Chapter V (2)

“Since worship I have stolen away to a much-loved spot, where I love
to sit and pay the tribute of affection to my lost darling child. It
is a little enclosure of mango-trees, in the centre of which is
erected a small bamboo-house on a rising spot of ground, which looks
down on the new-made grave of an infant boy. Here I now sit; and
though all nature around wears a most romantic, delightful appearance,
yet my heart is sad, and my tears frequently stop my pen. You, my dear
Mrs. Lovett, who are a mother, may _guess_ my feelings; but if you
have never lost a first-born, an only son, you can not _know_ my pain.
Had you even buried your little boy, you are in a Christian country,
surrounded by friends and relatives who could soothe your anguish and
direct your attention to other objects. But behold us solitary and
alone, with this one single source of recreation! Yet even this is
denied us; this must be removed, to show us that we need no other
source of enjoyment but God himself! Do not think, though I thus
write, that I repine at the dealings of Providence, or would wish them
to be otherwise than they are. No; ‘though He slay me, I will trust in
Him,’ is the language I would adopt. Though I say with the prophet,
‘Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow,’ yet I
would also say with him, ‘It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not
consumed, because His compassions fail not.’”

While engaged in the hard task of learning the Burman language, Mr. Judson caught eagerly at every opportunity of imparting Christian truth. We give his record of a conversation with his teacher:

“_September 30, 1815._ Had the following conversation with my teacher,
as nearly as I can recollect it. This man has been with me about three
months, and is the most sensible, learned, and candid man that I have
ever found among the Burmans. He is forty-seven years of age, and his
name is Oo Oungmen. I began by saying, Mr. J—— is dead. _Oo._ I have
heard so. _J._ His soul is lost, I think. _Oo._ Why so? _J._ He was
not a disciple of Christ. _Oo._ How do you know that? You could not
see his soul. _J._ How do you know whether the root of that mango-tree
is good? You can not see it; but you can judge by the fruit on its
branches. Thus I know that Mr. J. was not a disciple of Christ,
because his words and actions were not such as indicate a disciple.
_Oo._ And so all who are not disciples of Christ are lost? _J._ Yes,
all, whether Burmans or foreigners. _Oo._ This is hard. _J._ Yes, it
is hard indeed; otherwise I should not have come all this way, and
left parents and all, to tell you of Christ. He seemed to feel the
force of this, and after stopping a little he said, How is it that the
disciples of Christ are so fortunate above all men? _J._ Are not all
men sinners, and deserving of punishment in a future state? _Oo._ Yes,
all must suffer in some future state for the sins they commit. The
punishment follows the crime as surely as the wheel of the cart
follows the footsteps of the ox. _J._ Now, according to the Burman
system, there is no escape. According to the Christian system, there
is. Jesus Christ has died in the place of sinners—has borne their
sins; and now those who believe on Him, and become His disciples, are
released from the punishment they deserve. At death, they are received
into heaven, and are happy forever. _Oo._ That I will never believe.
My mind is very stiff on this one point, namely, that all existence
involves in itself principles of misery and destruction. The whole
universe is only destruction and reproduction. It therefore becomes a
wise man to raise his desires above all things that exist, and aspire
to _nigban_, the state where there is no existence. _J._ Teacher,
there are two evil futurities, and one good. A miserable future
existence is evil, and annihilation, or nigban, is an evil, a fearful
evil. A happy future existence is alone good. _Oo._ I admit that is
best, if it could be perpetual; but it can not be. Whatever is, is
liable to change, and misery, and destruction. Nigban is the only
permanent good, and that good has been attained by Gaudama, the last
deity. _J._ If there be no eternal being, you can not account for
anything. Whence this world, and all that we see? _Oo._ Fate. _J._
Fate! The cause must always be equal to the effect. See, I raise this
table. See also that ant under it Suppose I were invisible, would a
wise man say the ant raised it? Now, fate is not even an ant. Fate is
a word; that is all. It is not an agent; not a thing. What is fate?
_Oo._ The fate of creatures is the influence which their good or bad
deeds have on their future existence. _J._ If influence be exerted,
there must be an exerter. If there be a determination, there must be a
determiner. _Oo._ No, there is no determiner. There can not be an
eternal being. _J._ Consider this point. It is a main point of true
wisdom. Whenever there is an execution of a purpose, there must be an
agent. _Oo._ (After a little thought.) I must say that my mind is very
decided and hard, and unless you tell me something more to the
purpose, I shall never believe. _J._ Well, teacher, I wish you to
believe, not for my profit, but for yours. I daily pray the true God
to give you light that you may believe. Whether you will ever believe
in this world, I do not know; but when you die, I know you will
believe what I now say. You will then appear before the God that you
now deny. _Oo._ I don’t know that. _J._ I have heard that one Burman,
many years ago, embraced the Portuguese religion, and that he was your
relation. _Oo._ He was a brother of my grandfather. _J._ At Ava, or
here? _Oo._ At Ava he became a Portuguese; afterwards went to a ship
country with a ship-priest, and returned to Ava. _J._ I have heard he
was put to death for his religion. _Oo._ No, he was imprisoned and
tortured by order of the emperor. At last he escaped from their hands,
fled to Rangoon, and afterwards to Bengal, where they say he died.
_J._ Did any of his family join him? _Oo._ None; all forsook him; and
he wandered about, despised and rejected by all. _J._ Do you think
that he was a decided Christian, and had got a new mind? _Oo._ I think
so; for when he was tortured hard, he held out. _J._ Did he ever talk
with you about religion? _Oo._ Yes. _J._ Why did you not listen to
him? _Oo._ I did not listen. _J._ Did you ever know any other Burman
that changed his own for a foreign religion? _Oo._ I have heard that
there is one now in Rangoon, who became a Portuguese; but he keeps
himself concealed, and I have never seen him.”

