Historic Shrines of America Part 7

No saintly honors to them are shown, No sign nor miracle have they known; But he who pa.s.ses the ancient church Stops in the shade of its belfry-porch, And ponders the wonderful life of him Who lies at rest in that charnel dim.

Long shall the traveller strain his eye From the railroad car, as it plunges by, And the vanishing town behind him search For the slender spire of the Whitefield Church; And feel for one moment the ghosts of trade And fashion and folly and pleasure laid, By the thought of that life of pure intent, That voice of warning, yet eloquent, Of one on the errands of angels sent.

And if where he labored the flood of sin Like the tide from the harbor-bar sets in.

And over a life of time and sense The church-spires lift their vain defence, As if to scatter the bolts of G.o.d With the points of Calvin's thunder-rod,-- Still, as the gem of its civic crown, Precious beyond the world's renown, His memory hallows the ancient town!"

XVI

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND

THE OLDEST BAPTIST CHURCH IN AMERICA

When Roger Williams, Welshman, left England for America because he could not find in the Church of England freedom to worship G.o.d according to his conscience, he came to Salem, in the Ma.s.sachusetts Bay Colony. There he joined others who had sought America for the same purpose, but to his disappointment he found that his ideas of liberty of worship did not agree with theirs, and he was once more adrift. On October 9, 1635, the authorities of the Colony ordered that he "shall depart out of this jurisdiction." He was later given permission to remain until spring, on condition that he make no attempt "to draw others to his opinions."

On the ground that he had broken the implied agreement, the Governor, on January 11, 1636, sent for him to go to Boston, from whence he was to be banished to England. Williams sent word that he was ill and could not come at the time. A force of men was sent to seize him, but when they reached his house he had departed already, turning his face toward the southern wilderness. He was "sorely tossed for fourteen weeks in a bitter winter season, not knowing what bread or bed did mean."

On April 30, 1636, he came to the country of the Wampanoags, where the sachem Ma.s.sasoit made him a grant of land. Within a short time some of his friends joined him, and primitive houses were built. Then came word from the Governor of Ma.s.sachusetts Bay that he must go beyond the bounds of the Plymouth Colony. Accordingly, with six others, he embarked in canoes and sought for a location. When this was found Canonicus and Mantonomi agreed to let the company have lands, and soon the new settlement was made and named Providence, in recognition of G.o.d's care of him during his journey. Then others joined him and his companions.

Two years after the settlement of Providence twelve of the citizens decided that they must have a church. One of the company, Ezekiel Hollyman, baptized Roger Williams and Williams baptized Hollyman and ten others. The twelve then baptized were the original members of the first church of Providence, Rhode Island, the first Baptist church in America, and the second in the world. Roger Williams was the first pastor, but he withdrew before the close of the year in which the church was organised. During the remaining forty-five years of his life he remained in Providence as a missionary among the Indians, whose friendship he had won by his scrupulously careful and honorable method of dealing with them.

The church met in private houses or under the trees, for more than sixty years. The first meeting house was not erected until 1700. The builder was Pardon Tillinghast, the sixth pastor of the church, who, like his predecessors, served without salary. However, he urged that the church should begin to pay its way, and that his successor should receive a stipulated salary. The Tillinghast building was in use for fifteen years after it was deeded to the congregation, in 1711. The deed, which is on record at the Providence City Hall, calls the church a "Six-Principle church."

The growth of the congregation called for a larger building. This was erected in 1726 and was used until 1774. An old doc.u.ment gives an interesting side light on the building of the meeting house. This is an account of Richard Brown, dated May 30, 1726, which reads:

The account of what charge I have been at this day as to the providing a dinner for the people that raised the Baptist meeting-house at Providence (it being raised this day,) is as followeth:

One fat sheep, which weighed forty-three lbs. 0,14,04

For roasting the said sheep, etc. 8

For one lb. b.u.t.ter 1

For two loaves of bread which weighed fifteen lbs. 2

For half a peck of peas 1,03

When the building was planned the Charitable Baptist Society was incorporated, that it might hold t.i.tle to "a meeting-house for the public worship of Almighty G.o.d, and to hold Commencement in." Nearly a third of the 7,000 required for the new building was raised by a lottery, authorized by the State. The architects modelled the church after the popular St. Martins-in-the-Fields in London, whose designer was James Gibbs, a pupil of Sir Christopher Wren.

In the two-hundred-foot spire was hung the bell made in London, on which were inscribed the strange words:

"For freedom of conscience this town was first planted; Persuasion, not force was used by the people: This Church is the eldest, and has not recanted, Enjoying and granting bell, temple, and steeple."

The pastor at the time the new church was first occupied, on May 28, 1775, was president of Rhode Island College, an inst.i.tution which had been located in Providence in 1773, in consequence of the generosity and activity of the members of the church. The inst.i.tution later became Brown University. Every one of the presidents of the college has been a member of the First Church.

