" (Jtliir Diitrli Misxhtna.— It must not be supposed that the oriraui/atiou ofihe Netherlands Missionary Society is all that Holland has done for the conversion of the hea- then. Long anterior to that event, even as early as 1612, the famous Anthony Walwens planted a seminary at Ley- den for the iirepaiaiion of foreiirn niissiontuies, the Dutch East India Comi)auy counlenanciiii: and approving of the institution. When Ceylon came under the jjower of Hol- land, in 1636, a number of missionaries weie sent out to propagate the Reformed Kdigion aini>ng the idolatrous natives. A very sui)eilicial mode of making converts seems to have been ailoi.led. howt'vef, for when they weie
only UMi coinumnieaiit-. '1 he sad (li-pi-|i. -ri ion ) .■\,al- a system ofaction whieli \\:\ not .mU lein. Iieii-il.lr in it-elt. but greatly prejudicial t.) all siil.-e.iienl mi-.-ionaiy lahm, as has been proved by paiulul e.\pei ienci'. ])titcli mis- sionaries were also sent out at an eaily i)eriod to South- ern Africa, Java, Formosa, Amboyna. and other places.
" Bailc ih'HKiimary Siirictii. — In tiie year isi.^ a seminary was established for Ilie tra'inin- ol' nii-si.uiaries at IJasle, in Switzerland. It owed its oiiL^in ;.. the gratitude of a few Ijious people who lero-nised the providence of God in a violent storm which occmieil at a part i(iilai- juncture, and which proved the means of [Meserving their town fl-om ruin when the arnnes (if Russia and Huiigafv were hurling slndls into il. The form which the giaiitiide <.f these people assunu'd was adesii-e to i .in- re |.; n- leach-
ers to send to the ln^atheii, to make tl . iih d with
the good news of salvation. The si i j|:-ivcry
small, with few schol.-ii-s, and a slein:' i \\.r .:ii.> .if .di'int .£5t) per annum, in the course of a lew yeais a mission- ary colleire was built, and liberal supi)oi I'came from Ger- many and France, as well as from vaiions parts of Switz- erland, so that the income rose to iMioii. Tliiw result flowed from the formation of au.xiliarv or branch socie- ties i)i those countries. The institution was n.iw con- ducted with vigor, and furnished the Knglish Chinch Mi.s- pionary Society with some of its most devoted laborer.*. In forty years after its commencement it had sent forth nearly 4(io missionaries to foreign lands, and 7;; were still under traininLr. It was no jiart olthe original plan of this institution lo ciiL-age in the support and management
Avork. in iv.'l, howiver, a society was formed for this object, and from year to year missionaries were tent to
I North America, Western Africa, India, and China. A po- I ciety was also organized for the special purpose of d.b- scminating the Gospel among the Jews. The missiona- ries of the'Basle Society are not all ministers. They send out pious mechanics and agriculturists to teach the na- tives the arts of civilized life, at the same time that they iii-i 11 i';<ni ill till' 1 rii, ;p!es of Christianity by the P' ! Il I. - I !;r establishment oi" schools.
'I 1 ■ / I' ."/ - ■ - ■-•■nerally conceded to have
lii-i a.', i.. : • I all iii'i'.-i ill ndssions among tlie Ger- I mans. See Ostertag, Ki.tiiUliungagcisch. der JUiiisioiwgcsell- Hcha/t zn IJani'l (1SC5).
^^ J'mis J-Jvan/jelical Misxionary Society. — The origin of ! this institution is somewhat Curious and interesting. In ; the year ls-.'2 a meeting was convened at the house of an American merchant, S. V. S. Wilder, Esq., then residing in Paris, to take into consideration the best means of propa- gating the Gosjjfl in heathen lands. There were pieseut I the presidents of the Lutheran and Reformed consisto- ries, as well as many of the ministers of these chuiches, and others of diflerent jietsuasions then in the Fieiich metroijolis. The result was the formation of this society, which, in its commencement, contemplated two objects: the one to employ the press as a means to enlighten the ])ublic mind on the nature and character of Protestant missions, and the other to educate young men, who had been duly recommended, in a knowledge of t lie lan-iuages of the East. The Rev. Jonas King was then in Paris, and received an invitation to go to the Holy Land with the IJec. Mr. Fisk, the new society charging itself with his siippi It for a certain period. " Subsequently the society devoted all its eflorts to South Africa, where its agents iiave labored for many years with great advantage to sev- I eral scattered tribes of natives. In ls-j'.» three missimia- I ries were sent by the socitly to the Cajie of Good Hope, { one of whom settled amoiii.' the Fiench refugees at \\ el- \ lington, near Cajie Town, and the other two proceeded to the Dechiiaiia cnnnli'v. and commenced a station at Mo- tito. Re-enr.rceinent's arrived from lime to time, which enabled the missionaries to extend their Labors to various l)arts (d'a country that stood in great need of the light of the Gos))(l. That iiart of the interior known as Basuto- land was occupied by the French missionaries. New sta- tions we •• r'lr.d -'. hools Mere established, and chapels built .at r. '1' M ;. Irrisheba, Thaba. Bassion, Me- I kiiatliiij. i . I - : . -I i. r.eiea, and Carmel. At sev- I oral ol iIm-' i.:,ir- ,1 'j,un\<\- number of natives were bidiiirlit t.i a saviiitr kiiowleilL'e of the truth, and united in Church fellowship, although the notorious chief Mo- shcsh still adheied to his beallicnism, notwithstanding his superior iutelligeiice. The French mission in South Africa lias repeatedly stinVied fnmi devasiatiif.' wars among the natives and sell ;eis. but the greatest blow to 1 its ].r,>sperilv was tlie war whicdl ra-ed in Fram e in 1^70- .'P'