After almost three years of the closest application to study, Mr. Judson was taken ill. He wrote to Dr. Baldwin:

“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 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. 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.”

He improved even the hours of his illness by collecting what knowledge he had acquired of the language and “putting it together in the shape of a grammar that it might not be wholly lost to others.” Fearing that his own life might soon come to a close, he determined to _blaze_ the trees through this hitherto untrodden wilderness of the Burmese language, by preparing a grammar. On July 13, 1816, exactly three years to a day after his arrival, he completed a work with the modest title, “Grammatical Notices of the Burman Language.” It was printed twenty years afterward; and although it was the result of a study of only three years, of one of the most difficult Oriental languages, and was written to relieve the tedium of a sick-bed, yet its merits were such as to command the following notice in the _Calcutta Review_:

“He (Dr. Judson) published another work, a grammar of no pretensions,
and of very small dimensions, yet a manual which indicated the genius
of the man, perhaps, more strikingly than anything else, except his
Bible. He has managed, from a thorough knowledge of the language, to
condense into a few short pages (only seventy-six) a most complete
grammar of this difficult tongue; and, as the student grows in
knowledge, _pari passu_, this little volume rises in his estimation;
for its lucid, comprehensive conciseness becomes more and more
manifest. In our limited acquaintance with languages, whether of the
East or West, we have seen no work in any tongue which we should
compare with it for brevity and completeness; yet we have, in our day,
had to study and wade through some long and some would-be short
grammars.”

Partially recovering from his illness, Mr. Judson completed, on July 30, 1816, his first tract, entitled “A View of the Christian Religion, in three parts, Historic, Didactic, and Preceptive.”[21]

The next step was to multiply this tract and speed it on its way among the Burmans. A press and Burman types had already arrived—a valuable present from the English Baptist brethren of Serampore. A missionary printer, the Rev. Geo. H. Hough, and his wife, were already on their way from America. Mr. Rice was still arousing the Baptists in the United States to send on reinforcements of men and money.

Mr. Judson wrote again and again appealing for help.

“We know not the designs of God in regard to this country; but I can
not 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 heathen lands, after trying the faith and sincerity of
His servants some fifteen or twenty years. Look at Otaheite, Bengal,
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 intelligible 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 monarch of the country has taken a violent hate to the
priests 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
cipher? 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
forthcoming. Work can not be done without men, and men can not 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 modest. Five
men, allowing two or three to each of the stations, is the smallest
number that will possibly answer.

. . . . . . . . . . .

“Permit me to close with a word in behalf of Eastern missions. Great
Britain and the United States appear to be the only countries which
can at present take a very active part in missionary concerns. The
British are fully occupied with India, Africa, and the South Sea
Islands. East of the British possessions in India are Burmah, Siam,
several other Indo-Chinese nations, the great empire of China, Japan,
thence north indefinitely, and southward the numerous Malayan Isles.
With all these countries the British are no more connected than the
Americans. The British are under no greater obligations to evangelize
them than the Americans. They are no nearer the English, in point of
transportation, than the Americans. And furthermore, throughout all
these countries the British are suspected and feared; but not the
Americans.

