Chapter IX (2)

“Nearly every article of value that could be taken away had
disappeared from the house; and though strict search was made
throughout the neighborhood, no trace of them was ever discovered.
After this incident, Sir Archibald Campbell furnished the house with a
guard of Sepoys during the night; and as the rapid increase of the
population soon gave it a central position in the town, the danger of
such attacks was very much lessened.”

It was at this exposed spot that the Judsons, the Boardmans, and the Wades mustered their forces, and stood prepared to take advantage of the inflowing tide of Burmese population. They took with them from Amherst their whole little flock of native converts and inquirers, namely, Moung Shwa-ba, Moung Ing, Moung Myat-poo, Mah Doke, with her husband, Moung Dwah, and Moung Thah-byoo, who afterward became the apostle to the Karens. Seventeen of the female scholars also accompanied them, besides the two little boys left motherless by the lamented Mah Men-la.

The missionaries and their converts at once began _zayat_ work. There were soon in Maulmain four widely-separated centres of Gospel influence, namely: the mission-house where Mr. Boardman labored; Mr. Judson’s _zayat_, about two miles and a half north of the mission premises, in a very populous part of the town (“a little shed projecting into one of the dirtiest, noisiest streets of the place”); Mr. Wade’s _zayat_, out in the country, about half a mile south of the mission-house; and, besides, a reading _zayat_, where Moung Shwa-ba and Moung Ing alternately read the Scriptures to all the passers-by. At each of these stations public worship was held, followed by close personal conversation with any who desired to become acquainted with the new religion. Nor did the word thus preached return void. They soon had the happiness of baptizing Moung Dwah, one of the inquirers who had accompanied them from Amherst, and others speedily followed his example.

Some of the most stubborn cases yielded, little by little, to Mr. Judson’s solemn and gentle persuasion. He describes a certain Moung Bo as follows:

“I noticed once in the annals of the Rangoon mission a man of the
first distinction in point of talents, erudition, general information,
and extensive influence. His progress has been so slow that I have not
mentioned him before; but he has attended me ever since the _zayat_
was opened, his house being on the opposite side of the street. He was
an intimate friend of Moung Shwa-gnong, and has apparently been going
through a process similar to what my dear brother, now, I trust, in
heaven, experienced. He has relinquished Buddhism, and got through
with Deism and Unitarianism, and now appears to be near the truth.
Many a time, when contemplating his hard, unbending features, and
listening to his tones of dogmatism and pride, I have said in my
heart, ‘Canst thou ever kneel, a humble suppliant, at the foot of the
cross?’ But he has lately manifested some disposition to yield, and
assures me that he does pray in secret.”

Although the English rule prevented the application of the Burman iron mall, yet the young converts did not escape persecution.

“Ko Myat-kyau is,” Mr. Judson writes, “a brother of the first native
chief in the place, nearly fifty years of age, of most respectable
rank in society, more so than any other that has been baptized,
possessed of a clear mind, considerable native eloquence, and an
uncommon degree of mental and bodily activity. His literary
attainments are scanty; but he has command of handsome language,
particularly that which is current in the higher classes of society.
He has been an inquirer after truth many years, and has diligently
investigated the systems of Buddh, of Brahma, and of Mahomet. At
length he embraced the religion of Jesus Christ with all his heart and
soul, manifesting more zeal and ardor than commonly characterize his
cool, considerate countrymen. He has suffered as much persecution as
can be openly inflicted under British government. All his relations
and friends joined in a most appalling cry against him; his wife
commenced a suit for divorce; and his brother publicly declared that,
if he had the power of life and death, he would instantly wipe out
with his blood the disgrace brought upon the family. Our friend bore
it all with the meekness of a lamb, and conducted himself with such
forbearance and Christian love that the tide has begun to turn in his
favor. His wife has relinquished her suit, and begins to listen to the
word; his brother has become silent; and some few of the relatives
begin to speak in our favor.”

Women, too, did not shrink from suffering persecution on behalf of their newly-found Lord. Describing a baptism, Mr. Judson says:

“We made up a small female party, consisting of Mah See, Mah Gatee,
and Mah Kyan, all decided and hearty in the cause, amid a torrent of
threatening and abuse. The first is the wife of Moung San-lone,
second; but her elder brother, and her priest, and other acquaintance
are all alive on the occasion. The husbands of the other two are both
opposers, and have threatened their wives with everything bad if they
enter the new religion. They expect to suffer as soon as their
husbands hear of the deeds of this day. We feel most for Mah Kyan, who
has a child at her breast, an only child; and her husband has declared
that he will not only turn her off, but take the child away from her,
and provide it another nurse. After they were baptized, they said that
their minds were very happy; come life, come death; they were
disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ for life and forever.”

