Chapter 7

Besides a large number of archaeological papers in periodicals, in theAnnaliof the Institute of Rome, and in the Transactions of the Berlin Academy, and several illustrated catalogues of Greek, Roman and other antiquities in the Berlin, Naples and Vatican Museums, Gerhard was the author of the following works:Antike Bildwerke(Stuttgart, 1827-1844);Auserlesene griech. Vasenbilder(1839-1858);Etruskische Spiegel(1839-1865);Hyperboreisch-röm. Studien(vol. i., 1833; vol. ii., 1852);Prodromus mytholog. Kunsterklärung(Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1828); andGriech. Mythologie(1854-1855). HisGesammelte akademische Abhandlungen und kleine Schriftenwere published posthumously in 2 vols., Berlin, 1867.

GERHARD, JOHANN(1582-1637), Lutheran divine, was born in Quedlinburg on the 17th of October 1582. In his fifteenth year, during a dangerous illness, he came under the personal influence of Johann Arndt, author ofDas wahre Christenthum, and resolved to study for the church. He entered the university of Wittenberg in 1599, and first studied philosophy. He also attended lectures in theology, but, a relative having persuaded him to change his subject, he studied medicine for two years. In 1603, however, he resumed his theological reading at Jena, and in the following year received a new impulse from J.W. Winckelmann (1551-1626) and Balthasar Mentzer (1565-1627) at Marburg. Having graduated and begun to give lectures at Jena in 1605, he in 1606 accepted the invitation of John Casimir, duke of Coburg, to the superintendency of Heldburg and mastership of the gymnasium; soon afterwards he became general superintendent of the duchy, in which capacity he was engaged in the practical work of ecclesiastical organization until 1616, when he became theological professor at Jena, where the remainder of his life was spent. Here, with Johann Major and Johann Himmel, he formed the “Trias Johannea.” Though still comparatively young, Gerhard had already come to be regarded as the greatest living theologian of Protestant Germany; in the numerous “disputations” of the period he was always protagonist, while on all public and domestic questions touching on religion or morals his advice was widely sought. It is recorded that during the course of his lifetime he had received repeated calls to almost every university in Germany (e.g.Giessen, Altdorf, Helmstädt, Jena, Wittenberg), as well as to Upsala in Sweden. He died in Jena on the 20th of August 1637.

His writings are numerous, alike in exegetical, polemical, dogmatic and practical theology. To the first category belong theCommentarius in harmoniam historiae evangelicae de passione Christi(1617), theComment, super priorem D. Petri epistolam(1641), and also his commentaries on Genesis (1637) and on Deuteronomy (1658). Of a controversial character are theConfessio Catholica(1633-1637), an extensive work which seeks to prove the evangelical and catholic character of the doctrine of the Augsburg Confession from the writings of approved Roman Catholic authors; and theLoci communes theologici(1610-1622), his principal contribution to science, in which Lutheranism is expounded “nervose, solide,et copiose,” in fact with a fulness of learning, a force of logic and a minuteness of detail that had never before been approached.The Meditationes sacrae(1606), a work expressly devoted to the uses of Christian edification, has been frequently reprinted in Latin and has been translated into most of the European languages, including Greek. The English translation by R. Winterton (1631) has passed through at least nineteen editions. There is also an edition by W. Papillon in English blank verse (1801). His life,Vita Joh. Gerhardi, was published by E.R. Fischer in 1723, and by C.J. Böttcher,Das Leben Dr Johann Gerhards, in 1858. See also W. Gass,Geschichte der protestantischen Dogmatik(1854-1867), and the article in theAllgemeine deutsche Biographie.

GERHARDT, CHARLES FRÉDÉRIC(1816-1856), French chemist, was born at Strassburg on the 21st of August 1816. After attending the gymnasium at Strassburg and the polytechnic at Karlsruhe, he was sent to the school of commerce at Leipzig, where he studied chemistry under Otto Erdmann. Returning home in 1834 he entered his father’s white lead factory, but soon found that business was not to his liking, and after a sharp disagreement with his father enlisted in a cavalry regiment. In a few months military life became equally distasteful, and he purchased his discharge with the assistance of Liebig, with whom, after a short interval at Dresden, he went to study at Giessen in 1836. But his stay at Giessen was also short, and in 1837 he re-entered the factory. Again, however, he quarrelled with his father, and in 1838 went to Paris with introductions from Liebig. There he attended Jean Baptiste Dumas’ lectures and worked with Auguste Cahours (1813-1891) on essential oils, especially cumin, in Michel Eugéne Chevreul’s laboratory, while he earned a precarious living by teaching and making translations of some of Liebig’s writings. In 1841, by the influence of Dumas, he was charged with the duties of the chair of chemistry at the Montpellier faculty of sciences, becoming titular professor in 1844. In 1842 he annoyed his friends in Paris by the matter and manner of a paper on the classification of organic compounds, and in 1845 he and his opinions were the subject of an attack by Liebig, unjustifiable in its personalities but not altogether surprising in view of his wayward disregard of his patron’s advice. The two were reconciled in 1850, but his faculty for disagreeing with his friends did not make it easier for him to get another appointment after resigning the chair at Montpellier in 1851, especially as he was unwilling to go into the provinces. He obtained leave of absence from Montpellier in 1848 and from that year till 1855 resided in Paris. During that period he established an “École de chimie pratique” of which he had great hopes; but these were disappointed, and in 1855, after refusing the offer of a chair of chemistry at the new Zürich Polytechnic in 1854, he accepted the professorships of chemistry at the Faculty of Sciences and the École Polytechnique at Strassburg, where he died on the 19th of August in the following year. Although Gerhardt did some noteworthy experimental work—for instance, his preparation of acid anhydrides in 1852—his contributions to chemistry consist not so much in the discovery of new facts as in the introduction of new ideas that vitalized and organized an inert accumulation of old facts. In particular, with his fellow-worker Auguste Laurent (1807-1853), he did much to reform the methods of chemical formulation by insisting on the distinction between atoms, molecules and equivalents; and in his unitary system, directly opposed to the dualistic doctrines of Berzelius, he combined Dumas’ substitution theory with the old radicle theory and greatly extended the notion of types of structure. His chief works werePrécis de chimie organique(1844-1845), andTraité de chimie organique(1853-1856).

SeeCharles Gerhardt, sa vie, son œuvre, sa correspondance, by his son, Charles Gerhardt, and E. Grimaux (Paris, 1900).

