In some respects New York may be called "the City of Churches." It
contains 430 Protestant churches and chapels, with "sittings" for nearly
400,000 persons. Exclusive of endowments, the church property of the
Protestant denominations is estimated at over $30,000,000. The annual
expenses of these churches make an aggregate of about $1,500,000, and
they pay out in charities about $5,000,000 more. The Roman Catholics
have forty churches, each with a large and rapidly increasing
congregation. Their church property is estimated at about $4,000,000,
and their other property used for religious and educational purposes is
exceedingly valuable. The Greek Church has one congregation, now
worshipping in a temporary chapel. The Jews have twenty-seven
synagogues, some of which are very handsome. In all, there are nearly
500 edifices in New York used for the public worship of God.
The first churches built in the city were those of the Dutch. Their
church records are uninterrupted as far back as the year 1639. Their
successors are now known as the Reformed Dutch, and are now in possession
of twenty-five churches and chapels in the city. Some of these are very
handsome. The new Collegiate Church, at the northwest corner of the
Fifth avenue and Forty-eighth street, is to be built of brown stone, with
light stone trimmings. It is nearly completed, and when finished will be
one of the most massive and imposing church edifices in America.
The Protestant Episcopal Church was introduced into the city at the
advent of the English. The conquerors seized and appropriated to their
own use the old Dutch Church in the fort, and introduced the service of
the Church of England, which was continued there until the completion of
the first Trinity Church in 1697. This denomination now possesses
ninety-four churches and chapels in the city, and a number of benevolent
and charitable institutions. Its churches outnumber those of any other
denomination, and its membership is the wealthiest. The General
Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church is located in New
York. Trinity, mentioned elsewhere in this work, is the principal
church. Grace, St. Thomas's, St. George's, Ascension, Calvary, the new
St. Bartholomew's, St. John's, Trinity Chapel, St. Paul's, St. Peter's,
the Transfiguration, and the Heavenly Rest, are among the most beautiful
in the city.
The Lutherans were the third in the order of their appearance in New
York. They were to be found here before the capture of the city by the
English, but their first church was not erected until 1702. It was a
small stone edifice, and was located at the corner of Broadway and Rector
street. They have now fifteen flourishing churches, and are very strong
in members and wealth.
The Presbyterians now constitute one of the largest and most flourishing
denominations of the city. Owing to the intolerance of the Established
Church and the Civil Government, they had considerable difficulty in
introducing their faith here. They at first met in private houses. In
1707, one of their ministers was heavily fined, and condemned to pay the
costs of the suit for preaching and baptizing a child in a private house.
In 1716 they organized their first society, and connected it with the
Philadelphia Presbytery. The city authorities now granted them
toleration, and allowed them to worship in the City Hall until 1719. In
the latter year they opened their first church in Wall street, near
Broadway. The Presbyterian churches and mission chapels of New York are
now as follows: Presbyterian proper, 70; United Presbyterian, 8; Reformed
Presbyterian, 7; Congregationalists, 9; making a total of 94. The
denomination is extremely wealthy, and many of its churches are noted for
their beauty and magnificence. The Presbyterians also support a number
of noble benevolent and charitable enterprises.
The Baptists, like the Presbyterians, had considerable difficulty in
establishing themselves here. In 1709, a Baptist minister was sentenced
to three months' imprisonment for preaching in New York without the
permission of the city authorities. For some time the Baptists were
subjected to considerable hostility, and were often obliged to immerse
their proselytes by night to avoid interruption. Their first church was
erected on Golden Hill, now known as Gold street, about 1725. The
various branches of this denomination have now about fifty churches and
chapels in the city. The First and the Fifth Avenue Churches are among
the wealthiest corporations in the city, and their sacred edifices are
noted for their beauty and elegance.
The Methodists appeared here soon after their church had become strong in
Great Britain. In 1766, Philip Embury, an Irishman, and a local preacher
in the Wesleyan Church, began to hold religious services in his own
house, in Barrack Row, now Park Place, to a congregation of half a dozen
persons. The church growing greatly in numbers, a large room was rented
for public worship on what is now William street, between Fulton and John
streets, and was used by them until the completion of their first church
in John street, in 1768. The Methodists now have sixty churches and
chapels in the city. They claim a membership of 13,000, and estimate the
value of their church property at over $2,000,000. Some of their
churches are very handsome. St. Paul's, at the northeast corner of
Fourth avenue and Twenty-second street, is a beautiful structure. It is
built of white marble, in the Romanesque style. The Rectory, adjoining
it, is of the same material. It is the gift of Daniel Drew to the
congregation. The spire is 210 feet high, and the church will seat 1300
persons.
The Jews are said to have come into New York with its early settlers, and
there seems to be good authority for this statement. Finding tolerance
and protection here, they have increased and multiplied rapidly, and are
now very numerous. They are immensely wealthy as a class, and make a
liberal provision for the unfortunate of their own creed. They have
twenty-seven synagogues, several of which are among the most prominent
buildings in the city. The Temple Emanuel, Fifth avenue and Forty-third
street, is one of the costliest and most beautiful religious edifices in
America. It is built of a light colored stone, with an elaborately
carved front, and from the north and south ends rise slender and graceful
towers, which give an air of lightness to the whole structure. The
Temple is said to have cost, including the site, about one million of
dollars.
The Roman Catholics are, in point of numbers, one of the strongest, if
not the strongest denomination in the city. In the early history of the
colony a law was enacted which required that every Roman Catholic priest
who should come into the city of his own free will, should be hanged
forthwith. This barbarous statute was never put in force, and one cannot
help smiling to think how times have changed since then for the people of
the Roman faith. Their first church occupied the site of the present St.