“The idea that the western continent belongs to the Americans, and the
eastern continent to the British, however plausible at first sight,
can not bear a moment’s examination. I apprehend that all the
northwestern Indians, and the inhabitants of those parts of South
America which are accessible, will scarcely outnumber the inhabitants
of this single empire of Burmah. And on what principle can the
Americans, who are perhaps half as numerous as the British, be let off
with one-twentieth or one-thirtieth part of the work? But when we
apply the case to the Baptists, it is still more decisive. There are
about five hundred Baptist churches in Great Britain, which average
one hundred members each. There are two thousand in America, which
average about the same. Behold Ireland, also, almost as destitute as
South America. And suppose the British should say, This is the proper
province of our missionary exertions; let us leave Asia and Africa to
the Americans, and ‘not send our young men to the antipodes.’”

But while asking for men, he wanted the right kind. They must be well qualified.

“RANGOON, _November 14, 1816_.

“In encouraging other young men to come out as missionaries, do use
the greatest caution. 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 servants of all; men who enjoy much closet
religion, 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, etc.
But O, how unlike to this description is the writer of it.”...

Again he wrote:

“In regard to the education necessary for missionaries, it appears to
me that whatever of mental improvement, or of literary and scientific
attainment, is desirable in a minister at home, is desirable in a
missionary. I think I could illustrate this in a variety of
particulars; but the limits of a letter do not allow. I feel, however,
more and more, the inadequacy and comparative insignificance of all
human accomplishments, whether in a minister or a missionary, and the
unspeakable, overwhelming importance of spiritual graces—humility,
patience, meekness, love—the habitual enjoyment of closet religion, a
soul abstracted from this world, and much occupied in the
contemplation of heavenly glories. Here I can not help digressing from
the subject to myself. You know not, my dear sir, you can not
conceive, how utterly unfit I am for the work in which I am engaged. I
am, indeed, a worm, and no man. It is a wonder that I am allowed to
live as a missionary among the heathen, and receive an undeserved
support from the dear people of God—from many who are poor in this
world, but rich in faith. Yet I feel necessity laid on me to remain
here, and try to do a little something.”

The reinforcements at last arrived. On October 15, 1816, the Rev. Mr. Hough and family landed at Rangoon, and the following joint letter was signed by Mr. Judson and Mr. Hough to Dr. Staughton, the Corresponding Secretary of the missionary society in America, to which these missionaries looked for support:

“RANGOON, _November_ 7, 1816.

“It is with peculiar satisfaction that we are, at length, able to
address a letter to the Board, in our joint capacity. We had a joyful
meeting in this place the 15th ult. Mr. Hough has settled in one part
of the mission-house; and we are now united, both as a church of
Christ and as a mission society. Our regulations on the latter point
we here submit to the Board. It will be evident, at first sight, that
these regulations have a prospective view, and are framed somewhat
differently from what they would have been had we not expected that
our society would soon be enlarged. But we hope that the time is not
far distant when they will receive the signature of brother Rice also.
Indeed, we hope for more than this; we hope that one or two others
will be found to accompany Mr. Rice.

“It is true that one of us remained about three years in this place
without uttering any Macedonian cries. But we apprehend that the time
is now come when it is consistent with the strictest prudence to lift
up our voice and say, Come over the ocean and help us. By a residence
of three years in this country, many doubts, which at first occurred,
are removed; and many points concerning the practicability of a
mission, and the prospect of success, are ascertained. We can not now
enter much into detail; but we desire to say that we consider the
mission established in this land. We unite in opinion that a wide door
is set open for the introduction of the religion of Jesus into this
great empire. We have at present no governmental interdict to
encounter, and no greater obstacles than such as oppose the progress
of missionaries in every heathen land. It appears to us (and may it so
appear to our fathers and brethren) that God, in removing the English
mission from this place, and substituting in their stead an American
mission, is emphatically calling on the American churches to
compassionate the poor Burmans, and to send their silver, and their
gold, and their young men to this eastern part of the world, to the
help of the Lord against the mighty.

“It is with great pleasure that we announce the valuable present of a
press and Burman types, made to us by the Serampore brethren. We are
now closing in a room for a temporary printing-office, and hope very
soon to issue a Gospel tract, which has been in readiness some time,
and which is intended to give the heathen around us some idea of the
way of salvation through the Lord Jesus. But we can not move one step
in the way of printing without money. Though favored with the press,
in the first instance, gratis, we have already expended in paper,
freight, and sundries, about four hundred rupees. We therefore beg an
immediate appropriation, not only to liquidate the expenses already
incurred, but to enable us to proceed in this all-important part of
our work. The accounts of the mission press we propose to keep
distinct; and they shall be submitted together with the accounts of
the mission.

