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Library 1994.Rev. H. D. GANSE, Pastob.EXERCISES
AT THE
Laying of the Corner Stone
MADISON AVENUE
Reformed Church,
Corner of Madison Avenue and 57th. Street,
May 23d, 1870.
NEW YORK:
BAKER & GODWIN, PRINTERS,
PRINTING-HOUSE SQUARE.
1871,PASTORS
OF THE
NORTHWEST PROTESTANT REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH,
(Now Madison Avenue Reformed Church.)	*
IN FRANKLIN STREET:
Rev. CHRISTIAN BORE......................from 1808 to	1828.
Ret. GEORGE DUBOIS.................from	1824	to	1837.
Ret. CHRISTOPHER HUNT....................from 1837 to	1839.
Ret. JAMES B. HARDENBERGH, D.D...........from 1840 to	1854,
When the Church was removed to West 23d Street.
IN WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET:
Ret. JAMES B. HARDENBERGH, D.D....from 1854 to 1856.
Ret. H. D. GANSE.......................since 1856.mtdtnjg ;(j,crtmmf%
Wm. H. JACKSON, Chairman.
J. W. GILLIES,	JOHN A. HARDENBERGH,
JOHN H. QUACKENBUSH,	CHARLES JOHNSON,
EDWARD SATTERLEE.
E. L. ROBERTS.LAYING OF THE CORNER STONE
OF THE
MADISON AVENUE REFORMED CHURCH.
The afternoon was warm and bright; and a large
congregation was assembled.
Rey. Mb. Ganse read a part of the third chapter of
Ezra, commencing with the 8th verse; and then said:
I have read this passage of sacred Scripture, my
friends, because, describing, as it does, mingled joy
and sorrow, it harmonizes well with the feelings with
which we have come together to-day. We have occa-
sion for sadness ; for we think of the old house, and of
its associations ; and we are sorry to know that many of
these are to be painfully sundered. Yet to this occasion
for grief we add other, and we think greater occasions
for joy. The joy, we trust, will outlast the grief; and
the songs of praise, which are to be heard here and pro-
longed in heaven, will make us forget even that tender
sorrow with which we proceed to this act.
I will read a copy of a brief recital already enclosed
in this box, which is, by and by, to be deposited in the
Corner-Stone:
RECITAL.
“The North-west Protestant Reformed Dutch Church in the City of
New York”* was organized, by order of the Classis of New York, by the
installation of four elders and four deacons, on the 17th day of April, 1808,
a previous meeting for the election of those officers having been held on
the 27th day of January, in the same year.
Rev. Dr. Livingston, of the Collegiate Dutch Church of New York,
presided at both of these meetings. The Church began with 140 mem-
* By a decree of Court, this name has, from the 1st Jan., 1871, been changed
to “ Madison Avenue Reformed Church.”6
bers, of whom more than two-thirds, or nearly a hundred, had been dis-
missed for that purpose from the Collegiate Church.
The first Church edifice in Sugar-loaf (afterwards Franklin) Street was
dedicated on the same day on which the first Consistory was ordained,
Dr. Livingston conducting both services.
That Church was burned in 1889, and was at once rebuilt on the same
spot.
In the year 1854, the congregation removed to a new Church which
had been erected in West 23d Street, between the Sixth and Seventh
Avenues, a site then far up town, on which it was hoped the Church
would be permanent for very many years. This hope was encouraged by
the large increase of the congregation, which resulted upon the change.
But it afterwards became evident that the numbers and strength of the
congregation were steadily diminishing again, and that a longer stay in a
locality which was undergoing such material changes must greatly in-
crease the difficulty of making a successful removal. . A sale was therefore
made of the Twenty-third Street property in the year 1869; these lots
were purchased, and the laying of the foundation was very soon begun/
This Corner-stone is laid on the 23d day of May, 1870, the following
ministers having engaged to take part in the service:
REV. ISAAC FERRIS, D.D., of the Reformed Church, Chancellor of
the New York University.
REV. JOHN COTTON SMITH, D.D., of the Protestant Episcopal
Church.
