OCSB UBRAR?
 
 A.DDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE 
 
 LAYING OF THE CORNER-STONE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NEW CHAPEL 
 
 for tje Wist of tfje Entnatca of tf)e 
 
 SAILORS' SNUG HARBOR, 
 
 ON STATEN ISLAND. 
 
 BY W. W. PHILLIPS, D.D. 
 
 PCBLI8HKD BY R B Q C B 8 T O t THB TRUSTEES. 
 
 fork: 
 PRINTED BY EDWAKD o. JENKINS, 
 
 26 FRAXKFORT STREET, 
 1855.
 
 ADDRESS. 
 
 THE Institution in whose behalf we 
 are assembled is one of the ornaments 
 of our State one for whose success 
 and prosperous condition we have rea- 
 son to feel thankful to an all-wise Pro- 
 vidence. A comfortable home has been 
 here provided for a most interesting 
 class of our fellow-citizens a class to 
 whom we are indebted, under God, for 
 our commerce and its attendant benefits 
 for our intercourse with foreign na- 
 tions and for our accretion and accu- 
 mulation of knowledge, and of wealth 
 derived from that source. They also 
 carry for us the Bible and our mission-
 
 aries to the destitute and heathen of 
 other lands, and constitute an arm of 
 our defence in time of war. What 
 would our State or Nation have been 
 without commerce ? A common sym- 
 bol of national prosperity is the repre- 
 sentation of a ship with swelled sails. 
 But of what use are ships, however 
 strong and beautiful, without sailors ? 
 No men expose themselves to great- 
 er risks endure more privations and 
 hardships than weather-beaten mari- 
 ners. They leave home and country, 
 and land, to brave the storms, expo- 
 sures, and dangers of the ocean in 
 every latitude. Surely if any mem- 
 bers of the body politic deserve at the 
 close of life, or when prematurely dis- 
 abled and worn out, a quiet haven a
 
 peaceful retreat a comfortable home 
 they are those who have been pre- 
 served and permitted to return from the 
 perils of the sea, who have made the 
 voyage of life to bring to our shores 
 the products of the arts and sciences, 
 of the manufactures and of the agri- 
 culture of other lands to increase the 
 wealth, the comfort, and luxuries of 
 their fellow-men. 
 
 Such an asylum has been provided, 
 not by the munificence of the State 
 she has been saved the outlay which 
 would have been necessary to provide 
 it but by the bequest of a benevo- 
 lent individual, who had himself had 
 experience of the toils of the war with 
 the elements, of the privations and suf- 
 ferings, and at the same time possessed 
 1*
 
 6 
 
 the large, free, and generous heart, 
 with the warm sympathy of a sea- 
 man. 
 
 Captain Robert Richard Randall, of 
 the city of New York, did, by his last 
 will and testament, bearing date the 
 first day of June, 1801, after leaving 
 certain specific legacies, bequeath all 
 the residue of his estate, real and per- 
 sonal, to the Chancellor of the State, 
 the Mayor and Recorder of the city of 
 New York, the President of the Cham- 
 ber of Commerce, the President and 
 Vice-President of the Marine Society, 
 the Senior Minister of the Episcopal 
 Church, and the Senior Minister of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the said city, 
 and their successors in office respect- 
 ively, to be received by them in trust,
 
 and applied to the erection of an Asy- 
 lum or Marine Hospital, to be called 
 "The Sailors' Snug Harbor," for the 
 maintenance and support of decrepit, 
 aged, and worn-out sailors. 
 
 The same was to be opened as soon 
 as the income of the estate should, in 
 the judgment of the Trustees, be suffi- 
 cient to support fifty seamen. The 
 persons thus designated being also the 
 appointed executors of the will of 
 Captain Randall, and finding inconve- 
 nience in the management of the es- 
 tate from the changes which took 
 place in the ordinary course of elec- 
 tions and appointment to those offices, 
 applied for, and received in February, 
 1806, an Act of Incorporation. The 
 first Trustees were John Lansing, jun.,
 
 Chancellor of this State ; De Witt 
 Clinton, Mayor ; Maturin Livingston, 
 Recorder of the city of New York ; 
 John Murray, President of the Cham- 
 ber of Commerce ; James Farquar, 
 President of the Marine Society ; Tho- 
 mas Farmar, President of the same j 
 Benjamin Moore, Senior Minister of 
 the Episcopal Church ; and John 
 Rodgers, Senior Minister of the Pres- 
 byterian Church. At their first meet- 
 ing they elected officers, adopted by- 
 laws, and appointed a committee to 
 prepare a seal for the Corporation, 
 the device of which, when subsequent- 
 ly adopted, represented a harbor form- 
 ed by two points of land projecting 
 into the sea, in which a ship appears 
 riding safely at anchor, and on the
 
 9 
 
 shore a view of the Hospital, with the 
 motto, "Portum petimus fessi." 
 