“We know not how long the press will be permitted to remain in
Rangoon; we do not, however, deprecate its removal to Ava. Such a
measure would doubtless tend to the furtherance of the cause, and to
the introduction of religion into the very heart of the empire, where
Satan’s seat is. But in this case more men and more money would be
imperatively demanded; and we trust that the patronage of the Board
will not fail us in these necessary points. We desire humbly to repeat
to the Board what the first missionaries from the Baptist society in
England said to their friends, when on the point of embarkation in the
great work which seems destined to illumine Western India with the
light of the Gospel. ‘We are,’ said they, ‘like men going down into a
well; you stand at the top and hold the ropes. Do not let us fall.’
Hold us up, brethren and fathers; and if health and life be spared to
us, we hope, through the grace of God, to see Eastern India also
beginning to participate in the same glorious light. Many years may
intervene in the latter as well as in the former case; many
difficulties and disappointments may try your faith and ours. But let
patience have her perfect work; let us not be weary of well-doing; for
in due time we shall reap, _if we faint not_.”

The articles of agreement alluded to in this letter are as follows:

“In order more effectually, under the blessing of our Lord and Master,
to accomplish the important work for which we have come into this
heathen land, we, the undersigned, form a union on the following
principles, namely:

“1. We give ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ and to one another by
the will of God.

“2. We agree to be kindly-affectioned one toward another with
brotherly love, in honor preferring one another; feeling that we have
one Master, even Christ, and that all we are brethren.

“3. We agree in the opinion that our sole object on earth is to
introduce the religion of Jesus Christ into the empire of Burmah; and
that the means by which we hope to effect this are, translating,
printing, and distributing the Holy Scriptures, preaching the Gospel,
circulating religious tracts, and promoting the instruction of native
children.

“4. We therefore agree to engage in no secular business for the
purpose of individual emolument; and not at all, unless, in the
opinion of the brethren, the great object of the mission can be best
promoted thereby.

“5. We agree to relinquish all private right to remittances from
America, avails of labor, and compensation for service; in a word, to
place all money and property, from whatever quarter accruing, in the
mission fund; provided, that nothing in this article be construed to
affect our private right to inheritances, or personal favors, not made
in compensation of service.

“6. We agree that all the members of the mission family have claims on
the mission fund for equal support in similar circumstances; the
claims of widows and orphans not to be in the least affected by the
death of the head of their family. But it is to be understood that no
one shall have a right to adopt a child into the mission family, so as
to entitle it to the claims secured in this article, but by consent of
the brethren.

“7. We agree to educate our children with a particular reference to
the object of the mission; and if any expense be necessary or
expedient for this purpose, it shall be defrayed from the mission
fund.

“8. All appropriations from the mission fund shall be made by a
majority of the missionary brethren united in this compact; subject,
however, to the inspection of our patrons, the Board.

“A. JUDSON, JR.
“GEORGE H. HOUGH.”

Upon Mr. Hough’s arrival he immediately put the printing-press into operation. One thousand copies of the tract above mentioned and three thousand copies of a catechism which had just been completed by Mrs. Judson, were struck off and put into circulation. This strange new religion could not fail of at least catching the attention of the inquisitive Burmans. As the fishermen attach many hooks to a long line stretched across a river, hoping that at least a few of the many fishes swimming past may be taken, so our missionaries, with much care and toil, adjusted their trawl of tracts in the midst of the dense Burmese population, and anxiously, prayerfully awaited the result.

After only a few weeks of suspense they caught the first inquirer. In a letter to the Corresponding Secretary, dated Rangoon, March 7, 1817, Mr. Judson writes:

“Since the beginning of this year, we have printed two tracts, the one
a view of the Christian religion, seven pages, one thousand copies;
the other a catechism of six pages, 12mo, 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 introductory 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 conversed 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
sometimes been encouraged to hope that truth had made some impression,
never, till to-day, 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 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 ever been here before?’ ‘No.’ ‘Have you seen any
writing concerning 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 can not tell how I felt at this moment. This
was the first acknowledgment 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,’ etc. 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 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
leave.

“Throughout his short stay, he appeared different from any Burmans I
have yet met with. He asked no questions about customs and manners,
with which the Burmans tease us exceedingly. He had no curiosity, and
no desire for anything, but ‘MORE OF THIS SORT OF WRITING.’ In fine,
his conduct proved that he had something on his mind, and I can not
but hope that I shall have to write about him again.

“_March 24._ We have not yet seen our inquirer; but to-day we met with
one of his acquaintance, who says that he reads our books all the day,
and shows them to all that call upon him. We told him to ask his
friend to come and see us again.”

