The hero missionary : or, a history of the labours of the Rev. Eugenio Kincaid

Front matter

CORNELL

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

Preface

On the day that Mr. Kincaid last left America to return to Burmah, I ventured to request permission to acquaint myself with all the accessible facts of his public life, with the view of giving them to the world in the shape of a book. The application was unexpected, but after some hesitation, it was modestly waved by referring the proposal to the two "early and devoted friends" whose names adorn a previous page. Having received their kind approval of such an undertaking, I began at once the preparation of this volume.

As expressed in the title, it does not claim to be a life of Mr. Kincaid, but a history of his" labors, and these I have endeavored to sketch in a style adapted to the popular mind, and calculated, it is confidently hoped, to awaken increasing interest in the great enterprise to which all his energies have been given.

The simple design of this work, then, is to furnish a Condensed, yet accurate view of the incidents and viii Preface.

scenes connected with those bold and persevering efforts which mark Mr. Kincaid as "The Hero Missionary," and which have contributed to give him such eminence and honor among that noble band who have sought, or are now seeking, the evangelization of Burmah.

Cwrlyh, in his Life of Sterling, has said— "I have remarked that a true delineation of the smallest man and his scene of pilgrimage through life, is capable of interesting the greatest man ; that all men are to an unspeakable degree brothers, each man's life a strange emblem of every man's ; and that Human Portraits, faithfully drawn, are of all pictures the welcomest on human walls."

If this be true, then, surely the sketch of a man whose achievements in the highest sphere of human effort, have made him distinguished among his fellows, must be capable of awakening a still deeper interest, and a faithful portrait of such an one cannot fail to prove a most welcome addition to those already in the world's possession. But, beyond this, the hope is cherished that what is here recorded may serve to excite a deeper interest in the subject of Christian Missions, and thus contribute, in some humble measure, to advance a cause dear to all who possess the mind "which was also in Christ Jesus."

THE OVERLAND ROUTE TO BURMAH, . . - . 285