In the Bouligny chapel, built 1850, an irregular mission was conducted with varying success, till 1860, when regular preaching was begun there by Rev. B. Wayne. In May, 1861, a church was organized by the Presbytery of New Orleans, now known as the Napoleon Avenue Church, with twenty members, John Dyer, the only elder. The war came on, and everything was suspended; on the return of peace, services were resumed, and have since been regularly maintained. In March, 1870, the present location on Napoleon avenue was purchased; in December, 1871, a new brick building was commenced, and sufficiently finished in July, 1872, to be occupied, in a rude and incomplete condition. During the past season it has been entirely finished, and in September, 1873, was publicly dedicated, free of debt, to the worship of Almighty God. This handsome structure, with all its appointments, and with the ground on which it stands, has cost the sum of $18,000, a monument to the liberality of our people, and to the enterprise and zeal of the pastor and congregation who have persistently carried it through. Chiefly since the war, one hundred and forty-eight persons have been received into its membership, of whom one hundred and eleven were on profession of faith. The present roll numbers seventy members. Messrs. G. W. H. Marr and S. McGinnis are the elders.

On September 1, 1855, a church was organized by the Presbytery, at Carrollton, with seventeen members, of whom seven were from the First Church, nine from the Prytania Street Church, and one from the Second Church; J. S. McComb, H. T. Bartlett, and R. G. Latting were chosen elders. On February 4, 1856, Rev. N. P. Chamberlain was chosen pastor, and served in this relation till January 31, 1858, a period of two years. The pulpit was kept open by supplies, principally Rev.

Dr. J. R. Hutchison, Principal of Belle Grove Collegiate Institute, till everything was broken up by the war, and Dr. Hutchison removed to Houston. In 1866, it appearing that the church had been so reduced that there were no elders, and not even a male member, Carrollton was taken under care of the Presbytery as a Mission station, and is at present held as such against a better time for re-organization. It enjoys the efficient labors of Elder Joseph A. Maybin, which have been greatly blessed, and yield promise that the church may at no distant day be revived.

In this roll of our churches must be added the Second German Church, organized during the war; with its pastor, Rev. F. O. Koelle, and a membership of fifty-six, it is now in full connection with the Presbytery of New Orleans. Its handsome and commodious house of worship is on lower Claiborne street.

The limits within which we are restrained will not suffer any mention to be made of the efforts to establish a religious newspaper, and also a Depository; except to say, that after innumerable backsets, they have both proved successful; the Synod of Mississippi being in possession of a valuable property in its Depository building, and also of an able and influential paper, edited by the Rev. Dr. Smith.

From this meager sketch, we may gather some impression of the growth of Presbyterianism in this city. In 1818, it started from nothing; in 1823, the church re-organized with twenty-four members. Ten years later it found itself thrown back upon this identical number, and was forced to begin anew in the midst of feuds and dissensions, and with its good name discredited before the world. Our real progress dates from 1833, starting with twenty-four; to-day, after the lapse of forty years, we count nine organized churches, including the

First German; which, though it has bolted, and is now under the jurisdiction of the Northern Assembly, is nevertheless a part of this historical development and a fruit of missionary zeal put forth by ourselves. In addition, there are two or three hopeful Mission stations, where the experience of the past justifies the expectation that they will eventually crystallize into churches. Our original number of twenty-three has increased nearly to two thousand communicants; and with about two thousand three hundred children in our various Sabbath schools. "Though our beginning was small, yet our latter end hath greatly increased." We may truly say with the Patriarch Jacob," with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands." Surely on this Fiftieth Anniversary, we may exclaim, looking back over the past, "What hath God wrought!" With our present point of support, and the immense leverage we have thereby gained, what may not be accomplished during the fifty years which are to come! May God give to us, and to those who shall succeed us, grace to fulfill the precious and solemn trust; that when the Century of Presbyterianism shall be observed here, "the handful of corn," sown by our fathers "upon the top of the mountain," may be seen in "its fruit to shake like Lebanon" and "they of the city to flourish like grass of the earth!"

Rev. Wm. Flinn read the Hymn,

"Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, City of our God,"

and the congregation rose and sang.

REMINISCENCES.

The venerable Joseph A. Maybin, for forty-five years a ruling elder, and the oldest surviving member of

this church, followed, with interesting personal reminiscences, beginning with Larned's arrival in the city, January 22, 1818.

The following is a synopsis.

At that time there was little of the city this side of Canal street. There was then only one Protestant church below Canal, and that was Episcopal, situated on the corner of Bourbon and Canal streets.

Sylvester Larned, the first Presbyterian minister, arrived in this city about the time that the present minister of the First Presbyterian Church was born. The Rev. Mr. Hull, the Episcopal minister, generously permitted the use of his church to the Presbyterians from one until four in the afternoon, at which hours Mr. Larned would preach. His eloquence soon attracted attention, and an effort was made to erect a Presbyterian place of worship. Some were of the opinion that New Orleans could not support two Protestant places of worship-the city was too small for that-yet, notwithstanding, the Presbyterians were successful in obtaining a place of worship on the site of the building now occupied by Stauffer, Macready & Co., on Canal street.

Mr. Larned attended the Presbytery of Mississippi the year before his death. While there, the yellow fever broke out in the city, and he was advised, by his trustees and the physicians, not to return to New Orleans until the danger had passed. To this he consented reluctantly; and his sensitive spirit, being galled by the reproach that he had fled from the fever, the next year he stood at his post like the brave man that he was. His sense of honor would not allow him to leave, and he remained in New Orleans to die. From the little onestory building on Camp street, nearly opposite the upper corner of Lafayette square, within a square of this

church, all that remained of Sylvester La ed was conveyed to the Girod street cemetery.

He was a man of strong social feelings, peculiarly adapted to please the Southern people. He had a heart "broad as the heavens and deep as the ocean.” His brow was open, his eye gentle, features intellectual; in person reminding you of the Apollo Belvidere; of a sweet and affectionate disposition, and a “silver-tongued voice" that rolled music, and captivated all his hearers. Said a distinguished judge once of him, "I cannot go to hear that young man because he makes me shed tears."

Mr. Clapp was a great conversationalist. His style of delivery was impressive and eloquent. His mind was neither analytical nor logical, still less, profound. He impressed his audience and had many warm personal friends, whom he retained even after he left this city, and who generously contributed to his support until his death at Louisville in 1866.

The Rev. Mr. Parker, who followed Mr. Clapp, walked from his home in Vermont to Union College at Schenectady, New York. He represented to the professors that his father was a poor farmer and a revolutionary soldier, that he could not afford to furnish the money required for his education, but that if they would give him work, he would try and repay them for the trouble and expense of his graduation. The professors were pleased with his determination, and Parker studied for the ministry. He was a man of great decision of character, vigorous and logical, plain in person, not prepossessing in feature, and not calculated to obtain and keep personal friends. Yet he was a man spoken of as having the highest order of talent as a minister of the Gospel.

In the summer of 1834 he was sent North to solicit subscriptions in the larger cities, for the