THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 ;
 
 SKETCH 
 
 OF 
 
 ADONIRAM JUDSON, D.D, 
 
 THE 
 
 EUEMAN APOSTLE. 
 
 BY DANIEL C. EDDY. 
 
 "ABT THOTJ JESUS CHRIST'S MAN?' 
 
 LOWELL: 
 
 NATHANIEL L. DAYTON. 
 1851.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, 
 
 BY N. L. DAYTON, 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 SEVERAL months ago I published in a secular newspaper 
 a series of Sketches, entitled " THE MINISTERS or THE 
 OLDEN TIME." Among others, was a sketch of Dr. Jud- 
 son, who was then living, and from whom no sad intelli- 
 gence had been received. When, borne across the deep, 
 came sadly to our hearts the melancholy tidings that the 
 good man had found that rest which remaineth for the 
 weary, the publisher of this work requested permission to 
 republish that Sketch, so amended and enlarged as would 
 render it interesting to the friends of the departed mission- 
 ary, promising to bestow a certain part of the profits 
 thereof upon the Nowgong Orphan School, in Assam. To 
 that proposition I acceded, with the hope that the offering 
 might be acceptable to the friends of Missions, and that, 
 until a full memoir could be prepared by authorized per- 
 sons, this little book might furnish interest for a leisure 
 hour.
 
 INTKODUCTION. 
 
 As the Board of the Missionary Union has decided to 
 publish the life of this eminent man, at some future time, I 
 have not felt at liberty to use materials which might have 
 fallen into my hands, and to which I might have had access, 
 which would have increased the value of this volume. I 
 have inserted entire the accounts given of the visit of Mr. 
 Judson to Ava in 1820, and his sufferings there in 1824. 
 No abridgment of these would have been allowed by the 
 reader ; and though they have been read, again and again, 
 they will not lose their interest, until men look upon the 
 missionary enterprise as a useless expenditure of money, 
 time, and labor. 
 
 The facts stated have been examined by Rev. Dr. 
 Sharp, and several other gentlemen of eminence, and pro- 
 nounced correct, with the exception that Dr. Judson was 
 informed of the action of American Baptists in 1813, in- 
 stead of 1815. A letter was written to him by Dr. Sharp, 
 which communicated the joyful intelligence, and his heart 
 was cheered with the idea that his new ecclesiastical friends 
 were to be his warm supporters. 
 
 The following extract from a letter written by Rev. Dr. 
 Woods, of Andover, the former instructer and ever 
 faithful friend of our subject, will be read with interest ; 
 and as a valuable testimonial to the worth of a good man, 
 and as a just appreciation of motive and character, it is here 
 inserted. The letter was addressed to the author under 
 date of Nov. 25, 1850, more than forty years after Mr.
 
 INTRODUCTION. Y 
 
 Judson, then an unconverted man, presented himself as 
 a pupil, to the venerable friend who now remembers so 
 kindly his former charge. 
 
 " When Mr. Judson came to Andover, he was not a 
 professor of religion, and gave no evidence of being a 
 Christian. We consented to his staying in the Seminary 
 for a time, but did not then admit him as a member. 
 Within a month or two, however, he became thoughtful 
 and anxious ; and after a time he showed signs of a 
 change, which we hoped was the saving work of the Holy 
 Spirit. He was naturally the subject of manifest pride 
 and ambition, and it required time and experience, and 
 discipline and divine influence, to bring him to a consid- 
 erable degree of humility, meekness, and gentleness. 
 
 " After awhile he set his heart upon the missionary work, 
 and showed great ardor and decision in pursuit of that 
 object. He possessed very active and promising talents, 
 and attained to distinguished scholarship. You ask, 
 whether he and his associates appeared to be impelled by 
 extravagant romantic ideas. I think it was quite other- 
 wise. They appeared to enter on the work after careful 
 consideration, and with very sober scriptural views. They 
 engaged in the enterprise as a serious Christian duty, a 
 work of benevolence, self-denial, and piety. 
 
 " Mr. Judson afterwards evinced great improvement of 
 Christian character. His labors and trials were, through
 
 VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the grace of God, the means of manifest growth in grace. 
 When I spent a Sabbath with him at Hamilton, a little 
 while before his departure, four or five years ago, he 
 seemed to me to have made great progress in overcoming 
 indwelling sin, and in attaining to the elevation and love- 
 liness of the Christian. 
 
 " In a word, he was a man of eminent qualifications, and 
 did a great work ; and his decease is a subject of sorrow 
 to the friends of missions of all denominations." 
 
 This volume is now given to the public with the prayer 
 that it may awaken a missionary interest in the minds of 
 the young, and be a source of good. It is not a memoir, 
 but simply a Sketch, reprinted and enlarged, and adapted 
 to more general circulation than it would have received 
 in its original form; and TO DANIEL SHARP, D.D., 
 
 ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST ORNAMENTS OP A LIVING MINIS- 
 TRY, IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, AS A MEMORIAL OF 
 THE DEPARTED.
 
 
 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 THE 
 
 BURMAN APOSTLE. 
 
 " GOD is IN HISTORY," is a statement, the truth of 
 which nations and ages are conspiring to prove. The 
 last half century has wonderfully developed the plans of 
 God, and unfolded to the eye of faith the most sublime 
 visions of coming time. The dead past is being linked to 
 the living present and to the unborn future with convincing 
 certainty, and many of the predictions of the old prophets, 
 which have long been buried beneath the rubbish of mys- 
 ticism and doubt, now sparkle with light, and boast of 
 their accomplishment. Men are beginning to see through 
 the thin drapery of time, and hail the great purposes of a 
 world's creation, with gladness. The last fifty years have 
 been years of change, years of mingled light and darkness, 
 years of peace and years of bloodshed. The world has 
 2
 
 18 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 been startled by Freedom's life-cry, and by Freedom's 
 groan. Truth has been crushed to the earth, and, Phoenix- 
 like, has started up from her own ruins. The world has 
 bad its Napoleon and its "Wllberforce ; its Kossuth and its 
 bloody Haynau. Adverse influences and principles have 
 contended for the mastery ; and banners, white and red, 
 have waved side by side. The events, which have trans- 
 pired within the half century, are not so important in 
 themselves, as in their connection with other events, which 
 they foreshadow. They are so many fingers, some 
 emaciated, and some red with blood ; some trembling, and 
 some held up fearlessly ; but all pointing forward to more 
 dire convulsions and more glorious and important revolu- 
 tions. They are 
 
 " The baby figures of the giant mass 
 Of things to come at large." 
 
 But of all the great events by which the last half cen- 
 tury has been signalized, no one is more important, and, 
 to the Christian, no one is more precious than the great 
 revival of missionary enthusiasm. When the clangor of 
 the midnight bell announced the death of one century and 
 the birth of another, the darkness which brooded over the 
 earth was not more dense than the moral night was cheer- 
 less. The Christian world had not begun to feel the 
 mighty motive to Christian activity, and religion sat with 
 folded wings, nor spread herself for flight. The clergy,
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 19 
 
 instead of arousing men to action, were educating them in 
 doctrine. Great men wasted time in writing ponderous 
 volumes, which the world has no time to read, and which 
 now moulder in dusty alcoves, food for the book- worm. 
 The church saw nothing beyond herself, and, contented 
 with her lot, desired no advancement. But a change has 
 come ; a change as marvelous as that which came over 
 Eden, when God said "Let there be light." Contro- 
 versy, in which bitter feelings swallowed up all good, has 
 been forgotten in the great desire to lift up the race, and 
 save mankind. Christianity has spread her wings, and 
 prophesied of a regenerated world ; and man has learned 
 to recognize the poor Hindoo, the darkened Ethiopian, 
 and the wandering Arab, as brother men. Religion has 
 more than kept pace with literature, art, science, liberty, 
 and equality. 
 
 As far as our own land is concerned, this great mission- 
 ary revival is intimately connected with the movements of 
 five young men, connected with the Divinity College at 
 Andover ; who, in the early part of the century, deter- 
 mined to go abroad as heralds of salvation. The idea 
 was a lofty one, and involved results which those noble 
 disciples could not have foreseen nor imagined. Their 
 enterprise, which was commenced in trembling and fear, 
 which was presented to the world hesitatingly and prayer- 
 fully, was immediately connected with the salvation of the 
 whole human family. Its bare announcement started an
 
 20 ADONIKAM JUDSON, 
 
 entire continent to thought and action. The slumbering 
 energies of God's people were aroused, and a new impulse 
 given at once to the cause of Christian benevolence. 
 
 Those five young men, who felt their souls thrilled with 
 the great ideas connected with a regenerated world, and 
 who formed a plan for the establishment of a mighty mis- 
 sion to the empires of darkness, have often been compared 
 to seven spirits, who, in the Chapel at Mont-martre, cen- 
 turies ago, founded the order of the Jesuits, and, headed 
 by the unconquerable Loyola, went out to bring the world 
 to the feet of the Roman pontiff. And, in many respects, 
 they resembled each other. Each contemplated a mighty 
 object ; each was borne onward with an irresistible enthu- 
 siasm ; each had conquered self; each was determined to 
 subdue the world. But the motives were not alike : the 
 results were to be far different. " The Society of Jesus " 
 was originated in the unbounded ambition of its founder. 
 Disappointed in the acquisition of military fame, crippled 
 by his wounds, restless beneath his defeats, and mad with 
 his race, he determined to found an Order which should 
 be man's most bitter foe ; which should hesitate at no 
 crime, which should suffer no defeat. And out they went 
 from the Chapel, in which their vows had been exchanged, 
 sharp and shining as the sword of war. They entered the 
 church of God, and stood in disguise beside the altar of 
 the Protestant religion : they found their way into the 
 courts of kings, and looked upon the most intricate affairs
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 21 
 
 of government ; they knew the secrets of cabinets, coun- 
 cils, churches, and families. They went everywhere ; 
 practising all kinds of deceit, and making all manner of 
 pretensions. They went as the monk of the shaven crown 
 goeth, or as the courtly knight, or as the profound scholar, 
 armed with ponderous volumes, as would best suit their 
 purpose. They became the world's scourge, the plague of 
 the earth ; and, to this hour, though three centuries have 
 rolled away, men tremble at their name. 
 
 The young men who met at Andover, and there deter- 
 mined to be the first American missionaries to the be- 
 nighted tribes of the earth, were swayed by no restless 
 ambition ; impelled by no desire to injure man, or build 
 up a faction ; governed by no purpose of mortified pride, 
 defeated cupidity, or desire for fame. They saw the con- 
 dition of the human family ; they understood the woes 
 which had rolled in upon the human race ; they were 
 acquainted with the remedy ; and, full of holy ardor, they 
 determined to go forth, and hold up the cross, that the 
 dying nations might look and live. They were entirely 
 given up to the will of God ; they had a twofold desire 
 to promote God's glory, and bless mankind. 
 
 " Henceforth, then, 
 
 It matters not if storm or sunshine be 
 My earthly lot, bitter or sweet my cup. 
 I only pray, ' God fit me for the work, 
 God make me holy, and my spirit nerve
 
 22 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 For the stern hour of strife.' Let me but know 
 
 There is an arm unseen that holds me up, 
 
 An eye that kindly watches all my path, 
 
 Till I my weary pilgrimage have done, 
 
 Let me but know I have a friend that waits 
 
 To welcome me to glory, and I joy 
 
 To tread the dark and death-fraught wilderness." 
 
 The disciples of Loyola went out to conquer fame. 
 They went with a determination to make the cause of 
 their leader prosperous among the nations of the earth. 
 They went, full of desires for personal, political predomi- 
 nance. The young men at Andover went in view of 
 privations, and knowing that on earth they could not 
 receive their reward. They went, looking death and 
 suffering in the face. They used the language of one 
 who has succeeded them : 
 
 " When I come to stretch me for the last, 
 In unattended agony, beneath 
 The cocoa's shade, or lift my dying eyes 
 From Afric's burning sands, it will be sweet 
 That I have toiled for other worlds than this : 
 I know I shall feel happier, than to die 
 On softer bed. And if I should reach heaven, 
 If one that has so deeply, darkly sinned 
 If one whom ruin and revolt have held 
 With such a fearful grasp, if one for whom 
 Satan hath struggled as he hath for me, 
 Should reach that blessed shore, Oh then 
 This heart will glow with gratitude and love !
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 23 
 
 And, through the ages of eternal years, 
 Thus saved, my spirit never shall repent 
 That toil and suffering once were mine below." 
 
 One of these young men, a sketch of whose life and 
 labors is now to be portrayed, was ADONIKAM JCDSOK, 
 a youth then unknown, but whose fame now extends as 
 far as the civilized world ; and whose toils, so abundant, 
 so severe, and so successful, are mentioned with gratitude 
 by all who love our Lord Jesus Christ. Mr. Judson was 
 born at Maiden, Mass., August 9, 1788. He was the 
 son of a Congregational clergyman, who endeavored to 
 educate the heart as well as the mind of his child. But, 
 notwithstanding the prayers, tears, and counsels of his 
 father, young Judson grew up without religion, and some- 
 what skeptical in relation to the great cardinal truths of 
 Christianity. In this state of mind and heart, he entered 
 upon a course of instruction at Brown University, where 
 his standing in his class was such as to give satisfaction to 
 all his teachers and friends. He graduated in 1807, and 
 spent some time in travel, becoming acquainted with men 
 and things, and securing a practical knowledge of life, 
 which, in after years, was of much benefit to him. 
 
 Soon after he left the University, his mind was turned 
 to the great themes connected with the salvation of the 
 soul ; and, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, his 
 deistical notions vanished, and he saw his need of a vital 
 union to Christ as his Saviour. He felt himself to be a
 
 24 ADOMEAM JUDSON, 
 
 lost sinner, sold under sin, and having nothing to recom- 
 mend him to God, but a carnal nature and a depraved 
 heart. 
 
 To find light in his darkness, and peace in his sorrows, 
 he went to Andover, and applied for admittance to the 
 Theological Institution, which had just been established 
 in that town. His object doubtless was, to avail himself 
 of the benefits of the gospel. The idea of being a mis- 
 sionary, or even a minister, was far from his mind. His 
 soul was like a vessel in a moonless, starless night, driven, 
 an unmanageable wreck, upon the bosom of the water. 
 He was admitted to the privileges of the Seminary, though 
 the rules required evangelical piety, and a desire to preach 
 the gospel, in all who presented their applications. The 
 singularity of his condition led the officers to feel that th 
 hand of Providence had presented a case which could not 
 be controlled by their laws. And subsequent events 
 proved that they had acted wisely, and they were led to 
 adore the wisdom of Him whose ways are higher and 
 better than the ways of men. In a short time, the new 
 pupil became a convert, not only to the doctrines, but also 
 to the experience, of Christianity. He rejoiced in a 
 "new heart," and "a right spirit," and was made to 
 glory in the cross of Christ. 
 
 Soon, he began to feel the claims of the ministry, and, 
 conferring not with flesh and blood, determined to enter 
 into the work which his Master was spreading out before
 
 THE BUBMAN APOSTLE. iiO 
 
 him. His conversion caused him to enter into his studies 
 with new zeal and diligence, and light and peace broke in 
 upon him at every step. Little did he know what God 
 was preparing for him, and to what wild and desolate 
 scenes he was soon to be led, and what sufferings he was 
 soon to endure, 
 
 While residing at Andover, his mind was turned to the 
 subject of missions. Dr. Buchanan's " Star in the East" 
 aroused his attention, and filled him with the high and 
 holy purpose which has animated him in all his labors 
 since that time. That article went down into his heart, as 
 lead goes down into the ocean, and stirred up its hidden 
 thoughts and feelings, and led him to abandon home, and 
 country, and all the joys of civilized life, for chains, and 
 dungeons, and torture. 
 
 At that time there was no missionary organization in 
 our country which could send him out to a heathen land, 
 and he wrote to the London Missionary Society for facts 
 and instruction upon a subject with which the people of 
 America were then but little acquainted. The reply 
 which he received had an encouraging effect upon his 
 mind, and, from henceforth, he was determined upon a 
 life in heathen lands, though it should prove a life of tears 
 and sorrow. His own feelings were communicated to 
 several other young men, who entered into them with 
 pious zeal. After a plan had .been somewhat matured, 
 and opinions had been carefully and prayerfully formed,
 
 26 ADONIKAM JUDSON, 
 
 they together made known their feelings to the Massachu- 
 setts Association of Congregational ministers, meeting at 
 Bradford, in June, 1810. The document presented to 
 this body was the following : 
 
 " The undersigned, members of the Divinity College, 
 respectfully request the attention of their Reverend Fa- 
 thers, convened in General Association at Bradford, to 
 the following statement and inquiries. 
 
 "They beg leave to state, that their minds have been 
 long impressed with the duty and importance of personally 
 attempting a mission to the heathen ; that the impressions 
 on their minds have induced a serious, and they trust a 
 prayerful consideration of the subject in its various atti- 
 tudes, particularly in relation to the probable success, and 
 the difficulties attending such an attempt : and that, after 
 examining all the information which they can obtain, they 
 consider themselves as devoted to this work for life, 
 whenever God, in his providence, shall open the way. 
 
 " They now offer the following inquiries, on which they 
 solicit the advice of this Association. Whether with their 
 present views and feelings, they ought to renounce the 
 object of missions, as either visionary or impracticable ; if 
 not, whether they ought to direct their attention to the 
 eastern or western world : whether they may expect 
 patronage and support from a Missionary Society in this 
 country, or must commit themselves to the direction of a
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 27 
 
 European society ; and what preparatory measures they 
 ought to take, previous to actual engagement. 
 
 " The undersigned feeling their youth and inexperience, 
 look up to their fathers in the church, and respectfully 
 solicit their advice, direction, and prayers. 
 
 " ADONIRAM JUDSON, JK., 
 SAMUEL NOTT, JR., 
 SAMUEL J. MILLS, 
 SAMUEL NEWELL." 
 
 The committee, to whom this paper was referred, pon- 
 dered and measured the whole subject. They carried it 
 to the throne of grace ; they laid it out before a prayer- 
 answering God, and, at length, made the following report, 
 which commended itself to the hearts of all who were 
 convened : 
 
 " The object of missions to the heathen cannot but be 
 regarded, by the friends of the Redeemer, as vastly inter- 
 esting arid important. It deserves the most serious atten- 
 tion of all who wish well to the best interests of mankind, 
 and especially of those who devote themselves to the 
 service of God in the kingdom of his Son, under the 
 impression of the special direction, ' Go ye into all the 
 world, and preach the gospel to every creature.' The 
 state of their minds, modestly expressed by the theological 
 students who have presented themselves before this body,
 
 28 ADONIEAM JUDSOX, 
 
 and the testimonies received respecting them, are such as 
 deeply impress the conviction, that they ought not to 
 renounce the object of missions, but sacredly to cherish 
 their present views, in relation to that object : and it is 
 submitted whether the peculiar and abiding impressions by 
 which they are influenced ought not to be gratefully 
 recognized as a divine intimation of something good and 
 great in relation to the propagation of the gospel, and call- 
 ing for correspondent attention and exertions. 
 
 " Therefore, Voted, That there be instituted, by this 
 General Association, a Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
 Missions, for the purpose of devising ways and means, and 
 adopting and prosecuting measures, for promoting the 
 spread of the gospel in heathen lands." 
 
 But there being no money at hand, no great encourage- 
 ment could be given, and Mr. Judson was sent to England, 
 to secure assistance from the London Missionary Society. 
 On his way, the vessel in which he sailed fell into the 
 hands of the French, and he was imprisoned awhile at 
 Bayonne. Through the interference of Americans he was 
 released, and arrived in England in May, 1811. Success- 
 ful in some points, and unsuccessful in others, Mr. J. 
 returned, and, with his associates, urged their claims, and 
 the claims of missions, upon the Christians of America ; 
 stating to them that, in case their friends at home refused 
 to act, they must place themselves under the care of Eng-
 
 
 THE EUEMAN APOSTLE. 29 
 
 lish missionary organizations. Impelled by a love of 
 souls, the Board at length decided to send them out, and 
 trust in God for the funds with which to support them. 
 
 Mr. Judson became acquainted with Miss Ann Hassel- 
 tine in 1810, at the time of the sitting of the Association 
 in Bradford. When it was decided that he should go out 
 on a foreign mission, he invited her to accompany him, as 
 the sharer of his sufferings and his rewards. After due 
 consideration, in which interest and duty, love of home 
 and love of Christ, struggled for the ascendancy, she gave 
 him an affirmative reply, and they were married at Brad- 
 ford, Feb. 5, 1812. 
 
 The ordination of these young disciples took place on the 
 16th of February, of the same year, under circumstances 
 of peculiar interest and solemnity. 
 
 On a bleak day in mid-winter, a crowd of thoughtful 
 men and women were seen passing along the snow-covered 
 streets of one of our most beautiful New England towns, 
 towards an ancient and venerable-looking sanctuary, built 
 after the fashion of Whitfield's Tabernacle, in London. 
 They came from the foot of Witch Hill, from along the 
 line of old wharves, across the north and south bridges, 
 leaving the church of the venerable Hopkins on one side, 
 and that of Bently on the other ; swelling the joyful tide, 
 which, from the " Manse of the Hawthorne's," in one 
 part of the town, to the old Bell Tavern, just beyond the 
 borders of the other, was flowing into the church, where
 
 30 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 preached the first secretary and faithful friend of the 
 American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. 
 Whoever entered on that day, might have seen gathered in 
 the pulpit, and around the altar, men of deep thought, 
 and men of decided action. The most beloved ministers 
 on the continent were assembled to perform an ecclesiasti- 
 cal service, evidently of the utmost importance. The 
 vast, crowded assemby ; the array of intellect, eloquence, 
 strength, purity ; the deep, thoughtful appearance of the 
 whole assembly, all combined to give the service an aspect 
 of unutterable solemnity. Before the pulpit sat five 
 young men. The old pew, though remodeled, still re- 
 mains; and when, a few years ago, Dr. Judson returned 
 to this country, and entered that time worn sanctuary, 
 whose walls so long echoed the eloquence and fervor of 
 Worcester and Cornelius, names dear to missions, he sat 
 down in it and wept aloud. These young men had come 
 together, not to have the cross bound upon their shoulders, 
 as it was upon the garments of the old Crusaders, it 
 was already engraven on their hearts, but to receive a 
 commission to go forth, and hold up that cross, that dying 
 men might look upon it, and live. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Griffin led the way to the Throne of 
 grace, in a most hearty and honest prayer, in which, it is 
 eaid, by those who heard him, that his soul seemed to 
 glow, and be on fire with a holy enthusiasm, as, in the 
 fullness of his heart, he referred to the great event which
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 31 
 
 had called together such avast concourse of people. Rev. 
 Dr. Woods, that good old athlete of the faith of the 
 puritans, preached a sermon, full of the most judicious 
 sayings and profound thoughts, thoughts of high mean- 
 ing, and fitly uttered. Dr. Morse offered the consecrating 
 prayer, in which the church gave baafc to God those whom 
 He had given to be her sons. Rev. Dr. Worcester gave 
 the right hand of fellowship ; and, while the tears trickled 
 down his cheeks he addressed them with the most tender 
 and touching language, until all hearts were melted, and thfc 
 great congregation was in tears. Rev. Dr. Spring gave an 
 impressive charge, in which the importance of piety, prayer, 
 and humble dependence on God, were warmly set forth. 
 The service closed ; and the* young men went forth with 
 the vows of God upon them, to suffer and die in the holy 
 service. They had counted the cost, and were able to 
 estimate the difficulties which were to be encountered. 
 The future they were determined to brave ; and, though 
 prisons, stripes, and chains might await them, they were 
 ready for the sacrifice or the toil. They went out from 
 that old sanctuary with the highest good of man in view, 
 and followed by the prayers of the church of God. They 
 went not to found an empire ; not to win fresh laurels on 
 the field of blood ; not to secure high honors in the halls 
 of science ; but to bold up a crucified Savior before men 
 who had long been accustomed to the worship of senseless 
 images, carved out of stone and wood. They went in
 
 32 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 humble dependence on the Infinite, and the result has 
 more than realized the most sanguine expectations of those 
 who sent them forth, and who were constant in their 
 appeals to God in their behalf. 
 
 Messrs. Judson and Newell, with their wives, took 
 passage for Calcutta, on board the brig " Caravan," and 
 sailed on the 19th of February, 1812. The day was cold ; 
 and, as the vessel floated down the harbor, and disappeared 
 from the view of the inhabitants of the lower part of the 
 town of Salem, but few realized what a precious cargo she 
 carried to a world in darkness. The missionary enterprise 
 was in its infancy, and the church had not been aroused to 
 its importance and grandeur; and when the "Caravan," 
 spread her white wings to catch the gales of ocean, some 
 loved and prayed, but more pitied and condemned. To 
 Mr. Judson himself, the contrast between his first and 
 second sailing, must have presented itself with peculiar 
 force, as he embarked the last time for his Indian home. 
 He went out first, in doubt, and scarcely knew where on 
 God's green earth he should find a resting-place. He 
 went ere the hearts of Christians had been inspired with 
 true ideas of duty, and when a comparatively small number 
 were willing to identify themselves with a course so 
 unpopular, even among the disciples of the Saviour. He 
 went with no experience, no formed and fixed principles 
 of action, but leaving all to God's providence. He started 
 from the wharf almost alone. None were there to bid
 
 THE BDRMAN APOSTLE. 33 
 
 him a kind farewell, or sing the parting hymn, or offer the 
 Christian benediction. 
 
 But the second time, how different ! The wharf was 
 alive with human beings ; all denominations were repre- 
 sented on the holy occasion. Mingled tones of joy and 
 sadness were heard ; prayers were offered, and hymns 
 were sung, and Judson sailed amid the pious ejaculation, 
 "God of heaven defend him," from a thousand lips. 
 
 Nothing very remarkable occurred upon the voyage. 
 The great object for which they were going out employed 
 all the thoughts of the missionaries, and they spent the 
 time in better preparing themselves for active and suc- 
 cessful labors. The winds and waves, held by Jehovah's 
 hand, conspired to render the passage a safe and easy one ; 
 and though a " home on the deep " is seldom pleasant to 
 lady passengers, yet the prospect of soon being in their 
 field of usefulness, and the anxiety to prepare for the work 
 before them, made the hours pass away very rapidly. Not 
 only Mr. Judson and Mr. Newell, but also their wives, 
 had many hours of pleasure and delight, while tossed by 
 the tempest. 
 
 They landed at Calcutta, June 18, 1812, and were 
 kindly received by Dr. Carey, who was connected with 
 the English mission at Serampore. The doctor took them 
 to his residence, fifteen miles from Calcutta, where they 
 enjoyed his hospitality for some time, becoming acquainted 
 with his associates, Marshman and Ward.
 
