together to give counsel. The Dutch churches here named were situated near to our Lutheran people, and they were the earliest formed among the Reformed or Lutherans, and must naturally have had an influence on their neighbors. In the Neshaminy settlement were found representatives of three religious bodies: there were Dutch Lutherans, who were afterward visited by Muehlenberg, Swedish Lutherans ministered to by the Wicaco pastors, and in largest numbers Dutch Reformed, with resident pastors, with whom the Scotch-Irish Presbyterian settlers coalesced. The Swedish pastors certainly held services in the Reformed Church, and I have no doubt that Muehlenberg's services were held in the same church, as the Lutherans were few and never had a separate building. The _German Reformed_ congregations in Philadelphia, 1727, Germantown, Skippach, 1720, Goschenhoppen, 1731, Saucon, 1731, Egypt, 1731, Oley, 1731, Mosellem, 1731, and therefore in general throughout the district between the Schuylkill and Delaware, were formed somewhat earlier than the Lutheran congregations in their vicinity. As the members of the two religious bodies were closely intermarried and often worshipped in the same buildings, it is self-evident that the earlier organizations must have had an important influence on the later. Beside this, in Europe, especially in Holland, but also in Germany, there was a fuller self-government in the Reformed congregations than prevailed in the Lutheran in Germany. Their system was, therefore, better adapted for transplanting to a new country, where there was no connection between Church and State. The earliest German Reformed pastors came by way of Holland, and were aided by the church of that country, so that we may expect to find a close similarity between the Reformed organizations in this country, both German and Dutch, and we will not be disappointed in this. In his "Historic Manual of the Reformed Church," Rev. Dr. J. H. Dubbs shows such familiarity with the condition and history of the Reformed congregations from the beginning, that it was natural that we should turn to him, as a personal friend through many years, for reliable information as to the form of organization in the older congregation. In answer he says: "There can, I think, be no doubt that the offices of elder and deacon were brought over from the Fatherland, precisely as we have them at present. Max Goebel informs us (_Geschichte des Chr. Lebens,_ vol. ii., p. 76) that in the Reformed Churches of the Rhine country, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, elders were always elected with prayer in the presence of the most prominent members of the congregation. Ordinarily the election was conducted by the Consistory: sometimes by the congregation itself, a double number of candidates being proposed by the retiring members of the Consistory. Every year one-half of the elders retired from office. The deacons were elected in the same manner as the elders. Their office had special