
 given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and 
 love, and soberness." 
 
 When all was over, the Bishops retired to 
 the vestry-room ; and two great sheets of parch- 
 ment having been spread iipon a table, Arch- 
 bishop Moore signs the certificates of consecra- 
 tion ; and then William Markham, Archbishop 
 of York, Charles Moss, Bishop of Bath and 
 Wells, and John Hinchcliffe, Bishop of Peter- 
 borough, add their names also. The large seal 
 of the Archbishop is appended below. Last 
 of all, William Dickes, secretary to the Arch- 
 
CERTIFICATE OF CONSECRATION. 71 
 
 bishop of Canterbury, attests that these signa- 
 tures have been made in his presence. 
 
 The author has this very certificate of Bishop 
 Provoost's consecration lying on his writing- 
 table now. 
 
CHAPTER NINTH. 
 
 A great object accomplished — Preparations for returning to 
 America— Dr. Inglis in London — A kind letter — Departure 
 from Falmouth — Long and boisterous passage — Sea-sickness 
 ■ — Arrival at New York on Easter-day — Bishop Provoost wel- 
 comed by his Convention — Address of the Eev. Abraham 
 Beach — The Bishop's reply — God's blessing invoked. 
 
 E 
 
 ^AYINGr accomplished the great object 
 which had brought them to England, 
 Bishops Provoost and White made 
 all haste to return home. Our read- 
 ers will remember Dr. Inglis, who re- 
 signed the rectorship of Trinity Church, 
 New York, at the close of the Revolution.* 
 This was the same gentleman whom Dr. 
 Provoost met with soon after his arrival in 
 London. The day after the consecration of 
 the American Bishops, he addresses this kind 
 note to Dr. Provoost : 
 
 " Monday Morning, February 5, 1787. 
 
 " My dear Sir — I do assure you I was not 
 a little mortified in being prevented by my 
 
 * He became Bishop of Nova Scotia in 1787. We have already 
 collected many valuable materials for his biography. 
 
DR. INGLIs's NOTE TO DR. PROVOOST. 73 
 
 lameness from attending at your consecration, 
 and that of Dr. White, yesterday ; and from 
 congratulating yon both on the occasion, which 
 I now do most sincerely, and fervently pray 
 that the great Shepherd and Bishop of the 
 Church may direct and prosper the endeavors 
 of you both for the promoting of true religion, 
 and the support of our depressed Church in 
 America. 
 
 " It was my full intention to have called on 
 you this morning with my two children, that 
 you might see them, and give an account of 
 them to their sister at New York; but my 
 ankle still continues to be so much swelled and 
 inflamed that I cannot possibly stir out. My 
 little boy, John, was in town, and I send him 
 with this as the representative of the whole. 
 The several letters from my children and my- 
 self to our friends in New York, I have put 
 under one cover, directed to Mr. Ellison, as it 
 will lessen your trouble. 
 
 " You will not, I presume, set out for Fal- 
 mouth till after dinner ; suppose then that you 
 and Dr. White were to come and take a family 
 dinner with me. You may have it at any hour 
 you choose. It will be extremely pleasing to 
 me, and I could mention some particulars 
 which I wish to communicate, and have not 
 
 7 
 
74: LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 time to write down. But if hurry should pre- 
 vent this, give my love to Dr. White. I sin- 
 cerely wish you and him a safe voyage, and a 
 speedy sight of your friends. Give my best 
 compliments to Mrs. Provoost, and my good 
 old friends at New York, whom I often think 
 of with affection and esteem ; not excepting 
 even those in whose conduct there might have 
 been some appearance of unkindness. 
 
 "Sincerely wishing you health and happi- 
 ness, I am most affectionately yours, 
 
 "Charles Inglis. 
 
 "Eight Eevekend Dr. Provoost." 
 
 Time was pressing. The two Bishops had 
 to decline many urgent invitations extended to 
 them by English friends. And on the even- 
 ing of the day next succeeding their consecra- 
 tion, Bishops White and Provoost left London 
 for Falmouth, which they reached on the 10th 
 of the month. They were there detained by 
 contrary winds (no steamships then) until 
 Sunday 18th, when they embarked ; and after 
 a voyage of seven weeks, during which Bishop 
 Provoost was so ill that it was feared he would 
 not live, they arrived in New York, the 
 Bishop having happily recovered, on Easter 
 day, April 8th. 
 
ADDRESS OF THE CONVENTION. 75 
 
 Bishop Provoost had every reason to be 
 gratified with his reception, as he was cor- 
 dially greeted by his fellow-citizens of all de- 
 nominations. 
 
 The first Convention of his Diocese, after his 
 return, was held in St. Paul's Chapel, New 
 York, in June, 1787, and consisted, besides 
 himself, of six clergymen, and twenty-three 
 lay deputies, representing seventeen parishes. 
 He was then formally received in his new 
 character by the Diocese, in the following 
 address to him, in the name of the Convention, 
 by its Secretary, the Rev. Abraham Beach : 
 
 " Bight Reverend Sir — We, the clergy and 
 laity, representatives of the Protestant Episco- 
 pal Church, now assembled in Convention, 
 beg leave to address you, on this solemn occa- 
 sion, with sentiments of duty and unfeigned 
 respect. 
 
 " After having successfully accomplished the 
 great object which you had in view, we con- 
 gratulate you on your return to your native 
 city, safe from the hazards of a long and tem- 
 pestuous voyage, and in a great measure 
 restored to health from a painful and danger- 
 ous illness. 
 
 "While we express, in terms of the warmest 
 
76 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 gratitude, the high obligations we are under 
 to the English Bishops for their paternal in- 
 terposition in our favor, we beg leave to pre- 
 sent to you our hearty thanks for your com- 
 pliance with our desires ; and thus, through 
 many difficulties and sufferings, rendering 
 our Church complete in all its parts. 
 
 " This propitious event, so long and ardently 
 wished for, forms an important era in the his- 
 tory of our Church. We are now, by Divine 
 Providence, placed in such a situation that a 
 regular succession of the ministry may be con- 
 tinued to us and our posterity, without being 
 reduced to the necessity of applying to a dis- 
 tant land. 
 
 " Justly reposing the highest confidence in 
 your integrity and piety, your love of peace 
 and order, and in your unremitted endeavors 
 for the advancement of true religion and vir- 
 tue, we rejoice that the distinguished honor of 
 filling one of the first Episcopal chairs in these 
 United States hath been conferred on a char- 
 acter so truly estimable ; and we trust that we, 
 and those whom we represent, shall never fail 
 to render you all due support, respect, and 
 reverence. 
 
 " May it graciously please the Almighty 
 Ruler of the universe so to bless your minis- 
 
BISHOP PROVOOSt's REPLY. 77 
 
 trations, that a firm foundation may be laid for 
 the peace and prosperity of our Church, which 
 shall remain unshaken to the latest ages. And 
 may you, Eight Keverend Sir, long continue in 
 the discharge of your sacred office, an example 
 for our imitation, and an ornament to our holy 
 religion ; and may we, and all those committed 
 to your pastoral charge, derive from your min- 
 istrations a benefit which w T ill be of everlasting 
 duration : so that when we are called to answer 
 for our actions, we may give an account with 
 joy; and remain one flock, under one Shep- 
 herd, Jesus Christ, the Bishop of our souls." 
 
 To this the Bishop replied as follows : 
 
 " Reverend and most dearly beloved — This 
 affectionate address, your obliging congratula- 
 tions on my return to my native city, and on 
 the recovery of my health, and above all, your 
 assurances of support in my ministrations, I 
 receive with the utmost satisfaction and thank- 
 fulness. 
 
 "The object of my late mission being the 
 independence of our Church, and a regular suc- 
 cession of the ministry, was of such magnitude, 
 that its happy accomplishment cannot fail of 
 inspiring all its members with the highest 
 gratitude to Almighty God, and to all who, 
 
78 LIFE OF BISHOP PKOVOOST. 
 
 under Him, have by their good offices contrib- 
 uted to its success. To the English Bishops, 
 particularly, we are under indelible obligations, 
 and I cordially unite with you in a public tes- 
 timony of their benevolent and paternal exer- 
 tions in our favor. Whenever we shall reflect 
 on this important era in the history of our 
 church, they must be remembered with honor 
 and reverence. Let us, my beloved friends, 
 zealously strive to make due improvement of 
 the spiritual privileges which we now enjoy. 
 Let our faith be sincere, and our lives unblem- 
 ished, as our doctrine and worship are pure and 
 holy, and God will continue to shower down 
 His blessings upon us and our Church with a 
 bountiful hand. 
 
 " May you, my Reverend Brethren, aided by 
 His gracious Spirit, continue to be watchful 
 shepherds of the flocks committed to your 
 charge, and maintain the doctrines and disci- 
 pline of this excellent Church with constancy 
 and zeal, and at the same time with candor 
 towards those who differ from us in religious 
 opinions, that our moderation may be made 
 manifest, and we may joyfully contribute to 
 that peace, and love, and charity which are so 
 strongly enforced in the Gospel of our blessed 
 Redeemer. 
 
BISHOP PROVOOST's REPLY. 79 
 
 " Deeply sensible of my own imperfections, 
 I feel with solicitude the weight of the impor- 
 tant office to which I am consecrated. I rely 
 only on the grace of God to enable me to dis- 
 charge my pastoral duties with fidelity, to be 
 instrumental in promoting true religion and 
 virtue, in governing this Church in peace and 
 unanimity, and laying a sure foundation for its 
 lasting prosperity ; that thus, through His 
 divine protection, your expectation of my use- 
 fulness may not be disappointed. 
 
 " And now, unto God's gracious mercy and 
 protection I commit you. The Lord bless you 
 and keep you ! The Lord make His face to 
 shine upon you ! The Lord lift up His coun- 
 tenance upon you, and give you peace, both 
 now and evermore !" 
 
CHAPTER TENTH. 
 
 Early history of the Church in New York— Services in the old 
 fort— Increase of the congregation — Colonel Fletcher's zealous 
 efforts — Eoyal grant for the benefit of the Church — Honored 
 names — Queen Anne's gift — The a Queen's farm," then and 
 now — "The finest church in North America" — Choice of a 
 clergyman — Mr. Vesey — Interesting particulars concerning 
 him — The various rectors of Trinity Parish, to the days of 
 Bishop Provoost — Prosperous condition of the Church. 
 
 ^T is time for us to be saying something 
 about the history of the Church in the 
 Diocese over which Dr. Provoost now 
 began to exercise the authority of a 
 Bishop. 
 
 When we remember that the first 
 settlers of New York were Dutch, we cannot 
 be surprised at reading in Humphrey's history, 
 that " no face of the Church of England" was 
 seen there until the year 1693. 
 
 An act was then passed, under the govern- 
 ment of Colonel Fletcher, for maintaining 
 Church clergymen, who were to be chosen by 
 the respective vestries. 
 
 The first regular services of the Episcopal 
 Church, in the city of New York, were cele- 
 
SERVICE IN THE OLD FORT. 81 
 
 # 
 
 brated in a chapel erected in the old fort which 
 stood near the Battery. 
 
 The ministers of the Church of Holland had 
 officiated in the same place while the Dutch 
 had possession of the town. 
 
 As the congregation which attended upon 
 the Episcopal services increased, a larger build- 
 ing was needed, but several years passed away 
 before any steps were taken for its erection. 
 
 " Colonel Fletcher, the newly appointed gov- 
 ernor of the colony, was one of the first who 
 moved in this business. As the greatest part 
 of this province consisted of Dutch inhabitants, 
 all the governors thereof, as well in the Duke 
 of York's time as after the Revolution, thought 
 it good policy to encourage English preachers 
 and schoolmasters in the colony. For this 
 commendable zeal, Colonel Fletcher has been 
 reviled and denounced by Smith, one of the 
 earliest writers of the history of New York, as 
 a bigot to the Episcopal form of Church gov- 
 ernment. But as he had declared, at a meet- 
 ing of the Colonial Assembly, that he would 
 take care that neither heresy, sedition, schism, 
 nor rebellion should be preached among them, 
 nor vice and profanity encouraged, so he 
 earnestly labored to carry out his purposes to 
 good effect. His measures were violently op- 
 
82 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 posed by many of the members, and even by 
 some from whom a different course might have 
 been reasonably expected. For it was at this 
 session, on the 12th of April, 1695, that, upon 
 a petition of five church-wardens and vestry- 
 men of the city of New York, the house de- 
 clared it to be their opinion that the vestrymen 
 and church-wardens have power to call a dis- 
 senting Protestant minister, and that he is to 
 be paid and maintained as the act directs. 
 This was a looseness of opinion on the part of 
 the Episcopalians concerned, which must as- 
 tonish sound Churchmen, and which would 
 have been abundantly lax for the most latitu- 
 dinarian among us at the present day. But 
 through the juster notions of others, and the 
 persevering zeal and firmness of the governor, 
 things were soon put in a better train. 
 
 " In the fifth year of the reign of William and 
 Mary, 1697, by an act of Assembly, approved 
 and ratified by and with the consent and au- 
 thority of the governor of the province, a royal 
 grant and confirmation were made of a certain 
 church and steeple, lately built in the city of 
 New York, together with a certain piece or 
 parcel of ground adjoining thereunto, being in 
 or near to a street without the north gate of 
 the said city, commonly called and known by 
 
QUEEN ANNE S GIFJ\ 83 
 
 the name of Broadway. The title which was 
 given to the church by the original charter is 
 the same which it bears at the present day, 
 the Parish of Trinity Church. Means were 
 appointed by it for the support of the Rector. 
 The wardens and vestrymen were duly consti- 
 tuted, and particularly named, comprising 
 several members of his majesty's council, and, 
 as it would seem, some of the most respectable 
 inhabitants in the province. Among them were 
 the names of Colonel Caleb Heathcote, an 
 ancestor of Dr. Delancey, Bishop of the west- 
 ern Diocese of New York ; of Emote, Clarke, 
 Morris, Read, and Ludlow, so familiar to our 
 ears at the present day. These, with the 
 Bishop of London for their Rector, were es- 
 tablished a body corporate and politic, with all 
 the privileges and powers usually pertaining 
 unto the same. This appointment of the 
 Bishop of London as Rector, who could not 
 actually fulfil the duties of the office, was a 
 mere temporary arrangement, in order to pro- 
 vide the corporation with a head, essential to 
 its due organization, if not to its existence.""* 
 
 Li 1705, during the reign of Queen Anne, a 
 grant was made to the corporation of Trinity 
 
 * Berrian's History of Trinity Church, p. 11. 
 
84 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST, 
 
 Church of a tract of land, lying on the west 
 side of Mannahata Island, and extending from 
 St. Paul's Chapel northward, along the river, 
 to what is now called Christopher-street. 
 
 This land, then known as the Queen's Farm, 
 and which was comparatively of little value, 
 is at this day the very heart of the great city. 
 
 Vigorous efforts were put forth for the build- 
 ing of a church, and the people gave so liber- 
 ally, that a sufficient sum was raised for erect- 
 ing what was said to be " the finest church in 
 North America." 
 
 The next step was to find a clergyman, and 
 the people were fortunate enough to persuade 
 Mr. William Yesey, a man universally esteemed 
 and beloved, to go to England for ordination. 
 He embarked in the spring of 1697, and was 
 ordained by Dr. Henry Compton, bishop of 
 London, on the 16th of August of the same 
 year. 
 
 For fifty years Mr. Yesey continued to dis- 
 charge the duties of Rector of Trinity Church ; 
 and during the greater part of this time he 
 was intrusted with the general oversight of 
 the Church in the colony of New York, as the 
 commissary of the Bishop of London. His 
 whole course fully justified the wisdom of the 
 choice which had been made of him. He was 
 
MR. VESEY TRINITY PARISH. 85 
 
 an excellent preacher, and most active and 
 laborious as a pastor. 
 
 " He was engaged, too, in some earnest and 
 protracted controversies, which must have put 
 in requisition all his mental force, and dis- 
 turbed not a little some of his social relations. 
 But he seems to have been a man of an enter- 
 prising and resolute spirit, who never shrunk 
 from any responsibility which he thought was 
 legitimately devolved upon him. He was aided 
 not a little in his labors by schoolmasters and 
 catechists, which were provided by the Venera- 
 ble Society ; and had also as assistants, at dif- 
 ferent periods, the Rev. Robert Jenny, Rev. 
 James Wetmore, Rev. Thomas Colgan, and 
 Rev. Robert Charlton."* 
 
 Upon the death of Mr. Yesey, the Rev. 
 Henry Barclay, then missionary at Albany and 
 to the Mohawk Indians, was elected his suc- 
 cessor. This was in 1746. 
 
 In July, 1752, St. George's Chapel was 
 opened for divine service. 
 
 The affairs of Trinity parish were now in a 
 very prosperous condition. During the space 
 of one year (from 1763 to 1764) one -hundred 
 and thirty-seven couples were married, and 
 
 * Sprague's Annals, vol. v. p. 16. 
 8 
 
86 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 four hundred and thirty-one adults and chil- 
 dren baptized. 
 