 34 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 On his outward bound passage, it occurred to Mr. Judson 
 that he should meet the Baptist missionaries at Calcutta, 
 and perhaps be brought into controversy with them. He 
 determined to examine the whole matter of difference be- 
 tween them and himself, and be armed at all points against 
 their arguments. He commenced the study of the Scrip- 
 tures, with the aid of such books as he had at hand, and 
 gave himself up to a serious, candid search for truth. But 
 aa he advanced, doubts began to thicken around him, and 
 the more he studied, the more perplexed he became. He 
 was soon convinced that, in some of his views, he waa 
 mistaken, and with an agitated mind confessed to his 
 companion that he must leave the denomination to which 
 he then belonged, and by which be was being supported. 
 The circumstances under which Mr. Judson was placed, 
 forbid the idea of selfishness on his part. Everything 
 must have been against the decision which he made, and 
 the struggle in his mind must have been fearful. What- 
 ever we may think of the truth of his new views, we can 
 but admire the courage and manliness displayed in their 
 avowal, under such circumstances of trial. Far from home, 
 dependent upon the American Board for support, without 
 any hope of being employed by any Baptist organization, 
 he boldly declared that his views upon certain subjects had 
 undergone an entire change, and that he must withdraw 
 from a communion, the members of which had been so 
 kind, and were still so dear to him. Mrs. Judson, though
 
 THE EURMAN APOSTLE. 35 
 
 she hesitated for awhile, and declared to her husband, 
 " that if he became a Baptist she would not," finally em- 
 braced the same opinions, and before the voyage ended 
 was as strongly entrenched in her new views as was he. 
 On landing at Calcutta, they communicated with Dr. Carey 
 and his associates, and very soon united with the mission 
 church at Serampore. They were baptized by Rev. Mr. 
 Ward, in the Mission Chapel, in September, 1812. 
 
 Mr. Judson announced his change of views in the fol- 
 lowing letters. 
 
 TO DR. BALDWIN. 
 
 Calcutta, August 31, 1812. 
 
 I write you a line, to express my grateful acknowledge- 
 ments to you, for the advantage I have derived from your 
 publications on baptism ; particularly from your " Series 
 of Letters ; " also to introduce the following copy of a 
 letter, which I forwarded last week to the Baptist mission- 
 aries at Serampore, and which you are at liberty to use as 
 you think best. 
 
 A. JUDSON, Jr. 
 
 TO MESSRS. CAREr, MARSHMAN AND WARD. 
 
 Calcutta, August 27, 1812. 
 
 As you have been ignorant of the late exercises of my 
 mind on the subject of Baptism, the communication which 
 I am about to make may occasion you some surprise.
 
 00 ADONIRAM JCDSON, 
 
 It is now about four months, since I took the subject 
 into serious and prayerful consideration. My inquiries 
 commenced during my passage from America, and after 
 much laborious research and painful trial, which I shall 
 not now detail, have issued in entire conviction, that the 
 immersion of a professing believer is the only Christian 
 JBaptism. 
 
 In these exercises I have not been alone. Mrs. Judson 
 has been engaged in a similar examination, and has come 
 to the same conclusion. Feeling, therefore, that we are 
 in an unbaptized state, we wish to profess our faith in 
 Christ by being baptized in obedience to his sacred com- 
 mands. ADONIKAM JUDSON, Jr. 
 
 TO REV. DB. WORCESTER. 
 
 Calcutta, September 1, 1812. 
 
 REV. AND DEAR SIR : My change of sentiments on 
 the subject of Baptism, is considered by my missionary 
 brethren, as incompatible with my continuing their fellow- 
 laborer in the mission which they contemplate on the island 
 of Madagascar ; and it will, I presume, be considered 
 by the Board of Commissioners as equally incompatible 
 with my continuing their missionary. The Board will, 
 undoubtedly, feel as unwilling to support a Baptist mis- 
 sionary, as I feel to comply with their instructions, which 
 particularly direct us to baptize "credible believers, with 
 their households."
 
 THE BURMAX APOSTLE. 37 
 
 The dissolution of my connection with the Board of 
 Commissioners, and a separation from my dear missionary 
 brethren, I consider most distressing consequences of my 
 late change of sentiments, and indeed, the most distressing 
 events which have ever befallen me. I have now the 
 prospect before me of going alone to some distant island, 
 unconnected with any Society at present existing, from 
 which I might be furnished with assistant laborers or 
 pecuniary support. Whether the Baptist churches in 
 America will compassionate my situation, I know not. I 
 hope, therefore, that while my friends condemn what they 
 deem a departure from the truth, they will at least pity 
 me, and pray for me. 
 
 With the same sentiments of affection and respect as ever, 
 I am, Sir, your friend and servant, 
 
 ADONIRAM JUDSON, Jr. 
 
 TO DK. BALDWIN. 
 
 Calcutta, October 22, 1812. 
 
 The missionaries at Serampore agree with us in opinion, 
 that, if their Baptist brethren in America are disposed to 
 enter into the plan, the cause of Christ will be best pro- 
 moted by having an American Baptist Mission in these 
 parts, as well as an English Baptist Mission. If, how- 
 ever, the number of those in America who are favorable to 
 such a mission be so small, and their resources so scanty,
 
 38 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 as to be inadequate to the undertaking, the Serampore 
 missionaries doubt not that their Society in England will 
 receive us as their missionaries, depending on assistance 
 from the American Society as an auxiliary. The former 
 plan, as you will easily imagine, would be more congenial 
 to our feelings, and we cannot doubt the pecuniary re- 
 sources of the Baptist churches in America. It is, however, 
 necessary to state, that the expenses of a mission in the 
 East will much exceed your expectations. The Serampore 
 missionaries, who adopt the most economical measures, 
 found it necessary to allow Mr. Robinson and wife, who 
 were intended some months ago for Java, but have not yet 
 sailed, one hundred and forty rupees seventy dollars 
 per month. They also allow Mr. Cbater and wife, with 
 two children, in the island of Ceylon, one hundred and 
 sixty rupees per month. 
 
 I wish also to state the following plan of the Serampore 
 mission, which we cordially approve and wish to adopt. 
 All the pecuniary avails of any of the brethren, as well as 
 all moneys received from the Society in England belong to 
 the common treasury. Dr. Carey's salary in the college, 
 of twelve thousand rupees per annum, Dr. Marshman's 
 income from the school, and Mr. Ward's avails of the 
 printing-press, are as much devoted to the common cause, 
 as receipts from England. Out of the public treasury, 
 each man, woman, and child, belonging to the mission, 
 receives a monthly allowance for clothes, &c., which varies
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 39 
 
 according to age and circumstances, from twenty to forty 
 rupees. The whole family, as well as the boarders, eat 
 at a common table. The table expenses, as well as all 
 the expenses of the mission, arising from building, repairs, 
 servants, pundits, native preachers, &c., are defrayed by 
 appropriations from the public fund. The fund for trans- 
 lating and printing is preserved distinct, in order to secure 
 the subscriptions of some who might be unwilling to con- 
 tribute to the common object. A missionary in an out- 
 station receives an allowance proportioned to the expense 
 of his situation. Should he be able to lessen this by a 
 school, or by any other means, he is obliged to do so ; and 
 should bis avails exceed his expenditure, the surplus 
 reverts to the public treasury. Still farther, all the lands 
 and buildings, belonging to the mission at Serampore and 
 elsewhere, are deeded to the Society in England. 
 
 A. JUDSON, Jr. 
 
 Soon after this change of views upon this subject took 
 place, Mr. Judson preached a sermon, giving the argument 
 which had operated so powerfully upon his own mind. 
 This sermon has passed through several editions, and is 
 deemed, by the denomination to which the author lately 
 belonged, as incontrovertible. 
 
 The arrival of such a body of missionaries from America, 
 excited the suspicions of the British East India Company, 
 a body at that time very unfriendly to the cause of Christ.
 
 40 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 Orders were accordingly issued, that they leave the country, 
 for the United States, without delay, and the most vigorous 
 measures were taken to have these orders executed. Per* 
 mission was, however, obtained to proceed to the Isle of 
 France. Mr. and Mrs. Newell sailed at once, but the 
 others, owing to unavoidable detention, aroused the anger 
 of the officers of government, and another order was issued 
 that they sail at once for England ; but after many fears, and 
 much perplexity and danger, they succeeded in evading 
 these unjust demands, and at length permission was given 
 that they embark in a vessel about to sail for the Isle of 
 France, at which place they arrived January 17, 1813. 
 The passage was long and tedious, and when they landed 
 they were weary and discouraged. Mr. Newell met them 
 on the shore with the sad intelligence that his beloved 
 companion was no more ; that already one of that little 
 company, set apart in the Tabernacle church in Salem, 
 had gone to her. reward. 
 
 At this place, Mr. Judson and his wife remained a few 
 months, endeavoring to do good to the souls of men ; and 
 then, committing themselves to the providence of God, 
 embarked for Madras, and from thence sailed to Rangoon, 
 at which place they arrived July 14, 1813. Dark was 
 the cloud which went before them, and yet they followed 
 it with cheerfulness. The all-wise God was preparing for 
 them a home, which was to be consecrated with tears, and 
 groans, and sufferings.
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 41 
 
 At Rangoon, Mr. Judson found the vestiges of a mis- 
 sionary station which had been nearly abandoned some 
 time before. Here he determined to plant himself, and 
 live and labor for perishing men. Thus commenced a 
 mission around which glory now beams in lines of light, 
 and which is endeared to the hearts of all Christians by its 
 toils and its success. 
 
 While laboring on, Mr. Judson received the cheering 
 intelligence that his appeals had awakened the Baptist 
 denomination to action upon the subject of Missions, and 
 stirred up a great people to take part in the regeneration 
 of the world. The tidings that a Missionary Society had 
 been organized, and funds were to be procured, that he 
 might labor efficiently and happily in his new field, were 
 borne across the ocean, and fell upon his ears, at a time when 
 he needed encouragement and sympathy, and was a star 
 in the dark night which had thus far been gathering about 
 him. Of the action of American Baptists he was informed 
 
 % 
 
 in the autumn of 1815, up to which time he had lived in 
 a state of uncertainty, depending on God, and using his 
 utmost endeavors to acquire a knowledge of the language 
 and habits of the people. 
 
 The resolves passedj in relation to Mr. Judson were 
 as follows : 
 
 "Resolved, That the Rev. Adoniram Judson, Jr., now 
 in India, be considered as a missionary, under the care
 
 42 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 and direction of this Board, of which he shall be informed 
 without delay. That provision be made for the support 
 of him and his family accordingly ; and that one thousand 
 dollars be transmitted to him by the 6rst safe opportunity. 
 That the secretary of the Particular Baptist Society for 
 Missions, in England, be informed of this transaction ; and 
 that this Board has assumed the pledge given by the 
 Boston Mission Society, to pay any bills which may be 
 drawn on them, in consequence of advances they may have 
 made in favor of Mr. and Mrs. Judson. 
 
 " Resolved, That our brother Judson be requested, for 
 the present, to pursue his pious labors in such places as, 
 in his judgment, may appear most promising ; and that he 
 communicate his views of future permanent stations to this 
 Board, as early as he conveniently can. 
 
 " Resolved, That the proceedings of the late Convention 
 and of this Board, be communicated to the Baptist Mission- 
 ary Society in England, and to their missionaries at Seram- 
 pore, assuring them that it is the desire of this Board to holcl 
 an affectionate intercourse with them, in the work of the 
 Lord : that they will ever be grateful for any information 
 which the extensive experience of their brethren may 
 enable them to impart on the subject of fields for mission- 
 ary action, &c., &c., and will derive joy from the reflection 
 that though, in these transactions, their respective seats of 
 council be remote from each other, their hearts and aims 
 are harmonious."
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 43 
 
 With so much zeal did the friends in this country enter 
 into the work, that, the year following, Rev. George H. 
 Hough and his wife, were sent out as a reinforcement. 
 Mr. Hough carried with him a printing-press and a font of 
 types, a welcome donation to the mission, from the English 
 missionaries at Serampore. Mr. Judson received this 
 valuable addition with tears of joy, and words of praise, 
 and the arrival of his co-laborer was a bright and sunny 
 spot amid the sombre shadows of his journey. 
 
 The manner in which Mr. Judson was engaged will be 
 seen from the letters which were received by his friends 
 in this country. The first is dated Rangoon, August 3, 
 1816, and is addressed to the Rev. Dr. Staughton, of 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 " Four months have now elapsed since I was seized 
 with a nervous affection of my head and eyes, which has 
 prevented my making any advance in the language, and, 
 the greater part of the time, has incapacitated me for even 
 writing a letter. I had fully made up my mind to take 
 passage to Bengal, with Captain Kidd, a pious man, who 
 has been living with us for the last two months, when the 
 news reached us that brother Hough had arrived in Ben- 
 gal, and might be expected here in a few weeks. I 
 consequently concluded to wait for the present, and take 
 some future opportunity of trying the sea air, and getting 
 some medical assistance, without which I have, for some 
 time, feared that I should never be able to apply myself
 
 44 
 
 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 again to my studies. Within a few days, however, I have 
 felt more relief from the pain and distressing weakness of 
 my eyes, than I have known since I was first taken ; and I 
 begin to hope that the measures I am now pursuing will 
 issue in my recovery, without a voyage at sea. 
 
 " Since the llth of last April, I have not been able to 
 read a page in a Barman book. During this period, I 
 found that I could attend, with less pain, to the compila- 
 tion of a Burman Grammar, than to any other study. 
 And this I was induced to persevere in, from the hope 
 that, if I was never again able to prosecute the study of 
 the language, the knowledge I have hitherto acquired 
 would not be wholly lost to a successor. The grammar is 
 now completed, and I had fully intended to forward you a 
 copy by this conveyance; but I find that in my present 
 state, it is impossible for me to transcribe it. 
 
 " All that I can do at present is to send you a copy of a 
 Burman tract, which has been chiefly composed during the 
 same period, and which I accompany with an English 
 translation. The Burman original is pronounced, by my 
 teacher and others, not only intelligible, but perspicuous ; 
 and to get this printed was one object that I had in view 
 in going to Bengal. Brother Hough has, however, just 
 sent round a press and types, which are now in the Ran- 
 goon river ; and as he expects to follow himself, the first 
 opportunity, and, as I have heard, understands the print- 
 ing business, I hope the time is not far distant, when we
 
 THE BUKMAS APOSTLE. 45 
 
 shall have a bit of bread to give to the starving, perishing 
 Burmans, around us. 
 
 " It will probably be impossible to keep the press long 
 in Rangoon. It will be ordered up to Ava, as soon as the 
 news of such a curiosity reaches the king's ears. Nor is 
 this to be regretted ; under the overruling providence of 
 God, it may open a wide door to missionary exertions. 
 Two of us would remove to Ava. Bat we could not sub- 
 sist there, without an intermediate station at Rangoon. In 
 this view of things, it would be very desirable, that 
 another man should be found to accompany brother Rice. 
 If I should say two men more, with brother Rice, as I 
 wish to do, it might appear inconsistent with something I 
 wrote some time ago. However, the press and a station at 
 Ava quite alter the circumstances. I have been led to 
 think and inquire more about Ava of late, by a report that 
 is in circulation, that I am soon to be ordered up to Ava 
 myself. And the more I think of it, the more I am 
 inclined to believe, that it is the way in which the gospel 
 is to be introduced into this empire. But whoever comes, 
 I hope they will have more grace, more talent, and more 
 sweetness of disposition than I have. These are three 
 essentials requisite in a missionary, especially the latter, if 
 he expects to be united with others. 
 
 " The British Baptists have made a noble beginning in 
 Western India. It remains for the American Baptists to 
 make an attempt on the Eastern side. But we need a
 
 46 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 Carey, a Marshman, and a Ward. As for myself, I fear 
 I sball prove only a pioneer, and do a little in preparing 
 the way for others. But such as I am, I feel devoted to 
 the work, and with the grace of God and the help of the 
 Society, am resolved to persevere to the end of my life." 
 
 The progress made by Mr. ' Judson, in acquiring a 
 knowledge of the language and an influence over the 
 heathen mind, will be set forth most clearly by a few 
 extracts from his letters and journals. 
 
 TO MR. WARD. 
 
 Rangoon, January 18, 1816. 
 
 I have finished the Ubidhan, to my great joy. But 
 I know but little yet about the grammar and internal 
 structure of the Pali. My object has been words simply, 
 without much regard to their terminations. My collec- 
 tion amounts to four thousand three hundred and twenty 
 words. And here I must let the matter rest for the present, 
 being grieved at having spent so much time already on a 
 work not directly Burman. I have heard of a new Pali 
 grammar, lately compiled at Ava, said to be greatly supe- 
 rior to those now in use, and have taken measures to 
 procure a copy. If I should succeed, I shall probably 
 give a little more attention to the language. 
 
 I am now beginning to translate a little. I am ex- 
 tremely anxious to get some parts of Scripture into an 
 intelligible state, fit to be read to Burmans that I meet
 
 THE BUKMAN APOSTLE. 47 
 
 with. I have nothing yet that I can venture to use. The 
 Portuguese missionaries have left a version of some extracts 
 of Scripture, not very badly executed, in regard to lan- 
 guage, but full of Romish errors. This, however, will 
 afford me some assistance." 
 
 TO DR. BALDWIN. 
 
 Rangoon, August 5, 1816. 
 
 It is about seven months since I wrote to America. 
 The first three months of this time, I was employed on the 
 Burman language, in a more interesting manner than I 
 had ever been. I began to enter into my studies with 
 such pleasure and spirit, and to make such rapid progress, 
 as encouraged me to hope that the time was not far distant 
 when I should be able to commence missionary operations. 
 I was going forward in a course of most valuable Burman 
 reading, and at the same time had begun to translate one 
 of the gospels and to write a view of the Christian religion, 
 in Burman, which, in imagination, were already finished, 
 and circulating among the natives, when all of a sudden, 
 in the midst of the hot season, which in this country is 
 most severe during the months of March and April, I was 
 seized with a distressing weakness and pain in my eyes 
 and head, which put a stop to all my delightful pursuits, 
 and reduced me to a pitiable state indeed. Since that 
 time, excepting at some intervals, I have been unable to 
 read or write or make any exertion whatever. Sometimes
 
 48 ADONIKAM JUDSON, 
 
 I have almost given up the hope that I should ever be of 
 any more service ; sometimes I have been on the point of 
 trying a short voyage at sea. This last was my intention, 
 when I heard of brother Hough's arrival in Bengal, and 
 concluded to wait until he should be settled here, when I 
 could leave more conveniently. But, thanks be to God, 
 it is now ten days since I have experienced a turn of severe 
 pain, though I still feel great weakness in my head, and 
 indeed throughout my whole nervous system. I begin 
 now to hope that I shall gradually recover, though I fear 
 I never shall be as I formerly was. 
 
 During my illness, when able to do any thing, I have 
 employed myself in collecting what knowledge I have 
 hitherto acquired of the language, and putting it together 
 in the shape of a grammar, that it might not be wholly lost 
 to others. My tract also is at length ready for the press, 
 and I send a copy by this conveyance to Philadelphia, 
 which may be some gratification to the Board. I would 
 send a copy of the grammar also, if I were able ; but it is 
 too bulky to be transcribed, in my present state. 
 
 I expect it will not be long before I shall be ordered 
 up to Ava. The press also, which has just arrived from 
 Bengal, will not probably be allowed to stop long in Ran- 
 goon. This will open a wide field, and make it necessary 
 to support two stations. I beg, therefore, that the Board 
 will endeavor to send out one or two men with brother 
 Bice, or as soon after as possible. ,The sooner they are on
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 49 
 
 the ground, learning the language, the sooner they will be 
 fit for service. I have never before thought it prudent to 
 write for more men, in addition to those I knew were des- 
 tined to the place ; but some favorable prospects lately 
 begin to open ; and the more I become acquainted with the 
 state of things, the less reason I have to fear that the gov- 
 ernment of the country will, at present, oppose the work. 
 
 "We know not the designs of God, in regard to this 
 country ; but I cannot but have raised expectations. It is 
 true we may have to labor and wait many years before the 
 blessing comes ; but we see what God is doing in other hea- 
 then lands, after trying the faith and sincerity of his servants 
 some fifteen or twenty years. Look at Otaheite, Bengal, 
 and Africa. And is Burmah to remain a solitary instance 
 of the inefficacy of prayer, of the forgetfulness of a merciful 
 and faithful God ? Is it nothing, that an attempt is begun to 
 be made ; that, in one instance, the language is considerably 
 acquired ; that a tract is ready for publication, which is intelli- 
 gible and perspicuous, and will give the Burmans their first 
 ideas of a Saviour and the way of salvation ; that a press 
 and types have now arrived, and a printer is on the way ; 
 that a grammar is finished to facilitate the studies of others, 
 and a dictionary of the language is in a very forward 
 state ; and that the way is now prepared, as soon as health 
 permits, to proceed slowly in the translation of the New 
 Testament ? Is it nothing that, just at this time, the mon- 
 arch of the country has taken a violent hate to the priests 
 4
 
 50 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 of his own religion, and is endeavoring with all his power, 
 to extirpate the whole order ; at the same time professing 
 to be an inquirer after the true religion ? Is all this to be 
 set down a mere cypher ? It is true that we may desire 
 much more. But let us use what we have, and God will 
 give us more. However, men and money must be forth- 
 coming. Work cannot be done without men; and men 
 cannot work without bread ; nor can we expect the ravens 
 to feed them in ordinary cases. 
 
 " I do not say, several hundred missionaries are needed 
 here. This, though true, would be idle talk. My request, 
 I think, is modest. Five men, allowing two or three to 
 each of the stations, is the smallest number that will pos- 
 sibly answer." 
 
 Feb. 18, 1817. -"I have just heard that a person 
 whom we have some time calculated on as a letter-carrier 
 to Bengal, is unexpectedly going off in the course of an 
 hour ; have therefore time only to accompany the enclosed 
 tracts with a line or two. 
 
 . " We have just begun to circulate these publications, 
 and are praying that they may produce some inquiry 
 among the natives. 
 
 ' "And here comes a man, this moment, to talk about 
 religion. What shall I do ? I will give him a tract, to 
 keep him occupied a few moments, while I finish this. 
 There, my friend, sit down and read something that will
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 51 
 
 carry you to heaven; if you believe and receive the glorious 
 Saviour therein exhibited. 
 
 ''We are just entering on a small edition of Matthew, 
 the translation of which I lately commenced. But we are 
 in great want of men and money. Our hands are full 
 from morning till night. I cannot, for my life, translate 
 as fast as brother Hough will print. He has to do all the 
 hard work in the printing-office, without a single assistant, 
 and cannot therefore apply himself to the study of the 
 language, as is desirable. As for me, I have not an hour 
 to converse with the natives, or go out and make proclama- 
 tion of the glorious gospel. In regard to money, we have 
 drawn more from Bengal than has been remitted from 
 America, so that, were it not for their truly brotherly 
 kindness in honoring our bills on credit, we should actually 
 starve. Morover, an edition of five thousand of the New 
 Testament will cost us nearly five thousand dollars. And 
 what are five thousand among a population of seventeen 
 millions, five millions of whom can read ? Oh, that all the 
 members of the Baptist Convention could live in Rangoon 
 one month ! Will tne Christian world ever awake ? Will 
 means ever be used adequate to the necessities of the 
 heathen world ? Lord, send help. Our waiting eyea 
 are unto thee ! " 
 
 MARCH 7, 1817. " Since the beginning of this year we 
 have printed two tracts ; the one, a view of the Christian
 
 52 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 Religion seven pages, one thousand copies ; the other, 
 a Catechism of six pages, 1 2mo three thousand copies. 
 After which, finding that we had paper sufficient for an 
 edition of eight hundred of Matthew, we concluded to 
 undertake this one gospel, by way of trial, and as intro- 
 ductory to a larger edition of the whole New Testament. 
 I am now translating the eleventh chapter ; and, in the 
 printing-room, the third half sheet is setting up. Having 
 premised thus much concerning the present posture of 
 our affairs, I proceed to mention the circumstance which 
 induced me to take up my pen at this time. I have this 
 day been visited by the first inquirer after religion, that I 
 have ever seen in Burmah. For, although in the course 
 of the last two years, I have preached the gospel to many, 
 and though some have visited me several times, and con- 
 versed on the subject of religion, yet I have never had 
 much reason to believe that their visits originated in a 
 spirit of sincere inquiry. Conversations on religion have 
 always been of my proposing ; and though I have some- 
 times been encouraged to hope tiiat truth had made 
 some impression, never, till today, have I met with one 
 who was fairly entitled to the epithet of Inquirer. 
 
 " As I was sitting with my teacher, as usual, a Burman 
 of respectable appearance, and followed by a servant, 
 came up the steps and sat down by me. I asked him the 
 usual question, Where he came from ? to which he gave 
 no explicit reply; and I began to suspect that he had
 
 THE BUKMAN APOSTLE. 53 
 
 come from the government-house, to enforce a trifling 
 request which in the morning we had declined. He soon, 
 however, undeceived and astonished me, by asking, ' How 
 long time will it take me to learn the religion of Jesus ? ' I 
 replied, that such a question could not be answered. If 
 God gave light and wisdom, the religion of Jesus was soon 
 learned ; but without God a man might study all his life 
 long, and make no proficiency. But how, continued I, 
 came you to know anything of Jesus ? Have you been 
 here before? 'No.' Have you seen any writing con- 
 cerning Jesus? ' I have seen two little books.' Who is 
 Jesus ? ' He is the Son of God ; who, pitying creatures, 
 came into this world, and suffered death in their stead.' 
 Who is God ? ' He is a Being, without beginning or end, 
 who is not subject to old age and death, but always is.' I 
 cannot tell how I felt at this moment. This was the first 
 acknowledgement of an eternal God, that I had ever 
 heard from the lips of a Burman. I handed him a Tract 
 and Catechism, both which he instantly recognized, and 
 read here and there, making occasional remarks to his 
 follower, such as, ' This is the true God this is the right 
 way,' &c. I now tried to tell him some things about God 
 and Christ, and himself ; but he did not listen with much 
 attention, and seemed anxious only to get another book. 
 I had already told him, two or three times, that I had 
 finished no other book ; but that in two or three months, I 
 would give him a larger one, which I was now daily
 
 54 ADONIEAM JUDSON, 
 
 employed in translating. ' But,' replied he, ' have you 
 not a little of that book done, which you will graciously 
 give me now ? ' And I, beginning to think that God's 
 time is better than man's, folded and gave him the first 
 two half sheets, which contain the first five chapters of 
 Matthew; on which he instantly rose, as if his business 
 was all done, and having received an invitation to come 
 again, took his leave." 
 
 TO MR. RICE. 
 
 " I have completed a grammar of the Burman language, 
 which I hope will be useful to you ; also a tract which I 
 hope to get printed as soon as Mr. Hough arrives. 
 
