pended to the minutes of the General Synod of 1867. The word " Dutch" was originally introduced to distin- guish the Church from the " English" Church, by which the Episcopalian denomination was generally known, in the State of New York, after the Dutch colonial govern- ment had surrendered to the British in 1664. The Hollanders who settled New York and Albany, and in- termediate places, came over as members of the "Re- formed Church of the Netherlands" and representatives of "the Reformed Religion." It was not until thirty years after the cession of the province to the British that the word "Dutch" was incorporated in the style and title of a single Church when William III of Eng- land gave a charter to the Netherland Reformed Con- gregation in the city of New York as the "Reformed Protestant Dutch Church." In resuming its original name the Church has lost none of its historical associa- tions, and has only dropped what had long been regard- ed by many as a hindrance to her advancement.
II. Reformed Church in Holland. — The Reformed Church of the Netherlands was a legitimate outgrowth from the great Reformation of the 16th century. The conflict for civil and religious liberty in the Low Coun- tries was preceded by the labors of those "Reformers before the Reformation," Wessel Gansevoort and Ru- dolph Agricola. Both of these illustrious scholars and teachers were natives of Groningen. They were stu- dents of the Bible, who, fifty years before Martin Lu- ther, came to a clear knowledge of the great doctrines of the faith with which he shook the world. But it was not until many years after he had taken his posi- tion that he saw the writings of Gansevoort, and then he felt constrained to make the fact public, lest his ene- mies should use their agreement of views to his own disadvantage. Gansevoort was an eminent teacher at Heidelberg, Louvain, Paris, Rome, and at last, as head of a celebrated school, in his native Groningen, where he died in 1489. Agricola was professor in the Uni- versity of Heidelberg, and was noted for his classical and scientific attainments, and especially for his skill in the use of the Greek New Test. The labors of these great and good men mightily prepared the Way for the civil and religious conflict which followed under Charles V and his son Philip II of Spain. Iivangelical truth struck its roots deep down into the hearts of the people. Confessors and martyrs for Christ were never wanting for the persecutions of the government and the Inqui- sition. The poor people called their churches "the Churches of the Netherlands under the Cross" They worshipped privately for many years, in scattered little assemblies, until they crystallized into a regular eccle- siastical organization. The ban of the empire and the curse of the Romish Church could not keep down the rising spirit of the heroic believers in Christ aiid liberty. Every new act of tyranny fanned the sacred flame. Popular field-preachers, like Herman Strijker and Jan Arentsen, gathered thousands of people beneath the open sky to listen to their powerful eloquence. The whole country was stirred to its depths. The hymns of Beza and Clement Marot, translated from the French, rani;' out the pious enthusiasm of the multitudes. Babes were brought for baptism, and alms were collected for the poor. At length three pastors were set apart to the ministry of the Church in Amsterdam, deacons and deaconesses were appointed to distribute alms to the needy saints, and churches were organized. In 1563 the Synod of Antwerp was held, which adopted the Belgic Confession, and laid the foundations of that no- ble Church to which subsequent synods only gave more permanent shape. Her scholars and theologians, her schools and universities, her pure faith and holy living. her active zeal and martyr spirit, gave the Reformed Church of Holland the leading position among the sis- ter churches of the Continent. Her catholic feeling and religious liberty made her a refuge for the perse- cuted of other lands. The Waldenses and the Hugue- nots, the Scotch Covenanters and the English Puritans,
REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH 90S REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH
found a welcome at her altars; and John Robinson and i he voyagers of the Maj flowi t learned in Holland some of the !»•>[ lessons which they brought with them to Plymouth Bock.
111. History of the Reformed Church in America. — I. Origin. — The R< formed church in America was founded by emigrants from Holland, who formed the colony of the New Netherlands, under the authority of the States- General and under the auspices of the Dutch Easl In- dia Company. Hendrick Hudson arrived in New STork harbor Sept. 11. 1609, in the Half .Moon, and proceeded as far a- Fort Orange (now Albany). Trading-posts were established there and on .Manhattan [sland i New JTork i in 1614. The emigrants came for trade, but they did nol neglect religion and the public worship of God. I bey had no ordained minister and no organized Church for several years; but two " krank - besoeckers," or "zieken-troosters" — literally "comforters of the sick," pious persons who were often commissioned as aids to the ministers of the Gospel in the mother-country- came over with governor Minuil in 1626. These were Jansen Krol and Jan Huyck. "They met the people on Sundays in an upper room above a horse-mill, and read the Scriptures and the creeds to them. This was ///< beginning of public worship in New Amsterdam." There is evidence, however, that "a considerable Church was organized in that city as early as 1619," and that "a list of members in full communion of the Church of Now 1 oik is still extant, dated 1622" ( Life of Dr. J"/ni II. Livingston, p. 79, note).