REV. JOHN HALL, D.D., of the Presbyterian Church.
REV. H. B. RIDGAWAY, D.D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
REV. E. P. ROGERS, D.D., and REV. T. W. CHAMBERS, D.D., of
the Reformed Church.
The absence of the venerable DR. THOMAS DEWITT from the city
prevents the laying of the comer stone by his hands.
The following are the names of the Consistory at this time:
Rev. H. D. Ganse, Pastor and President.
Elders David Quackenbush,
George B. Farrar,
John F. Van Wagenen,
F. Hughson,
Cornelius T. Williamson.
Deacons James W. Gillies,
Wm. H. Jackson,
Theo. A. Brouwer, Clerk,
Daniel Hoffman,
John H. Quackenbush.
The following are the names of the Building Committee:
Wm. H. Jackson, Chairman,
J. W. Gillies,
John H. Quackenbush,
John A. Hardenbergh,
Charles Johnson,
Edw. Satterlee.”
The recital having been read, Mr. Ganse proceeded:7
I have just read to you the name of Eev. Dr. Hall,
who hoped to be present here to-day, and accordingly
suffered me to announce his name. But I was sorry to
receive, yesterday, the following sufficient explanation
of his absence:
Saturday Night.
My Bear Brother:
I mentioned to you that I was at the disposal of our Temperance
friends, if they held a meeting in Philadelphia, and that my being with
you or not, must be subject to their action. I have a telegram from Mr.
Dodge, imperatively requiring me for Monday evening. I am sorry not
to be with you, for my own sake. I cordially wish you conspicuous suc-
cess in the undertaking you now commence. I trust and believe it will
be for the extension of the truth, and it requires no u organic union ” to
enable us as Presbyterians to rejoice in the progress of the Reformed
Church, as we should in our own.
May the Divine favor attend you and your people through every stage
of this enterprise.
Believe me, my dear brother, with cordial esteem,
Affectionately yours,
J. HALL.
I have also a note* from Eev. Dr. DeWitt, and I will
detain you a moment longer while I read it:
New York, May 9, 1870.
Rev. H. D. Ganse :
Bea/r Brother—I thank you most sincerely for your kindness in inviting
me to lay the corner-stone of your new Church edifice, but circumstances
forbid my acceptance. I leave, to-morrow morning, for Philadelphia, and
will be absent two or three weeks. I congratulate you on the happy
auspices which rest on your enterprise. I have always thought that the
laying of the corner-stone is appropriate to the pastor of the Church.
May the Divine blessing rest upon you and yours.
Yours, in Christian bonds,
THOMAS DEWITT.
I venture so far to differ with my venerable father as
to believe that, since it was impossible that he should
lay this stone, no other hands were fit for that office
* A note from Dr. Rogers, not then received, will be found on a later page.8
but those of Rev. Dr. Ferris, who, in early life, was a
member of this Church and of its Sabbath school, and
who, in affection and sympathy, has been identified with
us ever since.
PRAYER
was then offered by Rev. Dr. Chambers.
Rev. Mr. Gajtse.—To the few words which I have
already spoken, I will add only these: The Church
which—if God prosper our undertaking—is to be here
established, is an offshoot of the first Church established
on this island. Our denomination has, until recently,
been known as the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church.
It began almost with the first Trading-Post at Fort
Orange and New Amsterdam. We have good reason to
believe that, even before the landing of the Pilgrim
Fathers,* men here lifted up holy hands, and wor-
shiped God in the language which they had brought
with them from the Netherlands. We count ourselves,
therefore, no strangers on this soil; yet, we arro-
gate nothing to ourselves from this fact. We claim
to be a Church of the largest catholic spirit—friendly
with all. In the colonial days we exchanged courtesies
and kindness with the Church of England; and, from
that time to this, we have extended cordial Christian
greetings and co-operation to every denomination of
Christians who love our Lord Jesus Christ, and hope
for salvation through His grace. It is, therefore, a
matter of great joy to me, to find myself surrounded
to-day by ministers of so many of these sister Churches;
and I will call on Rev. Dr. Ridgaway, of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, now to address you.
