CHAPTER II

THE NEW CHURCH :   1765-1767

"And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And
David said, To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord."—
2 Samuel 24 : 21.

" A decent Edifice Erected on this Spot, properly Enclosed in a pail fence, will be
a Great Ornament to the Green."—Officers op the Brick Church, "Minutes of
the Common Council of the City of New York," Vol. VII, p. 11.

IN providing the new place of worship the first
problem that presented itself was the securing
of a suitable plot of ground. The Presbyterian
Church owned no land that could be used for this
purpose, and it would doubtless have been very
difficult to raise suflScient money for the purchase of
a site, but it was hoped that, if properly approached,
the city authorities would come to the rescue. Ac¬
cordingly on February 19th, 1766, a petition* was
drawn up, which plays so important a part in this
history that it must be given in full.

''To THE Worshipful the Mayor, Aldermen
AND Commonalty of the City of New York, in
Common Council Convened:

"The petition of the ministers, elders, deacons,
trustees, communicants and other members of the
English Presbyterian Church of the City of New
York, according to the Westminster Confession of
Faith, Catechism, and Directory, and agreeable to the

* See "Document No. 37," pp. 564-566.

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