Again, he tells the story of a lady eighty years of age, mother-in-law of a petty chief who was one of the bitterest opposers:

“She commenced her inquiries,” he writes, “several months ago with a
great deal of timidity. And though she has acquired a little courage,
and is a person of considerable presence, she almost trembles under a
sense of the great responsibility of changing her religion. Such being
her character, the promptness with which she answered our questions,
before the church, affected us even to tears. ‘How old are you,
mother?’ ‘Eighty years.’ ‘Can you, at such an age, renounce the
religion that you have followed all your life long?’ ‘I see that it is
false, and I renounce it all.’ ‘Why do you wish to be baptized into
the religion of Jesus Christ?’ ‘I have very, very many sins; and I
love the Lord, who saves from sin.’ ‘Perhaps your son-in-law, on
hearing that you have been baptized, will abuse you, and turn you out
of doors.’ ‘I have another son-in-law, to whom I will flee.’ ‘But he
also is an opposer; suppose that you should meet with the same
treatment there?’ ‘You will, I think, let me come and live near you.’
We made no reply, willing that she should prove her sincerity by
bearing the brunt alone. Her name is Mai Hlah. Behold this venerable
woman, severing, at her time of life, all the ties which bind her to a
large circle of connections and friends, hazarding the loss of a
comfortable, respectable situation, the loss of character, the loss of
a shelter for her gray head, throwing herself on the charity of
certain foreigners, and all for the sake of ‘the Lord who saves from
sin.’ O, blessed efficacy of the love of Christ!”

But not only was the _zayat work_ crowned with success; the _school work_ was not less effective. The school of girls which had been transplanted from Amherst increased in size and efficiency under the superintendence of Mrs. Wade and Mrs. Boardman, who not only taught the children, but imparted religious instruction to the Burman women. The tireless Boardman also opened a school for boys. Mr. Judson speaks joyously of an incipient revival in the girls’ school, “similar to those glorious revivals which distinguish our own beloved land.” He baptized Mah-ree (Hasseltine) about twelve years ago, one of the two Burman girls[38] whom his departed Ann had watched over during his own long imprisonment at Ava.

“Two other girls, younger than those that have been baptized, appear
to have obtained light and hope in Christ. ‘Out of the mouth of babes
and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise.’ One of them, Mee Youk,
about eight years old, gives as clear, satisfactory evidence of real
conversion as any of the older girls. The other, Mee Kway, like our
departed Mee Shway-ee, was rescued at Amherst from miserable slavery.
She has hitherto given us very little pleasure, but is now led to see
that she has been an uncommonly wicked child, and to feel a humble,
penitent disposition.”

But even these babes in Christ were not exempt from suffering persecution. Mee Tan-goung had just been baptized. Her eldest sister, after having experienced real and pungent convictions of divine truth, had at length been induced by her mother’s alternate promises and threatenings deliberately to reject the Saviour.

“Mee Tan-goung’s mother came early,” writes Mr. Judson, “before any of
us were up, and having made her elder daughter, Mee Lau, open the door
of the school _zayat_, she fell upon her younger daughter, abusing and
beating her, until, fearing that she should alarm the house, she went
off. Soon after, however, she came again, and finding her daughter
outside, she beat her on the head with an umbrella, and threatened to
sell her for a slave. She then went into town, and after raising a
tumult in the market-place, and declaring that her daughter had
entered into a religion which prevented her lying and cheating, so
that she was quite lost to all purposes of trade, she carried the
alarming tale to the mothers of the other two girls who were baptized
yesterday. One of them, the mother of Mee Nen-mah, who has been most
violent heretofore, came in a rage to Mrs. Wade (brother Wade and
myself being absent at our _zayats_), and after using as bad language
as she dared, she ran down to the schoolroom, seized her daughter by
the hair, and dragged her outdoors toward a pile of wood, where she
would soon have armed herself with a weapon, had not Mrs. Wade
interfered, and rescued the victim; upon which the mother went off,
muttering vengeance. The girls bore all this abuse in silent
submission, and really manifested something of the spirit of martyrs.
All three are taken into the house for the present, lest their
infuriated relatives should make an assault upon them by night.”

Poor little Mee Aa, who had been baptized, was living in great fear. She daily expected her mother from Amherst, and knew that she would take her away instantly, and would use all the means in her power to make her renounce the Christian religion. But Mee Aa was to be pleasantly disappointed. Instead of being remanded by her mother to the shadows of heathenism, she was permitted to lead that mother into the light of the Gospel.

“Soon after that date, Mee Aa came trembling, one morning, to Mrs.
Wade, with the alarming news that her mother had just arrived at the
landing-place, with the intention, doubtless, of taking her away by
force; and what should she do? She was told to go and meet her mother,
and to pray as she went. But the poor girl need not have been alarmed.
She had been incessantly praying for her mother ever since she had
learned to pray for herself; and God had heard her prayers, and
softened her mother’s heart. So when she heard that her daughter was
actually baptized, she only made up a queer face, like a person
choking, and said, ‘It was _so_, was it not? I hear that some quite
die under the operation.’ This speech we all considered encouraging.
And, accordingly, she soon settled down among us, drank in the truth
from her daughter’s lips, and then followed her example.”

But the most pathetic story of all is that of Mee Shway-ee, a little child, whom the missionaries rescued from the barbarities of heathenism. They brought her with them from Amherst. When they first heard of her she was a slave-girl, five years old. Her master was a Moor. He afterward turned out to be her own brother, who had formed the diabolical project of killing her by inches. Mr. Judson got possession of the little girl by threatening her master with all the penalties of the English law. Her wretched condition is thus described in Mrs. Wade’s journal:

“Her little body was wasted to a skeleton, and covered from head to
foot with the marks of a large rattan, and blows from some sharp-edged
thing which left a deep scar. Her master in a rage one day caught her
by the arm, and gave it such a twist as to break the bone, from which
her sufferings were dreadful. Besides, she had a large and very
dreadful burn upon her body, recently inflicted.... She had been
tortured so long that her naturally smiling countenance was the very
picture of grief and despair..... Almost the first words which the
poor little sufferer said to me were, ‘Please to give your slave a
little rice, for I am very hungry.’ She was asked if she had not had
her breakfast; to which she replied: ‘Yes, but I got very little, so
that I am hungry all the day long.’”