 "If any ask what success I meet with among the 
 natives? tell them to look at Otaheite, where the mis- 
 sionaries labored nearly twenty years, and, not meeting 
 with the slightest success, began to be neglected by all 
 the Christian world, and the very name of Otaheite be- 
 gan to be a shame to the cause of missions ; and now the 
 blessing begins to come. Tell them to look at Bengal 
 also, where Dr. Thomas had been laboring seventeen 
 years, that is, from 1783 to 1800, before the first convert, 
 Krishno, was baptized. "When a few converts are once 
 made, things move on. But it requires a much longer 
 time than I have been here, to make a first impression on 
 a heathen people. If they ask again, what prospect of
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 55 
 
 ultimate success is there ? tell them, as much as that 
 there is an Almighty and faithful God who will perform 
 his promises, and no more. If this does not satisfy them, 
 beg them to let me stay and try it, and to let you come, 
 and to give us our bread ; or if they are unwilling to risk 
 their bread on such a forlorn hope as has nothing but the 
 WORD or GOD to sustain it, beg of them at least not to 
 prevent others from giving us bread. And if we live 
 some twenty or thirty years, they may hear from us again. 
 " I have already written many things home about 
 Rangoon. But one large parcel which I forwarded to 
 Bengal is lost, I fear, not having had any accounts of it. 
 This climate is good, better than any other part of the 
 East. But it is a most filthy, wretched place. Mis- 
 sionaries must not calculate on the least comfort, but what 
 they find in one another and their work. However, if a 
 ship was lying in the river, ready to convey me to any 
 part of the world I should choose, and that too with the 
 entire approbation of all my Christian friends, I would 
 prefer dying to embarking. This is an immense field, and 
 since the Serampore missionaries have left it, it is wholly 
 thrown on the hands of the American Baptists. If we 
 desert jt, the blood of the Burmans will be required 
 of us." 
 
 Mr. J.'s first son was born in 1815, and to him was given 
 the name of Roger Williams. He lived eight months,
 
 56 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 twined himself around the hearts of his parents, and was 
 then taken away by the cold and iron hand of death. 
 His sainted mother says of him : " He was a remarkably 
 pleasant child, never cried except when in pain, and, 
 what we often observed -to each other was most singular, 
 he never, during his little existence, manifested the least 
 anger or resentment at anything." 
 
 In December, 1817, Mr. Judson left the station at Ran- 
 goon, to visit Chittagong, to perfect himself in the Burman 
 language and to restore his failing health. His voyage 
 was unsuccessful, and many fears were entertained that 
 the vessel and her precious cargo had gone beneath the 
 waves. Soon after his departure, Mr. Hough left for 
 Bengal, removing with him the printing-press which had 
 rendered so much service. By this step, the mission was 
 brought into a crippled condition, and the heart of the 
 good man, who returned, as one from the dead, just in 
 time to bear alone the heavy sorrow, was almost broken. 
 But, in September, 1818, hope revived, in consequence of 
 the timely arrival of Messrs. Edward W. Wheelock and 
 James Colman. 
 
 From this time, the prospects of the mission were more 
 encouraging. Though, in a single year, Wheelock, broken 
 down with consumption, and enfeebled by arduous labors, 
 started for America, on the voyage to which fair land he 
 found a watery grave, having, in his feverish insanity, 
 thrown himself from the window of the cabin into the deep
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 07 
 
 blue ocean, whose waves closed over his form, and he was 
 seen no more ; though one sorrow came after another, 
 God gave his toiling servants much reason for encourage- 
 ment, even in the midst of their most severe trials. 
 
 The event, long anticipated, long prayed for, but long 
 deferred ; the event which must give so much joy to the 
 heart of a Christian missionary the conversion of a dark- 
 ened heathen to Christ at length came. Moung Nau, 
 an intelligent and respectable native, was led to embrace 
 Christianity, and become a faithful follower of the Lamb. 
 He was baptized June 27, 1819; and, amid the prayers, 
 and smiles, and tears of that little company of disciples, 
 made a good profession, which was strictly maintained, 
 until he was called to join the Church on high. 
 
 As the sun went down on that holy day, a heavenly scene 
 was witnessed. The pale faced teacher sat down to the 
 communion-table with the converted heathen, and, in two 
 different languages, pronounced the words of the impressive 
 and significant service; and, doubtless, the language of 
 Moung Nau, the first convert baptized, was some thing like 
 the language used by Krishno, the first Hindoo who ever 
 broke the chains of idolatry, and became a follower of 
 Jesus. This beautiful hymn was translated from the Ben- 
 galee into the English language, by Rev. Mr. Ward : 
 
 " Thou, my soul, forget no more 
 The Friend who all thy mis'ry bore ;
 
 58 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 Let every idol be forgot, 
 
 But, O my soul, forget Him not. 
 
 Brumhu * for thee a body takes, 
 Thy guilt assumes, thy fetters breaks, 
 Discharging all thy dreadful debt ; 
 And canst thou e'er such love forget ? 
 
 Renounce thy works and ways with grief, 
 And fly to this most sure relief; 
 Nor Him forget, who left his throne, 
 And for thy life gave up his own. 
 
 Infinite truth and mercy shine 
 
 In Him, and He himself is thine ; 
 
 And canst thou, then, with sin beset, 
 
 Such charms, such matchless charms, forget ? 
 
 Ah ! no till life itself depart, 
 His name shall cheer and warm my heart ; 
 And, lisping this, from earth I '11 rise, 
 And join the chorus of the skies. 
 
 Ah ! no when all things else expire, 
 And perish in the general fire, 
 This name all others shall survive, 
 And through eternity shall live, 
 
 In 1819, Mr. Judson and Mr. Colman determined to 
 ascend the Irrawaddy, visit Ava, and see the monarch of 
 the Empire, and urge upon him the claims of God and the 
 
 * The Hindoo name of the One God.
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 59 
 
 mission. Taking such presents with them as would be 
 well calculated to dazzle the eyes of a rude and idolatrous 
 king, they started for the Burman capital, and on their 
 arrival, had an interview with the proud monarch. The 
 whole effort failed, and with heavy hearts, they returned 
 to their desolate homes. They were driven away from the 
 feet of the sovereign in disgrace, and all their presents 
 spurned and scorned. 
 
 Mr. Judson's visit to Ava is thus described in his jour- 
 nal, which will be read with much interest. 
 
 " DEC. 21, 1819. After having made arrangements 
 for our wives ' residence in town, during our absence, broth- 
 er Colman and myself embarked. Our boat is six feet 
 wide in the middle, and forty feet long. A temporary 
 deck of bamboos is laid throughout, and on the hinder part 
 of the boat, the sides are raised with thin boards, and a 
 covering of thatch, and mats tied on, so as to form two low 
 rooms, in which we can just sit, and lie down. Our com- 
 pany consists of sixteen, beside ourselves ; ten row men 
 a steersman a headman, whose name is inserted in our 
 passport, and who, therefore, derives a little authority from 
 government, a steward or cook for the company, which 
 place is filled by our trusty Moung Nau our own cook 
 a Hindoo washerman and an Englishman, who, hav- 
 ing been unfortunate all his life, wishes to try the service
 
 ADONIUAM JUDSON, 
 
 of bis Burman majesty ; and this last personage may be 
 called our gunner, be having charge of several guns and 
 blunderbusses, which are indispensable on account of the 
 robbers that infest the river. 
 
 " We have been much perplexed, in fixing on a present 
 for the emperor, without which no person unauthorized can 
 appear in his presence. Our funds were evidently inade- 
 quate to the purchase of articles which would be valuable 
 to him, in a pecuniary point of view. When we consider- 
 ed, also, that there ought to be a congruity between the 
 present and our character, we selected that book, which we 
 hope to be allowed to translate under his patronage the 
 BIBLE, in six volumes, covered with gold leaf, in Burman 
 style, and each volume enclosed in a rich wrapper. For 
 presents to other members of government, we have taken 
 several pieces of fine cloth, and other articles. 
 
 " Thus manned and furnished, we pushed off from the 
 shores of Rangoon. The teacher, Moung Shwa Gnong, 
 had not been to see us for several days, ashamed probably 
 of having declined accompanying us ; but just as we were 
 pushing off, we saw his tall form standing on the wharf. 
 He raised his hand to his head, and bade us adieu, and 
 continued looking after the boat, until a projecting point 
 shut Rangoon and all its scenes from our view. When 
 shall we redouble this little point J Through what shall 
 we pass, ere the scene now snatched away be re-presented ! 
 
 " The expedition on which we have entered, however it
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 
 
 61 
 
 may terminate, is unavoidably fraught with consequences 
 momentous and solemn, beyond all conception. We are 
 penetrating into the heart of one of the great kingdoms of 
 the world, to make a formal offer of the gospel to a despot- 
 ic monarch, and through him to the millions of his subjects. 
 " May the Lord accompany us, and crown our attempt 
 with the desired success, if it be consistent with his wise 
 and holy will. 
 
 "JAN 17. Reached Pah-gan, a city celebrated in 
 Burman history ; being, like Pyee, the seat of a former 
 dynasty. It is about two hundred and sixty miles from 
 Rangoon. 
 
 "JAN 18. Took a survey of the splendid pagodas, 
 and extensive ruins, in the environs of this once famous 
 city. Ascended, as far as possible, some of the highest 
 edifices, and at the height of one hundred feet, perhaps, 
 beheld all the country around, covered with temples and 
 monuments of every sort and size some in utter ruin 
 some fast decaying and some exhibiting marks of recent 
 attention and repair. The remains of the ancient wall of 
 the city stretched beneath us. The pillars of the gates, 
 and many a grotesque, decapitated relic of antiquity, check- 
 ered the motley scene. All conspired to suggest those el- 
 evated and mournful ideas, which are attendant on a 
 view of the decaying remains of ancient grandeur ; and
 
 62 ADONIKAM JUDSON, 
 
 though not comparable to such ruins as those of Pal- 
 myra and Balbee, (as they are represented,) still, deeply 
 interesting to the antiquary, and more deeply interesting 
 to the Christian missionary. Here, about eight hundred 
 years ago, the religion of Boodh was first publicly recog- 
 nized and established as the religion of the empire. 
 
 "Here, then, Ah-rah-han, the first Boddhist apostle of 
 Burmah, under the patronage of King Anan-ra-tha-men-zan, 
 disseminated the doctrines of atheism, and taught his dis- 
 ciples to pant after annihilation, as the supreme good. 
 Some of the ruins before our eyes were probably the re- 
 mains of pagodas designed by himself. We looked back 
 on the centuries of darkness that are past. We looked 
 forward, and Christian hope would fain brighten the pros- 
 pect. Perhaps we stand on the dividing line of the em- 
 pires of darkness and light. 0, shade of Shen Ah-rah- 
 han ! weep o'er thy falling fanes ; retire from the scenes 
 of thy past greatness. But thou smilest at my feeble voice. 
 Linger then, thy little remaining day. A voice mightier 
 than mine, a still small voice, will ere long sweep away 
 every vestige of thy dominion. The churches of Jesus 
 will soon supplant these idolatrous monuments, and the 
 chanting of the devotees of Boodh will die away before 
 the Christian hymn of praise. 
 
 "JAN. 25. Passed Old Ava, the seat of the dynasty 
 immediately preceding the present, and Tsahgaing, a place
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 63 
 
 of some note, distinguished for its innumerable pagodas, 
 and the residence of one or two late emperors ; and about 
 noon, drew up to 0-ding-man, the lower-landing place of 
 New Ava, or Ahmarapoor, about three hundred and fifty 
 miles from Rangoon. At our present distance of nearly 
 four miles from the city, and we cannot get nearer this sea- 
 son, it appears to the worst advantage. We can hardly 
 distinguish the golden steeple of the palace, amid the glit- 
 tering pagodas, whose summits just suffice to mark the spot 
 of our ultimate destination. 
 
 " JAN. 27. 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 apprized 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 the various officers were satisfied that we had a 
 right to enter, after 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 several govern- 
 ors apd petty kings, who were waiting at his levee. We 
 here, for the first time, disclosed our character and object : 
 told him, that we were missionaries, or ' propagators of re- 
 ligion ; ' that we -wished to appear before the emperor, arid 
 present our sacred books, accompanied with a petition.
 
 64 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 He took the petition into bis band, looked over about balf 
 of it, and tben familiarly asked several questions about our 
 God and our religion, to wbich we replied. Just at this 
 crisis, some one announced, that the golden foot was about 
 to advance ; on which the minister hastily rose up, and 
 put on his robes of state, saying, that he must seize the 
 moment 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 Cassays, and the very hour when His Majesty was 
 coming forth to witness the display made on the occasion. 
 When the minister was dressed, he just said, ' How can 
 you propagate religion in this empire ? But come along.' 
 Our hearts sunk at these inauspicious words. He conduct- 
 ed us through various splendor and parade, until we ascend- 
 ed 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 surpassed 
 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 were great officers of state. 
 Our situation prevented us from seeing the further avenue 
 of the hall ; but the end where we sat opened into the
 
 THE BUKMAN APOSTLE. 65 
 
 parade, which the emperor was about to inspect. We re- 
 mained about five minutes, when every one put himself 
 into the most respectful attitude, and Moung Yo whispered, 
 that his majesty had entered. We looked through the hall, 
 as far as the pillars would allow, and presently caught sight 
 of this modern Ahasuerus. He came forward, unattended 
 in solitary grandeur exhibiting the proud gait and 
 majesty of an eastern monarch. His dress was rich, but not 
 distinctive ; and he carried 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 command- 
 ing eye that chiefly riveted 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. 
 He stopped, partly turned 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 ? ' ' Are you teachers of religion ? ' 'Are 
 you like the Portuguese priest ? ' 'Are you married ? ' 'Why 
 do you dress so ? ' These, and some other similar questions, 
 we answered ; 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 intently fixed on us. Moung Zah 
 now began to 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 
 5
 
 66 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 sea. Hearing, that, on account of the greatness of the 
 royal power, the royal country was in a quiet and prosper- 
 ous state, we arrived at the town of Rangoon, within the 
 royal dominions, and having obtained leave of the govern- 
 or 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 sustain the 
 character of teachers and explainers of the contents of the 
 sacred Scriptures of our religion. And since it is contain- 
 ed in 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 
 permission be given, that we, taking refuge in the royal 
 power, may preach our religion, in these dominions, 
 and that those who are pleased with our preaching, and 
 wish to listen to and be guided by it, whether foreign- 
 ers or Burmans, may be exempt from government molesta- 
 tion, 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 crawled forward and presented it. 
 His Majesty began at the top, and deliberately read it 
 through. In the mean time, I gave Moung Zah an abridged 
 copy of the tract, in which every offensive sentence was 
 corrected, and the whole put into the handsomest style and
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. D/ 
 
 dress possible. After the emperor had perused the peti- 
 tion, he handed it bacu, without saying a word, and took 
 the tract. Our hearts now rose to God for a display of his 
 grace. ' 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 incidents of mortality, and that, beside Him , 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 de- 
 cided. After a few moments, Moung Zah interpreted his 
 royal master's will, in the following terms : ' Why do 
 you ask for such permission ? Have not the Portuguese, 
 the English, the Mussulmans, and people of all other 
 religions, full liberty to practise and worship, according 
 to their own customs ? In regard to the objects of your 
 petition, his majesty gives no order. In regard to your 
 sacred books, his majesty has no use for them, take them 
 away.' 
 
 " 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
 
 68 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 whether they can be useful to me in that line, and report 
 accordingly. He then rose from his seat, strided on 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 at the parade spread out before 
 him ! 
 
 " As for us and our present, we were huddled up and 
 hurried away, without much ceremony. We passed out of 
 the palace gates, with much more facility than we entered, 
 and were conducted first to the house of Mya-day-men. 
 There his officer reported our reception, but in as favora- 
 ble terms as possible ; and as his highness was not apprized 
 of our precise object, our repulse appeared, probably to him, 
 not so decisive, as we knew it to be. We were next con^ 
 ducted two miles through the sun and dust of the streets 
 of Ava, to the residence of the Portuguese priest. He 
 very speedily ascertained, that we were in possession of no 
 wonderful secret, which would secure the emperor from all 
 disease, and make him live for ever ; and we were accord- 
 ingly allowed to take leave of the reverend inquisitor, and 
 retreat to our boat. 
 
 "At this stage of the business, notwithstanding the decid- 
 ed repulse we had received, we still cherished some hope of 
 ultimately gaining our point. We regretted, that a sudden 
 interruption had prevented our explaining our objects to
 
 THE BPRMAN APOSTLE. 
 
 Moung Zah, in that familiar and confidential manner which 
 we had intended ; and we determined, therfore, to make 
 another attempt upon him in private. 
 
 " JAN. 28. Early in the morning, we had the pleasure 
 of seeing our friend Mr. Gauger coming to our boat. It 
 may not be amiss to mention, that he is the collector, who 
 was chiefly instrumental in relieving us from the exorbi- 
 tant demand, which, a few months ago, was made upon us 
 in Rangoon. He now told us that he had heard of our 
 repulse, but would not have us give up all hope ; that he 
 was particularly acquainted with Moung Zah, and would 
 accompany us to his house, a little before sunset, at an hour 
 when he was accessible. This precisely accorded with our 
 intentions. 
 
 " We went to the house of Moung Zah, some way be- 
 yond the palace. He received us with great coldness and 
 reserve. Mr. Gauger urged every argument that we sug- 
 gested, and some others. He finally stated that, if we ob- 
 tained the royal favor, other foreigners would come and 
 settle in the empire, and trade would be greatly benefited. 
 This argument alone seemed to have effect on the mind 
 of the minister, and, looking out from the cloud which cov- 
 ered his face, he vouchsafed to say, that, if we would wait 
 some time, he would endeavour to speak to his majesty 
 about us. From this remark it was impossible to derive 
 any encouragement, and having nothing farther to urge, we
 
 70 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 left Mr. Gauger, and, bowing down to the ground, took 
 leave of this great minister of state, who, under the empe- 
 ror, guides the movements of the whole empire. 
 
 " It was now evening. We had four miles to walk by 
 moonlight. Two of our disciples only followed us. They 
 had pressed as near as they ventured to the door of the 
 hall of audience, and listened to words which sealed the 
 the extinction of their hopes and ours. For some time we 
 spoke not. 
 
 ' Some natural tears we dropt, but wiped them soon. 
 The world was all before us, where to choose 
 Our place of rest, and Providence our guide. ' 
 
 And, as our first parents took their solitary way through 
 Eden, hand in hand, so we took our way through this great 
 city, which, to our late imagination, seemed another Eden ; 
 but now, through the magic touch of disappointment, seem- 
 ed blasted and withered, as if smitten by the fatal influence 
 of the cherubic sword. 
 
 "Arrived at the boat, we threw ourselves down, com- 
 pletely exhausted in body and mind. For three days, we 
 had walked eight miles a day, the most of the way in the 
 heat of the sun, which, even at this season, in the interior 
 of these countries, is exceedingly oppressive ; and the re- 
 sult of our travels and toils has been the wisest and best 
 possible a result which, if we could see the end from the 
 beginning, would call forth our highest praise. slow of
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 71 
 
 heart to believe and trust in the constant presence and over- 
 ruling agency of our own Almighty Savior ! 
 
 "FEB. 12. Reached Pyee, two hundred and thirty 
 miles from Ava ; our descent on the river being, of course 
 much more rapid than our ascent. Here, to our great sur- 
 prise, we met with the teacher, Moung Shwa Gnong. I 
 hinted our intention of leaving Rangoon, since the emperor 
 had virtually prohibited the propagation of the Christian 
 religion ; and no Burman, under such circumstances, would 
 dare to investigate, much less to embrace it. This intelli- 
 gence evidently roused him, and showed us that we had 
 more interest in his heart than we thought. ' Say not so,' 
 said he ; ' there are some who will investigate, notwithstand- 
 ing ; and rather than have you quit Rangoon, I will go my- 
 self to the Mangen teacher, and have a public dispute. 
 I know I can silence him. I know the truth is on my 
 side.' Ah, said I, you may have a tongue to silence him, 
 but he has a pair of fetters and an iron mall to tame you. 
 Remember that. This was the substance of our conversa- 
 tion, though much more prolix ; and he left us about nine 
 o'clock at night. 
 
 " This interview furnished matter for conversation till 
 past midnight, and kept us awake much of the remainder 
 of the night. Perhaps on arriving in Rangoon, we shall 
 find the disciples firm, and some others seriously inquir- 
 ing. Perhaps we shall discover some appearances of a
 
 72 ADONIBAM JUDSON, 
 
 movement of the divine Spirit. Perhaps the Lord Jesus 
 has a few chosen ones whom he intends to call in, under 
 the.rnost unpropitious and forbidding circumstances. Per- 
 haps he intends to show, that it is not by might, nor by 
 power, but by his Spirit. In a word, perhaps in the last 
 extremity, God will help us. Ought we, then, hastily to 
 forsake the place ? Ought we to desert those of the disci- 
 ples that we cannot take with us, and some others, for whom 
 perhaps Christ died, in such an interesting crisis of their 
 fate ? Would it be rashness to endeavor to trust in God, 
 and maintain the post, though disallowed by government, 
 and exposed to persecution ? But again, can we bear to see 
 our dear disciples in prison, in fetters, under torture ? Can 
 we stand by them, and encourage them to bear patiently 
 the rage of their persecutors ? Are we willing to participate 
 with them ? Though the spirit may be sometimes almost 
 willing, is not the flesh too weak ? 
 
 " Pondering on such topics as these, a little ray of hope 
 seemed to shine out of the darkness of our despair. But 
 it was not like the soft beam of the moon, which kindly 
 shines on the path of the benighted pilgrim, and guides him 
 to a place of shelter. It was rather like the angry gleam of 
 lightning, which, while for a moment it illumimes the 
 landscape around, discloses the black magazines of heav- 
 en's artillery, and threatens death to the unwary gazer. 
 
 " FEB. 18. Arrived in Rangoon.
 
 THE BUBMAN APOSTLE. 
 
 73 
 
 " FEB. 24. We have spent three or four days in in- 
 quiring about Chittagong, and the prospect of getting a pas- 
 sage directly thither, or by the way of Bengal. 
 
 " This evening Moung Bya came up with his brother-in- 
 law, Moung Myat-yah, who has lived in our yard several 
 months, and formerly attended worship in the zayat. I 
 have come, said Moung Bya, to petition that you will not 
 leave Rangoon at present. I think, replied I, that it is 
 useless to remain, under present circumstances. We can 
 not open the zayat ; we cannot have public worship ; no 
 Burman will dare to examine this religion ; and if none 
 examine, none can be expected to embrace it. ' Teacher,' 
 said he, ' my mind is distressed ; I can neither eat nor 
 sleep, since I find you are going away. I have been 
 around among those who live near us, and I find some who 
 are even now examining the new religion. Brother Myat- 
 yah is one of them, and he unites .with me in my petitions. 
 (Here Myat-yah assented that it was so.) Do stay with 
 us a few months. Do stay till there are eight or ten disci- 
 ples. Then appoint one to be teacher of the rest ; I shall 
 not be concerned about the event ; though you should leave 
 the country, the religion will spread of itself. The empe- 
 ror himself cannot stop it. But if you go now, and take 
 the two disciples that can follow, I shall be left alone. I 
 cannot baptize those who may wish to embrace this, religion. 
 What can I do ? ' Moung Nau came in, and expressed 
 himself in a similar way. He thought that several would
 
 74 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 yet become disciples, in spite of all opposition, and that it 
 was best for us to stay awhile. We could not restrain our 
 tears at hearing all this ; and we told them that, as we 
 lived only for the promotion of the cause of Christ among 
 the Burmans, if there was any prospect of success in Ran- 
 goon, we had no desire to go to another place, and would, 
 therefore, reconsider the matter." 
 
 We here have an admirable specimen of the courage 
 of the missionary, in thus boldly and fearlessly presenting 
 himself before a heathen monarch, to ask permission to 
 plant the Gospel throughout his dominions. That mon- 
 arch was surrounded by his priests, and the altars of his 
 false gods, and by his ministers of state, who were all de- 
 voted to the service of Boodhism, and active in sustaining 
 it. They, of course, would oppose the religion of Christ, 
 which if successful must overturn their temples and altars, 
 destroy their system of idolatry, change the whole aspect 
 of government, and affect seriously, for good or evil, all the 
 departments of the state. But he went to Ava notwith- 
 standing all the discouraging and appaling features of the 
 case. He felt somewhat as Paul felt, when called to 
 Rome, to preach to the enemies of the cross. Stripes, and 
 chains, and prisons, and death might await him, but he must 
 go. The voice of duty, the dictates of conscience and benev- 
 olence he must obey. The same God who had called him 
 out of the dark shades of infidelity, who had inspired him
 
 THE BUKMAN APOSTLE. 75 
 
 with the great idea of a missionary life, who had brought 
 him across the ocean in safety, was able to deliver him, and 
 even if he suffered martyrdom at the foot of the golden 
 throne, he could trust in the same Deliverer and Friend. 
 
 His unwavering confidence in the success of missions 
 was clearly evinced. On his way, and as he arrived with- 
 in sight of the imperial city, and saw on every side, the 
 pagodas and temples, he could invoke the shade of the 
 mighty Shen Ah-rah-han, and bid him weep over his fall- 
 ing fanes, and assure him, that the dominion of his delu- 
 sive religion was nearly at an end. And doubtless through 
 all the course of Dr. Judson, God has given him a faith 
 which is not usually conferred upon his brethren. He 
 has ever seemed to walk in a clearer, purer light than that 
 which encircles most of the ministers of Jesus. From the 
 day when with Mills and Newell he was seen kneeling in 
 the field in Andover and consecrating himself to the holy 
 cause, down to the hour of his decease, his life has borne 
 more of the impressions of exalted faith, than almost any 
 other man of our times. When all others have bowed in 
 discouragement, and all hearts yielded to the heavy pres- 
 sure of adverse and calamitous considerations, his eye dis- 
 cerned amid the gloom, signs of coming good. The prom- 
 ises of God, made so solemnly and so often repeated, were 
 enough to sustain him in the dark hours which came upon 
 those who were first sent out. His faith wavers not under 
 any circumstances. Whether taken a prisoner by the
 
 76 ADONIEAM JUDSON, 
 
 French while on his way to England for aid, or tossed and 
 plunged upon the ocean, or driven from India by the gov- 
 ernment, or wearied and fainting at Rangoon, or impris- 
 oned at Ava, or weeping over the grave of his first love at 
 Amherst, or burying the form of his second companion in 
 the hard cold bosom of St. Helena, or lying on his own 
 death bed, his soul is always cheered by the holy declara- 
 tion, " Lo I am with you alway, even unto the end." 
 