* “ Documents of a private nature render it certain that a considerable church
was organized in that city (New Amsterdam) as early as 1619.”—MS. of Dr.
Livingston, quoted in his Memoirs by Dr. Gunn, p. 79.9
ADDRESS OF REV. H. B. RIDGAWAY, D. D.
Respected Christian Friends : I am most happy
to be with you on this occasion, at the solicitation of
your beloved pastor, a man whom I esteem it an honor
to call my friend. As he was speaking, and recalled the
fact that this Church, this individual organization, was
an offshoot of the first Reformed Dutch Church in
this city, I could but think of the immense advance that
has been made from the institution of that first Church
up to this time. In conversing with a gentleman, yet
living, and who is, I may say safely, yet in the prime of
life, I was very much entertained in listening to his
recital of scenes which occurred when he was a young
man. He told me of the time when the post-office in
Hew York, was kept on the corner of Wall and William
streets, in a little store; when the whole Southern mail,
that was distributed to the West and the South, was
carried on a man’s shoulder down to Jersey ferry, and
ferried across by him, and sent by a stage coach on its
way. As the mail increased, this man was obliged to
get a wheelbarrow to wheel it down to the ferry; and on
and on the progress went, until we have what we now
see from day to day, our immense mails carried in enor-
mous wagons, that go to be distributed through the
South. Then, he said, the cattle could be seen grazing
where now the down-town store of Mr. Stewart rears its
palatial form. The Church from which you sprung, and
perhaps one or two others, were all that were in the
city. And now we have the phenomenon, within a
single generation, of standing here, four miles at least
from that point, and laying the corner-stone of a Re-
formed Church that is to shed the light of religion and
morality, pure and undefiled, through all this vicinage.
When I was asked by your pastor to make a few
remarks, and consented, the next thing for me to ask
myself was,—what shall I say ? I thought of one thing
210
I could say, and that is, that in coming here I could feel,
as a Methodist, that we have at least a common founda-
tion in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Head, and to
whom we all alike hold ; and that I could say, as I stand
here, “ Other foundation can no man lay than that is
laid,” and on this foundation we are prepared to build.
Then I thought, too, of the fact that you not only have
the same great spiritual Head, but have availed your-
selves of the skill of the same architect who has em-
bodied in substantial beauty the structure over which it
is my honor to preside ; and, if Mr. Roberts will do as
clever a thing for you as he has done for the Methodists
on Fourth Avenue, neither you nor the citizens of this
great metropolis will have occasion to blush, when the
eye of the traveler shall turn towards this spot in future
time.
I could not but go back in your history to the old
Dutch Church. As Methodists, we owe a great deal to
the Reformed Church of Holland. James Arminius
was born in the bosom of the Reformed Church, and
from James Arminius, we have derived our theology
in its peculiar statements as divergent from your own.
From him those phases of theological statement to
which I allude, spread to the Church of England, and
from the inpsiration and guidance of those theological
definitions we derived our John Wesley, who, under
God, became the father of Methodism. I love to revert
to this same James Arminius, and to remember that,
while he had occasion to differ from many of his
brethren, in regard to certain theological formulas, he
was imbued with the real spirit and power of godliness,
and possessed not only a beautiful and symmetrical
Christian character, but the broadest catholic spirit.
He was the man who, perhaps, more than any other,
inspired the celebrated Barneveldt with those, great
and comprehensive views he entertained touching Chris-
tian toleration. Those of you, who have pored over the
enchanted pages of Motley, will remember that when11
the Dutch mariners were struggling in the frozen re-
gions of the northern zone, to gain a pass around Norway
to the Indies, they were confined in the ice, winter after
winter. They wished there to make observations of the
sun. Their preparations were formed, and, according
to their almanacs, they intended to resort to the chosen
spot to note the moment of the rising of the sun; but,
long before the precise time came, the rays of light
began to burst over them. The sun had risen before the
calculations of their almanacs allowed it. And so the
Prince of Orange, Barneveldt and Arminius, caught
the bright rays of Christian liberty as they were shooting
athwart the heavens, long before the Christian world
around them knew it—long before the theological and
ecclesiastical calendar allowed it. Blessed be God, from
that day to this, the light has been streaming on ; and
this beautiful fraternization to-day is but an exemplifi-
cation of the liberty of conscience, the toleration of
religious ideas and opinions which then was bom.
