existence. The English hymn books and liturgies of this period are
equally destitute of any positive confessional character.

But after all, the church in New York only reflected in a small way the
conditions that existed on the other side of the Atlantic. In the
Fatherland the national life had been declining ever since the Thirty
Years' War. In 1806 Germany reached the nadir of her political life at
the battle of Jena. In the church this was the period of her Babylonian
Captivity. Alien currents of philosophical and theological thought had
devitalized the teaching of the Gospel. The old hymns had been replaced
by pious reflections on subjects of religion and morality. The Lutheran
Liturgy had disappeared leaf by leaf until little but the cover
remained. With such conditions in the homeland what could be expected of
an isolated church on Manhattan Island? Take it all in all, it is not
surprising that only two congregations survived. It is a wonder that
there were two.

In "Old New York" Dr. Francis presents a vivid picture of the social and
religious life of this period and from it we learn that the Lutherans
were not the only ones whose religion sat rather lightly upon them.
French infidelity had taken deep root in the community and Paine's Age
of Reason found enthusiastic admirers.

Fifty years ago I was browsing one afternoon over the books in the
library of Union Theological Seminary, at that time located in
University Place. I was all alone until Dr. Samuel Hanson Cox, the
father of Bishop Arthur Cleveland Coxe, came in. He was then in his
eighties, but vigorous in mind and body. We easily became acquainted and
I was an eager listener to the story of his early ministry in New York,
which fell about the time of which we are speaking. From him I got a