 Nor is it unreasonable to suppose that the great head of 
 the Church, had given him a clearer revelation of his holy 
 purpose, than we have yet received. Selected, and ap- 
 pointed to a specific work, and sent out by God as a pio- 
 neer in the service of the church, it seems to have been in 
 accordance with the Divine plan, that he should have a 
 broader and more comprehensive view, not only of the 
 vast fields to be cultivated, and the horrid degradation of 
 the people, but also of the glorious changes which are to 
 transform this earth from a Golgotha of wickedness to a 
 garden blooming with the rose of Sharon, from the shades 
 of sin and wickedness, and the wiles of crime and woe, to 
 the residence of holy men, and the songs of salvation and 
 eternal life. 
 
 So much were these servants of God perplexed, that it 
 was at once decided that Mr. Colman should seek some 
 new field of labor, while Mr. Judson remained at Rangoon 
 to comfort the hearts of the three converts who had broken 
 loose from heathen folly, and given, their hearts to God.
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 77 
 
 But God was more gracious than his people supposed, and 
 within a few months Mr. Judson led seven others down 
 into the waters of baptism. 
 
 The home of Mr. Judson at R. was rendered lonely in 
 1821, by the departure of Mrs. J. for the United States. 
 Her object was two-fold. Her health had been injured by 
 continued labor, and she needed a season of rest and recre- 
 ation to restore it. Besides this, she desired to awaken 
 an interest on behalf of missions, among the women of 
 America. This she was successful in accomplishing. By 
 her letters and addresses she aroused and kindled to a 
 flame the decaying embers of missionary interest, and her 
 visit will long be remembered with pleasure by those who 
 were enabled to form an acquaintance with her. 
 
 In 1821, Jonathan Price, M. D. and his wife were sent 
 out to labor with Mr. Judson. Their arrival in December 
 caused great joy in the heart of the solitary missionary, 
 who welcomed them with gladness. Soon after, Mr. Hough 
 returned from Serampore, with his printing-press, and the 
 prospects of the mission appeared still more encouraging. 
 
 In 1823, Mr. and Mrs. Wade were sent out, and, on 
 their arrival, it was decided that Mr. Judson should pro- 
 ceed to Ava, to attempt a mission there beneath the very 
 shadow of the throne. This measure originated in the fact 
 that Dr. Price was received at the Court with much favor 
 on account of his medical skill, and it was determined to 
 take advantage of this circumstance to advance, in that
 
 78 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 idolatrous city, the cause of the Redeemer. The work at 
 Ava commenced well, and continued well until the war 
 with the English broke out, and most serious troubles en- 
 sued. At the onset the missionaries at Ava and Rangoon 
 were seized, cast into prison, and treated with the most hor- 
 rible cruelty. Mrs. Judson, who had returned from Amer- 
 ica a short time before, exerted herself to obtain their re- 
 lease, but all in vain. Her applications to the inferior 
 officers were all fruitless, and all she could do, was to visit 
 the wretched prisoners in their distress, and, to a very lim- 
 ited extent, relieve their wants. After the most unparal- 
 leled sufferings, they were released, and permitted to leave 
 the capital of the golden monarch ; and by invitation of 
 Mr. Crawford, the English commissioner, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Judson took up their residence at Amherst, a town which 
 was designed to be the centre of English influence in the 
 Burman Empire. 
 
 The following account of the imprisonment of the be- 
 loved servants of God, will be read with interest. It is 
 from the pen of one who endured those horrid cruelties, 
 and drank the cup of suffering. 
 
 " The news of the fall of Rangoon, reached Ava on 
 Lord's day, May 23d, 1824, when nothing could exceed 
 the rage and bustle of the population. A considerable 
 force was hurried off the next morning, under the Kee 
 Woongee, with particular instructions to make all imagina-
 
 THE EUKMAN APOSTLE. 79 
 
 ble haste, lest the audacious marauders should escape the 
 vengeance in store for them. On Monday morning, about 
 25 gold boats, each mounting a small piece of artillery, 
 and well provided with muskets, started with orders to 
 raise the whole country if necessary, to drive out the in- 
 sidious banditti, who had come thus unawares upon an un- 
 offending town. The current of feeling was now so strong 
 against the English residents, that Mr. Gouger sent over 
 to me to enquire, if it would not be more safe for him to 
 remove to Sagaing, and put up with me out of the way of 
 the popular fury. I informed him I should be very happy 
 to entertain him at any other time, but at present, I thought 
 our herding together would only excite suspicion, and has- 
 ten the ruin of us both. 
 
 " For three or four successive days, we were informed 
 of repeated attempts to get permission to lay violent hands 
 upon us. But Mr. Laird as often defeated them, by 
 means of his great influence with the king. Finally our 
 friend, a mussulman, with a long beard, went in to make a 
 particular complaint against us. This I was informed of 
 on Saturday noon, while on my way to the house of Prince 
 M. On my return I met Mr. Gr's. horse without the rider, 
 and was then made acquainted with the too fatal success of 
 the diabolical accuser. Fear for my own safety, now suc- 
 ceeded that of sympathy for my friend, and I firmly ex- 
 pected on my arrival, to find a band of ruffians to take 
 charge of my person also. But my time was not yet.
 
 80 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 " On the following day, however, while absorbed in deep 
 musing, with my face towards the door, I was roused by 
 the dread approach of a constable. You are ordered to 
 the Palace, was the appaling signal (I thought) of my 
 fate. I arose, followed the messenger with fearful forebod- 
 ings, was ushered into the secret council chamber ; pres- 
 ently a writer of the privy council appeared and questioned 
 me as to my country, my calling, my acquaintance with 
 Mr. T., Mr. M. A., Mr. R., &c. of Rangoon, and finally, 
 whether I had seen a bundle of newspapers, brought up to 
 Ava, by Capt. L., and said to contain an account of the 
 intended attack on Rangoon ; my reply in the affirmative 
 to this last query, decided my crime, and I was remanded 
 to the guard room, when Mr. J. was called and questioned 
 on the same points; likewise Mr. G., Mr. R.,and Mr. L., 
 by whose separate examinations it came out too plain to be 
 denied, that the said five white men were in the dangerous 
 practice of visiting at each other's houses, eating and talk- 
 ing together, and that each and every one of the said five, 
 together with Mr. Arrekill, an Armenian, and Mr. Con- 
 stantine, a Greek, were past all doubt acquainted with and 
 communicated information unto all or most of the foreign- 
 ers in Rangoon, who had all unequivocally gone over to the 
 side of the enemy. These facts being plainly established, 
 the said prisoners were remanded into close custody, in 
 separate guard rooms, near the secret council chamber, with 
 the exception of myself and Dr. J., who were permitted to
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 81 
 
 return to our houses, with orders to be ready against we 
 might be wanted. 
 
 " On the 8th of June an order was given ' to keep safe 
 all the foreigners.' On this very morning I had unwit- 
 tingly resolved to visit once more our friend Prince M. 
 On my way I heard a friendly voice calling out to me ; 
 when turning aside, I found it to be no other than my first 
 and oldest friend Moung yay, the keeper of the king's ward- 
 robe. He just gave me a hint of my danger, and then 
 hurried away. Darkly lowering seemed my prospect, yet 
 I pushed on to the house of Prince M. ; but all his kind 
 soothing could not dissipate the cloud which hung like night 
 upon me. While I was sitting here the five white men 
 were taken from the king's guard room, stripped of all their 
 articles of clothing, except the shirt and pantaloons, drag- 
 ged out to the Loots or House of Lords, thence hurried 
 forward to the Court House in the greatest imaginable sus- 
 pense, and delivered over to the keeper of the king's pris- 
 on, called by way of distinction, the ' Stick at nothing, ' 
 or 'Dreadnought.' (Let ma gune.) Here they were each 
 honored with three pairs of chains and strung on a pole 
 together. Mr. J. was just about preparing for dinner 
 when a number of people entered his ground. On asking 
 two or three women, (who were hastily mounting his ve- 
 randah,) what they wanted, they replied they had come to 
 look on ; in a moment the verandah was thronged, and a 
 rough voice called out for the teacher. Mr. J. came for- 
 
 6
 
 82 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 ward, and without any warning, was immediately seized, 
 thrown on the ground, and his arms tied with all the force 
 the barbarian was capable of. Mrs. J. came forward (in 
 agony better to be conceived than described,) and offered 
 to give money to have the rope eased off her husband. 
 But the wretch, instead of listening to the grief-impassion- 
 ed request, cried out, She is also a white foreigner, tie her 
 too. For a moment Mr. J. 's own exquisite torment was for- 
 gotten in the heart-rending apprehension, that Mrs. J. was 
 about to undergo the same cruel indignity. The assurance, 
 however, that this was not the case, softened the pain oc- 
 casioned by the violence offered in dragging him roughly 
 away towards the town, so tightly bound that he could not 
 half draw in his breath. At a quarter of a mile's distance, 
 he was again thrown down in the street, the cords drawn 
 more tightly, with repeated strokes of the knee on his back, 
 so as almost to induce fainting, and money demanded in 
 order to their being loosened. 
 
 " A Christian native who had followed at a distance, now 
 came forward and offered to go back for the money, but 
 before his return, the anguish endured was so great, that 
 Mr. J. was obliged to appeal to the numerous bystanders. 
 ' Is there no one who knows me ; is there no one who 
 will be my security for the money, no one who pities me ? 
 I am a priest, and though a foreign one, deserve not such 
 indignity, such torture.' But none stepped forward, and 
 the cruel monster persisted in tightening the cords until
 
 THE BUSMAN APOSTLE. 83 
 
 the arrival of Moung Ing with ten ticals of pure silver, 
 when his arms were somewhat relieved, so as to allow a 
 more free respiration, and he was again hurried forward a 
 distance of nearly two miles to the prison house, and there, 
 after being fettered, strung on the same bamboo with the 
 preceding five unhappy men. 
 
 " In the mean time, I had left the house of Prince M. at 
 8 P. M. having just missed the horrid sight of Mr. J.'s 
 agony, and had reached the river side with a heavy heart, 
 which was not at all lightened by a black look I there re- 
 ceived from the chief man of the golden navy, who had on 
 all previous occasions met me with a smile. I passed over 
 to Sagaing, fully impressed with the idea that something 
 dreadful was approaching, though I knew not what. Hav- 
 ing arrived at home, the sight of my dear wife and child 
 was painful in the extreme. I dared communicate nothing 
 of my apprehensions, but after a slight attempt to dine, 
 hurried to the top of my house and endeavoured alone to 
 compose myself ; but all in vain. At dusk I was joined by 
 Mrs. P. and child ; we had taken only a few turns, when 
 a dreadful noise was heard below ; knowing too well the 
 cause of the uproar, I hastened down, and was informed 
 that more than fifty men were preparing to surround and 
 take possession of my house. My scattered senses seemed 
 to collect of themselves ; I saw the long dreaded hour had 
 arrived, and I was myself again yea more, I was or 
 seemed to myself to be supernaturally assisted ; I looked
 
 84 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 down on the treacherous breach of all formerly plighted 
 royal faith ; I felt a martyr, and determined to shrink from 
 nothing \vhich was before me. In answer to loud demands 
 from without, I opened the door, was ordered immediately 
 to sit down on the floor, to give an inventory of my effects, 
 to shut and bar the doors and windows, and follow them. 
 Having committed all to the care of my wife, who by this 
 time had found her way to me, I commended her to our 
 common Protector, and took my leave of my newly-built 
 mansion, never expecting to enter it more. My conduct- 
 ors attempted at first to extort money, by threatening to 
 tie my arms, but finding me ready to submit to any thing, 
 they betrayed their want of any warrant to use me rough- 
 y ; and changing their line of conduct, immediately began 
 to treat me uncommonly well, and actually carried an um- 
 brella over me to guard me from the rain, all the way to 
 the government house. Arrived here, the great man said 
 I was called for to be asked some questions he supposed ; 
 the real cause he knew not, but we must repair to the 
 Court House. 
 
 " Hand in hand wo proceeded to the Yong dau, or 
 Court House, where I was delivered over to the Ava town 
 clerk, and heard the laconic order, ' P. and J. catch, and 
 put in prison.' My 'heart sunk at the appaling words ; 
 still they seemed repeated ; again and again I repeated them 
 to myself, till the town clerk roused me from my reverie, 
 by diving into my pockets, and securing every thing mov-
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 85 
 
 able about me. The head executioner now received a 
 wink, which authorized him to seize me rather rudely by 
 the shoulder, and caused me to descend without the trouble 
 of seeking the stairs. I was now led at a quick pace across 
 the street, ushered into a small crowded compound or yard, 
 and ordered to sit. I made towards a bench, but was 
 pushed off it. I then seated myself on a small stone slab, 
 which I soon found was meant for another purpose. For 
 while undergoing an examination as to my name, place of 
 abode, occupation, &c. , a man with his hands full of irons, 
 came forward, and rudely shoving me off the stone, seized 
 one of my legs, and began knocking on one pair of fetters 
 after another, until I thought he was never going to stop. 
 " My heart now died within me. I looked around ; all 
 was gloomy and dark and silent, except the dull clanking 
 of chains. Four or five young women in a like predica- 
 ment manifested some pity ; but all else was savage, unfeel- 
 ing complacency. My three chains were no sooner well 
 fastened on, than I was ordered roughly to go in. A little 
 bamboo door opened, and I rose to go towards it. But Oh, 
 who can describe my sensations ! shackled like a common 
 felon, in the care of hangmen, the offscouring of the coun- 
 try, turned like a dog into his kennel, my wife, my dear 
 family, left to suffer alone all the rudeness such wretches 
 are capable of. The worst, however, was yet to come ; for 
 making the best of my way up the high step, I was ushered 
 into the grand apartment ; horror of horrors, what a sight !
 
 86 ADONIRAM JUDSOX, 
 
 never to my dying day shall I forget the scene ; a dim 
 lamp in the midst, just making darkness visible, and dis- 
 covering to my horrified gaze, sixty or seventy wretched 
 objects, some in long rows made fast in the stocks, some 
 strung on poles, some simply fettered ; but all sensi- 
 ble of a new accession of misery, in the approach of a new 
 prisoner. Stupefied, I stopped to gaze till goaded on ; I 
 proceeded towards the further end, when I again halted. 
 A new and unexpected sight met my eyes. Till now I 
 had been kept in ignorance of the fate of my companions ; 
 a long row of white objects, stretched on the floor, in a most 
 crowded situation, revealed to me, however, but too well, 
 their sad case, and I was again urged forward. Poor old 
 R. wishing to retain the end of the bamboo, made way for 
 me to be placed along side of Mr. J. ' We all hoped you 
 would have escaped, you were so long coming,' was the 
 first friendly salutation I had yet received ; but alas, it was 
 made by friends whose sympathy was now unavailing. 
 
 " Here, side by side, we were allowed the only gratifica- 
 tion left, of condoling (in the Burnian language) with each 
 other. ' Now you are arrived and our number is complete, 
 I suppose they will proceed to murder us,' was the first 
 thing suggested ; and no one could say it was improbable. 
 To prepare for a violent death, for immediate execution, was 
 our consequent resolution. And now we began to feel our 
 strength, our Stronghold, our Deliverer, in this dark abode 
 of misery and despair. He who has said, I will never
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 87 
 
 leave you nor forsake you, manifested his gracious pres- 
 ence ; a calm sweet peace succeeded to our hurried minds, 
 and alternate prayer and repeating of hymns, soon brought 
 our minds to a state of comparative gladness and joy. We 
 became lifted above our persecutors ; and the hymn con- 
 taining the words 
 
 Let men of spite against me join, 
 They are the sword, the hand is thine ; 
 
 was peculiarly applicable and refreshing. Now, ye scoffers, 
 say what you will, here is a triumph you cannot attain. Re- 
 ligion ! Oh, the sweets of religious communion with God ! 
 Let them now, even now come, we said ; ' we are prepared 
 for the worst you can do ; you cannot deprive us of our 
 hope in God, our sweet' peace of mind.' Thus we whiled 
 away the hours of the night. Nature shuddered, but the 
 soul was unshaken : our confidence was in the Rock of 
 Ages. We were not left, however, without many a pang ; 
 for ever and anon the situation of our dear families pre- 
 sented itself to us, and the thought of what they might 
 even now be suffering on our account, and in their own 
 persons, was like racks and tortures to our hearts. Still 
 we reflected, they too are in the hands of a merciful God ; 
 they too may be now enjoying a portion of that support which 
 we ourselves feel, and we concluded to commit them to his 
 Almighty keeping, and our minds were much relieved. 
 The night was rainy, and we were much incommoded by 
 the circumstance ; the stench of the place was almost in-
 
 88 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 tolerable ; we had no bed but the greasy filthy floor of our 
 prison ; and unable to move our bodies for the bamboo, 
 which passed between our legs, our situation became ex- 
 ceedingly distressing, when at length the morning dawned 
 upon our sleepless eyes. For a long time we were doubtful 
 of the day light. The rain continued to descend in tor- 
 rents, and no window or door was there to the room. At 
 length the bamboo wicket was opened, and a figure approach- 
 ed us of a most terrific appearance and a horrid counte- 
 nance. He jocularly saluted us, hoped we had slept well, 
 and in reply to our repeated requests, said he would order 
 us to be let out for five minutes. He was as good as his 
 word. And now commences the history of our luxuries. 
 First and foremost, to find ourselves again on our feet, to 
 be able to move our limbs, shackled as they were. Ye 
 who ride for pleasure, believe me when I assert you never 
 enjoyed an hour worthy to be compared with these few 
 minutes ; and then to get out into the fresh air ! the rain, 
 the mud, we heeded not, our enjoyment was pure ; but, 
 alas ! like all things here below, soon to cease. Again we 
 were turned in, and notwithstanding our remonstrances, 
 again obliged to take our station as before. The arrival of 
 our breakfast afforded another short interval of relief ; but 
 we were not allowed to communicate with our people who 
 brought it, and hence still kept ignorant of the situation 
 of our dear families ; our appetites being not very keen; 
 were soon satisfied ; and our dishes sent away we relapsed
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 
 
 into our former reflection, What is to be done with us? 
 The nifht was inconvenient to have us executed : no doubt 
 
 O * 
 
 the day will be fixed on for the purpose. Every thing 
 around us was alarming we were in the worst prison, in 
 the worst part of it, and most rigorously treated. Our 
 crime too admitted of no advocate, the populace even 
 seemed to join in cursing us. Among our fellow-prisoners, 
 few sympathized with us ; and it was the invariable custom 
 of the country, that such as we should not be permitted to 
 live. Many groans were uttered, and many tears shed, 
 
 before this weary day passed off. Poor old thought 
 
 it a very hard case he should have served the king of Bur- 
 mah forty years, and be rewarded -thus at last. 
 
 " Mr. J., Mr. Gr., and myself spent the day in as com- 
 posed a frame as could be expected, considering our noisy 
 company, want of rest, and uneasy situation. The night 
 passed off tolerably well; tired nature's sweet restorer, 
 cast in over us the mantle of a temporary oblivion. 
 
 " The next morning, Mr. J. was called out early, by 
 some man of consequence, who wanted to know if he meant 
 to stay inside forever ; asked why he had not applied with 
 a proper present to procure the liberty of the yard which 
 would have saved him the trouble of calling at this time to 
 offer him the choice of paying three hundred ticals, (four 
 hundred S. R.) or of being still more rigorously treated. 
 Mr. J. told him it was an exorbitant demand ; that he was 
 a priest, and ought not to be compelled to pay money at
 
 90 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 all. On which the man, who proved to be the town clerk, 
 assumed an air of high authority ; said he would go. down 
 to his house and see for himself whether he had the ability 
 of paying or not ; ordered him immediately to give in a 
 true account of all his effects, and by no means to leave 
 out an article ; at the same time using very abusive and 
 threatening language. This unauthorized conduct excited 
 the indignation of a woman present, (Ma Cathai) who 
 sharply interposed, and the examination was stopped. I 
 was then called out, and the same demand was repeated, to 
 which I made the same reply. Highly exasperated, he 
 called for the old jailor, and ordered me back to be more 
 tightly kept (kyat kyat 'tah.) Mr. J. was also ordered in, 
 and a hint given that if one hundred pieces were given, we 
 should be let out of the close room. Mr. G. and Mr. R. 
 were let out this morning on the payment of about four 
 hundred. 
 
 " Just after breakfast a meeting took place between Mr. 
 and Mrs. J. of such a nature as to affect even to sobbing 
 our hardened keeper who was also a fellow prisoner. 
 We were now informed, for the first time, that immediately 
 after Mr. J's departure, the house was surrounded with 
 guards, every thing in the yard broken or destroyed, or 
 carried away, and at length she was obliged to suspect 
 them of intending the same thing in the house. She 
 accordingly retired within, and having fastened all the 
 doors remained quietly to wait the event. Soon the de-
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 91 
 
 mons appeared at the door, and ordered it to be opened, 
 threatening to break it down. But not obtaining their 
 purpose, they seized on the cook and consumer, tied them 
 by the feet, and hoisted them towards the ceiling. The 
 cries of these poor wretches effected what the threats of the 
 others could not; and to relieve her people, Mrs. J. 
 opened a wicket and threw out to them six or seven hand- 
 kerchiefs, on which they desisted from further violence, 
 keeping up nevertheless a most deafening noise the whole 
 night. In the morning the head of the district came to 
 see her ; to whom she complained of the conduct of his 
 people. On which he reprimanded them severely, ordered 
 them to give back the handkerchiefs, and in a day or two 
 removed them entirely from the house : when Mrs. J. was 
 left quite at liberty to go where she chose ; of which lib- 
 erty we often, very often reaped the benefit ; for although 
 her house was full two miles off", she almost daily walked 
 this distance to alleviate our miseries and complain to the 
 proper authority when the understrappers used us ill. 
 
 " On the day she first visited the prison, we had a most 
 grateful proof of her assistance ; for so soon as she wit- 
 nessed the scene of our sufferings, she rested not until she 
 had procured, on the same day, the enlargement of us both. 
 The day following, Prince TBarawottee sent and ordered 
 the enlargement of Capt. L. The remaining two were 
 relieved the next day, no money being obtained from them. 
 
 " Being all seven now placed in a comfortable room by
 
 92 ADON1RAM JUDSON, 
 
 ourselves, we began to take that enjoyment which so great 
 a change in our circumstances was calculated to produce. 
 Mr. Gr. even proposed sending for chairs, and tables, &c. 
 that we might have every thing in as good style as 
 possible. 
 
 " While we were quietly consulting on these matters, a 
 crowd of people thronged into the prison, bringing a man 
 who was accused of robbing jewels to a very high amount. 
 He was confronted by the accuser, a woman who affirmed 
 him to be the man who had put a dagger to her throat, and 
 prevented her crying out for aid. Refusing to confess, his 
 torture commenced, to which we were obliged to be unwil- 
 ling spectators, for besides that we were all naturally averse 
 to such a sight, we only anticipated in every contortion 
 and groan of the unhappy man, the state we might soon be 
 in. He was first jerked suddenly by the hair of the head, 
 from the floor of the hall, and landed on the ground ; next 
 his hands were tied very tight behind him, and drawn up 
 to a high pole, so as almost to dislocate the shoulder. Last 
 of all, his knees were bound fast together, and two hand 
 spikes put in the figures of the letter X between his thighs, 
 when with an immense advantage of power, the two lev- 
 ers were brought, each to a perpendicular, like the letter 
 H, the hip joints almost or quite dislocated ; and the 
 wretched sufferer uttering a horrid shriek, fainted away. 
 After using means to recover him, he was ordered into five 
 pairs of fetters, as an incorrigible culprit, and turned into 
 the prison.
 
 THE EUEMAN APOSTLE. O 
 
 " On Saturday evening, June 12, we were informed that 
 Rangoon was surrounded by the Burman troops, and that 
 they were only waiting orders, whether to catch the white 
 men alive, or kill them at once : also we were told, for 
 our satisfaction, that some great man, a general, perhaps, or 
 more likely the king himself, had been taken prisoner, and 
 was nearly arrived at Ava. Each began to imagine the 
 probability that he should be forced to behold, in the new 
 made prisoner, some bosom friend. It may be Mr. H. or 
 Mr. W. ; it may be Mr. S. or Mr. A. or Mr. T. ; there 
 was no end to our fruitless conjectures. At length the cel- 
 ebrated prisoner arrives about 12 at night, each of us look- 
 ing out on the rack of intense curiosity ; but he was brought 
 in covered with a cloak, and no one could satisfy his mind 
 on the interesting particular. At 3 o'clock, A. M. an 
 order came to put us all inside again. Oh ! what a pros- 
 pect now presented itself, ' that no faith should be kept 
 with heretics.' Was this the cause of our being put again 
 inside, when they had promised us the outside, and taken 
 an enormous sum of money from us on this express condi- 
 tion ? Or were they about to put us to death to day, along 
 with the new prisoner ? The latter seemed the most prob- 
 able, and our minds were again filled with unspeakable 
 anxiety, and sleep departed from our eyes. At 8 A. M. 
 
 the town clerk came in and informed Mr. that the 
 
 king had sent to inquire after his watch. He said it was 
 at his house ' and the key of his strong box ? it was
 
 94 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 at home. Now, said Mr. , I am sure they will kill me 
 
 on account of my property. I shall never survive this day. 
 He became much agitated, requested me to pray with him 
 once more, which I did, with many tears. He then gave 
 me particular messages to be delivered, if ever I escaped 
 to his surviving friends. ' 0, tell them, above all,' said he, 
 ' that I die in faith and hope ; Christ is my portion, 
 my Saviour ; I die happy ?' My heart was ready to burst. 
 I promised, nevertheless, everything that was required, lit- 
 tle hoping, however, that I should ever live to deliver them ; 
 and reminded by the very circumstance of the reason I had 
 myself of making the same preparation." 
 
 Thus far we have followed the narrative of Dr. Price, 
 and we now close the account of almost unparalleled suf- 
 ferings in the language of Mrs. Judson, the heroic woman 
 whose memory is associated with all that is hallowed in 
 missions, and all that is dear in piety. 
 