GERHARDT, PAUL(c.1606-1676), German hymn-writer, was born of a good middle-class family at Gräfenhainichen, a small town on the railway between Halle and Wittenberg, in 1606 or 1607—some authorities, indeed, give the date March 12, 1607, but neither the year nor the day is accurately known. His education appears to have been retarded by the troubles of the period, the Thirty Years’ War having begun about the time he reached his twelfth year. After completing his studies for the church he is known to have lived for some years at Berlin as tutor in the family of an advocate named Berthold, whose daughter he subsequently married, on receiving his first ecclesiastical appointment at Mittelwald (a small town in the neighbourhood of Berlin) in 1651. In 1657 he accepted an invitation as “diaconus” to the Nicolaikirche of Berlin; but, in consequence of his uncompromising Lutheranism in refusing to accept the elector Frederick William’s “syncretistic” edict of 1664, he was deprived in 1666. Though absolved from submission and restored to office early in the following year, on the petition of the citizens, his conscience did not allow him to retain a post which, as it appeared to him, could only be held on condition of at least a tacit repudiation of the Formula Concordiae, and for upwards of a year he lived in Berlin without fixed employment. In 1668 he was appointed archdeacon of Lübben in the duchy of Saxe-Merseburg, where, after a somewhat sombre ministry of eight years, he died on the 7th of June 1676. Gerhardt is the greatest hymn-writer of Germany, if not indeed of Europe. Many of his best-known hymns were originally published in various church hymn-books, as for example in that for Brandenburg, which appeared in 1658; others first saw the light in Johann Crüger’sGeistliche Kirchenmelodien(1649) andPraxis pietatis melica(1656). The first complete set of them is theGeistliche Andachten, published in 1666-1667 by Ebeling, music director in Berlin. No hymn by Gerhardt of a later date than 1667 is known to exist.

The life of Gerhardt has been written by Roth (1829), by Langbecker (1841), by Schultz (1842), by Wildenhahn (1845) and by Bachmann (1863); also by Kraft in Ersch u. Gruber’sAllg. Encycl.(1855). The best modern edition of the hymns, published by Wackernagel in 1843, has often been reprinted. There is an English translation by Kelly (Paul Gerhardt’s Spiritual Songs, 1867).

GÉRICAULT, JEAN LOUIS ANDRÉ THÉODORE(1791-1824), French painter, the leader of the French realistic school, was born at Rouen in 1791. In 1808 he entered the studio of Charles Vernet, from which, in 1810, he passed to that of Guérin, whom he drove to despair by his passion for Rubens, and by the unorthodox manner in which he persisted in interpreting nature. At the Salon of 1812 Géricault attracted attention by his “Officier de Chasseurs à Cheval” (Louvre), a work in which he personified the cavalry in its hour of triumph, and turned to account the solid training received from Guérin in rendering a picturesque point of view which was in itself a protest against the cherished convictions of the pseudo-classical school. Two years later (1814) he re-exhibited this work accompanied with the reverse picture “Cuirassier blessé” (Louvre), and in both subjects called attention to the interest of contemporary aspects of life, treated neglected types of living form, and exhibited that mastery of and delight in the horse which was a feature of his character. Disconcerted by the tempest of contradictory opinion which arose over these two pictures, Géricault gave way to his enthusiasm for horses and soldiers, and enrolled himself in themousquetaires. During the Hundred Days he followed the king to Bethune, but, on his regiment being disbanded, eagerly returned to his profession, left France for Italy in 1816, and at Rome nobly illustrated his favourite animal by his great painting “Course des Chevaux Libres.” Returning to Paris, Géricault exhibited at the Salon of 1819 the “Radeau de la Méduse” (Louvre), a subject which not only enabled him to prove his zealous and scientific study of the human form, but contained those elements of the heroic and pathetic, as existing in situations of modern life, to which he had appealed in his earliest productions. Easily depressed or elated, Géricault took to heart the hostility which this work excited, and passed nearly two years in London, where the “Radeau” was exhibited with success, and where he executed many series of admirable lithographs now rare. At the close of 1822 he was again in Paris, and produced a great quantity of projects for vast compositions, models in wax, and a horseécorché, as preliminary to the production of an equestrian statue. His health was now completely undermined by various kinds of excess, and on the 26th of January 1824 he died, at the age of thirty-three.

Géricault’s biography, accompanied by acatalogue raisonnéof his works, was published by M.C. Clément in 1868.

GERIZIM,a mountain in the hill-country of Samaria, 2849 ft. above the sea-level, and enclosing, with its companion Ebal, the valley in which lies the town of Nāblus (Shechem). It is the holy place of the community of the Samaritans, who hold that it was the scene of the sacrifice of Isaac—a tradition accepted by Dean Stanley but no other western writers of importance. Here, on the formal entrance of the Israelites into the possession of the Promised Land, were pronounced the blessings connected with a faithful observance of the law (Josh. viii. 33, 34; cf. Deut. xi. 29, 30, xxvii. 12-26), the six tribes, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin, standing here for the purpose while the remaining tribes stood on Ebal to accept the curses attached to specific violations thereof. Gerizim was probably chosen as the mount of blessing as being on the right hand, the fortunate side, of a spectator facing east. The counter-suggestion of Eusebius and Jerome that the Ebal and Gerizim associated with this solemnity were not the Shechem mountains at all, but two small hills near Jericho, is no longer considered important. From this mountain Jotham spoke his parable to the elders of Shechem (Judg. ix. 7). Manasseh, the son of the Jewish high-priest in the days of Nehemiah, married the daughter of Sanballat and, about 432B.C., erected on this mountain a temple for the Samaritans; it was destroyed by Hyrcanus about 300 years afterwards. Its site is a small level plateau a little under the summit of the mountain. Close to this is the place where the Passover is still annually celebrated in exact accordance with the rites prescribed in the Pentateuch. On the summit of the mountain, which commands a view embracing the greater part of Palestine, are a small Moslem shrine and the ruins of a castle probably dating from Justinian’s time. There was an octagonal Byzantine church here, but the foundations alone remain. Josephus describes it as the highest of the mountains of Samaria, but Ebal and Tell Azur are both higher.

(R. A. S. M.)

