96 DUTCH AND ENGLISH ON THE HUDSON

worship, to read a portion of the word of God to the
people, to endeavor, as much as possible to bring
them up in the ways of the Lord, to console them
in their sickness, and to conduct himself with all
diligence and fidelity in his calling, so as to give
others a good example as becometh a devout,
pious and worthy consoler of the sick, church^
clerk, Precenter and School master."

Throughout the history of New Netherland we
find the church and school closely knit together.
Frequently the same building served for secular
instruction on week-days and for religious service
on Sundays. In a letter written by Van Curler to
his patroon, he says: "As for the Church it is not
yet contracted for, nor even begun. . . . That
which I intend to ouild this summer in the pine
grove (or green wood) will be thirty-four feet long
by nineteen wide. It will be large enough for the
first three or four years to preach in and can after-
wards always serve for the residence of the sexton
or for a school."

How small were the assemblies of the faithful
>a the early days we may gather from a letter of
Michaelius, the first domine of the colony, inci-
dentally also one of the most lovable and spirit-
ually minded of these men. In his account of the