 " But new and dreadful trials were yet before us. I 
 had gone in one morning to give Mr. Judson his breakfast, 
 and intended spending a few hours, as usual, when the 
 governor, in great haste, sent for me. I was agreeably dis- 
 appointed, on appearing before him, to find that he had noth- 
 ing in particular to communicate, and that he was uncom- 
 monly kind and obliging. He had detained me a long 
 time, when a servant came in hastily, and whispered that 
 the foreign prisoners had all been taken out, and he knew 
 not where they were carried. Without speaking to the gov-
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 95 
 
 ernor, I ran down stairs into the street, hoping to catch a 
 sight of them ; but they were beyond the reach of my eye. 
 I inquired of all whom I met, which way the white prison- 
 ers were gone ; but no one knew : I returned again to the 
 governor, who declared that he was perfectly ignorant of 
 their fate ; and that he did not know of their being taken 
 out of prison till a few moments before. This was all false ; 
 as he had evidently been detaining me, to avoid witnessing 
 the scene that was to follow. He also said, with a meaning 
 countenance, ' You can do no more for your husband : 
 take care of yourself.' This was a day never to be forgotten. 
 I retired to my little bamboo house, and endeavored to 
 obtain comfort from the only true source ; but my mind 
 was in such a distracted state, that I could not steadily 
 reflect on any thing. This one thought occupied my mind 
 to the exclusion of every other that I had seen Mr. Jud- 
 son for the last time, and that he was now probably in a 
 state of extreme agony. In the evening I heard that the 
 prisoners were sent to Ummerapoorah ; but what was to be 
 their fate was not yet known. The next day I obtained 
 a pass from government, to follow Mr. Judson, with 
 my little Maria, who was then only three months old ; 
 and, with one Bengalee servant, set out on my jour- 
 ney. We reached the government house at Ummerapoo- 
 rah ; and were informed that the prisoners had been sent 
 off two hours before, to Oung-pen-lay, (a place similar 
 to Botany Bay,) whither I immediately followed.' I found
 
 96 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 Mr. Judson in a most wretched state. He had been drag- 
 ged out of his little room the day before : his shoes, hat, and 
 clothes, excepting his shirt and pantaloons, had been taken 
 from him, and in his feeble state of health, and in the hot- 
 test part of the day, had been literally driven ten miles 
 with a rope tied round his waist. His feet were torn in 
 such a manner, that for six weeks he was unable to stand. 
 He was nearly exhausted with pain and fatigue, when a 
 servant of Mr. Ganger's who had followed his master, took 
 from his head his turban, gave part of it to Mr. Judson, 
 who hastily wrapped it about his feet, which enabled him 
 to proceed without sinking. He and Dr. Price were now 
 chained together ; and with the other prisoners, put inside 
 of a small wood prison, almost gone to decay. We after- 
 wards were informed that the pagan Woongyee had sent 
 the foreigners to this place, with a design to sacrifice them, 
 in order to secure success in his contemplated expedition : 
 but the king, suspecting him of treasonable intentions, 
 caused him to be executed before he had time to accom- 
 plish his designs. 
 
 " I here obtained a little room from one of the jailors, 
 where I passed six months of constant and severe suffering. 
 Mr. Judson was much more comfortably situated than 
 when in the city prison, as he had only one pair of fetters ; 
 and, when recovered from his fever and wounds, was 
 allowed to walk in the prison enclosure. But I was de- 
 prived of every single convenience j and my health, which
 
 THE BURMAN AP08TLE. 97 
 
 had enabled me to bear severe trials bitherto, now began to 
 fail. I was taken with one of the country disorders ; and, for 
 two months, was unable to go to Mr. Judson's prison. 
 Our little Maria, who had just recovered from the small- 
 pox, was near starving to death, as I could neither obtain 
 a nurse nor a drop of milk in the village. 
 
 " Our merciful Father preserved us all, through these 
 dreadful scenes ; and, at the expiration of six months, an 
 order arrived for the release of Mr. Judson, and I was 
 allowed to return to our house in town. 
 
 " The King was much in want of an interpreter, and, 
 from selfish motives, had given orders for the release of 
 Mr. Judson, who was immediately conducted to the Bur- 
 mese Camp, then at Wialown, where he remained six 
 weeks translating for his Majesty : he was then sent back 
 to Ava ; and as a reward for his services, ordered back to 
 the Oung-pen to prison ; but before the order could be 
 executed, I sent Moung Ing to Koung-tong, who was now 
 high in office, and had for a long time manifested a dispo- 
 sition to help us ; and begged that he would intercede for 
 Mr. Judson, and prevent his being sent again to prison. 
 Koung-tong complied with my request, offered to become 
 security for Mr. Judson, and took him to his house, where 
 he was kept a prisoner at large nearly two months longer. 
 
 " The British troops were now so rapidly advancing, 
 that the King and Government felt the necessity of taking 
 some measures to prevent their arrival in the capital. They 
 7
 
 98 
 
 AUONIIIAM JUDSON, 
 
 had several times refused to listen to the terms which Sir 
 Archibald Campbell had offered ; but they now saw that 
 there was no other hope for the preservation of the ' gold- 
 en city.' Mr. Judson was daily called to the palace, 
 and his opinion requested in all their procce \t\\\-s ; and 
 the Government finally entreated him to go as their Am- 
 bassador to the English Camp. This he entirely declined ; 
 but advised their sending Dr. Price, who had no objection 
 to going. Dr. Price being unsuccessful in his mission, on 
 his return Mr. Judson was taken by force, and gent with 
 him again. Sir Archibald bad before this demanded us, 
 together with the other foreign prisoners ; but the King had 
 refused, saying, ' They are my people; let them remain.' 
 We then did not venture to express a wish to leave the 
 country, fearing that we should be immediately sent to 
 prison. Mr. Judson communicated our real situation to the 
 General, who with all the feelings of a British officer, now 
 demanded us in a way that his Majesty dared not refuse ; 
 and on the 21st of February, after an imprisonment of 
 nearly two years, we took our leave of the ' golden city ' 
 and all its magnificence, and turned oar faces toward the 
 British Camp, then within forty miles of Ava." 
 
 While confined in the death dungeon at Ava, Mr. Jud- 
 son composed a most touching poem to his infant, Maria 
 Eliza Butterworth, who was born at Ava, Jan. 26th, 18'25, 
 and who was at this time but twenty days old. The poem, 
 under such circumstances, must have spoken out a father's
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 
 
 heart a heart which he supposed would, in a short time, 
 cease its wild and tumultuous throbbings. 
 
 " Sleep, darling infant, sleep, 
 
 Hush'd on thy mother's breast; 
 Let no rude sound of clanking chains 
 
 Disturb thy balmy rest. 
 
 Sleep, darling infant, sleep, 
 Blest that thou canst not know 
 The pangs that rend thy parents' hearts, 
 The keenness of their wo. 
 
 Sleep, darling infant, sleep: 
 May Heaven its blessing shed, 
 In rich profusion, soft and sweet, 
 On thine unconscious head. 
 
 Why ope thy little eyes ? 
 What would my darling see ? 
 Her sorrowing mother's bending form ? 
 Her father's misery ? 
 
 Wouldst view this drear abode, 
 Where fettered felons lie, 
 And wonder that thy father dear, 
 Such place shouli occupy ? 
 
 Wouldst see the dreadful sights, 
 That stoutest hearts appal, 
 The stocks, the cord, the fatal sword, 
 The torturing iron maul ? 
 
 No, darling infant, no ; 
 Thou seest them not at all ; 
 Thou only mark'st the rays of light, 
 That flit along the wall.
 
 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 Thine untaught infant eye 
 Can nothing clearly see ; 
 Sweet scenes of home and prison scenes 
 Are alj the same to thee. 
 
 Stretch then thy little limbs, 
 And roll thy vacant eye, 
 Reposing in thy mother's arms, 
 In soft security. 
 
 Go, darling infant, go ; 
 Thine hour is past away ; 
 The jailer's voice, in accents harsh, 
 Forbids thy longer stay. 
 
 God grant we yet may meet 
 In happier times than this ; 
 And with thine angel mother dear, 
 Enjoy domestic bliss ! 
 
 But should ihe gathering clouds, 
 That Burmah's sky o'erspread, 
 Conduct the fatal vengeance down 
 Upon thy father's head, 
 
 Where couldst thou shelter find ? 
 Ah, whither wouldst thou stray ? 
 What hand support thy tot.tering steps, 
 And guide thy darkling way ? 
 
 There is a God on high, 
 The glorious King of kings ; 
 'Tis he to whom thy mother prays, 
 Whose love she sits and sings-
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 101 
 
 That glorious God, so kind, 
 Has sent his Son to save 
 Our ruin'd race from sin and death, 
 And raise them from the grave." 
 
 Leaving Mrs. Judson at Amherst, Mr. J. accompanied 
 Mr. Crawford to Ava, to negotiate a treaty -with the proud 
 Court. During his absence, his beloved and amiable 
 companion was called from time into eternity. Dying 
 alone, with scarcely one kind hand to wipe the death-drops 
 from her brow, she left words of encouragement for her 
 husband. Mr. Judson returned to find himself the father 
 of a motherless child, and to weep beside the grave of one 
 who had shared his most severe and awful trials. Dark 
 was his lot and cold his hearth-side, as he sat down to 
 weep, when the native Christians told him how fondly and 
 how anxiously the deceased had asked, " Will the teacher 
 never come?" 
 
 And here we may pause to speak of her the first, the 
 most wonderful of all the women who have left home for 
 God and a perishing world. Educated in refinement and 
 luxury, and possessed of every attraction to render her a 
 favorite with her friends, she gave her life to a cause which 
 demanded trial, privation, and suffering. She was chosen 
 of God, and but for her, Judson might have died long ago, 
 and to the church might have been lost those arduous 
 labors which he has performed. Her sufferings were most 
 incredible, and her watchings and fastings equal to any
 
 102 ADONIRAM JODSON, 
 
 which are mentioned of the holy women who lived in tho 
 time of Christ. Her death, while it was full of sadness, 
 had nothing connected with it to tarnish the brightness of 
 her life. 
 
 She died alone. The husband who had suffered with 
 her was not present to hold her dying hand, or wipe the 
 death damp from her brow. Engaged in the service of 
 God, he was far away, entirely unconscious of the scenes 
 which were transpiring in his own dwelling. He knew 
 not what groans, and pains, and dying struggles were heard, 
 and seen, and felt, in the bosom of his family ; and ho 
 returned only to find his hopes blasted, and to mingle his 
 tears with those which were already falling upon the new 
 made grave. The remains of Mrs. Judson now repose at 
 Amherst, under the shadow of the Hopia tree, which waves 
 its branches as if conscious of the tender trust committed 
 to it. And there she will sleep until the morning of the 
 resurrection. It would be sacrilege to rob the soil of 
 India of such a precious treasure as it now contains. The 
 time will come when that grave will be visited by thousands 
 of converted heathen, who will remember her, as the first 
 woman who came to tell the fallen females of the East, 
 of those things which are more precious than life. 
 
 And soon the child, the dear little Maria, was taken out 
 of the arms of the stricken father, and again Judson was 
 alone alone. Of the death of this lovely and interest- 
 ing child, the good man thus writes to his mother-in-law.
 
 THB BURMAN APOSTLE 103 
 
 " My little Maria lies by the side of her fond mother. 
 The complaint, to which she was subject several months, 
 proved incurable. She bad the best medical advice : and 
 the kind care of Mrs. Wade could not have been, in 
 any respect, exceeded by that of her own mother. But 
 all our efforts, and prayers, and tears, could not propitiate 
 the cruel disease ; the work of death went forward, and 
 after the usual process, excruciating to a parent's heart, she 
 ceased to breathe, on the 24th inst. at 3 o'clock, P. M. 
 aged two years and three months. We then closed her 
 faded eyes, and bound up her discolored lips, where the 
 dark touch of death first appeared, and folded her little 
 hands on her cold breast. The next morning, we made 
 her last bed, in the small enclosure that surrounds her 
 mother's lonely grave. Together they rest in hope, under 
 the hope-tree, (Hopia,) which stands at the head of the 
 graves ; and together, I trust, their spirits are rejoicing, 
 after a short separation of precisely six months. y 1;l 
 
 " And I am left alone in the wide world. My own 
 dear family I have buried ; one in Rangoon, and two in 
 Amherst. What remains fcr me, but to hold myself in 
 readiness to follow the dear departed to that blessed world, 
 ' Where my best friends, my kindred dwell, 
 Where God, my Saviour, reigns ?' " 
 
 After the death of his dear companion, Dr. Judson gave 
 himself up entirely to his holy employment, and with in- 
 creased diligence devoted himself to the great and important
 
 104 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 work, of bringing lost men to Christ. He went forth scat- 
 tering the seed of divine truth on every side, and winning 
 to Christ the trophies of saving grace. 
 
 As the best way of portraying the arduous labors of this 
 servant of God, we give a few extracts from his journal 
 of a "tour among the Karens." 
 
 " MARCH 8th, 1832. Went several miles inland to visit 
 Nge-Koung's village ; but the people being Boodhist Ka- 
 rens, would not even treat us hospitably ; much less, listen 
 to the word. In the afternoon, reached Yahdan's v 1 age, 
 and visited the little church, chiefly to receive the confes- 
 sion of two female members, who have been implicated in 
 making some offering to the demon who rules over dis- 
 eases the easily besetting sin of the Karens. Spent the 
 rest of the day in preaching to the villagers and visitors 
 from different parts. Several professed to believe. Had 
 a profoundly attentive, though small as-embly at evening 
 worship, on the broad sand bank of the river, with the 
 view to the accommodation of certain boat-people. We 
 felt that the Holy Spirit set home the truth in a peculiar 
 manner. Some of the disciples were eng aged in religious 
 discussion and prayer, a great part of the night. 
 
 " 9th. Several requested baptism. In the course of the 
 day, we held a church meeting, composed of the disciple s 
 from Maulrnain and others from the neighboring village, 
 and received three persons into our communion, all men,
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 105 
 
 formerly disciples of the new prophet Areemaday. In the 
 afternoon proceeded up the river, as far as Zatzan's vil- 
 lage, where two old women of some influence in these parts, 
 listened with good attention. At night, several of the 
 disciples went inland, a few miles to Lai-dan, where the 
 inhabitants are chiefly Boodhist Karens ; but finding Nah 
 Kee-kah, the widow of Pan-mlai-mlo, whose death is men- 
 tioned Jan. 12th, her parents and sister drank in the truth. 
 I hope to visit them on my return. 
 
 " 10th. Went on to the mouth of theYen-being, and as 
 far as the great log, which prevents a boat from proceeding 
 further. Providentially, met" with Wah-hai, of whom I have 
 heard a good report for some time. He was happy to see 
 us, and we were happy to examine and baptize him. We 
 then visited the village, whence they formerly sent a 
 respectful message, desiring us to go about our business, 
 and found some attentive listeners. 
 
 " llth. Lord's day. Again took the main river, and 
 soon fell in with a boat, containing several of the listeners 
 of yesterday, among whom was one man, who declared his 
 resolution to enter the new religion. We bad scarcely 
 parted with this boat, when we met another full of 
 men, coming down the stream ; and, on hailing to know 
 whether they wished to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, an elderly man, the chief of the party, replied, that 
 he had already heard much of the gospel ; and there was 
 nothing he desired more, than to have a meeting with the
 
 106 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 teacher. Our boats were soon side by side ; where, after 
 a short engagement, the old man struck his colors, and 
 begged us to take him into port, where he could make a 
 proper surrender of himself to Christ. We accordingly 
 went to the shore, and spent several hours very delightfully, 
 under the shade of the overhanging trees, and the banner 
 of the love of Jesus. The old man's experience was so 
 clear, and his desire for baptism so strong, that though cir- 
 cumstances prevented our gaining so much testimony of 
 his good conduct, since believing, as we usually require, we 
 felt that it would be wrong to refuse his request. A lad 
 in his company, the person mentioned Jan. 30th, desired 
 also to be baptized. But though he had been a preacher 
 to the old man, his experience was not so decided and 
 satisfactory ; so that we rejected him for the present. The 
 old man went on his way, rejoicing aloud, and declaring 
 his resolution to make known the eternal God, and the 
 dying love of Jesus, on all the banks of the Yoon-za-lcn, 
 his native stream. 
 
 " The dying words of an aged man of God, when he waved 
 his withered death-struck arm, and exclaimed, ' The best 
 of all is, God is with us,' I feel in my very soul. Yes, 
 the Great Invisible is in these Karen wilds. That Mighty 
 Being, who heaped up these craggy rocks, and reared 
 these stupendous mountains, and poured out these streams 
 in all directions, and scattered immortal beings through- 
 out these deserts, He is present, by the influence of his
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 107 
 
 Holy Spirit, and accompanies the sound of the gospel, 
 with converting, sanctifying power. ' The best of all is, 
 God is with us.' 
 
 ' In these deserts let me labor, 
 On these mountains let me tell, 
 How he died the blessed Saviour, 
 To redeem a world from hell.' 
 
 " 12th. Alas ! how soon is our joy turned iflto mourning. 
 Nah Nyah-ban, of whom we all had such a high opinion, 
 joined her husband, not many days after their baptism, in 
 making an offering to the demon of diseases, on account of 
 the sudden, alarming illness of their youngest child ; and 
 they have remained ever since in an impenitent, prayerless 
 state ! They now refuse to listen to our exhortation, and 
 appear to be given over to hardness of heart and blindness of 
 mind. I was, therefore, obliged, this morning, to pronounce 
 the sentence of suspension, and leave them to the mercy and 
 judgment of God. Their case is greatly to be deplored. 
 They are quite alone in this quarter ; have seen no disci- 
 ples since we left them, and are surrounded with enemies, 
 some from Maulmain, who have told them all manner 
 of lies, and used every method to procure and perpetuate 
 their apostacy. When I consider the evidence of grace, 
 which they formerly gave, together with all the palliating 
 circumstances of the case, I have much remaining hope, 
 that they will yet be brought to repentance. I commend 
 them to the prayers of the faithful, and the notice of any
 
 108 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 missionary who may travel this way. In consequence of 
 the advantage which Satan has gained in this village, the 
 six hopeful enquirers whom we left here, have all fallen 
 off; so that we are obliged to retire with the dispirited 
 feelings of beaten troops. 
 
 " Returned down the river, re-entered the Yen-being, 
 had another interview with the listeners of yesterday, 
 met with a Taleing doctor from Kan-blah, near Maulmain, 
 who listened all the evening with evident delight. 
 
 " 13th. Spent the day and night at Zatzan's, See-bais and 
 the village of Lai-dan, where we failed of finding Nah Kee- 
 kah ; but found her parents, who listened well. In these 
 parts, I leave a considerable number of hopeful inquirers. 
 May the Lord bless the seed sown, and give us the pleas- 
 ure of reaping a plentiful harvest at no very distant period. 
 
 " 16th. The opposition here is violent. The man who 
 was baptized on my last visit, has been obliged to remove 
 to the outskirts of the village ; but he remains steadfast 
 in the faith ; and to-day, another man came out and 
 Laving witnessed a good confession, was received into the 
 fellowship of the persecuted. At night, run down to Poo- 
 door's village, about five miles, found him at home, and 
 spent the evening in persuading him to forsake all for 
 Christ. His language is that of Aggrippa, ' Almost,' &c. 
 I have great hopes and great fears for his immortal soul. 
 Three of the disciples went several miles inland to a village, 
 where there are some hopeful inquirers.
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 109 
 
 " 17th. Returned up the river to_Chummerah. In the 
 evening, had a considerable assembly of disciples, prepara- 
 tory to the administration of the Lord's supper. 
 
 " 18th. Lord's day. Administered the Lord's supper 
 to thirty-six communicants, chiefly from villages on the 
 Sal wen." 
 
 The beloved missionary remained in all the loneliness 
 of widowed woe, until the 10th of April, 1834, when he 
 was married to Sarah Boardman, the widow of George D. 
 Boardman, who, about four years previous, was laid to 
 rest. The marriage service was performed at Tavoy, by 
 Rev. Francis Mason, and the newly-married couple started 
 for the new scene of labor and tears. From this time, Mr. 
 Judson continued laboring on in his Master's service at 
 one time persecuted, and at another time reduced by fa- 
 tigue and hungaiv The mission was prospered by God ; 
 new laborers were sent forth ; a vast amount of work was 
 accomplished, and the servant of God endeared himself to 
 the Christian world, by the many tokens of his faithful- 
 ness and love to Christ. 
 
 TO DR. BOLLES. 
 
 Newville, March 12th, 1834. 
 
 I have spent a few days in this place, where, on my arri- 
 val, I found the church consisting of twenty-five members 
 only ; several having removed to the vicinity of the Chum-
 
 110 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 merah church ; which, though of later origin, is now five or 
 six times larger than the Newville. Day before yesterday, 
 and to-day, nine new members have been received at this 
 place, and there are five or six others, with whom I feel satis- 
 fied ; but. for various reasons, their baptism has been de- 
 ferred. In the number received, the most noticeable case, is 
 that of Lausau, and wife. He is a petty chief, and possesses 
 more personal influence, than any Karen yet baptized in 
 these parts. He has been considering the Christian re- 
 ligion, with approbation, for three years, but has had great 
 difficulties to encounter, resulting from his family connex- 
 ions, and from his inveterate habit of temperate drinking. 
 Until the present time, he could never resolve on adopting 
 the principle of entire abstinence ; but I trust that convic- 
 tion of truth, and love of the Saviour, have enabled him to 
 gain the victory. 
 
 16. On leaving Newville, it was my intention to go up 
 the Patah river ; but, not finding sufficient water this 
 season, I turned into the Houng-tarau ; and, having visited 
 a village, where there are several inquirers, returned to 
 Maulmain. 
 
 April 1. Have been closely engaged in revising a few 
 books of the Old Testament for the press, the regular 
 printing of the whole being now commenced. I say, com- 
 menced, for the edition of the Psalms, which is out of 
 press, we do not consider as forming a part of the present 
 edition of the Old Testament ; for it will probably be ex-
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. Ill 
 
 pended before long, and have to be reprinted in course with 
 the rest of the work. 
 
 To-day, dispatched Pallah, and three younger Karen 
 assistants, to the aid of Ko Thah-byoo, in the vicinity of 
 Rangoon, intending to proceed thither myself before long. 
 
 Tavoy, April 10. I arrived here on the evening of the 
 sixth instant. Am delighted with this station, and every 
 thing about it. The fow native Christians, whom I have 
 seen, together with the schools, appear excellently well. 
 But the glory of this station, the two hundred Karen con- 
 verts, and their village of Mee-tahmyo, I found myself not 
 at leisure to visit. Indeed, I have hardly found time to 
 step out of the mission inclosure, since my arrival ; and, 
 to-day, having received the benediction of the Rev. Mr. 
 Mason, I embark for Maulmain, accompanied by Mrs. 
 Judson, and the only surviving child of the beloved found- 
 er of the Tavoy station. Once more, farewell to thco, 
 Board man, and thy long-cherished grave. May thy mem- 
 ory be over fresh and fragrant, as the memory of the other 
 belovel, whoso beautiful, death-rnarred form reposes at the 
 foot of the Hopia tree. 
 
 A. JUDSOX. 
 
 By his second wife, Dr. Judson became the father of 
 eight childcn, several of whom now survive. With some 
 of them he has been called to part ; and the ties which 
 have linked him to the earth have been severed, one by
 
 112 ADONIEAM JUDSON, 
 
 one. And still he lived on, doing the will of God, and 
 serving the purpose of his generation. 
 
 One great object, for which the good man has prayed and 
 labored, is the compilation of his Burmese Dictionary, 
 which will afford to future missionaries a great aid in the 
 study of the language. His many translations, also, mark 
 his life as one of the utmost diligence and labor. But 
 few men have been enabled to accomplish so much good, 
 even under the most propitious circumstances, and the 
 thanks of the Christian church are due to her servant, 
 who has given his labor and his life, to spread abroad a 
 knowledge of her doctrines and duties. 
 
 In 1845, the health of Mrs. Judson became so impaired 
 as to render a sea-voyage necessary, and, in company with 
 her husband, she sailed for the United States. For a 
 while, high hopes were cherished, but they were vain, and, 
 on the 1st of September, 1845, she died on shipboard, 
 while the vessel was lying in the port of St. Helena. She 
 was buried in all the majesty of death, and the lonely 
 husband, left in sorrow a second time, pursued his solitary 
 way to the land of his birth. 
 
 When it became apparent that Mrs. Judson could not 
 live much longer, her companion addressed the following 
 letter to the Board, under date of April 13, 1845. 
 
 " The hand of God is heavy upon me. The complaint 
 to which Mrs. Judson is subject, has become so violent,
 
 THE BUKMAN APOSTLE. 113 
 
 that it is the unanimous opinion of all the medical men, 
 and, indeed, of all our friends, that nothing but a voyage 
 beyond the tropics can possibly protract her life beyond 
 the period of a few weeks, but that such a voyage will, in 
 all probability, insure her recovery. All medical skill 
 has been exhausted. She has spent six weeks with our 
 commissioner and his lady, in a trip down the coast, touch- 
 ing at Tavoy and Mergui, and returned weaker and 
 nearer the grave than when she set out. She is willing 
 to die, and I hope I am willing to see her die, if it be the 
 divine will ; but though my wife, it is no more than truth 
 to say, that there is scarcely an individual foreigner now 
 alive, who speaks and writes the Burmese tongue so 
 acceptably as she does ; and I feel that an effort ought to 
 be made to save her life. I have long fought against the 
 necessity of accompanying her ; but she is now so desper- 
 ately weak and almost helpless, that all say it would be 
 nothing but savage inhumanity to send her off alone. The 
 three younger children, the youngest but three months and 
 a half old, we must leave behind us, casting them, as it 
 were, on the waters, in the hope of finding them again after 
 many days. The three elder, Abby Ann, Adoniram, and 
 Elnathan, we take with us to leave in their parents' native 
 land. These rendings of parental ties are more severe, 
 and wring out bitterer tears from the heart's core, than 
 any can possibly conceive, who have never felt the wrench. 
 But I hope I can say with truth, that I love Christ above
 
 114 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 all ; and I am striving, in the strength of my weak faith, 
 to gird up my mind to face and welcome all his appoint- 
 ments. And I am much helped to bear these trials, by 
 the advice and encouragement of all my dear brethren and 
 sisters of the mission. 
 
 "It is another great trial to leave my dear church and 
 people. I never knew till now, how much I loved them, 
 and how much they loved me. 
 
 ' And 'tis to love, our farewells owe 
 All their emphasis of woe.' 
 
 " But I leave them in the hands of my dear brethren ; 
 and there are no persons in the world to whom I should 
 be so willing to commit so dear a charge. 
 
 " The course that I have uniformly pursued, ever since I 
 became a missionary, has been rather peculiar. In order 
 to become an acceptable and eloquent preacher in a foreign 
 language, I deliberately abjured my own. When I cross- 
 ed the river, I burnt my ships. For thirty-two years, I 
 have scarcely entered an English pulpit, or made a speech 
 in that language. Whether I have pursued the wisest 
 course, I will not contend; and how far I have attained 
 the object aimed at, I must leave for others to say. But, 
 whether right or wrong, the course I have taken cannot be 
 retraced. The burnt ships cannot now be reconstructed. 
 From long desuetude, I can scarcely put three sentences 
 together in the English language I must, therefore, beg
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 115 
 
 the Board to allow me a quiet corner, where I can pursue 
 my work with my assistants, undisturbed and unknown. 
 
 " This request I am induced to urge from the further 
 consideration, that my voice, though greatly recovered 
 from the affection of the lungs which laid me aside from 
 preaching nearly a year, is still so weak that it can only 
 fill a small room ; and whenever I attempt 4o raise it 
 above the conversational tone, the weak place gives way, 
 and I am quite broken down again for several weeks. I 
 hope, therefore, that no one will try to persuade me to be 
 guilty of such imprudence while in America ; but since 
 there are thousands of preachers in English, and only five 
 or six Burmese preachers in the whole world, I may be 
 allowed to hoard up the remnant of my breath and lungs, 
 for the country where they are most needed." 
 
