Vermont daily transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1868-1870, 1868-11-12
New York Correspondence,
NEW York, Nov. 9th.
CENTENARY DEDICATION.

4 hundred years ago, handful OF men
and women, followers of John Wesley,
assembled in John Street, to dedi atc "
chapel they had reared for worship
The building was of wood, Imprinted
and unfinished. The minister and his
people built the church with their own
hands. The seats were without backs
gallery was without front; and
when occupied men and women climb
ed up to it by ladder. It was contrary
to law to build Il place of worship in
New York at that time, except for the
Dutch or Churchmcn. The Dutch were
very lenient and would not have dis
turbed the Methodists il they had built
II dozen chapels, The Mcthoists were
conscientious, and applied to the Dutch
authorities to know how they could
erect their house of worship and not
violate law. The sturdy Dutchmen
told them to put chimney and a man
tlepiece into the house, and it would be
Il dwelling and not Il chapel. SO the
first Methodist church in America
sprang into being. The site of the first
chapel is retained to this day. On it
stands a plain, unpr notwithstanding
bri, h building, known as John Street
Church. 1t was densely crowded on the
25th of October, the anniversary of the
dedication of the first church 100 years
ago. Bishop James presided. a love
feast, a sermon b. the bishop, free
fora and n nn1 lnctinn Of
$4,000 to meet the repairs of the church,
marked the occasion. The property is
worth not less than $l00,0 1t is now
ownel by the denomination, and the
trustees are elected by the General Con-
ference, which meets once in four years,
A tablet was unveiled, erected to the
memory of Philip Embury, the first
pastor, no built the pulpit with his
own hands, and to Barbara Hicks, who
broke up the conclave of card-playing
Methodists, drove them to prayer and
Embury to the pulpit. The Bible that
Embury preached the first sermon from,
bearing date 1911, was used by Bishop
James on this occasion. The Methodists
Of to-day, with their many affairs girdl-
ing the earth, on which the sun does
not set; with their colleges, educational
and theological institutions; with count
less church edifices of marble and stone,
among the most costly in the land with
an unnumbered membership, embrace
ing ora tors, poets, scholars and states
men; with its mighty centenary dona-
tons embracing individual gifts from
$1,000 to $3.50 000--form Il marked con-
trast to the little company who, in their
weakness and poverty reared the first
chapel on the site of the John Street
Church.
THE LIBERALITY OF NEW YORK.
The Bible pronounces the traders of
Tyre to have been merchant princes"
Commerce seems to be peculiarly liber-
aliZing, and great cities, while they ne
cesarily hold great crimes and oorrup-
ton, represent also great liberalty and
virtue. When the English EXchequcr,
was empty, the Lon Ion merchants
presented Elizabeth with ships and i'm
mense sums of money to repel the
Spanish Armada. The wiclIedness of
New York Is the theme Of general re
mark. 1t is supposed to be a very So
dom, dangerous to enter, while the
marvel is that God does no, sink it as
he did GOmmorrah. In no place has
education, virtue, humanityand religion
more friends than in New York. In nc
place are churches more elegant or bet
ter sustained. The lberality of
the New York merchants is
marvellous. When disasters come,
by famine, fire, pestilence or p'ague-in
the West, in the South, in the islands
of the sea, in England, in Abyssinia, Oh
elsewhere-the earliest and the most
liberal response comes from New York.
When Mrs. Franklin could make nc
impression on the: English Govern
ment, she found New York merchant
whose heart and purse were open to
search among the Attic SHOWS for ths
remains of her husband. Some New
York merchants give away annually {
certain percentage Oftheir income, keep
ing the account as strictly with them
selves as they would W It'll bank. Gift
of ten, twenty and fifty thousand dol
lars, to public objects, are very common
1t is no unusual thing for the New Yorl
Seventh Regiment to raise $4,000 at ;
meeting of the board of officers. TIL,
regiment is thousand strong; ten dol
lars to each man is small assessment
when each member could easily raise
fifty dollars and not feel it. During the
political campaign just closed, hundreds
of men subscribed from 81 900 to $1,000