•_'. Other Customs (essential and non-essential).— In 181 I the Genera] Synod adopted a report of a commit- tee on this subject which is still the law of the Church. The essential customs and usages which ar& deemed necessary to he continued in the Church an- expressed in the explanatory articles ol the constitution; such as singing the psalms ami hymns approved of and recom- mended by the General Synod; preaching from the Hei- delberg Catechism; observing the forms in the admin- istration of baptism and the Lord's supper, etc., as con- tained in the liturgy, etc. "Other customs and usages prevail in the Church which are deemed non-essential, and in many instances are either wholly dispensed with or partially retained in our congregations, according to the taste or circumstances of pastors or people ; such as the arrangements observed in the performance of public worship — the number of times of singing psalms and hymns; reading sermons and preaching them from memory or extemporaneously; sprinkling in baptism one or three times; sitting or standing in receiving the Lord's supper; preaching on Ascension-day. Good-Fri- day, and other days which have long been observed both in Holland and America" (Minutes, 181 I. p. 31, 32). In the Constitution adopted in 1832, however, "for the purpose of uniformity in the order of worship," a directory is set forth which "is to be observed in all the churches." In Holland all the clergy wear the offi- cial pulpit dress or gown during their performance of public worship. In this country the custom prevails chiefly in the cities of Philadelphia. N< w York. Albany, Newark. New l'.runswick, etc., and in some of the coun- try and village churches.
VIII. Institutions. — 1. Colleges. — Zeal for the training and perpetuation of an educated ministry— which pro- duced ike unhappy division of the Church in the la-t century — soon led to various plans for the establishment of proper schools for that purpose in this country. Lew ministers came from Holland: and the time, cost, and dangers, the difficulties and disappointments, incurred in
sending youth to be educated in the universities of the mother country were too great to furnish a supply from i his source. The number of churches rapidlj outgrew
the pastors. In L754, in order to defeat the vements
of the coins tor independence, a plan was adopted, by a pro\ ision w hich was inserted in the charti r of Kin-'.-, i now Columbia) College, in New York, giving the con- sistory ol" the Church of New York the right to appoint a professor of theology in that institution. But, fearing thai such an arrangement would produce an episcopa- lian defection, the Rev. Theodore Frelinghuysen, of Al- bany, projected an academy or s, miliary, in which the Dutch language only should be used, and which should
combine the advantages of both the German gymnasia and the university system. In L759 he sailed lor Eu-
REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH 1003 REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH
rope to urge his project; but he never returned, having been lost at sea upon his homeward voyage. The con- ferentie opposed his plan, in a letter to the Classis of Amsterdam, and it perished with him.
Ten years later — in 1770 — and chiefly by the power- ful influence of Rev. Dr. Jacob E. Hardenbergh, its first president — a charter was obtained from governor Will- iam Franklin of New Jersey, then a British province, for a college, the object of which is stated to be "the edu- cation of the youth in the learned languages, liberal and useful arts and sciences, and especially in divinity, pre- paring them for the ministry and other good offices." It was called— in honor of the queen of George III — "Queen's College," and retained this name until, in 1825, it was changed — in memory of one of its prin- cipal benefactors, Col. Henry Rutgers — to "Rutgers College." It is located at New Brunswick, N. J. This institution was suspended during the Revolutionary War, and again in 1795, when it was revived, chiefly by the efforts of the Rev. Dr. Ira Condict, its vice-pres- ident. Dr. John H. Livingston was appointed president in 1810. But in 1816 its doors were closed again until, in 1825, it resumed its work, which has continued with- out interruption since that time. The centennial year was celebrated, with appropriate services, at the com- mencement held in June, 1870. A large endowment has been secured. The course of instruction has been great- ly enlarged and the standard of scholarship elevated. The faculty is full, and the number of students in 1878- 79 was 173. In 1864 a scientific school was organized in connection with the college, and designated by the Legislature of New Jersey " the State College for the Benefit of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts," as pro- vided for by an act of the Congress of the United States in 1862. It was opened in 1866. The course of study embraces mining, metallurgy, agricultural chemistry, civil engineering, and mathematics, with other branches of scientific education. The college possesses an astro- nomical observatory, a museum of natural history, an agricultural farm of one hundred acres, and ample facil- ities for the illustration of scientific studies. The gram- mar-school, which is as old as the college, occupies a large and appropriate building opposite the college grounds. The college faculty embraces a president, vree-president, eleven professors, and an assistant pro- fessor. The buildings include the main college edifice ; Van Nest Hall, in which are the rooms of the liter- ary societies and lecture-rooms; Geological Hall, which contains an armory, the museum of geology, mineral- ogy, and natural history, and the chemical laboratory ; the Kirkpatrick Chapel, a large and handsome Gothic building erected in 1873, in which also is the library of the college; the Schenck Observatory; and the presi- dent's house. There are no dormitories belonging to the college. The library is of great value, although not adequate to the wants of the institution. The museum is extensive and contains many rare curiosi- ties and specimens. Valuable prizes are given at each commencement to successful competitors in oratory, composition, classics, mathematics, mineralogy, spelling, English grammar, modern history, mental and moral philosophy, and for the best essay on Christian missions.