 In October, 1806, the reported in- 
 come of the whole estate was $4,243. 
 Subsequently it became less, some of 
 the tenements having been vacated. By 
 the Act of Incorporation, the presence 
 of five of the Trustees was declared 
 necessary to constitute a quorum for 
 the transaction of business ; owing to 
 the difficulty of securing the attend- 
 ance of that number of the Trustees, 
 who had other public and pressing du- 
 ties to perform, several meetings oc- 
 curred at which no business was trans- 
 acted for the want of a quorum. From 
 November, 1809, no meeting was held 
 until February, 1814 ; at that meeting 
 the Trustees adopted a memorial to the
 
 10 
 
 Legislature, in which they state that 
 the income then amounted to $6,000 a 
 year ; that the Chancellor resided at Al- 
 bany, and declined acting as a Trustee 
 from scruples of official delicacy ; that 
 the Senior Minister of the Episcopal 
 Church had, for a long time, been pre- 
 vented by sickness from attending 
 their meetings ; that doubts existed 
 who is, in the contemplation of the 
 law, the Senior Minister of the Pres- 
 byterian Church ; that the same doubts 
 would soon arise in determining who 
 was the Senior Minister of the Episco- 
 pal Church ; that their difficulties in 
 obtaining a meeting had been in- 
 creased from the circumstance of the 
 Chamber of Commerce having discon- 
 tinued its meetings and elections of
 
 11 
 
 officers. They, therefore, petitioned 
 the Legislature to pass a law declaring 
 that three of their number should con- 
 stitute a quorum, and also a law desig- 
 nating the persons contemplated in 
 the Act of Incorporation as Trustees 
 of the Episcopal and Presbyterian 
 Churches. 
 
 The Legislature declared that the 
 Rector of Trinity Church, or in case 
 of his absence or sickness, the Assistant 
 Rector, and the Minister of the Pres- 
 byterian Church then in Wall street, or 
 of the First Presbyterian Church, were 
 the Trustees of said Corporation. 
 
 They also appended an act requir- 
 ing the Trustees to make an annual 
 report of the state of their funds to 
 the Legislature of the State, and to
 
 12 
 
 the Common Council of the city. 
 Thus, the State and the City were 
 constituted the guardians of the trust. 
 From May, 1814, to January, 1817, 
 no regular meeting of the Trustees 
 was held. At that meeting, which was 
 summoned by a resolution of the Com- 
 mon Council, calling for a report of 
 the state of their funds, as by law re- 
 quired, only four Trustees were pre- 
 sent. They, however, made a report, 
 from which it appeared that the an- 
 nual income had increased to $6,659 
 92. In that year, 1817, the Trustees 
 petitioned the Legislature for permis- 
 sion to change the site of the Hospi- 
 tal. Instead of erecting it on the 21 
 acres in the upper part of the city, as 
 had been contemplated by the testa-
 
 13 
 
 tor, which would absorb a large por- 
 tion of their revenue, depreciate the 
 value of the adjoining lots, and neces- 
 sarily confine the inmates to narrow 
 limits, they asked to be authorized to 
 purchase ground for the Hospital at 
 the entrance or in sight of the har- 
 bor of Xew York in the view of all 
 the seamen navigating the ships and 
 the vessels which pass in and out of 
 this port. They urged that, by such 
 an arrangement, the whole estate de- 
 vised might be appropriated to the 
 purposes of revenue, to support the 
 Hospital ; whilst the health, morals, 
 and comfort of the seamen would be 
 greatly promoted. Such a situation 
 would be most animating to the en- 
 terprising sailor, who is about to ex-
 
 14 
 
 pose himself to the dangers of the sea, 
 or the increased danger of lighting the 
 battles of his country on the ocean ; 
 and would also be most gratifying and 
 consoling to those who have passed 
 through such scenes, and found this 
 asylum, from which they might daily 
 witness the extensive navigation in 
 which they were once engaged, or 
 hail the flag of their country, which 
 they had once defended. Such a situ- 
 ation would be most pleasing to the 
 aged, decrepit, or worn-out sailor, and 
 contribute to gladden, if not to pro- 
 tract, the remnant of his days. They 
 also mentioned that, in consequence 
 of the opinion which they had found 
 generally to prevail in favor of erect- 
 ing the said Hospital at the entrance
 
 15 
 
 of this harbor, and to further this 
 object, they were tendered the lib- 
 eral offer of having conveyed to them 
 gratuitously a lot of land, not less than 
 ten acres, on Staten Island, for the 
 accommodation of such a Hospital, 
 situated on the Bay, between Point 
 Diamond and the Quarantine ground. 
 The person who made this offer was 
 the late Daniel D. Tompkins. 
 
