vi.

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIFTH EDITION.

aration for the arrival and favorable reception of the missionaries, which nothing short of His overruling wisdom and omnipotent power could have achieved; and, from first to last, the manifestations of His spiritual presence and direct aid in the accomplishment of their objects, have been multiplied and unfailing. Still, from the earliest establishment of the missionaries there to the present period, books of travel and voyages have not been wanting in which their success has been denied, and every good result of their labors more than questioned; while, at the same time, a part of the periodical and newspaper press, in various quarters of the world, has been unsparing and unwearied in its defamation of their motives, qualifications, influence, integrity, and entire reputation.

It is in view of these facts, that the present reprint has been deemed especially desirable and important. As a daily and private record for the period of near three years of the early history of the mission, it necessarily unfolds, in its details, the motives, objects, and whole policy of the missionaries, and exhibits without disguise the nature of their influence, the character of their instructions and the amount, at the time, of their success; while, in connection with the Introduction to the London edition, by the Rev. Mr. Ellis, and the Letters subjoined as an Appendix, it will also present, in a degree at least, the cause and true source of the opposition and detraction which have, at all periods, been so determinately and unremittedly manifested.

This volume, thus enlarged, is designed to be the first of a uniform series, of which a reprint of the "Visit to the South Seas," with similar additions, will constitute

ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIFTH EDITION.

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vii.

the

the second and third, and a new work the fourth whole to furnish an exposition of the origin, progress, present state and prospects of the mission, as an enterprise of philanthropy and piety, and of the islands as a nation, in the faithfulness and accuracy of which the public may confidently rely.

ADVERTISEMENT.

In leaving the United States for the Sandwich Islands, I bade farewell, as I thought, to my country forever; and felt it a duty to transmit to those most deeply interested in my destiny, a minute account of the scenes and events of a voluntary exile. With this view, the following journal was addressed to the lady of J. M. Bowers, Esq., of Bowerstown, Otsego county, New-York, in the expectation of its being read by other family connexions and personal friends.

In the number of the last was the Rev. Dr. Green, during whose presidency of the College of New-Jersey, I was a student at Nassau Hall; and to whose ministry of the Gospel, in the grace of God, is to be traced the origin of the principles and affections which resulted in my becoming a missionary to the heathen. By this gentleman, extracts from the manuscript were introduced into the pages of the Christian Advocate, of Philadelphia; others appeared in the Herald of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, at Boston; and both gave rise to various and repeated applications, on my arrival in America, for the publication of the whole in a connected form.

It was believed that a record of facts and circumstances, made, at the time of their occurrence, for the gratification of private friends only, and necessarily unfold

ing the motives, feelings, pursuits, and success of those engaged in the missionary enterprise, would have a salutary influence. To prepare a document of the kind for the public eye, so as to guard, on the one hand, against an obtrusion of points too private and personal for general perusal, and, on the other, against an obliteration so fastidious as to take from the work its original and appropriate character, was a delicate task. But the prospect of an advantage, however slight, to a cause to which I have devoted my life, has been sufficient to lead to the experiment.

The original manuscript was written under every disadvantage of place and circumstances, and its highest pretension was that of a true delineation of scenes and characters, as they passed before me. In assuming a printed form, it can prefer no other claim. The only alteration I have made, in a hasty and interrupted revisal of the original, is that of collecting, in some cases, under a single date, remarks and facts upon the same topic found under several; and, in one or two instances only, that of adding, from other memoranda, matter never transmitted to America, the introduction of which became necessary for the elucidation of subjects which, otherwise, could be but imperfectly understood.

Trusting to the kindness of my readers, on the point which has given me most anxiety - the extent, of erasure desirable without other apology than the explanations given, I cheerfully place the volume in their hands.

HUDSON SQUARE, NEW-YORK, }

JANUARY 1, 1828.