m
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 Box 6, College Park Sta. 
 rv_ : tt ** L TTO A
 
 
 
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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THE 
 
 GOSPEL IN BURMAH; 
 
 TH E 
 
 STORY OF ITS INTRODUCTION 
 
 AND 
 
 MARVELLOUS PROGRESS 
 
 AMONG 
 
 THE BURMESE AND KARENS. 
 
 BY 
 
 MRS. MACLEOD WYLffi. 
 
 N E W Y O R K : 
 SHELDON & COMPANY, 115 N&ssau Street. 
 
 BOSTON: GOULD & LINCOLN. 
 1860.
 
 r 
 
 i
 
 fcV 
 
 3^7 
 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Sources of Information; Burman Geography; Government, Races, and Relig 
 ions of Burmah; the Karens and their Traditions: the Talaings; the Sh 
 Success of the Mission; Openings for the Gospel; Prayer needed. 
 
 Pages 7-18 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Establishment of the American Board of Missions; the Missionaries reach India: 
 Mission commenced in Rangoon; the first Convert, MoungXau; unsuc- 
 cessful Visit to Ava; first Burmese "W ar; heroism and death of Mrs. Jud- 
 son. Pages 19-35 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The first Karen Convert, Ko-tha-byu; Visit to the Karens of Dongyan; their 
 Desire for God's Book; the Karen Alphabet formed; Karen Mission in Ta- 
 voy ; singular Worship of an unknown Book ; L abors , success , and illness of 
 Mr. Boardman; Enquirers and Converts; Mr. Boardman's Death. 
 
 Pages 36-62 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Mason at Tavoy; Mrs. Boardman's excellent schools; 
 the Sgau Karens and their chief ; Mrs. Mason's classes and schools; Mrs. 
 Helen Mason's illness and death; her habits of devotion. Pages 53-60 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Ko-thah-a, a distinguished Bunnan Convert, baptized and ofdained: the Rangoon 
 Mission re-established; translation of the Bunnan Scriptures; crowds of 
 Visitors from the Interior; Mr. Wade at Mergui; Labors of Mr. Kincaid: 
 
 (3) 
 
 Rellg- 
 han* 
 
 1340125
 
 IV CONTENTS. 
 
 his journey to Ava; Persecution of the Burrnan Converts in Pegu; Bap- 
 tisms at Maubee; the Christian Governor of Bassein; enlargement of the 
 Mission; Mr. Kincaid's Journey beyond ATE; his perils and deliverance. 
 
 Pages 67-82 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Mission in Arracan; its commencement and early growth; death and char- 
 acter of Ko-thah-byu; Mr. Abbott at Sandoway; immigration of Christian 
 Karens, driven by persecution from Burmah; death of Mrs. Abbott; Akyab; 
 the Mountain Chief; trials of the Mission; Death of Missionaries; " Six 
 Men for Arracan;" Review of the various Missions in Burmah. 
 
 Pages 83-94 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Illness of the Judsons; the Burmese Dictionary; Mrs. Judson's "Works; her 
 Missionary Labors; Mrs. Judson's illness, voyage, and death; Dr. Judson's 
 return; progress among the Kemmeesjvain attempt to re-establish the 
 Rangoon Mission; last illness, death, and character of Dr. Judson. 
 
 Pages 95-108 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Nomination of Native Pastors; Wah Dee; the village of Thay Ran; Native 
 Labors; Pastors In Tavoy ; Tavoy Association; its rules of conduct and of 
 worship; Persecution in Pegu; Martyrdom of Thagua; Progress in Bas- 
 sein; wonderful history of My at Kyau; his labors, character, and death. 
 
 Pages 109-127 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Return to Rangoon; Visit from a Priest; Trials of the Karen Converts; Visit to 
 a Monastery; War with the English; conduct of the Governor; his con- 
 sternation; message from the Commodore; the Governor consults Mr. Kin 
 caid; tyranny of the Governor; disorders in the city; arrival of the new 
 Governor; the English deputation insulted; the King 's ship captured; the 
 English retire; Battle of the Stockades; interview of the Missionaries with 
 
 Lord Dalhousie; Pegu annexed; Prospects of the future. 
 
 Pages 128-151 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Tenasserim Provinces; Matah; a Sabbath at Matah; the teachers Klanaand 
 Kolapau; Mrs. Mason's journey to Longpung; thence to Chongquait and 
 its heathen people; Visit to Palatot; discussions with the heathen; results 
 of the journey. Pages 152-170
 
 CONTENTS. V 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Mr. Ingall's labors at Rangoon; progress there; a strange Blacksmith ; numerous 
 Converts; the History of'Moung Shway Pau; his conversion and baptism; 
 Ko-thah-a and Mau Sa; Peace under the English rule; Mr. Ingalls' last 
 journey, illness and death; Losses in the Mission. Pages 171-194 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Dr. Mason's first journey to Toungoo; the town of Shway gyeen; death of the 
 first Mrs. Harris; the city of Toungoo; its important position; the Mission 
 commenced ; Visit from the Taubeah Chief; Thako Mosha; the Chiefs 
 Verses ; Visit from a Toungoo Lady; Conversation with her; Visits from 
 other Ladies; their religious difficulties; their anxiety to learn; zeal of 
 Shapau. Pages 195-211 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The history of Sau Quala; his parents; his boyhood; his conversion; his Mother's 
 conversion and death; residence with his brother; their earnest studies; 
 his public profession; his first efforts for others; he is present at Mr. Board- 
 man's death ; studies under Dr. Mason and Dr. Judson; collects the Karen 
 Traditions; and assists in the translation of the Bible; writes Karen books; 
 his marriage; his preaching and discussions; his frequent journeys; he 
 becomes a pastor; progress among the Karens in the Tenasserim Province; 
 Dr. Mason's opinion of Sau Quala; Revival* at Pyeekhya and Newville; 
 Quala is ordained; Story of Dumoo; Dumoo and Quala set off for Toun- 
 goo; Quala's marvellous successs; his devoted labors; offer of Government 
 employ; the offer declined. Pages 212-245 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Sau Quala and his assistants; earnest spirit of these native Missionaries; Mr. 
 Whitaker at Toungoo; Mr. and Mrs. Harris at Shwaygyeen; Death of 
 Mrs. Harris; remarkable progress at Toungoo; earnestness of the people; 
 Pwaipau's success; Dr. Mason's return; jungle travelling; his visit to the 
 mountain Churches; support of the native teachers; the Bghai Association 
 of Churches; number of the Converts and their families; ability of the 
 Preachers; extraordinary liberality of the Churches; marvellous progress; 
 the Bghai tribes ; their ancient feuds ; the independent Bghais ; Border tribes ; 
 Much land to be possessed; Shapau's success; Mrs. Mason at Toungoo; the 
 Female Normal School founded; its plan; the first scholars; letters from
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 the people promising to support it; lawlessness of the tribes; Quala's 
 letter ; letter to the American Churches ; progress of the Normal School ; the 
 teacher Sauka; his visit to the Sgaus; lawlessness of the tribes; many 
 become Christians; murders among them; blood -revenge; Pwaipau 
 ordained in Toungoo; his history; enquiries of the yourtg teachers ;Shapau 
 ordained; wide doors of usefulness; Mrs. Mason visits the jungles; goes 
 into the mountains ;Mopgha house; timber collected; Christian village at 
 Toungoo; Bghai public spirit; their improved manners; report of the 
 Tonngoo Mission for 1857; statistics; contributions. Pages 246-294 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Position of the Missionaries : TA VOT native Pastors ; the origin of evil illustrated ; 
 a Karen convert; disappearance of the Priests; a Burman village: MACL- 
 MAIX; the Theological Seminary; the Karen Churches: SHWATGTEEK: 
 BASSEIN; Report of the Karen Churches; their liberality; desire for the 
 Bible ; grounds of discouragement; the Burmans of Bassein; the northern 
 Karens; native Missionaries sent to them : HENTHADA: progress made; 
 native assistants; the Henthada Normal School; increase of Converts: 
 PKOME; conversion of a young Burman priest; general progress in the 
 district: RANGOON; the Burman preacher, Moung-thet-nau; his conversion 
 and baptism; death of Mr. "Vinton; his numerous Churches; growth of the 
 Mission; openings for usefulness, and his earnest appeals; his character, 
 influence, and zealous labors; his last journey, illness, and sudden death; 
 mourning of the Karens; conclusion; Apostolic preaching, plans, and pre- 
 cedents, followed by Apostolic success. Pages 296-332
 
 THE GOSPEL IN BURMAH. 
 
 I NTKODUCTOKY. 
 
 " For from the rising of the sun even to the going down of the same, 
 my name shall be great among the Gentiles ; and in every place in- 
 cense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering : for my 
 name shall be great among the heathen, eaith the Lord of hosts." 
 MAL. i. 11. 
 
 THE idea suggested by the New Testament, of a Mission 
 to the heathen, has been in a remarkable degree realized by 
 the AMERICAN MISSION TO BURMAH. Commenced in faith ; 
 unaided by wealth or worldly power ; achieving its choicest 
 victories, as well among the speculative Burmans as the 
 unsophisticated Karens, by the simple preaching of the 
 Gospel, and that mainly by native evangelists ; blessed in 
 its progress by a succession of faithful believers, who pa- 
 tiently fulfilled their course, not counting their lives dear 
 unto them ; exerting a wide influence through the whole 
 Christian Church by the example and the memory of its 
 labors and its success ; this Mission has special claims to 
 the sympathies and the love of the whole household of faith. 
 
 Other Missions have been blessed too. Not in primitive 
 times alone, nor in the succeeding darker ages when Chris- 
 tianity in the forests of Germany, and amidst the din of war 
 throughout Europe, won some of her noblest and least re- 
 membered triumphs, but in modern times also, from the
 
 8 SOURCES OF ENTOBMATION. 
 
 Missions of Eliot and Brainerd, of Ziegenbalg and Swartz, to 
 those of Vanderkemp, Carey, and Martyn. In all these the 
 Spirit of God worked variously according to the purpose of 
 His will. By Him the laborers were prepared ; by Him the 
 doors of entrance and utterance were opened ; by Him the 
 word was made effectual to the saving of all who believed ; 
 and at the present time He has still His witnesses and His 
 agents, in a vast diversity of circumstances, with widely dif- 
 fering gifts, occupying each one his allotted sphere of labor, 
 " making increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in 
 love " But it has pleased Him that in the work in Burmah 
 His grace should be especially manifested, and His power 
 felt ; that there, the Church might behold a prelude of that 
 promised shower of blessing which shall redound through 
 the thanksgiving of many to the glory of God. 
 
 The history of this Mission lies scattered in the valuable 
 memoirs of Dr. Judson, embodying the record of his first 
 heroic wife ; in the delightful memoirs of Sarah Judson's 
 peaceful, holy course ; in American periodicals ; in the Tract 
 Society's " Karen Apostle ;" in Malcom's " South Eastern 
 Asia ;" in Gammell's History of the American Baptist Mis- 
 sion ; in the memoirs of Helen M. Mason and Boardman ; in 
 the Rev. J. Baillie's recent work, " Rivers in the Desert," and 
 other publications. But no where is there a connected narra- 
 tive of the whole Mission. In the following pages an attempt 
 has therefore been made to present a continuous, though not 
 complete series of sketches, drawn not from those materials 
 alone, but also from private information and records, ob- 
 tained from intimate personal communication with several of 
 the missionaries themselves. 
 
 The Kingdom, or as it used to be called the Empire of 
 Burmah, occupies a great portion of the immense peninsula 
 of Farther India on the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal.
 
 GEOGRAPHY. 9 
 
 Before the English conquests in 1826, it consisted of Bur- 
 mah Proper, Cathay, Arracan, Pegu, Tenasserim, and the 
 extensive country of the Shan Tribes. By those conquests, 
 and the subsequent war of 1853, Arracan, Pegu, and Ten- 
 asserim, with the entire sea coast of the country, have been 
 incorporated into the British territory, and the kingdom has 
 been humbled and shattered. The population, though nu- 
 merous, probably amounting to tive or six. millions in the 
 entire country, is disproportioned to its immense extent, 
 fertility, and resources. Two great rivers, the Irrawaddy 
 and the Salween, with the Sitang and many other lesser 
 streams, and the Yoma and other ranges of mountains, inter- 
 sect the country. A large portion is covered with pathless 
 jungle, and a great portion of the extensive plains is liable 
 to inundation. The principal British settlements are at 
 Akyab in Arracan ; Rangoon, Bassein, and Dalhousie, as 
 ports of the Irrawaddy ; Shwaygyeen, Toungoo, llenthada, 
 Promc, Thyat Myu, and Meaday in the interior of Pegu ; 
 and Maulmain, Amherst, Tavoy, and Mergui in Tenasserim. 
 The rapid progress of Tenasserim under the British rule, 
 inspires the hope that all the British Provinces will form 
 points of attraction to the population still under the King of 
 Burmah, who feel that neither life nor property is secure ; 
 and recent intercourse with the Red Karens, and increasing 
 intercourse with the Shans, will probably lead to an exten- 
 sion both of British territory and of Christian missions. 
 
 The GOVERNMENT of Burmah is a despotism, administered 
 chiefly by inferior officers in different districts, with unscru- 
 pulous and exacting cruelty ; but the present King's per- 
 sonal influence appears to be beneficial, and his intelligence 
 and mildness of character, render the continuance of peace, 
 during his reign, probable. But other counsels may at any 
 time prevail, and former scenes of revolution and civil war 
 1*
 
 10 BUDDHISM. 
 
 may be renewed. All such commotions will drive more 
 emigrants into the British provinces, and the restless spirit 
 of commercial enterprise while peace lasts, will carry fur- 
 ther and further into Burmah up the Irrawaddy, probably to 
 the borders of China, fresh disturbing elements. A recent 
 splendid publication, (Capt. H. YULE'S narrative of a Mis- 
 sion to Ava in 1855,) opens to view the prospect of a rich 
 country, destined, it may be, to amazing developments of 
 future wealth and prosperity. But such lands abound in 
 the glorious East, rich with boundless and undeveloped re- 
 sources, stored to profusion with the choicest gifts of na- 
 ture, and capable of sustaining innumerable myriads of the 
 human family. 
 
 The PEOPLE of Burmah consist of various distinct races. 
 The Burmans, Karens, Peguans or Tala'ngs, and Shans, are 
 the principal. Of these the Shans and the Red Karens live 
 in a state of semi-barbarism. The principal exports of the 
 country are rice, timber, silk, and lacquered ware. The 
 principal cattle are buffaloes and ponies. Elephants are 
 also very numerous and valuable. Of late years the demand 
 for rice, especially from Arracan and Bassein (in Pegu,) has 
 been so great, that a powerful impulse has been given to the 
 mercantile spirit of the people : and silver, to the amount 
 probably of not less than five millions sterling, has been 
 imported within the last five years. 
 
 The prevalent RELIGION of Burmah, and the established 
 religion of the court of Ava, is BUDDHISM, the faith alike of 
 China, Siam, Ceylon, Thibet, and Tartary. Buddh is a gen- 
 eral term for divinity, and not the name for any particular 
 god. In this world, it is said, there have been four Buddhs 
 or incarnations, the last of whom was Gaudama. One is yet 
 'to come, Arumaday. Gaudama was born about B. C. 626, 
 having previously lived in four hundred millions of worlds,
 
 BUDDHISM. 11 
 
 and passed through innumerable conditions in each. The 
 narratives of his adventures in former states are preserved, 
 and form a considerable part of the sacred books. He became 
 a Buddh in the thirty-fifth year of his age, and remained so 
 forty-five years, at the end of which time, having performed 
 all kinds of meritorious deeds, and promulgated excellent 
 laws, he obtained " nigban," that is, entered into annihila- 
 tion. 
 
 No laws or sayings of the first three Buddhs are extant, 
 but those of Gaudarna were orally transmitted until about 
 A. D. 94, when they were reduced to writing in Ceylon. 
 These are the only sacred books of the Burmans, and are all 
 in the Pali language. The whole are called the Betagat. 
 
 The sins which are to be avoided are described in a moral 
 code consisting of five principal and positive laws : 1. Thou 
 shalt not kill. 2. Thou shalt not steal. 3. Thou shalt not 
 commit adultery. 4. Thou shalt not lie. 5. Thou shalt not 
 drink intoxicating drink. 
 
 Of any Supreme God, or any eternal self-existent being, 
 Buddhism affords no intimation ; nor of any creation or pro- 
 vidence. Merit consists in avoiding sins, and cultivating 
 virtues, and .the reward of it is the sole hope of the Buddhist. 
 He knows nothing of eternal life, anticipates ultimate anni- 
 hilation, is ignorant of the doctrine of forgiveness of sins 
 through an atonement, and of the gift of righteousness 
 through faith. Antecedently to annihilation he anticipates 
 a prolonged existence in various conditions and degrees of 
 happiness, but his creed has practically little influence upon 
 his moral conduct. The Burmans generally are cruel and 
 deceitful, and have made very slight advances in civiliza- 
 tion, though generally endowed with singular acutcness and 
 ingenuity. 
 
 The origin of the Karens is still doubtful, and various
 
 12 KAREN TRADITIONS. 
 
 theories have been propounded, based upon their remarka- 
 ble traditions. They chiefly inhabit villages in the jungles 
 and mountains, and notwithstanding all the power and op- 
 pressions of the Burmans, they have for the most part main 
 tained their independence, and lived apart as a separate 
 people. Their traditions embody remembrances of the crea- 
 tion, the deluge, and the promise of a deliverer. They speak 
 of God in his sovereignty, unity and eternity, his perfection 
 and holiness. They include a large portion of the moral 
 law, and they minutely specify white messengers from the 
 sea, and God's own book, as the means of their recovery, en- 
 lightenment and salvation. Of these traditions some are 
 given by Dr. Mason in the " Karen Apostle." They appear 
 to be unexampled in the records of heathen nations, in these 
 modern times. The following are striking specimens : 
 
 THE CREATION AND FALL, IN VERSE. 
 
 " In ancient times God created the world ; 
 
 All things were minutely ordered by him. 
 
 In ancient times God created the world ; 
 
 He has power to enlarge, and power to diminish. 
 
 God created the world formerly ; 
 
 He can enlarge and diminish it at pleasure. 
 
 God formed the world formerly ; 
 
 He appointed food and drink. 
 
 He appointed the fruit of trial ; 
 
 He gave minute orders. 
 
 Satan deceived two persons ; 
 
 He caused them to eat the fruit of the tree of trial. 
 
 They obeyed not, they believed not God ; 
 
 They ate the fruit of the tree of trial ; 
 
 When they ate the fruit of trial, 
 
 They became subject to sickness, old age and death.
 
 KAREN TRADITIONS. 13 
 
 Had they obeyed, and believed God, 
 
 We should not have been subjected to sickness ; 
 
 Had they obeyed, and believed God, 
 
 We should have prospered in our doings. 
 
 Had they obeyed and believed Him, 
 
 We should not have been poor." 
 
 DISPERSION OF HEX. 
 
 " Oh children and grandchildren ! men had at first one fa- 
 ther and mother ; but because they did not love each other, 
 they separated. After their separation they did not know 
 each other, and their language became different ; and they 
 became enemies to each other and they fought." 
 " The Karens were the elder brother, 
 They obtained all the words of God, 
 They did not believe all the words of God, 
 And became enemies to each other : 
 Because they disbelieved God, 
 Their language divided. 
 God gave them commands, 
 But they did not believe him and divisions ensued." 
 
 RESURRECTION. 
 
 " children and grandchildren ! you think tb.3 earth large 
 The earth is not so large as the entada bean. When the 
 time arrives, people will be more numerous than the leaves of 
 the trees, and those who are now unseen will then be brought 
 to view. my children, there will not be a hiding place 
 for a single thing on earth." 
 
 IDOLATRY. 
 
 " children and grandchildren ! do not worship idols or 
 priests. If you worship them you obtain no advantage there- 
 by^ while you increase your sius exceedingly."
 
 14 KABEN TRADITIONS. 
 
 LOVE TO ENEMIES. 
 
 " children and grandchildren ! if a person injure you, 
 let him do what he wishes, and bear all the sufferings he 
 brings upon you with humility. If an enemy persecute you, 
 love him with the heart. On account of our having sinned 
 against God from the beginning, we ought to suffer." 
 
 NATIONAL TRADITIONS. 
 
 A people beloved of God. 
 
 " children and grandchildren ! formerly God loved the 
 Karen nation above all others, but they transgressed his 
 commands, and in consequence of their transgressions we 
 suffer as at present. Because God cursed us, we are in our 
 afflicted state, and have no books. But God will have mer- 
 cy on us, and again he will love us above others. God will 
 yet save us again ; it is on account of our listening to the 
 language of Satan, that we thus suffer." 
 
 RETURN OF GOD. 
 
 " At the appoinfed season God will come ; 
 
 The dead trees will blossom and flower : 
 
 When the appointed season comes, God will arrive : 
 
 The mouldering trees will blossom and bloom again : 
 
 God will come and bring the great Thau-thee ;* 
 
 "We must worship both great and small. 
 
 The great Thau-thee, God created ; 
 
 Let us ascend and worship. 
 
 There is a great mountain in the ford, 
 
 Can you ascend and worship God ? 
 
 There is a great mountain in the way, 
 
 Are you able to ascend and worship God ? 
 
 How many evenings have you ascended to worship Goi ? 
 
 A mountain eo called, which is to be the Beat of future happiness, 
 according to some statements,
 
 THE TALAIXGS AND SHANS. 15 
 
 You call yourselves the children of God, 
 
 How often have you ascended to worship God ?" 
 
 Such a people were prepared to receive the Gospel with 
 all readiness of mind. Their character was frank and manly, 
 though intemperance and predatory habits had tended great- 
 ly to debase them. 
 
 Their numbers are uncertain, but it is believed that they 
 extend far beyond Ava, and Mr. Kincaid traces an affinity 
 between them and bordering tribes of China. Under the 
 British Government, they have generally submitted to the 
 establishment of law and order, and the warm sympathy of 
 Major Phayre, the able Commissioner of Pegu, with this in- 
 teresting people, affords the best guarantee that British au- 
 thority, even when confided to the hands of Burmau subor- 
 dinates, will not be perverted to their oppression in that 
 province. They are divided into several tribes : the Red 
 Karens, and the Sgaus, being the principal. The most im- 
 portant other tribes, appear to be the Pwos, and the Bghais. 
 All have distinct dialects, which seem at present to require 
 somewhat various alphabets. 
 
 The Peguans, or TALAINGS, long oppressed after their con- 
 quest by the Burmans, became special objects of hatred af- 
 ter the British forces unhappily withdrew from Pegu in 
 1826, and left these people, who had manifested their friend- 
 ly sympathy with them, to Burman vengeance. The subse- 
 quent years, till the British annexation, in 1853, witnessed 
 increasing severities, and the race is now greatly diminished. 
 
 Among the SHAXS, no European settlement has been form- 
 ed, and very little is known with certainty, of their numbers, 
 or their habits. They frequently kidnap and carry 3'uildren 
 into slavery, and hitherto appear to have resisted even the 
 approach of civilization. 
 
 The habits and manners of the population of Burmah, gen-
 
 16 SUCCESS OF THE MISSION. 
 
 erally, present a marked contrast to the customs of India, 
 and singular facilities for the work of Missions. There is 
 no hereditary priesthood like Brahmanism ; no anti-social 
 system like caste, presenting a barrier to the introduction 
 of every change ; and no seclusion of the female sex. Among 
 the Burmans there is a considerable amount of intelligence 
 and education, and the whole population is accessible to the 
 Missionary. Intercourse is comparatively open and unre- 
 served, and the people usually are peaceful and courteous ; 
 but the Buddhist religion, with its monasteries, and gorge- 
 ous temples, its gay processions, and festivals, strongly fas- 
 cinates the popular Burman mind, and too commonly enthrals 
 it with a fatal spell. 
 
 Such is the sphere of labor, such are the hearers of the 
 Gospel, we shall contemplate in the following pages. Of 
 many of the hearers it certainly seems that the Lord has 
 said, " This people have I formed for myself, they shall 
 show forth my praise ;" and in many of the remote wilder- 
 ness scenes of rugged beauty, where the Gospel has reached 
 the untutored and unsubdued Karen, His message seems to 
 have been as of old : " Let the inhabitants of the rock sing ; 
 let them shout from the top of the mountains, let them give 
 glory unto the Lord, and declare His praise," (Isaiah xlii. 
 11, 12.) His word has been clothed with power, and lawless 
 men have sat at the feet of Jesus, like children, to be nour- 
 ished with the milk of truth, and have fed on it in the sim- 
 plicity of their hearts. They have been touched, not by the 
 superior learning or intelligence of their teachers, for very 
 often the messengers of the Gospel have been men entirely 
 like themselves, but by the story of the cross, and that alone, 
 by the first principles of the Gospel of Christ. This has 
 fired their hearts, convinced their judgments, and directed 
 their wills. Once, " thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers,
 
 PEAYEB FOE MISSIONS. 17 
 
 extortioners, they are washed, they are sanctified, they are 
 justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit 
 of our God. :> (1 Cor. vi. 10, 11.) 
 
 And what shall we say of those who have gone from Amer- 
 ica to give their lives to this labor of love ? They have been 
 " as a dew from the Lord in the midst of many people," 
 (Micah v. 7.) And their fruit remains. But one after an- 
 other has been taken away. Many hindrances have arisen. 
 It has been God's will oftentimes to bring their usefulness 
 to a close, and to work in other, and unexpected ways, that 
 He alone might be exalted : " sealing up the hand of every 
 man, that all men may see His work," (Job. xxxvii. 7.) 
 
 This Mission then needs our prayers. It has been highly 
 favored, but if the praises were to be given to man, and not 
 to God, if pride were to take the place of humility, if God's 
 Spirit were to be forgotten as the author of every good and 
 perfect gift, soon, very soon, would Ichabod, " the glory is 
 departed," be written as the inscription on its tomb. Rather 
 let all the Church of Christ not only rejoice in the manifes- 
 tation of God's gracious kindness to this Mission, but unite 
 in prayer, that His Spirit may not be grieved, and that tho 
 beloved brethren in Burmah, may be blessed with that sin- 
 gle eye which is full of light, and the gift of a holy and faith 
 ful dependence upon the grace of Christ alone. 
 
 Many and urgent are the calls for this prayer on behalf of 
 Missions. The Missions in Burmah, in Tinnevelly, in Chota- 
 Nagpore, in Turkey, and in Western Africa, seem to be full 
 of promise that God is preparing to honor the preaching of 
 His word in a new and remarkable manner. And by the 
 discoveries in Southern Africa ; by the approach of His her 
 aids to Central Asia, at Peshawur ; and by the weakening 
 of Mohammedan kingdoms, is not the Lord pointing to new 
 fields of labor, and saying to His people, " Go forward ?" Is 
 He not causing them to lay to heart the long desolations, and
 
 18 OPENINGS FOB THE GOSPEL. 
 
 to yearn with lively sympathy over the lands of cruelty and 
 darkness ? They see by far the greater part of this earth 
 closed to the Gospel, and filled with violence, millions in 
 slavery, the female sex degraded, and Satan worshipped 
 under countless forms, by whole successive generation^, and 
 they cry : Lord, how long ? how long shall the wicked 
 triumph ? Remember thy promises, the hopes and prayers 
 of thy people, and do thou work for the glory of thy name, in 
 thy faithfulness and truth ! Surely, if we thus continued 
 pleading with Him, we should see the blessing which is now 
 descending upon a few favored spots, widely extending 
 through the earth, opening paths in the wilderness, and rivers 
 in the desert, and bowing down the greatest obstacle of all, the 
 heart of the proud and lofty. How swiftly and how soon He 
 would fulfil the desires of our hearts we cannot tell, but as 
 His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts than our 
 thoughts, there would be wonders wrought, such as we can- 
 not imagine in these days of the " hiding of His power." 
 For all the discoveries of modern times transcend all the 
 conceptions of our forefathers, much more will the forth - 
 putting of divine strength in the energy of love accomplish 
 changes that will shame the feebleness of man. The great 
 day of the descent of the Holy Spirit indicated in the con- 
 version of three thousand, the mighty influence of divine 
 grace : but greater blessings are promised, and on a wider 
 scale the preaching of the glorious Gospel will be clothed 
 with power. We see now only the first indications of those 
 brighter days, but our children's children may witness re- 
 sults, that will teach them at once to rejoice in our earlier la- 
 bors, and to wonder at the weakness of our faith. Confident 
 in these hopes let us not faint, but toil and pray on, joyfully 
 serving our generation according to the will of God, and rest- 
 ing on the promise, that " They who sow, and they who reap, 
 shall rejoice together."
 
 THE FIRST AMERICAN MISSIONARY. 19 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY DAYS. 
 
 " I know thy works : behold, I have set before thee an open door, and 
 no man can shut it : for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my 
 word, and hast not denied my name." REV. iii. 8. 
 
 NEARLY fifty years have passed away since a few young 
 students, gathered from different parts of the country, met 
 in the Seminary at Andover, Massachusetts, with hearts 
 inflamed with the love of Christ, and with a burning zeal to 
 make known His Gospel to the perishing heathen. With 
 some this sentiment had been the growth of years ; with 
 others it had started into existence on reading Claudius 
 Buchanan's sermon entitled "The Star in the East ;" but 
 with all, the settled purpose of their lives was to obey that 
 command of Christ, " Go ye into the world, and preach the 
 Gospel to every creature." It was during a solitary ramble 
 in the woods at the back of the college, with no >.ye but that 
 of God resting upon him, that one of that little company 
 came to the determination to obey that command. That 
 one was ADONIRAM JUDSON, afterwards so distinguished as 
 the Missionary to Burmah, and it was from that little com- 
 pany, that an Institution sprang, whose name faas been asso- 
 ciated with some of the noblest triumphs of the cross, the 
 " American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions." 
 
 Antecedently to this movement in America, the Church 
 Missionary, London Missionary and the Wesleyan Missionary 
 Societies, had been formed in England ; and the Baptist
 
 20 THE AMEKICAN BOAED OF MISSIONS. 
 
 body had already sent out those pioneers of Missions in 
 Bengal, Carey, Marshman, and Ward. The American Board 
 was no sooner constituted, than it was considered expedient 
 to send Mr. Judson to England, to endeavor to obtain the 
 co-operation and assistance of the London Missionary Soci- 
 ety. He was received with every mark of kindness by the 
 Directors, but although they professed their entire willing- 
 ness to assist with funds, until the American Board could 
 raise sufficient for the support of their own missionaries, 
 they wisely considered that separated as they were by the 
 Atlantic, it would be impossible to carry on the two Societies 
 satisfactorily in conjunction. It was therefore decided on 
 Mr. Judson's return to America that he and Mrs. Judson 
 should proceed at once in company with Messrs. Newell, 
 Hall, Nott and their wives, and Mr. Rice, to Bengal, and 
 from thence if practicable to proceed to Burmah, or any 
 other field in India, which in God's providence was opened 
 to them. It was on the 19th February, 1812, that the brig 
 weighed anchor, which was to convey these devoted mission- 
 aries to the land of their adoption. How evident it was 
 that the Spirit of God had been working after the counsel 
 of His own will, upon different individuals, and in different 
 countries, preparing the way for those great missionary 
 movements, which have since been the glory of both British 
 and American Churches, and which will continue to grow 
 and increase, until the kingdoms of this world become the 
 kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ ! 
 
 Arrived in India, the little band of missionaries were 
 received at Serampore, with true Christian hospitality. 
 
 The British government was at this time strongly opposed 
 to the introduction of Christianity, and watched with jeal- 
 ous eye any movement on the part of the Mission at Seram- 
 pore. Upon the American missionaries presenting them-
 
 THE MISSIONARIES KEACH INDIA. 21 
 
 selves 'to the authorities, they were informed that they must 
 without delay return to the United States. After many 
 difficulties and disappointments, they -secured a passage to 
 the Isle of France. On the way thither Harriet Newell 
 breathed her last, and Mr. Rice became so seriously ill, that 
 it was deemed advisable that he should return to America ; 
 Messrs. Hall and Nott proceeded to Bombay ; and at last 
 of all that devoted band, who sailed with the message of 
 divine mercy to Burmah, Mr. and Mrs. Judson alone remain- 
 ed to land at Rangoon on the 13th July, 1813. Very touch- 
 ing is the expression of their feelings at this time. "In- 
 stead of rejoicing as we ought to have done, in having found 
 a heathen land from which we were not immediately driven 
 away, such were our weaknesses that we felt we had no 
 portion left here below, and found consolation only in looking 
 beyond our pilgrimage, which we tried to natter ourselves 
 would be short, to that peaceful region where the wicked 
 cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest.' But if 
 ever we commended ourselves sincerely, and without reserve, 
 to the disposal of our heavenly Father, it was on this even- 
 ing." 
 
 The Serampore missionaries had from the year 1807, 
 sought to establish a Mission in Burmah, and like the ad- 
 vanced guard, had prepared the way for those who followed. 
 When the Judsons arrived at Rangoon, they were received 
 by Mrs. Felix Carey at the Mission House, which was situ- 
 ated in a retired spot without the walls of the city. Mr. 
 Carey was at the time absent at the court of Ava. It was 
 here that Judson commenced the study of the language, and 
 the translation of the Scriptures, and the preparation of 
 tracts. Mr. and Mrs. Hough joined them in 1816, with a 
 printing press and fonts ; and in the following year Mr. 
 Judson embarked for Chittagong, in the hope of securing
 
 22 A MISSION BEGUN IN KANGOON. 
 
 the services of one of the native Christians as an assistant 
 in preaching the Gospel to the people. During his absence, 
 and when their minds were distressed by the intelligence 
 that the vessel in which he had sailed had not been heard 
 of at Chittagong, Mr. Hough was suddenly summoned to 
 appear at the court house. There he was detained day after 
 day, without knowing the charges preferred against him. It 
 appeared afterwards, that he had been arrested upon sus- 
 picion of his being connected with some Portuguese priests, 
 whom the king had banished. To increase their anxieties, 
 rumors reached them of an impending war between the 
 English and Burmese Governments, and the cholera which 
 for the first time had broken out in Rangoon, was accomp- 
 lishing its fearful work around them. 
 
 In these circumstances Mr. and Mrs. Hough resolved to 
 go up to Calcutta, but Mrs. Judson clinging to the hope 
 that her husband might yet return, remained at her post ; 
 and before the ship had sailed with the Houghs to Calcutta, 
 to the great joy of all, Mr. Judson returned, having encoun- 
 tered great perils, from contrary winds and storms. 
 
 This sketch brings us to one of the most interesting 
 points in the history of the Burmah Mission. More than 
 five years of preparatory work had passed away, and Mr. 
 Judson in that time had not only made himself familiar with 
 the language to a remarkable degree, but had prepared and 
 published some portion of the Scriptures, and a tract briefly 
 and clearly explaining the doctrines and duties of Chris- 
 tianity, in the vernacular. Familiar teaching had been car- 
 ried on to some extent in private, but no attempts had yet 
 been made to carry out the message of God to the highways 
 and crowded thoroughfares ; and it was to this, that Mr. Jud- 
 son now determined to give his attention. 
 
 In April, 1819, a zayat, a small low thatched building, was
 
 THE FIRST CONVERT. 23 
 
 completed, and opened for this sacred and important pur- 
 pose. It was built by the way side, on the road leading to 
 the Great Pagoda, which is continually thronged by busy 
 crowds. With what feeling must the missionary of the 
 cross have first lifted his heart and hands in devotion 
 beneath that roof, dedicating it to the service of the Living 
 God ! From this time we began to notice a spirit of inquiry } 
 and on the 1st May, we have mention of MOUXG NAU, the 
 first Burman convert. He was a man silent and reserved by 
 nature, and seems to have excited little hope or attention, 
 but the grace of God had reached his heart, and had made 
 him feel his exceeding sinfulness, and the preciousness of 
 Christ's salvation. He was a poor man, obliged to labor 
 for his daily bread, but he so hungered and thirsted after 
 righteousness, that he counted all but loss, if he might win 
 Christ. Not long after he became an inquirer, he had an ad- 
 vantageous offer to go to Ava, in the employ of a boat- 
 owner, but like Simon and Andrew, who left their fishing 
 and their nets to follow Jesus, he determined not to leave 
 those who would lead him in the way, where he might find 
 Him. On the 27th June, 1819, on the Sabbath evening 
 after a simple service in the zayat, they proceeded to a tank 
 in the neighborhood. An enormous image of Gaudama is 
 upon the bank, and there Moung Nau was_ baptized in the- 
 name of the triune Jehovah. It was but a small beginning, 
 but precious in the sight of Him " who taketh pleasure in 
 His people, and will beautify the meek with salvation." 
 
 Moung Nau became a valuable assistant to Mr. Judson, 
 and through all the trials to which the Mission was after- 
 wards exposed, he remained firm and steadfast, a faithful 
 soldier and a servant of Jesus Christ to the end. On the 
 7th November of the same year, two more converts were 
 baptized. Mr. Judson in writing of this event says, " No
 
 24 OTHER CONVERTS. 
 
 wondering crowd crowned the over-shadowing hill. No 
 hymn of praise expressed the exultant feelings of joyous 
 hearts. Stillness and solemnity pervaded the scene. We 
 felt on the banks of the water, as a little, feeble, solitary 
 band. But, perhaps, some hovering angels took note of the 
 event ; perhaps Jesus looked down on us, pitied and forgave 
 our weakness, and marked us for His own ; perhaps, if we 
 deny Him not, He will acknowledge us another day more 
 publicly than we venture, at present, to acknowledge Him." 
 
 From this time the tide of inquiry continued. Very 
 interesting was the case of Moung Shwa Goung, a teacher 
 of considerable distinction. He appeared to be half deist 
 and half skeptic, a man of considerable powers, and very ar- 
 gumentative. Even his proud heart and lofty intellect 
 bowed to the supremacy of divine grace. His frequent 
 visits to the zayat attracted the attention of the priests, and 
 of the officers of the viceroy who reported him to their mas- 
 ter. They were told " to inquire further about him." This 
 had such an effect upon Moung Shwa Goung, that he ceased 
 to visit the zayat, and many others also who had manifested 
 considerable interest were afraid to do so any longer. 
 
 This incident forced upon the missionaries the painful con- 
 viction, that the disapprobation of the Government might, at 
 any moment, blight the buds of fairest promise, and lay 
 their hopes in the dust. They accordingly decided to go at 
 onee to the capital, and plead their cause with the Emperor, 
 in the hope that they might at least secure toleration 
 for themselves, and the converts to Christianity. 
 
 At the close of 1819, Mr. Judson and Mr. Colman, who 
 had joined the Mission in Rangoon, proceeded to Amarapu- 
 ra, at that time the capital of the empire, taking with them 
 the faithful Moung Nau as their attendant. After some per- 
 plexing doubts as to the most suitable present for the Em-
 
 MB. JUDSON GOES TO AVA. 25 
 
 peror, without which no unauthorized person could appear 
 before him, they decided upon a Bible in six volumes, cov- 
 ered with gold leaf, each volume enclosed in a richly wrought 
 wrapper, wisely considering that their " holy book" was the 
 most suitable offering for men in their circumstances. Mr. 
 Judson writes : " The expedition on which we have entered, 
 however it may terminate, is unavoidably fraught with con- 
 sequences momentous and solemn beyond all conception. 
 We are penetrating into the heart of one of the great king- 
 doms of the world, to make a formal offer of the gospel to 
 a despotic monarch, and through him to the millions of his 
 subjects. May the Lord accompany us, and crown our at- 
 tempt with the desired success." The passage up the river, 
 a distance of three hundred and fifty miles, was completed 
 in rather more than a month, and the day after their arrival 
 at the Burman capital, they presented themselves to the 
 former viceroy of Rangoon, Mya-day-men, in the hope that 
 they might interest him in their behalf. His wife had 
 shown much kindness to Mrs. Judson, and they now promis- 
 ed to use all their influence to obtain for them an audience 
 of the king. The desired day at last arrived, and we can- 
 not refrain from giving the account of the interview in Dr. 
 Judson's own words " January 27th, 1820. We left the 
 boat, and put ourselves under the conduct of Moung Yo. He 
 carried us first to Mya-day-men, as a matter of form ; and 
 there we learned that the Emperor had been privately ap- 
 prised of our arrival, and said, ' Let them be introduced.' 
 We therefore proceeded to the palace ; at the outer gate we 
 were detained a long time, until various officers were satis- 
 fied that we had a right to enter, aftpr which we deposited a 
 present for the private minister of state, Moung Zah, and 
 were ushered into his apartments in the palace yard. He 
 received us very pleasantly, and ordered us to sit before the 
 
 2
 
 26 INTERVIEW WITH THE KING. 
 
 several governors and petty kings, who were waiting at his 
 Levee. We here for the first tiuie disclosed our character 
 and object ; told him that we were missionaries, or ' propa- 
 gators of religion ;' that we wished to appear before the Em- 
 peror, and present our sacred books, accompanied with a 
 petition. He took the petition in his hand, looked over 
 about half of it, and then familiarly asked several questions 
 about our God and our religion, to which we replied. Just 
 at this crisis some one announced that the golden foot was 
 about to advance ; on which the minister hastily rose up, 
 put on his robes of state, saying that he must seize the mo- 
 ment to present us to the Emperor. We now found that 
 we had unwittingly fallen on an unpropitious time, it being 
 the day of the celebration of the late victory over the Kath- 
 ays, and the very hour when his majesty was coming forth 
 to witness the display made on the occasion. When the min- 
 ister was dressed, he just said, ' How can you propagate re- 
 ligion in this empire ? But come along.' Our hearts sank 
 at these inauspicious words. He conducted us through va- 
 rious splendor and parade, until we ascended a flight of 
 stairs, and entered a most magnificent hall. He directed us 
 where to sit, and took his place on one side ; the present 
 was placed on the other ; and Moung Yo and another officer 
 of Mya-day-men sat a little behind. 
 
 " The scene to which we were now introduced really sur- 
 passed our expectation. The spacious extent of the hall, the 
 number and magnitude of the pillars, the height of the dome, 
 the whole completely covered with gold, presented a most 
 grand and imposing spectacle. Very few were present, and 
 those evidently great officers of state. Our situation pre- 
 vented us from seeing the further avenue of the hall ; but 
 the end where we sat opened into the parade, which the Em- 
 peror was about to inspect. We remained about five min-
 
 INTERVIEW "WITH THE KING. 27 
 
 utcs, when every one put himself into the most respectful 
 attitude, and Moung Yo whispered that his majesty had en- 
 tered. We looked through the hall as far as the pillars 
 would allow, and presently caught sight of the modern Ahas- 
 uerus. He came forward, unattended in solitary grandeur 
 exhibited the proud gait and majesty of an eastern mon- 
 arch. His dress was rich, but not distinctive ; and he car- 
 ried in his hand the gold sheathed sword, which seems to 
 have taken the place of the sceptre of ancient times. But it 
 was his high aspect, and commanding eye, that chiefly rivet- 
 ed our attention. He strided on. Every head excepting 
 ours was now in the dust. We remained kneeling, our 
 hands folded, our eyes fixed on the monarch. When he 
 drew near we caught his attention. lie stopped, partly turn- 
 ed towards us ' Who are these ?' ' The teachers, great 
 king,' I replied. ' What, you speak Burman the priests that 
 I heard of last night ?' ' When did you arrive T ' Are you 
 teachers of religion ? " Are you like the Portuguese Priests?' 
 ' Are you married ?' These and similar questions we an- 
 swered, when he appeared to be pleased with us, and sat 
 down on an elevated seat, his hand resting on the hilt of his 
 sword, and his eyes fixed intently on us. Moung Zah read 
 the petition ; and it ran thus : ' The American teachers 
 present themselves to receive the favor of the excellent 
 king, the sovereign of land and sea. Hearing that, on ac- 
 count of the greatness t>f the royal power, the royal country 
 was in a quiet and prosperous state, we arrived at the town 
 of Rangoon, within the royal dominions, and having obtained 
 leave of the Governor of that town to come up and behold 
 the golden face, we have ascended and reached the bottom of 
 the golden feet. In the great country of America, we sus- 
 tain the character of teachers, and explainers of the sacred 
 scriptures of our religion. And since it is contained in
 
 28 INTERVIEW WITH THE KINO. 
 
 those scriptures, that if we pass to other countries, and 
 preach and propagate religion, great good will result, and 
 both those who teach and those who receive the religion will 
 be freed from future punishment, and enjoy, without decay 
 or death, the eternal felicity of heaven, that royal permis- 
 sion be given, that we, taking refuge in the royal power, may 
 preach our raligion in these dominions, and that those who 
 are pleased with our preaching, and wish to listen to and be 
 guided by it, whether foreigners or Burmans, may be exempt 
 from Government molestation, they present themselves to 
 receive the favor of the excellent King, the Sovereign of 
 land and sea." 
 
 " The Emperor heard this petition and stretched out his 
 -hand. Moung Zah was called forward and presented 
 it. His Majesty began at the top, and deliberately read 
 through. In the meantime I gave Moung Zah an abridged 
 copy of the tract, in which every offensive sentence was cor- 
 rected, and the whole put into the handsomest style and 
 dress possible. After the Emperor had perused the peti- 
 tion, he handed it back without saying a word, aud took the 
 tract. Our hearts now rose to (rod for a display of his grace, 
 ' Oh, have mercy on Burmah ! Have mercy on her King !' 
 But alas ! the time was not yet come. He held the tract 
 long enough to read the first two sentences, which assert 
 that there is one eternal God, who is independent of the in- 
 cidents of mortality, and that beside ftim there is no God ; 
 and then with an air of indifference, perhaps disdain, he 
 dashed it down to the ground ; Moung Zah stooped forward, 
 picked it up, and handed it to us : Moung Yo made a slight 
 attempt to save us by unfolding one of the volumes, which 
 composed our present, and displaying its beauty; but his 
 majesty took no notice. Our fate was decided. After a 
 few moments, Moung Zah interpreted his royal master's
 
 TIIEIK REQUEST REFUSED. 29 
 
 will, in the following terms : ' Why do you ask for such 
 permission ? Have not the Portuguese, the English, the 
 Mussulmans, and people of all religions, full liberty to prac- 
 tice and worship according to their customs ? In regard to 
 the objects of your petition his majesty gives no orders. In 
 regard to your sacred books, take them away : his majesty 
 has no use for them.' 
 
 " Something was now said about brother Colman's skill in 
 medicine, upon which the Emperor once more opened his 
 mouth, and said, ' Let them proceed to the residence of my 
 physician, the Portuguese priest ; let him examine whether 
 they can be useful to me in that line, and report according- 
 ly.' He then rose from his seat, strided to the end of the 
 hall, and there after having dashed to the ground the first 
 intelligence that he had ever received of the eternal God> 
 his Maker, his Preserver, his Judge, he threw himself down 
 on a cushion, and lay listening to the music, and gazing on 
 the parade spread out before him." 
 
 With hopes thus crushed and disappointed, they were 
 hurried from the palace, and after some vain efforts to ac- 
 complish their object, they determined to return to Rangoon, 
 feeling that for the future, they could expect no help or 
 countenance from man. In the weakness of their faith, they 
 were almost tempted to abandon Burmah, and to seek some 
 country where the government would be more favorable ; but 
 God had other purposes, purposes of mercy to many in 
 Burmah ; and the failing hearts of his servants were strength- 
 ened by the young converts and inquirers, who, on hearing 
 that they thought of leaving them, besought them with many 
 prayers and tears to remain, and share their trials. It was 
 finally arranged that Mr. and Mrs. Colman should go to 
 Chittagong, so that if the storm of persecution rose, the 
 missionaries and converts might find a refuge there. Tho
 
 30 ENCOURAGEMENT IN RANGOON. 
 
 Judsons remained a(r Rangoon, the solitary occupants of the 
 mission premises, but surrounded day by day with some few 
 earnest inquirers. Amongst them was the teacher Moung 
 Shwagoung, who, with six others, was in a few months ad. 
 niitted into the church by baptism, giving most satisfactory 
 evidence of love to Christ and devotedness to Him. Thus 
 things glided on more smoothly with the mission family, and 
 all around began to wear a brighter aspect, when Mrs. Jud- 
 son's failing health warned them that it would be necessary 
 to seek its renewal in her native land, and that the bitterness 
 of separation was before them. In vain the shorter voyage 
 to Bengal was tried, and in August, 1821, she left the spot 
 in which all her interests were centered, and in which her 
 richest earthly hopes were treasured up. 
 
 In December, 1821, Mr. Judson was joined by Dr. and 
 Mrs. Price ; Mr. and Mrs. Hough also returned to Rangoon, 
 and enabled him to carry on his work with renewed vigor. 
 It was not long, before the knowledge of Dr. Price's arrival, 
 and his skill as a physician, reached the Court of Ava, and 
 he was summoned to the presence of the king. Mr. Judson 
 was obliged to accompany him, and in one of their interviews 
 was ordered to preach before his majesty, and had frequent 
 conversations with the princes of the court, in which he had 
 opportunities of commending Christianity to their notice. 
 After spending several months at Ava, Mr. Judson returned 
 to Rangoon to meet Mrs. Judson, who arrived there in De- 
 cember, 1823, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Wade. After 
 some consideration, it was determined that the Wades should 
 remain at Rangoon, and that Mr. (now Dr.) and Mrs. Judson 
 should proceed immediately to Ava, and availing themselves 
 of the favor shown to Dr. Price's medical skill, endeavor to 
 establish a mission in the Capital itself. How little did they 
 then foresee the bonds and imprisonment which there await-
 
 SUFFERINGS OF THE ENGLISH. 31 
 
 ed them, and which drew forth into action those qualities in 
 the character of Mrs. Judson, which rendered her one of the 
 most remarkable women of her time ! The war with Eng- 
 land broke out in the beginning of 1824 : on the morning of 
 the 10th of -May the British fleet had penetrated up the 
 Irrawaddy to within a few miles of Rangoon, and war was 
 openly declared with Burmah. The first violence of the 
 coming storm broke upon the helpless mission families at 
 Rangoon. In vain they remonstrated, and urged that they 
 had no connection with the British Government ; orders were 
 issued for their arrest, and Mr. Hough and Mr. Wade were, 
 with all the other European residents, hurried off to the 
 common prison. There, chained together, and under the 
 charge of armed men, they waited with intense anxiety the 
 result of the engagement. As soon as the firing commenced, 
 the guards, panic-stricken, fled, and just as hope again re- 
 vived, and they looked for deliverance, fifty Burmans enter- 
 ed the prison house, stripped them of their 'clothes, and 
 drove them to the place of execution. The dreaded moment 
 had arrived. The executioner, with uplifted hand, stood 
 ready for the signal, when Mr. Hough's voice broke the 
 awful silence. It was in their own tongue that he entreated 
 for a respite, and that he might be sent as the ambassador of 
 peace on board the English frigate ; an assent was given, and 
 tb.2 rest of the unhappy prisoners were laden with irons and 
 placed in confinement. The next day the English landed, 
 and they were set free. The lives of Mrs. Hough and Mrs. 
 Wade were, during all this time, wonderfully preserved. 
 Insulted by the Burmans, compelled to conceal themselves 
 in a little shed, exposed to a heavy fire of artillery, they 
 were yet untouched, and rescued eventually by British offi- 
 cers, and placed in a position of safety. A malignant fever, 
 which broke out after the occupation of Rangoon by the
 
 32 MRS. JDDSON'S HEROISM. 
 
 British, and carried off its thousands, attacked the mission 
 family, and determined them as soon as they were sufficient- 
 ly recovered, upon going to Calcutta, where they remained 
 until the conclusion of the war. 
 
 In the meantime intelligence of the fall of Rangoon had 
 reached the court of Ava ; and the British Army under Sir 
 A. Campbell, was steadily and victoriously advancing to- 
 wards the Imperial capital itself. Dr. Judson and Dr. Price 
 were amongst the first victims of Burman cruelty. They 
 were thrown into a dungeon known by the name of the 
 " death prison," and so secured that they were incapable of 
 moving. 
 
 It was now that the noble and heroic spirit of Mrs. Jud- 
 son rose to the emergency. Feeble in health, but strong in 
 purpose, she suffered no obstacle to daunt her energies, or 
 to stand in the way of pleading for freedom and relief. For 
 a time she was not allowed to leave her house ; she was 
 strictly watched and guarded, and exposed to cruel insults 
 and extortions ; but at length she succeeded in presenting a 
 petition to the governor, and by her earnest appeals to his 
 sympathy, obtained the privilege of visiting the prisoners, 
 and at last of erecting a little bamboo hut within the pre- 
 cincts of the prison yard, in which for many months she liv- 
 ed, preparing their food, and ministering to their wants. 
 
 Nine weary months rolled on, but there was no weariness 
 in the service of love ; willingly, cheerfully was it rendered, 
 but alas ! one morning the prisoners were gone. Was it to 
 torture and to death ? 
 
 The governor, who had some pity for the sufferings of 
 Mrs. Judson, had summoned her to his presence, that she 
 might be absent from the prison, while the prisoners were 
 driven out, and thus be spared the agony of a separation he 
 had no power to prevent. But was she to be prevented dis-
 
 PRESERVATION OF THE MISSIONARIES. 33 
 
 covering their retreat ? In deepest admiration we follow 
 her tracking their course, undaunted by the savage repulse, 
 the fearful whisper, wending her solitary way by boat, or on 
 the Burman cart, until at last she sank in the wretched village 
 of Oung-pen-la, overcome with fatigue, anguish, and disease. 
 AVho can tell how great were the supports which her faint- 
 ing spirit then received from Him who hath said, " I will 
 not leave you comfortless ?" 
 
 The prisoners had been thus hurried to Oung-pcn-la, that 
 they might be sacrificed in honor of Pakahwoon assuming 
 the command of an army of fifty thousand men about to 
 march against the English. By a remarkable interposition 
 of God's providence, this awful catastrophe was prevented. 
 The chief had been raised from a low condition to the rank 
 of Woongye, but in the height of his power, and just as he 
 was about to march at the head of his army, he was charged 
 with treason, fell under the displeasure of the king, and 
 was executed at an hour's notice. The fate of the mission 
 aries was thus averted, and they were left uncared for at 
 Oung-pen-la, when the near approach of the British army to 
 the capital, induced the king to command the services of Dr. 
 Judson, as part of an embassy to the English camp with 
 overtures of peace. The negociations were carried on en- 
 tirely by the aid of Dr. Judson and Dr. Price. The release 
 of the Christian prisoners was of course one of the con- 
 ditions of the treaty, and on its conclusion the missionaries 
 were once more free. So important were the services which 
 they had rendered to the Burman Government, that they 
 were solicited to remain, with the promise of advancement. 
 
 Dr. Price was subsequently induced to accept the proposals 
 
 of the king ; but Dr. and Mrs. Judson thankfully embraced 
 
 the kind offer of hospitality from Sir Archibald Campbell 
 
 and returned without delay to the British camp. We can- 
 
 2*
 
 34 THEY RETIRE FROM RA-NGOON. 
 
 not forbear giving in Mrs. Judson's own words, the descrip- 
 tion of their departure from Ava. 
 
 " It was on a cool moonlight evening in March (1826), that 
 with hearts filled with gratitude to God, and overflowing with 
 joy at our prospects, we passed down the Irrawaddy, surround- 
 ed by six or eight golden boats, and accompanied by all we 
 had on earth. We now for the first time, for more than a 
 year and a half, felt that we were free, and no longer subject 
 to the oppressive yoke of the Burmese ; and with what sen- 
 sations of delight on the next morning did I behold the masts 
 of the steam-boat the sure presage of being within the 
 bounds of civilized life ! We feel that our obligations to 
 General Campbell can never be cancelled. Our tinal release 
 from Ava, and our recovering all the property that had been 
 taken, were owing entirely to his efforts. His subsequent 
 hospitality, and kind attention to the accommodations for our 
 passage to Rangoon, have left an indelible impression on 
 our minds, and can never be forgotten." 
 
 Dr. Judson, on their arrival at Rangoon, accompanied Mr. 
 Crawfurd, the English Commissioner, on a tour of inspection 
 through the district ceded to the British Government by the 
 recent treaty. A site was fixed upon as the future capital 
 of the English possessions in Burmah, and received the name 
 of AMHERST, in honor of Lord Amherst, who was then Gov- 
 ernor-General of India. To this station Dr. Judson de- 
 termined to remove his family, and there to unfurl the 
 standard of the cross under the strong arm of British pro- 
 tection. 
 
 Soon afterwards, during Dr. Judson's absence at the court 
 of Ava, whither he had gone as interpreter to Mr. Crawfurd's 
 embassy, it pleased God to visit him with that affliction which 
 so long clouded his heart and home. Mrs. Judson, whose 
 constitution never recovered the shock it had sustained
 
 DEATH OF MKS. JUDSON. 35 
 
 during her two years of suffering, sank under the effects of a 
 remittent fever, and entered into rest on the 24th October, 
 1826 ; as deeply mourned by the English residents at Am- 
 herst, as by that little band of faithful Christians who had 
 gathered round her. She was buried at Amherst. 
 
 A single hopia tree marks the resting place of Ann Jud- 
 son. Many a Christian traveller has visited that hallowed 
 spot, and given thanks to God for the grace granted to his 
 servant. On Dr. Judson's return to Amherst, he found his 
 infant daughter fast fading away. She had been born dur- 
 ing their captivity, and was now his only remaining treasure, 
 but she had to be yielded up. " Even so, heavenly Father : 
 for so it seemed good in thy sight." 
 
 " Oh ! who could bear life's stormy doom, 
 
 Did not Thy wing of love 
 Come, brightly wafting through the gloom, 
 
 Our peace-branch from above ?"
 
 36 ARRIVAL OF MR. AND MRS. BOARDMAN. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 EARLY DATS WITH THE KARENS. 
 " Sought out not forsaken." ISAIAH Ixii. 12. 
 
 IT was at the beginning of 1827, that the Mission was 
 strengthened by the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Boardman from 
 America, who joined the brethren at Amherst. This place, 
 which had been originally selected as the seat of the British 
 Government, was found to be inconveniently situated, and 
 Sir Archibald Campbell determined to remove the head- 
 quarters to Maulmain. We find therefore, in 1828, the mis- 
 sionaries, Dr. Judson, Mr. and Mrs. Wade, and Mr. and Mrs. 
 Boardman, settled there ; and the history of this period we 
 shall give in a sketch sent us by Mrs. Wade, now one of the 
 oldest surviving members of the Burman Mission. 
 
 " In Mauhnain we had a boarding-school for Burman 
 girls, and Dr. Judson had a bamboo zayat at the north end 
 of the town, while Mr. Wade had a similar one at the south 
 end, where they spent the greatest part of every day in the 
 week, excepting Sunday, when we had regular worship in 
 the Burman language, in the bamboo chapel near our own 
 dwelling. Every evening in the week was devoted to the 
 exposition of the Scriptures, and familiar conversation, for 
 the benefit of the church-members, school girls, and any 
 others who chose to attend. At that time the Karens were 
 known only as tribes, more or less savage, inhabiting the 
 mountains and valleys of the interior of Burmah. The few
 
 THE FIRST KAKKN CONVEliT. 37 
 
 Burman converts had, however, heard their missionary 
 teachers express a wish to hecome acquainted with them, 
 and finding one who was a debtor slave to a Burman, Ko- 
 shwa-ba paid the small debt, and took him into his family, 
 lie proved, by being excessively rude and passionate, a very 
 unpleasant accession to that Christian family, and though he 
 gave some attention to the ' new religion,' Ko-shwa-ba felt 
 constrained to put him away. This was the embryo " Karen 
 Apostle." Dr. Judson, who was then a member of our 
 family, proposed to pay Ko-shwa-ba the debt of poor Ko- 
 TIIAH-BYU, if we would find employment for him, so that he 
 might receive farther instruction ; and it was not long after 
 he came to live in our compound, that we began to perceive 
 the influence of religion on his outward character, and that, 
 by slow degrees, light dawned upon his dark mind, and the 
 work of the Holy Spirit became perceptible on his hard 
 heart. He seemed deeply penitent and confessed his sins, 
 and sought earnestly by prayer, the pardon of sin, and re- 
 conciliation to God through our Saviour. It was to us a 
 cause of deep interest, but when he expressed a wish to 
 receive the ordinance of baptism, the members of the little 
 Burman church who had not had the same opportunity of 
 seeing the great change, both outward and interral, in this 
 poor Karen, were slow to perceive that he was fit to be ad- 
 mitted into their church. And when at last he was cordially 
 received by a vote of every member, and was to have been 
 baptized the next Sunday, it happened to be the week that 
 Mr. Boardman and family were leaving us for Tavoy ; and 
 they, wishing to take with them two little Karen orphan 
 boys, who had been admitted into their school, could not in- 
 duce them to go without their sister, who had lately been 
 married to Ko-thah-byu. He therefore consented to go with 
 his family to Tavoy, where he was soon baptized by Mr.
 
 38 FIRST VISIT TO THE KAKENS. 
 
 Boardman. Ko-thah-byu could speak Burman, and while 
 with us learned to read that language, so that an excellent 
 Catechism, written by the first Mrs. Judson, was his con- 
 stant companion, and though his knowledge did not extend 
 much beyond the contents of his little book, yet with the 
 Holy Spirit's aid, he went forth and performed a great work. 
 This was the ' first-fruits unto God' of the Karen Mission, 
 whose churches now number some 14,000 regular communi- 
 cants, while the nominal worshippers, and the readers of the 
 blessed Bible, may be numbered by tens of thousands. 
 While, however, this first Karen convert was yet on his way 
 to Tavoy, Dr. Judson baptized a very respectable and intel- 
 ligent Burman, by the name of Ko-myat-kyau, brother to the 
 chief native Magistrate of Maulmain, who had formerly 
 been Governor of Shwaygyeen, under the Burmese Govern- 
 ment. When this brother was Collector of Customs among 
 the numerous Karens of that province, he became familiar 
 with their language, customs, &c. After his conversion, Ko- 
 myat-kyau's mind reverted with deep interest to the Karens, 
 and he often assured us that they would receive the gospel 
 much more readily than the Burmans." 
 
 Mr. Wade says, " My impressions on this pcint were so 
 strong that, with the advice of Dr. Judson, I set out with 
 him, and two or three other Burman converts ; - to visit a 
 Karen village at Dongyan, about twenty miles north of 
 Maulmain. On our arrival every man, woman, and child 
 had deserted their dwellings, and hid themselves in the 
 jungle. We sat down in the shade of their houses, and 
 after some time one or two of the men summoned courage to 
 shew themselves, and ask our object in coming to their vil- 
 lage. Ko-myat-kyau told them our only object was to tell 
 them about the true God, and the way of salvation. ' Oh, 
 is that your object ?' they replied, ' we thought you were
 
 TI1EIK DE8IKE FOR GOD's BOOK. 39 
 
 Government Officials, and we were afraid ; but if you are 
 religious teachers, ccme to tell us of God, we are happy ; we 
 will listen ; Have you brought God's book ? Our fathers 
 say : the Karens once had God's Book written on leather 
 (parchment,) and they carelessly allowed it to be destroyed. 
 Since then, as a punishment, we have been without books 
 and without a written language. But our prophets say, the 
 white foreigners have the book, and will in future time re- 
 store it to us. Behold, the white foreigners have come, as 
 our prophets foretold ! Have you brought God's Book ?' 
 (few of these simple villagers had seen a " white foreigner.") 
 I replied, Yes, we have brought the Book of God, (shewing 
 them a Bible) but it is in the language of the foreigners, 
 though parts of it have been translated into the language of 
 the Burmans. Can you read Burman ? ' No, we cannot ; 
 you must translate it for us, as you have for the Burmans.' 
 By this time the villagers generally had learned our object 
 in coming, and ventured out of their hiding places, so that 
 we had a large company of men and women and children 
 around us ; some eagerly examining my strange dress ; 
 others astonished at the whiteness of my face ; but more 
 still, intent on hearing what I had to say about the Book of 
 God, which they had so long expected the white foreigners 
 to bring them. To their last request, I replied, ' I came 
 from the land of the foreigners, to teach the Burmans the 
 true religion. I have learned their language, but I do not 
 understand Karen. I am obliged to speak to you through 
 an interpreter ; but I will write to those who sent me out, 
 to send a teacher for the Karens, who will study your lan- 
 guage, reduce it to writing, and translate God's Word for 
 you, if on your part you will agree to learn to read, and let 
 your children learn ; else the labor and expense will be lost. 
 Will the Karens do it T ' Yes, we will, and we will worship
 
 40 THE KAREN ALPHABET. 
 
 God, when we are taught his requirements. Our fathers 
 have told that when the white foreigners bring us the lost 
 Book, and teach us the true religion, we must listen and 
 obey, then prosperity will return to us : but if we do not 
 listen and obey, we shall perish without remedy. Long 
 have we suffered, and prayed for deliverance, and now that 
 the white foreigner has come with the lost word of God, ac- 
 cording to the saying of the fathers, if we do not listen, we 
 know that the threatening also will be fulfilled. Yes, we 
 will listen and obey ; but how long will it take for a teacher 
 to come, learn our language, reduce it to writing, and trans- 
 late for us the Book of God ?' I said I thought it could be 
 accomplished in ten years. ' Alas ! it will not then be done 
 in my day,' exclaimed a man who had nearly completed his 
 three-score years and ten. ' But you must not wait for a 
 new teacher, you must begin at once.' Many others joined 
 in this request ; but I could not then say, I will ; for the 
 idea of becoming a Karen Missionary had not yet occurred 
 to my mind ; my hands were full of work in the Burman 
 department, and thirty converts were baptized and added to 
 the Burman church in Maulmain, during that year. 
 
 " The Karen Chief, who had taken the lead in this con- 
 versation, invited us to his house, where we remained two 
 weeks, teaching those who came to us, from all the region 
 around. We were treated with great cordiality, as well as 
 respect, but the Chief was cautious about committing him- 
 self to the cause of Christianity, until he knew more about 
 it. His wife, however, imbibed at once a full conviction of 
 the truth of what she heard, and she obtained the ' Pearl of 
 great price.' From the labor of others in after years, this 
 village became one of the most interesting stations of the 
 Maulmaiu Karen Mission. Before leaving the Karens, I 
 made some attempts to represent the Karen sounds by Bur-
 
 THE KAKEN ALPHABET. 41 
 
 man characters, which I found entirely impracticable. On 
 returning home, though I had no idea of attempting the 
 work of reducing the Karen language to writing, my mind 
 had received an impulse which led me on from step to step, 
 though often interrupted for months, until with the aid of 
 two Karens who understood Burman, I had analysed and 
 classified the Karen sounds, and adopted a system of repre- 
 senting them, which embraced all the syllables occurring in 
 their language. This work, strange as it may seem to others, 
 as it does indeed to myself, was accomplished before I could 
 speak a sentence in Karen ; God gave the ability, and to Him 
 be the praise. I adopted the Burman Alphabet, giving the 
 characters a new sound so far as necessary ; for the simple 
 reason, that we had Burman type and no other in the printing 
 office at the time, and its adoption would save expense and 
 delay in printing. The inadequacy of the Burman alphabet 
 to represent all the sounds in Karen, will be perceived by 
 the single remark, that the Burman contains but ten vowel 
 sounds while the Karen has fifty-four. A few new types, 
 however, met the difficulty, and considering the ease with 
 which the Karens learn to write, without instruction, I think 
 no one regrets the adoption of the Burman character for the 
 Karen language. In the prosecution of this interesting 
 work, my mind became involuntarily absorbed, both while 
 sleeping'and waking, and having long suffered from liver 
 complaint, my health failed, so that I was obliged to return 
 to my native land for a season : not, however, until I had 
 made many excursions among the Karen villages, received 
 many visits in return, and. had seen the happy result in four- 
 teen baptized Karens, two or three of whom gave promise 
 of becoming preachers of the gospel to their dark country- 
 men. The Spelling-book and Mrs. Judson's Catechism, had 
 been printed in Karen, and a Karen school opened in Maul-
 
 4:2 FIRST KAJ2EN BOOKS. 
 
 main, which was left in the care of Dr. Judson. He likewise 
 visited the Karen villages, and looked after the ' little flock,' 
 as far as his numerous duties in the Burman department 
 would permit, so that the good work went forward. The 
 news of Books in the Karen language spread rapidly 
 through the Karen villages, and brought many visitors to 
 the school, where they first heard of a Saviour. From 
 Tavoy ; where Ko-thah-byu had been laboring with Mr. 
 Boardman and Mr. Mason (now Dr. Mason), and where quite 
 a large number had been baptized from the Karen villages 
 of that region, two of their most intelligent young converts 
 were sent to school in Maulmain to learn to read their own 
 language ; both could read Burman. One of these has long 
 been a faithful ordained pastor of one of the largest churches 
 in the region of Tavoy ; while the other was Sau-Quala, the 
 distinguished Karen missionary to Toungoo. Dr. Judson's 
 Memoir truly says : ' The Karens had never before sup- 
 posed their language capable of being represented by signs, 
 like other languages ; and they felt themselves, from being 
 tribes of crushed, down-trodden slaves, suddenly elevated 
 into a nation, with every facility for possessing a national 
 literature.' " 
 
 Mrs. Wade proceeds : " On Mr. Wade's return from the 
 United States he was accompanied by the Rev. Messrs. 
 Vinton and Howard, missionaries to the Karens. Both 
 having studied the Karen language at home, and on the voy- 
 age to this country, they were prepared in a good degree to 
 commence their labors on their first arrival. The llev. Mr. 
 Howard proceeded almost immediately to Rangoon, where a 
 good work among the Karens of that region had been com- 
 menced by the Rev. Mr. Bennett, aided by Ko-thah-byu 
 (who had now learned to read his own language) and two or 
 three preachers from the Karen converts of Maulmain. Mr
 
 THE KAKEN MISSION IN TAVOY. 43 
 
 Boardman had long been resting from his labors, and Mr 
 Wade was directed to join Mr. Mason in his arduous and 
 lonely labors in the jungles of the Province of Tavoy, with 
 special reference also to a Karen literature. 
 