 Sad and affecting was the passage of his estimable lady 
 from time to eternity. After the birth of her last child, in 
 1844, she was attacked by a disease from which she never 
 recovered. Her husband, after her death, wrote ar affec- 
 tionate tribute to her worth, to which many hearts in 
 Burmah and America, were able to respond. In that 
 notice he says: "After her prostration at the Isle of 
 France, where we spent three weeks, there remained but 
 little expectation of her recovery. Her hope had long 
 been fixed on the Rock of Ages, and she had been in the 
 habit of contemplating death as neither distant nor unde- 
 sirable. As it drew near, she remained perfectly tranquil.
 
 110 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 No shade of doubt, or fear, or anxiety, ever passed over 
 her mind. She .had a prevailing preference to depart and 
 be with Christ. ' I am longing to depart,' and ' what 
 can I want besides ? ' quoting the language of a familiar 
 hymn, were the expressions which revealed the spiritual 
 peace and joy of her mind ; yet, at times, the thought of 
 her nativo land, to which she was approaching after an 
 absence of twenty years, and a longing desire to see once 
 more her son George, her parents, and the friends of her 
 youth, drew down her ascending soul, and constrained her 
 to say, ' I am in a strait betwixt two, let the will of 
 God be done.' 
 
 " In regard to her children, she ever manifested the most 
 surprising composure and resignation ; so much so, that I 
 was once induced to say, ' You seem to have forgotten 
 the dear little ones we have left behind.' ' Can a moth- 
 er forget?' she replied, and was unable to proceed. 
 During her last days, she spent much time in praying for 
 the early conversion of her children. May her living and 
 her dying prayers draw down the blessing of God on their 
 bereaved heads. 
 
 " On our passage homeward, as the strength of Mrs. J. 
 gradually declined, I expected to be under the painful 
 necessity of burying her in the sea. But it was so ordered 
 in Divine Providence, that, when the indications of ap- 
 proaching death had become strongly marked, the ship 
 came to anchor in the port of St. Helena. For three
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 117 
 
 days she continued to sink rapidly, though her bodily suf- 
 ferings were not very severe. Her mind became liable to 
 wander, but a single word was sufficient to recall and steady 
 her recollections. On the evening of the 31st of August, 
 she appeared to be drawing near to the end of her pilgrim- 
 age. The children took leave of her, and retired to rest. 
 I sat alone by the side of her bed during the hours of the 
 night, endeavoring to administer relief to the distressed 
 body and consolation to the departing soul. At two o'clock 
 in the morning, wishing to obtain one more token of recog- 
 nition, I roused her attention and said, ' Do you still love 
 the Saviour?' '0 yes,' she replied, 'lever love the 
 Lord Jesus Christ.' I said again, 'Do you still love 
 me?' She replied in the affirmative, by a peculiar 
 expression of her own. ' Then give me one more kiss ; ' 
 and we exchanged that token of love for the last time. 
 Another hour passed, life continued to recede, and 
 she ceased to breathe. For a moment I traced her upward 
 flight, and thought of the wonders which were opening to 
 her view. I then closed her sightless eyes, dressed her, 
 or the last time, in the drapery of death ; and, being quite 
 exhausted with many sleepless nights, I threw myself down 
 and slept. On awaking in the morning, I saw the children 
 standing and weeping around the body of their dear 
 mother, then, for the first time, inattentive to their cries. 
 In the course of the day, a coffin was procured from the
 
 118 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 shore, in which I placed all that remained of her whom I 
 had so much loved ; and after a prayer had been offered 
 by a dear brother minister from the town, the Eev. Mr. 
 Bertram, we proceeded in boats to the shore. There we 
 were met by the Colonial chaplain, and accompanied to 
 the burial-ground by the adherents and friends of Mr. 
 Bertram, and a large concourse of the inhabitants. They 
 had prepared the grave in a beautiful shady spot, contigu- 
 ous to the grave of Mrs. Chater, a missionary from Ceylon, 
 who had died in similar circumstances on her passage home. 
 There I saw her safely deposited ; and in the language of 
 prayer, which we had often presented together at the 
 throne of grace, I blessed God that her body had attained 
 the repose of the grave, and her spirit the repose of 
 paradise. After the funeral, the dear friends of Mr. 
 Bertram took me to their houses and their hearts ; and 
 their conversation and prayers afforded me unexpected 
 relief and consolation. But I was obliged to hasten on* 
 board ship, and we immediately went to sea. On the 
 following morning no vestige of the island was discernible 
 in the distant horizon. For a few days, in the solitu le of 
 my cabin, with my poor children crying around me, I 
 could not help abandoning myself to heart-breakirg sorrow. 
 But the promises of .the gospel came to my aid, and faith 
 stretched her view to the bright world of eternal life, and 
 anticipated a happy meeting with those beloved Icings,
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 119 
 
 whose bodies are mouldering at Amherst and Saint 
 Helena." 
 
 Mr. Judson arrived upon his native shores Oct. 15, 1845. 
 He was received with open arms by the American churches. 
 Christians of all denominations turned out to welcome him, 
 and he went through the country, everywhere arousing 
 men to think and feel, in relation to the conversion of the 
 world. A service was held in Bowdoin Square Church, 
 in Boston, in which the veteran missionary was publicly 
 congratulated on his safe arrival. An affectionate and 
 touching address was delivered by Rev. Dr. Sharp, one of the 
 oldest pastors in the city. At the close of the exercises, 
 hundreds pressed forward to shake the hand which had 
 been chained in the dungeons of Ava, and which had led 
 the first Barman convert down into the baptismal sepulchre. 
 
 While in America, this venerable man sought out one 
 who would write a memoir of the dear companion whom 
 he had buried on the rocky bosom of " the sea-girt isle " 
 He was directed to Miss Emily Chubbuck, of New York, 
 as a person suitable to perform this work. Miss C. had 
 been a popular writer for several magazines and newspa- 
 pers, and was extensively known as "Fanny Forrester." 
 With this young lady the Doctor had an interview, which 
 resulted in an offer of marriage, which was accepted, and 
 they were united in wedlock at Hamilton, N. Y., by Kev. 
 Dr. Kendrick. That Mrs. Judson has not regretted the
 
 120 ADONIRAM J0DSON, 
 
 step then taken, we may judge from a few verses of her 
 late poem, entitled " The two Mammas." 
 
 #****** 
 
 " But poor papa's thoughts turned back 
 To Burmah and to you. 
 
 " He talked of wretched heathen men, 
 
 With none to do them good ; 
 Of children who are taught to bow 
 To gods of stone and wood. 
 
 " He told me of his darling boys, 
 
 Poor orphans far away, 
 With no mamma to kiss their lips, 
 Or teach them how to pray. 
 
 " And would I be their new mamma, 
 
 And join the little band 
 Of those who, for the Saviour's sake, 
 Dwell in a heathen land. 
 
 "And when I knew how good he was, 
 
 I said that I would come ; 
 I thought it would be sweet to live 
 In such a precious home. 
 
 " And look to dear papa for smiles, 
 
 And hear him talk and pray ; 
 Slit then 1 knew not it would grow 
 Still sweeter every day. ' ' 
 
 But the stay of the veteran missionary in this country was 
 short. The heathen world had stronger claims upon him, 
 and stronger attractions too, than the land of his birth ; and 
 soon, in the spacious church in Baldwin Place, were held
 
 THE EURMAN APOSTLE. 121 
 
 the solemn services of the farewell occasion. Rev. R. H. 
 Neale, opened the sacred word, and read the solemn lessons 
 of inspiration, adapted to the occasion ; Rev. Dr. Ripley 
 led the vast, yet deathlike silent congregation up to the 
 throne of grace ; Rev. Dr. Stow addressed the assembled 
 people, tracing the evidences of divine providence in the 
 missionary movement, and especially in the labors and toils 
 of Judson ; Rev. Dr. Hague read the farewell address of 
 the beloved servant of God, who, too weak to be heard by 
 the immense throng, yet desired to leave his testimony for 
 the church; Dr Judson himself, uttered words few, 
 solemn, earnest; the closing scene then came, the tearful 
 eye, the pressure of the hand, the warm word of sympa- 
 thy and love, and it was done. 
 
 Then came the hour of departure the service on ship- 
 board the last parting, and the devoted man was on his 
 way to his Barman home to his Burman 'grave. 
 
 ''\ 
 
 "Yet, yet, 'tis hard to let thee go, 
 
 Feeling that never more below 
 Thou in our midst may dwell. 
 How will our spirits cling to thee, 
 Though we no more thy face may see ; 
 
 WE WILL NOT SAY FAREWELL ! 
 
 " We will go with thee. Seas may roll 
 Between our homes, but the free soul 
 
 Across their waves shall glide. 
 God grant us, when this life is o'er, 
 To meet thee on a happier shore, 
 
 And still be by thy side. "
 
 122 AUONIIUM JUDSON, 
 
 The following is the farewell address read by Rev. Dr. 
 Hague, in behalf of Dr. Judson. 
 
 " There are periods in the lives of men, who experience 
 much change of scene and variety of adventure, when they 
 seem to themselves to be subject to some supernatural 
 illusion, or wild, magical dream, when they are ready, 
 amid the whirl of conflicting recollection, to doubt their 
 own personal identity, and, like steersmen in a storm, 
 feel that they must keep a steady eye to the compass, and 
 a strong arm at the wheel. The scene spread out before 
 me seems, on retrospection, to be identified with the past, 
 and, at the same time, to be reaching forward and fore- 
 shadowing the future. At one moment, the lapse of thirty- 
 four years is annihilated; the scenes of 1812 are again 
 present; and this assembly how like that which com- 
 mended me to God, on first leaving my native shores for 
 the distant East ! But, as I look around, where are the 
 well-known faces of Spring, and Worcester, and Dwight ? 
 Where are Lyman, and Huntington, and Griffin ? And 
 where are those leaders of the baptized ranks, who stretch- 
 ed out their arms across the water, and received me into 
 their communion ? Where are Baldwin and Bolles ? 
 Where Holcombe, and Rogers, and Staughton ? I see 
 them not. I have been to their temples of worship, but 
 their voices have passed away. And where are my early 
 missionary associates, Newell, and Hall, and Rice, and 
 Richards, and Mills? But why inquire for those so an-
 
 THE BTJRMAN APOSTLE. 123 
 
 cient ? Where are the succeeding laborers in the mission- 
 ary field for many years, and the intervening generation, 
 who sustained the missions ? And where are those who 
 moved amid the dark scenes of Rangoon, and Ava, and 
 Tavoy? Where those gentle, yet firm spirits, which ten- 
 anted forms, delicate in structure, but careless of the 
 storm, now broken, and scattered, and strewn, like the 
 leaves of autumn, under the shadow of overhanging trees, 
 and on remote islands of the sea ? 
 
 "No, these are not the scenes of 1812, nor is this the 
 assembly that convened in the Tabernacle of a neighboring 
 city. Many years have elapsed ; many venerated, many 
 beloved ones have passed away to be seen no more. 
 1 They rest from their labors, and their works do follow 
 them.' And with what words shall I address those who 
 have taken their places, the successors of the venerated 
 and the beloved the generation of 1812 ? 
 
 " In that year American Christians pledged themselves to 
 the work of evangelizing the world. They had but little 
 to rest on except the command and promise of God. The 
 attempts then made by British Christians had not been 
 attended with so much success, as to establish the practi- 
 cability, or vindicate the wisdom, of the missionary enter- 
 prise. For many years, the work advanced but slowly. One 
 denomination after another embarked in the undertaking ; 
 and now American missionaries are seen in almost every 
 land and every clime. Many languages have been ac-
 
 24 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 quired ; many translations of the Bible have been made ; the 
 gospel has been extensively preached ; and churches have 
 been established containing thousands of sincere, intelli- 
 gent converts. The obligation, therefore, on the present 
 generation, to redeem the pledge given by their fathers, is 
 greatly enhanced. And it is an animating consideration, 
 that, with the enhancement of the obligation, the encourage- 
 ments to persevere in the work, and to make still greater 
 efforts, are increasing from year to year. Judging from 
 the past, what may we rationally expect, during the lapse 
 of another thirty or forty years? Look forward with the 
 eye of faith. Sec the missionary spirit universally diffused, 
 and in active operation throughout this country, every 
 church sustaining not only its own minister, but through 
 some general organization, its own missionary in a foreign 
 land. See the Bible faithfully translated into all languages 
 the rays of the lamp of heaven transmitted through 
 every medium, and illuminating all lands. See the Sabbath 
 spreading its holy calm over the face of the earth", the 
 churches of Zion assembling, and the praises of Jesus 
 resounding from shore to shore ; and though the great 
 majority may still remain, as now in this Christian country, 
 without hope and without God in this world, yet the bar- 
 riers in the way of the descent and operations of the Holy 
 Spirit removed, so that revivals of religion become more 
 constant and more powerful. 
 
 " The world is yet in its infancy ; the gracious designs of
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 125 
 
 God are yet hardly developed. Glorious things are spoken 
 of Zion, the city of our God. She is^ yet to triumph, 
 and become the joy and glory of the \vhole earth. Blessed 
 be God that we live in these latter times the latter times 
 of the reign of darkness and imposition. Great is our priv- 
 ilege, precious is our opportunity, to cooperate with the 
 Saviour in the blessed work of enlarging and establishing 
 his kingdom throughout the world. Most precious the 
 opportunity of becoming wise, in turning many to right- 
 eousness, and of shining at last, as the brightness of the 
 firmament, and as the stars, forever and ever. 
 
 " Let us not, then, regret the loss of those who have gone 
 before us, and are waiting to welcome us home, nor shrink 
 from the summons that must call us thither. Let us only 
 resolve to follow them, who through faith and patience in- 
 herit the promises. Let us so employ the remnant of life, 
 and so pass away, as that our successors will say of us as 
 we of our predecessors, ' Blessed are the dead that die in 
 the Lord. They rest from their labors, and their works 
 do follow them.'" 
 
 The remarks made by Dr. Judson orally, on the same 
 occasion, were these, uttered in broken accents : 
 
 " My friends are aware, that it is quite impossible for 
 me, without serious injury to myself, to sustain my, voice 
 at such a height as to reach this large assembly, except 
 for a few sentences. I have therefore taken the liberty of
 
 126 ADONIEAM JUDSON, 
 
 putting some thoughts on paper, which the Rev. Mr. 
 Hague will do me the honor of reading to you. 
 
 " I wish, however, in my own voice, to praise God for the 
 deep interest in the cause of missions, manifested by the 
 friends of the Redeemer in this city and the vicinity, and 
 to thank them for all their expressions and acts of kindness 
 toward me, during my brief sojourn among them. I regret 
 that circumstances have prevented my spending more time 
 in, this city, and of forming a more intimate acquaintance 
 with those, whom a slight acquaintance has taught me so 
 much to love. 
 
 "It is as certain as any future event can be, that I 
 shall never again re-visit the shores of my native land, 
 that after a few days, your beautiful city, this great and 
 glorious country, will be forever shut from my view. No 
 more shall I enter your places of worship, no more shall 
 I behold your faces, and exchange the affectionate saluta- 
 tions of Christian love. 
 
 " The greatest favor we can bestow on our absent friends, 
 is to bear them on our hearts at the throne of grace. I 
 pray you, dear friends, remember me there, and my 
 missionary associates, and our infant churches, and the 
 poor heathen among whom we go to live. And though 
 we do meet no more on earth, I trust that our next meet- 
 ing will be in that blessed world, where ' the loved and the 
 parted here below, meet ne'er to part again.' "
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 127 
 
 After the return of Dr. Judson to India, letters were 
 received from him, giving cheering indications of his pro- 
 gress in his sublime work. 
 
 TO THE REV. E. BRIGHT. 
 
 "KANGOON, MARCH 28, 1847. I have just returned 
 from baptizing a Burman convert, in the same tank of 
 water where I baptized the first Burman convert, Moung 
 Nau, twenty-eight years ago. It is now twenty-five years 
 since I administered baptism in Rangoon, the few converts 
 that have been made during that period being generally 
 baptized by the native pastor. My time has been mostly 
 spent in Maulmain, where, having been instrumental, with 
 others, of raising up a few Burmese and Karen churches, 
 I have left them, since my return from America, in the 
 care of my dear and excellent missionary brethren, and am 
 now making a small attempt once more in Burmah Proper. 
 
 " The attempt, however, is made under very discouraging 
 circumstances. The present administration of government, 
 though rather more friendly to foreigners, is more rigidly 
 intolerant than that of the late king Tbarawaddy. Any 
 known attempt at proselyting would be instantly amenable 
 at the criminal tribunal, and would probably be punished 
 by the imprisonment 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 char-
 
 128 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 acter,) but as a minister of a foreign religion, ministering 
 to foreigners resident in the place, and a dictionary maker, 
 ' laboring to promote the welfare of both countries.' Our 
 missionary efforts, therefore, being conducted in private, 
 must necessarily be very limited. It is, however, a pre- 
 cious privilege to be allowed to welcome into a private'room 
 a small company, perhaps two or three individuals only, 
 and pour the light of truth into their immortal souls 
 souls that, but for the efficacy of that light, would be cov- 
 ered with the gloom of darkness darkness to be felt to all 
 eternity. 
 
 " Another discouraging circumstance is the very low state 
 of the Burnian church in this place. There are about 
 twenty nominal members still surviving ; but they are 
 much scattered, and not half of them appear to be living 
 members. I have, therefore, been making an attempt to 
 reorganize the church, and have found four individuals 
 who have united with myself and wife in renewing our 
 church covenant, and establishing a new church. We have, 
 this day, received one new member, and we hope to find 
 a few more of the old members who will come up to our 
 standard." 
 
 TO THE SAME. 
 
 " RANGOON, MAY 20, 1847. This is the first Lord's 
 day on which I have had no regular worship. A private 
 order of government was issued day before yesterday, to
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 129 
 
 have the house I occupy watched by police officers, in order 
 to apprehend any who might be liable to the charge of 
 favoring "Jesus Christ's religion." Seasonable informa- 
 tion was communicated to me and the disciples, by friends 
 at court, so that they have all escaped for the present. 
 None came near me, except two from the country ; and 
 with them I had a very interesting and affecting time, in a 
 private room ; and they got off undiscovered. Four Ka- 
 ren lads, who had been waiting for a passage to Maulmain, 
 decamped before light this morning, for their native jungle. 
 
 " The vice-governor of the place, who is indeed the acting 
 governor at present, is the most ferocious, bloodthirsty 
 monster I have ever known in Burmah. It is said, that 
 his house and courtyard resound, day and night, with the 
 screams of people under torture. Even foreigners are not 
 beyond his grasp. He lately wreaked his rage on some 
 Armenians and Mussulmans ; and one of the latter class 
 died in the hands of a subordinate officer. His crime was 
 quite a venial one ; but, in order to extort money, he was 
 tortured so barbarously that the blood streamed from his 
 mouth, and he was dead in an hour. 
 
 " I am afraid that, while the present monster is in power, 
 I shall not be able to convene the disciples for worship, as 
 hitherto. He is, however, only acting on the orders 
 which are understood to be in force all over the country, 
 proscriptive of the Christian religion. I feel the blow 
 most deeply, for I had just succeeded in reorganizing a
 
 130 ADONIKAM JUDSON, 
 
 little church out of old materials and some lately baptized, 
 amounting in number to eleven, nearly all pure Burmese ; 
 and last Sunday I had an assembly of above twenty. Sev- 
 eral new ones were expected to-day ; and two would prob- 
 ably have been baptized. I had become so attached to 
 the little church and assembly, and so glad on every return- 
 ing Lord's day to lay aside my tedious dictionary labors, 
 and spend all the day in obtaining and communicating 
 spiritual refreshment, that the present interruption seems 
 almost too hard to bear. However, I hope to do something 
 yet in private, to aid a few perishing souls, who are struggling 
 through darkness and terror, to find a way of escape from 
 the more dread darkness and terror of eternal death. But 
 everything must be done in private. Not even a tract 
 can be given publicly. That point I ascertained a few 
 years ago, on a visit to the place, which, I believe, I never 
 mentioned in writing home. In order to test the real 
 extent and efficiency of the king's order, prohibiting the 
 distribution of books at Ava, I opened a box of tracts in 
 the front part of the house where I was a guest for a few 
 days. The people took them greedily ; but in less than 
 an hour my assistant, Ko En, was arrested and placed in 
 confinement. It cost me a great deal to get him free ; 
 and when he was released, it was on condition that he 
 would give no more tracts. This time, therefore, I brought 
 no tracts for distribution, and have confined myself to pri-
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 131 
 
 vate conversation, except convening an assembly for wor- 
 ship (and that in an " upper room") every Lord's day. 
 
 "June 6. Lord's-day. No formal worship ; but a fine 
 young man whom we had concluded to receive into the 
 church, son of one of the oldest converts, spent the day 
 with me, in company with two or three others ; and just 
 at night we repaired to the remote side of the old baptiz- 
 ing place, and under cover of the bushes perpetrated a 
 deed which I trust our enemies will not be able to gainsay 
 or invalidate to all eternity. 
 
 " 8. Yesterday morning the young man, on returning to 
 his residence, a few miles distant, met his father under 
 arrest, in the hands of the myrmidons of government, on 
 their way to the court of the governor, not, I was glad to 
 learn, the ferocious vice-governor above mentioned. One 
 of the converts ran to give me notice ; and for two or three 
 hours I sat expecting the worst. But the blow was averted 
 as suddenly as it was aimed. ' What have you brought 
 the man before me for ? ' said the officer. ' To be exam- 
 ined on a charge of heresy, and frequenting the house of 
 Jesus Christ's teacher,' said the leading accuser. ' On 
 what authority ? ' ' Here is your written order.' ' What 
 who I have given no order. It must be one of my 
 petty clerks. It is all a mistake. Go about your busi- 
 ness.' ' I thought it strange,' rallied the arrested, 'that 
 you should summon me on a charge of heresy, as it is well 
 known that I worship the true God.' ' God,' said the
 
 132 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 officer, rather nettled, ' worship any god you like ' ' or 
 the devil,' promptly added a virago, sitting on an official 
 cushion, at his side, ' if you villagers just pay your 
 taxes, what more do we want of you ? ' 
 
 " As near as we can ascertain the truth of this strange 
 affair, the officer, after sending off the order early in the 
 morning, not entertaining the least doubt that the measure 
 would be approved, as the religion of Jesus Christ is under- 
 stood to be universally proscribed, stepped, however, into 
 the government house, and reported what he had done ; 
 and the governor, remembering his pledge to me on my 
 first arrival, quashed the proceedings. Thanks be to God." 
 
 The great works of Dr. Judson's life, were the translation 
 of the Bible into the Burmese language and the compiling 
 of a Burmese Dictionary. The former, he was enabled to 
 complete; the latter was not entirely finished when he 
 went down to his watery tomb. When the translation was 
 completed, he took the last leaf in his hand and kneeled 
 before God, and thanked him for the aid which had been 
 rendered in the service, and for the success which had 
 crowned the effort. 
 
 We now approach the closing scene in the life of our 
 subject. That the manner of his death should be a theme 
 of sad and melancholy pleasure cannot be doubted, and we 
 have all read of the closing hours of his life with much 
 satisfaction. His death was worthy of his exalted station,
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 133 
 
 and his career of usefulness and honor. In March last, 
 the sad intelligence was received in this country, that the 
 beloved man, whose life stretched itself through all the 
 history of American missions, was in a declining state, and 
 had left his companion and her children, to try the efficacy 
 of a voyage upon the deep. A melancholy sensation was 
 felt throughout the land. The conviction could not be 
 resisted, that Judson was near his end ; that his long and 
 useful labors were winding to a close. The hearts of 
 Christians went up to God in prayer, that, if possible, he 
 might be spared ; but, even ere those prayers were oflered, 
 the sea had become his grave, and the coral his coffin. 
 We waited in anxiety to learn the result : and it soon came. 
 Dr. Judson died April 12, 1850. He was on board 
 the French barque Aristide Marie, on his way to the Isle 
 of Bourbon. When a few days out, it became evident 
 that he could not long survive. The two Burman disciples 
 who accompanied him to the vessel, and remained on board 
 until the pilot returned, bore back to the native Christians 
 the melancholy intelligence, that the " teacher" would soon 
 be buried in the ocean. After Ko En and Ko Sway Dake 
 had left the vessel, the illness of the invalid increased, and 
 his disease rapidly gained the advantage over him. He 
 was not permitted to talk much. His bodily distress was so 
 great that all power of speech was frequently taken away, 
 and yet his hope in Christ wavered not. He was calm 
 and composed, though aware that he should soon be buried 
 9*
 
 134 ADON1RAM JT7DSON, 
 
 in the sea. When asked " If his hope in God was strong," 
 he replied, laying his hand on his heart, and looking up- 
 ward, " It is all right there." 
 
 On Friday, about four o'clock, his sun went down ; and 
 a long life of usefulness and honor closed. "His death," 
 says the attendant, " was like falling asleep. Not the 
 movement of a muscle was perceptible, and the moment 
 of the going out of life was indicated only by his ceasing 
 to breathe. A gentle pressure of the hand, growing 
 more and more feeble as life waned, showed the peaceful- 
 ness of the spirit about to take its heavenward flight." 
 
 The evening came, and solemn stillness reigned on 
 board that heaving vessel. Whispering voices were heard, 
 telling of death and the grave. The hardy, sun-bronzed 
 mariners gathered to the larboard port, which was opened, 
 and a strong plank coffin was lowered into the sea. A 
 splash was heard the sound of the gushing water, as it 
 closed over the cold remains of the Pioneer Missionary, 
 whose life had been chequered with many a scene of sor- 
 row and suffering, and whose death was like the extin- 
 guishment of one of the brightest luminaries which ever 
 shone in the horizon of a missionary Church. 
 
 The event teaches its own solemn and important lessons ; 
 and while the sad and afflictive providence is fresh in our 
 minds, those lessons should be learned. The facts in the 
 life of Dr. Judson are extensively known. They have 
 furnished matter of interest to many a pious heart, and
 
 THE EURMAN APOSTLE. 135 
 
 the recital of them has awakened emotions of the holiest 
 character in many a heaven-aspiring soul. That this good 
 man was above the frailties of men, we do not affirm ; 
 that he was a sinner, like others around him, is not denied, 
 and we would present no object of worship to the human 
 mind. But that he was a better man, a more self-denying 
 man, a more useful man, than most others, can hardly be 
 denied. His very position strengthened his faith, and 
 gave a high tone to all his religious feelings. He left the 
 world when he stepped upon the deck of the Caravan, 
 and henceforward was enabled to live above its debasing 
 influence. We have not his grave the waves to-day 
 are sweeping over his bones, and the monsters of the deep 
 are playing around his narrow tenement. The storm 
 moans above his head, and the wild winds, as they sweep 
 on, pour out upon the silence of the sea their sad and 
 solemn requiem. 
 