GERLACHE, ÉTIENNE CONSTANTIN,Baron de(1785-1871), Belgian politician and historian, was born at Biourge, Luxemburg, on the 24th of December 1785. He studied law in Paris and practised there for some time, but settled at Liege after the establishment of the kingdom of the Netherlands. As member of the states-general he was an energetic member of the opposition, and, though he repudiated an ultramontane policy, he supported the alliance of the extreme Catholics with the Liberal party, which paved the way for the revolution of 1830. On the outbreak of disturbance in August 1830 he still, however, thought the Orange-Nassau dynasty and the union with the Dutch states essential; but his views changed, and, after holding various offices in the provisional government, he became president of congress, and brought forward the motion inviting Leopold of Saxe-Coburg to become king of the Belgians. In 1832 he was president of the chamber of representatives, and for thirty-five years he presided over the court of appeal. He presided over the Catholic congresses held at Malines between 1863 and 1867. That his early Liberal views underwent some modification is plain from the Conservative principles enunciated in hisEssai sur le mouvement des partis en Belgique(Brussels, 1852). As an historian his work was strongly coloured by his anti-Dutch prejudices and his Catholic predilections. HisHistoire des Pays-Bas depuis 1814 jusqu’en 1830(Brussels, 2 vols., 1839), which reached a fourth edition in 1875, was a piece of special pleading against the Dutch domination. The most important of his other works were hisHistoire de Liége(Brussels, 1843) and hisÉtudes sur Salluste et sur quelques-uns des principaux historiens de l’antiquité(Brussels, 1847).

A complete edition of his works (6 vols., Brussels, 1874-1875) contains a biography by M. Thonissen.

GERLE, CHRISTOPHE ANTOINE(1736-c.1801), French revolutionist and mystic, was born at Riom in Auvergne. Entering the Carthusian order early in life, he became prior of Laval-Dieu in Perche, and afterwards of Pont-Sainte-Marie at Moulins. Elected deputy to the states-general in 1789, Gerle became very popular, and though he had no seat in the assembly until after the Tennis Court oath, being only deputysuppléant, he is represented in David’s classic painting as taking part in it. In 1792 he was chosen elector of Paris. In the revolutionary turmoil Gerle developed a strong vein of mysticism, mingled with ideas of reform, and in June 1790 the prophetic powers of Suzanne Labrousse (1747-1821), a visionary who had predicted the Revolution ten years before, were brought by him to the notice of the Convention. In Paris, where he lived first with a spiritualistic doctor and afterwards, like Robespierre, at the house of a cabinetmaker, his mystical tendencies were strengthened. The insane fancies of Catherine Théot, a convent servant turned prophetess, who proclaimed herself the Virgin, the “Mother of God” and the “new Eve,” were eminently attractive to Gerle; in the person of Robespierre he recognized the Messiah, and at the meetings of the Théotists he officiated with the aged prophetess as co-president. But the activities of Catherine and her adepts were short-lived. The Théotists’ cult of Robespierre was a weapon in the hands of his opponents; and shortly after the festival of the Supreme Being, Vadier made a report to the Convention calling for the prosecution of Catherine, Gerle and others as fanatics and conspirators. They were arrested, thrown into prison and, in the confusion of Robespierre’s fall, apparently forgotten. Catherine died in prison, but Gerle, released by the Directory, became one of the editors of theMessager du soir, and was afterwards in the office of Pierre Bénézech (1775-1802), minister of the interior. Having renounced his monastic vows in Paris, he is thought to have married, towards the close of his life, Christine Raffet, aunt of the artist Denis Raffet. The date of his death is uncertain.

GERMAN BAPTIST BRETHREN,orGerman Brethren, a sect of American Baptists which originated in Germany, and whose members are popularly known in the United States as “Dunkers,” “Dunkards” or “Tunkers,” corruptions of the German verbtunken, “to dip,” in recognition of the sect’s continued adherence to the practice of trine immersion. The sect was the outcome of one of the many Pietistic movements of the 17th century, and was founded in 1708 by Andrew Mack of Swartzenau, Germany, and seven of his followers, upon the general issue that both the Lutheran and Reformed churches were taking liberties with the literal teachings of the Scriptures. The new sect was scarcely organized in Germany when its members were compelled by persecution to take refuge in Holland, whence they emigrated to Pennsylvania, in small companies, between 1719 and 1729. The first congregation in America was organized on Christmas Day 1723 by Peter Becker at Germantown, Pennsylvania, and here in 1743 Christopher Sauer, one of the sect’s first pastors, and a printer by trade, printed the first Bible (a few copies of which are still in existence) published in a European language in America. From Pennsylvania the sect spread chiefly westward, and, after various vicissitudes, caused by defections and divisions due to doctrinal differences, in 1908 were most numerous in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas and North Dakota.

There is much uncertainty about the early theological history of the sect, but it is probable that Mack and his followers were influenced by both the Greek Catholics and the Waldensians. P.H. Bashor in his historical sketch, read before the World’s Fair Congress of the Brethren Church (1894), says: “From the history of extended labour by Greek missionaries, from the active propaganda of doctrine by scattered Waldensian refugees, through parts of Germany and Bavaria, from the credence that may generally be given to local tradition, and from the strong similarity between the three churches in general features of circumstantial service, the conclusion, without additional evidence, is both reasonable and natural that the founders of the new church received their teaching, their faith and much of their church idea from intimate acquaintance with the established usages of both societies, and from their amplification and enforcement by missionaries and pastors.... In doctrine the church has been from the first contentious for believers’ baptism, holding that nowhere in the New Testament can be found any authority even by inference, precept or example for the baptism of infants. On questions of fundamental doctrine they held to the beliefin one self-existing supreme ruler of the Universe—the Divine Godhead—the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit—the tri-personality.” Hence their practice of triple immersion, which provides that the candidate shall kneel in the water and be immersed, face first, three times—in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. (From this practice the sect received the less commonly used nickname “Dompelaers,” meaning “tumblers.”) They accept implicitly and literally the New Testament as the infallible guide in spiritual matters, holding it to be the inspired word of God, revealed through Jesus Christ and, by inspiration, through the Apostles. They also believe in the inspiration of the Old Testament. In their celebration of the communion service they aim exactly to imitate the forms observed by Christ. It is celebrated in the evening, and is accompanied by the ancient love feast (partaken by all communicants seated at a common table), by the ceremony of the washing of feet and by the salutation of the holy kiss, the three last-named ceremonies being observed by the sexes separately. They pray over their sick and, when so requested, anoint them with oil. They are rigid non-resistants, and will not bear arms or study the art of war; they refuse to take oaths, and discountenance going to law over issues that can possibly be settled out of the courts. The taking of interest was at first forbidden, but that prohibition is not now insisted upon. They “testify” against the use of intoxicating liquor and tobacco, and advocate simplicity in dress. In its earlier history the sect opposed voting or taking any active part in political affairs, but these restrictions have quite generally disappeared. Similarly the earlier prejudice against higher education, and the maintenance of institutions for that purpose, has given place to greater liberality along those lines. In 1782 the sect forbade slave-holding by its members.