 Dr. Barclay departed this life on the 20th 
 of August, 1764. He was a meek, affable, 
 sweet-tempered, and devout man, and his min- 
 istry was greatly blessed. 
 
 The Rev. Samuel Auchmuty succeeded to 
 the rectorship, and the Rev. Charles Inglis 
 and the Rev. John Ogilvie were appointed 
 assistant ministers. 
 
 The building of St. Paul's Chapel was begun 
 in 1763, and completed in 1766. It was a 
 beautiful specimen of architecture, unequalled 
 in this country at that day, and surpassed by 
 few churches of the present time. 
 
 In 1774, the Rev. Benjamin Moore and the 
 Rev. John Bowden became assistant ministers 
 of Trinity parish. 
 
 Dr. Auchmuty died on the 4th of March, 
 1777, and the Rev. Charles Inglis was chosen 
 Rector in his stead. This brings us down to 
 the time of the Revolutionary War, concerning 
 which we have spoken in a former chapter. 
 
 As we have already intimated, we shall have 
 many interesting facts to relate concerning 
 Trinity Church, and her ministers, in another 
 volume of this series. 
 
CHAPTER ELEVENTH. 
 
 Tlie progress of the Church beyond the limits of New York 
 city — Westchester county — A church built and a minister 
 called — The Eev. John Bartow, and his labors — Many per- 
 sons brought over to the Church — Preaching in a barn — ■ 
 Petty annoyances at Jamaica — The Presbyterian preacher 
 takes possession of the pulpit — Disgraceful scene in the after- 
 noon — Lord Cornbury, the governor, interferes — Death 01 
 the missionary — His successor, and some account of what he 
 did for the Church — Primitive specimens of architecture — 
 Six months cold and six months hot weather — Condition of 
 the negro slaves in Westchester — Death of Mr. Standard — 
 Mr. Milner and Mr. Seabury. 
 
 ■ AYING thus noted the establishment 
 of the Church in the city of New 
 York, we are prepared to trace its 
 progress in other parts of the State. 
 
 The county of Westchester, having 
 a large number of English settlers 
 among its population, proved to be a very 
 kindly soil for the Church. The inhabitants 
 of the chief town, which was called Westches- 
 ter, were the first in this country to request 
 the services of a missionary. They built a 
 church, and the Eev. John Bartow (who was 
 of French descent, but born in England) be- 
 
88 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 came their clergyman in 1702. As the country 
 around was almost without any religious privi- 
 leges, he extended his labors to East Chester, 
 New Rochelle, and Yonkers. 
 
 His services were acceptable, and were fol- 
 lowed by most encouraging tokens of success. 
 In 1704, he writes home to the Missionary So- 
 ciety : " I have been now two years in actual 
 service of my mission in this parish, and, by 
 the blessing of God, have been instrumental 
 in bringing many into the communion of our 
 Church, who are very constant and devout at 
 their attendance on divine worship. Those 
 who w^ere enemies at my first coming, are now 
 zealous professors of the ordinances of the Gos- 
 pel. The inhabitants of my parish live scat- 
 tered and much dispersed, which occasions my 
 duty to be more difficult." 
 
 Mr. Bartow continued very industrious in 
 his mission, and well respected by the people. 
 His cure was large ; the number of inhabitants 
 at Westchester was about five hundred and 
 fifty, at East Chester above four hundred, and 
 at Yonkers two hundred and thirty. He used 
 to preach at East Chester (which was now 
 made a district parish, and had built a church) 
 once a month, where he had a large congrega- 
 tion. The people here were generally of the 
 
KEV. JOHN BARTOW HIS LABORS. 89 
 
 Presbyterian persuasion till Mr. Bartow came 
 among them ; but in the year 1703 they em- 
 braced the Church of England worship, and 
 received him for their minister. There was no 
 parsonage-house here, but there were twenty- 
 three acres of glebe-land, given for the use of 
 a Church of England minister forever. As 
 often as he could he visited Yonkers : a large 
 congregation, chiefly of Dutch people, came to 
 hear him. There was no church built here, so 
 they assembled for divine worship at a house 
 of Mr. Joseph Bebits, and sometimes in a barn, 
 when empty. 
 
 Mr. Bartow continued very diligent in the 
 discharge of all the duties of his ministerial 
 office, and gained over a great number to the 
 Church communion. He persuaded many 
 grown persons, who were negligent of all re- 
 ligion, of the advantage of baptism ; adminis- 
 tered this holy sacrament to them ; and they 
 became very sober members of the Church. 
 
 Mr. Bartow had his own trials to bear ; and 
 as a specimen of the petty annoyances to which 
 he was subjected, we will give him an oppor- 
 tunity to describe one of his missionary excur- 
 sions to Jamaica, Long Island : 
 
 " Mr. Hobbart, their Presbyterian minister, 
 having been for some time at Boston, returned 
 
 8* 
 
90 LIFE OF BISHOP PKOVOOST. 
 
 to Jamaica the Saturday night as I came to it, 
 and sent to me at my lodgings (being then in 
 company with our chief-justice, Mr. Mumpes- 
 son, and Mr. Carter, her majesty's comptroller) 
 to know if I intended to preach on the morrow. 
 I sent him answer, I did intend it. The next 
 morning the bell rung as usual ; but before the 
 last time ringing, Mr. Hobbart was got into 
 the church, and had begun his service, of 
 which notice was given me ; whereupon I went 
 into the church, and walked straightway to the 
 pew, expecting Mr. Hobbart would desist : he 
 knew I had orders from the governor to offi- 
 ciate there, hut he persisted, and I forbore to 
 make any interruption. 
 
 " In the afternoon I prevented him, begin- 
 ning the service of the Church of England 
 before he came ; who was so surprised, when 
 after he came to the church door and saw me 
 performing divine service, that he suddenly 
 started back, and went aside to an orchard 
 hard by, and sent in some to give the word 
 that Mr. Hobbart would preach under a tree. 
 Then I perceived a whispering through the 
 church, and an uneasiness of many people — 
 some going out : some seemed amazed, not yet 
 determined to go or stay. In the mean time, 
 some that were gone out returned again for 
 
PETTY ANNOYANCES AT JAMAICA. 91 
 
 their seats, and then we had a shameful dis- 
 turbance — hawling and tugging of seats, shov- 
 ing one the other off, carrying them out and 
 returning again for more ; so that I was fain 
 to leave off till the disturbance was over and 
 a separation made, by which time I had lost 
 about half of the congregation, the rest re- 
 maining devout and attentive the whole time 
 of service; after which we lock't the church 
 door, and committed the key into the hands of 
 the sheriff. We were no sooner gone into an 
 adjoining house but some persons came to de- 
 mand the key of their meeting-house ; which 
 being denied, they went and broke the glass 
 window, and put a boy in to open the door, 
 and so put in their seats and took away the 
 pew-cushion, saying they would keep that, 
 however, for their own minister. The scold- 
 ing and wrangling that ensued are by me 
 ineffable. 
 
 " The next time I saw my Lord Cornbury, he 
 thanked me, and said he would do the Church 
 and me justice : accordingly he summoned 
 Mr. Hobbart and the head of the faction be- 
 fore him, and forbade Mr. Hobbart ever more 
 to preach in that church ; for, in regard it was 
 built by a public tax, it did appertain to the 
 established Church (which it has quietly re- 
 
92 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 mained ever since), and is now in possession 
 of our Rev. Brother, Mr. ITrquhart." 
 
 After twenty-five years of laborious service, 
 Mr. Bartow died at Westchester, in 1725. Ac- 
 cording to the custom of that day, his remains 
 were buried beneath the chancel, in the old 
 parish church of St. Peter. 
 
 The successor of this good man was the Rev. 
 Thomas Standard, who had previously been a 
 missionary at Brookhaven, on Long Island. 
 In 1729, he writes a long letter to the secretary 
 of the Society in London, from which we glean 
 some interesting items. And first he furnishes 
 us with an account of the style of church 
 architecture which then prevailed in the coun- 
 try villages : 
 
 " The church of Westchester is a square of 
 twenty-eight feet of a side, about eighteen feet 
 to the eaves, and near of the same dimensions 
 and form as the church of East Chester, save 
 that the church of Westchester hath a sort of 
 cupola in which is hung a bell, so that the 
 whole resembles much our pigeon-houses in 
 England. 
 
 " The churches both of East and West Ches- 
 ter, and indeed most of the buildings of this 
 country, are made after the following manner, 
 
PRIMITIVE ARCHITECTURE. 93 
 
 viz. : They make a frame of certain dimensions, 
 which they raise by piecemeal — first placing 
 the under post upon stones placed here and 
 there to support it. When the whole frame is 
 put together, they fill up the vacancies under 
 the said frame, which they call under-pinning. 
 Then they raise the top part or roof, in like 
 manner as we do, with rafters, applying upon 
 them laths ; and upon them they nail some 
 split wood — commonly cedar, that being the 
 most in esteem — of about half an inch thick, 
 and half a foot wide, and sometimes two, some- 
 times three feet long, according to the inten- 
 tion of the builder, of being either more saving 
 in charge, or more secure against the weather. 
 The wall part is likewise covered with laths ; 
 and upon them are nailed, as on the roof, split 
 wood which they call shingles, and they are 
 placed perpendicularly, but then not so thickly 
 placed one by the other as on the roof, where 
 they resemble our tiles." 
 
 The following observations upon the climate 
 are curious : 
 
 " In the winter-time we have severely cold 
 weather, with very hard frost and deep snows, 
 which hold us at least four months, beginning 
 generally about the middle of November, and 
 ending about the middle of March. But we 
 
94 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 have very cold winds some time before, and 
 likewise some time after the time aforesaid ; so 
 that w r e reckon six months of cold and six 
 months of hot weather, — four of these being 
 extremely cold, and four extremely hot. It is 
 the business of the summer here to provide for 
 the winter, by which means few of our farmers 
 rise, or are so much as beforehand with the 
 world : but the far greatest number are in- 
 volved in debts and difficulties by means of 
 the intemperature of the climate, and the in- 
 dolence and restiveness of the inhabitants. 
 But few here improve in their fortunes ; so 
 that, for aught I could hitherto learn by any 
 observation I could make in my parish, the 
 number of those that die in it exceeds not the 
 number of those that run out of it." 
 
 In answer to the inquiries of the secretary, 
 concerning the condition of the negro slaves 
 in his parish, Mr. Standard remarks : 
 
 " In the township of "Westchester, there are 
 seventy-five : in that of East Chester, twenty- 
 six. But few of these negroes are in the service 
 of those belonging to our Church. And then, 
 further, the state of the negroes being servi- 
 tude and bondage, all the week they are held 
 to hard work, — but only Sundays excepted, 
 when they fish or fowl, or some other way pro- 
 
NEGRO IGNORANCE. 95 
 
 vide for themselves. Their scattered position 
 up and down the country some distance from 
 the church, and the foolish prejudices of the 
 masters, who conceive that the servants are 
 worse for being taught, and more apt to rebel 
 (an unhappy instance of which we had fourteen 
 or fifteen years ago, in the city of ISTew York, 
 when and where there was an insurrection of 
 the negroes, in which several white people were 
 destroyed, and it was observed, that the cate- 
 chumens of that kind, or the more instructed 
 of the negroes, were the very leaders in that 
 insurrection), are almost an invincible bar to 
 their Christian instruction. 
 
 " But I had almost forgot one thing which, 
 however, is of great moment in this case, and 
 it is, that few of. them are capable of being 
 instructed. I have now two negroes, since 
 marriage, one of which is a girl about nine 
 years old, whom I have had above twelve 
 months, and have during that time several 
 times attempted to teach her to read, but can- 
 not yet make her know her alphabet; nor 
 have any endeavors hitherto used with her, 
 which have not been inconsiderable, been suf- 
 ficient to make her number ten, though she 
 was born in this country ; nor can a fellow 
 that is at least twenty, whom I have lately 
 
96 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 bought, though he has been seven years in 
 this country, count up that number ; but not- 
 withstanding what hath been said, I hope so 
 far to initiate them in the Christian religion 
 as to fit them for Baptism. 
 
 " I have, in obedience to our principles, pub- 
 licly exhorted those who have negroes to in- 
 struct them in the principles of the Christian 
 religion, and have offered my assistance therein, 
 but hitherto with little success. I hope I shall 
 succeed better in some future attempt." 
 
 After continuing at his post for thirty-four 
 years, Mr. Standard died at East Chester, in 
 January, 1760 ; his body being laid under the 
 altar in St. Paul's Church. 
 
 The Rev. John Milner, a native of New 
 York city, went to England for Holy Orders, 
 and was ordained by the Bishop of London, in 
 1760. 
 
 Upon his return to America, he entered 
 upon Mr. Standard's field of labor, where he 
 was successfully employed for about five years, 
 when he resigned his charge. 
 
 In 1766, the Rev. Samuel Seabury became 
 the missionary to the parish of Westchester, 
 but as we have already spoken of this in the 
 life of Bishop Seabury, we must refer our rea- 
 ders to that volume. 
 
CHAPTER TWELFTH. 
 
 New Eochelle — The Eev. Daniel Bondet — His history in a few 
 words — The first French Church and minister in New Eo- 
 chelle — Mr. Bondet becomes a missionary of the Society — 
 Gradual transformation of his congregation — Their final 
 adoption of the English Prayer-book — New church built — 
 Mr. Pelham's gift — Death of the missionary — The Eev. Mr. 
 Stouppe — His troubles as recited by himself — The Eev. 
 Michael Houdin— A romantic history — Guide for General 
 Wolfe — Becomes the guide of the flock at New Eochelle — 
 Charter from George III. — Mr. Houdin' s death. 
 
 E¥ EOCHELLE was settled by 
 French Protestants, and here the 
 Rev. Daniel Bondet, a French cler- 
 gyman, officiated for several years, 
 supported by the voluntary contribu- 
 tions of the people, and an allowance 
 of about one hundred and fifty dollars from 
 the government of New York. 
 
 Mr. Bondet had fled from his native country 
 to England, on the revocation of the Edict of 
 Nantes, and received Ordination at the hands 
 of Dr. Henry Compton, Bishop of London. 
 In 1686, he came to Massachusetts with a 
 company of French emigrants, and, for eight 
 
 9 
 
98 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 years, was employed in ministering among the 
 Indians at a place called New Oxford, not far 
 from Boston, and also in preaching to his own 
 countrymen . 
 
 From Massachusetts he removed to "West- 
 chester, where he became the pastor of the 
 French church. The first place of worship 
 here was built by the Huguenots in 1692, and 
 the Rev. David Bonrepos, D.D., who accom- 
 panied them in their flight from France, was 
 their clergyman for some time after their set- 
 tlement at New Rochelle., 
 
 In 1704, Mr. Bondet was recommended to 
 the Society, by the clergy of New York, as a 
 most proper person to be employed as a mis- 
 sionary, having done more, as they say, "to 
 convert the heathen, than any Protestant min- 
 ister that we know." The appointment was 
 accordingly made, and he began to use the 
 Prayer-book of the English Church on every 
 third Sunday, the French prayers, according 
 to the Protestant Churches of France, being 
 employed at other times. And so the trans- 
 formation gradually went on, until in 1709 
 the whole congregation, with the exception of 
 two persons, conformed to the English Church. 
 
 " Mr. Bondet" (says Humphrey in his history 
 of the Propagation Society), " had a large con- 
 
mr. bondet's death. 99 
 
 gregation, and commonly about fifty communi- 
 cants. The church they used was now become 
 ruinous, and the inhabitants of the place, and 
 members of the Church increased. They began 
 to gather voluntary contributions to build a 
 new church, and about the year 1711 got a 
 sufficient sum, and erected a small church. 
 Some time after, a worthy gentleman, Mr. 
 John Pelham, lord of the manor of Pelham 
 (of which New Rochelle is a part), gave one 
 hundred acres of land within the said manor 
 for the use of the Church. The town of Ro- 
 chelle gave a house and three acres of land, 
 adjoining the church, to the minister forever. 
 Mr. Bondet persevered with his former care, 
 in all parts of his office, till the year 1722, in 
 which, he died, much lamented by his parish. 
 He was a plain, sober man, and had been min- 
 ister of that parish above twenty years. He 
 bequeathed to the town, for the use of the 
 minister, his library, amounting to four hun- 
 dred volumes of books." 
 
 Mr. Bondet's successor was the Rev. Pierre 
 Stouppe, who thus writes to the secretary in 
 1725 : 
 
 " There are yet thirty families unconformed 
 within ]STew Rochelle bounds, and were it not 
 for fear of the eager censures of Mr. Moulinars, 
 
 LofC. 
 