I congratulate you then, and your pastor, on this
auspicious occasion. I wish, sometimes, I was a settled
pastor, and could have the privilege of gathering around
me a flock under such surroundings as these. But I am
a Methodist, and a Methodist I must remain. James
Hamilton, of London, whose biography we have just
seen, written so beautifully by Dr. Arnot, said, play-
fully, on one occasion, “ This Methodism is a Church on
wheels,” in allusion to our itinerancy. Let it be so.
Thank God, this Methodist Church moves; it is running
hither and thither over the land, spreading the gospel
among all classes, always glad to meet, on the corner, or
the middle of the block, in the village, in the wilder-
ness, anywhere, with the fraternizing brethren of the
Reformed Church. While to you the settled pastorate
may be the strong, luxuriant, fruitful tree, that shakes
from its branches the luscious fruit into your laps to
give you life, the Methodist itinerancy may be called
the clouds that go round and round the continent, scat-12
tering the fertilizing showers everywhere, for the re-
freshment of the nation and the refreshment of the
Churches. Then, as we stand here to-day, we will not
envy each other ; but if, as we pass over the thirsty
land, a few of the drops come from the clouds of our
itinerancy, to fertilize your beautiful stationary tree,
let it be so; and if we can have the opportunity occa-
sionally to gather up a few of the precious fruits of
your ministry, let it be so.
I believe, as we here mingle together to-day, we
shall mingle in the skies. There will be Reformed
Dutch in heaven; and I believe there will be Methodists
—and I have good authority for it. I will tell you a
little story. Down in Pennsylvania, on one occasion, at
a camp-meeting, there was a Dutchman sitting in the
congregation who never believed there could be any
good in the Methodists. But the brother had occasion
to preach from the Book of Revelations, and he was
reading the description of the new heaven; and he read
about the foundation: the topaz and the chrysoprasus,
and finally, the amethyst; and the Dutchman went home
and told his wife that it was all right, that the minister
had read about heaven, and there was A Meth-y-st
there. (Laughter.)
So, brethren, the Methodists congratulate you on
this happy occasion, as we hope to congratulate you on
that other and sweeter occasion when, united forever in
the living Head, we shall bask in the full fruition of the
triune God.
ADDRESS OF REY. DR. FERRIS.
We have different feelings to-day, my friends, as
different considerations have brought us together.
Mine are peculiar. The probability is that there is but
one man present who feels precisely the interest that I
do on this occasion, and that is my excellent friend
Samuel Delamater. I belong to this Church. I am one13
of the boys of this Church.. When I was a little snip of
ten years of age, I ran over the timbers when they were
hewn for the first edifice ; and when I had reached nine-
teen years of age, I made a profession of religion in
this Church. And next Sabbath day will be the fiftieth
anniversary of my first sermon in the Church or to the
organization. Naturally I feel a very strong attach-
ment to this flock, and a very great interest on this
occasion.
Eeference has been made to the fact that there were
open fields in the region of the Twenty-third Street
erection. In my boyish days, when this first Church on
Sugarloaf Street was erected, there were fields on every
side, and open lots, where we boys skated to our hearts’
content every winter; and all the indications of an out-
side population. It is true very soon the ground was
covered ; just as it will be here. Three years from this
time, where will you find a vacancy around this build-
ing ? And I rejoice to see indications to-day that the
filling in will be of the most substantial and desirable
character.
I was a little disappointed that the historical recital
of Brother Ganse was not more full, though perhaps he
reserved the statement of certain things which I had
anticipated to another occasion more befitting, perhaps,
in his view, when the house now in process of erection
shall be dedicated.