The church officers (generally unpaid) comprise bishops (or ministers), elders, teachers, deacons (or visiting brethren) and deaconesses—chiefly aged women who are permitted at times to take leading parts in church services. The bishops are chosen from the teachers; they are itinerant, conduct marriage and funeral services, and are present at communions, at ordinations, when deacons are chosen or elected, and at trials for the excommunication of members. The elders are the first or oldest teachers of congregations, for which there is no regular bishop. They have charge of the meetings of such congregations, and participate in excommunication proceedings, besides which they preach, exhort, baptize, and may, when needed, take the offices of the deacons. The teachers, who are chosen by vote, may also exhort or preach, when their services are needed for such purposes, and may, at the request of a bishop, perform marriage or baptismal ceremonies. The deacons have general oversight of the material affairs of the congregation, and are especially charged with the care of poor widows and their children. In the discharge of these duties they are expected to visit each family in the congregation at least once a year. The government of the church is chiefly according to the congregational principle, and the women have an equal voice with the men; but annual meetings, attended by the bishops, teachers and other delegates from the several congregations are held, and at these sessions the larger questions involving church polity are considered and decided by a committee of five bishops.

An early secession from the general body of Dunkers was that of the Seventh Day Dunkers, whose distinctive principle was that the seventh day was the true Sabbath. Their founder was Johann Conrad Beissel (1690-1768), a native of Eberbach and one of the first emigrants, who, after living as a hermit for several years on Mill Creek, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, founded the sect (1725), then again lived as a hermit in a cave (formerly occupied by another hermit, one Elimelech) on the Cocalico Creek in Pennsylvania, and in 1732-1735 established a semi-monastic community (the “Order of the Solitary”) with a convent (the “Sister House”) and a monastery (the “Brother House”) at Ephrata, in what is now Lancaster county, about 55 m. W. by N. from Philadelphia. Among the industries of the men were printing (in both English and German), book-binding, tanning, quarrying, and the operation of a saw mill, a bark mill, and perhaps a pottery; the women did embroidery, quilting, and engrossing in a beautiful but peculiar hand, known as Fracturschrift.1The monastic feature was gradually abandoned, and in 1814 the Society was incorporated as the Seventh Day Baptists, its affairs being placed in the hands of a board of trustees. More important in the history of the modern church was the secession, in the decade between 1880 and 1890, of the Old Order Brethren, who opposed Sunday Schools and the missionary work of the Brethren, in Asia Minor and India, and in several European countries; and also in 1882 of the radicals, or Progressives, who objected to a distinctive dress and to the absolute supremacy of the yearly conferences. Higher education was long forbidden and is consistently opposed by the Old Order. The same element in the Brethren opposed a census, but according to Howard Miller’s census of 1880 (Record of the Faithful) the number of Dunkers was 59,749 in that year; by the United States census of 1890 it was then 73,795; the figures for 1904 are given by Henry King Carroll in his “Statistics of the Churches” in theChristian Advocate(Jan. 5, 1905): Conservatives, or German Baptist Brethren, 95,000; Old Order, 4000; Progressives or Brethren, 15,000; Seventh Day, 194; total, 114,194. In 1909 the German Baptist Brethren had an estimated membership of approximately 100,000, and the Brethren of 18,000. The main body, or Conservatives, support schools at Huntingdon, Pennsylvania; Mt. Morris, Illinois; Lordsburg, California; McPherson, Kansas; Bridgewater, Virginia; Canton, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; North Manchester, Indiana; Plattsburg, Missouri; Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania; Union Bridge, Maryland; and Fruitdale, Alabama. They have a publishing house at Elgin, Illinois, and maintain missions in Denmark, Sweden, France, Italy, India and China. The Progressives have a college, a theological seminary and a publishing house at Ashland, Ohio; and they carry on missionary work in Canada, South America and Persia.

Authorities.—Lamech and Agrippa,Chronicon Ephratense, in German (Ephrata, Penn., 1786) and in English (Lancaster, 1889); G.N. Falkenstein, “The German Baptist Brethren, or Dunkers,” part 8 of “Pennsylvania: The German Influence in its Settlement and Development,” in vol. x. of thePennsylvania German Society, Proceedings and Addresses(Lancaster, Penn., 1900); Julius Friedrich Sachse,The German Sectarians of Pennsylvania, 1742-1800: A Critical and Legendary History of the Ephrata Cloister and the Dunkers(Philadelphia, 1900); and John Lewis Gillin,The Dunkers: A Sociological Interpretation(New York, 1906), a doctor’s dissertation, with full bibliography.

1Beissel (known in the community as “Friedsam”) was their leader until his death; he published several collections of hymns. The stone over his grave bears the inscription: “Here rests an outgrowth of the love of God, ‘Friedsam,’ a Solitary Brother, afterwards a leader of the Solitary and the Congregation of Grace in and around Ephrata ... Fell asleep July 6, 1768, in the 52nd year of his spiritual life, but the 72nd year and fourth month of his natural life.” The borough of Ephrata was separated from the township in 1891. Pop. (1900) of the borough, 2451; of the township, 2390. The “Brother House” and the “Sister House” are still standing (though in a dilapidated condition). In 1777, after the battle of Brandywine, many wounded American soldiers were nursed here by the Sisters, and about 200 are buried here.