 But though that sacred dust is not committed to our 
 care, though we are not permitted to rear a monument 
 over those hallowed relics, God will keep them ; and on 
 the morning of the resurrection the sea shall give up its 
 dead, and that once chained and fettered body shall come 
 forth to a glorious change. It fell corruptible ; it shall 
 rise incorruptible : it died a natural body ; it shall rise a 
 spiritual body : and as the glory of the cefestial surpasses 
 the glory of the terrestrial, so shall the new body surpass 
 the old, and be the theme of angelic wonder, as the hosts
 
 136 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 on high behold the once sinful man wearing the same form 
 as that in which Christ ascended after his crucifixion. 
 
 "Unfold thy vesture, changing sea, 
 
 And keep this sacred form from harm ; 
 Wail out your dirge, and let it be 
 The meanings of the midnight storm." 
 
 It is natural for the living to love the graves of the 
 dead. There gathers around the place where rest the 
 ashes of loved ones, the most tender and hallowed asso- 
 ciations. Weeping fathers, and broken-hearted mothers, 
 resort to the field of graves, long after the bodies of their 
 children have returned unto the dust. They plant flow- 
 ers, and water them with tears, though they are sensible 
 that nothing but corruption slumbers beneath the sod. 
 They leave the busy walks of life, to hold communion 
 with the memory of the fallen ; and of all places on earth, 
 the graveyard is the one in which tears are most freely 
 and sincerely shed. If a brother or sister departs this 
 life, far from home, amid scenes of savage wildncss, money, 
 time, and labor are expended to return the cold re- 
 mains, that they may slumber within sight of the roof 
 which covers the living. From distant lands, the decay- 
 ing body often comes, unaccompanied by the spirit, that 
 stricken relatives may have the poor consolation of guard- 
 ing it from the profane tread of the sacrilegious stranger. 
 
 It is also the natural and often expressed wish of the 
 dying, to be buried at home, amid the habitations of
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 137 
 
 kindred and clime. There is something lonely in the idea 
 of being buried where no friend can ever come to muse in 
 sadness, and where not even a rough stone will tell to the 
 passing traveler, that a fellow-being lies beneath. It 
 gives an anguish to the parting hour, to remember that the 
 bones will be borne away covered up forgotten. 
 Hence, men have sought out pleasant groves, and set them 
 apart to a holy purpose. They have adorned them, with 
 many a token of skill and art : they have raised monu- 
 ments and inscribed tender sentences upon them ; they 
 have chosen the very spots where their own bones shall 
 repose, and 'plan ted roses which hereafter shall be nur- 
 tured by their own perishing systems. 
 
 " There shall the yew her sable branches spread, 
 And mournful cypress rear her fringed head ; 
 From thence shall thyme and myrtle send perfume, 
 And laurel evergreens o'ershade the tomb." 
 
 This attention to the resting-places of the dead, is not 
 peculiar to the highest state of civilization. The semi- 
 barbarous nations, yielding to the natural convictions and 
 longings of humanity, have their cemeteries, and their 
 tombs ; and even dark, benighted heathenism is not alto- 
 gether destitute of holy reverence for the ashes of the dead. 
 
 Such being the natural, universal feeling of our nature, 
 it is not strange that the great denomination to which 
 Dr. Judson belonged, should have desired him to die in 
 some spot where a monument of marble could have been
 
 138 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 erected over his grave. It is not surprising that the 
 thousands of Christians who have marked his course, and 
 beheld his labors, should have wished- his bones to remain 
 as a legacy to his brethren ; that his grave might have 
 been made beneath the hopia-tree, or on the rocky bosom 
 of "the seagirt Isle," where, with one or the other of 
 those noble women, it might have remained until the 
 sound of the last trumpet was heard, calling all men to judg- 
 ment. But He who presides over all things, has otherwise 
 ordained. This hope of a waiting, praying Church has 
 been disappointed disappointed in wisdom and goodness. 
 For the same reason that the Israelites weremot allowed 
 to have the bones and the grave of Moses, has the body 
 of the "Apostle of Missions" been wrapped in seaweed, 
 and given to the waves. Endeared as he was to all sects 
 and parties, the monument reared to his memory might 
 have been too proud and costly to mark the grave of a 
 herald of salvation. The living might have been injured 
 by too much attention to a corpse from which life had 
 departed, and praise might have been written there, which 
 should have been ascribed to Him whose name is God, and 
 whose dominion is over all. And who would wish to alter 
 this wise and judicious arrangement ? It would be mock- 
 ery, to raise a monument of marble to the memory of such 
 a man as Judson. His works will live after marble has 
 decayed ; his name is written on the hearts, and in the 
 lives, of a multitude of converted heathen ; his worth is
 
 THE BUEMAN APOSTLE. 139 
 
 acknowledged by the whole Christian world ; his piety is 
 recorded on the very fetters and prisons of the vast Bur- 
 man empire. It is' not fitting that a train of pilgrims 
 should yearly visit the grave of such a servant of God, to 
 weep there ; for every year a train goes up from the scene 
 of his toils a train of converted barbarians, to ascribe, 
 under God, their salvation to the instrumentality of his 
 labors. It is not well that his name should be seen 
 carved and gilded ; it is written in the Book of Life ; it is 
 pronounced in heaven ; it is repeated by the Redeemer. 
 
 " Deep in the ocean wave, in coral bed, 
 
 The hero of a hundred battles sleeps ; 
 Above his watery tomb no prayer is said, 
 
 But round the sinking form the billow sweeps. 
 
 " Far down where mighty monsters howling dwell, 
 
 In seaweed for his shroud, the Christian lies ; 
 No marble mausoleum the spot doth tell, 
 No willow weeps, no heathen convert cries. 
 
 " But o'er that watery grave, the angels keep 
 
 Their ceaseless vigils ; and the stars of night 
 Look down, with tenderness, upon the sleep 
 Of him, who waketh not to pray or fight. 
 
 " The funeral dirge is sung in every land, 
 
 By men of every age, and tribe, and tongue ; 
 The wild Karen, the rescued Burman band, 
 With paler men, the mournful lyre have strung. 
 
 " Howl on, ye winds, and wildly moan, ye breath ; 
 
 Ye heard his sigh, ye bore to heaven his prayer; 
 As from this world of sorrow, sin, and death, 
 He turned to one more beautiful and fair."
 
 140 ADONIRAM JUDSON, 
 
 We have now followed Dr. Judson through his long 
 and arduous life. We have seen, in his time, the com- 
 mencement of an undertaking which will never be finished 
 until all the kingdoms of this world shall be brought into 
 the service of Christ. The fall of this early laborer has 
 stirred the depth of feeling in the religious community ; 
 and it now remains to be seen, whether his death is to 
 give that impulse to our exertions which God so evidently 
 intends it should give. The death of every missionary 
 places the Christian church under obligation to the heathen 
 world, and increases to a great degree the responsibility of 
 those who profess the name of Christ. Almost every ship 
 which comes from a heathen land, brings the intelligence that 
 some new grave has been made, and some new form has 
 been laid to rest. Since the organization of the Triennial 
 Convention, many have been the occasions of mourning over 
 losses which have been sustained; and often have the gath- 
 erings of the Board been rendered scenes of sadness, on 
 account of new intelligence of this afflictive character. 
 The whole of heathendom is dotted with the graves of the 
 just, and each year new names are added to the already 
 lengthened catalogue. If we go back in time, and far 
 away in distance, we find, reposing at Chittagong, the re- 
 mains of James Coleman, over which "the daughters of 
 Arracan mourn ; " Edward Wheelock, his bosom compan- 
 ion and friend, sleeps in the ocean, into which he threw 
 himself, in a moment of delirium, on his voyage to this
 
 THE BURMAN APOSTLE. 141 
 
 country; at Tavoy, \ve find the grave of Boardman, and 
 are urged to hear his eulogy in the songs of ransomed 
 heathen ; at Araherst, sleeps the first Mrs. Judson, and at 
 St. Helena, is the second ; Mrs. Shuck has made her grave 
 in the celestial empire ; the bones of Mrs. James are 
 whitening in the harbor of Hongkong, clasped in the flesh- 
 less arms of her husband, who went down with her to the 
 same grave ; the form of Mrs. Comstock reposes at Ram- 
 ree, and that of Miss Macomber in the jungles of Dong 
 Yahn ; Crocker is among the dark Ethiopians, where 
 naught disturbs his rest ; Mr. Comstock is at Akyab, 
 where his grave calls more loudly for laborers than did 
 his living voice, when he exclaimed, " Remember, brother 
 Kincaid, six men for Arracan ; " Mrs. Abbott lies at 
 Sandoway, with a child on either side of her ; Tavoy claims 
 the sainted form of Mrs. Mason ; Canton is the sleeping- 
 place of Mrs. Devan ; Mr. Clark was buried in the waves 
 on his return from Africa, and many others on land and in 
 the ocean, endear the cause in which they suffered and 
 died to every pious heart. And now, as the ocean has 
 engulphed a new form, and closed over one whose life 
 was a long, bright illustration of Christian virtues, Religion 
 asks her weeping children, what effect it shall have upon 
 their lives, and what new impulse it shall give to the mis- 
 sionary cause. 
 
 We cannot look upon the death of Judson as a judg- 
 ment, or a warning, neither do we view it as a calamity ;
 
 142 ADONIRAM JUD80N, 
 
 and though the event is surrounded with sad and tearful 
 remembrances, such a departure from earth to heaven can 
 only be regarded as a victory over the last and most terri- 
 ble enemy frail man ever has to encounter. His death was 
 a glorious life brought to a glorious close ; and though the 
 sea claims his bones, the solid land is covered with his mourn- 
 ers, who move about as the evidences of his faithfulness. 
 
 And when the time of restoration shall come, and the 
 earth shall send up its millions, and the sea shall deliver 
 up the dead that are in it, that body will appear, and min- 
 gle with the loved company of redeemed and glorified ones, 
 who have toiled in the divine and life-giving cause, for 
 which Christ himself became the first and most glorious 
 martyr. Then, from Ramree and Akyab, and Sandoway 
 and Amherst, and Dong Yahn and St. Helena, and from 
 the sea, shall come forth those who fell with their armor on, 
 upon the battle-field of life, and perished in the cause of 
 human salvation. They shall come, not as they fell, but 
 clothed afresh, and prepared for immortal being ; and if 
 among them is one whose head wears a crown of greater 
 brilliancy than any other, whose robe has been purified by 
 more severe trials, whose life had more of faith, and hope, 
 and holiness, we doubt not that one will be THE PIONEER 
 
 MISSIONARY, THE APOSTLE OF BlJRMAH, THE LOVER OF HIS 
 RACE, THE FRIEND OF GOD, 
 
 Jtofcson.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 IT has been thought advisable to append to this Sketch, 
 short biographical notices of the early associates of Dr. Jud- 
 son. Well worthy are they of enduring honor, such as few 
 other men have been able to secure, and their names are reg- 
 istered almost alone, in the moral daring and holy grandexir 
 of their glorious enterprise. 
 
 GORDON HALL, 
 
 Was born at Tolland, amid the mountains of Berkshire. 
 He was educated in all the stern old habits of " the fathers," 
 and grew up loving and respecting religion. In early life, he 
 became a disciple of Christ, and numbered himself with the 
 followers of the first great missionary. He was educated at 
 Williams College, and graduated in 1808, with much honor. 
 Though not so brilliant as many of his classmates, none sur- 
 passed him in general scholarship ; and the stand taken by 
 him, in his class, was creditable to himself and gratifying to 
 his friends. He went out from College with a strong heart, to 
 do battle for God and the right, and to lift up the Cross, as the 
 great reformatory agent before which every chain should be 
 broken, every vice disappear, and every sin be forgiven. He 
 studied theology, and drank deep at the fountains bowled out 
 by the New England divines of a century ago. His soul 
 wandered, with Edwards, Hopkins, and Emmons, through the 
 unfathomable depths, and along the awful heights, of the sub- 
 lime doctrines of grace.
 
 144 APPENDIX. 
 
 At Andover, he became acquainted with the heroic young 
 men who were planning the world's conversion, and at once 
 entered into their mighty project, and gave his heart and 
 hand to its accomplishment. He heard the Saviour saying to 
 him, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to 
 every creature." He felt and owned the obligation, and made 
 immediate preparation to go far hence to the Gentiles, among 
 them to declare the word of life. 
 
 While the subject of a missionary life was under discussion, 
 he received a very advantageous invitation to become the pas- 
 tor of a favored church in New England, but he could not ac- 
 cept it. There were young men enough at home, and none to 
 go abroad ; and, at the sacrifice of his worldly influence and 
 prosperity, he declined the call, and decided, with generous 
 devotion to the cause of Christ, to go forth to the region and 
 shadow of death ; to meet pleasure or pain, joy or sorrow, as 
 the providence of God might arrange. The consecration to 
 the work was made ; he was accepted by the Board, and, with 
 his associates, was ordained in the Tabernacle Church in Sa- 
 lem, on the 6th of February, 1812. Living witnesses describe 
 that scene as one of surpassing interest. The most eminent 
 men of the land had congregated to participate in it, and the 
 great object contemplated awed each heart, and gave solemnity 
 to every exercise. 
 
 Mr. Hall sailed in the Harmony, from Philadelphia, and, in a 
 few months, was on heathen soil. But new difficulties met 
 him at every step ; the change of opinion on the part of 
 Messrs. Judson and Rice, the hostility to missions of the Brit- 
 ish East India Company, and the early death of Mrs. Newell, 
 all tended to dishearten and perplex. But, with firm reliance 
 upon the arm of Jehovah, the young men went forward, 
 knowing no home but heaven, no service but the work of God. 
 After being exposed to severe trials, and meeting obstacles 
 where none were expected, he finally selected Bombay as his 
 field of labor. He arrived in February, 1813, and at once 
 commenced preparations for preaching the gospel. Every- 
 where he was looked upon with suspicion and distrust, his
 
 APPENDIX. 145 
 
 most honest motives were impugned, and, against the current 
 of native and foreign population, he was forced to urge his 
 way. But a missionary should know no discouragements ; he 
 should be appalled at no obstacles ; he should hesitate at no 
 dangers. It is his work to advance, streaming the light ot 
 Calvary along his path, leaving the consequences with God, 
 who is able to direct them to his own glory. 
 
 For thirteen tedious years, did Mr. Hall labor in Bombay, 
 In season, and out of season, he toiled to win men to Christ, 
 and, at last, laid down his life, covered with the scars of battle, 
 and with the laurels of victory. His chief work was the re- 
 vision of the New Testament in the Mahratta language, that 
 they, who had never seen the glory of the gospel, might read 
 in their own tongue. He was happy in being able to give the 
 words of salvation to the people, and had this been his only 
 work, he would not have lived in vain. He also published an 
 "Appeal to American Christians, in behalf of the Twelve 
 Millions speaking the Mahratta Language." This Appeal was 
 written with a pen touched with the fire of the Holy Ghost, 
 and, scattered through America, burned in many pious hearts, 
 and drew forth its response in floods of gold and silver, and in 
 streams of prayer. It was a Macedonian cry, coming up from 
 the very heart of heathendom, and echoing along the battle- 
 ments of Zion. Old men read it ; and said, " Who will go 
 forth, bearing for us, and supported by our money, the banner 
 of the Cross?" Young men read it; and, with tearful eyes 
 and prayerful lips, said, " Here are we ; send us ! " Tender, 
 shrinking women read it ; and, with all the ardor of the fe- 
 males, who, with the cross bound upon their arms, pressed 
 down with the mad Crusaders upon the land of the Sepulchre, 
 offered themselves as candidates for the life of toil. It stirred 
 the blood of age, and gave direction to the panting energies 
 of youth. It was to scores what Buchanan's " Star in the 
 East " was to Judson and Newell, and to this day some are 
 laboring for missions, who were first aroused by its holy strains. 
 
 Mr. Hall also wrote, in connection with Mr. Newell, an ap- 
 peal, entitled "The Conversion of the World, or the Claims 
 
 10
 
 140 APPENDIX. 
 
 of Six Hundred Millions, and the Ability and Duty of the 
 Churches respecting them." Doubtless the facts contained 
 in this interesting document, were those which moved the 
 heart of Mr. Hall to undertake a missionary life. By these 
 same facts, which came pressing upon him as soon as he ar- 
 rived on heathen soil, he was urged on to the most severe 
 duties, and the most thankless toils. 
 
 After being among the heathen awhile, he became so famil- 
 iar with the Mahratta language, that the British East India 
 Company offered him a salary of $13,000 annually, if he 
 would lay aside his missionary work, and assist them in mak- 
 ing contracts with the natives. When he refused this very 
 generous offer, and decided to remain a laborer for God and 
 perishing souls, they offered him fifty dollars per week, if he 
 would labor for them- two hours each day. But even this 
 offer he declined, being determined to give his whole atten- 
 tion and time to the work to which God had called him, and 
 to which he had been set apart by his brethren. 
 
 But the most useful life must have an end ; the most de- 
 voted man must die. Life, though for awhile a scene of ardu- 
 ous toil, ends to the pious man in bliss divine. 
 
 " There is a calm for those who weep, 
 
 A rest for weary pilgrims found ; 
 They softly He, and sweetly sleep, 
 
 Low in the ground ; 
 The storm that sweeps the wintry sky 
 No more disturbs their deep repose, 
 Than summer evening's latest sigh, 
 That shuts the rose." 
 
 That hallowed calm, beneath the soil, was found by Gordon 
 Hall, in the thirty-sixth year of his age. He left his associates 
 and friends of the mission station, and was away on a visit to 
 the interior, preaching, as he went, the word of life. As if 
 conscious of his speedy departure, he urged men to believe on 
 Christ, and become Christians. The claims of religion he set
 
 APPENDIX. 147 
 
 forth as a dying man, and urged his hearers to give their im- 
 mediate attention to a work of the most awful importance. 
 While on this emphatically missionary journey, he was seized 
 by the hand of death, and on March 20, 1826, fell asleep in 
 Jesus. His disease was the cholera ; his sickness lasted only 
 eight hours. There were but few present to see him die, but 
 those few saw the power of faith to conquer the grave, and 
 tread down, at the mouth of his own citadel, the monster 
 Death. 
 
 Mr. Hall had peculiar excellences as a missionary. He 
 had received from God a stout frame and vigorous constitu- 
 tion. He was well fitted to endure the hardships of a mis- 
 sionary life. He was able to endure toils and cares under 
 which other men would have fallen exhausted into the arms of 
 death. He was also prudent in all his movements. While he 
 labored hard, and hesitated at no dangers, he did not need- 
 lessly expose himself to disease and death. He regarded, 
 with much care, the laws which govern the material system, 
 and, by avoiding all those excesses into which most young 
 men are liable to run, saved himself for many years to the 
 cause of his divine Redeemer. His habits were very regular, 
 and life was reduced to a complete system, each part of which 
 had its own appropriate time. 
 
 He had a clear perception of the windings of human nature. 
 He knew how to deal with men, and find his way to the cold 
 hearts of his opposes. He seldom made a misstep, and, like 
 his friend Judson, who was laboring in the same cause, in 
 another part of the great field, he was ever ready to take ad- 
 vantage of the vast variety of doubtful circumstances. And, 
 had not these men been endowed with a high degree of dis- 
 cretion and judgment, the whole enterprise might have been a 
 failure, and the cause of missions would have been retarded 
 for a century. They went out in all the inexperience of youth, 
 with no journals of other missionaries in their hands. They 
 went to seek out their own fields, to adopt their own line of 
 conduct, to be their own counsellors and guides. One wrong 
 movement might have been fatal, and their sailing out to
 
 148 APPENDIX. 
 
 distant lands would hare proved in the end disastrous. But 
 God kept them, and they moved on, while over them the cloud 
 and the fire hovered. 
 
 Mr. Hall was also a man of ardent piety. He was moved 
 by a love of souls. He was not impelled by any romantic 
 notions of a life among the heathen. " How can they be 
 saved ? " was his cry, as he looked upon the heathen as he 
 went forth to save them from degradation and woe; He felt 
 the words of his own appeal, written from his missionary 
 home ; he was moved by his own argument : 
 
 " Until Christians do take up the work, with a zeal and 
 activity answerable to their belief and hopes in the gospel, 
 the unbeliever may continue to say and how cutting is the 
 reproach yes, sinners may still ask, ' If Christians really 
 believe that Christ has tasted death for every man, that there 
 is salvation in no other, and that a great part of the world are 
 actually perishing in ignorance of this only Saviour of sinners ; 
 if they really believe all this, why do they not concern them- 
 selves to have this gospel made known to every creature ? 
 "Why has this been neglected so long ? ' 
 
 " And, alas ! the heathen join in the same bitter reproach. 
 The missionary tells them that he has come to proclaim to 
 them a Saviour, the Son of God, who has shed his blood to 
 atone for the sins of the world ; and who has commanded his 
 servants to publish the glad tidings everywhere for the salva- 
 tion of all men. ' When,' says the pagan, ' did this Saviour 
 die ? ' Eighteen hundred years ago,' replies the missionary. 
 'When did he command his servants to publish everywhere 
 these good tidings ? ' * Just before he ascended from earth to 
 heaven, which was shortly after his resurrection.' ' Surpris- 
 ing ! ' says the pagan. ' If you Christians have known all 
 these things, and really believe that " where there is no vision 
 the people perish ! " how could you leave so great a part of 
 the world for so many generations, without coming sooner to 
 tell us of this only way in which we can be saved ? ' What 
 can the missionary say ? This is not idle fancy : it is a matter 
 of distressing fact."
 
 APPENDIX. 149 
 
 But, such as he was, he is gone. The men of India will 
 never be thrilled by his voice again ; the Christians of Amer- 
 ica will never be moved by another of his eloquent appeals 
 
 "He sleeps his last sleep ; he has fought his last battle ; 
 No sound can awake him to labor again." 
 
 On the lone secluded spot, away from the busy walks of men, 
 he slumbers. Tears are shed ; requiems are sung ; sermons 
 are preached ; prayers are offered over his ashes, but he heeds 
 them not. With Newell, and a host of others, from stations 
 of toil and suffering, he is resting from his labors, and his 
 works do follow him. 
 
 Sleep on, noble martyr to the truth ! sleep, ashes of the 
 dead ! until, from on high, is heard the trumpet of the arch- 
 angel ; then rise, and live, and reign. Until then, 
 
 " Thy single grave has eloquence, 
 
 Which living tongues have not ; 
 For know, the love of Jesus 
 
 Has sanctified the spot. 
 Go thither, proud idolater, 
 
 And, kneeling on that sod, 
 Own that a prayer a heartfelt prayer 
 
 Alone avails with God."
 
 150 APPENDIX. 
 
 LUTHER RICE. 
 
 This Christian laborer was one of the first heralds of salva- 
 tion. He was ordained with his brethren, and sailed with 
 Hall and Nott, from Philadelphia, in the Harmony. On his 
 voyage, he was converted to the sentiments of the Baptists, 
 and was baptized by the missionaries at Serampore. He was a 
 man of true heart and laborious life, and his connection with 
 the Baptist church at Serampore, gave great joy to Judson, 
 who alone, and against a tide of circumstances, had pursued 
 the same course, and taken upon himself the same service. 
 
 Soon after his baptism, he addressed the following letter to 
 the Baptist Mission Society, in this country, which body 
 adopted him as fc laborer. It will be read, at this distance of 
 time from the hour which gave it birth, with interest. 
 
 " Probably, before this, you have received communications 
 from Mr. Judson, one of the missionaries lately sent out to 
 India by ' The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
 Missions,' announcing his recent change of sentiments in rela- 
 tion to baptism, and soliciting aid from the Baptist churches 
 in America, to enable him to prosecute missionary labors among 
 the heathen. A communication from me, of a somewhat sim- 
 ilar purport, may also have been received. If these commu- 
 nications have been received, and others from Dr. Carey, or 
 from any of the missionaries at Serampore, it may occasion 
 surprise to learn that I am on my way, returning to America. 
 The truth of the matter is, that brother Judson and myself 
 being at the Isle of France, and having determined upon 
 attempting to effectuate a mission at Penang, having the Malay 
 countries, generally, for its ultimate object, were waiting the 
 opportunity of a passage to that place. But as an opportunity 
 unexpectedly offered of getting to the United States, by com- 
 ing to this place in a Portuguese vessel, the posture of affairs 
 was such, that we judged it expedient for me to avail myself 
 of it, and visit our brethren in our native country. On account
 
 APPENDIX. 151 
 
 of the war,;which may a merciful God soon terminate, we 
 apprehended that it would be a long while before we could 
 possibly hear from our brethren in America; and we were 
 likely to continue for a long time in uncertainty respecting sup- 
 port ; and though we could avail ourselves of some temporary 
 aid from our beloved and very excellent friends, the missiona- 
 ries at Serampore, and might obtain perhaps ultimately the 
 patronage of a foreign Society, should all other resources fail 
 us ; still, under a sincere conviction that the missionary cause 
 would be more advanced by the formation of a Baptist Society 
 in America, that should afford us the necessary patronage, than 
 by our becoming the missionaries of a foreign Society, it was, 
 we conceived, clearly our duty, as well as much better com- 
 ported with our feelings than the other alternative could, to 
 cast ourselves into your hands, and the hands of the Baptist 
 churches in America. Nor could we allow ourselves to doubt, 
 that, as the Lord had manifested peculiar mercy in leading us 
 to adopt more apostolic views than we had formerly enter- 
 tained in relation to the ordinances of his house ; he would 
 also incline our brethren to extend to us that patronage which 
 might enable us to prosecute those missionary purposes and 
 labors, to which we have, I trust, sincerely and sacredly 
 devoted our lives. We could not, indeed, be insensible that 
 our brethren, as well as others, must feel the pressure of pub- 
 lic calamity and burden created by the war, in which, unfor- 
 tunately, the country is involved. But we know also that the 
 Baptist churches in England, notwithstanding'the incessant 
 wars in which that country has been involved, have patronized 
 missionary operations to an extent which has accomplished 
 objects of the greatest magnitude and importance, and erected 
 monuments of successful efforts which cannot be destroyed 
 even by the dissolution of the world and the death of time. 
 Nor could we do otherwise than assure ourselves that our 
 brethren in the United States have equal love for the Lord 
 Jesus ; and certainly not less zeal for diffusing the savor of his 
 precious name among those who must, otherwise, perish for 
 lack of vision. Of the indispensable obligations of Chris-
 
 152 APPENDIX. 
 
 tians in general to make, in some way or other, missionary 
 efforts, a missionary himself cannot be supposed to entertain a 
 doubt. The command of his divine Master, in this particular, 
 he conceives to be as plain as it is binding, and to be of the 
 utmost consequence to be fulfilled. And with respect to 
 brother Judson and myself, you will suffer me, dear sir, to re- 
 mark, that, having experienced in so remarkable a manner 
 the good hand of our God upon us, in leading us to renounce 
 the prepossessions of education, and our preconceived, but mis- 
 taken opinions, and to adopt views in relation to the sacred and 
 important ordinance of baptism, conformable to Scripture and 
 to apostolic practice, and to take upon us the solemn profession 
 of Christ in this appropriate rite, by being immersed, after 
 the example of our divine Master himself; we could not 
 but feel as if those who are led into the truth in this particular 
 are bound to make great sacrifices, and determined efforts for 
 disseminating in its holy simplicity and purity, the truth as it is 
 in Jesus. And I allow myself freely to indulge the hope, that 
 the sentiments and feelings of our brethren will happily re- 
 spond to our own on this subject. 
 
