48 31e?i and Tilings in Albany Two Centuries Ago. 



in military style, whereupon the pastor pronounced a bless- 

 ing upon the collection about to be taken. These poles 

 enabled them to pass the bag attached to it before every 

 ] erson in the slip, and if from any cause one was drowsy 

 or otherwise inattentive, the tinkle of the bell gave notice of 

 the required duty ; then the bag was passed expertly over 

 the heads in that slip and drawn leisurely back before the 

 eyes of the occupants of the next one. The audience 

 being thus thoroughly gleaned, and the domine having re- 

 covered his breath, he resumed the broken thread of his 

 discourse. The practice of taking collections during the 

 sermon was discontinued in 1795, in the time of Domine 

 Bassett. In those days of staid devotion, the capacity of 

 church goers for theology must have been much greater 

 than at present, for it is matter of record tbat discourses 

 were sometimes dispensed in an almost uninterrupted cur- 

 rent for the space of two hours. E"ow some of us tire after 

 forty minutes discourse ; as if corroborating the theory of 

 Buffbn promulgated in the last century, that men and 

 animals would deteriorate in this country ! 



In the first century of the colony, and some time later 

 even, the currency of the country was principally wampum 

 or sewan, the manufacture of the Indians from shells in 

 the form of beads. The form of the receptacle of these 

 collections concealed the amount of the gift, so that the 

 munificent were not incited by ostentation, nor the needy 

 to deposit their scanty pittance with diffidence. The col- 

 lection so taken, however, was not unfrequently plenti- 

 fully mixed with a variety of coin unrecognized by the 

 statute, consisting of any substance that fell into the bag 

 with a chinking sound. The deacons, to rid themselves 

 of this class of contributors, procured open plates ; and al- 

 though some of the sturdy mynheers resented the in- 

 novation by turning their backs and refusing their 

 contributions, the open plates finally carried the day, and 

 the gleanings eleemosynary ceased to be mingled with 



