A Presbyterian Church in New York, and its Pastor--The Abbotts and
their Institution--Union Theological Seminary--Dr. Skinner's
Church--New York University--A threatening "Necessity"--Prejudice
against Colour--A Fact connected with Mr. ------'s Church--Another Fact
in Pennsylvania--State of Public Opinion in New York--An Interview with
Dr. Spring--A Missionary Meeting in Dr. Adams's Church.
In the evening I preached by engagement for the Rev. ------, in the
---- Presbyterian Church. It was pouring with rain, and not more than
150 persons were present. The pastor, who had visited me in a very
fraternal manner, kindly proposed to devote part of the next day to
showing me some of the "lions" of the city. The first place we visited
was Mount Vernon, the institution of the Abbotts. It is a seminary for
young ladies, with 200 pupils. The first of the brothers to whom we
were introduced was John Abbott, the author of "The Mother at Home." He
is apparently 40 years of age. He introduced us to the room of the
senior class, which consisted of 30 or 40 young ladies, from 14 to 25
years of age. They were engaged in a French exercise with Jacob Abbott,
the author of "The Young Christian," "The Corner Stone," "The Way for
a Child," &c., &c. The exercise over, we were introduced to Mr. Jacob
Abbott, and were requested to accompany him to a private sitting-room.
I found him an exceedingly pleasant and unassuming man. He is 43 years
of age, but looks younger. He wrote both "The Young Christian" and "The
Corner Stone" when he was only 25. John is two years younger than
Jacob; Charles, to whom also I was introduced, is younger still; and
Gorham, whom I did not then see, is the youngest of the four. All are
ministers, though not pastors,--all highly intellectual men, and
connected more or less with this seminary, which is one of the best
conducted I have ever seen. The pupils are not boarders, but they pay
from 10_l._ to 15_l._ a year for their tuition alone. I subsequently
made another visit to this institution in company with my wife, upon
whom Mr. Jacob Abbott had very politely called.
Mr. ------ intended to introduce me to Dr. Spring, but he was not at
home. He then took me to the Union Theological Seminary. In that
institution about 120 young men are preparing for the Christian
ministry. The library contains _twenty thousand_ volumes on theology
alone--musty and prosy tomes! What a punishment it would be to be
compelled to wade through the whole! We saw neither professors nor
students. My principal recollection of the place is that of feeling
intensely hungry, and smelling at the same time the roast beef on
which, in some of the lower regions of the buildings, the young divines
were regaling themselves. In vain I wished to join them in that
exercise.
When we came out, my guide proposed to take me to see Dr. Robinson.
Much as I wanted to see the author of the "Greek Lexicon," and the
Traveller in Palestine, there were other claims that then more urgently
pressed themselves. I had breakfasted at 7, and it was now near 1. I
gave my friend a hint to that effect. But he overruled it by saying,
"It is close by, and won't take us many minutes." We went, but the
Doctor was not in. We were now opposite Dr. Skinner's Church, and my
friend insisted on my going to see it. It will hold about 1,000 people.
All the pews are cushioned and lined, and the place has a decided air
of aristocracy about it. The school-room, the lecture-room, the vestry,
&c., were very complete and convenient. "How strange," I observed to my
friend, "that you should so far exceed us in the comfort of your places
of worship, and at the same time be so far behind us in domestic
comforts." "_That_" said he, "was the principle of the Puritans,--the
house of God first, their own after." I ventured to ask him what
salaries ministers in New York generally received. He told me from
1,000 to 4,000 dollars, or from 200_l._ to 800_l._ "My own," he added,
"is 2,000 dollars." We were now not far from the New York University.
"You must go and see that," said he. I went, but saw nothing particular
except the library, empty lecture-rooms, and chapel,--no professors. My
friendly guide pointed to a portrait of Lord Lyndhurst, told me with
evident pride that he was a Yankee, and marvelled at my ignorance of
the fact.
From time to time I had given him hints that I was afraid of being too
late for dinner at my lodgings; and when the sight-seeing was at last
ended, he very coolly and complacently said, "Now, if you really think
you are too late for dinner at your place, I shall be under the
_necessity_ of asking you to go and take a plate with me." Those were
the _ipsissima verba_. I could scarcely keep my gravity; but I replied,
"Thank you, sir; I want to go to the centre of the city, and I can
easily get a dinner at any eating-house." He both nodded and expressed
an entire concurrence, and seemed to think it an _admirable_
arrangement. In parting, he pressed me to preach for him on the
following Thursday, but I declined. The next day I was told, on
unquestionable authority, that two or three years ago one of the elders
of this gentleman's church, meeting a man from South America whom he
took to be a mixture of Spaniard and Indian, requested his company to
church. The stranger assented, and sat with him in his pew. He liked
the service, became interested, and went again and again. At last it
was whispered that he was a "Nigger,"--_i.e._ had a slight mixture of
African blood in him. The next week a meeting of the Session was held,
at which it was unanimously resolved that the intruder's entrance into
the body of the church must be prohibited. Two men were stationed at
the door for that purpose. The stranger came. He was stopped, and told
that he could not be allowed to enter the body of the church, there
being a place up in the gallery for coloured people. The man
remonstrated, and said he had been invited to take a seat in Mr.