In a letter written almost a year afterward, Mrs. Judson alludes to this same inquirer:

“_January 30._ The Burman Mr. Judson mentioned some time ago as being
the first serious inquirer, and one who has excited the most hope,
came to-day to the mission-house. It is now almost a year since he
first came, and with much apparent anxiety inquired, ‘How long time
will it take me to learn the religion of Jesus?’ We have since
frequently inquired, but obtained little information respecting him
until to-day. Soon after his first visit, he was appointed governor of
a cluster of villages situated on the Salwen River, in the country of
Pegu. He has been at Rangoon but once since, and then on business by
order of the viceroy, and obliged to return immediately.

“I asked him if he had become a disciple of Jesus Christ. He replied,
‘I have not yet, but I am thinking and reading in order to become one.
I can not yet destroy my old mind; for when I see a handsome _patso_
(a cloth the Burman men wear) or a handsome _gownbown_ (the
handkerchief worn on the head), I still desire them. Tell the great
teacher, when he returns, that I wish to see him, though I am not a
disciple of Christ.’ He requested the remaining part of Matthew’s
gospel, also catechisms and tracts for his followers. I gave all of
his attendants tracts; on which he said to them, ‘Take and read them
attentively, and when you have embraced the doctrines they contain,
come here, and converse with the teacher.’”

As no further mention is made of this first inquirer who caused such a leap of hope in Mr. Judson’s heart, we are left in the dark as to his subsequent life, as in the case of the young man who asked our blessed Lord what good thing he should do that he might have eternal life, and having heard the reply, went away sorrowing. Did this eager inquirer for “more of this sort of writing” learn to cherish a secret faith in the Christ, so earnestly commended to him by the pale-faced stranger? or, rejecting the Saviour, did he make what Dante calls “the great refusal”?[22]

On May 20, 1817, Mr. Judson completed the translation of the gospel of Matthew. This marks the first stage in the monumental task of translating the whole Bible into Burmese. Two days later he began to compile a Burman dictionary. But close application for more than four years to the study of the Burman language and to the translation of tracts and Scriptures, and to the compilation of a grammar and dictionary, were breaking down his health. A sea voyage was needed to restore his vigor. But need of rest alone would not have caused him to take even a few weeks’ vacation from his toils and cares. He was impatient to begin holding public services in the Burman tongue. But although he understood the structure of the language, and could read, and write, and speak in Burman, yet for conducting public worship he felt the need of a native Christian helper.

Burmah is flanked on the western side by the mountains of Arracan;[23] between these and the Bay of Bengal lies the flat coast district of Chittagong. It had been ceded to the English. The inhabitants of this district spoke Burmese. A few years before, the English Baptists had begun a mission in Chittagong. Several converts had been baptized, when the mission was abandoned. Mr. Judson conceived the plan of visiting Chittagong, in order to gather together the scattered converts, instruct them anew, and perhaps bring one or two of them to help him in Rangoon. This would furnish him employment during the needed vacation. Besides, the rare opportunity was afforded of going and returning in the same ship; so that he would have to be absent for only three months. How painfully this pet project of his was frustrated, and how his three months were stretched out into almost two-thirds of a precious year, may be learned from the following letters to the Corresponding Secretary:

“MADRAS, _May_ 28, 1818.

“In former letters I have stated my circumstances at the close of last
year, and the reasons which induced me to leave Rangoon on a visit to
Chittagong; particularly the prospect of a direct passage, and speedy
return in the same ship—an opportunity of very rare occurrence in
Rangoon.

“Since that time a series of unexpected providences have befallen me,
which, though uninteresting in detail, must be briefly mentioned, in
order to account for my present situation.

“When we left Rangoon, December 25, we expected a passage of ten or
twelve days. At the expiration of a month, however, by reason of
contrary winds, and the unmanageableness of the ship in the difficult
navigation along the coast, we found ourselves still at a great
distance from port; and the season being so far advanced as to deprive
us of the hope of more favorable winds, the captain and supercargo
agreed on a change of the ship’s destination, and made sail for
Madras.

“Previous to leaving the coast, we put into Cheduba, a place under
Burman government, for a supply of provisions. I was unable to go
ashore, but took the opportunity of sending a tract by the boat. It
happened to be conveyed directly to the governor, and he ordered it
read in his presence. Soon after, when our captain had an audience,
the governor inquired after the writer of the tract, who he was, and
how long he had been in the country. The captain evaded some
questions, for fear of detention, I suppose, and merely stated that
the writer was a foreigner, who had resided in Rangoon about four
years. ‘No,’ replied the governor, ‘that is not to be credited. You
can not make me believe that a foreigner, in so short a time, has
learned to write the language so well. It must have been written by
some other person.’ The captain related this to me on his return. I
felt particularly gratified by this testimony to the perspicuity of
the style, and thought it not unworthy of mentioning, because it could
not be suspected, as others which had been made to me personally, of
having been a mere compliment.