 Reasonable as was this petition, great 
 and acknowledged as would be the ad- 
 vantages to the Institution of such an 
 arrangement, it was not granted until 
 1828, eleven years after the request 
 having, in the meantime, been renewed 
 and urged on successive Legislatures. 
 This delay was doubtless occasioned 
 by the numerous suits at law which
 
 16 
 
 were brought for wresting the whole 
 property out of the hands of the Trust- 
 ees, by persons claiming to be heirs of 
 Captain Randall, and by a fear lest 
 any change or modification of the will 
 might prejudice, if not forfeit the trust. 
 The law-officer of the State having in- 
 vestigated the question of forfeiture, 
 and satisfied the Legislature as to their 
 competency to grant the request in- 
 asmuch as the design of the testator 
 would be more effectually accom- 
 plished by a change of site they au- 
 thorized the purchase of a suitable 
 and convenient tract of land, either on 
 the island of New York or adjacent 
 thereto, the purchase being subject to 
 the approval of the Chancellor. 
 
 Such were the small beginnings, and
 
 17 
 
 some of the difficulties of this Trust in 
 the early part of its history, and will 
 explain why the income from the estate 
 did not increase more rapidly. The 
 litigation was varied, multiform, and 
 protracted, involving considerable ex- 
 pense, and at the same time impairing 
 the revenue of the estate. During its 
 continuance no permanent disposition 
 could be made of the property, nor 
 could the rents be collected. It was 
 not until March, 1830, that the final 
 decision in favor of the Trust was ob- 
 tained from the Supreme Court of the 
 United States. It is probable, how- 
 ever, that if the decision had been 
 earlier obtained, some of the lots would 
 have been disposed of at lower rates 
 
 than were realized afterwards, and in 
 2*
 
 18 
 
 a manner to interfere with the subse- 
 quent extension and improvements of 
 the city, by which the value of the 
 property was so greatly enhanced. 
 
 The permission obtained from the 
 Legislature to reserve the whole of 
 the land in the city for revenue, and 
 the favorable termination of their legal 
 contest, enabled the Trustees to take 
 immediate steps to carry into effect the 
 benevolent design of the donor. In 
 consequence of the opening of streets 
 through the property, according to the 
 adopted plan of the city, there were 
 gores of land and small lots belonging 
 to the estate left inaccessible from any 
 street, and interlocked with gores be- 
 longing to other parties. It became 
 necessary to purchase the latter, to
 
 19 
 
 render the whole tenantable, which 
 was done by a large outlay at the 
 time, but to the prospective and per- 
 manent advantage of the Trust. The 
 lots thus increased in number, and 
 regulated, were leased at public auc- 
 tion. 
 
 In May, 1831, the Trustees pur- 
 chased this farm, containing 130 acres 
 of land, for $10,000. Subsequently 
 they purchased 21 acres, with a water 
 privilege, which had been originally a 
 part of this farm, but had been sold, 
 and was used for manufacturing pur- 
 poses, and was about to pass into other 
 hands ; the price paid for this was 
 $0,000. These two parcels of land 
 now constitute the farm of the Sailors' 
 Snug Harbor. Having obtained pos-
 
 20 
 
 session of these premises, they com- 
 menced improving them for the pur- 
 poses to which they had been devoted. 
 In October, 1831, they laid the corner- 
 stone of this centre building in which 
 we are now meeting. On the 1st of 
 August, 1833, the Institution was 
 formally opened, with 30 men, who 
 had been received as inmates by a 
 committee appointed for that purpose. 
 It was an interesting occasion, and 
 deeply affecting to the hearts of all 
 who were present. They saw before 
 them a company of men, some of whom 
 were lame, others blind, some aged, 
 and all decrepit worn-out mariners, 
 who had come here to spend the rem- 
 nant of their days in this quiet and 
 peaceful asylum.
 