100 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 one of the French ministers of New York, who 
 comes quarterly among them, and some of 
 the most creditable members of his congrega- 
 tion, who, jointly with him, do support their 
 separation from the Church, all those yet dis- 
 senting families, without exception, would have 
 been come over to it already. The proceeding 
 is so unjust that I cannot forbear to complain 
 of it, and set down to the consideration of the 
 honorable Society, some of the arguments they 
 make use of to keep the dissenting inhabitants 
 of New Rochelle in their division from the 
 Church, and even to pervert, if possible, its 
 truest defenders. They not only, at all occa- 
 sions, inspire them with a disadvantageous 
 opinion of the Church of England, but they 
 rail in a plain manner at its Liturgy and cere- 
 monies. The said Mr. Moulinars has declared 
 (as can be proved), that he finds our Church 
 and that of Rome as like one another as two 
 fishes can be; besides, the said minister and 
 his party have threatened the yet dissenting 
 French inhabitants of New Rochelle of break- 
 ing with them all commerce, and of suspending 
 all acts of charity and support towards them, 
 if ever they should dare to join themselves at 
 any time to the Church ; nay, for instance, the 
 said Moulinars and his party, convinced long 
 
TROUBLES OF ME. STOUPPE. 101 
 
 ago of Mr. Roux, the other minister of the 
 French in New York, and his inclination and 
 good affection to the Church, and of his always 
 openly blaming and disapproving Mr. Mouli- 
 nars, his colleague's, irregular practices against 
 the Church in general, and especially his keep- 
 ing np and fomenting our unhappy divisions 
 in New Rochelle. The said Moulinars and his 
 party, in revenge, have pretended to depose 
 Mr. Roux, and suspend him accordingly of all 
 his accustomed ministerial functions among 
 them, as you may see it more largely in this 
 collection of papers on that subject, which I 
 beg of you to put into the honorable Society's 
 hands, and which will justify in general the 
 matters I here acquaint them with. They will 
 find that one of the chiefest reasons of this 
 violence against Mr. Roux, has no other 
 ground than his constant affection to the 
 Church, and the public approbation he has at 
 all times and occasions given to its ceremonies 
 and doctrine; and this affair is so far gone 
 that the honorable Council of this province 
 could not forbear to take notice and to inter- 
 pose their mediation and authority, which 
 having been unsuccessful on the French dis- 
 senter's part, Mr. Roux intends, by the advice 
 of his friends, to carry his complaints into 
 
 9* 
 
102 LIFE OF BISHOP PROYOOST. 
 
 chancery, where it is not doubted but he will 
 find protection and justice. I thought it ne- 
 cessary to make you this relation, that the hon- 
 orable Society might be more sensible of the 
 great prejudice Mr. Moulinars and his adher- 
 ents do in general to the Church of England, 
 and in particular to that of New Kochelle, and 
 that there is no unlawful practice which they 
 scruple to make use of for the detriment of it. 
 After Mr. Bondet, my predecessor's, death, 
 they engaged the dissenters to build a meeting- 
 house about two hundred yards distant from 
 the church in which I officiate twice every 
 Sunday ; they incited them also to reclaim the 
 one hundred acres of land which Mr. Bondet 
 enjoyed, and which were given by the Lord 
 Pelham to the use of the Church, in order to 
 deprive me of it ; and notwithstanding all the 
 friendly presentations made from time to time 
 to the said Mr. Moulinars, by some gentlemen 
 of this country, and also by the late Lord 
 Bishop of London, of which Master Aufere, 
 one of the Society's members, may give a more 
 full and exact account, — all this, I say, did not 
 prevail with him, nor induce him to keep his 
 own congregation, and not to intrude himself 
 into those of others, and consequently not to 
 trouble their union and peace. He also of late 
 
ROMANTIC HISTORY. 103 
 
 eagerly consumed some of the dissenters of 
 New Rochelle, who, to save expenses and in- 
 conveniences they would lay under in bringing 
 their children to New York to be christened by 
 him, or who by reason of having no aversion 
 from the Church, do not think fit to defer their 
 Baptism till he came among them, according 
 to his desire, have required me to baptize them. 
 I heartily wish the honorable Society would 
 pity our assaulted Church, and take some 
 effectual means for the removing of the cause 
 and instrument of the unhappy divisions w T e 
 are in ; our endeavors here without their assist- 
 ance having proved of but little and of none 
 effect. For there is no irregular practice 
 which, in their opinion, is not supported, and 
 which they do not find justified and authorized 
 by the benefit of toleration, and liberty of con- 
 science granted to them ; in such manner they 
 abuse that great and inestimable privilege." 
 
 Mr. Stouppe (who had been greatly beloved 
 by his people) was succeeded by the Rev. 
 Michael Houdin, who was also a native of 
 France, and had been bred a Franciscan friar. 
 He was at one time the Superior of a convent 
 of this order at Montreal, in Canada ; but hav- 
 ing become disgusted with some things in the 
 Romish system, he retired to the city of New 
 
104 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 York, and made a public renunciation of the 
 errors of Popery, and joined the Church of 
 England, on Easter-day, 1747. 
 
 Having officiated at Trenton, and other places 
 in New Jersey, he went as a guide, in 1759, 
 with General Wolfe, in his memorable expedi- 
 tion against Quebec. While he remained in 
 Canada, an attempt was made by the vicar- 
 general to seduce him from his allegiance, by 
 the offer of great preferment in the Romish 
 Church. Mr. Houdin remained steadfast, how- 
 ever, and in 1761 returned to New York, and 
 was appointed missionary at New Rochelle. 
 During his continuance there, Trinity Church 
 received its first charter from King George the 
 Third.* He closed his earthly labors in Oc- 
 tober, 1766, his remains being placed by the 
 side of his predecessors, Bondet and Stouppe, 
 beneath the chancel of the old French church. 
 
 From the death of Mr. Houdin until the be- 
 ginning of the Revolutionary War, the parish 
 at New Rochelle was under the care of the 
 Rev. Samuel Seabury. 
 
 * A full account of the difficulties about the Church glebe is 
 given in Mr. Bolton's valuable History of the Church in West- 
 chester County, page 465. 
 
CHAPTER THIRTEENTH. 
 
 An omission which would be unpardonable — Devoted laymen — 
 Colonel Heathcote — Curious cause of emigration — Becomes a 
 prominent man in the province of New York — Various honor- 
 able offices which he held — Services rendered to the Church — 
 The stately manor-house — Eeverenced by the poor — Sudden 
 death — Last will and testament — Some account of his de- 
 scendants — Colonel Lewis Morris — His character and habits — ■ 
 Influence in the political world — Devotion to the Church — 
 Dutch Prayer-books — Timber for Trinity Church — Stopping 
 short, for want of space to say more. 
 
 k jiT would be unpardonable, while speak- 
 ing of the early history of the Church 
 
 in Westchester county, to say nothing 
 of the devoted laymen who so faithfully 
 supported the hands of God's minister- 
 ing servants. Prominent among these 
 was Colonel Caleb Heathcote, the great-grand- 
 father of Bishop De Lancey, of Western New 
 York. 
 
 The family of Heathcotes is an ancient one, 
 and may be traced far back in the annals of 
 English history. Colonel Heathcote (to whom 
 the Church in Westchester owes a large debt 
 of gratitude for her first foundation, and for 
 many acts of liberality) was born at Chester- 
 field in 1663, and followed the business of a 
 
106 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 shipping merchant. The cause of his removal 
 to the New World was rather singular. He 
 was engaged to a very beautiful lady, who 
 afterwards made up her mind that she pre- 
 ferred Sir Gilbert Heathcote, an elder brother 
 of her betrothed, and accordingly the engage- 
 ment with the younger was broken off. 
 
 Caleb Heathcote, in his mortification and 
 distress, left England at once, and came to 
 New York in 1692. He was a man of rare 
 abilities, and soon became a leading person in 
 the colony. 
 
 He was judge of "Westchester, and colonel 
 of its militia all his life ; a councillor of the 
 province ; for three years mayor of New York ; 
 and from 1715, until his death, receiver-gen- 
 eral of the customs in North America. 
 
 Colonel Heathcote was also one of the found- 
 ers of Trinity Church, New York, his name 
 appearing on the list of its first vestrymen in 
 1697, an office wliich he continued to hold for 
 nearly twenty years. 
 
 In 1704, he was elected a member of the 
 Venerable Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel in Foreign Parts, and he never failed 
 to do all in his power to advance the interests 
 of the Church. 
 
 He built a stately brick manor-house in the 
 
COLONEL HEATIICOTe's WILL. 107 
 
 village of Mamaroneck, upon what is still 
 known as Heathcote Hill, where he resided 
 for fifteen years. The poor of the neighbor- 
 hood had reason to regard him as their best 
 friend, and he was universally respected and be- 
 loved. He died suddenly, in the spring of 1721. 
 On the very day of his departure from the earth, 
 he had been actively engaged in procuring 
 subscriptions for some charitable object. 
 
 Colonel Heathcote's wife was the daughter 
 of Colonel William Smith, of Long Island, and 
 they were blessed with six children, — Gilbert, 
 "William, Anne, Mary, Martha, and Elizabeth. 
 
 " On the 29th of February, a. d. 1719, Caleb 
 Heathcote executed his last will and testament. 
 To his eldest son, Gilbert, he devised his dwell- 
 ing-house at Mamaroneck, East Neck, &c, and 
 also all his lands lying on the east side of 
 Mamaroneck river, and all his lands within 
 the county of Westchester, running eighteen 
 miles in length into the woods. His sons, and 
 two of his daughters, died in their minority, 
 upon which his lands in this parish, with other 
 possessions, descended to Anne and Martha, 
 their surviving sisters, who thus became his 
 heiresses. Anne, the eldest, married the Hon. 
 James De Lancey, chief-justice and lieutenant- 
 governor of the province of New York. Their 
 
108 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 children were : — First, James, educated at Eton 
 and Cambridge universities, who was a promi- 
 nent member of the Assembly for many years 
 prior and up to the Revolution. He went to 
 England on a visit in the spring of 1775, and, 
 the war commencing, he did not return. He 
 died at Bath in the year 1800. His son, Lieu- 
 tenant-colonel James De Lancey, of the First 
 Dragoon Guards, is the only male member of 
 his family now living. Stephen James, the 
 second son, whose intellect was affected by 
 disease in his infancy, was killed accidentally 
 in 1795 : he was married, but left no issue. 
 John Peter, the youngest child of the lieuten- 
 ant-governor, was also educated in England, at 
 Harrow, and at the military school at Green- 
 wich ; he entered the army, and served till 
 1789, when he threw up his commission of 
 captain, returned shortly after to America, and 
 resided till his death, in 1828, at his grand- 
 father's old seat, of which he was the proprie- 
 tor. Thomas James, the eldest son of this gen- 
 tleman, died a judge of Westchester county, at 
 the age of thirty-two, leaving one son, Thomas 
 James De Lancey. William Heathcote, his 
 youngest son, is the present Bishop of Western 
 New York. The Rev. William Walton, D. D., 
 of New York, is a great-grandson of Chief-jus- 
 
COLONEL LEWIS MORRIS. 109 
 
 tice De Lancey. Martha, the second daughter 
 of Colonel Heatheote, married Lewis Johnston, 
 M . D., of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, from 
 whom descends the Eight Rev. Charles Petit 
 Mcllvaine, Bishop of Ohio, and Susannah, wife 
 of the Rev. John M. Ward, Rector of the 
 parish."* 
 
 Another prominent layman in the county of 
 Westchester was Colonel Lewis Morris, the 
 third proprietor of Morrisania. 
 
 He was a man of decided abilities, and was 
 considered the most influential member of the 
 New York Assembly in 1710. An enthusi- 
 astic student, and fond of the society of the 
 intelligent and refined, he was surrounded by 
 those who could sympathize with him in his 
 literary tastes. 
 
 In 1700, he was appointed president of the 
 Council of New Jersey, and afterwards became 
 governor of that province. When William 
 Burnett was made governor of New York, in 
 1720, Colonel Morris received the appointment 
 of chief-justice, and was the friend and adviser 
 of the new executive. 
 
 Like Colonel Heathcote, he was chosen a 
 member of the Propagation Society, and took 
 
 ■ Bolton's History of the Church in Westchester, p. 631. 
 10 
 
110 LIFE OF BISHOP PKOVOOST. 
 
 an active part in promoting its interests. He 
 was also one of tliose who felt the great wrong 
 which was done to the Church in America, by 
 refusing to send out Bishops, and he often ex- 
 pressed himself accordingly. 
 
 The following extract from one of his letters, 
 will give some idea of the common-sense view 
 which he took of affairs, and of his zealous de- 
 votion to the cause of religion : 
 
 "I have used some endeavors to persuade 
 the Dutch in my neighborhood into a good 
 opinion of the Church of England, and have 
 had that success, that they would, I believe, 
 join, a great part of them, in the sacraments 
 and worship, had they Dutch Common Prayer- 
 books, and a minister that understood their 
 language. I have taken some pains with one 
 of their ministers, one Mr. Henricus Beyse, 
 and have prevailed on him to accept of Epis- 
 copal Ordination. I think him a man of the 
 best learning we have in this part of the world, 
 and I believe he may be ranked among the 
 men of letters in the other, but I must acquaint 
 you that he has had some falling out with his 
 parishioners. For my part, I do believe he is 
 most falsely accused. I have observed his life, 
 and have found nothing in it irregular or un- 
 becoming his character. The Dutch of best 
 
COLONEL MORRIS'S LIBERALITY. Ill 
 
 figure have a value for him, and allow him to 
 be the greatest master of the Dutch tongue 
 they have among them, and those in my 
 neighborhood esteem him very much. If the 
 Society think fit to employ him, I shall add to 
 what they give £15 per annum for three years, 
 and I believe he will do great service, and I 
 doubt not you will find him worth your ac- 
 quaintance and favor. If the Society would 
 send about fifty Dutch Common Prayer-books, 
 I believe they would sell, and the money might 
 be returned, or paid to their missionaries as 
 they thought proper. This would be doing a 
 great good at a cheap rate." 
 
 Besides his liberality to the Church in "West- 
 chester, Colonel Morris contributed the timber 
 for the erection of Trinity Church, New York, 
 and in return for this act of munificence, the 
 vestry granted the family a square pew. He 
 was a vestryman of that parish from 1697 to 
 1700. He died on the 21st of May, 1746, 
 aged seventy-three years, and was buried in a 
 vault at Morrisania. 
 
 To write a full account of all that the Mor- 
 ris family has done" for the Church from that 
 day to this, would require a volume by itself, 
 and therefore we are obliged to stop short at 
 this point. 
 
CHAPTER FOURTEENTH. 
 
 Missions among the Indians of New York — Memorial of the 
 Earl of Bellamont — The Eev. Thoroughgood Moor — Is there 
 any virtue in a name ? — The Mohawks' castle — Indian deceit 
 —The mission fails — Lord Cornbury's outrageous acts — Im- 
 prisonment of Mr. Moor — Lost at sea — Four chiefs go to 
 England — New mission to the Indians — The Eev. "William 
 Andrews — First view of the Indian country — Customs of the 
 tribes — Hopes of doing good — Eepeated discouragements — 
 "Withdraws from the field — Other laborers succeed him — The 
 fruits of long and patient waiting — Honored names. 
 
 HITS far we have been led to notice 
 the efforts made to establish the Eng- 
 lish Church among the white settlers 
 of the province of New York. In 
 this chapter we shall furnish some 
 account of the early missions for the 
 benefit of the Indian tribes. 
 
 In 1700, the Earl of Bellamont, then gov- 
 ernor of New York, sent a memorial to the 
 Lords of Trade and Plantations on the want of 
 clergymen of the Church to instruct the Five 
 Nations of Indians, and to prevent their being 
 brought under the control of the French, 
 through the influence of Jesuit priests. 
 
A GOOD NAME. 113 
 
 Although the motive which prompted this 
 movement was rather political than religious, 
 the cause was a good one, and the Rev. 
 Thoroughgood Moor arrived at New York in 
 1704 to engage in this noble service. My 
 younger readers will be struck with this 
 clergyman's Christian name. If there is any 
 virtue in a name, he certainly started under 
 the best auspices possible. 
 
 Mr. Moor was received with much apparent 
 kindness by Lord Cornbury (who succeeded 
 Lord Bellamont in the government of New 
 York and New Jersey), and repaired without 
 delay to Albany. Here he occupied himself 
 in learning the Indian language, and in culti- 
 vating a friendly acquaintance with the mem- 
 bers of the various tribes who came to that 
 town for trade. 
 