 ' Dr. Judson had continued his labors for the Karens of 
 Maulmaiu, as far as his duties in the Burman department 
 would permit : so that one hundred and eleven had been 
 baptized, churches had been formed, a good number had 
 learned to read their own language, and several of the most 
 intelligent and best instructed were already travelling from 
 village to village, preaching the ' Gospel of the Kingdom,' 
 or watching over the little flocks in the wilderness." 
 
 From this interesting letter we have a sketch of the first 
 introduction to the Karens in the neighborhood of Maulmain, 
 and we must now follow the footsteps of Mr. Boardman, and 
 consider the commencement of the mission, to this people in 
 the province of TAVOY. 
 
 The city of Tavoy is one of the strongholds of Buddhism, 
 and with its temples and shrines, its glittering pagodas and 
 sacred groves, seems given to idolatry. Very picturesque 
 is the scene upon their holy days, when the women gathering 
 beneath the shade of the banyans, deck their spreading 
 branches with flowers of richest colors, offerings to the un- 
 known God ; while, blending with the scene, is heard the 
 music of innumerable bells suspended from the fairy spires 
 of the pagodas, swelling or falling on the breeze, and echoing 
 from hill to hill. How deeply must such scenes have kind- 
 led the desire in the missionary's mind to make known to 
 them that God whom they ignorantly worshipped ! Tavoy 
 at this time was the residence of two hundred priests, and 
 had upwards of a thousand pagodas : but Mr. Boardman 
 rested upon the promise, and, strong in faith, looked forward 
 to that day when even Burman idolaters should turn to the
 
 4:4: LABOK3 OF KO-THAH-BYU. 
 
 living God. KO-THAH-BYU, the Karen convert mentioned by 
 Mrs. Wnde, who had accompanied Mr. Boardman to Tavoy, 
 began his earnest labors among his countrymen in Tavoy. 
 This remarkable man had been a robber and a murderer, 
 and possessed such an ungovernable temper, that even after 
 his conversion he had often to spend many hours in prayer 
 for strength to overcome it, but he had been " forgiven 
 much, and he loved much." One who knew him well wrote : 
 " The preaching of Christ crucified was to his mind a work 
 of paramount importance to all others. He was not only 
 not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, but he gloried in being 
 its humble messenger to guilty men. It has been said that 
 if ever a man hated idolatry it was Ko-thah-byu. And I 
 would add if ever a man loved the gospel, Ko-thah-byu was 
 that man. It was his love for the gospel that kindled that 
 unconquerable desire to proclaim its precious truths to his 
 fellow-men- The word of the Lord was emphatically a fire 
 shut up in his bones, so that whenever the inquiry was made, 
 1 Whom shall I send and who will go for us ?' he was always 
 ready to respond, ' Here am I, send me!' " Another wrote : 
 " In his beloved work he was unceasingly active, and seemed 
 incapable of fatigue. In every other work he was indolent 
 and inefficient ; while in preaching Christ crucified, his soul 
 would be wrought up with more than mortal energy. He 
 was always planning some new excursion, and never was 
 so happy as when he found individuals to whom he might 
 preach from morning until evening. In seasons of special 
 interest, he has not only continued his speech, like Paul, till 
 midnight, but, not unfrequently, till break of day." 
 
 As the result of Ko-thah-byu's indefatigable labors, many 
 of the Karens from the villages scattered over the mountains 
 of Tavoy, flocked in from the distant jungles, with curious 
 interest to see the white teacher, and to listen to the wonder-
 
 WORSHIP OF AN UNKNOWN BOOK. 45 
 
 ful truths he taught. Mr. Boardman found that notwith- 
 standing their rude exterior, they possessed minds suscep- 
 tible of the most lively impressions, and remarkable teach- 
 ableness of spirit. As an illustration of their susceptibility 
 of impressions, we have an anecdote of a book which Mr. 
 Boardman found had been left in one of the villages some, 
 years before by a Mussulman, who told them it was a sacred 
 book, and commanded them to worship it. The person who 
 had charge of it, though ignorant of its contents, had pre- 
 served it with the greatest care ; and wrapped in muslin, 
 and enclosed in a basket, the book became the object of 
 veneration and worship. The most remarkable fact was, 
 that they fully believed in the advent of a teacher, who 
 would be able to teach and explain the mysteries of the 
 sacred volume. On Mr. Boardman's arrival at the village, 
 the chief of the tribe and the keeper of the book, ame to 
 ascertain his opinion of its character. An interview -was 
 appointed, when he was to have an opportunity of seeing it 
 and judging of its contents ; all seemed anxiously to await 
 Mr. Boardman's decision. The day arrived, and with a long 
 train of followers, the chief appeared bringing with him the 
 venerated relic. The basket was opened, the muslin unrol- 
 led, and taking from its folds an old tattered worn out vol- 
 ume, he reverently presented it to Mr. Boardman. 
 
 It proved to be the Book of Common Prayer and the 
 Psalms, of an edition printed at Oxford. " It is a good 
 book," said Mr. Boardman ; " it teaches that there is a God 
 in heaven, whom alone we should worship. You have been 
 ignorantly worshipping this book : that is not good : I will 
 teach you to worship the God whom the book reveals." 
 Every Karen countenance was alternately lighted up with 
 smiles of joy and cast down with inward convictions of hav- 
 ing erred in worshipping a book instead of the God whom it
 
 4:6 PROGRESS OF THE MISSION. 
 
 reveals. I took the book of Psalms in Burman, and read 
 such passages as seemed appropriate, and having given a 
 brief and easy explanation, engaged in prayer. They stayed 
 two days and discovered considerable interest in the in 
 structions given them. 
 
 . The aged sorcerer who had been the keeper of the book 
 for twelve years, on hearing Mr. Boardman's decision, per- 
 ceived that his office was at an end ; he relinquished the 
 fantastical dress he had worn, and the cudgel which for so 
 long had been the badge of his spiritual authority, and sub- 
 sequently became a humble believer in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 When Mr. Boardman was able to visit the Karens in their 
 own villages, they received him with joy and respect, and 
 hailed him as one who, they believed, would show to them 
 a more Kcellent way. From this time we find constantly in 
 his journals entries like the following. " A good number 
 of Karens are now with us, and Ko-thah-byu spends night 
 and day in reading and explaining to them the words of 
 eternal life. It seems as though the time for favoring this 
 people had come.'"' 
 
 Amongst the Burmans also there seemed to be a deeper 
 interest and more earnest inquirers. Mr. Boardman writes : 
 
 " In making a comparison to-day between the present and 
 past, I thought it worthy of observation, that although I 
 have not half so many visitors at the zayat as formerly, 
 those who do come stay longer, listen more attentively, and 
 cavil less. Whether this is owing to any change in my 
 mode of address, I cannot tell. Formerly it was my custom 
 to begin my discourse by telling them of a Supreme God 
 against whom they had sinned, and that therefore they stood 
 in need of a Saviour. But the passage to the dear Saviour 
 was so much disputed, that I could seldom introduce Him
 
 GROWING ILLNESS OF MR. BOARDMAN. 47 
 
 to advantage. I now introduce the Saviour first ; tell of 
 His glories, His compassion, His pardoning mercy, His suf- 
 ferings and death in our stead, and propose to the people to 
 choose whom they will worship, one who can, or one who 
 cannot, save them from sin. They do not pretend that 
 Caudama or any other Buddh can save from sin They trust 
 entirely to their own good works. In their dreams they are 
 flouting by the buoyancy of their own meritorious deeds, 
 over the ocean of existence to the opposite shore, annihila- 
 tion, where existence itself is no more, and where happiness 
 and misery cease with the final wreck of their being." 
 
 In the midst of all these labors, the gentle and severer 
 discipline of a Father's love visited Boardman and his fam- 
 ily. Sickness in themselves, and the removal of their little 
 daughter, so tenderly loved as their first-born child, pro- 
 duced in them those peaceable fruits of righteousness, which 
 sprang up richly to the praise and glory of their God. His 
 labors were unwearied and greatly blessed, but already the 
 hectic color, the brightening eye, the failing step, spoke of 
 disease and death ; yes, and of a glorious immortality. Be- 
 sides his eldest child they had also lost an infant of a year 
 old. Sorrow had indeed compassed them about, when fresh 
 calamities came suddenly and unexpectedly upon them. On 
 the night of the 9th August, 1829, they were roused from 
 sleep by strange sounds, and rumors at first inexplicable, 
 but they suon discovered that the province had risen in re- 
 bellion against the English Government, and that the Bur- 
 mese rebels were flocking into the city. Col. Burney, who 
 was Commissioner, was absent at Maulmain. The officer in 
 command was dying, they had no English troops, and only 
 about a hundred sepoys, so that their position waa one of 
 extreme danger. The little party of Europeans were, how- 
 ever, gathered together, and, after a most gallant stand of
 
 48 KIOT Iff TA.VOY. 
 
 four or five days, were relieved by the arrival of Col. Bur- 
 ney in the English steamer. The vessel was immediately 
 despatched for reinforcements, and Mrs. Burney and Mrs. 
 Boardman and their children, were sent in her. But such 
 was the energy shown by Col. Burney and his little band, 
 that before the steamer returned with succor, Tavoy was 
 agaift in our possession, and the leader of the revolt paid the 
 penalty of his temerity. The mission house had been de- 
 stroyed by the rebels, together with all his property, but 
 after a hasty and refreshing visit to Maulmain, Mr. Board- 
 man returned to renew his labors at Tavoy. The people 
 received him gladly, and in his tours into the interior hun- 
 dreds heard from him the word of life, and started off to 
 communicate the good news to others, often accompanied by 
 Ko-thah-byu. 
 
 Mrs. Boardman was indefatigable in the schools which 
 she had established at Tavoy, and the influence of her 
 Christian character was felt perceptibly in the mission. She 
 was indeed one of whom it might be said, " She opened her 
 mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue was the law of kind- 
 ness :" and to this day there are those who remember with 
 thankfulness, the holy counsels, the loving warnings, and the 
 fervent prayers, with which she received them into the mis- 
 sion circle. At this time her health which was always 
 feeble, had given away under repeated shocks, and it was 
 thought desirable they should go to Maulmain for a season, 
 and supply the vacancy produced by the absence of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Wade at Rangoon. In writing to his mother, at this 
 period Boardman says, " If you ask whether in these circum- 
 stances I regret having come to Burmah, I promptly answer, 
 No ; only I regret that I came with no more of the Spirit of 
 Christ, and with so much to require the chastising rod of 
 divine mercy. To spread the gospel through Burmah is worth
 
 INQUIRERS AND CONVERTS. 49 
 
 a thousand lives." How glorious is the power of that faith, 
 which enables its possessor to contemplate death without a 
 fear, and an exchange of worlds with joy ! Again an infant 
 son was removed by death, but, as in former cases, they 
 yielded him up without a struggle to the divine will. 
 
 In December, 1830, we find them back at Tavoy, and Mrs. 
 Boardman then writes : " God is displaying His power and 
 grace among the poor Karens in a wonderful manner. Since 
 our return from Maulmain we have had several companies 
 out to hear the gospel. At one time upwards of forty came, 
 and stayed four days ; listening to the doctrines of the cross, 
 with an attention and solemnity, that would have done credit 
 to a Christian congregation. We have seen all who were bap- 
 tized previously to our visit at Maulmain, and so far as we 
 can learn they have conducted themselves in a manner wor- 
 thy of the followers of Jesus. Perhaps you recollect a chief- 
 tain mentioned as an inquirer about two years ago. He 
 came at first with the sorcerer who was in possession of the 
 deified book, and not long after professed a firm belief in 
 the doctrines of the cross, and requested baptism. Having 
 given good evidence of his piety, he was baptized. Not 
 long after, another respectable man among them named 
 Moung Kyah, and his aged father-in-law followed his exam- 
 ple. Their manner of life since has been such as to remind 
 us forcibly of the apostles and primitive Christians. The 
 chieftain's name is Moung So. He and Moung Kyah take 
 such portions of scriptures as we have been able to give 
 them, and go from house to house, from village to village, 
 expounding the word, exhorting the people, and uniting 
 with their exhortations frequent and fervent prayers ; and 
 God has blessed their labors." 
 
 But the time of departure was at hand. In trembling char- 
 acters there was entered in Mr. Boardman 's journal on Jan. 
 
 3
 
 50 DEATH OF MR. BOARDMAN. 
 
 1, 1831, " I am travelling with hasty steps to my long 
 home. My health, my life, and those of my family and 
 friends, I commit to our gracious God for the ensuing year, 
 praying that he will dispose of us all, as shall most promote 
 His glory and the good of our souls." This was the last record 
 made with his own hand. Mr. Mason, who had been desig- 
 nated by the Board in America to assist Mr. Boardman in 
 his labors at Tavoy, arrived at the end of January, 1831, 
 just in time to witness his triumphant death. He had deter- 
 mined once more to visit his beloved Karens in their jungle 
 homes. The people had finished a zayat at the foot of the 
 mountains, and they were to carry him there before he died. 
 Mr. Mason accompanied them. They reached the place on 
 the third day ; it was upon the banks of a beautiful stream 
 at the foot of a mountain range, and in that sweet solitude 
 were assembled nearly one hundred Karens, more than half 
 of whom were waiting for baptism. No wonder that the spirit 
 of the dying missionary was stirred within him, that the 
 vain hope was raised in those who loved him, that he might 
 yet revive. Even Mrs. Boardman for a moment forgot her 
 bitter griefs, in joy over repenting sinners. The failing 
 breath soon warned them again that he was sinking, but 
 when he was gently urged to return home, he replied, 
 " What, if my poor unprofitable life be somewhat shortened 
 by staying, ought I, on that account merely, to leave this in- 
 teresting field ? Should I not rather stay and assist in gath- 
 ering in these dear scattered lambs of the fold?" Mrs. 
 Boardman writes : " The chapel was large, and open on all 
 sides except a small place built up for Mr. Mason, and a 
 room not above five feet wide, and ten feet long, for the ac- 
 commodation of Mr. Boardman and myself, with our little 
 boy. The roof was so low that I could not stand upright, 
 and it was but poorly enclosed, so that he was exposed to the
 
 DEATH OF ME. BOARDMAN. 51 
 
 burning rays of the sun by day, and to the cold "wind and 
 damp fog by night. But his mind was happy, and he would 
 often say, ' If I live to see this one ingathering, I may well 
 exclaim with happy Simeon, Lord, now lettest thou thy ser- 
 vant depart in peace, according to thy word ; for mine eyes 
 have seen thy salvation. How many ministers have wished 
 they might die in their pulpits ; and would not dying in a 
 spot like this be even more blessed than dying in a pulpit 
 at home ? I feel it would.' " It was plainly perceptible 
 that earthly desires had passed away, and that he was enjoy- 
 ing sweet foretastes of that rest into which he was soon to 
 enter. On the Wednesday evening about thirty-four persons 
 were baptized. Mr. Boardman was carried to the water- 
 side, but the joyful sight was almost too much for his ex- 
 hausted strength. On being taken back to the chapel, he 
 expressed a wish to be present at the evening meal, and, as 
 if gathering up his little remaining strength, h.e afterwards 
 addressed his disciples who were present, about fifty in num- 
 ber, to the following effect : " When I am gone, remember 
 what I have taught you, and be careful to persevere unto 
 the end, that when you die, we may meet one another in the 
 presence of God, never more to part. Listen to the words 
 of the new teachers, as you have done to mine. The female 
 teacher will be much distressed : strive to lighten her bur- 
 dens, and comfort her by your good conduct. Do not neglect 
 prayer. The eternal God to whom you pray is unchangeable. 
 Earthly teachers sicken and die, but*God remains ever the 
 same. Love the Lord Jesus Christ with all your hearts, 
 and you will be safe forever." 
 
 Early in the morning the little mission-band left for homo. 
 The sufferings of the journey were increased by a severe 
 storm of wind and rain, and they were thankful the next 
 morning to leave the comfortless roof of a heathen Tavoyer,
 
 52 DEATH OF MR. BOAKDMAN. 
 
 who had given them shelter for the night ; but on carrying 
 the dying saint to the boat, his gentle spirit fled, and he 
 stood before God " accepted in the beloved." The sorrow- 
 ing Karens knelt down in prayer to God that God of whom 
 their departed teacher had taught them, and whose service 
 was commended to them with his latest breath. We will 
 not attempt to describe the sufferings of the widowed heart : 
 God knew it, and it was He who sustained and comforted 
 Sarah Boardman.
 
 ARRIVAL OF MR. AND MRS. MASON. 53 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CO-WORKERS. 
 
 " O though oft-depressed and lonely, 
 All my fears are laid aside, 
 If I but remember only, 
 Such as these have lived and died." 
 
 LONGFELLOW. 
 
 WE have been induced to linger over the pages of the 
 preceding chapter, from the desire to mark not only the 
 origin and commencement of the Karen Mission, but also 
 the character of him who first labored amongst this people, 
 and who left there " footprints on the sands of time." Well 
 might Helen Mason write to her husband from Maulmain. 
 " Your introduction to the mission will, I imagine, leave an 
 impression upon your mind never to be effaced. Your visit 
 to the jungle must have surpassed in interest, any previous 
 event in your life. Were you not disposed to cry out as 
 you stood by Boardman when dying, ' My Father, My Fa- 
 ther ! the chariots of Israel, and the horsemen thereof T 
 For it seems to me that his dying at mid-day in. the field, 
 must have been to you more like a translation, than dying." 
 Mrs. Mason had been compelled by sickness to remain at 
 Maulmain, while her husband proceeded to Tavoy ; but two 
 months after Boardman's death, we find them stemming 
 the rough and stormy sea, on their way together to Tavoy. 
 Landing in the evening, they found their way to Mrs. Board-
 
 54: MRS. BOARDMAN'S LABORS. 
 
 man's frail bamboo dwelling, but the light of home shining 
 pleasantly through the lattice-work, fell like sunshine on 
 their hearts, and the air of neatness and order which reigned 
 within, told of the character of the occupant. A cloud of 
 sadness tinged the sweet expressive smile which greeted 
 them, and as Sarah Boardman stood with her child beside 
 her, it was impossible to forget that she was a widow, and 
 he fatherless. Mrs. Mason found in Mrs. Boardman, the 
 most perfect congeniality of sentiment and unity of action. 
 They had come, not merely as wives, but as missionaries to 
 Burmah ; and this seems to have been one of the peculiar char- 
 acteristics of the women of the American Missions. They 
 have pre-eminently lived, and labored, and died, in seeking 
 the salvation of the heathen, and it is impossible to remember 
 the names of Judson, Boardman, Mason, Harris, Cummings, 
 and Macomber, without emotions of the deepest admiration. 
 True it is that the majority of them found early graves, but 
 shall others therefore cease to labor ? Shall survivors now 
 cease to feel that responsibility for the salvation of the hea- 
 then which leads them to warn and entreat, to teach and 
 exhort, with many prayers and tears ? " Whenever a long 
 uublest life of comparative uselessness is to be preferred to 
 a short one filled with ' twice blessed' deeds, they may !" 
 Till then, who shall stay their free-will efforts for the salva- 
 tion of men ? Shall we not rather pray that America may 
 send forth a continued succession of her daughters, to labor 
 for the extension of Christ's kingdom, and to emulate those 
 who have gone before ? 
 
 After her husband's death, Sarah Boardman came to the 
 determination to labor on. She had sat down quietly with 
 the cup which her Father had given her to drink, and which 
 lie had appointed for her sanctification ; she found there 
 was sweetness at the bottom, and she rose up better fitted
 
 MRS. BOARDMAN'S SCHOOLS. 55 
 
 for the work which was before her. The Masons had yet to 
 acquire the language, and could do but little in the schools, 
 or amongst the female converts. Here then was her special 
 sphere of usefulness. From early dawn till late at night, 
 she was occupied ; and yet so modest, so unobtrusive were 
 her labors, that she passed on, her influence more felfc than 
 seen, besides boarding and day-schools in Tavoy, village 
 schools were also attempted. She says : " The superintend- 
 ence of the food and clothing of both the boarding-schools, 
 together with the care of live day-schools, under native 
 teachers, devolves wholly on me. My day-schools are grow- 
 ing every week more and more interesting. We cannot, it 
 is true, expect to see among them such progress, especially 
 in Christianity, as our boarders make ; but they are con- 
 stantly gaining religious knowledge, and will grow up with 
 comparatively correct ideas. They, with their teachers, 
 attend worship regularly on the Lord's-day. The day- 
 schools are entirely supported at present by the Honorable 
 Company's allowance ; and the Civil Commissioner Mr. 
 Maingy appears much interested in their success." 
 
 That Mrs. Boardman was conducting Government Schools 
 on the plan she mentions, was owing not to her superior tact, 
 but to her quiet, unassuming manner ; which creating no 
 alarm by ostentatious usefulness, gave her almost unbounded 
 power, whenever she chose to exercise it. Although she 
 was not aware of the fact, it was at that time far from the 
 policy of the Bengal Government to allow the introduction 
 of Christianity into their schools. There is a letter address- 
 ed to the Commissioner on the subject, a year after our 
 present date, which, with his answer, will explain her 
 position.
 
 56 MBS. BOARDMAN'S SCHOOLS. 
 
 " Tavoy, August 2<lth, 1833. 
 " MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 " Mr. Mason has handed me for perusal, the extract from 
 your letter to Government, which you kindly sent him. I 
 apprehend I have hitherto had wrong impressions in refer- 
 ence to the ground on which the Honorable Company pat- 
 ronize schools in their territories, and I hope you will allow 
 me -to say, that it would not accord with my feelings and 
 sentiments, to banish religious instruction from the schools 
 under my care. I think it desirable for the rising genera- 
 tion of this province to become acquainted with useful sci- 
 ence ; and the male part of the population with the English 
 language. But it is infinitely more important that they 
 receive into their hearts our holy religion, which is the 
 source of so much happiness in this state, and imparts the 
 hope of a glorious immortality in the world to come. Pa- 
 rents and guardians must know that there is more or less 
 danger of children deserting the faith of their ancestors, if 
 placed under the care of a foreign missionary ; and the ex- 
 ample of some of the pupils is calculated to increase such 
 apprehensions. Mr. Boardman baptized into the Christian 
 religion several of his scholars. One of the number is now 
 a devoted preacher ; and notwithstanding the decease of 
 their beloved and revered teacher, they all, with one unhappy 
 exception, remain firm in the Christian faith. " 
 
 " The success of the Hindoo College, where religious in- 
 struction was interdicted, may perhaps be urged in favor of 
 pursuing a similar course in schools here. The overthrow 
 of a system so replete with cruel and impure rites as the 
 Hindoo, or so degrading as the Mahomedan, might be a 
 matter of joy, though no better religion were introduced in 
 its stead. But the Burman system of morality is superior 
 to that of the nations around them, and to the heathen of
 
 MRS. BOA-RDMAN'S SCflOOLS. 57 
 
 ancient times, and is surpassed only by the divine precepts 
 of our blessed Saviour. Like all other merely human in- 
 stitutions, it is destitute of saving power : but its influence 
 on the people, so far as it is felt, is salutary, and their moral 
 character will, I should think, bear a comparison with that 
 of any heathen nation in the world. The person who should 
 spend his days in teaching them mere human science would, 
 1 imagine, (though he might undermine their false tenets) 
 by neglecting to set before them brighter hopes, and purer 
 principles, live to very little purpose. For myself, sure I 
 am, I should at last suffer the overwhelming conviction of 
 having labored in vain. 
 
 " With this view of things, you will not, my dear Sir, be 
 surprised at my saying, it is impossible for me to pursue a 
 course so utterly repugnant to my feelings and so contrary 
 to my judgment, as to banish religious instruction from the 
 schools in my charge. It is what, I am confident, you your- 
 self would not wish ; but I infer from a remark in your let- 
 ter tha-t such are the terms upon which Government afford 
 patronage. It would be wrong to deceive the patrons of 
 the school ; and if my supposition is correct I can do no 
 otherwise than request that the monthly allowance be with- 
 drawn. It will assist in establishing schools at Maulmain, 
 on a plan more consonant with the wishes of Government 
 than mine have been. Meanwhile I trust I shall be able to 
 represent the claims of my pupils in such a manner, as to 
 obtain support and countenance from those who would wish 
 the children to be taught the principles of the Christian 
 faith. 
 
 " Allow me, my dear Sir, to subscribe myself, 
 " Yours, most respectfully, 
 
 " SARAH H. BOARDMAN." 
 3*
 
 58 MKS. BOAKDMAN'S SCHOOLS. 
 
 " MY DEAE. MADAM, 
 
 " I cannot do otherwise than honor and respect the 
 sentiments conveyed in your let'ter. You will, I hope, give 
 me credit for sincerity, when I assure you, that in alluding 
 to the system of instruction pursued by you, it has ever been 
 a source of pride to me to point out the quiet way in which 
 your scholars have been made acquainted with the Christian 
 religion. My own Government in no way proscribes the 
 teaching of Christianity. The observations in my official 
 letter are intended to support what I have before brought 
 to the notice of Government, that all are received who pre- 
 sent themselves for instruction at your schools without any 
 stipulation as to their becoming members of the Christian 
 faith. 
 
 " I cannot express to you how your letter has distressed 
 me. It has been a subject of consideration with me for 
 some months past, how I could best succeed in establishing 
 a College here, the scholars of which were to have been in- 
 structed on the same system which you have so successfully 
 pursued. 
 
 " Believe me, 
 
 " Yours very faithfully, 
 
 "A. D. MAINGY." 
 
 Mrs. Boardman's Christian fidelity and firmness were 
 productive of great good : an appropriation being obtained 
 from Government for schools throughout the provinces " to 
 be conducted on the plan of Mrs. Boardman's schools at 
 Tavoy." The plan was not fully carried out, for the teach- 
 ing of Christianity was soon prohibited, though she was nev- 
 er interfered with, but was allowed to follow the dictates of 
 her own conscience. 
 
 In addition to her other work, Mrs. Boardman commenced
 
 MRS. HELEN MASON. 59 
 
 the study of the Karen. In Burmese she was already well 
 read. The glimpses of some of her jungle tours are very 
 interesting, though they scarcely reach us from her own pen. 
 At the end of three years of such labor Mrs. Boardman 
 married Dr. Judson ; one whom she emphatically describes 
 to be " a complete assemblage of all that a woman's heart 
 could wish to love and honor." This union was greatly 
 blessed to their mutual help and comfort, and in leaving 
 Tavoy Mrs. Judson entered upon a field of perhaps still 
 higher and more enlarged usefulness ; while in Mrs. Mason 
 she left behind her a fellow-worker every way fitted to fol- 
 low in her steps. 
 
 Helen Mason's motto was to " love and be silent ;" but 
 like the violet betrayed by its own fragrance, so her works 
 follow her. The service which she had early chosen, was 
 stedfastly pursued to the close of her life. Simple in her 
 tastes and habits, she wished to live, so that the humblest 
 contributors to Missions, could enter her house without feel- 
 ing offended at anything that they might see. " We are," 
 she would say, " the representatives to the heathen of a 
 Saviour, who chose to be poor." 
 
 The most exquisite neatness pervaded her home, and reg- 
 ulated her dress, but the vase of flowers, and the few choice 
 shells, gathered from the sea-shore, proved that she had a 
 taste for the beautiful in nature and in art. " Let us give 
 ourselves unreservedly to this glorious work," the work of 
 winning souls to Christ: this was the constant utterance of 
 her heart, as it was the absorbing aim of her life. 
 
 In the jungle tours with Mr. Mason, she had the happy 
 art of gathering the women around her, and interesting them 
 in the story of the Saviour's love. In town also she had a 
 school of Karen girls, in whom she felt peculiar interest. 
 Knowing that their good conduct, on their return to their
 
 60 MRS. MASON'S SCHOOLS. 
 
 mountain homes, might produce a favorable impression on 
 the minds of the Karens who came to the school in future 
 years, she would follow them to the hamlets, and many a 
 happy meeting took place between the teacher and the 
 pupils, -who were all eager to do something for herself, or 
 her babe. The married women too benefited by her pre- 
 cepts and example. In one of the sequestered glens was a 
 woman of the name of Naughapo, signifying " Daughter of 
 Goodness," who was a great favorite of Mrs. Mason, and 
 shared largely in her instructions. She was the Dorcas of 
 the glen, clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, soothing 
 the afflicted, and often making her little dwelling the home 
 of the poor, that they might enjoy the privilege of a neigh- 
 boring school. Mrs. Mason was struck with the beauty of 
 her peaceful home, evidently a spot which the Lord had bless- 
 ed. It was on the declivity of a hill, overlooking a well 
 stocked garden, and a mountain stream flowed murmuring 
 past, pouring forth its eternal harmony. On asking Naug- 
 hapo and her husband if God should call them from their 
 garden to their grave, would they feel alarmed ? they an- 
 swered, " No, we do not consider that anything ice have is 
 our own. All, all is God's." The day before Mrs. Mason 
 left, a box-wallah* had called, with his tempting fabrics for 
 sale ; but though this good woman was in poor garments, she 
 had but one rupee for purchasers, while on the following 
 morning, she and her family put thirteen rupees into Mrs. 
 Mason's hands, to be deposited in the mission treasury. She 
 had not only learned that " godliness is profitable unto all 
 things ; having promise of the life that now is, and of that 
 which is to come," but that " it is more blessed to give than 
 to receive." Such was some of the fruit of Mrs. Mason's 
 example and instruction. For the twelve pupils of her first 
 Pedlar.
 
 HEK VISIT TO AMERICA. 61 
 
 Karen school, she ever felt a tender interest. She had 
 asked God for all of them, and while thankful for the con- 
 version of one, she could not rest without that of the whole. 
 And what she asked she obtained ; though the last of the 
 number was not baptized until about ten years after the 
 school was closed. 
 
 For many years Mrs. Mason also labored for the Burman 
 children, and had six day-schools in Tavoy, containing about 
 one hundred and forty children* She at first found it very 
 difficult to meet a woman who could read, and still more so 
 one who would be willing to read " Jesus Christ's books." 
 At last one was found, and then another, and another, to 
 assist in this work of love. 
 
 In the midst of all her earnest labors, she had to retrace 
 her steps to America, and there to leave her beloved child- 
 ren to be trained by others. It was some years after this 
 that in writing to a friend she said : " We have heard of the 
 tortures of the Inquisition, but I do not know that any could 
 exceed this self -sacrifice. When I was leaving my children, 
 Lucy, who was old enough to understand something of her 
 loss, clung around me, saying, ' Other little girls have their 
 mothers : I want mine.' " 
 
 The following lines were wrung from that full heart dur- 
 ing her return voyage in 1838. 
 
 " Sleep, lov'd one, sleep ! thy gentle rest, 
 Oh ! how unlike to mine! 
 What would I give, could once my breast 
 But beat as light as thine. 
 
 " Sweet flowret ! might the storms of life 
 But spend their wrath on me ; 
 Glad would I bear their wildest strife, 
 And smile to think of thee.
 
 VISIT TO THE 6GAU KABEN8. 
 
 ' Heaven shield thee, tender little rose, 
 As thy soft beauties spread ; 
 And temper every wind that blows 
 To thy defenceksi head." 
 
 One sunny evening, on Mr. Mason's return from a preach- 
 ing excursion among the Burmans, the first object which 
 arrested his attention upon entering his home was the fine 
 form of a Sgau Chief, who seated like a child at Mrs. Mason's 
 feet was earnestly imploring* her to visit the Karens in his 
 village and neighborhood. " We have heard of Christianity, 
 and it seems to us something wonderful. We do not under- 
 stand it : and yet it seems the thing we want. Come to 
 our jungle homes, and preach to us on our native streams. 
 Many will believe. I have a Burman wife, and I have 
 daughters, and sons-in-law, and brothers, and nephews, all of 
 whom will become Christians, as well as myself, as soon as 
 we really understand." Many months passed away before 
 they reached the Chiefs dwelling, but he had obtained light 
 and strength slowly, and was not one to turn back. It was 
 five long years before he was clear entirely of the trammels 
 of heathenism, and stood forth Christ's freed-man. For five 
 years the missionary travelled through the region where ho 
 dwelt, but not a single soul was baptized : but from the 
 time the Chieftain was made willing to give up all for Christ, 
 he became one of the most efficient laborers in Mergui and 
 Tavoy. Mainly through his efforts, all his own family, as 
 well as all under his influence were made to feel the power 
 of Christianity, and many were baptized. The last mention 
 of the old man was, on his return from a visit to his brother. 
 His tall form doubled like a leaf, was on the back of his 
 grandson. His brother's dwelling was a long day's journey 
 distant ; and most of it had been performed in this manner. 
 The lad was a fine intelligent Christian, and it would be dif-
 
 THE SGAU CHIEF. 63 
 
 ficult to know which most to admire, the willingness of the 
 young man to perform such a fatiguing service, to carry the 
 gospel to his uncle, or the zeal of the old Chief, who seemed 
 to forget his aching bones, in the delight he felt at having 
 once more exhorted his brother, and seen in him some evi- 
 dences of divine grace. " / can't die, 1 ' he said to Mr. Mason, 
 \vhilc a gleam of youthful fire glowed through his feeble 
 frame, " / can't die, till I see my brother converted." 
 
 Helen Mason was eminently a working Christian, and she 
 continued so till the close of life. Sometimes she would 
 half playfully remark, " I shall vanish away from you before 
 long," and no doubt the gradual weakening of her strength 
 was gently warning her that rest was at hand. There was 
 no disease, it was simply exhaustion. 
 
 " I thought it likely I should wear out in this way/' she 
 said, " and therefore had clothes made for you and the child- 
 ren, that you might be well provided for, but prepared none 
 for myself." 
 
 The most remarkable feature during her illness, was the 
 calm and unruffled peace that constantly pervaded her mind. 
 In dictating a letter to her aunt, she said, " From the com- 
 mencement of my illness to the present time, my peace has 
 been like a river ; and the words of my Saviour Lave been 
 vcrided to me, ' Peace I leave with you : my peace I give 
 unto you 1' At eighteen my spirits would have been more 
 buoyant. Then I should have felt like mounting on the 
 chariots of Aminadab ; now 
 
 'This heavenly calm within the breast, 
 Is the dear pledge of glorious rest.' " 
 
 She was never seen to weep but once during her whole 
 sickness, and that was when her infant child was brought to 
 her for the last time. Bursting into tears, she said, " Poor
 
 64: MRS. MASON'S DEATH. 
 
 babe, you will never know a mother's love !" On one oc- 
 casion, in speaking of the trials of their missionary life, she 
 said : " Missionary work is hard work, and none ought ever 
 to engage in it, that are not called to it. No, certainly, none 
 ought ever to come, unless specially called." 
 
 On awaking one morning, she remarked : " Hitherto I 
 have felt passive, but I awoke this morning with strong de- 
 sires to depart. Do not call me back. It is much easier 
 dying, than coming back to life again." 
 
 When her aching frame was turned in bed, she would of- 
 ten say, " Oh ! that I had the wings of a dove ; for then I 
 would flee away and be at rest." Conversing during one of 
 her last days, on the great work to be done for the heathen, 
 she said, " Tell the native Christians, that I loved them to 
 the end, and that had it been the will of God, I would have 
 willingly stopped, and taught them longer. Tell them to 
 strive to get to heaven ; that the kingdom of heaven suffereth 
 violence, and the violent take it by force !" "Tell them," 
 she continued, stretching out her withered arm with an en- 
 ergy, such as she manifested on no other occasion, and in 
 tones so loud and sonorous, that all were startled, " tell 
 them to lay hold on eternal life." " Thus," says Mr. Mason, 
 " she reached the goal of her mission path, and left us, like 
 the disciples on Mount Olivet, looking up stedfastly towards 
 heaven." 
 
 Let us pause for a moment to think of the character which 
 has just passed under review. Helen Mason was not an or- 
 dinary Christian, and perhaps in the consideration of her 
 life we may gain some lessons which may be useful to our- 
 selves, for " none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth 
 to himself." 
 
 She was remarkable for great meekness and gentleness 
 of spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price. Her
 
 MRS. MASON'S CHARACTER. 65 
 
 husband never once in the \vhole course of their married 
 life, saw her manifest any indication of anger, she was ever 
 
 "Sweet in temper, face, and word, 
 To please an ever-present Lord." 
 
 She was remarkable also for strong affections. We see this 
 in the anguish she endured when called to separate from 
 her children. The " fearful chasm " then made was filled 
 by God Himself. " Previous to the decision in my mind to 
 become a foreign missionary," she wrote, " I heard Dr. 
 Griffin, preach on the church being guilty of ' keeping back 
 part of the price,' and often during my lonely voyage back 
 did I inquire, ' Have I kept back anything ?' If my heart 
 clung to anything, it was to my children ; yet I willingly 
 gave them back to God, though the act lacerated my heart 
 to the core." 
 
 She was one who sought to " walk with God." This was 
 the habit of her mind. In writing to her husband she says, 
 " Pray much and often for me, that I may be able to ' abide 
 in Christ,' to ' live in the Spirit,' and ' walk in the Spirit.' 
 
 ' As panta the hart for cooling streams, 
 When heated with the chase, 
 So longs my soul, O God, for Thee, 
 And thy refreshing grace.' 
 
 " I daily and hourly wish you the best blessings, and 
 pray that you may have much communion with God. It was 
 in the wilderness that Moses saw the burning bush ; on Pis- 
 gah that he saw the promised land ; and from mount Nebo 
 that he went up to take possession of the heavenly Canaan. 
 In each of these places we may suppose he had very inti- 
 mate communion with God." 
 
 Into this spirit of communion, she herself drank deeply : 
 she was eminently a woman of prayer. Here was her
 
 66 THE PRAYER-HOUSE. 
 
 strength. Her husband writes, " Often, often, times with- 
 out number, have I awoke in the silent watches of the night, 
 and found that she had stolen from my side, and was holding 
 earnest communion with God. Her silver whispers, her 
 bosom swelling with suppressed ' groanings that could not 
 be uttered,' would awe into stillness, lest a motion should 
 indicate that her hallowed converse with the Holy One was 
 observed. She struggled with the Angel of the Covenant 
 and prevailed, and He blessed her." 
 
 In the little missionary cemetery near their house, Board- 
 man had erected a small bamboo oratory, fitted with a chair, 
 a table, and a Bible, to which he had retired " and had pray- 
 ed into existence the Karen Mission." Here too Sarah 
 Boardman had followed his example : and to this favorite re- 
 treat the steps of Helen Mason often resorted. There she 
 " spent days in fasting and prayer ; communing with God, 
 and feeding on Angel's food." There too she was " laid to 
 rest like a weary babe upon its mother's bosom." It was 
 meet that where she had so often agonized in prayer, she 
 should be composed to her quiet sleep, and that her grave 
 should be, where she had so often gone up to commune with 
 God. Shall we say that this is an example beyond our imi- 
 tation ? Far be it from us to say so, for the grace of Christ 
 is all-sufficient. Helen Mason had no great gifts or talents 
 peculiar to herself, but she had a heart which was consecra- 
 ted to the love and service of God, that service which is per- 
 fect freedom. " Go ye and do likewise."
 
 KO-THAH-A. 67 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 BEGIONS BEYOND. 
 
 " He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubt- 
 less come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.'' PSALM 
 cxxvi. 6. 
 
 IT was in the year 1830, that KO-THAH-A, a Burman con- 
 vert of Rangoon, appeared before Dr. Judson, and Mr. Wade 
 at Maulmain. During the long dark period which had inter- 
 vened since the war, and the expulsion of the missionaries 
 from Burmah proper, Ko-Thah-a, in the midst of much peril 
 and persecution, had endeavored to keep together the little 
 church at Rangoon. lie had now travelled to Maulmain to 
 represent its suffering condition, to seek for advice and en' 
 couragemout, and to receive from Judson and from Wade 
 those wise and holy counsels, which he knew would be so 
 freely given. Ko-Thah-a is first introduced to us by Dr. 
 Judson as being a frequent visitor at the Rangoon mission 
 house, and shortly afterwards as " giving good evidence of 
 being a true disciple." He is described at the time as a 
 respectable householder, rather above the middling class, 
 about fifty years of age, unmarried, and living with his aged 
 mother, who was dependent on him, in a small village 
 called Nau-dau-gong, about half a mile from the mission, 
 lie had formerly been an officer under government, and had 
 amassed considerable property, which he mostly spent in 
 building pagodas, and making offerings. " But be obtained
 
 68 KO-THAH-A BAPTIZED. 
 
 no satisfaction, found no resting place for his soul, until he 
 became acquainted with the religion of Jesus. He now," 
 wrote Dr. Judson, " rests in this religion, with conscious 
 security ; believes and loves all that he hears of it, and 
 prays that he may become fully a true disciple of the 
 Saviour." He was baptized in 1822, just before Dr. Jud- 
 son's departure for Ava. His manner of application evinc- 
 ed his earnestness. " Early in the morning Moung Thah-a 
 came in, and taking Dr. Judson aside, knelt down, raised his 
 folded hands in the attitude of reverence, and made a very 
 pathetic and urgent application for immediate baptism. He 
 stated that .he had considered the Christian religion for 
 above two years ; that his mind was completely settled on 
 every part ; and that though he had been harassed with 
 many fears, he was now resolved to enter the service of 
 Jesus Christ, and remain faithful unto death, whatever the 
 consequences in this world might be." The rite was admin- 
 istered the following day, August 20th, the new convert 
 making the seventeenth Burman, who up to that time had 
 publicly professed his faith in Christ in baptism. 
 
 He had spent a few months, at the end of the war, in 
 1826, at a large village in the neighborhood of Shwaydoung ; 
 and there devoting himself to the preaching of the word, had 
 produced a very considerable excitement. Several professed 
 to believe in the Christian religion ; and three of the most 
 promising received baptism at his hands. Others requested 
 the same favor, but he became alarmed at his own temerity, 
 and declined their repeated applications. On his return to 
 Rangoon, he continued to disseminate the truth, but in a 
 more cautious and covert manner. He had now come to 
 Maulmain to inquire what he should do with those who 
 wished to be baptized, and to get some instructions concern- 
 ing his own duty.
 
 KOTI1AII-A ORDAINED. 69 
 
 Of his qualifications for the ministerial office, Dr. Judson 
 wrote : " He has been so evidently called of God to the 
 ministry, that we have not felt at liberty to hesitate or de- 
 liberate about the matter. But, if it had been left to us to 
 select one of all the converts to be the first Christian pastor 
 among his countrymen, Ko-Thah-a is the man we should 
 have chosen. His age, (fifty-seven,) his steadiness and weight 
 of character, his attainments in Burman literature, which 
 though not perhaps necessary, seem desirable in one who is 
 taking up arms against the religion of his country, and his 
 humble devotedness to the sacred work, all conspire to make 
 us acquiesce with readiness and gratitude in the divine ap- 
 pointment." Succeeding years have shown that the" divine 
 appointment" was not misapprehended. 
 
 Moung Ing, who was soon afterwards ordained,' was asso- 
 ciated with Kothah-a in the Rangoon pastorate. Their 
 united labors were greatly blessed, and many who had been 
 scattered during the raging of the war and the persecution 
 which followed, returned to the flock, so that by the end of 
 the year twenty were added to the church. 
 
 Early in 1830, Mr. and Mrs. Wade removed to Rangoon, 
 where for several months they continued strengthening and 
 confirming the disciples. They were followed by Dr. Jud- 
 son, who had never ceased to feel an interest in the scene of 
 his earliest labors. It was with some apprehension and fear, 
 that they attempted again to establish the mission in this 
 stronghold of idolatry, but the Governor was friendly, and 
 although the subordinate officers kept up a continual sur- 
 veillance, it did not deter the people from coming in large 
 numbers for copies of the scriptures and tracts. The Bur- 
 man troops who came in for enrolment or inspection, mer- 
 chants, who travelled from different parts of the empire for 
 the purposes of traffic, all had the opportunity of hearing of
 
 70 RANGOON MISSION RE-ESTABLISHED. 
 
 the true God ; and though watched, and warned, multitudes 
 visited the mission house saying, " We have heard the fame 
 of this religion, and are come to get books." Thus was the 
 word of life conveyed to many a far-off region. And in that 
 great day when the Lord shall make up His jewels, perhaps 
 it may be found that many hidden ones dwelt in those 
 mountains, who, unknown to man, were well known to that 
 Saviour God, who had sent His word and Spirit to enlighten 
 them, and to guide their feet into the way of peace. 
 
 In the beginning of the summer of 1830 Dr. Judson de- 
 termined to make a tour up the Irrawaddy, for the purpose 
 of visiting the towns, and villages on its banks. Taking 
 with him Moung Ing, and some other native Christians, he 
 embarked upon those bright waters, upon which he had so 
 often sailed^ in safety and in peril, in joy and grief. Wher- 
 ever he landed he commanded attention, atfd the people 
 flocked around with eagerness to listen. In this way he 
 pushed up to Prome, a large city midway between Rangoon 
 and Ava. Here he remained for a time the guest of the only 
 European inhabitant, but at last received permission to oc- 
 cupy an old zayat, standing near a pagoda ; and those who 
 visited the idol temple listened to the earnest teachings of 
 the Christian missionary. Here he spoke of Christ to the 
 votaries of Gaudama, but when a spirit of inquiry was roused, 
 and crowds flocked to hear or to cavil, and the hopes of the 
 missionary were raised, they suddenly ceased to come, and 
 it was not until after his return to Rangoon, that Dr. Judson 
 discovered that the Emperor annoyed at his having ventured 
 so far into the interior had given orders for his return. The 
 intelligence that such an order had been given, was sufficient 
 to account for the absence of the inquirers. 
 
 On Dr. Judson's return to Rangoon he resolved to give 
 himself with more earnestness than ever to the completion
 
 BUKMAN TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE. 71 
 
 of that great work, the translation into Burman of the entire 
 Scriptures. The early morning hour, the lonely lamp burn- 
 ing still at midnight, testified to his unwearied diligence. 
 Denying himself the cheering influence of Christian con- 
 verse, he confined himself almost entirely to his solitary task. 
 His praise was not of man but of God. It was not, however, 
 till the 31st of January, 1834, that these noble labors were 
 brought to their completion. They had been prosecuted 
 through the changes of a most eventful life, often under the 
 pressure of sickness and of sorrow. How full of affecting 
 interest and sublimity is the scene presented to the mind by 
 the simple touching postscript to his letter home, dated 
 January 31st, 1834. " Thanks be to God, I can now say I 
 have attained. I have knelt down before Him, with the last 
 leaf in my hand, and, imploring His forgiveness far all the 
 sins which have polluted my labors in this department and 
 His aid in future efforts to remove the errors and imperfec- 
 tions which necessarily cleave to the work, I have com- 
 mended it to His mercy and grace, I have dedicated it to 
 His glory. May He make His own inspired word, now com- 
 plete in the Burman tongue, the grand instrument of filling 
 all Burmah with songs of praise to our great God and Sav- 
 iour Jesus Christ. Amen." 
 
 In the begiuning of the year 1831, the great Buddhist 
 Festival was celebrated with unusual pomp in the magnifi- 
 cent Shway Dagong Pagoda at Rangoon, and from the count- 
 less multitudes who were gathered from the most distant parts 
 of the empire, Dr. Judson had an excellent opportunity of 
 judging how far an interest had been awakened by the labors 
 of past years, and by the circulation of books and tracts, 
 through the land. From every province of the interior, from 
 the frontiers of Cathay, and even from the borders of China 
 and Siam, numbers visited Dr. Judson, saying, " We hear
 
 72 MR. WADE AT MERGUI. 
 
 that there is an eternal hell, we are afraid of it. Do give 
 us a writing that will tell us how to escape it." Others, per- 
 haps from the very opposite quarter of the empire, would 
 say, " Sir, we have seen a writing that tells us of an eternal 
 God : are you the man that gives away such writings ? If 
 so give us one, for we want to know the truth." Others, 
 living nearer at hand, had heard of the name of Jesus, and 
 asked, " Are you Jesus Christ's man ? Give us a writing 
 that tells about Jesus Christ." The numbers who came in 
 this way, to inquire after the truth, were estimated by Dr. 
 Judson at not less than six thousand, to each of whom was 
 given some book, or tract, or portion of Scripture, which 
 might reveal to them the way of life. 
 
 In the summer of 1831, it was found necessary for Mr. 
 and Mrs^Wade, who were again at Maulmain, to try a change 
 of climate. The health of the former had long been failing. 
 Dr. Judson had therefore to return to Maulmain to take 
 charge of the mission during their absence. His heart was 
 cheered with the progress that had been made, and by the 
 accession to the missionary band of Mr. Kincaid, who, with 
 Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, had recently arrived there. The mis- 
 sionaries had extended their labors far into the surrounding 
 jungles, and a most interesting settlement had been formed 
 for the Kar.en Christians, called Wadesville, in commemora- 
 tion of the devoted missionary who first preached the gospel 
 there. 
 
 Mr. Wade's health was so far improved by the voyage to 
 sea, that he returned for a season to Mergui, a city on the 
 Tenasserim coast, about a hundred and fifty miles south of 
 Tavoy. Accompanied by Mrs. Wade he visited the Karen 
 villages of Mergui with the gospel, and a more interesting 
 reception than was given them, it would be difficult to find 
 on record. They were met by an intelligent chief, now a
 
 LA.BOKS OF MR. KINCAID. 73 
 
 pillar in the church, and were led into the village on their 
 arrival, by several young women, whom he had invited 
 amongst others for the purpose of singing a hymn, of which 
 the first verse in the chorus was 
 
 " The Lord his messengers doth, send, 
 And he himself will quickly come ; 
 The priests of Buddh, whose reign is short, 
 Must leave the place to make the room." 
 
 After a residence of six months they were sent to Ran- 
 goon, leaving Ko Ing pastor of the church at Mergui, but 
 the following year Mr. Wade's health was so completely ex-- 
 hausted, that they were compelled to seek its restoration in 
 their native land. 
 
 We shall now endeavor to trace out some of the early 
 labors of that intrepid missionary, Mr. Kincaid. We find 
 him in the early part of 1832 at Rangoon, and at its close 
 surrounded by inquirers from all parts of the country. Some 
 confessed their belief in the Great God, others that they 
 had long studied the books, and had been thinking of Chris- 
 tianity. " It is wonderful," they would exclaim : " a great 
 light that is visiting the world." In the beginning of 1833, 
 three Burmans were baptized, and others desired baptism ; 
 many more were known to be secret believers, but f- om fear 
 of persecution were kept back. Some of those who frequent- 
 ed the zayat had often said to Mr. Kincaid, " Why do you 
 not go to Ava and to all the great cities of the Empire ? 
 Many have heard of the new religion and the books, and wish 
 to understand them." The reiterated inquiry, produced the 
 desire to unfurl the standard of the cross in that city in which 
 it had once been trampled under foot ; and having, after 
 some difficulty, obtained a pass, Mr. Kincaid started for 
 Ava, accompanied by his wife and her sister, on the 6th 
 April, 1833. Three native assistants followed them, with 
 
 4
 
 74: ME. KINCAID'S JOUKNEY TO AVA. 
 
 large supplies of tracts and portions of the Scriptures. The 
 passage up the river was not without its dangers, but every- 
 where they found a spirit of inquiry amongst the people, and 
 traces of the influence which had been exerted by native 
 Christians and Christian books. 
 
 Arrived at Ava, they were met at once with difficulties. 
 The Government, on the most trifling pretences, refused 
 them a shelter ; but, on the British Resident representing 
 that Mrs. Kincaid and her sister were British subjects, they 
 were immediately provided with a house in the city. 
 " Here," writes Mr. Kincaid, " the very thing that ought to 
 rejoice my heart often troubles me ; it is the numbers that 
 are flocking to the verandah to read and hear the word of 
 God. If I would I could not resist the tide that is setting 
 in. Our verandah is pretty well filled during the day, and 
 sometimes forty or fifty come in at a time." He was treat- 
 ed with great courtesy by the officers of the Government, 
 and invited to visit the Prince Mekhara, who was a man of 
 some education, and could speak English. The King also 
 expressed some curiosity about the art of printing , one of the 
 printers with a press was sent to Ava, and much interest 
 was excited by the books printed in the Burman tongue. 
 Two persons also were baptized. One was a priest of con- 
 siderable learning, who had long been a most popular ex- 
 pounder of Buddhism in the city. 
 
 . The exhibition of excitement and curiosity regarding the 
 truths of Christianity which marked this period, was very 
 remarkable. "It seemed like the waking up of the popular 
 mind to the light of Christian truth ; the commencement of a 
 mighty and speedy revolution in the religion of the country." 
 It could scarcely be expected that the great enemy would 
 allow such a state of things to continue, without some effort 
 to maintain his hold over the minds of men. In 1835, a
 
 PERSECUTION. 75 
 
 
 
 violent persecution broke out in Rangoon. The first victim 
 was Ko Sanlone, a man of deep piety, great intelligence, and 
 bold and active zeal in the service of Christ. He was one 
 who had accompanied Mr. Kincaid to Ava, and since his re- 
 turn to Rangoon had been amongst the few who had dared 
 openly to distribute books, and to lift up a voice for God and 
 His cause, beneath the frowning despotism of a Burman 
 Court. He was at last seized, thrown into prison, beaten, 
 loaded with chains, and compelled to cruel labor. His faith 
 never wavered under the storm of persecution, but only 
 shone forth the more brightly through the dark cloud. 
 Whether before the tribunal of Burman magistrates, or un- 
 der the lashes of the persecutors, or in the loathsome 
 dungeon, he bore all with the meek and holy fortitude of the 
 Christian martyr. Though repeatedly threatened with death, 
 unless he would abjure the faith and worship Gaudama, he 
 trusted unwaveringly in God, and exhibited a noble pattern 
 of the Christian character. After a time he was released 
 from prison, but his entire property was confiscated, and he 
 was forbidden on pain of death to resume his labors in the 
 mission. But he had fought a good fight, he had finished 
 his course, he had kept the faith, and now the angel call had 
 come ; he was to hear those gracious words : " Come, thou 
 blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you 
 before the foundation of the world." He died deeply mourn- 
 ed by the missionaries with whom he had labored. 
 
 The persecutions were not confined to Rangoon. The 
 Karens who were scattered up and down a little stream 
 known by the name of " The Karen Brook," in the district 
 of Maubee, were subjected to fines and heavy taxations, 
 while they refused to worship the Nats, or to acknowledge 
 Gaudama. These converts were the fruit of the unwearied 
 labors of Ko-thah-byu. It was in the spring of 1833, that
 
 76 REMARKABLE PROGRESS AT MAUBEE. 
 
 this excellent native preacher went up to Kangoon with Mr. 
 and Mrs. Bennett ; and such was the blessing resting upon his 
 work in the Karen villages, that in writing to Mr. Judson at 
 the close of the rains, Mr. Bennett says, " We are in dis- 
 tress, and send to you for relief. For the last several days, 
 our house and Ko-thah-byu's have been thronged ; men, 
 women, and children, all anxiously inquiring about the reli- 
 gion of Jesus. They are all anxious for schools, and offer 
 to build zayats for preaching, if any one will come and teach 
 them. There are many who already keep the Lord's day, 
 read our tracts, and endeavor to instruct one another as best 
 they can. They daily read the tracts, and all get together 
 in their families, and sing and pray to the God who rules in 
 heaven. They declare they have left off drinking spirits, 
 and as far as they understand, endeavor to practise accord- 
 ing to the requirements of Scripture. What shall we do ? 
 Ko-thah-byu is only one among a thousand. He cannot 
 preach the gospel, and teach these people to ' read in their 
 own tongue' the precious truths of God's word, at the same 
 time. We want one man to go to Bassein, another to go up 
 to Prome and along the river, another to Maubee and its 
 vicinity, towards old Pegu, all these to preach the gospel ; 
 and we certainly need as many more school-masters. Can 
 you send us any assistance ? If so, do ; for Christ and his 
 cause require it. There surely is the sound of rain, I would 
 say ' of much rain.' Oh ! could we go amongst these people 
 as freely and easily as in the provinces, I have no doubt 
 hundreds would be added to the Lord. I think the Karens 
 here superior to those in the provinces, so far as I have seen ; 
 and could they be collected together, and civilized, and 
 Christianized, they would be a lovely nation. When will 
 this happy time arrive ? Hasten it, Lord, in thine own time, 
 for Jesus' sake."
 
 BAPTISMS AT MAUBEE. 77 
 
 It was in this interesting and hopeful field that trial now 
 abounded, and some of the oppressed Christians had to fly^ 
 to escape the tyranny of their Burman persecutors. But 
 they bore with them the faith they had embraced, and preach- 
 ed the Gospel in all the regions into which they fled. Ko- 
 thah-byu was soon found with a portion of his scattered flock, 
 telling the story of the cross and teaching the precepts of 
 Christ, in districts hitherto unvisited. 
 
 At llangoon all labor was for a time suspended ; buf when 
 Mr. and Mrs. Vinton went up at the end of 1836, and, with 
 Mr. Abbott and Mr. Howard, made a tour up the Irrawaddy 
 and into the district of Maubee, they met large numbers, 
 who, notwithstanding the severity of the trials to which they 
 had been subjected, had embraced Christianity, and had 
 been long waiting for baptism. In the course of that jour- 
 ney alone, one hundred and seventy-three were baptized 
 nearly all of whom had received the truth from the preach- 
 ing of Ko-thah-byu. 
 
 Mr. Kincaid, who was at this time at Ava, had among the 
 small congregation of believers under his care, a young Bur- 
 man of rank, whose sister was maid of honor to the Queen. 
 Hearing that her brother had renounced idolatry, she used 
 every effort to persuade him to return to the fa'th of his 
 fathers ; but finding all her attempts were fruitless as long as 
 he remained under Christian influence, she obtained for him 
 through the Queen an appointment under Government in the 
 province of Basscin. It was with deep sorrow that he left 
 his home and Christian brethren, for a province five hundred 
 miles distant, where he could have little hope of finding any 
 who, like himself, knew and loved the God of Israel. He 
 was scarcely, however, installed as Governor of the Karens 
 in Bassein, when the Burmese officials brought before him 
 some men from the jungles, whom they charged with wor-
 
 78 ENLARGEMENT OF THE MISSION. 
 
 shipping a strange God. " What God ?" was his first ques- 
 tion. " They call him the eternal God !" was the reply, and 
 great was their astonishment when the new Governor instead 
 of ordering them away to punishment, commanded that they 
 should be set free, and the Karen Christians returned to 
 their homes unmolested, and in peace. When the rumor 
 spread abroad that the new Governor not only tolerated the 
 religion of Jesus, but kept His day and observed His laws, 
 there could no longer be any doubt that he was a Christian. 
 Persecutions on account of religion were at an end ; during 
 the two years of his mild rule at Bassein, the word of God 
 spread and prevailed, and at the end of that time, two 
 thousand persons were reported by the native preachers as 
 converted souls. 
 
 So diversified and wide spread were the labors of the mis- 
 sionaries at this period, that it is impossible, in a work of 
 this kind, to give more than a passing glance at all. Dr. 
 Judson was pursuing his labors at Maulmain ; and the Wades, 
 who had returned from America, were now stationed at 
 Tavoy, and together with the Masons carrying on their inde- 
 fatio-able work of teaching, preaching, and translations. Mrs. 
 Judson at this period gave great attention to the Peguans, a 
 race who are entirely distinct from the Burmans in every- 
 thing but their religion. They were numerous in the neigh- 
 borhood of Maulmain, and as they mingled with the congre- 
 gations of Burmans or Karens, had often awakened an 
 interest in the hearts of the missionaries. Nothing however 
 had been especially attempted for them, until Mrs. Judson, 
 with her accustomed energy and zeal devoted herself to 
 acquiring their language and translated into it several tracts, 
 a compilation of her own of the Life of Christ, and a con- 
 siderable portion of the New Testament. On the arrival of 
 Mr. Haswcll in 1836, who had been appointed to take charge
 
 ME. KINCAID AT AVA. 79 
 
 of the Malaing mission, she surrendered to him her labor 
 and the fruits it was already promising, and returned to the 
 appropriate duties of her station, having performed a task 
 of great difficulty and importance, which no other member 
 of the mission was then able to accomplish. 
 
 In the commencement of 1837, we find that Mr. Kincaid 
 had been strengthened at Ava by the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Simons, and Mr. and Mrs. Webb. Certainly no place in the 
 empire offered greater facilities for the prosecution of their 
 great work than the capital itself. As the centre of authority, 
 and the residence of the Emperor, it was resorted to from 
 every quarter of the realm by persons of influence, as well 
 as by the princes and their retainers, and the merchants and 
 traders who brought their produce from every corner of the 
 land. 
 
 Mr. Kincaid had become acquainted with several who had 
 travelled to Ava in the train of some Shan princes. These 
 people occupy the provinces on the northern frontier of 
 Burmah. Having carefully inquired from them the position 
 of their country, he conceived the idea that it would be 
 possible by this route to gain access to China, and by this 
 means not only to convey the gospel to the Shans, but to 
 that great nation also. For the purpose of ascertaining how 
 far his views were correct, and to become acquainted with 
 the people of the northern provinces, he determined with 
 the approval of his brethren to visit the frontier of Assam. 
 On the 27th January, 1837, accompanied by four native 
 Christians, he embarked on the Irrawaddy in a boat de- 
 spatched on the public service by Col. Burney, who was 
 then the English Resident at Ava. 
 
 After a twenty-two days' passage, through a country of 
 great natural beauty, they reached the city of Mogaung. 
 distant three hundred and fifty miles from the capital. Here
 
 80 ME. KINCAID'S JOURNEY. 
 
 beneath the shadow of the Himalaya mountains, rising as the 
 natural barrier between the countries, lay the vast wilderness 
 which separates Burmah from Hindustan. During his stay 
 in the city he made several excursions into the valley, but 
 from the difficulty of obtaining either men or provisions to 
 enable him to pursue his journey further, he was compelled 
 very reluctantly to return to Ava. The country was now in 
 a state of civil war, and overrun with hordes of banditti 
 eager for the lives and property of those who fell into their 
 hands. On his way down the river Mr. Kincaid was attacked 
 and captured by one of these marauding parties. He was 
 bound and carried off to their village. Here a guard of 
 about five and twenty men formed in a ring was set around 
 him. Every morning a portion of the band departed on 
 some expedition of cruelty and wrong, and returned in the 
 evening to exhibit their prisoners and their spoil. Many 
 were the frightful scenes to which Mr. Kincaid was witness. 
 Just outside the ring by which he was enclosed, met the 
 council of chiefs, before whom the prisoners were brought 
 up. Their great difficulty seemed to be to know how to 
 dispose of him. If they killed him, it was argued that 
 search would be made, and reparation demanded for the life 
 of the " white foreigner." If they released him, he would 
 tell of the deeds he had witnessed and of the treatment to 
 which he had been subject, and again nothing but difficulty 
 and danger would ensue. In this way their counsels were 
 divided, and day after day passed by, and found them unde- 
 cided, and life or death trembled in the balance. Mean- 
 while God was working out a way of deliverance. In the 
 number of the guard was a young Cathay chief, who viewed 
 the captive with compassion. Probably he had heard him 
 tell the wondrous story which had attracted so many listen- 
 ers. The face, at all events, was familiar to Mr. Kincaid,
 
 PEUIL8 AND DELIVERANCE. 81 
 
 and there was a look of pity in those dark eyes which 
 awakened hope, and spoke of sympathy. One day, when 
 unobserved by the others, he slipped his brawny hand into 
 that of the captive, and deposited a small silver coin. The 
 impulse was to decline the proffered kindness, but the quick 
 " Hush !" in the Burruan tongue, " you may want it," silenced 
 him. That evening the Chiefs assembled as usual, and 
 amongst the prisoners brought before them, was a Burrnan 
 woman carrying an infant in her arms, and followed by a 
 young girl, her daughter, and two other little ones. There 
 was a nobility in her step, and a lofty courage on her brow, 
 which seemed for a moment to awe into silence the perse- 
 cutors. She was interrogated as to where her property and 
 her jewels were concealed, and threatened with death if she 
 would not confess, but she was immovable, and was ordered 
 to receive the lash. In vain were the cries of the frantic 
 children who clung around her, or the supplication and 
 entreaties of the elder girl ; there was no heart to pity there. 
 The back was uncovered, the massive hair fell heavily over 
 one shoulder, and the executioner with a heavy bamboo cane 
 did his work. Stroke after stroke descended. The lips 
 moved not : no cry was uttered ; but a cloud passed over the 
 upturned face, and she sank to the ground motionless : all 
 was over ! The captive, who had watched that scene till 
 reason reeled, and the brain was fired, was only brought to 
 consciousness by finding that the strong arms were pinioned, 
 and he sank back in the agony of despair. .That night when 
 all were sleeping round him, the young Cathay chief loos- 
 ened his bonds, and, stealing gently through the dusky 
 forms, Mr. Kincaid was once more a free man breathing the 
 free air of heaven. His journey onward was most perilous ; 
 hiding by day, he had to travel on by night, and when 
 pressed by hunger, waiting at the wells in* the early morn-
 
 82 PERILS AND DELIVERANCE. 
 
 ing, until the women came to -draw water, he would throw 
 himself on their compassion, and was seldom refused the 
 nourishment which enabled him to pursue his journey. In 
 this way, after innumerable dangers, from which the hand of 
 God alone delivered him, he reached the capital in safety. 
 He found it in confusion and alarm, and threatened with the 
 horrors of a civil war. Prince Tharawaddy had dethroned 
 the King his brother, and was investing the city. The mis- 
 sionaries vainly hoped that the new King might be more 
 favorable to their views ; but in their first interview, he 
 strictly prohibited the work in which they were engaged ; 
 and, seeing no hope of pursuing it in the present excited 
 state of the country, they retired for a season to Maulmain.
 
 THE MISSION IN AKRACAN. 83 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 AEKACAN. 
 
 " Tell them that near your idol dome, 
 
 There dwells a lonely man, 
 
 Who bade ye take this message home, 
 " Six men for Arracan." TUUKBT. 
 
 BEFORE proceeding, we must endeavor to take a brief sur- 
 vey of the Mission in ARRACAN. This province is bounded 
 on the north by Chittagong, on the east by the Yoma moun- 
 tains, while on the south and west, it is washed by the wa- 
 ters of the Bay of Bengal. It belonged formerly to the Bur- 
 man Empire, but was ceded to the British Government in 
 1826. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Comstock were the first of the American 
 Mission who established themselves in Arracan, at Kyouk 
 Phyoo, a town near the northern extremity of Kamree Is- 
 land. This was in the year 1835. Preaching and schools 
 were commenced, and the people listened with interest and 
 curiosity. In consequence of the ill-health of some, and the 
 death of others who joined the mission, it passed through a 
 series of most trying vicissitudes for the first five years, 
 when, in 1840, it was strengthened by the arrival of Mr. 
 Kincaid and Mr. Abbott from Burmah. They had been com- 
 pelled to leave their field of labor there, in consequence of 
 the persecutions to which their presence subjected the con- 
 verts, but they determined nevertheless to keep up commu- 
 nication with their suffering flocks : Mr. Kincaid with Ava
 
 84 THE MISSION COMMENCED. 
 
 and Mr. Abbott with the scattered disciples in the districts 
 of Bassein and Rangoon. 
 
 After visiting the missionaries at Ramree, Mr. Kincaid 
 went to Akyab. Here, since the year 1826, Mr. Fink of the 
 Serampore Baptist Mission had been laboring, and both here 
 and at Cruda little churches had been formed. When how- 
 ever the stations supported by the Serampore Mission were 
 made over to the Baptist Missionary Society, it was resolved 
 that Akyab should be given up to the American Mission, and 
 Mr. Kincaid took charge of it on their behalf in 1840. Mr. 
 Abbott at the same time selected Sandoway as being favor- 
 ably placed for opening up communication with the Karens, 
 who dwelt beyond the mountains of Arracan on the neighbor- 
 ing districts of Burmah Proper. 
 