 21 
 
 Among those who have occupied this 
 Trust and have passed away from us, 
 there have been men distinguished for 
 their talents, integrity, high sense of 
 honor, and irreproachable character. 
 All no doubt performed their duty faith- 
 fully to this Institution, yet in reviewing 
 the record of their proceedings we may 
 say without giving offence, as we will 
 mention no names, that some of them 
 appear to have taken a deeper and 
 more lively interest in it, and to have 
 done much more for it, than others. 
 They seem to have been raised up and 
 to have been continued in office to meet 
 the very exigencies of the Trust. They 
 were peculiarly qualified for the work 
 which was to be done in their day, for 
 this Institution. They have left in their
 
 22 
 
 recorded acts : in the able papers pre- 
 pared by them ; in their far-reaching 
 plans and arrangements respecting it ; 
 in the judicious By-Laws enacted by 
 them for its government ; in their care- 
 ful and economical husbanding of its re- 
 sources ; in their personal attention and 
 labor given to it gratuitously ; evidence 
 of their superior wisdom, strict integ- 
 rity, and disinterested philanthropy. 
 The Sailors' Snug Harbor owes them, as 
 well as its noble founder, a lasting debt 
 of gratitude. Under their fostering 
 care, with the blessing of Providence, 
 the little rivulet which half a century 
 ago furnished the small amount of 
 $4,000 a year, after overcoming the ob- 
 structions and passing through its many 
 windings, fertilizing its banks during
 
 23 
 
 its whole course, and producing all that 
 we see around us here to-day, now 
 has become a mighty river, furnishing 
 $75,000 a year, and instead of support- 
 ing 30 inmates now supports 300. 
 
 The Trustees have aimed to provide 
 a home for the inmates of this Institu- 
 tion, in which all their wants shall be 
 supplied and every comfort afforded 
 them. They have good and wholesome 
 food, suitable clothing, airy apartments, 
 ample grounds for exercise and recre- 
 ation ; a reading room, furnished with 
 a good library, with the daily and 
 weekly newspapers, and with some of 
 the periodical publications ; they have 
 also a physician and nurses to attend 
 them when sick. 
 
 But, gentlemen, we have found,
 
 and these inmates have found, that 
 happiness does not consist in the 
 enjoyment of these outward things 
 in occupying an eligible site for our 
 dwelling ; in having spread out be- 
 fore us a beautiful, enlivening and en- 
 chanting prospect of harbor, and ship- 
 ping, and bustling city, at a sufficient 
 distance from us to be out of the reach 
 of its noise and dust ; of well cultivated 
 grounds, of specimens of tasteful archi- 
 tecture ; nor in breathing a pure air, in 
 a participation of an abundance of the 
 good things of this life ; nor in health 
 and ease, and quietness, and pleasant 
 social intercourse. All these and more 
 of the same nature may be enjoyed 
 by the outer man, and yet the indivi- 
 dual may not be happy. He has an
 
 25 
 
 inner man, an immortal mind, a pre- 
 cious never dying spirit, which is the 
 jewel in the casket ; whose wants and 
 necessities are not reached by these 
 outward and material appliances. It 
 is rendered restless, dissatisfied, dis- 
 contented, at times depressed and in- 
 describably wretched by its vast and 
 insatiable desires ; by its raging and 
 enslaving passions ; by its inordinate^ 
 corrupt, and debasing lusts in its present 
 state. It cannot be quieted, it cannot 
 be filled with material things. Silver 
 and gold, precious stones r and whatever 
 may be procured with them, ca/nnot 
 feed or gratify its cravings. It seeks- its 
 kindred communion with the source 
 of its emanation, from which it has 
 fallen, from which it has apostatized
 
 26 
 
 and become alienated. It was created 
 in the image of God, fitted to enjoy 
 his favor, in which consisted its life, its 
 true happiness. Both these have been 
 lost through its default, and the Divine 
 displeasure against it has been in- 
 curred. It is still entirely dependent, 
 in the hands and at the disposal of the 
 Creator, as its Lawgiver and Judge ; 
 it cannot escape from his presence, nor 
 cast off its responsibility to Him. It 
 is conscious of its guilt and just con- 
 demnation by his law. It knows that 
 He is holy, and just, and true ; that 
 He will execute the penalty it has in- 
 curred ; and that the day of righteous 
 retribution must come. How can it 
 ever be quieted ? How can it ever be de- 
 livered from fear, and obtain peace and
 