 As soon as the roads were passable in the 
 spring, the missionary travelled through the 
 woods to " the Mohawks' Castle," whither one 
 of the Indian sachems had invited him to come, 
 in order that he might instruct the children of 
 the forest in their religious duties. Although 
 this was certainly a most promising beginning, 
 the end did not turn out as well as might have 
 been anticipated. "When Mr. Moor proposed 
 to make his permanent abode with the red men, 
 10* 
 
114 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 the cunning chief always had some plausible 
 excuse for delay ; and there is every reason for 
 believing that the French were secretly at work 
 to undermine the influence of the English. 
 The good missionary having waited nearly a 
 whole year at Albany, in the vain hope of 
 being allowed to carry out the plan which was 
 so dear to his heart, at last became completely 
 discouraged, and retired to Burlington, New 
 Jersey, with the view of assisting in the duties 
 of the Church at that place. And now more 
 serious difficulties awaited him ; and one who 
 ought to have encouraged and protected him 
 became his worst enemy. We refer to the 
 conduct of the governor. Lord Cornbury was 
 a man of profligate habits and headstrong tem- 
 per, who was finally driven from his office by 
 a series of outrageous acts, which could no 
 longer be patiently endured. He remained in 
 power long enough, however, to make a great 
 many persons feel the weight of his petty tyr- 
 anny ; and among them was Mr. Moor. 
 
 At one time, when the governor had been 
 guilty of the gross impropriety of dressing 
 himself in female attire, and walking, in broad 
 day, along the ramparts of the town, the faith- 
 ful clergyman very properly expostulated with 
 him on such unbecoming behavior. This 
 
REV. WILLIAM ANDREWS. 115 
 
 aroused his lordship's indignation, and he com- 
 manded Mr. Moor to be cast into prison. Here 
 he remained until he could find an opportunity 
 to escape ; but the vessel in which he embarked 
 for England was lost at sea, and thus ended the 
 disastrous career of the first English missionary 
 to the Iroquois. 
 
 In 1709, four Indian chiefs went to England 
 to confirm the peace which had been made by 
 their tribes with the governor of New York ; 
 and to request the king to send out clergymen 
 to instruct them. It was accordingly con- 
 cluded that two missionaries, together with an 
 interpreter and schoolmaster, should be pro- 
 vided for the Mohawk and Oneida Indians ; 
 and the queen gave directions for the erection 
 of a fort, with a chapel and house for the cler- 
 gyman, in the country of the Mohawks. 
 
 The Rev. William Andrews, the first mis- 
 sionary selected, arrived at Albany in 1712; 
 and in giving an account of his reception, he 
 says : " When we came near the town, we saw 
 the Indians upon the banks, looking out for 
 my coming. When I came ashore, they re- 
 ceived me with abundance of- joy — every one 
 shaking me by the hand, bidding me welcome 
 over and over." 
 
 After some further account of his proceed- 
 
116 LIFE OF BISHOP TROYOOST. 
 
 ings, he gives the following particulars as to 
 the customs and mode of living of the Indians : 
 " The number of adults of this nation is 
 about two hundred and sixty. They have a 
 great many children. There are seldom above 
 half of the Indians at home together, but al- 
 ways going and coming. Their chief town — ■ 
 or castle, as it is called — stands by the fort, 
 consisting of forty or fifty wigwams, or houses, 
 palisaded round. Their houses are made of 
 mats and bark of trees, together with poles 
 about three or four yards high. Their clothing 
 is a match-coat like a mantle — either a blanket 
 or a bear-skin ; their bed is a mat or a skin. 
 They paint and grease themselves much with 
 bear's fat clarified ; cut the hair off from one 
 side of their heads, and some of that on the 
 other they tie up in knots upon the crown 
 with feathers. The men are slothful and lazy 
 enough ; the women laborious, true servants 
 to their husbands, carry all the burdens, fetch 
 home out of the woods the venison their hus- 
 bands kill, the wood they burn, carry the 
 children about on their backs, hoe the ground, 
 plant the corn, wait upon their husbands when 
 they eat, and take what they leave them : yet, 
 for all this, they say the women court the men 
 when they design marriage." 
 
HOPES OF DOING GOOD. 117 
 
 In a subsequent letter, lie thus paints the 
 serious inconveniences of a residence in that 
 country : " There is no manner of pleasure to 
 be proposed by living here, but only the hopes 
 of doing some good among these poor, dark, 
 ignorant creatures. For four or five months 
 we can scarce stir abroad, by the reason of 
 the extreme coldness of the weather and deep 
 snows ; and in the summer we are tormented 
 with flies and musquitoes, and cannot stir 
 abroad without being in danger of being stung 
 with the snakes, here are so many of them. 
 In the next place, the transporting of provi- 
 sions to this place is very chargeable ; the 
 nearest towns to us of Christian inhabitants, 
 where we buy what we want, are Schenectady 
 and Albany — the one about twenty-four, the 
 other about forty-four miles. The road by 
 land, for the most part, is a small, rough In- 
 dian path through the woods, where we cannot 
 ride without a great deal of danger, by reason 
 of the foulness of the road with fallen trees, 
 roots, stones, high hills, and swamps." 
 
 In 1715 — that is, about three years after his 
 arrival — lie had twenty children pretty con- 
 stantly at school, but acknowledges that they 
 were principally induced to attend by the food 
 which he distributed to them : " Victuals is a 
 
118 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 great motive with them ; for the Indians are 
 very poor, and fare hard." The ordinary at- 
 tendants at church were from sixty to seventy ; 
 and as many as one hundred and fifty, when 
 the great body of them were at home. The 
 number of communicants altogether was thirty- 
 eight. So far, indeed, was Mr. Andrews from 
 claiming any credit for his labors among them, 
 that he writes thus to the Society in 1718 : 
 
 " Their lives are generally such as leave little 
 or no room for hopes of ever making them any 
 better than they are — heathens. Heathens they 
 are, and heathens they will still be. There are 
 a few, and but a few, perhaps about fourteen 
 or fifteen, whose lives are more regular than 
 the rest." They showed no devotion in church, 
 where they came to get a dinner, and slept 
 most of the time. They frequently spent the 
 Sunday in a hunting excursion. He sums up 
 his description of their character in the follow- 
 ing w r ords : " They are a sordid, mercenary, 
 beggarly people, having but little sense of re- 
 ligion, honor, or goodness among them ; living 
 generally filthy, brutish lives. They are of 
 an inhuman, savage nature — kill and eat one 
 another." And in another letter, dated six 
 months later, he states, " that though he had 
 been by the death-beds of several among them, 
 
HONORED NAMES. 119 
 
 he did not remember to have seen any one of 
 them that he could think penitent." 
 
 He accordingly entreated the Society to re- 
 move him from his mission, as all his labors in 
 it for the improvement of the Indians were in- 
 effectual. They would neither accept the ordi- 
 nances of religion themselves, nor send their 
 children to school. The Society was, for a long 
 time, unwilling to listen to so discouraging a 
 report ; but as, upon inquiry, it was found to 
 be confirmed by others, Mr. Andrews was al- 
 lowed to resign, almost in despair, a mission 
 undertaken with good hopes of success. 
 
 Discouraging as all this was, devoted souls 
 were found to put forth renewed efforts for the 
 benefit of the red men ; and among these, the 
 names of Henry Barclay, Miln, and Ogilvie, 
 are held in grateful remembrance. Sir Wil- 
 liam Johnson, also, deserves a place in the 
 catalogue of liberal and large-hearted laymen, 
 who manifested great earnestness and devotion 
 in the cause of Indian missions. 
 
 After years of labor and patient waiting, the 
 good seed sown on this stony ground began 
 to spring up and bring forth fruit. * 
 
 * We must refer our readers to the Lives of Bishop Hobart 
 and Father Nash, for an account of Indian missions in New 
 York after the Revolution. 
 
CHAPTER FIFTEENTH. 
 
 Keligious instruction of the blacks — A school opened for them 
 in New York in 1704 — Elias Neau — His sacrifices and labors — 
 Eeliance in God's promises — Prayers of the Church — Two 
 hours' teaching — Public catechizing — Unmerited reproach to 
 be borne — Negro plot for burning New York city — Loud and 
 angry clamor against the teacher — "W ho were guilty ? — Jeal- 
 ousies and suspicions — Action of the Common Council — Gov- 
 ernor Hunter quiets the alarmists — Neau's death — His work 
 carried on by others. 
 
 s 
 
 TIB, rapid outline of the early history 
 of the Church in the province of New 
 York would be incomplete, without 
 some reference to the efforts which 
 were made for the benefit of the 
 blacks. 
 
 A school for negro slaves was opened at 
 New York in 1704, under the charge of the 
 Society's catechist, Elias Neau, a native of 
 France. He had made, in early life, public 
 profession of his faith as one of the Protestants 
 of that country, and shared with his brethren 
 the pains and penalties with which they were 
 visited. After a long imprisonment, and pain- 
 ful servitude in the galleys, he found an asylum 
 
ELIAS NEAU — HIS SACRIFICES AND LABORS. 121 
 
 in New York, and a livelihood from the trade 
 which he was enabled to carry on in that city. 
 His unaffected and earnest piety won for him 
 the respect of all who witnessed the fruits of 
 it in his daily walk ; and his knowledge of the 
 degraded condition of the negro awakened in 
 him the strongest desire to improve it. He 
 was not animated by the eager impulse which 
 ofttimes arises from inexperience, for his per- 
 sonal acquaintance with Eliot had led him to 
 know the disappointments of that devoted man 
 in the evening of his life, w T ith respect to the 
 Indians of New England; and his own esti- 
 mate of their character, after nineteen years' 
 residence in America, was most unfavorable. 
 There was nothing in the position of the slaves 
 of New York — who, when Neau began his 
 labors among them, are computed to have 
 been fifteen hundred — which could give him 
 any reason to hope that greater success would 
 follow him, than that which had attended 
 Eliot. On the contrary, the difficulties of 
 holding any intercourse at all with the colored 
 people seemed well-nigh insurmountable. At 
 first he was only permitted to visit them from 
 house to house, when the toil of the day was 
 over ; and, afterwards, when he obtained leave 
 for them to gather together in the largest room 
 
 11 
 
122 LITE OF BISHOP PKOVOOST. 
 
 which lie could find on the upper floor of his 
 house, they could still tarry with him only for 
 such brief portions of the evening as their 
 jaded energies would allow. Nevertheless, he 
 worked on in simple, unquestioning reliance 
 upon the promises of God's help. The prayers 
 of the Church of England had long been his 
 chief stay and solace, having learnt most of 
 them by heart whilst confined in his dungeon 
 in France. He began by giving to his negro 
 scholars the same help. Upon entering into 
 the room, they all knelt down after his exam- 
 ple, and repeated from his lips those prayers of 
 our Liturgy of which he could most easily ex- 
 plain the meaning, and the words of which 
 they could most easily retain in their memory. 
 The task of teaching occupied about two 
 hours ; after which they sang a psalm, and 
 then joined once more in prayer, including 
 therein an especial petition for a blessing upon 
 the work which the Church of England was 
 carrying on in their behalf, through her labor- 
 ious and simple-hearted catechist. The like 
 instruction and devotional exercises were re- 
 newed by him every Sunday, in a room which 
 was fitted up as a study for the Rector, on the 
 lowest floor of the steeple of Trinity Church. 
 The scholars were also publicly catechized by 
 
NEGKO PLOT. 123 
 
 the Rector in church on Sunday afternoons ; 
 and as many as he judged qualified for the 
 sacrament of Baptism, received it at his 
 hands. 
 
 In 1708, four years after Neau had begun 
 his labors, the ordinary number of negro cate- 
 chumens under instruction was more than two 
 hundred. Of those who were baptized, many 
 had become regular and devout communicants, 
 and were remarkable for their orderly and 
 blameless lives. 
 
 Before the lapse of four years more, heavy 
 and unmerited reproach was cast upon the 
 enterprise. Some negroes of the Carmantee 
 and Pappa tribes had formed a plot for setting 
 fire to New York on a certain night, as soon as 
 the moon was down, and murdering the Eng- 
 lish inhabitants. Not one of the conspirators 
 divulged his secret, and the work of burning, 
 confusion, and massacre was commenced just 
 as they had wished and planned ; but, after a 
 short struggle, the English gained complete 
 mastery over them. Instantly a loud and 
 angry clamor broke out against Elias Neau. 
 The instruction which he had given to the 
 negro, said his accusers, was the sole cause of 
 the murderous attempt, and in his school had 
 all the plans connected with it been cherished 
 
124 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 and matured. In vain lie denied the charge. 
 It was obstinately renewed ; and so infuriated 
 were the people against him, that for some 
 days he durst hardly venture abroad, through 
 fear of personal violence. The evidence, in- 
 deed, brought forward at the trial of the con- 
 spirators, clearly proved that only one of his 
 scholars, and he an unbaptized man, had ever 
 been associated with them ; and that those 
 negroes were the most deeply engaged in the 
 plot, whose masters had been most distin- 
 guished for their opposition to every scheme 
 proposed for their spiritual benefit. Never- 
 theless, jealousies and suspicions, as cruel as 
 they were groundless, prevailed for a long 
 time. The offence of a portion of the negroes 
 in New York, was charged upon the whole 
 race ; and Neau, their unwearied benefactor, 
 was compelled to bear the burden of their re- 
 proach. The provincial government lent all 
 the weight of its authority to make his burden 
 heavier. The common council passed an 
 order, forbidding the negroes to appear in the 
 streets after sunset, without lanterns or can- 
 dles ; and, since none of them could procure 
 lanterns, or leave their work before sunset, 
 the effect of such an order was to break up the 
 relations which had so long subsisted between 
 
DEATH OF MR. NEAU. 125 
 
 Neau and his scholars. It is hard to say what 
 further acts of injustice might not have fol- 
 lowed. But, at this crisis, Governor Hunter 
 stepped forward, and by his firm and judicious 
 conduct, put to shame the fears of the alarmists, 
 and enabled Neau to resume his pious labors. 
 Hunter visited his school, attended by several 
 officers of rank in the colony, and by the So- 
 ciety's missionaries ; and having seen there 
 fresh proofs of the noble spirit which animated 
 Ngau, and connecting them with the acknowl- 
 edged benefits which had now for eight years 
 been conferred upon the negro through the 
 same untiring agency, he hesitated not to give 
 his full approval to the work ; and in a public 
 proclamation, called upon the clergy of the 
 province to exhort their congregations from 
 the pulpit to extend it in every quarter. Dr. 
 Vesey, the Rector, needed not any such ex- 
 hortation to stimulate him. He had long 
 watched the labors of Neau, and sharing them 
 in his own person, had proved their benefit. 
 Neau successfully discharged his self-denying 
 duties until 1722, when, amid the unaffected 
 sorrow of his negro scholars, and the friends 
 who honored him for their sake, he was re- 
 moved by death. But his work was not suf- 
 fered to drop. Huddlestone, then schoolmas- 
 11** 
 
126 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 ter in New York, next undertook it ; and to 
 him succeeded the Rev. Mr. "Wetmore, who, 
 amid the increasing negro population of the 
 city, gathered still larger numbers of them 
 into the fold of Christ. 
 
 Upon the removal of the latter to Rye in 
 1726, an earnest application was addressed to 
 the Bishop of London, and the Society, request- 
 ing them to send another minister who might 
 instruct the negroes and slaves, and assist the 
 Rector, who was declining in years, in the 
 general duties of his office. This request was 
 immediately answered by the appointment of 
 the Rev. Mr. Colgan, who received, a few 
 years afterwards, valuable aid from Thomas 
 Noxon, a schoolmaster of exemplary piety; 
 and cheering evidence is borne to the success 
 of their joint labors. The like testimony wait- 
 ed upon the services of the Rev. R. Charlton, 
 who, having begun the work of instruction of 
 the negroes at New Windsor, was called, in 
 1732, to continue it in the wider sphere of 
 New York ; and there, for fifteen years, per- 
 severed in carrying on effectually this import- 
 ant duty. Upon his removal to Staten Island, 
 the Rev. Samuel Auchmuty promptly supplied 
 his place ; and, upon the death of good Thomas 
 Noxon, in 1741, a successor of kindred spirit 
 
BARCLAY RECTOR OF TRINITY. 127 
 
 and energy was found in Hildreth, who reports 
 to the Society in 1764, that "not a single black 
 admitted by him to the Holy Communion had 
 turned out badly, or in any way disgraced his 
 profession." Both Auchmuty and Hildreth 
 received hearty support from Barclay, who, 
 upon the death of Vesey, in 1746, had been 
 appointed to the Rectory of Trinity Church. 
 The affectionate and watchful spirit which had 
 characterized the ministry of Barclay among 
 the Mohawks, and his experience of the Indian 
 character, led him to look upon the training of 
 the negro slave as one of the most interesting 
 duties of his new charge, and his friendly 
 counsel and co-operation were at all times at 
 the disposal of those who labored for their 
 benefit* 
 
 * For the interesting particulars of this chapter, we are 
 mainly indebted to Anderson's History of the Colonial Church, 
 vol. iii. p. 327, etc. 
 
CHAPTER SIXTEENTH. 
 
