bath, as he had faithfully done from the time of his settlement. The congregations, earnestly desirous of maintaining evening service, to which they had been long accustomed, determined to call a third minister. A joint meeting being held, for this purpose, on the 29th day of August, in the year last mentioned, a call was unanimously voted to the writer of these memoirs, at that time a licentiate of the Presbytery of Lewes, of which his Father, then recently deceased, had been a member. He accepted the call, November 20th, 1792; arrived at New-York, to enter on his labours, on the third day of January, 1793; and was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry, and installed collegiate pastor with Doctor Rodgers and Doctor Me Knight, on the fifth day of June following.

In the year 1793, articles of correspondence between the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church, and the congregational churches in Connecticut, were mutually ratified and adopted. These articles provided for the stated interchange of three delegates, to sit and deliberate in the General Assembly, and the General Association, at the annual meetings of each. Doctor Kodgers was on the first delegation to Connecti

cut, in pursuance of this plan*. He accordingly attended the General Association of that state, in the month of June, 1793.

In the month of November, 1794, the college of New-Jersey, and the Presbyterian church in the United States, were deprived by death, of one of their distinguished ornaments, the reverend Doctor Witherspoon. The trustees of the college immediately took measures for paying a suitable tribute of respect to his memory. For this purpose Dr. Rodgers was requested to prepare and deliver a funeral discourse. He accordingly prepared, and at the next meeting of the Board, on the sixth of May following, delivered a sermon, on Matthew xxv. 21. which was soon afterwards printed, under the title of "The faithful servant rewarded;" and which was subsequently prefixed to Woodward's edition of Dr. Witherspoon's Works. This sermon will probably be pronounced, by discerning readers, the most respectable publication, in a literary view, that the author ever made.

* The other delegates, at the same time, were the reverend Doctor John Woodhull, of Freehold, New-Jersey, and the reverend Doctor Aaron Woolworth, of Bridgehampton, Long-Island.

In the year 1796, it became apparent that a third church was much wanted, to supply, more particularly, the inhabitants of the north-eastern part of the city, who could not be accommodated in either of the other churches. When this fact began to engage the general attention of the congregations, and plans to be formed for attaining the object, Henry Rutgers, Esquire, a gentleman of great wealth and liberality, who was then in connexion with the Reformed Dutch Church, with his accustomed munificence, made a deed of gift to the trustees of the First Presbyterian Church, of an ample lot of ground, at the corner of tutgers and Henry streets, on which to erect the contemplated edifice. The generous donation was gratefully accepted; subscriptions were immediately commenced for defraying the expenses of the building; and early in the spring of the year 1797, Dr. Rodgers had the pleasure of laying the corner-stone of a third Presbyterian church, on the spot just mentioned. The work was carried on with expedition; and on the 13th day of May, 1798, it was opened for public worship. In this introductory service Dr. Rodgers presided, and delivered a sermon on the occasion from Haygai ii. 7. And I will shake ail nations; and the Desire of all nations shall

some; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The greater part of the pews were immediately taken, and the church became filled with worshippers quite as soon as could have been rationally expected.

In the autumn of the year 1799, the Doctor, finding the infirmities of age sensibly to increase, thought it his duty to relinquish the Thursday evening lecture, which, with unwearied diligence, and great usefulness, he had maintained for more than thirty years. He communicated this intention to his colleagues; and suggested to them the propriety of their undertaking, and continuing this part of his labour. They readily assented to the proposal; and the service was continued by them, in a form somewhat different from that in which he had conducted it, as long as the churches remained united.

The ministrations requisite for carrying on the stated service of three churches, becoming every day, from the natural increase of the city, more extensive, multiplied, and laborious, it was judged expedient to call a fourth minister. Accordingly, after the usual preliminary steps, the congregations were convened, in joint meeting, on

the 5th day of August, 1805, when they unanimously made choice of the reverend Doctor Philip Milledoler, then pastor of the Third Presbyterian church, in the city of Philadelphia, to be one of their collegiate pastors; with a view, however, to his taking the church in Rutgersstreet, under his more particular care, and being considered, if a separation of the churches should ever take place, as its sole pastor. The call for Dr. Milledoler was regularly prosecuted before the Presbytery of Philadelphia; and he having accepted it, was installed in the church in Rutgers-street, on the 19th of November following.

This measure proved most auspicious to the spiritual interests of that part of the city. Few instances have occurred of a more useful ministry than that of Doctor Milledoler in this church. The work of the Lord prospered abundantly in his hands. The number, both of stated worshippers, and of communicants, rapidly increased. And from being small and feeble when he entered on the pastoral charge, it became, in less than seven years, the largest Presbyterian church in the United States*.

* In speaking of the church in Rutgers-street, as, at present, the largest in the Presbyterian body in the United