first opened for public worship, after being repaired, on the 27th of June, 1784, when the Doctor delivered a sermon on Psalm 122. 1. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord.

As long as the congregation continued to meet in churches belonging to another denomination, it was not easy to draw the line between stated and occasional worshippers. The opening of the Brick church furnished the first opportunity of drawing this line, and of determining the real strength of the congregation. The result was more favourable than could have been expected. It soon became apparent that the demand for pews could not be supplied, and that another church was indispensable for the accommodation of the people. It was resolved, therefore, as soon as the necessary funds could be procured, to undertake the repairing of the church in Wall-street.

The reverend Mr. Treat did not return to the city after the close of the war. Some considerations of a personal nature induced him to remain in the country until the summer of the year 1784, when, on the first day of July, the congregation

66

assembled, and among other resolutions, unanimously adopted the following" Resolved, that "this congregation can support but one minis"ter.-Resolved, that the reverend Doctor Rodgers be that minister.-Resolved, that a "committee he appointed to apply to the mode"rator of the presbytery, and request him to call "a meeting of that body as soon as convenient, "that we may apply, in a regular manner, for a "liberation of this congregation from the rever"end Mr. Treat, as one of our ministers." application to the presbytery was regularly prosecuted, and on the twentieth day of October following, at Elizabeth-Town, the pastoral relation between Mr. Treat and the congregation of New-York was dissolved.

This

In the month of March, 1784, Dr. Rodgers, and such of the elders and deacons as had returned from exile, presented a petition to the Corporation of the city, praying a remission of the arrears of rent, which had accumulated during the war, on the lot upon which the Brick church was erected; and also requesting a reduction of the annual rent of the said lot. prayer of the petition, with respect to both these

The

points, was granted. The back rents, amount

ing to between seven and eight hundred dollars, were all remitted; and the annual rent was reduced from one hundred dollars, to nearly half that sum*.

The Legislature of the State, in their first session after the conclusion of peace, passed an act, entitled, "An Act to enable all the religious ❝ denominations in this state to appoint Trustees, “who shall be a body corporate, for the purpose "of taking care of the temporalities of their res"pective congregations, and for other purposes "therein mentioned." This act, which is dated April 6th, 1784, at once afforded relief from all the vexations and injuries which had been so long sustained, for want of a charter, under the oppressions of the provincial government. In the course of the following month, the Presbyterian congregation met, and became a body corporate, agreeably to the provisions of the act, under the style of "The First Presbyterian Church in the

66

City of New-York." The first Trustees were, Peter Van Brugh Livingston, Joseph Hallet, William Neilson, Daniel Mc Cormick, Daniel Phoenix, Eleazer Miller, Samuel Broome,

* Fifty-three dollars, and twelve and an half cents.

Archibald Currie, and John Mc Kesson. Dr. Rodgers, and the other surviving gentlemen, to whom the Brick church, and the lot on which it stands, had been conveyed, in trust, re-conveyed them to this corporation, soon after it was constituted.

The numerous applications for pews, mentioned in a former page, induced the newlyelected Trustees, with the advice of the other officers and members of the congregation, to hasten the repairing of the Wall-street church. The work was accordingly commenced in the autumn of 1784, and completed, at an expense of between six and seven thousand dollars, in the month of June following*. On the nineteenth day of that month, it was opened for public worship, and a sermon preached by Dr. Rodgers, from Psalm lxxxiv. 1, 2. The pews on the ground floor were all immediately taken, and a number of those in the gallery.

The expense of repairing these churches was

The whole of the interior of the Wall-street church
Nothing but the

had been destroyed during the war.
walls and the roof, or rather the principal timbers of the
roof, were left.

defrayed by subscription. And as this subscription was taken up at a period peculiarly inauspicious for raising money, a more than common share of address, patience, and perseverance, was necessary for prosecuting it with success. Dr. Rodgers, as usual, shrunk from no task that was assigned him. He went from door to door, for a number of weeks, begging for the church; and chiefly to his exertions, under God, may the speedy and happy accomplishment of the undertaking be ascribed.

Toward the close of the year 1784, Mr. James Wilson, a licensed candidate for the gospel ministry, arrived in New-York from Scotland. It was perceived that when the Wall-street church, which was then repairing, should be completed, a second minister would be absolutely necessary for the maintenance of regular service in both churches. Mr. Wilson having preached for several months, on probation, to the acceptance of the people, it was determined to call him to be one of their pastors. This was done, unanimously, on the twenty-ninth day of April, 1785. Mr. Wilson accepted the call, and was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry, and installed collegiate pastor, with Dr. Rodgers, of the United