 Ko>thah-byu and his family had accompanied Mr. Abbott to 
 Sandoway ; and it was here, just as he had commenced to 
 reap the fruit of his few months' labor in a little village in 
 which he was located, that he was summoned to his eternal 
 rest. He had suffered much of late years from rheumatism, 
 and was often unable to walk or to rise ; but a violent cold 
 settling in inflammation of the lungs, soon hurried him to 
 the grave. He came to die near Mr. Abbott, and had " no 
 fears :" " As it pleases God," was the frame of his spirit. 
 " No mound marks his grave, no storied urn his resting 
 place ; but the eternal mountains are his monument ; and the 
 Christian villages that clothe their sides, are his epitaph." 
 In his beloved work he was unceasingly active even to the 
 close of life, and seemed incapable of fatigue. " It was the 
 death of Christ as a substitute," he used to say, with pecu- 
 liar emphasis, " that laid the foundation of our hopes. It is 
 because He stood in our place and suffered the penalty due 
 to our crimes, that we, who believe in Him, may now be 
 saved." This great truth he used to bring into almost every
 
 DEATH OF KO-TUA1I-BYU. 85 
 
 sermon ; so that those who were converted through his in. 
 strunientality, had usually a thorough knowledge of the 
 doctrine of justification by faith. His success as an evan- 
 gelist was most remarkable. " Perhaps not one in- a thou- 
 sand from the days of the Apostles to the present time, of 
 those who may have devoted their whole lives exclusively to 
 this work, have been the instrument of converting as many 
 individuals as this simple hearted Karen." But it may be 
 asked, how was it that a man of such inferior power should 
 have been such a Boanerges, as a preacher of the gospel ? 
 His strength was in prayer. He was pre-eminently a man of 
 prayer. " Of myself I am nothing, and can do nothing. In 
 the name of the Lord, I can do all things." It was this feel- 
 ing of self-distrust, combined with simple faith in the 
 promise, that drew him to the mercy-seat, and kept him there. 
 When not employed in preaching he spent his time almost 
 exclusively in prayer and reading. " It was," says one who 
 knew him well, " his practice, to read and pray aloud, though 
 in a low tone of voice ; so that I have known him spend 
 whole days in this way. After evening worship he would - 
 commence again ; and continue until nine, ten, and even 
 eleven o'clock at night, when he would retire; but not spend 
 the whole night in sleep. At the time I knew him, he used 
 seldom to spend a night without praying as many as three 
 times, or at least as often as he awoke ; and I have heard it 
 said of him that he has occasionally spent whole nights in 
 prayer to God." Is it then a matter of wonder that such a 
 man should be honored of his God ; that he should have 
 souls given him for his hire ; that he should preach with de- 
 monstration of the Spirit and with power ? 
 
 " In 1828 he was the first Karen Christian. In 1840, 
 when he died, there were officially reported as members of 
 Christian congregations in Pegu, above one thousand two
 
 86 ME. ABBOTT AT SANDOWAY. 
 
 hundred and seventy individuals of that oppressed and de- 
 spised race." 
 
 On arriving at Sandoway Mr. Abbott sent out two native 
 assistants to the Karens to tell them of his arrival, and to 
 invite them to visit him. They were also commissioned to 
 search for the young men who had been studying with Mr. 
 Abbott at Rangoon, and to beg them to come and continue 
 their studies at Sandoway. The news soon spread that the 
 teacher had arrived, and was located on the other side of 
 the mountains, and within their reach ; and although the 
 passes were guarded by Burmans, many escaped their 
 watchful vigilance, and flocked over the mountains, some for 
 books, some for baptism, and others desiring to remain and 
 study with their beloved teacher. Many of the converts 
 from Maubee, Pautanau, and even from the neighborhood of 
 Rangoon found access to the missionary, and from them he 
 was able to gain intelligence of others, and from time to 
 time to hear of the wonderful progress of the gospel amongst 
 the people. Many of the assistants believed that at that 
 time there could not have been less than four thousand 
 Christians in Burmah Proper ; and although persecutions 
 abounded, grace to endure abounded also, and fines and im- 
 prisonment were borne meekly and patiently for the sake of 
 Him who had borne so much for them. 
 
 The Burman Magistrates began to find that the work was 
 beyond their control, and in some instances said, " Let them 
 worship their God, if they pay their taxes and obey the 
 laws." This policy was followed to prevent the Karens 
 emigrating in a body into the British Provinces. 
 
 In a tour made by Mr. Abbott in January, 1841, he met 
 large numbers of Karens who had come from the Burman 
 side of the mountains, who told him of the sufferings they 
 had endured for .reading the " white book." He was sur-
 
 KABKN CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED. 87 
 
 prised at the amount of knowledge and intelligence which 
 they possessed, and within a month he baptized fifty-seven 
 persons, who gave every evidence of true conversion. In 
 the following year still more fruit was found, churches 
 formed, assistants placed over them, and nearly 300 admit- 
 ted into the church by baptism. In this manner Mr. Ab- 
 bott saw the cause to which he was devoted, everywhere 
 triumphant, and though obliged to conduct the mission unas- 
 sisted and alone, he beheld over the fields which it occupied 
 a whole people turning to God. Within the period of five 
 years three thousand were baptized. 
 
 During the cold season of 184243, in consequence of a 
 royal order to exterminate the white people, and the religion 
 of the foreigners, the persecution of the Karen Christians 
 raged with unmitigated fury. In their homes and in their 
 places of worship whole families were seized, and often 
 cruelly beaten ; while mothers separated from their chil- 
 dren, were driven like sheep to prison, where they remained 
 until they could satisfy the rapacity of the Burman officers. 
 Mr. Abbott in writing of them says : " The noble, fearless 
 testimony which those prisoners bear to the truth, has given 
 their cause notoriety and character. The common people 
 throughout the country generally look upon the new reli- 
 gion with interest at least, and whisper their sympathies 
 with its suffering votaries." 
 
 So severe were the trials of this period that hundreds left 
 the fields they could no longer cultivate, and fled across tho 
 mountains into Arracan. Whole villages would follow their 
 pastor, bringing their buffaloes, and any small articles they 
 could carry. Their condition was most pitiable, and met 
 with generous sympathy, not only from the missionaries, but 
 from the British residents in the province. Captain Phayre, 
 the Assistant Commissioner, supplied them with food, and
 
 88 DEATH OF MRS. ABBOTT. 
 
 gave them one year to repay his loans without interest. And 
 now, though in part dependent, they were at least secure, 
 and enjoyed the priceless privilege of " Freedom to worship 
 Grod." But their trials had not ended here. In the hot 
 season which succeeded their arrival, the cholera laid waste 
 the country, and so panic-stricken were these suffering peo- 
 ple, that many fled to the mountains, and others to the jun- 
 gle, where they perishediincared for, by the very pestilence 
 they sought to escape. 
 
 The anxieties and labors of Mr. Abbott told heavily upon 
 him. In the summer of 1844, both his children were taken 
 from him, and in the January following, after a short illness> 
 Mrs. Abbott followed them to their early grave. 
 
 Mrs. Abbott had been unwearied in her efforts for the sal- 
 vation of the Burmese, with whose language she had become 
 well acquainted. Taking her seat in the verandah of her 
 house fronting the wayside, with a bundle of tracts and 
 Scriptures, she would read and explain to all who might be 
 disposed to listen. Occasionally a large group would sit in 
 silence for hours, and some received into their hearts that 
 truth which was able to save their souls. But her work was 
 ended ; the Master's call had come ; and Mr. Abbott left 
 alone, shattered in health and spirits, was compelled to re- 
 turn for a season to America. 
 
 Contemporaneously with this work at Sandoway, was the 
 labor of Mr. Kincaid, at Akyab. He found on going there 
 in 1840, the remnant of a little church, numbering thirteen 
 members which had been gathered by Mr. Fink. They had 
 been so long without any pastoral care, that even the first 
 principles of the gospel were beginning to fade from their 
 minds, and to have little influence over their lives. They 
 were soon, however, gathered together for instruction 
 and prayer ; and the missionary, ere long, had the joy of
 
 THE KEMMEES. 89 
 
 finding himself surrounded with intelligent listeners, some 
 eagerly inquiring to be more perfectly instructed in the way 
 of life. Among the number was a man of superior learning, 
 who, not many years before, had been sent by the King of" 
 Ava as a Buddhist missionary to Arracan, to explain the sa- 
 cred books to the priests and people. Several persons were 
 at this time baptized, and trial and persecution followed ; 
 but notwithstanding this, the church grew, and another was 
 planted at Cruda an out-station five days' journey from 
 Akyab. 
 
 In the beginning of 1841, Mr. Kincaid was visited by sev- 
 eral people belonging to a tribe called the Kernmee|p a race 
 inhabiting the mountains, and similar in habits and appear- 
 ance to the Karens. One of chiefs also visited the white 
 teacher. He was at the head of several subordinate clans, 
 and was known as the "mountain chief." They listened 
 with but little interest to the teacher's words, and left, ap- 
 parently unaffected by the great truths they had heard. 
 
 Not many months had passed away after this visit, when 
 Mr. Kincaid was surprised by receiving a letter signed by 
 " Chetza, the mountain chief," and thirteen other chieftains, 
 stating that they had considered the new religion, and as 
 their people were ignorant, they desired that the teacher 
 would come, that they might " know the true God, and be 
 taught the true book." The letter also contained the names 
 of_two hundred and seventy children, whom they would 
 place at school, if he would come to their mountains. So 
 eager was desire for instruction that this request was soon 
 followed by a visit from the chief in person, who, followed 
 by a large retinue, came to the mission-house just as Mr. 
 Kincaid and Mr. Stilson were about starting for their villages. 
 
 Great was their joy at finding their request complied with. 
 They hastened back to prepare, and when the missionaries
 
 90 SIX MEN FOR ARBACAN. 
 
 reached their mountain homes, they found, to their surprise, 
 not only a zayat erected for their accommodation, but many 
 little articles which the observant eyes of the people had 
 Noticed in the mission house at Akyab, and which they had 
 procured for the comfort and convenience of their welcome 
 guests. The chief offered to build a house for the mission- 
 aries, if they would but remain ; but this was impossible, and 
 a few occasional visits were all that could be accomplished ; 
 sickness again interrupted this interesting work, and Mr. and 
 Mrs. Kincaid were obliged for a time to visit America, leav- 
 ing Mr. Stilson at Akyab. 
 
 DarMfrclouds were beginning to break over the Arracan 
 mission. Since 1840 Mr. and Mrs. Comstock had been 
 laboring with no common zeal at Ramree. He was a man of 
 superior education, and of the noblest qualities of character, 
 distinguished for his wisdom, earnestness, and zeal. Mr. 
 Kincaid took home the Comstocks' two elder children, and 
 while staying with them before embarking, Mr. Comstock 
 used all his powers to impress Mr. Kincaid with the import- 
 ance of urging upon the church the duty of sending out 
 more missionaries to Arracan. So deep rooted was this de- 
 sire in his heart, that even when parting with his beloved 
 children, it burst forth in that long remembered message to 
 the American churches : " Remember, brother, six men for 
 Arracan !" It was on these few words, that the following 
 verses were written. 
 
 He fa'd, My brother when you stand 
 
 Bt-yoiid the raging deep, 
 In that delightful, happy land, 
 
 Where all our fathers sleep ; 
 
 When you shall hear their Sabbath bell 
 
 Call out their happy throngs, 
 And hear the organ's solemn swell, 
 
 And Zion's sacred songs :
 
 DEATH OF MISSIONARIES. 91 
 
 Tell them a herald, far away, 
 
 Where midnight broods o'er man, 
 Bade you this solemn message say, 
 
 " Six men for Arracan." 
 
 While in that happy land of theirs, 
 
 They feast on blessings given, 
 And genial suns and healthful air?, 
 
 Come speeding fresh from heaven ; 
 
 Tell them, that near yon idol dome, 
 
 There dwells a lonely man, 
 Who bade you take this message home, 
 
 * Six men for Arracan." 
 
 Sweet home, ah, yes ! I know how sweet, 
 
 Within my country, thou, 
 I've known what heart felt pleasures meet, 
 
 I've felt and feel them now. 
 
 Well, in those lovely scenes of bliss, 
 
 Where childhood's joys began, 
 I'd have you, brother, tell them this, 
 
 " Six men for Arracan." 
 
 Oh ! when the Faint lies down to die, 
 
 And friendship round him stands, 
 And faith directs his tearless eye, 
 
 To fairer, happier lands 
 
 How calm he bids poor earth adieu 
 
 With all most dear below ! 
 Thft spirit sees sweet home in view, 
 
 And plumes her wings to go ; 
 
 Stop dying Faint O ! linger yet, 
 
 And cast one thought on man 
 Be this the la.st that you forget 
 
 " Six men for Arracan." 
 
 In the beginning of 1843, Mrs. Comstock fell a victim to 
 an epidemic then prevailing ; her two little ones soon sank
 
 92 POSITION OF THE VARIOUS MISSIONS. 
 
 under the same disease, and at the end of 1844, Comstock 
 himself followed them, to his great reward. His loss to the 
 mission was irreparable": his sound discretion, and deep de- 
 votion of spirit being felt throughout ; but " shall not the 
 Judge of all the earth do right ?" Thus, one after another 
 of the missionaries, who for nine years had been laboring in 
 Arracan, disappeared from the field, until Mr. and Mrs. Stil- 
 son in 1845, found themselves the solitary workers in that 
 mission which had so justly created the highest hopes, and 
 which apparently only needed additional laborers to ensure 
 for it the noblest results. 
 
 We add now a brief review of the state of the missions at 
 the other stations about this period. We find at Maulmain, 
 in 1840, Dr. Judson, Messrs. Howard, Stevens, Osgood, and 
 Simons, in connection with the Burman department, and 
 Mr. Vinton with the Karen. The wives of the missionaries 
 were more or less actively engaged in the schools, either for 
 the Karens or Burmans. At Amherst, Mr. Haswell was 
 still preaching to Talaings, or Peguans, or translating the 
 New Testament into their language, while Mrs. Haswell 
 pursued her work in the schools. Around Maulmain were 
 several smaller stations for the Karens, superintended by 
 the missionaries, but primarily under the charge of native 
 assistants. 
 
 At Tavoy, although there was a small Burman church, the 
 chief labors of the missionaries were amongst the Karens. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wade, and Mr. and Mrs. Mason, were now the 
 only missionaries at this station, the Bennetts having had to 
 revisit America. The churches at the out-stations round 
 Tavoy, eight in all, numbered four hundred and seventy- 
 three members. In connection with this branch of the mis- 
 sion was the important station of Mergui, under the care of 
 Mr. Ingalls and Mr. Brayton, who with their families had
 
 POSITION OF THE VARIOUS MISSIONS. ' 93 
 
 been laboring there since 1839. Here too were out-stations, 
 and little flocks of Christians gathered from among the 
 heathen into the fold of God ; and here, silently, earnestly, 
 faithfully, had the work of God been carried on. 
 
 At the close of 1842 six churches were connected with 
 this station, embracing 190 members. Mr. Ingalls and Mr. 
 Brayton, besides preaching the gospel, devoted themselves 
 to improving the special and domestic condition of the Ka- 
 rens, helping them to establish themselves in permanent 
 homes, and thus to break off their wandering habits, which 
 were so injurious to their civilization and spiritual improve- 
 ment. The fact that there were Christian teachers at Mer- 
 gui, became known to the Karens in the jungles east of 
 Tcnasserim, and many of these came in to see and hear for 
 themselves. Thus the work of God grew ; a new impulse 
 was given to the cause of education ; the social position of 
 the Karens was elevated ; and some of them were appointed 
 to offices of trust. 
 
 At Maulmain Dr. Judson still devoted his principal atten- 
 tion to a careful revision of the Burman Bible, at the same 
 time preaching to the Burman church, and superintending the 
 labors of the native preachers, who were employed among 
 the Burman population of the town and the neighboring vil- 
 lages. Mr. Stevens superintended the theological school, 
 besides being pastor of the church of Pwo Karens at Dong- 
 yan ; and Mr. Howard and Mr. Simons took the English ser- 
 vices, and had charge of other schools at Maulmain. This 
 disposition of their labors left none free to give his undivi- 
 ved attention to preaching the gospel to the Burmans, and 
 was, we believe, a subject of regret. The Karen missiona- 
 ries, on the contrary, from the peculiar character of the peo- 
 ple, and the circumstances in which they were placed, were 
 able not only to superintend the schools, and translate and
 
 94 POSITION OF THE VARIOUS MISSIONS. 
 
 prepare books, but to give a large portion of their time and 
 attention to their chosen work of preaching the gospel. The 
 dry season of each year was spent in visiting the villages in 
 the jungle for this special work, while in the rainy season 
 they resided in town, teaching the schools, writing for the 
 press, and preaching on the Sabbath and on other days of the 
 week. This constant proclamation of the gospel by the 
 preacher's own voice, has undoubtedly been the instrument 
 blessed of God above all others to the conversion of this peo- 
 ple : a fact which every year's experience more fully illus- 
 trates. The universal cry with them appears to be " How 
 beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bring- 
 eth good tidings, that publisheth peace ; that bringeth good 
 tidings of good ; that publisheth salvation."
 
 DR. JUDSON'S LABORS. 95 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE JUDSONS. 
 
 " All flesh must come 
 To the cold tomb ; 
 Only the ashes of the just 
 Smell sweet and blossom in the dust." 
 
 IN 1841 Dr. JUDSON'S health became seriously impaired, 
 while that of Mrs. Judsoa and the children was also failing, 
 and a voyage to sea became imperatively necessary. They 
 left Maulmain in June and arrived in Calcutta in the follow- 
 ing month ; but while waiting for a vessel to take them to 
 the Isle of France, the youngest child Henry was suddenly 
 .removed from them, and now sleeps beside Carey, Mafshman, 
 and Ward, in the burying-place at Serampore. The voyage 
 to the Isle of France recruited their failing health and 
 spirits, and they returned to Maulmain in December. 
 
 Dr. Judson immediately entered upon a work he hvd long 
 been meditating, the preparation of a dictionary in English 
 and Burman for the purpose of facilitating the acquisition 
 of both these languages. In writing of this, he says : " Sev- 
 eral years were spent in translating the Bible, and several 
 more in revising it, and carrying the last edition through the 
 press : after which, in May last, I commenced a dictionary 
 of the language, a work which I had resolved and re-resolved 
 never to touch. But it is not in man that walketh to direct 
 his steps. The Board and my brethren repeatedly urged 
 me to prepare a dictionary, the one printed in 1826 being
 
 96 THE BURMESE DICTIONARY. 
 
 exceedingly imperfect; and as Burmah continued shut 
 against our labors, and there were several missionaries in this 
 place, I concluded that I could do no better than to comply. 
 We are apt to magnify the importance of any undertaking 
 in which we are warmly engaged. Perhaps it is from the 
 influence of that principle, that, notwithstanding my long- 
 cherished aversion to the work, I have come to think it im- 
 portant ; and that, having seen the accomplishment of two 
 objects on which I set my heart, when I first came out to the 
 East, the establishment of a church of converted natives, 
 and the translation of the Bible into their language, I now 
 beguile my daily toil with the prospect of compassing a 
 third which may be compared to a causeway, designed to 
 facilitate the transmission of all knowledge, religious and 
 scientific, from one people to the other." 
 
 Mrs. Judson's pen was at this time not idle, but was also 
 adding to the store of Burman literature, notwithstanding 
 the many duties which crowded round her. With her 
 " whatsoever her hand found to do" was done earnestly and 
 with a ready will. It mattered not whether in the Karen 
 wilderness surrounded by many a listener, or teaching the 
 infant at her knee, or bending over her translations, or 
 whispering those words which were to cheer her husband's 
 heart, whether teaching, counselling, or praying, all was 
 done as to the Lord, and to the glory of His great name. 
 Some of the literary performances of this closing part of her 
 life are thus briefly mentioned by Dr. Judson : " Her trans- 
 lation of the Pilgrim's Progress, Part I. into Burmese, is 
 one of the best pieces of composition which we have ye f 
 published : her translation of Mr. Boardman's ' Dying 
 Father's Advice,' has become one of our standard tracts : 
 and her Hymns in Burmese, about twenty in number, are 
 probably the best in our chapel Hymn-book, a work which
 
 MKS. JUDSON'S WORKS. 97 
 
 she was appointed by the mission to edit. Besides these 
 works she published four volumes of Scripture Questions, 
 which are in constant use in our Sabbath-schools. It has 
 been remarked that the translation of the Pilgrim's Progress 
 into an Eastern tongue, is ' a work worth living for, if it 
 were one's only performance.' It was indeed a laborious 
 work, under the circumstances exceedingly laborious ; and 
 is performed as only one who knew and loved the language 
 as she did, assisted by her native genius, could perform it. 
 She also contributed some valuable articles to the Burmese 
 newspaper ; and in the absence of Mr. Stevens, its excellent 
 and able conductor, she was two or three times called upon 
 to take the editorial charge of it. Her Sabbath cards with 
 the breathings of her devotional and poetic spirit yet warm 
 upon their surface, (her last dying gift to the Burmau 
 church,) are still circulated from hand to hand : her Scrip- 
 ture Questions furnish hundreds of bewildered minds with 
 the clue to many a fountain, flowing over with the fresh 
 waters of truth and wisdom, and her sweet hymns are heard 
 wherever the living God is worshipped in Burmah." 
 
 She avoided society, because it interfered with important 
 pursuits, but she still had warm friends beyond the pleasant 
 missionary circle. Their sympathy and love were rot, how- 
 ever, her sweetest reward. In April, 1844, she thus writes : 
 "The state of religion is now very interesting in the 
 Burman church. It would do your heart good to look in 
 upon our little circle of praying Burman females ; so hum- 
 ble, so devout, so willing to confess their faults to God and 
 before one another, that I sometimes think Christians in a 
 Christian land might well copy them. I think they do strive 
 to walk in the footsteps of our blessed Saviour. The study 
 of the Scriptures and social prayer seem to be greatly bless- 
 ed to their souls. Some of them have formed themselves 
 
 5
 
 98 MRS. JTJDSON'S CLASSES. 
 
 into a Bible class, and meet with me once a week for the 
 purpose of studying the Scriptures. They are now examin- 
 ing the ' Life of Christ,' with questions which I prepared 
 on the work some years ago. I think it does my own soul 
 good, thus to ponder over the life of our blessed Lord. 
 This Bible class has increased from about five to upwards 
 of fifteen within the last month, and I see no signs of the 
 members diminishing. Some of them are quite elderly 
 women with grey hair. You would be pleased to see them 
 with their spectacles on, sitting in a circle, reading the life 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, and conversing with each other 
 respecting their duty. One of them, upwards of seventy 
 years old, amused me a few days ago, by saying she was the 
 saine age as my little daughter Abby Ann. I asked her 
 what she meant by that. She replied that s"he was cdnvert 
 ed the year Abby Ann was born, and it was not till then 
 that she began to live." 
 
 In one of her last letters she says, " It is nineteen years 
 last month since I bade adieu to my native land ; and I can 
 say, with unfeigned gratitude to God, that amid all the 
 vicissitudes through which I have been called to pass, I have 
 never for one moment regretted that I had entered the mis- 
 sionary field. We are not weary of our work ; it is in our 
 hearts to live and die among these people. I feel conscious 
 of being a most unworthy and unprofitable servant , and I 
 often wonder that my life has been spared, while so many, 
 to human view so much more competent than myself, have 
 been cut down. Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in 
 thy sight." 
 
 The disease, from which she had long suffered, had at last 
 taken so firm a hold, that they were compelled to contem- 
 plate a voyage to America as the only hope of prolonging a 
 life inexpressibly valuable. Followed by many a tearful
 
 MRS. JUDSON'S ILLNESS. 99 
 
 eye and prayerful heart, they set sail on the 26th Apri^ 
 1845, taking the three elder children, while the three little 
 ones were left behind, the youngost only three and a half 
 months old. " We left them," as Dr. Judson touchingly 
 expressed it, " cast upon the waters, in the hope of finding 
 them, after many days." On arriving at Port Louis, the 
 health of Mrs. Judson appeared so decidedly to improve, 
 that Dr. Judson determined to return to Maulmain, and to 
 leave her and the children to prosecute their voyage to 
 America alone. 
 
 It was in anticipation of this separation that Mrs. Judson 
 penned the following lines : the last ever written by her 
 trembling hand. 
 
 " We part on this green islet, love, 
 Thou for the eastern maiu, 
 I for the setting sun, love 
 Oh, when to meet again ? 
 
 My heart is sad for thee, love, 
 For lone thy way will be ; 
 And oft thy tears will fall, love, 
 For thy children and for me. 
 
 The music of thy daughter's voice 
 Thou'lt miss for many a year ; 
 And the merry shout of thine elder boys 
 Thou'lt list in vain to hear. 
 
 When we knelt to see our Henry die 
 And heard his last faint moan, 
 Each wiped the tear from other's eye 
 Now each must weep alone. 
 
 My trars fall fast for thee, love, .. 
 How can I say, farewell? 
 But go ; thy God be with thee, love, 
 Thy heart's deep grief to quell !
 
 100 MRS. JUDSON'S DEATH. 
 
 Yet my spirit clings to thine, love, 
 Thy soul remains with me, 
 And oft we'll hold communion sweet 
 O'er the dark and distant sea. 
 
 And who can paint our mutual joy 
 When, all our wanderings o'er, 
 We both shall clasp our infanta three, 
 At home, on Burmah's shore. 
 
 But higher shall our raptures glow 
 On yon celestial plain, 
 When the loved and parted here below, 
 Meet ne'er to part again. 
 
 Then gird thine armor on, love, 
 Nor faint thou by the way, 
 Till Budh shall fall, and Burmah's sons 
 Shall own Messiah's away." 
 
 The anticipated sacrifice was not permitted. The revival 
 was deceptive, and together they again set sail " for the set- 
 ting sun," in hope that life would be granted ; but still 
 strength declined until they reached St. Helena, when she 
 gently passed away on the 1st of September, 1845. Dr. 
 Judson says, " Heaven seems nearer and eternity sweeter, 
 when I think of her and other dear friends who have gone 
 before They had prepared the grave in a beau- 
 tiful shady spot contiguous to the grave of Mrs. Chater, a 
 missionary from Ceylon, who had died in similar circum- 
 stances on her passage home. There I saw her safely de- 
 posited, and blessed God that her body had attained the re- 
 pose of the grave, and the spirit the repose of paradise 
 
 For a few days in the solitude of my cabin, with my poor 
 children crying round me, I could not help abandoning my- 
 self to heart-breaking sorrow. But the promises of the gos- 
 pel came to my aid, and faith stretched her view to the
 
 DE. JUDSON'S KETUKN. 101 
 
 bright world of eternal life, and anticipated a happy meeting 
 with those beloved beings whose bodies are mouldering at 
 Amherst and St. Helena." 
 
 Dr. Judson. arrived at Boston on the 15th October, and 
 was received by the whole Christian church with the ex- 
 pression of the warmest sympathy and attachment ; but he 
 shrunk from popular applause, and the more his brethren 
 were disposed to exalt him, the more deeply did he seem to 
 feel his own deficiency, and the more humble was his pros- 
 tration at the foot of the cross. He still suffered so much 
 from the complaint in his throat he was quite unable to ad- 
 dress large audiences, but the impression left upon the 
 minds of those who did hear him, was that to him, " to live 
 was Christ, to die was gain." It it was quite evident that al- 
 though interested in all that he saw in his own country, his 
 heart was in Burmah, and that he longed to resume his quiet 
 labors there for the salvation of the heathen. He married Miss 
 Chubbuck, distinguished for her literary talents, and sailing 
 from America on the llth July, 1846, arrived at Maulmain 
 on the 30th November following. They were accompanied 
 by several new missionaries ; Mr, and Mrs. Harris, who were 
 appointed to the Karen department of the mission at Maul- 
 main, and subsequently to Shwaygyeen ; Mr. and Mrs. 
 Beechcr, who were destined for Arracan ; and Miss Lilly- 
 bridge who was to be a teacher in the Burman school at 
 Maulmain. During the absence of Dr. Judson many chan- 
 ges had occurred. Mrs. Helen Mason and Mrs. Ingalls had 
 been removed by death ; and Mr. Ingalls had gone to Akyab 
 to fill the vacancy that had been made by the removal of 
 Mr. Stilson to Maulmain. At Akyab Mr. Ingalls had com- 
 menced the work of preaching. His house was thronged by 
 visitors from morning till night: Some came expressly to 
 hear the gospel, some to dispute and oppose. A chapel was
 
 102 PROGRESS AT AKYAB. 
 
 built close upon the public streets, and the word, notwith- 
 standing the hardness of the hearts of the people, took ef- 
 fect. Within two months, fifteen converts were baptized at 
 Akyab, among whom were five Kemmees, the first-fruits 
 among that people. The principal employment of Mr. 
 Ingalls and his assistants was " preaching the word," and 
 after a residence of fourteen years in Burmah, Mr. lu- 
 galls reported he had never seen the prospects so encour- 
 aging. He says : 
 
 " The work is going on among the Kemmees, and souls are 
 being converted. I have twenty here in a day-school. The 
 Kemmee chief, with many of his tribe, dressed in their rude 
 clothes, came with a long petition, saying, ' Come and preach 
 to us, and tell us of Him who came to save us.' Glory be 
 to God, even with the Arracanese, these hard people, are 
 seeking the way to heaven. I preach until my lungs are 
 almost worn out. Karens have come to my school from 
 Sandoway, as their teacher (Mr. Abbott) has gone to America. 
 Cholera has now come, and our Christians are being called 
 home. Several have died. One poor man, as his limbs be- 
 came cold in death, reached me his only rupee, and said, 
 ' Teacher, put this in for the building of our chapel.' And 
 
 then he closed his eyes Baptized some to-day and 
 
 buried some. I have no fears for those in the grave, but 
 I have anxieties for the others, for their temptations are 
 great in this place." Early in the year 1850, Mr. Ingalls 
 had to abandon this interesting work for a season, and to 
 return to America. 
 
 On Dr. Judson's return to Maulmain, he found all the 
 departments of labor there well supplied. In Rangoon there 
 was not a single missionary nor in all Burmah proper, and 
 he therefore determined, if possible, to find an entrance and 
 shelter there for himself and his family, and once more to
 
 RANGOON. 103 
 
 attempt to gather the little flock together. A large dilapi- 
 dated house in a street of Mussulmans was at last obtained, 
 his family were around him and the dictionary re-commenced. 
 At their first communion, ten Burmans, one Karen, and two 
 foreigners were present. In writing home at this time, Dr- 
 Judson says : " I have just returned from baptizing a Bur- 
 man convert, in the same tank of water where I baptized 
 the first Burman convert Moung Nau, twenty -eight years 
 ago. The present administration of Government, though 
 rather more friendly to foreigners, is more rigidly intolerant 
 than that of the late King Thara\vaddy ; any known attempt 
 at proselyting would be instantly amenable at the criminal 
 tribunal, and would probably be punished by the imprison- 
 ment or death of the proselyte, and the banishment of the 
 missionary. The Governor of this place has received me 
 favorably, not as a missionary, though he well knows from 
 old acquaintance, that that is my character, but as a minister 
 of a foreign religion, ministering to foreigners resident in 
 that place, and a dictionary-maker, ' laboring to promote the 
 welfare of both countries.' Our missionary efforts, there- 
 fore, being conducted in private, must necessarily be very 
 limited. It is, however, a precious privilege to be allowed 
 to welcome into a private room a small company, perhaps 
 two or three individvals only, and pour the light of truth 
 into their immortal souls ; souls that, but for the efficacy of 
 that light, would be covered with the gloom of darkness, 
 darkness to be felt to all eternity." 
 
 Things were thus going on when Dr. Judson learned that 
 a private order had been issued to watch the missionary's 
 house, and apprehend any who might be liable to the charge 
 of favoring " Jesus Christ's religion." This of course put a 
 stop to any further effort, and Dr. Judson determined once 
 more to visit Ava to solicit toleration from the Government.
 
 104: LAST ILLNESS OF DK. JUDSON. 
 
 But funds were wanting from the mission treasury, and the 
 object had to be abandoned ; he returned with his family to 
 Maulmain, and employed himself without intermission upon 
 the Burmese dictionary until the month of November, 1849- 
 He was then seized with a violent cold, followed by an attack 
 of fever of a much more serious character than any from 
 which he had before suffered. A trip down the coast afforded 
 partial relief ; but he was again prostrated, and it was evi' 
 dent that his life was drawing to a close. We cannot forbear 
 giving a few extracts from Mrs. Judson's account of his last 
 days but we earnestly recommend Dr. Wayland's Memoir 
 of Dr. Judson, to the careful perusal of all those who have 
 not yet read it. Mrs. Judson remarks, " Being accustomed 
 to regard all the events of this life, however minute or pain- 
 ful, as ordered in wisdom, and tending to one great and 
 glorious end, he lived in almost constant obedience to the 
 apostolic injunction, ' Rejoice evermore !' He often told 
 me, that although he had endured much personal suffering, 
 and passed through many fearful trials in the course of his 
 eventful life, a kind providence had also hedged him round 
 with precious and peculiar blessings, so that his joys had far 
 
 out-numbered his sorrows As his health declined, 
 
 his mental exercises at first seemed deepened ; and he gave 
 still larger portions of his time to prayer, conversing with 
 the utmost freedom on his daily progress, and the extent of 
 his self-conquest. Just before our trip to Mergui he looked 
 up with sudden animation and said to me earnestly, ' I have 
 gained the victory at last. I love every one of Christ's re- 
 deemed, as I believe He would have me love them, in the 
 manner, though not probably to the same degree as we shall 
 love one another in heaven ; and gladly would I prefer the 
 meanest of his creatures, who bears his name before myself.' 
 This is said, in allusion to the text ' in honor preferring one
 
 LAST ILLNESS OF DE. JUDSON. 105 
 
 another,' on which he had frequently dwelt with great em- 
 phasis From this time no other word would so well 
 
 express his state of feeling as that one of his own choosing 
 peace. He had no particular exercises afterwards, but re- 
 mained calm and serene, speaking of himself daily as a great 
 sinner, who had been overwhelmed with benefits, and declar- 
 ing that he had never, in all his life before, had such de- 
 lightful views of the unfathomable love and infinite conde- 
 scension of the Saviour as were now daily opening before 
 him. ' Oh, the love of Christ ! the love of Christ !' he would 
 suddenly exclaim, while his eye kindled, and the tears chased 
 each other down his cheeks, ' we cannot understand it now 
 but what a beautiful study for eternity !' " 
 
 After their return from Mergui, sea air and sea bathing 
 were recommended, and they went for a month to Amherst, 
 but he rapidly declined, and on returning to Maulmain a sea 
 voyage was ordered as the only hope of recovery. Mrs. 
 Judson, who was not in a state to accompany him, wds 
 anxious to ascertain before he left her, his own opinion with 
 regard to his state. She says : " I could not bear him to go 
 away without knowing how doubtful it was whether our next 
 meeting would not be in eternity." The question was sug- 
 gested : Is it your wish to recover ? " If it should be the 
 will of God, yes. I should like to complete the dictionary 
 on which I have bestowed so much labor, now that it is so 
 nearly done ; for though it has not been a work that pleased 
 my taste, or quite satisfied my feelings, I have never under- 
 rated its importance. Then after that, come all the plans 
 we have formed. Oh, I feel as if I were only just beginning 
 to be prepared for usefulness." 
 
 " It is the opinion of most of the mission," Mrs. Judson 
 remarked, " that you will not recover." "I know it is," he 
 replied ; " and I suppose they think me an old man, and 
 
 5*
 
 106 LAST ILLNESS OF Dii. .JUDSON. 
 
 imagine it is nothing for one like me to resign a life so full 
 of trials. But I am not old, at least in that sens* ; you 
 know I am not. Oh, no man ever left this world with more 
 inviting prospects, with brighter hopes, with warmer feel- 
 ings." His face was perfectly calm, even while the 
 
 tears broke away from the closed lids and rolled one after 
 another down to the pillow. To some suggestions which his 
 wife ventured to make, he replied, " It is not that, I know 
 all that, and feel it in my inmost heart. Lying here on 
 my bed when I could not talk, I had such views of the 
 loving condescension of Christ, and the glories of heaven, 
 as I believe are seldom granted to mortal man. It is not 
 that I shrink from death, that I wish to live, neither is it 
 because the ties that bind me here, though some of them are 
 very sweet, bear any comparison with the drawings I at 
 times feel towards heaven ; but a few years would not be 
 missed from my eternity of bliss, And I can well afford to 
 spare them, both for your sake, and for the sake of the poor 
 Burmans. I am not tired of my work, neither am I tired 
 of the world ; yet when Christ calls me home, I shall go with 
 the gladness of a boy bounding away from his school. Per- 
 haps I feel something like the young bride when she con- 
 templates resigning the present associations of her childhood 
 for a yet dearer home, though only a very little like her, for 
 there is no doubt resting on my future." " Then death 
 would not take you by surprise, if it should come even be- 
 fore you got on board ship ?" " Oh no," he said, " death 
 will never take me by surprise, do not be afraid of that : I 
 feel so strong in Christ. He has not led me so tenderly 
 thus far, to forsake me at the very gate of heaven. No, no ; 
 I am willing to live a few years longer, if it should be so 
 ordered ; and if otherwise, I am willing and glad to die
 
 HIS DEATH. 107 
 
 now. I leave myself entirely in the hands of God, to be 
 disposed of according to His holy will." 
 
 And now came the final parting. He was carried to the 
 ship, and left in charge of Mr. Kanney and one of the Eur- 
 man converts, who were to accompany him ; and little more 
 than a week after he embarked, on the 12th April, 1849, he 
 slept in Jesus. 
 
 During the last hour Mr. Ranney bent over him, and held 
 his hand, while poor Panapah stood at a little distance 
 weeping. The table had been spread in the cuddy as usual, 
 and the officers did not know what was passing in the cabin, 
 till summoned to dinner. Then they gathered about the 
 door, and watched the closing scene with solemn reverence 
 Now, thanks to a merciful God : his pains had left him ; not 
 a momentary spasm disturbed his placid face, nor did the 
 contraction of a muscle denote the least degree of suffering ; 
 the agony of death was pasfe> and his wearied spirit was 
 turning to its rest in the bosom of the Saviour. From time 
 to time he pressed the hand in which his own was resting, 
 his clasp losing in force at each successive pressure ; while 
 his shortened breath though there was no struggle, no 
 gasping, as if it went and came with difficulty gradually 
 grew softer and fainter, until it died upon the air, and he 
 was gone. Mr. Ranney closed his eyes, and composed the 
 passive limbs ; the ship's officers stole softly from the door, 
 and the neglected meal was left upon the board untasted. 
 
 They lowered him to his ocean grave. And there they 
 left him in his unquiet sepulchre : but it matters not, for 
 while the unconscious clay is " drifting on the shifting cur- 
 rents of the restless main," "nothing can disturb the hal- 
 lowed rest of the immortal spirit. Neither could he have a 
 more titling monument than the blue waves which visit every
 
 108 MR. JDDSON'S CHARACTER. 
 
 coast ; for his warm sympathies went forth to the ends of 
 the earth, and included the whole family of man." 
 
 Thus lived and died the " apostle of Burmah." " He 
 mastered its language," said Dr. Mackay, one of the Calcutta 
 missionaries who specially revered him, "he made it his 
 own and smoothed its difficulties for his successors. He 
 translated into the language of the people the whole word of 
 God, with such skill, patience, and judgment, that his ver- 
 sion bids fair, in the opinion of competent judges, to be the 
 standard Bible of Burmah. He made the first Burman con- 
 verts, and gathered together the first Burman congregation 
 of Christians ; and, with full assurance that the good seed 
 had taken root, and would spring up vigorously in the land 
 of his adoption, he died ' in his harness,' young in spirit, but 
 ripe in years and honors. He stood out as the most remark- 
 able man in the modern era of missions. Tried by every 
 vicissitude of humanity, he ,came forth like pure gold : 
 chained in a dungeon, and face to face with the executioner, 
 or swimming on the topmost wave of popularity, the idol of 
 all that was holy and good in his native land ; in the extremes 
 of household happiness, and household bereavements ; driven 
 again and again, as it seemed for ever, from the mission 
 field, or rejoicing over his little flock and his completed 
 Bible ; in the pulpit, on the platform, or in cheerful social 
 intercourse, Adoniram Judson was always true to his own 
 high nature, combining the warm affections of a man, with 
 the strength, simplicity, and directness of an apostle of the 
 living God." 
 
 His uncompleted work of the dictionary was taken up by 
 Mr. Stevens of the Maulmain mission, who, with great 
 patience and perseverance, brought it to a conclusion in 
 1852, and thus completed a work which will be of lasting 
 value to every student of Burmese.
 
 NATIVE PASTORS NOMINATED. 109 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 NATIVE PKEACHEKS. 
 
 " He gave some Evangelists." EPH. iv. 2. 
 
 
 
 IT will be well for us now to take a glance at the various 
 mission stations, in order to trace the progress that, under 
 the divine blessing, was being made in one of the most in- 
 teresting departments of labor. In all was felt the increas- 
 ing value of the NATIVE ASSISTANTS and pastors. Some are 
 mentioned in reports from different quarters in terms of the 
 highest commendation. 
 
 The nomination of pastors to the office was generally ef- 
 fected in the following manner. A number of baptized 
 Christians, living in the same village or vicinity, would 
 select from among their own number a man to conduct public 
 worship and discharge pastoral duties, and call him 
 " teacher." Almost invariably he proved to be the best 
 adapted for the work, by age, intelligence, and piety. With- 
 out further formalities, this band of Christians was called a 
 church, and the man their pastor. The pastor generally 
 pursued a course of study with the missionaries, during 
 which period his character and qualifications became known ; 
 and if approved, he would be appointed an assistant. The 
 standard of moral purity among the Christians is very high, 
 and in two instances, individuals have been cut off from 
 communion and fellowship, by the unanimous vote of the 
 native assistants themselves. The readiness with which
 
 110 THE PASTOR, WAH DEE. 
 
 ministerial support has been supplied by the native churches 
 is most encouraging, as also the manner in which the pastoral 
 relationship has been in general sustained. 
 
 Writing from Sandoway in 1351, Mr. Beecher says of the 
 " Great Plains :" " This church has been greatly afflicted in 
 the sudden death of its pastor, Wah Dee, while on a preaching 
 tour in Burmah. His memory was held in most affectionate 
 remembrance. Wah Dee, though dead, ' has become a sweet 
 smelling savor,' was the remark of the aged headman of the 
 village. A great improvement had been made during the 
 past three years in his village. The houses arranged in rows 
 and built with care, the ground under and around, free 
 from rubbish and often swept, the little plots of vegetables 
 well cultivated and fruitful, the thriving nurseries, the 
 streets wide and straight and mostly bordered with fruit 
 trees and flowers, whose fragrance filled the air, all done by 
 Wah Dee, all planned and directed by Wah Dee, altogether 
 formed a spot lovely and pleasant. The outward condition 
 of the people was a fair representation of their spiritual 
 state. Their many and severe afflictions, (for many have 
 befallen them,) have been sanctified to their growth in 
 grace ; and a degree of intelligence and spirituality are- ex- 
 hibited which far exceeded expectation. Arrangements are 
 made to supply the place of the pastor by his son, a youth 
 of great promise, the headman meanwhile continuing to aid 
 in conducting worship and watching over the members." 
 
 Again, writing of Thay Ran, he says : " The people of 
 this village have exhibited much of Christian enterprise in 
 building it, and are advancing in civilization as well as Chris- 
 tianity. Four years previously, the place was a dense wilder- 
 ness, but the rice field has appeared instead of the jungle ; 
 and where, a few years since, roamed herds of wild elephant, 
 Christians now walk in company to the house of God. Tho
 
 VILLAGE OF THAT KAU. Ill 
 
 prosperous appearance of the people is here also attributable 
 in a marked degree to pastoral influence. No native preach, 
 er has a greater or better influence abroad, and none is more 
 beloved and respected at home. As we passed by or enter- 
 ed his room from day to day, and saw Tway Fob, the Rev. 
 Tway Poh we should say, for no minister was ever more 
 worthy of the title than he, sitting by his table, reading and 
 studying, or conversing with those who sought his advice, 
 we often wished that our brethren and sisters who feel such 
 an interest in this people, could experience the delight that 
 we did, as the expression came involuntarily to our lips, 
 How much like a pastor in his study at home ! Let the 
 prayers of Christians ascend to the great Head of the church, 
 that he will raise up from among this people many such pas- 
 tors as Tway Poh." 
 
 In the early part of 1851, Mr. Van Meter gave a most in- 
 teresting account of one of the annual associations, or meet- 
 ings of the churches in the jungles at Thay Rau. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Beecher had started in another boat to accompany him, 
 but a violent storm prevented their accomplishing their ob- 
 ject. Mr. Van Meter mentions the order and solemnity 
 which pervaded the meeting, and the feeling of extraordinary 
 interest with which he listened to the preaching from day to 
 day of the native pastors. 
 
 The details of their missionary labors and the blessing 
 which had followed, were very striking. Tha Bwa had been 
 the means of the conversion of a whole village, which at 
 once asked for a teacher, and promised to build him a house 
 to live in. On hearing this, one of the young men who had 
 just commenced preaching, begged and obtained permission 
 to go and labor among the people. The interest excited by 
 these services was deep and solemn, there was no restless- 
 ness, and during the closing prayer, there was such a marked
 
 112 NATIVE LABOES. 
 
 silence, that it was evident all hearts were engaged. Just 
 as Mr. Van Meter was preparing to depart, a note was re- 
 ceived from the Commissioner, informing them of warlike 
 preparation in Burmah. There was universal alarm among 
 the Karens, and before midnight the whole company were 
 prepared to separate. It was a solemn parting. Would 
 they ever meet again on earth ? Would they ever reach 
 their homes at all ? These were thoughts which the circum- 
 stance too readily suggested, but the eye of faith could look 
 beyond the present time, and pierce the clouds which for a 
 moment hid the bright future from their sight. 
 
 In this year we have a very interesting account of the con- 
 version and baptism of the first of the Khyen tribe. Mr. 
 Knapp, who was now laboring amongst the Kemmees, men- 
 tions a visit from a Khyen woman, who having been long a 
 slave in Burmah, had at length obtained her liberty, and had 
 made the home of her old age among the Kemmees. The Bur- 
 man disciples had taken great pains in explaining to her the 
 way of life by Jesus Christ, and she proved her sincerity by 
 her earnest desire " to put her sins all away, and to be Je- 
 sus Christ's disciple." When she came to Mr. Knapp she 
 could scarcely speak from emotion, the tears trickled down 
 her aged face, " I am in a dark wild land," she said, " but 
 I don't want to live so. I want light. I want to put my 
 trust in Jesus, and to be his disciple. I want to be bap- 
 tized. Mr. Knapp writes, " On Sunday morning I had the 
 privilege of baptizing the Khyen woman ; she gave such evi- 
 dence of faith and repentance, as satisfied all the Burman 
 disciples who were with me ; indeed all the evidence that 
 could be hoped for. She calmly trusts in Christ, arid now 
 rejoices in hope of the glory of God." 
 
 How marked are the dealings of providence in this wo- 
 man's history ! Brought up a wild Khyen, carried by a
 
 THE FIK8T KHYEN CONVERT. 113 
 
 band of robbers into slavery, by which means she became fa- 
 miliar with the Burman language, liberated by some means 
 and brought among this Kemmee people, she now hears, in 
 the Burman tongue, the glad tidings of salvation, believes, 
 and is saved ! Thus, ' the wrath of man shall praise Him.' 
 After her baptism she was constantly at the meetings and en- 
 gaged in prayer of her own accord ; was anxious to learn 
 to count the days that she might keep the Sabbath holy, and 
 seemed very desirous to lead others, especially women, to 
 Christ ; and said she wished she could live within one hour 
 or one day of the teacher, that she could hear more of the 
 gospel, for it made her heart glad. May the great Shepherd 
 keep her ! 
 
 Not less interesting was the work that went on at this 
 period in Tavoy and Mergui. The native assistants and pas- 
 tors labored with earnestness and devotion of spirit, and 
 were taught to endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ. 
 One, in writing to his brethren to encourage and stimulate 
 their zeal, says : 
 
 " When we travel among the unconverted, sometimes we 
 are starved, and sometimes we are sick, and then our hearts 
 are troubled. Why is it so ? Because we lack love. Breth- 
 ren ! We ought to think of the work of the Lord Jesus, who 
 possessed love. How did he show his love, the greatest pos- 
 sible exhibition of love ? By his sufferings. Now he hun- 
 gered forty days, and anon he suffered pain till the perspira- 
 tion rolled from him like drops of blood, and in his final 
 exhibition of love he suffered death. All his sufferings 
 were for our sins. Our Lord's love extended to the sacri- 
 fice of his life. Now we ought to contemplate these things 
 minutely, definitely, and tread in his footsteps all our lives. 
 We should consider that he loved us unto death, and thus 
 be led to love each other. We ought, each and every one
 
 114 TAVOY ASSOCIATION. 
 
 of us, to arm ourselves in the Lord with the doing of his 
 work and prayer. The Holy Scriptures say, ' The righteous 
 man's supplication from the heart overcometh much.' .Now 
 we must go among the heathen, and as the disciples prayed 
 and exhorted on the day of Pentecost, and the Holy Spirit 
 was poured out, converting three thousand persons, so let us 
 call out aloud and in earnest, like the apostles of old, that 
 the people may become Christians." 
 
 Mr. Thomas, who with his wife had not long arrived in the 
 country, gives a vivid description of his first impressions, 
 on visiting the jungle. " The tour has been most refreshing 
 to our souls. During the seven months since we arrived in 
 Tavoy, we had been cooped up in this city, where the multi- 
 tudes seem as mad upon their idols as if no missionary had 
 ever visited these shores. But in visiting the jungles, we 
 passed from the sight of idols and the tumult of their wor- 
 shippers into quiet Christian villages : where, instead of 
 gorgeous kyoungs, we found modest Christian chapels, in 
 which, instead of idols and altars strewn with tinsel offer- 
 ings or smoking with incense, are roughly-wrought tables 
 bearing the Holy Bible and hymn book. Instead of being 
 tormented by the dismal sound of instruments in honor of 
 Gaudaiua, we joined a happy people in their songs of praise 
 to Christ. I do bless God that I have witnessed the fulfil- 
 ment of this his gracious promise, ' The wilderness and solita- 
 ry place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice 
 and blossom as the rose.' The most interesting feature of 
 our tour was the Association of the churches of the Tavoy 
 and Mergui provinces, at Ongpong. There the native Chris- 
 tians met, mingled their grestings and songs of praise, and 
 joined in spirited discussions on subjects most intimately 
 connected with the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom in
 
 RULES OF CONDUCT. 115 
 
 these provinces. In all their exercises nothing but a spirit 
 of love and harmony was manifest. What hath God wrought!" 
 
 At this Association the following resolutions were submit- 
 ted by the Karen Christians for their mutual adoption. 
 They were believed to have originated with the natives 
 themselves, and what is here given is a literal translation. 
 Another resolution pledges Christian parents to discourage 
 the marriage of their children before they arrive at mature 
 age. The contrary practice which did prevail, was most in- 
 jurious. 
 
 " ' 1. We will avoid that superstitious forsaking of prop- 
 erty [such as quitting a house because a person has died in 
 it, and a thousand things of that kind,] which was practised 
 by our ancestors, but is contrary to the Scriptures. 
 
 " ' 2. We will avoid all vain oaths, particularly such as re- 
 fer to the name of God. 
 
 " ' 3, We will avoid all attempts to frighten our children 
 into obedience by telling them what is not true [as, that 
 some fearful thing will happen to them, a tiger will bite 
 them, &c.] ; also, we will endeavor to avoid all kinds of de- 
 ception, and lying words. 
 
 " ' 4. We will avoid all kinds of vain and foolish songs, 
 such as the heathen use, to excite their passions. 
 
 " ' 5. We will avoid all kinds of personal contests, as 
 wrestling, betting, &c. 
 
 " ' 6. We will avoid all charms and amulets and all those 
 supposed medicines which the heathen regard as securities 
 against superstitious ills? tattooing, &c. 
 
 " ' Avoiding all these, we will endeavor strictly to obey the 
 commandments and doctrines of the Holy Scriptures. And 
 every custom or practice which we n'nd contrary to the 
 Holy Scriptures, whatever it may be, we will be contrary
 
 116 KULES FOR WOESHIP. 
 
 unto it, and carefully avoid it. Whatever cannot be found 
 in the Holy Scriptures shall not be reduced to practice.' 
 
 " In regard to public worship ; 
 
 " ' 1. When we assemble for worship in the sanctuary, we 
 will sit down in silence and wait for the communication of 
 the word of God from the teacher. 
 
 " ' 2. When the gong sounds to indicate the hour of wor- 
 ship, we will immediately drop all work or employment, and 
 repair at once to the sanctuary or the house of prayer. 
 
 " ' 3. All kinds of worldly talk, as of buying and selling, 
 seeking food, &c., we will avoid on the Sabbath in our meet- 
 ings for the worship of God. 
 
 " ' All these obligations we will be careful to observe as 
 long as we live. We are, according to the Scriptures, chil- 
 dren of the light, and we will walk in the light. We will 
 faithfully watch, as the Scriptures have taught us. Every- 
 thing which tends to debase us, everything which is unholy, 
 everything which will grieve or hinder the Holy Spirit, every- 
 thing which brings darkness upon the kingdom of God, we 
 will avoid. We will never permit any of these to enter our 
 practice.' " 
 
 The preceding sketches present a view of the mission as 
 it appeared just before the outbreak of hostilities in Pegu. 
 
 At that time a fiery trial fell upon the infant churches of 
 that province. The Christian Karens were known to bear 
 no allegiance to Burmese rule, and were held responsible 
 for the war. In many parts ruinous taxes were levied upon 
 them, their worship was forbidddh, and their chapels were 
 destroyed. Many were imprisoned as hostages for peace, with 
 the threat that on the first invasion by the English, they 
 should all be put to death. The appearance of the English 
 nappily caused so dire a panic, that the prisoners escaped 
 without harm, but after a little space the courage of their
 
 PERSECUTION IN PEGU. 117 
 
 oppressors revived. Burman troops and hordes of lawless 
 robbers, ravaged the country, burning and pillaging in all 
 directions, and torturing and killing the defenceless villa- 
 gers. Goaded by suffering to an unwonted degree of cour- 
 age, the Karens prepared to repel force by force. They 
 were disarmed by the Burmans at the commencement of 
 hostilities, but they took the field with what weapons they 
 could procure, obtained further supplies from the English, 
 and acted with bravery and effect. In several skirmishes 
 they defeated their enemies with inconsiderable loss to them- 
 selves ; in some others they were less successful. 
 
 The occupation of Pegu by the English interposed only a 
 partial check upon the ruinous disorder. The delay inci- 
 dent to military operations in such a country, gave time for 
 fresh outbreaks of violence and rapine, some details of 
 which are too terrible to relate, but the final expulsion of 
 the Burmese force terminated this state of anarchy, and at 
 last gave quiet to the land. Immediately on the estab- 
 lishment of the English at Bassein, the peculiar claims 
 of the Karens to protection were regarded by the 
 Commander. One of their own head men, known as the 
 " Young Chief," was made their Chief Magistrate. A pious 
 officer obtained from Maulmain a box of books to distribute 
 among them ; and Mr. Abbott, who had now returned from 
 America, and Mr. Van Meter, embracing the earliest oppor- 
 tunity to visit them, arrived at Bassein on 12th July, 1852. 
 They were received with demonstrations of joy by the Ka- 
 rens, and the news of their arrival brought numbers from 
 all parts to see their teachers, many to see them for the 
 first time. Soon after they landed, they had an interview 
 with a company of native preachers, who gave a minute ac- 
 count of their sufferings and necessities. The following ac- 
 count of the martyrdom, during the war, of one of their pas-
 
 118 THE MABTYR THAGUA. 
 
 
 
 tors, written in Burmese by a Burmese doctor, an eye-wit- 
 ness and a heathen, is most affecting. 
 
 " Thagua, pastor of the White Book people in the vicinity 
 of Bassein, was taken by the Burman Magistrate, on the 
 accusation of having called in the English to take their 
 country. They seized him and his son and struck him thirty 
 lashes on his way to prison. The son they struck twenty-five 
 lashes. A nephew also was beaten. They took him to the 
 Governor and paid 30 Rs. to the ruler. Now these Burmans 
 were agreed in killing all the disciples, but waited a little 
 to get money. They said to the Governqr, These white 
 book men will come and kill you as they did the chiefs in 
 Rangoon. The Governor then said, ' Seize them !' So they 
 seized the pastor and forty of his people, and hooked them 
 together with iron hooks. Then they liberated the old men, 
 and told them to go and get 130 Rs. and they should be free 
 again. The elders did so, and paid the 130 Rs., but the 
 Burman Kala did not free them, but hooked them again. 
 The next day he dragged out Thagua the pastor, and struck 
 him twice, then pressed him between bamboo, then tied him 
 by the neck to a mango tree, his hands tied behind to the 
 tree. Thagua cried out, ' My lord, my lord, do you kill 
 me ?' Kala answered : ' Give me 170 Rs. and you shall be 
 free.' 
 
 " Thagua replied : ' I have no silver, my lord.' 
 " The Magistrate answered : ' The disciples give you 100 
 Rs. per year.' 
 
 " ' No, my lord. They never gave me so much.' 
 " Then said Kala to the disciples : ' Give his ransom, and 
 take your leader, and all shall be peace. If not, we will 
 slaughter him.' 
 
 " The disciples said : ' My lord, if his life may be 
 spared we will give the money.' The 170 Rs. were given,
 
 THE MARTYR TIIAGUA. 119 
 
 but still they did not free him. Then Kala led them all 
 back to the village of Pataw, and gave the pastor into the 
 hands of the Judge. The Judge reviled him, saying : 
 
 " ' If your God is Almighty bid hhii take you out of these 
 hooks.' 
 
 " Thagua replied ; ' If the Eternal God does not now save 
 me from your hands, he "will save me eternally in the world 
 to come.' The Judge asked, ' How do you know that ?' 
 
 " Thagua replied : ' God's Holy Book tells me so, and it 
 is true.' 
 
 " The Judge replied : ' Yes, you teach the people this 
 book, and because you are talented and cunning the white 
 men come and take our country.' 
 
 " Then the Judge himself fell upon him, mad with rage, 
 and beat him with the elbow severely, then hooked him with 
 five pairs of hooks, and ordered him back to prison . 
 
 " Three days after, the Judge again dragged up Thagua 
 and said : ' Your God you say can save you. Read his book 
 before me now.' 
 
 " Thagua replied : ' Though I read you will not believe, 
 but persecute me still. But the Eternal God, my Judge 
 and your Judge, the Lord Jesus Christ, he will save me.' 
 
 "' Command Him then to save you from my hands now!' 
 said the Burman. 
 
 "The chief Judge then beat him with a cudgel as large as 
 his wrist thirty blows, then ordered him back to prison with 
 very little rice. Two days after Kala went to this Judge, 
 and Thagua asked him, ' My lord, what do you ?' 
 
 " ' Kill you every one,' he replied, and kicked him as a 
 horse kicks. 
 
 " Then said Thagua : ' We cannot live,' and dropped his 
 head. 
 
 " Then said Kala to the Judge :
 
 120 PEOGBESS AT BASSEIX. 
 
 " ' Kill these men, and I will give you a viss of silver. ' 
 
 "' If I kill them I cannot endure the punishment, (as the 
 consequence,)' said the Judge, but took the silver. 
 
 " A day or two after, Kala went and gave him fifty rupees 
 more, but the Judge said : ' If you will marry your daughter 
 to my son I will kill them.' 
 
 " Then Kala replied : ' Brother, I will marry them.' 
 
 " Then the Judge said : ' If I do not destroy them the 
 white people will come and take our lands and kill us every 
 one.' Then he scourged pastor Thagua three times. 
 
 " Thagua said : ' If because I worship God you torture 
 me, kill me at once I entreat you.' 
 
 " They then took him, struck him sixty times, fastened 
 him to a cross, shot him, embowelled him, and cut him in 
 three pieces." 
 
 But besides these atrocities, they had to tell of the ravages 
 of cholera, by which many had been swept away, of whom 
 five were preachers. One of them was Myat Kyau, the first 
 Karen ordained to the ministry, who had been deputed at a 
 time when no European missionary could enter the country 
 to organize the disciples in Burmah proper into churches, 
 and baptized in his first tour fifty persons ; the number that 
 afterwards received the rite at his hands appears to have 
 been little short of one thousand. 
 
 Some Barman kyoungs at Bassein having been fitted up 
 for a chapel, a school and a mission house, the missionaries 
 were literally thronged with visitors for several weeks. 
 There was no lack of persons anxious to become pupils in 
 the schools ; the difficulty was to select from the mass the 
 limited number it was practicable to receive. The compa- 
 nies that came daily were of all classes, Sgaus and Pwos, 
 heathen and Christian, members of churches, and disciples 
 who had embraced the truth but had never been baptized,
 
 THE HISTORY OF 3IYAT KYAU. 121 
 
 because no ordained minister, foreign or native, had visited 
 them. All equally regarded the foreign teachers as their 
 friends; the heathen, on being questioned, declared that they 
 had continued such only because they had no teacher. Thus 
 there was no want of work to be done, and that of the^most 
 delightful kind, teaching those who were thirsting for in- 
 struction in the truths and duties of Christianity. 
 
 The prostration of Mr. Abbott's health in September 
 which enforced his removal, together with the tumultuous 
 state of the country, demanded the dismissal of the school. 
 The Karens took leave of their beloved teacher with inex- 
 pressible grief, " sorrowing most of all for the foreboding 
 that they should see his face no more." Mr. Yan Meter was 
 left alone for some time, when Mr. Beecher joined him. The 
 succeeding months were months of terror to the people, and 
 of anxiety and unremitting labor to the missionaries. But 
 with the return of peace came the returning prospect of en- 
 gaging anew in the quiet exercise of their duties. 
 
 In 1852, we find mention of the death at Maulmain of the 
 Burman convert MTAT KYAU,* the first Talaing preacher of 
 the gospel. He came to the grave at the advanced age of 
 seventy-six, full of years and of grace, after a long am! sted- 
 fast course of usefulness. By birth he was a Buddhist, and 
 connected with persons of rank and influence amongst his 
 countrymen, his brother being the Governor of Shwaygyeen 
 under the Burman Government, and himself the Collector of 
 taxes among the Karens of the Shwaygyeen districts. 
 
 Being a man of superior intellect and education, and hav- 
 ing a very thoughtful and inquiring mind, he searched deeply 
 into the claims of Buddhism, and came to the conviction 
 that the religion of his fathers was a baseless fabric. There 
 
 Mentioned in Mrs. Wade's letter. 
 6
 
 122 THE HISTORY OF MTAT KYAU. 
 
 can be little doubt that his intercourse with the Karens had 
 made him acquainted with their traditions of an Eternal 
 God, the Creator of all things, not liable to change, decay, 
 death or annihilation, and probably these wonderful traditions 
 had shaken his false confidences, and raised the spirit of 
 inquiry in his mind. From that time he began his search 
 after truth, but it was many a weary year before the true 
 light shone upon his path. He, at this time, became ac- 
 quainted with a Brahmin ascetic, and, being struck with hia 
 supposed sanctity and devotion, became his disciple and fol- 
 lower, and for two or three years, practised various austeri- 
 ties. As the real character of the Gooroo developed before 
 him, and he became convinced that his teacher was but a 
 polluted and sinful man like himself, he fled from him in 
 disgust and disappointment, and returned to his family and 
 friends. But his spirit was not at rest. Like Noah's dove 
 he could find no place for the sole of his foot. " There must 
 be a revealed religion," he said ; " that I knew where I 
 might find it," was the language of his heart. 
 
 In this state of mind he entered a Muhammedan mosque, 
 and heard of " one God and Muhammad his prophet." The 
 idea of one eternal, unchangeable, omniscient Being, the 
 Creator of all things, struck his mind. It was a ray of light 
 shining in through the dark clouds of heathenism which sur- 
 rounded him. The same idea he had conceived from the 
 traditions of the Karens, but they had no sacred writings, 
 they could give no account of this great Being, and no in- 
 struction as to the worship he expected from his creatures. 
 It was with intense interest that he listened to the Koran, 
 expecting to find in it some revelation of the way in which 
 he might obtain divine light and favor, but he was disap- 
 pointed, it was not there, and the only spark of light which 
 was reflected from the Koran was this : ' There is one God.'
 
 THE HISTORY OF MY AX KYATJ. 123 
 
 He returned from the mosque dissatisfied, but determined 
 to follow on to know the Lord, whose goings forth had been 
 prepared as the morning. He was leading his servant by a 
 way he knew not to the true refuge of his soul. 
 
 He was next attracted by a Roman Catholic chapel and at- 
 tended the services. There for the first time he heard the 
 name of Christ as the Saviour of men, but was also directed 
 to pray to the Virgin Mary and to worship her as the mother 
 of God, and to seek the intercession of Peter and an endless 
 succession of saints. This appeared to him to be but an- 
 other form of heathenism. The worship of the Virgin was 
 particularly offensive, and he said, " If I must worship a 
 human being as God, I would rather worship Gaudama, a 
 man, than this woman. And as for Roman images, I cannot 
 see that they have any more claim to divine honors than 
 Burman images." 
 
 A long period of darkness and distress succeeded, and 
 Myat Kyau almost despaired of ever finding that divine 
 knowledge which he so earnestly sought. In 1824-7 he and 
 his family came to Maulmain in consequence of the war, and 
 it was from similar causes that Dr. Judson and Mr. Wade 
 came there also. Myat Kyau and his brother the late Gover- 
 nor of Shwa}'gycen took up their abode not far from the zayat 
 at which Dr. Judson was accustomed to preach. His brother 
 was at this time one of the chief men in the employ of the 
 English Government. He took but little notice of the 
 foreigners or their teaching, but Myat Kyau, on the contrary 
 was found at the zayat amongst the most interested of the 
 inquirers. The previous discipline through which God had 
 brought him, had prepared his mind for a ready reception 
 of the great truths of the gospel, and when he heard that 
 Jesus said, " If any man thirst let him come unto me and 
 drink," his thirsty soul, which had long panted for this water
 
 THE HISTORY OF MYAT EYAU. 
 
 of life, drank, and drank freely. Day after day he was at 
 the zayat from morning till night. One prejudice after an- 
 other melted away, cloud after cloud dispersed, until the 
 Sun of righteousness arose with healing in his wings, and 
 he stood forth a new creature in a new world. The Holy 
 Spirit had convinced him of sin, righteousness and judg- 
 ment, and of the love and power and grace of Christ as the 
 Saviour of sinners. 
 
 It needed no power of eloquence to arouse him, or of ar- 
 guments to persuade him. The pearl of great price was 
 within his reach, and he resolved to part with all to obtain 
 it. He soon found that nothing less would do. His family, 
 who had observed the change that was taking place were 
 roused to the most determined opposition and hatred of the 
 truth. His brother told him plainly that he would disown 
 him, his wife that she would abandon him if he were bap- 
 tized, his two sons and an adopted son that they would no 
 longer call him father. None of these things moved him, or 
 caused him for one moment to waver in his determination to 
 follow Christ. 
 
 Wife and children were dear as a right hand or a right 
 eye ; but Christ was infinitely dearer. He was all his sal- 
 vation and all his desire. " If friends forsake me because 
 I adhere to Christ/'' he said, "I cannot discard Him for 
 their sake. His is the only name given tinder heaven 
 among men whereby we must be saved. I will persuade 
 them if possible to become His disciples. I will pray for 
 them. Perhaps God will give them light to see their need 
 of Christ ; but if not, they must take their own course ; I 
 cannot follow them in the way which leads to eternal death." 
 
 For several months the trial was indeed severe, and he 
 had to endure all the anguish of spirit of one cast out and 
 forsaken by those so dear to him, but the Lord stood by to
 
 MYAT KYATj's USEFULNESS. 125 
 
 strengthen and sustain him, and he found in Jesus the friend 
 that sticketh closer than a brother. His heart yearned for 
 his beloved wife and children, and he never ceased to plead 
 with God until she and one of his sons, and his adopted son 
 were not only reconciled to his profession of Christianity, 
 but became themselves followers of the lowly Jesus. 
 
 Immediately after his own conversion, Myat Kyau, com- 
 menced earnestly laboring for the salvation of others, and it 
 became evident to Dr. Judson and Dr. Wade that he was 
 eminently fitted to be a true helper in their work. From 
 that time forth he continued to testify the gospel of the 
 grace of God to his countrymen during a long course of 
 years, with unabating energy and zeal, until total blindness 
 and the infirmities of age entirely disabled him. Many 
 were the fruits of his labors, not only among the Burmans 
 and Talaings, but also among the Karens. His labors were 
 not con6ned to Maulmain, but almost every village and 
 hamlet in the province heard the gospel from his lips. For 
 several years he accompanied Dr. Wade in his excursions 
 among the villages, performing the double service of assist- 
 ant, and steersman of the boat, nor did he ever shrink from 
 performing the smallest service which could render him more 
 efficient in their minsionary tours. 
 
 He was prominently instrumental in bringing the Karens 
 to the notice of the missionary. His office as Collector of 
 Customs amongst them had made him familiar with their 
 character and language, and as they travelled among the 
 Burmans and Talaings, and observed their bigotry and blind- 
 ness, he would often reiterate, " The Karens are not like the 
 Buddhists; they have-no idols.no priests, and if the teacher 
 would go and preach to them, great numbers would listen 
 and believe the gospel." He so constantly reverted to this, 
 that it led to Dr. Wade's visit to Dongyan, which we have
 
 126 HIS CHARACTER. 
 
 already noticed in our earlier pages. After a lapse of twen- 
 ty years, in visiting this station again, Dr. Wade found the 
 man and his wife in whose house they had staid, both living ; 
 both had become Christians with ten out of their eleven 
 children. In the village was a flourishing church of eighty- 
 six members. The old man and his wife had long been a 
 father and mother in Israel, and spoke -with affectionate re- 
 membrance of Myat Kyau and of his first visit among them- 
 
 When Dr. Wade was pursuing the important task of re- 
 ducing the Karen language to writing, he received much 
 assistance from Myat Kyau, more especially in his earnest 
 prayers for wisdom from above to assist in accomplishing a 
 work which, to his mind, seemed beyond the power of .hu- 
 man wisdom. 
 
