CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE UNITED FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY. During the Months of August and September, 1821. From a Friend to Missions, in Maryland, a piece of gold, by the Rev. Burr Baldwin, 15 From the Female Missionary Society of Holden, Mass. by the Rev. Mr Avery, From a collection at Holden, Mass. accompanied with a box of clothing, by the Rev. Mr. Avery, From the Missionary Society at Six Mile Run, N. J. by their treasurer, Mr. Andrew Brown, From the Monthly Prayer Meeting in the Associate Reformed Church in Cedar-st. by Mr. Blake, From Job S. Halstead, Esq. treasurer of the Auxiliary Missionary Society, Newtown, L. I. From the First Presbyterian Society of Adams, Jefferson County, N. Y. enclosed by the Rev. George W. Gale, 2 6 18 15 20 44 18 From the Rev. Mr. Baldwin, collected on his tour in winter and spring last, 148 72 From the same, on his tour in May and June last, 196 2 From the Rev. W. C. Brownlee, for the Auxiliary Missionary Society, of Basking Ridge, N. J. From the same, a donation from Miss Dinah Morris, of ditto, From the same, a donation from Mrs. Bockhaven, of ditto, 13 50 2 From Theophilus Parvin, from the missionary box in the Oratory of the Theological Seminary at Princeton, and the avails of vegetables raised and sold by the Students, 20 From the ladies of Bloomfield, N. J. to constitute their pastor, the Rev. Gideon N. Judd, a member for life, From the Newtown (L. I.) Female Auxiliary Missionary Society, by Miss Eliza Leverich, secretary, by Mr. Lewis, From Mr. Prosper Hosmer, of Hudson, for the Osage Mission, by the Rev. Dr. Spring, From the United Missionary Society of Dauphin, by Edward Crouch, Esq. their treasurer, per Robert Ralston, Esq. of Philadelphia, From the Rev. Dr. Milledoler, being the amount of a collection from the congregation of Flemmington and Amwell, forwarded by the Rev. Samuel B. Howe, 30 50 23 54 10 20 30 30 From the United Presbyterian Concert of Prayer, in Baltimore, by the Rev. Mr. Nevins, 31 80 Dolls. 717 50 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY. Fo constitute Ministers members for life. Rev. Joseph R. Walker, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Chestertown, Kent county, Md. by the ladies of his Church, Rev. Joel K. Northrop, of Chester, N. H. by the ladies of his parish, Salem Bible Society in Botetourt county, Va. by G. P. Nash, secretary, 50 Montgomery County Bible Society, N. Y. by John Holland, treasurer, 136 Rev. Gilbert R. Livingston, of Coxsakie, N. Y. by one of the elders of his church, Rev. Robert G. Armstrong, of North-East, N. Y. by the Female B. S. of Dutchess county, 30 Donations from Auxiliary Bible Societies. Poland Bible Society, Ohio, by Samuel Swan, treasurer, 30 Petersburgh Bible Society, Va. by Rev. B. H. Rice, secretary, 100 Cincinnati (Miami) Bible Society, Ohio, by Samuel Lowry, treasurer, 120 Maryland Bible Society, by Thomas Parker, secretary, 200 21 Rockland County Bible Society, N. Y. by Cornelius I. Blauvelt, treasurer, 34 62 Nantucket Marine Bible Society, Mass. by Wm. Coffin, treasurer, 40 Georgetown Bible Society, District of Columbia, by John Stull, treasurer, 180 Concord Bible Society, N. C. by Thomas G. Polk, secretary, 150 Orange County Bible Society, N. J. by Rev. Dr. Hillyer, president, 16 Nassau Hall Bible Society, N. J. by Wm. Delaware County Bible Society, N. Y. by Charles A. Foote, treasurer, 73 Salem Bible Society in Botetourt county, Va. by G. P. Nash, secretary, 50 Fayette County Bible Society, Penn. by Rev. Wm. Wylie, secretary, 102 Petersburgh Bible Society, Va. by Rev. Benj. H. Rice, secretary, 50 Salem County Bible Society, N. J. by Rev. George W. Janvier, secretary, 28 25 Jefferson County Bible Society, Va. by Robert Worthington, treasurer, N. J. by Rev. Elias Riggs, 100 Jefferson College Bible Society, Penn. by Richard Brown, treasurer, Donations from Bible Societies, not Auxiliary. 45 Rhode-Island B. S. by O. Brown, treas. 52 24 New-Providence Female Bible Society, Falmouth Bible and Foreign Missionary Society, by Thacher Lewis, treasurer, Amount of sales to individuals, 8 76 $5 37 52 $4 Dolls. 2549 68 Missionary Register. VOL. II.] NOVEMBER, 1821. [No. 5. Biography. SUPPLEMENT TO THE LIFE OF THE REV. HANS EGEDE; CONTAINING SOME ACCOUNT OF THE DANISH MISSION TO GREENLAND, [Copied from the London Missionary Register.] To the Life of the venerable Egede we shall now subjoin, as we proposed in our last, some account of the Danish Mission in Greenland since his time; and shall prefix to this account, a brief view of the Danish Settlements in that country. Both are derived from the Introduction to a work lately translated from the German. This work is the Journal of the Rev. Hans Egede Saabye, grandson of our Egede, and one of the successors of his grandfather in the Greenland Mission. This Journal was kept in Greenland, from theyear 1770 to 1778; and will hereafter furnish us with some very interesting articles on the influence of Christianity upon the Greenlanders. The Danes have various larger Settlements, or Colonies, on this coast; with some smaller, called factories, dependent on the Colonies. These Settlements extend from about the 59th to the 74th degree of North Latitude, from Nennortalik in the south to Upernavik in the north. The population is small; and was estimated, in 1805, at 6000; though the rambling life of the Greenlanders renders it difficult to ascertain the exact number of inhabitants. For the administration of the colonies and of the Trade, there are two Inspectors (the Settlements being divided into the Northern and Southern Inspectorships ;) with about 30 Superior Officers, as Merchants and Clerks; and 160 Inferior, as Artisans, Sailors, and Workmen. Of the interior of the country little is known. There are various remains of the earlier inhabitants: and it is hardly to be doubted, that, on the shores of the gulf, which run far inland, there are many places where numerous families might find ample means of subsistence, as well as the ancient inhabitants who resided there, but who have been long extinct. The East side of Nov. 1821. 