A church whose building was dedicated "midway between the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill" should have a patriotic history. The story of Providence during the Revolution shows that the members were keenly alive to their opportunities. The first suggestion for the Continental Congress came from Providence. Rhode Island was the first State to declare for independence. Pastor and people were ardent supporters of these movements. Many soldiers were furnished to the army by the congregation.

Naturally, then, people would be interested in a man like Stephen Gano, who became pastor in 1792. He had been a surgeon in the Revolutionary Army, and had been taken prisoner, put on board a prison-ship, and bound in chains, which made scars that lasted for life. His pastorate of thirty-six years was the longest in the history of the church.

The stately building erected in 1774 is still in use. The gallery long set apart for the use of slaves has given way to a square loft, the old pews have been displaced by modern seats, and the lofty pulpit and sounding-board have disappeared. Otherwise the church is much as it was when the first congregation entered its doors in 1775.

TWO: WHERE PATROONS AND KNICKERBOCKERS FLOURISHED

_Where nowadays the Battery lies, New York had just begun, A new-born babe, to rub its eyes, In Sixteen Sixty-One.

They christened it Nieuw Amsterdam, Those burghers grave and stately, And so, with schnapps and smoke and psalm, Lived out their lives sedately._

_Two windmills topped their wooden wall, On stadthuys gazing down, On fort, and cabbage-plots, and all The quaintly gabled town; These flapped their wings and shifted backs, As ancient scrolls determine, To scare the savage Hackensacks, Paumanks, and other vermin_.

_At night the loyal settlers lay Betwixt their feather-beds; In hose and breeches walked by day, And smoked, and wagged their heads.

No changeful fashions came from France, The vrouwleins to bewilder; No broad-brimmed burgher spent for pants His every other guilder._

_In petticoats of linsey red, And jackets neatly kept, The vrouws their knitting-needles sped And deftly spun and swept.

Few modern-school flirtations there Set wheels of scandal trundling, But youths and maidens did their share Of staid, old-fashioned bundling._

EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN.

TWO: WHERE PATROONS AND KNICKERBOCKERS FLOURISHED

[Ill.u.s.tration: MORRIS-JUMEL HOUSE, NEW YORK CITY.

_Photo by Frank Cousins Art Company_ See page 87]

XVII

THE MORRIS-JUMEL MANSION, NEW YORK CITY

WHERE WASHINGTON ESCAPED FROM THE BRITISH BY A FIFTEEN MINUTE MARGIN

"A Pleasant situated Farm, on the Road leading to King's Bridge, in the Township of Harlem, on York-Island, containing about 100 acres, near 30 acres of which is Wood-land, a fine piece of Meadow Ground, and more easily be made: and commands the finest Prospect in the whole Country: the Land runs from River to River: there is Fishing, Oystering, and Claming at either end...."

When, in 1765, Roger Morris, whose city house was at the corner of Whitehall and Stone streets, saw this advertis.e.m.e.nt in the New York _Mercury_, he hungered for the country. So he bought the offered land, and by the summer of 1766 he had completed the st.u.r.dy Georgian house that, after a century and a half, looks down on the city that has grown to it and beyond it.

In an advertis.e.m.e.nt published in 1792, in the New York _Daily Advertiser_, a pleasing description of the mansion of Roger Morris was given:

"On the premises is a large dwelling-house, built in modern style and taste and elegance. It has ... a large hall through the centre; a s.p.a.cious dining room on the right....

On the left is a handsome parlor and a large back room.... On the second floor are seven bedchambers ... On the upper floor are five lodging rooms ... and at the top of the house is affixed an electric conducter. Underneath the building are a large, commodious kitchen and laundry and wine cellar, storeroom, kitchen pantry, sleeping apartments for servants, and a most complete dairy room...."

For nine years Roger Morris and his family lived in the mansion on the Heights. As a member of the Legislative Council much of his time was given to the interests of his fellow-citizens. But as time pa.s.sed he found himself out of sympathy with his neighbors. They demanded war with Great Britain, and he felt that he could not join the revolt.

Accordingly, in 1775, he sailed for England, leaving his large property in the care of Mrs. Morris.

Mrs. Morris kept the house open for a time, but finally, taking her children with her, she went to her sister-in-law at the Philipse Manor House at Yonkers.

On September 14, 1776, General Washington decided to abandon the city to the British. He planned to go to Harlem, to the fortification prepared in antic.i.p.ation of just such an emergency. On September 15 he took possession of the Roger Morris house as headquarters. Two days later his Orderly Book shows the following message, referring to the battle of Harlem Heights:

"The General most heartily thanks the troops commanded yesterday by Major Leitch, who first advanced upon the enemy, and the others who so resolutely supported them. The behavior of yesterday was such a contrast to that of some troops the day before [at Kip's Bay] as must show what may be done when Officers and Soldiers exert themselves."