GERMAN CATHOLICS(Deutschkatholiken), the name assumed in Germany towards the close of 1844 by certain dissentients from the Church of Rome. The most prominent leader of the German Catholic movement was Johann Ronge, a priest who in theSächsische Vaterlandsblätterfor the 15th of October 1844 made a vigorous attack upon Wilhelm Arnoldi, bishop of Trier since 1842, for having ordered (for the first time since 1810) the exposition of the “holy coat of Trier,” alleged to be the seamless robe of Christ, an event which drew countless pilgrims to the cathedral. Ronge, who had formerly been chaplain at Grottkau, was then a schoolmaster at Laurahütte near the Polish border. The article made a great sensation, and led to Ronge’s excommunication by the chapter of Breslau in December 1844. The ex-priest received a large amount of public sympathy, and a dissenting congregation was almost immediately formed at Breslau with a very simple creed, in which the chief articles were belief in God the Father, creator and ruler of the universe;in Jesus Christ the Saviour, who delivers from the bondage of sin by his life, doctrine and death; in the operation of the Holy Ghost; in a holy, universal, Christian church; in forgiveness of sins and the life everlasting. The Bible was made the sole rule, and all external authority was barred. Within a few weeks similar communities were formed at Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin, Offenbach, Worms, Wiesbaden and elsewhere; and at a “council” convened at Leipzig at Easter 1845, twenty-seven congregations were represented by delegates, of whom only two or at most three were in clerical orders.

Even before the beginning of the agitation led by Ronge, another movement fundamentally distinct, though in some respects similar, had been originated at Schneidemühl, Posen, under the guidance of Johann Czerski (1813-1893), also a priest, who had come into collision with the church authorities on the then much discussed question of mixed marriages, and also on that of the celibacy of the clergy. The result had been his suspension from office in March 1844; his public withdrawal, along with twenty-four adherents, from the Roman communion in August; his excommunication; and the formation, in October, of a “Christian Catholic” congregation which, while rejecting clerical celibacy, the use of Latin in public worship, and the doctrines of purgatory and transubstantiation, retained the Nicene theology and the doctrine of the seven sacraments. Czerski had been at some of the sittings of the “German Catholic” council of Leipzig; but when a formula somewhat similar to that of Breslau had been adopted, he refused his signature because the divinity of Christ had been ignored, and he and his congregation continued to retain by preference the name of “Christian Catholics,” which they had originally assumed. Of the German Catholic congregations which had been represented at Leipzig some manifested a preference for the fuller and more positive creed of Schneidemühl, but a great majority continued to accept the comparatively rationalistic position of the Breslau school. The number of these rapidly increased, and the congregations scattered over Germany numbered nearly 200. External and internal checks, however, soon limited this advance. In Austria, and ultimately also in Bavaria, the use of the name German Catholics was officially prohibited, that of “Dissidents” being substituted, while in Prussia, Baden and Saxony the adherents of the new creed were laid under various disabilities, being suspected both of undermining religion and of encouraging the revolutionary tendencies of the age. Ronge himself was a foremost figure in the troubles of 1848; after the dissolution of the Frankfort parliament he lived for some time in London, returning in 1861 to Germany. He died at Vienna on the 26th of October 1887. In 1859 some of the German Catholics entered into corporate union with the “Free Congregations,” an association of free-thinking communities that had since 1844 been gradually withdrawing from the orthodox Protestant Church, when the united body took the title of “The Religious Society of Free Congregations.” Before that time many of the congregations which were formed in 1844 and the years immediately following had been dissolved, including that of Schneidemühl itself, which ceased to exist in 1857. There are now only about 2000 strict German Catholics, all in Saxony. The movement has been superseded by the Old Catholic (q.v.) organization.

See G.G. Gervinus,Die Mission des Deutschkatholicismus(1846); F. Kampe,Das Wesen des Deutschkatholicismus(1860); Findel,Der Deutschkatholicismus in Sachsen(1895); Carl Mirbt, in Herzog-Hauck’sRealencyk. für prot. Theol.iv. 583.

GERMAN EAST AFRICA,a country occupying the east-central portion of the African continent. The colony extends at its greatest length north to south from 1° to 11° S., and west to east from 30° to 40° E. It is bounded E. by the Indian Ocean (the coast-line extending from 4° 20′ to 10° 40′ S.), N.E. and N. by British East Africa and Uganda, W. by Belgian Congo, S.W. by British Central Africa and S. by Portuguese East Africa.