 Myat Kyau was pre-eminently a man of prayer. When 
 travelling by boat as he held the helm he would constantly 
 be chanting words of prayer and praise. When they stop- 
 ped for the tide or to cook, and were again prepared to move 
 on, he was frequently missing, so frequently that it led to an 
 inquiry into the cause, when it was found that he had gone 
 to some retired spot for prayer. Sometimes he was known 
 to have continued whole nights in prayer without being aware 
 of the lapse of time, till the cock-crowing reminded him that 
 day was breaking. He continued to go daily to the zayat to 
 preach some time after he had lost his sight, getting a child 
 to lead him, and at length, when he was disabled from the 
 increasing infirmities of age, he would sit in his verandah 
 testifying to the love and faithfulness of God his Saviour to 
 all whom he could induce to listen. 
 
 His liberality abounded to the last, even out of his deep 
 poverty. His allowance as an assistant had ceased, and as 
 he had only saved a hundred and fifty rupees, the interes ot 
 which was all his support, he was often reduced to extreme 
 poverty. It so grieved Dr. Wade to see the good old man
 
 HIS DEATH. 127 
 
 
 
 struggling with want in his last days, and unable to procure 
 
 the commonest necessaries of life, that he obtained some 
 means for his relief, for which he manifested the deepest 
 thankfulness. Notwithstanding his great poverty he would 
 give four annas per month out of his pittance, for the sup- 
 port of a native preacher employed by the church. His 
 wife told him one day, when the subscription list came round, 
 that they were so poor he had better save the four annas for 
 his own use. <; No," he replied, " I can bear retrenchment 
 on my daily food, but I cannot be deprived of the luxury of 
 giving something to sustain the cause of Christ." And he 
 continued to give his mite to the last. Such was the beauti- 
 ful consistency of his Christian character that from his bap- 
 tism to his death, both the missionaries and his fellow disci- 
 ples testify that he ever walked worthy of his high calling, 
 " in good report and evil report." For the last two years of 
 his life he was very feeble, and totally blind, yet every com- 
 munion Sabbath found him at his place commemorating the 
 dying love of Christ his Saviour. 
 
 During his last days the powers of nature were so exhaust- 
 ed that he could say but little, but his heart responded to tho 
 mention of that Name which is above every other name, and 
 it was evident he united in prayer, after it was thought he 
 had ceased to be conscious. He had no fear of death, but 
 longed to depart and be with Christ, and with teacher Jud- 
 son and his fellow-disciples who had gone before, and the 
 whole assembly of the glorified. As long as he could speak 
 he ceased not to warn and exhort, especially his sons, who 
 had both turned aside from the right way, and " though dead 
 he yet spcakcth." 
 
 A large concourse of all classes, both Christian and hea- 
 then, attended his funeral, and followed his remains to their 
 last resting place. Truly " the memory of the just is 
 blessed."
 
 128 THE MISSIONARIES AT RANGOON.. 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 THE ANNEXATION OF PEGU. 
 
 " The Mort High rnleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whom- 
 soever He will" DAS. iv. 32. 
 
 IN March, 1851, Mr. Kincaid and Dr. Dawson proceeded 
 to Rangoon, and having effected an arrangement for a tem- 
 porary residence, removed their families thither in the fol- 
 lowing April, proposing to ascend to Ava at the close of the 
 rainy season. On their first arrival, all seemed dark and 
 dreary. Many had said, " You are going into the lion's 
 mouth, what good can you expect to do under a government 
 so relentless and bitter towards foreigners ?" And the 
 worst fears of the timid seemed to be but too well-founded. 
 Mr. Kincaid was declared a prisoner, and forbidden to speak, 
 or to walk beyond the limits of his own dwelling, without 
 the surveillance of a Burman officer. Such was the state of 
 things in April. Notwithstanding these hostile orders, the 
 missionaries commenced dispensing medicines, and instruc- 
 ting all who came to the mission house ; and on the 3rd of 
 May, a royal message from the Court of Ava reached them, 
 bidding them welcome^ and expresing the hope that they 
 would remain in the empire. From that time they labored 
 without molestation ; hundreds thronged to hear the word of 
 God, and several distinguished and influential priests occa- 
 sionally visited them. No doubt this fact imparted to the 
 most timid a feeling of security in resorting to the missionary 
 teachers. One day a Poongyee or priest, of considerable in-
 
 VISIT OF A PKIEST. 129 
 
 fluence, called at the mission house with a number of his 
 pupils or noviciates. When the time had arrived for the 
 preaching to commence, he was invited to sit down, but po- 
 litely asking to be excused, he expressed a wish that the 
 young priests might go up and listen, saying, that he would 
 wait for them below, where he was sitting. Opening a Bi- 
 ble which was handed to him, he promised to read it till the 
 service was ended. Ko En, the native preacher, conducted 
 the service, and preached nearly an hour ; while the young 
 Poongyees sat patient and attentive listeners. When Dr. 
 Dawson returned to the priest, the latter was asked to give 
 back the copy of the Bible he had been reading. When told 
 that the Governor had forbidden them to give away books, 
 but that he might read it as long as liked, he took up a vol- 
 ume of tracts that was on the mat before him, and running 
 his eye over some of its pages, he said there were some 
 things he wished to copy,, and he wanted to know if they 
 would lend it. " Certainly," was Dr. Dawson's reply. Ap- 
 parently much gratified, he rolled it up in a handkerchief, 
 and gave it to one of his attendants to carry to the kyoung. 
 He then urged the missionaries to pay a visit to nis monas- 
 tery. His readiness to send his pupils, to listen to the 
 preaching of the gospel, was a remarkable proof of liberal- 
 ity in a Buddhist priest, who lived under the very shadow 
 of the great Shway Dagon Pagoda. 
 
 When the Christian Karens heard that the missionaries 
 were at Rangoon, they soon came in little companies to visit 
 them, and were incessantly in prayer that they might not be 
 driven from the country again. Many touching notices of 
 them occur in the journals of Mr. Kincaid and Dr. Dawson. 
 One writes : " I feel ashamed when I look on this people so 
 full of faith and stedfastness ; so certain that a day of de- 
 liverance is at hand, that the empire of darkness will be 
 
 G*
 
 130 TRIALS OF KAREN CONVERTS. 
 
 overturned. The seal of God is on this people. Every- 
 where among them there is a spirit of inquiry, and the Lord 
 is raising up men of strong faith for the work of the minis- 
 try. While the Burmans are groping their way amidst the 
 darkness of Pantheism, and are toiling under the weight of 
 a superstition more degrading than Popery, the Karens are 
 inquiring for God's book, and the God of the Bible is their 
 refuge." 
 
 As we have seen, some of the principal-Poongyees of the 
 place visited the mission- house, sometimes for medicine, 
 sometimes for a friendly call. The kindly disposition thus 
 exhibited encouraged the missionaries to visit them at their 
 monasteries. There they conversed fully on all subjects, 
 freely admitting that in regard to " worldly knowledge," 
 meaning the arts and sciences, the white race possessed a 
 decided superiority, but that in " heavenly knowledge " 
 they considered they had the advantage. 
 
 At the request of one of these men, who had been afflicted 
 with hypertropsy of the nose for many years, Dr. Dawson 
 went to visit him. A young Poongyee was sent to conduct 
 him to the kyoung. After rounding more than half the base 
 of the hill on which stands the Shwhay Dagon, or Golden 
 Pagoda, the path stretched along between two tanks beauti- 
 fully fringed with tufts of luxuriant grass, then winding 
 round rather a bold eminence capped by a pagoda, it led in- 
 to a grove of jack, mango, and palm trees, in the midst of 
 which was situated the kyoung or monastery. 
 
 Ascending the steps, Dr. Dawson was ushered into a large 
 hall, at the further en'd of which sat the chief Poongyee on 
 his cushioned seat upon the floor. Behind him was a screen 
 that concealed from view an assemblage of fancy idols, min- 
 iature pagodas, and gilt boxes containing the sacred books, 
 and other valued articles. After conversing for a short time
 
 VISIT TO A MONASTERY. 131 
 
 about his illness, the Poongyce expressed a wish to hear 
 something of the cities,- towns, and buildings, the manners 
 and customs of the people in the " big island of America.'' 
 Dr. Dawson endeavored to convey to him some correct 
 idea of the continent, its relative size, its geographical posi- 
 tion, and the time it would take to reach it, &c. Its happy 
 and prosperous condition was traced to the Bible. A medi- 
 cal college was described, the mode and object of teaching, 
 and the fact that thousands of lives are saved by skill and 
 care ; and above all the goodness of God was descanted on, 
 as bestowing the blessing of a pure religion, the highest and 
 richest gift of all. The Poongyee now thought it his turn 
 to speak, and began by saying there was not much difference 
 between his religion and our religion when closely compared. 
 " yes, all possible difference as there is bctweeen darkness 
 and noon day," was the answer ; " how many gods have 
 you ?" " A great many." " Your Betegat says twenty- 
 eight." " Yes, the Hindoos or Brahmins have many mil- 
 lions, and we have many also." " Where are they all ?" 
 " Some are now existing in other worlds, and many have 
 gone to uigban" (annihilation). " How many gods have 
 you had in this world ?" " Four ; one more is yet to ap- 
 pear." " The difference now between Christianity and 
 Buddhism on this one point is, that while you have many 
 gods, the Christian religion teaches us that there is but one 
 living and true God, without beginning and without end ; 
 not subject to sickness, old age, or death, like the gods wor- 
 shipped by the Burmans." On inquiring if he were not the 
 head man of the monastery, he replied in the affirmative. 
 " Well, it is a good thing to have authority somewhere. 
 Suppose there were fifty head men in this kyoung. You tell 
 the boys to do one thing, and another head man commands a 
 different thing, and each oue something still different from
 
 132 WAS WITH THE ENGLISH. 
 
 the rest. How would you all get on here ?" He smiled 
 and said, " That would be a bad business : all would be con- 
 fusion." He felt himself in a dilemma, and flew off to the 
 doctrine of merit : " Do good, and you will get good ; do 
 evil, and you will receive evil." He expatiated on the merit 
 to be obtained by feeding the poor, giving medicine to the 
 sick, building monasteries for the Poongyees, and bringing 
 them offerings. " The religion of Jesus," the missionary re- 
 marked, " requires Christians to do good unto all men. If 
 a servant simply does what his master has told him to do, to 
 whom is it right to give the honor ?" His answer was " to 
 the master." " Certainly, that is a just conclusion. When 
 a follower of Christ gives his property to support any worthy 
 object, he does it not to obtain personal honor or praise, but 
 to glorify God." Nodding his head very significantly, he 
 said these were strange things, and might be true. It was 
 growing late, and the missionary retraced his steps home- 
 ward. 
 
 In October 1851, Mr. Vinton paid a visit to Rangoon, and 
 had the opportunity of seeing many of the Karen Christians 
 and inquirers from different parts of the country. Some^- 
 times fifty at a time would be present at the mission house. 
 Nearly all the assistants came in for advice and instruction, 
 and the earnestness with which they entreated that a teacher 
 might remain at Rangoon, was very affecting, and proved 
 what great importance they attached to it. The missionaries 
 meanwhile were not without their difficulties. "When books 
 were sent from Maulmain they were stopped at the Custom 
 House, and notwithstanding Mr. Kincaid's courage and per- 
 severance, it was not without considerable difficulty that a 
 portion were passed through at last. But a remarkable era 
 was at hand in the mission's history : the Burman yoke was
 
 CONSTERNATION OF THE GOVEKNOE. 133 
 
 to be broken, and free course given to the preaching and 
 progress of the living word of the living God. 
 
 One Sabbath afternoon at the end of November, 1851, a 
 report spread rapidly through the city that an English steam- 
 er, and three men-of-war, were off the mouth of the river. 
 The Governor despatched two boats one after the other to 
 ascertain the truth of the report. All was activity and bustle 
 on the part of the authorities, and of earnest anxious consul- 
 tation in the little groups of terror-stricken people. It was 
 not long before all doubts were at an end. Two armed steam- 
 ers were measuring the waters, putting down buoys and tow- 
 ing up a fifty-gun ship. The excitement was very great. 
 The Governor called in two or three thousand men, and be- 
 gan to arm them with old rusty muskets ; the greater part of 
 the night was spent in dragging worthless guns to the heights 
 of the Shway Dagon Pagoda, and gathering there the treasure, 
 and other property of the State. The Governor threatened 
 to set the city on fire, and to seize the Europeans as host- 
 ages ; all, therefore, were intent upon securing papers and 
 property from the destruction that awaited them. It was 
 near midnight when Mr. Kincaid and Dr. Dawson were sent 
 for by the Governor, but they had scarcely set off when the 
 order was countermanded. Capt. Crisp, an English mer- 
 chant, was sent on board the frigate to inquire the object of 
 its coming up the river. An order was issued by the Gov- 
 ernor that any one, foreigner, or native, appearing on the 
 wharves or river bank, should be beheaded. It was in vain 
 that Mr. Kincaid remonstrated with the officers of Govern- 
 ment, and suggested that there was every evidence that the 
 ship had come on a peaceful mission, to prevent and not to 
 make war. They felt it, but they could not but be conscious 
 of the innumerable acts of injustice, and cruelty, which they 
 had inflicted on all classes of the people, and they feared the
 
 134 MESSAGE FKOM THE COMMODORE. 
 
 time of retribution was at hand. At last the long looked for 
 ships made their appearance some miles below the city. The 
 missionaries and their families went to the roof of their 
 dwelling, from which they had a view of the river, and with 
 emotions of joy and gratitude, saw the vessels come up and 
 anchor before the oppressed city. They had seen and felt 
 the insane and cruel tyranny of the Burman Government, 
 and the presence of these ships spoke of peace, justice, and 
 security. They could not forget the hundreds of Karens 
 who had said to them : " God is our hope, and He will hear 
 our prayers for deliverance." Commodore Lambert immedi- 
 ately sent a message to know at what hour the next day it 
 would suit the Governor to receive a communication from 
 him. The Governor wished to put it off till the day follow- 
 ing. So all Wednesday was spent in busy preparations for 
 an ostentatious display. 
 
 In the morning the Commodore sent Capt. Latter to re- 
 quest an interview with Mr. Kincaid, and for two hours he 
 was detained, answering interrogatories in reference to the 
 doings of the Burman Government towards British subjects. 
 " Why have not these facts been sent to the Government at 
 Calcutta?" said the Commodore. "From the terror under 
 which all live ; the fact that the slightest whisper of dis- 
 satisfaction would only be visited by tenfold greater outrages, 
 and even, as in many instances, with cruel tortures and 
 death." " this is dreadful !" he exclaimed. Capt. Crisp 
 and Mr. Birrell, two English merchants were sent for. The 
 statements elicited changed the current of affairs. The Com- 
 modore came to demand redress for .outrages committed on 
 Captains Shepherd and Lewis ; but he now found that hun- 
 dreds of British subjects had suffered as great, and many of 
 them greater injuries, and that several had died under 
 torture.
 
 THE GOVERNOR SUMMONS MR. KJNCAID. 135 
 
 A deputation of four officers waited upon the Governor 
 with the Commodore's letter in English and Burmese, and 
 as soon as they left, Mr. Kincaid was sent for into the Vice- 
 roy's presence. He was deadly pale. His mind was so un- 
 balanced that it overpowered his muscular system. His 
 whole frame shook with emotion, his voice was feeble and 
 tremulous, and Mr. Kincaid was almost disposed to pity the 
 man who had no pity on the widow and the orphan. 
 
 Many hurried questions were then put, but the answers 
 seemed to be scarcely comprehended. At length Mr. Kin- 
 caid was despatched with a message to the Commodore, but 
 when half way there, he, was again recalled, and ushered into 
 a private room, where he found the Governor with some 
 fifty chiefs around him. The Commodore's letter was again 
 produced, and he was requested to say whether the transla- 
 tion was correct, After carefully reading it, he assured them 
 it was. 
 
 " What does it mean ?" said the Governor. " I am ac- 
 cused of being a bad man, committing outrages on Her Brit- 
 annic Majesty's subjects, and yet the letter does not specify 
 in what way I have done this. Tell me what I should do ?" 
 
 " I am not competent," was the reply, " to advise in these 
 matters." 
 
 " Do not tell me so," said the Governor, "you have more 
 books and maps than all the other people in the city, and 
 you know what the English want, and what I can do." 
 
 To get rid of his importunity, Mr. Kincaid replied : " You 
 can write to the Commodore and ask for an explanation." 
 This struck him favorably. Then he inquired whether tho 
 English had come for peace or war. 
 
 " For peace undoubtedly," was the reply. " If they had 
 come for war instead of threo ships, they would have had 
 twenty-five or thirty." At last, Mr. Kincaid was released.
 
 136 TYKANNY OF THE GOVEBNOB. 
 
 No person in Rangoon perhaps had spoken ont from time to 
 time so freely as he had, and yet he had often done violence 
 to his better feelings by restraining his indignation when 
 witnessing the enormities committed by order of this man. 
 He had seen upwards of a hundred British subjects in prison, 
 some of them in irons, not a few in the blocks. Several had 
 been cruelly tortured, two had died under torture, one of 
 them a woman. But justice had at last overtaken the wrong- 
 doer. The administration of the Rangoon province was, 
 however, no exception to the general management of affairs 
 in Burmah. The whole system of the Government was bad. 
 Each man had to pay a large sum for his appointment, and 
 in order to keep it, had to make large annual offerings. 
 This occasioned oppression and extortion in every form. 
 Every officer was a slave to those above him, and a tyrant to 
 all beneath him. The people were thus ground into the very 
 dust. They prayed for a change of Government, and every- 
 where tyranny was triumphant and peace and security un- 
 known. 
 
 After a few days, the Governor had, in some measure re- 
 covered from the panic into which he had been thrown, and 
 commenced hostile preparations. He had collected from 
 the neighboring villages about 10,000 men, and had invited 
 to his aid a celebrated robber chief with all his followers, 
 thus getting together all the desperate characters in the 
 lower provinces. As yet the missionaries had felt safe in 
 the old city, as the majority of the inhabitants were foreign- 
 ers ; but on the 4th and 5th of December, it was reported, 
 that orders were issued to attack the -foreigners, to kill and 
 plunder them, and to burn the city. 
 
 Bodies of armed men of desperate character were con- 
 stantly parading the streets, and Commodore Lambert invi- 
 ted the mission families to take refuge in one of his vessels.
 
 DISORDER IN RANGOON. 137 
 
 As the ships of war were threatened with" an attack by fire- 
 rafts, it was thought better that they should go on board a 
 merchant ship, and on the evening of the 5th, Mrs. Kincaid 
 and Mrs. Dawson and the children, were placed in safety on 
 board the Duchess of Argyll. Mr. Kincaid and Dr. Daw- 
 son still remained on shore, the latter to minister to the 
 sick, and to attend to the few applicants who occasionally 
 called at the Dispensary for relief. 
 
 A little after dark one evening, Mr. Kincaid, when pass- 
 ing along one of the principal streets, was suddenly seized 
 by some eight or ten Burmans, who partly carried, partly 
 dragged him into a dark narrow lane. There he was sur- 
 rounded by forty or fifty armed men. A long and not very 
 pleasant altercation succeeded, with threats on either side. 
 They insisted on taking him to the Governor, while Mr. Kin- 
 caid was equally determined to go to the Custom House, and 
 succeeded, though scarcely knowing how. A bundle of clothes 
 which he had with him, was the excuse for this outrage. The 
 Custom House officers interfered, and after a long dispute, 
 the guards went off to the Governor for orders, and the Cus- 
 tom House officers hurried Mr. Kincaid to the ship. 
 
 The Governor of Dalla received orders from Ava to place 
 his troops at the disposal of the viceroy of Rangoon and ac- 
 cordingly 1500 men crossed the river early on the morning 
 of the 19th, uttering the most savage yells. The only men, 
 however, that the Governor could depend upon were the 
 robbers and their chief. The Burman officers threatened 
 the Karen Christians that they would put th'.'m into the fore- 
 front of the battle, if the English came on shore. The na- 
 tive churches sent messengers to the missionaries almost 
 daily, to inquire how things were, and to let them know 
 their position ; few ventured to sleep in their houses for 
 fear of robbers. The missionaries' hearts were full of sor-
 
 138 THE BURMESE FOECE8. 
 
 row for them, and they could only look up and commend 
 them to the care of Him whose " eyes are upon the righteous 
 and whose ears are open unto their cry." The Burmans, 
 heathen as well as Christian, sent messengers expressing the 
 hope that the English would pat an end to the tyranny under 
 which they had so long suffered, and among the more than 
 10,000 disciples, as well as the hundreds of " almost-Chris- 
 tians,' : there was earnest prayer to Him who ruleth over all. 
 
 On the 1st January, 1852, dispatches arrived from Ava, 
 making professions of peace and good will that for a time 
 inspired hope that war might be honorably avoided, and the 
 abuses of the Rangoon Government atoned for. The policy 
 of the King appeared friendly, the Governor was removed 
 from that office, and the viceroy of Shway Doung appointed 
 his successor. But it was soon manifest that the pacific 
 messages from the capital were only a device to gain time. 
 The viceroy took no notice of Commodore Lambert, and for- 
 bade all communication between his vessels and the shore. 
 The Commodore sent a deputation with a letter, but they 
 were not permitted to enter the vice regal presence. They 
 were openly insulted by the officers in attendance, and re- 
 turned to the flag ship only to announce the failure of their 
 errand. Upon this the foreign residents were summoned on 
 board ship ; when Commodore Lambert stated, that all who 
 claimed British protection must depart from the town with- 
 in two hours. Dr. Dawson in writing, gave the following in- 
 teresting account of the encounter of H. M.'s ships with the 
 Burmese, and of their departure from Rangoon under the 
 protection of the British flag. 
 
 "Mouth of the Rangoon River, January 13, 1852. 
 Since the despatch of my last letter, we have been called 
 to pass through some most exciting and melancholy scenes, - 
 which happily fall but rarely in the path of missionary life.
 
 CONDUCT OF THE NEW GOVERNOR. 139 
 
 The destiny of Burmah seems almost sealed. Soon perhaps, 
 the sceptre will depart from the hands of her kings for ever! 
 Her situation at present is exceedingly critical, and I feel 
 more than I can express for her welfare. 
 
 " On the 4th instant the new viceroy appointed to the 
 charge of all the lower provinces of Burmah, from Prome 
 down to Martaban, made his grand entry into the town of 
 Rangoon. As near as I could learn between twenty and 
 thirty war-boats filled with armed men to the number of 
 three or four thousand, accompanied him down the river as 
 his personal escort. A guard of honor, consisting of three or 
 four hundred men of the king's troops, was sent with him 
 from Ava. During the journey down he gradually received 
 additions, which swelled his retinue to a considerable force. 
 His state-barge was decorated in the usual style of eastern 
 splendor. On landing at the wharves he was welcomed with 
 every demonstration of respect both by the government of- 
 ficials and the people. A long line of soldiers curiously 
 dressed was paraded along the streets in the direction of 
 government house, to receive him. Carpets were spread on 
 the wharf for him to walk on till he ascended a buggy drawn 
 by men, which had been provided to bear him to his new 
 residence. A clustre of brahmins, each holding a : horn of 
 plenty,' awaited his arrival and pronounced their benedictions 
 upon him. 
 
 " According to Burmese custom, or rather, a custom in- 
 troduced by the late oppressive governor, hundreds of the 
 inhabitants carried their offerings to his house to furnish 
 the necessary provisions for his followers. Inquiring what 
 they were, he declined receiving them, saying, ' he knew tho 
 people were very poor and could ill afford to spare such con- 
 tributions.' By directing a discontinuance of the practice 
 he won golden opinions among the masses. For two or three
 
 140 THE ENGLISH DEPUTATION INSULTED. 
 
 days a continuous stream of visitors crowded to his residence. 
 They were of course mostly men in authority and their atten- 
 dants, whose object was to pay their respects and receive 
 commands. 
 
 " On the morning of the "6th, two days after his arrival, 
 Mr. Edwards called on the viceroy with a message from 
 Captain Latter, diplomatic assistant and Burmese transla- 
 tor to the embassy, to say that a deputation of British officers 
 would wait on him during the course of the day. The vice- 
 roy replied that he declined seeing any officer but the Com- 
 modore. To this he strictly adhered. The deputation, com- 
 posed of four officers from the Fox, and the Hermes, with 
 Mr. Edwards as interpreter, waited on His Excellency, 
 bearing with them a letter couched, it is said, in the most 
 friendly terms. They reached government house soon after 
 twelve o'clock. Messengers passed three or four times be- 
 tween the viceroy inside and the deputation, who were kept 
 standing outside in a hot sun, when it was announced that 
 His Excellency was asleep. The officers proposed to go in 
 and sit for a short time, but admission was denied them ; 
 they could walk about outside if they chose. The officers 
 retired to report the failure of their mission. The refusal 
 to receive them was regarded as an insult to the deputation, 
 to their flag, and to the British Government. 
 
 " A consultation was now held on board the frigate, and 
 it was decided to have no further intercourse with the vice- 
 roy, unless he should first make an ample apology. Mr. Ed- 
 wards was despatched on shore, to request the principal 
 foreign merchants, the missionaries, and some others, to 
 meet the Commodore on ship-board. In the mean time the 
 English vessels lying in port, together with Chooliah, Arab, 
 and Turkish vessels claiming British protection, were or- 
 dered to proceed down the river to sea. During the course
 
 CAPTURE OF THE KING'S SHIP. 141 
 
 of the evening most of them got under way and proceeded 
 some distance below the town. On reaching the Fox we 
 were informed that affairs were in such an unsatisfactory 
 state, it was advisable we should all leave Rangoon without 
 delay, and that the boats of the several armed vessels would 
 be sent to the main wharf to protect us in getting away. No 
 time was allowed the residents to remove their property. 
 Thus to escape with our lives, most of us were compelled to 
 sacrifice nearly everything. Except a few suits of clothes, 
 our writing desks, and a small parcel of bedding, everything 
 we owned is lost ; furniture, valuable books, surgical instru- 
 ments, medicines, crockery, kitchen utensils, saddlery, lin- 
 en, all arc gone. With the loss of all, we are thankful for 
 our lives, that we are out of prison, and that our limbs are 
 free of chains. 
 
 " As the Duc/tess did not go far below the town that night, 
 information was brought to us about ten p. M., of the Com- 
 modore's intention to seize a ship called the Ya-thee-ndh- 
 y (.ii-moon, which signifies ' the most precious jewel of the 
 ocean,' belonging to the king of Burmah. This was de- 
 cided on, we are told, by a council of war convened on the 
 Fox. She was captured that night without firing a shot, the 
 Burman crew offering no resistance. Knowing th:t,t such a 
 step would render the Burmese provincial and city officers 
 almost desperate, for their heads would be in jeopardy 
 under the displeasure of the king, and that the property of 
 foreigners would be more than ordinarily exposed to confis- 
 cation and destruction, I resolved, late as it was, to make an 
 effort to procure some of our papers and letters which had 
 been deposited for safe keeping in a strong godown at Mr. 
 Birrel's house. Hiring a small canoe I pushed off for the 
 shore and got to the godown by eleven o'clock. Though the 
 moon shone out brightly, the whole town looked gloomy and
 
 142 INTERVIEWS WITH THE COMMODORE. 
 
 deserted. Neither guard nor sentry challenged me in the 
 adventure, though many entertained the opinion that to leave 
 the vessel at such a time was exceedingly hazardous. Not 
 being able to get keys of the buildings I was obliged to 
 climb to the roof and enter the house through a trap-door at 
 the top. With a lighted candle in one's hand this was some- 
 what difficult, but after some time I reached the box con- 
 taining most of our private papers. The venture incurred 
 some risk, but the object seemed worthy of an effort. "While 
 I was away at the godown four Burmans jumped into the 
 canoe and paddled it off to the opposite side of the river. 
 Providentially I was provided with another conveyance, by 
 the timely arrival at the wharf of Captain Barker with one 
 of the ship's boats. In the course of the night many wo- 
 men and children of Burmese extraction, connected with 
 foreign traders, escaped in Chooliah vessels belonging to the 
 Coromandel coast. 
 
 " About one o'clock the same night H. B. M. steam frigate 
 Hermes passed down with the king's .vessel in' tow, and 
 anchored below the Hasting sand, three miles from the town. 
 At daylight the frigate Fox got under way, and drifting too 
 near the Dalla shore grounded on a mud-bank, and was de- 
 tained there till the next tide. While in that situation the 
 governor of Dalla went on board to explain and intercede in 
 behalf of the viceroy, though perhaps not officially author- 
 ized so to do. A similar visit had been made by other Bur- 
 man officers and the royal interpreter the day before, during 
 the interview of the merchants with the Commodore, but 
 without success. Before seizing the king's vessel the Com- 
 modore had penned a note with the design of giving the 
 viceroy an opportunity of apologizing for not receiving the 
 deputation ; and he would doubtless have sent it by the 
 Burman officers, but unfortunately he had the impression
 
 THE GOVERNOR REFUSES TO APOLOGISE. 143 
 
 that they would not dare to carry such a message to their 
 governor. Subsequently one or two more endeavors were 
 made by the deputy-governor of Rangoon and the governor 
 of Dalla to reconcile matters. They went on board the flag 
 ship, and the latter suggested that if the king's ship were 
 delivered to him it would lead to his promotion to the post 
 of governor of Rangoon, when he would grant ample re- 
 dress for the injuries committed by the ex-governor. But 
 the Commodore remained inflexible. His terms were that 
 the viceroy should cotne in person, and on the -deck of her 
 majesty's frigate offer an apology to the officers who had 
 been insulted. When this had been done he would be pre- 
 pared to commence negotiations. These peaceful, though 
 rigorous measures having failed, the Commodore determined 
 to cut off all communication with the Burmans, and hasten 
 to the mouth of the river with the ' prize' and all the armed 
 vessels in company, pending a reference to the Supreme 
 Government of India. A blockade of the Rangoon and 
 Bassein rivers was proclaimed, and the brig Serpent of six- 
 teen guns was ordered to a station at the entrance into the 
 Bassein creek to intercept all suspicious looking boats. 
 
 " At this stage of the business the viceroy forwarded a 
 letter addressed to the Governor-General of India, com- 
 plaining that the officers of the deputation sent to him were at 
 the time in a state of intoxication. The same evening, or the 
 following day, another letter was received, intimating that if 
 the king's ship was moved down the river with the other ves- 
 sels, orders had been given to fire on the Fox. The Commo- 
 dore expressed his regret to hear it ; he certainly would not 
 fire unless he were first attacked, but if a single pistol were 
 fired at the frigate, he would assuredly open upon them with 
 his guns. Thus stood affairs between the parties before 
 hostilities commenced.
 
 144 BURMESE PREPARATIONS. 
 
 " On the eastern and western banks of the river, about 
 ten and twelve miles below Rangoon, are two substantial 
 teak wood stockades, erected several years ago by direction 
 to Tharrawady, the late king, who showed quite a spirit of 
 enterprise in the public improvements he effected during 
 his reign. To these stockades a few cannon and a number 
 of jingalls were sent late one evening by the Rangoon offi- 
 cers, with a view to attack the men-of-war as they proceeded 
 down the river. They were noticed as they passed our ship. 
 About a dozen war-boats crowded with men were likewise 
 stationed there. They took shelter up a creek behind the 
 first fortification. How many men there were within the 
 enclosures none but the Burmans themselves know. Prob- 
 ably there were three or four thousand, most of them pro- 
 vided with muskets, spears, and swords. On the summit of 
 the palisades were guns in a position to command a section 
 of the river. In two villages each contiguous to one of the 
 stockades, the people were directed to arm themselves for 
 the purpose of rescuing the captured ship of their sovereign. 
 Such were the arrangements of the Burmese officers, who 
 little understood the unequal contest in which they were 
 about to engage. 
 
 " Early on the morning of Saturday, the tenth of January, 
 the vessels commenced moving down with the tide. The 
 steamer Hermes towed the flag ship as far as the upper 
 stockade, and then went back to bring down the ' prize.' 
 Things appeared somewhat warlike, and believing that the 
 Burmans for once were going to be as good a.s their word, 
 the Fox anchored directly abreast of the fortification, beat to 
 quarters, and made ready to talk loud if first addressed from 
 the shore. Besides several country craft, the Mary Har- 
 rington, Falcon, Ararat, and Duchess of Argyll were in the 
 river. They had gained positions somewhat below the
 
 MESSAGE FKOM THE COMMODOKE. 14:5 
 
 frigate, and were spectators of the painful scene which was 
 then about opening. Our vessel anchored about midway 
 between the two stockades, as the safest position, should the 
 threatened outbreak occur. 
 
 " Just as our anchor had fairly taken the ground, the peo- 
 ple of the village contiguous to the first fort were seen 
 moving about quickly on the bank and looking earnestly up 
 the stream. They were watching for ' the precious jewel of 
 the ocean.' Many of them were observed in the war-boats 
 bid under cover of the bank of the creek. Three or four of 
 the boats now moved out of the creek and pushed up past 
 the Fox, keeping in close to the shore. Some of the war- 
 riors were standing up, making a variety of antics and capers, 
 and were heard singing a war-song. As the Hermes round- 
 ed a point in the river having the king's vessel in tow, the 
 knot of watchmen on the bank disappeared to give the alarm 
 to the boatmen and villagers. 
 
 "Just as the steamer came in front of the stockade, her 
 bowsprit being on a line with that of the frigate, off went a 
 flash and the report of a gun from the shore. Instantly many 
 voices cried, ' They have fired !' Now commenced a mur- 
 derous fire from the Commodore's vessel. The frigate was 
 soon enveloped in smoke, her shot skimming the v?atp r and 
 tearing up the bank. The stockade was shrouded in dust 
 and smoke, and at times could scarcely be seen. The un- 
 fortunate Burmese kept up a spirited fire for nearly two 
 hours, till they were literaUy cut to pieces, their boats aban- 
 doned, some of them drifting away and sinking, and thejr 
 cannon dismounted and silenced. Both the steamers, the 
 Hermes and Phlcgcthon, joined in the destructive work, and 
 being able to run close in, played with deadly effect at the 
 boats and up the creek, where hundreds of people were con- 
 gregated. At one time during the hottest of the firing, the 
 
 7
 
 14:6 ATTACK ON TIIK STOCKADES. 
 
 poor Burmese boatmen were observed hanging on by the 
 side of their boats, all but their heads under water. Soon 
 they rushed up the bank, wading through the mud and flying 
 before the shot, which fell like hail around them. A line of 
 persons on the margin of the creek was noticed through a 
 glass busily, engaged carrying off in scores the dead and 
 dying. 
 
 " Having fired a number of times, the Hermes passed on 
 her way, towing the Burmese vessel. A village close to 
 where the Duc/iess lay fired one cannon and several muskets 
 at the steamer as she passed, but this was scon checked. 
 Having the king's ship in charge, the Hermes was a marked 
 object on both sides of the river. "When they got near the 
 lower stockade, which is about two miles distant from the 
 upper one, a fire was opened at long range, but did no harm 
 to either vessel. Both the Hermes and the king's vessel, 
 which was partly manned by hands from the frigate, kept up 
 a steady fire for some time on this fortification, and then 
 pushed down the stream tp the mouth of the Eassein creek. 
 Here they found the Serpent, and, anchoring the Yd-thee-nah- 
 ydi-moon near the brig, the steamer returned to take the flag 
 ship in tow. They did not leave, however, till all firing from 
 both the stockades had ceased. The pinnace and launch of 
 the Fox, which at one time were very much exposed, cap- 
 tured two or three deserted war-boats, and having pitched 
 overboard all the weapons they could find in them, fired on 
 them to destroy and sink them. Thus ended the melancholy 
 battle of the stockades. 
 
 " On the side of the English not a single man was killed 
 or wounded. A round shot struck a jolly-boat hanging at 
 the stern of the Fox, and knocked a piece out of her bow. 
 Another hit the counter of the frigate. Some musket balls 
 hit her in different spots ; but she sustained no further dam-
 
 MARTABAN AND* RANGOON TAKEN. 14:7 
 
 age. A few musket balls, it is said, reached the two steam- 
 ers, but did no injury to either of them. 
 
 " Among the poor Burmans, however, the slaughter, we 
 have heard, was terrible. Three hundred were destroyed, 
 and who can portray the miseries of the wounded and the 
 dying, the destitution of their widows and orphans ? But I 
 will not dwell upon this : it is more easily conjectured than 
 described. After the battle a deputation with a flag of truce 
 waited upon the Commodore, bearing a petition from the 
 foreigners in prison at Rangoon, in which it was stated, that 
 the viceroy was willing to accede to any terms in order to 
 make peace. But it was too late. A report of the whole 
 affair had been made to the Supreme Government of India, 
 with whom the matter now rested." 
 
 Thus the missionaries were again for a season driven from 
 Rangoon, and compelled to take refuge at Maulmain. It was 
 not long, however, before active hostilities commenced be- 
 tween the British Government and the Burman. Martaban 
 was taken on the 5th April. Rangoon was attacked on the 
 llth, and after a most desperate resistance of nearly four 
 days, this devoted city fell before the British arms on the 
 14th of April, 1852. Mr. Kincaid had gone up with the 
 fleet ; and as soon as the Karen and Burmese Christians 
 heard of his arrival they came flocking from their hiding 
 places in the jungle to welcome him. Dr. Dawson and Mr. 
 and Mrs. Vinton speedily joined Mr. Kincaid. 
 
 Not long after, Lord Dalhousie, who was then the Gover- 
 nor General of India, visited Rangoon, and we have an inter- 
 esting account of the interview with which he favored the 
 missionaries, from the graphic pen of Mr. Kincaid. Ho 
 writes : 
 
 " Rangoon, Aug. 8, 1852. In my last I mentioned that 
 Lord Dalhousie and suite were here. The day after his ar-
 
 148 INTERVIEW WITH *LORD DALIIOUSIE. 
 
 rival one of his secretaries called on me and spent more than 
 an hour, asking a great number of questions relative to the 
 government, &c., of Burmah. On Saturday last, before he 
 left, a line from one of his aide-de-camps informed me that 
 tho Governor General -would see me and my associates at 
 three o'clock. I went accordingly with Mr. Vinton and Dr. 
 Dawson. His Lordship received us in the kindest manner, 
 and at once began conversing on Burman affairs in a way 
 that indicated great familiarity with the subject. He inquired 
 about the three races, Karens, Talaings, and Burmans, the 
 peculiarities of each, the number of native Christians, whe- 
 ther the government made no distinction between us and 
 British subjects, whether I was acquainted with the present 
 king, who were the leading spirits in the court of Ava, and 
 what were the feelings of the people towards the English. He 
 asked my opinion of the late viceroy, whether he came down 
 with peaceful or with hostile intentions. To this last I 
 replied ' Hostile, no doubt.' 
 
 " ' How then,' he inquired, ' do you account for the pacific 
 tone of the king's letter to me ?' 
 
 " ' It was to blind Commodore Lambert, and give the vice- 
 roy time to prepare for resistance.' 
 
 " ' What are your reasons for thinking the viceroy's inten- 
 tions hostile ?' . 
 
 " ' He came down slowly, collecting men and money in all 
 the towns along the river, and brought ten large boats loaded 
 with powder. On his arrival he took no notice of Commo- 
 dore Lambert. The very day that he made his public entry 
 into the city he issued one of his most hostile orders, cutting 
 off all intercourse between the shipping and the shore 
 under penalty of death. When Mr. Edwards went with a 
 message, one of the officers in the viceroy's compound drew 
 a sword and threatened his life. When a deputation of four
 
 PEGU ANNEXED. 149 
 
 officers was sent, they were not allowed to enter the hall of 
 audience, and were rudely treated by the officials. The 
 viceroy's conduct was throughout consistent with the suppo- 
 sition that he came with hostile intentions.' 
 
 " The Governor-General inquired about the loss of my 
 library, observing that it was a most happy circumstance we 
 ourselves had not fallen into the hands of the viceroy. He 
 spoke of our dispensary ; said he had sanctioned the draw- 
 ing of medicines for its use from the public stores ; and 
 added, ' If you will allow me, I will give a small donation 
 to the dispensary.' About an hour after our return he sent 
 250 rupees. Before taking leave I said : ' We feel, in com- 
 mon with many others, that the well-being or otherwise of 
 unborn millions depends very much on the decision to which 
 your lordship shall come.' He replied with evident emotion : 
 ' i feel it. Those who have not the responsibility may act 
 hastily. I have come to a decision after long and careful 
 examination.' When taking our leave he said, 'We may 
 meet again.' Never will the impressions awakened by the 
 interview be effaced from niy mind." 
 
 On the 20th December following, we have an announce- 
 ment of the ANNEXATION OF PEGU to British India, in the 
 following letter from Dr. Dawson : " At half past ten 
 o'clock to-day the solemn act of dismembering the Burman 
 Empire took place on board Her Britannic Majesty's ship Fox. 
 The proclamation declaring the incorporation of the whole 
 of the ancient kingdom of Pegu in the Empire of British 
 India, was publicly read in the presence of a large company 
 of naval and military officers, and a royal salute of twenty- 
 one guns was fired in honor of the event. This year com- 
 pletes the century since it was conquered from the Talaings 
 by the renowned Alompra, the hunter of the ' Moke-so-bo.'
 
 150 PROSPECTS OF THE FUTURE. 
 
 It is a day of jubilee in Rangoon. The reign of terror 
 ceases. 
 
 " Three millions of people have been emancipated from 
 the dominion of the most heartless and oppressive Govern- 
 ment that is to be found in Asia. The intelligence of an- 
 nexation will awaken regret in none, except the King and 
 
 Court of Ava Thus fields are opening on every side 
 
 for the prosecution of evangelical labor, and how cheering it 
 is to see men and means provided, as the providence of God 
 bids us extend our borders. Before many years shall have 
 passed, the whole kingdom of Burmah will be fully open to 
 receive the gospel." 
 
 Another commencement had now been fairly made for the 
 permanent occupation of Rangoon as a missionary station. 
 Mr. Kincaid wrote, " The population of Rangoon and of all 
 the villages in the neighborhood is rapidly increasing. 
 
 The principles of Christianity have taken deep root in the 
 hearts of some twelve thousand, and through these a large 
 amount of moral influence is brought to bear on some twenty 
 thousand more. Our churches are found scattered all the 
 way from the sea-shore to Prome. We have now at school 
 in this city two hundred and fifty young persons preparing 
 to go back to their villages, some to teach school, and others 
 to labor as evangelists among their countrymen. About 
 forty native preachers are now supported by the .congrega- 
 tions over the country. I hope to see churches raised up 
 along the whole line of this river to the Hukang Valley. 
 Then we shall stand on the borders of Western China and 
 on the upper waters of the Great Cambodia, and can reach 
 by our books and our preaching untold millions in the centre 
 of Eastern Asia. I almost wish that I had been born thirty 
 years later in the Christian era, so as to see Christianity 
 pouring its light over these vast regions."
 
 PROSPECTS OF THE FUTURE. 151 
 
 The annexation of Pegu included the district of Bassein, 
 and united in one continuous sea-board of British possession 
 Arracan, Pegu and Tenasserim, commanding the entire 
 outlets and deltas of the Irrawaddy, the Sitang, and the 
 Sal ween. The British territory ran northward up the Irra- 
 waddy to Meaday ; and in addition to former stations, Toun- 
 goo, Slnvaygyeen, Ilenthada, and Pronie were occupied as 
 mission stations.
 
 152 THE TENASSEKIM PROVINCES. 
 
 CHAPTEK IX. 
 
 MATAH. 
 
 " A little spot, enclosed by grace 
 Out of the world's wide wilderness." WATTS. 
 
 IT is pleasant after the details of war and suffering in the 
 preceding chapter, to turn to the peaceful labors of the mis- 
 sionaries in the TENASSERIM PROVINCES. Here they preached 
 the word, taught their schools, pursued their translations, and 
 took their jungle tours, none daring to make them afraid. 
 
 On the banks of the Tenasserim, surrounded by wooded 
 hills, is situated one of the first Karen settlements, MATAH 
 or the city of Love. Here, for many years, a little band of 
 disciples has gathered together for the worship of the eter- 
 nal God. They have been distinguished for their sobriety 
 and industry ; and the" great change which has been effected 
 in their social habits, proves that their hearts have been 
 brought under the purifying and elevating power of the 
 grace of God. One who visited them even in their early 
 days said, " I am seated in a Christian village surrounded 
 by a people that love as. Christians, converse as Christians, 
 act like Christians, and in my eyes look like Christians." 
 
 In 1846, one of the missionaries writing from Matah says : 
 " The Christians here have just built themselves a spacious 
 board chapel. It is, on the whole, the best chapel we have 
 seen in the Karen jungles. It was built at the expense of 
 the church, and considering the scarcity of paddy during 
 the year, it was a great undertaking ; for they have spent
 
 A SABBATH AT MATAH. 153 
 
 two hundred rupees for sawed timber. They have also fur- 
 nished their pastor with food, and contributed forty-one ru- 
 pees to the Tavoy Missionary Society. Here then we see 
 what we desire to witness so much in every place ; a church 
 building its own place of worship, supporting its own ordain- 
 ed minister, and contributing to the spread of Christ's king- 
 dom." 
 
 It would be interesting to trace how these people have 
 been led on, preserved as a flock in the wilderness, fed and 
 instructed by pastors raised up from amongst themselves, 
 who have led them in the ways of peace and holiness, making 
 their lovely glens and rocky mountains resound with the 
 praises of their Redeemer God. 
 
 In 185:2, we have the following interesting account of a 
 Sabbath spent in Matah, and of a tour in the jungle from the 
 pen of Mrs. E. Mason, the wife of Dr. Mason of Toungoo. 
 She had left her husband at Tavoy pursuing his translations 
 and missiona:yf labors, and had travelled into the jungles 
 accompanied by a few of the disciples, in the hope of indu- 
 cing some of the girls from the Karen villages to come to 
 her school in Tavoy. She writes to her husband : 
 
 " On reaching Matah, I fully proposed going on immedi- 
 ately to Longpung, to spend the Sabbath among the Shos ; 
 but I found the Sho preacher's wife here, and not a single 
 boat to be found. All were gone to the fields, and the boats 
 had gone with them to bring in the paddy, for it was harvest 
 time. Moreover, the teacher's wife was very unwilling to 
 let me go on ; so I was for once obliged to yield ti obstacles, 
 very, very reluctantly, as I was anxious to hasten on my tour 
 as rapidly as possible. But here I am in Matah, and a sweet 
 and pleasant spot it is. I visited two Sho families and then 
 returned to the chapel, it being very hot ; and from the time 
 I came in until just now, I have been constantly talking with 
 
 7*
 
 A SABBATH AT MAT AH. 
 
 visitors. They are very glad to see me ; the Shos partic- 
 ularly keep close to me, some holding my dress, and some my 
 feet, as if they felt I belonged to them, and they were afraid 
 of losing me. 
 
 " After I had been here an hour, or perhaps two, who 
 should come in but the Sho teacher, Klana, with a great pad- 
 dy basket on his back and in his dirty field-dress. He had 
 not, I imagine, heard of my arrival, and came along past the 
 chapel. I was sitting in the door conversing with the sis- 
 ters when they said, 'There is Klana ' The poor man was tak- 
 en by surprise, and looked exceedingly mortified, but he set 
 down his basket like a man, and came up smilingly. He is 
 very pleasant, and I am sure I shall love both him and Kola- 
 pau very much." On Sunday evening she writes, " This has 
 been a very happy day to me. I scarcely remember to have 
 had more enjoyment than I have had to-day with the dear dis- 
 ciples of this jungle town. Last evening as soon as teacher 
 Kolapau came back from Tavoy, he came to see that I was 
 provided for, tired as he was ; and in the evening they as- 
 sembled for prayer. This morning at an early hour he came 
 and rang the gong, when all that could came together for 
 what I should call, a covenant meeting. After reading the 
 Scriptures, and prayer, all related their feelings, and confess- 
 ed their sins, and it was a very solemn and affecting season. 
 
 " All had something or other to confess, and Klana confess- 
 ed that his heart still clung, to the world. After all had 
 spoken, I said a few words by way of encouragement, for I 
 saw they were inclined to brood over their transgressions, 
 which it seems to me is not the way to grow better. So I 
 told them it was good to confess our sins one to another as 
 the Bible commanded, and no one could say he was without 
 sin, neither brother, nor sister, nor teacher, but after repent- 
 ing of our sins, we should do as the apostle taught ; ' leave
 
 A SABBATH AT MATAII. 155 
 
 the things that were behind, and press foncard to the mark 
 of the prize of our high calling of God in Christ Jesus.' 
 
 " At the usual hour they came to worship, when teacher 
 Kolapau preached to about a hundred attentive listeners ; a 
 very good assembly indeed at this season of the year, when 
 the greater part are obliged to go very far away to harvest 
 their fields. He preached an excellent discourse, standing 
 like the teachers, and with a very dignified and impressive 
 manner. I was quite amused at one little incident. While 
 he was preaching very earnestly, suddenly he paused, and 
 looking at a very respectable young man in the corner of the 
 chapel said, ' Young man are you going to sleep 1 Look at 
 me, and pay attention, and don't cover up your eyes again.' 
 Then turning round he added, ' Don't one of you go to sleep : 
 not a man, woman, or child !' I thought it would be well 
 for some congregations at home, if they had pastor Kolapau 
 in the desk, for I assure you no one so much as winked after- 
 wards. The singing was very sweet, and the congregation 
 generally clean and respectable, and every way it had the 
 appearance of an enlightened Christian community, which 
 speaks well for their teachers. 
 
 " After the close of the forenoon service I had a meeting 
 with the females, when about fifty came together. After 
 telling them of the good news I had often heard from the 
 city of Matah, and how much it rejoiced the Christians in 
 America, I read a portion of the 17th of John, and explain- 
 ed it to them, enlarging upon the duty of prayer, and the 
 necessity of faith and obedience, in order to secure answers 
 to our prayers ; and drew their thoughts to the comforting 
 assurance, that however poor might be their abodes here, 
 they had the promise of a place in the ' Father's house 
 above.' 
 
 " They seemed to understand me generally, and ^hat the
 
 156 A SABBATU AT MATAII. 
 
 Sgaus did not comprehend, Klana's wife interpreted. I 
 prayed with them, and felt perfectly free, and unembarrass- 
 ed ; which I think was a particular blessing from God, be- 
 cause it is so long since I had the Shos about mo, that I had 
 greatly feared I should not recall the language, and had been 
 making it a subject of prayer for some days. It was a very 
 pleasant interview ; and I trust not wholly unprofitable. At 
 the close of this meeting I had the children together, about 
 twenty, I believe, with whom I prayed and conversed for 
 some little time, trying to stir them up to seek the Saviour 
 with all their hearts. A few of them were disciples, and 
 some were not. 
 
 " In the afternoon the gong again called the assembly to- 
 gether, for the study of the Bible ; when teacher Kolapau 
 took the Sgaus, and gave me the Shos. They read and them- 
 selves explained the 15th of John ; which was selected be- 
 cause of some remarks made by them before. I feel it will 
 not be a lost day to them. They seemed to have their 
 thoughts somewhat quickened, and their aspirations after 
 Christ increased. 
 
 " One man told me afterwards that he was one of teacher 
 Mason's pupils, (as indeed nearly all the Sho men were,) and 
 that he had not been happy since he ceased preaching. He 
 said he knew but little, but he remembered that you told 
 him once in a letter, that if a man waited to learn all the 
 word of God, before he preached, he would die before he 
 got through, without preaching at all. He said his wife had 
 often urged him to come to you to attend to his Master's 
 business ; and he felt that he had buried his talent and was 
 like the dried up branch. He formerly preached some years, 
 but for the last three years he has been making paddy. He 
 may perhaps conclude to dig up his talent, and go with me 
 to town, and go to work again.
 
 LONGPUNG. 157 
 
 " In the evening the people came together again for a 
 short season, when Kolapau explained the Scriptures, and 
 one of the brethren prayed. It has been a most delightful 
 day, and I feel my own soul refreshed more than I ever did 
 amidst the privileges of our own native land. I am very 
 glad now that I was obliged to remain over the Sabbath 
 though the fact that the little church at Longpung do not 
 return to worship on the Lord's day nor the teacher remain 
 to look them up, only proves the necessity of earnest self- 
 denying efforts in their behalf. I fancy the people are a 
 little crooked, and the teacher disheartened ; but he is go- 
 ing with me to visit the unconverted hamlets, so I have re- 
 frained from asking any questions, or saying anything about 
 his feelings, hoping he will be warmed up by the Holy 
 Spirit's influence, so as to commence again with renewed 
 strength. 
 
 " The people here, especially the old disciples, (who 
 almost all say you baptized them,) ask many questions about 
 you, and always mention your name with a smile upon their 
 lips, which shows that you still have a place in their hearts. 
 They also mention their other teachers with interest, and I 
 fancy from the way they speak, that Brother Thomas is fast 
 winning their affections. 
 
 " This morning at an early hour I left Matah and came by 
 boat up to Longpung. We were about six hours coming up, 
 and what a mad stream it is ! I think we came over five or 
 six rapids where the waters rushed down with. great fury. 
 The men were obliged to work the skiffs with poles most of 
 the way, although the skiffs were extremely small and light, 
 only broad enough for one to sit comfortably on a seat. We 
 had three skiffs, and there being but two men in one of them, 
 they dropped behind and we were obliged to send back for 
 them. I saw some of the richest arbors of creepers abovo
 
 158 THE SCENEBT. 
 
 the bank of the river that I could ever imagine. Old de- 
 cayed heartless trunks some thirty or forty feet high, others 
 ten or fifteen, scattered here and there, often a dozen within 
 a few rods of each other, were completely shrouded with 
 creepers in richest green, and sometimes, the old tr,unk 
 being very large, it was a lovely sight. Others were lofty 
 trees with huge branches ; every inch of them covered with 
 parasites hanging in garlands from every branchlet, and 
 stretching from bough to bough in the most graceful manner 
 possible. The scenery was simply one dense jungle of a 
 great variety of trees, among which were interspersed the 
 bamboo and wild plantain ; and until the sun broke through 
 the thick fog, the forest on either side was studded with the 
 large delicate blossoms of a plant which, as they vanished 
 with the morning dew, seemed like fairies gazing and laugh- 
 ing at each other. 
 
 " I found at Longpung a pretty new chapel, very small, 
 but large enough for the place, and quite comfortable, ex- 
 cept that there was no side to the front, and the roof being 
 very low it was exceedingly hot during the day. The Chris- 
 tians appeared very happy to see me. I spent about three 
 hours conversing with them on the interests of our Redeem- 
 er's kingdom, and found them very firm, faithful, working 
 Christians. What I imagined yesterday I was glad to find 
 not true. Brother Thomas could not desire more devoted 
 disciples than this little band seem to be. There are but 
 four or fivehouses, and the church members twelve or more. 
 The teacher Klana I am much delighted with. I do not 
 think he had been in the paddy field, as I supposed when 
 I wrote on Saturday ; he probably went down to Matab, be- 
 cause his people were watching their fields, which they say 
 they must do, and they keep the Sabbath there. Do you re- 
 member a young lad whom you baptized with a throng ut'
 
 ITS CONVERTS. 159 
 
 Karens beside a stretch of sand between Longpung and 
 Chongquait before Matah was founded ? There was one whose 
 name was Klana, and he is now the pastor, the honored and 
 beloved pastor of this little vine in Longpung. He used to 
 follow you in your perilous excursions up and down these 
 rapids to the head of the Tennasserim, and now he is my 
 guide over a portion of the same way. He is accompanied 
 by his little son, a very clever boy, who bids fair to take the 
 place of his father some twenty years hence. 
 
 " After a season of prayer with the Christians of Long- 
 pung, I came up to Chongquait. The stream grew more 
 and more dangerous, and the men were frequently obliged 
 to wade up to their loins and drag the skiff over the stones 
 and rocks. I saw beside the stream a cave which gives the 
 name to the Christian village, but I did not stay to enter it. 
 I am now in a bong edifice in the midst of the village, a com- 
 fortable new temple which the people have built in obedi- 
 ence to the priest, who lives here and still rules over this 
 village. Indeed he drew all the inhabitants away from 
 Longpung up to this place fearing they might forsake him. 
 There are however, two discipfes here, and others who listen 
 with interest. 
 
 I went into one house this evening and was immediately 
 followed by a company of woman and girls and one young 
 man, who listened very attentively to the truths of the gos- 
 pel. I talked to them about half an hour, and so did Klana, 
 and on our return we stopped to converse with some young 
 men who had taken their stations by the way. We were 
 followed to the temple by two or three men, and during even- 
 ing worship several women and children came to hear the 
 singing. Two or three are thinking a little of going down 
 to school.
 
 160 CHONGQUAIT. 
 
 " Nov. 10th, 1852. 
 
 " This morning a young man came to see me, in whom I 
 feel much interest. He is perhaps twenty-five years old, 
 the son of the Bong-ko * of .this hamlet, a very intelligent 
 youth, and as wild as clever. He, however, conversed on 
 religion for some time with unusual interest and some degree 
 of solemnity. 
 
 "1 left him, and went out to visit the women who would 
 not come to see me. Visited four or five houses and found 
 willing listeners in them all. In one was the sister of one 
 of the Longpung Christians, and an aged mother. She said 
 her brother had often told her of Christ and the way of sal- 
 vation, but she did not yet believe ; she had lived thus long 
 without the Saviour, and she thought she should die as she 
 she had lived. Still she listened with attention, and treated 
 me like an old friend. In the first house there were two 
 women, and the mother I thought at first was very far from 
 becoming a believer. She was lame, and sat beside her 
 cooking box attending to the breakfast. I sat down on the 
 mat and talked to her until her heart softened, and she told 
 me she was a widow, and had, never known happiness since 
 her husband died. I told her that I too had been a widow, 
 and could therefore sympathize with her in her sorrow. 
 This seemed to win her confidence, and she then conversed 
 freely. I should not be surprised to hear of her becoming a 
 Christian ere many years pass by. The father of another 
 family is the son also of the Bong-ko, and yet he seems to be 
 just ready to become a Christian. His son has already 
 learned to read a little, and has been to school one rains at 
 Longpung. He followed me to-day to the next hamlet. I 
 have visited six houses, and have spoken to twenty immortal 
 beings at different places until they all understood that they 
 
 * A wizard priest
 
 MKS. MASON'S VISITS. 161 
 
 were sinners, and what they must do to be saved. One 
 woman said she believed, but could not refrain from getting 
 angry, and that kept her from being a disciple. The Bong- 
 ko's wife was also an interesting auditor, and one of hirt 
 daughters. 
 
 " The Bong-ko himself I was very sorry not to see, but he 
 had gone to town. He still tells the people that he can see 
 into futurity, and they assemble at eve of full moon to wor- 
 ship at the Bong. On one side is an altar over the elevated 
 part of the building, with seven bamboo candlesticks ; and 
 when they worship they light up seven tapers along the 
 front, and place upon the altar rice, plantains, &c., and bow 
 down to Arumadaya, who the Bong-ko teaches them to wor- 
 ship. 
 
 " I left Chongquait about nine this morning, and started 
 again upon my journey, travelling over two very high moun- 
 tains and up a path so steep, it was scarcely possible to be 
 carried. Much of the way was almost perpendicular, and 
 where it was not, it was through the bed of the river. On 
 the side of the first mountain, we found a little hamlet of 
 three houses, where we stopped and endeavored to tell them 
 of the Saviour. One man was frojn Siam and listened with 
 a good deal of interest. After Klana had spoken to him, he 
 got up and brought a torch and laid it down beside him, say- 
 ing, ' There, take this, you are going into a dark jungle 
 where you cannot see' showing that he wished to manifest 
 a kind feeling. He was a very poor man, and lived in a 
 dwelling scarcely large enough for two to turn in. I have 
 no doubt that that torch was an acceptable offering to God 5 
 and I shall expect if ever I reach heaven to see that man 
 there. His wife seemed to take no interest in the subject, 
 but another of the villagers followed us to this place, and 
 gave good attention to all that was said. Here wo had the
 
 162 KLANA'S PREACHING. 
 
 privilege of speaking to eight or ten persons, notwithstand- 
 ing it was in the heat of the day. 
 
 " We next came to a single house cooped up in a deep 
 glen, where I stopped to breakfast, and speak to the woman 
 who sat there weaving. There was also a young man there 
 who listened with attention, and followed us on to this place, 
 which is also on the Chongquait river in a glen of the moun- 
 tains below the Matah range. There are ten houses here ; I 
 have visited five or six, and spoken to the people. Found 
 one woman sick and her infant also, and was able to admin- 
 ister some medicines which gave relief. In the evening we 
 had an assembly of twelve or fourteen persons to evening 
 worship. After I had spoken to them, Pastor Klana began 
 and preached such a sermon as I have seldom heard, and in- 
 deed I think I never saw one equal him in preaching to the 
 natives. He has such a peculiar tact, such an adaptation to 
 circumstances as could not be excelled. He kept their at- 
 tention riveted for a whole hour. Occasionally one or two 
 of the assembly would burst out into a laugh, and indeed it 
 was sometimes more than I could do to preserve my gravity, 
 his illustrations were so peculiar, so interesting and pointed ; 
 but usually all were solenm and thoughtful. I fancy Klana 
 is another Kothabyu in preaching , but he wants the teacher 
 with him to keep up his courage. He is now out preaching 
 again with great earnestness to a family near, although I 
 should think he must be exhausted from this evening's ser- 
 vices. 
 
 " We have taken possession of a large forsaken building 
 where Klana's uncle once lived who was the High Priest of 
 the glen and officiated at all the sacrifices, particularly at the 
 Thako Mosha worship. When this official dies amongst the 
 Karens, his dwelling is forsaken ; and so we find this one, 
 just as he left it, with his utensils, mats, &c., all left to
 
 THE JOURNEY CONTINUED. 163 
 
 decay, an offering probably to the Thako Mosha. It is not, 
 however, particularly comfortable, as there is not a single 
 place where I can screen myself from the cold damp night 
 air, it being simply a floor and a roof, with a slight balustrade 
 round a part of it. 
 
 " Palatot, Nov. llth, 1852. Having visited another house 
 this morning, I left Chongquait about eight o'clock, and 
 after crossing Palatot river, ascended a very high mountain 
 and through another glen to this place, south west of Matah. 
 
 " Our path for the greater part of the way was through 
 pong (reedy grass) often much higher than the coolies' heads, 
 and usually five or six feet high, so that I was but a dwarf 
 in the path ; it so covered the way, and it was so sharp and 
 tangled, that my feet were cut and scratched, and my dress 
 literally drenched with dew. 
 
 " At this hamlet I find seven houses, and have just been 
 speaking for a little while with the women who came to see 
 me, only four in number, the rest being in the fields helping 
 to gather in the harvest. One of the women is a very in- 
 teresting person, and all listened with fixed attention. Who 
 can tell but some of them may be saved by what little they 
 have heard to-day of Christ : and if only one, of how much 
 more worth than the cost and trouble of this little tour ! I 
 cannot but feel that our Heavenly Father had some design 
 for the good of this place ; or I should not have felt so 
 impelled to come at this season, though I would not for a 
 moment imagiric that anything I could do or say, would bo 
 blessed ; did I not know that God often chooses the weak 
 things of this world to advance His kingdom, and cause His 
 glory to appear before the heathen. 
 
 " From Palatot we came to Palatoter, about two or three 
 hours' travel. We stopped in a field to converse with a 
 heathen mother, who was gathering chillic ( s and black pepper,
 
 164 VISIT TO PALATOT. 
 
 and soon after with another who sat in a booth by the way. 
 Both were very attentive, and one seemed not far from the 
 Saviour. We came on from this garden through the bed of 
 Palatot river to Palatoter, where we found four houses, all 
 of which I visited and had the privilege of speaking to six- 
 teen souls, eight men and eight women, besides children. 
 One man was from Siam, and never heard the gospel till he 
 came to these regions. He is a very interesting man, and 
 has a beautiful daughter, whom I tried hard to persuade to 
 come down with me to school, but she does not yet feel the 
 value of learning to read. This man wears large horn cylin- 
 ders in his ears, about four inches in length, four in cir- 
 cumference, and made hollow. All the women in this region 
 wear polished ebony knobs in their ears, often more than 
 four inches in circumference, and formed like spouts, except 
 that they present concave fronte which are used for mirrors, 
 very different from those of Dongyan. Their jacketg also 
 are very different, and not half so elegant, being wrought 
 only a little, and that with cotton, but the houses present a 
 much more comfortable appearance than is usual, having 
 roofed verandahs. 
 
 " The Siamese Karen says there are a great many Shos in 
 Siam, and that they all worship Gyike, which I suppose is 
 the Talaing for Gaudama. I find many in these parts who 
 worship Gyike. Those who observe this mode of worship 
 do not adhere to the Thako Mosha custom, nor feed the 
 Nahts (evil spirits:) One man here reads Burmese, and has 
 often heard the gospel ; he does not oppose, but seems only 
 to want the new heart. He seemed much pleased to see us, 
 and immediately invited us up into his house. Another lis- 
 tened for an hour, I imagine, asked many questions, and 
 really seemed like a brother, though he does not yet confess 
 Christ. Probably his wife hinders him, as she seems to bo
 
 VISITS TO THE HEATHEN. 165 
 
 more opposed than any one I have met, although her parents 
 have both united with the Christians of Longpung. She sat 
 down, however, and heard what I had to say with attention. 
 " From Palatoter to this village the road is much worse 
 than any I have yet traversed. We reached this place about 
 five o'clock p. M., having walked as fast as the way would al- 
 low without halting the whole way up to the Paletot river, 
 which, though but a brook, is often quite deep. I was car- 
 ried by two men through the deeper portions, and walked 
 the remainder. When I reached this place the first wo- 
 man I met invited me into her house, offered me bee- 
 
 
 
 tlcnut, and brought water and washed the blood from my 
 feet with her own hands. Of course, I refused so much 
 kindness, but she would not desist until I was made com- 
 fortable, and laid down in the best place in her dwelling. 
 This woman and her husband are the followers of the Boiig- 
 ko, but she listened with polite attention to the truths of 
 our religion, and appeared very friendly. When I sat down 
 to dine she brought out a bunch of plantains, and seemed 
 very anxious to assist me, though she does not confess any 
 belief in the Saviour. She had a sick child to whom I ad- 
 ministered medicine, which probably accounted in part for 
 her kindness. 
 
 '* At this hamlet there are but three houses, and we found 
 but seven or eight persons. I have had conversations with 
 all the women and children, and more or less with the men, 
 on the interests of eternity. One family is related to one 
 of the disciples at Longpung, and the man seems ready to 
 believe ; but does not repent of his sins so deeply as I wish 
 to seo him. His wife says she believes in Jesus Christ, but 
 *does not yet worship Him. She seems to think she will, at 
 some time, become his disciple. Two of this woman's child- 
 ren have learnt to read at Longpung.
 
 166 DISCUSSIONS WITH THEM. 
 
 " This evening we have had worship with the family where 
 we stop, and some of the neighbors who came in, and since 
 worship, the head of the family has entered into an energetic 
 discussion to prove that Arumadaya is the Christian's God, 
 and the Airys our angels. He is a son of the Bong ko, and 
 a very well informed man for a Karen. But pastor Klana " 
 was fully competent to meet all his arguments and diffi- 
 culties. The discussion has been very interesting, and led 
 to a declaration of all the fundamental principles of the 
 Christian religion, and a complete refutation of the Bong ko 
 creed. 
 
 " I was greatly rejoiced to hear this young man speak so 
 well for his Master, indeed he was a very superior preacher. 
 I have heard none superior to him, and I doubt much if any 
 foreign teacher will ever master the language so as to preach 
 with the ease, fluency, and cogency of argument that this 
 man exhibits. He is also very amiable in his deportment, 
 and engages every one's affections. He never speaks as if 
 he were a superior, bxit with true oriental politeness he says 
 to the young by way of apology for his earnestness, ' I be* 
 lieve I have lived more years than you, it is therefore proper 
 I should tell you what I know.' To his equals he will say : 
 ' I know very little, but what the teachers have told me I 
 ought to tell you, so that we may all be saved ;' and to his 
 elders he says with Elihu, ' I. am young, and ye are very old, 
 yet suffer me a little, for I have yet to speak on God's be- 
 half.' This courteous way of commencing his discourses en- 
 gages all hearts, and as he always appeals to his audience, 
 they of course assent, and then they must listen. I look 
 upon this man as a real jewel to the mission; indeed both 
 these pastors Klana and Kolapau are gentlemen, gentlemen* 
 in feeling and manners, and apparently devoted to the ser-
 
 KETURN TO LONGPUNG. 167 
 
 vice of God , and it does one real good to hold communion 
 with such heart's. 
 
 " The man to whom Klana has been preaching says, 
 ' Formerly we were all under the power of the Nahts, but 
 now we cast them off without fear.' As they had taken one 
 step he thought they would continue to advance, until they 
 would all worship the true God ; but he thought it must be 
 done step by step, as some argue for tite inebriate ; they 
 must first worship the Bong or Gyike, and so ascend up to 
 the God of all. 
 