21 the country is not at all known, as every attempt to reach that coast has failed, on account of the accumulation of ice; though there is no doubt of part of it at least being inhabited, by a similar race to that of the Western coast, as the inhabitants come now and then to the Southern Danish Settlements to trade. The Mission in Greenland, has now subsisted above eighty years; and, if we reckon from 1721, when Hans Egede first arrived in Greenland, about 100 years. If we except the most northerly colony, Upernavik, where the Mission was established about twenty-five years ago, and the most southerly colony, Julianeshaab, where a Mission was not established till about forty years ago, there are scarcely any Heathens left in the known part of Greenland, and these but a few old people. Some persons fancy, notwithstanding, that the Greenlanders have not, on the whole, been much benefitted in respect to morals and intellectual improvement; and that the Christians are neither less vicious, nor believe less in witchcraft, than the Heathens. It is true, there are wicked people here, who are guilty of excesses; and Superstition still leads to cruelty, and even to murder; but are there not wicked people every where?-are there not examples, even in the most enlightened and civilized nations, that Superstition leads to cruelties?-and was it ever otherwise? It cannot, indeed, be denied, that the Mission has by no means produced the advantage of late years, which it might have done, had it been better directed; but to affirm, for this reason, that the Greenlanders have not gained much by it, either in morality or in knowledge, would be absurd. Many immoral customs, which were practised among the Heathens, have now vanished: the impostures of the Angekoks have ceased: the belief in witches is not so general, at least the dreadful consequences of it are not so frequent ; and such revolting cruelties, the effects of Superstition, as those of which Collin mentions an example, now no longer occur. He relates that a father, by the advice of his bro ther, who was an Angekok, buried alive his child of two years of age, in order to be himself cured of a disorder: the wife of a merchant's clerk heard the child cry, saved it, and took it to herself: about a fortnight after, the relations were informed of it: they came to the woman, and begged her to give up the child, assuring her that no harm should be doneto him: from confidence or fear, the woman gave up the child; and the relations again committed the same cruelty, which was discovered too late to save the innocent victim. It Among a people who have neither magistrates nor laws, a decrease of immorality can hardly be ascribed to any thing but mental improvement. would be difficult to find a country in which the lower orders of people are more civilized than the baptized Greenlanders: they are almost all, without exception, able to read and write; and, in general, they are fond of reading the religious books which are translated for them; not because they believe there is any merit in it, nor as a task, but in order to learn, and not forget what they have learned. Greenland had formerly Ten Ordained Missionaries-few enough on an extent of coast of about 300 miles [the German mile here meant, is equal to about 4 English]-But, since 1792, the number has been reduced, out of economy, one half!-In later years, when, on account of the war with England, almost all communication was inter. cepted, even this insufficient number was not complete. At last, there was only one Missionary in Greenland; when he left Greenland, last year, there was, in the whole country, only one Clergyman, who was a Native, and formely a Catechist, and was ordained by the before mentioned Missionary, and is now Clergyman at Godthaab. In the month of April, this year (1817,) four Missionaries went to Greenland; of whom two are placed in South Greenland, namely, one in the district of Julianeshaab, and the other in the districts of Holsteenberg and Sukkertop; and two in North Greenland, namely, one in Disco Bay, and the other at Umanak: so that the regular number is now complete. The business of the Missionaries, according to the present arrangement, is principally to exercise the Ministerial Functions; and to engage, instruct, and examine Catechists. From the smallness of their number, and the large districts which are assigned to each, their time for these employments is very limited. In some districts but very few Greenlanders, or none at all, live in the place where the Missionary resides; so that his opporportunities of instructing them are chiefly, indeed entirely, confined to the journeys which he is to make in his district. When he arrives at the most distant part of it-thirty or even sixty [German] miles from his place of abode- the Greenlanders are dispersed far and near; perhaps over an extent of twenty to thirty [German] miles. They are, indeed, summoned together, but do not all come; and thus even this opportunity is often only partially made use of, I do not know upon what footing the salaries of the Missionaries are now placed; but a few years ago it was 300 rix-dollars, besides an allowance of European provisions. This allowance consists in the following articles, which he receives every twentieth day:-twentyeight pounds of ship biscuit, nine pounds of butter, twelve pounds of salt meat, eight pounds of bacon, six pounds of stock-fish, one bushel of peeled barley, and half a bushel of peas. The assistants of the Missionaries, the Catechists, are Natives. In every district, where there are several, one of them is chief Catechist. These