BV3271 582K6 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1835, BY GOULD, KENDALL, & LINCOLN, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. HENRY MORSE EYEPHENS PUBLISHERS' NOTICE. THE sale of between twenty-five and thirty thousand copies of this book in the United States, besides several editions in England, is a gratifying evidence of the public approbation. It has been printed in French, and has also been translated into the German language by Rev. J. G. Oncken. The testimony of that individual, whose judgment in this case is of the greatest value, Mr. Judson, is here added. In a letter to the author, dated Maulmain, December 21, 1829, he says, "In regard to the Memoir, it becomes me not to expatiate. I would only say that I am extremely gratified-perhaps too much so-with the execution of the work in all its parts." The history of the mission was continued, by the author, after the death of Mrs. Judson, and, by another hand, has been brought down to the present time. This portion of it is contained in an Appendix, and is arranged under the head of the respective stations. The statements are necessarily brief; but it is believed that they contain all the important facts. BOSTON, March 1, 1842. 512954 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. THE Compiler of the following pages, while he feels no wish to disarm criticism, by any apologies, deems it right to say, that he undertook the service with reluc tance, arising from a fear, that the multiplied engagements and incessant anxieties of an extensive parochial charge would prevent him from satisfying the expecta tions of the public.* But a persuasion that such a book would be useful, and the solicitations of those whose opinions and wishes he is accustomed to respect, have induced him to endeavour to perform the duty. He acknowledges, with gratitude, the kind assistance which he has received from several individuals, and particularly from the parents and other relatives of Mr. and Mrs. Judson. To the materials which they have supplied, the work is indebted for much of its interest and value. The greater part of the private journals of Mrs. Judson, and other valuable papers, were destroyed by herself, at Ava, at the commencement of the war, in 1824, to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Burmans. The extracts from her journals, which are quoted in this work, were found by her husband among her papers, and were transmitted by him to this country. It ought to be here stated, that it was thought de sirable to connect with a Memoir of Mrs. Judson, a History of the Burman Mission. Her life is indeed a history of that Mission, up to the period of her death. Her valuable Letters to Mr. Butterworth are out of print; and this Memoir contains the only connected narrative, which can now be obtained, of the rise and progress of the Burman Mission. Of the usefulness of such a narrative, no doubt can be entertained. In * He was, at that time, Pastor of the Second Baptist Church, in Boston. |