 " Longpung, Nov. 12th, 1852. 
 
 " We left Kangta early this morning; crossed over Pala- 
 tot river, and a pretty high hill, and soon entered Dauchong 
 brook, and followed it up to its source, where we entered 
 Bcong stream, which we traced down to its mouth. The first 
 stream was very narrow, but most of the way one or two feet 
 deep, and often much deeper, flowing through a deep gorge, 
 the mountains on either side being very lofty and covered 
 with thick jungle. This stream was very muddy, and the 
 rank grass and water-plants grew up close to the middle, so 
 that there was no path whatever ; and we were obliged to 
 struggle up through the middle of the stream, sometimes 
 over fishing dams and logs, for about three hours. After 
 leaving this stream we had to climb the side of a hill, over 
 immense fallen trees, and then make our way through a thick 
 bamboo jungle, and then through a forest as difficult of access 
 as any mangrove swamp. We had to cut our way, I imagine, 
 for about an hour in our wet clothes, and when we reached 
 the chapel, our feet and limbs were still covered with leeches, 
 swollen, torn and bleeding. 
 
 " From Chongquait round to Longpung by this route must 
 be about twenty miles, and at this season the paths are so 
 bad, when there are any, that I have not been- able to use
 
 168 THENCE TO MATAH. 
 
 the cot twenty steps the whole day. This is the great ob- 
 stacle to early travelling in the jungle, for 1 do not think 
 there is any danger of sickness ; but the paths and whole 
 face of the country are as different in November, and in 
 December and January, as the roads of a city and those of a 
 rough upland village. This should be especially borne in 
 mind by all tourists ; or those who pass through the jungle 
 later in the season may suppose that early travellers exag- 
 gerated the difficulties of the way. In December these 
 streams, which are now swollen and rapid, will be dried up, 
 or very low, and the whole country which is now covered 
 with reeds and tall grasses will then be burnt over. 
 
 " At Longpung I visited three heathen women in as many 
 different houses, had a season of worship with the disciples, 
 and then came on to Matah, where I immediately went to 
 see an aged infirm disciple, who is unable to leave his room. 
 He was, I believe, one of the number baptized at Lockyien, 
 and told me all about Mamma Mason's* living in the jungle 
 a great many days in a booth, while they were building Matah, 
 and how he afterwards carried leaves to help to build her a 
 house. He related a great many other interesting things of 
 days gone by. He is a firm believer, and evidently enjoys 
 the presence of his Saviour. He has no fear of death, and 
 seemed to feel deeply the goodness of God towards his 
 countrymen, in delivering them from the Burmese and Si- 
 amese who so often devoured them. 
 
 " On returning to the chapel, the dear Christians thronged 
 me, inquiring if any had believed. ' Did you see my daugh- 
 ter ?' inquired an aged mother who was herself formerly a 
 priestess of the Thako Mosha. ' Yes, I saw her.' ' Did she 
 say she would be a disciple ?' And when I was obliged to 
 answer in the negative, she bowed down her hoary head and 
 
 * Dr. Mason's first wife, Mrs. Helen Mason.
 
 RETURN HOME. 169 
 
 wept! if ever my heart sympathized with parents it was that 
 evening, to see the anxiety depicted on every face, as they 
 inquired after unconverted children and relatives. 
 
 " Early this morning I left Matah and have walked, I 
 fancy, a good deal more than ha'f the way ; as there were so 
 few coolies, I could not otherwise hasten at all. On the way 
 I noticed a large rock on the side of the mountain, piled up 
 with small stones, and on asking how these stones came there, 
 they told me of a custom that prevails among all the Bur- 
 mese. Every one who passes picks up a stone and throws 
 it en the cairn ; if they fail to do it, they believe sickness 
 and other ills will befall them. It seems to be a species of 
 worship to the spirit of the mountain, and they say the cus- 
 tom is very ancient. I stopped to see if my coolies observed 
 the tradition, and lo, each one as he passed, stooped down, 
 and picked up a stone, and threw it on. 
 
 " During this tour I have had the privilege of seeing and 
 conversing with about seventy Sho women, nearly as many 
 men, and a good many children. It was not my object to 
 speak to the men ; but when they came to me, and sought in- 
 struction, I felt it would be sinful to withhold it because I 
 was a woman. that the Holy Spirit would deign to bless 
 this small effort to the salvation of some precious souls ; for 
 this I scarcely dare to hope ; yet with God all things are 
 possible, and he can use even such unworthy services for 
 his glory." 
 
 In this tour Mrs. Mason travelled with some of the disci- 
 ples, or the Christian paster Klana. She went a distance of 
 nearly one hundred miles over upon the mountains toward 
 Siam. She was gone twelve days from her home, visited in 
 all seven hamlets, saw and conversed with about two hundred 
 individuals, and walked two-thirds of the distance out and 
 back again. Dr. Mason was at the time engaged in the trans-
 
 170 RESULT OF MRS. MASONS JOURNEY. 
 
 lation of the Scriptures into the Sgau, and could not have 
 accompanied her without stopping that important work ; she 
 therefore went forth alone, as many other females of this 
 mission have been wont to do, carrying the story of the cross 
 to these children of the forest, visiting them in their moun- 
 tain homes, and pleading with them to turn from their dumb 
 idols to serve the living God. Surely such labors will be 
 owned by Him who will testify at last that, " they have done 
 what they could."
 
 MR. INGALLS IN ARKACAN. 171 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 LOVELL INGALLS. 
 
 Meek souls there are who little dream. 
 Their d-iily strife an angel's theme. KEBLE. 
 
 IT was early in 1850 that Mr. Ingalls visited America, 
 but though absent from the chosen scene of his labors, he 
 was not unmindful of the service to which he had conse- 
 crated his life, and his heart yearned to return to the hea- 
 then. Writing to a friend he says : " This delightsome land 
 can have no charm for me while so many of our race sit in 
 darkness, and Christ's last command remains unfulfilled. I 
 still feel that Burmah is my home, and I shall when recruit- 
 ed return to my post with more pleasure than I left it." 
 While he was at home he married one who was in everyway 
 worthy of him, and who proved to be a helper indeed in all 
 his future labors for the salvation of the Burmans. At the 
 close of 1851, they proceeded to Arracan, and Mr. Ingalls 
 recommenced his labors at Akyab. During his absence the 
 church had become reduced in numbers and greatly afflicted 
 by dissensions : but on his return the clouds were dissipated, 
 and circumstances of an encouraging nature re-appeared. 
 Preaching was constantly maintained in two different parts of 
 the town, and numerous visitors listened attentively to the 
 word. Mr. Ingalls filled the place of the pastor to the church, 
 and gave himself to daily preaching in the zayat, and. conversa- 
 tion with inquirers, both there, and at his own house, which
 
 172 PROSPERITY AT AKYAB. 
 
 was always open to visitors. His labors were much blessed, 
 and could scarcely have been more judiciously directed. 
 
 In February 1852, Akyab was visited with cholera, which 
 carried off not only Mrs. Moore, the wife of one of the mis- 
 sionaries, but Mr. Campbell of Kyouk-Phyoo. In the midst 
 of these afflictions, they had the comfort of seeing that the 
 word of God grew and increased. In October, Mr. Ingalls 
 writes : " Several have been baptized lately. It is very 
 interesting to witness these conversions from Buddhism : 
 these proud Buddhists going joyfully forth from the camp 
 of fhis world bearing its reproach. One young man said, ' I 
 was so happy, I spent the whole night in prayer to my God.' 
 I find I have baptized fifty-eight within a few years in this 
 place, but many of them have joined the church above." 
 
 Southern Burmah, however, was Mr. Ingalls' earliest field 
 of labor, and thither he ardently desired to return ; and now 
 that the way was open, in accordance with his own request, 
 he was authorized to remove to one of the stations. At 
 Rangoon, therefore, Mr. Ingalls took up his abode, the last 
 and most successful scene of his labors. He says, in writing 
 at this time : " I believe the Lord has work for us to do here 
 More than seventy Burmans have been baptized during the 
 last eight months, a larger number than were ever baptized 
 in so short a period. With these converts we have spent 
 much time, and have had reason to rejoice over^them." Five 
 places for daily preaching were established in the city, 
 where numbers congregated every day and listened to the 
 word of God. A spirit of inquiry prevailed, more general, 
 more earnest, and leading to more decisive resultg than at 
 any previous period of the Burman mission. 
 
 The following interesting case occurred not long after Mr. 
 and Mrs. Ingalls' removal to Rangoon. The narrative was 
 received from Mrs. Ingalls herself.
 
 MISSIONARY LIFE IN RANGOON. 173 
 
 The Sabbath was over, the sun had dawned upon another 
 week, and the labors of the missionaries had again commen- 
 ced. Their dwelling was a very humble one ; for they had 
 but recently arrived in Rangoon, and houses of any kind or 
 description were difficult to obtain. It was in the memora- 
 ble year 1853, not long after the British arms had broken 
 the Burman power in Pegu, and as soon as the British flag 
 waved over Rangoon, the American missionaries, under its 
 protection, commenced preaching the glories of the cross. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ingalls had taken possession of a small native 
 house, with no flooring but the cold earth. It had two doors, 
 one of which opened upon a broad verandah, facing the busy 
 street. In this verandah, day by day, the missionary and 
 his assistant took their seat, and with a few of their Bibles 
 and tracts spread out before them, endeavored to attract the 
 little groups of Burmans, who, from time to time passed to 
 and fro. Sometimes a goodly number would stop, and enter 
 into a lively discussion with the white teacher, and then again 
 a solitary individual would alone remain to engage his deep- 
 est sympathy, or excite his ardent hopes. Thus day after 
 day passed on. 
 
 The Sabbath was over ; a new day had dawned ; and the 
 teachers were sitting in the verandah, when their attention 
 was arrested by a thick-set, sturdy looking Burman entering 
 the verandah, followed by four others. He was hot, dusty, 
 and wearied, and had evidently travelled some distance : but 
 throwing down the bundle at his back, he commenced at 
 once in a loud decided tone. ' Well ! I've come back ! I 
 want to be a Christian, I want to be baptized ; and I've 
 brought four more with me.' He spoke with such earnest- 
 ness and rapidity, that it was only when the man paused, 
 that Mr. Ingalls could say, ' Where did you hear of our re- 
 ligion ? who are you ?' He started as he replied, ' Why,
 
 174: THE STRANGK BLACKSMITH. 
 
 doesn't the teacher know me ? Don't you remember, I'm 
 the blacksmith to whom you gave the Testament and the 
 tracts two months ago ? I've been reading them ever since. 
 I took them to my village, and have been reading on ; and 
 now I know all about it, and I know Christ can save a poor 
 sinner like me, and I want to be baptized.' 
 
 All this time he had been unrolling his bundle, and had 
 taken out the precious Testament which had made him wise 
 unto salvation. Mr. Ingalls made him sit down beside him, 
 that he might inquire into the amount of his knowledge. Of 
 his sincerity there could be no doubt, for, like the poor blind 
 man in the gospel, he could say, ' Once I was blind, now I 
 see.' He was greatly distressed when he found that it was 
 Monday ; for he had travelled without resting, in the hope 
 of reaching the teacher on the Lord's day, the Christian's 
 Sabbath. He then said, that when he returned to his own 
 village, he had read and studied the book ; that at first he 
 was awed by the thought of the majesty and purity of the 
 great God, and that he feared he would not look upon such 
 a one as he was ; but he read on on such wondrous things, 
 and of the Lord Jesus calling and saving even poor fishermen 
 (who are held in great contempt by the Burmans) ; and that 
 gave him hope, and he thought he ' might even save a poor 
 blacksmith !' His eye glistened as he added, ' how I have 
 read, read, blowing my bellows with one hand, while I have 
 held my Testament with the other. I want to be baptized.' 
 
 How did the hearts of the missionaries rejoice, not only 
 over this saved soul, but over those whom he had brought 
 with him ! He had truly gone forth bearing precious seed, 
 and had come again rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. 
 
 After a few days of instruction and counsel and prayer^ 
 the poor blacksmith was baptized, and returned to his family 
 and his native village ; but there the fiery trial of persecution
 
 PROGRESS IN RANGOON. 175 
 
 awaited him, and the headman of the village, after treating 
 him with much severity, drove him from his home. He fled 
 towards Ava, no doubt with the desire of carrying the gos- 
 pel there, but his work was done, and having witnessed a 
 good confession upon earth, he was called to enter into the 
 presence of his Master in heaven. 
 
 This was the commencement of the work again in Ran- 
 goon, amongst the Burmans, and the following extracts will 
 show how rapidly it advanced, Mr. Ingalls writes in March 
 1853 : " We find much to do, churches to be planted and 
 pastors instructed and ordained. No church going bell gives 
 the welcome to the sanctuary in this city ; no crowds throng 
 the streets, wending their way to the house of God ! Rice 
 has been scarce, and the merchants are tilling their houses 
 with it, while crowds of women and children are flocking to 
 the sales. How great the contrast to the solemn silence and 
 order that prevails in Christian lands ! A little company of 
 Burman Christians are congregated together ; and save this 
 little band, none know or love the Eternal God. 
 
 Shortly after we have recorded the baptism of a priest and 
 nun. " It was pleasant to see this man throw off his yellow 
 robes, and with a Christ-like simplicity obey the commands 
 of Jesus ; and then dress himself in the garments v T hich are 
 worn by the Burmans. The nun, too, seemed greatly rejoic- 
 ed as she cast her eyes upon the water which was to give her 
 the outward name of Christ's chosen. 
 
 " The great Pagoda was near us in all its golden glory, but 
 its glory is nothing compared with the glorious scene of these 
 happy converts ! Thirty have lately put on Christ by baptism. 
 " One, an old man just on the borders of the grave, has great- 
 ly rejoiced our souls. Another has come a distance of some 
 hundred miles, and tells us he has worshipped God seven 
 years. He heard the gospol from a man who heard it from
 
 176 THE STORY OF MOUNG SHWAY PAU. 
 
 Mr. Kincaid : so the seed springs up ! Another man came 
 into the verandah, and after sitting a while listening with 
 deep attention, he got up, and coming very near me, said, 
 ' Were you not here seventeen years ago ?' I said, ' Yes.' 
 ' Then,' he replied, ' you are the man who gave me that pre- 
 cious hook, and taught me how to pray to a God in the heav- 
 ens. I have tried to do so since, and now I must learn the 
 whole of this blessed way.' He remained fifteen days, and 
 was baptized, after which he left for his distant home. The 
 book I had given him so long ago was a Testament." 
 
 Another narrative received from Mrs. Ingalls pointedly 
 illustrates some of the Barman habits and customs. 
 
 " It was noon day. The sun was pouring down its scorch- 
 ing rays, making it one of the hot days of Burmah. The poor 
 Burman dog had dug his bed under the shadow of a shrub, 
 or beneath the ladder-steps. The house cat had left her wont- 
 ed sunny bed, and sought a resting-place close by the water 
 jar ; and most of the natives had sought a shelter from the' 
 rays of the scorching sun. Even the parrot bird drooped its 
 green wings, and clung to the very bottom of his cage for a 
 shadow. At this hour a Burman man of about thirty-five 
 years of age, might have been seen slowly plodding his way 
 to the city. For a turban, he wore some four yards of 
 the finest book muslin. His Polka jacket was of jaconet ; 
 and a piece of tine blue plaided silk was round his body and 
 limbs, and was fastened in front by a loose knot, allowing 
 the ends to hang down in a graceful fold. His feet were 
 incased in green sandals, and he carried over his head a leaf 
 umbrella. His outer appearance was that of a respectable 
 Burman. He walked slowly along, seemingly unconscious 
 of the excessive heat, though he was evidently suffering from 
 it. He scarcely raised his eyes from beneath his knitted
 
 MOUNG SIIWAY 1'AU. 177 
 
 brow, and only paused a moment at the door of a hovel to re- 
 light his cigar, ere he entered the town. 
 
 " He passed on, but suddenly his footsteps were arrested 
 by the hand of a familiar friend beckoning him to enter the 
 zayat, (an open shed, erected for the shelter of travellers, 
 and where the priests go to give religious instruction,) in 
 which he was sitting. He hesitated a moment, and turning 
 round gazed at the poor bamboo hovels which he had just 
 passed, and then turning again, he ran his eye along the 
 group of zayats and monasteries, and then lifting his eye to 
 their graduated roofs, with their curious carvings, and glitter- 
 ing spires, gazed on the golden Pagoda in the centre, and the 
 tall flag staffs, interspersed here and there, from which float 
 the long gauze streamers, which point the people to the holy 
 place. The ground round most of these places was the high- 
 est, and about them grew the lofty palm, the cocoa-nut and 
 various fruit and flowering trees, which, from their variety 
 of shade and form, gave the place a most beautiful appear- 
 ance. The Burman seemed lost in thought as he compared 
 the wretched bamboo hovels, and the splendor of the scene 
 before him ; and the call of his friend was unheeded. 
 
 " ' Why do you not come and visit us ? Are you becom- 
 ing Jesus Christ's man ?' The last words struck uron his 
 car, and he turned his feet to the zayat, assuring his friend 
 he was not Jesus Christ's man. The yellow-robed priests 
 relighted their cigars, which had wasted from their long slum- 
 bers, adjusted their pillows, and with their strings of black 
 beads, which answer the purpose of rosaries, placed them- 
 selves in the attitude of listeners. 
 
 " The old Burman pushed the cup of water to the traveller, 
 jMoung Shway Pau, and then began his inquiries : ' Where 
 have you been ? D^you think the white foreigners will drive 
 us from our home ? And why have you not attended our 
 
 8*
 
 178 MOUNG 8IIWAY PAU. 
 
 feasis, and made offerings to the gods of late ?' ' The bells 
 are falling from the Pagoda,' answered Moung Shway Pau, 
 dissembling as he spoke : 'and it needs regilding. The peo- 
 ple are getting slack : I fear they are becoming heretics ; for 
 I hear the American teachers are daily receiving the calls of 
 many of our people, and I often see them with those little 
 books. One of the heretics passed here a few days since 
 with a large bundle of tracts, and pressed me to take one ; 
 but I quickly told him I would not soil my hands with one of 
 them. He attempted to leave one, but I told him I would 
 make kites for the children of it. So he left, saying his God 
 could open my heart without books.' 
 
 " Seven or eight of the priests had jealously watched the 
 countenance of Mourig Shway Pau, and conjectured that he 
 knew more of those books than he admitted ; so they drew 
 near, and in their sacred language, Pali, expatiated long on 
 the beauties of their religion. They pressed him to seek for 
 merit, and told him if he would only replace one of those 
 soiled book muslin streamers which floated from the flag staff, 
 he would get great merit. As many times as it floated on the 
 breeze, so many times he would be king of the earth. He 
 could not conceal his contempt for this folly, and told them, 
 yes, it was only the natural course of things : if he hung his 
 head-dress on the staff it would float if there was any breeze. 
 Then adjusting his silken garment, and carefully concealing 
 a small book which he had in the fold, he left ; and a half 
 hour's walk brought him to his abode. 
 
 "His sister unrolled a mat for him, and his.nephew, a boy 
 of six years old, with a good share of the milk of human 
 kindness beaming from his eye, stumbled over the mat, spill- 
 ing the cup of water which he was wishing to give his uncle. 
 A smile lit up the face of Moung Shway *Pau, as he picked 
 up the little boy ; but his brow instantly became knitted, and
 
 MOUNG SHWAY PAU. 179 
 
 throwing himself upon his mat he pressed his aching head 
 and sighed deeply. His sister Mah Doke brought in her 
 vegetables, and began dressing them for the evening meal. 
 As she glanced at her brother, she saw from the quick heav- 
 ing of his bosom that he was troubled, and throwing down 
 her knife, she was soon at his side, asking him if he was ill. 
 He replied, no and yes, in the same breath : and then said 
 he did not believe their god could save them from hell. 
 Their religion was all, give, give ; and he saw they would 
 only receive poverty in return for all their gifts, and after 
 death go down to hell. ' I wish to worship the God who can 
 save me from hell.' ' What,' exclaimed the sister, her eye 
 flashing with shame and anger, ' Will you leave the religion 
 of your forefathers, for that of the foreigners ? You will 
 bring shame and disgrace upon your sister !' And she re- 
 turned to her cooking. 
 
 " Moung Shway Pau now drew from the folds of his dress 
 a small book, which he carefully opened, and began perusing 
 with eagerness. It was the gospel of Luke the 9th chapter, 
 2Gth v. ' Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my 
 words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he 
 shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the 
 holy angels.' The tears rushed to his eyes, and he smote 
 his breast vehemently saying, ' I denied thee, was ashamed 
 of thee at the kyoung, and I must go down to hell. I believe, 
 God, thou art the only true God ! yet I denied thee 
 there.' 
 
 " The shades of evening drew nigh, Moung Shway Pau's 
 brother returned, and when the evening meal was finished, 
 his sister told her husband that her brother had become a 
 heretic. His brother-in-law, who was a learned man, lit his 
 cigar, and with all the arguments at his command endeavored 
 to prove that the system of idolatry was a good one. Moung
 
 180 MOUNG SHWAY PAU. 
 
 Shway Pau opened his book and read of the God who made 
 the heaven and the earth and everything therein. ' This 
 God can save us from hell,' continued Moung Shway Pau, 
 but Gaudama our god, cannot. Gaudama does not exist, and 
 even if he did he could not save us from hell, for in his own 
 book he tells us, ' If you have sinned, you must endure it.' 
 
 " The brother-in-law admitted the truth of the statement, 
 but said it was a shame to forsake the religion of their fore- 
 fathers. ' Ah,' said Moung Shway Pau, ' your eyes are not 
 opened to your great danger, the children of murderers 
 and robbers ought surely not to follow in the footsteps of 
 their parents ? It would be a virtue in them to forsake those 
 sins, and follow after the good and wise.' The noise of these 
 discussions soon brought in the neighbors and friends ; and 
 Moung Shway Pau to his surprise found himself surrounded 
 by some fifty persons. For a moment his whole frame shook 
 with agitation, but in two or three more, he gathered cour- 
 age, and with the light and instruction he had received he 
 pictured forth the wisdom of the God who created the world, 
 and filled it with its millions of beauties and delights. He 
 told them that this God had bestowed all these blessings 
 upon man : ' Yes,' said he, ' even upon us Burmans and 
 Talaings, who have never once raised our hands in the atti- 
 tude of praise and adoration, to the Giver of them all.' He 
 tried also to tell them of Jesus Christ, God's only Son, but 
 his views were not yet distinctly clear about the wonders of 
 the cross and its agonies ; yet enough was told to strike the 
 hearts of one or two of the listeners, and they resolved to 
 visit the foreign teachers and learn from them the wondrous 
 story. 
 
 " Moung Shway Pau sought his mat, but it was not to 
 sleep : his mind was too busy with the past and present. 
 He recalled the days of boyhood, and those of riper years
 
 MOUNG SUWAY I'AU. 181 
 
 Where was the wife of his youth ? and the children she had 
 borne him ? His little ones were sleeping in the quiet 
 grave ; and she had been driven from his home ; for he had 
 brought another to share the place in his affections she had 
 so long held alone. His sin rose up before him as d thick 
 cloud, and he groaned and wept in the bitterness of his soul, 
 crying ' God be merciful to nie a sinner !' He spent the 
 night in deep repentance before God, and only closed his 
 eyes just as the sun began to shed its first feeble rays of 
 light. He was, however, soon aroused from his slumbers by 
 the shouts of the people, and the tramp of multitudes. It 
 was the waning of the moon, the day of worship for the fol- 
 lowers of Gaudama. Business had been suspended, and 
 young and old were busy in paying homage at the temples 
 of Oaudama, and presenting flowers. The people were 
 dressed in their best attire, loaded with yellow cotton cloth 
 and silk, and every now and then were borne upon the shoul- 
 ders of men, small trees, with hundreds of branches from 
 which hung handkerchiefs, pillows, mats, umbrellas, cups, 
 flowers, fruits, and candles, offerings for the priests : the 
 whole producing a bright and gorgeous scene. These days 
 had been the delight of Moung Shway Pau, and he had been 
 wont to exult with pride over all this display, when he com- 
 pared it with the humble worship of the foreigners and the 
 heretics, but now his heart sickened at the sight. lie had 
 firmly resolved to become a Christian, and as the sun arose 
 he hastened to the foreign teachers to receive instruction, 
 and to tell them of his wish to worship the Eternal God. 
 The teacher's heart beat with joy as he heard the glad news. 
 The native preachers were called together, they all sought 
 the mercy scat. God was with them, and Moung Shway Pau 
 became a rejoicing convert. As his heart overflowed with 
 love instinctively the image of his injured wife rose before
 
 182 KO-THAH-A. 
 
 him, and he longed to tell her of the joys of salvation through 
 a crucified Saviour. The following Sabbath he was baptized, 
 and the Monday following went in search of his neglected 
 wife. He found her, told her of his conversion, confessed 
 his sin, and humbly besought her to return to his home. At 
 last she yielded, and before the church they were again 
 united. She is now seeking the favor of God, and soon it is 
 hoped she will be numbered among his children." 
 
 Many interesting circumstances occurred about this period 
 in the mission at Kangoon. A great field was opening before 
 it, and the land seemed waiting to be taken possession of by 
 the " King of kings." A convention of the missionaries 
 had been held at Maulmain to meet a deputation from 
 America, to consider the best mode of pursuing their opera- 
 tions for the future, and the stations they were to occupy in 
 Burmah Proper. Soon after the return of Mr. Kincaid and 
 Mr. Vintonfrom the convention, we find mention of the ordi- 
 nation of Mau Ya to the pastorate of the Karen church at 
 Ya-the by the aged and revered Ko-Thah-a, the venerable 
 pastor of the Rangoon Burmese church. 
 
 Ko-TiiAii-A had been three times imprisoned for the name 
 of Christ, and through good report and evil report had for 
 many years testified to the grace of God in that city. He 
 is now in his eighty-fourth year ; " a shock fully ripe." 
 Though unable to preach to his people, his life shone with 
 increasing lustre, and in his prayers there was such a re- 
 markable unction, that they awakened feelings of the deepest 
 emotion in almost every heart. His language was always 
 pointed, and beautiful for its conciseness and brevity. He 
 would often remark with thankfulness that he had been 
 spared to see that time when the gospel could be preached 
 with none to oppose, and like Simeon of old he was now 
 ready to depart in peace, for his eyes had seen the Lord's
 
 MAU YA. 183 
 
 salvation. We can scarcely imagine a more striking picture 
 than this venerable man presiding at the ordination of Mau 
 Ya, his fine eye beaming with intelligence and holy joy. 
 
 MAU YA had been baptized about twenty years before, and 
 had been an assistant preaching the gospel for nearly fifteen 
 years. The church in their letter asking for his ordination, 
 bore testimony to the uniformity of his Christian character, 
 and ministerial faithfulness. He had endured suffering and 
 reproach for the name of Christ ; had been fined, whipped, 
 imprisoned under sentence of death, and condemned to the 
 worst of all kinds of slavery. He had been made a pagoda 
 slave, and required to spend his life in the service of a god 
 whom he knew to be no god. His business had been to keep 
 the pagoda in repair. He was rescued from this dreadful 
 state by the kind assistance of Col. Burney, who had been 
 long and intimately acquainted with the Governor, and said 
 to him that he should regard it as one of the greatest per- 
 sonal favors he could do him, if he would give Mau Ya his 
 liberty. The Governor yielded, and he had already been 
 the instrument in the hands of God of the ecnversion from 
 heathenism of some scores, if not hundreds, of his country- 
 men. He was now an ordained preacher of the gospel of 
 Christ, from whose labors the missionaries anticipated much 
 for the final and permanent establishment of the Kingdom 
 of Christ in that dark land. 
 
 Thus the work went on, and the people released from the 
 bondage in which they had been held, rejoiced in the milder 
 rule under which they lived. "Now we can breathe and dare 
 to sleep ; but before the English took possession, we could 
 neither breathe nor sleep." One old man, after speaking of 
 the oppressions under the Burmans and their deliverance by 
 the English, exclaimed with much warmth, " how I wish I 
 could see the Queen of England, how Iioouldivorshiphcr /"
 
 184: MK. INGALLS' LAST JOURNEY. 
 
 When told that her Majesty would not be pleased with such 
 worship he appeared unable at first to understand it, but af- 
 ter repeated explanation, he for the first time seemed to re- 
 ceive the idea of the existence of an Eternal God to whom 
 worship should be paid alone. In December, 1855, Mrs. In- 
 galls writes : " Agreeably to the promise I made you last 
 mail, I will try and tell you of our last tour. We left Ran- 
 goon, Tuesday the 13th, and at sunset reached the village of 
 Sike gu. We went ashore, and the first street led us to the 
 idol-temple, or worship-place. ' There,' said the aged man, 
 pointing to a small marble idol under a canopy of yellow and 
 red paper, ' there is our god.' We asked him if that image 
 could save them when they presented their offerings, or ask- 
 ed to be saved from hell, or perhaps to become gods ? He 
 seemed startled at the question, and said he never thought of 
 it before ; but his fathers had worshipped these gods, and he 
 must not forsake their customs. Mr. Ingalls told him of the 
 God who made the heaven and earth, and al] therein, and the 
 way of salvation through Jesus Christ. He gave the most re- 
 spectful attention, and followed us on to a crowd of people, 
 who gathered themselves around us, while we told the men, 
 women, and children, of Him who alone can save them from 
 hell. At dark we went to our boat, and left a preacher on 
 shore to explain more fully the way of salvation. As Mr. In- 
 galls was not well, I went ashore, and found a house spread 
 with mats, and a basket for my seat. The man of the house 
 had read some of our books, and his eyes seemed to be open- 
 ed to the truth. The preacher I left on shore, and at midnight 
 I still hoard his voice at the house. Left early in the morn- 
 ing, and reached a village called The-lu. The shore was so 
 muddy that the men went above their knees in getting 
 ashore ; so we did not venture into the village. The preacher 
 gave a few books and talked with the people ; and in tho
 
 MR. INGALLS' LAST JOURNEY. 185 
 
 evening we left for the mouth of the river. We came to a 
 large stream on our left ; and, as the tide turned we entered 
 it, and called at a large town named Th'co'pein meaning, the 
 place where the robbers used to assemble and repair, &c. 
 We found the people all engaged in boat-racing, and, as 
 the tide was against us we were obliged to remain. The 
 preacher climbed up the bank, and found only two grown per- 
 sons in the place, the rest being at the river, attending the 
 racing. The racing was near us, and divided into two parties 
 who separated, one on the right and the other on the left 
 bank ;as the men rowed, each party cheered them on by music 
 and dancing, and the waving of flags by the young women- 
 Furty rupees were the stimulus ; and when one of the 
 boats gained the reward, that party sent up loud cheers, and 
 the boat returned, the rowers singing and dancing until they 
 arrived ; after which the company separated. As the win. 
 ners passed by our boat, we found that they were many of 
 them Karens. Soon other boats came ; and when they found 
 who we were, they strongly urged that we should visit their 
 place. We had felt somewhat sad about our reaching this 
 place at this very time ; but we had committed our ways to 
 Cod, knowing that He would guide us in the way we should 
 go ; and when this warm invitation came, we concluded to go 
 to the Karen village, and return to Th'co'pein in the morn- 
 ing, when we hoped the people would resume their usual oc- 
 cupations, and be ready to receive us. 
 
 " We therefore left ; and, at sun-down, entered the stream 
 leading to the Karen village. At first it was broad, but, 
 after a few rods, it became very narrow, and, as it was get- 
 ting dark, we found we were obliged to go on, or remain 
 where we were ; for return we could not, the stream was so 
 narrow. After a long and toilsome time of cutting down 
 trees and large bushes that obstructed our way and nearly
 
 186 ME. INGALLS' LAST JOURNEY. 
 
 ruined our boat, we arrived at the first village, called Co 
 Doung. The mosquitos came in by thousands, and Mr. In- 
 galls not being well, we had a most dreadful night. Day* 
 light came, and we found we must go out of the stream, or 
 remain another day for the tide ; which we could not do and 
 carry out our plans ; besides, it was a dreadful place for one 
 in feeble health. Our time being short, we went ashore, and 
 found that most of the people here were Burman, the Karens 
 living a long distance beyond. Some aged men came, and 
 said they wished to hear about the God who we said had 
 made the world. Mr. Ingalls told them of man's fall, and 
 the story of redemption through Jesus Christ. Smiles and 
 tears were mingled together as they listened. They asked 
 how they must pray to God, and when Mr. Ingalls told them 
 they listened as though their life depended upon those 
 words. ' But,' said one of the old men, with sorrow, ' I fear 
 we cannot remember those words.' "We told them that the 
 book we had given them would teach them ; and they clasped 
 it, even as some precious treasure. . They said they should 
 come to see us, and we expect to see them, for we believe 
 their hearts have been touched. Some Karen girls came to 
 see me ; but when they saw Mr. Ingalls they ran under the 
 house ; fearing, they said, he had come to steal them. Mr. 
 Ingalls told them that I was his wife ; one of the girls then 
 looked in my face, and said ' yes ; she has a white face : he 
 will not want us." After a few words of explanation they 
 came about us, and listened well. They understood Bur- 
 mese very well, and told me there was one Christian in their 
 part of the village. We had a pleasant time at this place, 
 and left, followed to our boat by very many, and, better than 
 all, by the grateful blessings of the aged men. We felt 
 deeply interested in them ; for (hey were so sincere in all 
 their questions, and seemed to feel that their God could not
 
 MK. INGALLS' LAST JOURNEY. 187 
 
 save them. We had a hard time in getting to them ; but we 
 left, thanking God that we had been permitted to tell these 
 aged men of the way of salvation. 
 
 " At noon we returned to Th'co'pein, and found the peo- 
 ple of that place, and hundreds from other villages, engaged 
 in making offerings to the priests, and consecrating a dress 
 for them. Two boats were fastened together, and over them 
 a canopy of paper, cut and painted in fantastic forms, and 
 the sides hung and looped with yellow satin, made from the 
 sacred cloth. Some half dozen priests seated themselves 
 under this canopy, and read from their Pali books : while 
 the people sat in their boats around them; after which a man 
 went to the priests and presented the sacred dress, and a few 
 others followed with fruit and flowers, and the scene closed 
 We felt cast down when we came to this place and found the 
 people all engaged in their forms ; but before we left we 
 thanked God for sending us at this very time ; for while they 
 were consecrating the sacred dress, our boat was completely 
 surrounded by large boats, filled with respectable men from 
 other villages, who listened to us with deep interest, and 
 many of them confessed they had no confidence in their 
 religion. We gave some choice books, and told them what 
 they must do to be saved. When we left we felt that we 
 were short-sighted creatures, and that God knew how to order 
 all things well. Hundreds had come to that place to worship 
 things of man's invention ; but God had looked with compas- 
 sion upon them in the midst of their sins and opened a door 
 of mercy for them. God is truly a Being of mercy and long, 
 suffering. We received a warm invitation to visit the homes 
 of some, which we hope to do at some future day. 
 
 " At sundown left this place, and came to another village, 
 and before morning left for Rangoon. This has been a kind 
 of exploring tour, and, as we cannot revisit thorn ourselves,
 
 188 ME. INGALLS' LAST JOURNEY. 
 
 we shall try and send preachers to these places. We have 
 presented the cup of salvation to many hundreds, and it has 
 universally been received with gladness. But they must 
 have ' line upon line,' to enable them to understand all God's 
 will. After getting our mail, and attending to home af- 
 fairs, replenishing our stores a little, we left in the evening, 
 for a trip up the Irrawadi and Bassein River. 
 
 " At midnight reached the village of Tet-thit ; at eight in 
 the morning, after a chat with the people, left ; and at noon 
 reached the village of Co-tu-yoh, a large flourishing town, 
 where the river forks, and large towns are built upon the 
 banks, numbering some five five thousand people. We went 
 ashore, and found the head-man was an old friend of ours, 
 who had often attended our Sabbath service, and had given 
 fifteen rupees towards the Burman chapel. He received us 
 most cordially, and we concluded to spend the Sabbath at his 
 place. He told us we might have our service in his audi- 
 ence hall, and in the evening, as we went through the town, 
 we heard the streets resounding with the call of the runner, 
 warning them to come and hear of the God who made the 
 world. On Sunday they rang the native bell, and we went 
 to the house of the ruler, where we found two chairs for us, 
 and mats spread for the people in his hall. The people soon 
 came, and hundreds heard, for the first time, of Him, who 
 alone is able to save them from hell. Many of them were 
 the builders of the temple, and the strong men of the priest. 
 They, too, listened with the most rapt attention : they came, 
 no doubt, with an eye of curiosity, but they soon became 
 deeply interested, and the truth seemed to sink deep into 
 their hearts. Not only was the large hall filled, but the 
 house was surrounded with men, women, and children, who 
 were so eager to hear, that the ruler gave them permission 
 to tear off the front of the house. As Mr. Ingalls stopped a
 
 MB. INGALLg' DEATH. 189 
 
 moment in his remarks, we could not but call to mind God's 
 mercy to Eurmah. How changed the scene !" 
 
 It was early in 1856, that, in the midst of these interest- 
 ing labors, the health of Mr. Ingalls, which had been long 
 failing, rapidly declined. As the work increased, the hour 
 of his release drew near. A short trip to Bengal was tried 
 in the vain hope that a cessation from labor and a change of 
 air and scene might recruit his failing strength. Mrs. In- 
 galls was left at Rangoon to do what she could for the Bur- 
 man converts, as there was no other missionary in the Bur- 
 man department then at Rangoon ; but he so rapidly declined 
 at Calcutta, that she was hastily summoned by the return 
 steamer. Knowing his great anxiety to get back to the 
 scene of his labors that he might die there, they embarked 
 to return thither. He still hoped he had work to do for 
 Burmah, and used to say ; " I cannot leave until some one is 
 willing to come and care for these souls as I have done. I 
 left America to die on heathen ground ; and I have never 
 repented the course I have taken." 
 
 Just as the vessel was nearing Rangoon, on the 14th March, 
 1850, it was evident that he was sinking. Miss Vinton, who 
 was with them, had sung to him, 
 
 " The morning light ia breaking, 
 The darkness disappears." 
 
 The light of heaven had indeed broken upon his soul ; the 
 darkness and storms of this world had disappeared ; and he 
 entered into rest in the forty-eighth year of his age. After 
 Mr. Ingalls' death, we received the following from his 
 widow : 
 
 " Rangoon, Nov. 8th, 1856. 
 
 'Your very kind letter of August last came safe, and I 
 have to thank you for your kindness. I was then deciding
 
 190 MRS. ING ALLS REMAINS. 
 
 about my return to America ; and I thought I should .call 
 upon you as I passed through Calcutta, and therefore did not 
 reply. It seemed my duty to go home with my little girl, 
 and I had some fears regarding the work of a single lady in 
 Burmah. I packed my trunk, and was ready to go by the re- 
 turn steamer; but the woes of the heathen and the tears of 
 the Christians, have come before me with so much power, 
 that I dare not go yet. My fatherless child is left with but 
 few relatives, and none of this world's goods ; and I felt it 
 my duty to seek for her a home, and see that she was decent- 
 ly educated, so that she might care for herself if God called 
 me away ; but I feei the claims of these people so strong upon 
 me, that I must remain a little longer, and trust God in re- 
 gard to the future. I have therefore decided to remain 
 another year. It has been a bitter struggle of duty ; but if 
 I can see my Heavenly Father is guiding, then I shall not 
 fear to remain. I shall leave my present home in the city, 
 and go to a part of the town called Kemendine. It is a new 
 Burman field, and we may have some obstacles to obstruct 
 us ; but if God is with us, we shall not work in vain. I shall 
 have two or three Burman preachers, with their wives, some 
 Burman schools, and shall go out into the jungle in the dry 
 season. I thank you for the interest you have manifested 
 towards me, and also your dear husband ; and now I ask, as a 
 favor, that you will pray for a blessing to rest upon my work 
 here. I have led a happy life in this country. We have 
 had our clouds ; but I think we have had more of the sun- 
 shine. 
 
 " My dear husband loved the people, and they loved him , 
 so that we have always been surrounded by dear Christians 
 and heathen who were listening to the words of our blessed 
 gospel. My dear husband always wished me to spend my 
 time among the people ; so I have always been with him in
 
 MR. INGALLS' CHAEACTEK. 191 
 
 / 
 
 his work, and heretofore have had but little time for sorrow. 
 At times now I feel that my cup of sorrow is too bitter for 
 me ; but at other times God does not forsake me, and I see 
 His love in all that He has done. My dear one was ripe for 
 heaven, and God knew when to take him. Every day some- 
 thing comes up to remind me of my loss, and the struggle is 
 a hard one. Companies of Burmans come in. They inquire 
 for the teaehcr. It is a bitter task to try and tell them that 
 he is gone, gone ; and it is not an easy thing for me to com- 
 pose myself to tell them of his peaceful end, and remind 
 them of his exhortations to them, and his prayers on their 
 behalf. These are bitter trials ; but God has blessed some 
 of these meetings, and I know he will not leave me. My 
 confidence in my Heavenly Father was never so firm as now. 
 And then, too, the Christians are most kind to me, and even 
 the heathen seem to wish to do something to cheer me. A 
 large company came to see me a few days ago, having heard 
 that I was going to America. One said, if I would stay he 
 would do any thing for me. One said he would give me 
 the posts for a house ; another the boards for the floor ; 
 another the material for enclosing ; and one poor man, who 
 had nothing to give, held up his hands and said 'Here, mamma, 
 is my gift : they are strong, and can help make thr house, if 
 you will only stay ;' another that he would bring a boat and 
 convey me to his place. So you will understand I do not 
 feel alone with these poor Christians and heathen. My health, 
 too, is good, and that of my little girl was never better ; so 
 I have blessings with all my trials." 
 
 And thus this mission has proceeded, " in deaths oft." 
 Probably in no modern mission, save that of the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society in West Africa, has there been so large a 
 number of deaths in proportion to the brethren employed.
 
 192 LOSSES IN THE MISSION. 
 
 The following is a list to the present time of those who count- 
 ed not their lives dear unto them, but have finished their 
 course with joy and the ministry which they received of the 
 Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 
 xx. 24.)
 
 LOSSES IN THE MISSION. 
 
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 JOURNEY TO TOUNGOO. 195 
 
 CIIAPTEK XI. 
 
 TOUNGOO. 
 
 " How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of them that bring 
 glad tidings." ISAIAH lii. 7. 
 
 WITHIN a year after Pegu was annexed to the British 
 Emnire in India, Mr. Mason, who had been laboring since 
 1831 in the Tenasscrim Provinces, became so enfeebled in 
 health, that he was compelled to contemplate a return to 
 America. On reaching Maulmain, however, he determined, 
 before doing so, to visit TOUNGOO, the ancient capital of that 
 kingdom. In the days of the Burmese Government, no 
 Christian or Christian missionary had ever entered that ter- 
 ritory, and the sound of the gospel had never reached the 
 people's ears. It was justly thought that the present moment 
 would be favorable to the introduction of Christianity, es- 
 pecially amongst the Karens, who associated with the rule 
 of the White Foreigners a time of prosperity and peace and 
 of enlightenment in the knowledge of the Eternal God. 
 
 While Dr. Mason's own mind was being pressed to go 
 forth into this new field, Sau Quala, one of the best and 
 wisest of the Karen pastors of Tavoy, was being led to con- 
 sider its importance too, and he had determined to go up the 
 next dry season to travel through the length and breadth of 
 the land, saying, in the spirit of Caleb : " Let us go up at 
 once, and possess it ; for we are well able to overcome it." 
 
 Dr. and Mrs. Mason started on the 28th September, 1853,
 
 196 JOTTKNEY TO TOUNGOO. 
 
 upon their journey northward, and stepping into a large 
 canoe, with a Karen Bible and hymn book, turned its head 
 towards TOUNGOO. From Martaban, to Ava and the Hima- 
 laya, a range of granite mountains runs nearly north and 
 south, between the waters of the Salween on the east, 
 and of the Sitang and Irrawadi on the west. For fifteen 
 miles, they had to stem the torrent of the Salween, which at 
 this season pours down an immense volume of water. At 
 noon they rested for refreshment under the shade cf a large 
 spreading acacia tree, of which upwards of ten species are 
 known in Burmah, some with globular heads of flowers, 
 some white and some yellow ; some are immense creepers, 
 while others are noble timber trees, rivalled by none except 
 the teak. Twenty miles' progress up the Benling river 
 brought them before Zaingyeik or " Foot of God" mountain, 
 two or three thousand feet high. At the base of this moun- 
 tain is the site of the most ancient city in Burmah, Thatmug. 
 Mr. Whitaker, who visited the site of this old city, says : 
 " There remain only the walls and pagodas ; two of which 
 are the largest I have ever seen." 
 
 The footsteps of recent and ruthless war could be traced 
 here and there, in the desolated villages, as the travellers 
 passed along ; but occasionally their sadness was relieved 
 by an application for a Christian book from some Burmans 
 who, perhaps years before, had received a tract, and who 
 were anxious to know more of the Eternal God, and the way 
 of salvation. On the third day they passed the site of the 
 old city of Benling, marked by a single palmyra palm, rais- 
 ing its majestic head amid surrounding desolation. 
 
 They rested on the Sabbath, in a gothic-looking temple on 
 the banks of the stream, under the shade of a banyan, and 
 there, with their Karen and Burmese Bibles and hymn book 
 they sought to attract the passers-by, and to induce them to
 
 JOURNEY TO TOUNGOO. 197 
 
 listen to the words of heavenly -wisdom. Many a little group, 
 during the day, drew near, and for the first time heard of 
 Christ, the Saviour of sinners. 
 
 At dawn they were on their way again, and after pulling 
 between high banks for a few miles, entered a large lake ex- 
 tending further than the eye could reach. The western 
 boundary of the lake is only four or five miles from the hanks 
 of the Sitang, into which it opens by a narrow outlet. Here, 
 at three miles' distance, the bore is heard roaring like the 
 waves on the ocean shore. At the mouth of the river the 
 tidal wave sometimes drives up a perpendicular wall of wa- 
 ter twenty-seven feet high, engulfing everything before it. 
 Two or three hundred British troops lost their lives there, 
 and it is not unusual to hear of boats swamped, and all but 
 life lost. The city of Sitang is but an inconsiderable village, 
 though the residence of a king six or seven centuries ago. 
 The valley was everywhere disturbed by robbers, who, al- 
 though the people were disarmed, found no difficulty in pro- 
 curing arms and ammunition themselves, and kept all with- 
 in their reach in a state of terror and alarm. Dr. and Mrs. 
 Mason, however, proceeded in safety, and at last reached 
 Shwaygyeen, which is so beautifully situated, that it affords 
 one of the most picturesque views that can be found, even in 
 the east. It lies on the forks of the Toungoo and Shway- 
 gyeen rivers, with the mountains close behind, and is one of 
 the most convenient stations for a Karen missionary of all 
 towns in Burmah. The Karen settlements commence at 
 half an hour's distance from the city, and continue, at short 
 intervals, in untold numbers, north, south, and east. At 
 this station Mr. and Mrs. Harris, from the time of the annex- 
 ation, carried on their earnest self-denying labors. They and 
 their four children had gone up to the place in a country 
 boat rowed by Karen disciples. It was on a Saturday night
 
 198 8HWAYGYEEN. 
 
 they anchored, and the next morning, finding an empty shed, 
 they assembled to worship God, and there, for the tirst time, 
 the glorious gospel was proclaimed at Shwaygyeen. At 
 that time no Christian hearts beat there ; but now, scatter- 
 ed up and down the hills, are hundreds of baptized believ- 
 ers. Mrs. Harris was a woman of no ordinary powers, and 
 seems to have had a good knowledge of the language. She 
 had schools for the children, and taught the men and wo- 
 men to read with great success. She was at last struck with 
 fever and dysentery. On asking the doctor what bethought 
 of her case, he said, " I would not say there is no hope." 
 " No hope !" she replied, " you know I am not afraid to die." 
 In speaking afterwards to her, her husband told her that na- 
 ture must fail, if the disease was not checked. She then 
 said, " Well, I have tried to show these Karens how a Chris- 
 tian should live, and now I hope to show them how a Chris- 
 tian can die. I had hoped to take my dear children home to 
 America some day, but now you must do it, and I shall go 
 to my dear mother ; (her mother had died a trimuphant 
 death not long before.) I shall need no outfit, and the voy- 
 age will be short." She did all she could to comfort her 
 husband to the last ; and had the Karens constantly with her, 
 exhorting them to follow Christ, that they might reign with 
 him. 
 
 To relieve her husband she hadeverythingprepared, even 
 to her coffin. To her dear children she said, " Don't think 
 of your mother as there," pointing to the earth ; " but think of 
 her as before the throne of God and of the Lanib !" Having 
 chosen her grave clothes and dressed herself in them, her 
 spirit fled. Mr. Harris had to bury her himself, with the aid of 
 the Christians. A little spot was chosen close to the grave of 
 those brave British soldiers who had fallen in the service of 
 their country ; and as they laid her there the thought arose,
 
 DEATH OF MRS. HARRIS. 199 
 
 how far brighter was the crown of glory which she won in the 
 service of the King of kings, than the crown of victory won 
 by those brave men, in the service of their earthly king. 
 Almost her last words to her husband were, " Remember, do 
 all you can for Shwaygyeen." So strong in death was her 
 desire that Christ should be known, and loved, and served by 
 the people for whom she had lived and died. 
 
 But to return. After nineteen days of travelling Dr. and 
 Mrs. Mason came in sight of the walls of Toungoo, looming up 
 from a forest of palm trees. The city is a rectangle, a 
 mile from north to south, and a mile and a half from east to 
 west. It stands on a plain, a quarter of a mile west of the 
 Sitang river, which is there about four hundred yards wide, 
 and deep enough for the navigation of large boats at all sea- 
 sons. The walls of the city were built twenty-five feet high, 
 with towers and battlements which have been destroyed ; 
 the walls themselves are still in good preservation, and the 
 earth has been heaped up on the inside, so as to form a beau- 
 tiful promenade all round the city. Here the chain of moun- 
 tains on the east, which approached within a few miles of the 
 river, is seen in all its glorious sublimity, pile upon pile un- 
 til they rise to a height of eight or ten thousand feet. The 
 distant western horizon is bounded by the Prome mountains, 
 and by the valley of the Irrawaddy. 
 
 The position of Toungoo as a missionary centre, appears 
 to be one. of considerable importance. Burmans, Shans, 
 Kyens, and Toungoos gather within its walls ; and around are 
 various tribes of Karens, two or three of which were before 
 unknown. This station appears to be likely to rise in import- 
 ance ; and the hope is cherished that from it many will go 
 forth to be lights in the surrounding darkness, and perhaps 
 to be the heralds of salvation even into China and Siam. 
 
 The province of Toungoo was formerly ruled by an inde-
 
 200 IMPORTANCE OF TOUNGOO. 
 
 pendent king ; but about 1612 it became a dependency of 
 Ava, and gave the title of Prince of Toungoo to a member of 
 the royal family, until it was annexed to our empire in 1852. 
 The missionaries having settled themselves within the city, 
 many gathered round to see and hear. Dr. Mason's health 
 was enfeebled and exhausted, but this made him only more 
 anxious to work while it was day. Mrs. Mason gathered to- 
 gether a little school, and at the end of a week sent out a Ka- 
 ren tract, " The Sayings of the Elders," which Dr. Mason 
 had prepared some years before. It embodied the biblical 
 traditions of the Karens ; and on the front page was written, 
 " The Eternal God's commands come back to the Karens. 
 Learn to read them." This little messenger was given to 
 one who was told to show it to all who would listen upon the 
 mountains ; and no doubt the prayer of faith ascended, that 
 God would make it successful. Some three weeks after, a 
 chief with about forty followers presented himself in front 
 of the verandah. Being seated, he began carefully to unroll 
 some plaintain leaves, which he had in his hand, and which 
 evidently contained something that he esteemed most pre- 
 cious. Leaf after leaf was laid aside, until at last the little 
 tract appeared, which he reverently presented to Mrs. Ma- 
 son, begging her to explain its contents. How gladly was he 
 instructed, not only in that, but the Karen Bible ! With won- 
 der and astonishment he listened to the word of God in his 
 own mother-tongue ; and taking the book in his hand, he 
 bowed three times before it, and saying, " Surely it is a spir- 
 it, for it speaks Karen." This chief and his attendants were 
 present en the arrival of a letter from the churches of Ta- 
 voy ; and their delight was inexpressible when they learned 
 that they had brethren far away, who could read the Spirit- 
 book, and write letters. Heading that a Karen teacher was 
 coming to visit them, they all exclaimed, " Send him to us !
 
 THE MISSION COMMENCED. 201 
 
 send him to us ! we'll feed him, we'll clothe him, we'll build 
 a house for him, we'll take care of him ;" but the old chief 
 pressed before the others and begged that his name might be 
 put down first. He is now not only a believer himself, but 
 has several flourishing Christian churches among his people: 
 nor have the tribe ever once offered to demons since the 
 little messenger was sent among them. 
 
 It was not long after this interview, that a party of 
 strange-looking Karens looked in through the door of the 
 missionary's dwelling. They were altogether unlike any 
 that had been seen before. Their leader was a tall finely- 
 formed man, with an expressive countenance, and dressed 
 in the picturesque costume of the Taubeah tribe. A curious 
 basket was thrown over his shoulder, and a long bamboo 
 spear served him both as a weapon and a staff. He was at- 
 tended by eight or ten men evidently inferior to himself, 
 who, with restless eye, seemed ever on the alert for the 
 coming foe. They were from the lofty mountain to the east 
 of Toungoo, and had come to see the Christian teachers, and 
 to hear their words. The Chief was immediately asked 
 whom he worshipped ? 
 
 " Thako Mosha," he replied. This mythical being receives 
 divine homage from every tribe of the Karens, but under 
 different names, and it is probably Indra, whose worship is 
 so popular amongst the Hindus. Whatever it be, the rites 
 connected with it have a most tenacious hold of these na- 
 tions, and present the greatest obstacles to their conversion. 
 It seems an easy thing to induce Karens to say they will 
 worship the living God, because they believe their ances- 
 tors worshipped him ; but say to them, " You must not prac- 
 tise the Thako Mosha's rites," and they instantly dissent, 
 especially the elders, who declare that if their children fail 
 to observe them, the most terrible judgments will follow, and 
 
 9*
 
 202 THE TABEAU CHIEF. 
 
 no persuasion can prevent them ; nothing but the enlighten- 
 ing Spirit of God. 
 
 There is a place in the Toungoo mountains which is cele- 
 brated throughout this region and Tenasserim as the resi- 
 dence of this Thako Mosha. It is the Olympus of the Ka- 
 rens, and shoots up in two lofty points some seven thousand 
 feet from the plain. Between these is a sacred pool, of 
 whose magical virtues the country is full of legends, and 
 here the Karens go up once a year to worship and make of- 
 ferings to this great Thako Mosha, or great spirit, which 
 dwells upon the summit watching over the actions of men. 
 The Taubeah chief came from this mountain, and worshipped 
 this being. He was asked if his people did so too ; and if 
 he believed it was this spirit that made the world ? " No ; 
 L'Ouah Do," was his immediate reply. Ouah is the appel- 
 lation given by all the Karens to the Eternal God, but with 
 different adjectives attached. 
 
 A Sgau Karen would say G'cha Ouah, Lord God : a Pwo 
 Karen might say this, but would be just as likely to say 
 Moung Ouah, the Honorable God, particularly if not ac- 
 quainted with the Christians. A Mona Karen would say, 
 Ouah Pado, the Great God ; and a Taubeah would say L'Ouah 
 Do, also the Great God. To one acquainted with letters 
 these local differences would present no difficulty ; but to 
 say to a Taubeah, ' G'cha Guah has commanded this or that, 
 and he is unaffected by what you say ; but change it to 
 ' L'Ouah Do,' and the smile of interest shows that thought is 
 awakened. 
 
 The Taubeah chieftain proved to be a minstrel, and recit- 
 ed three or four lines of genuine Karen poetry concerning 
 the deity, of which the following is a literal translation : 
 
 " God made the earth, God made the sky, 
 All creatures that walk, and all that fly, 
 God made the trees, He made the sea, 
 God made man, and all things that be."
 
 HIS VERSES. 203 
 
 Music ever has a charm ; but nothing could have been 
 more pleasant to the missionary's ear than the chief's wild 
 chanting of his eloquent psalm of the great Creator. The 
 more they knew of this man, the more the interest in him 
 was increased, especially when he said that his young wife 
 and child had been torn from him by the Burmans, and sold 
 into slaver) r . 
 
 One day he asked the missionaries if they had come to 
 remain. On being told that they would not go further at 
 present, and having satisfied himself that no Burman was 
 near, he began improvising, alluding to the Burman 
 chiefs who were stockading near Toungoo. His measure 
 was irregular and hurried, but the purport was as follows : 
 
 " Teachers ! 'tis now a eorry day ; 
 These wicked chiefs all in array, 
 Up in the north with great display, 
 For boldest strife and bloody fray, 
 The English power defy. 
 
 " Say they, ' The conqueror yet ehall bend, 
 For all our loss shall make amend, 
 Our border we will stout defend, 
 And ever down our troops will send, 
 Their strength again we : ll try.' 
 
 " So, teacher, rest ; in Toungoo stay, 
 Nor from the town stray far away, 
 For scarcely yet dare we to pray, 
 Or e'en to sing a heart-felt lay, 
 Our foes are ever nigh. 
 
 *' Oh ! we Karens could tell a tale 
 Would make the pale man grow more pale ; 
 How sisters' shriek and brothers' wail, 
 Are mingled on the sighing gale 
 
 With the mother's piercing cry !"
 
 204 VISIT FROM A TOUNGOO LADY. 
 
 Here the chief paused, and leant his head upon his staff, 
 as if his heart was too full of painful memories. He had, 
 however, touched in the breasts of those who listened, a 
 chord which responded with deepest sympathy, and they 
 were henceforth friends. Many Taubeahs visited the mis- 
 sionaries during the time of their brief sojourn in Toungoo, 
 and in none did they feel a more prayerful earnest interest 
 than in the unfortunate minstrel. But the missionaries' la- 
 bors were not exclusively confined to the Karens. 
 
 The following account of an interview which Mrs. Mason 
 had with one of the former Governor's wives shortly after 
 the arrival at Toungoo, will not be uninteresting. We give 
 it in her own words : " Fancy a Tonngoo lady, some sixty 
 years of age, her silvery white hair smoothly combed up 
 from an ample forehead, her lustrous eyes keenly glancing 
 from beneath highly arched eyebrows, her fingers adorned 
 with the nine magical stones of Burmah, her feet slipped 
 loosely into scarlet sandals, her person attired in a pink and 
 white silk robe, woven in small checks, open after the Bur- 
 man fashion, with a crimson cincture concealing the bust. 
 Over this a delicate lawn jacket open in front, and above 
 all, gracefully flowing over the left shoulder, a richly -wrought 
 white lace scarf. Imagine such a figure, and you have before 
 you aWoonkadauof Toungoo, or a Governor's lady as she ap- 
 peared when she paid me a visit with her suite, soon after 
 our arrival. Having ordered mats to be spread, I took a low 
 seat beside her, and inquired : ' Does the Woonkadau wish to 
 hear of Jesus Christ ?' She replied, ' I have come to hear.' 
 Turning to an attendant I said ' How old is the Woonkadau]' 
 'I have lived sixty -five years,' was her own reply. ' Indeed ! 
 the great mother is as old as my grandmother. I am but a 
 child in years beside her ; nevertheless God has shown me 
 the true way to happiness '
 
 CONVERSATION WITH HER. 205 
 
 " ' Let us hear ! let us hear !' said the attendants : so I en- 
 deavored to tell them slowly and solemnly of man's sinful 
 state of their individual sins of Christ's atonement of 
 the comfort here, and everlasting bliss attendant upon receiv- 
 ing it, and the danger of rejecting it, pointing out to them 
 distinctly the great difference between salvation by Christ, 
 and the annihilation promised in their sacred books. The 
 Woonkadau was a very understanding woman, and "so were 
 four or five others in her train, one of whom could read very 
 well. 
 
 " ' I am afraid you will not like my words,' I remarked, 
 ' you will not like to hear that it is sinful to offer adoration 
 to the idols, and Poongyees ; but I must tell you, because 
 God says so.' She smiled and replied : 
 
 " ' You are a woman, the same as myself, only you have 
 more knowledge ; and what you say are not your own words, 
 but God's words, we must receive them as God's words.' 
 They all assented to the truth, but I fear only from true east- 
 ern politeness, as they did not seem at all affected ; and as it 
 was towards noon, she asked permission to retire, as it was 
 her hour for sleep. After this interview, I used often to 
 send her books and messages, and on sending her the ' Life 
 of Christ' in Burmese, she was greatly pleased, and return- 
 ed many salaams, saying she had long wished to see such a 
 book, and would give attention to the paragraphs I had mark- 
 ed for her. 
 
 " In the Woonkadau's train was a pretty young Burmese, 
 very graceful and lovely in her manners. She looked in- 
 telligent but said little : one of her companions observed : 
 'You say, God made us all, and loves us all ; if this be true, 
 why has He made you white and me brown ? No, no,' she 
 continued with a bitter smile, ' He does not love the Bur- 
 mans ; He's the God of the English, not the God of the Bur-
 
 206 HER ATTENDANTS. 
 
 mans.' ' You plant a garden,' I replied, ' you put in tube- 
 roses, balsams, oleanders : you are very fond of your flowers, 
 for you planted them yourself, so you carefully tend them, 
 water them, dig about them, get rich soil for them, and watch 
 with an admiring interest to see the blossoms open.' 
 
 " ' Yes, yes.' 
 
 " ' By and bye a companion comes in, and begins to carry 
 off all the red and yellow flowers, " Stop stop !" you cry, 
 " you are spoiling my garden." " No, no,'' she says, " you 
 only want the white ones, I'll have all the others." ' 
 
 " ' She should not have them.' 
 
 " ' Just so. The world is God's garden, and the people 
 His flowers : white and yellow.' But Mahnaht (the devil) 
 comes in with his legion, and pulls them here there arm- 
 ful after armful, saying, ' I'll have all the red, and all the 
 yellow, to keep my fires burning.' But God says, ' No ! You 
 shall not destroy my flowers.' They were pleased with the 
 simile, as orientals always are with anything like a parable." 
 
 " Nearly all the Menkadaus, or gentlemen's wives in and 
 around the city," Mrs. Mason wrote at that period, "have 
 visited us at different times, and one is a person of uncom- 
 mon talents. She can read fluently, and the people say she 
 knows more of Burman books than any man in the place, ex- 
 cept two or three priests. This is a very rare case, for we 
 have seen only a few women in Toungoo who could read at 
 all. I feel much interest in this person, and much time has 
 been spent in instructing her, perhaps more so, because she 
 is, for a heathen, a really loveable woman, soft and winning 
 in her manners and has a particularly sweet pleasant voice. 
 She visits us frequently, reads our books, and says she is 
 considering the Christian system ; but does not yet believe. 
 Her husband is from Ava, a tall noble man ; but not friendly 
 to our religion. This woman has a pretty daughter whom
 
 THE TRINITY A DIFFICULTY. 207 
 
 she has taught to read, and whom she wishes to place with 
 me for instruction, and I cannot but hope they will some day 
 become true disciples. 
 
 " One day she was stumbling on the doctrine of the Trini- 
 ty. She was advised to let it alone until she had learned 
 more of the character of Christ's life and doctrine, but she 
 would dwell on that, and remarked, 
 
 " ' I can understand all the rest, but this point is inex- 
 plicable.' 
 
 " Having in vain tried to illustrate the subject, she was 
 asked, if she did not love her husband ? ' Certainly, and 
 obey him too, usually.' 
 
 " ' What, without understanding all his thoughts, or seeing 
 into Uis heart ?' 
 
 " ' Ah, I see,' she replied ; ' you mean we should be con- 
 tent to serve God without understanding Him.' 
 
 " ' His own Son died for you ; what husband would love 
 like that'?' 
 
 " ' True, true.' 
 
 " ' Would you feel any happier if you could look into the 
 Eternal God as you can look into your idols of papie"r 
 mach< ?' 
 
 < No,' after a pause, ' I I don't think I should ; he 
 would not seem so great.' 
 
 " ' You think it hard,' it was observed another day, ' to 
 give up what you call merit ?' 
 
 " ' Yes,' she said, ' I have done a good deal in my life for 
 Pagodas, and monasteries, and it is very hard, very hard.' 
 
 " Ah, dear friends, if you could be here on the spot to re- 
 alize these things, I do not know how you would feel, but I 
 know how I feel, and that I cannot stay the tears, as this 
 gifted woman sits before me, bound in the iron fetters of 
 Buddhism, which are from childhood tightening, tightening,
 
 208 CONVEESA.TION8 WITH VI8ITOKS. 
 
 and are still drawing, drawing almost irresistibly, down to 
 eternal woe. 
 
 " Another Menkadau, an elderly lady, is perhaps equally 
 intelligent, but very different. She has a great intellect, 
 understands almost before the words are spoken ; and will 
 often turn round, and expound to the others : taking care, 
 however, to give it as the sentiment of the teacher, not as 
 her own. 
 
 " Many attempt to make out that Christianity and Budd- 
 hism are the same ; and some of these women appear really 
 inclined to believe Jesus Christ to be Arumaday, the antici- 
 pated Buddh ; but this old lady saw the difference at once. 
 ' They are not alike,' she remarked one day with emphasis, 
 ' not alike ; they are like this,' holding up her hands in op- 
 posite directions. Nothing could be more correct ; though 
 not one in fifty will acknowledge it. 
 
 " One day, several Mathoolaus or nuns came to see us, 
 some of the first in the place. They asked for offerings. 
 We had to tell them, as the Apostle did the poor lame man 
 at the temple, that silver and gold we had none ; and gave 
 them Mrs. Ann Judson's catechism, and read to them from 
 the Scriptures, after which they departed respectfully, and 
 apparently very much pleased. One of the number could 
 read ; and I believe she is the only one who can, among the 
 whole fifteen Mathoolaus of Toungoo. 
 
 " They seemed to receive the gospel, and it would not 
 be strange if they should hereafter worship Jesus Christ in 
 connection with Gaudama and the Nahts ; and this is what it 
 is imagined a great many Burmans will do. Indeed, were 
 the gospel to be now suddenly withdrawn from the Province, 
 undoubtedly a few years hence the traveller would find Je- 
 sus Christ's image among the idols of Toungoo. On one oc- 
 casion, as many as thirty promised, and apparently with all
 
 THE LOVE OF CHKIST. 209 
 
 sincerity, that they -would hereafter worship Jesus Christ. 
 But when they were asked if would cast away their idols, 
 ' How can we ?' they repliad, ' the religion of our fathers ? 
 We'll worship both, Jesus Christ and Gaudama.' ' True,' 
 they were answered, ' it has been the religion of your fath- 
 ers for some time past ; so has this country been the coun- 
 try of your fathers, but ' here the word was suddenly ta- 
 ken up by a Burman officer standing by, who has enrolled 
 his name as a decided believer, ' but God has pitied us,' 
 he continued, anticipating the thought, ' He saw our distress, 
 under Moung Byu, Moung Kyouk Long, and others, and sent 
 the English to deliver us. Now He sends the Gospel of 
 His Son to liberate us from the Nahts, and all their evils. 
 Good ! good ! good !' 
 
 " Many have been evidently touched with this thought; 
 and tearful eyes have been seen in Toungoo, in four or five 
 instances, when the infinite love of .the Redeemer has been 
 portrayed. 
 
 " This may appear a slight thing, and unworthy of notice, 
 that a heart should feel when a bleeding Saviour is suspen- 
 ded before them but it is not so in heathen lands. The 
 mind is so withered and crusted with the mire of demonola- 
 try, there is no room for the Holy Spirit to enter. And yet 
 such hearts as these do soften repent believe. We can, 
 as yet, count but two believers who appear to be heartily 
 decided to give up idolatry among the Burman females of 
 this city, but they cry out by scores ; ' Don't go away ; your 
 words comfort us.' 
 
 " One woman came some miles one morning from a dis- 
 tant hamlet to hear of our religion ; and after listening with 
 patient attention for more than an hour, she said, ' I think I 
 shall believe. Your words sound good they seem to make 
 my heart light. But you are going away, how can we be-
 
 210 ZEAL OF BHAPAU. 
 
 lieve ? "We hear a little it seems true but we don't well 
 understand we can't go alone. Do leave some Christian 
 Burman to teach us. The sun has risen a little way up ; but 
 when you leave it will sink back and attis gone. 1 
 
 " Many a time have I gone to my room with a heavy heart 
 after such interviews, knowing the words were too true. 
 But we try to inspire hope ; and sometimes draw the atten- 
 tion to the power of the Christian religion, illustrating it by 
 the new moon increasing to the full, and asking if anything 
 can stay its course 1 Or when a vessel of palm wine is set 
 in the house, if it will not surely all ferment ? 
 
 " ' Ah, yes, yes !' they exclaim, their faces brightening, 
 1 you mean the Bible ; true, true, that is good ; you will leave 
 that with us.'" 
 