The poor little Mee Shway-ee had suffered too much ever to recover. She survived her release from her master only a few months. She died in the glad triumphs of the Christian faith. “I am dying,” she said, “but I am _not afraid_ to die, for Christ will call me up to heaven. He has taken away all my sins, and I wish to die now, that I may go and see Him.”

Her cruel master received his just deserts. He was thrown into prison, where, after waiting trial for several months, he was condemned to a further confinement of four years in irons, and hard labor on the public works. This dreary prospect broke his spirit, and he managed to put an end to his wretched life by taking arsenic.

MEE SHWAY-EE.[39]

“In the tropic land of Burmah,
Where the sun grows never old;
And the regal-browed Palmyra
Crowns her head with clouds of gold;
On a strange, wild promontory,
Close beside the rushing sea,
Listening ever to the billows,
Dwelt poor little Mee Shway-ee.

“But along the sandy sea-shore.
Or amid the foliage green,
Stringing rows of crimson berries,
Was the maiden never seen;
Never twined she her black tresses
With the golden mazalee;
For a wild and woe-marked slave-child
Was poor little Mee Shway-ee.

“And when in the hush of twilight
Rose a startling eldritch cry,
Answered by the gray-winged osprey,
Plunging seaward from the sky;
Then the village wives and maidens,
As they glanced from roof to sea,
Whispered of a human osprey,
And poor writhing Mee Shway-ee.

“But a messenger of Jesus—
Him who, centuries ago,
Bared His bosom to the arrow
Winged by human guilt and woe,
And then said, ‘Go preach my Gospel!
Lo! I’m evermore with thee’—
One who served this blessed Jesus,
Found poor trembling Mee Shway-ee.

“Found her wan, and scarred, and bleeding,
Mad with agony and sin;
So love’s arms were opened widely,
And the sufferer folded in;
Tender fingers soothed and nursed her,
And ’twas wonderful to see
How the winning glance of pity
Tamed the elf-child, Mee Shway-ee.

“For, beneath those drooping eyelids
Shone a human spirit now,
And the light of thought came playing
Softly over lip and brow;
But her little footstep faltered,—
Beamed her eye more lovingly,—
And ’twas known that death stood claiming
Gentle, trusting Mee Shway-ee.

“But to her he came an angel,
Throned in clouds of rosy light;
Came to bear her to that Saviour
Who had broke her weary night;
And with smiles she sought his bosom;
So, beside the rushing sea,
’Neath the weeping casuarina,
Laid they little Mee Shway-ee.”

But amid the cares and toils of beginning a missionary enterprise in Maulmain, Mr. Judson did not remit his literary labors. The odd moments of time left from _zayat work_ and _school work_ were filled with the _work of translation_. Even before leaving Amherst he had embarked upon the prodigious task of translating the Old Testament into Burmese. He had begun with the Psalms. After the death of his wife and child his sorrowful heart instinctively turned for consolation to “the prayers of David the son of Jesse.” He had hardly been in Maulmain two years when he makes this record in his journal:

“_November_ 29, 1829. Since my last, we have finished revising the New
Testament and the Epitome of the Old—a work in which we have been
closely engaged for above a year. We have also prepared for the press
several smaller works, viz.:

“1. The Catechism of Religion. This has already passed through two
editions in Burmese. It has also been translated and printed into
Siamese, and translated into Taling or Peguan.

“2. The View of the Christian Religion, thoroughly revised for a
fourth edition in Burmese. It has also been translated into Taling and
Siamese.

“3. The Liturgy of the Burman Church.

“4. The Baptismal Service.

“5. The Marriage Service.

“6. The Funeral Service; the last three consisting chiefly of extracts
from Scripture.

“7. The Teacher’s Guide; or, a Digest of those parts of the New
Testament which relate to the Duty of Teachers of Religion, designed
particularly for Native Pastors.

“8. A Catechism of Astronomy.

“9. A Catechism of Geography.

“10. A Table of Chronological History; or a Register of principal
Events from the Creation to the present Time.

“11. The Memoir of Mee Shway-ee.

“12. The Golden Balance; or, the Christian and Buddhist Systems
Contrasted. This has been translated into Taling.

“The Gospel of St. Matthew was also translated into Siamese by Mrs.
Judson, and is now being translated into Taling by Ko Man-poke, our
assistant in that department.”

While thus absorbed in the work of preaching and teaching and translating at Maulmain, he was not forgetful of the smouldering camp-fires he had left behind him at Rangoon and Amherst. At Rangoon especially, where he had first unfurled the banner of the Christ, and whence he had been rudely driven by the intolerant spirit of the king of Ava, a native church was speedily reorganized under a Burman pastor, Ko Thah-a. It seems that this man was one of the original Rangoon converts.

