THE HISTORY OF MISSIONS; OR, OF THE PROPAGATION OF CHRISTIANITY AMONG THE HEATHEN, SINCE THE REFORMATION, BY THE REV. WILLIAM BROWN, M. D. WITH AN INTRODUCTORY PREFACE AND ADDITIONAL NOTES, BY BENJAMIN COLES, V. D. M. Embellished with a Map of the World, and a Frontispiece, emble- ALSO, A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST INTRODUCTION OF THE BY ADAM CLARKE, LL. D. F. S. A. &c. &c. "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."-Dan. xii. 4. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. PHILADELPHIA: PUBLISHED BY M'CARTY & DAVIS. .B78 DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA, to wit: Be it remembered, That on the eighteenth day of September, in the forty-first year of the Independence of the United States of America, A. D. 1816, Benjamin Coles, of the said district, hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words following, L. S. to wit: "The History of Missions, or of the Propagation of Christianity among "the Heathen, since the Reformation. By the Rev. William Brown, "M. D. with additional notes, and a map of the world. Also, a short "account of the first introduction of the Gospel into the British Isles. "By Adam Clarke, LL. D. F. S. A. &c. &c. Many shall run to and "fro, and knowledge shall be increased.'-Dan. xii. 4. And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness 66 unto all nations; and then shall the end come.""-Matt. xxiv. 14. In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entituled, "An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned." And also to the act, entitled, "An Act supplementary to an act, entitled, "An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing engraving, and etching historical and other prints." D. CALDWELL, Clerk of the District of Pennsylvania. 474181 PREFACE. THE propagation of Christianity in the world, is the most important subject which can engage the attention of a historian. The rise, the progress, and the downfall of empires; the discovery of unknown countries; the lives of philosophers, of senators, of princes; the improvements of the arts and sciences, may furnish useful and interesting materials for history; but nothing is so momentous as the diffusion of the gospel in the world, which at once brings "glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and good will towards man." The transcendent importance of this subject is stamped by no less than Divine authority. In the New Testament, we have only two branches of history; the Gospels, containing the life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and the Acts of the Apostles, exhibiting a view of the propagation of Christianity in the world. It is not improbable, indeed, that some will think the following work should have commenced with the Christian æra; but as, from the period of the Apostolic age, until the Reformation, the materials are in general extremely scanty and uninteresting, and as the principal facts have already been detailed nearly at full length, by our ordinary ecclesiastical historians, the Author consi dered it as unnecessary for him to repeat what had so of ten been written before. a Others, perhaps, will think that he should have given an account of the Roman Catholic, as well as of the Protestant missions; but if it be considered, that Popery is Antichristian in its nature, it will appear obvious, that the extension of such a system, had little or no claim to be introduced in a work, the object of which was to exhibit view of the propagation of Christianity since the Reforma. tion. Besides, the Roman Catholic missions have been so numerous, so extensive, and of such long standing, that, had the Author included them in his plan, the work, instead of consisting of two, would have extended to five or six volumes; a circumstance which would probably have excited no slight feeling of repugnance in the minds of most of his readers. 1 The Author, however, has deeply to regret, that, even with regard to the propagation of Christianity by the Reformed Churches, his work is, in some instances, materially defective. This is particularly the case with respect to the Danish, and several of the Moravian missions. In writing the history of the Danish mission in the East Indies, it was not in his power to procure the Reports of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and still less the accounts of that mission which are annually published in Germany; and as he was anxious not to withhold any |