 The time for departure was drawing near, health was fail- 
 ing, and Dr. Mason was anxious to find a man who would go 
 out to the Bghais, a tribe which had never yet been visited. 
 One of the boatmen, who had navigated their canoe up the 
 turbid waters of the Salween, was a Karen Christian named 
 Shapau. As a boatman he earned much, but he was not hap- 
 py. He had neglected to speak of Christ and His salvation 
 to his friends and countrymen. One day he was asked, if 
 he would not like to go and work for God ? His eye bright- 
 ened as he replied in the affirmative. As he could speak 
 Pwo Karen and Burmese he was employed as interpreter 
 among the Burmese, and became deeply interested in the 
 work, so that when Mrs. Mason commenced her school in 
 Toungoo she made him her assistant, and he proved to be a 
 very useful and efficient teacher. He was a humble man, 
 and had a very poor opinion of his own abilities, and when 
 first asked to undertake it, said, " I cannot teach, I know 
 nothing myself." Mrs. Mason made him sit down by her 
 side, and began to catechise him and to draw him out, uutil
 
 A LEADER RAISED HP. 211 
 
 at last he exclaimed with the greatest simplicity and astonish- 
 ment, " Why I did not think I knew half so much." When 
 Dr. Mason was inquiring for a man for the Bghai tribe, it 
 was noticed that Shapau looked very thoughtful, and one day 
 he ventured to express the wish that he knew enough to teach 
 the Bghais. " Perhaps you do," was the reply, " but would 
 you be willing to leave your child, your friends, and go among 
 these uncivilized tribes, and work for only four rupees a 
 month ; which, you know, is all that we can give you ?" He 
 left for a time, looking very thoughtful, doubtless to pray. 
 After awhile he came again, and when the inquiry was put 
 to him, " Well ! Shapau, can you go ?" he said, " I cannot go 
 for four rupees, but I can go for the love of Christ !" This 
 is an illustration of the spirit of devotedness which actuated 
 these disciples, and led them to surrender up everything to 
 the service of their Lord. 
 
 But here our narrative must pause. It was originally 
 with difficulty, and at great hazard that Dr. Mason, in his 
 feeble health, had commenced this mission at Toungoo ; but 
 now, completely overcome and exhausted, he was compelled 
 at the very moment when all seemed fairest and most hope- 
 ful, to abandon this field of labor. Our narrative has now 
 to record how the Lord of the harvest, in answer to the pray- 
 ers of his people, raised up from this Karen nation a man 
 gifted with all the needful graces for proclaiming and estab- 
 lishing the gospel. It is to this man's singularly interesting 
 and remarkable history that we have now to direct our at- 
 tention.
 
 212 SAU QUALA'S FATHER. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 8 ATI QUALA. 
 
 " An example of the believers in word, in conversation, in charity, in 
 spirit, in faith, in purity." 1 TIMOTHY iv. 12. 
 
 THE history of SAU QUALA, the first Karen missionary at 
 Toungoo, is an interesting illustration of what, by the grace 
 of God, an earnest, zealous, devoted heart can do, which, 
 consecrating all its powers to the Redeemer's service, seeks 
 to win souls to him. It is a proof also that God docs 
 choose the weak things, and the base things of the world, 
 and things which are despised, to work out his own gracious 
 purposes, ' that no flesh should glory in his presence.' Sau 
 Quala was the child of Karen parents, born and nurtured in 
 one of the wildest of their mountain glens. A cascade came 
 leaping from rock to rock, through a deep gorge, just below 
 his mother's dwelling ; its bright, clear, dancing waters, a 
 fit emblem of his own future healthful active course. His 
 father's proud nature had long chafed under the bitterness 
 of Burman wrongs, and longed and sighed for deliverance. 
 Often would his full heart give utterance to such expres- 
 sions as these : " The bamboo leaf falls on thorns, the thorns 
 pierce it. Thorns fall on it, the thorns spear it. Our hab- 
 itation is a thorn bush. We come upon the Siamese, the Si- 
 amese make us slaves. We fall upon the Burmese, the Bur- 
 mese make us slaves." He hated his Buddhist oppressors. 
 He hated their religion, their pagodas, their priests, every- 
 thing that was theirs. He hated the taskmaster who ordered
 
 SAU QUALA'S BOYHOOD. 213 
 
 him to-day to drag boats, or pull logs, and the officer who 
 commanded him to-morrow to cut bamboos, or ratans, to 
 gather spices, or collect damper or bees-wax. " The iron 
 had entered into his soul," and even his gentle uncomplain- 
 ing wife could scarcely win a smile from his darkened spirit, 
 as she labored patiently, planted the cotton, weeded it, 
 gathered it, spun it, dyed it, and then wove it into cloth for 
 garments for himself and their children. 
 
 Reports, however, had reached them that the white men 
 had come by sea to the Burmese ports, and believing that 
 these white men were destined to be their deliverers, they 
 began to look forward with hope to the day when their gall- 
 ing yoke would be broken, and the oppressed go free. It 
 was about this time that their second child was born, and to 
 him they gave the significant name of Quala ' Hope ;' be- 
 cause, they said : " We hope happiness will come to us in 
 his days." 
 
 It was no wonder that the boy should grow up with a 
 thirst for liberty, or that he should treasure in his memory 
 every tradition which prophesied of the emancipation of his 
 nation from the Burman rule. As he kept watch over his 
 father's rice-field, and drove away the peacocks and the 
 monkeys, his boyish fancy was occupied with the time when 
 the promised deliverers would come, and he would sing in 
 wild cadences 
 
 " The children of God are those who took 
 From the hand of God, the Iloly Book ; 
 The white foreigners are the sons of the Lord. 
 They obtained of old his Holy word." 
 
 The hour of deliverance did come, and the English took 
 possession of Tavoy, when he was about fourteen or fifteen 
 years old. They had not been in the place many days, when 
 Quala accompanied by his father and mother, went into the
 
 21-i HIS CONVERSION. 
 
 city. To their great surprise and alarm, they were no soon- 
 er within the walls than they were taken before the Gover- 
 nor and several military officers ; but they were soon re-as- 
 sured by the kind treatment they met with. The Governor 
 would not allow them to prostrate themselves before him, 
 according to oriental custom, but bade them stand erect, and 
 after talking kindly to them, dismissed them with presents 
 of money, and a turban for each 
 
 It was about two or three years after this period, that 
 Ko-thah-byu, the first Karen convert, was baptized, and 
 went forth immediately to preach the gospel to his country- 
 men. It seems that a " converted Karen no more thinks of 
 asking for a licence to preach, than he would for a licence 
 to pray." The first impulse of his spiritual life is to declare 
 what God has done for his soul, and to invite all whom he 
 can reach to believe and live. Ko-thah-byu was an eminent 
 example of this, and the first house in which he proclaimed 
 the message of mercy, was that of Quala's father. 
 
 There the neighbors assembled in the evening, under the 
 impression that Ko-thah-byu would, according to their cus- 
 tom, trace his genealogy, to show that he was not an enemy, 
 but a relative ; but he had better things to tell them, and 
 one at least, the youthful Quala, believed to the saving of 
 his soul, and said within himself, " Is .not this the very thing 
 we have been waiting for ?" 
 
 Quala's father was strongly opposed to the new religion, 
 and the boy had to learn that it was not an easy thing to fol- 
 low his divine Master, but that it involved taking up the 
 cross, if he would go after Him. 
 
 Mr. Boardman, not long after, went to the village to preach, 
 but so strong was his father's opposition, that Quala did not 
 venture to go and hear him. Yet the seed of eternal life 
 had taken root in his heart, and love to the Saviour was
 
 HIS MOTHER'S CONVERSION AND DEATH. 215 
 
 burning there too fervently to be quenched. His mother 
 too had embraced the truth and sought every opportunity of 
 hearing the -word of life. In Mary's spirit she sat at the 
 feet of the teacher, drinking in, from early dawn till late at 
 night, the word which was able to save her soul. She was a 
 lovely picture, with her large beaming eyes, full of intelli- 
 gence, fixed upon the speaker, or occasionally, when there 
 was a pause, turning to those near, that she might recom- 
 mend in tones of persuasive tenderness, those truths which 
 had wrought so great a change in her, and filled her with 
 such bright hopes of future blessedness. She only lived a 
 few years after her baptism, but they were years of spiritual 
 growth : first the blade, then the ear, and then the full corn 
 in the ear, and then the gathering into the heavenly garner. 
 Quala resembled his mother in many points of her char- 
 acl^er, especially in her stedfastness and hope. The fierce- 
 ness of his father's opposition was, at last, so great, that he 
 sought permission to visit an elder half brother, who was 
 living on the eastern side of the mountains ; and thither he 
 started one foggy morning with his wallet thrown across his 
 shoulder containing all he possessed on earth, his pruning 
 knife and betel box, and a few treasured Burmese tracts. 
 The path was soon lost in the streamlet, until pressing on, 
 he came to a point where another torrent came flowing in 
 from the north, and upon the spur which rcse precipitously 
 between them, his S"ure foot soon found a pathway, which 
 conducted him to the summit of the mountain. In pursuing 
 the same route fifteen years after, his elder brother was at- 
 tacked and devoured by a tiger ; but the angel of the Lord 
 had encamped round about His young servant, and conducted 
 him in safety to the sanctuary he had prepared. Quala's 
 brother lived in a sequestered dell at the foot of the moun- 
 tains, and here, in habits of prayer Quala fulfilled his daily
 
 216 RESIDENCE WITH HIS BROTHER. 
 
 duties, assisting his brother in the cultivation of the land. 
 As his mental faculties expanded and developed under the 
 vivifying and strengthening influence of the grace of God, 
 his thirst for knowledge grew also ; but there were no books 
 in his own tongue, and he could not read in Burmese, indeed 
 he scarcely understood the language colloquially. His ear- 
 nest spirit was not however to be daunted by difficulties, 
 which to many would have appeared insuperable, but unaid- 
 ed and alone, he set himself to learn to read Burmese, be- 
 fore he knew how to speak it. His elder brother, who knew 
 a little Burmese, commenced the study with him, and long af- 
 ter the evening shadows had fallen might they be seen by 
 the light of their little lamp, poring over the page, forget- 
 ting their weariness in the interest of the work before them. 
 
 Dr. Mason says, " In my acquaintance with Karen converts, 
 I have often observed, with admiration, the manner in which 
 the mind when brought into a right moral state, not only 
 craves for knowledge but knowledge of truth, for which it 
 seems to possess an intuitive attraction." Quala had seen 
 Burman books from his early childhood, but Buddhist errors 
 had no attraction for him. It was not until he heard of 
 Christian books, especially the Bible, that the desire for the 
 ability to read was kindled within him. 
 
 After spending some months in this peaceful manner, he 
 felt that it was his duty to return to his father, and to tell him 
 of Christ's love to his soul, and of his desire to confess and 
 to follow Him ; trusting that his father, seeing his stedfast- 
 ness, might be induced to let him be baptized. But he met 
 with nothing but reproach and anger ; and spiritless and dis- 
 heartened, his faith failed, and he began to distrust God, and 
 to murmur against his providences. " I will never go to the 
 teacher as long as I live," he said, " and I will pray no more. 
 When the righteous One appears, my father will suffer him-
 
 SAU QTJALA'S PROFESSION. 217 
 
 self, and I will say, I did not dare to become a. Christian, on 
 account of my father." He adds, " I felt very unhappy. I 
 wept all day, and thought I would starve myself to death." 
 
 But the next day he repented of these feelings, and after 
 a time returned to his brother's peaceful dwelling. Ere 
 long, a company of inquirers went down to the city of Ta- 
 voy ; amongst them was Sau Quala', and in December, 1830, 
 he made a public profession of his faith, and was admitted 
 into the church of Christ by baptism. Since then, for more 
 than a quarter of a century, he has held on in a stedfast 
 course ; and by his unblemished Christian character has won 
 the respect, confidence, and affection of all connected with 
 him. 
 
 As soon as Qiiala was baptized, he began to tell of Christ, 
 and to read and expound the Christian books that he pos- 
 sessed to those about him. If his father listened and op- 
 posed, he would meet him with irresistible arguments in the 
 words of Scripture, those words, " majestic in their own 
 simplicity," until his violent and unbelieving parent was 
 silenced before the mighty truth of God. With the Karen 
 converts, this desire to impart the knowledge of salvation 
 seems a first principle of their new nature. Dr. Mason says, 
 " When I first went to Tavoy, I found amongst the few 
 Christian Karens, one man who could read Burmese very 
 well, but had no power to communicate his ideas with facility 
 to others. Another was unable to read, but was apt to teach 
 and able to speak with fluency and power. Without consult- 
 ing the missionary, or expecting remuneration for their la- 
 bors, these men, whenever circumstances allowed, went out 
 itinerating throughout the country. Wherever they got an 
 assembly together, the reader read a portion of the Burmese 
 Scriptures or a tract, while the speaker expounded and ex- 
 
 10
 
 218 PRESENT AT BOARDMAN's DEA1H. 
 
 horted in Karen. Very few men have been more successful 
 preachers than these." 
 
 When Boardman, the Karen missionary, was sinking into 
 the grave, as we have before mentioned, he determined to 
 spend his little remaining strength in visiting the jungle 
 homes of the Karens near Tavoy. A party of them came in 
 to assist in carrying the litter and in administering to his 
 wants, and amongst that number was Quala. While en- 
 camped in the forest, the dying missionary assisted by Dr. 
 Mason, who had just then arrived in the country, held daily 
 meetings for teaching and prayer with the people. The early 
 morn, the sultry noon, the quiet evening hour were witnesses 
 to those solemn teachings, when one so soon to enter into 
 the holy of holies spoke of life and death, of judgment and 
 eternity. Quala, his mother and sister, were the first to 
 come, the last to go away. They sought too to render every 
 assistance they could to Mrs. Boardman ; and when at lu^t 
 his failing strength warned them that their beloved teacher 
 was to be taken from them, Quala was amongst the number 
 who carried that fading form to the little sequestered cove 
 where, beneath the shadow of the broad-leaved trees, he wit- 
 nessed the baptism of thirty -four Karens for whose salvation 
 he had prayed and labored. 
 
 It was the same hand that gently carried him to the boat 
 which was to convey him home, but on the wa^ thither his 
 spirit fled, and " he was not, for Grod took him. " It was the 
 same hand that bore the body to its last quiet resting place, 
 there to slumber in dust, till it shall be reunited to the glo- 
 rified spirit in the realms of everlasting day. What solemn 
 thoughts must these scenes have kindled in the heart of 
 Sau Quala ! They must have given a reality to the groat 
 truths he had heard and learned. lie had seen that to the 
 Christian death was disarmed of its sting and of its terror,
 
 STUDIES UNDER DR. MASON. 219 
 
 and that to depart and bo with Christ, was esteemed by him 
 to be " far better." 
 
 From the opportunity which Dr. Mason had of observing 
 the character of Quala at this time, he was convinced that 
 he had no ordinary mind or heart, and he therefore determin- 
 ed to keep him in town, that he might study Karen with him, 
 and that Quala might have the advantage of attending Mrs. 
 Boardman's school. At this time Dr. Mason writes ; " During 
 the first year of my residence in Tavoy, in 1831, I devoted 
 a considerable portion of my time to visiting in every house 
 in the city and suburbs, leaving at each a tract, and a portion 
 of Scripture, thus bringing into actual use the knowledge of 
 Burmese that I was acquiring from day to day. Sau Quala 
 often accompanied me in these excursions, and my knowledge 
 of the language being quite imperfect, he would frequently 
 repeat and enforce the sentiments I had uttered in more ' ac- 
 ceptable words' though he often met with the savage rebuke, 
 ' Who are you 1 You are just like that dog. He knows 
 nothing but what he is taught, he goes or comes just as his 
 master orders him.' He was unmoved, however, by their 
 cutting sarcasm, and more open abuse. He took the Bible 
 as it said, and Christ at his word, when he read, ' Blessed 
 are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and 
 .shall say all manner of evil against you, falsely for my sake : 
 rejoice and be exceedingly glad ; for great is your reward 
 in heaven ;' then he rejoiced at finding himself in circum- 
 stances which entitled him to rejoice, and he looked heaven- 
 ward for the reward of his labors. 
 
 In 1833, Mr. Wade being obliged by sickness to return for 
 a season to America and to abandon the work he had com- 
 menced of preparing a translation of the Bible into Karen, 
 Dr. Mason determined, although he had only been a short 
 time in the country, to do what he could in preparatory work,
 
 220 HIS JOUKNEY TO MAULMAIN. 
 
 and after consulting Dr. Judson, he determined to send up 
 to Maulmain his two most promising young men, Sau Quala 
 and Kolapau, (who was afterwards ordained pastor of Matah) 
 to study with Paulah, one of the Christian assistants, who 
 had helped Mr. Wade in forming the alphabet, and in adapt- 
 ing the Burman letters to Karen sounds. Dr. Judson in 
 writing home in April, 1833, of a visit to Chummerah, the 
 principal Karen settlement north of Maulmain, says with 
 reference to the school : " The two most imporant students 
 have been a couple of young men from Tavoy, whom brother 
 Mason sent up to learn to read and become qualified to teach 
 their countrymen in that province. They have come down 
 with me and will return to Tavoy by the first opportunity.' 
 These two were Quala and Kolapau. 
 
 This journey to Maulmain was a great event in their lives ; 
 for not a single Karen in the Tenasserim Provinces had ever 
 been known ta cross the river to the north since they first 
 emigrated to the south, untold centuries ago. The traditions 
 of this emigration are treasured up by the Karens, and the 
 names of the Attaran and the Salween rivers, and Balu Is- 
 land are familiar words. When, therefore, Quahi reached 
 Maulmain, it seemed to him like classic ground ; and when 
 he gazed upon the ridge of hills crowned with pagodas, or 
 strolled at sunset upon their side, and watched the rolling wa- 
 ters of the Salween as it flows forth into the sea, he thought 
 of the time when perhaps the homes of his ancestors had been 
 there, and when their eyes had looked upon the same beau- 
 teous scene. But where were they now ? Surely, that af- 
 fecting thought would animate and rouse the energies of his 
 spirit, as he thirsted to proclaim Christ and his salvation to 
 the perishing souls around ! Eighty-three Karens had been 
 baptized at this time in the neighborhood of Maulmain alone, 
 and about one hundred and seventy at Tavoy, but what were
 
 HE COLLECTS TIIE KAREN TRADITIONS. 221 
 
 they among the many that still remained ? After three 
 months' sojourn at Maulmain, Quala returned to Tavoy and 
 continued with Dr. Mason ; not only assisting him in the 
 translation of the New Testament, but, as we have seen, ac- 
 companying him in his jungle and preaching tours. Dr. Ma- 
 son says : ' It was clear to me at the outset, that to be mas- 
 ter of the Karen language, so as to be perfectly familiar with 
 all the words and constructions I heard, would only be a 
 small advance towards the knowledge of the language neces- 
 sary to an adequate translation of the Bible. To supply this 
 deficiency I employed Sau Quala to write down all the tradi- 
 tions in prose with which he was acquainted, and when he had 
 exhausted his own memory. I sent him to different individuals 
 reputed to be particularly versed in these traditions, to col- 
 lect whatever they remembered with which he was unac- 
 quainted. I found also, that without a written literature 
 they had a mass of fictitious stories in their memories, which 
 in the long rainy nights or in their leisure hours, they were in 
 the habit of repeating to each other. Sau Quala, therefore, was 
 employed in committing to paper every poem or story that 
 any oft knew. In this way, Quala created for me and others 
 after me, a Karen literature in prose and verse, of several 
 manuscript volumes. Among the fragments are several sin- 
 gular pieces in relation to the Karen Bible or book, which 
 have manifestly been composed since Europeans went into 
 India ; and notwithstanding their fabulous character, they 
 show the high estimate the Karens have ever placed on Ka- 
 ren books, and how well they were prepared to appreciate 
 the Bible, when presented to them in their own tongue." 
 
 " Again," Dr. Mason adds, " there are many ambiguous 
 passages in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament : and 
 it is the duty of a translator to present such passages in his 
 version, precisely in the same dubious light in which they
 
 222 ASSISTS DE. MASON IN HIS TRANSLATIONS. 
 
 appear in the original, whenever it is possible to do so. It 
 requires far more skill and knowledge of the language to 
 render such passages correctly than the definite ones ; and 
 Quala, after the various aspects of a passage had been shown 
 him, would often exercise his philological skill to discover a 
 word or for*m of expression sufficiently generic to embrace 
 all the specific significations which might be extracted from 
 the language." 
 
 There can be no doubt, that a course of study like this 
 must have been one main source of the power with which he 
 preached. For while his mind was supplied with such vari- 
 ety of illustration, it must have given his language much 
 fulness and precision of expression. Earnestly did he thirst 
 also for a more full and perfect understanding of the Scrip- 
 tures. As soon as the New Testament was translated, he 
 was anxious for a work in Karen, and Kitto's Cyclopaedia is 
 perhaps an embodiment in English of his idea. In the 
 Morning Star, a Karen periodical which Dr. Mason com- 
 menced in 1842, and for which Quala often wrote, he says : 
 
 " Consider the generation of the fathers, they had no 
 books ; they had none to teach them of the things in^eaven 
 and the things on earth they knew nothing ; but now, 
 through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the American 
 teachers from the West have come and taught us, and we 
 have obtained books in our own language. Then when they 
 instruct us, and explain to us the Holy Scriptures, we ought, 
 every one of us, to seize on their instructions and to retain 
 them ; for if it had not been for the teachers, we should have 
 remained without books, in ignorance and darkness, to this 
 day. Let us, then, in the strength of God, put forth strenu- 
 ous efforts to acquire a knowledge of books, for should the 
 teachers leave, we should be left as orphans. While they 
 are with us, let us make every possible effort to study, so
 
 HIS EFFORTS IN KAREN LITERATURE. 223 
 
 that we may understand for ourselves independently ; and, 
 should the teachers be no longer with us, that we may be 
 able to instruct each other, 
 
 ' Teachers, there is one thing I want you to do for us 
 above all things. I wish you to publish notices of the an- 
 cestors, and biographies of the persons mentioned in Scrip- 
 ture. Were you to explain completely the things in the 
 Bible, there would be afterwards no room for doubt or dif- 
 ference of opinion. Then if the teachers should die or leave 
 us, our means of knowledge would still be full and accurate. 
 \Ve love our children, yet we can only benefit them while 
 we are with them ; but the teachers are able to benefit future 
 generations. When our parents died, their possessions were 
 gone ; but the possession of the teachers will remain. Our 
 parents could benefit us in this life only, but the teachers 
 benefit us both for this life and the life to come. Brethren, 
 had not the teachers come to us with the word of God, we 
 should have known nothing, but have been still in dark- 
 ness." 
 
 At this time his father was very earnest in trying to in- 
 duce him to return to the jungles. He was promised an 
 equivalent for his son's services, and from that time never 
 troubled him again. Quala wrote at this period : " I was 
 very zealous in studying the word of God, and prayed with 
 brokenness of heart. I thought of nothing else but to be 
 skilled in the books. This occupied my whole mind contin- 
 ually." Thus this young disciple grew in grace, drinking 
 in the word of life, which was able to save his soul. 
 
 In his early childhood he had, according to the custom of 
 the East, been betrothed to a little girl in another village, 
 but they had seen nothing of each other, and grew up 
 strangers in sympathy and affection. After Quala's baptism, 
 the subject of his marriage at times induced serious thoughts.
 
 224: HIS MARRIAGE. 
 
 and led him to commit his way to the Lord more earnestly. 
 One of the elders of his village, according to the Karen 
 custom, was deputed to visit his betrothed, to ascertain the 
 nature of her feelings towards him. The only remark she 
 made was, " Oh, yes ; I love Sau Quala amazingly, now he 
 is baptized. Had he not been baptized I should not have 
 loved him at all." This signified, according to their mode 
 of expression, a decided rejection, and here their engage- 
 ment ended, and they never met again. 
 
 About this time in the little class of Karen girls under 
 Mrs. Mason's care, was one named Muphau, " Celestial 
 flower ;" she was indeed a flower of heavenly birth and 
 growth, and between her and Quala an attachment sprung 
 up, ending in a union which has been eminently blessed to 
 both. She has greatly strengthened her husband's hands, 
 encouraged his heart under all his labors, and has set a 
 bright example to her Christian sisters of what a Christian 
 wife, and especially a pastor's wife, should be. When her 
 husband had an offer of lucrative employment under Govern- 
 ment, she never for one moment yielded to the temptation 
 of a position of greater ease and emoluments ; but when an 
 opportunity of a larger field and increased labors in the ser- 
 vice of their heavenly Master was presented to them, she 
 was ready for the call, and said, " This makes me happy," 
 literally, " hits my heart." A Christian officer, who once 
 accompanied Dr. Mason in a preaching tour in the jungle, 
 was much struck by her appearance, as they came suddenly 
 upon her, standing on a projecting cliff before them, her 
 long tasseled shawl thrown round her graceful figure, and 
 the embroidered scarf wound round her head like a coronet, 
 setting off her fine expressive features to perfection. " Sure- 
 ly Quala has got the flower of the jungle," he exclaimed, 
 " she reminds one of Scott's description of Helen Mac-
 
 HIS WIFE. 225 
 
 Gregor." She was indeed one of its flowers, and long may 
 she be spared to grace the home of her husband, and to adorn 
 her Christian profession in all things. 
 
 From the time of his marriage, Quala used often to ac- 
 company the missionary in preaching tours into the jungle. 
 Many were the happy hours thus employed, when laden with 
 the message of salvation, they would start forth in the balmy 
 freshness of a tropic morning. As the air perfumed with 
 fragrance, and the light mists rising upward with the sun 
 revealed more and more of the bright landscape before them, 
 how often would the heart exclaim : 
 
 " If God has marie this world so fair 
 
 Where tin and death abound, 
 How beautiful beyond compare 
 Will paradise be found I" 
 
 Very interesting were some of the discussions with the 
 simple sons of the forest. The following is a specimen of 
 the way in which Quala would address them. To an idolater 
 he would say, " Can the image save those who worship it ? 
 Think ! How can it posibly save them ? How many trees 
 have sprung up which the image has created ? Uow many 
 clumps of bamboo are there, that the image has made ? 
 How many men has it formed ? Where are the animals, or 
 even the insects, that it has brought into existence ? It has 
 done nothing. Nor is the image self-existent : it was made 
 by man. llathcr than worship the image, ought we not to 
 worship the man who made it, for his superior power 9 But 
 the maker was a thief. 
 
 " Do you doubt it ? Consider ! earth, wood, stone, gold, 
 silver, lead, and copper arc, because God created them. He 
 who makes an image, takes God's earth, God's wood, God's 
 rocks, God's gold, God's silver, God's lead, God's copper. 
 Does he ask for it ? No ! he takes it without leave, says he 
 
 10*
 
 226 HIS MISSIONARY JDISCCSSION8. 
 
 will form an image and worship it ; thus making himself a 
 son of folly. Were we to discbey our .parents and treat 
 their commands with contempt, following our own will in 
 everything, would they not be angry ? Now, He who is 
 greater than father, greater than mother, the only true God, 
 who cannot die, or cease to exist, commands ; ' Make no 
 image, worship no image, worship me.' Against this God 
 have we sinned, in all our thoughts, in all our deeds. There 
 is no part of us free from transgression. The hand has 
 transgressed, the foot has transgressed, the eye has trans- 
 gressed, the ear has transgressed, the mouth has trans- 
 gressed, the mind has transgressed, the heart has trans- 
 gressed. Our transgressions are greater than the hills, 
 loftier than the mountains. It is not fitting we ascend to 
 the presence of God. It is fitting that we descend to the 
 lowest depths of hell, and the great grace of God alone still 
 keeps us here. These heavens so wide, this earth so great, 
 everything in the many waters and numerous lands, God 
 created. He formed man holy, exempt from old age, sick- 
 ness, and death ; but he disobeyed God, obeying Satan ; and 
 thus brought misery on himself and all creation. Still God 
 did not give us up. He had compassion upon us, and sent 
 His only Son to save the slaves of Satan, and who had no 
 rest in his service. To deliver us from the hands of Satan, 
 and to give us rest, He bought us with His own blood, He 
 had no compassion on His own great life, but He had com- 
 passion on men who were going down to hell. He died on 
 the cross for us, on account of our sins, and thus threw open 
 the gate at the foot of the road, so that man is made again ac- 
 quainted with God. Surely, the children of earth ought to 
 worship God, ought to perform His work, ought to observe 
 His word, ought to follow His path, ought to obey His will ; 
 but man makes himself obstinate and his ears crooked. He
 
 BIS DISCUSSIONS. 227 
 
 worships not, he serves not, he obeys not His word, follows 
 not His path, submits not to His will. But he thus fulfils the 
 language of the elders, who said, 'Children and grandchild- 
 ren, words good and white are scarcely received, liottenness 
 has many associates, sweetness few.' " 
 
 When addressing Karens who expressed their determina- 
 tion to follow in the path of their ancestors, he remarked ; 
 " Some of you object ; ' The tortoise dying dies in its shell. 
 Our mother dying, let us occupy our mother's chamber ; our 
 father dying, let us take our father's hall. The tigress 
 striped, the cubs striped. Let not the tree depart from its 
 shadow. If mother has gone to hell, we will go after her ; 
 if father has gone to hell, we will go after him.' Let those 
 who speak thus think of suffering on earth, not to speak of 
 hell. If a tiger devoured our mother, dare we go out and 
 give ourselves to be devoured by tigers. If a crocodile 
 killed her, or fire devoured her, or she was drowned, dare 
 we go out and give ourselves to die by the crocodile, fire, or 
 water ? We can be very bold while the tiger is out of 
 sight ; but when we meet it face to face we arc panic-strick- 
 en, and scatter, one one way and two two ways. Our father 
 and mother did not hear what we hear, did not know what 
 we know. It is of God's special grace that those things 
 have come to us. The elders of antiquity yearned to hear 
 the word of God, .but heard it not. That blessing was re- 
 served for us. Still it is according to the saying, ' If the 
 lake is pleasant the fish remain.' In a large lake whero 
 there is nothing to devour, the fish and its waters never fail, 
 the lake is pleasant. Yet if there be no fish in it, it does 
 not call the fish to come unwillingly. If the fish wish to 
 dwell in it, they remain ; if not, they depart. God is the 
 lake, we are the fish. Unless wo arc in God, ere long some-
 
 228 HIS DISCUSSIONS. 
 
 thing will come and devour us. The fire of hell will devour 
 us. Then dwell in God." 
 
 A caviller once remarked : " God is possessed of infinite 
 power, and has a perfect knowledge of all things. Why did 
 He create Satan ? Did He not know that he would come 
 and deceive man ? If He knew that he would come and 
 destroy why did He create him ? If God compassionates 
 man, if He loves him, why did He create the tree of temp- 
 tation ? Did He not know that if a man ate of it he would 
 die ? And if He knew, why did He create it ? Why has 
 He made men so that some come forth from the womb blind, 
 some hump-backed, some with dead limbs, some with twisted 
 limbs, some with crooked limbs, some white, some black ? 
 And why are some born dead ? Why do some die in infancy, 
 some in childhood, some in youth, some in manhood, some 
 in old age ? Why are some insane, some idiots, some fools, 
 some wise ? Why are some masters and others slaves ; some 
 rich and others poor ? Could not God make them all alike ? 
 Or is it because He loved some and did not love others V 
 
 Quala replied : " God is above man, above kings, above 
 all. Kings are obeyed without asking reasons. We ought 
 not to reply against God. He is our Father. The child un- 
 derstands not what the father does. The axe and the knife 
 kill, yet without them the father could not obtain food for 
 the child. He does not allow the child to handle them, but 
 one with crooked ears, when unobserved by its father, takes 
 hold of them and cuts himself. Parents give children many 
 playthings ; but because they love them they do not allow 
 them to play with the axe and the knife. God acts according 
 to His own will. The house-owner builds a house, and de- 
 cides in relation to its parts. He disposes of the timbers 
 or bamboos according to their proper positions. That which 
 is too short he lengthens ; that which is too long he shortens ;
 
 HIS DISCUSSIONS. 229 
 
 that which will not answer his purpose he throws away. 
 That which is shortened does not say to the builder, ' Why 
 hast thou shortened me ?' nor that which is lengthened, ' Why 
 hast thou lengthened me ?' The timbers or bamboos do not 
 say, ' Make us this way or that way ; make us not that way 
 or this way.' The materials know nothing, but the owner 
 of the house knows, and directs everything according to his 
 own will. God is the Owner of the house, and we ought to 
 submit to His dispensations in silence. Then He will use 
 us as parts of His building ; that is, we shall become His 
 children and servants. But if we murmur and complain 
 against God, we become like the bamboos and timber, which 
 being unsuitable for the building, were rejected by the build- 
 er, and thrown away. Some of God's judicial arrangements 
 are in order that we may praise Him, some that we may re- 
 pent of our sins, some that we may discern between good 
 and evil, some that we may not hope in transitory things on 
 earth, some that we may avoid hell, and go to heaven. None 
 are made for our disadvantage, but all for the advantage of 
 man. To those who murmur, the Holy book says, ' Who art 
 thou, man ! that repliest against God? Shall the thing 
 formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me 
 thus ? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same 
 lump to make one vessel to honor, and another to dishonor ?' " 
 To nominal believers in the Christian settlements, his 
 language was : " Not having become true Christians your 
 profession of faith and your avoidance of external vices are 
 of no avail. When you are with Christians you do as Chris- 
 tians do ; when you are with the world you do as the world 
 does. You regard yourselves as worshippers of God, and 
 still in heart you follow the will of Satan. You do not love 
 God, you do not fear sin. You say, ' Ah, we have not been 
 baptized. If we do sin it is of no consequence. The sin
 
 230 MISSIONARY JOTTRNETINGS. 
 
 will be done away when we become disciples.' Think, and 
 repent of your sins quickly. The Scriptures say, we cannot 
 add a cubit to our lives ; so, that death may not find you in 
 your sins, avoid iniquity ; and first of all things put your 
 trust in the Lord, accepting cordially His commands. The 
 Bible says : 'Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.' 
 Wherefore, to obtain this blessedness, let it be the first thing 
 with you to rouse yourselves with energy from your lethargy. 
 Remain not between Christ and the world, ever vibrating 
 from one side to the other. The Holy Scriptures say, we 
 cannot serve two masters ; so choose the Master who is able 
 to save, and confide earnestly in Him." 
 
 It was in this way that Quala was trained for the ministry* 
 For fifteen successive years he accompanied the missionary 
 in his jungle tours, sometimes extending to three or four 
 hundred miles, till every hamlet was visited in the provinces 
 of Tavoy and Mergui, in which Karens were likely to be found. 
 Frequently they left the usual passes, and branching off 
 across the chain of mountains in four or five different direc- 
 tions, would visit every secluded nook, and corning down the 
 Tenasserim upon a frail native raft, would sometimes scarce- 
 ly escape being overset in the rapids. Often has Quala 
 shared with the teacher these hallowed labors, sleeping under 
 the shadow of the same forest tree, where, perhaps, the tiger's 
 footprints might be traced in the morning, not many yards 
 from the place where they had slept. Together they laid 
 the foundation of many little churches in these regions, and 
 travelled and preached from hamlst to hamlet, from glen to 
 glen, watching for the first dawnings of grace, for the first 
 fruits of the Spirit ; until this young servant of the Lord 
 was himself well furnished in every good word and work, 
 for the service of the ministry and the re^ponsibiiities of the 
 pastorate.
 
 HE BECOMES A PASTOK. 231 
 
 But we must hasten on. The Karen New Testament was 
 completed ; and Dr. Mason, no longer requiring the services 
 of Sau Quala for this work, determined to place him in charge 
 of the church at Pyeekhya. It was the most central and the 
 most important of the little churches gathered on the moun- 
 tains, and gave him a position in which his influence might be 
 felt and exerted in the country round. Excepting in the ad- 
 ministration of the ordinances, he was the pastor of the church 
 from the beginning, but he was not ordained till five years 
 afterwards. Sau Quala had been early impressed with the 
 duty and desirableness of the native churches taking meas- 
 ures to support their ministers and schoolmasters. He en- 
 deavored, therefore, to inculcate the importance of this duty 
 upon his people. Without its having been suggested, he and 
 his wife kept an accurate account of all that had been given 
 by the disciples for this purpose during the first year, and no 
 less than three hundred and eighty-seven presents were 
 brought in. 
 
 It was not long after Quala's settlement that Dr. Mason 
 visited him. After slowly ascending the mountain by a steep 
 and narrow path, they seated themselves to rest upon a lit- 
 tle level spot upon the hill side. Ten or twelve years had 
 passed since they had first sat together there. Quala had 
 cut down some bamboos which impeded their view to the 
 west. The spotless blue heavens were over their heads, 
 while the clouds, like snow-drifts, were moving lazily far be- 
 neath their feet. The Pyeekhya, Putsauoo, and Palouk riv- 
 ers were discovered here and there peeping from beneath 
 the bright green verdure, as they meandered through glen 
 and gorge, dale and valley. In the direction of Mergui on 
 the south-west, huge rocks towered in grotesque peaks over 
 the ocean's waves, and near at hand every dell and dingle
 
 232 PKOGKES8 AMONGST THE KAKEN8. 
 
 was adorned with the loveliest flowers. They could say with 
 truth, 
 
 " Our rocks arc rough ; but smiling there, 
 
 The acacia waves her golden hair, 
 
 Lovely and sweet, nor lov'd the less, 
 
 For flowering in the wilderness." 
 
 Karen hamlets lay hidden at intervals throughout the wide 
 extended forest below ; ten years before not a single Chris- 
 tian heart beat in one of them. 
 
 " When," said the teacher at that time, " shall these vales 
 resound with the songs of the redeemed ? When shall we 
 look on Christian churches in these green fields ?" Ten 
 years before Qualahad answered : " Hereafter, teacher, here- 
 after." And now as they gazed again upon that lovely scene 
 of hill and dale, and rock and ocean, although the face of na- 
 ture was unchanged, the Spirit of the living God had been 
 at work among the simple-hearted inhabitants of the hamlets, 
 and in Pyeekhya alone Quala could rejoice over a hundred 
 souls who owned Jesus as their Lord. From Putsauoo, Pa- 
 louk, and Toungbyouk on the north where little churches 
 had grown up in the interval, they could almost catch the 
 echoes of their hymns of praise ; and when they looked to 
 the south upon those hills where their feet had first carried 
 the message of salvation, and could count, in hamlet after 
 hamlet, some precious souls btrn of God, the depth of their 
 emotion was too great to find expression in words. 'At last 
 Quala observed, " God will do greater things than these ;" 
 and God has done greater things, and will, we trust, continue 
 to do so, " until all Burmah worships the eternal God." 
 
 About this time Dr. Mason, in writing to the Executive 
 Committee at home, said : " Sau Quala is the assistant that 
 has been writing by my side every rains for eight or ten 
 years ; and he has been the almost constant companion of my
 
 DR. MASON'S OPINION OF HIM. 233 
 
 travels ever since I entered the mission. With him I first 
 began the study of the Karen language ; and with him I com. 
 menced the translation of the New Testament, and he has 
 continued with me throughout the work. Besides copying 
 for me, I have constantly consulted him as I went along for 
 words, their signification, and their construction, precisely as 
 in cultivated languages a student consults his dictionaries 
 and grammars ; while I have thus been gathering knowledge 
 from him, I have not been unmindful of imparting knowledge 
 to him. 
 
 " I have often thought that could I leave him, when my 
 labors close on earth, an able minister of the New Testament, 
 I should not have labored in vain ; and, latterly, I have in- 
 dulged the pleasing hope that God would more than fulfil my 
 desire, and make him a useful minister even while I live. 
 Formerly his mind was exceedingly obtuse, as are the minds 
 of uncultivated people generally, and utterly unable to make 
 any rational distinction between words and things that dif- 
 fered ; but he now possesses, comparatively, quite a discrim- 
 inating mind ; and I am sometimes surprised at the nice 
 distinctions that he occasionally points out as existingbetween 
 the signification of words. I do not suppose there is any one 
 of his nation that can make any approach to him in vhe mat- 
 ter of judicious criticism on Karen composition. This is 
 saying nothing to the disparagement of any one else, for no 
 other has had the same years of discipline that he has had. 
 He has, however, obtained something more valuable than a 
 power of criticism ; he has obtained a very tolerable know- 
 ledge of the principal parts of the New Testament and of 
 the sentiments of Scripture in general. Furthermore, he is 
 ' apt to teach,' and a very good preacher. AVhen in the jungle 
 he is continually engaged in informal preaching, from house 
 to house, and by the way side ; I often set him to preach at
 
 23-1 DR. MASON'S OPINION OF HIM. 
 
 evening meetings, when I have an opportunity of hearing his 
 more regular productions ; and he frequently gives an exposi- 
 tion of Scripture, of which an educated man at home would 
 not be ashamed. In addition to his other acquirements, 
 Quala has grown in grace so much latterly, that, were there 
 nny .particular necessity for it, he might be ordained." 
 
 In 1844, Dr. Mason, accompanied by Mr. Vinton, visited 
 Pyeekhya, and remained with Quala and his people for about 
 three weeks. During that time they were visited by one of 
 those remarkable outpourings of the Holy Spirit's influence 
 which are not uncommon in America, and with which we have 
 occasionally been blessed in our own country. Here Quala 
 witnessed some of those extraordinary means which the 
 Spirit cf all grace is sometimes pleased to use in bringing 
 sinners to Christ ; quickening dead souls to life, and reviving 
 the slumbering graces of the children of God. Here, too, 
 his faith in the power of believing prayer was strengthened, 
 and he learnt something of the deep import of those gracious 
 words "Ask, and ye shall have.' 1 In describing the scene 
 he said ; " When the teachers and disciples prayed in 
 earnest, the Holy Spirit came down upon the unconverted, 
 and they came forward, requesting to be baptized. Many 
 of these were people with whom I had labored and exhorted 
 before the meeting, and some said to me, ' We will wait a 
 year ;' others, ' We will wait two years;' others, 'We will 
 look on a little longer ;' but when the Holy Spirit touched 
 them, they repented and became Christians. Many of those 
 who had been among the unconverted came forward and con- 
 fessed their sins and transgressions publicly. They took up 
 the habit immediately of private prayer in the jungle, and 
 became very anxious for their unconverted relatives, going 
 and inviting many to the meeting. Some confessed sins that 
 had been committed in secret, and prayed with sobs and tears.
 
 CONVERSION OF A PRIEST. 235 
 
 Many others resolved to become Christians, and many Chris- 
 tians grew in grace. Brethren, these things are the work of 
 the Holy Spirit, but they are spiritually discerned. Those 
 whose minds are enlightened see the power of God in them, 
 and wonder and praise the Lord. The advantages of these 
 meetings for prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit 
 are great. The graces of Christians are increased, the un- 
 converted obtain new hearts, and those who listen understand 
 the easier." 
 
 There was one case of conversion in connection with this 
 revival which we cannot forbear mentioning. Mr. Vinton 
 had desired the assistant to write down the names of the 
 principal unconverted people in the neighborhood, and one 
 evening they were read out, as subjects or prayer. Among 
 the names was that of a Bong-ko, or religious teacher, a 
 man of some note amorg the people, who, hearing that his 
 name had been so used, was very angry. He wanted no 
 prayer to be made for him. One evening, some time after, 
 to the surprise of all, he and his wife walked into the 
 meeting. He said he had not come to be a Christian, but to 
 hear. It was felt that God had led him there and had pur- 
 poses of mercy towards him, and before another week had 
 passed away, he had openly declared himself to be the 
 Lord's? He was determined to be a Christian, and that now. 
 As soon as their son-in-law heard of their determination, for 
 his wife also was converted with him, he became greatly 
 enraged, and declared he would leave them, which he ulti- 
 mately did. It was a great grief to the old people, for, ac- 
 cording to the Karen custom, the sons-in-law usually culti- 
 vate the field and provide for the parents of their wives. 
 But under this trial they remained calm and unmoved, trust- 
 ing in the Lord, and have gone on stedfastly in His ways. 
 
 At the close of these heart-stirring scenes in Pyeekhya,
 
 236 QUALA 18 ORDAINED. 
 
 Quala accompanied Dr. Mason and Mr. Vinton to Newville, 
 the Karen station north of Maulmain. Nearly ten years 
 had passed since Quala's first visit in 1833, and great 
 changes had taken place in that interval. Then the eighty- 
 three Karens who had been baptized were just entering on 
 the Christian race : now they had completed their course, 
 or were tried Christians among two or three hundred more 
 recent converts. At Newville they held similar meetings 
 to those at Pyeekhya and with similar results ; and Quala 
 must have returned to his mountain home with quickened 
 faith and hope in the glorious promises of God. 
 
 It was on the 28th April, 1844, that Sau Quala was or- 
 dained to the office of the ministry, and in writing at that 
 time he says : " This is of the grace of God. Great is God's 
 goodness. Lord, when we were in darkness thou placedst 
 us in the light ; when we were in distress and difficulty thou 
 placedst us in prosperity and ease. We will praise thy 
 goodness to us as long as we live, throughout our whole ex- 
 istence. Make our light, our wisdom, our understanding of 
 the Holy Scriptures, of Thee, and of thy love, to increase. 
 Give us, God, to understand the deep things of Thee. Thy 
 mercy and thy watchful care over us we can never suffi- 
 ciently praise. Have mercy upon us and watch over us to 
 the end." . ' 
 
 We are now brought to th6 time in Quala's history when 
 his mind frequently dwelt upon the desire, early formed, to 
 be the Lord's messenger of salvation to the province of 
 Toungoo. In the wise and inscrutable providence of God, 
 the door which had been so long closed to the entrance of 
 the gospel was about to be opened, and already he was work- 
 ing in the heart of this man. We have the following inter- 
 esting account from the pen of Mr. Cross of Tavoy. 
 
 " Some three years before the last Burmese war, a Karen
 
 STORY OF DUMOO. 237 
 
 by the name of Dumoo, a native of the region of Toungoo, 
 fell in with a company of Burmese in his own country who 
 were going to the south. He accompanied them in hopes of 
 finding his daughter, who had married and gone with her 
 husband in that direction. This company, according to Du- 
 moo's story, were seized by the British Government on sus- 
 picion that they were dacoits. One of them was a Tavoyer : 
 and when they were liberated, Dumoo chose to accompany 
 the Tavoyer without any assignable reason, apparently with- 
 out any end or aim. He thus wandered nearly two hun- 
 dred miles still further from his friends and among strang- 
 ers, as if led by a hand as unfelt as it was unseen. 
 
 "These two men arrived in Tavoy at a time when the 
 small-pox was raging with great violence and destructiveness 
 through the whole city and province of Tavoy. Dumoo came 
 within a few yards of the mission premises. But he had no 
 wish to see the missionaries ; he knew there were white 
 men in Maulmain and Tavoy, but he had no special interest 
 in them, but to avoid them. Wandering about in the city as 
 he was, without any settled purpose, he was soon smitten by 
 the fearful plague which was destroying so many victims 
 around him. While enduring this disease he was sheltered 
 in a Burmese kyoung or monastery. In this condition, 
 hanging for a long time between life and death, his thoughts 
 were turned within to the nature of the soul, and its pros- 
 pects of misery or happiness after death, and this subject 
 began to assume an overwhelming importance when he re- 
 covered. He did not, however, seek the missionaries, but 
 soon left the city for the jungles, wandering here and there 
 among the heathen Karens in the province. Hence, though 
 he had been a number of months among the Karens, he got 
 no idea of the Christians or their books ; yet the desire for 
 a book seemed to occupy and haunt his mind. He learnt
 
 238 DUMOO BECOMES A CHRISTIAN. 
 
 that i Karen who had set up claims to divine inspiration, 
 had invented a method of writing the Karen language. He 
 almost immediately made his way to that person, and soon 
 found that his ability to write was all a mere deception to 
 gain credit and increase the number of his followers. Dumoo 
 turned away from him with disappointment and disgust. He 
 had gone quite across the province of Tavoy to the borders 
 of Siam to see this wonderful pretender, but though he was 
 disappointed in his object, his journey was not in vain. 
 He fell in with two young men from the Karen theological 
 school in Tavoy, who were spending th,eir vacation in the 
 jungle as Scripture readers, and endeavoring to exhort the 
 people to repentance. As soon as Dumoo met these men 
 with the New Testament which could be read, a book utter- 
 ing by means of letters declarations concerning his soul 
 and the God who made it, so exactly answering to the deep 
 longings of his spirit, his inmost soul cried out, ' I have 
 found what I want.' Nor did he separate himself from these 
 young men, or give them rest till he learned from them the 
 wonderful magic of the alphabet. 
 
 " When these young men returned to their school, Dumoo 
 repaired to a Christian village and attached himself to the 
 native pastor, and showed a docility and earnestness which 
 were regarded with astonishment by all who saw him. But 
 his earnestness and fire were not only an earnestness and an 
 inward burning to be able to read books in his own tongue, 
 but the love of the Saviour and the power of the Holy Ghost 
 seemed to have taken possession of him. He remained in 
 the village trying to learn to read, and publishing to all 
 around what a Saviour he had found. When the missionary 
 made his pastoral visit to the village, he met Dumoo fore- 
 most of the multitude and the heartiest to greet him, not 
 with the cringing common to natives who have never seen a
 
 HIS ANXIETY TO SAVE OTHERS. 239 
 
 European and expect attention from him, but with the up- 
 right frankness of a Christian, in which distinctions of flesh 
 and blood are lost in the stronger promptings of the soul. 
 This man was baptized, and from that time he never ceased 
 his efforts and entreaties. By his exhortations and repre- 
 sentations he stirred up a missionary spirit in the mind of 
 Quala and others in the province, and induced them to pledge 
 themselves to return with him to his native country. He 
 was sure the great multitude of the people would believe 
 without hesitation and become Christians. And already, as 
 if the result had become a reality in his own mind, he could 
 not refrain from exhorting the people in these provinces to 
 emulate the example of the Christians that would be in 
 Toungoo. They would support their teachera, they would 
 greedily and earnestly seize upon the book here so little 
 prized by the disciples, etc. 
 
 " Dumoo entered the theological school in Tavoy and spent 
 the term of two years. He learned to write his own language, 
 and acquired considerable knowledge of the Bible. But all 
 his efforts and his enthusiasm had a single aim ; one burning 
 desire seemed to possess him continua'ly and everywhere. 
 It was to go back and preach the gospel to his countrymen, 
 and to induce others to go with him from this place. It was 
 with him that Quala determined to go, for his spirit moved 
 him more than the opposition and entreaties of all the disci- 
 ples here. The churches could not spare him, and the oldest 
 and most experienced missionaries then here thought the 
 project chimerical and preposterous. 
 
 " But, just at the right time, Quala and Dumoo with two 
 others from this province started for Toungoo. Dr. Mason 
 had preceded them a few weeks, an invalid destined soon to 
 return to America. He was able to remain just long enough 
 to receive Quala at Toungoo, and see him baptize two per-
 
 24:0 QUALA. AND HE GO TO TOUNGOO. 
 
 sons who had already been converted, and then leave the 
 work in his hands. Quala and Dumoo, after meeting with 
 many hindrances in Maulmain, finally succeeded in ascend- 
 ing the river, but they separated before they reached Toun- 
 goo. Quala proceeded to join Dr. Mason, and Dumoo turned 
 to the south and east, and entering the Shwaygyeen district, 
 began the work there. 
 
 " This seems to be the history of the beginning of this 
 great work. God chose his own instruments and his own way 
 of leading them into the field which he had prepared for them. 
 How wonderful, when the hand of God is revealed, are the 
 seemingly insignificant events chosen in the distance, exact- 
 ly timed in their occurrence, and unerringly connected and 
 accumulated until a miracle of grace and of mercy is the 
 result !" 
 
 As soon as the war broke out in 1852, Quala would have 
 proceeded to Toungoo immediately, but he was advised to 
 wait until things assumed a more settled aspect. When, 
 however, Dr. and Mrs. Mason were settled in Toungoo, Quala 
 followed them. The churches in the southern provinces 
 were very unwilling to let him go ; but it was in vain that 
 they endeavored to detain him. A memorial signed by 
 every assistant south of Tavoy, and by their churches, re- 
 monstrating in affecting terms against the departure of one 
 whose instructions were so much valued by them was pre- 
 sented to the association. "What was to be done ?" writes 
 the missionary, Mr. Thomas. " Here was a man who, under 
 various circumstances, had been under the eye of the mis- 
 sionaries from boyhood. He had been for a long time pastor 
 of the most important church in his vicinity, and had fre- 
 quently visited other churches in the missionaries' stead, to 
 settle difficulties and administer the ordinances of the Lord's 
 house ; and had never been guilty of anything requiring
 
 OBJECTIONS OF THE CHURCHES. 24:1 
 
 discipline. This man for more than a year had desired to 
 visit a distant region, a region never yet visited by a min- 
 ister of the gospel, there to plant the standard of the cross. 
 We looked at the subject carefully ; we spoke, we wept, we 
 prayed ; and all the adverse memorialists rose with tears, 
 and voted to approve his going." Dr. Mason also, in writing 
 of what the Karen churches have done for the extension of 
 Christ's kingdom, adds, " They have done more than give 
 money. They have given men for mission work ; not their 
 youth to study and qualify themselves for becoming mission- 
 aries, but their tried ministers ; not the mediocrity, but the 
 most talented, best educated, most efficient, and most highly 
 esteemed. When the churches of America send the most 
 useful, most learned, and most valued in New England or 
 New York, to Burmah, then they will have made a sacrifice 
 equal to that which the churches of Tavoy and Mergui made 
 when they gave Quala for Toungoo." 
 
 Accompanied by two assistants qualified to be common 
 school teachers, Quala reached Toungoo in December, 1853. 
 The first baptism took place in the following January. The 
 ordinance was administered by Sau Quala, in the presence 
 of more than fifty Burmans, whom he addressed in a most 
 judicious and eloquent manner. The Colonel and one or 
 two other pious officers of the 5th Regt. of N. I. were present, 
 and were much gratified with the fearlessness, dignity, and 
 propriety of demeanor exhibited by the administrator. Be- 
 fore the close of the year the number of converts was seven 
 hundred and forty-one, who were associated in nine churches. 
 In May, 185G, they had increased to thirty churches, with 
 an aggregate of two thousand one hundred and twenty-four 
 members, all of whom had been baptized within two years, 
 and more than two thousand of them by one man. 
 
 Truly God had fulfilled Dr. Mason's desire to see Quala a 
 11
 
 242 HIS MARVELLOUS SUCCESS. 
 
 " useful minister while he lived. " Mrs. Wade writing home 
 in April, 1855, says of him; " If our dear brother Maton had 
 done nothing else in Burrnah besides training this Karen mis- 
 sionary, he would have done a good work. But he could not 
 thus have trained his pupil had he not travelled and 
 preached year after year, building up churches, and disci- 
 plining them according to the ruls of the Bible. And be- 
 sides this, Quala having assisted brother Mason so much in 
 the translations, the word of God dwells richly in his mind, 
 so that after being an excellent pastor and leading minister 
 among these lovely southern churches, he has gone forth 
 with our full confidence as a missionary ; has baptized form- 
 ed churches, superintending them with excessive labor and 
 fatigue like an apostle. Having no salary, one r.nd another 
 of the disciples gives him a garment when he needs ; and 
 having no home, he gets his food where he labors." 
 
 How striking is this testimony to the simplicity of faith 
 with which these noble men go foith to the help of the Lord 
 against the mighty ! They remind us of the little fountains 
 bubbling up in their own distant hills shining like silver 
 threads in the thick jungle, and sparkling like diamonds in 
 their healthful activity, impatient to bear their tribute of 
 fresh waters, to swell the river which rolls beneath, and not 
 only so, but rejoicing and blessing all whom they reach 
 within their course. How unlike the pestilential inactivity 
 of the stagnant pool, which settling itself down in its listless 
 selfishness, neither rejoices man or beast, but spreads malaria 
 all around! Not so with the Karens ; they have no sooner 
 tasted that the Lord is gracious, and learned that their high- 
 est happiness is " to glorify Him and enjoy Him for ever," 
 than they start forth into a new life of holy devotedness. 
 Men and women, young and old, unite in the happy service 
 of seeking to win souls to the knowledge of that Saviour
 
 HIS LABORS. 243 
 
 whom to know is life eternal. Faith in Christ is their com- 
 mencement, progress, and end. r 
 
 The following letter from Sau Quala will exhibit something 
 of the spirit which animated him in his labors amongst this 
 people. 
 
 " Because God has showed me my work I rest not. I go 
 up the mountains and down the valleys, hither and thither. 
 One day in a place, one night in a place, continually. Still 
 I know that I do the work of God imperfectly, and my heart 
 is exceeding sad. Some come to me from a distance, and 
 reprove me, saying, ' Teacher, thou sayest thou hast come 
 to exhort men, and thou hast not been to our stream, to our 
 land. Dost thou not love us V Then I feel unable to open 
 my mouth, for I know when the judgment-day arrives, that 
 many who know not God will charge sin upon me, and I can 
 only stammer. 
 
 " Therefore, though my flesh be tolerably comfortable, I 
 count that nothing. I desire that the Kingdom of God be 
 established all over the land of Toungoo more than I can ex- 
 press, and among the man-killers, far beyond words. Be- 
 cause God has given evidence that He purposes to save them, 
 my heart is sfrong, though my flesh is weak. Br^thren-r- 
 teachers teachcresses, pray for me !" 
 
 An instance of his disinterested spirit must be mentioned. 
 The ' Taubeahs,' or ' wild Karens,' hearing of the teacher in 
 Toungoo, were anxious to be allowed to come nearer, that 
 they too might hear of the Eternal God ; and sent a petition 
 to this effect, which was forwarded to Major Phayre, Com- 
 missioner of Pegu. Major Phayre subsequently went up to 
 Toungoo, and wished to induce Quala to be a medium of 
 communication between these oppressed tribes and the 
 Government, for which he would pay him twenty-five to thir- 
 ty rupees a month. Sau Quala gave an account of his inter-
 
 244 OFFEK OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOY. 
 
 view with Major Phayre, when this office was offered to him. 
 " The Commissioner arrived at Toungoo on the 9th March, 
 and I went immediately to visit him. He -shook hands with 
 me, and asked me concerning the Bghais, Manniepghas and 
 Pakus ; and in respect to their listening and becoming Chris- 
 tians, and concerning all the unordained assistants ; finally he 
 said, ' Teacher, I have spoken to the Government concerning 
 you, and that you should become a head and overseer among 
 the Bghais, Pakus and Wild Karens, for which you shall re- 
 ceive thirty rupees a month.' I replied, ' Sir, I cannot do 
 it. I will not have the money. I will not mix up God's 
 work with Government work. There are others to do this 
 thing. Employ them : as for me I will continue in the work 
 in which I have been engaged.' The Commissioner asked : 
 ' Where do you obtain money to live on ? Why do you not 
 like money ? We will give money, and you may continue 
 your work as teacher, as heretofore. Will it not make it eas- 
 ier for you ?' I answered : ' No, Sir. When I eat with the 
 children of poverty I am content (literally, ' my heart 
 sleeps'). I did not leave my dear wife and come up hither in 
 search of silver or agreeable food. I came to this land, 
 that its poor benighted inhabitants might be saved. Be pa- 
 tient with me, Sir. Were I to take your money the wild Ka- 
 rens would turn against me.' He said to me again ; ' Well, 
 teacher! think of the matter a day or two.' So I left him, 
 but I went to the Christian chief Kwailai and the Shan who 
 had been baptized, and I persuaded them to take the office. 
 The next day I visited the Commissioner again, and presented 
 these two men, as willing to receive the appointment. He 
 agreed to give them the office ; so I am free with clean hands. 
 Teacheress and teacher, do not be anxious about me. I have 
 no desire for this work, neither is my wife pleased with it. 
 When I was in Tavoy and Mergui, and was urged to accept
 
 THE OFFER DECLINED. 245 
 
 the office of Magistrate, she threw all the difficulties in the 
 way she could ; but when I became a teacher, that pleased 
 her (literally, 'hit her heart'). The Holy Scripture says : 
 ' If a man desire the office of a bishop he desireth a good 
 work;' why should I go back to things that are worthless ? 
 May the Lord help me, draw me by the hand, and guide me 
 to the things which are pleasing in his sight."
 
 24:6 8AU QTIALA AND HIS ASSISTANTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 KECENT LABORS IN TOUNGOO. 
 
 " He called the name of it Rehoboth ; and he said, For now the Lord 
 hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful hi the land." GEN. 
 xxvi. 22. 
 
 FOR two years Quala continued to labor, not even allowing 
 himself the leisure to visit his wife and family, whom he 
 had been obliged to leave at Tavoy. For a long time he had 
 only three native assistants, Sau Papau whom he placed 
 among the Sgaus, Sau Shapau among the Bghais, Sau Pwai- 
 pau among the Pakus ; these were true " fellow-laborers," 
 of whom he had no need to be ashamed. Amongst the Bghai 
 tribe they soon had upwards of thirty stations, attended by 
 seventeen native assistants, who were again superintended 
 by Sau Quala. We have a very interesting notice of the 
 appointment of six native preachers as missionaries, one es- 
 pecially dedicated to assist Quala at Toungdo, at the quar- 
 terly meeting of the Bassein Mission which took .place in 
 May, 1855, at Kau Nee, a Karen village on the bank of the 
 river, about five miles above Bassein. Although the chapel 
 had been greatly enlarged, it was impossible to accommodate 
 all who came, and many of the number, who were estimated 
 at upwards of twelve hundred, had to seat themselves on 
 the ground outside ; these were principally the people of the 
 village who with true Christian courtesy gave up the whole 
 of the interior of the chapel to their guests. Thirty -nine 
 native preachers were present on that occasion, besides
 
 OTHER MISSIONARIES. 24:7 
 
 many of the younger men -who had been engaged as mssion- 
 aries and teachers. It was a beautiful sight to see so many 
 gathered together in one bond of holy brotherhood, com- 
 memorating the dying hour of Christ their Saviour. 
 
 Six missionaries from amongst the number were appointed 
 at that time : Sau Plomai for Toungoo. His wife seems to 
 have been a person of uncommon energy and zeal, and soon 
 after his settlement at Baumu he sent for her. The follow- 
 ing letter was written after she had joined him : " Originally 
 I lived in the land of Bassein, and while there, I saw on the 
 5th of last April, a company of Rangooners approaching me. 
 They brought me a letter from my husband in Toangoo, who 
 wrote that I must ' go up and join him,' for he said, ' Here 
 is a place to work.' So I started with my mother, we two 
 alone, till reaching Rangoon, when we were joined by ten 
 others, men and women, and we all travelled together. At 
 Shwaygyeen a part of our company left us taking boat to 
 Toungoo ; but I kept on by land, and on the latter part of 
 the journey we were left quite alone again. As soon as we 
 arrived at my husband's village, the children all came around 
 me, and I commenced at once to teach them to read. The 
 children, however, learn with difficulty, and the women whom 
 I try to instruct to the best of my ability do v^ot under- 
 stand much. Indeed I do not understand much myself, hav- 
 ing studied but little. I am often very sorrowful when I 
 think of my deficiencies both in explaining things to them, 
 and in setting them an example. But I trust in God ; my 
 confidence in Him never fails. To the extent of my ability 
 I endure patiently, and labor in earnest with unceasing effort. 
 Therefore, dear brethren and sisters, to whatever church 
 you may belong, I entreat you to remember me in your 
 prayers. But more than this, I desire that men and women 
 everywhere, may offer united prayer, that the Kingdom of
 
 248 THEIR EARNEST SPIRIT. 
 
 God may spread abroad and come before all other things 
 quickly, throughout the whole earth." Such was the spirit 
 manifested by the workers at Toungoo, and so greatly did 
 the Lord bless their labors, that it was thought desirable 
 that Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker should go up to aid and counsel 
 them, at least till the return of Dr. and Mrs. Mason from 
 America. Accordingly in May, 1855, they started. On 
 reaching Shwaygyeen Mr. Whitaker found it impossible to 
 take his family on at once to Toungoo ; he determined there- 
 fore on leaving them with the mission family at Shwaygyeen, 
 and proceeded by himself to Toungoo. There he was con- 
 tinually surrounded with inquiring Karens, all eagerly anx- 
 ious to see the teacher, and to facilitate his remaining among 
 them. So effectually was their aid given that in six days a 
 house was made tenantable for the family. Quala, who had 
 been out on a lengthened tour, arrived to see Mr. AVhitaker, 
 and gave a most encouraging account of the continued pro- 
 gress of the work among the different tribes. Early there- 
 fore, in September, Mr. AVhitaker returned to Shwaygyeen 
 for his family ; when he found both Mr. and Mrs. Harris 
 prostrate with fever, and the mission plunged into the deep- 
 est sorrow under the chastening hand of God. 
 
 In a former chapter we have mentioned the first Mrs. 
 Harris. After her death, Mr. Harris went to Rangoon to 
 consult with the brethren there as to his future course. It 
 was then arranged that Miss Vinton, who for fifteen years 
 had been laboring amongst the Karens, and who needed rest, 
 should go to America with his children, leaving Mr. Harris 
 free to return to Shwaygyeen. In April 1855, Miss Vinton 
 returned from America, and was married to Mr. Harris, and 
 together they entered on their work with renewed earnest- 
 ness and zeal. 
 
 In vigorous health, with a perfect knowledge of the Ian-
 
 DEATH OF MBS. HARRIS. 249 
 
 guage, loving the people, and with the most earnest desire 
 for their salvation, she went out with her husband into the 
 jungles, her favorite hymn expressing the desire of her 
 heart. 
 
 " In these deserts let me labor, 
 On these mountains let me tell 
 How he died, the blessed Saviour, 
 To redeem a world from hell." 
 
 So devoted were her labors, that her praise spread far and 
 wide, and when at last she was taken from them, the Karens 
 in the distant hills who had not yet seen her, said, " We cannot 
 eat, we have no appetite for food, our friend is gone." 
 
 When Mr. Whitakcr reached Shwaygyeen the fever was 
 not severe, and from its intermittent character both she and 
 Mr. Harris were at times able to move about. On the ninth 
 day, she seemed no worse, and in the afternoon begged that 
 the Karen children might sing their hymns to her. She her- 
 self then sang a sweet hymn on rest, and after sleeping till 
 about twelve at night, asked to be raised, and her head fall- 
 ing on her husband's shoulder, she was gone without a strug- 
 gle to be for ever with the Lord. 
 
 It was an affecting sight to see those for whom she had so 
 zealously labored, and in whose cars her words of gentle teach- 
 ing had scarcely ceased to echo, called in to take their last 
 long look of those beloved features, before they carried her 
 forth to her last resting-place. Surely we may inscribe up- 
 on this mission, " in deaths oft;" but it has been life also, 
 life to the dead in trespasses and sins ; life, eternal life, to 
 the many who have believed. 
 
 Mr. Harris bravely struggled on for two long months, but 
 
 * disease was too strong for him, and at the close of 1856, he 
 
 was compelled to seek a renewal of lost health and strength 
 
 in America. We had the privilege of seeing him at that time, 
 
 11*
 
 250 REMARKABLE PROGRESS AT TOUNGOO. 
 
 weak in body, but strong in faith, counting all his sorrows 
 light, if he might but win his beloved Karens to the excellen- 
 cy of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord. In speaking 
 of those whom God had given him among from the heathen 
 he said, " God is always faithful to his promise, always. 
 'There is no man that hath left parents, or brethren, or wife, 
 or children, for the Kingdom of God's sake, who shall not re- 
 ceive manifold more in this present time, and in the world 
 to come life everlasting.' " Before Mr. Harris left Shway- 
 gyeen eight hundred had been admitted into the Christian 
 church by baptism. 
 
 When Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker arrived at Toungoo, they 
 were thronged with visitors ; at one time about two hundred 
 were present for several successive days, all anxious to hear 
 of Christ, and to receive instruction. The total number of 
 baptisms in the province of Toungoo amounted at this time 
 to two thousand six hundred. Among the numerous tribes 
 east of the town, there appeared no opposition to the gospel, 
 but on the contrary in all the villages there were those who 
 listened, while the whole population was more or less brought 
 under its life-giving influence. The number of people thus 
 reached, could not be less than twenty thousand. We have 
 many interesting notices, in one of Mr. Whitaker's tours in 
 the jungle, of their earnestness in prayer, and thirst for the 
 knowledge of God's word, their love of holiness, and zeal for 
 the ordinances of God's house. How great the change effect- 
 ed in a few short months ! Then nothing but the sound of 
 savage strife was heard in these villages and on those hills, 
 but now peace reigns wherever the blessed gospel has found 
 its way. In some of the villages the people possessed rare 
 gems, which had come down to them from their ancestors, and 
 which they regarded with superstitious reverence. But on 
 bringing them to Mr. Whitaker for inspection they asked ;
 
 EARNESTNESS OF THE PEOPLE. 251 
 
 " shall we throw them away;" evidently willing to do so, had 
 it been considered right. Some of the chapels they had built 
 were so large and commodious that they would hold from four 
 to six hundred people, and these were filled to overflowing. 
 At the association meeting which Mr. Whitaker held with 
 them in the 1st January, 1857, upwards of sixteen hundred 
 were present, many earnest applications were made for school 
 teachers, and there was a universal readiness on the part of 
 the preachers to rely on God and their people for support. 
 