Peter's, in Barclay street, and was built in 1786. In 1815, they were
strong enough to erect St. Patrick's Cathedral, on the corner of Mott and
Prince streets. They have now forty churches in the city, and own a vast
amount of real estate. The city authorities, being frequently of this
faith, have made liberal grants to their church, and in this way have
excited no little hostility on the part of the Protestant churches, who
are, as a rule, opposed to secular grants to religious denominations.
The Roman Catholics of New York consist principally of the poorer
classes, though the church contains a large body of cultivated and
wealthy people. Still its strength is among the poor. Consequently the
majority of its churches are located in the meaner quarters of the city,
so that they may be convenient to those to whose spiritual wants they
minister. The attendance upon these churches is immense. The pastor of
a church in the Fourth Ward once said to the writer that he had 25,000
persons of all ages and both sexes under his pastoral care, and that
nearly all of them were very poor. His labors were arduous, and they
were well performed.
Some of the Roman Catholic churches, on the other hand, are located in
the most desirable portions of the city, and are extremely handsome
within, even if plain without. St. Stephen's, on Twenty-eighth street,
between Third and Lexington avenues, is an unattractive brick structure
extending through to Twenty-ninth street. The interior is very large and
very beautiful. The altar is of pure white marble, and its adornments
are of the richest description. The church is decorated with a series of
excellent fresco paintings of a devotional character. The altar piece,
representing The Crucifixion, is a magnificent work. The music is
perhaps the best in the city. The church will seat nearly 4000 people,
and is usually crowded.
The new St. Patrick's Cathedral, now in course of erection, will be the
most elaborate church edifice in the Union. It covers the entire block
bounded by Fifth and Madison avenues, and Fiftieth and Fifty-first
streets, fronting on Fifth avenue. The corner stone was laid by
Archbishop Hughes in 1858, and the work has been in progress, with some
interruptions, ever since. Archbishop McCloskey has for several years
past been pushing the work forward with steadfastness, and it is believed
that a few years more will witness its completion.
The site of the church is very fine. It is the most elevated spot on
Fifth avenue. The length of the building will be 332 feet; breadth of
the nave and choir, 132 feet; breadth at the transepts, 174 feet. The
foundations rest upon a stratum of solid rock. The first course is of
Maine granite, the material used in the Treasury Building at Washington.
The upper portions of this course are neatly dressed with the chisel.
The remainder of the church is to be constructed of white marble, from
the Pleasantville quarries, in Westchester county. The crystalline
character of this stone produces very beautiful effects in those portions
which are most elaborately worked. The style of the edifice is the
"decorated Gothic," which was most popular in Europe between the ninth
and fifteenth centuries.
[Picture: THE NEW ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL.]
The design would seem to be modelled after the famous Cathedral of
Cologne, the most beautiful specimen of this order of architecture. The
Fifth avenue front will be exceedingly beautiful. The carvings and
statuary for its ornament are genuine works of art, and this portion of
the building will be equal to anything in the world. The central gable
will be 156 feet high. On each side of it will rise towers which are to
reach a height of 328 feet from the ground, counting from the summit of
the cross on each. These towers are to be square in form to a point 136
feet above the ground. They are then to rise in octagonal lanterns 54
feet high, above which are to soar magnificent spires to a further
elevation of 138 feet. The towers and spires are to be adorned with
buttresses, niches filled with statues, and pinnacles, which will have
the effect of concealing the change from the square to the octagon. The
cost of the church is estimated at over two millions of dollars.
The Unitarians made their appearance in the city in 1819, and have now
five churches. One of these, the Church of the Messiah, Park avenue and
Thirty-fourth street, is very handsome.
The Friends, or Quakers, opened their first meeting-house in 1703, and
now have five places of worship, and own considerable property in the
city.
All the denominations are actively engaged in missionary work. They have
mission houses and chapels and schools in the worst quarters of the city,
which are doing a noble work, and support them liberally.
The majority of the city churches are above Canal street. In some
localities, especially on the fashionable streets, they crowd each other
too greatly. A few are very wealthy, but the majority are compelled to
struggle to get along. Pew rent is very high in New York, and only
persons in good circumstances can have pews in a thriving church. In a
fashionable church large sums are paid for pews.
The New Yorkers can hardly be said to be a church-going people. The
morning services are usually well attended, but the afternoon and evening
services show a "beggarly array of empty benches." It is astonishing to
see the widespread carelessness which prevails here on the subject of
church-going. There are thousands of respectable people in the great
city who never see the inside of a church, unless drawn there by some
special attraction. The support of the churches, therefore, falls on
comparatively a few. These give liberally, and it may be doubted whether
any other band of Christians are more munificent in their offerings.
The distinctions which govern the world prevail in the city churches.
Fashion and wealth rule here with an iron hand. The fashionable
churches, with the exception of Grace Church, are now located high up
town. They are large and handsome, and the congregations are wealthy and
exclusive. Forms are rigidly insisted upon, and the reputation of the
church for exclusiveness is so well known that those in the humbler walks
of life shrink from entering its doors. They feel that they would not be
welcome, that the congregation would consider them hardly fit to address
their prayers to the Great White Throne from so exclusive a place. The
widow's mite would cause the warden's face to wear a well-bred look of
pitying amazement if laid in the midst of the crisp bank notes of the
collection; and Lazarus would lie a long time at the doors of some of
these churches, unless the police should remove him.
Riches and magnificence are seen on every side. The music is divine, and
is rendered by a select choir of professional singers. The service is
performed to perfection. The sermon is short and very pretty, and the
congregation roll away in their carriages, or stroll along the avenue,
well satisfied that they are in the "narrow way," which the Master once
declared to be so difficult to the feet of the rich man. But that was
eighteen hundred years ago, and the world has grown wiser in its own
estimation.