, 1879-03-09

walk is rai1cd off from the Broadway, the
pleasantest street of any in the town. Il was
splendid church for its day. The tops of the
pillars supporting tile galleries were deckcd
with the gilt busts Of angels winged; two great
ing; on the wall hung the arms Of some Of the
principal bcnefactors, conspicuous among them
>Gor. Fletcter's. During the rcigns of William
and Mary. Queen Anne, and George I. were
bestowed, by the bounty of the Crown, three
with the initials Of the donors and the ROYAL
arms. All the furniture OF the altar, desk.
!nd u; pu'pit was of the richest aud costliest
In 1775 Men York. was prosperous place of
some @@'Oo9 population. In that year John
Adams, on bis way to the Congress in Philadel-
pnia, stopped here, and tho simpic7minded Bos-
tonian, never before beyond the limits OF New
England, was much impressed, as his diary
records, by " the opulencc and splendor of the
city," put troub!ous times soon came, and first
loyalists: On April II, 1876, Washington arrived
IN the city, and took command OF the American
army, Which, with his reinforcements mum
bcred 49, ,235 men. DR.. Auchmpty was in New
Jersey, and MS assistant, the Rev. Charles
lnslis, was notified that Washington would be
at Trinity on Sunday, and "would be clad If
the prayers for the King and Royal family were
omltten,' but lnglis paid no regard to it. Not
long after, while he was officiating, a company
o. LOU men entered the church, drums beating,
nies playing and with loaded guns and fixed
bayonets. The congregation was terrified, aud
several women taiutcd. 1t was feared thut
when Mr.. 1ngls read the collects for the King
aud Royal family be would be fired at, but be
went on with the service as usual, aud was un-
disturbed. By the unanimous request Of the
members OF the church he consented to preach
on May Il, appointed by Congress as day of
fasting and prayer, but he made peace and re-
pentance his subject, and dsciafmed having any,
thing to do with 'tpoltics.' At length it wns
thought expedient, by such Of the ,ycstry as re-
On Sept. Is the Kings troops returned.
stroyed about one-fourth Of ti,c city,
including Trinity Church, its rcctory, its two
charity school-houses, the whole costing e22, quo,
nual rent Of 246 lots, on which the tcnan1s'
buildings were burnt Poor LIT. Auchmuty
forced his wny back on foot and at night,
through the lines, and rakcd the rubbish of the
ruins, but found nothing valuable except the
church plate and his own. The registers Of bap-
tion OF the parish were destroyed, and much
family history was thus lost. DR.. Auchfnuty
preached his last sermon in st. Paul's, and two
days after fell sick and died March 4, TIT. Hc
was buried in the chancel Of st. .Paul's, and was
succeeded as Rector OF Trinity parish, March 20,
1888, just before the evacuation Of the city by
the British troops, and afterwards became Bisl-
op Of Nova Scotia. lie was 1oyalist to the
last, and one Of the last 1oya1ists in Trinity
parish.
In 1899 Trinity Church was pulled down, and
the architect, Mr. Richard Upjohn. 1t was com
pletcd In seycn wears, at COST all told, includ-
in:s clock, chimes, and organ, OF S35S, ,G29 g.
PROBABLY less than one-half the sum that would
be required to build such q church now. It was
cousecrated on Ascension Day, May 81, 1916, by
sion, which included more than $50 Doctors OF
Divinity in surpliccs, started from Buukcrs,
which was then tit sounds queerly enough now)a
fashionable hotel at No. 81 Broadway. Among
the many old citizens present was John z. Gro
shon. who attended the opening OF st. Paul's in
1766 and stranger still, in the audience was Mrs.
Ann Livingston, who was at the conservation of
the second edi6ce, and was baptized in tie drst.
The rcEedos, erected in 1877 by Mr.. John Jacob
Astor and his brother, William, as memorial
the same time the corporation expended some
SIC, 600 in redecorattng tile chancel and building
new rohiug- g-rooms in the rear. Trinity Chapel,
in Twentyffth street, built in 1S51-56, cost $751;,
600. St. Chrysostom's Chapel, in Thirty-ninth
street, built in 1859, cost for land $ss 900 and
buildings $50, ,000- st. Augustine's, in Houston
street, consecratcd Nov 80, 1877, cost $3.50, 900;
and to build this fine church the corporation
&200, ,000-its only debt to-day. st.
Cornelius, on Governors Island which Trinity
has supported since 1SG3, and supplied With q
Clergyman, who also acts as post chaplain, is in-
cluded in the chapels OF the CORPORATION.
In the carly history OF the parish it was itself
in need OF assistance, but almost as soon as its
property became productive it began TO give it
away. Since l74o its gifts to other churches, in
money, lots, communion plate, fonts, pnlpits,
into the construction and decoration Of
churches, are innumerablc. At one time it gave
goo toward ground for a negro cemetery. In
1886 it granted three lots in Robinson street
(now Park place. for the use OF the senior pas-
Lors OF the Presbyterian congregations in the
city. Besides the grants already noted to Co
umbia College and St. Georges Church, it
granted in 17a5-'93 to St. Marks, built on land
given by the Stuyvesants, besides some ST, 600
in money, lots estimated thirty years ago to be
Worth S131,o0o; to Grace Church, in lso+'11,
10000; Christ Church, $4,000; st. Thomas,
s333 s300 St. Luke's, $50 500; Ali Saints. S31,-
500; Ascension, SIS, 500; st. Phillips, $4,000;
md to churches. colleges, and what not, all
aver the State and elsewhere, loans, gifts, and
grants, which, in lSfi, were estimated at S2,-
W0, 600. The corporation was then numbered
With debt Of S440,o00, aud rs most Of its lots
had been leased CUT ut an early period at mere
sominal rents, the annual revenue from
pew-rcntB, and all other sources
SasAtN Voct1HV' 4A% oA'@AA't3 ~ A1Ah4t5 cAaPCt
.arred the debt OF the corporation up 10 $685.
100. In 1857 the deficits ia revenue for ten
;ears amounted to $273, ,597.35, and in the same
lime the corporation had contributed and given
lw2y outside of the parish $685. 141. .05. The def
cts were met By the sale OF real estate and the
consequent consumption of the principal. Gen.
[oln a. Dix, q vcstryman since 1919, and
Warden and the Comptroller Of the corpora
ion siuce 1876, was the first to suggest
measures to pur stop to the genera:
irving away of everything to everybody. In
66S the sale Of st. Johns Park to the Hudson
tiyer Railway Company, aud at about the
anne time the falling in of the Astor and
leases. enabled Trinity to wipe out
Is debt.
The property OF the corporation, which COM
non runor makes cover pretty much the whole
f lower New York, west of Broadway, and to
II worth from seventh to one hundred millions,
onsists actually OF 750 lots, which, in 1877, |
ir1dcd an income Of S456, 756 756.45 less than the
egai interest on $1,000, ,0W, und the whole Drop
rty, except the ground occupied by seven |
hurches, four schoolhouscs, four cemeteries, a |
cctory, an lnfrmary, and q few vacant lots, was |
Productive. In 1878 the income was little less, /
he corporation is about to pull down a large |
uilding on the corner of King nnd Greenwich |
trects, and erect tenement houses OH the site. |
or this purpose it will borrow money, as it now |
ellis no lots, except in vcrY rare instances, to |
adjacent owners vino wish to I
nlarge their premises. Occasionally tenants |
ave old houses which they neglect aud let |
0 to ruin, and these sometimes the corpora