“At the close of the war,” according to Mr. Judson’s narrative, “he
spent a few months at a large village in the neighborhood of
Shwa-doung, and there, devoting himself to the preaching of the word,
he produced a very considerable excitement. Several professed to
believe in the Christian religion; and three of the most promising
received baptism at his hands. Some others requested the same favor;
but he became alarmed at his own temerity, and declined their repeated
applications. The villagers, in time, returned to the vicinity of
Rangoon, whence they had fled at the commencement of the war. He also
returned to Rangoon, his former residence, and continued to
disseminate the truth, but in a more cautious and covert manner.”

Ko Thah-a visited Mr. Judson at Maulmain in order to be instructed as to what he should do with those whom he had persuaded to accept of Christ, and who wished to be baptized. It was thought best to ordain him as pastor of the church in Rangoon.

What a stubborn vitality there is in that seminal divine idea, a local church! Mr. and Mrs. Judson formed such a church, when, in 1813, they made their home at the mouth of the Irrawaddy, and all by themselves shared in that Holy Supper which was instituted to commemorate the Saviour’s dying love. The church of two slowly grew into a church of twenty. Then came the war, and the long imprisonment of the pastor at Ava. The church was hewed to the ground. Only four members could be found, and these were transplanted to Amherst. More than two years later Ko Thah-a, who had been lost sight of in the interior of the country, makes his appearance in Maulmain. He has all along been secretly preaching the good news, and now he wants to go back to Rangoon and baptize the converts whom he has won. Out of the stump of the tree cut down there springs a shoot which has bloomed and flourished even to the present time. The Rangoon mission of 1881 now embraces eighty-nine churches and thirty-seven hundred members. “There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon.”

Ko Thah-a, the first Christian pastor among the Burmans, proved to be an able minister. Of him Mr. Judson wrote:

“His age (fifty-seven), his steadiness and weight of character, his
attainments in Burman literature, which, though not, perhaps,
necessary, seem desirable in one who is taking up arms against the
religion of his country, and his humble devotedness to the sacred
work, all conspire to make us acquiesce with readiness and gratitude
in the divine appointment.”

Again and again he sent to Maulmain the cheering news of conversions and baptisms; and when, a year and a half after his ordination, Mr. Judson visited him at Rangoon and invited him to go on a missionary tour up the country, he declined, “on account of having so many irons in the fire”—that is, hopeful inquirers—that he must stay to bring forward and baptize. And Mr. Judson adds, “He is as solicitous and busy as a hen pressing about her chickens. It is quite refreshing to hear him talk on the subject, and see what a nice, careful old shepherd he makes. The Lord bless his soul and the souls of his flock!”

Neither did Mr. Judson forget the deserted mission-field at Amherst, where lay the precious dust of his wife and child. Like the Apostle Paul, he felt the deepest solicitude for the spiritual welfare of the converts whom he had left along the track behind him. Moung Ing was ordained and sent to be pastor of the disciples at Amherst.

“The church,” Mr. Judson writes, “consisted of three—Mah Loon-byay,
who was baptized while we lived there, and has never left the place;
Mah Kai, and her daughter, Mee A, who have lately moved thither. To
these are now added pastor Moung Ing and his wife, Mah Lan. May the
five become five hundred. May the seed formerly sown in weakness and
tears yet spring up and bear fruit. May the last efforts of the one we
have lost, whose setting rays sunk in death beneath the hope-tree,
prove not to have been in vain; and may the prayers which ascended
from her dying bed be yet heard and answered in blessings upon
Amherst.”

Moung Ing, however, though diligent and faithful, and extremely desirous of doing good, seems to have proved rather a failure as a minister. The prospects at Amherst darkened; and Mr. Judson sadly wrote:

“Moung Ing has had no success at all, though he has not been wanting
in diligence and faithfulness. At length we advised him to remove to
Tavoy. He, however, preferred Rangoon, and is now co-operating with Ko
Thah-a. His wife remained behind. Her conduct has been very
exceptionable since her baptism, and soon after her husband’s
departure she became openly vicious. She is now suspended from
communion—the first case of church discipline that has occurred among
the native members.”

One feels his heart drawn out toward the poor fisherman, Moung Ing, one of the very earliest Burman converts, Mrs. Judson’s only dependence at Ava and Oung-pen-la—the first bearer of the Gospel to the Tavoyans, and yet a man whose mission in this world, in spite of zeal, fidelity, and untiring industry, seemed to be ever to fail. In a subsequent letter of Mr. Judson’s, there occurs a pathetic account of his death. His humility and disinterestedness shone forth with a steady ray even in his latest hours.

“During the last year of his life, Ko Ing was supported from the
donations of Mr. Colgate, of New York. But at the close of October,
1833, he wrote that, on account of his unworthiness and want of
success, he declined receiving any further allowance; that his wife—of
whose conversion he had been the means—was able, by keeping a small
shop, to support the family; but that he intended, however, to devote
himself the same as before to the work to which he had been called.
Accordingly, the same letter reports his labors and states his plans
for future operations. Such communications he continued to make till
his death. In order, however, to square our accounts, we requested him
to receive the usual allowance for the remaining two months of that
year. He did so, and in acknowledging the receipt of the money, said
that he regarded it as a special gift from heaven. We then determined
that, though he declined any stated allowance, we would occasionally
make him presents; and brother Mason has sent him money two or three
times, amounting, I believe, to about one-third of his usual
allowance. The following is an extract from the letter of a pious
sergeant in the detachment stationed at Mergui, dated December 7,
1834:

