ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



41 



of God and Christ crucified. None of our brethren but Mr. 

 A." De Mey have hitherto preached in Tamil with much 

 benefit. 



We make this suggestion because the Churches in this 

 and other Colonies are not entirely dependent on the Father- 

 land Church, as the celebrated Geisbertus Voetsius Professor 

 of Theology has amply pointed out in his Politia Theologia, page 

 103, &c, in his reply to the question : whether the Netherland 

 Churches, because they first planted the Indian Churches, 

 have an abiding power to select ministers, and supply the 

 Churches which have already sprung irp and to govern them 

 with absolute authority, as if these were destitute of all power 

 or right in this respect, and remained subject to and dependent 

 upon the Church of Netherland ? The celebrated writer in 

 favour of the Colonial Churches adduces his arguments from 

 Scripture, from the primitive gentile churches planted by be- 

 lievers from India, and from the principles of the Reformation. 



We know also that it has been practiced by the English 

 in New England, where various Churches exist, in which na- 

 tives have been admitted to the ministry, as appears in a letter 

 from Boston by the Rev. Crescent Mather to Mr. J. Leusden, 

 Professor in Oriental languages at Utrecht. After speaking 

 of the pious zeal of Rev. J. Elliot, who after acquiring the 

 native languages translated the whole Bible, and planted a 

 Church consisting of converted Indians, Mr. Mather states, 

 the pastor in charge thereof is by birth a native, named Daniel ; 

 besides which, he says, there are several others whose pastors 

 are all Americans. Of these Churches he enumerates 24. 

 Even the Churches in the Fatherland are not foreign to this 

 plan, for they judge that theological seminaries ought to be 

 established, as appears from the opinion given by the theolo- 

 gical professors of Leylen in 1622; but especially from article 



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