Chapter IX: Revolt of Tavoy.--Letters From Mrs. B

The revolt of Tavoy from the British government, and its consequences to the missionaries and other foreigners in the city, are so well described in a letter from Mr. Boardman to a friend in America, that we will give it nearly entire.

"REV. AND DEAR SIR,

"The province of Tavoy has engaged in an open revolt against the
British government. On Lord's day morning, the 9th inst. at 4
o'clock, we were aroused from our quiet slumbers by the cry of
'Teacher, master, Tavoy rebels,' and ringing at all our doors and
windows. We were soon awake to our extreme danger, as we heard not
only a continual report of musketry within the town, but the balls
were frequently passing over our heads and _through our house_; and
in a few moments, a large company of Tavoyans collected near our
gate, and gave us reason to suspect they were consulting what to do
with us. We lifted our hearts to God for protection, and Mrs.
Boardman and little George were hurried away through a back door
to a retired building in the rear. I lay down in the house, (to
escape the bullets,) with a single Burman boy, to watch and
communicate the first intelligence After an hour of the greatest
anxiety and uncertainty I had the happiness of seeing the sepoys
(troops in the British service) in possession of the city gates in
front of our house. We soon ascertained that a party of about 250
men had in the first instance attacked the powder magazine and
gun-shed, which were very near our house, but a guard of sepoys had
repelled them. This was a great mercy, for had the insurgents
obtained the arms and ammunition, our situation would have been
most deplorable. A second party of 60 had attacked the house of the
principal native officer of the town, while a third party had
fallen upon the guard of the prison, and let loose all the
prisoners, one hundred in number, who, as soon as their irons were
knocked off, became the most desperate of all the insurgents." ...

The commissioner of the province was absent at Maulmain, but his
lady, Mrs. Burney, urged their immediate removal to the government
house. They hesitated at first, thinking the rebellion might soon
be quelled; but hearing from a rebel prisoner that the whole
province was engaged in the insurrection, and that large
reinforcements might be hourly expected to join the rebels, and
finding that the Mission premises from their situation, were likely
to be the very battleground of the contending parties,--after
seeking Divine direction, they concluded to abandon them. He
continues his narrative, "We caught up a few light articles on
which we could lay our hands, and with the native Christians, fled
as if for our lives. I visited the house once or twice after this,
and saved a few clothes and papers, but the firing being near,
rendered it hazardous to remain, and the last time I went, I found
the house had been plundered. A large part of our books, furniture
and clothes, which had remained behind were either taken away or
destroyed.

"We had been at the government house but a short time, when it was
agreed to evacuate the town and retire to the wharf. In the hurry
of our second removal, many things which we had brought from our
house, were necessarily left, to fall into the hands of the
plunderers. We soon found ourselves at the wharf,--a large wooden
building of six rooms, into which, besides the Europeans, were
huddled all the sepoys with their baggage and ours, and several
hundreds of women and children belonging to Portuguese and others,
who looked to the English for protection. Our greatest danger at
this time arose from having in one of the rooms where many were to
sleep, and all of us were continually passing, several hundred
barrels of gunpowder, to which if fire should be communicated
accidentally by ourselves, or mischievously by others, we should
all perish at once. The next danger was from the rebels, who if
they could either rush upon us, or take us by surprise or
stratagem, would doubtless massacre us all on the spot. We lifted
up our hearts to God, and he heard us from his holy habitation. We
were preserved in safety through the night, though anxious and
sleepless. All our attempts to communicate intelligence of our
situation to the people in Maulmain and Mergui were defeated, and
the heavy rains soon affected the health of the sepoys. We had but
a small supply of rice in the granary near the wharf, and that was
continually in danger of being destroyed or burnt. But through the
kind care of our Heavenly Father, we were preserved alive, and
nothing of great importance occurred until the morning of Thursday,
a little before day-break, when a party of 500 advanced upon us
from the town, and set fire to several houses and vessels near the
wharf. But God interposed in our behalf, and sent a heavy shower of
rain, which extinguished the fire while the sepoys repelled the
assailants.

"At breakfast the same morning we had the happiness of seeing the
Diana steam-vessel coming up the river, with Major Burney on board.
Our hearts bounded with gratitude to God. It was soon agreed that
the Diana should return immediately to Maulmain for a reinforcement
of troops, and Major Burney had the kindness to offer a passage for
Mrs. Boardman and our family together with his own. After looking
to God for direction, I concluded to remain behind, partly in
compliance with Major Burney's advice and desire, but particularly
in the hope of being useful as an interpreter and negotiator, and a
preventer of bloodshed. With painful pleasure I took a hasty leave
of my dear family, and in the evening the Diana left us, not
however without having several shots from cannon or jinjals fired
at her from the people on the city wall. The English forces, small
and weak and sick as they were, were now throwing up breast-works;
and on Saturday the 15th inst. it was agreed to make an attack on
the town, in order if possible to take from the walls the large
guns that bore upon us, and to try the strength of the rebel party.
I stood at the post of observation with a spy-glass to watch and
give the earliest notice of the event, and soon had the pleasure of
announcing that the officers and sepoys had scaled the walls, and
were pitching down outside the large guns, that were mounted there,
while friendly Chinese were employed in carrying them to the wharf.
The success was complete, and nothing remained but to rescue the
prisoners (60 in number) whom the rebels had caught and confined.
After a short cessation and a little refreshment, a second attack
was made, during which the prisoners escaped and the rebels
evacuated the city. A second battery of guns was also taken and
brought to the wharf. In the morning we walked at large through the
town; but what desolation, what barbarous destruction was
everywhere exhibited! everything that could not be carried away had
been cut and destroyed in the most wanton manner. Our own house was
cut to pieces, our books cut scattered, torn and destroyed; our
furniture either carried off, or cut, or broken in pieces, and the
house itself and zayat converted into cook-houses and barracks.
During the last three days, we have been picking up the scattered
fragments of our furniture, books, &c. and repairing our house.