 Mr. Whitaker gives an interesting account of a Sabbath 
 spent at Wathaukho, where Pwaipau began his labors among 
 the Klenla people. When Pwaipau first went amongst them, 
 he found only one man willing to hear him. After faithfully 
 preaching to him he was about to turn away, but the man 
 earnestly entreated, saying that if no one else would listen 
 he would, and that he would learn to read the book. Pwaipau 
 sat down to teach him, and in a fortnight he had a school of 
 forty boys. All went on well until the father of two of the 
 lads sent to call them home to the celebration of a feast to 
 an evil spirit. The boys stoutly refused to go, and the next 
 day the school house was surrounded with thirty or forty 
 men armed with spears. One of the boys leaped out at the 
 back of the house and concealed himself in the jungle, the 
 other was secured, and ordered off to the ceremony on pain 
 of death. He of course obeyed, but light had entered, and 
 soon that first learner was the assistant in charge of a church 
 of two hundred members four or five miles in extent. 
 Pwaipau watched over another flock still more numerous ; 
 the two number nearly five hundred. Peaceful and happy 
 they dwell under the shadow of the Almighty. May his 
 banner over them be love. 
 
 Well might Mr. Whitaker " thank God that he had been 
 permitted to spend four years on heathen ground, and for
 
 252 ME. MASON'S KETUJRN. 
 
 the miracles of grace and power he had been permitted to 
 witness." His hands were full of labor, and his heart buoy- 
 ant with hope that the fulfilment of God's richest promises 
 was at hand, but in the midst of labor and of hope the hand 
 of death was upon him, and after a brief illness he entered 
 into rest in August, 1857. 
 
 It was at the close of 1856 that Dr. and Mrs. Mason re- 
 turned from America. On reaching Calcutta there was some 
 difficulty in obtaining a passage on to Burmah for the whole 
 party, and Dr. Mason determined therefore to proceed alone, 
 leaving Mrs. Mason and the children to follow him as speed- 
 ily as possible. After an absence of three years Dr. Mason 
 reached Toungoo in January, 1857, and was welcomed by 
 the Karens with the most fervent joy. Finding the elephant 
 upon which he travelled moved but slowly, they made a palan- 
 keen of bamboos, and placing him upon their shoulders they 
 bore him on from village to village, through the Manniepgha 
 hamlets to the Paku settlements and on to the Bghai moun- 
 tains. His course was like the triumphant procession of one 
 whom the Lord had blessed. He says : 
 
 " I left Shwaygyeen for Toungoo by land with two ele- 
 phants, and reached the borders of the province on the 2nd 
 of January. When the Christians heard of my arrival, 
 twenty men started to meet me and cut a road for my ele- 
 phants, the bamboo scuff being quite impassable. In the 
 interior I had taken the road to another village, the inhabit- 
 ants of the village connected with Shwaygyeen having volun- 
 teered their services to prepare the way before me ; while 
 the chief and his followers of a third village were busied 
 at the same time in clearing a path for me to their hamlet. 
 Missing both these parties I proceeded onward to the village 
 of Khupghai. The road being exceedingly, difficult and the 
 mountains so steep that places for the feet of the elephants
 
 JUNGLE TRAVELLING. 253 
 
 to step in had sometimes to be dug in their sides, and gorges 
 so narrow that the animals could scarcely turn aside and 
 pick a practicable track among the rocks with which they 
 were filled, it was not until the morning of the third day we 
 reached our destination. The first night I slept on the top 
 of a paddy crib in an old field, a thousand feet above the 
 plains seen in the distance ; and darkness overtook us on the 
 evening of the second day, when the natives proposed to en- 
 camp out again, but having no tent, and the north wind at 
 this season blowing very keenly over the hills, I refused 
 determined to go to the village if we travelled till midnight ; 
 so on we went, up and down, with a beautiful moon peeping 
 now and then through trees. We were in a deep dell, when 
 the path required us to ascend a precipitous mountain side 
 but on turning the heads of our elephants through weariness 
 they positively refused to go, and when goaded by their 
 drivers they made the forest resound with their bellowing, 
 but not a foot onward would they stir. For once I had to 
 acknowledge myself fairly beaten, and the next best thing 
 to be done was to find the nearest dry spot on which we could 
 spread ourselves down ; for in these glens the ground is 
 frequently very wet. After retracing our steps a few hun- 
 dred yards I called to a man on foot, to feel if the ground 
 was dry in the green palm grove through which we were 
 passing ; when my attention was arrested by the figure of a 
 stranger in the shade. He announced himself a Christian, 
 and urged us to come and spend the night at his house which 
 was about a quarter of a mile from the road, on a little hill 
 with a gentle ascent, the only difficulty in the way, a deep 
 stream, he said he could overcome by leading us to a prac- 
 ticable ford. It appeared that he heard the tinkling of the 
 bells that hung to the necks of the elephants, and the report 
 having reached him that I was somewhere in the jungles,
 
 254 CHRISTIAN HOSPITALITY. 
 
 he came down with his son after us to see if it were not the 
 teacher. His hospitable mansion was reached about ten 
 o'clock, where the most comfortable place in it was spread 
 with mats for my reception. When we had dined (for we 
 had not stopped before from early dawn) I announced pray- 
 ers, and the only daughter of my host, a pretty girl of six- 
 teen, brought forward a New Testament and hymn book, 
 joining with her sweet voice in the praises of God. Fancy 
 my emotions ! Three years ago not a soul in these jungles 
 had heard of the Saviour, when it was my privilege to be 
 first to proclaim His precious name. Now, the first house I 
 am led to enter, in the field of my charge, is furnished with 
 a family Bible and hymn book, whose owners prize them as 
 precious treasure. Surely ' it is the Lord's doing, and is 
 wonderful in our eyes.' 
 
 " Before we could reach Khupghai next morning, the news 
 had reached the village that the teacher had come ; and the 
 hill sides were covered with men, women and children who 
 had come out to meet him, each anxious to seize his hand 
 before he could descend -from the elephant. In one corner 
 of their very neat meeting house was a place matted off for 
 my sleeping room, and curtained all around with new Bur- 
 mese silk, such as the wealthier Karens wear for their best 
 dresses. My Karen guide wore a lower garment for which 
 he paid twenty-five rupees, and above it a Shan jacket of 
 considerable value. The native preacher here I found well 
 provided for by the church, without requiring aid from any 
 other sources. 
 
 " The next evening found me at Kholu, in the midst of 
 some of the grandest alpine scenery I ever gazed on. It 
 stands on the mountain side, one or two thousand feet above 
 Yan Creek at the base ; and looking across the valley, moun- 
 tains are seen piled on mountains as far as the eye can reach t
 
 DR. MASON'S PASTORAL VISITATION. 255 
 
 with forms as varied as the pictures of the kaleidoscope. 
 On the mountain range where I stood, which bounds the 
 valley on the south, are six Christian villages, and on the 
 northern range are no less than fifteen. When I look around 
 me I find myself in a Christian country, raised up as if by 
 magic from the darkness of heathenism in three brief years. 
 " The next day, after travelling a few miles, a difficulty arose 
 as to which village I should go to, the road dividing into two, 
 and the path had been cleared for my elephants to both. I 
 found no way to decide the matter, but to declare that Quala's 
 wife was my daughter, and that I must go and see my daugh- 
 ter. Twenty-five years ago she was Mrs. Mason's favorite 
 pupil, so on we went to the village of Lenkla, where Quala 
 makes his home. At present he is away preaching the gos- 
 pel to the Red Karens, seven days' journey north-east of 
 Toungoo. 
 
 " When the Sabbath was over, the chief of -this village came 
 to me and asked how many nights I had slept at Lenkla, I 
 told him two ; ' Then,' he said, ' you must come and sleep at 
 least two in my village. I spent a Sunday in your house in 
 Toungoo, and there first heard the gospel from your lips. I 
 want too, so much to see the teacheress. Will she not come 
 on to the mountains to see us? My wife and I will go to the 
 city to visit her, so soon as we hear of her arrival.' In reply 
 to his invitation to come to his village, I told him I had dis- 
 missed my elephants, the time for which I engaged them hav- 
 ing expired, and that I was unable to walk so far. 'We do 
 not want you to walk,' he continued, ' we will carry you and 
 all your things, if you will say, Go.' I gave the word, and he 
 turned to a man at his elbow saying, ' Make a dooly for the 
 teacher and bring twenty men to carry his things.' In a few 
 hours a very comfortable affair was constructed of bamboo, 
 on which my bed and myself were put, and borne by four
 
 256 HIS TOUE AMONG THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 men, relieved at short intervals by four more, a dozen being 
 in attendance, away I went at a trot over several hills and 
 valleys to this village, which stands on the very top of a moun- 
 tain spur, with the whole plain of Toungoo to the Prome moun- 
 tains spread out on the west, and the magnificent scenery of 
 the Bghai mountains on the north, with the tortuous course of 
 the stream on which our most interesting Bghai villages are 
 located, distinctly visible by the deep chasms through which it 
 runs. 
 
 ' I am now among the Manniepghas, and at every village I 
 find more or less applicants for baptism, but I reserve statis- 
 tics for another letter This illustrates the gratitude of the 
 Karens to their teachers for bringing them the gospel. 
 
 "I have got the Sermon on the Mount into Bghai, a third 
 of Matthew, and Genesis begun. I have now to request the 
 patronage of the Society for an edition of three thousand cop- 
 ies of Genesis, and as many of the Sermon on the Mount.* * * 
 
 " The evening your letter arrived I found a little Bghai 
 boy, not a dozen years of age, reading by the way, an old 
 smoked catechism in Sgau, which, to preserve, he had sewed 
 between two bits of old Burmese pasteboard on a kind of 
 spring back of a bamboo splint. I send it to ask if such a 
 people who will take such care of books, not a tithe of which 
 they can understand, shall be denied the Scriptures. 
 "Would that you could stand with me on these mountain 
 tops, and see now two, now three, and then five other clusters 
 of Christian habitations. You would then feel that ' the half 
 was not told.' The duty of giving a full support to their 
 teachers the churches fully recognise, and, though it often 
 requires much self-denial on the part of the assistant in places 
 where the people are few and poor, yet they are ready to 
 admit that they ought to look for their means to live to their 
 congregations. Still, in the present incipient state of things,
 
 SUPPORT OF THE TEACHERS. 257 
 
 we ought to assist those who need help, as many do. One 
 young man, who has a wife to support, told me that the .' Wild 
 Bghais,' among whom he is located, could give him nothing 
 but rice, for it is all they have for themselves. Many wear 
 scarcely any clothing, and are at constant warfare among them- 
 selves and have to be ever prepared for attacks from their 
 neighbors. Yet in the hearts of these people the Spirit of 
 God is manifestly at work, though none have been baptized, 
 and they come to meeting on Sundays in great numbers, 
 armed like the old covenanters with swords, spears and 
 cross-bows ; muskets they have none. To supply his necessi- 
 ties, the young man above-mentioned has repeatedly come 
 down into the plains, and labored as a cooly. In such instan- 
 ces, and there are others, the missionary should be able to step 
 in with the necessary funds and keep the man at work." 
 
 The following account of a meeting on the Bghai mount- 
 ains is very striking: he says; 
 
 " Like the prophet in his vision, I feel overwhelmed with 
 the scenes that are passing before my eyes. Three days ago, 
 the first meeting of the Bghai association was held in this 
 place. I was called to the chair, and as I looked from the 
 crest of the hill on which it assembled, on two thousand of the 
 wildest Karens the jungles can boast, I seemed to be seated 
 in an assembly of all nations. There were men robed in 
 silks in the Burmese costume ; others with the blue pants 
 and padded jackets which distinguish Shans ; and a few were 
 buttoned up in the cast off red coats of English soldiers. 
 Among the ladies, there was a sufficient variety of silk hand- 
 kerchiefs, white cottons, and diversified calicoes to supply a 
 small linendraper's shop ; but the larger number were in their 
 native dresses. The Pakus were known by the horizontal 
 stripes on their tunics. One Bghai tribe was easily recog- 
 nised by the tunic being striped perpendicularly with red
 
 258 NUMBER OF THE CONVERTS. 
 
 lines, and the other by their short pants reaching half way 
 down the thigh. Many of those from the distant mountains 
 had their swords by their sides, and not a few might be seen 
 on the distant margin of the congregation listening as they 
 leaned on their spears. 
 
 " Forty-five stations were represented, each of which has 
 its teacher, and all, with a very few exceptions, are natives 
 of Toungoo, raised up from among themselves. At twenty- 
 four of the stations, the foundations of churches have been 
 laid, and there are many candidates for baptism at most of 
 the stations. Three hundred and sixteen persons were bap- 
 tized during the year, making the present number of church 
 members in good standing among the Bghais alone, (there is 
 a still larger number of Pakus and Manniepghas) one thou- 
 sand two hundred and .sixteen. The aggregate of the pupils 
 reported in school is six hundred and eighty-eight. In the 
 Paku and Manniepgha districts there is a still larger num- 
 ber, there being exactly fifty stations. Thus there are nine- 
 ty-five schools, and as many school teachers and preachers to 
 the extent of their knowledge in eastern Toungoo, all, with 
 the exception of about ten, natives of the province and con- 
 verted within the last three years. This is the most remark- 
 able feature of this most remarkable work. These young 
 preachers exhibited in the discussion of questions brought 
 before the association, forensic talents which I have never 
 seen equalled in the best educated of our native assistants, 
 and which it would be difficult to surpass in our schools at 
 home. When I told Quala at parting, to thrust into the work 
 every promising young man instructed by himself or his 
 three associates, without waiting for them to take a regular 
 course of education, I little thought to witness such glorious 
 results. When the work became too great for one man, 
 Shapau took the lead among the Bghais, providing teachers
 
 ABILITY OF THE PKEACHKES. 259 
 
 from among his pupils for that tribe, and Pwaipau among the 
 Pakus. Both, as well as Quala, are in fact bishops, and no 
 bishops ever acted more judiciously, more uprightly, or 
 more successfully than they have done during the last three 
 years. 
 
 " Were the plan of bringing forward the natives to places 
 of responsibility followed out, we should soon have a band 
 of missionaries raised up on the ground, to go to the regions 
 beyond, with tenfold better qualifications for their mission 
 than all the universities can give their students, and at little 
 or no expense. Is it to be done ? Or are native preachers, 
 whose labors God blessed beyond example in the history 
 of missions, to be kept in everlasting pupilage, and made 
 nonentities in the eyes of their fellow countrymen ? 
 
 " The raising up of such a body of assistants is, I think, 
 unequalled in the history of missions, and scarcely less re- 
 markable is the fact that all the congregations come forward 
 and engage to support their teachers ; and at every station 
 which I have visited, I find the assistant better clothed and 
 in a better house than any of his congregation. Several of 
 the churches gave their teachers twenty rupees in money 
 last year, and one gave thirty. Added to this, they have 
 paid into the mission about a thousand rupees for books ; a 
 larger sum than has ever been contributed for books, I 
 imagine, from all the rest of the missions during the quarter 
 of a century they have been in existence. Medicines which 
 were always given away, I believe, at the expense of the 
 mission till I commenced soiling them to the Karens of Ta- 
 voy, meet with a ready market here, affording the dealer a 
 clear profit of twenty-five per cent. Finally, they have con- 
 tributed for the Home Mission Society a fraction over two 
 hundred and eighty-one rupees, which with two hundred and 
 eighty-three rupees contributed by the Paku and Manniepgha
 
 260 LIBERALITY OF THE CHURCHES. 
 
 churches, and more than two hundred of balance on hand, 
 will, after paying for the printing of the minutes, be devoted 
 to Mr. Whitaker's school during the rains in town ; and the 
 amount is larger than will be necessary to expend. 
 
 " I had written thus far when I arose for an evening walk. 
 On the edge of the village I came upon four little girls with 
 sparkling eyes looking from dirty faces, like morning stars 
 peeping through clouds. The eldest was not seven years of 
 age, the youngest about five. One of them had two torn 
 leaves of an old hymn book in her hand. After winning 
 them out of their bashfulness, I found all could read ; and 
 they finally sung one of the hymns through to a good Eng- 
 lish tune, as accurately and as harmoniously as I ever heard 
 little girls of their age sing anywhere. Truly God's ways 
 are wonderful, and He puts to shame the wisdom and works 
 of man. Here is a professedly Christian population of more 
 than ten thousand souls, upwards of two thousand of whom 
 are members of Christian churches ; schools in ninety-five 
 villages, with praise proceeding from the lips of babes, in 
 tunes with which our mothers sung to us cradle hymns ; in- 
 digenous teachers in almost every village, using books that 
 they have purchased ; and to enable a few to obtain a better 
 education than the jungles can afford, ample funds are pro- 
 vided to support a school in the city : all this, and more, in 
 three years through native agents, who from the foundation 
 of the mission to the present time have not received in the 
 aggregate two hundred rupees. Where shall we look for a 
 parallel in the history of missions ? But the work has only 
 just begun. These young Bghai preachers are going to form 
 a phalanx of missionaries to evangelise the other wild tribes 
 in the ' regions beyond,' as far as the Hohangho and Bramah- 
 pootra. These men will be better qualified, with a little in-
 
 MARVELLOUS PKOGRESS. 261 
 
 struction, for their work than it is possible to qualify white 
 men in all the colleges throughout Christendom. 
 
 " You recollect St. Anthony's chapel, of course. Well, 
 my Bghai hermitage occupies a very similar position. I am 
 on the top of a hill, with a precipitous mountain behind me, 
 like Arthur's seat, but much higher. On one side of this 
 mountain is a deep gorge with a steep ascent, precisely like 
 Victoria Road. In the other direction, looking down as it 
 were to Edinburgh, is a rapid stream running through a 
 deep glen, bordered by precipices higher than that on which 
 Edinburgh castle stands ; and in the far distance are lofty 
 mountains as seen beyond the Forth. 
 
 " The country is not more Scotch than are its inhabitants. 
 The Bghais are as like the Highlanders of olden time as 
 can well be imagined. They are divided into small clans 
 that have been so separated by old feuds, that a mountain 
 ridge between them could not be crossed by either party. 
 If a man was found on the grounds of his neighbors his life 
 was the price of his temerity. The people were ever in a 
 state of apprehension, for one clan or another was constantly 
 making forays into the weaker or less prepared villages. 
 
 " The young man who is writing by my side lost a sister 
 several years ago by a party of Pant Bghais who attacked 
 the village, killed and wounded several persons, and carried 
 away some half a dozen captives, who were probably sold 
 into slavery to the Shans, or some other tribe to the 
 eastward. Quala tells me that he saw a number of slaves 
 among the Red Karens who had been captured in this region, 
 but they were well treated, had become domesticated with 
 their masters, and manifested no wish to return to their na- 
 tive land. Christianity will put a termination to this state 
 of things, but Government cannot. This young man's family 
 cherished the purpose to attack the Pant Bghais whenever
 
 262 ANCIENT FEUDS. 
 
 ft favorable opportunity occurred, and obtain a substitute 
 for his sister but when they embraced Christianity the 
 avenging design was, they say, abandoned for ever. Beyond 
 the Christian settlements, notwithstanding the English 
 power, kidnapping, killing, and plundering, are going on 
 while I am writing. There seems from the physiognomy of 
 the people to be a great difference in the character of the 
 Bghais. A party of thirty from a distant village stopped 
 here a few days lately, and some of them had certainly as 
 brutal countenances as my eyes ever rested on. Others 
 again appear to have mild dispositions. The young man "who 
 is school teacher appears to me, after a two months' intimate 
 acquaintance, to be a very amiable youth. Some are very 
 stupid, and some appear remarkably intelligent. A few 
 Sundays ago I had the teacher of a, neighboring village to 
 preach for me in the evening. I sat and listened to him 
 with admiration and astonishment. I recollected him as one 
 of the young men who came to Mrs. Mason's school in the 
 city. He was then anxious to learn, but the Burmese, who 
 did all in their power to keep the Karens from our house, 
 spared no efforts when they did come to frighten them away 
 again, and succeeded by their tales of terror in driving him 
 away after he had been about a week with us ; but when 
 Shapau came out here he went to his school, and stayed with 
 him a month. Here then is the amount of his education, six 
 days in the city and thirty in the jungles ; yet he certainly 
 preached as good a sermon in every respect as you will hear 
 from one half of our ministers who have been three years 
 to college and three to the theological seminary. His text 
 was, ' As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 
 &c.' In the introduction he gave as accurate an account of 
 the circumstances under which the serpent was made, as it 
 would be possible for the most experienced theologian to
 
 THE INDEPENDENT BGHAIS. 263 
 
 furnish, with the necessity of looking on it to live ; and 
 applied it to Christ with an earnestness and animation that 
 wculd have secured the attention of any audience. He is 
 very anxious to have me supply his place and allow him to 
 go to school. He is just the kind we wish to have instructed, 
 but we cannot spare him from the field. Shapau placed him 
 at on3 village where he taught for a couple of years nearly, 
 when more than forty of his congregation were baptized. 
 Shapau then removed him to a frontier settlement where 
 thirty -five are now requesting admittance into the church. 
 But such men are few everywhere. We need to pray for 
 more laborers, and for the right kind of laborers." 
 
 Again on the 8th April, 18.)7, Dr. Mason writes from ' In- 
 dependent Bghai-dom :' " The people here are the Pant- 
 wearing Bghais, who boast that they never paid taxes to any 
 Government, but have maintained their independence from 
 time immemorial. The Burmese denominate them Loo- 
 Yaing or 'wild men,' and not without reason. Though only 
 one short march from the villages of the Frock-wearing 
 Bghais, from whom a large revenue was collected, this 
 people never allowed a Burman to return if he once appeared 
 amongst them. Though many thousands of them are nom- 
 inally under the English Government, no taxes have yet 
 been asked of them ; and they now show themselves boldly 
 in the city to purchase salt and a few other articles. As 
 they become Christianised we may expect they will be taxed, 
 which will not make Christianity popular. As I am the 
 first white man that has ever been to their village, I may 
 not improbably, when they come to be taxed, have my name 
 handed down to posterity as a spy of the English Govern- 
 ment. However, I came here by their own invitation, and 
 they carried me en their shoulders all the way. 
 
 " This is the most north-easternmost point to which the
 
 264: BOEDER TRIBES. 
 
 conquests of Christianity have reached. Here light and dark- 
 ness meet. None of the villagers have been baptized, but 
 a list of thirty-two applicants for the ordinance has been 
 brought in, and I have an assembly of two or three hundred 
 every evening at worship who are all professed believers in 
 Christ. But it is astonishing to find how stupid the old peo- 
 ple are on all subjects, while the young appear as bright and 
 intelligent as European children. Would we rouse the peo- 
 ple we must educate the young ; there is no other way. The 
 old may obtain grace to save their souls, but never know- 
 ledge and intelligence to give them a place among civilized 
 nations. 
 
 " This is only one of three villages in which there are pro- 
 fessors of Christianity, in the same little valley, and all are 
 visible from the top of the hill that overshadows us. My 
 present locality is the very antipodes to the one I last wrote 
 from. The village is down in a little basin on the banks of 
 a stream, completely encircled by high hills which shut out 
 everything but the sun. The thermometer rises seven de- 
 grees higher here than where I last sojourned. 
 
 " The work accomplished in Toungoo appears great on pa- 
 per, but when I take my stand on one of those hills, and the 
 eye sweeps round from the northwest to the southeast on an 
 unbroken mass of heathenism lying at my feet, and on, on, 
 on, till the imagination is lost in the darkness, I sink para- 
 lysed at the view of the ' much land which yet remains to be 
 possessed.' Still these uttermost parts of the earth have been 
 promised by One who never fails to fulfil His promises. 
 Promised, however, on the condition that they shall be asked 
 for ; and we have reason to inquire, Has the condition been 
 fulfilled ? 
 
 "The season for itinerating is close upon us, and through- 
 out the rains the natives will be confined to their stations
 
 SHAPAU'S SUCCESS. 265 
 
 and their schools, with the exception of short excursions in- 
 to the neighboring villages. Quala has made one valuable 
 trip this year among the lied Karens, but valuable mainly 
 for the knowledge he brings us of the people, for he failed to 
 find a single individual who gave any attention to the gospel. 
 But one great obstacle was, he could not speak their lan- 
 guage, and had to converse with them through a Shan who 
 was inimical to Christianity. Shapau, our next best assist- 
 ant, has made a more successful tour on and over the east- 
 ern mountains in the southern part of the province, and be- 
 fore his return he saw six zayats built in as many different 
 villages, settled six teachers in them and thus laid the foun- 
 dation of as many Christian communities, where the worship 
 of God was not before known. One of the villages that re- 
 ceived a teacher promising him his support and engaging to 
 obey the precepts of the gospel, is on the eastern side of 
 the dividing chain of mountains, and is the first village that 
 has received Christianity beyond the English territories.** 
 
 " Shapau has made one trip among the Pant-wearing 
 Bghais in the northern portion of the province. While 
 absent he wrote me : ' I have reached the land of Kannee, 
 and several of the villages are about to build zayats. I in- 
 tend to go as far as the village of Koo-oo ; I hear many of 
 the villages in that region are about to erect chapels. 
 Should I remain here till the zayats are completed I shall 
 be delayed a considerable time. I have a number of people 
 with me, and shall leave a teacher in each village that pre- 
 pares for his accommodation. Teacher, pray for us.' Since 
 he wrote the above, a body of wild Bghais from the north at- 
 tacked the village of Koo-oo, to which Shapau was bound, 
 killing three men, and carrying off seven persons into sla- 
 very." 
 
 In June, 1857, Mrs. Mason reached Toungoo, and again 
 
 12
 
 266 MRS. MASON AT TOUNGOO. 
 
 commenced her work amongst these people. In writing of 
 her first impressions on her return, she says : " Three years 
 and a half ago I gazed over these mountains and plains 
 where the fallen angels have held supreme power ever since 
 the days of Noah, wondering if there were any of the chosen 
 among them. Now our missionary boat-man Shapau stands 
 beside me, pointing to the north, south, east and west, and 
 says, ' Teacher, among these hills and valleys are ninety-six 
 churches, chapels, and schools.' Three years ago I looked 
 upon troop after troop of wild mountaineers with their short- 
 striped growns and unwashed faces, wondering if they could 
 be civilized. Now I look upon a hundred young men and 
 lads, all neatly dressed in clean new gowns and blue pant- 
 aloons, with their hair nicely braided under tasteful tur 
 bans. 
 
 " Three years ago I sent to them the first book they 
 ever saw in their own tongue ; yesterday I sat in the midst of 
 twenty young preachers, fine intelligent youth, all following 
 the speaker, with open Bibles, turning from page to page, 
 from paragraph to paragraph, with perfect ease and the deep- 
 est interest. I could not but exclaim, ' What hath God 
 wrought !' Several of the preachers say their hearts are to 
 go beyond the frontier to carry the gospel. May God streng- 
 then their holy purpose." 
 
 Mrs. Mason went up to Toungoo with the hope and deter- 
 mination of being able to establish a self-supporting female 
 normal school, for the training of young teachers for the village 
 school. She felt there would be many difficulties and ob- 
 stacles in the way, but she went forward strong in faith, 
 believing that God would prosper and bless the work. Some 
 of the chiefs having heard of her design, three girls were sent 
 in, but nothing was said as to their support. The crisis had 
 come, but how to meet it was the difficulty. If the girls were
 
 THE NORMAL SCHOOL FOUNDED. 267 
 
 sent home, Mrs. Mason felt sure no more would come ; to 
 support them herself was neither possible nor desirable. 
 Her heart was lifted up for guidance to Him who giveth 
 wisdom liberally and upbraideth not. That evening a man 
 came in who was not at first recognised, but who proved to 
 be the very man who had formerly come back with the little 
 book, " The sayings of the elders." He was now a Christ- 
 ian, and was private agent to the Commissioner, and one of 
 the most influential men of the jungles. After cordial greet- 
 ings Mrs. Mason, amongst other things, mentioned her plan 
 for the school, her hope of obtaining a grant of land from 
 Government, of erecting a school-house, chapel and teachers' 
 dwellings, all of which was to be made over in trust for the 
 Karens. He seemed to see at once the advantage of such 
 an establishment ; the desirableness of instructing the wo- 
 men, of making them the teachers, and of sending off the 
 young men as preachers among the heathen. He urged Mrs. 
 Mason to secure a tract of land on the eastern side of the 
 river, so that when the Karens came down from the mount- 
 ains they might there find a resting-place. The Commis- 
 sioner had entered most kindly into Mrs. Mason's wishes, 
 and had been over every part of the city and its environs, 
 which is on the western side of the river, looking for an 
 eligible site, but in vain ; and when Mrs. Mason found that 
 the Nah-Khan's advice was to settle on the eastern side, 
 although removed from all civilization and surrounded by 
 jungle, she determined, if possible, to do so, in the hope that 
 some of the Karens might be induced to come and settle 
 round her. Before leaving, the Nah-Khan inquired how the 
 institution, &c., was to be supported. When Mrs. Mason 
 replied that she trusted in God, whose ravens were still upon 
 the earth, he understood her, and with a sympathising glance 
 said in nn under tone to those who stood by, " I must send
 
 268 ITS PLAN. 
 
 the mamma my great pig !" And in a few days' after down 
 came the great pig, and eleven rupees for the girls' sup- 
 port. 
 
 Thus a beginning was made, and that by a chief of consid- 
 erable influence, who assured Mrs. Mason that the people 
 would send their daughters and provide for them. Shapau 
 also entered warmly into the scheme ; and although at a most 
 unhealthy season, went out to make it known in the jungles : 
 in a short time Mrs. Mason had twenty Karens and two Bur- 
 mese girls, from thirteen to sixteen years of age, gathered 
 into the school. Letters, too, came pouring in from the differ- 
 ent villages, expressive of their hearts' good will and desire 
 to support the institution. Some of these letters are very 
 characteristic ; we give the following as specimens. 
 
 " Letter of the Ta-wa -la-khe-ites. Teacheress ; Formerly 
 we knew not God's word. Not one of us knew what was 
 right : we saw nothing but transgression. Hence God had 
 mercy on us and sent us books; but although he had sent us 
 books we knew not of them, not a single man of us. While 
 we were in this state of ignorance, according to the command 
 of God, teacher and teacheress Mason came to us children of 
 sin. We heard as the teacher preached to us. We believed, 
 and rejoiced exceedingly. Now, as we are unable to devise 
 for ourselves.the teacheress has devised for us to erect a large 
 school-building, which we approve, all and each of us. 
 Teacheress, as you have ordered for us we will do and study." 
 
 There is another from the Mopghas. 
 
 "Letter of the Pelekhe-ites Teacheress; Your erection 
 of a large zayat for the Karens hits our hearts exceedingly, 
 exceeding greatly. We will send our children and grand- 
 children to study, and we will most assuredly furnish their 
 food. The teacheress building a large school-house harmon- 
 izes perfectly with our own minds, and we will moreover as-
 
 LETTERS FROM T1IE PEOPLE. 269 
 
 sistthe teacheress. It is our heart's desire to become skill- 
 ed in the books, and we will study till we are skilled in them, 
 both male and female, and become teachers of God's word. 
 
 " We give our word of honor for that to which we here 
 agree. We are also pleased with the Committee of seven. 
 
 " May great grace and peace rest upon the teachers. 
 
 " Mercy, love, and peace abide with the teacheress for 
 ever!" 
 
 Another wrote : 
 
 " DEAR TEACHERESS } Formerly all of us in Toungoo were 
 under the dominion of Satan ; we drank arrack, cursed, re- 
 viled, told lies, fought and devoured one another, until no one 
 dared to go to a neighbor's house. We hated and dreaded 
 each other. Now behold the change : we love one another ! 
 
 " Two years ago I heard of the Eternal God's commands, 
 and of Jesus Christ our Redeemer. I believed and worship- 
 ped with my whole heart, and according to the command, I 
 have ever since preached Christ to my countrymen according 
 to my ability. 1 try much, but very imperfectly. 
 
 " When I heard of your work for the Karens I rejoiced 
 with great joy. If God and the white foreigners had not 
 pitied us, we must have remained in darkness and sin, for 
 we were full of all unrighteousness. 
 
 " Now we have heard, and we have learned a little with 
 delight. 
 
 " Now the teacheress is building a great house and a holy 
 city, that the young women may increase in understanding, 
 and God's kingdom be extended. For this I rejoice much, 
 much, much ! 
 
 " Formerly we looked for a deliverer but none came. 
 Now God has sent to us, therefore our hearts are very hot, 
 and we are determined to study with all our might.
 
 270 LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE. 
 
 " Because formerly we worked hard in wickedness, now 
 we ought to work the harder to do good. 
 
 " We send five men to help build the girls' rooms, and 
 when they leave, others will take their place. They will 
 buy their own food. 
 
 "Dear teacheress, I never saw you, but I beg you will 
 pray for me, and remember the little church which sends 
 this letter. 
 
 " JANQUATE." 
 
 This is a literal translation, word for word. The young 
 teacher who wrote this letter had no instruction but such as 
 he had obtained in the jungles. 
 
 Nothing could have been more favorable than this com- 
 mencement ; and probably since the sending forth of the 
 little tract, no work had awakened such aglow of enthusiasm 
 in these Toungoo jungles. Thirty-two acres and a half of 
 land were made over by the Commissioner to the institution. 
 And the next work was to clear, and drain, and build. 
 Fifty Karens came in at once to offer a willing service, and 
 the work was at once commenced. In addition to land, Major 
 Phayre gave orders for a supply of teak, free of charge. 
 The rains had now set in, and it was impossible to do any- 
 thing in the jungle. Dr. Mason^was at work with a transla- 
 tion of the Scriptures into Bghai, and in June, 1857, 
 wrote : 
 
 " The rains are pouring down upon us, and all travelling 
 is nearly closed till the fair weather comes again. I regret 
 that we have so few men at our outpost, for it is hard work. 
 One wrote me that the village where he was teaching was 
 enfiladed by an uninterrupted series of traps, so that no one 
 could enter after dark without being speared. The village, 
 like most of the Bghai villages, consists of one house with a 
 hall in the centre, and the only way of access at any time is
 
 LAWLESSNESS OF THE TRIBES. 271 
 
 by a ladder let down from the centre of the hall, which is 
 taken up at night and the trap-door let down. Thus the 
 people live in constant fear of attack from their enemies. 
 Some of the inhabitants of another village had killed two 
 Burmans. Two of the murderers were brought to town 
 through the efforts of some of the Christians, where they 
 died in jail before trial, if I recollect right, since my arrival. 
 Recently a part of this village went out to revenge the death 
 of the men that died in prison, and the first object of their 
 vengeance was the daughter of a Christian chief, whom they 
 speared- to death on the banks of the brook where she had 
 gone to draw water. One young teacher had to run away 
 from the village where he was located with half the inhabit- 
 ants intoxicated after him, because they said they would kill 
 every man that forbade them drink. 
 
 " After allowing for much chaflF, God has still done a won- 
 derful work here in taming so many of the wild men around 
 us ; but unless He continue to work, ' the watchman waketh 
 in vain.' All our efforts, all our machinery, is naught." 
 
 In this letter was enclosed the following translation of a 
 letter from Sau Quala. 
 
 " I have received the affectionate letter which you wrote 
 me, and I rejoice exceedingly with much thankfulness. We 
 Karens, wild and ignorant sons of the forest, are not worthy 
 of anything from your hands, for we have been a rejected 
 people from days of old. When we fell among Talaings, the 
 Talaings persecuted us ; when we fell among Shans, the 
 Sharis persecuted us ; when we fell among Burmans, the 
 Burmans persecuted us ; father and mother, grandfather and 
 grandmother, generation on generation. Thus we became 
 children of destruction, unworthy to receive anything from 
 the hands of respectable people, and undeserving the privilege 
 of addressing you, Madam.
 
 272 LETTEK FKOM 8AU QUALA. 
 
 " When I was fifteen years of age, English white rulers, 
 the sons of the west, reached this country of Burmah, and 
 my father and mother said : ' Now happiness has reached the 
 land! They have come by water. Children, you have fallen 
 on the time when they arrived.' After a short interval, the 
 American teacher Boardman came j when many believed, 
 and I was baptized. A brief period elapsed when teacher 
 Mason arrived and teacher Boardman died. I was many 
 years with teacher Mason, and then became a preacher and 
 was located at Pyeekhya in the southern part of Tavoy; 
 being subsequently ordained. 
 
 " In the lapse of years I came to Toungoo, where after 
 being a short time with teacher and teacheress Mason, they 
 left the country ; and I then went to the Commissioner 
 O'Riley. He said to me ; ' Teacher, do not be anxious : if 
 anything happens, come and tell me.' Many persons, Bghais, 
 Mopghas, Pakus, and Manniepghas, believed. Some of the 
 Burmese headmen began then to obstruct the. work; so I 
 wrote to the Commissioner O'Riley, and he ordered the 
 Burmese headmen, saying ; ' A great teacher has gone out 
 to the Karens on their mountains, and if they learn to read, 
 or build zayats, throw no obstruction in their way.' Some 
 of the Burmans then said : ' The Karens are in league with 
 the white foreigners, but when the Burmans .obtain the city 
 again; they will kill the whole of them.' Others said, 
 ' When the time arrives, the white foreigners will take all 
 that learn to read, in their ships, and give them for food to 
 a man-eating monster.' Some of the Karens were much 
 frightened, for the Burmans bore them malice because they 
 were on amicable terms with the English. 
 
 " Subsequently the Commissioner O'Riley came into the 
 jungle, and many of the wild Karens visited him ; to whom 
 he gave turbans and money, while I preached to them the
 
 LETTER FKOM SAU QUALA. 273 
 
 word of God and exhorted them to learn to read. After 
 this teacher Whitaker came. The Commissioner made an- 
 other visit to the jungle when he called me to accompany 
 him to the Red Karens ; and he purchased food for me, for 
 I am not one of those who eat wages. This Commissioner 
 is a most excellent man, and all his decisions please the poor 
 people exceedingly ; but he has now left Toungoo, and the 
 whole of the inhabitants of Toungoo mourn. But now, 
 Madam, teacher and teacheress Mason have returned to 
 Toungoo. 
 
 " As to the Red Karens, they are Bghais ; but speak a 
 different dialect from the Toungoo Bghais ; and the Pakus 
 differ again from them. The Pakus and Manniepghas are of 
 the same race as the Sgaus. The Mapghas are a small tribe 
 whose language differs from all the others, and I therefore 
 think they had the same origin as the Pghas. I send you a 
 few specimens of the Bghai, Mopgha, Paku, and Manniepgha 
 dresses. 
 
 " All the inhabitants of Toungoo, both Bghai, Mopgha, 
 Paku and Manniepgha, are apprehensive lest the English 
 should leave the country, for the Burmans will then perse- 
 cute them. The Burmans often threaten, saying ' When 
 your white foreigners go away, you will know it !' 
 
 " Teacher Quala's letter of Christian affection, May 26th, 
 1857." 
 
 In October 1857, Quala started on a tour through the 
 province, and such were the applications for baptism that he 
 wrote to Dr. Mason recommending the ordination of four of 
 the principal assistants, but Dr. Mason considered that two 
 only were in a state to justify their admittance to the office 
 of pastor. At this time we have a letter from Quala ad- 
 dressed to the American churches. 
 
 " Brethren, children of God in America, rulers, nobles, 
 12*
 
 274: QUALA'S LETTEK TO AMERICA. 
 
 chiefs, elders, great and small, male and female, rich and 
 wealthy, poor and indigent, young men and maidens, children 
 and aged, the grey-haired and the toothless, all, every one 
 of you, may the only one God our Father, the Lord of heaven 
 and earth and all things, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, 
 bless you greatly with happiness, abundance, success, skill, 
 and permanency ; giving peace to your towns and cities, 
 your lands and your waters, your kingdom and your realm, 
 your houses and your villages, both to yourselves, and to 
 your children, and grandchildren, generation on generation, 
 continually without ceasing. 
 
 " Dear friends, I am Quala, a wild man, a son of the forest, 
 an uncultivated one who neither knows nor understands any 
 thing. I, a dark-minded unworthy one, send you salutation. 
 I am not your equal, yet through the grace of God I call you 
 brethren. 
 
 " Dear friends, you truly abound in ability, in patient en- 
 durance, in love, in mercy, and goodness. Behold, my dear 
 friends, had you not sent the teachers and teacheresses to 
 us, wild men, the sons of the east, living in darkness, we 
 should have gone on to destruction both in this world and 
 the world to come for ever. 
 
 " Dear friends, the grace that the white foreigners the sons 
 of America have displayed is so much, so great, that it can- 
 not be expressed by words. It is exceedingly great, for you 
 have saved us from death. Formerly we knew not God ; we 
 had no books, and being destitute of instruction we knew 
 nothing. 
 
 " When you sent the teachers and teacheresses among us, 
 and they told us that God loved the world so much that he 
 gave us His Son Jesus Christ, who came and purchased us 
 by his blood we became Christians, and became able to dis- 
 cern between right and wrong ; and when the teachers made
 
 QUALA'S LETTER TO AMERICA. 275 
 
 us books, our knowledge increased greatly. Still, the sig- 
 nification, the reason of things, we understood very imper- 
 fectly, and we should have never known, had not the teachers 
 and teacheresses taught us and explained them to us ; be- 
 cause my dear friends, we are habituated to darkness, and 
 things of light. we understand with great difficulty. Still 
 some make their ears crooked, will not give attention, and do 
 not believe ; but on the contrary revile. Pray to God for 
 them that they may repent, believe, obtain new hearts, and 
 all become disciples like ourselves, 
 
 " God has now displayed his power in Toungoo ; and many 
 sons of the forest, living in darkness, have believed, and your 
 kindness is great in sending two teachers to help them. As 
 to myself, being of a race of uncultivated men, I am of no 
 value ; but through the grace of God I became a disciple of 
 Christ in the days of your teacher Boardman ; then I studied 
 a very long time in the hands of teacher Mason, and I came 
 to know and understand the truth as one in a dream. Still 
 I became a teacher to go about preaching and administering 
 baptism. This was through your kindness, for when I was 
 studying with teacher Mason, you sent the money which you 
 gave to teacher Mason. My relatives were unable to support 
 me, and had it not been for your money I could not have 
 studied nor by any means have acquired the knowledge I have. 
 "When I think of your kindness, I feel as if I could not extol 
 it sufficiently. Though I die, I will praise your goodness to 
 my children and grandchildren, and the generation following. 
 I am now growing old, my hair is grey, my sight dim, and 
 through sickness my strength has failed, so that I have not 
 the vigor I had when I studied with teacher Mason; but my 
 strength in God has not decreased in the least : pray for me 
 
 " The favor you have shown me, my dear friends, is ex 
 eeedingly great. When teacher Mason and the teacheress
 
 276 "KOGKESS OF THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 
 
 returned to America, I told them the things I would like to 
 have, and they procured the whole of them. They obtained 
 Tor me black alpacca two suits, a white blanket, with many 
 other articles of clothing, and a spy glass of the very best 
 kind, besides a large quantity of medicine. I also received,- 
 through your kindness, a cloak from teacher Cross. But, 
 brethren, we have received not worldly things of you mere- 
 ly, we have received spiritual things also, and forget you, 
 can never. Though I cannot speak with you personally, yet 
 my love and remembrance of you is uninterrupted, and I 
 hope to be able to converse with you in the Kingdom of God, 
 and associate with you eternally. My dear friends, the 
 greatest favors you have shown us are sending us teachers 
 and teacheresses who came and taught us the word of God, 
 made books for us, taught us figures, and instructed us in 
 the things of light. 
 
 " Through the power of God, may your towns and cities, 
 your lands and waters, your kingdom and domain, your 
 houses and dwellings, your plans and devices, your works 
 and deeds be established, increased and perfected in good- 
 ness, happiness, and light, generation on generation for 
 
 ever. 
 
 " Teacher QUALA, 
 
 " July 26*A, 1857. A Son of the Forest." 
 
 In November Mrs. Mason writes, ""We hear of new sta- 
 tions rising up in the Bghai and Paku regions, and the 
 prospect in Toungoo is still very bright. Shwaygyeen is 
 waking up, apd we have had four embassies from that prov- 
 ince bringing ' letters of introduction,' and desiring to join 
 us in the national institute. We propose establishing a 
 Young Men's Normal School to be conducted on the same 
 principles as the female one, to be under my superintendence
 
 THE TEACHER 8 AUK A. 277 
 
 with the aid of native assistants, Dr. Mason giving lectures 
 and taking the higher branches. We have now nearly one 
 hundred letters or pledges to the support of the institution 
 from the native churches. 
 
 " A few days ago, a young preacher came in on his way to 
 the western Sgau region towards Prome. He had two other 
 preachers with him and a train of five or six pupils, all going 
 out to do battle with the powers of darkness. I asked him 
 for his history, and he gave me the accompanying letter. 
 Although there is nothing striking in it, it shows the onward 
 and upward spirit of these young preachers. They were 
 going out of their own free will without scrip or purse, and 
 when I suggested they might be in want, they answered : 
 ' We go to work for God. When did He ever let his teach- 
 ers die of hunger 1' 
 
 " ' Toungoo, November 6th, 1857. 
 
 " MY DEAR TEACHERESS, 
 
 " ' Blessings be with thee for ever! 
 
 " ' You ask about myself. I will tell you. At first I lived 
 in Basscifl, I sought only worldly pleasures, and served 
 the devi^with a full heart. The Holy Spirit sent from hea- 
 ven, stirred up my mind to study the sacred Scriptures, so 
 that I could not rest. Then I went to Maulmain and studied 
 a year ; after which I heard of teacher Quala in Toungoo, 
 and longed to come and help him. God enabled me to come 
 to the Paku region to the people of Jauthadeu, where I re- 
 mained and instructed them until one hundred believed and 
 embraced the gospel. Then I thought to return and study 
 more, but sickness prevented whenever I made the attempt 
 fo I turned my thoughts to the unbelieving Sgaus in the west 
 and went out to visit them. On returning from this tour, I 
 concluded to return no more to Maulmain or Bassein, and 
 wrote for permission to marry in Jauthadeu. Then I took a
 
 278 ms VISIT TO THE SGAUS. 
 
 wife of the Paku tribe, and went out on another tour to the 
 Sgaus. At this time one house believed and desired to 
 learn so I left one of my pupils to instruct them, and returned 
 to my people. Now, about twenty in that country believe, 
 and they seem to me like my children, so I am now going 
 again to visit, and encourage them. Pray for them, teacher- 
 ess. SAUKA.' " 
 
 At the annual association in January, 1858, Dr. Mason in 
 writing from the Bghai mountains mentioned many interest- 
 ing facts descriptive of the habits of the people, and their un- 
 civilized state before the gospel subdues and corrects them. 
 
 " An incident occurred during the Paku association which 
 illustrates the state of society among the Toungoo Karens 
 better than could be done by a formal description. I was on 
 the ground several days before the time of the meeting, and one 
 afternoon I went up the mountain with my prismatic compass 
 to take bearings. A village was pointed out to me in a recess 
 of the mountains which had never been visited by a teacher. 
 The people had declared they would spear the first teacher 
 that appeared on their domains. The name of the village is 
 Htie-thie-pu or ' the dried fountain.' While the meeting 
 was in progress, a Bghai rushed hastily into my presence 
 from a Christian village, saying that on Saturday, the day I 
 was looking at the place, the people of Htie-thie-pu attacked 
 their village, killed two, wounded four, and carried off ten in- 
 to captivity. Our Deputy Commissioner, Captain D'0y]y > 
 was with us the next day, and declared at once that he would 
 punish them severely for the depredations. He had a doz- 
 en Europeans with him at a neighboring village, and after 
 collecting a few Karens, he went and attacked the village, 
 killed two men, burning and destroying every thing in the 
 place. 
 
 " How interesting is it to see some of these notorious rob-
 
 LAWLESSNESS OF THE TRIBES. 279 
 
 bers and murderers brought under the sound of the gospel. 
 A day'? journey beyond the English boundary is a village, 
 which, when Quala was there last January, was notorious 
 for its depredations. In fact it was a band of robbers, and 
 the chief was their captain. Many are the men they have 
 killed, and the women and children they have carried into 
 captivity. These people have within the year solicited and 
 obtained a teacher, and there sat the brigand and forty of 
 his followers at our meetings for several days, until their 
 rice was exhausted. The chief is a fine looking man, and 
 one of the last among the twelve hundred present that I 
 should have judged capable of the deeds which are attribu- 
 ted to him. Of a widely different physiognomy was the chief 
 of a village on the ledge of a precipice, seen from the place 
 of assembly on the opposite side of the gorge. The village, 
 as seen at some six miles distance, looks like an eagle's 
 nest, with an immense precipice rising to it, and ascending 
 above it. Tradition says, that some two hundred and fifty 
 years ago, at the destruction of Pegu, a party of Talaing men 
 fled from their own country, and took refuge on this rocky 
 mountain side. Here they made friends with the Karens, 
 took Karen wives, and their descendants have notuing to 
 distinguish themselves from their Karen neighbors, but the 
 ability to make an old fashioned species of earthenware. 
 Their habits of committing robbery and murder are as thor- 
 oughly Karen as their language, which does not retain a 
 trace of the Talaing. Some two years ago, two unfortunate 
 trading Burmans ventured too far with their wares into the 
 Karen community, and being met by a party from this vil- 
 lage, they were considered a lawful prize, killed and de- 
 spoiled of their wares. Mr. O'Riley, being informed of the 
 outrage, undertook to bring the guilty party to justice, but 
 that could not be done by direct means ; so the chief of the
 
 280 MANY AEE CHRISTIANIZED. 
 
 next village was engaged to ferret out the offenders. He 
 succeeded in ascertaining who the actual murderers were, 
 and by coaxing and promising to make himself responsible 
 for the lives of the men, he succeeded in persuading the 
 murderers and a large party of others to start on a visit to 
 Mr. O'Kiley, but on the way they began to suspect treachery, 
 and all ran away except two, who were secured ; one was 
 guilty but the other was innocent. These two men were put 
 in jail in Toungoo, and I think, but am not certain, that they 
 were both tried and found guilty. Be that as it may, the 
 Government in Calcutta were asked if these men should suf- 
 fer death according to the English law ; the response was ; 
 No, that they were ignorant men not knowing the guilt of 
 their crimes, and that they should therefore be dismissed 
 with a rebuke. But in this the Government showed igno- 
 rance, for a Karen says that blood should be shed for blood, 
 and he never allows a homicide to pass unrevenged, if possi- 
 ble, though the person may have been slain by accident. 
 Just as the order for the release of the prisoners arrived, 
 they were both taken with cholera and died in jail the same 
 night. The village to which they belonged had now their 
 death to avenge as much as if they had been hanged ; and 
 when Mr. O'Riley passed near their village, they determined 
 that his life should pay the forfeit ; and they would have 
 speared him while sleeping in his tent, had not the ele- 
 phants created a disturbance which awoke him and his 
 people. Being defeated here, they turned on the neigh- 
 boring chief that had assisted in bringing the criminals 
 to justice, first robbing him and finally spearing to death his 
 daughter, as she went down to the brook to draw water ; but 
 of the murder there is no direct evidence, though no one 
 doubts who the authors were. The chief is a very bad look- 
 ing old man, but for more than a week, during which we
 
 FIRST ORDINATION IN TOUNGOO. 281 
 
 usually had four meetings a day, that man was never missing 
 from the assembly. In our early prayer-meetings when we 
 often came together before there was light enough to see to 
 read, he was always there before I was. I watched him 
 closely, knowing his history, and though I cannot believe 
 him a converted man, I must regard him as one with whom 
 the Spirit of God is striving. When I conversed with him 
 personally, he replied to my remark, ' If you are a follower of 
 Christ, you must love your enemies.' ' Yes, I love my ene- 
 mies as myself.' Time will test his character." 
 
 We add an account of the first ordination in this remark- 
 able province. It was in February, 1858. 
 
 " The first ordination in Toungoo occurred this morning 
 where the Karens have lived independent of all Govern- 
 ments, Burmese, Talaing, or Shan, from time immemorial. * 
 
 " A Council was convened of which Quala was appointed 
 Moderator, and Shapau Scribe ; when after prayer, the Coun- 
 cil examined the candidate Pwaipau, on his religious ex- 
 perience, call to the ministry, and views of doctrine ; which, 
 proving satisfactory, it was unanimously voted to proceed to 
 his ordination. The order of exercises was as follows : read- 
 ing of the Scriptures by Ahtso ; prayer by Waleuhtie ; bermon 
 by Shapau ; ordaining prayer by Quala ; hand of fellowship 
 by Dr. Mason of Toungoo; charge by Diepo ; benediction by 
 the candidate. Pwaipau belongs to Tavoy and was a mem- 
 ber of my theological class, when I made over the school to 
 Mr. Cross, under whom he finished his education. When I 
 put forth the Macedonian cry for Toungoo, he volunteered 
 for the work and accompanied Quala when he came up and 
 joined me. lie assisted Mrs. Mason in her Normal school 
 till we left, when he removed to Klenla in the centre of the 
 Pakus country where he soon had a self-supporting school 
 of one hundred pupils. Klenla has been his home ever
 
 282 PWAIPAU'S HISTORY. 
 
 since ; but he has constantly itinerated, from the Manniepgha 
 country on the west to the eastern boundary of the province, 
 and beyond, into the independent Karen districts bordering 
 on the Red Karens, and supplying the new stations that he 
 founded with teachers from his own school. His field of 
 labor embraces about one hundred villages, and his ordina- 
 tion effects no change in his circumstances beyond that of 
 authorizing him to administer the ordinances. God has 
 made him a bishop, and we in ordaining him have only said, 
 AMEN." 
 
 Dr. Mason further wrote : 
 
 " No feature of the work among the Karens seems to me 
 so full of promise as the eagerness with which the young 
 preachers seek for information on biblical subjects. During 
 the three or four weeks spent with our associations, when- 
 ever I sat down to eat, there were always, more or less, 
 around me some who were seeking information on difficult 
 passages, and when I strolled into the forest at evening, a 
 long peripatetic train questioned me at every step. Some- 
 times I would seat myself to rest on a granite rock over- 
 topping the plains thousands of feet below, when all around 
 would quickly seat themselves, a crowd of young men with 
 their open Testaments, each eager to ask me concerning 
 some passage or another that he found difficult to comprehend. 
 One desires me to explain Paul's remark, ' For me to live is 
 Christ, but to die is gain :' another, the expression, ' I am 
 crucified unto the world, and the world is crucified unto me.' 
 A third finds it difficult to understand, ' I could wish my- 
 self accursed from Christ ;' and a fourth cannot comprehend 
 our Lord's language in relation to John the Baptist ; while 
 still another is perplexed with Peter's statement that ' David 
 has not ascended into heaven,' ' David who wrote the Psalms, 
 he observed, ' has surely gone to heaven ! Were there two
 
 SHAPAU ORDAINED. 283 
 
 Davids ?' Some have chronological difficulties to settle ; 
 others ask for historical information, and others still have 
 numerous inquiries to make on the natural productions of 
 the Bible ; while not a few have questions to ask that 
 Gabriel could not answer. Thus a single lecture is diversi- 
 fied, like mosaic work, with theology and botany, exegesis 
 and zoology, metaphysics and lightning wires, history, 
 sacred and profane, geography, ancient <hid modern, with a 
 sprinkling of almost every other subject of the past, the 
 present," and the future. Often after lying down to sleep, I 
 hear the young teachers inquiring of their seniors, the sig- 
 nification of various passages, and asking information on 
 numerous topics on which they have been instructed. In 
 this way the knowledge communicated to one is passed on 
 to tens, twenties, and thirties ; and my school of theology 
 is as wide as the province, and its pupils as numerous as the 
 students within its borders. Many in this anomalous way, 
 without pausing in their labors, learn more than those im- 
 mured for years within brick walls, who complete a curri- 
 culum under half a dozen professors ; and it is an undeni- 
 able fact that when we need a man to go to a station where 
 there is real self-denial to be endured, it is not the iran who 
 has had a regular course of instruction who goes, but one of 
 this irregular corps. These are the men that occupy all our 
 new stations, the very out-posts of Christ's kingdom, and 
 these are the men whose labors God pre-eminently blesses. 
 They are the cream of the churches, rising by the law of 
 moral power, a law as immutable as the law of gravitation." 
 
 Shapau was also ordained and afterwards we had the fol- 
 lowing account of his first baptisms. 
 
 " Shapau accompanied by Quala has just made the circuit 
 of the principal Bghai and Mopgha villages. He has bap- 
 tized one hundred and nine persons, laid the foundations of
 
 284 WIDE DOORS OF USEFULNESS. 
 
 four new churches, and established one new station. In one 
 Bghai church seven were suspended ; one Mopgha church 
 was found still in the use of charms ; and two or three Bghai 
 churches had difficulties with each other, concerning the 
 boundaries of their lands. With these exceptions, and we 
 have not yet reached the period in the history of the church 
 when such exceptions are not to be anticipated, the work 
 progresses both in^epth and surface. One church among 
 the Mopghas lately purchased between twenty and thirty 
 New Testaments in addition to their former stock, after con- 
 tributing seventy rupees in cash for educational purposes ; 
 while they were sending their men by twenties and thirties 
 to work on the school buildings and grounds. The Bghais 
 are by far the poorest of our people, living as they do with- 
 out any permanent cultivation, in a much wilder state than 
 the other tribes ; yet when they get money to purchase a 
 copy of Matthew in their own language, they almost univer- 
 sally prefer to pay half a rupee for a bound copy, to a quarter 
 of a rupee for one in paper covers : ' Because,' they say, ' it 
 will last longer.' 
 
 " Still the prospect of ' the regions beyond' saddens the 
 heart. Quala writing from one of our most northern stations 
 says ; ' The people have here recently professed faith in 
 Christ. How numerous the impenitent are around them, it 
 is impossible to say. I went up to the top of mount Leu 
 Kentha and looked to the south, the north, and the west ; 
 and there were visible fields and villages as far as the eye 
 could reach, and none of them have ever heard the word of 
 God. They are men of contention, spearing those who offend 
 them, regardless of law, yet were they to hear the word of 
 God, they would be subdued without difficulty. Children 
 of God, what shall we do ? They are all wild Bghais, and 
 when I look around upon them, the language of our Lord
 
 MRS. MASON IN THE JUNGLE. 285 
 
 Jesus Christ is suggested : ' The harvest is plenteous, but 
 the laborers are few.' 
 
 " ' ! he gad flies here bite dreadfully, and the mountains 
 are piled up ridge upon ridge, one above another, exceed- 
 ingly high. Pray for us that we may have strength given 
 us to do the work of God fully and thoroughly.' 
 
 " A few days afterwards he writes from another village : 
 ' These also are wild Bghais. They pay.no taxes, permit no 
 Government to rule over them, and know very little of God. 
 Still they have a zayat with a teacher, and we have hope 
 for their conversion hereafter ; for God is able, and, having 
 commenced the work, he will carry it on till completed. 
 Let us then rejoice and pray fervently with glad hearts.' ' 
 
 During the time Dr. Mason was attending the association, 
 Mrs. Mason finding that the Karens experienced great diffi- 
 culty in getting down the timber from the jungle, determined 
 to visit them, and to assist them with superintendence and 
 advice, as well as with sympathy and encouragement. Her 
 presence seems to have produced the happiest results ; fre- 
 quent hindrances had arisen, from one chief refusing toobey 
 another chief, one clan or tribe another tribe ; but these diffi- 
 culties appear to have vanished under her influence. Every 
 evening they met for united prayer and reading of the word 
 of God, and made the silent forest resound with songs of 
 praise. 
 
 The following is a sketch of one of the Sabbaths spent 
 amongst one of the tribes, and re-introduces to us the 
 Taubeah chief who visited Mrs. Mason in Toungoo in 1853. 
 She writes : 
 
 " Last Sunday I assembled with the Wethaduies on the 
 Mopgha mountains, and had a very pleasant interview. I 
 was in a bamboo tent only a few miles from the village, and 
 could not refuse their earnest solicitations, so climbed up the
 
 286 MOUNTAIN PATHS. 
 
 mountains. We started with an elephant, but found the 
 path so very steep and rough, I sent it back. The path led 
 over three sharp alpinc-like peaks and through as many deep 
 glens, then out gushed broad sunlight over an immense open 
 paddy-field, with here and there a wee bit of a shanty, and I 
 began to congratulate myself on finding a resting spot again, 
 when I chanced to look forward, and, lo, there were the 
 boys who carried my little bundle away on the tip top of 
 another cliff almost as far as the eye could reach. I had 
 been quite ill the night before with fever, and was far too 
 weak for such a jaunt, but it was useless to look back when 
 once started ; and besides we could not look downward 
 without clinging to the bamboos, or we should have gone 
 to the very deeps. So we went plodding on, and even after 
 reaching the narrow opening up in the sky, by clinging to 
 the roots, rocks, and whatever could help us, still no house 
 appeared, nor the slightest vestige of any village, but fol- 
 lowing our guide we wound along over the sides of the hill 
 down, down, down, and were about to step off into a ravine 
 as black as night, when a dozen hands were raised and a 
 whole flood of mountain music burst up the ravine, and held 
 us spell-bound ! It was a little congregation, yet far distant, 
 at prayer, and singing 
 
 ' Rock of ages, cleft for me.' 
 
 " We stayed our steps and listened with emotions inde- 
 scribable, glancing over the whole history of the past four 
 years in almost as many minutes, until lost in bewildering 
 joy ; for well do I recollect the first visit of these Taubeahs 
 to our house, and the man who came ' to see if Jesjis Christ 
 was in Toungoo, or Maulmain, or Bengal, ' and who, when I 
 told him he had gone to heaven, would not stop a moment, 
 but grasped his bamboo spear and stalked away. Now he 
 came smiling down the glen to meet me, his babe in a blanket
 
 A MOPGHA HOUSE. 287 
 
 upon his back, for me to bless! And on reaching the house, 
 every mother to the number of a hundred, I should think* 
 brought forth their infants for me to lay my hand upon their 
 heads. I did not know what to do, whether to gratify them, 
 or refuse, for it seemed fearful to think of standing in the 
 place of our blessed Redeemer. However I patted their 
 little heads and shook hands with some four hundred, then 
 went into the chapel, and explained to them who alone could 
 bless them and their little ones. The whole village consists 
 of one house only, besides the chapel and teacher's residence. 
 Imagine a house some four hundred feet long, and thirty wide, 
 divided into some thirty rooms ; then another house parallel, 
 just separated by a verandah three feet broad ; then still an- 
 other parallel, separated by a verandah just the same, and 
 all three alike, except the central row which is some ten feet 
 shorter at each end, leaving an open court in the front and a 
 space for work behind. This central row belongs to the chief 
 and his relations, and he holds his court in the first hall. 
 Each room has its little bed-rooms just large enough to stretch 
 oneself in, with cooking box and all manner of jungle appar- 
 atus, while beneath each room is a pig-sty, walled up with 
 bamboos to the floor, which is about six or eight feet from 
 the ground. There are three separate roofs to the building, 
 and under the eaves extend long bamboo spouts. This con- 
 stitutes the village of Wethadue, the largest village of the 
 Mopgha tribe of Karens. 
 
 " I found forty boys and girls in this village who could 
 read very well and repeat the catechism by heart. Several 
 of them have been baptized." 
 
 On her return from the jungle, Mrs. Mason wrote : " I 
 felt very sad about spending time in the jungle traversing 
 pathless mountains and glens in search of timber, but now 
 I see the hand of God leading me onward, for in no other
 
 288 THE TIMBER GATHERED. 
 
 way could I have come so near to the hearts of the people, 
 or been made acquainted with their individual characters. 
 Now I know whom to trust, and how each can be made most 
 useful. 
 
 " It was one of the most interesting nights I e.ver spent, 
 when we encamped at the mouth of the river, after three 
 months of hard toil, six weeks of which I had spent with 
 them, teaching them to make roads and drag logs up the 
 mountains. Now there lie the logs strung to bamboos filling 
 the river. 
 
 " A hundred Karens were stretched round six or eight 
 camp fires, covering the long sand bank just below my tent, 
 which was pitched on the overhanging cliff. The full moon 
 was rising behind the trees, its soft light shining upon the 
 waters, and lighting up the dark faces of the Karens. We 
 all knelt down and poured out our hearts in grateful praise, 
 and after singing a hymn, I got into my little boat and came 
 down to the city, reaching home at midnight. 
 
 " I am thankful that I was able to be with them for it 
 cheered them not a little, taught them to think and reason 
 more correctly, and through God's mercy prevented much 
 sickness. During the last week many have come in to see 
 the logs and look upon them with great delight and satisfac- 
 tion. No doubt it will be far better for the people that they 
 have had to work hard for the timber, for had I purchased 
 it, they would never have valued it half so much. Now they 
 are pouring down to settle round the Institute, and thirty 
 houses are already erected, and four streets are regularly 
 laid out." 
 
 Finding that the Burmese and Karen girls would not 
 amalgamate, a house was secured for a Burmese school on 
 the city side of the river. Every night Bible classes were 
 held with the workers on the land. One evening the subject
 
 BGHAI PUBLIC SPIRIT. 289 
 
 had been the two great commandments, and as Mrs. Mason 
 was returning home afterwards, a wild looking Karen met 
 her on the steps and said, " I wonder, teacheress, if I love 
 God with all my strength. The chiefs say if we do, we shall 
 work for Him with all our strength : I am thinking if I can 
 do this." He wished Mrs. Mason to supply his men with 
 rice or even paddy, and ten men would remain and work a 
 week at the buildings, buying their own curry. Mrs. Mason 
 was obliged to tell him she could not do this, but after dis- 
 cussing the matter with his men he finally came back and 
 said they would go home, and make some baskets, and bring 
 them down, and buy for themselves. This they did, and 
 soon returned with their heads loaded with baskets, to sell 
 for their support while building a school house for their na- 
 tion. These men were from the Bghai mountains, wild and 
 uncivilized, but who will say they cannot be taught patriot- 
 ism ? Mrs. Mason says, " One of our Karen board of man- 
 agers thought the other day we ought to have more hands at 
 work, so calling for a writer he sent off letters in all direc- 
 tions, and in three days we had fifty more men here putting 
 up the dormitories, all feeding themselves and working like 
 men. All brought letters from their teachers saying how 
 many had come, from which I learned that those who re- 
 mained at home contributed areca nuts, rice, fish, and all 
 sorts of things for those who came. 
 
 " It is most pleasing to see the interest felt in making our 
 new town a holy place. Every one brings a letter of introduc- 
 tion, and has to pass through the ordeal of criticism; as the 
 chiefs are called on to state what they know of every one, so 
 that it is not easy for a bad or lazy person to get into our 
 little community. Every one gives a pledge that he will not 
 bo idle, and we have put up a large board at the entrance of 
 our highway, on which is written in large letters : 
 
 13
 
 290 IMPROVED MANNERS. 
 
 ' No idlers here.' 
 
 " Each one who lives or stops to rest here, is compelled 
 to attend worship every night. 
 
 " One of the Board examines all on the place on Saturdays, 
 and brings me a report which is read on the Sabbath. But 
 what encourages me not a little is to see the pig-pens vanish. 
 Last year the two men who first settled here put up pig-pens 
 right under their doors, according to their custom. I men- 
 tioned to the Nah Khan, the Commissioner's agent, how 
 offensive it was, and that hereafter we would not have them. 
 ' Mamma,' he exclaimed, ' if you do so, not a single one 
 will live here.' So I let it pass, and the pens have remained 
 just six months. A few weeks ago when they were building 
 new houses I spoke of it in the chapel, and that it would grieve 
 me to see them. The next morning, away went the pig-pens> 
 and every yard was swept neatly. Jt has become a custom 
 for every follower of Christ's law to come forward and give 
 his hand, which is saying, ' I am with you ;' but they have, 
 for all this four years, been in the habit of giving their hands, 
 just as they chance to be, covered with earth or lime, or any- 
 thing else. Last year I did not dare to speak of it, but now 
 they know me all over the jungles as a friend, and so I am 
 trying gently to change that, by telling all to lay off their 
 loads, go to the river, and wash and put up their hair, then 
 I shall know who they are. A few have walked off, Bghais, 
 who are the filthiest people I am sure in the world, but gen- 
 erally now they rush for the river before coming to give the 
 hand. All this I trust will have more or less effect upon their 
 hearts, and lead them to more watchfulness. 
 
 " Then again our village school will I expect become a 
 model for all the Paku, Mopgha, Bghai, Sgau, and Red Karen 
 villages. It numbers forty pupils, some young women, and 
 it is such a pleasure to look in and see them every morning
 
 REPORT OF THE MISSION. 291 
 
 with clean hands and faces and neatly dressed hair. Many 
 have got new dresses, and the little looms are cropping out 
 in every direction, and yarn, and dyeing even, among those 
 who are encamped on the ground, their houses being yet 
 unbuilt. This shows that th?y are getting some idea of 
 whole and clean clothes, and of providing them for them- 
 selves, instead of looking to the missionary to give them. 
 Besides, I am going to discourage foreign dress, and allow 
 my girls to wear only their own manufacture. Their own 
 cloth is very durable, and their own costume neat and 
 pretty, except the men's gown, and even that looks well with 
 the thin loose -Shan pantaloons which many wear." 
 
 In the beginning of 1858, Dr. Mason in writing of the 
 trials, hopes and present aspect of the Mission in Toungoo, 
 gave the following condensed report. 
 
 " Though funds in America fail, God is with us, and if He 
 has prepared a field for the seed and sent the sower into it, 
 as he has done here, he will most assuredly send him tools 
 to work with. 
 