 The personal history of Bishop Provoost resumed — Letters of 
 friendly congratulation— The Eev. Uzal Ogden, and his pres- 
 ent of Newark cider — Long before the days of Church news- 
 papers — Gleanings from the past — The first Ordination held 
 by the Bishop — Columbia College sends a good representa- 
 tion to Church on that day — Non-Episcopal Clergymen in- 
 vited to attend — Mr. Wright's strong Church sermon, and 
 the sensation which it produced — The dry question which 
 Dr. Eodgers asked — The first Confirmation in New York — 
 Mrs. Owen's Eeminiscences — Old and young confessing Christ 
 — Colored servants, and the part they took — The Clergy who 
 were present — Letter from Bishop White — Crowds attending 
 Ordinations. 
 
 T the close of the ninth chapter, we 
 left Bishop Provoost receiving the 
 congratulations of the clergy of his 
 diocese upon his safe return from 
 England, and the happy consumma- 
 tion of their desires in his consecra- 
 
 * tion to the Episcopate. 
 
 Among the letters of friendship sent to him 
 about this time, we find one in the large, bold 
 hand of the Eev. Uzal Ogden,* then officiating 
 
 * For full particulars concerning the eccentric and inconsistent 
 career of this clergyman, see Life of Bishop Croes, p. 91, &c. 
 
KEY. UZAL OGDEN NEWARK CIDER. 129 
 
 in Trinity Church, Newark, New Jersey. It 
 will be seen that the reputation of Newark for 
 its fine cider dates back to an early day. 
 
 " I hope, through the goodness of God," 
 writes Mr. Ogden, " that you still continue to 
 recover your health. Be assured I feel a very 
 great anxiety for the felicity of yourself, Mrs. 
 Provoost, and family. We should be extreme- 
 ly happy could you and Mrs. Provoost spend 
 some days with us. The country begins to be 
 decked with the blooming charms of nature ; 
 and I think you would experience great benefit 
 by retiring from the city a short time to the 
 enjoyment of her beauties. Do endeavor to 
 be persuaded of this. I beg your acceptance 
 of a barrel of cider, the very best to be ob- 
 tained here, though not so good as I could 
 wish. Last year was unfavorable with us with 
 respect to good cider. The cider should be 
 bottled immediately. 
 
 " Mrs. Ogden joins in very affectionate re- 
 gards to Mrs. Provoost and family." 
 
 As Bishop Provoost lived long before the 
 days of Church Newspapers, and Magazines, 
 and Reviews, few traces are left us of his offi- 
 cial acts; and accordingly every item which 
 can be gleaned will possess uncommon interest. 
 Fortunately, we have it in our power to fur- 
 
130 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 nish an account, given by eye-witnesses, of the 
 first Ordination and Confirmation which he 
 held. The Ordination took place in St. Paul's 
 Chapel, New York city, on Thursday, October 
 18th, 1787, when Henry Waddell and John 
 S. J. Gardiner were admitted as Deacons. A 
 writer in the Protestant Churchman (January, 
 1856), thus records his reminiscences : 
 
 " Columbia College w T as closed for the day. 
 The President, Professors, and Students all at- 
 tended at St. Paul's ; and this, with the occa- 
 sion, attracted a numerous audience. Here 
 and there were to be seen venerable gentlemen 
 in their large powdered wigs, and with their 
 gold-headed canes — such as the Rev. Dr. Liv- 
 ingston, Rev. Dr. Rodgers, Rev. Dr. Kunze, 
 and other non-Episcopal clergymen of the city, 
 who had been invited by the Rev. Dr. Beach, 
 and were all personal friends of the Bishop. 
 His early ancestors were French Protestants, 
 who had fled from France after the massacre 
 of St. Bartholomew in the year 1572. The 
 Bishop was himself a native of this city, and 
 was baptized in the Dutch Church in the Dutch 
 language. 
 
 " In his canonicals he read the Morning 
 Prayer, and then left the reading-desk for an 
 arm-chair within the railing of the chancel, 
 
MR. WRIGHT'S STRONG; CHURCH SERMON. 131 
 
 and the Rev. George Wright ascended the 
 pulpit. This divine was a native of Ireland, 
 educated in Trinity College, Dublin, and, hav- 
 ing been admitted into the ministry, came out 
 to this country. He was now Rector of St. 
 Ann's Church, Brooklyn ; and he took for his 
 text, ' Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the 
 midst of wolves : be ye therefore wise as ser- 
 pents, and harmless as doves.' He expatiated 
 on the origin and design of the Christian minis- 
 try, on the preached word, the right adminis- 
 tration of the sacraments, and the succession 
 of the ministry from the Apostles' times to the 
 present, as constituting the only true Church. 
 He admitted that sects had sprung up, but 
 denied their validity ; comparing them to the 
 man who would convey an estate to another, 
 when no title was vested in himself. 
 
 " This boldness on the part of Mr. Wright 
 made the Bishop restless and uneasy, lest Dr. 
 Beach's invited clergy should take offence; 
 but fortunately no notice was taken, except 
 by Dr. Rodgers, who inquired of Dr. Beach, 
 whether Mr. Wright was aware that Bishop 
 Provoost had been baptized by Dominie Du 
 Bois." 
 
 An account of Bishop Provoost's first Con- 
 firmation will naturally follow this. Bishop 
 
132 LIFE OF BISHOP PKOVOOST. 
 
 De Lancey thus writes to the editor of the 
 Gospel Messenger, early in 1856 : 
 
 " In a recent Episcopal tour in Cburtland 
 county, in this diocese, I met, at the house of 
 her son, Dr. E. C. Owen, the warden of Cal- 
 vary Church, Homer, Mrs. Mary Owen, the 
 widow of Dr. J. Owen, a native of the city of 
 New York, born in 1774, whose maiden name 
 w r as Mary Bell. She gave me an account, as 
 an eye-witness, of the administration of the 
 holy rite. She was then about fourteen years 
 of age. 
 
 " His first Confirmation was held in St. 
 Paul's Chapel — Trinity Church was then in 
 ashes. More than three hundred persons were 
 confirmed. The candidates occupied the body 
 of the church below. The congregation were 
 in the galleries. The Bishop addressed the 
 candidates from the pulpit before Confirmation. 
 Many aged persons were confirmed, some of 
 them more than ninety years of age. She dis- 
 tinctly recollects two aged ladies led up to the 
 altar by their colored servants, who stood aside 
 until the rite was performed, and then led their 
 mistresses back to their pews. The Bishop was 
 in his Episcopal robes. She (Mary Bell) viewed 
 the ceremony from the gallery. 
 
 " Among the clergy present, she recollects 
 
LETTER FROM BISHOP WHITE. 133 
 
 the Rev. Benjamin Moore, the Rev. Richard 
 Charming Moore, and the Rev. Mr. Pilmore 
 (Pilbury she thought his name was). She does 
 not distinctly remember the year, month, or 
 day, but says it was in warm weather, and not 
 on Sunday, and she thinks in the same year in 
 which the Bishop arrived from England. 
 
 " As sixty-eight years have rolled away since 
 this first Confirmation in New York, but few 
 who received the ordinance on that occasion 
 can be alive." 
 
 We shall close this chapter (to us a most in- 
 teresting one) with a letter from Bishop White, 
 never before published. Our readers will be 
 struck with the remark which he makes con- 
 cerning the crowds who flocked together to 
 witness an Ordination, whenever it was known 
 where one would be held : 
 
 " Philadelphia, June 7, 1787. 
 
 " Right Rev. and Dear Sir — I have this 
 moment received your letter, and am highly 
 gratified by the account it gives me of your 
 health. I knew that you were much better, 
 but not that you were able to do duty. Cap- 
 tain Hutchins offered this morning in the street 
 to carry any letter I might have to New York. 
 I do not know whether it will be convenient 
 
 12 
 
134: LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 to him to take charge of the journals, but shall 
 send them to him with this, desiring him to 
 return them, if he goes in such a way as to 
 render them troublesome to him. In this case, 
 you may depend on their being forwarded 
 soon afterwards. 
 
 " I have received a letter from Dr. Griffith, 
 but not since his going to the Convention ; 
 which I suppose to be, by this time, over. 
 When I shall have any intelligence from him 
 of consequence, I will forward it to you. 
 
 " About a fortnight or three weeks ago, I 
 received a letter from Bishop Seabury, in which 
 he mentions that he had also written to you 
 on the subject of it. He proposes a meeting 
 of us three, before any thing be finally done in 
 our Ecclesiastical system. My answer was to 
 this effect : That I shall cheerfully take a jour- 
 ney for any purpose which shall appear to 
 have a tendency to the uniting of our Church 
 over the continent — an object very near my 
 heart ; that, however, I thought such a meet- 
 ing could have no use, if the intentions of our 
 brethren in Connecticut were previously known 
 to be different from the plan adopted in the 
 other States ; that w r e understood this to be the 
 case in relation to the model we have adopted 
 of an Ecclesiastical representative — the general 
 
LETTER FROM BISHOP WHITE. 135 
 
 outlines of which had been too maturely adopt- 
 ed to be receded from — at the same time that 
 we have reason to believe that it is thought 
 essentially wrong in Connecticut. As to the 
 Common-Prayer (in regard to which Dr. Sea- 
 bury has observed that he wished the old to 
 be retained, except the political prayers), I an- 
 swered, that although I held a review to be 
 desirable, yet that if the retaining of the old 
 should be found the most likely to keep us 
 together, I should cheerfully vote for it : that, 
 however, I very much doubted of this, and was 
 persuaded that the general sense of our Church 
 through the continent was for a review. I give 
 you the above from memory, but, I believe, 
 pretty exactly. 
 
 " If any thing interesting should occur at 
 your Convention, I should be obliged by your 
 informing me of it. Nothing remarkable hap- 
 pened at ours, except their appointing a com- 
 mittee of advice, at my desire. I have a right 
 to ask the advice of this committee, and they 
 have a right to advise me, whether asked or 
 not ; but I am not under a necessity of follow- 
 ing their advice ; although it is presumed I 
 shall never disregard it, unless it should be 
 contrary to my conscience. 
 
 " I held an Ordination on Whitsun Monday 
 
136 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 and Tuesday, of Mr. Clarkson to the office of 
 Deacon, and Mr. Condon to that of Priest; 
 and it is no small satisfaction to me, that on 
 this first occasion I have more than official 
 satisfaction of the merits of the two candidates. 
 Since that, there is here a gentleman from Vir- 
 ginia strongly recommended by Dr. Griffiths 
 and other clergymen, whose distance is so 
 great, and reasons for not being here in time 
 so satisfactory, that I shall ordain him Deacon 
 on Sunday, with the view of ordaining him 
 Priest on Monday. We had determined never 
 to ordain on Sunday, because of the concourse 
 it brings ; but without doing so at present, it 
 will be necessary to keep the gentleman several 
 weeks till another holiday ; so we have deter- 
 mined on Sunday, with the hope of keeping it 
 a secret till then. I am afraid the large extent 
 of country south without a Bishop will subject 
 us to trouble, from their coming up irregularly. 
 I have had applications besides the above, but 
 have rejected them for want of titles. 
 
 " I beg to be affectionately remembered to 
 Mrs. Provoost ; and am, dear sir, 
 
 " Your affectionate brother, 
 
 " William White." 
 
CHAPTER SEVENTEENTH. 
 
 Statistics not accurately kept — The first Confirmations in the 
 Diocese — An old soiled paper, and its contents — Old families 
 well represented — No union of Church and State — Great na- 
 tional pageants in which the Episcopal Church has borne a 
 conspicuous part — Inauguration of President Washington — 
 The procession and the speeches — Services in St. Paul's 
 Chapel — Bishop Provoost officiates — Mr. Boardman's recol- 
 lections of Washington — Waiting to see the President enter 
 the church — His dress and bearing — Diligent in the use of 
 his Prayer-book — The two pews with canopies, in St. Paul's 
 Chapel — Pictures with antique frames. 
 
 S no rule had as yet been adopted 
 requiring the Bishops to deliver ad- 
 dresses to their Conventions, giving 
 an account of their Episcopal acts, 
 we can only gather, from general 
 statements scattered here and there, 
 that Dr. Provoost ordained a number 
 of clergymen, and that he visited the several 
 parishes as often as he thought possible under 
 the pressure of other official duties. It would 
 appear, however, that some of the Confirma- 
 tions were very large, as might reasonably be 
 
 expected from the fact that all of the members 
 12^ 
 
138 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 of the Church in the diocese of New York 
 (with the exception of a few who may have re- 
 ceived the " laying on of hands" in England) 
 were now enjoying the privilege for the first 
 time. 
 
 "We find an old, time-soiled paper among 
 Bishop Provoost's private manuscripts, labelled 
 " A return of persons confirmed in St. George's 
 Church, South Hempstead, on "Wednesday, 31st 
 October, 1787," and signed by the minister, 
 Thomas Lambert Moore. This list includes 
 the names of a hundred and fifty-seven — one of 
 these, Gilbert, a colored servant of Mr. Joseph 
 Clowes. The well-known families of Moore, 
 Higby, Tredwell, Wetmore, Thorne, Onder- 
 donk, and Kissam, are largely represented. 
 
 Under our form of government there is no 
 union of Church and State, and we may bless 
 God for it. Where such alliances exist, the 
 Church often supports the tottering pillars of 
 the State, while the civil power proves a hard 
 master to the Church, deadening her energies 
 and crippling the freedom of her action. 
 
 It has so happened, from the fact that Gen- 
 eral Washington, and the more prominent 
 leaders during the Revolution were Church- 
 men, and many of our ablest statesmen since, 
 have been numbered with us, that on what are 
 
INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON. 139 
 
 called " State occasions," the Episcopal Church 
 has occupied a conspicuous place. Indeed, it 
 would be hard to conceive of a grand national 
 pageant, in which the religious element was 
 introduced, where some of the rites and cere- 
 monies of the Church would not be brought 
 into requisition. 
 
 We have to describe one of the most inter- 
 esting of these occasions. When our present 
 government was formed, in 1789, Bishop Pro- 
 voost was chosen chaplain of the Senate, and 
 in this capacity he was called upon to share in 
 the ceremonies appointed for the inauguration 
 of George Washington as the first President of 
 the United States. This august event took 
 place on Thursday, April 30th, in the city of 
 ]STew York, which was then the seat of gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 "At nine o'clock in the morning, there 
 were religious services in all the churches, and 
 prayers put up for the blessing of Heaven on 
 the new government. At twelve o'clock the 
 city troops paraded before Washington's door, 
 and soon after the committees of Congress and 
 heads of departments came in their carriages. 
 At half-past twelve the procession moved for- 
 ward, preceded by the troops ; next came the 
 committees and heads of departments in their 
 
140 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 carriages ; then Washington, in a coach of 
 state, his aid-de-camp, Colonel Humphreys, 
 and his secretary, Mr. Lear, in his own car- 
 riage. The foreign ministers and a long train 
 of citizens brought up the rear. 
 
 " About two hundred yards before reaching 
 the hall, Washington and his suite alighted 
 from their carriages, and passed through the 
 troops, who were drawn up on each side, into 
 the hall and senate-chamber, where the Vice- 
 President, the Senate, and the House of Repre- 
 sentatives were assembled. The Vice-Presi- 
 dent, John Adams, recently inaugurated, 
 advanced and conducted Washington to a 
 chair of state, at the upper end of the room. 
 A solemn silence prevailed, when the Vice- 
 President rose, and informed him that all 
 things were prepared for him to take the oath 
 of office required by the Constitution. 
 
 u The oath was to be administered by the 
 Chancellor of the State of New York, in a 
 balcony in front of the senate-chamber, and in 
 full view of an immense multitude occupying 
 the street, the windows, and even roofs of the 
 adjacent houses. The balcony formed a kind 
 of open recess, with lofty columns supporting 
 the roof. In the centre was a table with a 
 covering of crimson velvet, upon which lay a 
 
INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON. 141 
 
 superbly bound Bible on a crimson-velvet 
 cushion. This was all the paraphernalia for 
 the august scene. 
 
 "All eyes were fixed upon the balcony, 
 when, at the appointed hour, Washington 
 made his appearance, accompanied by various 
 public functionaries, and members of the Sen- 
 ate and House of Representatives. He was 
 clad in a full suit of dark-brown cloth, of 
 American manufacture, with a steel-hilted dress 
 sword, white silk stockings, and silver shoe- 
 buckles. His hair was dressed and powdered 
 in the fashion of the day, and worn in a bag 
 and solitaire. 
 
 " His entrance on the balcony was hailed by 
 universal shouts. He was evidently moved 
 by this demonstration of public affection. 
 Advancing to the front of the balcony, he laid 
 his hand upon his heart, bowed several times, 
 and then retreated to an arm-chair near the 
 table. The populace appeared to understand 
 that the scene had overcome him, and were 
 hushed at once into profound silence. 
 
 " After a few moments Washington rose and 
 again came forward. John Adams, the Vice- 
 President, stood on his right ; on his left the 
 Chancellor of the State, Robert R. Livingston ; 
 somewhat in the rear were Roger Sherman, 
 
14:2 LIFE OF BISHOP PKOVOOST. 
 