“‘I was with Ko Ing several times during his illness, and commonly
took an interpreter with me; but on account of his extreme weakness
and deafness, I could say but little to him. Being anxious, however,
to know his experience, I asked him a few questions, as follows: _Q._
Do you wish to die or not? _Ans._ I wish to die, if it is the will of
God. _Q._ Why do you wish to die? _Ans._ I shall go to heaven and be
happy. _Q._ How do you know that you shall go to heaven? _Ans._ I have
read in the word of God that those who serve Him will go there, and my
own breast tells me of it (placing his hand on his breast and looking
up). _Q._ How have you served God? _Ans._ By forsaking my wicked ways,
and praying to Him for forgiveness. _Q._ Do you think all this will
take you to heaven? _Ans._ Jesus Christ came down from above, and died
for sinners; and those that are sorry for and forsake their sins shall
be saved, because Christ died for them. _Q._ You don’t think, then,
that your works and your own goodness will take you to heaven? _Ans._
No. All my works are but filthy rags. He was so much exhausted that I
asked him no more questions. I think I told you in a former letter
that he had his coffin made some days before his death; that our lads
carried him to the grave; and I read the funeral service over him.’”

But the time had now come when this little company of missionaries at Maulmain had to be broken up. Judson, Boardman, and Wade—an illustrious triumvirate—could not long expect to work together in the same place. This would be too great a concentration of forces at one point. The Gospel light must be more widely dispersed through the thick gloom of Paganism. The Boardmans were the first to go, though the parting with their missionary associates was attended with the keenest suffering. Besides, they had originated the mission at Maulmain, and it was at a peculiar sacrifice that they pressed into the regions beyond. They chose Tavoy as their field of work. It seemed out of the question to assail Burmah proper; and on the long coast of the ceded provinces, Amherst having dwindled into insignificance, Tavoy was the only important point within a hundred and fifty miles. If they went to Arracan, British territory situated on the other side of Burmah proper,[40] they would be too far away to meet with the other missionaries for such occasional consultation and concert of prayer as seemed advisable to the Board at home. Accordingly, on the 29th of March, 1828, when the missionaries had experienced for only seven months the joy of laboring together in Maulmain, Mr. and Mrs. Boardman with their little family set sail for Tavoy. They were accompanied by a young Siamese convert, Moung Shway-pwen, by a Karen, Ko Thah-byoo—subsequently the renowned apostle to the Karens—and by four of the native school-boys. With this little group of disciples, Mr. Boardman began that brief and heroic campaign among the Karens which has made his name so illustrious in the annals of missions.

On the 15th of December, 1829, Mr. Judson received news of the death at Washington of his brother Elnathan, with whom he had prayed so many years before by the roadside on his way from Plymouth to Boston.[41] The letter that brought him these sad tidings assured him also that the wayside prayer had been answered. He wrote the following letter of comfort to his distant sister:

“MAULMAIN, _December_ 21, 1829.

“I have just received yours of May 25 last, giving an account of
Elnathan’s death, and also Dr. Sewall’s detail of his dying exercises.
Perhaps you have not seen Dr. Sewall’s letter. It closes thus: ‘A few
hours before his death, and when he was so low as to be unable to
converse or to move, he suddenly raised himself up, and clasping his
hands, with an expression of joy in his countenance, cried, “_Peace,
peace!_” and then he sunk down, without the power of utterance. About
ten minutes before he expired, it was said to him, “If you feel the
peace of God in your soul, open your eyes.” He opened his eyes, and
soon after expired, and, as we believe, in the triumphs of faith.’
When I read this account, I went into my little room, and could only
shed tears of joy, my heart full of gratitude and my tongue of praise.
I have felt most anxious about him for a long time; to hear at last
that there is some good reason to conclude that he has gone to heaven
is enough. So we are dying, one after another. We shall all be there,
I trust, before long. I send you and mother a little tract, which I
beg you will study prayerfully. Let me urge you frequently to
re-examine the foundation of your hope. O, it is a solemn thing to
die—an awful thing to go into eternity, and discover that we have been
deceiving ourselves! Let us depend upon it that nothing but real faith
in Christ, _proved to be genuine by a holy life_, can support us at
last. That faith which consists merely in a correct belief of the
doctrines of grace, and prompts to no self-denial,—that faith which
allows us to spend all our days in serving self, content with merely
refraining from outward sins, and attending to the ordinary duties of
religion,—is no faith at all. O, let me beg of you to look well into
this matter! And let me beg my dear mother, in her old age, and in
view of the near approach of death and eternity, to examine again and
again whether her faith is of the right kind. Is it that faith which
gives her more enjoyment in Jesus, from day to day, than she finds in
anything else?

“May God bless you both, is the fervent prayer of your affectionate
brother.”

On the arrival at Maulmain of two new missionaries, the printer, Mr. Cephas Bennett, and his wife, it seemed best that the policy of dispersion should be still more rigorously pursued. Mr. Judson never approved of the huddling of missionaries together at any one station. A few years later he wrote:

“Formerly, having spent many years alone, I felt desirous of
missionary society, and was disposed to encourage a few to stay
together, not doubting but that we should all find enough to do. But I
have now learned that one missionary standing by himself, feeling his
individual responsibility, and _forced to put forth all his efforts_,
is worth half a dozen cooped up in one place, while there are
unoccupied stations in all directions, and whole districts, of
thousands and hundreds of thousands, perishing in the darkness of
heathenism. You will perhaps wonder that I am frequently writing in
this strain. But when I think of seven families,—eight when the ——s
are here, which will probably be every rainy season,—my spirit groans
within me. I feel that I can not spend my time to better purpose than
in endeavoring to effect some change in our present arrangements. I
can truly say that all the real missionary work done by all the
sisters at this station, from day to day, might and would be done by
any two of them, if left to themselves; and this not because they are
disposed to indolence or self-indulgence, but simply because there are
so many together. Place any one of them in a station by herself, with
her husband, and she would become a new creature.”