chief Catechists are generally Blendlings (children of an European Father and a Greenland Mother,) of good understanding, who speak or at least understand Danish they have a salary of 30 or 40 rix-dollars, and an allowance of European provisions: but the other Catechists, who are for the most part Greenlanders, have 4, 6, or at the most, 10 dollars per annum, and no allowance. The Missionaries have also Sub-teachers in their service; but all that they are capable of, with few exceptions, consists in being able to repeat the Catechism, and to read it, as well as what is translated from the Bible: it is seldom that one of these Sub-teachers ever succeeds any further than in teaching the Greenlanders to read; and this is, in fact, all that can be expected, if we consider the education which he has received, and the small recompense which he obtains, perhaps one or two dollars per annum. It is difficult to procure capable persons for the places of Catechist and Sub-teachers, because they have no prospect of a tolerable situation in the future; and the Missionaries can give them only uncertain promises of farther promotion in the service of the Mission. In former times, many things were very different. There were then two Provosts in Greenland, but now there is no superintendence whatever on the spot. When there were ten Missionaries in Greenland, each of them could, in some measure, attend to his district; and now and then visit the Greenlanders, when they are dispersed in summer in the islands and the interior of the bays, to superintend the conduct of the Catechists, &c. In the present extensive districts, a great deal must be neglected. Young Students, who had not yet undergone their examination in divinity, were formerly received into the Seminary for future Missionaries; and were instructed in the Greenland Language, till, after their Academical Course was ended, they could enter on a vacant place of Missionary in Greenland: but many poor Students, who had enjoyed the emoluments appointed for these Seminaries, afterward chose another career, without being able to repay the support which they had enjoyed. The College of the Mission was often embarrassed to obtain Candidates for the vacant offices; and therefore resolved to receive into the Seminary only Candidates of Theology, who had passed their examination. This arrangement, indeed, caused a considerable saving of expense, but had bad conse. quences in other respects. The Candidates seldom engage as Missionaries till a few weeks before they are to go to Greenland; for most of them avoid as long as possible going to a country of which they entertain the most frightful ideas and when they do, at length, suffer themselves to be engaged, the time before their departure is hardly sufficient to learn the first elements of the Greenland Language. : With such a trifling knowledge of this difficult language, the newly-arrived Missionary can expect little or no assistance from the Native Catechists, who understand very little Danish. In this manner, several years elapse before he can converse with the Greenlanders on every-day subjects, much less on the doctrines which he is to teach. Before he can be of any real service in enlightening the Greenlanders, half the time of his stay has generally expired.* There can be no want of opportunity to speak the Greenland Language, if he does not avoid the society of the friendly, cheerful, and talkative Greenlanders; and is not offended, that their everlively humour sometimes excites a smile or a sarcastic remark, when an European is embarrassed by their very difficult language. It must not, however, be believed that the Greenlanders indulge in such a smile at church: on the contrary, they take a pleasure, when Divine Service is over, in pointing out to This is, for an unmarried Missionary, six years; and for a married Missionary, ten years: because the latter receives a half allowance more provisions for his wife and family, the Preacher those passages of his Sermon, where, so far as the language is concerned, he might have expressed himself more clearly. In the former times of the Mission, it was usual to send to Greenland, Boys from the Foundling Hospital, after they had been confirmed: by their intercourse with the Natives, they soon learned the language, and became naturalized in a short time: when their age admitted of it, they were employed as chief Catechists; and were of great use to the Missionaries, particularly to those who had but lately arrived, till they had learned the language. To these Catechists, who were amenable to the laws and might be brought to account, the Missionary could, with more confidence, entrust the remote places in his district, than to a Native Catechist, who, being an independent Greenlander, can only be punished by a reproof, which indeed afflicts him and makes him ashamed, or by his dis charge, which he but little regards. The Youth, who are extremely desirous of learning, and are endowed with rare quickness of comprehension, then received much better and more constant instruction than they now obtain from the Native Catechists, who rather apply (and indeed from necessity) to their own business than to the instruction of youth, and, after the manner of the Greenlanders, are fond of roving about the country. From all that has been said, it appears that the Mission, if it were regulated in a better manner, might effect far more good than it does at present. To this may be added a moral obstacle, which the Mission is but little able to check. Many Europeans, of the labouring class, bring moral corruption with them, and even make a point of honour of spreading it. The Greenlander is like a child, and follows every example without reflection: hence so many offences against morality among the Greenlanders, which were formerly unknown among them. In their language, for instance, |