This Church, let me say to you, and I say it with a
heart full of gladness, has a blessed history. One of
the most remarkable revivals of religion on the record
of the Churches in the city of New York, occurred in
the bosom of, and in connection with, the Northwest
Beformed Church. That excellent man, Dr. Scuddeb,
was a member of that Church. Back in 1815 or 1816, he
had a Bible-class of young ladies, which he met weekly
in the house of Mrs. Leggett, just in the neighborhood.
There God was pleased to pour out His Spirit on those
young ladies. They carried the interest and feeling into14
their families, and it pervaded that entire section of the
city; and the good work resulted in bringing some 300
into the fold of Christ—the blessed reward of the labors
of the Rev. Christian Bore, the first pastor of the
Church, and of the labors of that distinguished brother,
Dr. John Scudder, afterwards our missionary to India.
Then onward, in the time of the excellent George
Dubois, who succeeded him, there.was a blessed out-
pouring of the Spirit. I do not recollect how many,
but a large number were added to the fellowship of the
Church. In Dr. Hardenbergh’s day, who soon after
succeeded, there was an accession of some 300, I think,
as was mentioned on his funeral occasion. So that,
onward and onward, God has smiled on this Church.
The necessities of the case pressed them outward to
a new position; and now they have been compelled
to remove again, but with all the encouragements of
the past to animate them, and with all the assur-
ances that grow out of evidence so abundant that God
is in the midst of them. This is a great day for you,
my dear friends; a blessed day for me, interested as
I am, and identified with this matter so tenderly. I
trust that a gracious Providence will bring this great
house to its completion, and that you and I may be
permitted to worship here gladly for days and years to
come.
Rev. Mr. Ganse.—I have now the pleasure of intro-
ducing to the congregation Rev. John Cotton Smith,
• D.D., of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
ADDRESS OE REV. JOHN COTTON SMITH, D. D.
Christian Eriends : This occasion would not be one
in which the Dutch element is prominent, were there not
claims made, in behalf of that nationality, to pretty
much all the excellence and glory which has fallen to15
the lot of mankind. It has been claimed that one of
the Eoman Emperors was born in the Netherlands, that
the Dutch discovered the North Pole, that the Garden
of Eden was in the Low Countries, and that Adam
therefore was the first Dutchman. Every invention in
the arts, and every discovery in science ; every grace in
literature, and every speculation in philosophy; every
new recognition of human rights, and every step in
human progress, have had their germ and motive power
in the Dutch mind.
The grand difficulty in this matter to those who are
not so fortunate as to have been bom Dutchmen is, that
these claims, or, at least, some of them, are by no means
destitute of foundation. It would not become us, or
those of us, at least, who come of Pilgrim or Puritan
stock, to forget our immense indebtedness to the Dutch.
If we go back to a remote and obscure period of history
in the earlier centuries of the Christian era, we find a
colony from the Netherlands establishing itself in the
southeastern portion of England, on the sea Coast—
subject, like the coast in their native land, to the
supremacy of the waves. Their principal town was
Boston, or Botolph’s Town—the town of Botolph, the
Dutch saint. Prom this colony sprang successive
generations of men, who resisted oppression and fos-
tered the spirit of liberty. That portion of England
was the last to submit to the restoration of the Stuarts,
and the first to welcome William, Prince of Orange.
It was in Boston that the grandest parish church in
England rang for so many years with the protests of
John Cotton against ecclesiastical oppression. And
when at last nonconformity in the Church was crushed
by the iron heel of a merciless tyranny, anew emigra-
tion took place, and a new Boston—its name still recall-
ing the old Dutch saint—arose upon this side of the
waters. Nor would we fail to remember with gratitude
the home which the Pilgrims found in Holland before
they ventured upon that perilous voyage which brought16
them to Plymouth Rock. Truly the Dutch-Land has
been incunabula gentium, the cradle of nations.
It is with great satisfaction, therefore, that I am
present on the occasion of the laying of the corner-stone
of a Church, so associated in its ecclesiastical relations
with the Dutch settlement of New York.