 " To the venerable and beloved Board, I have, as yet, made 
 no communication of a decisive character, except in regard to 
 the simple fact of my change of sentiments. And even that 
 communication may never have arrived. However, as I could 
 not justify myself in presuming on the continuance of their 
 patronage, I have perceived no impropriety in uniting with 
 brother Judson in soliciting aid and patronage from our Bap- 
 tist brethren in America. Nor have I any doubt that my in- 
 teresting connection with the venerable Board may be im- 
 mediately and satisfactorily dissolved on my arrival, so as to 
 leave me at your disposal, my dear sir, should you be pleased 
 to accept me as your missionary. I must indulge the freedom 
 to observe, however, that I shall be extremely solicitous to re- 
 turn to India as soon as possible. I shall strongly wish to 
 avail myself of the very first opportunity, even should it oc- 
 cur early in autumn, of returning to the Brazils in some Portu- 
 guese vessel, unless, which cannot be expected, a more direct
 
 APPENDIX. 153 
 
 passage to India, should offer. My solicitude is the more 
 keenly ardent in this particular, because, in addition to the 
 loss of time, brother and sister Judson, with whom I have the 
 happiness to be no less united in affection than in sentiment, 
 must remain alone till my return. Impelled by the strong 
 tide of my anxious feelings, I should proceed to use entreaties 
 relative to the formation of a Baptist Missionary Society, or 
 the adoption of some measures by the Baptist churches in 
 America, for the effectual and permanent patronage of a mis- 
 sion offered to them by so remarkable a dispensation of divine 
 Providence ; but that I conceive it my duty, in submission to 
 your age and wisdom, and in confidence of your love and zeal 
 for the name of the Lord Jesus, to commit myself to your 
 direction, trusting that the Lord himself will put it in your 
 heart to do that in relation to this important concern, which 
 shall best subserve the advancement of the Redeemer's king- 
 dom, and the purposes of his own glory." 
 
 Mr. Rice was baptized a short time subsequent to the bap- 
 tism of Mr. Judson and his companion. The same hand 
 which led them down into the water, conducted him to the 
 liquid sepulchre ; the same witnesses gazed on to behold the 
 deed, and the same joyful song swelled out, sung by converted 
 heathen and Christianized idolaters. This change of religious 
 opinions caused a separation in the little company of disciples. 
 Mr. Judson and Mr. Rice, made immediate arrangements to 
 withdraw from the American Board, and place themselves 
 under the patronage of another body. The order being issued 
 for them to leave the country, Mr. Rice and his fellow-laborers 
 sought refuge in the Isle of France, where, after remaining 
 awhile, he determined to return to America, and stir up the 
 churches to action upon the great question of the age. He 
 accordingly sailed, via San Salvador, and arrived in the States, 
 in September, 1813, having been absent from home and coun- 
 try nearly two years. He was immediately appointed agent 
 of the Baptist Missionary Society, and went into the Southern 
 States to secure funds for the purpose proposed.
 
 154 APPENDIX. 
 
 In 1814, delegates from the Baptist churches throughout the 
 Union, assembled in Philadelphia, to " organize a plan for 
 eliciting, combining, and directing the energies of the whole 
 denomination in one sacred effort for sending the glad tidings 
 of salvation to the heathen, and to nations destitute of pure 
 gospel light." At that meeting, resolutions were passed, 
 making Mr. Rice the agent of the Convention, and a Home 
 Missionary, to labor among the churches for the promotion 
 of missionary objects. 
 
 The College in the District of Columbia was under the con- 
 trol of this body until a separation occurred between the 
 North and South, in 1846, when it was relinquished, and be- 
 came the care of the Southern Board, which had just been 
 organized. For the Convention, Mr. Rice labored with un- 
 tiring assiduity, and, though he was not always prudent in his 
 movements, though his business habits did not altogether qual- 
 ify him for his station, yet, as a lecturer upon missions, he 
 had but few equals. He had been on heathen ground, had 
 witnessed the degradation of the people of the world, and his 
 voice thrilled like a trumpet from Maine to Georgia. 
 
 Awhile before his death, Mr. Rice closed his connection with 
 the Convention, and gave himself to other duties. The estima- 
 tion in which he was held by the members of the denomina- 
 tion to which he attached himself, cannot better be expressed 
 than in the language of the author of the " History of the 
 American Baptist Missions." Prof. Gammell, as the organ of 
 the " Missionary Union," doubtless echoes the voice of the 
 Baptists generally, in relation to this one of the missionaries : 
 
 " He had every quality essential to the discharge of a great 
 executive office, excepting discretion alone, that one, with- 
 out which knowledge and piety, and zeal the most disinter- 
 ested, are clearly unavailing. The inextricable confusion in 
 which his affairs were at length involved, proved so serious an 
 embarrassment to all the interests of the Convention, as, at last, 
 in some degree, to cast a shade over his distinguished ser- 
 vices, and almost to eclipse the singular disinterestedness which
 
 APPENDIX. 155 
 
 shone so brightly through all his character. Yet, notwith- 
 standing his imperfections and errors, and these had their 
 origin in a too ardent and unrestrained imagination, his name 
 deserves to be enrolled among the ablest and most devoted of 
 the founders of our American Missions, for he accomplished a 
 work which no one of his cotemporaries could have possibly 
 achieved." 
 
 Mr. Rice "would hardly have made an efficient missionary. 
 His zeal, his imagination, would have played strange freaks 
 with his judgment, and while he would have been abundant 
 in labors, he might have lacked that discrimination which is 
 so essential to a man of God among the heathen. The qualifi- 
 cations for a missionary life are admirably set forth in the fol- 
 lowing brief letter, from his former associate and friend : 
 
 " RANGOON, Nov. 14, 1816. 
 
 " My beloved brother Rice, In encouraging other young men 
 to come out as missionaries, do use the greatest caution. 
 You have hit right, in brother Hough. But one wrong-headed, 
 conscientiously obstinate fellow, would ruin us. Humble, 
 quiet, persevering men ; men of sound sterling talents, (though 
 perhaps not brilliant,) of decent accomplishments, and some 
 natural aptitude to acquire a language; men of an amiable, 
 yielding temper, willing to take the lowest place, to be the least 
 of all, and the servant of all ; men who enjoy much closet reli- 
 gion, who live near to God, and are willing to suffer all things 
 for Christ's sake, without being proud of it, these are the 
 men, &c. But O, how unlike to this description is the writer 
 of it!" 
 
 And here again we see the wisdom of God, in withdrawing 
 Mr. Rice from the foreign field, and giving him employment 
 at home, where he could have counsellors, and judicious asso- 
 ciates and advisers. Here, he was the means of awakening a 
 mighty energy, and giving direction to a mighty impulse. 
 There, he might have endangered the cause by a rash step, and
 
 156 APPENDIX. 
 
 a heedless movement. Well for Zion, that to the judicious 
 Judson was given the work of preaching the gospel, and plant- 
 ing the church in the Burman empire. 
 
 Mr. Rice died at Edgefield District, S. C., September 25, 
 1836. His illness was short, and his words few ; his spirit left 
 the world, going up to meet the ransomed ones, who through 
 the labors of Judson, Newell, and Hall, had been gathered from 
 heathendom, to swell the chorus of the skies. He died in the 
 vigor of manhood, in the 54th year of his age, leaving behind 
 him his arduous toils as his richest legacy. 
 
 He was not mourned as were Newell and Hall, because, from 
 the circumstances, in which he was called to act, his place 
 could be more easily supplied. Though one of the first mis- 
 sionaries, he died not on the field of battle, but on the shores 
 of his own loved land ; and yet, he had far more to do with the 
 great work, which, since his death, has been going on with 
 new power and glory, than men are willing to acknowledge. 
 It was his stirring appeal, uttered in the crowded city, and in 
 the retired village, which awoke the spirit of missions, and 
 called a missionary church to imitate her Lord. The money 
 which came pouring into the treasury, was the golden response 
 made to his fervent addresses, which none could hear without 
 being moved by the wants and woes of a world in sin. 
 
 If Mr. Rice had faults, if he was too impetuous, if he some- 
 times said rash things, let them be forgotten ; while memory 
 dwells with pleasure upon his indefatigable labors, and his 
 honest exertions to glorify God. Raise high the monument, 
 and inscribe upon it, 
 
 PEACE TO HIS ASHES.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 SAMUEL NEWELL. 
 
 This servant of God was a graduate of Harvard College. He 
 was a member of the class of 1807, and was not considered as 
 an inferior scholar. He became associated with Judson, and 
 the other pioneers in this good work, during his course of the- 
 ological study at Andover. He was known among his friends 
 as a devoted and conscientious young man, ready for toil and 
 sacrifice. He became acquainted with Harriet Atwood, about 
 the time of the meeting of the Congregational Association in 
 Bradford, and at once proposed that she should accompany 
 him to a world of darkness. For this daring scheme she was 
 ready, and soon made known to him her determination to 
 share his suffering, and enjoy his reward. 
 
 Against the advice of friends, and the counsels of some to 
 whom she had been accustomed to look for guidance and 
 direction, her plan was formed with prayerful dependence on 
 Him who is wiser and better than any of the sons of me. 
 The step, involving sacrifice and toil, and self- denial and hard- 
 ship, was taken for Jesus Christ, and the souls of thousands 
 who were perishing for lack of vision, and for want of the 
 knowledge of our divine and glorious Saviour, who brought 
 life and immortality to light. 
 
 They were married in the early part of 1812, and soon 
 sailed in the Caravan, with Mr. and Mrs. Judson, never to 
 return to the shores of New England. The voyage was 
 chequered with the usual amount of sea-sickness, storms, 
 calms, scenes of beauty and terror. The vessel arrived in 
 June, and Mr. Newell and his companions were warmly re- 
 ceived by the missionaries under the direction of an English 
 Missionary Society. But now commenced a series of sorrows 
 and trials, which ended in the death of Mrs. Newell, and the 
 overthrow of all the hopes of her companion. 
 
 In consequence of the order received, to leave the country, Mr. 
 Newell sailed for the Isle of France. The voyage was a severe 
 one. They embarked on the 4th of August, and did not arrive
 
 158 APPENDIX. 
 
 at the desired haven until November. To that cruel order, and 
 that trying voyage, the death of Mrs. Newell may be attributed. 
 About three weeks before her arrival, she gave birth to an 
 infant daughter, which lived but five days, and then returned 
 to the God who gave it. The violence of the motion of the 
 ship, the damp air, and the heavy rains, threw the mother into 
 consumption, from which it was impossible to deliver her. 
 Each day she drew nearer and nearer to the gates of death, 
 until, on the 30th of November, she died at Port Louis, a mar- 
 tyr to the cause of missions. The bereaved husband bowed 
 himself over the grave with sadness and tears. The object of 
 his affections was removed from him. Far from home and kin- 
 dred, she had found a grave ; and there her ashes sleep, await- 
 ing the sound of the last trumpet. 
 
 A year of changes ! The marriage festival ; the ordination 
 in Salem ; the parting from friends ; the last adieu ; the embar- 
 kation on that cold, severe day ; the voyage, with all its sick- 
 ness and sorrow, trials and joys ; the arrival in Calcutta ; the 
 meeting with the Baptist missionaries there ; the cruel order 
 to leave the country ; the voyage to the Isle of France ; the 
 birth and death of their infant ; the death of the wife and 
 mother; were crowded, to that afflicted husband, into one 
 single twelvemonth. The cup of bitterness was filled up to 
 the very brim ; deep called unto deep, and the sorrow-stricken 
 mourner bowed himself in grief and resignation. His were fear- 
 ful trials ; and yet he kissed the rod which had smitten him, 
 and refused not to love the being who had given him tears 
 to drink. 
 
 Very soon after the death of his wife, Mr. Newell embarked 
 at Mauritius, and proceeded to Ceylon. His original inten- 
 tion would have led him to join the missionaries at Bombay ; 
 but, having some evidence that the government would not per- 
 mit a mission to be established at that place, he sought an 
 interview with Governor Brownrigg, who promised him protec- 
 tion and assistance at Ceylon. With the great desire of doing 
 good before him, he set himself to work at once, and preached 
 several times each week, to such of the people as were disposed
 
 APPENDIX. 159 
 
 to come out and hear him. He did not very long remain in this 
 uninviting field. When it became known that the authorities 
 at Bombay would allow the mission to proceed, and the word 
 of God to be preached, Mr. Newell embarked at once to join 
 his brethren, with whom he had associated in America, and 
 with whom he was to die in India. Taking Goa and Cochin 
 on his way, he arrived at Bombay, March 7, 1814, and imme- 
 diately devoted himself to missionary labor. 
 
 The people, whom he had just left, were not permitted long 
 to remain without the word of life. The Ceylon mission was 
 soon commenced. Rev. James Richards, one of the immortal 
 number who first signed the document which was sent to the 
 Congregational Association in Bradford, and four others, were 
 sent out in the brig Dryad, with instructions to commence a 
 mission in the northern part of Ceylon, and though this com- 
 pany is usually regarded as the originators of that mission, yet 
 Mr. Newell, doubtless, deserves the honor which can flow from 
 such an achievement. He was, in reality, the founder of the 
 Ceylon mission, and it was through his influence and appeals 
 that the five brethren were sent out, and kindly received on 
 their arrival. He led the way, prepared the ground, and open- 
 ed the door, that other laborers might enter and do good. But 
 for him, any and all efforts, for the evangelization of Ceylon, 
 might have been delayed a quarter of a century. 
 
 The mission at Bombay was weakened in 1815, by the return 
 of Mr. Nott to the United States. A disease, incident to the 
 country and climate, fastened on him soon after his arrival, 
 and he was obliged to return to America, having suffered 
 for Christ a few years only. His place was soon filled by 
 Rev. Horatio Bardwell, who was a printer as well as a minister. 
 A printing-press and types were soon secured, which added very 
 much to the strength and efficiency of the station. Books 
 were soon prepared in the language of the natives. The first 
 was a tract of eight pages, of which fifteen hundred copies 
 were distributed far and wide, with the most wholesome effect. 
 Soon, the gospel of Matthew was issued, in an edition of fifteen 
 hundred. This work gave great satisfaction to the Christian
 
 160 APPENDIX. 
 
 toilers. They regarded these books as so many preachers, sent 
 out to speak where the voice of the living preacher could not 
 be heard, and draw the attention of the people to the great 
 truths of revelation at seasons when the missionary would not 
 be allowed to enter the rude habitation. 
 
 On the 23d of February, 1818, a company of missionaries 
 from the United States arrived at Bombay, among whom was 
 Miss Philomela Thurston, who went out to join Mr. Newell, 
 and become the partner of his labors. They were married 
 March 26, of the same year, and lived in the service of the 
 same Master, until the devoted husband was called away to 
 reap an eternal reward. 
 
 Mr. Xewell died in 1821. In April of that year, the cholera, 
 that scourge of the East, made most frightful ravages on the 
 Island of Bombay. In the city alone, nearly one hundred were 
 swept away each day, and the living became so alarmed, that 
 scarcely any were found to bury the dead. At such a time, 
 the beautiful features of Christianity were developed. The 
 beloved servants of God went from town to town, from dwell- 
 ing to dwelling, endeavoring to do good to the bodies and 
 the souls of the sick and dying. On the 28th of April, while 
 on his mission of mercy to Tannah, in company with Mr. Nich- 
 ols, he found himself attacked with the first premonitory symp- 
 toms. The next day his disease had gained new ground, and 
 all the efforts of medical men were found unable to stay its 
 progress. The good man continued to sink very rapidly, until 
 death closed the scene at a quarter past one, on the morning of 
 the 30th. His death made deep and solemn impressions on 
 the minds of his fellow-laborers, who, by the suddenness of the 
 stroke, knew not how to act without his counsel. 
 
 "When the tidings of his death reached this country, all reli- 
 gious denominations sympathized with the American Board. 
 The early decease of Mrs. Newell had thrown a charm around 
 the name, and the sensation produced in America was greater, 
 perhaps, than it would have been by the death of any one of 
 his associates. He died, not as did his companion, at a time 
 when few were willing to take the place of the departed one, but
 
 APPENDIX. 161 
 
 at an hour when the subject of mission.? was dear to all pioua 
 hearts, and hundreds were consecrating themselves to the holy 
 work. He saw~the fruits of missions in the conversion of souls 
 and the reformation of society. 
 
 His afflicted widow remained at Bombay several years ; she 
 became the wife of James Garnett in 1822; and returned in 
 1831, shortly after the death of her second husband. She was 
 born at Rowley, Mass., and, while on heathen soil, labored 
 hard to glorify God, and do good to the thousands of dying 
 heathen who thronged around the mission station. 
 
 / * ' 
 
 SAMUEL NOTT. 
 
 The missionary life of Mr. Nott was very short. He sailed 
 in the Harmony from Philadelphia, after having been ordained 
 in the Tabernacle in Salem. He remained at Calcutta awhile 
 after his arrival, and from thence proceeded to Bombay, in 
 company with Mr. Hall. Here a mission was established, 
 which until this day has been prospered of God ; but Mr. Xott 
 was not long permitted to labor in its service. He was soon 
 attacked with a disease of the liver, which compelled him to 
 return with his companion to this country. By the sea-voyage 
 and the change of climate he was completely restored to health, 
 and is now living, after nearly a half century has passed away, 
 the only survivor of the early missionary band. 
 
 At present, he is pastor of the Congregational Church in 
 Wareham, Massachusetts, and is much beloved by the flock 
 to whom he has long ministered in holy things. Though not 
 permitted to continue on heathen soil, as a missionary of the 
 cross, he has been permitted to see the work of the Lord pros- 
 pered in his hands, at home ; and from his quiet village has 
 looked abroad upon the unfolding purposes of Jehovah, and 
 rejoices in the success of the work, to which he first devoted 
 himself. He still lives in a good old age, enjoying the confi- 
 dence of men, and the smiles of God. 
 
 A few years since, when Dr. Judson was in America, a scene 
 11
 
 162 APPENDIX. 
 
 of touching tenderness occurred, which is thus described by an 
 eye-witness the event taking place at the meeting which was 
 held to welcome the returned missionary to his native land. 
 
 " During the singing which followed, a gentleman was seen 
 to pass rapidly up the aisle into the pulpit, and to embrace Mr. 
 Judson with uncommon warmth and ardor, which was as 
 ardently reciprocated ; while the emotions which lighted up 
 their countenances gave to silence more than the expressive- 
 ness of language. As the gentleman was a stranger to the 
 audience, every one appeared deeply desirous to know who he 
 was. He was soon, however, introduced to the assembly as the 
 Rev. Samuel Nott, Jr., the only surviving member, besides Mr. 
 Judson, of that first company of missionaries, five in number, 
 sent out from this country by the American Board. Samuel 
 Newell, Gordon Hall, and Luther Rice are gone to their 
 reward. Mr. Nott, after remaining a few years in the mission 
 field, was compelled to return to this country, and is now the 
 pastor of the Congregational church in Wareham, Mass. As 
 soon as he heard of the arrival of Mr. Judson, he set out with 
 all speed for Boston, to greet him ; and hearing that he was in 
 the Bowdoin Square church, he had come there to see and to 
 take him by the hand. 
 
 " Being introduced to the audience by Dr. Sharp, with the 
 request that he would gratify them with a few remarks, he 
 said he had given the hand of fellowship to his brother Judson 
 in youth; when they were fellow-students and fellow- missiona- 
 ries. And, said he, though on our reaching the missionary 
 field he became a Baptist and I did not, yet I did not withdraw 
 the hand of fellowship from my brother Judson. He spoke 
 of their early conversations on the subject of missions, and said 
 it was of no importance whether Adoniram Judson, Jr., or Sam- 
 uel J. Mills, Jr., was the first who conceived the enterprise of 
 foreign missions to the East. ' Of one thing he was sure : it 
 was not Samuel Nott, Jr. ; though he was also sure, that he had 
 thought of it before any one had mentioned the subject to him.
 
 APPENDIX. 163 
 
 His belief was, that the minds of several had, separately and 
 independently, been turned to the subject by the Spirit of 
 God." 
 
 JAMES RICHARDS. 
 
 It matters but little who of the heroic men first deter- 
 mined to go forth to the Gentiles. By some, the honor is given 
 to Mr. Judson ; by others, to Mr. Mills ; and by others, to Mr. 
 Richards. They all seemed to act in harmony, and to be 
 proved by the Holy Ghost about the same time. 
 
 Mr. Richards was born in Abington, February 23, 1784. His 
 parents soon after removed to Plainfield, where James spent 
 his younger days. He became acquainted with Samuel J. 
 Mills at Williams College, and there laid the foundation of his 
 future missionary enthusiasm. He graduated in 1809, with 
 a good degree of honor. He pursued a systematic course of 
 study at Andover, and acquainted himself with the science of 
 medicine at Philadelphia. Having resolved to be a missionary, 
 he was ordained at Newburyport, on the 21st of June, 1815, in 
 company with Daniel Poor, Horatio Bard well, Benjamin C. 
 Meigs, and S. J. Mills. On the 23d of October, Mr. Richards 
 sailed from Newburyport, in the brig Dryad, bound for Ceylon. 
 Here he lived and labored for a long time, and was the instru- 
 ment of much good. He died, August 3, 1822, of a pulmonary 
 complaint, and his ashes now repose with those of his mission- 
 ary associates. He is resting from his labors, and his works do 
 follow him. Mr. Richards was noted for his ardent piety, and 
 was led to embrace a missionary life from real devotion to the 
 service of his Master. He was a man of God, and the Mission 
 Board sustained a heavy loss when he descended to his grave. 
 
 SAMUEL J. MILLS. 
 
 Mr. Mills is usually considered by his brethren, as having 
 been the founder, in fact, of the American Board of Com- 
 missioners for Foreign Missions. Dr. Griffin, speaking of a
 
 164 APPENDIX. 
 
 missionary society connected with Williams College, in the 
 meetings of which the holy theme of a world's salvation was 
 discussed by the young men, says : " I have been in situations 
 to know, that, from the counsels formed in that sacred conclave, 
 or from the mind of Mills himself, arose the American Board of 
 Commissioners for Foreign Missions, the American Bible 
 Society, the United Foreign Missionary Society, and the Afri- 
 can School, under the care of the Synod of New York and 
 New Jersey ; besides all the impetus given to Domestic Mis- 
 sions, to the Colonization Society, and to the general cause of 
 benevolence in both hemispheres." 
 
 Samuel J. Mills was born in Torringford, Connecticut, April 
 21, 1783. His father was a Congregational minister, of much 
 piety and prayer. He was early converted to God, having 
 had a deep and awful sense of his sinfulness as an enemy of 
 God, and an heir of wrath. He was educated at Williams 
 College, and graduated with the usual honors, in 1809. While 
 in college, he caught the fire of missions, and conceived the 
 mighty enterprises into which he entered in after years with 
 all his soul. He pursued a theological course of study at 
 Andover, where he became associated with Nott, Hall, and 
 others, men of kindred spirit and kindred hopes. In 1812, 
 he made a journey through our western country, in company 
 with J. F. Schermerhorn, awakening everywhere the slumber- 
 ing churches to feel and act for the salvation of dying men. 
 He was ordained at the same time and place with Mr. Rich- 
 ards. In 1815, his attention was turned to the destitution of 
 our country of the Word of God, and at once gave himself to 
 the formation of the American Bible Society. In 1817, he 
 was appointed to visit the coast of Africa. He was successful 
 in the object of his voyage, but on his return was cut down 
 by death, and was not permitted to revisit his native land. 
 He died June 16, 1818, and was buried in the ocean. Me- 
 moirs of this good man have been prepared by Dr. Spring, and 
 read by hundreds and thousands of Christians. Rev. Joseph 
 Tracy, in his History of Missions, thus remarks : " The Ameri-
 
 APPENDIX. 165 
 
 can Colonization Society had invited him to visit Africa, as 
 their agent, to explore the coast with reference to a place for 
 their first settlement. He selected as his companion in this 
 voyage, the Rev. Ebenezer Burgess, now Dr. Burgess, of Ded- 
 ham, Mass., to whom he wrote : ' My brother, can. we en- 
 gage in a nobler enterprise ? We go to make freemen of 
 slaves. We go to lay the foundations of a free and indepen- 
 dent empire on the coast of poor degraded Africa. It is con- 
 fidently believed, by many of our best and wisest men, that, 
 if the plan proposed succeeds, it will ultimately be the means 
 of exterminating slavery in our country. It will eventually 
 redeem and emancipate a million and a half of wretched men. 
 It will transfer to the coast of Africa, the blessings of re- 
 ligion and civilization ; and Ethiopia will soon stretch out her 
 hands unto God.' Having spent some time as an agent of 
 the Society at home, in forming auxiliaries, he sailed for Afri- 
 ca, with Mr. Burgess, on the 16th of November, 1817. Having 
 had extensive intercourse with the chiefs on the coast, and 
 collected much important and encouraging information, the 
 brethren embarked for England, on their return, on the 22d 
 of May, 1818. Mr. Mills had a stricture on the lungs, and a 
 dangerous cough, before he left home. The damp and chill 
 atmosphere of England, had aggravated the disease. While in 
 Africa, it abated, and he was capable of labor. On his return, 
 on the oth of June, he took a severe cold, and from that time 
 rapidly declined, till, on the 16th, between two and three 
 o'clock in the afternoon, after delightful conversation on the 
 prospect before him, his strength failed ; he gently folded his 
 hands across his breast, and with a smile of meek serenity, 
 ceased to breathe. As the sun went down, all on board as- 
 sembled, and, after solemn prayer to the ' God of the spirits 
 of all flesh,' the body was committed to the ocean. It was 
 fitting that the remains of such a man, whose character no 
 monument could suitably represent, should rest where none 
 could be attempted. Though not permitted to engage person- 
 ally in a foreign mission, he had done much for the conversion 
 of the world."
 
 166 APPENDIX. 
 
 Thus two of the original number have found a home be- 
 neath the waves, as if in token that the memory of the de- 
 parted belongs to every shore upon which the ocean dashes 
 its spray. When the trumpet sounds, the ocean will send up 
 its dead, and together Mills and Judson will appear, to render 
 up their account and receive their reward.
 
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