Area and Boundaries.—On the north the boundary line runs N.W. from the mouth of the Umba river to Lake Jipe and Mount Kilimanjaro including both in the protectorate, and thence to Victoria Nyanza, crossing it at 1° S., which parallel it follows till it reaches 30° E. In the west the frontier is as follows: From the point of intersection of 1° S. and 30° E., a line running S. and S.W. to the north-west end of Lake Kivu, thence across that lake near its western shore, and along the river Rusizi, which issues from it, to the spot where the Rusizi enters the north end of Lake Tanganyika; along the middle line of Tanganyika to near its southern end, when it is deflected eastward to the point where the river Kalambo enters the lake (thus leaving the southern end of Tanganyika to Great Britain). From this point the frontier runs S.E. across the plateau between Lakes Tanganyika and Nyasa, in its southern section following the course of the river Songwe. Thence it goes down the middle of Nyasa as far as 11° 30′ S. The southern frontier goes direct from the last-named point eastward to the Rovuma river, which separates German and Portuguese territory. A little before the Indian Ocean is reached the frontier is deflected south so as to leave the mouth of the Rovuma in German East Africa. These boundaries include an area of about 364,000 sq. m. (nearly double the size of Germany), with a population estimated in 1910 at 8,000,000. Ofthese above 10,000 were Arabs, Indians, Syrians and Goanese, and 3000 Europeans (over 2000 being Germans). The island of Mafia (see below) is included in the protectorate.Physical Features.—The coast of German East Africa (often spoken of as the Swahili coast, after the inhabitants of the seaboard) is chiefly composed of coral, is little indented, and is generally low, partly sandy, partly rich alluvial soil covered with dense bush or mangroves. Where the Arabs have established settlements the coco-palm and mango tree introduced by them give variety to the vegetation. The coast plain is from 10 to 30 m. wide and 620 m. long; it is bordered on the west by the precipitous eastern side of the interior plateau of Central Africa. This plateau, considerably tilted from its horizontal position, attains its highest elevation north of Lake Nyasa (seeLivingstone Mountains), where several peaks rise over 7000 ft., one to 9600, while its mean altitude is about 3000 to 4000 ft. From this region the country slopes towards the north-west, and is not distinguished by any considerable mountain ranges. A deep narrow gorge, the so-called “eastern rift-valley,” traverses the middle of the plateau in a meridional direction. In the northern part of the country it spreads into several side valleys, from one of which rises the extinct volcano Kilimanjaro (q.v.), the highest mountain in Africa (19,321 ft.). Its glaciers send down a thousand rills which combine to form the Pangani river. About 40 m. west of Kilimanjaro is Mount Meru (14,955 ft.), another volcanic peak, with a double crater. The greater steepness of its sides makes Meru in some aspects a more striking object than its taller neighbour. South-east of Mount Kilimanjaro are the Pare Mountains and Usambara highlands, separated from the coast by a comparatively narrow strip of plain. To the south of the Usambara hills, and on the eastern edge of the plateau, are the mountainous regions of Nguru (otherwise Unguru), Useguha and Usagara. As already indicated, the southern half of Victoria Nyanza and the eastern shores, in whole or in part, of Lakes Kivu, Tanganyika and Nyasa, are in German territory. (The lakes are separately described.) Several smaller lakes occur in parts of the eastern rift-valley. Lake Rukwa (q.v.) north-west of Nyasa is presumably only the remnant of a much larger lake. Its extent varies with the rainfall of each year. North-west of Kilimanjaro is a sheet of water known as the Natron Lake from the mineral alkali it contains. In the northern part of the colony the Victoria Nyanza is the dominant physical feature. The western frontier coincides with part of the eastern wall of another depression, the Central African or Albertine rift-valley, in which lie Tanganyika, Kivu and other lakes. Along the north-west frontier north of Kivu are volcanic peaks (seeMfumbiro).The country is well watered, but with the exception of the Rufiji the rivers, save for a few miles from their mouths, are unnavigable. The largest streams are the Rovuma and Rufiji (q.v.), both rising in the central plateau and flowing to the Indian Ocean. Next in importance is the Pangani river, which, as stated above, has its head springs on the slopes of Kilimanjaro. Flowing in a south-easterly direction it reaches the sea after a course of some 250 m. The Wami and Kingani, smaller streams, have their origin in the mountainous region fringing the central plateau, and reach the ocean opposite the island of Zanzibar. Of inland river systems there are four—one draining to Victoria Nyanza, another to Tanganyika, a third to Nyasa and a fourth to Rukwa. Into Victoria Nyanza are emptied, on the east, the waters of the Mori and many smaller streams; on the west, the Kagera (q.v.), besides smaller rivers. Into Tanganyika flows the Malagarasi, a considerable river with many affluents, draining the west-central part of the plateau. The Kalambo river, a comparatively small stream near the southern end of Tanganyika, flows in a south-westerly direction. Not far from its mouth there is a magnificent fall, a large volume of water falling 600 ft. sheer over a rocky ledge of horse-shoe shape. Of the streams entering Nyasa the Songwe has been mentioned. The Ruhuhu, which enters Nyasa in 10° 30′ S., and its tributaries drain a considerable area west of 36° E. The chief feeders of Lake Rukwa are the Saisi and the Rupa-Songwe.Mafia Island lies off the coast immediately north of 8° N. It has an area of 200 sq. m. The island is low and fertile, and extensively planted with coco-nut palms. It is continued southwards by an extensive reef, on which stands the chief village, Chobe, the residence of a few Arabs and Banyan traders. Chobe stands on a shallow creek almost inaccessible to shipping.Geology.—The narrow foot-plateau of British East Africa broadens out to the south of Bagamoyo to a width of over 100 m. This is covered to a considerable extent by rocks of recent and late Tertiary ages. Older Tertiary rocks form the bluffs of Lindi. Cretaceous marls and limestones appear at intervals, extending in places to the edge of the upper plateau, and are extensively developed on the Makonde plateau. They are underlain by Jurassic rocks, from beneath which sandstones and shales yieldingGlossopteris brownianavar.indica, and therefore of Lower Karroo age, appear in the south but are overlapped on the north by Jurassic strata. The central plateau consists almost entirely of metamorphic rocks with extensive tracts of granite in Unyamwezi. In the vicinity of Lakes Nyasa and Tanganyika, sandstones and shales of Lower Karroo age and yielding seams of coal are considered to owe their position and preservation to being let down by rift faults into hollows of the crystalline rocks. In Karagwe certain quartzites, slates and schistose sandstones resemble the ancient gold-bearing rocks of South Africa.The volcanic plateau of British East Africa extends over the boundary in the region of Kilimanjaro. Of the sister peaks, Kibo and Mawenzi, the latter is far the oldest and has been greatly denuded, while Kibo retains its crateriform shape intact. The rift-valley faults continue down the depression, marked by numerous volcanoes, in the region of the Natron Lake and Lake Manyara; while the steep walls of the deep depression of Tanganyika and Nyasa represent the western rift system at its maximum development.Fossil remains of saurians of gigantic size have been found; one thigh bone measures 6 ft. 10 in., the same bone in theDiplodocus Carnegiimeasuring only 4 ft. 11 in.Climate.—The warm currents setting landwards from the Indian Ocean bring both moisture and heat, so that the Swahili coast has a higher temperature and heavier rainfall than the Atlantic seaboard under the same parallels of latitude. The mean temperature on the west and east coasts of Africa is 72° and 80° Fahr. respectively, the average rainfall in Angola 36 in., in Dar-es-Salaam 60 in. On the Swahili coast the south-east monsoon begins in April and the north-east monsoon in November. In the interior April brings south-east winds, which continue until about the beginning of October. During the rest of the year changing winds prevail. These winds are charged with moisture, which they part with on ascending the precipitous side of the plateau. Rain comes with the south-east monsoon, and on the northern part of the coast the rainy season is divided into two parts, the great and the little Masika: the former falls in the months of September, October, November; the latter in February and March. In the interior the climate has a more continental character, and is subject to considerable changes of temperature; the rainy season sets in a little earlier the farther west and north the region, and is well marked, the rain beginning in November and ending in April; the rest of the year is dry. On the highest parts of the plateau the climate is almost European, the nights being sometimes exceedingly cold. Kilimanjaro has a climate of its own; the west and south sides of the mountain receive the greatest rainfall, while the east and north sides are dry nearly all the year. Malarial diseases are rather frequent, more so on the coast than farther inland. The Kilimanjaro region is said to enjoy immunity. Smallpox is frequent on the coast, but is diminishing before vaccination; other epidemic diseases are extremely rare.Flora and Fauna.—The character of the vegetation varies with and depends on moisture, temperature and soil. On the low littoral zone the coast produced a rich tropical bush, in which the mangrove is very prominent. Coco-palms and mango trees have been planted in great numbers, and also many varieties of bananas. The bush is grouped in copses on meadows, which produce a coarse tall grass. The river banks are lined with belts of dense forest, in which useful timber occurs. TheHyphaenepalm is frequent, as well as various kinds of gum-producing mimosas. The slopes of the plateau which face the rain-bringing monsoon are in some places covered with primeval forest, in which timber is plentiful. The silk-cotton tree (Bombax ceiba), miomba, tamarisk, copal tree (Hymenaea courbaril) are frequent, besides sycamores, banyan trees (Ficus indica) and the deleb palm (Borassus aethiopum). It is here we find theLandolphia florida, which yields the best rubber. The plateau is partly grass land without bush and forest, partly steppe covered with mimosa bush, which sometimes is almost impenetrable. Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru exhibit on a vertical scale the various forms of vegetation which characterize East Africa (seeKilimanjaro).East Africa is rich in all kinds of antelope, and the elephant, rhinoceros and hippopotamus are still plentiful in parts. Characteristic are the giraffe, the chimpanzee and the ostrich. Buffaloes and zebras occur in two or three varieties. Lions and leopards are found throughout the country. Crocodiles are numerous in all the larger rivers. Snakes, many venomous, abound. Of birds there are comparatively few on the steppe, but by rivers, lakes and swamps they are found in thousands. Locusts occasion much damage, and ants of various kinds are often a plague. The tsetse fly (Glossina morsitans) infests several districts; the sand-flea has been imported from the west coast. Land and water turtles are numerous.

