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dear brother Meyer. Another* of our pillars is
gone. He was a good and great man. We
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*
[The other person whose death is alluded to, it is presumed, was
the Rev. Dr. Eilardus Westerlo, of Albany [Livingston and Westerlo were both married
to daughters of Philip Livingston.]. He died the preceding year. This excellent servant of Christ "was a native of
Holland. He had just finished his studies in the university of
Groningen, when a call from the Dutch Church in Albany was put
into his hands, which he accepted, and came to America, in 1760.
He was a man of strong mind, of eminent piety, and of great erudition, especially in theology, his favourite study, and in Oriental
Literature. He was highly popular and useful as a preacher;
and lived in great honour and esteem with his brethren in the
ministry, and with the Churches in general, until his removal by
death." — And to this small tribute to his memory, which is extracted from the Christian's Magazine, it may be added that he was an
active, prudent, and leading member of the several Judicatories of
the Church, in which he laboured with zeal to promote every
good work. At the restoration of peace, and in all that train of
business which succeeded, and upon the proper execution of which
so much depended, he acted a conspicuous and important part.
Dr. Hermanns Meyer was also from Holland, and came over
to America, in 1762. He was esteemed one of the most amiable of men, and a learned, pious, and faithful ambassador of Christ.
He settled first at Kingston. From the Church in this place, however, such was the unrelenting temper excited by the
unhappy dispute of the day — "he was soon excluded, on the ground of his
connexion with the Coetus party. He afterwards took charge
of a congregation at Pompton, in New-Jersey, and the
General Synod appointed him their professor of oriental languages. Few men stood higher in the opinion of the Church at]
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PAGE 311: CHAPTER VII
deservedly loved him, and placed great confidence in
him. What a dark cloud appears to hover over
our Churches! Truly, my dear friend, we have
reason to mourn, and inquire why the Lord is contending with us. The ways of Providence are in
the great deep, and who can foresee the issue. But
few of us are now left to whom our younger brethren look for direction and assistance. Surely the
remnant must become more and more precious to
each other, and it behooves us to make every necessary arrangement for the establishment and
prosperity of our ecclesiastical matters, with as
much haste as is consistent with prudence."
The Doctor was now busily engaged as one
of a committee which had been appointed to
prepare a work that should present, in a simple and
condensed form, the Doctrines, Worship, and Government of the Church. The task was one of
great responsibility; and the labour of compiling
and arranging the matter appertaining to the several
subjects, was divided chiefly, as it would appear,
between himself and Dr. Romeyn. A few extracts from his correspondence with this gentleman,
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large, or was more generally beloved than Dr. Meyer — and his
death, so soon following that of the lamented Westerlo, was an
event calculated to awaken among all who were concerned for the
welfare of our Zion, sorrowful feelings and painful anticipations.
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