Mr. Vesey, its spiritual director. The "God's
Acre" around it held many a noted man and woman. Yet, as it is so far
from the ground in which we are now concerning ourselves, it seems a
bit out of place perhaps. But one must perforce show the English
church's beginnings, soon to find a more solid basis in St. John's
Chapel, dear to all New Yorkers even nowadays when we behold it
menaced by that unholy juggernaut, the subway.
St. John's was begun in 1803 and completed in 1807. It was Part of the
old King's Farm, originally granted to Trinity by Queen Anne, who
appears to have done quite a lot for New York, take it all in all. It
was modelled after St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, in London, and always
stood for English traditions and ideals. This did not prevent the
British from capturing the organ designed for it and holding it up for
ransom in the War of 1812. The organ was made in Philadelphia, but was
captured en route by the British ship _Plantagenet_, a cruiser with
seventy-four guns, which was in the habit of picking up little boats
and holding them at $100 to $200 each.
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