There is another reason why I am glad to be here.
This congregation, so far, seems to have solved success-
fully one of the most difficult problems which presents
itself to the Church in New York. Owing to the form
of the island on which our city is situated, the move-
ment of population under the encroachments of business
has been in one direction, and portions of the city form-
erly densely inhabited are thus rapidly given up to
warehouses and stores. Under this process, Churches
come to be destitute of congregations. What shall be
done in view of these inevitable tendencies? This is a
question that should excite the deepest interest in the
minds of our Christian men. Evidently the best thing
to be done is for the congregation, as it removes, to
build a new place of worship, retaining its connection
with the old, and providing for its continued support.
But it is rarely, if ever, that a congregation shows itself
to be thus sagacious and liberal. I do not recall an
instance in which a congregation in the upper part of
the city has retained its down town Church, and sup-
ported its services. What is the next best thing ? If
the down town Church is to be abandoned, then the only
question is as to the time when it shall be done. It
must not be until circumstances render it necessary; but
those circumstances have arrived when debt is accumu-
lating, and the congregation gradually dwindling away.
The difficulties, however, in the way of taking this step
are very great. Y ou, my friends, seem to have success-
fully overcome them, and I congratulate you and my
dear brother, your pastor, upon the prospect of seeing
around him in the beautiful edifice which you are about
to erect, the beloved faces that he gazed upon in your17
former sanctuary. You have effected your removal
before the time of disintegration came, and while still
strong enough to take at once a position among our
most able and influential Churches.
Without detaining you longer from the speeches of
the distinguished gentlemen who are to follow, suffer
me, then, representatives of the country of James
Arminius, and theological disciples of John Calvin, in
the spirit of true catholicity, to wish you God-speed in
your work.
Mr. Ganse then introduced Eev. Dr. S. Irenasus
Prime, who, in the absence of Dr. Hall, had, though
without previous notice, kindly consented to represent
the Presbyterian Church.
ADDRESS OF REV. S. IREN.EUS PRIME, D.D.
If it were ever worth while to make an apology, it
might be proper now. But embarrassing as it is to me,
and disappointing as it is to you to have such a humble
representative of the Presbyterian Church after such’
great expectations as you have had, I shall still make no
apology. No; I am glad to be here. I am glad that
Brother Ganse has asked me to speak, and in the ab-
sence of him who was expected to address you, to bring
to you the congratulations of the Presbyterian Church
of the city of New York.
Yet, why should he go out to the Presbyterian
Church, or suppose he was going out to the Presbyterian
Church to find a speaker ?• What is he, and what are
you, but Presbyterians, one with us? There is only a
little difference in the name—that is in the Christian
name; the surname is the same. We are one now. We
expect to be one all the way along in this world, and one
in the Kingdom of Glory.
In that great upper sanctuary, all those names by
which we have to be distinguished, just as we must be
distinguished by our names in our pursuits in life, shall
818
be lost forever, while we worship and adore as Christians
saved by grace in the Kingdom of God.
Now, what are we going to build this Church here
for ? Is it only to come into for the worship of God ?
A simple wooden structure that would protect us from
the elements, and that would cost but a few hundred
dollars, might answer that purpose. Is that all ? No.
This Church, built upon the strong foundations which
have here been laid, this Church with its arches and its
towers, is to be an expression, itself an act of wor-
ship, an offering which you bring, and here dedicate to
the living God.
Here this edifice shall stand a witness for God that
this world is not our home. The rail-cars with their
trade and travel go screeching yonder, while this house,
silent, solemn, and sublime, stands pointing upwards and
saying to all passers by, “Lay not up for yourselves
treasures on earth; but lay them up in heaven.” Fash-
ion rolls in its gay trappings before it, and enters the
gates of the Central Park; while this house, in its
majestic loveliness, the Church which is the bride, the
Lamb’s wife, speaks to the soul, and saith, “ The fashion
of this world passeth away: but the redeemed are
clothed in white raiment, and through gates of pearl
shall enter the celestial city.”
