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FOREIGN MISSIONS 645 ries, and receipts of $33,378. 3. Continental Europe. The continent of Europe has re- mained, in zeal for the missionary cause, far behind England and America. The first coun- try which, at the close of the 18th century, followed the example of the English, was Hol- land, which formed in 1797, mainly through the influence of Dr. Yanderkemp, a Dutch missionary employed by the London mission- ary society, the "Netherlands Missionary So- ciety," at Rotterdam. The political events, in consequence of which Holland lost her colo- nies, caused a postponement of independent operations till 1819, when they commenced in the Indian archipelago, which is still their chief seat. The missions in India proper, when Holland exchanged with Britain these settle- ments, were transferred to English societies, but other missions were founded at Surinam, Guiana, and in Cura9oa in the West Indies. The society sustains a seminary at Rotterdam, and counted among its missionaries the cele- brated Dr. Giitzlaff. The most extensive of the missionary societies of continental Europe is that of Basel. Unlike the others, it was preceded by the establishment of a missionary seminary in 1815, which has furnished a num- ber of devoted missionaries to other societies, especially English. An independent society, the "Evangelical Missionary Society of Basel," was formed in 1821, which now sustains mis- sionaries in west Africa, India, and China. The income in 1872 was 864,167 francs. The society employs 98 European missionaries, 59 European ladies, and 210 native laborers, and has 3,718 communicants. The Basel society has received from its foundation the mission- ary contributions from a number of the Ger- man churches. Afterward several other soci- eties sprang up, whose operations, however, have been thus far inferior to those of the English and American societies. Those ex- clusively or mainly Lutheran are the Evangel- ical Lutheran missionary association of Leip- sic, founded in 1886, and occupying in south- ern India the former missionary field of the Danes, with 17 European missionaries, 16 sta- tions, embracing 397 villages, and numerous native agents ; the Berlin missionary society, instituted in 1824, and supporting a mission in southern Africa with 31 stations and 48 labor- ers; and the Hermannsburg society, founded in 1854, which has adopted the plan of sending out entire missionary colonies. Those whose sympathies are with the evangelical party are the Rhenish missionary society, founded in 1828, Gossner's missionary union, in 1836, and the North German missionary society, in 1836, which have missions in Africa, India, China, the Indian archipelago, and the islands of the Pacific. The Rhenish society has 11 mission- aries, 13 native helpers, 9 stations, and more than 1,400 adherents, among the Batta people of Sumatra. Special associations for China have been formed in Cassel, Berlin, and Pomerania, mostly occasioned by the reports of Dr. Gutz- laff ; and it was intended to unite them all into a central Chinese missionary association, but this proved unsuccessful. Of late years, the aggregate receipts of the German missionary associations have rapidly risen, as the supreme authorities of nearly all the state churches have strongly recommended them and pre- scribed the taking up of an annual collection in every church. France has had a missionary society since 1822, which sustains a flourishing mission among the Bassutos of southern Africa, where it now has 17 stations, 69 native help- ers, and 2,229 communicants. Its income is 13,784 francs. The Scandinavians have been as yet hardly represented in the foreign mis- sionary field. The Swedes have almost re- stricted themselves to sending preachers to the Laplanders, and only China has received a few missionaries from a society in Lund. The Norwegian missionary society, established in 1842, has some agents among the Zooloos in southern Africa. But in Scandinavia also the activity of the missionary societies is increas- ing. Norway founded a foreign missionary seminary at Bergen in 1859 ; the second Scan- dinavian church diet recommended the forma- tion of one great Scandinavian missionary society; and in Denmark, the union of all the local societies into a Danish missionary so- ciety was effected in June, 1860. There are now 52 Protestant evangelical missionary so- cieties engaged in giving the gospel to the un- evangelized nations, with an aggregate year- ly expenditure of over $5,500,000. Our own country has 574 Protestant missionaries in va- rious fields, supported in their work at an ex- pense of $1,704,000. The Missionary Field. Having thus considered the different missionary organizations of the Protestant world, it re- mains to glance at the various mission fields and see what has been accomplished. We be- gin with Japan, with its 33,000,000 people, one of the fields most recently opened to Protestant missionary e ff orts. But little direct missionary labor has yet been accomplished there, and the government has not yet granted entire free- dom for the proclamation of the gospel. Still, 30 Protestant missionaries, of 11 different so- cieties, are at work, in a limited way, in a few of the coast cities. -They have done something in education, and have gathered a few con- verts into four churches already formed, one at Kobe, one at Ozaka, one at Yokohama, and one at Tokio, the capital. It is confidently anticipated that the government will soon remove all restrictions against the preaching of the gospel. Meantime, the readiness of the government and people to adopt the western civilization is one of the wonders of the age. Robert Morrison may be regarded as the found- er of Protestant missions in China. He be- gan his labors at Canton in 1807, and in seven years gave to the Chinese a translation of the New Testament, together with a dictionary and grammar of their own language ; and in eleven years he had published the entire Bible