Physical Features.—The coast of German East Africa (often spoken of as the Swahili coast, after the inhabitants of the seaboard) is chiefly composed of coral, is little indented, and is generally low, partly sandy, partly rich alluvial soil covered with dense bush or mangroves. Where the Arabs have established settlements the coco-palm and mango tree introduced by them give variety to the vegetation. The coast plain is from 10 to 30 m. wide and 620 m. long; it is bordered on the west by the precipitous eastern side of the interior plateau of Central Africa. This plateau, considerably tilted from its horizontal position, attains its highest elevation north of Lake Nyasa (seeLivingstone Mountains), where several peaks rise over 7000 ft., one to 9600, while its mean altitude is about 3000 to 4000 ft. From this region the country slopes towards the north-west, and is not distinguished by any considerable mountain ranges. A deep narrow gorge, the so-called “eastern rift-valley,” traverses the middle of the plateau in a meridional direction. In the northern part of the country it spreads into several side valleys, from one of which rises the extinct volcano Kilimanjaro (q.v.), the highest mountain in Africa (19,321 ft.). Its glaciers send down a thousand rills which combine to form the Pangani river. About 40 m. west of Kilimanjaro is Mount Meru (14,955 ft.), another volcanic peak, with a double crater. The greater steepness of its sides makes Meru in some aspects a more striking object than its taller neighbour. South-east of Mount Kilimanjaro are the Pare Mountains and Usambara highlands, separated from the coast by a comparatively narrow strip of plain. To the south of the Usambara hills, and on the eastern edge of the plateau, are the mountainous regions of Nguru (otherwise Unguru), Useguha and Usagara. As already indicated, the southern half of Victoria Nyanza and the eastern shores, in whole or in part, of Lakes Kivu, Tanganyika and Nyasa, are in German territory. (The lakes are separately described.) Several smaller lakes occur in parts of the eastern rift-valley. Lake Rukwa (q.v.) north-west of Nyasa is presumably only the remnant of a much larger lake. Its extent varies with the rainfall of each year. North-west of Kilimanjaro is a sheet of water known as the Natron Lake from the mineral alkali it contains. In the northern part of the colony the Victoria Nyanza is the dominant physical feature. The western frontier coincides with part of the eastern wall of another depression, the Central African or Albertine rift-valley, in which lie Tanganyika, Kivu and other lakes. Along the north-west frontier north of Kivu are volcanic peaks (seeMfumbiro).

The country is well watered, but with the exception of the Rufiji the rivers, save for a few miles from their mouths, are unnavigable. The largest streams are the Rovuma and Rufiji (q.v.), both rising in the central plateau and flowing to the Indian Ocean. Next in importance is the Pangani river, which, as stated above, has its head springs on the slopes of Kilimanjaro. Flowing in a south-easterly direction it reaches the sea after a course of some 250 m. The Wami and Kingani, smaller streams, have their origin in the mountainous region fringing the central plateau, and reach the ocean opposite the island of Zanzibar. Of inland river systems there are four—one draining to Victoria Nyanza, another to Tanganyika, a third to Nyasa and a fourth to Rukwa. Into Victoria Nyanza are emptied, on the east, the waters of the Mori and many smaller streams; on the west, the Kagera (q.v.), besides smaller rivers. Into Tanganyika flows the Malagarasi, a considerable river with many affluents, draining the west-central part of the plateau. The Kalambo river, a comparatively small stream near the southern end of Tanganyika, flows in a south-westerly direction. Not far from its mouth there is a magnificent fall, a large volume of water falling 600 ft. sheer over a rocky ledge of horse-shoe shape. Of the streams entering Nyasa the Songwe has been mentioned. The Ruhuhu, which enters Nyasa in 10° 30′ S., and its tributaries drain a considerable area west of 36° E. The chief feeders of Lake Rukwa are the Saisi and the Rupa-Songwe.

Mafia Island lies off the coast immediately north of 8° N. It has an area of 200 sq. m. The island is low and fertile, and extensively planted with coco-nut palms. It is continued southwards by an extensive reef, on which stands the chief village, Chobe, the residence of a few Arabs and Banyan traders. Chobe stands on a shallow creek almost inaccessible to shipping.

Geology.—The narrow foot-plateau of British East Africa broadens out to the south of Bagamoyo to a width of over 100 m. This is covered to a considerable extent by rocks of recent and late Tertiary ages. Older Tertiary rocks form the bluffs of Lindi. Cretaceous marls and limestones appear at intervals, extending in places to the edge of the upper plateau, and are extensively developed on the Makonde plateau. They are underlain by Jurassic rocks, from beneath which sandstones and shales yieldingGlossopteris brownianavar.indica, and therefore of Lower Karroo age, appear in the south but are overlapped on the north by Jurassic strata. The central plateau consists almost entirely of metamorphic rocks with extensive tracts of granite in Unyamwezi. In the vicinity of Lakes Nyasa and Tanganyika, sandstones and shales of Lower Karroo age and yielding seams of coal are considered to owe their position and preservation to being let down by rift faults into hollows of the crystalline rocks. In Karagwe certain quartzites, slates and schistose sandstones resemble the ancient gold-bearing rocks of South Africa.

