that separation. Van Raalte was one of the chief exponents of one of these; but among the early settlers, among his own followers, were his antagonists. As long as suffering and toil abounded the old roots appeared lifeless, but no sooner began the sun of prosperity to shine but these dry roots sprouted and grew into twigs and strong trees, and the break of 1852 resulted. Van Raalte came with an aim to this country. To forget what was behind and to grow up into the closest sympathy with the land of his adoption was his ideal. He ceased to be a Netherlander as soon as he became an American. America was to him more than a place of exile, a country of refuge. It was the land of his adoption. He desired to cut off old traditions as fast as Providence opened the way. They wanted to retain the past and gloat over it with childish affection. They felt themselves exiled; always looking back at Palestine, yet ever ready to acknowledge the undesirableness and unfeasibility of ever returning thither. Their favorite aim-to reconstruct a little Holland in the forests of Michigan, a colony after the model of that at the Cape of Good Hope. Religiously they clashed. His a system of free grace, but of infinite mercy and abounding love; their's one too often of castiron justice and loveless decrees. His a gospel of pardon; their's one of judgment. And so they parted, and it was well they did. Not in the present but in the far future lie the possibilities of a reunion; when with common pride the thoroughly Americanized Hollanders shall look into the records of the past and shall have outgrown all clannishness, and, clinging to the true faith, shall have obtained a clearer vision of a larger horizon. The anti-Masonic plea, so largely entering into the former as well as into the latter secession, is easily explained. The Christian Netherlander appears, by nature, to be anti-Masonic. It is a tradition among them. Its reason: "In the days when the flood-gates of infidelity and revolution were opened upon the lowlands, Freemasonry, hitherto but little known in the Netherlands, grew with astonishing rapidity. Its supporters were bold and defiant in its defense, and belonged not always to the choicest elements of society. And so, to the Holland religious mind, through many believing generations, Freemasonry became identified with infidelity and revolution. It stands so branded to-day across the sea. The vast majority of Hollanders are its avowed enemies, or at least look upon it. with keen suspicion. Their character is an open one, and so they dislike, as by nature, what is dark and hidden. "When, therefore, the claim was made that numerous church members and even pastors in the Reformed Church of America were at the same time members of secret, oath-bound societies, they began to agitate the matter. The fanatics on the subject placed before the General Synod the ultimatum to expel all Masons from the community of the church, or at least to declare membership in oath-bound secret societies a punishable sin-which is virtually the same--or to see them rupture their connection. You see how such an agitation in the hands of uncompetent leaders, led into wrong channels, appealing to a strong national prejudice, could rock the western part of the Reformed Church in America, consisting mostly of Hollanders, to its very foundations. And the wonder is only that it worked so little harm as it did. It has passed by, but yet the tire is smoldering, and may burst out anew at some future period. Once and again grand revivals have swept over these churches, spurring them on to greater activity and better work. • You will do well to study this Holland question of development. Do these Hollan lers, living among yon, Americanize too slowly to suit many? Are they too backward in adopting the language of this country in their devotions? Do not judge them hastily. Give them time. Remember: (1) The flow of immigration has not yet stopped. (2) The present older generation could not use the English in their worship to edification. (3) It is the hardest thing conceivable to jerk a man's tongue out by the One does not easily discard his mother-tongue, or even cease to love it. It was therein that his mother first taught him to lisp his evening prayer, and to sing the sweet songs of childhood. Again I say, give them time. For the change is coming, and when the metamorphosis is complete I am sure you will recognize, in these Hollanders, some of the very best elements of the growth and pride of Ottuwa county." roots. CHURCHES WORSHIPING IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE BY REV. E. P. GIBBS. In tracing the history of the religious movement of the English speaking people of Ottawa county, during the fifty years now past, the commencement will be found in the settlement of Rev. Wm. M. Ferry with his family and friends on the Grand River where the city of Grand Haven now stands. In November 1834, these few people landed here and established their home where before them had been only the trader, the Indian, and a wilderness. Their welcome was the ripple of the river as it moved slowly to the lake, the sigh of the magnificent forests, the glitter of the sunlight through the pines, the chill of an autumn morning, and the greeting of the post trader-this and probably no more. This family, who thus took their fortunes with them to a wilderness home were English speaking, thinking and acting people. As this was to be their home, and they were a religious people, the husband, father, and protector, a missionary of the Presbyterian Church, the first act, after landing, seems. in harmony with their ancestry and their faith. They held a religious service, erected their altar, offered