He also believed in multiplying the centres of light. It might be well for a new missionary upon his first arrival to be kept in training at some long-established post in association with experienced laborers, but then his ultimate aim should be to plunge alone into the thicket of heathenism.

Besides, the time had now come to make a new attempt to enter Burmah proper. Accordingly on February 21, 1830, Mr. and Mrs. Wade removed to Rangoon, Mr. Judson’s old field, where the newly-ordained Moung Thah-a and Moung Ing were laboring. The pain of parting was alleviated by the hope which Mr. Judson cherished of joining them again at Rangoon, with the purpose of once more penetrating the valley of the Irrawaddy in the direction of Ava. In a confidential letter, written to the Corresponding Secretary two years and a half before, he had thus described the four beloved coadjutors from whom it was now his duty to be separated:

“Brother Wade is a steady, correct, judicious, persevering,
heavenly-minded man. He is much better than he seems on first
appearance or a slight acquaintance. I have learned that his advice is
safe, and I confide in his judgment more than my own. He is getting a
thorough knowledge of the language, and both he and Mrs. Wade speak it
very well. In regard to Mrs. Wade I can truly say, that among all my
living acquaintances I do not know a single woman who is superior to
her in sterling excellence of missionary character. Brother and sister
Boardman I am not much acquainted with, and am unable to delineate
their distinguishing characteristics. He appears to have a mind well
disciplined and readily stirred. She is a truly lovely and estimable
woman. Of all the four, I know not which I _esteem_ most. The Wades I
_love_ most because I know them best.”

But Mr. Judson could not remain content at Maulmain. He was not satisfied with founding two or three missions on the outermost edge of British Burmah. He longed to penetrate Burmah proper again, and establish a line of mission stations in the Irrawaddy valley, that arterial channel through which the tide of Burmese population surged. Mr. Wade had gone before simply as an _avant coureur_. His going to Rangoon was only a part of a more general movement. Leaving Maulmain in charge of Mr. Boardman, who had been temporarily recalled from Tavoy, Mr. Judson parted with him and the new-comers, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, on April 26, 1830, and set sail for Rangoon, where he arrived six days later. Before leaving Maulmain, he writes in his journal:

“Our re-entering Burmah is an experiment which we are making with fear
and trembling. Accounts from brother and sister Wade are rather
encouraging. They both give it as their decided opinion that I ought
to join them immediately; not merely with a view to Rangoon, but to
the neighboring towns, and to all that are afar off, even as many as
the Lord our God shall render accessible.”

He spent only a few days with Mr. Wade in Rangoon. Then, in the company of five native disciples, he proceeded by boat to Prome, an ancient city situated on the Irrawaddy about one hundred and seventy miles from the mouth. He writes from Rangoon:

“Every day deepens the conviction in my mind that I am not in the
place where God would have me be. It was to the interior, and not to
Rangoon, that my mind was turned long before I left Maulmain; and
while I feel that brother and sister Wade are in the right place, I
feel that I am called elsewhere. Under these impressions, I am about
proceeding up the river, accompanied by Moung Ing, Moung En, Moung
Dway, Moung Dan, baptized April 4, and little Moung Like, mentioned
April 18, not yet baptized. The boat on which we embark will take us
to Prome, the great half-way place between this and Ava, and there I
hope and pray that the Lord will show us what to do.”

This brave effort, however, to plant Christianity at Prome, in the very interior of the Burman empire, the half-way place between Rangoon and Ava, proved a complete failure. Mr. Judson preached the Gospel and distributed tracts all the way up the river, and for three months he and his disciples labored faithfully in Prome. He occupied daily an old tumble-down _zayat_ at the foot of the great pagoda, Shway Landau, and thousands heard the Gospel from his lips. But suddenly the _zayat_ was deserted. He met with cold and rude treatment in the streets. The dogs were allowed to bark at him unmolested. It was rumored that the king at Ava was displeased that the Burman religion should be assailed in the very heart of his empire, and that he had given orders that Mr. Judson should be required to depart from Burmah. It subsequently transpired that the king himself was, in reality, kindly disposed toward Mr. Judson. He had inquired some time before where Mr. Judson was, and when told that he was in Maulmain, he said: “Why does he not come here? He is a good man and would, if he were here, teach and discipline my ministers and make better men of them.” The ejection of Mr. Judson from Burmah was a trick on the part of these very prime ministers. They hated all foreign intrusion, and represented to Major Burney, the English ambassador at Ava, that the king was very much displeased with Mr. Judson’s attempt to introduce Christianity into the empire. Major Burney writes:

“AVA, _September_ 1, 1830.

