Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/537

Rh MISSIONS 515 develop the colonial church and provide for the wants of the Indian tribes. In 1G96 Dr Bray, at the request of the gover nor and assembly of Maryland, was selected by the bishop of London as ecclesiastical commissary ; and, having sold his effects, and raised money on credit, he sailed for Maryland in 1G99, where he promoted, in various ways, the interests of the church. Returning to England in 1700-1, and supported by all the weight of Archbishop Tenison and Bishop Compton, he was graciously received by William III., and received letters patent under the great seal of England for creating a corporation by the name of the &quot; Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts&quot; on the 16th of June 1701. With the establishment of this corporation the era of the activity of societies for carrying out mission work may be said to commence, though the opening of the 18th century saw other movements set on foot for the same object. Thus in 1705 Frederick IV. of Denmark founded a mission on the Coromandel coast, and inaugurated the labours of Ziegenbalg, Schultze, and Schwartz, whose devotion and success told with such remarkable reflex influence on the church at home. Again in 1731 the Moravians illustrated in a signal degree the growing consciousness of obligation towards the heathen. Driven by persecution from Moravia, hunted into mountain-caves and forests, they had scarcely secured a place of refuge in Saxony before, &quot; though a mere handful in numbers, yet with the spirit of men banded for daring and righteous deeds, they formed the heroic design, and vowed the execution of it before God, of bearing the gospel to the savage and perishing tribes of Greenland and the West Indies, of whose condition report had brought a mournful rumour to their ears.&quot; And so, literally with &quot;neither bread nor scrip,&quot; they went forth on their pilgrimage, and, incredible as it sounds, within ten years they had established missions in the islands of the West Indies, in South America, Surinam, Greenland, among the North American tribes, in Lapland, Tartary, Algiers, Guinea, the Cape of Good Hope, and Ceylon. 1 Such were the preparations for the more general move ments during the last hundred years, and the manifesta tion of missionary zeal on a scale to which it would be diffi cult to find a parallel in Western Christianity. The progress that has been made may be best judged of from consideration of the following details : (a) At the close of the last century there were only seven missionary societies in existence, properly so called. Of these three only, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the Halle-Danish Society, and the Moravians, had been at work for the greater part of the century, whilst four, the Church Missionary Society, the Baptist Missionary Society, the London Missionary Society, and the Dutch Society at llotterdam, began their work only in its tenth decade. To-day these seven have, in Europe and America alone, increased to upwards of seventy, and to these must be added, not only several independent societies in the colonies, but numerous missionary associations on a smaller scale, the offspring of English and American societies. (b) The following chronological lists illustrate the growth of missionary societies in Britain and the United States : Great Britain and Ireland. 1091. Christian Faith Society for the West Indies. L698. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 1701. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. 1732. Moravian (Episcopal) Missions of the United Brethren. 1792. Baptist Missionary Society. 1795. London Missionary Society. 1796. Scottish Missionary Society. 1799. Church Missionary Society. 1799. Religious Tract Society. 1804. British and Foreign Bible Society. 1SOS. London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews. 1813. Wesleyan Missionary Society. 1817. General Baptist Missionary Society. 1823. Colonial and Continental Church Society. 1829. Church of Scotland Mission Boards. National Bible Society of Scotland. 1 Holmes, Hist. Sketches of the Missions of the United Brethren, p. 3; Grant, Bampton Lectures, p. 190. 1831. Trinitarian Bible Society. 1832. Wesleyun Ladies Auxiliary for Female Education in Foreign Countries. 834. Society for Promoting Female Education in the East. 1835. United Secession (now United Presbyterian) Foreign Missions 183G. Colonial Missionary Society. 1840. Foreign Aid Society. Coral Missionary Fund. 1840. Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Missionary Society. 1841. Colonial Bishoprics Fund. 1841. Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society. Waldenstan Missions Aid Fund. 1843. British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Jews. 1843. Free Church of Scotland Missions. 1843. Primitive Methodist African and Colonial Missions. Methodist New Connexion in England Foreign Missions. 1844. South American Missionary Society. 1849. Evangelical Continental Society. 1852. Indian Female Normal School Society. 1853. Lebanon Schools. 1855. Presbyterian Church in England Foreign Missions. 1856. Turkish Missions Aid Society. 1856. United Methodist Free Churches Foreign Missions. 1858. Christian Vernacular Education Society for India. I860. Central African Mission of the English Universities. 18CO. Briti&amp;gt;h Syrian Schools. Melancsian Mission. 1865. Ladies Association for Promoting Female Education among the Heathen. 18G6. China Inland Mission. 1867. Delhi Female Medical Mission. 1867. &quot;Friends&quot; Foreign Mission Association. 1868. Cape Town Aid Association. 1869. &quot; Friends&quot; Mission in Syria and Palestine. Irish Presbyterian Missions. 1876. Spanish and Portuguese Church Aid Society. Columbia Mission. Original Secession Church Indian Mission. 1877. Cambridge Mission to Delhi. 1880. Church of England Zenana Missionary Society. United Stales of Aincrica. 1733. Corporation for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England. 1787. Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians at Boston. 1800. New York Missionary Society. Connecticut Missionary Society for Indians. 1803. United States Mission to the Cherokees. 1806. Western Missionary Society for Indians. 1810. Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 1814. Baptist Missionary Union. 1833. Free-will Baptist Foreign Missionary Society in India. 1835. Foreign Missions of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 1837. Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church. 1837. Evangelical Lutheran Foreign Missionary Society. 1839. Methodist Episcopal Church Missionary Society. 1842. Seventh Day Baptist Mi.-sionary Society Strict Baptist Missionary Society. 1843. Baptist Free Missionary Society. 1845. Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 1845. Southern Baptist Convention. 1846. American Missionary Association. 1857. Board of Foreign Missions of (Dutch) Reformed Church. 1859. Board of Foreign Missions of United Presbyterian Church. American United Brethren, Moravian. United States German Evangelical Missionary Society. American Mexican Association. Indian Home Missionary Association Indian Missionary Association. Local Baptist Missionary Society. Women s Union Zenana Missionary Society. (c) At the beginning of the present century the total sum con tributed for Protestant missions can hardly be said to have amounted to 50,000; in 1882 the amount raised by British con tributions alone to foreign missions amounted to upwards of 1,090,000, 2 thus divided : Church of England Missions 460,935 Joint Societies of Churchmen and Nonconformists 153,320 Nonconformist Societies, English and Welsh 013,177 Scottish and Irish Societies 155,767 Roman Catholic Societies 10,910 (d) At the same date it is calculated that there were about 5000 heathen converts under instruction, not counting those belonging to the Roman Catholic missions. At the present day the converts from heathenism may be estimated certainly at no less than 1,800,000, a single year (1878) showing an increase of about 60,000. (c) When the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel was founded in 1701, there were probably not twenty clergymen of the Church of England in foreign parts. The spiritual condition of the settlers in America and elsewhere was terrible in the extreme, and no effort was then made by the church to win over the heathen to Christ. But now the position which the church holds in the British colonies and dependencies and many parts of heathendom is recognized by all. In those regions where the society labours, and which before it commenced its work were spiritually the &quot;waste places&quot; of the earth, there are, including the American Church (the first fruits of the society s efforts), 138 bishops, more than 5000 clergy, and upwards of 2,000,000 members of the communion. The above tables sufficiently indicate how varied are the missionary agencies now at work, covering the heathen 2 See Scott Robertson, Analysis of British Contributions to Foreign Missions, 1883.