 " I append the statistics of the Toungoo Mission, premising 
 that the name of Christ was first proclaimed in the province 
 in October, 1853, from which date the mission commences. 
 Associations ... .... 2 
 
 a. The Paku Association, embracing Pakus and Manniep- 
 ghas. 
 
 b. The Bghai Association, including Bghais and Manni- 
 epghas. 
 
 Stations . . . . . . 101 
 
 Churches .... 42 
 
 Village schools ...... 101 
 
 Preachers and teachers (native) . . 103 
 
 Ordained native preachers .... 3 
 
 Pupils in village schools .... 2,420
 
 EEPOET OF THE MISSION. 
 
 Baptized in 1857 129 
 
 Excluded ..*.... 7 
 
 Suspended 29 
 
 Restored 14 
 
 Died 66 
 
 Present number . ... 2,640 
 
 "We have also a Karen Education Society, which was 
 founded in 1857, and has in its charge two boarding schools, 
 The National Female Institute, and a Young Men's Normal 
 School, open to all the native tribes of Burmah. This so- 
 ciety embraces eighty-six chiefs, who have sent in letters 
 pledging themselves and thousands of their people to sup- 
 port permanently the Institute ; except the teachers, who 
 for the present are dependent upon friends in India, England 
 and Scotland. The pledges are not yet all received for the 
 Young Men's Normal School, but it is confidently expected 
 that they will assume the responsibility of carrying it on, as 
 they have the girl's school. 
 
 " The Female Institute was opened in May 1857, and 
 numbered during the first session twenty-four pupils, besides 
 nine that were sent back to the jungles for the want of room. 
 These include Sgaus, Pakus, Manniepghas, Mopghas, Bghais, 
 and two Burmese. None are received under twelve years 
 of age, none for a less period than one year, and all are 
 taught in their own vernacular tongues. The studies em- 
 brace reading, writing, geography, history, mathematics, 
 something of natural philosophy, physiology, and the Holy 
 Scriptures, with plain sewing, cooking, washing, and general 
 cleanliness ; together with nursing the sick, and training 
 children. There is also an ornamental department, intended 
 principally for the Burmese and Shans, which no one is al- 
 lowed to enter till she can read and write well in her own
 
 CONTRIBUTIONS. 293 
 
 language. This school is entirely in the charge of Mrs. 
 Mason, aided by four native assistants, but a young lady is 
 expected from the United States in the present year to assist 
 in the Burmese and Shan department. 
 
 " The Young Men's Normal School commences with the 
 approaching rains, and will be limited, like the female 
 school, to fifty pupils. It will be instructed in Biblical ex- 
 ercises, mathematics, philosophy, and practical land-survey- 
 ing by myself, but in all minor branches by native teachers. 
 This school is on the grounds of the Institute, and the board- 
 ing and all the other financial matters are in the hands of 
 Mrs. Mason. For this department the chiefs have built a 
 large bamboo school-house, and a boarding-house of one 
 hundred and fifty feet by fifteen, also a good house for the 
 teacher, the first with a wooden frame and floor ever built by 
 the Karens of Toungoo. 
 
 " For these schools the Karens here contributed 
 970 Rupees in cash, 
 1 Elephant, 
 
 3 Goats, 
 
 4 Pigs, 
 170 Fowls, 
 200 Eggs, 
 
 65 Mats, 
 15 Baskets, 
 
 12 Large chopping knives, 
 150 Long ratans 
 
 10 Large bundles of bark rope, 
 1580 Large bamboos, 
 2000 Small 
 1 Boat, 
 
 " They have also felled and brought to town fifty teak logs, 
 six cubits by thirty, given by Government for the school-
 
 294 CONTRIBUTIONS. 
 
 building, and eighty iron-wood posts, some of them very 
 valuable, fifty feet in length. This is a very remarkable 
 performance for mountaineers, since, though wholly unac- 
 quainted with the water and unable to swim, and knowing 
 nothing of the timber business, they brought them down a 
 large stream and then several miles down the Sitang. They 
 have also built twelve bamboo houses for families to live in 
 as a protection to the Institute, and are now making four 
 streets in a village of thirty houses growing up around the 
 grounds. " The Indian Government has liberally granted 
 thirty-two acres of land to the Institute lying upon the 
 Sitang river, and 1400 rupees for the buildings. The Cal- 
 cutta Tract Society has given books to the value of 100 
 rupees and a valuable set of illustrative prints. A publish- 
 ing house in Philadelphia has sent us a set of large outline, 
 maps ; and friends in Calcutta an excellent prismatic compass. 
 All the land, buildings, apparatus, furniture, and everything 
 pertaining to these schools is the property of the Karen 
 Education Society, which held a convention in August, 1857, 
 and chose a band of managers, consisting of one Paku, one 
 Manniepgha, one Mopgha, one Tunic Bghai ; Capt. Doyly, 
 Deputy Commissioner, Toungoo, agreeing to act as Presi- 
 dent. The whole is entirely independent of every mission- 
 ary association."
 
 POSITION OF THE MISSIONARIES. 295 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 THE CONCLUSION. 
 
 " Who knowetb not in all these, that the hand of the Lord hath wrought 
 this ?" JOB xii. 9. 
 
 A GLANCE at the various other stations must conclude these 
 sketches. Never were the prospects of the mission, gener- 
 ally, brighter than now, and never were the missionaries la- 
 boring more earnestly in their calling. Differences of senti- 
 ment, however, have divided them, and no longr are they 
 all connected with the same Missionary Union in America. 
 
 When Dr. Judson was at Scrampore in 1811, he adopted 
 the sentiments of the Baptist churches, and his connexion 
 with the Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions ter- 
 minated. He went forward to Burmah, not knowing whether 
 the Baptists in America would form a Missionary Society or 
 not. The Serampore Missionaries, however, supported him, 
 and ere long the American Baptist Missionary Union was 
 established. It was by that Board that the mission in Bur- 
 inah was maintained till recently. In 1853, a deputation 
 from the Union visited Burmah, and eventually some differ- 
 ences arose respecting the measures then adopted, and tho 
 reports subsequently made in America ; the result of which 
 is that Mrs. Yinton, Mr. Brayton, Mr. Beecher, and Mr. 
 Harris are now in connexion with the " American Baptist 
 Free Mission Society." Mr. Kincaid occupies an independ- 
 ent position. On the other hand Dr. Wade, Dr. Mason, Mr.
 
 296 PASTORS IN TAVOY. 
 
 Thomas, and others, continue their former relation to the 
 Missionary Union It is not needful or desirable to enter fur- 
 ther into this subject. St. Bernard's sweet saying, " It will be 
 one of the felicities of heaven that the saints shall no longer 
 misunderstand one another," must be our comfort, when 
 here on earth we see no present prospect of reconciliation. 
 Happily the differences of opinion among' real Christians 
 generally do not appear so wide as once they were, and the 
 greater part, with the late beloved Bishop of Calcutta, Daniel 
 Wilson, can rejoice that " we no longer maintain the old and 
 fatal mistake that Christian men are not to co-operate in 
 anything till they are agreed in everything. We now hold the 
 antagonistic and true maxim, that Christians should act to- 
 gether so far as they are agreed." May this ever be the rule 
 in Burmah, in America, and in every land where Jesus reigns 
 in the hearts of men as the Prince of peace ! We shall now 
 proceed to a review of the different stations. 
 
 TAVOY. 
 
 In the year 1857, we find" at Tavoy in the Karen depart- 
 ment, Mr. and Mrs. Cross, and in the Burman part of the 
 mission Mr. and Mrs. Allen. Mr. Cross, during the season, 
 made extensive tours among the churches in the jungle. He 
 found them in various conditions ; some declining, others 
 flourishing like watered gardens. At Pyeekhya more es- 
 pecially every thing was prospering, and the little flock ap- 
 peared like a well organized Christian body, full of intelli- 
 gence, and walking in the fear of God. 
 
 The pastors of the churches are mentioned by Mr. Cross 
 as being " men fully consecrated to the Lord, submitting to 
 much self-denial, for the privilege of preaching the gospel. 
 They seldom obtain from their churches more than five or 
 eight rupees a year, such is the great poverty in this province ;
 
 THE OKIGIN OF EVIL ILLUSTRATED. 297 
 
 but they are content, and the spirit manifested by them when 
 they heard that the American Mission was in difficulty was 
 beyond all praise. Cheerfully they surrendered the small 
 pittance they had been accustomed to receive from its funds 
 and would have willingly given every man his coat also, had 
 we asked it." 
 
 The following extract from Mr. Cross's journal is given as 
 a specimen of the character of his labors during the past year. 
 
 " I have never been more encouraged than I am now by 
 the stir among the heathen, and the new spirit which seems 
 to be awakened among them. I trust it will not be long be- 
 fore better days will come for us in this region 
 
 " The deacon of a little church, with their preacher, accom- 
 panied me on this tour, and surprised me by the power of 
 his arguments to convince the ungodly of their sins, and to 
 rout them from their strong-holds of superstition and error. 
 On one occasion a man who seemed to be much interested 
 and who lingered after the sermon in the evening to converse 
 presented one of the constant objections against the goodness 
 and government of God, that He allowed men to sin, and had 
 not so created them that they could not fall into evil. He 
 said ; ' Why did God create man with this liberty or possi- 
 bility within him ?' The old man replied, 'Ask me why God 
 created fire, and your difficulty will be settled. Without 
 this substance with all its qualities, who could be happy; 
 Who could live ? Who could eat or breathe? See the coldness 
 and death that would instantly take the place of life and 
 warmth which now cheer the world. But over what are we 
 obliged to maintain a stricter watch ? You never leave your 
 house without first ordering your children to be careful about 
 fire ; and when it rages, there is nothing so full of the 
 power to inflict injury. What was evidently created for the 
 greatest good becomes instantly the source of the greatest 
 
 13*
 
 298 A KAREN COHVERT. 
 
 evil when it transcends its limits and is wrongly applied. 
 Your liberty was created for good. Without it death takes 
 the place of life, and coldness the place of warmth. Kut 
 when your liberty is abused and misapplied, like the break- 
 ing out of fire, it riots in evil. But to check this evil all 
 liberty must not be destroyed, any more than to save your 
 house all fire must be extinguished from the earth. It must 
 be put out only in the extreme, where it destroys. It is not 
 to destroy fire, but to save a burning house, that efforts are 
 made. Because of the nature of fire, many houses will needs 
 be burned ; yet without it no man would exist. So, because 
 of liberty, many souls will be ruined ; but without it, none 
 would exist. Consider this illustration, and you need have 
 no more difficulty about the question, Why God has made 
 man capable of sin.' Such was the old man's argument. It 
 is worthy to be uttered by a philosopher of other pretensions 
 than a simple Karen, whose only book has been his Bible. 
 
 " This man was one of the first of the. Karens who heard 
 the gospel in this province from Mr. Boardman. His 
 language often is, ' None ever was or could be more wicked 
 than I have been. There is no oath which I have not uttered, 
 none of the Nats which I have not worshipped. With all 
 this I was a drunkard. But when the teacher asked me, 
 Will you repent and believe ? I immediately said, ' Teacher, 
 yes.' I felt that there was no other way to be saved from 
 my sins. And I did not wait to break off from them by my 
 own strength ; but I cast myself upon Christ and He has 
 saved me. I am now happy. I do not fear death. I say, 
 "Let death come when God shall send it." ' Such a mind as 
 this, and such faith, exist in a body covered with rags, and 
 of so inferior personal appearance that the man would te 
 taken by a stranger to be even below the majority of his 
 degraded and filthy race. Yet the depth and originality of
 
 DISAPPEARANCE OF THE PRIESTS. 299 
 
 his ideas in regard to the gospel seem almost to border upon 
 inspiration. His religion is not merely for the Sabbath. 
 He says, ' I can do nothing without prayer. When I go to 
 my field, before I begin my work, I stop and lift up my heart 
 to God, and say, "0 God, drive all evil from this place. 
 Let no lurking beast of prey or evil temptation come nigh 
 me while I am at work, and let the work of my hands be 
 blessed. Let the field which I am now to cut for my rice, 
 be fruitful." When I have thus prayed, I feel happy and 
 cheerful to begin my work, and believe that God will defend 
 me and bless me.'" ' 
 
 Mr. Allen's labors were confined entirely to the Burmans, 
 and in his tours this year he seems to have found the people 
 very accessible. The influence of the priesthood seems also 
 to be dying out. lie writes : 
 
 " Formerly there were six, ten, or twenty priests in every 
 village. Now nearly half of the villages have none at all> 
 and but few have more than two or three. It is almost im- 
 possible for parents to keep their sons in the kyoungs. To 
 do this at all they have to take them from their own villages, 
 transport them across the river, and place them in a kyoung 
 on the opposite side where they are strangers. Even then, 
 they will run away and leave the kyoungs. This is an encour- 
 aging feature in one respect. When the priests all leave the 
 kyoungs, the people will be more free to think and inquire ; 
 and I cannot but believe that they will be more anxious for 
 religious schools and school teachers. Yet one thing is cer- 
 tain ; without the Spirit of God shed upon us and them they 
 will never become true Christians." 
 
 The following sketch of a visit to a Burman village is in- 
 teresting : "In the morning, after trying to tell the people 
 of the two houses of Enga-wendwin how they might be saved, 
 I started for a village a mile or two below. I preached to
 
 300 A BUKMAN VILLAGE. 
 
 all I met on the way ; some three or four houses being scat- 
 tered along under the mountain, whose very base was washed 
 by the ocean. On arriving at the village called Kyoung- 
 nee-man, I was much struck by its beauty. It is situated on 
 an elevation which overlooks the sea, and where at all sea- 
 sons of the year, can be inhaled the bracing breezes of the 
 Indian Ocean. 
 
 " The people were no less cordial than their village was 
 lovely. I was at once invited to a house, which was soon filled 
 with listening hearers. After discoursing to them for more 
 than an hour without a word of opposition, I stopped and 
 asked them if they had understood what I had been telling 
 them. They said they understood all. They then invited 
 me to come and ledge in the kyoung, saying that their priests 
 had all left. To this I, of course, readily consented. 
 
 " After breakfast, and the tide serving, having walked 
 back to the upper village, we put our goods into the boat, and 
 descending to Kyoung-nee-man, moored our bark at the foot 
 of the hill and placed our effects in the kyoung. Here we 
 remained two nights. I never had more attentive listeners 
 than at this village. They all assented to the reasonableness 
 of the gospel, but they were ngt quite ready to receive it. 
 The kyoung in which we stopped, like all kyoungs, had a 
 great quantity of idols. I proposed to the people to throw 
 these idols into the jungle, saying, if the idols would return 
 of their own accord I would also worship them ; but if not, 
 the people should forsake them, and worship the eternal 
 God. To this they would not consent. Still, on leaving the 
 village, I could not but feel that the time is not far distant 
 when these villages will receive the gospel." 
 MAULMAIN. 
 
 At Maulmain Dr. and Mrs. Wade continue to conduct the 
 Karen Theological Seminary. When the school was re-or-
 
 TIIE KAREN SEMINARY. 301 
 
 ganized in 1853, Dr. Wade found but fourteen pupils ; the 
 number, however, gradually increased to about fifty, while 
 their piety as well as the proficiency in their studies gave 
 him great satisfaction. During the three months' vacation 
 the young men used to go out preaching or teaching in dis- 
 tant Karen villages. Mrs. Wade writes : " The school has 
 continued to increase in interest to the present time ; a good 
 number of young men have finished their three years' course 
 of study, and have gone forth to the ' fields white for the 
 harvest,' while new classes have taken their places. The 
 preaching talent of these young Karens, their ardent desire 
 for biblical knowledge, and wish to enter the ministry (though 
 they have no worldly prospects beyond such a*> the Karen 
 churches can give them,) seem to us quite as remarkable as 
 the conversion to God of so many of their countrymen. 
 
 The school was for a time in some difficulty from the want 
 of funds, but we have reason to believe this obstacle was 
 soon, in some measure, removed ; and it is interesting to find 
 Dr. and Mrs. Wade still pursuing their patient labors on to 
 the close of their long and useful lives. Mrs. Wade recently 
 wrote : 
 
 " If we have been enabled to labor faithfully, and with 
 some degree in success, for more than thirty years, in this 
 good work to which the Lord called us, we attribute much to 
 the encouragement we have ever received from the friends 
 we left behind, and especially to their prayers. And now 
 that our poor labors are nearly finished, we look forward 
 with sure and humble hope to those bright mansions where, 
 through grace alone, we expect soon to rejoice together with 
 these precious children whom the Lord has given us in this 
 
 dark land. 
 
 'Better than daughters, or than sons, 
 Temples divine, of lit ing clones, 
 Inscribed with Jesus' name.'
 
 302 KAREN CHUBCHES NEAE MAULMAIN. 
 
 " I feel it a great mercy, a most undeserved blessing, that 
 the physical, and especially the nervous debility, induced by 
 a long residence in this hot climate, is seldom permitted to 
 dim the fair prospect of heavenly glory. As I approach 
 nearer and nearer the ' dark waters,' the mild light from the 
 other side shines more and more upon my pathway. My 
 courage may fail when called to go over ; but Christ will 
 not fail the soul which trusts humbly, penitently, and believ- 
 ingly, in his rich, free grace." 
 
 A new arrangement has lately been made for the Theolog- 
 ical Seminary. Dr. Binney, who formerly for some years 
 conducted it in Maulmain with great ability, is now return- 
 ing from America to resume his charge. The school will be 
 established at Rangoon, and Dr. Wade in the evening of his 
 days will be relieved of a large part of his arduous duty. 
 
 Mr. Hibbard is in charge pf the Karen churches round 
 Maulmain. They were in trial from the effort to introduce 
 the self-supporting system, which was considered to be essen- 
 tial to permanency and strength. Notwithstanding their 
 difficulties, every pastor remained at his post, the richer 
 churches contributing to assist their poorer brethren ; while 
 several of the pastors worked with their own feands a part 
 of the time to help to support their families, while minister- 
 ing to the little flock over which the Holy Ghost had made 
 them overseers. Schools also have been established in some 
 of the larger villages, in which their children are taught to 
 read, supported entirely by themselves. " Thus," wrote 
 Mr. Hibbard, " I feel confident that these churches will live ; 
 they are trees of our Heavenly Father's planting." 
 
 Mr. Bennett superintends the printing department, while 
 Mr. Haswell still labors among the Burmans and Takings 
 at Maulmain, with occasional^visits to Amherst and the out- 
 stations.
 
 THE KAREXS OF BASSEIX. 303 
 
 SHWAYGYEEN. 
 
 At Shwaygyeen, deprived of the succor of Mr. Harris, 
 Mr. Watrous, since the end of 1856, has been laboring alone, 
 but the blessing of the Lord has been with him, and thus 
 "judgment has dwelt in the wilderness, and righteousness 
 remained in the fruitful field." Ere long Mr. Harris hopes 
 to return to the midst of this interesting people. 
 
 BASSEIX. 
 
 We have had occasion before to refer to the Bassein Mis- 
 sion. Mr. Van Meter, after laboring there for some years, 
 has been obliged to return to America for a time, but he has 
 left the impress of his labors behind him. Mr. Beecher, 
 after a visit to his native land, again resumed his work among 
 the Karens of Bassein in the beginning of 1857. In Feb- 
 ruary of that year he wrote the following interesting account 
 of one of their meetings : 
 
 " The churches of this mission have just held another 
 annual, or Associational Meeting. The exercises of the 
 meeting commenced on Thursday, A.M. the 26th of January, 
 and closed on the Sabbath evening following. 
 
 " Mauyay, one of the ordained pastors, was choson Mod- 
 erator, and Thahree, an intelligent young pastor, was appoint- 
 ed secretary. 
 
 " Zoepoe and Pokyan, head teachers of two more advanced 
 village schools, were appointed assistant secretaries. 
 
 " Mr. and Mrs. Vinton of the Rangoon Karen Mission 
 were present by the special invitation of the Karens, and 
 Mr. Thomas of the Henthadah Mission by the direction of the 
 Executive Committee of the Missionary Union. Their pres- 
 ence added much interest to the exercises of the occasion. 
 After the preliminary services, the first important business 
 was the reading of the letters of the churches. More than
 
 304 LIBERALITY OF THE CHURCHES. 
 
 fifty churches, comprising a membership of 5345 persons, 
 were represented by letters and delegates. 
 
 "It was just ten years since I attended, for the first time, 
 the associational meeting of these churches. How great and 
 how gratifying the progress which has been made in this short 
 period is indicated in the contrast between the character and 
 contents of the letters presented then, and those read on this 
 occasion, or perhaps I should rather say in the contrast be- 
 tween the almost entire lack of anything like regular reports 
 from the churches by letter or delegates then, and the care 
 fully prepared and comprehensive letters read at this meet 
 ing! 
 
 " Then, too, the preachers came to receive aid from the 
 missionary, and had much to say about their poverty and 
 trials, and were for several years accustomed to receive 
 through the missionaries from three to seven hundred rupees. 
 Now, the letters report that the churches, besides giving . 
 their pastors from seventy-five to two hundred baskets of pad- 
 dy each, contributed various other articles of food and cloth- 
 ing, and have altogether paid their pastors in money during 
 the past year more than 1400 rupees. Besides this, they 
 have unitedly contributed more than nine hundred rupees to 
 the funds of their Home Mission Society ; given to the poor, 
 173 rs. ; expended in erecting chapels, over 800 rs. ; paid 
 their school teachers 901 rs. ; and contributed about 100 rs. 
 to aid me in erecting mission buildings. The whole amount 
 of what they have expended in the past year for religious 
 and educational purposes exceeds six thousand rupees. 
 
 " In the course of the meeting it was proposea that the 
 churches should pay for, and hold as their property, the mis- 
 sion buildings which I am now erecting. Much zeal and de- 
 termination was manifested by several of the leading pas- 
 tors, to have more done for the education of their children
 
 LIBERALITY OF THK CHURCHES. 305 
 
 4 
 
 in this province than is now being done for that purpose. 
 Some were quite anxious that I should devote myself chief- 
 ly to this work ; but when they saw that I could not do this 
 without neglecting the churches, they conceived the project 
 of calling another missionary from America who should de- 
 vote himself wholly to this work, and whom they should sup- 
 port. All the pastors present were ready to vote in favor of 
 the resolution, but thought it would involve such new and 
 heavy responsibilities, that it would not be prudent to under- 
 take it without consulting with their churches, from whom the 
 means of supporting such a missionary must come. They 
 concluded to consult with their churches, and separately in- 
 form me of their decisions at an early date. I have since 
 heard from several of the feebler churches, that they have 
 many misgivings about their ability to support such a school, 
 and it is my impression that if they pay for the mission 
 building this year it will be as much as they will be able to 
 accomplish, if they carry forward all their other benevolent 
 enterprises. 
 
 " The fact, however, that they have, entirely of their own 
 accord, seriously proposed to call and support such a mis- 
 sionary or educator, is a most gratifying indication of the 
 progress which they are making in Christian benevolence 
 and enterprise, and is full of promise for their future stabil- 
 ity and instrumentality in evangelizing their own and sur- 
 rounding races. 
 
 " The Home Missionary Society appointed five young men 
 to accompany Mr. Kincaid to Ava, and to proceed from 
 thence as Providence shall seem to open their way to 
 preach the gospel to the heathen .Karens in the ' regions 
 beyond.' " 
 
 In April 1857 a most terrific cyclone swept over the entire 
 province of Bassein, leaving whole villages and cities in
 
 306 DESTEE FOK THE BIBLE. 
 
 ruins. The Christian Karens, besides having their houses 
 and chapels injured, and much of their paddy destroyed, had 
 many of their books completely spoiled. This loss was the 
 more serious, as some of the books, the Karen Bible espe- 
 cially, were out of print. Mrs. Beecher refers to this want 
 in the following letter. She writes : 
 
 " I have been both gratified and surprised at the intel- 
 ligence and desire for knowledge shown by two young 
 women, who have come in from a village a very short time 
 ago sunk in heathen degradation. They said they had studied 
 the books of Moses, and I have been .examining them in 
 Genesis, and find that they not only remember very correctly 
 and fully everything, but that they have a srood general un- 
 derstanding of the facts ; and not only so, but that they have 
 some idea of types and of an inner significance, which is a 
 very rare thing indeed. They understand my imperfect 
 Karen very readily, and take notes of the references and 
 explanations I give them. I never saw brighter, or more 
 hopeful scholars, especially considering that they have 
 never been with a missionary, but have only studied with 
 their native pastor, whose own advantages have been very 
 limited. 
 
 " But I should greatly mislead you, if I gave you an idea 
 that these are at all fair representatives of the Karen women 
 of Bassein. I have been greatly grieved and sometimes 
 quite discouraged by their stupidity, ignorance, and absence 
 of desire for knowledge. Multitudes of them cannot read 
 at all, and very feio read the Bible. Indeed, the most dis- 
 couraging feature of the Karen mission here is the scarcity 
 of Bibles, and the general absence of Bible reading among 
 the people. Sometimes my heart sinks. How can they be 
 holy, how can they grow in grace and avoid the institutions 
 of the heathen, if they do not get the pure milk of the word ?
 
 THE BUKMANS OF BASSEIN. 307 
 
 I have been in villages, Christian villages, where there was 
 not an entire Bible ! They come to us to buy ; but we have 
 them not, and are obliged to send them empty and grieved 
 away. But you know the course of human nature. The 
 more 'the Bible is read, the more it is desired ; and the less 
 we read it, the less we care for it, and so it is with these 
 people just emerging from the lowest depths of degradation, 
 the deprivation of God's holy book to so great an extent, 
 and the absence of an opportunity to become better acquainted 
 with its truths through the missionary for several years, are 
 already showing their sad fruits in many ways, and one of 
 the most discouraging is an increasing indifference to the 
 study of the Scriptures. There is great need of earnest 
 prayer and effort lest this great and glorious work should 
 decline. Many of the native pastors feel and lament this 
 state of things, but the more ignorant and those who need 
 instruction very much, seem quite indifferent about it. 
 
 " Will you not pray for us that God may revive his work 
 here 1 ? And I do trust that Christians both in India and 
 America will aid in providing God's holy word for these poor 
 ignorant people, that they may be sanctified through the truth, 
 and not relapse into the heathenism from which they have so 
 lately escaped." 
 
 While Mr. and Mrs. Beecher were thus giving their atten- 
 tion to the Karens, Mr. Douglas was no less earnestly labor- 
 ing for the good of the Burmans of Bassein. During the 
 years 1857-58, he had been able uninterruptedly to pursue 
 his work, especially in the jungles, visiting from village to 
 village, preaching the gospel, and distributing tracts. In 
 some of these villages his heart was cheered by many a lis- 
 tener, sometimes by a few inquirers, some of whom gave evi- 
 dence of their faith in Christ, and love to his name. But the 
 work amongst the Burmans here as elsewhere, is attended
 
 308 THE NORTHERN KARENS. 
 
 with difficulty, and as compared with that amongst the Karens 
 the missionary meets with little encouragement. At the same 
 time labor amongst them has been owned and blessed. God 
 has shown mercy to some, and who shall despise the day of 
 small things ? 
 
 It has long been the opinion of some of the missionaries, 
 that a large number of Karens, if not the body of the Karen 
 nation, lived north of Ava. This impression had produced a 
 strong desire on the part of some of the churches to send 
 missionaries into that region. No steps, however, had been 
 taken to this end until October, 1858, when at the meeting 
 of the Karen ministerial conference, and Home Mission Socie- 
 ty at Bassein, the subject was brought to the consideration 
 of the native preachers. The meeting had been marked by a 
 spirit of fervent prayer, unity, and love, and when the call 
 for volunteers to go to the Karens north of Ava was made, 
 many expressed a desire to go, but none were appointed until 
 the following Sabbath evening. Mr. Douglas then asked if 
 the Rev. Poe Quay was not the man. He appeared at first 
 surprised, but after a little hesitation confessed that his mind 
 had been filled with a strong desire for this work, and that 
 he only wanted the concurrence of his brethren to believe it 
 to be his duty to leave his church, his wife and his children, 
 and to go forth as a herald of salvation to that vast region 
 between Ava and Assam. 
 
 The concurrence of his brethren was cheerfully and 
 promptly given, and Poe Quay and two other young men 
 were at once appointed to the work. Mr. Beechcr then 
 addressed the Society on the important and serious responsi- 
 bilities they had assumed, and reminded them that they 
 must continue in persevering prayer, while they consecrated 
 all they possessed to the service of God. More than one
 
 PROGRESS AT HENTHADA. 309 
 
 hundred rupees were then contributed by the Karens for 
 the mission. 
 
 Poe Quay and his young associates will go two, three, or 
 four hundred miles north of Ava, and after spending some 
 mouths in exploring the field, and preaching, he will locate 
 the young men in suitable places, and return to report not 
 only upon their reception, but as to the number of the Karen 
 population, and the dialects spoken. Poe Quay is a man, 
 from his fine intellectual powers, education, eloquence, and 
 devoted piety, well fitted for the work, and, with the bless- 
 ing of God, it may not be less glorious in its results than 
 Quala's at Toungoo. Mr. Douglas proposes accompanying 
 the little embassy as far as Ava, and hopes not only to aid 
 them in their mission, but to accomplish something amongst 
 the Burmans also. 
 
 HENTHADA. 
 
 At Henthada Mr. Thomas superintends the Karen mis- 
 sion. When he first went there in 1855, being able to 
 speak the language of the people, he entered at once on a 
 wide field, where the light of the gospel had not permanently 
 shone. He took with him three native assistants, and was 
 soon joined by as many more. 
 
 The first work was necessarily to preach the gospel to the 
 heathen ; for the Karens until they have made up their minds 
 to become Christians, will not learn to read, nor will they per- 
 mit a book to remain in their houses. During the first travel- 
 ing season the missionary's work therefore was to proclaim the 
 gospel, <ind that, " in season and out of season, "whether they 
 would hear, or whether they would forbear. In this tour Mr. 
 Thomas went through many populous regions of Karens in the 
 Henthada province, and penetrated at several points into the 
 Tharrawaddy district, and not only preached Christ " where 
 he had not been named," but stationed assistants in every
 
 310 NATIVE ASSISTANTS. 
 
 place where the people were willing to receive them. Thus 
 before the rains set in, in which season it is impossible to 
 travel, many native helpers were at work among the people. 
 
 The work of assistants was two-fold. They preache'd from 
 house to house and taught to read all who were desirous 
 of learning. The first educational operations were thus com- 
 menced in the houses of these new converts. There the 
 people learned to read and write in their own tongue. At 
 the close of a few months a few were regarded worthy of 
 receiving baptism. Then commenced the normal boarding 
 school in the city. The fifst term of the school was compo- 
 sed of young men from those young converts, who could 
 read and write, and, some older Christian men from the bor- 
 ders of Bassein, whom Mr. Thomas hoped to make useful as 
 preachers and teachers. 
 
 The next six months were passed^ by the missionary in 
 town, almost daily preaching to the heathen visitors, but 
 laboring more especially to train up a native ministn'. 
 
 The second dry season passed as the first, except that 
 there was here and there a little flock, which after its gath- 
 ering, had to be tended, while the village schools became 
 more systematic, and were removed from dwelling-houses 
 into chapels. Before the second rains closed in, there were 
 nearly three hundred baptized disciples in this and the 
 Tharrawaddy districts, for God had poured out His Holy 
 Spirit, and had made this wilderness to blossom as the rose. 
 
 From these disciples, a second normal school of about 
 twenty was formed in the city. These were not mere boys, 
 they were men, many of them%arried men, who a year and 
 a half before, were in the depths of heathen darkness. The 
 pupils were intent upon the object for which they came to 
 the city, and the school was one in which Mr. Thomas felt 
 a deep interest. Another dry season passed away, during
 
 THE HENTHADA NORMAL SCHOOL. 311 
 
 which time, aided by twenty imperfect assistants, nearly the 
 whole of the two provinces were visited, and many new sta- 
 tions formed or supplied with teachers. Thus the work pro- 
 gressed, and in July 1857, nearly six hundred disciples were 
 formed into sixteen little flocks, widely scattered over these 
 two districts. Principally from these churches have been 
 chosen the present normal school of upwards of sixty pupils. 
 This school embraces a large proportion of younger lads, 
 who, it is hoped, will remain in the school many terms, and 
 acquire a comparatively thorough education ; but the elder 
 pupils can remain in school but a short time, some of them 
 having left their families and churches behind, while they 
 study with the missionary one term. For the secular instruc- 
 tion of these youths two good assistants were employed, 
 while the missionary devoted his time almost exclusively to 
 teaching the Holy Scriptures to the whole school ; upon him 
 also devolved the " care of all the churches." 
 
 Thus notwithstanding the dark clouds of trial and pecuni- 
 ary difficulty which have rolled over 'the mission, God has 
 not left it without witness of his blessing, in souls redeemed, 
 sanctified, and saved. At the meeting of the churches in 
 1858, in the Hcnlhadnand Tharrawaddy districts, it appeared 
 that one hundred and fifty adult believers had been baptized ; 
 that eight new churches had been formed ; that another man 
 had been ordained to the work of the ministry ; and that 
 schools were in operation in connection with nearly all the 
 churches. Thus in this new mission of about four years 
 standing, there arc thirty little churches with an aggregate 
 of more than seven hundred believers. There are also a 
 large number of those who worship with the Christians, but 
 who have not yet been baptized ; and there are not only na- 
 tive pastors and assistants in connection with all the flocks, 
 but many who are endeavoring to raise up churches " in the
 
 312 PKOME. 
 
 regions beyond." On the very spot where, four years ago, 
 the Burmans were cultivating their paddy fields at Henthada, 
 there now stands the new modest dwelling of the missionary 
 and his family. Associated with Mr. Thomas at Henthada is 
 Mr. Crawley, who labors for the Burmans. Although, as we 
 have before remarked, the success amongst them is not so 
 great as with the Karens, yet the Lord has not withheld His 
 blessing, but to the faithful labors of His servants does from 
 time to time give them souls for their hire. 
 
 PROME. 
 
 In the early part of 1858, Mr. Kincaid returned from 
 America and proceeded to Prome, where he and Mr. Simons 
 have been laboring with much success. In February 1858, 
 Mr. Kincaid wrote : " Since reaching Burmah, I have been 
 almost constantly in the. country among the villages to the 
 east and south-east of Prome. In thirteen villages we have 
 baptized disciples, but I have visited and preached in over 
 forty villages, seven of which were entirely Karen, the 
 others Burman. I found many earnest inquirers, and some 
 nine or ten who give evidence of saving faith in Christ, and 
 will before long be baptized. A few days since I baptized a 
 young Burman of great promise. For ten years he studied 
 in one of the most celebrated schools in Ava, and then be- 
 came the head of a monastery, built and sustained by the 
 population of four villages. It was one of the largest estab- 
 lishments in this province. More than a year ago, he first 
 heard the gospel from one of our native Christians: he 
 ordered the man to be driven from the monastery, but not 
 long after heard again, and then was more mild, and was 
 smitten by the perseverance and kindliness of this Chris- 
 tian man. He took some small parts of the New Testament, 
 and read and continued to read, and soon the light began to
 
 CONVERSION OF A YOUNG BURMAJST PRIEST. 313 
 
 dawn upon bis mind ; he proclaimed to the priests under 
 him, the wonderful truths revealed. Some months passed, 
 and he began to see the inconsistency of his position, and 
 boldly threw aside his priestly robes, and proclaimed him- 
 self a disciple of Christ. The people of those villages 
 were amazed as they listened to the doctrines preached by 
 this young man, before whom, for five years, they had bowed, 
 and whom they had called their Lord and Master. He is 
 profoundly taught in the principles of Buddhism ; has a 
 clear understanding, and speaks with great fluency and 
 power ; he is now living with one of our most distinguished 
 native preachers, and is giving himself to the study of the 
 New Testament. We trust he is raised up for some great 
 and good work. In one of our Prome villages, nine have 
 been baptized within a few days ; in two Burman villages 
 there are eleven candidates for baptism ; seven Karens have 
 been baptized, and six or seven more give evidence of faith 
 in Christ. This people are found in great numbers in this 
 province and further north along the eastern side of the 
 Yoma mountains. In their traditions, manners, and customs, 
 they are much like the Karens. I have not yet visited one 
 half of our stations where the work has begun, but expect to 
 do so before the rains begin. We have twelve native assist- 
 ants, including one man at Ava, who are evangelists, and 
 proclaim the gospel publicly, and from house to house. Some 
 of them in the truest sense of the word are preachers, and 
 all are fellow-laborers in the gospel. Besides these, we have 
 two other men of great promise, who arc now in their own 
 localities spending all the time they can spare in going from 
 house to house reading and teaching. It is only four years 
 since the first blow was struck in this province ; all was then 
 unbroken heathenism. We have now seven Christian con- 
 gregations widely separated, four Burman and three Karen, 
 
 14
 
 314 PROGRESS IN THE DISTRICT. 
 
 in many other cases we have one, two, and three converts in 
 a place, indications of much fruit. After much thought and 
 prayerful deliberation, Mr. Simons and I have resolved to 
 dismiss none of our native laborers, even if obliged to effect 
 a loan to meet the expense. The state of feeling in many 
 parts of this district, both among Burmans and Karens, and 
 I may add among the Khyens also, is very encouraging ; 
 there is a spirit of inquiry unusual, especially among the 
 Burmans. 
 
 Mr. Simons, writing in August, 1858, gives the following 
 interesting particulars. "Besides the three assistants at 
 Thayet, six others are employed, three of whom give their 
 services gratuitously in preaching occasionally, as lay-mem- 
 bers do in Christian lands. There are also a few promising 
 young men coming forward who are employed as school-teach- 
 ers and colporteurs. We try to enlist into the service of doing 
 good as many as we can. There was a female prayer-meeting 
 at our house yesterday, and one of the females, of more than 
 common intelligence, came to me for some tracts for a relative 
 living some distance off; she did not want large books, but 
 small tracts which they could easily read and understand, 
 such as 'The Glad Tidings,' 'Investigation,' and 'Father's 
 Advice,' also the 'Mother's Book.' We give tracts to all 
 who wish them, and portions of Scripture, such as 'The Life 
 of Christ,' 'Digest,' and Psalms, to the more intelligent of 
 the applicants. The New Testament is given to individuals 
 on their becoming members of the church, and the whole 
 Bible in quarto form to the assistants who preach. 
 
 " A lay member, a farmer at Enmah, some distance from 
 Prome, came to me some time ago, and said he wished to 
 possess the whole Bible. I told him that as it was an expen- 
 sive book, we gave it only to the preachers. He replied that 
 he did not consider himself a preacher ; but he could say
 
 RANGOON. 315 
 
 that he could not live if he did not make known to his relatives 
 what he knew of the religion of Jesus Christ : of course I 
 gave him one. Two female relatives of his were baptized 
 lately, and others are favorably disposed." 
 
 RANGOON. 
 
 The work at Rangoon seems to have been uninterruptedly 
 prospered since the time of the Annexation. Mr. Stevens, 
 who has for long labored with such stedfastness in the Burman 
 department of the mission both at Maulmain and subsequently 
 at Rangoon, sent us the following interesting account of 
 Moung-Thet-nau, one of the Burman preachers. He writes : 
 
 " Moung-Thet-nau I regard as an assistant of more than 
 ordinary value, alike for the correctness of his Scriptural 
 knowledge, his experimental acquaintance with divine truth, 
 the practical turn of his mind, his commanding influence, and 
 the apparent sincerity and fulness of his devotion to the work 
 of the Lord all which point him out to my mind as peculiarly 
 fitted to sustain the pastoral relation. I was unusually inter- 
 ested in the account he gave me of his conversion, and as I 
 have no doubt you will also be, I will give you the principal 
 facts. 
 
 " He had heard of one of his friends intending to become 
 a Christian. lie visited him for the purpose of dissuading 
 him from a step which, he represented, would bring dis- 
 grace on himself and his friends. That friend, as they com- 
 menced conversation, handing him a little tin box contain- 
 ing prepared lime used in chewing betel-nut, asked the 
 question, whether that little box could have made itself? 
 'By no means," was the reply. ' How then could this great 
 world have come of itself?' The truth thus simply sug- 
 gested, became like a barbed arrow in him. Night and day 
 thinking of it he found no rest, because he could not tell
 
 316 BURMAN PREACHEB, MOUNG-THET-NAU. 
 
 whence came this world. At length, returning to his friend, 
 he asked for a tract, yet dared not allow any of his acquaint- 
 ances to see him with it, but sought a private room where he 
 could read it unobserved. On opening the tract, the first 
 words which met his eye were the first of Genesis, ' In the 
 beginning God created the heavens and the earth.' They 
 came as a flash of light upon his soul, and he was instantly 
 absorbed in the thought. Then, said he, God is first and all 
 things from Him ! That is the truth. From that moment 
 he was fully satisfied that the book of the missionaries was 
 the true one. He immediately sought out the preacher, 
 from whom he obtained a full account of Christ, which 
 revealed to him the wonders of God's love. He received 
 the gospel with all gladness, and without the least hesitation 
 his resolution was at once taken to be baptized. For this 
 purpose it was necessary for him to go to Akyab, as there 
 was no missionary or native pastor in Ramree where he then 
 resided. He told his wife of his intention ; but as he knew 
 it would be a terrible blow to her, added, that he would not 
 subject her to the shame of being the wife of a Christian if 
 she were determined not to be so; and gave her her choice, 
 wishing her to decide within four days, when an opportunity 
 offered for him to go to Akyab, whether she would remain 
 with him or not. If she would consent to remain, he prom- 
 ised to be to her a faithful husband. If she chose to leave 
 him he would put no obstacle in her way, allowing her to 
 take all the property, he leaving with only the clothes he 
 had on his back. She heard his proposition in silence and in 
 tears. The fourth day at length arived, and not a word 
 had she spoken in answer to his proposition, only showing by 
 her tears the depth of her feelings ; when he told her the 
 time had come for him to leave, and he must know her de- 
 cision. She answered she would not forsake him, "With
 
 HIS CONVERSION. 317 
 
 a light heart he left for Akyab, sought the house of the mis- 
 sionary, the late Mr. Ingalls, and immediately asked for 
 baptism. Mr. Ingalls of course hesitated, and the suit was 
 so earnestly pressed from day to day, that he thought the 
 man must be actuated by some worldly motive, and it was 
 not until a month had elapsed that, being satisfied of the sin- 
 cerity of the candidate, and the reality of his conversion, he 
 administered to him the ordinance. Moung-Thet-nau's sub- 
 sequent course has corresponded, as far as I can learn, with 
 the hopes excited by such an experience, and, as it seems to 
 me, we may reasonably hope from him the usefulness which 
 belongs to a consistent minister of the gospel. Such evident 
 marks of the Spirit's work are peculiarly encouraging to our 
 hearts, amid the general indifference and opposition of the 
 Bur mans to our message of love." 
 
 On the 31st March, 1858, the Karen mission at Rangoon 
 sustained a severe loss in the death of Mr. Vinton, who for 
 more than twenty-five years had devoted all the remarkable 
 powers of his mind and body to the evangelization of this 
 people. The first portion of his missionary life was spent 
 at Maulmain and in the country round, and there he was 
 greatly blessed in gathering many souls to Christ. He also 
 made extensive evangelistic tours, and finally, after the war 
 in 1852, proceeded to Rangoon, where in the first year he 
 baptized no less than five hundred Karen believers. At 
 Kcmmcndinc, a suburb of Rangoon, Mr. Vinton formed a 
 most interesting central Karen station ; Mr. Brayton labor- 
 ing with him for the Pwo Karens. Mrs. Vinton and Mrs. 
 Brayton, assisted by native teachers, had a large school of 
 nearly one thousand pupils, and during the rainy season, 
 when prevented from itinerating, Mr. Vinton would instruct 
 in his verandah a class of more than fifty young men in the 
 Holy Scriptures, who at the close of the rains would go forth
 
 318 DEATH OF ME. VINTON. 
 
 as teachers and evangelists in the villages around. In 1856, 
 Mr. Vinton had, connected with this station, forty -two Karen 
 churches, and Mr. Brayton four Pvvo Karen churches ; num- 
 bering about two thousand four hundred. members ; support- 
 ing thirty-nine native preachers, and thirty-six village 
 schools ; building their own school-houses and chapels ; and 
 contributing six hundred rupees a year to the Normal or 
 High School at Kemmendine. And when the Missionary 
 Board were in pecuniary difficulties, and means were want- 
 ing at home, the Karens came forward and voluntarily 
 assumed the responsibilities which had been necessarily 
 incurred for the erection of the dwelling-houses for the mis- 
 sionaries and school-houses for the children. 
 
 Mr. Vinton in writing home in March 1857, of the great 
 Association meeting north of Shwaygyeen said: "The 
 churches in this Association are included within very narrow 
 limits, and embrace but a very small part of this great field. 
 So, in the outset, it was in Rangoon and Bassein ; and, I may 
 add, so it is now. 
 
 " When the work first commenced, everything for a time, 
 within a given limit, went with a rush. (It was different in 
 Maulmain and Tavoy.) Beyond this limit, little was attempt- 
 ed for the conversion of the heathen for the next twenty 
 years. On coming to Rangoon, I was surprised to find that 
 the Christians occupied a district only some fifteen to twenty 
 miles from north to south, and from thirty to forty miles 
 from east to west. 
 
 " All beyond these limits was given up to the dominion 
 of heathenism, and nothing was being attempted for the great 
 masses that were pursuing their downward way to death. 
 In 1850, it was the universal opinion that the Karen Mission 
 had reached its culminating point. From 1852 to 1855, God 
 was pleased to grant us great enlargement ; three new dis-
 
 GROWTH OF THE MISSION. 319 
 
 tricts were taken possession of in the name of the Lord ; a 
 large number of new churches constituted ; and more than 
 twelve hundred baptized. During the past year I am pained 
 to say the native preachers have again shown a disposition 
 to make themselves comfortable, and little has been done to 
 advance the interests of the cause and save souls. This is 
 the greatest trial of missionary life. The anguish of my 
 spirit is so great, that if God does not send deliverance, I 
 feel I cannot long survive, nor do I wish it, for if to live be 
 not Christ, life itself becomes a burden. Since returning 
 from Shwaygyeen we have attended the meetings of our 
 two associations. Both meetings were blessed to some of 
 our native preachers, I trust, and there appears to be a 
 waking up ; but whether the movement will prove perman- 
 ent, remains to be seen. Of one thing I am confident, and 
 that is that spasmodic religion will never convert the world, 
 It is so unlike God, so unlike the primitive type of Chris- 
 tianity, and so ill-adapted to the present condition of the 
 -world. To-day heaven and hell are great realities, to-mor- 
 row mere fictions of imagination. To-day, knowing the 
 terrors of the Lord, we persuade men ; to-morrow say, ' Am 
 I my brother's keeper ?' and no man cares for his neighbor's 
 soul. Nothing but the continuous out pouring of tue Holy 
 Spirit, and adding ' to the churches daily such as shall be 
 saved,' will hasten the coming of the Redeemer's Kingdom. 
 " After the meeting of the Maubee Association, I pre- 
 pared to cross the Yomah mountains, at a point a little north 
 of Pegu ; but my guide took me a long way to the north, and 
 we crossed at a point midway between Shwaygyeen and 
 Toungoo. The way for elephants was so difficult, that at 
 one time we thought we should have to retrace our steps. 
 I found, however, a large number of Karen villages that 
 had never heard the first word on the subject of tho Chris-
 
 320 SPASMODIC RELIGION. 
 
 tian religion, and had never seen the face of a white man 
 The Karens received us with the greatest cordiality ; listened 
 to everything we had to say with the greatest interest; and 
 promised to receive teachers, build chapels, &c. Here then 
 is a new field of equal promise to those of Shwaygyeen and 
 Toungoo, at the outset. Shall it be overlooked ? I know of 
 three other fields of equal promise, which I visited between 
 1836 and 1842, that are not yet occupied, because the means 
 at our command have been unequal to the undertaking 
 The prospect now is that we shall die before the work is 
 half completed, and before this great field shall have even 
 been half surveyed. ... At times I have seen the cloud as 
 big as a man's hand, and have not doubted that the rain of 
 grace would begin and that the latter would be more glorious 
 than the former rain. 
 
 " I had written thus far when a letter from one of our 
 young men, who is in the employ of the Superintendent, of 
 teak forests, and now on the mountains at the back of Prome, 
 comes in saying ; that the Karens upon those mountains are' 
 very numerous, have never heard anything on the subject of 
 the Christian religion, listen with the greatest interest and 
 are anxious to have teachers sent among them, &c. Here 
 then is another field to be supplied. What is to be done ? 
 Are these Macedonian cries from so many parts of the Karen 
 jungle never to be heard ? Now that there is no part of the 
 Karen world to which the gospel message has been sent, but 
 thousands and tens of thousands have turned to the Lord ; 
 now that the occupancy of Shwaygyeen has resulted in the 
 conversion of from one to two thousand, of Rangoon from 
 two to three thousand, of Basscin from five to ten thousand, 
 and an equal number at Toungoo ; shall it be known in the 
 Judgment, that not only the three fields brought to the notice 
 of the Christian world in 1836, and following years, were
 
 MR. VINTON'S APPEAL. 321 
 
 long left uncultivated, but that these new openings were left 
 disregarded ? But language fails me. My hand is tremu- 
 lous with emotion. My eyes run down with tears. My heart 
 is full, and in the anguish of my soul I say ; God, how 
 will Thy professing people answer to Thee for the loss of 
 these tens of thousands of priceless souls, to whom thou hast 
 sent messages of eternal love ? What will they say when in 
 the light of the Judgment, it is seen and known that each 
 messenger of mercy sent, gathered from one thousand to 
 five thousand precious souls into the garner of our dear Lord, 
 and yet they refused to multiply the number of those heav- 
 enly messengers, and even refused to sustain those who are 
 pouring out their life-blood in this more than angelic ser- 
 
 vice 
 
 Such were the fervent aspirations of this man of God ! 
 Well might one of his brethren say of him, " We look around 
 in vain for one to fill his place ! He was a man of ardent 
 piety, untiring zeal, great practical wisdom, and great physi- 
 cal energies, and as a successful preacher in the Karen 
 language, he stood unrivalled." While another adds, "Who 
 can take his place and do his work ? No one man could do 
 it, and there is not even one to spare from other fields." 
 
 We have the following letter from Mr. Kincaid, which 
 gives an interesting description of his character and labors. 
 28th April, 1858; "On the 8th of this month I reached 
 Thayct from Ava, and the first word uttered by the native 
 Christians was, ' Teacher Yinton is dead !' The shock was 
 so great I could hardly speak for more than an hour. 
 As soon as I had rallied a little, I went off to the military can- 
 tonments and called on a pious officer to learn if indeed this 
 was true. ' It is too true,' he replied, ' Major Wheeler has 
 just come up from Rangoon and confirmed all.' That night 
 I left for Prome, and the next day about noon arrived. Bro- 
 
 14*
 
 322 HIS DEATH. 
 
 ther Simons and the disciples were deeply afflicted in view 
 of this sad bereavement, but few particulars had yet reached 
 Prome. Soon after a steamer came up having on board 
 the Commissioner, Major Phayre, and several other officers. 
 From them I learned many facts ; all were at the funeral, 
 some of them were present when he died. His death they 
 said, was beautiful, so calm, so peaceful, so much like going 
 home. Without a struggle or a sigh, he fell asleep. Such 
 was the language of those who stood by and saw this man of 
 God as the curtains of death were gathered slowly round him. 
 A person in British Burmah has never died more deeply or 
 universally lamented. As Major Phayre said, ' His death is 
 a calamity to the country : who can supply his place in these 
 provinces ?' 
 
 " His influence among the Karens was remarkable. In 
 preaching he labored in season and out of season. He was 
 exceeding zealous of the honor and glory of God, and hence 
 his mind dwelt intensely on the ministry which God had 
 given him to fulfil, to win souls to Christ ; and not only to 
 win them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, but to lead 
 them on to higher attainments in the divine life ; to make 
 them feel and comprehend, that they were redeemed unto 
 God for great and noble purposes to be fellow laborers with 
 God. Beyond all other men I have ever known, he had the 
 talent of winning the confidence and love of the natives. 
 They saw that he had no interest separate from theirs. He 
 prayed for them as few men can pray. He preached as few 
 men can preach. His heart was in all he did. The sick, the 
 afflicted, the oppressed, soon learned to seek his aid and 
 counsel, and in him all found a friend, and if not relieved, 
 went back comforted. His influence among the Karen Chris- 
 tians was wonderful. They saw that he willingly sacrificed 
 all his great powers of body and mind to their temporal and
 
 HIS ZEAL AND LABORS. 323 
 
 spiritual interests, and they were ready to make any sacrifice 
 for him. He was careful to deal justly and kindly with the 
 natives, and hence among the heathen he was honored and 
 revered. I have known him for twenty-three years, and 
 every succeeding year has only increased my respect for the 
 purity of his life and my admiration of his untiring devotion 
 to the great work for which he came to this heathen land. 
 
 " All the gifts which God gave him were employed in 
 evangelizing the heathen, and in planting and training Chris- 
 tian churches. Besides those he raised up in the Maulmain 
 province, here in the Rangoon province are about forty 
 churches planted through his labors. They are also raised 
 to a state of efficiency, such as has rarely been equalled in 
 modern times. The amount of labor which our departed 
 brother has performed during the past six years, since he 
 came to Rangoon in 1852, is amazing ; and most of the time, 
 under difficulties that few men could have endured. For six 
 months he has travelled over a district as large as one of the 
 New England States, without roads, amidst a people poor and 
 ignorant. Now forty-two chapels and thirty school-houses 
 have been opened ; and between eight and nine thousand 
 worshippers meet in these chapels every Lord's day. About 
 one hundred pastors, evangelists, and school teachers, have 
 been educated and trained for the work. 
 
 " The very means for travelling and for teaching have been 
 raised in a large degree by his individual efforts. Imagine 
 if you can, the amount of labor and privation to accomplish 
 such a work, in such a climate, and under such circumstances. 
 He has fallen as a noble general amidst the trophies of vic- 
 tory, and thousands of Karens weep around his grave. A 
 large number are now beside me talking of their beloved 
 teacher, some of them weeping because they will see his face 
 no more.
 
 324: MOURNING AT HIS DECEASE. 
 
 " Just before sunset, I preached from Acts, ' In the last 
 days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh.' 
 We have had meetings every morning and evening for four 
 days in this chapel. Four villages are in sight. Mrs.Vinon 
 has had a female prayer-meeting in the middle of the day, 
 above a hundred females and children present. for a time 
 of refreshment from the presence of the Lord ! Mrs. Vinton 
 will not leave the field of her husband's labors, and this in no 
 small degree soothes the heart of this afflicted people. That 
 this bereavement may be sanctified to us all, should be our 
 earnest prayer. During brother Vinton'slast tour he visited 
 some new fields, and among others was on the mountains 
 between the Line river and the Sitang Valley. The heat was 
 fearfully oppressive, and for four or five nights he had to sleep 
 in a dense bamboo jungle, and one day rode not less than forty 
 miles on an elephant across burning paddy fields. Still when 
 he came home Le was apparently well and in a delightful 
 frame of mind. He went about giving directions, and super- 
 intending a large amount of work which was necessary to be 
 done before the rains set in, and he was intending to leave 
 in four or five days on another tour, on which his heart was 
 much set, but in two days he was taken ill with fever. Still 
 he was able to walk about the house and to go from one room 
 to another, and was full of hope that he should soon be able 
 to go into the mountains again to accomplish the work on which 
 his heart was bent. On the tifth day, he was worse, and on 
 the seventh he breathed his last without a struggle, and with 
 the same expression of calm and holy joy upon his countenance. 
 
 During his last tour he had written Mrs. Vinton several 
 brief letters, all breathing in a remarkable degree an intense 
 desire for the salvation of souls, and a readiness to depart 
 and be with Christ. The five young men who went with 
 him have all been ill ; and one of them has since followed
 
 HIS LAST TOUR. 325 
 
 him to that rest which belongs to the people of God. The 
 elephant which he rode was also taken ill, and is now blind. 
 The young men he left in the mountains to teach the people 
 to read, and to instruct them in the gospel, fled down to the 
 plains when they heard of their beloved teacher's death. 
 The Karens are overwhelmed with sorrow. One of the 
 pastors after the sermon last evening, addressed the congre- 
 gation in a deeply interesting narrative of their teacher's 
 labors, and closed by urging them to earnest prayer for a 
 large measure of the Holy Spirit. He said, ' Our teacher 
 pleased God, and so God took him. Now what we want is a 
 man like our teacher Vinton, and God alone can send such a 
 man. We must all pray that God may pour out His Holy 
 Spirit upon us, and then we shall please God, and He will 
 send us the teacher we need.' 
 
 " Had you known our brother and labored with him as I 
 have done, you would have said, ' Why was he taken ?' The 
 Karens seem to understand this ; they say, ' He was taken 
 because he pleased God.' " 
 
 Mr. Stevens gives the following interesting and affecting 
 account of the last hours : 
 
 " You are prepared to sympathise, I know, in the heavy 
 bereavement which has befallen us in the sudden decease of 
 Mr. Vinton, of which you no doubt heard by the last mail. 
 On the evening of the 23rd March, he reached home after a 
 tour among the mountain Karens, the last two days of which 
 he was exposed incessantly to the burning sun, with but a 
 slight protection, which together with the fatigue of riding 
 on an elephant induced a fever. But the remedies which 
 were resorted to seemed to act so favorably, that his phys- 
 ician thought him in no danger, nor was he undeceived until 
 the very night preceding the morning of his decease. Dur- 
 ing his illness he spoke but little of himself, seeming to
 
 326 HIS LAST HOURS. 
 
 have no apprehension of his approaching end. On the con- 
 trary, in reply to a remark of Mrs. Vinton, inquiring if he 
 did not think his work was done, ' No,' he said, ' I feel that I 
 may yet live these twenty years.' And such was the im- 
 pression which his ordinary appearance in health would be 
 likely to produce on any one. Disease, however, had taken 
 a relentless hold on him, and its work was rapid. As his end 
 approached, and it became manifest to all that the hand of 
 death was on him, we were glad to observe that conscious- 
 ness was still perfect, and although unable clearly to articu- 
 late, in reply to the question, ' Is the name of Jesus precious 
 to you ?' he distinctly answered, ' Yes, yes,' and soon 
 after, turning himself over, as if to adjust himself for death, 
 he rapidly sank away, leaving attendant friends, who had 
 been hastily summoned to his bed side, in all but mute 
 amazement, as though they had heard a voice speaking to 
 them, ' Be still, and know that I am God.' 
 
 " This sad event was scarcely less a shock to us, than it 
 undoubtedly has been and yet will be to friends at a distance. 
 For he had been so hale and strong, with such evident signs 
 of fitness for yet many years of labor, that certainly any one 
 of our circle would have been selected by us as the next vic- 
 tim for the Destroyer before him. But he is gone ! and his 
 death has left a wide chasm in our ranks. Mrs. Vinton bears 
 up remarkably under the stroke, for which indeed she seems 
 to have been specially prepared by a kind providence, in a 
 presentiment which she had had, even before Mr. Vinton 
 came down from the jungle, that he was not long to continue 
 with her. The Lord, we trust, will now be her stay, an 
 ever-present help in trouble. 
 
 " It was affecting to observe how the Karens were exer- 
 cised under this heavy affliction. All seemed astounded as 
 though they could not believe their own eyes, when they saw
 
 DEEP IMPRESSIONS. 327 
 
 the robust form of their revered teacher lying lifeless before 
 them. Many wept, of whom some, his more immediate co- 
 workers in the kingdom of Christ, remembering the hand of 
 God, seemed lost in the inquiry, ' Why has he done it?' 
 while yet they would acknowledge with Abraham, ' The 
 Judge of all the earth must do right.' Perhaps by taking 
 from them one on whom, in an eminent degree, they were 
 accustomed to lean, God intends to draw them more fully to 
 stay themselves on His everlasting strength. Mr. Brayton 
 too, the more immediate associate of our deceased brother, 
 especially needs our sympathy and prayers. For under the 
 crushing weight of the accumulated affairs that will now 
 devolve on him, I am sure he feels that none but an Almighty 
 arm can keep him from sinking. 
 
 " How comforting it is to reflect, in view of this and sim- 
 ilar dispensations of Providence, so seriously, as we should 
 say, affecting the prosperity of the missionary cause, which 
 depends for success so much on continuous effort, that the 
 enterprise originated with Him, the instruments He pro- 
 vides ; so that how frail soever they are, and however 
 rapidly they fail in the using, He remains the same, and His 
 resources are infinite ; and He will continue to provide and 
 adapt the instruments to the successive stages of the work, 
 until the grand result He aims at is attained." 
 
 We have thus endeavored to survey this field which the 
 Lord has blessed. Our readers will judge if, viewed as a 
 whole, the work in Burmah has not (as we stated at the 
 commencement) realized the New Testament idea of a Chris- 
 tian mission. The broad outlines of such a mission are seen 
 on the very surface of the Acts and the Epistles of the 
 Apostles. 
 
 The first opening of the gospel message after the ascen-
 
 328 THE LOKD EEIGNETH. 
 
 sion was Peter's sermon, ending with, " Therefore let all the 
 house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that 
 same Jesus whom ye have crucified both Lord and Christ." 
 (Acts ii. 36.) Thus he again addressed the people, when 
 they marvelled at the miracle wrought on the lame man (iii. 
 12 16) ; thus he addressed the council (iv. 12, v. 31) ; and 
 these were the words spoken to Cornelius (x. 36 13, and 
 xi. 14), whereby he and all his house should be saved ; thus 
 Philip preached at Samaria (viii. 5) ; and to the Eunuch (viii. 
 35) ; and thus the scattered disciples as they traveled abroad 
 " preached the Lord Jesus" (xi. 20). Beaten by order of 
 the Jewish council, and commanded not to speak in the name 
 of Jesus, the Apostles daily in the temple and in every 
 house " ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ" (v. 
 40, 42) ; and when secular work pressed upon them in min- 
 istering to the poor, they sought to be relieved, that they 
 might give themselves continually " to prayer and to the 
 ministry of the word" (vi. 4). 
 
 Immediately on his conversion Paul " preached Christ" 
 at Damascus, (ix. 20 ;) and afterwards from Antioch to Phil- 
 ippi ; from Corinth to Athens ; from Ephesus to Rome ; to 
 the Jews and the Gentiles ; to the populace and to individual 
 inquirers ; to the Roman Governor and to King Agrippa : 
 this was his message. " From Jerusalem round about unto 
 Illyricum he fully preached the gospel of Christ." (Rom. 
 xv. 19.) It was evidently his habit thus to preach : " I de- 
 termined," he said, " not to know anything among you save 
 Jesus Christ and Him crucified." (1 Cor. ii. N 2.) At Thes- 
 salonica, " Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and 
 three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, 
 opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered 
 and risen again from the dead : and that this same Jesus 
 whom I preach unto you is Christ." (Acts xvii. 2, 3.) And
 
 APOSTOLIC PREACHING. 329 
 
 in the full anticipation of bis coming trials, he said to the 
 elders at Ephesus, ' None of these things move me, neither 
 count I my life dear unto me, so that I might finish my 
 course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of 
 the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God." 
 (xx. 24.) On this gospel his confidence reposed: "We 
 preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, to 
 the Greeks foolishness ; but to us who are called, both Jews 
 and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of 
 God." (1 Cor. i. 22.) " I am not ashamed of the gospel of 
 Christ : for it is the power of God unto salvation to every 
 one that believeth." (Rom. i. 16.) 
 
 The work of the preachers was the Ministry of Reconcili- 
 ation : as it is written : " Now then we are ambassadors for 
 Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you 
 in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.' ; (2 Cor. v. 20:) 
 The first proclamation of the gospel was at Jerusalem, accor- 
 ding to the commandment, (Luke xxiv. 47 ;) but the disci- 
 ples were appointed to be witnesses unto the Lord, both in 
 Jerusalem and in all Judca, and in Samaria, and to the 
 uttermost parts of the earth. (Acts i. 8.) From. Jerusalem 
 therefore the word went forth to all the greatest cities of the 
 age. But it was not confined to them. As Jesus Himself 
 went about all the cities and villages teaching and preaching, 
 (Matt. ix. 35,) so his faithful followers in the same manner, 
 as debtors both to the wise and to the unwise, preached his 
 gospel to the neglected poor of all the countries they visited. 
 " Philip passing through Azotus preached in all the cities 
 till he came to Cajsarea." (Acts viii. 40.) Peter passed 
 throughout all quarters till he came down also to the saints 
 which dwelt at Lydda. (ix. 32.) They that were scattered 
 abroad upon the persecution at Jerusalem, " went every- 
 where preaching thfc word." (viii. 4.) When Paul and Bar-
 
 330 APOSTOLIC PLANS. 
 
 nabas departed from Antioch to the work unto which the 
 Holy Ghost had called them, (xii. 2.) they travelled to 
 Seleucia and thence to Cyprus, and " went through the island 
 to Paphos," (xii. 4 6 ;) preached in Antioch in Pisidia ; 
 and " published the word of the Lord throughout all the 
 region," (49,) thence travelling and preaching from city to 
 city, they preached the gospel not only in Lystra and Derbe, 
 but also in " the region that lieth round about," (xiv. 6, 7 ;) 
 and subsequently " they passed through Pisidia," (xiv. 24:) 
 afterward Paul went " throughout Phrygia and the region of 
 Galatia," (xvi. 6;) and again a second time went "over all 
 the country of Galatia and Phrygia." (xviii. 23.) In the 
 same manner "he passed through the upper coasts" ere he 
 "came to Ephesus," (xix. 1 ;) and "not alone at Ephesus, 
 but almost throughout all Asia, persuaded and turned away 
 much people," (xix. 26;) and so when about to depart on his 
 second journey to Macedonia, " he went over those parts and 
 gave them much exhortation" before he sailed for Greece, 
 (xx. 2.) 
 
 These are sufficient indications of the plans of the Apostles : 
 how God "made manifest the savor of his knowledge by 
 them in every place." (2 Cor. ii. 14.) It was a vast circuit 
 traversed by Paul, and others doubtless labored with unweary- 
 ing zeal. His journey by Illyricum was immense. He tra- 
 versed great regions, inhabited and uninhabited, full of " perils 
 in the city, in the wilderness, and in the deep." (2 Cor. xi. 
 26.) The fruits in all places were alike, a great variety 
 of men heard the truth. Jews, Samaritans, Ephesians, 
 Corinthians, Athenians, Romans, the islanders of Cyprus and 
 of Crete. There were votaries of an idolatrous superstition 
 at Corinth; Roman colonists at Philippi; Jewish priests full 
 of envy, (Acts v. 17,) of whom nevertheless " a great company 
 were obedient to the faith;" (vi. 7,) and barbarians at Melita.
 
 APOSTOLIC SUCCESS. 331 
 
 But the same simple gospel was addressed to all. The 
 Apostle testified that " the grace of God that bringeth salva- 
 tion hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that, denying 
 ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, right- 
 eously, and godly in this present world; looking for that 
 blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and 
 our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he 
 might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto .himself 
 a peculiar people zealous of good works." (Titus ii. 11, 14.) 
 And this purpose was largely accomplished. " Great grace" 
 was on the church at Jerusalem: (Acts iv. 33,) the faith of 
 the Roman believers was " spoken of throughout the world;" 
 (Rom. i. 8.) Paul thanked God on every remembrance of 
 those at Phillippi; (Phil. i. 3;) and remembered without ceas- 
 ing the Thessaloniaus in their " work of faith, and labor of love, 
 and patience of hope, in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight 
 of God and our Father;" (1 Thess. i. 3.) The scattered 
 strangers whom Peter addressed, (1 Peter i. 8,) though they 
 had not seen the Lord, loved him ; and believing, rejoiced 
 with joy unspeakable and full of glory. The church at Smyrna 
 in its tribulation yet was " rich" (Rev. ii. 9 ;) and the church 
 of Philadelphia had " kept the word of patience" amidst much 
 surrounding evil. There were degrees of grace and holiness, 
 and probably then, as now, very few eminent believers. We 
 know that there were corrupt practices ; evil men crept in 
 unawares ; some turned aside from the faith ; and there were 
 old remains of former superstitious habits ; but the spirit of 
 the Lord made the preaching of the word effectual ; quali- 
 fied native evangelists, pastors, and bishops, as Philip, Apollos, 
 Timothy, and Titus ; animated each church to strive to send 
 the gospel to regions beyond. (2 Cor. x. 15, 16.) 
 
 We have seen in these sketches, a history not dissimilar : 
 and shall we say that we are straitened in the Lord ; that He
 
 332 
 
 APOSTOLIC SUCCESS. 
 
 cannot extend the experience of this mission, and cause 
 others to share its fervor and its reward ? 
 
 Well may we " think on these things !" We greatly need 
 a quickened zeal, a stronger faith, a firmer confidence. If 
 the love of Christ were shed ahroad in our hearts by the 
 Holy Spirit, animating us to prayer, causing us to count our- 
 selves, and all that we have, as His alone, we should not 
 labor languidly any longer ; but sowing in hope, should look 
 for that promised time when not only all the tribes of Bur- 
 mah, but all mankind shall bow before the Saviour's feet ; 
 when every hand shall bring its willing tribute ; and every 
 lip utter its song of praise ; and when holiness, purity, and 
 love, shall mantle, like a robe, the universe of God, and the 
 whole earth be filled with his glory. 
 
 THE END.

 
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