 Alexander Hamilton, Generals Knox and St. 
 Clair, the Baron Steuben, and others. 
 
 " The Chancellor advanced to administer the 
 oath prescribed by the constitution, and Mr. 
 Otis, the secretary of the Senate, held up the 
 Bible on its crimson cushion. The oath was 
 read slowly and distinctly ; Washington at the 
 same time laying his hand on the open Bible. 
 When it was concluded, he replied, solemnly, 
 * I sw T ear, so help me God.' Mr. Otis would 
 have raised the Bible to his lips, but he bowed 
 down reverently and kissed it. 
 
 "The Chancellor now stepped forward, 
 waved his hand and exclaimed, 'Long live 
 George Washington, President of the United 
 States !' At this moment a flag was displayed 
 on the cupola of the hall ; on which signal 
 there was a general discharge of artillery on 
 the Battery. All the bells in the city rang 
 out a joyful peal, and the multitude rent the 
 air with acclamations. 
 
 "Washington again bowed to the people, 
 and returned into the senate-chamber, where 
 he delivered to both houses of Congress his 
 inaugural address, characterized by his usual 
 modesty, moderation, and good sense, but 
 uttered with a voice deep, slightly tremulous, 
 and so low as to demand close attention in the 
 
mk. boardman's kecollections. 143 
 
 listeners. After this he proceeded with the 
 whole assemblage on foot to St. Paul's Church, 
 where prayers suited to the occasion were read 
 by Dr. Provoost, Bishop of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church in New York, who had 
 been appointed by the Senate one of the chap- 
 lains of Congress. So closed the ceremonies 
 of the inauguration."* 
 
 Surely this was an inauguration worthy of a 
 Christian country, and happy would it be for 
 us, if its religious spirit still continued to mark 
 all similar occasions. 
 
 As every thing relating to General Washing- 
 ton possesses a permanent interest, we shall 
 insert in this place, the account furnished by 
 one who enjoyed frequent opportunities of see- 
 ing him, while the seat of government con- 
 tinued at New York. We refer to the Hon. 
 David Sherman Boardman, of New Milford, 
 Connecticut. 
 
 " The last time I saw General Washington 
 was in May, 1790, during the second session of 
 the first Congress under the present Constitu- 
 tion ; it being held in New York, and the last 
 which was convened in that city. I was then 
 in my twenty-second year. My brother, the 
 
 * living's Life of Washington, vol. iv. p. 473. 
 
144 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 late Elijah Boardman, afterwards, and at tlie 
 time of his decease, United States Senator from 
 Connecticut, making an excursion to New 
 York, I accompanied him in order to see the 
 city, which I had never visited, and to take a 
 look at Congress, which I had a great desire 
 to see in session. 
 
 " We arrived in the city on Saturday even- 
 ing. We agreed to go to the church the next 
 morning, where we supposed the President 
 would attend, for the purpose of seeing him ; 
 though we had both seen him while in com- 
 mand of the army, and my brother, indeed, 
 many years older than myself, had served a 
 campaign under his orders. The President 
 then resided in the centre house of what was 
 called Mr. Combs' block, on the western side 
 of Broadway, between Trinity Church and the 
 Bowling Green. To accomplish our object, 
 we went first to the front of Trinity Church, 
 intending to wait there until the President's 
 carriage came up, and, if it stopped there, to 
 follow him in ; but if it went by, to repair to 
 St. Paul's, knowing that he would attend ser- 
 vice at one of them. When we reached our 
 proposed stand, we found a large number of 
 gentlemen occupying the ground, doubtless 
 influenced by the same motives with ourselves, 
 
ME. BOARDMAn's RECOLLECTION'S. 145 
 
 and they had already formed two lines, reach- 
 ing from the church door to the middle of the 
 street. The President's coach soon came up, 
 and stopped at the mouth of the avenue formed 
 by the spectators. He stepped out of it with 
 his hat (such as he used to wear while in com- 
 mand of the army) in his hand, and walked 
 through the bowing lines of admiring gazers 
 with that gravely serene bearing, and majesty 
 of countenance such as, in my estimation, no 
 other face ever bore. He was followed by 
 Mrs. Washington, escorted by a gentleman of 
 the family, and by the private secretary and 
 lady. His dress upon the occasion was pre- 
 cisely like Stuart's portrait of him (except the 
 sword), to wit: black throughout, silk stock- 
 ings, and silver-buckled shoes; his hair dressed 
 in front just as Stuart's portrait has it ; on the 
 back it was inclosed in a black bag of silk 
 shift, such as in those days the first magistrates 
 of States often wore, if favored with a full and 
 flowing head of hair. The entire costume was 
 exceeding graceful and becoming. Our seats 
 in the church being remote from his, we could 
 only see that he was very intent upon his 
 Prayer-book, and possessed the air of sincere 
 devotion." 
 
 While referring to Washington's attendance 
 
 13 
 
146 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 at St. Paul's, on the occasion of his inaugura- 
 tion, it will not be amiss to add. that at that 
 day there were two state-pews with canopies, 
 situated under the galleries, about half way 
 down the aisles of the chapel, and appropri- 
 ated, when Congress and the Legislature met 
 in the city, one for the use of the President 
 of the United States, and the other for that 
 of the Governor of the State. Two old paint- 
 ings in antique frames, one of the arms of the 
 United States, and the other of the State of 
 New York, still hang upon the walls, most in- 
 teresting memorials of the past. 
 
CHAPTER EIGHTEENTH. 
 
 The first Ordination ever held in New Jersey — Bishop and 
 Sector — An anonymous letter — Stabbing in the dark — Com- 
 plaints about the preaching in Trinity — General Convention 
 of 1789 — Adoption of the Constitution of the Church — Letter 
 from Albany — An introduction to the Eev. Thomas Ellison— 
 " A portly gentleman in black" — Kind reception given to a 
 stranger, and the consequence thereof — A journey of a hun- 
 dred and twelve miles, and what missionary work was done 
 — Prejudices. 
 
 T T is an interesting fact, that the first 
 Ordination ever held in the State of 
 New Jersey was one at which Bishop 
 Provoost officiated. This took place in 
 St. Peter's Church, Perth Amboy, July 
 9, 1788, when Mr. George EL Spieren 
 was admitted to the holy Order of Deacons, 
 The candidate was a gentleman of great re- 
 spectability and handsome acquirements ; and 
 the vestry of St. Peter's having resolved to call 
 him as their rector, the Bishop of New York 
 kindly acceded to their request that the Ordi- 
 nation might take place in their midst. This 
 was twenty-seven years before New Jersey 
 had a Bishop of her own. 
 
148 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 Besides his services as the head of the dio- 
 cese of New York, we must not lose sight of 
 the fact that Bishop Provoost was also Rector 
 of Trinity Church. We refer to it in this place, 
 in order to introduce an anonymous letter, 
 carefully preserved among his papers, which 
 was addressed to him by one of his complain- 
 ing parishioners. Of all modes of attack, that 
 of a communication sent without the writer's 
 name is the lowest and the most contemptible. 
 In this case, the intentions of the writer seem 
 to have been good. We leave the letter to 
 speak for itself: 
 
 "Eight Reverend Sir — You are undoubt- 
 edly accountable for the morals and virtuous 
 principles of every soul in the several congre- 
 gations under your superintendence, as far as 
 your duty and authority are concerned. It is 
 a lamentable truth that the virtues are not un- 
 derstood ; and it is to be feared not one in one 
 hundred of your congregations can distinctly 
 and properly define any one of the virtues. 
 This has been asserted without contradiction ; 
 and by reason they have not been instructed 
 from the pulpit, or privately admonished when 
 irregular. Would not a sermon on each of the 
 virtues, commencing with a close definition, 
 
AN ANONYMOUS LETTER. 149 
 
 remove in some degree the objection, especially 
 if contrasted with the opposite views? It is 
 also remarked that the duty of children to their 
 parents is not enforced. Dr. Moore might be 
 charged by you to treat those subjects sepa- 
 rately and fully. Our persuasion admits of 
 morality from the pulpit as well as the preach- 
 ing of Christ, and you need not now be afraid 
 of censure in consequence of the pains you 
 may take to bring the virtues of the human 
 mind into fashion and out of oblivion. 
 
 " I am, Reverend Sir, with great esteem and 
 regard, your very sincere and true friend, 
 
 " Pythagoras. 
 
 " New Yoke, 23d January." 
 
 The General Convention of 1789, held in 
 Christ Church, Philadelphia, was a most im- 
 portant one, for then " the Constitution of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church in the United 
 States of America" was adopted and ratified. 
 The only Bishops present were Seabury and 
 White — Dr. Provoost being kept at home by 
 severe indisposition. The Constitution was 
 signed, however, by the clerical and Isij depu- 
 ties of the diocese of New York, the Rev. Ben- 
 jamin Moore, D.D., and the Rev. Abraham 
 Beach, D.D., and Richard Harison, Esq. 
 13* 
 
150 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 We find a letter written to Bishop Provoost, 
 the same year of the General Convention, by 
 the Rev. Thomas Ellison, then Hector of St. 
 Peter's, Albany, which is interesting, as show- 
 ing the condition of the Church in that im- 
 portant place. This gentleman was a native 
 of England, and a graduate of Cambridge, and 
 took charge of the parish in Albany in 1787. 
 He was remarkable for his ready wit and genial 
 disposition, and was a great favorite in social 
 life. He died in 1802. 
 
 When Philander Chase (afterwards the pio- 
 neer Bishop of the Church in the Western 
 States) went to Albany in 1795, an inexperi- 
 enced young man, without letters of com- 
 mendation, and with hardly a shilling in his 
 pocket, he thus introduces us to the Rector of 
 St. Peter's : — " Having passed Market he en- 
 tered Court street, and, stopping at c Wendal's 
 Hotel,' inquired, ' Where lives the Rev. Thomas 
 Ellison, the Episcopal clergyman V ' What — 
 the English dominie V replied a friendly voice ; 
 ' you will go up State-street, pass the English 
 stone church, which stands in the middle of 
 that street, and as you go up the hill, turn the 
 second corner to the right ; there lives the 
 English dominie, the Rev. Mr. Ellison, in a 
 newly-built white house, the only one on the 
 
REV. THOMAS ELLISON. 151 
 
 block, or clay bank.' It was, indeed, just so ; 
 and the writer mounted the plank door-steps, 
 and with a trembling hand knocked at the 
 door of the Rector of St. Peter's, Albany. ' Is 
 this the Key. Mr. Ellison V said the writer, as 
 the top of a Dutch-built door was opened by a 
 portly gentleman in black, with prominent and 
 piercing eyes, and powdered hair, f My name 
 is Ellison,' said he, ' and I crave yours.' Giv- 
 ing his name, the writer said, ' I have come 
 from New Hampshire, the place of my nativity, 
 and being very desirous of becoming a candi- 
 date for holy orders, I will be much obliged 
 for your advice.' Mr. Ellison then said, ' God 
 bless you ! walk in.' This was a crisis of un- 
 speakable importance to the writer. Verily 
 doth he believe that, had the reception now 
 given been otherwise than that of marked 
 good-will and condescending kindness, the 
 whole course of the writer's life would have 
 been changed. A rebuff would have turned 
 his face another way. 
 
 " As it was a plain story, answering the taste 
 of a candid, upright mind, all things assumed 
 a pleasing aspect. The offer of an appoint- 
 ment as a teacher in the city school, just then 
 opened, and the free access to a well-chosen 
 theological library, made the writer by this 
 
152 LIFE OF BISHOP PKOVOOST. 
 
 pious and learned gentleman, are instances of 
 a merciful Providence never to be forgotten. 
 
 u Mr. Ellison was but one of tlie three trus- 
 tees ; of course the appointment could not be 
 considered certain till confirmed by the board : 
 and in the interim, to be on expense in the city- 
 would not be advisable. l A Sunday will in- 
 tervene,' said he ; ' and as you say you have 
 been accustomed to read the service among 
 your friends in New Hampshire, why not do 
 the like in this neighborhood ? There are a few 
 Church people in Troy; suppose you spend the 
 Lord's-day there as a lay-reader f Your com- 
 mission so to do will not be inferior to that of 
 others. Take a manuscript sermon of mine, 
 and if you can read it, do so.' This address 
 and proposition to the writer were truly affect- 
 ing. The remembrance thereof is still fresh 
 on his mind. That it should be offered by a 
 venerable and experienced gentleman to a 
 stranger who had little or nothing to com- 
 mend him to his favor, and that it should 
 be made at a time when no other way was 
 opened to defray inevitable expenses, w^as 
 truly strange."* 
 
 And now that w^e know Mr. Ellison, we shall 
 
 * Bishop Chase's Keminiscences, vol. i. p. 19, &c. 
 
LETTER TO BISHOP PROVOOST. 153 
 
 be better prepared to enjoy his letter to Bishop 
 Provoost : 
 
 " Albany, May 9, 1789. 
 
 " Right Rev. Father — As it will be neces- 
 sary to make alterations in the Liturgy with 
 respect to the President, &c., I take the liberty 
 of requesting your instructions and orders. 
 
 " I am happy to have it in my power to in- 
 form you that our Church has made a great 
 increase ; and should it continue to be kept 
 together, I have not a doubt but that many 
 congregations would be formed about us ; and 
 yet, as its resources are so trifling and preca- 
 rious, I fear I must resolve, from considerations 
 of prudence, to quit my charge. If my situa- 
 tion were more comfortable in that respect, I 
 flatter myself that I could render essential ser- 
 vices to the Church in general, for I have it 
 close at heart, and should then have it more 
 in my power to collect its scattered members 
 into bodies. 
 
 " Since my residence here, I have christened 
 exactly one hundred and ten children. In 
 January last I made an extensive journey, and 
 christened twelve children ; and had I been 
 able to have spent a fortnight longer in the 
 excursion, I suppose should have christened at 
 least forty. The distance I went was one hun- 
 
154 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 dred and twelve miles — a journey of four days, 
 through, a very wild country, which afforded 
 most uncomfortable accommodations; but it 
 afforded me a very high degree of pleasure to 
 find that many of our Church were scattered 
 throughout, who would not relinquish the hope 
 of being able at some, though perhaps a dis- 
 tant period, to see churches established. I 
 found that many of them had got children 
 christened by ministers of other churches, de- 
 spairing of the opportunity which my visit 
 afforded, and, as I promised them to make a 
 second visit during this summer, if I remain 
 here, and should I find that I could afford to 
 do so, I have not a doubt but that many will 
 be offered to receive that Institution. 
 
 " When I first settled here, I found the preju- 
 dices of the generality of people running very 
 high against our Church ; for the Presbyterians 
 and the Dutch ministers, who are very warmly 
 attached to them, had spoken of it neither with 
 charity nor respect. These prejudices now be- 
 gin to subside, and their insidious purposes 
 begin to operate in favor, rather than in dis- 
 service, as they were intended. 
 
 " If our congregation were able to make cer- 
 tain necessary repairs, with regard to turning 
 the pews, I am certain we might have the num- 
 
LETTER TO BISHOP PROVOOST. 155 
 
 ber very advantageously increased, and have 
 not a doubt but that the congregation would 
 be increased by one fourth. 
 
 " Mrs. Ellison desires me to present her very 
 respectful compliments to yourself, Mrs. Pro- 
 voost, and family, in which I cannot but join 
 most cordially. 
 
 "We hope to have the pleasure of seeing 
 Mrs. Provoost with you when you extend your 
 visitation hither ; and I must beg leave to know 
 when that will be convenient. 
 
 u I am, Right Rev. Father, 
 
 " With all duty and respect, 
 
 " T. Ellison." 
 
CHAPTER NINETEENTH. 
 
 The first published list of the Clergy of New York — An im- 
 portant point which is established by a reference to these 
 fifteen names — Noble gift to the church at Duanesburgh — 
 General Convention of 1792 — Bishop Provoost presides — A 
 Bishop consecrated for Maryland — Three other General Con- 
 ventions briefly noticed — Death of Washington — Some inter- 
 esting things in a note — Funeral services in St. Paul's Chapel 
 — The grand procession — Funeral urn — Gouverneur Morris's 
 oration — The Bishop's prayer. 
 
 LTHOUGH we have in our possession 
 a complete set of the early Journals 
 of the Diocese of New York, we have 
 been able to gather but little from 
 their meagre records of names and 
 dates which would interest our read- 
 ers. The first published list of the clergy is 
 found in the Journal of 1791, and contains 
 fifteen names. Six of these clergymen were 
 ordained in England, seven by Bishop Pro- 
 voost, and two by Bishop Seabury. 
 
