WESTEN, ves'ten, THOMAS: , Apostle to the Norwegian Finns; b. in Trondhjem, Norway, Sept. 13, 1682; d. there Apr. 9, 1727. The people to whom he went live in the region, partly in Norway, north of 64 degrees north latitude; their present number is given as about 30,000, of whom 21,000 are in Norway; but earlier they must have been more numerous. By the Norwegians they are called Finns, which name they prefer; but the Swedes call them Lapps, with sinister suggestion. Their speech shows them related to the inhabitants of Finland. Christianity had earlier been imposed upon them, but heathenism had remained their preferred practise. The character of the ministrations had not been such as to win them to a regard for Christian beliefs. But before the time of Westen something had been done for the Finns by the Danish-Norwegian church. When Erich Bredahl, XIL-?1

bishop of Trondhjem, had been driven from his diocese in 1658, he became vicar of Trondenas, whence he undertook several journeys to the Finns; some he won to Christianity; in 1703 the schoolmaster Isaac Olsen went to East Finnmark, where the provost Paus recognized his worth and made him teacher at Waranger, where he labored faithfully for fourteen years in all sorts of perils and dangers. Under Frederick IV. of Denmark and Norway in 1707 a commission was given to Paul H. Resen to investigate the condition of schools and churches in the north; the direction following this to the bishop of Trondhjem to better conditions was disregarded in fact. In 1714 the king directed a mission to the Finns to be undertaken, entrusting the task to the Collegium de promovendo cursu Evangelii, and the choice of an agent fell on Westen.

Preliminary training in the school of poverty and hardship had rendered Westen fit for the work. He had studied medicine at his father's command, but after his father's death (just as he was taking his degree) he studied theology under great privations; Frederick IV. appointed him a librarian without pay, 1707, and in 1710 he became pastor at Weo in Romsdalen; then in 1716 the Collegium made him vicar and chief of the mission to the Finns, and the same year he undertook his first journey among his people, while Bishop Krog of Trondhjem attempted to nullify his work. Westen settled missionaries, provided for houses of worship, gathered data, and laid the foundations for further work. On his return he founded a seminary for children of the Finns, at his own cost, and this had much to do with later success. Bishop Krog's hostility pursued him, but the king and the collegium supported him, so that new helpers came to his assistance in the persons of Arvid Bistok, Elias Heltberg, Martin Lund, and Erasmus Rachlew. With these in 1718 he began a new tour among the Finns, leaving his helpers settled in various places to do steady work, himself preaching, teaching, overcoming opposition wantonly placed in his way, and gaining the hearts of his people, who came to call him "the good man." The reports of Westen's labors caused a desire to hear from him in person, and he was called to Copenhagen, where to the king he related what was being done and what was necessary. He gained new helpers, and in 1722 began his third great missionary circuit. He found a thirst for knowledge and for the Gospel awakened, and established new schools, while the assistants gained the complete confidence of their people, who gave up their idolatry. On this journey Westen entered virgin territory, going among those who had sworn to kill him and his companions, and gained them for the Gospel.

From that time till his death Westen was permitted to see the fruits of his labors in the upbuilding of his people's faith. His travels and hardships had so undermined his health that he was unable to take long journeys, but he continued to make short visits to the nearer points, while his literary activities were continually employed in furthering the interests for which he had worked, though his story of the missions was not published and seems to have been lost. The opposition to which he was exposed by Bishop Krog increased and aggravated

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the illness resulting from his labors; in his closing days he suffered also from temporal needs, having devoted so completely his income to his work that when he died a subscription was necessary for the expenses of his funeral.

(J. Belsheim†.)

Bibliography: H. Hammond, Den wrdiake Missions Hdatorie. Copenhagen, 1787: Christoterpe. 1833, pp. 299 sqq.; G. Putt, Kurze Geschichte der lutherischen Mission, pp. 133 sqq., Erlangen, 1871.