THE TOWN OF NEW ROCHELLE. 647 



His remains were also interred beneath the chancel of the old French 

 church at New Rochelle, where he had served so faithfully, here to 

 await the morn of the resurrection, and to receive, we trust, the eulogy 

 of the gospel, " Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter thou 

 into the joy of thy Lord." 



In a postscript to a letter from Mr. Barclay to the Secretary, dated 

 New York, December ioth, 1760, he says: "Mrs. Magdalene Stouppe, 

 the widow of the late missionary, desired me to recommend her to the 

 Venerable Board, hoping to receive their usual bounty." 



The Rev. Andrew Fowler, in his MSS. Biographies of the Clergy, 

 says of Mr. Stouppe, that " he was a worthy clergyman, and greatly be- 

 loved by his congregation. When I read prayers and sermons in that 

 place (New Rochelle) in 1784 and 1785 and 1786, as a layman, I heard 

 him often spoken of in the highest terms of respect by some very aged 

 people, upon whose veracity I could depend." a 



Mr. Stouppe was succeeded by the Rev. Michael Houdin, A.M. He 

 was born in France circ, 1705, and bred a Franciscan friar. On Easter 

 day, 1730, he was ordained priest by the Archbishop of Treves, and 

 afterwards preferred to the office of superior of a convent of Recollects 

 or Franciscan friars, at Montreal in Canada. 6 Disgusted with the mo- 

 nastic life, he left Canada in the beginning of the French war, and re- 

 tired to the city of New York, where on Easter day, 1747, he made a 

 public renunciation of the errors of popery, and joined himself to the 

 Church of England. He afterwards lived with very good character, and 

 attained great proficiency in the English language. In June, 1750, he- 

 was invited by the inhabitants of Trenton, and other places in New Jer- 

 sey, to go and officiate among them, whereupon he addressed a letter to 

 the Venerable Society, from which we extract the following : 



a Rev. A. Fowler's MSS. Biog. of the Clergy, vol. ii. p. 130. 



b The following notice, probably of this individual, occurs in the New York Council Min- 

 utes: "On the 29th of June, 1744, Governor Clinton acquainteflsthe Council that one Monsieur 

 Michael Houden, and a woman, said to be his wife, were lately come to town from Canada, 

 from which place they had lately fled, and that on their arrival, he had confined them to their 

 lodgings, and had placed two sentinels over them, and had ordered the said Michael Houden 

 to be brought before him in Council this day, in order. to be examined. The said Michael 

 Houden being without, was called in and examined by his Excellency in Council, and after- 

 wards remanded to his lodgings. At a Council held on the 6th of July following, the Gov- 

 ernor communicated to the Board a letter he had lately received from Lieutenant Lindesay,, 

 giving his Excellency advice of Monsieur Michael Houden, passing by Oswego, and that he 

 learnt from him that the French intended to attack Oswego with soo men, as soon as the pro 

 vision ships from France should arrive, the French having a great desire of being masters o 

 that place. On the llth of August, 1744, his Excellency acquainted the same Body: That he 

 had received several letters from Monsieur Houden, complaining as his circumstances are 

 very low, and he was by his Excellency's order oblidged to live at Jamaica, where he can do 

 nothing to get his living, that his wife and himself must soon come to want, unless his Ex- 

 cellency will be pleased to take him into consideration, and therefore praying he may have 

 leave to come with his wife and live in town; and thereupon his Excellency required the 

 opinion of the Board. 'As to Michael Houden, the Council are of opinion to advise his Ex- 

 cellency to give him leave to come to town, on his taking the oath of allegiance."'— Council 

 Minutes, xix, 292, and xix, 273, 276. In the Liste Chronologique of the Clergy of Canada, we 

 find the name of Potentien Houdin, a Recollect, who is recorded as having left that country 

 in 1748. 



