introductory.
 

TH E corporation now known by the legal title of " The
Rector, Church Wardens, and Vestrymen of Trinity
Church in the City of New York" is one of the oldest in
this place. The Dongan Charter dates from April 27,
1686; the Charter of the Reformed Protestant Dutch
Church from May, 1696, and the Charter of Trinity Par¬
ish from May 6, 1697. Notwithstanding this, we are
still without a history which deserves that name. It is
true that in 1847 a volume was published bearing the
title, "An Historical Sketch of Trinity Church, New- York,
by the Rev. William Berrian, D.D., the Rector of the
same," but it was what the venerable author described it
to be, a mere sketch, written in haste, under the pressure
of a serious assault on the corporation in the State Legis¬
lature, and designed in the main for apologetic and defen¬
sive use ; it did not profess to give a full account of the
parish, and leaves much to be desired by the student.

That no history of the parish has been written thus far is
the more remarkable, because our annals are so intimately
connected with those of the city. Trinity Church was
the most prominent religious foundation in the Province
of New York. Its rectors and clergy were among the
conspicuous  figures of the period.    The streets of this