“The ship’s destination was changed on the 26th of January. We
retraced our course for a few days, and then stood to the westward. It
was with the most bitter feelings that I witnessed the entire failure
of my undertaking, and saw the summits of the mountains of Arracan,
the last indexes of my country, sinking in the horizon, and the ship
stretching away to a distant part of India, which I had no wish to
visit, and where I had no object to obtain. It was, however, some
mitigation of my disappointment, that I should, in all probability, be
able to return to Rangoon, and resume my missionary business much
earlier than if I had visited Chittagong. But even the consolation of
this hope was not long allowed me. We had, indeed, a quick passage
across the bay; but on drawing near the Coromandel coast the wind and
current combined to prevent our further progress, and at the
expiration of another month, having for a long time subsisted on
nothing scarcely but rice and water, and being now reduced to very
short allowance, we concluded to make sail for Masulipatam, a port
north of Madras, which we doubted not we should be able to reach in a
very few days. In this, again, we were disappointed, and through the
unmanageableness of the ship, or the mismanagement of the captain,
were detained at sea nearly another month. During this period we were
sometimes in great distress, deeming ourselves very fortunate when
able to get a bag of rice, or a few buckets of water, from any native
vessel which happened to pass. Once we sent the long-boat to the
shore, and obtained a considerable supply of water, which was a great
relief. But of rice we could obtain no sufficient supply, and all
other articles of provision were quite out of the question.

“The low state to which I was at length reduced occasioned a partial
return of the disorder of my head and eyes, to which I was subject two
years ago. This, with other circumstances united, left me no other
source of consolation but resignation to the will of God, and an
unreserved surrender of all to His care; and praised be His name, I
found more consolation and happiness in communion with God, and in the
enjoyments of religion, than I had ever found in more prosperous
circumstances.

“Finally we did reach Masulipatam, and I left the ship on the 18th of
March, twelve weeks after embarking at Rangoon. I waited at
Masulipatam a few days, until it was ascertained that the ship would
unlade her cargo, and remain several months. And as there was no
prospect that season of reaching Madras by sea, the only port on the
coast where I could hope to find a vessel bound to Rangoon, I was
under the necessity of taking a journey by land—distance about three
hundred miles. I accordingly hired a palanquin and bearers, and
arrived here the 8th of April. My first aim was, of course, the beach,
and my first inquiry a vessel bound to Rangoon. But my chapter of
disappointments was not yet finished. No vessel had sailed for Rangoon
this year, and such, it was understood, was the unsettled state of the
Burman country, that none would probably venture for some time to
come.

“Here I have remained ever since, under very trying circumstances.
Have scarcely heard from Rangoon since I left, or been able to
transmit any intelligence thither by a conveyance to be depended on.
The weakness of my eyes prevents my application to study, or attempt
at any exertion. I am making no progress in missionary work; I am
distressed by the appalling recollection of the various business which
was pressing on me at Rangoon, and made me very reluctant to leave
home for the shortest time. Now, I have been detained twice as long as
I anticipated, and have, withal, wholly failed in my undertaking.
Where, my rebellious heart is ready to cry, where is the wisdom of all
this? But it is wise, though blindness can not apprehend. It is best,
though unbelief is disposed to murmur. Be still, my soul, and know
that He is GOD.”

“RANGOON, _October_ 9, 1818.

“My last was dated Madras, May 28, 1818. At that place I remained,
waiting for a conveyance to Rangoon, until the 20th of July, when I
took passage on an English vessel, at one hundred and sixty-seven
rupees. During my stay in Madras, I experienced great kindness and
hospitality in the families of the Rev. Mr. Thompson, chaplain, and
the Rev. Mr. Loveless, missionary; and received such proofs of
Christian affection from many dear friends, as rendered parting with
them very painful, though my detention in Madras had, in other
respects, been almost insupportable. We anchored at the mouth of
Rangoon River, on the 2d of August. The next morning, when the pilot
came on board, I was overwhelmed with the intelligence that, on
account of the dangerous situation of affairs, the mission had been
broken up, and that Mr. Hough and family, and Mrs. Judson, had taken
passage for Bengal. To my great relief, however, it was added, that,
before the ship left the river, Mrs. Judson’s reluctance to leave the
place had so increased as to force her back to the mission-house
alone; and further, that the ship, being found unfit for sea, was
still detained. On my arrival, I found that brother Hough was inclined
to pursue his original plan. His reasons he will doubtless communicate
to the Board. It is expected that the vessel will be ready for sea in
about a fortnight.”