 It has sometimes been asserted, very posi- 
 tively, that Bishop Provoost denied the validity 
 of the consecration which Dr. Seabury had re- 
 ceived at the hands of the Scottish Bishops. 
 But this is disproved by two facts : first, that 
 
GENERAL CONVENTION OF 1792. 157 
 
 he received those as settled clergymen into his 
 diocese whom Bishop Seabury had ordained ; 
 and secondly, because he consented that the 
 Bishop of Connecticut should take part with 
 him in the consecration of Dr. Claggett for the 
 diocese of Maryland. 
 
 Bishop Provoost had the pleasure of an- 
 nouncing to his Convention, in 1793, that he 
 had consecrated a church at Duanesburgh, 
 " erected solely by Judge Duane, at the ex- 
 pense of upwards of eight hundred pounds, 
 exclusively of the lot of ground on which it 
 stands." Happy is the man whose heart thus 
 deviseth liberal things for the glory of God's 
 name! 
 
 The General Convention of 1792 met in 
 Trinity Church, New York, four Bishops being 
 in attendance, viz., Bishops Seabury, Provoost, 
 White, and Madison. Bishop Provoost pre- 
 sided.* He also acted as the consecrator when, 
 during the session of this great council, Dr. 
 Claggett was set apart for the office of Bishop 
 in the diocese of Maryland — the other three 
 
 * As it is needless to be repeating, in each volume, facts 
 which have been mentioned before, we must beg the reader to 
 turn to the Lives of White, Seabury, and Claggett, for particu- 
 lars in regard to the adoption of the rule which determines who 
 shall preside in the House of Bishops, and other points of this 
 nature. 
 
 14 
 
158 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 Bishops sharing in the solemnities of the oc- 
 casion. Bishop Provoost preached before the 
 General Convention of 1795 ; and during its 
 session, the fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, Sep- 
 tember 13th, he united with Bishops White, 
 Madison, and Claggett, in Christ Church, Phil- 
 adelphia, in the consecration of Dr. Robert 
 Smith for South Carolina. In the same church, 
 May 7, 1797, he united with Bishops White 
 and Claggett in the consecration of Dr. Edward 
 Bass for Massachusetts. On the Feast of St.. 
 Luke, the Evangelist, October 18, 1797, he 
 united with Bishops White and Bass in the 
 consecration of Dr. Abraham Jarvis, for Con- 
 necticut — Bishop Seabury having died on the 
 25th of February in the preceding year. In 
 the General Convention of 1799, on motion of 
 Bishop Provoost, proceedings were had which 
 resulted in the adoption of " The Form of Con- 
 secration of a Church or Chapel." 
 
 The year 1799 was that in which General 
 Washington died. We not only honor and 
 love him because he did so much for our coun- 
 try, but we also rejoice because he died in the 
 communion of tile Holy Apostolic Church, of 
 which it is our privilege to be members.* 
 
 * On the 5th of April, 1732, an old-fashioned christening took 
 place at the house of Mr. Augustine Washington, Westmoreland 
 
OBSEQUIES OF WASHINGTON. 159 
 
 The following interesting account of the 
 funeral obsequies of this illustrious man, as 
 performed in St. Paul's Chapel, is given by 
 
 county, Virginia. The English clergyman was there, with his 
 gown and bands, and large Prayer-book ; Mr. Beverly Whiting 
 and Captain Christopher Brooke standing as godfathers, and 
 Mrs. Mildred Gregory godmother. So the record runs in the 
 old family Bible belonging to the Washingtons. 
 
 But who was now to be received as a soldier of the Cross in 
 this holy ordinance of the Church ? " Name this child," said 
 the clergyman, turning to Mr. Washington. " George," was 
 the brief reply. That name is now emblazoned on the brightest 
 pages of history. 
 
 The parents of Washington were strict Churchmen, and the 
 little boy was most carefully trained in the Catechism, according 
 to the system which Bishop Meade has so graphically described 
 in his account of the old churches of Virginia. He was to be 
 seen, on each occasion of public worship, in the parish church, 
 known to this day as " Pope's Creek Church," bearing his part 
 in the solemn services. 
 
 When Washington became a man, his calling as a soldier and 
 a statesman was never allowed to make him neglectful of his 
 religious duties. The habit of prayer once formed in infancy, 
 was continued until the close of life. He used his influence on 
 every suitable occasion to secure the appointment of chaplains 
 for the army ; and at the burial of soldiers, when no clergyman 
 was present, he read, in his own majestic way, the beautiful 
 funeral service from the Prayer-book. He also, now and then, 
 conducted service on Sundays as a layman. Many interesting 
 accounts have been given of his devout behavior while worship- 
 ping in St. Paul's Church, New York, Christ Church, Phila- 
 delphia, and various churches in Virginia. 
 
 Among the papers of Washington which have been preserved 
 are lists of articles which he sent for to England. In these we 
 often notice items showing the affection he felt for his step- 
 children, John and Patsey Custis. Thus, when Master Custis 
 
160 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 James Hardie, in his "Description of New 
 York :"— " On the 13th of December, 1799, the 
 illustrious General Washington quit this mortal 
 existence, at Mount Yernon, after a few days' 
 
 had reached his eighth year, General Washington orders for 
 him a neat Bible and Prayer-book, to be "bound in Turkey, 
 with John Parke Custis wrote in gilt letters on the inside of 
 the cover." The same precious books were provided for Mar- 
 tha Parke Custis, in her sixth year. 
 
 Among the volumes which General Washington inherited 
 from his father was one entitled " Short Discourses upon the 
 whole Common Prayer." It bears plain marks of having been 
 used by the son, as well as by his father before him. It was 
 probably from this very book that he used to read aloud, on 
 such occasions as the one referred to by the late George W. 
 Parke Custis : " On Sundays, unless the Weather was uncom- 
 monly severe, the President and Mrs. Washington attended 
 Divine service at Christ Church, Philadelphia ; and in the even- 
 ing he read to Mrs. Washington, in her chamber, a sermon, or 
 some portion from the Sacred Word." 
 
 Washington's religious training had all been directed by the 
 Prayer-book. In the pure and holy faith which it had taught 
 him he always lived ; and cheered by the glorious hope of the 
 Gospel, he was ready to die. 
 
 His last sickness was a short and painful one ; and during his 
 closing hours he w T as heard to say, "I should have been glad, 
 had it pleased God, to die a little easier, but I doubt not it is 
 for my good." He closed his eyes with his own hands, folded 
 his arms decently on his breast, and with the child-like petition, 
 ''''Father of mercies, take me to thyself" he fell asleep. This was 
 December 15th, 1799. On the 22d of May, 1802, Mrs. Washing- 
 ton followed him to a better world. She received the sacrament 
 for the last time from the Eev. Thomas Davis, Eector of Christ 
 Church, Alexandria ; and then, having bestowed her farewell 
 benediction upon her weeping relations, her soul took its de- 
 parture from the earth. 
 
OBSEQUIES OF WASHINGTON. 161 
 
 illness. This event occasioned great lamenta- 
 tion throughout every part of the United 
 States, and nowhere were the manifestations 
 of sorrow more apparent than in this city. On 
 the 31st of December, agreeably to previous 
 arrangements, the whole of the military be- 
 longing to the city, with many from the neigh- 
 boring counties, the Masonic lodges, the most 
 respectable societies, foreigners of distinction, 
 the honorable the common council, and an 
 immense concourse of citizens, joined in pro- 
 cession from the Park, where it was formed, 
 through most of the principal streets to St. 
 Paul's Church. The military marched in re- 
 versed order, and with reversed arms, to sol- 
 emn music, while the bells tolled, and minute- 
 guns were fired from the battery. The whole 
 of the business was conducted with the utmost 
 solemnity, and in such a manner as to leave a 
 deep impression on the minds of the citizens of 
 the irreparable loss which they had sustained 
 in the death of their common father. The pro- 
 cession went on in awful stillness, and there 
 were few indeed in whose countenances the 
 gloom of sadness was not depicted. The rev- 
 erend the clergy walked in full dress, with 
 white scarfs; and twenty-four beautiful girls, 
 in white robes, scarfs, and turbans, strewed 
 14* 
 
162 LIFE OF BISHOP PKOVOOST. 
 
 laurels as they went along. The funeral urn, 
 with its decorations, was supported by eight 
 soldiers (with others attending for relief) upon 
 a bier, in form of a palanquin, six feet by four. 
 This elegant assemblage of emblems consisted 
 of a superb funeral urn three feet in height, a 
 spread eagle with his wings drooping, and 
 several others equally appropriate, which my 
 limits do not permit me to mention. 
 
 " As soon as the procession had been seated 
 in the church, music suited to the occasion was 
 performed, a prayer was offered up to the 
 Most High by the Right Reverend Bishop 
 Provoost, and an oration on the character and 
 history of the deceased was delivered by the 
 late Honorable Gouverneur Morris. After the 
 solemn services of the temple had concluded, 
 the bier was deposited in the cemetery, and the 
 last military honors performed over it." 
 
 We close the chapter with the prayer 
 offered on this interesting occasion, which we 
 find among Bishop Provoost's private papers, 
 in his own handwriting : 
 
 "Almighty God, with whom do live the 
 spirits of them that depart hence in the Lord, 
 and with whom the souls of the faithful, after 
 they are delivered from the burden of the 
 flesh, are in joy and felicity ; we give Thee 
 
PRAYER BY BISHOP PR0V00ST. 163 
 
 hearty thanks for the good examples of all 
 those Thy servants who, having finished their 
 course in faith, do now rest from their labors. 
 We laud and magnify Thy glorious name for 
 the eminent virtues exerted in our behalf in 
 sundry times of difficulty and danger by Thy 
 deceased servant, the late commander-in-chief 
 of the armies of these United States. May 
 the invaluable services he has rendered to his 
 country impress us with due gratitude for the 
 fatherly protection which, through him, Thou 
 hast extended to us. May the recollection of 
 them be an incentive to those who shall suc- 
 ceed him in the high and important offices of 
 State, and may posterity, while they shall 
 inherit the lustre of his name, enjoy the bene- 
 fit of his life, in a continuance of the happy 
 consequences of his labors, and in a succession 
 of great and good men, to Thy glory and the 
 prosperity of Thy people, to the end of time. 
 Finally, O merciful God, we humbly beseech 
 Thee that the due and heartfelt tribute of re- 
 spect now paid to the memory of our beloved 
 and revered fellow-citizen, our friend, our 
 father, and defender, may excite in us all an 
 holy emulation to imitate his piety, patriotism, 
 and virtue ; and that, by deserving well of our 
 country here, we may at the general resurrec- 
 
164 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 tion in the last day be found acceptable in 
 Thy sight, and receive, together with him, that 
 blessing which Thy well-beloved Son shall then 
 pronounce to all who love and fear Thee, say- 
 ing, ' Come ye blessed children of my Father, 
 receive the kingdom prepared for you from 
 the beginning of the world.' Grant this, we 
 beseech Thee, O merciful Father, through Jesus 
 Christ, our Mediator and Eedeemer." 
 
CHAPTER TWENTIETH. 
 
 "What natural inclination would have led Bishop Provoost to 
 do — The effects of bereavement upon his troubled mind — 
 Kind letter of condolence — Dr. Stanford and his son — Bishop 
 Provoost retires to private life — Election of his successor — A 
 most important act somewhat unfolded at large — Chosen to 
 one office, and consecrated to another — Years pass away be- 
 fore the evils of this legislation were felt — The new Bishop 
 enters upon his work. 
 
 ^T was not natural to Bishop Provoost to 
 be very active or energetic, and the 
 duties of his office were often burden- 
 some to him, and the temptation was 
 strong to retire at once to the quiet 
 of a well-furnished library, where his 
 earlier years had been passed. But in addi- 
 tion to this, sorrow and bereavement had 
 bowed him to the earth, and even a man of 
 more abundant zeal might have found it 
 difficult to nerve himself for the multiplying 
 engagements belonging to his high station. 
 
 In August, 1789, Mrs. Provoost departed 
 this life, after a long and lingering illness ; and 
 in the ensuing July, he followed to the grave 
 
166 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 his younger and favorite son, who came to a 
 most distressing end, while his cup of misery 
 was filled to the brim by the conduct of his 
 only surviving son. 
 
 Kind friends sympathized with him in his 
 troubles, and among them was the venerable 
 Dr. Stanford,* a Baptist minister, who wrote 
 to the Bishop the following letter of condo- 
 lence : 
 
 " July 18, 1800. 
 
 " Right Reverend and Dear Sir — You will 
 gratify me by accepting the second volume of 
 the Christian's Pocket Library, which accom- 
 panies this. Its publication has been unavoid- 
 ably delayed until this week. • 
 
 " Permit me to offer you my condolence 
 under your recent domestic sorrow. You 
 
 * He was born in England in 1754, and came to America in 
 1786. Besides his other labors, Dr. Stanford was for thirty- 
 years chaplain to the municipal institutions of New York City. 
 He married a daughter of Abraham Ten Eyck, one of the ves- 
 try of Trinity Church. This accounts for the bias which the 
 children received towards the Episcopal Church. Mr. Thomas 
 N. Stanford (a son of this venerable Baptist minister) was for 
 many years associated with the Messrs. Swords in the Church 
 Bookstore, of famous memory, a place to which so many of 
 the clergy were wont to resort. Dr. Stanford and Bishop Pro- 
 voost were on intimate terms, and Bishop Hobart cherished 
 such kindly feelings towards the son, that he appointed him 
 one of the executors of his will. Dr. Stanford died at the age 
 of eighty-one years. 
 
LETTER OF CONDOLENCE. 167 
 
 need not for me to tell you, that, however 
 severe the circumstances attending your afflic- 
 tion, the whole were under the eye of that in- 
 finitely wise God, who is your Father, Lord, 
 and Friend. I know nature must recoil, and 
 bend beneath so great a stroke ; but faith lifts 
 her head even in an Eli's breast, when his 
 sons were slain, and cries, ' It is the Lord, let 
 him do what seemeth him good.' How could 
 you and I attempt to comfort others with the 
 consolation with which we are comforted of 
 God, did we not often go down into the pit of 
 sorrow ? But, ah ! how little do our people 
 imagine at what a high cost we obtain the 
 consolatory advice we offer them in public! 
 Well, it is the way of the Lord whom we wish 
 to serve, and when we are in our best frame, 
 w-e would not stay His hand, but be content. 
 ' His way should be in the whirlwind and in 
 the storm.' However sharp the barbed arrow, 
 it was surely dipped in parental love before it 
 bounded from the bow, and, in a little while, 
 may yield its sweets to your depressed heart. 
 Come a few more tears, a few more sorrows, 
 a few more acts of kindness to the poor and 
 needy ; then come death, come angels, come 
 eternity, come a Saviour's arms to enfold us in 
 infinite delights! To the protecting care of 
 
168 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 that most compassionate Saviour, who has 
 been my guide and comfort in deepest sorrows, 
 I commit you, and remain your sympathizing 
 and affectionate friend, 
 
 " John Stanford. 
 
 "Permit me, dear sir, to submit to your 
 perusal, the first leisure hour, the Dialogue in 
 number three, page one hundred and twenty- 
 one. It may tend to alleviate your mind." 
 
 No doubt Bishop Provoost felt that it would 
 be impossible for him to attend to his official 
 duties, and, accordingly, in September, 1800, 
 he resigned the rectorship of Trinity Church. 
 The Convention of the Diocese, which had not 
 been called together for three years, was sum- 
 moned to meet on the 3d of September, 1801, 
 when he also relinquished his Episcopal juris- 
 diction. His last ordination had been held in 
 the preceding April, the Rev. John Henry 
 Hobart being then admitted to the Priest- 
 hood. 
 
 Bishop Provoost's successor in both of the 
 important offices which he left, was the Eev. 
 Benjamin Moore, D. D., then one of the assist- 
 ant ministers of Trinity Church. "His election 
 as Bishop by the Convention of the State took 
 place September 5, 1801, and on the 11th of 
 
RESIGNATION OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 169 
 
 the same month the House of Bishops, who 
 were in session at Trenton, notwithstanding 
 they demurred as to the validity of the resig- 
 nation of Bishop Provoost, nevertheless pro- 
 ceeded to consecrate his successor. The im- 
 portance of this act requires it to be unfolded 
 somewhat at large. The letter of Bishop Pro- 
 voost, bringing the matter before the House of 
 Bishops, stated simply the fact of a resignation 
 already made to the State Convention, 'in- 
 duced,' as he says, 'by ill health, afflictive 
 occurrences, and an ardent wish to retire from 
 all public employment.' It was a new case in 
 our ecclesiastical polity, involving most im- 
 portant results, and requiring correspondent 
 deliberation. But time for such deliberation 
 could not be given ; the question came upon 
 them unexpectedly, and required, at the same 
 time, immediate action. 
 
