THE TOWN OF WESTCHESTER. 377 



and Parish Church at Westchester, including the districts aforesaid, and of all 

 its righis and appurtenances. Whatsoever you induct, or cause to he inducted 

 and him so inducted you do defend ; and of what you shall have done in the 

 premises thereof, you duly certify unto me, or other competent judge in that 

 behalf, when thereunto you shall be duly required, Given under my hand aad 

 the prerogative seal of the province of New York, at Fort George, in the city of 

 New York, the third day of December, iu the year of our Lord, One thousand 

 seven hundred and sixty-six. H. MOORE. « 



The state of the parish, about seven months after his induction, pa- 

 pears from the following report to the Society : — 



MR. SEABURY TO THE SECRETARY. 



[Extract.} 



Westchestek, June 25th, 1767. 

 Rev. Sir. : — "The congregation at Westchester is very unsteady in their attend- 

 ance ; sometimes there are more than the church, which is a small old wooden 

 building, can contain ; at other times very few, generally, near two hundred. 

 The communicants are few, the most I have had has been twenty-two ; two new 

 ones have been added since I have been here. At Eastchester, which is four 

 miles distant, the congregation is generally larger than at Westchester. The 

 old church in which they meet, as yet, is very small and cold. They have erect- 

 ed, and just completed the roof of a large well-built stone church, in which they 

 have expended, they say, seven hundred pounds currency ; but their ability seems 

 to be exhausted, and I fear I shall never see it finished. I applied last winter to 

 his Excellency Sir Henry Moore, for a brief in their favour ; but the petition was 

 rejected. Since I came into this parish I have preached every other Sunday at 

 Westchester, in the morning ; and have after prayers in the afternoon, catechised 

 the children and explained the catechism to them. I was the more inclined to do 

 this, as they have never been used to any evening service at all ; and as there 

 seemed to be but little sober sense of religion amongst the lower sort of people, I 

 was in hopes by this means to lay some foundation of religious knowledge in the 

 younger part of the congregation. I cannot yet boast of the number of my cate- 

 chumens which is but ten, but most of them repeat the catechism extremely well. 

 There are also a considerable number of young people who attend to hear, and 

 are very attentive. I should be very much obliged to the Society for a number 

 of Lewis's catechisms, and some small Common Prayer books, and such other 

 tracts as they think proper ; these things presented to the children and } r ounger 

 by their minister, I have found by my own experience, gives them im- 

 pressions in his favour, and dispose them to come to church and to make their 

 responses. 



At Westchester I have baptised six white children, and one mulatto adult ; at 

 Eastchester, eight white, and at New Rochelle seven white and two negro chil- 

 dren. Before I left Jamaica. I baptised there four adults and three infants. I 

 have made two visits there since, and baptised one adult, two white children and 

 three black ones : and 1 must do the people at Newtown the justice to inform the 



a AJtjdny Book of Commissions, vol. v. ZiZ. 



