it hears, and who Superintended its erection and has provided for iis maintenance ami support. It is per- fectly fire-proof, and combines every modern arrange- ment for heating, ventilation, light, and security from dust and other annoyances. It has room for about 100,000 volumes. The library at present numbers over 30,000 volumes, to w hich additions have been constant- ly made by donations, and principally from a fund of $53,763, of which a balance of about $15,000 remains unexpended. The selection of hooks is confided to a competent committee of the (Ieneral Synod, in co-oper- ation with the theological professors. The library has a very complete Biblical critical apparatus, including fac- similes ol the Sinaitic, Vatican, and other MSS.; ! Sanctorum ( Bollandist |, 60 vols.; Migne's Patrology, 320 vols., embracing all the fathers, Greek and Latin: and many of the best and rarest editions of standard works imported from Europe.
The permanent endowment of the seminary, which is still in progress, now amounts to over $200,000, besides the real property held for its uses. There ate four professors, and thirty-two students now in its classes, while the hall is filled with other young men of the college ami pre- paratory school who are on their way to tin1 ministry. The course of instruction is thorough, and embrai es I be usual department- of theological study in similar insti- tutions, with the addition of those subjects which are specially relate. 1 to the Reformed Church, such a- the
Confession of Faith, Canons of Dort, Heidelberg Cate- chism, the ecclesiastical polity, and the constitutional law of the denomination. The whole number of grad- uates from its establishment in 1810 to 1879 is 609. The government of the seminary is vested in the faculty and iii a Board of Superintendents, which is chosen by the General Synod and meets annually. A standing committee of the synod has the chat temporal affairs.
The •■ Ideological Seminary in Hope College" had for its first professor Rev. Cornelius E.t Irispell, D.D.,whowas el© ted 03 t be < ieneral Synod in 1867 to the chair of di- dactic and | i ne' I beology, and I he other professor- in
Hope < lollege were im ited to act as lectors, in 1869 two additional professors were elected. There is a Hoard of Superintendents, which consists of the Council of Hope College, with duties and prerogatives like those of the seminary at New Brunswick. The endowment of this
institution has been begun. In 1*7*. on ace it of
financial embarrassments, the theological department was suspi nded and the -indent- wint to other institu-
tions. A few young men have pone out from its walls to preach the Gospel, two of them as foreign mission- ariea
:;. Parochial SckooU.—A few of these are aided by the Board of education. They an- almost exclusively confined to the German ami Holland Churches.
1. Foreign Missions, From her earliest days, her ministers gave special care to the evangelization of the heathen Indians. During the existence of the United Foreign Missionary Society, she statedly contributed to its funds; and when that organization was dissolved, and its stations transferred to the American Board of Com- missioners for Foreign Missions, she continued her efforts in connection with it. In 1832 the (ieneral Synod ap- pointed its own Hoard ofForeign Missions, proposing to organize missions of their own Church to be a through the medium of its prudential commit! e. hi 1836 the first band of missionaries went out to seek a settlement in Northern India, but subsequent^ Located in the island of Borneo. Alter working a long while harmoniously in this relation, prompted by a desire to accomplish the utmost that might be gained by an in- dependent denominational effort, it was thought most desirable to sever the connection existing betwei n tin ir society and thai of the American Hoard. This was ac- cordingly done in 1858. The number of members is twenty -four — one half being laymen, and one third elected annually by the General Synod. A number of missionaries at, several times, under the auspices of the board, have been sent out to China. India, and Japan. Chief among the servants of the Church in tin1 ton ign field were the 1,'ev. John Scudder, M.D., of thi Mission: the 1,'ev. David Abeel, D.D., the first Ameri- can missionary to China; and the Rev. I > r. < ornelius V. A. Van Dyck, the translator of the Arabic Bible, who, although in the employ of the American Board of Com- missioners for Foreign Missions, yet retains his relation to the Reformed Church, from which he went out as a missionary physician. 'Ike Mission to the Dyaks in Borneo was given up in 1849, some of the missionaries having been transferred to Amoy in China, and the others returned to America.
The China Mission was organized at Amoy in 1844, at the original suggestion of the Rev. David Abei I. D.D.,
who visited that city in 1842, just alter it had been de- clared of the five open ports. The first missionaries
were Rev. Messrs. William J. Pohlman and Elibu Duty. Its prosperity has been wonderful. The .Mission now (1879) consists of seven churches and seventeen sta- tions, comprising, according to the last report, a mem- bership of 598 communicants. Over these in Amoy and adjacent cities there arc now four missionarii - and four assistants, with three native pa-tors settled over and sustained by two churches in the city of Amoy and ili<- Church of Kang-than and Opi. The Mission em- ploys twelve native catechols or preachers and has eight students under theological instruction. A build- ing tor the theological students ha- been erected at Kolongsu, called ••the Thomas De Witt Theological Hall." Contributions for religious and benevolent pur- poses from the native Christians in 1867 were $940.69 in gold.