So-and-so's pew. "Yes," they replied, "we are aware of that; but public
feeling is against it, and it cannot be allowed." The stranger turned
round, burst into tears, and walked home.
Mr. Johnson, of the _Tribune_, told me that two or three years ago he
and thirty or forty more were returning from an Anti-slavery Convention
held at Harrisburgh in Pennsylvania. They had left by railway for
Philadelphia at 3 o'clock in the morning. At a town called Lancaster
they stopped to breakfast. In the company were two coloured gentlemen,
one of whom was a minister. They all sat down together. Soon the
waiters began to whisper, "A nigger at table!" "There is two!" The
landlord quickly appeared, seized one of the coloured gentlemen by the
shoulder, and asked him how he dared to sit down at table in his house.
The company remonstrated, and assured him that those whose presence
appeared to be so offensive were very respectable men, friends of
theirs, whom they had invited to sit down. It was all in vain. The
landlord would hear nothing; "the niggers must go." "Very well," said
the rest of the company; "then we shall all go." Away they went, and
left the refined landlord to console himself for the loss of a large
party to breakfast. They had to travel all the way to Philadelphia
before they could break their fast.
The same gentleman told me that he believed if a white man of any
standing in society in New York were now to marry a coloured lady,
however intelligent and accomplished, his life would be in danger,--he
would be lynched for having committed such an outrage upon "public
opinion." And yet the boast is ever ringing in our ears, "This is a
free country--every one does as he pleases here!"
On the 24th of March I called upon Dr. Spring. He is an Old School
Presbyterian, and a supporter of the Colonization Society. In the
course of conversation reference was made to State Churches.
_Myself._--"You see, Doctor, State Churches are the curse of the
British Empire, just as slavery is the curse of your country."
_The Doctor._--"Ah! so it is; and yet we can do nothing to remove them.
Here is our slavery,--we can't touch it; and you cannot touch your
Established Church. Do you think you will ever get rid of it?"
_Myself._--"Oh! Yes; I hope so."
_The Doctor._--"But it will be a _very_ long time before it comes to
pass."
_Myself._--"Perhaps not so very long. We are rapidly hastening towards
some great change. The old principle of an Establishment is now being
abandoned by all parties; and we shall soon come either to the pay-all
or to the pay-none principle. I am much afraid it will be the former."
_The Doctor._--"But were it to come to that, and the State would pay
you as well as all the rest, you would have no further ground of
complaint."
_Myself._--"Oh! but we should: we dread that above all other evils. It
will be a dark day for evangelical religion in England, if ever that
principle be adopted."
_The Doctor._--"Why? What harm can it do you to receive the money of
the State, provided it does not infringe upon your liberties?"
_Myself._--"In the first place, it would be a departure from the law of
Jesus Christ, and every departure from his law is sure to be productive
of evil."
_The Doctor._--"Very true. That's a sound principle--that every
departure from his law will be productive of evil; but then, it remains
to be proved that it _is_ a departure from his law. However, I am glad
to see you stick so firmly to your principles."
He then went on to ask if I would preach for him next Sabbath. Now,
whether he was only trying me on those points, or whether he had not
studied the subject, or whether he was anxious to keep me off from the
subject of slavery, I cannot tell. But I came away with my knowledge of
Dr. Spring less than it was when I entered. He seemed like a cold,
stiff, formal State parson.
In the evening I attended a missionary meeting in Dr. Adams's Church.
It was the anniversary of the New York and Brooklyn Auxiliary to the
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and embraced about thirty
churches. I expected great things. When I entered they were singing.
The place was little more than half-full,--say 500 persons. Three
gentlemen were sitting in the pulpit. These were Dr. Adams, Dr. Cox,
and Mr. Storrers. I looked around for the negro pew. There it was on
the left of the organ, and five sable friends in it. The first speaker
was Dr. Adams, who delivered a well-prepared oration of half an hour
long. The Rev. Mr. Storrers, a young man, the pastor of the "Church of
the Pilgrims" in Brooklyn, was the next speaker. His preparation and
delivery were of the same character as those of Dr. Adams. But he
possesses great mental power. He occupied exactly half an hour. Both
speakers complained bitterly of diminished confidence and
contributions. I forget the exact amount announced as the contribution
of this auxiliary; but it was small. Dr. Cox, of Brooklyn, was the
third speaker. He told us that the last meeting he had attended in
England, a few months before, was the missionary meeting in Birmingham.
It was held in the town-hall, a magnificent building, and well filled.
He pronounced an eloquent eulogy on John Angell James. He described the
missionary breakfast in Birmingham; but, in mentioning such a thing as
a "missionary breakfast," he felt it necessary to make some apology. He
assured them it was not attended with the evils they might be apt to
imagine would be inseparably connected with it. The fact is that
missionary breakfasts are altogether unknown in America. Dr. Cox stated
that he had often been asked in England how they managed missionary
meetings in America, that the people of England held them in high
estimation, that in England they depended chiefly for the support of
the missionary cause upon legacies, stock, &c., while they in America
were content to say, "Give us day by day our daily bread." He also
mentioned Dr. Chalmers's eulogy upon them. While in England, he (Dr.
Cox) and another had waited upon Sir Stratford Canning, to commend
their mission at Constantinople to his kind notice, and Sir Stratford
had spoken in very high terms of the American people. Thus, even at the
missionary meeting, incense must be offered to national vanity.