 " In this emergency, the House of Bishops, 
 pressed alike by the necessity of the case, and 
 the canonical call upon them for the consecration 
 of Dr. Moore, and their fear, at the same time, 
 of sanctioning, by so doing, an unqualified 
 right of resignation in a Bishop, with a view 
 to meet both difficulties, took a half-way 
 course, which, like all such, where principle is 
 involved, and as the result eventually proved^ 
 
 15 
 
170 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 was a most unwise one, multiplying, instead of 
 removing, the evils before them. They pro- 
 tested against the resignation, and yet acted 
 upon it; ' judged it,' to use their own lan- 
 guage, ' inconsistent with the sacred trust 
 committed to them, to recognize the Bishop's 
 act as an effectual resignation of his Episcopal 
 jurisdiction;' yet, with a 'nevertheless,' pro- 
 ceeded to vitiate their own reasoning, by con- 
 secrating one whose election was not valid, but 
 upon the supposition of such resignation being 
 good, since Dr. Moore had been elected, not 
 ' assistant Bishop,' but simply the ' Bishop of 
 the Diocese of New York.' Still, however, 
 they desire, as they say, to be ' explicit in 
 their declaration that they shall consider such 
 person as assistant, or coadjutor Bishop, during 
 Bishop Provoost's life.' 
 
 " Bishop Moore was consecrated accordingly, 
 — chosen to one office and consecrated to an- 
 other. Here was, evidently, a question of con- 
 flicting jurisdiction, and one in which un- 
 questionably, the House of Bishops took up 
 a wrong position. The right of a Bishop to 
 resign his spiritual character and functions is a 
 question of speculative divinity, but his right 
 to resign his local jurisdiction is one of consti- 
 tution and law, a free and natural right, except 
 
UNWISE LEGISLATION. 171 
 
 in so far as some law of the Church should, or 
 had, set a limit to it. 
 
 "It would seem, from the scruples of the 
 House of Bishops, either that the two ques- 
 tions were not viewed by them sufficiently 
 distinct, or else, that seeing the evils that 
 would attend an unlimited right, and perceiv- 
 ing also that the whole subject was a 'casus 
 omissus* in their constitution, they were willing 
 by one act both to make the law and regulate 
 the case. 
 
 " In another point of view, with all due sub- 
 mission it may be said, they were also in error. 
 "Whenever power is resigned, it must be re- 
 signed to those who give it ; now the right of 
 local jurisdiction came from the State Conven- 
 tion, not from the act of consecration ; for, if 
 otherwise, then the House of Bishops would 
 have been competent to impose on the Diocese 
 of New York a Bishop w T ho had not been 
 elected by them. But if such power they did 
 not possess, neither had they, at least not by 
 any inherent powers, as their w^ords would im- 
 ply, the right to stand in the way of his resigna- 
 tion. If such license on the part of a Bishop 
 be inexpedient, it must be controlled consti- 
 tutionally, as by the wisdom of the General 
 Convention has since been done. 
 
172 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 " But years passed before the evils were felt 
 to which this act of legislation, or rather this 
 extra legislative opinion, thus opened the door. 
 
 " Bishop Provoost was sincere in his desire 
 for retirement, and meddled not in the affairs 
 of the diocese ; while Bishop Moore was not 
 a man to provoke hostility, either personal or 
 official. In the mean time, Bishop Moore pro- 
 ceeded to enter upon the duties of his office 
 with general, or rather, universal acceptable- 
 
 * McVickar's Professional Years of Hobart, p. 199, etc. 
 
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIRST. 
 
 Bishop Provoost in retirement — Bishop Moore's illness — An 
 assistant chosen — Hindrances in the way of his Consecration 
 — All difficulties arranged — An immense assembly held in 
 suspense — " He's come !" " Thank God !" — Something about 
 wigs — Bitter opposition to Bishop Hobart's election — Bishop 
 Provoost persuaded to do a very inconsistent thing — Difficul- 
 ties in Maryland — Firm and resolute once more — Sudden 
 death — Funeral — Extract from Bishop Hobart's Convention 
 address — Traits of character — A trying case — Conclusion. 
 
 IMMEDIATELY after his resignation of 
 the charge of the diocese, Bishop Pro- 
 voost went into strict retirement, and, 
 for ten years, never engaged in any 
 public ministrations. In 1811, his suc- 
 cessor, Bishop Moore, was attacked by 
 paralysis, and as there was no prospect that he 
 would be able to resume the active duties of 
 his office, he called a special Convention, to 
 take into consideration the election of an as- 
 sistant Bishop. The time for this meeting was 
 so arranged, that in case an assistant should be 
 chosen, he might be consecrated at the General 
 Convention which was to assemble at New 
 Haven on the 21st of May. 
 15* 
 
174 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 Accordingly, on the 14th of the month, the 
 special Convention of the Diocese of New York 
 met in Trinity Church ; and after the celebra- 
 tion of Morning Prayers by the venerable 
 "Father Nash," and a sermon by the Rev. 
 David Butler of Troy, the important business 
 was introduced, and after due deliberation, the 
 Rev. John Henry Hobart was elected Assistant 
 Bishop. 
 
 It so happened, however, that the consecra- 
 tion could not be consummated at the General 
 Convention. There were only six Bishops in 
 the United States, and of these, Bishops White 
 and Jarvis were the only ones present. Bishop 
 Provoost, whose health had long been feeble, 
 was, at this time, more than usually indisposed. 
 Bishop Madison, of Virginia, strange to say, 
 had almost abandoned the Church in his dio- 
 cese, and confined himself to his duties as 
 President of William and Mary College. 
 Bishop Claggett, of Maryland, who had set 
 out for New Haven was obliged, by sickness, 
 to return. Bishop Moore, of New York, as 
 we have already noticed, was prostrated by 
 paralysis. 
 
 Surely this was a dark day for the Church, 
 but her Divine Head never will forsake her. 
 
 "Besides Dr. Hobart, there was another 
 
ALL DIFFICULTIES AKRANGED. 175 
 
 Bishop elect waiting consecration, the Kev. 
 Alexander Viets Griswold, who had been 
 elected Bishop of the Eastern Diocese, a con- 
 federacy which had been formed by the sev- 
 eral dioceses east of Connecticut. 
 
 " Bishop Provoost promised to attend the 
 consecration if he possibly could, should it be 
 held in this city. To this Bishops White and 
 Jarvis of course consented, and came on for 
 the purpose immediately after the adjournment 
 of the Convention. Should Bishop Provoost 
 prove unable to attend, it was in contemplation 
 to have the consecration in Bishop Moore's 
 chamber ; where, although unable to leave his 
 house, he might unite in it. Happily, this 
 extreme alternative was not required. Al- 
 though, during the past few days, Bishop Pro- 
 voost had suffered a relapse, yet, on the day 
 appointed for the consecration, "Wednesday, 
 May 29th, he was able to repair to Trinity 
 Church. The immense congregation there as- 
 sembled was very generally deeply impressed 
 with the solemnity and importance of the 
 crisis. It was probably, as it turned out to 
 be, the last time that three of the then Bishops 
 of our Church could be assembled. When it 
 was ascertained that Bishop Provoost had ac- 
 tually arrived at the church, there was a thrill 
 
176 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 of emotion throughout the assemblage. 'He's 
 come P ' Thanh GodP were audibly whispered 
 ejaculations. He remained in the vestry -room 
 until the close of the Morning Prayer. It was 
 the original expectation and intention that he 
 should continue there until after the sermon, 
 and enter the chancel in time to unite with 
 Bishop Jarvis in presenting the Bishops elect 
 to Bishop White. Feeling, however, able to 
 join the other Bishops at an earlier period, 
 and to take part in the ante-communion ser- 
 vice, and particularly desirous of once more 
 hearing a sermon from his old friend, Bishop 
 White, he entered the church after the close of 
 Morning Prayer. He read the Epistle. It 
 could be heard, and that with difficulty, by 
 those only who were near the chancel. But 
 the appearance of the venerable man,* his 
 
 * Increased in reverential interest by his wearing, as he only, 
 it is believed, of all our Bishops ever wore, the large English 
 Episcopal wig. Bishop White said that, at the joint consecra- 
 tion of himself and Bishop Provoost, the latter having procured 
 a wig, the former preferred dispensing with it, although his old 
 friend, the Rev. Mr. Duche, his predecessor in his Philadelphia 
 rectorship, then in England, offered the use of his for the occa- 
 sion. The then peculiarity of consecration without a wig, and 
 of a Bishop's appearing in his proper habit without one, was 
 the subject of conversation at the Archbishop's after the ser- 
 vices, when it appeared that Bishop White had precedent in 
 the case of no less a personage than Archbishop Tillotson, 
 whose portrait, among those at the palace, was without a wig. 
 
BITTER OPPOSITION. 177 
 
 visage somewhat marred with palsy, and dis- 
 colored by jaundice, and then seen in public 
 ministration for the first time in nearly ten 
 years, by many who had been of his flock, 
 doubtless produced quite as solemnizing an 
 effect, and this even increased by the difficulty 
 or impossibility of hearing him, as would the 
 most audible, and most rhetorically enunciated, 
 words of the Holy Book. A circumstance, ac- 
 cidental in itself, but made the subject of much 
 controversy, occurred at this consecration. In 
 both cases, those of Bishop Hobart and Bishop 
 Griswold, Bishop White, through strange mis- 
 recollection and inadvertence, omitted, in the 
 consecrating form, the words, ' In the name of 
 the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost. Amen. 5 
 
 " A bitter opposition had been made to Bishop 
 Hobart's election, on personal grounds. It was 
 strengthened, on party grounds, by the small 
 number of Low- Churchmen in the diocese. 
 This omission of Bishop White was immediate- 
 ly seized on by this party as evidence of the 
 invalidity of the consecration. That this was 
 purely a party ebullition, was shown by the 
 fact, that although the omission of the above 
 words occurred in Bishop Griswold's case, as 
 well as Bishop Hobart's, its supposed invali- 
 
178 LIFE OF BISHOP PKOVOOST. 
 
 dation was never alleged against the former. 
 The circumstance led to a published discussion. 
 The venerable Dr. Bowden, who, from the ex- 
 cellence of his character and the soundness of 
 his principles, was, of course, Bishop Hobart's 
 friend, first published a pamphlet to prove that 
 the omission did not invalidate the consecra- 
 tion. This was followed by a pamphlet, in 
 defence and enlargement of Dr. Bowden's, by 
 Bishop Hob art. The connection of the subject 
 with the endeavors made by Papists and ultra- 
 Protestants to prove, from Archbishop Parker's 
 consecration, the non-existence in England of 
 the ' Apostolic Succession,' gave it peculiar 
 interest. 
 
 " But this miserable effort to produce discord 
 entirely failed. Bishop Hobart and Bishop 
 Griswold passed through their respective valu- 
 able courses of official life, without any ques- 
 tion worthy of regard as to the validity of their 
 claims to the Episcopal office. 
 
 " The opposition to Bishop Hobart, however, 
 was not to be easily put down. The opposing 
 party had managed to enlist Bishop Provoost 
 in their behalf. It was no secret that this was 
 effected through influences exerted upon one on 
 whose intellect age and disease had laid their 
 weakening hand. He was induced to lay claim, 
 
DIFFICULTIES IN MARYLAND. 179 
 
 at the Diocesan Convention of 1812, to being 
 still the Bishop of the diocese, on the ground 
 of the opinion expressed by Bishop Moore's 
 consecrators. The claim was rejected by an 
 act of the Convention, without a dissenting 
 voice, by the clergy ; and by a lay vote of 36 
 ayes, 2 noes, and one divided. Three clergy- 
 men — all of whom became afterwards Bishop 
 Hobart's decided friends, but who had suffered 
 themselves to be drawn into opposition to him, 
 and into favor of Bishop Provoost's claim — 
 4 were excused from voting, and expressed 
 their determination to submit to the decision 
 of the Convention.' "* 
 
 However much we must regret the part 
 which Bishop Provoost was thus induced to 
 take, we are happy, before bringing this biog- 
 raphy to a close, to state something to his 
 credit, which may help us to overlook his mis- 
 takes of judgment, and his apparent neglect 
 of the claims of duty. 
 
 When Bishop Claggett of Maryland became 
 disabled by disease, and applied for an assistant 
 Bishop, Dr. James Kemp was elected, and con- 
 secrated to this office, in 1814. A turbulent 
 party in the diocese were so bitterly opposed 
 
 * Churchman's Magazine, vol. i. p. 629, &c. 
 
180 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 to the assistant that they refused to submit to 
 his authority, and actually went so far as to 
 elect one of their number as Bishop, and made 
 application to Bishop Provoost, and others, to 
 consecrate this leader of a schism, that he might 
 set up a jurisdiction in Maryland distinct from 
 that of Bishop Kemp. It is enough to say 
 concerning this unhappy affair, that Bishop 
 Provoost treated the proposition with such 
 marked contempt, that he would not conde- 
 scend to answer it.* 
 
 We have but a few more words to add. 
 Bishop Provoost suffered from occasional at- 
 tacks of apoplexy, and died very suddenly of 
 one of these fits, on the 6th of September, 1815, 
 aged seventy-three years and six months. The 
 funeral services were held in Trinity Church, 
 the Rev. Thomas Y. How reading the Psalms 
 and Lessons, the Rev. William Harris, Rector 
 of St. Mark's Church, preaching an appropriate 
 sermon, and the concluding prayers being of- 
 fered at the place of interment (the family vault 
 in the churchyard), by the Rev. Cave Jones. 
 Bishop Hob art thus refers to the departure of 
 
 * Full particulars concerning this attempted schism in the 
 Church are given in the Life of Bishop Claggett, in this series, 
 p. 125, and the Life of Bishop Henshaw, p. 62. 
 
BISHOP HOBART'S CONVENTION ADDRESS. 181 
 
 the venerable Prelate, in his address to the 
 Convention of 1815 : 
 
 " The Eight Rev. Bishop Provoost has very 
 recently departed this life. To the benevo- 
 lence and urbanity that marked all his inter- 
 course with his clergy, and indeed every social 
 relation, there is strong and universal testi- 
 mony ; and with respect to the manner that 
 marked his official intercourse, there can be 
 no testimony more interesting than that of the 
 venerable Bishop of our Church in Pennsyl- 
 vania, who, on a public occasion, several years 
 since, referring to the intimate relation between 
 himself and Bishop Provoost, introduced the 
 sentiment, that ' delegation to the same civil 
 office is a ground on which benevolence and 
 friendly offices may be expected;' and then 
 remarked, i How much more sacred is a rela- 
 tion between two persons who, under the ap- 
 pointment of a Christian Church, had been 
 successfully engaged together in obtaining for 
 it the Succession to the Apostolic Office of the 
 Episcopacy; who, in the subsequent exercise 
 of that Episcopacy, had jointly labored in all 
 the ecclesiastical business which has occurred 
 among us ; and who, through the whole of it, 
 never knew a word, or even a sensation, tend- 
 ing to personal dissatisfaction or disunion !' 
 
 16 
 
182 LIFE OF BISHOP PROVOOST. 
 
 Bishop Provoost was a man who commanded 
 great respect from the community at large; 
 and his philanthropy, patriotism, and benevo- 
 lence secured for him many devoted friends. 
 He entered the ministry at a time when energy 
 and zeal were at a low ebb ; and we cannot 
 give him credit for having done much to quick- 
 en the life of the Church, although we must 
 gratefully remember that he was one of those 
 who helped to secure for us the blessings of 
 the Episcopate." 
 
 " Bishop Provoost, as I remember him," 
 says Mr. George B. Rapelye, " was rather 
 above than below the medium height, and was 
 somewhat inclined to corpulency, though he 
 had, on the whole, a fine commanding person. 
 His face was round and full, and had some- 
 thing of the ton vivant about it ; which was 
 not at all strange, considering what were the 
 social and festive usages of that day. He had 
 a strong, intelligent cast of countenance, which 
 was well fitted to command attention and re- 
 spect. As might have been expected from his 
 early training, and from his having always been 
 accustomed to move in the higher circles, his 
 manners were those of an accomplished gentle- 
 man. He was graceful, social, self-possessed, 
 and thoroughly acquainted with all the forms 
 
A TRYING CASE — CONCLUSION. 183 
 
 of polished society. I am not aware that Bishop 
 Provoost was ever considered as greatly dis- 
 tinguished for his intellectual powers ; and yet 
 I think he was always looked upon in this re- 
 spect as considerably above mediocrity."* 
 
 In the relations of husband and father, he 
 exhibited all the kindly and endearing affec- 
 tions which ennoble our species. At the same 
 time, so resolute and determined was he in the 
 performance of what he believed to be his duty, 
 that he would not read the burial service over 
 his own son, who had committed suicide, and 
 whose remains were interred under the walk, 
 outside St. Paul's churchyard gate. 
 
 A biographer who was disposed to conceal 
 all failings, and to discover nothing but virtues, 
 might have drawn a more pleasing portrait of 
 the first Bishop of New York ; but, while doing 
 full justice to him, we have endeavored never 
 to lose sight of that rigid adherence to truth, 
 which history, and especially Church history, 
 demands. 
 
 * Sprague's Annals, vol. v. page 246. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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