Gertrude was anxious to climb the richly decorated campanile that rises
two hundred and twenty-five feet, which commands an unrivalled bird's-eye
view of lower New York, the bay, Brooklyn, Long Island, and the mountains
of New Jersey. All hoped to catch a glimpse of the "Majestic," but she
was down the Narrows and out of sight.
Mr. Searles desired to see Trinity Church, so he was driven up Broadway
to the head of Wall Street. Its spire is graceful and two hundred and
eighty-four feet high. The land on which it stands was granted in 1697
by the English government. There were also other magnificent endowments.
Trinity Parish, or Corporation, is the richest single church organization
in the United States, enjoying revenues of over five hundred thousand
dollars a year. In Revolutionary times the royalist clergy persisted in
reading prayers for the king of England till their voices were drowned
by the drum and fife of patriots marching up the center aisle.
It was now past two o'clock and the Harris party was driven to the Hotel
Windsor for lunch. Promptly at six o'clock the conductor of the fast
Western Express shouted, "All aboard," and Colonel Harris, Gertrude, and
Mr. Searles in their own private car, left busy New York for Harrisville.
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