"Nga-Dah, the ringleader of the rebellion, and eleven of his
principal adherents, have been caught. The inhabitants are coming
in with white flags and occupying their houses. The bazaar is open,
and the work of repairs is going on.

"Yesterday morning the Diana arrived with a reinforcement of
European soldiers; and to-day I have come on board, expecting to
proceed to Maulmain immediately. My present plan is, if my brethren
approve, to return with my family, and resume our missionary labors
as before. The native members of our church, now scattered, will
probably come into town as soon as they hear of our return. Of the
boarding scholars, all are with us except three Karens.

"My letter is already protracted to so great a length, that I can
only add that our preservation and deliverance from such imminent
danger, should awaken in our hearts the warmest gratitude to our
Heavenly Father, and the most unwavering confidence in his kind
care; and that the foregoing account should revive and deepen the
impression made by previous events in the history of this mission,
that we stand in need of the continual and fervent prayers of
Christians in America, not only for our preservation, but for
divine guidance in all our affairs.

"I remain, yours,

"G.D. Boardman

"P.S. _Saturday Morning, August 22d._--I have just arrived at
Maulmain, and have the happiness to find my family and missionary
friends in comfortable health. Praised be the Lord for his
goodness.

"_Aug. 29th._--After much deliberation, it is thought best that I
should leave my family here, till affairs are more settled.... I
expect to embark for Tavoy to-morrow morning. May the spirit of all
grace go with me!"

This is a "plain unvarnished" account of the terrible scene through which the missionaries were so wonderfully preserved, but to understand more fully their imminent peril we should know, that the town, at the time of the revolt, was almost defenceless. The English civil and military chief absent; the officer in command on his death-bed; no English troops in the town, and but about a hundred sepoys, who though trained to British modes of warfare are by no means equal in skill or valor to British troops; and the chief engineer disabled by sickness;--the Tavoyans had well chosen the time of their attack, and they were sufficiently numerous to have carried all their plans into execution; but the result, like that of all conflicts between civilized and barbarous men, shows how greatly superior a few troops, well disciplined, are to the most numerous bodies of men, unacquainted with the art of war.

But what could be more appalling to the stoutest heart, than the situation of Mrs. Boardman and her helpless family! Forced to flee from her frail hut, by bullets actually whizzing through it, and to pass through the town amid the yells of an infuriated rabble, her path sometimes impeded by the dead bodies of men who had fallen in the conflict: driven from the shelter of the government house, again to fly through the streets to the wharf-house; and there, with three or four hundred fugitives crowded together, to await death which threatened them in every form,--hearing over their heads the rush of cannon balls, and seeing from burning buildings showers of sparks falling, one of which, if it reached the magazines under their roof, was sufficient to tear the building from its foundations and whelm them all in one common ruin,--or if they escaped this danger, to know that hundreds of merciless barbarians with knives and cutlasses might at any moment rush into the building and destroy them;--can the _female_ heart, we are ready to ask, _endure_ such fearful trial?

"Perchance her reason stoops, or reels;
Perchance a courage not her own
Braces her mind to desperate tone,"

Yes, her mind was stayed by a "courage not her own," but it was "braced" to no "desperate tone;" rather its calmness was that of a child, who, in its own utter helplessness, clings to its father's arm, and feels secure. Neither must we forget that a painful diversion of her thoughts from the terrors around her, was afforded by the necessities of her suffering babe, to whom the foul air of the wharf-house, and the want of all comforts, had nearly proved fatal. It was only her sleepless, vigilant care, that, under Providence, prevented the poor child from sharing the fate of Mrs. Burney's little infant, which did not survive the dreadful scene.

And with what transports of joy did this suffering company hail the sight of the thin blue smoke that heralded the arrival of a steamer from Maulmain! Amid what distracting fears for her husband, left in the revolted city, her infant and herself, did Mrs. Boardman decide to go on board the steamer returning to Maulmain! And with what gratitude and joy did she, after several days of painful suspense, welcome to the same city, her husband, and hear the tidings of the triumph of British power, and the restoration of tranquillity! In her happiness at meeting him alive, she noticed not that his late exposure and sufferings had increased to an alarming degree the symptoms of his dreadful malady. Inspired with something of his own enthusiasm, she saw him depart, to return to his beloved labors in Tavoy, whither she hoped and expected soon to follow him.