(2.) Present Extent. — To convey some faint idea of what has subseqXiently been accomplished, and put in the way of accomplishment, it is deemed proper now to submit a brief sketch of the principal missionary organ- izations and agencies of the Protestant world. In this exhibit a grouping is adopted which is designed to show primarily the countries in which the several societies originated and have been sustained ; secondly, the date of their origin, and a summary view of their character and early history; and, thirdly, the fields of their oper- ation, the amount of their income, and the present con- dition of their enterprises. For further particulars, con- sult the articles on each country and society in this Cy- clopedia.
The principal Protestant missionary societies may 1)0 classified as — I. Continental ; II. British; III. -I /;/- iiciii>.
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' I. Continental Missionary Societies. — Danish
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Missions.— As early as the year 1714 the Danish College of Missions was opened in Copenhagen by Frederick IV, king of Denmark, for tlie training of missionaries. Dan- ish mlssicnis to the heathen had been oninnirnfpd even before this period, agents havintr l)e('n cililaincil I'lom ilie University of Halle, In Saxony. On .Inly '.'. ITim;, two iiiis- Bionaries arrived from Denmark on the ( '.a-.iniaiHlel cnast, in India, and settled at Tranqnebar. They inuuedialely commenced the study of Tamil, the language spoken in that part of the country. Although they had gone to a part of the Danish empire, and were patronized by roy- alty, the missionaries encountered great (ippii.^itiiiii from the prejudices of the natives, and even rrmn ihe ])aiii>'h .government, who on several occasions aiic-leil and im- prisoned the missionaries for montlis to^'eiher. Priva- tion, as well as persecution, was the lot of the mission- staff at an early period of their labors. The first remits tance sent from Europe, which at that time was greatly needed, was lost at sea, but friends were raised np in a maimer unexpected, and loans of money were offered them till they could obtain supplies from the society at home. When their borrowed stock was nearly exhausted, remittances re.ifiicd them, along with three more mis- siouaiies, in ITO'.i. This was but; the beginning of better times, for shoi'lly al'teiwards the Loudon Society for Pro- moting Christian Knowledge became a liberal patron of their mission, irivinL,'tluMu not onlv an edition ofthePor- tUfjuese New Testament lor ciiinlation anion'.^-;he jieople, but also a iii-imin.j:-l)ress, with a stock oflvpes ami paiiei-, and a Silesian printer. When opi,o,-iii,.n to tlie mission subsided, and the cause expanded somewhat, atype-foun- dery and paper-mill were established, and the work of translation and printing was prosecuted with vigor. In 1715 the Tamil New Testament was completed, and eleven years afterwards the Old Testament made its appearance. Several of the elder missionaries were called away by death, but zealous young men were sent out from Europe from time to time, tiiid'a native pastorate was raised up as the fiuit of missionai y labor, which rendered good ser- vife to the cause. In itf.S a mission was opened at Cal- cutta by one of this .society's missionaries, but at the ex- pens_e of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. In 1762 the celebrated missionary Schwartz, who had al- ready been In the Indian field for twelve years, com- his labor in Trichiuopoly, in connection with
which he fulfilled along, honorable, and successful period of labor, and finished his course with joy in 17i)8. In the year 1835 the iirinciiia! Danish missions in India, which had been so lai--elv snstnined by the Christian Knowl- edge Society, wei c ti aiisl'ei red to the Society for the Prop- agation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.
"Missio7i to Greenland.— In 1721 the Danish mission to Greenland was commenced by the Kev. Hans Egede, a zealous Christian pastor of Vogen, in Norway. For thir- teen years this good man had prayed and planned for a mission to that dreary region. Having at length obtained the consent and patronage of the king of Dennnnk to the undertaking, the missionary convened a few friends to- gether, opened a subscription list, and in the face of for- midable difficulties pushed forward the work, till a ship was purchased to convey him and a small party of set- tlers to Greenland. During the voyage, which lasted eight weeks, thev suffered much from storms, floating mountains of ice, and a leak in the vessel, which they were obliged to sto|) with their clothes. On landing at their destinaiioii, their tirst work was to build a house of tuifand stone, in w liieh the natives, who ajipeared friend- l\.as-iMe(l ihem as best they could, intimating by signs, lio\\(\(M', ili.ii it ilu'v intended to live in it they would be liozen to (leatli. W'hilc en<];a,L'ed in these exercises, and in strivin*' to at ipiire the stiantre laiiLrnat^e of the Green- landers, Mi-. K-eile eii.M.iinleieii ilininnerahle difticulties. His greatest trial \\-a< the ili-salislai'tion of the colonists, several of whom resolved to leturu home, as they were very uncomfortable, and found the natives unwilling to trade. He was supported by the courage and resolution of his heroic wife, however, and by the tirrival of two ships with provisi(ms in the summer of 17'-'-2, when their stores were nearly exhausted. The missionary found it extremelv difficult to induce the people to attend to re- ceive sucii instruction as he was able to give, and it was only by ofleriuLT a lisli-liook for eveiv lelter of the alpha- bet they learned that he succeeded in -ctling a few chil- dren to come to school. The followiim y.Mr another mis- sionary came to the assistance of Mr. K-ede ; and the mis- sion was carried on with i)raiseworthv |iersi'verance, but with little success for a long time. t)ii the accession of Christian VI to the throne of Denmark, -oveninient aid thdrawn I'lom the mission; but the senior mission- xin- the option to icni.-iin in the coiinli'x-, noblv o his poM. anil continued his laliois amid untold privations, troiibles, and sullei iiejs, not the least of which arose from the introduction of small-pox into the settle- ment, which swept oft' about '2000 of the natives. In 1734 the mission was re-enforced by the appointment of three new aixents, one of whom was the son of the pioneer mis- sionarv, Mr. Ri.'cde. The following year, his lieloved wife haxiii-- been c.'dled aAvay by death, jMr. Ivjede rcliiriied to Dcnniaik, lull siill exerted himself on lichaU' (.f I he mis- h his inlliience the colony and the mission were re-enloii |.,l. hi- scni imhlished a (iieenland lexicon, the Scripiuies \\eic ti;ui-lated into the native lan-uage