their sacrifice, made their vow, and reconsecrated themselves to the service of God under new and strange conditions. In this first settlement within the confines of Ottawa county, it is easy to trace the spirit of 1620, and note the bond of sympathy between the Plymouth settlers of that period, and those guided by Mr. Ferry in 1834. Each settlement was founded upon a basis of profound religious belief. In both, the home, the church and the school were prime factors in the inception of their movement, and failure rarely follows such a beginning; success is usually its gratifying reward. It is probable that after that first Sunday service held in the trader's log house -for it was on Sunday morning this party sailed into Grand River-no Sunday was allowed to pass without a public service. During the ensuing two years, quite a number joined the little colony, and in October, 1836, a Presbyterian Church was organized with twelve members. The first frame building erected in the settlement, was used for a meeting house, school-house, court-house, and other general public purposes. It is still standing, on Second street, between Washington and Franklin streets, and should be carefully guarded as a relic of former days. From this simple beginning, this germ of religious thought and deed, have gradually evolved the English speaking churches of this part of Ottawa county. Into these new homes, the habits fostered in older states were, with slight modifications, introduced. Each new settler came in obedience to the aggressive spirit of the age, to the new field, ready to work out the problem of life. by the light best known. Many brought with them fixed religious convictions and habits. Others left behind them the traditions and faith of former homes, and went into the wilderness relying upon individual strength of will and hand, as a guarantee of desired success. All this variety of thought and purpose entered into the formative period of the religious atmosphere of Ottawa county, and is easily traced in the history of its English speaking religious organizations. But for this marked diversity of motive, we should look for and expect to find a large and controlling Presbyterian influence throughout the churches composed of English speaking people in this county. For that was the earliest influence in matters of religion. It has to-day but three churches in the county; one in Grand Haven, one in Spring Lake, organized in 1853, another in Ferrysburg, organized in 1882. But it will be well to remember that Ottawa county is now very much smaller than when irst settled, and that many of the Presbyterian churches in the counties of Muskegon and Oceana may be justly said to be traceable to the seed planting of 1836–children of the parent church. The surprise consists in not finding any organizations of this body elsewhere in the county. We should also remember the many changes, often abrapt but forceful, that have influenced the religious world in the last fifty years-an influence inding congenial ground in the vigorous life of the United States, and most marked results in the organized worship of the English speaking people of the West. Without further philosophizing upon the matter, the fact is plain that the English speaking people of Ottawa county have planted and fostered a wide diversity of faith and practice since that little band held its first service on the banks of Grand River. But each separate church is but the reproduction of a similar church in the older states. Not many new names are found, not many new or strange ideas surprise us, as we trace the formative period in its effect upon religious societies in this county. The people here are of the same nerve and brain as those of older climes. The growth of the soul here is conditioned upon similar laws controlling elsewhere. Here were likes and dislikes-memories dear and powerful-preventing the exclusive establishment of any single church, rather assuring the crystalization in much weakness of those who thought, believed or worshiped in sympathy with established methods, or who would carve for themselves a new name in the wilderness. Most marked the influence of man or woman who came from a distant home, and finding not the church of childhood, have thought and prayed until the hope of their life culminates in a church where two or three were gathered in the Master's name. It is probable the larger number of the the thirty-eight English speaking churel.es in this county could trace their birth to some earnest one alone in the wilderness, or not at home in some organized worship, who went in search of a promised land, and found it in the formation of a new society and the erection of a church. The following table exhibits the statistics of the English speaking churches of the county as complete as we have been able to secure them: It is to be regretted that so many of the churches, whose record is essential to the completeness of this history have failed to respond with the facts. of their organization and growth. It will be seen that there are 15 of the churches thus delinquent, viz., 4 Adventist, 1 Baptist, 3 Congregational, 1 Free Methodist, 3 Methodist Episcopal, 1 Presbyterian and 2 Wesleyan Methodist; in all 15. The 38 churches holding services in the English language are distributed as follows, viz.: Allendale, 3-Wesleyan Methodist, Congregational, Adventist. Blendon, 1-Adventist. Chester, with a population of 1,703, has no English speaking church. Georgetown, 2-Congregational, Baptist. Grand Haven, 6-Catholic, Congregational, Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal, Presbyterian. Unitarian. Holland, 4-Methodist Episcopal, two Reformed, Wesleyan Methodist. |