It was one of the most eloquent of British statesmen
who said—and I have often thought of it, as I have con-
templated the abounding wickedness of this great city—
who said to the city of London, that long since would it
have shared the fate of Sodom and Gomorrha, had it
not been for those hundreds of spires that pierced the
heavens, and conducted off the lightning of God. So
these spires, these towers, are witnesses continually in
the face of the world, that we worship and adore the
living God; that this is a Christian city, and we are
Christian worshipers.
I look forward to the time, long before all of us are
in heaven—I think there are children here to-day who19
will live to see the time—when there shall be such a
union of the Protestant Christians of this city that our
present distinctions shall be merely nominal, when we
shall be bound so closely together by community of
Christian interests and love, that this city will be dis-
tricted, and evangelical Christianity shall possess it in
common, and every region of it shall be brought under
the power of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I bring you then, my Christian friends, the congratu-
lations, and also the best wishes of the Presbyterian
Church of this city, for your prosperity in all that con-
stitutes the success and greatness and glory of a Christ-
ian Church.
THE CORNER-STONE
was then laid. It contained the Constitution of the
Reformed Church in America; the Minutes of the Gen-
eral Synod of the Reformed Church in America, for the
year 1869; the Hymn Book in common use, adopted
1846; the “ Hymns of the Church,” adopted 1869; the
Recital given above, and current copies of the following
newspapers: New York Times, New York World, New
York Tribune, New York Sun, New York Herald, Christian
InteMgenoer, Observer, Evangelist, Sower and Gospel Field,
Sunday School Workman.
Rev. Db. Eeeeis, in laying the Stone, said: I lay
this Corner-Stone in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, the one living and true
God; and may his blessing abide with his people, and
bring them great prosperity in this sanctuary, and prepa-
ration for an eternal blessing in heaven. Amen.
The Congregation united in singing the Doxology;
after which
Dr. Febbis pronounced the Benediction.LETTERS
NOTE FROM REV. DR. ROGERS.
New York, May 28, 1870.
Bey. H. D. Ganse :
My Dear Brother—I regret extremely that I am Providentially pre-
vented from being present, and taking my promised part in the exercises
at the laying of the Corner-Stone of your new Church. Let me assure you
and your people of my hearty good wishes for the entire success of your
pious undertaking. As our city is growing rapidly in that direction, you
have been wise in your selection of a site for your new building, which I
trust will exceed the former house in the true glory of a Christian sanctu-
ary. Above all the edifices for domestic, or social, or commercial, or
legislative purposes, the sanctuary of God must rank first in interest and
importance to all the highest welfare of society. No building can com-
pare with it as an agent of civilization, education, public order, general
morality, and spiritual culture. u Built on the foundation of the Apostles
and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone,” may
your new Church rise in beauty and symmetry; gather within its walls a
large number of renewed souls, every one of which shall be “ a living
temple,” and long remain a benediction to our city, and a fountain whence
shall flow streams of the water of life for generations of thirsty souls.
Fraternally yours,
E. P. KOGEKS.21
REV. MR. GANSE TO DR. CHAMBERS.
Dear Brother Chambers:
I was very sorry at the time that you did not yield to my request, and
add to the petitions which you made for my new Church, a “ word of
exhortation ” to the audience. Unless I misunderstood a remark which
you made after the service was over, you yourself almost regretted your
self-imposed silence. I am now glad to say that it is not quite too late to
hear from you, for we are preparing to print an account of the day’s
services. Will you not therefore do me the favor to put in my hands, on
paper, the substance of what you would have said if you had spoken
as I requested ?
Yours very truly,
H. D. GANSE.
May 28£ft, 1870.
DR. CHAMBERS’ REPLY.
Dear Brother:
I very gladly comply with your request.
It would have given me pleasure on the day the Corner-Stone was laid
to tender to you and your people congratulations on the part of the old
mother Church of which I am one of the pastors, but still more to ac-
knowledge and commend the wisdom displayed in the time and manner
of your removal from 23rd Street. It is not uncommon to hear harsh, not
to say uncharitable opinions expressed concerning those who take a
Church from the midst of a population declining in members, character,
and means, and transfer it to a more promising site. They are condemned
as wickedly depriving many families of their only convenient means of
grace, and this because of what is not the fault of the families they leave,
but their misfortune, viz., their poverty.