“The ministers requested my advice as to the measures which they ought
to pursue with respect to Dr. Judson, who, they said, is come up to
Prome, and is there distributing tracts among the inhabitants, and
abusing the Burmese religion, much to the annoyance of the king. I
told them that Dr. Judson is now exclusively devoted to missionary
pursuits; that I possess no power or authority over him, but that I
know him to be a very pious and good man, and one not likely to injure
the Burmese king or Government in any manner. The ministers replied
that the king is much vexed with Dr. Judson for the zeal with which he
is distributing among the people writings in which the Burmese faith
is held forth to contempt, and that his majesty is anxious to remove
him from Prome. I said that the Burmese king and Government have
always enjoyed a high reputation among civilized nations for the
toleration which they have shown to all religious faiths; that there
are thousands, in Europe and America, who would be much hurt and
disappointed to hear of any change in the liberal policy hitherto
observed by the king of Ava, and that I hope the ministers would not
think of molesting or injuring Dr. Judson, as such a proceeding would
offend and displease good men of all nations. They replied that it was
for this reason, to avoid hurting Dr. Judson, that they had consulted
me; and they propose that I should write and advise Dr. Judson of the
king’s sentiments toward him. I reiterated my assurances that Dr.
Judson is in no way connected with me or my Government, and that I can
issue no orders to him; and I begged the ministers to leave him alone,
which, however, they said they could not, as his majesty had expressed
himself much displeased with his conduct. I consented at last to write
to Dr. Judson, but I told the ministers to recollect that I had no
right to interfere with him, who would, notwithstanding any letter he
might receive from me, act in whatever manner his own judgment and
conscience might dictate. The ministers begged of me only to recommend
Dr. Judson to return to Rangoon, and confine his missionary labors
within that city.”

And so Mr. Judson was forced sadly and reluctantly to abandon his project of carrying the Gospel into Central Burmah. The thrilling narrative of his experiences in Prome and of his return to Rangoon is best told in his own words:

_To the Missionaries at Rangoon and Maulmain._

“PROME, _June_ 26, 1830.

“DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: To-day I have taken possession of the old
_zayat_ allowed me by Government. Part of it we have inclosed in
rooms, and the other part we have left open for the reception of
company. Several people accosted us as they passed. ‘So you have
moved, have you? We shall come and see you before long.’ There are at
present no hopeful inquirers; but some visitors from Men-dai and
Men-yoo-ah approximate toward that character.

“_July 2._ A great change has taken place in the minds of Government
people toward me. Satan has industriously circulated a report that I
am a spy in pay of the British. Last night the deputy governor sent to
inquire my name and title. This morning I waited on him, and on the
lady governess, but met with a very cold reception at both places. The
deputy governor is probably reporting me to Ava, and what the
consequences will be I know not. Several visitors, who began to listen
with some favorable disposition, have suddenly fallen off. To-day I
have had no company at all.

“_July 3._ Pastor Ing returned from a visit to Men-yoo-ah. He says
that the same suspicion is spreading all over the country. Even the
women mentioned in my last were afraid to have any communication with
him. By forcing his way, he managed to sleep two nights at the house
of the Toung-dwen teacher, and had some conversation with him and his
people on the subject of religion. But the teacher, though not a
regular Buddhist, feels his consequence, as the head of a sect, and is
perhaps as far from candid consideration as the most bigoted priest.
Pastor Ing says that the country is full of villages, and there is
some disposition to listen to religion, but that in the present state
of the public mind, if I should make the tour of those parts, as I had
some intention of doing, there is not a house where the owner would
dare to ask me to sit down at the entrance of the door.

“Feel extremely dejected this evening. Never so heartily willing to
enter into my rest, yet willing to offer, and I do, with some peculiar
feelings, offer, my poor life to the Lord Jesus Christ, to do and to
suffer whatever He shall appoint, during my few remaining days. My
followers feel some courage yet; for they have, I hope, a little
faith, and they know, also, that whatever storm comes, it will beat
upon their teacher first.

“_July 4. Lord’s day._ Another Burman day of worship, and a great day,
being the first day of Lent, a season which continues three months.
After usual worship, took a stroll through the place. All smiles and
looks of welcome are passed away; people view me with an evil eye, and
suffer their dogs to bark at me unchecked. Near Shway San-dau, the
_zayats_ were crowded with devout-faced worshippers. I found a vacant
place under a shed built over a large brick idol, and, sitting down on
the ground, I held converse with small parties, who came around in
succession. Some company, also, morning and evening, at home. I can
not but hope that two persons have this day obtained some discovery of
the way of salvation through a crucified Saviour. But it is really
affecting to see a poor native when he first feels the pinch of truth.
On one side he sees hell; on the other side, ridicule, reproach,
confiscation of goods, imprisonment, and death.

“_July 7._ Moung A, one of the persons last mentioned, comes every
day. He seems to be quite taken with the Christian religion, but says
he can not think of embracing it until the learned and the great lead
the way.

“_July 8._ Many visitors through the day, in consequence of a festival
held in the vicinity. Moung A begins to speak decidedly for Christ.

“_July 9._ Having agreed that two or three of our number shall go out
every day, in different directions, and preach the Gospel, whether the
people will hear or forbear, my lot fell in a public _zayat_, about a
mile from home, near Shway San-dau, where I had an uninterrupted
succession of hearers from morning till night. Pastor Ing and Moung
Dway were successfully engaged in another quarter, and Moung En had
some company at home. I presume that a hundred and fifty people have
this day heard the Gospel intelligibly, who never heard it before.

