THE TOWN OF WESTCHESTER. 343 



MR. BARTOW TO THE SECRETARY. 

 [Extract.] 



Westchester, 31st April, 1711. 



Worthy Sir : — I hope you have had by this time an account of the state of the 

 Church at Jamaica, and the troubles Mr. Poyer has met with-all since his coming 

 to that place, from more certain information than I can give you. The vestry are 

 dissenters from the Church, and refuse still to call him, as the act of Assembly 

 directs ; and on that pretence still withold his salary, upon which I only presume 

 to observe, that as long as the inhabitants of the parishes here have the power 

 of choosing the vestry, the major part of which are Dissenters (by which the 

 vestrymen are constituted Patrons to elect, call and present a minister) the set- 

 tlement of our churches here is very precarious, and on every vacancy may 

 occasion a disturbance ; for should a dissenting minister appear, whom the people 

 approved — as it has happened now in the case of Jamaica — I question whether 

 any of our parishes, excepting York, would not call him and reject the clergy- 

 man. We cannot hope here for a better regulation of the act by our Assemblys, 

 who are also generally Disseaters ; but hope that you will think of some methods 

 to establish the Church of England in this Province. 



I thank God my own parish are very well affected to our Church at present, 

 but we know not how soon the old leaven may work again ; prejudice and 

 education are mighty tyrants upon men's manners ; we have very few but what 

 have been educated Dissenters, and have imbibed prejudices therein, and we 

 cannot be secure when they will be thoroughly worn out : therefore, should 

 be extremely glad if my Lord Bishop of London, or the Society, were the patrons 

 of our churches. 



I have baptized, in the year 1710, 36 persons. Our church is pretty well 

 finished, with seats and rails, and bannisters about the altar. Our congregation 

 rather increases both in hearers and communicants, but our vestr} r aie the major 

 part Dissenters ; they will part with no money but barely what the Assembly 

 has allowed for the maintenance of the ministers and poor, so that we are un- 

 provided of a clerk — none being willing to atend constantly without rare allow- 

 ances ; formerly the vestry would allow something, but now they wholly refuse 

 it, being encouraged by the success of Jamaica. It would add to the regularity 

 and decency of our worship, if the society would allow £40 or £50 per annum, 

 to a church clerk, and leave it at the discretion of a minister to choose him, and 

 to have power to turn one out and choose another, as he saw cause; and the 

 society order the salary to be paid him by the minister, that no opposition may 

 be made when a better may be gotten. « Sir, yours, &c. 



JOHN BARTOW." 



The Venerable Society's abstracts for 17 13, say: — 



" Mr. Charles Glover is appointed schoolmaster at Westchester, with 

 a salary of j£i& per annum, as he is recommended under the character 

 of a person sober and diligent, well affected to the Church of England, 

 and competently skilled in reading, writing, arithmetic, psalmody and 



a Hawks' New-York MSS., from archives at Fulham, vol. i. p. 249, 250, 251. 



