PREFACE. 
Accurate information respecting the different 
parts of the world, is probably possessed in a 
greater degree, and diffused to a wider extent, at 
the present day, than it has been at any former 
period. The mariner has encountered the dangers 
of untrayersed and hitherto impenetrable seas; 
and the traveller has explored remote and inhos¬ 
pitable countries, in order to increase general 
knowledge, and add new facilities to the prose¬ 
cution of enlightened philosophical research. 
Without depreciating the pursuits of science, 
or the advantages of a more enlarged acquaintance 
with the natural history of our globe, the Christian 
philanthropist directs his attention to objects still 
more important, and is led to contemplate, with 
growing intensity of interest, the moral and spi¬ 
ritual condition of mankind. The dominion and 
extent of delusive and sanguinary idolatries, with 