 27 
 
 rest ? How can it be brought to the en- 
 joyment of a happiness worthy of itself, 
 except by having the image of God 
 restored in it, and by being reinstated 
 in the Divine favor ? There must be a 
 reconciliation effected between it and 
 its offended God, and an entire rege- 
 neration of all its faculties and powers, 
 of all its tastes, desires, affections, and 
 passions. The only way in which this 
 can be done is through the mediation 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of 
 God, manifest in the flesh, who has put 
 away sin by the sacrifice of himself, 
 and is a merciful and faithful High 
 Priest to make intercession for us at 
 the right hand of the Majesty on high. 
 For these precious truths, which 
 reveal to us the great secret of human
 
 28 
 
 happiness, we are indebted to the gospel 
 of the grace of God, and which is the 
 true and efficacious panacea for all our 
 ills and woes. It may be neglected by 
 multitudes, ridiculed by some, despis- 
 ed and rejected by others, but to all 
 who believe, it is the wisdom of God 
 and the power of God, unto sal- 
 vation. It alone teaches the way of 
 peace, of holiness, and of eternal life. 
 Where do we find hospitals like this, 
 and kindred institutions for the ame- 
 lioration of the condition of men ? 
 Where the influence of the gospel 
 has reached, and is felt. Where do 
 we find unbending integrity, uniform 
 and universal uprightness and probity 
 adherence to high and honorable 
 principles staid, consistent, and re-
 
 29 
 
 liable character ? Where a sense of 
 responsibility to God is felt, where His 
 authority is reverenced, and His law is 
 acknowledged as the ultimate standard 
 of duty. Where do we find industry, 
 enterprise, thrift, a pure morality, 
 intelligence, subjection to the powers 
 that be, contentment, charity, benevo- 
 lence ? Where the gospel is faithfully 
 taught, believed and obeyed. Where do 
 we find men solemn, thoughtful, tran- 
 quil, hopeful, and joyful in the imme- 
 diate prospect of death, reconciled to 
 their approaching dissolution, and wil- 
 ling to depart? Where the consola- 
 tions of the gospel are ministered and 
 received ; where men's souls have been 
 sanctified under its influence, and are 
 
 inspired with its hopes. And, permit 
 *3
 
 me to add, that when all of us, who 
 are now present, shall come to the 
 closing scene of our life on earth to 
 the last parting scene however we 
 may now differ in station, in religious 
 names, creeds, and professions ; in our 
 pursuits and sentiments on other sub- 
 jects, we shall then feel that one thing 
 is needful ; it is an interest in Him who 
 is the resurrection and the life. To be 
 able to say, according to truth, in that 
 hour, ' 'I know in whom I have believed, 
 and that my Redeemer liveth," will 
 be worth infinitely more than all that 
 earth can give. 
 
 Believing these truths, we have, 
 from the opening of this Institution, 
 provided religious instruction for the 
 inmates, with a view of promoting
 
 31 
 
 their best and highest interests, but 
 without any desire or attempt to in- 
 fringe the liberty of conscience. We 
 have treated them as men who have 
 souls as well as bodies. We would not 
 undertake to manage the affairs of the 
 Institution we could not hope suc- 
 cessfully to govern its inmates, without 
 a recognition of the principles of the 
 gospel. Our hearts' desire and prayer 
 to God for them has been, and is still, 
 that they may be saved, from toil and 
 care, and pain, and penury not only, 
 but from their sins and from the wrath 
 to come ; that they may improve their 
 time and privileges here by making 
 preparation for another and a better 
 world. 
 
 We come to-day to lay the corner-
 
 32 
 
 stone of a more commodious and ap- 
 propriate house of worship than the 
 place which has been hitherto used for 
 that purpose, in the hope that those 
 who shah 1 occupy it, by taking heed to 
 their ways according to the word of 
 God, which shall here be ministered 
 to them, may find rest to their souls, 
 and have this earthly temple made to 
 them, through grace, the vestibule of 
 that spiritual, heavenly, and glorious 
 temple above, the light of which shall 
 be the Lord God, and the Lamb for- 
 ever. 
 
 In the acknowledgment of our de- 
 pendence on our God, by way of 
 seeking his protection and blessing in 
 rearing this structure to the honor of 
 his name ; in allusion to the fundamen-
 
 33 
 
 tal doctrine, "that we are built upon 
 the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ 
 himself being the Chief Corner-Stone, 
 that he is the elect, tried, precious 
 stone, the rock upon which the Church 
 is built," and on which all our hopes for 
 time and for eternity rest, we lay the 
 corner-stone of this building, which is 
 to be dedicated to the worship of the 
 One only living and true God, in the 
 name of the Father, and of the Son, 
 and of the Holy Ghost.
 
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