I have no sympathy with this spirit. Living, vigorous, useful Churches
must follow the course of population. If they allow the people who can
support them, to drift away, there ensues such a decline in members,
strength, spirit, and enterprise, that the Church cannot do its appropriate
work, and tends steadily and inevitably to death. Then, its means hav-
ing been consumed in the vain effort to achieve an impossibility, there is
nothing left—nothing but a memory. If, on the contrary, its rulers, remem-
bering that we are not called to make bricks without straw, use due care
and precaution, and as soon as they find the fact of a decline established,
take measures to remove without needless delay to a more eligible place,
they are doing a good thing not only for themselves and their particular
enterprise, but for the denomination to which they belong, and the22
general interests of Christ’s Kingdom, They preserve a historic name.
How could you afford to lose the memorials of Bork and Hardenbergh,
not to speak of others ? They renew the life of an organization. They widen
and perpetuate its usefulness. They are able to do more for the spiritual
welfare of the very region from the midst of which they removed, than
they could have done, had they remained there.
During my twenty years ministry here, I have seen many removals of
Churches from “ down town,” but I cannot recall one which did not
spring from good motives, and a sound judgment. If ever failure occurred,
it was from too long delaying the measure, or from extrinsic causes;
and even then, it only anticipated what was in any event inevitable with-
out a change. But failure is not a pleasant word to use in even a remote
connection with the old North-west Church, and I at once renounce it.
You have veered a little by the compass, but it is towards the sun rising,
and I trust the augury will be fulfilled in the completion of a solid and
tasteful edifice, and the gathering of a people worthy to inherit the name
of those who in their day did such a good work for Christ and the world.
You may meet some difficulties which may try your faith, and that of
your co-adjutors; but all good, lasting work in this world requires toil and
sacrifice, and what nobler enterprise is there than the founding of a per-
manent center of spiritual light and truth in the influential portion of this
great city ?
With all my heart I wish you God-speed.
TALBOT W. CHAMBERS.
May 81, 1870.DESCRIPTION OF THE EDIFICE.
It is to be built of Ohio (Amherst) stone, in Romanesque style, The
outside dimensions of the Church, including tower and extreme buttresses,
are 82 feet by 121. To this length, the lecture room, to be erected in the
rear, will add 32 feet. The spire will be 188 feet high.
The main audience-room will be, on the floor, 67 feet by 82£. The
transept adds to this width 2 feet on each side, making a width of 71
feet. Above the gallery, the extreme inside length will be 111 feet.
There will be 156 pews on the floor, which will seat an average of 5
persons each. The gallery, which is low and level, will contain 42 pews,
of which 26 will be large and square, and seated with chairs. The whole
gallery, when fully used, will seat more than 300 persons.
The ceiling will be groined, resting on columns, with a clere-story.
The columns will be very near the side walls, and will interfere but little
with the view of the pulpit. The side walls and ceiling will be tinted in
modest colors. The inside finish will be of black-walnut.
An organ of ample power and variety is building by Mr. L. U. Stuart,
and will be placed in arches behind the pulpit.
The Church will be ventilated after the patented system of the archi-
tect, Mr. Roberts, which, without any sensible draught, will change the
atmosphere of the room at the rate of from 5 to 7 thousand feet per
minute.
It has been the aim of the Consistory and the Building Committee to
secure, at reasonable expense, a structure substantial and graceful, that
should be an ornament to the neighborhood in which it is placed; and an
interior free from all false or excessive ornament, but roomy, airy, and
cheerful, and fitted to the simple and serious worship of the Reformed
Church.TABLETS
will be placed on either side of the pulpit in memory of Rev. Christian
Bore: and Rev. James B. Hardenbergh, D.D., the two pastors who, for
the length and usefulness of their service, are most identified with the
history of the Church.