I cannot permit this Edition of "The Ancient Church" to appear before
the citizens of the United States without acknowledging my obligations
to Mr Charles Scribner of New York. Mr Scribner was the first gentleman
connected with the noble profession to which he belongs, either in the
Old or in the New World, from whom I received encouragement in this
undertaking; and his prompt and generous offers aided me materially in
making arrangements for the publication of the work in Great Britain.
Every line of the present impression has been corrected by myself, and
should my life be spared, any future Edition which Mr Scribner may
publish is to appear under the same supervision. I trust that the Trade
throughout the Union will recognize the debt of gratitude which I owe to
my American friend. There is a higher law than the law of international
copyright, and I feel confident that no Publisher of honour and
integrity in the Great Republic will repudiate its claims.

W.D. KILLEN.

17 University Square, Belfast, Ireland,
_July_ 1859.





PREFACE.


The appearance of another history of the early Church requires some