The volcanic plateau of British East Africa extends over the boundary in the region of Kilimanjaro. Of the sister peaks, Kibo and Mawenzi, the latter is far the oldest and has been greatly denuded, while Kibo retains its crateriform shape intact. The rift-valley faults continue down the depression, marked by numerous volcanoes, in the region of the Natron Lake and Lake Manyara; while the steep walls of the deep depression of Tanganyika and Nyasa represent the western rift system at its maximum development.

Fossil remains of saurians of gigantic size have been found; one thigh bone measures 6 ft. 10 in., the same bone in theDiplodocus Carnegiimeasuring only 4 ft. 11 in.

Climate.—The warm currents setting landwards from the Indian Ocean bring both moisture and heat, so that the Swahili coast has a higher temperature and heavier rainfall than the Atlantic seaboard under the same parallels of latitude. The mean temperature on the west and east coasts of Africa is 72° and 80° Fahr. respectively, the average rainfall in Angola 36 in., in Dar-es-Salaam 60 in. On the Swahili coast the south-east monsoon begins in April and the north-east monsoon in November. In the interior April brings south-east winds, which continue until about the beginning of October. During the rest of the year changing winds prevail. These winds are charged with moisture, which they part with on ascending the precipitous side of the plateau. Rain comes with the south-east monsoon, and on the northern part of the coast the rainy season is divided into two parts, the great and the little Masika: the former falls in the months of September, October, November; the latter in February and March. In the interior the climate has a more continental character, and is subject to considerable changes of temperature; the rainy season sets in a little earlier the farther west and north the region, and is well marked, the rain beginning in November and ending in April; the rest of the year is dry. On the highest parts of the plateau the climate is almost European, the nights being sometimes exceedingly cold. Kilimanjaro has a climate of its own; the west and south sides of the mountain receive the greatest rainfall, while the east and north sides are dry nearly all the year. Malarial diseases are rather frequent, more so on the coast than farther inland. The Kilimanjaro region is said to enjoy immunity. Smallpox is frequent on the coast, but is diminishing before vaccination; other epidemic diseases are extremely rare.

Flora and Fauna.—The character of the vegetation varies with and depends on moisture, temperature and soil. On the low littoral zone the coast produced a rich tropical bush, in which the mangrove is very prominent. Coco-palms and mango trees have been planted in great numbers, and also many varieties of bananas. The bush is grouped in copses on meadows, which produce a coarse tall grass. The river banks are lined with belts of dense forest, in which useful timber occurs. TheHyphaenepalm is frequent, as well as various kinds of gum-producing mimosas. The slopes of the plateau which face the rain-bringing monsoon are in some places covered with primeval forest, in which timber is plentiful. The silk-cotton tree (Bombax ceiba), miomba, tamarisk, copal tree (Hymenaea courbaril) are frequent, besides sycamores, banyan trees (Ficus indica) and the deleb palm (Borassus aethiopum). It is here we find theLandolphia florida, which yields the best rubber. The plateau is partly grass land without bush and forest, partly steppe covered with mimosa bush, which sometimes is almost impenetrable. Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru exhibit on a vertical scale the various forms of vegetation which characterize East Africa (seeKilimanjaro).

East Africa is rich in all kinds of antelope, and the elephant, rhinoceros and hippopotamus are still plentiful in parts. Characteristic are the giraffe, the chimpanzee and the ostrich. Buffaloes and zebras occur in two or three varieties. Lions and leopards are found throughout the country. Crocodiles are numerous in all the larger rivers. Snakes, many venomous, abound. Of birds there are comparatively few on the steppe, but by rivers, lakes and swamps they are found in thousands. Locusts occasion much damage, and ants of various kinds are often a plague. The tsetse fly (Glossina morsitans) infests several districts; the sand-flea has been imported from the west coast. Land and water turtles are numerous.

Inhabitants.—On the coast and at the chief settlements inland are Arab and Indian immigrants, who are merchants and agriculturists. The Swahili (q.v.) are a mixed Bantu and Semitic race inhabiting the seaboard. The inhabitants of the interior may be divided into two classes, those namely of Bantu and those of Hamitic stock. What may be called the indigenous population consists of the older Bantu races. These tribes have been subject to the intrusion from the south of more recent Bantu folk, such as the Yao, belonging to the Ama-Zulu branch of the race, while from the north there has been an immigration of Hamito-Negroid peoples. Of these the Masai and Wakuafi are found in the region between Victoria Nyanza and Kilimanjaro. The Masai (q.v.) and allied tribes are nomads and cattle raisers. They are warlike,and live in square mud-plastered houses calledtembewhich can be easily fortified and defended. The Bantu tribes are in general peaceful agriculturists, though the Bantus of recent immigration retain the warlike instincts of the Zulus. The most important group of the Bantus is the Wanyamwezi (seeUnyamwezi), divided into many tribes. They are spread over the central plains, and have for neighbours on the south-east, between Nyasa and the Rufiji, the warlike Wahehe. The Wangoni (Angoni), a branch of the Ama-Zulu, are widely spread over the central and Nyasa regions. Other well-known tribes are the Wasambara, who have given their name to the highlands between Kilimanjaro and the coast, and the Warundi, inhabiting the district between Tanganyika and the Kagera. In Karagwe, a region adjoining the south-west shores of Victoria Nyanza, the Bahima are the ruling caste. Formerly Karagwe under its Bahima kings was a powerful state. Many different dialects are spoken by the Bantu tribes, Swahili being the most widely known (seeBantu Languages). Their religion is the worship of spirits, ancestral and otherwise, accompanied by a vague and undefined belief in a Supreme Being, generally regarded as indifferent to the doings of the people.

The task of civilizing the natives is undertaken in various ways by the numerous Protestant and Roman Catholic missions established in the colony, and by the government. The slave trade has been abolished, and though domestic slavery is allowed, all children of slaves born after the 31st of December 1905 are free. For certain public works the Germans enforce a system of compulsory labour. Efforts are made by instruction in government and mission schools to spread a knowledge of the German language among the natives, in order to fit them for subordinate posts in administrative offices, such as the customs. Native chiefs in the interior are permitted to help in the administration of justice. The Mission du Sacré Cœur in Bagamoyo, the oldest mission in the colony, has trained many young negroes to be useful mechanics. The number of native Christians is small. The Moslems have vigorous and successful missions.

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