It is characteristic of Mr. Judson’s letters to the Board that he kept out of sight his own personal sufferings, touching only upon matters which seemed to him of general interest and importance. We are, therefore, indebted to Mrs. E. C. Judson for certain reminiscences of this horrible voyage, which she received from his own lips:

“They had sailed for Chittagong, a passage which should have been made
in ten or twelve days, at farthest. He had, therefore, prepared
himself for only a few weeks’ absence from home. When the vessel put
in at Cheduba, the nervous affection of his head and eyes, occasioned
at first by low diet, had so much increased by exhaustion and lack of
food, that he was unable to go on shore. When they approached the
Coromandel coast, and again encountered contrary winds, they were
reduced to almost the last extremity, and the constitution of Mr.
Judson sank under these accumulated hardships. The mouldy, broken
rice, which they picked up from native vessels, and this in small
quantities, with a limited supply of water, was their sole sustenance
for three or four weeks. He was accustomed to look back on his
sufferings at this time with a feeling of horror scarcely equalled by
his reminiscences of Ava. Here he was alone, in a state of passive,
monotonous suffering, with no one to share his sympathies, and nothing
to arouse his energies. His scanty wardrobe, prepared for a trip of
ten or twelve days, had been long since exhausted, and what with
starvation, filth, pain, and discouragement, he became unable to leave
his berth. At last he was attacked by a slow fever, and turning in
disgust from his little mess of dirty rice, he begged continually for
water! water! water! without ever obtaining enough to quench, even for
a moment, his devouring thirst. At length the little vessel came to
anchor in the mud of Masulipatam, some two or three miles from the
low, uninviting beach, and the captain came to inquire if he would be
taken on shore. The fact that they were near land seemed to him an
incredible thing, a kind of dreamy illusion too fanciful to interest
him. After some urging, however, he became sufficiently roused to
pencil a note, which he addressed to ‘any English resident of
Masulipatam,’ begging only for a place on shore to die. After a little
while, one of the men came below, to tell him that a boat was
approaching from the shore. He now succeeded in crawling to the window
of his cabin, from which he plainly distinguished, in the rapidly
moving boat, both the red coat of the military and the white jacket of
the civilian. In the first thrill of joyful surprise, the sudden
awakening of hope and pleasure, he threw himself on his knees and
wept. Before his new friends were fairly on board, he had succeeded in
gaining some little self-control; but he added, his voice faltering
and his eyes filling with tears as he related the incident to Mrs.
Judson, ‘The white face of an Englishman never looked to me so
beautiful, so like my conception of what angel faces are, as when
these strangers entered my cabin.’ They were very much shocked at his
visible wretchedness: he was haggard, unshaven, dirty, and so weak
that he could with difficulty support his own weight. Their earnest
cordiality was peculiarly grateful to him. One of the officers took
him to his own house, supplied him from his own wardrobe, procured a
nurse, whom, however, he had occasion to employ but a short time, and
displayed throughout a generous hospitality which Dr. Judson never
forgot.”

But his anxieties and sufferings during this voyage were fully parallelled by those of the heroic woman whom he had left behind him at Rangoon. From Christmas-day of 1817 until July 16 of the following year, no word whatever came to Mrs. Judson from her husband, from whom she had expected to be parted only for a few weeks. She occupied part of her time teaching about thirty Burman women whom she had gathered together. She writes:

“I have again commenced my studies, keeping myself closely engaged
until 2 o’clock. This I find the best method to avoid dejection.
Besides my conscience will not permit me to sit idly down, and yield
to those depressing feelings in which a Christian should not indulge.”

A succession of disasters had swept over the little mission. She alone faltered not. We catch a gleam at Rangoon of that same fidelity and courage that afterward burned so long and so steadily at Ava and Oung-penla. The mission was harassed by Government persecution. It was rumored that the foreigners were to be banished. The viceroy, who had been their steady friend, was recalled to Ava. The new viceroy was a stranger to them. A menacing order summoned Mr. Hough to the court-house, with the message that, “If he did not tell all the truth relative to his situation in the country, they would write with his heart’s blood.” Mrs. Judson interceded in person, and by her own knowledge of the language, and her matchless womanly tact, conciliated the viceroy. Asiatic cholera raged in Rangoon. The death-gong sounded all the day long. Rumors of war between England and Burmah filled the air. The English ships one by one hastily weighed anchor and slipped out of the harbor; only a single vessel remained—the only way of escape. Her missionary associates, the Houghs, determined to seize this last opportunity, and fly from the country before it was too late. Against her will they urged her on board. But her great nature rose in its strength. She insisted on going ashore. She tore herself away and went back to the mission premises alone. Her husband, if still alive, should not return and find his mission-station deserted, and himself in Burmah without a companion.