“_July 10._ The same as yesterday, except that, being ill, I left the
_zayat_ about noon. Moung A was with me in the afternoon. His case is
becoming extremely interesting. He is a bright young man, with a small
family, formerly belonged to Cæsar’s household, and bore a
considerable title, which was forfeited through false accusation. He
began last night to pray to the eternal God.

“_July 11. Lord’s day._ Several came in during worship, and behaved
decently, though they would not put themselves into a devotional
posture, or join in the responses. One man, in particular, professed
to be excessively delighted with the new and wonderful things which he
heard. Moung A present at evening worship, but he remains in a very
critical state. No wine to be procured in this place, on which account
we are unable to unite with the other churches, this day, in partaking
of the Lord’s supper.

“_July 12._ A Burman day of worship. In the morning, received private
information that the deputy governor, as I conjectured, did actually
report me to Ava. If any order be given immediately, whether favorable
or unfavorable, it may be expected in the course of a fortnight. Felt
rather dejected, but endeavored to put my trust in God, and resolve to
work while the day lasts. The _zayats_ being all full of worshippers,
I took my seat on a brick under the shed over the great idol, and,
from morning till night, crowd succeeded crowd. Some became
outrageously angry, and some listened with delight. Some said, ‘He is
a good man’; but others said, ‘Nay, he deceiveth the people.’ About
noon, heard Moung Dway’s voice on the other side of the idol. Pastor
Ing was busy in another quarter. At home, Moung En received a visit
from Myat-pyoo, one of the two persons mentioned on the 4th. He is
sixty-nine years old, a little deaf, very timid and retiring. My
expectations of him are not disappointed. He says that he thinks this
is the true religion, and the only one that provides a way of escape
from hell, of which he is exceedingly afraid, in consequence of his
many, many sins.

“_July 13._ Took up my position at my favorite _zayat_. It stands at
the crossing of two great roads, the one leading from the river-side
to Shway San-dau, and the other from the town to the place of burying,
or rather burning, the dead. Several funeral processions pass every
day, and many of the followers, in going or returning, stop at my
_zayat_ to rest. To-day there was a funeral of distinction, and all
the officers of Government, with their respective suites, attended. In
consequence of this, the crowd around me was greater than ever before.
But they were not hearers of the right stamp. Most of them, being
adherents of Government, were rude, insolent, and wicked in the
extreme. A few considerate persons remained till night, particularly
one man, on whose account I also remained, though dreadfully
exhausted. He has been with me two days, and I have a little hope that
he begins to feel the force of truth.

“_July 14._ Another day of hard conflict. The enemy begins to be
alarmed, and his forces come on fresh and fierce, while we, few in
number, have to sustain the combat without any human reinforcement.
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. At night, felt an entire
prostration of strength, so much so that I was unable to go through
with the evening service as usual.”

_To the same._

“PROME, _August_ 23, 1830.

“DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: Tired of minuting down the events of each
day, I have written nothing since my last date, July 16. My time has
been spent in the same way as stated in the first part of that month.
At one period the whole town seemed to be roused to listen to the news
of an eternal God, the mission of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and
the way of salvation through His atonement. A considerable proportion
of the hearers became favorably disposed. At length the enemy assumed
a threatening aspect; the poor people became frightened; many sent
back the tracts they had received; and there was a general falling off
at the _zayats_. I was summoned to undergo a long examination at the
court-house, not, however, on the subject of religion, but concerning
all my past life since I have been in Burmah. The result was forwarded
to Ava. The magistrates still preserve a perfect neutrality, in
consequence of the absence of the governor. At Ava I have been
regarded as a suspicious character ever since I deserted them at the
close of the war, and went over to the British. I know not what
impressions the governor of this place will there receive, or how he
will feel toward me when he is informed of the noise I have made in
Prome during his absence.

“On hearing of the declining health of brother Boardman, and brother
Wade’s intention of leaving Rangoon for Maulmain, I had some thoughts
of returning immediately to Rangoon. But, on further consideration and
prayer, I feel that I must work while the day lasts at Prome. I have
some company at the _zayats_ every day, and crowds on days of worship.
Most of the hearers are opposers; but I observe in distant corners
those who listen with eagerness. There are five persons who have, I
trust, obtained a little grace; but in the present dark time, they
give no satisfactory evidence.

“August 30. Since my last letters from Rangoon, I think continually of
brother Boardman, and the great loss we are threatened with. May the
Lord direct and support him and our dear sister.”

. . . . . . . . . .

_Letter to the Missionaries at Rangoon and Maulmain, and the
Corresponding
Secretary in Boston, U. S._

“BELOW PROME, _September_ 18, 1830.

“Afloat on my own little boat, manned by none other than my three
disciples, I take leave of Prome and her towering god Shway Lan-dau,
at whose base I have been laboring, with not the kindest intentions,
for the last three months and a half. Too firmly founded art thou, old
pile, to be overthrown just at present; but the children of those who
now plaster thee with gold will yet pull thee down, nor leave one
brick upon another.

“The Government writer, Moung Kywet-nee, who recommenced visiting us a
few days ago, has been hanging about us for two hours, lamenting our
departure; and he is now sitting alone at the water’s edge, looking
after our boat as it floats down the stream. ‘Mark me as your
disciple; I pray to God every day; do you also pray for me; as soon as
I can get free from my present engagements, I intend to come down to
Rangoon,’ are some of his last expressions.