“For mightier far than strength of nerve and sinew,
Or magic potent over sun and star, is Love;
Though oft to agony distrest,
And though his favorite seat be feeble woman’s breast.”

The subjoined account of Mrs. Judson’s experiences is in her own words:

“Mr. Hough, for some time past, has been desirous to have Mrs. Hough,
myself, and his children go to Bengal. But I have ever felt resolved
not to make any movement until I hear from Mr. Judson. Within a few
days, however, some circumstances have occurred which have induced me
to make preparations for a voyage. There is but one remaining ship in
the river, and if an embargo is laid on English ships, it will be
impossible for Mr. Judson (if he is yet alive) to return to this
place. But the uncertainty of meeting him in Bengal, and the
possibility of his arriving in my absence, cause me to make
preparations with a heavy heart. Sometimes I feel inclined to remain
here alone, and hazard the consequences. I should certainly conclude
on this step, if any probability existed of Mr. Judson’s return. This
mission has never appeared in so low a state as at the present time.
It seems now entirely destroyed, as we all expect to embark for Bengal
in a day or two. Alas! alas! how changed our prospects since Mr.
Judson left us. How dark, how intricate the providence which now
surrounds us! Yet it becomes us to be still, and know that He is God
who has thus ordered our circumstances.

“_July 14._ Alone, my dear friends, in this great house, without an
individual excepting my little girl and Burmans, I take my pen to
relate the strange vicissitudes through which I have passed within a
few days.

“On the 5th of this month I embarked with Mr. Hough and family for
Bengal, having previously disposed of what I could not take with me. I
had engaged Mr. Judson’s teacher to accompany me, that in case of
meeting him in Bengal he could go on with his Burman studies. But the
teacher, fearing the difficulties arising from his being a Burman,
broke his engagement, and refused to go. My disinclination to proceed
in the course commenced had increased to such a degree, that I was on
the point of giving up the voyage myself; but my passage was paid, my
baggage on board, and I knew not how to separate myself from the rest
of the mission family. The vessel, however, was several days in going
down the river; and when on the point of putting out to sea, the
captain and officers ascertained she was in a dangerous state, in
consequence of having been improperly loaded, and that she must be
detained for a day or two at the place in which she then lay. I
immediately resolved on giving up the voyage and returning to town.
Accordingly the captain sent up a boat with me, and engaged to forward
my baggage the next day. I reached town in the evening—spent the night
at the house of the only remaining Englishman in the place, and to-day
have come out to the mission-house, to the great joy of all the
Burmans left on our premises. Mr. Hough and his family will proceed,
and they kindly and affectionately urge my return. I know I am
surrounded by dangers on every hand, and expect to see much anxiety
and distress; but at present I am tranquil, and intend to make an
effort to pursue my studies as formerly, and leave the event with
God.”

After this gloomy episode the prospects of the mission began to brighten. Mr. Hough, indeed, had gone to Calcutta, taking the printing-press with him, so that for some time all the presswork of the mission had to be done there. But on September 19, 1818, Messrs. Colman and Wheelock, with their wives, arrived in Rangoon and joined the mission. Mr. Judson writes:

“We had, I can truly say, a most joyful meeting. You have never seen
them, or it would be unnecessary to add that they are four _lovely_
persons, in every sense of the word, and appear to have much of an
humble, prayerful spirit. Such being their interesting appearance, we
regret more deeply to find that the health of the brethren is so
feeble. They have both had a slight return of bleeding at the lungs,
an old complaint, to which they were subject in America. May the Lord
graciously restore and preserve them.

“A few days after their arrival, I introduced them into the presence
of the viceroy. He received us with marked attention, which, however,
must be ascribed to the influence of a handsome present, which went
before us. Though surrounded with many officers, he suspended all
business for a time, examined the present, and condescended to make
several inquiries. On being told that the new teachers desired to take
refuge in his glory, and remain in Rangoon, he replied, ‘Let them
stay, let them stay; and let your wife bring their wives that I may
see them all.’ We then made our obeisance, and retired.”

The time had now come when Mr. Judson’s long-cherished desire to hold public worship among the Burmans in their own tongue was to be gratified. The little chapel, or _zayat_, had been built. It is thus described by Mrs. Judson: