PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY
PRESENTED BY
Malcolm 0. Young
BV 32" .
Wyeth, Waiter N. 1833-1899
Ann H. Judson.
I
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ANN H. JUDSON.
31 ^cttxoviaL
.FEB?4 im ^
,iv\v$>
By WAIvTER N. WYETH, D.D.,
Associate Kditor, Journal a>id Messenger, Cincinnati, O.
" She appears on the page of missionary history as an
illuminated initial letter.'"
B. J. LOSSING.
CINCINNATI, O.:
PUBIvISHED BY THE AuTHOR.
1888.
Vindication.
TO THE
Women's Missionary Circles
OF THE UNITED STATES.
Very Sincerely,
The Author,
Electrotyped, Printed and Bound by Entered according to Act of Congres
THE ALDINE PRINTING WOK-KS, in the yeari888, by W. N. Wyeth,
No. 248 Walnut Street, in the Office of the Librarian of
Cincinnati. Congress, at Washington.
-^TAHIS book is not an original conception of the author's,
-*- It was first suggested by a noble missionary secre-
tary-, Rev. S. M. Stimson, D.D., whose heart has yearned,
for years, for a more general diffusion of our mis-
sionary literature. The present generation know but
little concerning the early characters and the heroic en-
deavors that laid the foundation of our present vSystem of
foreign missions. Excellent biographies and tributes have
been allowed to go out of print, and it is believed that
their reproduction will greatly aid in promoting the later
literature of missions, increase the missionary spirit, and
be a timely help in bringing in the "missionary era"
which is believed to be just at hand.
The work, as projected, contemplates the rewriting of
matter heretofore presented, changing the style to the
more direct narrative,, reducing its dimensions without
eliminating any facts and adding whatever has appeared
in recent times that is calculated further to illustrate or
impress the life of the subject upon the minds of Chris-
tians, especially young Christians, of the present day.
Not to debar criticism, but to promote the beneficent
end for which this writing was intended, the author asks
PREFATORY NOTE.
that, as its merits ma3- justify, the religious press and pub-
lic aid in giving it a wide circulation. At his expense
alone, it is offered at fully one-third less than book prices ;
and he hopes that, if circumstances favor, a .series of mis-
sionary biographies will be the outcome — all to be sold at
an equally low rate.
By some painstaking the memory of Harriet New^ell is
herein revived. Mrs. Newell, called the " proto-martyr " of
foreign missions, was Mrs. Judson's only female compan-
ion in her first voyage to the East, and they were the first
American women to step on India's shore in a missionary
undertaking. The picture of Mrs. Newell, and the touch-
ing references made in the text, will serve to keep her
memory fresh, and thus gratify a large number who covet
and cherish missionary reminiscences.
Trusting that the reader will derive such pleasure in its
perusal as the author has had in its preparation, the book
is offered as a bit of incense on the missionary altar.
W. N. W.
Cincinnati, O., Feb. 8, 1888,
VACK,
I. Br.\dford, 7
II. Born, AND Born Again, 12
III. YouNCr Womanhood— Maturinc. 22
IV. YouNCx Wifehood LArNcniNC, .... . 37
V. Ocean and Orient—Driftinc;, 50
VI. Rangoon — Anchoring, 6;
VII. Hopp:s — Rising AND Fai^i^inc, 79
VIII. Changes — Gains and Losses, 92
IX. ViciSvSiTUDES — Health and Homing, iii
X. America — Shut In, 121
XI. Thp: Return — Auxiijarip:s — Ava, 131
XII. War— Prison and Irons, 142
XIII. War — DAUNTI.ESS Devotion, ........ 161
XIV. War — Oung-pen-i^a, 176
XV. Treaty of Peace- Dire Distress,- 192
XVI. Amherst — Death, 209
XVII. The ONI.00K, 226
ANN H. JUDSON.
Home, thy jo3'S are passing lovely-
Joys no stranger- heart can tell.
vS. F. Smith.
Stream of my fathers ! Sweetly still
The sunset rays thy valley fill,
Pour slantwise down the long defile ;
Wave, wood, and spire beneath them smile.
WhitTier.— " T/ie Merrimacr
TN the north-east part of Massachusetts, thirty-two
^ miles north from Boston, is the village of Brad-
ford. Its importance among the towns and cities of
the state, which may be classified according to their
facturing and commercial interests on the one part,
and their attractiveness as homes for contented people
on the other, is quite small. It is the complement of
Haverhill, a city of some magnitude and prominence,
which draws away its vitality but repays it in adorn-
ment. The Merrimac river flows between, and from
its margin the slope is gentle and handsome, inviting
the plow, in the early times, to turn the glebe to its
very edge.
The years of this village have been many. It dates
back to the early days of the Old Commonwealth,
7
8 ANN H. JUDSON.
before the sword of the Revohition was drawn, and
it has passed, therefore, through all the stages of de-
velopment and decay, and redevelopment incident to
the history of towais of great age. And though noted
for nothing of civil importance, it will have a place in
the revealments of the Day of Account, and will have
a credit surprising to the children of this world. Here
is located the typical New England Academy, and
within its "shades" the youth of many generations
have passed through a formative process, some to
honor the homes from which they sprang and to adorn
their race ; some, also, to be laid in the foundations of
human weal, temporal and eternal, on different parts of
the globe.
The Merrimac, bordering the village from w^est to
east, is a long and winding stream that favors two
states with its presence and profit, and finally lays its
full tribute of waters upon the bosom of the Atlantic,
It is also a precipitous stream, and wherever it leaps
and flashes it contributes pre-eminently to the interests
of man. Enterprise has approached its inviting banks,
and with its unceasing flow it turns more wheels for
the production of comforts for mankind than does any
other river in America.
In the town, within the Academy and by the side
of this beautiful stream, there began and developed a life
that rose above its environments, and, without forecast-
ing or undue ambition for a distinguished personal
destiny, was wrought into a drama more intensely in-
teresting, and into a service more highly beneficent
than that of any other female in the age in which it
appeared. It was the life of a woman — just a w^oman.
A MEMORIAL. 9
but one on whom not the gods, but God did set His
seal to give the world the impress of sanctified Love,
the Charit}^ that seeketh not her own. Like the stream
beside which she was born, more freakish near its be-
ginning than in its deep flowings farther on, and which
unceasingly contributes its volume of fresh water to
the acrid sea, she had a career that, having passed from
the giddiness of the girl to the gravity of the woman
and the grace of the Christian, was an unintermitted
flow for the moral purification of defiled humanity.
Still, the course of Charity is always through the chan-
nel of vexing depravities ; it has many checks, likewise,
and meets some counter currents that seem to have a
similar mission, and when it reaches its object it finds
that with its utmost resources it can make only a
limited impression upon the unfathomed depths before
it. And yet as the river, unconscious of its wealth of
power, yields, in its ongoing and through myriad
fingers, boundless supplies for human wants, so such
a life, while directed to a single end, yields a wealth of
example and sacred stimulus that enriches the moral
heritage of Earth. In such a case there are many lives
in one ; the original passes away and the others live
on, its "works" following it.
Almost a century has fled since the one was born
to whom reference is made ; and it is fully time that
events had furnished the lessons and illustrations of
her life. At birth nothing is known, or can be known,
as to the future of the soul ushered in, and whether it
takes place in the home of the humble, or in that of
the proud, the event happeneth alike to each, and the
honor or discredit that reverts is attributable to
lO ANN H. JUbSON.
the developments of its future. As the subject of
this writing approached her youth-time she drew to
herself some attention not shared by her associates.
On reaching womanhood she had attained a firm Chris-
tian character. When her vocation was pointed out to
her the channel of her life was at once determined ; yet
there remained a period of testing ere the minds of an
interested nation were inquiringly directed to her.
But the time came when her birth was regarded as no
common occurrence, her life as no common-place ex-
istence, and even the home and the family of her
origin as not unworthy of being sought and sketched.
Such is the interest that a noble life develops.
Various writers have been employed, with deep and
almost reverential interest, in revealing this character
to the world. The leading one passed away soon after
his memorial was completed, leaving a work of un-
common excellence and acceptance, which, however,
has long since ceased to be printed. And it is due the
present generation that the subject be revived; that
the beginnings of a movement costing great sacrifice
and sorrow, and yielding vast gains to the growing
and only permanent kingdom on Earth, should be
brought to view in order that the instruction and use-
fulness of Christians of to-day may be promoted
thereby. With the light of events put aside, the char-
acter to be presented conveys suggestiveness and gives
impulse to even the best workers in the lyord's Vine-
yard; while to all there comes a satisfying com-
placency in view of the results and an earnest desire
for more results. And not without a smile will any
one read the wordb of a somewhat refined critic of the
A MEMORIAI,. II
period in which this narrative is laid, and concerning
the heroine herself: "It is our deliberate conviction
that the whole enterprise was uncalled for. * * *
We repeat our most serious conviction that she would
better have remained at home." — {Christian Exmtmier,
Unitarian?)
The reader is invited to trace the rugged road over
which passed this woman, who is praised by the critic
just quoted for her ''talents, energy, and self-sacrificing
spirit," and of whom Mr. I^ossing so aptly remarks:
" She appears on the page of missionary history as an
illuminated initial letter." She will be seen in circum-
stances and in trials passed through by no one of her
sex before her, and in the performance of deeds that
have impressed the civilized world, and will continue
to do so for generations to come. Her course will
be followed from clime to clime; from the dawn to
the midday of life, when her sun went down — from
the Merrimac to the Irrawaddy; from Bradford to
Amherst,
12 ANN H. JUDvSON.
IL
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit. — Christ.
'Tis June — 'tis gladsome, gorgeous June,
The rich, warm flush of summer noon
Rests on the golden hills;
And far and wide a Spirit Voice
Rings out, 'Young heart, rejoice! rejoice!'
Mrs. E. C. Judson.
ANN HASSELTINE, daughter of John and Re-
- becca Hasseltine, was born at Bradford, Mass.,
December 22, 1789. In life's morning there was no
appearance of precocity ; in girlhood, no marked eccen-
tricities which may be made the basis of a startling
story; and yet her mind was characterized by great
activity, power to grasp and retain, with a persever-
ance in seeking knowledge that assured for her a high
estimation and a normal and large intellectual develop-
ment. She cannot be said to have been a genius, and
no example may be made of her in this respect to help
or hinder any young person who reads the story of
her youth. She seems to have entertained no expec-
tation of excellence without labor, no sense of superi-
ority to her companions, no anticipation of future
eminence in any sphere whatever. The time had not
come for woman to rank with man in the public
A MEMORIAI,. 12
activities, and while her teachers may have prophesied
for her "some uncommon destiny," neither they nor
she could possibly have divined a calling at all com-
parable in heroic endeavor with that upon which she
entered. Her love for books was not ominous of the
conspicuous service she rendered, but, w^ell cultivated,
it became a means to it.
Her education was obtained at the Bradford Acade-
my, amid the scenes and associations of her childhood
—a circumstance that must have determined her free-
dom from certain habits of thinking and doing that
are likely to be acquired at school abroad, and also
confirmed the traits of simplicity and artlessness com-
mon in home life. By the same circumstance, filial
obedience and respect for parental convictions on vital
questions of morals and manners naturally continued
to the time of womanhood, and thus became a fixed
element of her character.
The New England village of her time was not the
village of to-day. The railway train had not then con-
nected localities with each other and opened a highway
to inviting cities, thus affording the easy introduction
of new and changeful elements of society, with fresh
excitements continually; but, on the contrary, there
was a staid population, maintaining their ways and
cultivating famiHarity among themselves. Neverthe-
less, such a condition of society was not a guarantee
■ of good morals. With less advantages for practicing
evil, a lower conception of morals existed then than
we find now. Dancing and drinking were rife, and
no ban was put upon them except in religious circles,
and there to only a slight extent.
14 ANN H. JUDSON.
Miss Hasseltine was by no means an exception to
her class. She was not a social anomaly. Her ardent
temperament was joined to a strong love for social
amusements, and in them she engaged with the utmost
relish. Her mother, not at this time a Christian, felt
required to restrain her restless spirit.
One having a volatile disposition may do otherwise
than run in the way of evil, and with alacrity may
pursue the good; and a habit of vivacious conduct,
when sanctified, will be productive of virtuous deeds
to a surprising extent. When Miss Hasseltine became
a subject of the Spirit's work, her nature was as fully
moved as previously when some suggestion of earthly
pleasure was presented. Even more, for she was sus-
ceptible to an influence of a high character in a greater
degree than was she to any one of inferior origin.
Her nature fully responded to the Spirit, presenting a
clear mirror for His image ; a case of no ordinary char-
acter upon which His gracious power might be dis-
played.
It was not until she had reached the age of sixteen
that the Spirit's influence began to L>e felt. She had
been instructed by her mother in the elements of
morality from a very early age. The importance of
abstaining from the sins common to childhood, such as
lying, disobedience to parents, and taking things not
her own, was carefully inculcated; but the mother
being then a stranger to the nature of true religion,
the child could not be expected to receive from her the
fundamental teaching concerning love to God as the
motive for doing right. She was impressed, simply,
that she must be good or she would be sent to the bad
A MEMORIAL. 15
place. Her mind was filled with terror, as a dreadful
hell was pictured to her imagination, and hence she
aimed to avoid the sins mentioned in order that she
might escape it. She repeated her prayers night and
morning, and abstained from play on the Sabbath,
believing that this drill in morality would result in her
salvation.
On entering the Academy, at twelve or thirteen
Shears of age, her religious habits were much inter-
rupted, and her purpOvSe to sustain them very much
weakened. The true motive not existing in her mind,
so soon as an influence was felt that was calculated to
allay her fears her punctilious observance of forms lost
its main support. Social amusements, called "inno-
cent," were well indorsed, and academy life tended to
strengthen the sentiment in favor of them. She en-
gaged in them with renewed interest, and soon found
her mind so completely occupied with them as to
prevent the dictates of conscience from being obeyed.
She came to think that she had outgrown the duty of
saying prayers, inasmuch as she was now old enough
to attend balls, and she neglected praying and reading
the Bible. For two or three years she entertained no
anxious thought respecting her salvation. She w^as
extremely gay, and, the opportunity of indulging in
amusements being exceptionally good, she deemed her-
self "one of the happiest creatures on earth."
At this period books of devotion were in circu-
lation, and comparatively few that pertained to the
more active duties of contention against the giant evils
in society, and of spreading the truth throughout the
world. Christians were estimated according to their
1 6 ANN H. JUDSON.
habits of self-examination, "meditation upon heavenly
and divine things," and conformity to the requirements
of God's house ; and their homes, and, to some extent,
the homes of others, were supplied with the works
of Bunyan, Hannah More, Baxter, and others. One
Sabbath morning Miss Hasseltine, after preparing her-
self for worship, incidentally took up Hannah More's
"Strictures on Female Education," and the first words
upon which her eye rested were from the Bible, and
were italicized, viz.: " She that liveth in pleasure is dead
while she liveth'' She says: "They struck me to the
heart. I stood for a few moments, amazed at the
incident, and half inclined to think that some invisible
agency had directed my ej^e to those words. At first
I thought I would live a different life, and be more
serious and sedate; but at last I thought that the
words were not so applicable to me as I at first
imagined, and resolved to think no more of them."
She further states: "In the course of a few months
(at the age of fifteen) I met with ' Bunyan's Pilgrim's
Progress.' I read it as a Sabbath book, and was much
interested in the story. I finished the book on a
Sabbath, and it left this impression on my mind : that
Christian, because he adhered to the narrow path, was
carried through all his trials, and at last admitted into
heaven. I resolved, from that moment, to begin a
religious life, and in order to keep my resolutions, I
went to my chamber and prayed for divine assistance.
When I had done I felt pleased with myself, and
thought I Avas in a fair way for heaven. But I was
perplexed to know what it was to live a religious life,
and again had recourse to my system of works."
A MKMORIAI,. 17
Her exercises of mind had already assumed the
type common to a person under the influence of the
Holy Spirit, and without a known spiritual guide. She
very naturally decided to refrain from attending pleas-
ure parties, and to be " reserved and serious in the
presence of the other scholars." The next morning,
very soon after entering the school, she received infor-
mation, imparted with a glowing countenance, that she
was one of a number invited to a brilliant party. She
stood the test by declining to go, adding that she
should never again attend such a party; and she
seemed so much pleased with the result of the testing
that it became a snare to her, for in the evening of the
same day she attended a private family party where
dancing was introduced, and in which she engaged
with unwonted satisfaction, "one of the gayest of the
gay," and thought no more of the new life she had
just begun. An invitation to attend another party
awaited her return, and she passed through that in a
similar way, and with equal freedom from self-reproof.
Her conscience, however, once aroused was not to
be utterly silenced, nor even to be quieted for a short
while. On her return from the last-mentioned party it
upbraided her severely in that she had broken her
most solemn resolutions; and a way of avoiding fur-
ther suffering from the same source was to cease
obligating herself, and such was the course chosen.
For some four months thereafter she gave herself up
to frivolities, neglecting her studies and spending the
most of her time in vanity and trifling, and in prepar-
ing her plans and her dress therefor. She so far sur-
passed her friends in gayety and mirth that it was
l8 ANN H. JUDSON.
suggested to her that she must have but a short time
allotted to her, and would be suddenly cut off. Thus
passed the last winter of her gay life.
With the approach of spring (A. D. 1806) there also
came spring-time in her heart. There had been some
attention to religion in the upper parish of Bradford ;
religious conferences had been held, and Miss Hassel-
tine now began to attend them regularly. She gen-
erally sought some retired corner, having found that
the solemn appeals of the minister awakened emotions
that she could not restrain, and which she did not wish
observed; but frequently, after being deeply affected
through the evening, she would return home in com-
pany with some of her frivolous companions and assume
an air of levity foreign to her heart. The Spirit was
now very actively working on her mind ; had destro3'ed
her love for amUvSements, brought her into dejection of
.spirit, and into an abiding consciousness of her danger.
She began to evade her companions and to seek places
for weeping ; also opportunities for religious conversa-
tion, making choice, first, of an aunt whom she knew
to be under similar concern of mind. It was during
this visit, and while reading to this relative from a
religious magazine, that her feelings gave way and she
was induced to reveal the conviction which she had
determined that no one besides herself should know.
Her aunt, to whom she seems to have been sent for
such a time as this, followed the thread of advice and
entreaty usual in such cases, exhorting her to beware
of losing present impressions and grieving the Spirit,
and to devote herself entirely to seeking an interest in
Christ until it should be obtained. This ''word in
A MEMORIAL. 19
season" penetrated her heart; and she followed the
counsel, avoiding company and denying herself even
innocent gratifications, and spent her days in reading
and crying for mercy.
The next stage was the reaching of an understand-
ing of the real condition of her heart, and of how it
appeared in the sight of God. As she began to obtain
a view of Divine Holiness, the aversion and hatred of
her soul to Him developed so fully as to cause feelings
of great desperation. She longed for annihilation.
" If," says she, " I could have destroyed the existence
of my soul with as much ease as that of my body,
I should quickly have done it." But the Healer was
there, and her broken spirit having come down before
Him was soon relieved of its distress. She readily
saw in Him the helper she needed, and in the plan of
redemption the way by which her salvation could
be obtained consistently with the holiness that had
filled her with such awe. Casting herself upon Him
and leaving all to Him, she soon experienced relief.
She did not yet believe that she had obtained a new
heart, but she felt happy in contemplating the Savior's
character and work, and in reading concerning the
glorious attributes of God; and these exercises very
early brought her to think that she had met with a
radical change, and to hope in His pardoning grace.
She went through a series of inquiries as to the evi-
dences of a saved state, and found much reason to
believe she w^as a Christian. Then she began to give
very diligent attention to her studies, feeling under
a new and solemn oblip^ation 10 improve her mind and
advantages to the glory of God. She faithfully occu-
20 ANN H. JUDSON.
pied all her vSchool hours in acquiring useful knowl-
edge, and spent her evenings and part of the nights
in spiritual enjoyments.
By this specific recital it is seen that the heroine
of the story had but the ordinary attributes of a
human being, and that the features of her Christian
experience thus far were such only as have been
observed in the lives of persons of all grades of cul-
ture and in all periods. Were her after life to be
divined by the circumstances of her conversion, the
reader would predict nothing wonderful in her history ;
and 3^et the marks of genuineness in the Spirit's work,
and of the ingenuousness of her own mind through
it all, bated only by the attempt to conceal her feelings,
are so clear as to deserve a passing recognition.
Though without proper human guidance she *' picked
her way" along successfully; though often perplexed,
and retarded by contact with wicked companions, she
persevered. That intermittent state of concern, and
that tenacious conviction of sin, with the many expe-
dients for relief to which she resorted, are highly
characteristic of the course of a soul in trying to leave
the world and to find Christ. Her questionings as
to her hope when obtained, her final acknowledgment
of the Spirit's work, the joyful recognition of the
beauties and harmonies of the Christian system, the
beatific vision of the Divine Attributes and the grateful
consecration of herself to Him who had redeemed her,
all are in accord with what are known to be the
beginnings of a Christian life. An experience that
lacks the main features of this one does not lead to
true discipleship. But one containing them all is
A MKMORIAL. 21
likely to result in a presentation of body and soul to
God, a living sacrifice and a reasonable service. It
also becomes a reliable basis by which to identify a
saving faith in times of darkness or spiritual distress,
and from which to derive assurance that the subject of
it will perform a sustained, if not an eminent, service
for the Redeemer, even amid hardship, persecution,
and **unto death."
22 ANN II. JUDSON.
III.
Uoun0 ^ontixxxiyoob — ma Turing,
standing, with reluctant feet,
Where the brook and river meet,
Womanhood and childhood fleet !
LONGFEIyLOW,
Shalt show us how divine a thing
A woman may be made.
AVORDSWORTH.
THE sincerity of Miss Hasseltine was fully evinced
from the time she experienced the change. Her
conversion was certified to her own mind by the exer-
cises of soul through which she passed and the state to
which they brought her. She was not over-anxious as
to the evidence, but desirous that she might be freed
from sin, rise above her depravity, be saved from back-
sliding, glorify her Savior, and be permitted to dwell
with Him forever; in a word, "go on unto perfection"
— the best indication of being in the way of life. To
this advancement she devoted herself with all that
ardor characteristic of her in her career of sin. And
she seems to have been almost wholly without parental
and pastoral help. But having found her way out of
the wilderness and into the path of life, she was the
better qualified to pursue it independently. Her nat-
ural thirst for knowledge was now sanctified, and she
A MEMORIAL. 23
became very desiroUvS to understand Gospel truth. To
the daily stud\- of the Scriptures she added the perusal
of the works of Edwards, Doddridge, and others.
" Edwards on Redemption " charmed her renewed spirit,
and she copied man}^ of its most striking passages.
Nor did she prescribe the enjoyment of truth for her-
self alone ; she sought to bring others into participa-
tion of the sacred pleasure by addressing to young
friends letters containing precious thoughts on religion,
and breathing an earnest desire that they might obtain
like precious faith and hope with herself.
But though radiant with joy, her religious feelings
were subject to the fluctuations common to the Chris-
tian, and especially to one of her ardor of temperament
and fervor of affections. If worldly attractions do not
divert the soul from its magnet, there still is liability to
be depressed by conscious shortcomings ; and one that
is supremely devoted to the contemplation of religious
subjects is sure to add such introspection and compari-
son of the requirements of the Gospel with his own
conformity thereto as to feel his defectiveness, and, at
times to despair of even approximating the standard.
And yet such an one, through sincere love for truth
and holiness, will linger about the Cross until its light
again irradiates the soul. Miss Hasseltine's private
journal at this period contains many details of these
alternations of peace and anxiety. The summer came
on, and, not having as yet publicly professed Christ,
she was constantly occupied with her spiritual condi-
tion, with weighing and balancing objects of desire,
motives and purposes, depending on such reading as
she had, and resulting in renewed and absolute com-
24 ANN H. JUDSON.
mittal of herself to the Lord, to walk in His ways.
On September 14, 1806, she united with the Congrega-
tional Church in Bradford, in her seventeenth year,
and two months after her conversion.
A new era now dawns upon her. She has been a
church member for some eight months, and during
this period she chronicles a somewhat different experi-
ence from that just narrated ; she has passed from the
stage of inquiry and first love to that of avowed disci-
pleship, with all that this means. She has laid plans
of devout living, giving the Scriptures a very large
place, and resolving "to strive against the first risings
of discontent, fretfulness, and anger; to be meek, and
humble, and patient ; constantly to bear in mind that
she is in the presence of God ; habitually to look up to
Him for deliverance from temptations, and in all cases
to do to others as she would have them do to her."
To carry out her resolutions was a matter of absorbing
interest, as also to avail herself of the means of
growth in grace, and in a knowledge of the divine
character and word.
It will be inferred that her character developed
rapidly, in beauty and symmetry. The intensity of
her application to religious culture, and the admirable
adaptedness of religious truth to her renewed nature,
accelerated her growth and increased her strength,
thus fitting her for immediate effectiveness in the
vineyard of the Lord. Her academical education,
made more available for good by the conscientious
assiduity with which she pursued it after being con-
verted, was now sufficient to justify her in engaging
in the work of teaching ; and she was desirous of such
A MEMORJAI,. 25
an engagement that she might show her appreciation
of the opportunities she had enjoyed, and bring for-
ward her acquirements as a tribute to Him who loved
her and gave himself for her. She felt that " it would
be criminal to desire to be well educated and accom-
plished, from selfish motives, with a view merelj^ to
gratify her taste and relish for improvement, or her
pride in being qualified to shine." The record she
makes here evinces the humble and child-like dispo-
sition of a true disciple, talented or otherwise: "Have
taken charge of a few scholars. * ^' * "^ *
On being lately requested to take a small school, for
a few months, I felt very unqualified to have the
charge of little immortal souls ; but the hope of doing
them good, by endeavoring to impress their young and
tender minds with divine truth, and the obligation I
feel /<? fry to be useful, have induced me to comply. I
was enabled to open the school with prayer. Though
the cross was very great, I felt constrained by a sense
of duty to take it up. The little creatures seemed
astonished at such a beginning. Probably some of
them had never heard a prayer before. O, may I have
grace to be faithful in instructing these little immor-
tals, in such a way as shall be pleasing to my Heavenly
Father."
For several years she was engaged, at intervals, in
teaching schools in Salem, Haverhill, Newbury, and,
perhaps, other towns, and in all she exhibited the same
conscientious endeavor indicated in the above mention
of her first school. She felt, always, that the fear of
the lyord is the beginning of wisdom, and her journal
shows that she continued her own personal disciphne
26 * ANN H. JUDSON.
in righteousness, with great fidelity, while imparting
instruction to her pupils.
Here her journal of the period under consideration
appears to cease, excepting that occasional paragraphs
were penned which show subsequent vie.ws and feel-
ings of a still more advanced type. Her view of the
adaptedness of the Gospel gradually widened, and her
solicitude for all who might share its benefits increased.
She became much interested in the prosperity of the
church, and for the good of the African slaves, for the
heathen and for the Jews. That Providence was pre-
paring her mind for her great life work will be con-
ceded, when it is reflected that in her time little had
been written or spoken in behalf of the heathen or
b}' way of information concerning them. She had no
example of a foreign missionary before her, and no
organization for the diffiision of Christianity in other
lands then existed on this continent.
Miss Hasseltine was now rapidly maturing in
Christian doctrine, and specially in missionary senti-
ment. There is no reason for believing that the
subject of missions at this time engaged the attention
of the church of which she was a member, or of
neighboring churches, to any considerable extent. She
evidently derived her views from the study of God's
plan of mercy to a lost world — the whole world —
while her motives of love to perishing mankind were
naturally strengthened by the example of Jesus, and
of such of His followers as had given themselves
wholly to His work. But whether otherwise aided or
unaided, she was surely approaching the goal of her
womanhood — a complete consecration of herself to a
A MEMORIAL. 27
nobler service than her sex had as yet rendered. Even
Harriet Newell, who had been a Christian for a longer
time, had not reached the high plane of view to which
she had attained, and who, in fact, derived from her
the first impressions of dut}' as to the foreign field.
In the formative period of her sentiments, how-
ever, Miss Hasseltine did not define for herself a mis-
sion to India, nor any other heroic enterprise that
would naturally be attributed to immature views, or
the element of romance in the youthful mind. And
as Providence was preparing her mind for any im-
portant call that might be made, so He was framing
the circumstances in which to place her. Missionary
sentiment was rising in some of the schools ; notably,
Williams College and Andover Theological Seminary.
That it was not dependent on studies in theology is
manifest in the fact that it first appeared in the college
named. Samuel J. Mills, a student, became greatly
exercised respecting Christian duty to the heathen, and
one day, in his walk, he invited two or three other
students to retire with him, and, finding a pleasant
retreat at the side of a great haystack, he opened his
mind to them, and was astonished to learn that they
had been similarly exercised. The interview was so
exciting and edifying that they spent the day there,
and thereafter retired daily to the same spot for con-
versation and prayer. It became a Bethel ; and now a
small park, containing a suitable monument, occupies
the site of the haystack at which the American For-
eign Mission cause is believed to have been prayed
into existence. (It is just by the home of the late
President, Dr. Mark Hopkins.)
28 ANN H. JUDSON.
These young men, or a part of them, entered the
Andover Seminary, bearing the missionary glow on
their hearts. There they met one whose impressions
and zeal were similar to their own, but which had
been obtained independently of theirs, and in a some-
what different way. He had given himself to Christ
after entering the Seminary, and but a few months
previous to their admission had united with the Third
Congregational Church, in Plj^mouth, Mass., of which
his father was pastor. In the same j^ear he read a
missionary sermon, entitled, " Star in the East,"
preached by Dr. Claudius Buchanan on his return
from a protracted experience in India, and this first
led him to reflect on the duty of giving himself to the
cause of missions in the Kast. The subject took
vigorous hold upon his mind — just from the throes
of deep conviction, and under a grateful sense of the
preciousness of redemption — and so tenacious was it
that he could find peace only by giving it cordial and
attentive consideration. His anxious and constant
thought, beginning in September, 1809, culminated in
Februar}^, 18 10, and on the side of the perishing
heathen. Once decided, it was decided forever; for
not only was decision of character a prominent charac-
teristic of his being, but, likewise, the subject with
which he was dealing was one calculated to supply the
moral powers of his nature with a satisfying occasion
for their exercise.
No sooner had Adoniram Judson thus determined
upon being a missionary to the Hast than he under-
took to create a missionary sentiment that should
result in establishiug and sustaining missions there.
A MEMORIAL 29
The lyondon Missionary Societ}- had already existed
for some years, and had received from American Chris-
tians considerable sums of money. Also, the Massa-
chusetts Missionary Society, organized to diffuse the
knowledge of the Gospel in the remote parts of our
own country, had existed for some eleven years. But
a distinctively foreign Missionary Society in the
United States was at this time (18 10) a thing of the
future. The General Association of Massachusetts
(Congregational) was to meet in June, and Mr. Judson
saw the opportunit}^ it presented for starting the move-
ment he so w^arml}^ cherished. He drew up a docu-
ment of " statements and inquiries," ver3'^ deferential,
yet very earnest, covering all the points necessary to
be considered, and, having obtained the signatures of
Samuel Nott, Jr., Samuel J. Mills, and Samuel Newell,
he and these young men went before that learned bod}'
in a petition that gained its unqualified respect, and
resulted in the organization of the American Board of
Commissioners for Foreign Missions, and in the desig-
nation of Judson, Newell, Nott, Hall, and Rice, who
sailed almost simultaneously for India — the first two
from Salem, the remaining three from Philadelphia.
A point of interest, in this connection, is the fact
that the above meeting of the General Association was
held at Bradford, June, 18 10. Here Mr. Judson and
Miss Hasseltine first saw each other, and here the
fount was opened in the heart of each which flowed
with such a placid and enlarging volume to the end of
life. They were at the right point of progress in mis-
sionary conviction to be read}^ to respond, heart to
heart, regarding the claims of a perishing world.
30 ANN H. JUDSON.
They had but just passed their majority ; were stili
in the flush and vigor of youthtime, natural and spir-
itual. He was qualified by a collegiate education that
secured him the merited honors of his class ; she by
an academic culture greatly promoted by her con-
science, quickened in conversion. His endowments
were much improved and well tempered by the trial
of unbelief through which he passed ; hers by the self-
reliance to which she was left, in the crises of her
repeated awakenings, and struggles to become a child
of God. And in view of their similarity of spirit and
the parallel lines along which they subsequently
developed, it would seem that they had so much in
common as to justify the statement that they were
made and providentially trained for each other. An
acquaintance was soon formed, leading to a direct offer
of marriage, with a] view to a missionary life in the East.
" The story is told," says Dr. Edward Judson, " that
during the sessions of the Association, mentioned
above, the ministers gathered for a dinner beneath Mr.
Hasseltine's hospitable roof. His youngest daughter,
Ann, was waiting on the table. Her attention was
attracted to the young student, whose bold missionary
projects were making such a stir. But what was her
surprise to observe, as she moved about the table, that
he seemed completely absorbed in his plate. Little did
she dream that she had already woven her spell about
his young heart, and that he was at that very time
composing a graceful stanza in her praise."
The peculiar and trying position in which Miss
Hasseltine was now placed is well described by her
biographer, Prof. James D. Knowles :
A MEMORIAI,. 31
Tlie influence which her affections ought to have, in decid-
ing a question of this kind, it would not, in ordinary cases,
have been difficult to determine. But in this case, her embar-
rassment was increased by the conflict which might arise
between affection and duty. A person so conscientious as she
was, would wish to form a decision on the important question
of her duty, respecting missionary labors, uninfluenced by
any personal considerations. Hesitation to assume an office
so responsible and so arduous, would spring up in any mind ;
but Miss Hasseltine was required to decide on thi? point, in
connection with another, itself of the utmost importance to
her individual happiness. It was impossible to divest herself
of her personal feelings, and she might have some painful
suspicions, lest her affections might bias her decision to be-
come a missionary; while female delicacy and honor would
forbid her to bestow her hand, merely as a preliminary and
necessary arrangement.
There was another circumstance which greatly increased
the difficulty of a decision. No female had ever left America
as a missionary to the heathen. The general opinion was de-
cidedly opposed to the measure. It was deemed wild and
romantic in the extreme, and altogether inconsistent with
prudence and delicacy. Miss H. had no example to guide and
allure her. She met with no encouragement from the greater
part of those persons to whom she applied for counsel. Some
expressed strong disapprobation of the project. Others would
give no opinion. Two or three individuals, whom it might
not be proper to name, were steady, affectionate advisers and
encouraged her to go. With these exceptions, she was forced
to decide from her own convictions of duty, and her own
sense of fitness and expediency.
The woman missionary of to-day, who is spared
the severest of these embarrassments, is scarcely pre-
pared to realize how greatly Miss Hasseltine was tried.
In being compelled at last to form an independent
conclusion, with nearly all of her cherished friends in
32 ANN H. JUDSON.
Opposition to it, she would very naturally release such
friends from responsibility for sympath}^ with her,
except that of the most personal character. Should
distress come upon her in consequence of her choice
she foresaw that she could not appeal to those who
opposed her going with freedom and with hope. But
the same decision which had brought her on thus far
served her purpose now, and it was a sign of the
latent heroism required for the opening of a heathen
nation to the conquests of the Gospel.
In a letter to an instimate friend she reveals the
fact that her engagement was made in less than three
months from the first interview with Mr. Judson;
which circumstance, considering the custom of pro-
tracting courtship in her day, is an evidence of his
impetuous earnestness and fervid affections, as well as
of her readiness to join her fortunes with those of a
good man in some important service to a needy world.
And in the same letter it becomes evident that it was
not a desire to marry, but a wish to be favorably situ-
ated for a life's work, "that was uppermost in her mind.
**Nor," says she, "were my determinations formed in
consequence of an attachment to an earthly object;
but with a sense of my obligations to God, and with a
full conviction of its being a call in Providence, and
consequently my duty." How well placed were her
affections — how honoring and how honored — the story
will show.
The letter addressed by Mr. Judson to her father
when asking for her hand, in which the hard realities
before them were distinctly and fully summarized, and
the ordinary, pleasant features of married life as care-
A MKMORIAI.. 33
fully withheld, must have been known by her, and
have had weight in her final decision. What could
have been more scrupulously honest in him, or more
severely testful to the daughter, as well as to the
father, than such language as the following :
I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with
your daughter, early next spring, to see her no more in this
world ; whether you can consent to her departure for a heathen
land, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a
missionary life ; whether you can consent to her exposure to
the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence of the south-
ern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to
degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death.
It is no abatement of the virtue of such a presenta-
tion that he specifies the great controlling motives of
gratitude to Him who left His heavenly home and
died for her, of pity for perishing immortal souls, of
desire to glorify God, and of a crown of glory at last,
"brightened by the acclamations of praise which
should redound to her Savior from heathens saved,
through her means, from eternal woe and despair."
To Mr. Hasseltine, a paternal care for this gifted off"-
spring was a primary duty and a delightful privilege.
To give her up to the petitioner at his hearthstone
was consciously to cast the vase and flower into the
midst of a wretched people who would spurn the
flower and might destroy the vase. Sentiments of
compassion, as well as of love for his child, must have
mingled in the cup given him to drink, and must also
have been a source of trial to her.
Pending the consummation of this marriage vow,
involving in its terms what had not been included
34 ANN H. JUDSON.
in any preceding engagement in Bradford society, viz.,
a life in a pagan land, it was necessary that a mission-
ary appointment be secured, and to obtain it Mr.
Judson applied himself with characteristic zeal. He
and his associates had succeeded with the General
Association so far as to secure the appointment of
what is still the Board of Commissioners. This Board
held its first meeting in the September following, at
which it advised the applicants to pursue their studies
until further information from the foreign field be
obtained and the finances justify their appointment.
It created a Prudential Committee, which deemed it
advisable to confer with the London Missionary So-
ciety as to such a union with it as might the better
avssure the funds needed in this emergency, and for
such conference made Mr. Judson its deput}^ Mr. J.
accordingly sailed the first of January ; was made a
prisoner by the capture of the vessel by a French
privateer, and hence was detained in his mission, and
did not reach London until the 6th of May. He was
favorably received, and his object taken under advise-
ment, and ere the month closed he and three others
were appointed. Soon after his return the American
Board held its second meeting, at which it was con-
cluded that a union with the London Society was not
advisable, and that the Board would undertake their
support. This action, which took place September i8,
1811, and was the beginning of formal activities in
this country against the powers of darkness in the
East, was very gratifying to the young men who had
applied for the appointment. It not only opened to
them an opportunity for laboring where they wished to
A MEMORIAL. 35
labor — a field that had appealed eflfectually to their
hearts and for which they had been for some time pre-
paring themselves — but it also left unrelaxed the tie
between them and their native land, and had even
strengthened it by means of the new and mutual inter-
est that the strange movement had created.
It now remained for preparations to be made for
the journey and for a life beyond the sea. The ocean
had not been traversed as yet by American missionaries,
and devising as well as providing the outfit required
much study and would naturally be attended with great
perplexity. With but little sentiment in favor of the
new project, some time must elapse ere the prospective
wedding would draw to the affianced the degree of in-
terest that a hymeneal affair usually creates. The deli-
cacy of Miss Hasseltine's position as, eventual^, her
affairs came to be a town topic, deserves mention as one
occasion of her early trials. To be an object of inter-
est when pity on account of a supposed delusion is a
prominent sentiment, is embarrassing if not painful.
But no evidence remains that she hesitated or swerved
from her purpose or withdrew from her place in society ;
and right here the beginnings of the courage of her
mission in life must have been experienced.
The marriage and the embarkment were nearly
simultaneous; the nuptials taking place February 5,
181 2, and the departure on the 19th of the same month.
From that time Bradford, jointly with Maiden, the
birthplace of Mr. Judson, has borne the first honor
among towns, in American missionary annals. Ann
Hasseltine Judson, unconsciously to herself, began to
reflect a credit on her home village quite different from
56 ANN H. JUDSON.
that imparted by her personal charms, talent, and
scholarship ; to these were added the aroma of her piety
and of her distinguishing moral elements, a recognition
of which would readily rise above any opinion of her
adopted course. Although she was designated merely
as the wife of a missionary, her toils and achievements
took such a rank as to win for her the character of a
missionary and a corresponding recognition at home.
A me;moriai,. 37
IV.
^X^t«t0 Wxteh00^—LA17NCH'/NG.
Mutual love, the crown of all our bliss.
M11.TON.
How strong and beautiful is woman's love,
That, taking in its hand its thornless joys,
The tenderest melodies of tuneful years,
Yea! and its own life also — lays them all,
Meek and unblenching, on a mortal's breast,
Reserving naught, save that unspoken hope
Which hath its root in God.
Mrs. Iv. H. Sigourney.
THE day following the wedding, there gathered in
Salem the pastors and delegates of three churches
to perform the singular and solemn service of ordain-
ing the five brethren, whose names have been men-
tioned, to the work of the ministry, as missionaries in
Asia. Three of the number were married; yet the
account of the occasion, published at the time, makes
no reference to their wives, except to state that they
sailed with them. Recognition of them had obtained
only so far as to assure some provision for their suste-
nance. If any importance attached to the new relation
in which they stood it certainly was not sufficient to
warrant the Board in requiring that all missionaries be
married. How feebly was it realized that great possi-
bilities for good lay in the character of woman, and
38 ANN H. JUDSON.
that those about to sail were among the very noblest of
the sex !
Ann Hasseltine Judson and Harriet Newell, born
in towns facing each other, educated at the same
academy and drinking into the same spirit, graced the
brig Caravan as it cleared the port of Salem, bound for
Calcutta. They and their husbands were of one heart
and one soul; and the wives had derived their own
interest in missions independently of theirs — from the
same original cause : the love of God and the needs of
the world — and, consequently, the merit of the sacrifice
they were making must have been as real as was theirs.
The domestic ties of women, moreover, are more delicate
than are those of men, and the sundering of them is
proportionately more painful. As the Caravan moved
from shore, Mrs. Judson and Mrs. Newell felt the rend-
ing of precious bonds which had grown with their
growth. How impressively recur the beautiful lines
of Mrs. Sigourney, written concerning Mrs. Judson's
departure :
"I saw her on the strand.— Beside her smiled
Her native land, and her beloved home,
With all their pageantry of light and shade.
Streamlet and vale. There stood her childhood's friends-
Sweet sisters who had shared her inmost thoughts,
And saint-like parents, whose example rais'd
Those thoughts to Heaven. It was a strong array !
And the fond heart clung to its rooted loves,
But Christ had given it panoply, which earth
Might never overthrow."
Mrs. Judson was now at sea and subject to the
elements. On the first day she suffered seasickness,
and this common affiiction was repeated each day for
A ME^MORIAL. 39
some time, creating an expectation of its protracted
repetition. And the time of continuance on the deep
was to her very uncertain Steam navigation was as
yet untried on the high seas. The Robert Fulton,-''
" the wonder of the world," had plied the Hudson but
three or four years, and the period of a vessel between
the continents depended more than now on the state of
the weather. The Caravan was detained several days
in the port of Salem for want of a favoring breeze ; and
some contention with equatorial gales was experienced
during the voyage, yet the sailing was free from dis-
aster.
During the first night Mrs. Judson had many dis-
tressing apprehensions of death, accompanied with a
dread of perishing amid the waves. Her seasickness
was doubtless the cause of this, as it was also of the
searching self-examination she underwent from day to
day. Her mind acquired a habit of contemplating on
her obligation to be devoted to God and to the perish-
ing. In this particular the other missionaries were in
sympathy with her. Their thoughts were upon the
object for which they had left their kindred and native
land and encountered the perils of the ocean. The
eighth day after their embarkment was observed by
the friends on land in fasting and prayer for the
prosperity of the mission, and Mrs. Judson mentions
it as not forgotten by themselves. She spent the even-
ing on deck. "The weather was pleasant," she writes;
"the motion of the vessel gentle, though rapid; the
■'•' Mr. Judson, in the tour which he made shortly after his graduation,
went to Albany expressly to see the Fulton, and took passage on it, upon
its second trip to New York.
40 ANN H. JUDSON.
full moon shone clearly on the water; and all things
around conspired to excite pleasing though melancholy
seUvSations. My native land, my home, my friends, and
all my forsaken enjoyments rushed into my mind ; my
tears flowed profusely, and I could not be comforted.
Soon, however, the consideration of having left all
these for the dear cause of Christ, and the hope of
being, one day, instrumental of leading some poor,
degraded females to embrace him as their Savior,
soothed my griefs, dried up my tears, and restored
peace and tranquillity to my mind." The weather
continued pleasant so that they could spend much
time on deck, and Mrs. Judson's meditations con-
tinued to be of the character of the above, resulting
in enlarged enduement of the Holy Spirit for the work
before her in life, and greater desires for a heavenly
inheritance at last.
The occupation of the missionaries while on ship
had reference mostly to their future labors. They read
and studied the books they had brought, and thus
revived and increased their acquaintance with religious
literature, and through that the knowledge of the Word
of God. Their supply consisted of such works as the
lyives of the Martyrs and of The Apostles, of Sir
William Jones and Dr. Doddridge, Scott's Commen-
taries, Paley, Dick, and others, on Inspiration, writers
on The Prophecies, etc., all of which were current
among the preachers of the day. Mrs. Judson partici-
pated extensively in this reading, and tried to derive
lessons from the spirit of the writers, most of whom
seemed to her to be paragons of Christian excellence,
as well as to get instruction from their presentations
A MEMORIAL. 41
of truth. The substance of what she gathered was
made material for meditation and conversation.
But besides intellectual and spiritual exercises, it
was necessary that the passengers should have some
kind of recreation. Mrs. Judson found that her health
was somewhat declining for want of it. " For some
time," she says, "we could invent nothing which could
give us exercise equal to what we had been accustomed
to. Jumping the rope was finally invented, and this
we found to be of great use. I began and jumped it
several times in the day, and found my health grad-
ually return, until I was perfectly well." Mrs. Newell
speaks of habitual, rapid walking on deck, and of the
good preservation of the Yankee ginger-bread pre-
sented by the ladies of Salem.
Public worship on the Sabbath was held in the
cabin usually, and on the occasion a sermon would be
preached. The captain, of whom Mrs. Judson speaks
as " a young gentleman of an amiable disposition and
pleasing manners," attended the service with other
officers, and he and they were very obliging, and pre-
served such decorum on board as religious people
necessarily desire. So, while exiled from her country
by " the rolling deep," and shut up for months to narrow
circumstances and to a limited number of engagements,
she still found alleviation in observing and receiving
courtesies, which never fail to bring fresh gratefulness
to the heart. Her husband, too, " one of the kindest,
most faithful, and affedtionate of husbands," by his
conversation frequently dissipated "gloomy clouds of
spiritual darkness" which hung over her mind.
42 ANN H. JUDSON.
Among her engagements during the voyage there
was one of momentous interest, which probably has no
parallel in missionary annals. She was confronted,
very unexpectedly, with doubts concerning baptism, as
she had understood and received it. The subjecft of the
ordinances first occurred to Mr. Judson, after the
journey was well advanced, while he was translating
the New Testament, and as the circumstances before
them began to be considered with added gravity. As
his plans took him first to Serampore, for temporary
residence, he began to anticipate some disputation with
the English Baptist missionaries working there, they
being already established on the field and in position
to oppose new comers of different faith and order;
he not knowing that they made it a matter of principle
never to introduce the subjedl of their peculiar belief
to brethren of other denominations who might be their
guests. Having a scholarly and logical mind he may
be supposed to have entered on the examination of the
subject of baptism with renewed zest ; and seeing that
he hoped to have converts to his ministry, he wished
to be prepared in advance to state definitely why the
children of the converted should be baptized and
admitted to the privileges of the church, as he had
been taught. With his questionings there gradually
arose some misgiving as to the correctness of the posi-
tion he was holding and was preparing to defend. His
moral nature was awakened also, and his conscience,
clear and positive as any faculty of his being, demanded
a correal decision, with an attitude corresponding to it.
But the change of relations attending a change of views
tt^tA^4^.-^
-^P^^
,#
Wife of the RBV. S.M... NJ^'ufS^tu? «»?".!?■ '"
hflhel'enevolent aUen.pt to preach
Christ to the Heathen.
FKOM ORKIINAL PLATE.
A MEMORIAL. 43
was too serious a matter to be contemplated without
sadness.
The study continued, and Mrs. Judson, first a wit-
ness to it, presently came to apprehend serious results
from it, and tried to induce him to discontinue it,
urging the unhappy consequences that would follow
a radical change. Women do not enjoy nor do they
stand on differences of religious belief so generally as
do men. They incline to ethics, devotions, and chari-
ties, and are willing to labor in almost any relation
that will enable them to realize along these several
lines. Mrs. Judson wished above all things else to be
serviceable in turning degraded heathen women to the
Savior of the world, and she did not relish the prospecft
of an interruption in the plans before her. She was
" afraid " her husband would become a Baptist, while
he admitted that " he was afraid the Baptists were
right and he wrong." But as fear was not a control-
ling motive with him, so it ceased to be with her ; and
as conscience was supreme with him, next to revela-
tion, so it proved to be with her.
On arriving in India the attention of Mrs. Judson,
with that of her husband, was temporarily diverted
from the subjecfl of baptism to the concerns of the mis-
sion and the difficulties in the government. But that
subje(5l once allowed to disturb one's peace of mind
seldom relaxes its hold. Mr. Judson came back to it
with renewed earnestness, and Mrs. Judson now acqui-
esced in his course and joined him in the pursuit of
the truth. They left Serampore and resided a week or
two in Calcutta, awaiting the arrival of the other breth-
ren, and having nothing in particular to occupy their
44 ANN H. JUDSON.
attention they gave it exclusively to this matter. They
had brought a good supply of Pedobaptist writings
pertaining to it, and in the chamber they now occu-
pied they found many more works on both sides, which
they investigated in the light of the Scriptures and
with unquestioned sincerity, resulting in overwhelming
conviction in favor of the Baptist view.
Mrs. Judson, not an indifferent spe(5lator at the
commencement of this ordeal, and presently herself
becoming subjedl to it, bore the trial with womanly dig-
nity. She could not boast, yet she had nothing of which
to be ashamed. She was abased before her friends and
those who had sent her husband out ; but she could not
feel humiliated, because she felt that vshe had been ele-
vated to a higher plane of vision . However, there were
two sources of peculiar pain. One, the denominational
breach thus made between herself and those who came
out with her. "We anticipate," she said, "the loss of
reputation and of the affe(5lion and esteem of many
of our American friends. But the most trying circum-
stance attending this change, and that which has
caused most pain, is the separation which must take
place between us and our dear missionary associates."
The need of their society and sympathy could not be
ignored. In a strange land, a pagan land, a land full
of the habitations of cruelty, what could two missionary
families do with an ecclesiastical gulf between them !
How could woman, dependent as she is on the fellow-
ship of woman, endure the prospedl of disfellowship in
a heathen land, and in respedl to the most vital of inter-
ests ! It was not enough to refle(5l that though one
should forsake another would take her up. To her,
A M:eMORlAI,. 45
an old schoolmate, a companion de voyage, one whom
she had influenced to come on this costly errand, was
not lightly to be exchanged for other female acquaint-
ances of a different nationality and not yet assured to
her. And the painful surprise awaiting the coming
missionaries, as they should find that their leader had
gone from them ere the work was begun, must have
been to her an oppressive thought.
A second source of trial was the probability of
being cut off from further support by the Board of
Commissioners, and the reflection that there was not
another similar organization in America to which they
might appeal The solicitude natural to dependent
wives seized upon Mrs. Judson's mind, as she foresaw
that they must "go alone to some heathen land."
"The^e things," she wrote to her parents, "were very
trying to us, and caused our hearts to bleed for
anguish. We felt we had no home in this world, and
no friend but each other." And how soon, she might
have added, was the foresight of Mr. Judson coming
to be verified, as exhibited in the full and tender letter
addressed to her father asking for her hand !
Another circumstance, increasing the painfulness
of the situation, was the fact that the Baptists in Amer-
ica were as yet a comparatively " feeble folk." The
Congregationalists were the " Standing Order," and
other denominations survived by their sufferance, or
by their own capacity for fighting their way. The
Baptists were the loyal subjects of a good conscience,
and so " peculiar" were they regarded to be as a peo-
ple that the hand of every other denomination was
against them. Thus they were an object of contempt.
46 ANN H. JUDSON.
concealed or expressed, and Mrs. Judson's apprehension
that the union with them "would wound and grieve
her dear Christian friends in America" was well
founded. To couch in a hut in India and there imag-
ine the effe(5t of news of a change of belief and formal
separation from the church loving and providing for
her, was unpleasant in the extreme.
Then what would the Baptists say to an appeal to
them for support, seeing that Mr. Judson had not yet
had time to establish himself in the public mind as a
missionary? And having made one change already,
what further might not be anticipated from him ? The
woman would hardly be woman-like who should not
be filled, in such circumstances, with continuous,
distressful anxiety as to her future. Heathendom lay
before them — where to choose and Providence their
guide.
The baptism of Mr. and Mrs. Judson was not has-
tened. It took place September 6, 1812, in the Bap-
tist Chapel in Calcutta. Meantime notification of their
change had been sent to the Board, to leading Baptists,
and to friends in America. Rev. Luther Rice, who
came by the Harmony, arriving later, underwent a
similar change, and was also baptized. Dr. Carey is
reported as having said that he was "thought to be
the most obstinate friend of Pedobaptism of any of
the missionaries."
The long voyage of nearly four months was to
Mrs. Judson fraught with strange experiences. To be
out of sight of land for that period, and to be subje(5l
to the monotony of a rocking vessel, and of seasick-
ness, and of the rounds of passengers and crew within
A MEMORIAL. 47
their limited area, was not a situation to be enjoyed
for its own sake. The heat felt in crossing the equator
the first time was quite oppressive. When rounding
the Cape of Good Hope the -ship encountered rough,
rainy weather for twenty days, during which time
Mrs. Judson realized as never before the dangers of
the deep and her entire dependence on God for pres-
ervation. Entire nights were passed in sleeplessness,
on account of the rocking of the vessel and the roar-
ing of the winds. When within a few days sailing of
Calcutta, she rejoiced at the thought of again seeing
land, even the land of strangers and heathenish dark-
ness.
On June i6th she began a letter to her sister :
Day before yesterday we came in sight of land after being
out only one hundred and twelve days. We could distinguish
nothing on shore except the towering mountains of Golconda.
Yesterday morning we were nearer land, and could easily
discover the trees on the shore. Some appeared to be placed
regularly in rows, others were irregular and scattered. The
scene was truly delightful, and reminded me of the descrip-
tions I have read of the fertile shores of India — the groves of
orange and palm trees. I likewise thought it probable that
these shores were inhabited by a race of beings, by nature
like ourselves, but who, not like us, are ignorant of the God
who made them and the Savior who died for them. ■•- •••
We are now at anchor in the Bay of Bengal. * ■■•
The scene is truly delightful. We are sailing up the river
Hoogly, a branch of the Ganges, and so near the land that we
can distinctly discover objects. On one side of us are the
Sunderbunds (islands at the mouth of the Ganges). The
smell which proceeds from them is fragrant beyond descrip-
tion. We have passed some mango trees and some large brick
houses.
Next day;
48 ANN H. JUDSON.
I have never, my dear sister, witnessed or read anything so
delightful as the present scene. On each side of the Hoogly,
where we are now passing, are the Hindoo cottages, as thick
together as the houses in our seaports. They are very small,
and in the form of haystacks, without either chimneys or
windows. They are situated in the midst of trees, which
hang over them, and appear truly romantic; the grass and
fields of rice are perfectly green, and herds of cattle are
everywhere feeding on the banks of the river, and the natives
are scattered about, differently employed; some are fishing,
some driving the team, and many are sitting indolently on the
bank of the river. The pagodas we have passed are much
larger and handsomer than the houses.
This extract indicates with what emotions Mrs. Jud-
son was introduced to the country where she was to
tell a story the natives had never heard — to present the
name of a God they could not see, and who alone had
the power of life and death in His hands. Nothing
diverted her mind from her mission ; every scene called
forth some thought or expression relating to Christ
and their need of Him. The Newells, of course, were
in company ; and the devout Harriet full)^ sympathized
with her in every pious emotion.
They were now in harbor at Calcutta, and Mr. Jud-
son and Mr. Newell were making efforts to obtain per-
mission from the Police office to live in the country.
The East India Company, of England, was violently
opposed to missions ; the professed reason being a con-
scientious regard to the religious rights guaranteed to
the idolatrous nations under British sway, which, it was
argued, would be infringed by attempts to undermine
their ancient faith. The real reason, however, it is
believed, was the fadl that the Company derived a large
revenue from a tax on idolatry — an admission tax, for
A MKMORIAI.. 49
example, on the pilgrims who came to the annual
festival of Juggernaut — and from sales of merchandise
necessary to keep up idols and idol worship. Its
charter was changed, however, so as to secure religious
toleration. It had reluctantly given liberty to its own
countrymen to settle here as chaplains, and had prohib-
ited them preaching to the natives Finally, Captain
Heard, of the Caravan, who had been so kind and
courteous throughout the voyage, came aboard and
invited them to go to the house he had procured for
himself But Mr. Judson returned with an invitation
from Dr. Carey, which was accepted, and Mrs. Judson,
with Mrs. Newell, was borne to his house in a palan-
quin, by the natives, at a rapid rate and through crowd-
ed streets. No English lady was there seen walking
through the streets ; the natives being very numerous
and annojdng.
What were her feelings now, as she was permitted
to go ashore ! — on such a strange soil, and on such an
errand! While the friends in the home village were
sleeping, not even dreaming of their loved ones on
the opposite side of the globe, they were just touch-
ing the edge of a kingdom of darkness which they
were to endeavor to enlighten, from which they
could not shrink, and where they expected to lie
down at the last and be known afterward only in
grateful memories.
50 ANN H. JUDSON.
V.
^c^an antf ®vUnt — drifting.
Strongly it bears us along in swelling and limitless billows.
Nothing before and nothing behind but the sky and the ocean.
SCHII,I,ER.
I know not where His islands lift
Their fronded palms in air;
I only know I cannot drift
Beyond His love and care.
WhitTiER.
^ yTRS. Judson at once became greatly interested in
^^ things about her — the curious construction of
the house she was in, the English church in which
punkahs were used, a native wedding procession, etc.,
filling up a good part of the one day of her sojourn in
Calcutta. The little party of four then went on to
Serampore, whither they had been invited by the
missionaries residing there, that they might have a
temporary home until the missionaries from Philadel-
phia should arrive. They had a cordial welcome by
Messrs. Carey, Marshman, and Ward, and their wives.
Here, too, Mrs. Judson gives much time to observation
on the mission premises and the idolatries about her,
careful to remember the dear friends in America with
a delineation of the same. She was interested by
everything she observed, but was greatly affected with
pity for the poor deluded beings who not only wor
A MEMORIAL. 51
shiped gods that could not see, nor hear, nor speak,
nor do anything for them, but who, in consequence,
were deeply degraded, and knew not what comfort or
brotherly kindness did mean.
The mission premises consisted of five large, com-
modious buildings; one for printing purposes, three
for the families mentioned, and one as a ** common
house." In the latter the two missionary families
from America were accommodated, and they "had
everything to make them happy." Also, a collection
was taken for them among the friends of missions in
Calcutta. They occupied their leisure hours in walk-
ing in the mission garden, " a charming retreat from
the busy world," and in going out to see the Jugger-
naut and other "sights." Writing letters to America,
in which what they witnessed was described with the
minuteness, simplicity and gratification characteristic
of children's tales, was likewise a loved employ.
The departure of a vessel was a rare occurrence, and
one carefully noted in advance, and effort was made to
have letters in readiness, that dear friends might not
fail to hear from them by every mail. The quietude
and the daily worship of the place were restful to body
and soul.
But these circumstances were not to be of long
continuance. The East India Company was exceed-
ingly jealous of all promoters of Christianity, and it
could not long tolerate this new Christian force in the
country. Notwithstanding the inactivity of the mis-
sionaries sojourning at Serampore, it was well under-
stood that they were looking for a good opportunity to
march against the powers of darkness, which the
52 ANN H. JUDSON.
Company was protecting, and were awaiting and
momentarily expecting the arrival of the Harmony,
bringing reinforcements in the persons of brethren
Rice, Nott, and Hall. But ere that vessel came, orders
were given them to leave Serampore and proceed to
Calcutta, and there take passage for America. They
begged for permission to settle and labor in some
other part of India and were refused. Then they
asked that they might go to the Isle of France, until
recently in the French dominion. . This request was
granted; yet the outgoing vessel could accommodate
but two, and it was agreed that Mr. and Mrs. Newell
should embrace the opportunity, Mr. and Mrs. Judson
remaining behind. This arrangement necessitated a
separation of those who could scarcely spare each
other. On August 4th Mrs. Newell went aboard the
ship Gillespie for her last voyage, and Mrs. Judson
saw her no more. The hope of joining her on the
Isle of France seemed to her to be well founded ; but
how delusive the hopes of earth ! -.^
Mr. and Mrs. Judson remained in Calcutta four
months longer, waiting for passage. " They were enter-
tained with the most liberal hospitality at the house of
Mr. Rolt, an English gentleman; and the treatment
they received from other Christian friends was kind
and soothing to their feelings, amid their difficulties."
And in this time (on September 6th) their baptism
took place, and also the arrival of the Harmony from
Philadelphia (August 8th). The presence of the breth-
ren, long anticipated and gladly welcomed, gave them
new cheer, but did not essentially change their cir-
cumstances nor relieve their solicitude as to the future.
A MKMORIAL. 53
A month passes by and they assume a new church
relationship, sundering ties with those at whose side
they stood during the ordination services at Salem,
and of whom they alniost seemed to form a part.
Anticipating her baptism, Mrs. Judson says in her jour-
nal: " In consequence of our performance of this duty,
we must make some very painful sacrifices. We must
be separated from our dear missionary associates, and
labor alone in some isolated spot. We must expecfl to
be treated with contempt, and be cast off by many of
our American friends — forfeit the chara(5ler we have in
our native land, and probably have to labor for our
own support, wherever we are stationed." And to a
friend in America: "Can you, my dear Nancy, still
love me, still desire to hear from me, when I tell you I
have become a Baptist?" From a later view point
this solicitude appears like the imagining of a diseased
mind, but separate Mrs. Judson from her subsequent
history and it appears both natural and well grounded.
To offset this mental trouble she was admitted to
new fellowships and privileges of a delightful char-
acter, before leaving Calcutta. She became eligible to
the Lord's Supper, among the English Baptists, and
one celebration she describes as follows: "Nov. i — I
never saw a more striking display of the love of God,
than was manifested in those who came around the
communion table, and who have been emphatically
called from the highways and hedges. Hindoos and
Portuguese, Armenians and Mussulmans, could join
Europeans and Americans in commemorating the
dying love of Jesus." Then she adds, same date:
" Brother Rice was this day baptized. He has been
54 ANN H. JUDSON.
examining the subje(5l for some time, and finally
became convinced that it was his duty to be baptized
in Christ's appointed way. I consider it a singular
favor, that God has given us one of our brethren to be
our companion in travels, our associate and fellow-
laborer in missionary work." And with this record
was there not the pleasant consciousness that her
husband and she had led the way in the observance of
the divine command, and that the result might properly
be considered a kind of first fruit. of their sacrifice
for the heathen?
The detention of the American missionaries in Cal-
cutta, however, became very wearisome to themselves,
and finally an annoyance to the government. They
spent many days in anxious thought as to what course
to pursue. Those who had been baptized had virtually
released the Board of Commissioners from all obligation
to them, and they were not certain that the Baptists
would take them up ; this, therefore, was another cause
of anxiety. They seriously contemplated going to
South America; then Persia, Japan, Madagascar, and
other countries were considered as fields for missionary
effort. But Burmah held the ascendency in Mr. Judson's
mind, and though he gave thought to many countries
he invariably reverted to the one on which his heart
was originally fixed, and the one which seemed to be
most determinedly hedged in by governmental restric-
tions. In all his anxieties Mrs. Judson shared a wifely
part, as evinced by the full explanatory letters she
wrote to her friends ; and although he was the strong
staff on which she leaned, yet her greater sensibilities
were the occasion of keener suffering through that
A MEMORIAL. 55
cause than he experienced. She had every comfort at
Mr. Roh's, but she longed to get away to some field of
labor among the heathen. At a late day in their stay
they had some prospe(5l of going to Java, and had
acflually spoken for a passage.
lyate in November another, a very peremptory order
was given for the missionaries to embark for England,
in one of the East India Company's vessels. Mr. Jud-
son and Mr. Rice were requested not to leave their
place of residence without permission, and their names
were published as passengers of the particular ship in
which they were to sail. But they soon ascertained
that a ship named Creole would shortly sail for the Isle
of France, and they applied to the government for
a pass to enable them to procure passage on it. This
being refused they communicated with the captain,
begging him to take them without the passport. He
claimed to be neutral, but pointed to the ship and said
that they could do as they pleased. They gathered up
their baggage, and with the aid of coolies succeeded in
getting aboard at about midnight, having effedled
a passage through the dock-yard gates, contrary to the
regulations of the Company. Next morning the ship
sailed and proceeded down the Ganges for two days
without molestation, when a government dispatch ar-
rived, forbidding the pilot to go farther, as passengers
were on board who had been ordered to England.
Mrs. Judson's narration of experiences at this time is
explicit and so interesting that it will be inserted here
as originally given to her parents by letter, dated at
sea, December 7, 181 2:
56 ANN H. JUDSON.
We immediately concluded that it was not safe to continue
on board the remainder of the night. Mr, Rice and Mr. Jud-
son took a boat and went on shore to a tavern a little more
than a mile from the ship. The captain said that I and our
baggage could stay on board with perfect safety, even should
an officer be sent to search the vessel.
The next day we lay at anchor, expecting every hour to
hear some intelligence from Calcutta. In the evening the
captain received a note from the owner of the vessel, saying
he had been to the Police to inquire the cause of the detention
of his ship ; and the cause assigned was, " It w^as suspected
there were persons on board which the captain had been
forbidden to receive," and that the ship could not proceed
until it was ascertained that no such persons were on board.
The pilot immediately wrote a certificate that no such persons
were on board, at the same time giving a list of all the passen-
gers. I got into a small boat and went on shore, where the
brethren had been anxiously waiting through the day. We
knew not what course to take, as it was impossible that we
could proceed in that ship without a pass from the magistrate.
Brother Rice set out directly for Calcutta, to see if it was
possible to get a pass, or do anything else. We spent the
night and the next day at the tavern, without hearing any-
thing from the ship, fearing that every European we saw was
in search of us. Brother Rice returned from Calcutta, but
had effected nothing. The owner of the vessel was highly
offended at his ship being detained on our account, and would
do nothing to assist us. We felt our situation was peculiarly
trying, and could see no end to our difficulties.
Early the next morning we received a note from the cap-
tain, saying, he had liberty to proceed, but we must take our
baggage from the vessel. We thought it not safe to continue
at the tavern where we were, neither could we think of return-
ing to Calcutta. But one way was left— to go down the river
about sixteen miles, where there was another tavern. I went
on board to see about our baggage, as the brethren did not
think it safe for them to go. As we could get no boat at the
place where we were, I requested the captain to let our things
A MEJMORIAI,. 57
remain until the vessel reached the other tavern, where I
would try to get a boat. He consented, and told me I had
better go in the vessel, as it would be unpleasant going so far
in a small boat. I was obliged to go on shore again, to inform
the brethren of this, and know what they would do. Brother
Rice set out again for Calcutta, to try to get a passage to Cey-
lon, in a ship which was anchored near the place we were
going to. Mr. J. took a small boat, in which was a small part
of our baggage, to go down the river, while I got into the
pilot's boat which he had sent on shore with me, to go to the
ship. As I had been some time on shore, and the wind strong,
the vessel had gone down some distance. Imagine how un-
comfortable my situation: in a little boat, rowed by six
natives, entirely alone, the river very rough, in consequence
of the wind; without an umbrella or anything to screen me
from the sun, which was very hot. The natives hoisted a
large sail, which every now and then would almost tip the
boat on one side. I manifested some fear to them, and to
comfort me, they would constantly repeat, ** Cutcha pho annah
sahib, cutcha pho annah;" the meaning "Never fear, madam,
never fear." After some time we came up with the ship, where
I put our things in order, to be taken out in an hour or two.
When we came opposite the tavern, the pilot kindly lent me
his boat and servant to go on shore. I immediately procured
a large boat to send to the ship for our baggage. I entered
the tavern, a stranger, a Jemale, and tmprotected. I called for
a room, and sat down to reflect on my disconsolate situation.
I had nothing with me but a few rupees. I did not know that
the boat which I sent after the vessel would overtake it, and if
it did whether it would ever return with our baggage ; neither
did I know where Mr. J. was, or when he would come, or with
what treatment I should meet at the tavern. I thought of
home, and said to myself, "These are some of the many trials
attendant on a missionary life, and which I have anticipated."
In a few hours Mr. Judson arrived, and toward night, our
baggage. We had now gi\ en up all hope of going to the Isle
of France, and concluded either to return to Calcutta, or to
communicate our real situation to the tavern-keeper and
58 ANN H, JUDSON.
request him to assist us. As we thought the latter preferable,
Mr, J. told our landlord our circumstances, and asked him if
he would assist in getting us a passage to Ceylon. He said a
friend of his was expected down the river the next day, who
was captain of a vessel bound to Madras, and who, he did not
doubt, would take us. This raised our sinking hopes. .We
waited two days; and on the third, which was Sabbath, the
ship came in sight, and anchored directly before the house.
We now expected the time of our deliverance had come. The
tavern-keeper went on board to see the captain for us; but our
hopes were again dashed, when he returned and said the cap-
tain could not take us. We determined, however, to see the
captain ourselves, and endeavor to pursuade him to let us have
a passage at any rate. We had just sat down to supper, when
a letter was handed us. We hastily opened it, and, to our
great surprise and joy, in it was a pass from the magistrate,
for us to go on board the Creole, the vessel we had left. Who
procured this pass for us, or in what way, we are still ignorant;
we could only view the hand of God and wonder. But we had
every reason to expect the Creole had got out to sea, as it was
three days since we left her. There was a possibility, however,
of her having anchored at Saugur, seventy miles from where
we then were. We had let our baggage continue in the boat
into which it was first taken, therefore it was all in readiness;
and after dark we all three got into the same boat and set out
against the tide for Saugur. It was a most dreary night to
me ; but Mr. J. slept the greater part of the night. The next
day we had a favorable wind, and before night reached Saugur,
where were many ships at anchor, and among the rest we had
the happiness to find the Creole. She had been anchored
there two days, waiting for some of the ship's crew. I never
enjoyed a sweeter moment in my life than that, when I was
sure we were in sight of the Creole. After spending a fort-
night in such anxiety, it was a very great relief to find our-
selves safe on board the vessel in which we first embarked.
In these exploits of Mrs, Judson the elements of the
heroine were revealed and developed. She was not
A MKMORIAI,. 59
intent on saving her goods, desirable and necessar}^ as
they were to her ; her heart was supremely fixed on
her mission, and to her mind no plan was acceptable
except that in which was, contemplated an endeavor to
go ahead. When Mr. Judson was away from her,
devising and experimenting for success in some
direction, she managed for the same end, alone. Amid
"perils of waters," and perils of degraded boatmen,
whom she did not know and could not address, as also
in her lonely situation in a tavern on the bank of an
Indian stream, she steadily kept her face to the foe of
the Cross. The idea of finding herself in the midst
of the heathen at last, encouraged her to hope, in her
"dullest frames," that God would finally make her
useful in saving some of their precious souls. Hence,
when she came in sight of the Creole she rejoiced, and
when she was aboard of it she, with the brethren, at
once gave attention to learning the French language,
which was spoken altogether on the Isle of France.
A fortnight of anxiety and discomfiture, though not
erasable from the m.emory, seemed as nothing compared
with the prospedl of going, not to a home of peace and
love, but into the thick darkness of superstition, carry-
ing the lyight of Life.
The Creole, encountering contrary winds and
suffering calms as well, made slow progress. It con-
tained but four passengers, besides the missionaries
and the captain's wife, yet these were so wicked as to be
a source of trial to Mrs. Judson. After about seven
weeks at sea they were made glad by arriving safely
in port — Port lyouis, Isle of France (or Mauritius), in
i;he Indian Ocean, a few hundred miles east of Mada-
6o ANN H. JUDSON.
gascar. The island is about thirty-six miles long and
thirty-two miles wide.
With what joy Mrs. Judson stepped again from
ship to shore, and with what bright anticipations of
greeting the beloved Mrs. Newell! Yet, alas! with
what a severe disappointment ! " Oh ! what news ! what
distressing news ! Harriet is dead ! Harriet, my dear
friend, my earliest associate in the mission, is no more !
O Death, thou destroyer of domestic felicity, could
not this wide world afford victims sufficient to satisfy
thy cravings, without entering the family of a solitary
few, whose comfort and happiness depended much on
the society of each other ! Could not this infant mis-
sion be shielded from thy shafts ! "
The vessel bearing Mr. and Mrs. Newell from Cal-
cutta, in consequence of storms sprung a leak and was*
compelled to put into Coringa for repairs. While in
that port Mrs. Newell suffered severe sickness, but par-
tially recovered. Before completing the voyage she
became a mother; earlier than was anticipated. In a
few days a storm of wind and rain came on, during
which the infant took cold and died; and Mrs. Newell
contracted illness from the same cause, resulting in
consumption, of which she died about six weeks there-
after— November 30, 18 12, the day Mr. and Mrs. Judson
took passage on the Creole. The babe, little Harriet,
was committed to a watery grave. The mother, dying
about seven weeks after that event, and about four
weeks after reaching land, was buried in a retired spot
in the burying ground of Port I^ouis, under the shade
of an evergreen.
A MEMORIAL. 6l
Dr. Edward Judson, in the Life of his father, makes
the following touching allusion to this sad event:
" The Isle of France, the scene of St. Pierre's pathetic
tale of * Paul and Virginia,' was to our missionaries also,
who took refuge here, a place of sorrow. They learned
of a death which rivals in pathos the fate of Virginia.
Mrs. Harriet Newell, the first American martyr to
Foreign Missions, had only just survived the tempest-
uous voyage from Calcutta, and had been laid in the
' heathy ground ' of Mauritius : one who ' for the love of
Christ and immortal souls, left the bosom of her friends
and found an early grave in a land of strangers.' "
The apostrophe by Mrs. Judson in a preceding
paragraph, sufficiently indicates the anguish which the
death of Mrs. Newell caused her; an event sharply
suggestive of a brief tenure to life in her own case,
and doubtless giving complexion to her thinking for
many a day or for years. Only a person conscious of
a great mission to fulfill, and having a perfect com-
mand of her faculties, could avoid being unfavorably
and permanently affected by such circumstances as
those under which she entered on a life in the Isle
of France.
But Providence was not favorable to this place as a
home and a field of labor for the missionaries now
there. Within one week from the day the Creole
landed Mrs. Judson entered in her diary, " No prospect
of remaining long on this island. It seems as if there
was no resting place for me on earth." Mr. Newell
continued there but about three months when he went
to Ceylon. Mr. Rice very soon had an attack of
disease of the liver, and his health was found to be
62 ANN H. JUDSON.
in a precarious condition ; and, on this account, with
a felt necessity for awakening American Baptists to an
interest in foreign missions, it seemed best that he
should visit the United States. He sailed in March,
1813, a little over a year from the time he left this
country for India.
Thus Mr. and Mrs. Judson were left alone, and
with little prospect of doing much good there. He
appears to have limited his labors to the English garri-
son, to which he preached statedly and faithfully, but
with a consciousness of not being engaged in the work
he came to the East to perform. She remained at
their quarters while he was away preaching, often
lonely and given to self-examination and thoughts of
death, and wondering when they should find "some
Httle spot that she could call her home." Such mental
exercises, sometimes thought to be profitable to the
soul, if indulged for a great length of time lead to
dejection if not to disease of the mind; and she was
in danger of being weakened thereby instead of being
nerved for the stern hour of strife. Still, her medita-
tions uniformly ended with some exalted view of God,
and in Him she trusted.
What were their means of support at this time the
biographies do not state, though it is presumable that
they still had some of the means which they brought
from America, or, that they used the liberty given
them to draw upon the Serampore Mission. Their
connection with the Board of Commissioners had
ceased, and there had not been time for a similar con-
nection to be formed with the Baptists. Several months
must intervene from the time of their baptism before
A MKMORIAI,. 63
they would know how they and their movements were
regarded at home, and that period had not yet elapsed.
And still they pushed on as if not doubting the care
of Him who controls the ravens and all other instru-
mentalities.
About four months had now been occupied on the
island, and, though the governor would have been
pleased with their continuance, and would have pat-
ronized a mission, they felt that they must go where
there seemed to be a prospect of a permanent advance
against heathenism. After much deliberation they
determined to undertake the establishment of a mission
on Pulo Penang, or Prince of Wales Island, lying in
the Strait of Malacca, and not so very far from the
locality contemplated in their earliest plans. But no
opportunity appeared for procuring a passage to that
island, direct from the Isle of France, so they resolved
to go to Madras, with the hope of obtaining a passage
from there. On May 7, 1813, they embarked in the
Countess of Harcourt, and had a pleasant voyage, arriv-
nig on June 4th, and meeting with a cordial reception
by the English missionaries there. But they were now
again under the jurisdiction of the East India Company,
and their arrival was announced to the Governor-
General, who would very likely order them to go to
England. Haste to get away to sea was very impor-
tant, and as no vessel for Penang was in the harbor they
concluded to take one bound for Rangoon, Burmah.
They were shut up to a choice between this course
and another arrest, with shipment to England.
Providence thus took all the plans into His own
hands and carried them whither it pleased Him to have
64 ANN H. JUDSON.
them go. They would not have chosen Rangoon at
the time, having regarded a mission there with "feel-
ings of horror," but very soon they acquiesced in the
divine disposing, and felt determined to make the most
of the opportunity before them. Mrs. Judson even
felt glad of the prospect of laboring for a people " who
had never heard the sound of the Gospel, or read, in
their own language, of the love of Christ." And
though their trials should continue to be great and
their privations severe, she would count them all as
trifling compared to the privilege of presenting to the
degraded and deluded Burmans the consolations and
joys of the Gospel, and making them sharers with
themselves " in joys as exalted as heaven, durable as
eternit3^" She even strengthened her mind with the
consideration that though she now bade adieu to
"polished, refined, Christian society," she would
henceforth live beyond the temptations peculiar to
European settlements in the East.
Madras is on the west coast of the Bay of Bengal
and Rangoon on the east, somewhat to the north. On
the 2 2d of June they embarked for Rangoon, in the
Georgiana, "a crazy old vessel," and "a small, dirty
vessel," without suitable apartments for passengers.
The captain was the only person aboard w^ho could
speak English. The passage was very tedious, and at
one time very perilous. The ship was about to be
driven and wrecked on the Andaman Islands, and this
disaster was escaped only by steering it through a
narrow channel between two of them. The wind
being broken by the islands, the water was very
smooth, yet the captain never before had been there.
A ME^MORIAL. 65
and the coasts were inhabited by cannibals. Had a
change occurred to cast it ashore, passengers and crew
doubtless would have been killed and eaten by the
natives.
Before leaving Madras, and by the advice and
assistance of friends there, Mrs. Judson had procured
a European woman-servant, and she had gone aboard
the ship two days in advance of herself. This woman
fell upon the deck in a fit and instantly died, before or
immediately after the vessel left the shore. This cir-
cumstance took away Mrs. Judson's special and much-
needed nurse, leaving her without either female attend-
ant or medical adviser; and it so shocked her "frame
and feelings" as to cause premature illness, and bring
her near to the gates of death. Her only attendant
was Dr. Judson, and her only apartment was what was
made of canvas. The sea became very tempestuous,
keeping the little craft in continual motion and the
crew in tumultuous activity. The quietude of body
and mind essential to her recovery it seemed impossible
to secure, and in her darkness and distress she surren-
dered hope of living. But when the vessel entered
the still water mentioned above she obtained rest and
began to convalesce. The Providence in storm added
new strength to her faith. And yet had she known
the dangers still incurred — the black rocks beneath and
the savage coasts on either hand — she would have con-
tinued to feel that there was no end of perils in pagan
climes, and might have lost by fear more than she
gained by quietness. There was a reality associated
with that smooth sailing among the Andamans which
the most ardent opposer of missions would scarcely be
66 ANN H. JUDSON.
disposed to construe into a romance. A third of a
century thereafter, Mr. Judson, in referring to experi-
ences of this voyage, remarked that "his first child
slept beneath the waters of the Bay of Bengal, a victim
to Anglo-Indian persecution, a baby-martyr, without
the martyr's conflict."
On the eastern side of the island the vessel met
with favorable winds which gently wafted it forward,
giving its saintly patient further opportunity to recover.
And after a voyage of three weeks under such trying
circumstances, in which Mr. Judson " came to experi-
ence the awful sensation resulting from the expectation
of an immediate separation from his beloved wife, the
only remaining companion of his wanderings," the
Georgiana came to harbor in Rangoon, July 13, 18 13.
A MKMORIAI.. 67
VI.
^ant^OOn-ANCHORING.
O, when will my wanderings terminate ! — Mrs. Judson.
" Not by appointment do we meet Delight or Joy,
They heed not our expedlancy;
But round some corner in the streets of life
They on a sudden clasp us with a smile."
WHAT a relief to both of them was another sight
of land ! To them, terra fir ma had come to be
a phrase with a meaning. Yet Mrs. Jiidson could not
now enjo}^ the satisfaction of stepping on it, inasmuch
as she was unable to walk and had not left her bed for
half an hour. Nor was she to be gratified with an imme-
diate release from her noisome and noxious quarters.
It seemed necessary for her to remain aboard until the
following day, but Mr. Judson went ashore just at
night to take a view of the place, and of the mission
house in charge of Felix Carey. The prospect of
Rangoon as they approached it was quite dishearten-
ing, and a closer observation was more so. " So dark
and cheerless and unpromising did all things appear,"
says Mr. Judson, "that the evening of that day, after
my return to the ship, we have marked as the most
gloomy and distressing that we have ever passed.
Instead of rejoicing, as we ought to have done, in
having found a heathen land from which we were
68 ANN H. JUDSON.
not immediately driven away, such were our weak-
nesses that we felt we had no portion left here below,
and found consolation only in looking beyond our pil-
grimage, which we tried to flatter ourselves would be
short, to that peaceful^ region where the wicked cease
from troubling and the weary are at rest."
The next day Mrs. Judson was carried into the
town. There was no method of conveyance except a
horse, and she was unable to ride ; and it was decided
that she be carried in an arm-chair. Two bamboos
were thrust through the chair, and the precious burden
was thus taken upon the shoulders of the natives —
•'borne of four." "When they had carried me a little
way into the town," she says, " they set me down under
a shade, when great numbers of the natives gathered
around, as they had seldom seen an English female.
Being sick and weak I held my head down, whicli
induced many of the native females to come very near
and look under my bonnet. At this I looked up and
smiled, at which they set up a loud laugh. They
again took me up to carry, and the multitude of natives
gave a shout, which much diverted us. They next
carried me to a place they called the custom-house.
It was a small, open shed, in which were seated on
mats several natives, who were the custom-house
officers. After searching Mr. Judson very closely,
they asked liberty for a female to search me, to which
I readily consented. I was then brought to the mission
house, where I have entirely recovered my health."
How utterly unconscious were those bearers of the
value of the frail being brought ashore ! To the crowd
she was a curiosity, a flower ; to the nation a beneficent
A MKMORIAI,. 69
power, destined to come into its recognition as such,
and, after aiding in introducing a new religious faith,
resting upon better promises, to be held in its grateful
remembrance and ever increasing honor.
"Oh when will my wanderings terminate!" said
Mrs. Judson, in her homeless situation on the Isle of
France, at the time when the prospect of remaining
there had vanished, and but a single week after arrival.
Heretofore this dove of peace had been seeking a place
on which to rest her foot. Nearly one and a half
years had she spent "in journeyings often," having
been turned aside frequently by vain, delusive hopes,
and now she comes to the kingdom on which Mr.
Judson had originally fixed his mind, and in the time
of its great need. Had they come directly here at the
first, they might have revolted at the sight before
them, and concluded that they were mistaken as to the
indications of Providence concerning them. But
touching the margins of different places, and brief
sojournings in some seats of paganism, had con-
vinced them that man everywhere was vile. They
were satisfied that they could not flee to another city
with a hope of finding heathenism in less degraded
forms. And now that they were beyond occasion to
fear molestation by the British Government, whose
flag should have been a sign of full protection, they
settled down to the hard and tedious labor of introduc-
ing to benighted Burmah the Glad Tidings first her-
alded by angels above Judea's plains.
Rangoon is the chief seaport of the Burman Em-
pire. It is on the Rangoon river, one of the outlets,
and near the mouth of the Irrawaddy, the great
70 ANN H. JUDSONr
river of Farther India. The Irrawaddy forks at about
ninety miles from the sea, the westward branch form-
ing the Bassein river, and the eastward subdividing
and finally entering the sea by ten mouths. One of
the eastern branches is the Rangoon river. This
system of water-ways rises far up in the mountains of
northern Burmah; how far, may be inferred from the
fact that it is navigable for river steamers as far as to
Bhamo, 840 miles. Bhamo and Rangoon are thus two
important strategical points for the conquest of Asia
to Christ; the latter, about thirty miles from the sea,
having a fine harbor and accessible by ships of 800 to
1,000 tons. Rangoon was the first place in the coun-
try occupied by American Baptist missions and Bhamo
one of the latest.
An English traveler who passed through Rangoon
at about the time the Judsons arrived there, as quoted
by Dr. Edward Judson, described it as:
A miserable, dirty town, containing 8,000 to 10,000 inhabi-
tants, the houses being built with bamboo and teak planks,
with thatched roofs — almost without drainage, and intersected
by muddy creeks, through which the tide flowed at high water,
It had altogether a mean, uninviting appearance, but it was the
city of government of an extensive province ruled over by a
viceroy, a woongyee of the empire, in high favor at court.
Some missionary endeavor had been put forth in
this city, beginning in 1807, when two English brethren
came to it from Serampore. One of these, Mr. Mardon,
remained but a few months ; the other, Mr. Chater, was
joined by Mr. Felix Carey, son of Dr. Wm. Carey, and
soon after two others from the London Missionary
Society also entered the mission. The work of trans-
A MEMORIAI.. 71
lating the New Testament was prosecuted to some
extent, but the mission was reduced, by death and
removal, till Mr. Carey alone remained, and he decided
to leave it also.
When Mr. and Mrs. Judson arrived, there were no
helps at hand except parts of a grammar and dictionar>^
and the partial translation mentioned. Mr. Carey was
at Ava, the capital, by order of the king, and was
wholly occupied with the king's business. Mrs. Carey,
a native of the country, was still at the mission house
in Rangoon, and she received Mr. and Mrs. Judson and
provided them with a home. The house was erected
by Mr. Chater; was located in a pleasant rural spot,
half a mile from the walls of the town. It was large
and convenient, and adapted to the climate, though
unfinished: Connected with it were gardens enclosed,
containing about two acres of ground, full of fruit
trees of various kinds. Mrs. Judson now felt that she
had a resting place ; her health was restored, and she
attained more true peace of mind and trust in the
Savior than she had ever before experienced, and
was more contented and happy than ever she had
expected to be in such a situation. Mr. Carey, after
being absent at Ava for about a year, and being ordered
to reside there, returned and removed his family, leav-
ing Mr. and Mrs. Judson again alone.* They applied
themselves closely to the acquirement of the language,
making some headway, and soon finding pleasure in
conversing with the Burmans. Mrs. Judson was
-The brig- in which Mr. Carey embarked upset in the river, and Mrs.
Carey, two children, all the women-servants, and some of the men-servants
who could not swim, were drowned.
72 ANN H. JUDSON.
equally as zealous as her husband in this pursuit ; at
the same time her habit of communing with God by
means of His Word and by prayer became an increasing
delight, and she grew strong in spirit and in desire for
the redemption of the deluded heathen.
It was found, eventually, to be most desirable to
live in the city. The mission house was near to the
place where criminals were executed, and where offal
was thrown, and not far from the place for burning the
dead. It was also beyond the protection of the walls,
exposed to the predatory excursions of wild beasts and
of men scarcely better. On the loth of January, 1814,
they moved into town. Mrs. Judson, heroine that she
was, makes the removal due only "partly through fear
of robbers," and mentions the desire of being more
with the natives, of learning more of their* habits and
manners, and of being in the way of getting the lan-
guage much quicker.
It will be borne in mind that though in the midst
of a populous city, the missionaries were still in a
state of isolation. To be without the language of a
people is to be without means of intelligent communi-
cation, without acquaintance and lonely. A large city
in one's own country, without friendly acquaintance-
ship, conduces to loneliness equally with a wilderness ;
how much more a city where there is not even an
affinity of tongues, and where dress and customs are
so peculiar as to excite only curiosity and a stare. Mr.
and Mrs. Judson were for the most part shut in, except
as they formed with their Burman teachers the sem-
blance of a society, or found in a transient English
officer or sea captain an opportunity for a little conver-
A MKMORIAI,. 72
sation. How very desirable were letters from home,
and yet how infrequently were they received! The
heralding of an incoming vessel was like a day-spring,
and was made a matter of record in their journals as a
hoped-for sign of tidings from over the sea. The least
intelligence received, through any means, was "a great
luxury." And the lone missionaries would sit down
to the epistolary repast with feelings of mingled joy
and fear, knowing that whilst it would present some
occasion for rejoicing, there had been ample time since
the preceding to justify the expectation of something
sorrowful also. Then it would be so long before
another!— would they not partake daintily and return
often lest some crumb had been overlooked! The
expense for postage, great as it was in that early time,
could not be mentioned in connection with the value
of the commodity for the carriage of which it paid.
And yet amid such enforced abstemiousness and
exile, Mrs. Judson could but feel that "the man
without a country" was the Burman. When she
beheld the poor Burman, hungry and under a rapa-
cious government ready to devour the little substance
he may have gathered, sick and without a Good
Samaritan to minister unto him, houseless and no law
to assure to him the little bamboo shelter he may have
erected, her heart was so drawn out for him as to
cause her to feel that the land was to her one of milk
and honey, in contrast with what it was to him. And
then how infinitely superior were her spiritual bless-
ings ! Thus, by such secondary means as a compar-
ison of her circumstances with those of the stolid
74 ANN H. JUDSON.
creatures about her, did she add to her lovely spirit
the grace of contentment with her lot.
After twelve months of residence in Rangoon, Mrs.
Judson's health was found to be in a state of decline,
and as there was no medical aid in the country she felt
it to be necessary to seek its restoration elsewhere.
She therefore embarked for Madras, in January, 1815,
leaving her husband to care for the mission, which
very much needed his attention. To further show the
loneliness of missionary life, in one of its most painful
features, let it be considered that in all Rangoon during
her absence, there was not a Christian with whom he
could converse or unite in prayer. And the conversion
of a soul, by which the blessed sympathy was to be
created, was an event still several years in the future.
Ah ! there was a sympathetic heart, beyond the Bay of
Bengal, which "bated not a jot of heart or hope," and
in this trying separation found the same mercy seat
accessible which had been the meeting-place of herself
with her husband in so many precious hours in Ran-
goon. Returning after about three months, with
health recovered, her heart experienced again the joys
of helpful contact with his, in the service they had
undertaken.
During the period thus far embraced by the narrative
war had been raging in America. It was in progress
on the saiHng of the Caravan, and from that time the
mails were under sharp surveillance, and it was difficult
to transmit a letter through from Burmah to the United
States. Mr. Judson remarks, in January, 18 14, that
he had not written a letter to America for nearly a
year; while Mrs. Judson says of Burmah, that it is full
A MEMORIAL. 75
of commotion and uncertainty. And while the satis-
faction of hearing from loved ones was thus precluded,
they were for a long time doubtful as to their accept-
ance as missionaries, and as to the success of Brother
Rice in creating missionar}^ sentiment. Mr. Judson
had communicated with prominent Baptists in Boston
and vicinity, the first of September, and just before
their baptism, in respect to their change of views and
their willingness to labor under the patronage of the
Baptists. In January the surprising news was received
by Dr. Sharp, in Boston, and Dr. Bolles, in Salem, sep-
arately, and the same was soon spread abroad among
the churches. The Baptists, as it proved, were in a
condition to be elated by such tidings. They were ris-
ing, but they were comparatively few and weak, and
the exhilaration of a little victory, though occurring
without their instrumentality, and far from their sight,
was peculiarly pleasant. They had not forgotten the
stimulating voice of Mr. Judson, uttered before his de-
parture, urging them to imitate the Baptists of Great
Britain in a foreign missionary enterprise. The facts
taken together — a trophy, a man of good repute and
scholarship, a missionary, and already on the field and
preparing for his work^-were well calculated to arouse
the denominational spirit of the churches; while the
Providential gift cast into their lap was a rebuke for
their seeming indifference to missions, and it appealed
to the higher sentiment of loyalty to Him who had
commanded His disciples to go into all the world and
preach the Gospel to every creature. And hencefor-
ward the Judson name was the talismanic word by
which individuals and congregations were to be moved.
76 ANN H. JUDSON.
Mrs. H. C. Conant, in " The Earnest Man," referring to
the new life created in America by the news from the
Hast, says: "I recall, from mj^ own childhood, vivid
recollections of the enthusiasm which the topic of mis-
sions always awakened in the family circle; of the
* Mission Box ' in the parlor, through whose lid many
an offering to the cause was dropped by Christian
visitors; of the jubilee in the house, when a letter
arrived from Mrs. Judson, or the Missionary Magazine
came, with joyful tidings of some new triumph of the
Gospel in far-off Burmah."
Missionary societies sprang into existence in the
individual churches, as if by magic, and several influ-
ential ministers of Massachusetts met at the home of
Dr. Baldwin, in Boston, and there organized "The
Baptist Society for Propagating the Gospel in India
and other Foreign Parts." This preceded the arrival
in this country of Mr. Rice, though the knowledge of
his baptism had been received and had increased the
joy and enthusiasm of the brotherhood. Still there
was a lack of confidence among them as to their ability
to handle such an enterprise beyond the seas; they
were without experience, and so soon as it arose to their
vision in its proper porportions their rejoicing was with
trembling, and they appealed to their brethren in Eng-
land to take them under their wing for counsel and
co-operation. The coalition was wisely declined; the
American Baptists were left to their own wisdom and
strength and zeal, with God as their helper, and the event
proved a means of development to them far beyond the
ordinary expectation. In the spring Mr. Rice arrived,
and with his trumpet voice awakened those churches
A MKMORIAI,. ^^
still sleeping, and intensified the enthusiasm of those al-
ready awake^ And yet he could only relate missionary
experiences had by the English brethren, agreeable and
commonplace as compared with what lay in the future
of the American, for nothing was to be told of Mr
and Mrs. Judson except a year of wanderings and
lonelmess and obscurity, and hard study with little
progress m the language. In fact, the basis of appeal
was the command of Christ, the needs of the heathen
world and two homeless missionaries casting them-
selves on our charity. When it is considered that
the motive to missionary effort was to be sustained
without a syllable of fact from the field, such as we
now depend upon for the kindling of the missionary
flame^ the churches of that day must be credited with
a high type of benevolence. The general movement,
spontaneous and created, naturally ripened in the organ-
ization of the membership, and ultimately. May 14
1814, m the formation of the "General Missionary
Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United
States of America for Foreign Missions," which, on
November 30, 1845, formed a new constitution and
took the name "American Baptist Missionary Union "
still embracing all the .states; and, in the same year.
The Southern Baptist Convention " was formed
In September, 1815, the report of their acceptance
as missionaries reached the Judsons, bending over their
books, and thinking of the "little meal" in the barrel
supplied by the mission at Serampore; and a compari-
son of dates indicates that the ship bringing it and
tha beanng Mr. Rice to America passed each other
on the ocean. That little should remain from which
78 ANN H. JUDSON.
to gather information concerning this Httle matter of
want and supply, which wrings woman's heart the
world over, may be attributed to the burning of Mrs.
Judson's papers by her own hand, or to that modest
endurance and child-like trust that are better concealed
than displayed. Nearly two years pass, during which
the toilers pray and work and weep alone. The strong
heart of Mr. Judson found its full counterpart in that
of the school-girl of Bradford, his trust in whom had
been more and more confirmed. And while, with an
unwavering purpose, he could contemplate the Otaheite
mission, prosecuted nearly twenty years before success
came, and that under Dr. Thomas, in Bengal, which
was carried on seventeen years before the first convert
appeared, she could join her steady faith unto his, and
await the tarrying vision, tarry it never so long. He
asked for the return of his companion, lyUther Rice,
and for bread; she asked no more, and joined him in
the one and only promise to the givers, that after some
twenty or thirty years they might hear from them
again.
A MEMORIAIv. 79
VII.
^Ope^—J^/S/JVG AND FALLING.
Every gift of noble origin
Is breathed upon by Hope's perpetual breath.
Wordsworth,
Hope, like the gleaming taper's light,
Adorns and cheers the way ;
And still, as darker grows the night,
Emits a brighter ray.
G01.DSMITH.
TOURING this period God opened that fountain in
^^ her heart which conduces to a new and higher
development of wifely affection and a better sympathy
with all. On September 11, 18 15, she became the
happy mother of a little son. She had no physician
or assistant whatever, except her husband. They
welcomed their own to the light of life, within the
shadows of an idolatrous city which furnished no one
familiar with medicine except a Portuguese priest. It
was just as well — 'twas better; for he stayed with
them but a little while, and it left them with the
pleasant reflection that they had ministered to the
little beam in his coming, as they did in his stay and
departure. " They felt not their solitude when he
was with them." To Mrs. Judson he supplied enter-
tainment for every waking hour; even the hours of
painful anxiety, as the fever came and went and his
8o ANN H. JUDSON.
coughing and hard breathing made her struggle for
her own breath, were to be remembered for the pecu-
Uar love that mingled with the pain, and his last sad
night was to be registered with those in which a little
light shining in great darkness was supreme in hel
heart. She would not have had that night expunged
from her calendar had such a thing been possible.
Her little Roger Williams, aged eight months, finally
dropped asleep without a struggle, and was buried in
a small inclosure at the farther side of the garden. He
was the only legitimate child of foreign parents in the
place, and was quite a curiosity to the Burmans, of
whom a large number followed the corpse to its final
resting place. Shortly after the burial, the viceroy's
wife, with all of her officers of state and attendants,
about two hundred, called to pay a visit of condolence.
The mother had once carried the babe to her house,
when she took the velvet cushion on which she usually
sat and placed him on it, exclaiming, "What a child!
How white ! " The trial of losing him was magnified
by the possibility that he might have served as a
medium of introduction to many benighted women.
In a short time Mrs. Judson records these affecting
words :
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 inclosure of mango trees, in the
center of which is erected a small bamboo house on a rising
spot of ground, which looks dow^n on the new made grave of
an infant boy. Here I now sit ; and though all nature around
wears a romantic, delightful appearance, yet my heart is sad,
and my tears frequently stop my pen.
A MKMORIAIv. 8 1
Some weeks after little Roger's death, another
trial of a different character, and very unexpected,
crossed their pathway, impeding their progress and
somewhat diverting their attention from their recent
bereavement. Mrs. Judson wrote: "All is Egyptian
darkness around us — not a glimpse of light. Mr. Jud-
son had just completed a tract in the Burman language,
a summary of the Christian religion, when his eyes
became so weak and his head so much affected that
he was obliged to lay aside all study, and could not
even look into an English book. * '^' * This we
feel to be a severe affliction. My health is indifferent.
We are anxiously looking for the arrival of the other
missionaries, who we hope will strengthen this
mission."
During the illness referred to, Mr. Judson, ever on
the alert to find a way of procedure, found he could
employ the time in composing a grammar of the lan-
guage, from materials he had already acquired ; and by
giving attention to this work for a brief time he was
enabled, on the third anniversary of his arrival in
Rangoon, to complete a work which he called " Gram-
matical Notices of the Burman lyanguage," and which
was highly commended in critical notices. But his
health seemed to require some expedient not yet tried,
and a voyage to Calcutta was decided upon. In this
the faithful wife was to accompany him ; but the vessel
having been delayed, the measure was relinquished.
At this time the arrival in Bengal of a reinforce-
ment of the mission was announced — Rev. Geo. H.
Hough and his wife. On reaching Calcutta they
ascertained that Dr. Carey was in receipt of letters
82 ANN H. JUDSON.
from Mr. Judson, expressing a desire to have some
small tracts printed at Serampore. The Doctor and
his associates at once advised that a printing office be
established at Rangoon, and with their characteristic
liberality they presented to the mission there an outfit
— press, types and other printing apparatus — which
Mr. and Mrs. Hough took along, and which greatly
increased the joy consequent on their arrival. No one
on this side of the sea can realize what a dayspring this
reinforcement was. And no one at all thoughtful will
fail to reflect that Mrs. Judson would participate as
fully in the benefits as would her husband, and that
the vSUpport of her heart by means of a female com-
panion would be of no small importance to the good
of all and the advancement of the cause. The glad
day of arrival was October 15, 18 16, and it marked the
beginning of advance movement in Burmah. The press
was put into service; one thousand copies of a tract
on the primary things of religion, and three thousand
copies of a catechism were struck off, each of which
excited considerable interest.
A year of activity and hopefulness now passed
away, and then another of very trying experiences en-
sued. It was farthest from the apprehension of these
tested saints that their next trial was to be a sea-going
experience, and that, as it so often occurs in this world,
the wife at home should share largely in the suffering
consequent upon the adventure of the husband. Mr.
Judson had conceived the idea of going to Chittagong,
some distance to the north, to revive a mission that
had been abandoned by the English Baptists, and to
obtain one or two of the converts to be assistants at
A MEMORIAIv. 8t
Rangoon. He contemplated an absence of only three
months, to result in the recuperation of his energies
and other advantages to the mission at home. I^eav-
ing Rangoon December 25, 1817, the vessel soon en-
countered contrary winds, and on account of the
difficulties of navigating along the coast it tacked
about and made sail for Madras. It had been out
thirty da3^s already, and the unexpected loss of time
and change of destination, taking him to a distant
part of India contrary to his wishes, was a very bit-
ter disappointment, mitigated only by the hope that
he would be able to get passage from Madras back
to Rangoon. But defeat still attended the ship. It
failed to reach Madras also, but tacked again and ran
into Masulipatam, three hundred miles north of Mad-
ras, whence he went by palanquin to the latter place
and thence to Rangoon.
Beneath the simple recital of the main facts to the
Board, Mr. Judson had a stinging remembrance of
experiences during the trip, protracted to nearly eight
months, which could not always remain unspoken.
What revealments he may have made to Mrs. Judson,
her fragmentary journal does not indicate; but the
wife w^ho came into his sympathies thirty years there-
after has left a graphic account of them, comprising one
of the most thrilling passages in his entire history.
We are, therefore, indebted to Mrs. Emily C. Judson
for the following, received from his own lips :
He had prepared himself for onl}^ a few weeks' absence
from home. When the vessel put in at Cheduba (on the Bur-
man coast, towards Chittagong), the nervous affection of his
head and eyes, occasioned at first by low diet, had so much
84 ANN H. JUDSON.
increased by exhaustion and lack of food, that he was unable
to go on shore. When they approached the Coromandel coast
(opposite side of the Bay of Bengal), and again encountered
contrary winds, they were reduced to almost the last extremity,
and the constitution of Mr. Judson sank under these accumu-
lated 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 suffer-
ings at this time with a feeling of horror scarcely equaled by
his reminiscences of Ava. Here he was alone in a state of
passive, monotonous suffering, with no one to share his sym-
pathies, and nothing to arouse his energies. His scanty ward-
robe, prepared for a trip of ten or twelve days, had been long
since exhausted, and what with starvation, filth, pain, and dis-
couragement, 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 vessel came to
anchor in the mud of Masulipatam, some two or three miles
from the low, uninviting beach, and the captain came to in-
quire 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, how-
ever, 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 jo3^ous sur-
prise, 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 the writer, " The white
face of an Englishman never looked to me so beautiful, so
A MKMORIAIv. 85
like the 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 hut a short time, and displayed
throughout a generous hospitality which Mr. Judson never
forgot.
Another severe feature of this trial was, that to the
failure of his undertaking was added the reflection
that affairs at Rangoon, as he left them, did not admit
of such a protracted absence, and, yet that he could
not hear from them, nor in any way relieve the terrible
anxiety concerning himself, which he had reason to
believe was distressing the heart of her who was
dearer to him than life. His gravest fears were well
founded. She writes at the time :
Three months of Mr. Judson's absence had nearly expired,
and we had begun to look for his return, when a native boat
arrived, twelve days from Chittagong, bringing the distressing
intelligence that neither Mr. Judson nor the vessel had been
heard of at that port. I should not have given so much credit
to this report as to have allowed its harassing my feelings,
had it not been corroborated by communication from my
friends at Bengal, who arrived just at this time. From the
circumstance that the vessel had not reached the port of des-
tination I knew not what conclusion to draw. Hope, at times,
suggested the idea that the ship's course might have been
altered, that she might yet be safe; but despondency more fre-
quently strove to convince me that all was lost. Thus was I,
for four months, in that agonizing state of suspense, which is
frequently more oppressive than the most dreaded certainty.
86 ANN H. JUDSON.
Her suspense of four months b}^ no means com-
passed the agony of the entire period of his absence,
nor even that felt on account of his absence. Other
circumstances of an exciting nature intervened. She
had aimed to keep her mind preoccupied with duties
of the mission, particularly the instruction of some
Burman women, and thus do good while excluding
painful thoughts and apprehensions as to her beloved
husband. And w^hile she succeeded in supplying her
brains and hands with work, her attention was sud-
denly diverted by new and alarming occurrences in the
city and mission. They were such as to cause her to
feel the need of Mr. Judson's presence more, if possi-
ble, than ever before; so that new troubles did not
make her oblivious to his detention, but added to them
the weight of a possible bereavement and at a most
critical juncture.
The mission was reduced to the last extremity, and
would have been wholly abandoned, says Dr. Wayland,
but for the conduct of that heroic woman. " Mr.
Hough," she wrote, "received an order, couched in
the most menacing language, to appear immediately
at the court-house, to give an account of himself This,
so unlike any message we had ever before received,
from government, spread consternation and alarm
among our teachers, domestics and coherents ; some of
whom followed Mr. Hough at a distance, and heard
the appalling words from some of the officers, that a
royal order had arrived for the banishment of all
foreign teachers. As it was late when Mr. Hough
arrived at the court-house, he was merely ordered to
give security for his appearance at an early hour on
A me;morial. 87
the approaching day, when, to use their own unfeeling
language, ' 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 was senior in the mission, and upon
her rested the responsibility for deciding in emergen-
cies, while her acquaintance qualified her to proceed
when and where the others could not go. She was
courageous in heart for whatever it was judicious to
attempt. In the existing emergency the mission was
deprived of the advantage afforded by the presence at
the capital of a vicereine, through whom she might
appeal to the viceroy. A change of administration
seemed to leave her powerless in this respect, and it
exposed the mission to all the ills that petty officers
might be inclined to inflict. Still, like Esther, she
determined to try to reach the ear of His Highness,
using her teacher in drawing up the petition, and bas-
ing the appeal on the desecration committed in de-
manding Mr. Hough's appearance on the sacred day,
and requesting that molestation might cease. On ap-
proaching the government house the viceroy discovered
her, and kindly invited her to approach and make
known her desires. What she requested was granted,
and so Mr. Hough, after having been detained to
answer a large number of trivial and taunting ques-
tions, without privilege of obtaining refreshment, was
released, and an order given that he should be
molested no more. But, in consequence of this up-
roar, Mrs. Judson's class of thirty or more Burman
women was scattered and reduced to ten or twelve.
88 ANN H. JUDSON.
The cholera now began to rage among the natives,
it being the hottest season of the }' ear, and Rangoon
was filled with consternation. The death drum was
heard all the day, and, to expel the evil spirits to which
the disease was attributed, cannons were fired and the
houses beat with clubs, in the belief that they were to
be frightened by a noise. But the disease abated not,
though it passed by the mission premises, leaving
its occupants unharmed. Added to this visitation was
the rumor that Burmah was on the eve of a war with
Great Britain, causing the English vessels in port to
leave forthwith.
Mr. Judson had been absent six months and not a
syllable of news about him had been received. It was
not improbable that the vessel had foundered, or, if
yet afloat, that an embargo would be placed on all
English ships, in consequence of war, and that this
last circumstance, if no other, would prevent intelli-
gence of him from reaching Mrs. Judson. At this
moment of doubt and uncertainty, Mr. Hough plead,
as he had done before, that a complete removal to
Bengal be effected at once. She had stood out strongly
against such a summary disposal or destruction of the
mission in Rangoon, but now, as all the ships except
one had quietly weighed anchor and slipped away, the
last incentive, personal safety, came forward with all
the force of an insuperable argument. She yielded.
" But," she says, " the uncertainty of meeting Mr. Jud-
son 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."
A MEMORIAL. 89
Passage on the only vessel remaining in the harbor
was secured and paid for. True to the cause, even in
this extremity, she retained Mr. Judson's teacher, that in
case her almost forlorn hope should be realized — in case
he should be met in Bengal, and be detained there, he
might have the help to prosecute his studies in behalf
of the nation she now seemed to be leaving. It is no
abatement of her credit that the teacher, through fear,
as a Bur man, finally refused to go. This loss in her
calculations tended to increase her disinclination to
leuve the mission. Suppose her husband should be
making his way back, should terminate his compulsory
voyaging, and, with a bounding heart, cross the com-
mon and the threshold only to find a vacant home, and
to receive only an echo in response to his tender call !
It was too much for a heart like hers to contemplate.
Providentially the vessel was detained in the river, and
when on the point of putting out to sea the captain
and officers discovered that she was not seaworthy, as
she was laded, and that she must be detained a day or
two, or more, where she then was. This gave Mrs.
Judson just the additional time necessary to confirm
her mind and gird her soul for an effectual revolt
against this departure. She rose in her might, brought
circumstances under her control, and hastened back
to the town. The captain sent her up in a boat, and
her baggage on the following day. Reaching the place
at evening, she sought lodgings at the house of the
only remaining Englishman in the city, and next day
went directly back to the mission-house, "to the great
joy of all the Burmans left on the premises." Having
disposed of what she could not have taken with her,
90 ANN H. JUDSON.
how desolate the place must have appeared ! But the
natives who had engaged her affections, were there ;
yes, and her God was with her. Modestly, but firmly,
did she say, " I know I am surrounded with 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."
Events proved, once more, that woman's intuition
is more reliable in most instances than man's judg-
ment; more especially, that a consecrated woman's
impulse may be relied on for quick and satisfactory
accomplishment where tardiness brings failure. Mr.
and Mrs. Hough, finally seeing that the detention of
the vessel would be somewhat protracted, also came
back to town and remained at the mission-house
several weeks; but they liltimately sailed for Bengal,
carrying with them the greater part of the printing
apparatus. Mrs. Judson stood to her work, and her
faith and hope were fully realized. Within a month
from the date of the attempted departure, light broke
into the darkness. A vessel was announced, bringing
him who was "all the world" to her, and whose pres-
ence assured the permanence and growth of the mis-
sion. Who can fully appreciate the feelings of the
devoted wife and lone toiler, amid oppressive shadows
and imminent perils, at the time she penned the
following? "How will you rejoice with me, my dear
parents, when I tell you that I have this moment heard
that Mr. Judson has arrived at the mouth of the river !
This joyful intelligence more than compensates for
the months of dejection and distress which his long
A MEMORIAL. 91
absence has occasioned. Now I feel avShamed of ni}'
repinings, my want of confidence in God and resigna-
tion to His will. I have foolishly thought, because my
trials were protracted, they would never end, or, rather,
that they would terminate in some dreadful event
which would destroy all hope of the final success of
the mission. But now I trust our prospects wall again
brighten, and cause us to forget this night of affliction,
or to remember it as having been the means of prepar-
ing us for the reception of that greatest of blessings —
the conversion of some of the Burmans."
It may safely be inferred, in view of the foregoing
circumstances, that Mrs. Judson's dejection was due
more to the want of courageous souls for companions
than to causes within herself — some one equal to
herself, to suggest reasons for remaining as well as
reasons for leaving, and able to abide b}^ the deeper
if not the more plausible reasons. Besides, is it not
probable that a woman who is painfully sensitive to
her own "repinings" and "want of confidence," is one
with whom these states are not habitual, in whom the
particular exercises mentioned exist, after all, only in
the minimum, and who has power of soul to rise above
them? The course of Mrs. Judson in this trying or-
deal must elevate her character in the judgment of
every discerning reader. And, O, what increments of'*'
strength she gained thereby! It is not too much to
believe that she at this time became conscious of the
heroic element of her being, the presage and provision
in her nature for some emergencies unusual to woman.
92 ANN H. JUDSON.
VIII.
(^han^t^— GAINS AND LOSSES.
God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted
us by the coming" of Titus. — II Cor., 7 : 6.
Oft expectation fails, and most oft there
Where most it promises : and oft it hits
"Where hope is coldest, and despair most sits.
Shakespeare.
AUGUST 2, 18 1 8, was the day on which the ray of
light penetrated the mission home at Rangoon.
In a short time there was such glad fruition there as
families seldom enjoy in this world, and as no one in a
Christian land can experience. Any return from sea-
going, after the limit of reasonable expectation has
been passed, and the "light in the window" been re-
moved, may present some points of correspondence;
yet, unless it can be understood what a difference it
makes whether there be some dear ones nigh to com-
pensate for the absent, it cannot be known how joyous
was the reunion of Mr. and Mrs. Judson, who were
each other's sole, human dependence. Both were some-
what haggard and worn by their mutual solicitude and
personal privations, and the first interchange of glances
must have presented a scene for a painter. Yet, " each
to each how dear ! " And what peculiar emotions must
have arisen during the alternate relation of experiences
passed through when apart, particularly their painful
A MEMORIAI,. 93
imaginings as to what Providence had allotted them
respectively !
But this trial was now past, except the recovery of
health and of the former status of affairs in the mis-
sion, and, well may it be added, the recollection by Mr.
Judson of being blown about over the Bay of Bengal,
in a state of despair — a remembrance producing, he
says, " a feeling of horror scarcely equaled by his
reminiscences of Ava."
Five years had now gone by since the first Ameri-
can missionaries landed at Rangoon. Late in this
period Mr. and Mrs. Hough had come with the print-
ing outfit, and they were now ready to depart for
Bengal and take it with them, as they did after a few
weeks. But an event of a more cheering character
was the arrival of Messrs. Colman and Wheelock and
their wives, who brought loving hearts and cultured
minds as a reinforcement of those so severely afflicted
and worn. They reached Rangoon September 19, 18 18,
and " entered on their work with a simple-hearted Chris-
tian earnestness," says Dr. Way land, *' which has em-
balmed their names in the memory of every friend of
missions."*
On the accession of these brethren, some new,
special movement seemed to be possible and advisable.
* These young men were binary stars in the missionary sky, yet they
were not long to continue there. Mr. Wheelock was very soon attacked
with hemorrhage of the lungs, terminating in consumption, and that
form of it which results in mental derangement. Taking a voyage for
his health he, in a fit of insanity, threw himself overboard and was
drowned. This occurred just cue year and one day after his arrival at
Rangoon. Mr. Colman, a mof t valuable co-worker with Mr. Judson, and
afterward a missionary on the confines of Chittagong, north, died of
fever after less than four years in the country.
94 ANN H. JUDSON.
The laborers were still few — only three men and their
wives — a very diminutive force in the midst of the
wide, unsurveyed field presented in the nation of Bur-
mah; but the three trebled the one, and the six the
two, and of this simple fact Mr. Judson was in circum-
stances to be deeply and joyously conscious. To his
mind it may have been so potent as to have embold-
ened him to take the step he had long desired and
expected to take — to commence the open proclamation
of the Gospel, in the face of the prohibitions of govern-
ment. Contact of soul may precipitate action, when
the great forces of discretion and courage have brought
the mind all the way along to the acting point and
halted there. Mr. Judson was just now ready, having
some tracts and portions of Scripture in the hands of
inquirers, to make the experiment of a public effort.
Meantime, the other brethren, Colman and Wheelock,
gave themselves zealously to the acquisition of the
language.
Mr. Judson gave much of his time, for some
months, to the erection of a zayat, a place of public
resort, much needed for meeting the people ; and on
April 4, 1819, a little more than seven years from the
embarkment at Salem, the first public service was held.
It was a hazardous attempt, because a renunciation of
the established religion was punishable with death,
and those coming from another country to introduce
a different religion, thereby brought the lives of the
natives into jeopardy, and exposed themselves to the
displeasure of the rulers.
A new experience to Mr. Judson brought a new
experience also to Mrs. Judson. While his movements
A MEMORIAL. 95
engaged her sympathies, they likewise opened to her
a new form of service. In this case she entered the
zayat with him as a teacher. This building was only
thirty or forty rods from the house, near a great road
leading to one of the principal pagodas, and lined on
both sides with other pagodas, and consequently much
thronged. It was divided into three parts. The first
division was laid open entirely to the highway, and
therein Mr. Judson sat all day long, crying to the
passers-by, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye,"
etc. The second was the middle room, large and airy,
and the one used for public worship in Burmese on
the Sabbath. This one Mrs. Judson also occupied as a
school-room, and there she sat through the long school
hours of the tropical days, patiently instructing a few
pupils on their blackboards— large slates made black
with charcoal and the juice of a leaf— and conversing
with the women who called. She also held a meeting
every Wednesday evening with the women.
This was a very bold effort on the part of the mis-
sionaries. They introduced the new religion in a con-
spicuous manner, yet not in an ostentatious way, by
taking their position on Pagoda Road, which was con-
stantly filled with natives going to worship. These
idolaters' minds were necessarily occupied with thoughts
and sentiments of religion, and being naturally in-
quisitive, it seemed that many of them would stop to
inquire into the new religion, even at the risk of their
lives. To them religion was life, anyhow, and they
could at any time be entertained with doctrines con-
cerning deities, however well grounded in their own
views. The belief of the missionaries was at once
96 ANN H. JUDSON.
rewarded by inquirers. But so long had they been in
preparing to receive them, that when the first one
appeared the event became a memorable one, and the
day of its occurrence an anniversary day. On April
30, 1 819, Moung (Mr.) Nau, the first convert, made his
first visit to the zayat. " He was then silent and re-
served, and excited little attention or hope." But,
repeating his call, he became an object of much in-
terest, and finally avowed his determination to accept
and adhere to Jesus Christ, believing him to be the
only Savior. What joy thrilled the hero of seven
years of toil and sufferings ! And with what blessed
sympathy did the heroine of the same participate with
him in the first fruits ! He says : " It seems almost
too much to believe, that God has begun to manifest
His grace to the Burmans ; but this day I could not
resist the delightful conviction that this is really the
case. Praise and glory bk to His name for
EVERMORE. Amen."
On Sabbath, June 27, 1819, the first baptism oc-
curred. It was a day of unutterable joy to the mis-
sionaries. There were several strangers at worship,
and Mr. Judson examined Moung Nau concerning his
faith, hope, and love, and also made the baptismal
prayer, before going to the water. Then all proceeded
to a large pond in the vicinity, and there, in the pres-
ence of an enormous image of Gaudama, the ordinance
of baptism was administered for the first time and to
the first convert in the Burma n Empire. And on the
next Sabbath the reapers gathered with this first sheaf
at the Lord's Table, and there the extremes in space
and civilization, made one in Christ, sat together and
A MEMORIAL. 97
commemorated the dying of their common Redeemer.
Mrs. Judson had Moung Nau under her instruction
after his conversion, and she narrates the exercises of
his mind in reaching for. and grasping the truth, which
show that the teachings of Christ commend themselves
to the reason of men the world over. And while tak-
ing this care from her husband, she continued the
meeting and teaching of the women. Inquirers mul-
tiplied, and the operations of the mission seemed to be
attended with the divine favor. Two others professed
faith and were urgently requesting baptism ; a request
that, after reasonable time had elapsed and satisfaction
had been obtained by the missionaries, was granted.
On November 7th these also were baptized. The
scene, as described by Mr. Judson, was not only
exceedingly interesting, but it also bore touches of
heavenly beauty and sublimity: "About half an hour
before sunset the two candidates came to the za3'at,
accompanied by three or four of their friends; and,
after a short prayer, we proceeded to the spot where
Moung Nau was baptized. The sun was not allowed
to look upon the humble, timid profession. No won-
dering crowd crowned the overshadowing hill. No
hymn of praise expressed the exulting feeling of joy-
ous hearts. Stillness and solemnity pervaded the
scene. We felt, on the banks of the water, as a little,
feeble, solitary band. But perhaps some hovering
angels took note of the event, with more interest than
they witnessed the late coronation; perhaps Jesus
looked down on us, pitied and forgave our weaknesses.
and marked us for His own ; perhaps, if we deny Him
not. He will acknowledge us another day, more pub-
98 ANN H. JUDSON.
licly than we venture at present to acknowledge Him."
In the evening all united in celebrating the Savior's
dying love, in the Supper; and during the week the
first Burman prayer meeting was held, and on the next
Lord's Day ''the three converts repaired to the zayat,
and held a prayer 77ieeting of their own accord''
It was not to be expected that such prosperity and
unruffled peace, in the first stages of .progress, would
long continue without interruption. The religion
being introduced was really inimical to all other relig-
ions, and, therefore, must create hostility, especially
from the government which protected the others. It
was more a question of strategy than of peace, though
it was hoped by the missionaries that formal conflict
might be averted. The effect of their teaching came
to be seen, and their proceedings w^ere noised through-
out the city. One such inquirer as Moung Shway-
gnong, a learned teacher, keen, inquisitive, sceptical,
and polemical, was calculated to be an agitator. He
was not firm, however, and having acknowledged some
of the fundamental views of God, and, on fear of pen-
alty, renounced them, and then apologized to the
missionaries for having done so, he furnished ample
occasion for a disturbance of the tranquillity about the
mission. Within one month from the time of his first
visit, there was an entire falling off in the visitors at
the zayat. Mr. Judson sometimes sat there whole
days without one, while many were passing con-
stantly. But while this lack of interest was, in one
respect, deplorable, it served to palliate the fear of
persecution, since there would follow, almost inevita-
A MEMORIAL. 99
bly, a loss of confidence in the success of the new
rehgion.
In view of the interruption of the zayat work, Mr.
Judson felt that the cause of fear experienced by those
contemplating the espousal of Christianity, must be
removed. He believed that the business of the mis-
sion should be laid before the Emperor. In this view
he had the sympathy of Mr. Colman, the only man
associated with him now remaining. And though it is
very easy for Baptists on this side of the ocean to offer
strictures on this deference to civil government in mat-
ters of religion, yet some years of experience under an
oppressor's rod would doubtless cause them to con-
sider that some courses that are not justifiable in one
set of circumstances are highl}- expedient in others.
At this juncture it seemed evident that it w^ould be
vain to expect success unless the favor of the monarch
were obtained.
Mr. Judson and Mr. Colman having determined on
visiting the king, their wives were to pass through
another period ot anxiety ; what it might be, Mrs.
Judson could well imagine. On December 22, 18 19,
the brethren embarked in a boat they had succeeded in
purchasing, after a week spent in searching. It was
forty feet long by six feet wide, and was refitted in
order to accommodate the company, which consisted of
eighteen persons, ten of whom were oarsmen. They
took with them a large number of presents, which
were necessary to the access and service they ex-
pected to solicit ; among them the Bible, in six vol-
umes, covered with gold leaf, in Burman style, and each
volume inclosed in a rich wrapper. The Bible was
lOO ANN H. JUDSON.
designed for the Emperor, and it was hoped that it
would please his eye, irrespective of its character/'^
The account of this trip is fully given in the Me-
moirs of Judson, by Wayland, and by Edward Judson,
in the Life of his father. The trip was full of in-
terest; in fact, it was a thrilHng adventure, while it
furnished a chapter of experiences that was not with-
out profit to him who originated and conducted it.
The passage up the river occupied a little over thir-
ty days ; the rate being about fifteen miles per day. It
was attended with "perils of robbers," sleepless anxie-
ties, exciting views, and much study of the course to
be pursued at the capital. On arriving, every expedi-
ent was employed that promised to be at all helpful in
accomplishing the end in view. The presents appeared
to have the desired effect on the subordinates about
the court, who encouraged the petitioners to think that
success awaited them before the Golden Face, the
"Sovereign of land and sea." The King heard the pe-
tition read, then read it himself deliberately, and pavSsed
it back without reply. He also took the tract, pre-
pared in handsome form, and after reading one or two
sentences, threw it down in disdain. The Bible was
next offered, but ot that he took no notice, remarking,
through the interpreter, that he had no use for their
sacred books — "take them away." It soon became
apparent that their efforts were futile, and with heavy
hearts they returned to their boat and to Rangoon,
after having expended nearly two months of precious
time and considerable money. Of course, their failure
=•' This copy of the Scriptures is on exhibition at the Museum of the
Mission Rooms, Tremont Temple, Boston.
A MEMORIAIv. lOI
was a source of weakness to themselves, while they
had exposed their cause to the jealous monarch, and
rendered themselves obnoxious to his displeasure ; and
in declining to grant their petition he had virtually
forbidden the propagation of Christianity, and might
adduce the above circumstance on any occasion as a
justification of persecution.
On the contrary, the expedition had taught the mis-
sionaries an important lesson and, at least, had induced
them to relax all, even an imaginary dependence
on human authorities as helpers of religion. At the
same time it discouraged them as to achieving success
under pagan rule, and they conceived the project of
abandoning the country at once, and going where they
would be under the protedlion of the British flag.
The thousands of visitors to the zayat, with one accord,
as it were, forsook the place, passed by it without
turning the head, as if ashamed, or wishing to deny
that they had ever been there. And why? Because
the teacher, Moung Shway-gnong, had been accused to
the viceroy, and, as if intent on knowing the facts and
administering penalty in case the accusation should be
true, his majesty had ominously given the order, " In-
quire further." That command was a "yellow flag" to
the mission house.
While descending the Irrawaddy, in the night and
till after the midnight hour, the discomfited mission-
aries discussed the prospects of the mission and the
proper course to be pursued in the various possible
contingencies in which they might find it. On their
way they had been surprised to meet their old inquirer
and troubler, Moung Shway-gnong. To him they
I02 ANN H. JUDSON.
mentioned the difficulties in the way of propagating
the Christian religion in Burmah, and their determina-
tion to leave the Empire. He was found to be more
favorable to the doctrines of Christianity than he had
been, and he begged them not to leave Rangoon ;
exclaiming, "Say not so; there are some who will
investigate." This interview, which was quite pro-
tracted, was the means of serious, individual reflection
upon all the aspects of the case, continuing through
most of the night. The balancing in mind of their
repugnance to the forsaking of the post and the few
converts, with their dread of making disciples to be
imprisoned and tortured, was a somewhat new, as it
was a very trying, experience. In this state of mind
they reached Rangoon — February i8, 1820.
On the evening of the second day after their return
they called together the three Bur man converts and
communicated to them a full account of the expedi-
tion to Ava, that they might have an understanding of
the dangers of their present situation, and also stated
to them their decision to quit Rangoon. The effect
of this statement was surprising — a surprising joy.
Whereas they had assumed that such intelligence
would discourage, and had suspected that it would
drive back to the world those who had come out and
espoused Christ, or, at least, a part of them, they
found it a satisfactory means of determining their
steadfastness. The}^ all appeared immovable and more
zealous than ever before ; they vied with each other in
explaining away the difficulties, and in making the
work appear hopeful. One of them soon returned
with an inquirer and begged that they would not leave,
A MEMORIAI^. 105
Stating that he had been visiting his neighbors and
had found some already examining the new religion.
"Do stay a few months," said he. "Do stay until
there are eight or ten disciples. Then appoint one to
be the teacher of the rest. I shall not be concerned
about the event; though you should leave the country,
the religion will spread of itself. The emperor him-
self cannot stop it." Moung Nau, the first disciple,
came in and expressed himself in a similar strain.
Afterward the third besought them : " Teacher, your
intention of going away has filled us all with trouble.
Is it good to forsake us thus ? Notwithstanding pres-
ent difficulties and dangers it is to be remembered that
this work is not yours or ours, but the work of God.
If He give light, the religion will spread. Nothing
will impede it."
Such utterances from newly converted heathen, the
first converts, who were without suggCvStion or exam-
ple from others, somewhat astonished the missionaries
and deeply affe(5led their hearts. It would seem that
they were in advance of their instru(5lion ; and the
fact that much which was said was communicated
some days after the first interview, shows that they
were not the subjects of momentary impulse. They
must have been led and enlightened by the Spirit.
The missionaries could not restrain their tears ; and
they found it impossible to leave.
After counseling as to a new field, it was about de-
cided to go to Chittagong, a distridl between Bengal
and Arracan, under the dominion of Bengal, but inhab-
ited chiefly by Arracanese, who speak a language similar
to that of Burmah. An English missionary, DeBruyn,
104 ^^^ ^- JUDSON.
had formerly labored there, and baptized several, who
at his death were left without instru(5lion. But when
the importunities of the converts at Rangoon had been
heard and felt, the plan was so far altered as to assign
the new enterprise to Mr. Colman; Mr. Judson re-
maining at Rangoon. The disciples at Chittagong
would form a nucleus of a church, and would be also a
sort of refuge to which the missionaries and converts
at Rangoon might flee in case of persecution, and a sta-
tion to which new missionaries from the Board might
at first repair. It would be a base of operations, or a
temporary shelter. Rangoon, if found tenable, would
ultimately be the base.
According to this plan, Mr. and Mrs. Colman em-
barked for Bengal, and proceeded thence to their new
field, arriving in June, 1820. They erected a house in
the midst of the native population, and made rapid
progress in the acquisition of the language ; and Mr.
C. began to promulgate the truths of the Gospel pub-
licly, when the animating prospedl was blasted by his
illness and death. He had changed his location to one
less favorable to health — to Cox's Bazaar — but one
more favorable to contacft with ignorance, vice, and
superstition, and there fell a martyr to his zeal, July
4, 1822, after a continuance of two years.
The circumstances just detailed form a part of the
narrative in hand. Every change vitally concerned
every laborer ; and while Mr. Judson felt the absence,
and, more especially, the subsequent death, of Mr.
Colman, Mrs. Judson realized the departure of her as-
sociate, Mrs. Colman, and was once more deprived of
her helpful presence. They labored on under an op-
A MEMORIAL. I05
pressive sense of the perils they incurred by their
work, both to themselves and their disciples, but with
a consciousness of divine approval as manifested in the
fruits they reaped. Their experience with inquirers
was a delightful entertainment, filled though it was
with the deepest solicitude, while the new members,
the faithful and loving Burmans, comforted their
hearts by the daily exhibition of sincerity and spiritual-
mindedness.
Another cloud now overshadowed them. Mrs. Jud-
son was afflicted with liver complaint, and, though she
had used the customary remedies for that day, includ-
ing salivation, it was found that she must have more
effective medical aid, as her constitution seemed likely
to give way. The climate was about to take her life,
and the professional help at Rangoon had no power to
stay the result. A trip to Bengal was resolved upon,
and she expected to undertake it without Mr. Judson's
company, there being no one now, not a native, to
whom the affairs of the mission might be temporarily
entrusted ; but she had become so weak as to render it
impracticable for her to go without him. Preparations
began at once, and in earnest, because a special oppor-
tunity for obtaining passage was presented ; and should
it be unimproved, several months would go by ere
they should see another, if indeed Mrs. Judson should
be alive.
The activity preceding the expected departure ex-
tended beyond the private affairs of the missionaries.
The inquirers accelerated their movements, and began
to request baptism. Some claimed that they were full
believers, and wished to be baptized before the teacher
Io6 ANN H. JUDSON.
should go away, lest he might not return. After ex-
amining and re-examining two of them, admonishing
them also as to the danger attending the profession of
a foreign religion, and finding them clear and firm, he
baptized them. The ship being detained, others came
forward, deferently 3^et urgently, and before sailing Mr.
Judson had baptized seven more, making a little com-
pany of ten native Christians, one of them a woman.
All had professed Christ at the hazard of their lives.
What must have been the gratification felt by Mrs.
Judson, that while she might never return, a little
church would stand in that wicked city as the fruit of
her toils and sufferings, in part, and would be a beacon
amid the darkness of paganism ! How different the
feeling from that experienced two years previous, when
induced to embark for the same port through consid-
erations of fear and despair ! How^ satisfactory the
verdict of time on her return to her loved but almost
hopeless task, and how impressive the comment on
moral heroism ! Now she goes with a peaceful mind,
because the care of her health is duty to the heathen as
well as to others ; yet not without a distressed heart,
because the young Christians cling to her with a love
that opens the fountain of tears.
On the morning of the departure, July 19, 1820, all
met for worship. The converts participated, praying
"with much propriety and feeling." At noon Mr. and
Mrs. Judson started for the river, "followed by near a
hundred people, the women crying aloud, in the Bur-
man manner, and almost all deeply affected." A few
went with them to the ship, which lay at some dis-
tance in the river; the rest remaining on the wharf.
A me:morial. 107
bidding them farewell, and urging them to come back
soon. They stood some time on the quarter-deck
looking with loving interest on those they were leav-
ing. New and better circumstances in missions may
obscure such seemingly trivial experiences; but they
were great in the hearts of those who passed through
them, and they form some portion of the primary ele-
ments of early missionary history. In the detention
of the ship another day, on account of the anchor
being foul, "the teacher" (Moung Shway-gnong), who
was one of the number recently baptized, espied the
masts from his village, and came off in a boat with his
wife and another woman. Many others, with some of
the converts, also came aboard and remained as long
as the stay of the vessel would admit. How grateful
to their spiritual guides, particularly to the invalid
seeking restoration for their sakes, were such evi-
dences of attachment !
The ship got under way on the 20th ; passed the
customary examination at the search village on the
next day, and on the third, at night, anchored near the
Elephant, in full view of the sea. Here it was obliged
to wait four days on account of the threatening appear-
ance of the weather ; and then it ventured over the bar
and was soon out on the ocean. Mrs. Judson seemed
to rally previous to the embarkation, and was, there-
fore, enabled to prepare for it, and to get on board with
more ease and facilit^^ than had been expected. But
her suffering returned, and with as much violence as
ever, and the voyage seemed to be of no special benefit
to her. The vessel arrived at Calcutta, August i8th,
and the missionaries were received at the home of Mr.
I08 ANN H. JUDSQN.
I^awson. After some days they removed to Seram-
pore, induced by the more healthful climate of that
place, and found a resting place in the home of Mr.
Hough, their former co-laborer at Rangoon.
For two months Mrs. Judson's health was alter-
nately better and worse, and then her physician gave a
definite opinion that she had a chronic affedlion of the
liver, which could not be removed except by a voyage
to America or a protracfted stay in Bengal. And
thereupon Mr. Judson saw the distressing necessity of
parting from her and returning to the mission at Ran-
goon. She came with him to Calcutta, to cheer him
forward as he embarked, and there meeting another
physician of eminence, and receiving from him the
opinion that, with prescriptions he would give, a re-
turn to Rangoon would be less dangerous than repre-
sented, she concluded to take passage with her hus-
band, and trust life and health to the All-wise Father.
The ship did not sail for about three weeks, and mean-
time they were very kindly cared for by different Eng-
lish missionaries residing in Calcutta, and by a 3^oung
Christian brother from America, whose polite atten-
tions gave him also a place in their journals and
hearts. Taking leave of their cultured friends, with
whom thej^ enjoyed the comforts of civilized life, they
turned their faces once more toward their adopted
home, embarking in the Salamanca, the vessel which
two years before conveyed Colman and Wheelock
from the same port to the same destination.
The voyage from Bengal was very tedious, occupy-
ing nearly six weeks, on account of a continued suc-
cession of head-winds and calms ; still it was thought
A MEMORIAL. 109
to be beneficial to Mrs. Judson. As the ship rounded
toward the Elephant (or Elephant Grove, so called
from its resemblance to the animal), a point that
marks the western outlet of the Irrawadd}^, the mis-
sionaries caught a glimpse of that familiar place, and
the sight awakened old memories, old feelings of anx-
iety concerning the little flock, thirty miles up the riv-
er, which had been left undisciplined, unguarded and
subject to every form of disaster. And with all the
known and unknown difficulties, how did their hearts
beat with strong emotions of desire to be once more
with the dear converts, and to share their fortunes,
while leading them heavenward. By that supernat-
ural girding which invalids are known to receive
under great stress of circumstances, Mrs. Judson
must have been inspired with renewed life by the
thought of so soon being permitted to feed the lambs
again, in the wilderness and under the clouds where
they had so long been without a shepherd.
The next day the pilot for the bar and river came
aboard, and from him some gleams of intelligence w^ere
received. A new viceroy had been established in Ran-
goon, and thirty thousand troops had marched through
the place to the frontiers of Siam, preparatory to a war
with that country. What forebodings this may have
created as to the consequences of a disturbance so near
them, in the kingdom adjoining Burmah, may well be
imagined.
One day more, and after an absence of nearly six
months, the- missionaries again lifted their eyes upon
Rangoon. As they drew near to the town they
strained their eyes to distinguish their friends in the
no ANN H. JUDSON.
crowd assembled on the wharf. And who should be
the first one recognized, if not the man who had been
the subject of their doubts, beyond any one else — the
veritable Moung Shway-gnong — with his hands raised
to his head, either as an expression of joy or that he
might the better discern them as they stood on deck.
On landing they met other disciples also, with neigh-
bors, men, women and children, who, after the neces-
sary examination at the custom office, accompanied
them to the mission house. Surely, such a demon-
stration, at so early a period in the history of the in-
fant church, almost overwhelmed by the surrounding
paganism, must have re-animated the patient, whose
life had well-nigh gone out for its sake. The disciples
assembled in the evening and all bowed in prayer, the
hearts of all flowing forth in gratitude and praise.
A MEMORIAL,. Ill
IX.
^XCX^&iitxbC&—//EALTH AND HOMING.
On thy calm joys with what delight I dream,
Thou dear, green valley of my native stream.
Bloomfield's Broken Crutch.
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd,
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd,
From wandering on a foreign strand?
Wai^ter Scott.
IT is now one day after the arrival, January 6, 1821,
and without waiting to perform domestic duties
and putting her things in order, Mrs. Judson must go
with her husband to the government house and pay
her respe(5ls to the dignities there. The lady of the
viceroy received her with marked familiarity, and in-
formed her of the honors to which she had attained,
mentioning the privilege of riding in a wau, a vehicle
carried by forty or fifty men. The meek follower of
Jesus before her, whom she supposed to be dependent
on her smiles, might have told her of the surpassing
honor to which her visitor was entitled — the privilege
of at last walking with Christ in white, amid glories
ineffable and unending.
On Lord's Day following, most of the disciples were
present at the worship and the Supper, but some of
them were unavoidably detained, in consequence of
the distress which pressed upon all ranks of people,
112 ANN H. JUDSON.
occasioned by the expedition to Siam. During the
absence of the missionaries the members, though al-
most destitute of the means of grace, and though
forced by fear of heavy extortion and oppression from
petty governmental officers to fly to the woods, never-
theless remained firm in the faith and in their attach-
ment to the cause. Shortly Mrs. Judson went to Nan-
dau-gong, a neighboring village, to select a spot for
the erection of a small school-house, and there Mah-
men-loy, one of the disciples, of her own good-will,
opened a school in the precincts of her house, for the
instruction of the boys and girls in reading, that they
might not feel it to be necessary to resort to the priests
for education.
In February, some six weeks after their previous
visit, Mr. and Mrs. Judson again visited the viceroy
and his lady, and were admitted to their inner apart-
ment. Her Highness "gave some very interesting
hints on the subject of religious toleration," promising
to introduce them to the Emperor when he should visit
Rangoon, in prosecution of the war with Siam ; thus
exciting hope that the present rule would be mild and
not unfavorable to the missionary work. But after-
ward the impression was corrected by diredl informa-
tion to Mrs. Judson that toleration extended merely
to foreigners resident in the Empire, and by no means
to Burmans, who, being slaves of the Emperor, would
not be allowed, with impunity, to renounce the re-
ligion of their Master. "It is a fact," said Mr. Jud-
son at the time, "that except in our own private circle
it is not known that a single individual has actual-
ly renounced Boodhism, and been initiated into the
A MEMORIAL. 113
Christian religion." What might be the storm of in-
dignation when their work should become known, as
it must, was certainly a cause of constant apprehension.
However, the cause moved on, with its alternate
seasons of exaltation and depression, with few inquir-
ers and with many, in hope and in dismay. But the
time came when Mrs. Judson's health was found to be
a matter of more serious concern than it had been for
years. It was a grave matter that both she and Mr.
Judson should be prostrated by an acute disorder, of
the same nature and at the same time ; but that he
should rally in a few days, and she, after convalescing
from the new trouble, be found under the malignant
power of her old disease and be unable to rise — this
was alarming. The liver complaint was now making
such rapid advances as to preclude all hope of her re-
covery in this part of the world, and a conclusion w^as
reached that she must go to America. The decision
gave her great pain. " Those only who have been
through a variety of toil and privation to obtain a
darling object," she writes, " can realize how entirely
every fibre of the heart adheres to that object, when
secured. Had we encountered no difficulties, and suf-
fered no privations in our attempts to form a Church
of Christ under the government of a heathen despot,
we should have been warmly attached to the individ-
uals composing it, but should not have felt that tender
solicitude and anxious affection which in the present
case we experienced."
It was now nine and a half years since she left
her native land, and after passing through scenes and
successes of a constantly varying character, as antici-
114 ^^^ ^- J^^DSON.
pated, why should she not so rejoice in ending her
first missionary decade among her kindred in America,
as 'to make it impossible for her to cast " a longing,
lingering look behind"— to the Egypt of her burdens
and bondage to ills? Ah! the questioner does not
realize the strength and preciousness of religious
attachments; and only the devout soul, sympathizing
with the redemptive work of God on the earth, could
have sympathized with her, also, in the use of the
following language : " Rangoon, from having been the
theatre in which so much of the faithfulness, power,
and mercy of God had been exhibited— from having
been considered, for ten years past, as my home for
Hfe — and from a thousand interesting associations of
ideas, had become the dearest spot on earth. Hence
no ordinary consideration could have induced my
departure."
Navigation was still vSlow and inter-communication
between different parts of the globe quite irregular and
infrequent. The departure of a vessel to or from the
East was watched with great interest, and packages
of letters to friends carefully and punctually prepared.
Yet, even with painstaking, the missionaries did not
expect to hear from home more than two or three
times in a year, and when international troubles
existed, still more seldom. When vessels were an-
nounced they expected to undergo some detention be-
fore receiving their mail, and in some cases were com-
pelled to go aboard and search for it, as contained
in separate boxes. But those were precious parcels
that brought Bradford and Salem and Boston to their
doors, giving them home and civilization for evening
entertainment.
A MKMORIAIv. 115
Mrs. Judson sailed for America August 21, 1821.
How sorrowful the day was to the mission there is no
means of knowing. An event of such a character, in-
volving the prospedlive health or death of one so im-
portant to the cause in Rangoon, could not have
passed without being generally noted, nor without
being entered on the private journal of the sufferer.
But the contingencies of war have left us with but a
slight mention. The affedtionate disciples who fol-
lowed her to the river on her previous departure, to
Bengal, must have been more deeply afifedled by the
consideration that she was now to go beyond the seas,
and for a long period. And this, the second and more
virulent development of her disease left but little
ground of hope that she would ever return. Still
Mr. Judson endeavored to manifest the more hopeful
element of his being, sending by her hand a playful
letter to Mr. Hough, at Calcutta, who was to receive
and help her on her way.
It will be borne in mind that passengers from Ran-
goon, for the West, did not go direct. They first
sailed north-westerly to Bengal by local vessels, a dis-
tance of hundreds of miles, and there obtained fur-
ther passage as best they could by way of the
Cape of Good Hope. Mrs. Judson reached Calcutta
September 2 2d, having been thirty-two days on the
way. She was received and cared for by the mission-
aries in the kindest manner.
On her arrival in Calcutta she immediately began
inquiring relative to a voyage to the United States.
To her great disappointment she found that most of
the American captains were not disposed to take pas-
Il6 ANN H. JUDSON.
sengers on account of having cargoes engaged to the
extent of the tonnage of their vessels. Eastern mer-
chantmen were then comparatively few, and to them
traffic in the produdls of India was of chief impor-
tance. The accommodation of travel was secondary.
One captain, however, offered to take her for 1,500
rupees — (nearly $750). But she could not think of
causing the Board so great an expense. By the sug-
gestion of a chaplain's wife, Mrs. Thomason, she was
induced to seek a passage to England, first, on account
of the superior accommodations, medical advice, and
ladies in company, in English ships. Mrs. T. aided
her in arranging for a passage for 500 rupees, the con-
dition of the fare being that she occupy a cabin with
three children. The captain was a pious man ; and
she was quite well satisfied with the arrangement, inas-
much as health-seeking was her object, and a deten-
tion in England might be favorable, even though she
were kept from her friends. What was further grati-
fying, the father of the children afterward very kindly
offered to pay the entire price of the cabin, 4,000
rupees, thus enabling her to go as far as to England,
the greater part of the distance home, free of expense.
She was detained in Calcutta for some time, as
shown by her only letter from there, extant. It was
dated December 8, 1821, two and a half months after
her arrival, and in it there is no mention of the date of
her expected departure. The same letter gives evi-
dence of the noble martyr spirit of the woman, which
will not be subordinated to earthly ties. She declares
that should the pain in her side be removed while on
the voyage to Europe, she will "return to India in the
A MEMORIAL. 117
same ship, and proceed immediately to Rangoon."
But if relief should not be obtained she would pro-
ceed to America, and spend one winter in her native
country. One winter — the last opportunity for visiting
loved ones to be limited to a single season, that the
heathen world might not lack an hour of service that
she could possibly render, consistent with "the preser-
vation of her life!" She says, even before leaving
Calcutta : "I had a severe struggle relative to my
immediate return to Rangoon, instead of going to
England. But I did not venture to go contrary to the
convictions of reason, to the opinion of an eminent
and skillful physician, and the repeated injunctions of
Mr. Judson."
While on the ocean she had a severe attack of her
complaint, which confined her to her cabin for several
days. During this time she availed herself of an
opportunity to impress the subject of religion on the
minds of two young ladies of rank and influence, who
frequently inquired after her health, and who, at her
request, read in her hearing such selections as she
thought might have a salutary effect on their minds.
To these readings she added much serious converse,
and the seriousness thus created continued throughout
the rest of the voyage ; and we may believe that her
fidelity was rewarded in something besides her own
pleasant consciousness of having performed a plain
and present duty.
The date of her arrival in England is not known,
but the time of her leaving it would indicate that she
must have spent some months there. She exercised
no haste, and if her health had essentially improved
Il8 ANN H. JUDSON.
she would have arisen above all considerations of
home and native land and yielded to the stronger at-
tractions of her benevolent activities in the East.
Finding that her name, as connected with the Bur-
man mission, was a household word among the Chris-
tians of England, of all denominations, she saw an op-
portunity to widen and deepen the missionary convic-
tion there, and, with somewhat improved health, she
traveled and visited for that purpose. She was the
special guest of Joseph Butterworth, Member of Par-
liament, a Methodist, who had very courteously urged
her to accept his hospitalities, and who was so de-
lighted with her and the information he derived from
her conversations as to say that he had entertained an
angel unawares. And while in his family she was
favored with an introduction to many persons dis-
tinguished for learning and piety, including the great
Wilberforce. What a contrast in her mind between
these uncrowned kings in Israel and the stolid
wretches who, in tinsel and gold, dominate a nation of
superstitious, cowering slaves, and to whom she herself
felt compelled to pay unwilling obeisance !
By recommendation of Mr. Butterworth she spent
several weeks in Cheltenham, for the benefit of its
mineral waters. She also accepted a pressing invita-
tion to visit Scotland, with all her expenses defrayed,
and there she passed several weeks in the enjoyment
of the best Christian hospitality. She was greatly
built up, in body and in soul, by the attentions received
in Great Britain. "Often has she mentioned," says a
friend, " with the brightest glow of affection, the high-
toned piety ot English and Scottish Christians, and the
A MEMORIAL. II9
prelibations of heaven, which she enjoj^ed in their
society."
While in Scotland she received a request from the
Board in America to proceed in her journey by the
packet bound to New York. She accordingly went to
lyiverpool for embarkation, and there was persuaded
to take a more commodious vessel, by a number of
Liverpool ladies who generously defrayed the expense
of her passage, and on August i6, 1822, about one
year from the time of leaving the shores of Burmah,
she again set her face toward the setting sun. She
had an escort for about fifty miles, consisting of two
gentlemen and three ladies, and after their return she
was alone on the great deep, committed to her thoughts
and to her God. There was not a lady on board with
whom she could converse, yet how entertaining were
the thoughts of her new friends "who had become
inexpressibly endeared to her by many valuable pres-
ents and innumerable acts of kindness!" Yes, and
the forward look! "The next land I tread," she says,
" will be my own native soil, ever-loved America, the
land of my birth. I cannot realize that I shall ever
again find myself in my own dear home at Bradford,
amid the scenes of my early 3^outh, where every spot
is associated with some tender recollection. But the
constant idea that my dear J. is not a participator of
my joys will mar them all."
Such were the refle(ftions, in part, indulged imme-
diately after bidding her friends farewell, in the offing
at Liverpool. Traveling around the globe in those
days, with the partings going before, and the greetings
coming after, had a far deeper significance than it ij^X
I20 ANN H. JUDSON.
now. It was not a girl's vacation tour, and it required
a woman intent on some great end to navigate the
high seas, at the risk of her life, and with separations
that involved a possible and irreparable loss to every
earthly friend. The inviting sails often spread their
wings to reluctant breezes, and the calm which now
delights the steamer saddened the ship. Time length-
ened the miles and protracted the journey and its
perils. It was something for Mrs. Judson to double
the hemisphere in the early part of the century, and
that, too, in a very circuitous way, and with a decade
of hardships intervening, but it has now been done,
and the Amity, five weeks from lyiverpool, brings her
safely back to her own shores.
A MEMORIAL. 121
X.
^nx^vUa—s//i7T IN.
Great God, we thauk thee for this home —
This bounteous birthland of the free ;
Where wanderers from afar may come,
And breathe the air of liberty !
Wii,i,iAM J. Pabodie.
Thou art like night, O Sickness ! deeply stilling
Within my heart the world's disturbing sound.
And the dim quiet of my chamber filling
With low, sweet voices, by life's tumult drown'd.
Mrs. Hemans.
u ^T^HE visit of Mrs. Judson to the United States
-^ forms an epoch of no inconsiderable impor-
tance in the progress of interest in missions, among
the churches of various denominations in this coun-
try."— (Gamme//.) She had three ends to attain: —
health, promotion of missions, and the visitation of
friends. The first was supreme, and no other could
have induced the return ; and so soon as it seemed to
be assured, or whenever it was such as to admit of
anything beyond its care, she was ready to undertake
some labor for the cause to which her life was pledged.
Then, when it appeared to be compatible with both of
the above, not involving the neglect of either health or
missionary interests, the friends of her heart were per-
mitted to share her attentions, and to repay her in that
122 ANN H. JUDSON.
thoughtful kindness so grateful to her feelings and so
important to her complete recovery. She was the first
woman missionary to make her return to America.
The cause of foreign missions was in its infancy, and
the " little one " created more attention, relatively,
than the same now does in its manhood. She must
be seen and heard.
Arriving at New York harbor September 25, 1822,
she ascertained that the yellow fever was prevailing on
shore, and felt that prudence forbade her landing. Ac-
cordingly she proceeded to Philadelphia, where she ar-
rived on the 27th. It was her intention to pass a week
here, and then go to Providence, and from there to her
husband's and her own home. But she immediately
encountered the great Dr. Wm. Staughton, at that
time Corresponding Secretary of the Board, who
wished her to go on to Washington ; and by com-
plying with this request, of importance to the cause,
she was detained in that part of the country for some
days longer. While in Philadelphia, where, less than
nine years previously, the Triennial Convention
was organized, having been brought into existence
through the emergency created by the change of
relations of herself and her husband, and of which
theirs were the first appointments, she had opportu-
nity to meet some of the noble souls who came to
their relief, and w^ere then moving right on, " attempt-
ing great things for God, and expecting great things
from God." To meet Dr. Staughton was to feel the
pulsings of the great soul which had thus far been
known to her only through his letters. And sermons
from the men who had the care of missions, heard in
her own country, was a luxury to be remembered.
A me:moriai,. 123
After a short stay in Philadelphia, she hastened to meet
her parents and friends in Bradford. Here, in the bosom of
her native home, she had hoped so far to regain her health
as to be enabled to embark again for Burmah early in the
ensuing spring. But the excitement of feeling produced by
this visit to the scenes and the friends of her childhood, and
the exhaustion of strength, resulting from the necessity of
meeting and conversing with numerous visitors, added to the
effect of the cold climate of New England on a constitution
so long accustomed to the tropical heat of Burmah, obliged
her to leave Bradford, after a stay of six weeks, and spend the
winter in Baltimore.— A«t?z£//^^.
The above is a correct interpretation of her own
words, as found in her correspondence. Having has-
tened from Bradford, we find the following statement
of this somewhat remarkable case in one of her early
letters from Baltimore :
I had never fully counted the cost of a visit to my dear
native country and beloved relatives. I did not expect that a
scene which I had anticipated as so joyous, was destined to
give my health and constitution a shock which would require
months to repair. During my passage from England my
health was most perfect ; not the least symptom of my orig-
inal disorder remained. But from the day of my arrival, the
idea that I was once more on American ground banished all
peace and quiet from my mind, and for the first four days and
nights I never closed my eyes to sleep ! This circumstance,
together with dwelling on my anticipated meeting with my
friends, occasioned the most alarming apprehensions. Still,
however, I flattered myself, that after my first meeting with
my friends was over, I should gradually recover my compos-
ure, and hastened my departure for the eastward. I reached
my father's in about a fortnight after my arrival in this coun-
try— and had not been able to procure a single night's sleep.
The scene which ensued brought my feelings to a crisis, na-
ture was quite exhausted, and I began to fear I would sink. I
124 ANN H. JUDSON.
was kept in a state of constant excitement, by, daily meeting
with my old friends and acquaintances ; and during the whole
six weeks of my residence at my father's I had not one quiet
night's rest. I felt the cold most severely, and found as that
increased, my cough increased.
Dr. Klnathan Judson, her husband's only brother,
a physician of some repute, under the government, re-
sided in Baltimore, and he induced Mrs. Judson to sub-
mit to his treatment in a course of salivation, insisting
that should she, with her Indian constitution, salivate
at the North, the most dangerous consequences would
ensue. The remedy proposed was in common use in
that day, and was one to which she had inured her
system in India. She shut herself in, hoping that
freedom from company and a diligent application of
the means v/ould bring about the desired result. This
necessary seclusion in her own land, was, in itself, an
unexpected form of self-denial which could have been
endured only under the recognition of her supreme
duty to herself, for the sake of the Burman mission.
Every hour thus spent was a felt loss at home and a
hoped-for gain abroad, not to mention the bodity suf-
fering continually experienced. The surprise is that
the consciousness of this deprivation of her friends in
their very midst, and of its possible continuance for a
considerable part of the period allotted for her stay in
the country, evidently never to be visited again, did
not of itself aggravate her disease by creating nervous-
ness of a serious character. If ever a woman needed
grace she needed it at that time. Yet to self-denial
she had been accustomed, and to compulsory destitu-
tion of society in a foreign land she could add a short
A MKMORIAI.. 125
lesson of solitude in her own country, hard and ill-
timed as it was.
But, while in the judgment of the observer at least,
nothing could have been better for Mrs. Judson, under
ordinary circumstances, than entire freedom to enjoy
her friends during her brief respite, yet the situation
had its compensations, and she, with an eye practiced
to observe Providential ways in all things, was the
person to discover them. In one of her letters she
takes pains to say: "The retired life I now lead is
much more congenial to my feelings, and much more
favorable to religious enjoyment, than when in Eng-
land and America, where I was kept in a continual
bustle of company. Yes, it is in retirement that our
languishing graces are revived, our affections raised to
God, and our souls refreshed and quickened by the
influences of the Holy Spirit."
Besides, while in her " old employment of taking
mercury," thoughts of Burmah and the "wan reaper"
there possessed her mind for the most of the time.
And being under promise to Mr. Butterworth, of Lon-
don, to write a succinct account of the Burman Mis-
sion, for publication, she also gave considerable atten-
tion to this work, which she commenced while on her
passage from England. She found much pleasure in
the consideration that she should thus be able to give
to her friends, not only in England, but in America as
well, that information relative to the Burman Empire
which, in her state of health, she could not verbally
communicate. The work gave an account of the
American Baptist Mission to Burmah — its origin, prog-
ress, and success; consisting principally in a compi-
126 ANN H. JUDSON.
lation of those letters and documents transmitted to
friends in America, interspersed with accounts of the
population, manners, and customs of the Burmans. It
evinces a clear understanding and excellent taste in
the writer. The copyright was presented to the Con-
vention. It is believed to have been very useful in
enlightening the people as to the state of things in
India, and the e very-day life, trials, and triumphs of
the missionaries, and, thus, in awakening interest in
missions. An edition was issued in Great Britain
entitled, "An account of the American Baptist Mis-
sion to the Burman Empire: In a Series of lyctters,
addressed to a gentleman in lyondon." It was pub-
lished in London by J. Butterworth and Son, and in
Edinburgh by T. Clark, A. D. 1823.
As the winter wore away, Mrs. Judson's health
gave alternate symptoms of improvement and decline.
At length the disease of the liver appeared to be
removed, but the disease of the lungs became more
malignant, and for this she had submitted to exhaustive
bleedings at the arm. The reduction of the system
thus experienced prevented her early return to New
England. An hour's ride fatigued her. Her labors
on the Burman history, with the help of an assistant
copyist, had occupied about five hours a day; and
though entertaining, in her seclusion, they were never-
theless exhausting. Her letters during the winter
breathed the deepest anxieties for the conversion of
souls; scarcely one, in preservation, that does not
express a longing desire for revivals in the churches.
As she became stronger she held a "little female
prayer meeting" in her chamber, which was very
A MKMORIAL. 127
precious. News came from Mr. Judson that God was
doing wonders in Rangoon; five more had been
baptized, making eighteen in all, and of the number
were three females who had attended her Wednesday
meeting, and had now established a female prayer
meeting. Such progress was wonderful — for that day.
**Is not this encouraging?" she writes. And later:
" I long to be in Rangoon, and am anxiously hoping
to get away this spring. Do make inquiries relative
to the sailing of ships from Boston and Salem. I
must not miss one good opportunity."
It was now the middle of March, and although she
had been deprived of the society of her friends during
nearly all of her stay in the country, she was deter-
mined to sail very soon. She went on to Washington,
where she occupied some weeks in corre6ling and su-
perintending the proof sheets of her history. While
there she visited Columbian College and met the stu-
dents in a prayer meeting. And being detained South,
through fear of inability to endure the journey to Bos-
ton, she concluded to remain longer and attend the
Triennial Convention to be held in that city, in the
hope of exciting more attention to the subject of mis-
sions. The stay was quite favorable to the object.
"The Convention appointed a committee to confer
with her respe(5ling the Burman Mission, and at her
suggestion several important measures were adopted.
Her conversation and statements produced, on the
members of the Convention, the same effect which had
resulted from her intercourse with other individuals
since her arrival — a deeper concern in the interests of
the mission ; a more lively conviction of the duty of
128 ANN H. JUDSON.
the American Baptist churches to sustain and enlarge
it ; and a stronger disposition to pray for its prosperity
and to contribute liberally for its support." — Knowles.
About this time, her " History of the Burman Mis-
sion" was published, the copyright of which she pre-
sented to the Convention. And, besides, to the great
joy of her heart, Jonathan Wade and his wife were
designated missionaries to Burmah, and were instruc-
ted to sail with her.
The Convention assembled April 30, 1823, and after
its adjournment, Mrs. Judson returned to Massachu-
setts. Her health was but partially restored, and she
was earnestly besought to remain in the country
another year ; but she resisted every reason presented
and prepared to take a second, and, as she was con-
vinced, a final farewell of her friends and country.
" There was at times," says her biographer, " an al-
most prophetic foreboding in her mind, as if ' coming
events cast their shadows before.' But she resolved to
return, whatever might be the will of God respe(5ling
the mission or herself."
She negotiated for a passage on the ship Edward
Newton, transacfling the business both for herself and
for Mr. and Mrs. Wade, and securing " excellent, clean
and airy" accommodations for $1,200, for all. She
then had a week in which to make her final prepara-
tions and visit her friends, subordinating her affec-
tions, as heretofore, to considerations of health. " I
am doubting," she says, "whether I ought to visit
Bradford again, or not. My nerves are in such a state
that I have to make every possible exertion to keep
them quiet. It will only increase my agitation to take
A MEMORIAL. 129
a formal leave of my friends and home." It does not
appear that she spent more than the first period of six
weeks at Bradford — and those weeks of sleeplessness
and suffering — notwithstanding that the time of her
absence from Rangoon was over two years and three
months.
On Lord's Day, June 21, 1823, they went on Board the
ship Edward Newton, Captain Bertody. They were accompa-
nied by a large concourse of Christian friends to the wharf,
where fervent prayer, by Rev. Dr. Baldwin, was offered up to
Him, who holds the winds in his fist, and rules the boisterous
deep. The parting scene was peculiarly tender and affecting
to many. As the boat moved from the shore towards the ship,
at the particular request of Mrs. Wade, the company united in
singing the favorite hymn, "From whence doth this union
arise?" The missionary friends manifested much composure,
as they receded from the land of their nativity, probably
never more to return. — Knowles.
Prof. Gammell forcibly remarks :
The influence which Mrs. Judsou exerted in favor of the
cause of missions during her brief residence of eight or nine
months in the United States, it is now (1849) hardly possible to
estimate. She enlisted more fully in the cause not a few lead-
ing minds, who have since rendered it signal service, both by
eloquent vindications, and by judicious counsels; and by the
appeals which she addressed to Christians of her own sex, and
her fervid conversations with persons of all classes and denom-
inations in America, as well as by the views which she submit-
ted to the managers of the mission, a new zeal for its prosecu-
tion was everywhere created, and the missionary enterprise,
instead of being regarded with doubt and misgiving, as it had
been jy many, even among Christians, began to be understood
in its higher relations to all the hopes of man, and to be con-
templated in its true grandeur, and its ennobling, moral dig-
nity.
130 ANN H. JUDSON.
Her conversations were manifestly limited in num-
ber, on account of her illness; but that they were
"fervid" no one can doubt; the era of missions bears
testimony. Her character was not demonstrative but
potent. She wanted her favorite topic introduced,
then she was all aglow^ ; as an interesting and influen-
tial woman she had few superiors. A biographer of
Mr. Judson makes the following complimentary refer-
ence to her :
It was my good fortune to become intimately acquainted
with Mrs. Judson during this visit to the United States. I do
not remember ever to have met a more remarkable woman.
To great clearness of intellect, large powers of comprehen-
sion, and intuitive female sagacity, ripened by the constant
necessity of independent action, she added that heroic dis-
interestedness which naturally loses all consciousness of self
in the prosecution of a great object. These elements, how-
ever, were all held in reserve, and were hidden from public
view by a veil of unusual feminine delicacy. To an ordinary
observer she would have appeared simply a self-possessed,
well-bred, and very intelligent gentlewoman. A more inti-
mate acquaintance would soon discover her to be a person
of profound religious feeling, which was ever manifesting
itself in efforts to impress upon others the importance of
personal piety. The resources of her nature were never
unfolded until some occasion occurred which demanded
delicate tadl, unflinching courage, and a power of resolute
endurance even unto death. When I saw her, her complexion
bore that sallow hue which commonly follows residence in
the East Indies. Her countenance at first seemed, when
in repose, deficient in expression. As she found herself
among her friends who were interested in the Burman
Mission, her reserve melted awa}^ her eye kindled, every
feature was lighted up with enthusiasm, and she was every-
where acknowledged to be one of the most fascinating
of women. — Dr. Francis Waylaiid.
A MEMORIAL. 13!
XI.
^iye ^tixxxn— AUXILIARIES— A VA.
Home, kindred, friends, and country — these
Are things with which we never part;
From clime to clime, o'er land and seas.
We bear them with us in our heart;
And yet! 'tis hard to be resigned,
When we must leave them all behind!
Montgomery— " i^ar^zt'^// to a Missionary:'
ON June 22, 1823, the Edward Newton weighed
anchor at Boston, with its precious charge — the
" sallow^-hued " servant of Christ, hastening back to
her loved emplo3% and the two recruits for the same
service. "They bore with them," says Professor
Gammell, "a letter to the Emperor of Burmah, and
a valuable present from the Convention, such as was
thought to be fitted to excite the interest of his
Bur man majesty, and to conciliate his favor towards
the missionaries." It will naturally occur to the
reader to inquire how a body that sends out its am-
bassadors bearing gifts, can offer any strictures on
the course of Messrs. Judson and Colman in going
with gifts to the King for essentially the same pur-
pose— viz., protection. The little company arrived at
Calcutta, October 19th, and at Rangoon December 5th,
same year.
132 ANN H. JUDSON.
The period of Mrs. Judson's absence, a little more
than two years and three months, was characterized
by activity in the mission. For nearly four months
Mr. Judson was entirely alone. But though his sym-
pathetic nature was unsatisfied, for want of congenial
society, he was none the less faithful to his work. He
had made up his mind, he says, "to have his right arm
amputated, and his right eye extracted, which the
doctors said were necessary in order to prevent a decay
and mortification of the whole body conjugal." The
nature that is charac5lerized by such strong sympathies
is one that is not only keenly alive to even temporary
bereavement but ^likewise is adapted to the kind of
work he took upon his hands and heart. The long
separations, already several times borne, and the long
intervals of silence by which they were aggravated,
did not dull the sense of mutual reliance, certainly not
his ; and yet it was his joy to labor alone, rather than
that labor should not be performed. Early in Decem-
ber, Rev. Jonathan Price, M. D., a missionary physician,
arrived with his wife ; and in January following Mr.
Hough and his family returned from Calcutta, making
quite a family in the mission.
The direction of Mr. Judson's labors during the
above period was not essentially changed; he had
reached the proper course, and he aimed to follow it,
viz. : do all the teaching and preaching at all admissi-
ble under the government, as the Scripture method of
evangelization, and meantime, especially during inter-
ruptions of such labor, push the work of translation.
He was successful in both. Several were added to the
little mission church, greatly rejoicing the heart of
A MEMORIAL. 1 33
Mrs. Judson in America, who was " well acquainted
with the name of every one," and causing her to be
impatient to start back. On her arrival she was
greeted not only by a glad husband, who had not re-
ceived a word of intelligence from her for ten months,
but likewise by a happy church of eighteen, with a
New Testament in Burmese. This pleasant and en-
couraging state of affairs had " its sorrow, too," con-
sequent on the death of one of the native Christians,
Moung Thahlah, and also the death of Mrs. Price,
which occurred in less than five months from the time
of her arrival. The former was called away after an
illness of nineteen hours, and was insensible before
Mr. Judson was informed in reference to him ; the lat-
ter was "peaceful and happy in the prospect of death,"
and was buried by the side of Mrs. Judson's " little
Roger."*
Dr. Price at once commenced the practice of medi-
cine in Rangoon. His profession immediately drew
attention to him, the healing art being wonderfully
adapted to awaken superstitious minds, and to put
them into either awe, or fear of him who practices
it. His success in several operations, particularly on
the eyes of those suffering from cataract, was noised
abroad, and, very naturally, was reported to the Em-
peror, who took special cognizance of every semblance
="^Dr. Price married a native, as his second wife. In the practice of his
profession he had treated her eyes, and, though very skillful, as skill was
reckoned in his day, he had made a failure of the case, and she lost her
sight. By a peculiar dictate of conscience he then felt it to be his duty to
marry her. A recent traveler, searching through the old cemetery at
Ava, found her tomb-stone, containing an elaborate inscription, in both
E)nglish and Burmese.
134 ANN H. JUDSON.
of power over the bodies of his subjedls. An order
was at once given for Brother Price to appear before
the Golden Face, at the capital. Obedience was per-
emptory. And it was necessary that Mr. Judson ac-
company him, as an interpreter, and as an aid to him
in going through the formalities of the Court. And
while he had no pleasant associations of Ava to carry
in his memory, he thought there might be a remaining
possibility of making some favorable impressions on
the monarch, through the "medicine man."
They dropped their work at Rangoon, and, taking
passage in a boat furnished at the government's ex-
pense, they reached Ava in thirt}- days, and presented
themselves at the palace. Dr. Price received special
attention, and Mr. Judson no attention, at first, except
as interpreter. The King ordered a house (a shed)
erected for his visitors, and they went to see him each
morning. But, afterward, Mr. JudvSon obtained a lot,
pleasantly situated about a mile from the palace, and
there built a small house; it being insisted by the
disposer, who declined to receive pa}^ that the owner-
ship of the ground remained with him if they should
cease to occupy it, " lest it become American territory."
There seemed to be an apprehension that the Ameri-
can government might undertake to establish jurisdic-
tion there, as the English had done in Bengal.
After about four months of visitation at the royal
court, Mr. Judson deemed it necessary to return to
Rangoon, but Dr. Price remained, by special desire of
the Emperor, who aided him in building a house. The
''medical man" was in high favor with all the authori-
ties, and Mr. Judson somewhat more so than previ-
A ME^MORIAL. 135
ously, on account of his assistance to Dr. P. in his
presentations at Court, and the interest he had created
in religious investigations. He felt hopeful as to the
planting of a church at Ava. He returned, with the
assurance of the Prince, a half-brother to the King, to
whom and to whose wife he had communicated much
truth respedling the Christian religion, that "though
the King would not himself persecute any one on
account of religion, he would not give any order
exempting from persecution, but would leave his sub-
jects throughout the Empire to the regular administra-
tion of the local authorities." And the King expressed
a desire that he should return. Thus encouraged, and
with Mr. and Mrs. Hough, and, prospectively, Mr. and
Mrs. Wade at Rangoon, he decided to remove to Ava
as soon as Mrs. Judson should arrive ; and he began
to make preparations therefor.
Ten months passed away, however, from the date
of his arrival from Ava to that of hers from America.
This period was one of great activity on his part. The
little church had been somewhat scattered by the ex-
tortions and persecutions of the government, and re-
quired much attention. Then the translation of the
New Testament was resumed with great earnestness
and brought to completion. He also prepared, as an
introduction to it, a Summary of Scripture History
and an abstra(5l of the prophecies of the Messiah and
His Kingdom, all of which were received with the ut-
most eagerness by the native Christians.
On December 5, 1823, Mrs. Judson, with Mr. and
Mrs. Wade, reached Rangoon, giving Mr. Judson " in-
expressible happiness." They found him in a state of
136 ANN H. JUDSON.
readiness to depart for Ava, and in eight days Mr. and
Mrs. Jiidson were on their way to the capital, full of
hope and courage. It was a trial -to them to leave the
scenes of their ten 3^ears' toil, just at the opening of
their prospect under a translated Gospel, with a little
grave behind them, and also the first-born of their
spiritual sorrows and joys — a Burman church. But
they were flattered with the new prospecft, that of es-
tablishing another light, even at the capital of the Em-
pire, which should irradiate the gloom to a greater ex-
tent. It had been written to them by Dr. Price that
the King had often spoken of Mr. Judson, and had in-
quired why he delayed his return ; also that the Queen
had expressed a strong desire to see Mrs. Judson in
her foreign dress. Such circumstances, added to tht
increasing favor enjoyed during the sojourn at Ava,
tended to build up their hopes.
The passage up the Irrawaddy proved to be tedious
and uncomfortable, occupying six weeks. The cur-
rent was strong and the wind against them. The boat
was small and came near being capsized in one of the
rapids. Its progress was so slow that they often
w^alked on the bank in advance of it, apparently for
relief from the tedium, and to do a little good. They
"always attra(5led universal attention," says Mrs. Jud-
son, but " never received the least insult. A foreign
female was a sight never before beheld, and all were
anxious that their friends and relatives should have a
view. Crowds followed us through the villages, and
some who were less civilized than others would run
some way before us, in order to have a long look as we
approached them. In one instance, the boat being
A MEMORIAL. 137
some time in doubling a point we had walked over, we
seated ourselves, when the villagers as usual as-
sembled and Mr. Judson introduced the subject of re-
ligion. Several old men who were present entered
into conversation, while the multitude was all atten-
tion. The apparent school-master of the village com-
ing up, Mr. J. handed him a tract and requested him
to read. After proceeding some way, he remarked to
the assembl}^ that such a writing was worth}^ of being
copied, and asked Mr. J. to remain while he copied it."
The tradl was given to him on condition that he read
it to all his neighbors; and the}^ parted with him,
hoping that the Spirit of God would prosper the few
simple truths it contained to the salvation of some
souls. And why should they not hope that the Em-
pire was about to open to the bearers of the Cross ?
Life in an untried place, another heathen city, was
now to begin. The domestic arrangements were a
matter of great interest to Mrs. Judson, especially.
She was by no means in sound health, and a comfort-
able home is to a woman, sick or well, a thing highly
desirable. Missionary life in the earlier days was
almost wholly without assurance of a home, even
when one had been established; and at this day the
environments of a dwelling, elevated on stilts, to keep
clear of diseases and creeping things, are such as to
cause American women to feel like fleeing the coun-
try. Mrs. Judson thus speaks of her introduction to
home-life in the capital :
On our arrival at Ava, we had more -difficulties to en-
counter, and such as we had never before experienced. We
had no home, no house to shelter us from the burning sun
138 ANN H. JUDSON.
by day and the cold dews at night. Dr. Price had kindly
met us on the way, and urged our taking up our residence
with him ; but his house was in such an unfinished state,
and the walls so damp (of brick, and just built) that spend-
ing two or three hours threw me into a fever, and induced
me to feel that it would be presumption to remain longer.
We had but one alternative, to remain in the boat till we
could build , a small house on the spot of ground which the
King gave Mr. Judson last year. And you will hardly be-
lieve it possible, for I almost doubt my senses, that in just
a fortnight from our arrival we moved into a house built
in that time, and which is sufficiently large to make us
comfortable. It is in a most delightful situation, out of the
dust of the town, and on the bank of the river. The spot
of ground given by His Majesty is small, being only one
hundred and twenty feet long and seventy-five wide; but it
is our own, and is the most healthy situation I have seen.
Our house is raised four feet from the ground, and consists
of three small rooms and a veranda.
I hardly know how we shall bear the hot season, which
is just commencing, as our house is built of boards, and
before night is heated like an oven. Nothing but brick is
a shelter from the heat of Ava, where the thermometer,
even in the shade, frequently rises to a hundred and eight
degrees.
An event of significance to the cause of missions
is narrated by Prof. Gammell :
In a few months after the return of the missionaries to
Ava, the government was formally removed, with great pomp
and ceremony, to that city. The King and the Royal Family,
who for two years had been living at Ava, in order to super-
intend the erection of a new palace, about the time of Mr.
Judson's return, went back to Amarapura, for the purpose of
making the transfer of the Golden Presence from one city to
the other, as striking and impressive as possible. The cere-
monial was one of unusual splendor and magnificence, and
A MEMORIAI.. 139
presented a scene well calculated to fill the imagination with
the subliruest conceptions of Oriental grandeur and wealth.
* -:•;■ -;•:- * 'j^jjg missionaries, with a few European residents
at the capiwl, gazed with, wonder on this unwonted display of
grotesque magnificence, made to gratify the pride of the Bur-
man monaich. They were not noticed by the royal pair, and
although Mr. Judson occasionally visited the palace, yet no
inquiry was ever made for the female teacher whom the queen
had formally expressed her desire to see in her foreign dress.
It was not long before an order was issued that no European
should enter the palace, and in a few days afterwards the tid-
ings of tne approaching war, wjiich had hitherto been brought
only in uncertain rumors, were fully confirmed by intelligence
that an English fleet had arrived in the river, and that Ran-
goon had already fallen into their hands.
Thus, while Mr. and Mrs. Judson were as yet
scarcely settled, the cloud of war gathered in their
sky, portentous of interruption to. their work, and
bringing sullenness over the Golden Face. The im-
mediate cause of it was the mutual jealousy of the
English and Burmese powers respecting the province
of Chittagong, which appears on the map as coast ter-
ritory on the upper and eastern part of the bay of
Bengal. It was in the hands of the English, and was
made a resort of criminals escaping the Burman law.
The King of Burmah wished to vindicate his dignity
and proceeded to raise a large army under his greatest
warrior, Bandoola, for the purpose of moving against
the governor-general ; but the latter proved more
prompt, and the English transports, under Sir Archi-
bald Campbell, suddenly appeared before Rangoon
and made it an easy prey. The Burman King taught
to think his power greater than that of any other
nation on the earth, made fool-hardy ventures against
140 ANN H. JUDSON.
the invader, but was constantly though slowty re-
pulsed and exhausted, until at the end of about two
years from the commencement of hostilities, and fear-
ing the advancing foe would reach and reduce the cap-
ital itself, he accepted terms of peace, after refusing re-
peated overtures, and at a loss of much of his territory.
The golden fetters sent for the important service of
binding the governor-general, and in which he was to
have been brought to the Golden Feet at Ava, were not
needed ; neither did the general commissioned to bring
back some white strangers to row the boats and man-
age the horses of other officials, make the desired
returns.
The period in the life of Mrs. Judson now to be
reviewed is one of the most tragic in the history of
women. It was fraught with more experience than
it is ordinarily possible for a woman to pass through
in an equal length of time. The scenes and circum-
stances included in it have been regarded worthy of
detailed record in the missionary annals of the world,
and as having a bearing on the progress of Christen-
dom and the advancement of mankind. They have
been presented, in nearly every instance of their
publication, in the exact form in which she and those
participating in them or in any way related to them
originally gave them to the public — in letters, jour-
nals, and testimonials. These documents are clear
and explicit, being written in terse and expressive
language, while they are in harmony with each other.
But there are incidents and circumstances revealed
by one which motives of modesty or other consider-
ations seem to have forbidden to another, and all are
A MEMORIAL. I^^I
necessary to a complete delineation. It accords with
the plan of this work to gather the facts from all
accessible sources, omitting none, and to construct
an independent narrative, in the hope that by group-
ing them in proper order the impression of the reader
will be one of continuity as well as of completeness.
142 ANN H. JUDSON.
XII.
'^ax— PRISON AND IRONS,
They cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep
them safely; who, having received such a charge, thrust them
into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
Acts 16: 23, 24.
'*Joy never feasts so high,
As when the first course is of misery."
ABOUT the middle of the year 1824 the war-cloud
over Burmah was heavy, and portentous of de-
struction to the infant cause in which American Bap-
tists were investing their means, and half a dozen con-
secrated Christians were jeopardizing their lives. Both
the senders and the sent were watching events with
breathless anxiety. They were entirely neutral as to
the issues involved ; seeking only spiritual ends — the
evangelization of the natives of that benighted empire.
Still, in the exigencies of war they could not be re-
garded otherwise than with a jealous eye. It was nec-
essary that the mails be guarded, and all persons be
under surveillance of the authorities. Hence, in the
appalling situation, the missionaries feared as they
entered into the cloud ; and on the opposite side of the
globe another cloud, one of dreadful suspense, settled
down on the churches and was not lifted for nearly
two years. Whatever inferences American Christians
entertained, they derived only through meager war
A me;moriai.
143
records. People differed, and all was doubt and uncer-
tainty, with the weight of probability in favor of the
worst. The incense of prayer and the testimony of
tears that came before Jehovah in that dread day were
fully known only to Him.
Mrs. Judson had returned from America, and, as
before said, had gone forward to the interior of the
Empire — to Ava, the capital. The first reliable intel-
ligence of the declaration of war received by Mr. and
Mrs. Judson, reached them while they were on their
way thither, at a point about one hundred miles short
of their destination, and where a part of the Bur-
mese had encamped. A misunderstanding had existed
for some time between the Bengal (EngHsh) and Bur-
mese governments, and troops from both sides had
marched to the frontiers. Suspicion naturally fell on
all the white foreigners within the Burman jurisdic-
tion, they being supposed to be spies. The mission-
aries were not made an exception. As they proceeded
they met Bandoola, the celebrated Burman general, with
the remainder of his troops ; he was seated on a golden
barge, surrounded by a fleet of gold war boats, one of
which was dispatched to intercept them and make the
necessary inquiries. Information being given that
they were Americans, not English, and were going to
Ava in obedience to the command of His Majesty,
they were allowed to proceed.
Dr. Price had won golden opinions at Ava by his
medical skill, and many there had seemed quite favor-
able to the new religion. But Mr. and Mrs. Judson,
on their arrival, found that he was now out of favor at
court, because suspicion rested on the foreigners. He
144 AN^^ H- JUDSON.
had met them in a small boat, a few days below Ava,
and through him they lea,rned that important changes
had taken place at the palace ; the privy council
having been turned out and a new set appointed, with
which the}^ were not at all acquainted. Mr. Judson ap-
proached the palace two or three times, and found that
a year had made great changes. The King's manner
toward him was that of indifference, and his old
friends and advocates before the King were missing.
Very few recognized him. His Majesty just spoke to
him, and accepted a small gift, but afterward gave
him neither a w^ord nor a look. The Queen, w^ho
had hitherto expressed wishes for Mrs. Judson's
speedy arrival, now made no inquiries for her, nor
intimated a desire to see her. All interest in the
foreigners, for any cause — medical skill, manners, re-
ligion, curiosity — was sunk in jealousy and disaffec-
tion on account of prevalent hostilities with the Eng-
lish. This was a sore disappointment to the mission-
aries, since it left them without means of access to
the throne of the potentate by whose favor or by the
absence of whose frown they must expect to find
access to the people whom they came to Ava to save.
Mrs. Judson made no attempt to visit the palace,
but she was almost daily invited to visit some of the
branches of the royal family, who were living in their
own houses, outside of the palace inclosure. Under
the circumstances they thought it most prudent to
pursue their original intention of building a house and
to commence missionary operations as occasions might
appear, thus endeavoring to convince the government
that they really had nothing to do with the existing
A MEMORIAL. I45
war. Public worship was held at Dr. Price's house
every lyord's Da}^ inasmuch as through his acquaint-
ance with the neighbors an assembly of a dozen to
tw^enty could be secured, including the few disciples
who came up from Rangoon.
In two or three weeks after their arrival the re-
moval of the capital from Amarapura to Ava took
place, as narrated, and after that an order came from
the King that foreigners should not be allowed to
enter the new palace. This was somewhat alarming
to the missionaries, but regarding the mandate as
purely political, and in view of the earnest protestation
already made that they were not Englishmen, and
were here as teachers of religion, they hoped it might
not materially affe(5l them. And yet there remained
in the dark, distrustful mind the conviction that all
having a white face, except the French, were subjecfts
of the King of England ; a belief that bore against
the Americans with special force, because of the
identity of language. But for some weeks nothing
took place to alarm them. Mr. Judson went on
preaching, and Mrs. Judson continued the little school
she had organized. The masons also made progress
in building their house. Mrs. Judson was quite
happy with the little girls she was teaching to read
and sew, two of whom she had named Mary and Abby
Hasseltine and one of whom was to be supported by
the "Judson Association of Bradford Academy." She
had begun to make inquiries for others, and was hop-
ing for success, under divine guidance, when her
prospedt was suddenly blasted by the war.
146 ANN H. JUDSON.
On the 23d of May, 1824, just as the missionaries
had concluded worship at Dr. Price's house, intelli-
gence was brought to them that Rangoon had been
taken by the English. The shock the news created
was "a mixture of fear and joy"; of fear lest the for-
tunes of war should prove serious misfortunes to them,
and of joy because the hope w^as thereby created that
in the event of a victory for the English, toleration
might be granted to religious effort among the natives.
Inquiry was made by a young merchant residing at
Ava, Mr. Gouger, who had much to lose, and informa-
tion had been returned b}^ His Majesty that no fear
need be entertained by the foreigners there, as they
"had nothing to do with the war, and should not
be molested."
The government was now in motion and commo-
tion. An army of ten or twelve thousand men was
sent off to join a similar one proceeding up towards
Ava, before the news from Rangoon reached it. There
was great confidence on the part of the Burman Pow-
ers, the only fear being that the foreign forces would
become alarmed, and escape by their ships before there
would be time to secure them as slaves. The war
boats passed down the river, before Mr. Judson's
home ; and the soldiers were in high glee, singing and
dancing, and gesticulating in a jubilant way, feeling
that they were on a spoils expedition. If their knowl-
edge of the English prowess had been as correct as
was that of the foreign residents, they would have
manifested a very different spirit.
As soon as the army was dispatched, the government
began to inquire for the cause of the arrival of the strangers
A MEMORIAIv. 147
at Rangoon. There must be spies in the country, suggested
some, who have invited them over. And who so likely to be
spies as the Englishmen residing at Ava? A report was in
circulation that Captain Laird, lately arrived, had brought
Bengal papers which contained the intention of the English
to take Rangoon, and it was kept a secret from His Majesty.
An inquiry was instituted. The three Englishmen, Gouger,
Laird, and Rogers, were called and examined. It was found
that they had seen the papers, and they were put in confine-
ment, though not in prison. We now began to tremble for
ourselves, and were daily in expectation of some dreadful
event. Mrs. Judson says :
" At length Mr. Judson and Dr. Price were summoned to a
court of examination, where strict inquiry was made relative
to all they knew. The great point seemed to be, whether they
had been in the habit of making communication to foreign-
ers, of the state of the country, etc. They answered that they
had always written to their friends in America, but had no
correspondence with English officers, or the Bengal govern-
ment. After their examination they were not put in confine-
ment as the Englishmen had been, but were allowed to return
to their houses. In examining the accounts of Mr. G., it was
found that Mr. J. and Dr. Price had taken money of him to a
considerable amount. Ignorant as were the Burmese of our
mode of receiving money by orders on Bengal, this circum-
stance, to their suspicious minds, was a sufficient evidence
that the missionaries were in the pay of the English, and very
probably spies. It was thus represented to the King, who,
in an angry tone, ordered the immediate arrest of the two
teachers."— ICnowles' Memoir.
The arrest signalizes a new and tragical period in
Mrs. Judson's life, and in the history of missions; one
in comparison with which the preceding twelve years
of vicissitudes and sufferings seem insignificant. Her
character was simply foreshown in what had gone
before — in those endeavors which, in either man or
148 ANN H. JUDSON.
woman, would be regarded as heroic — while now the
full form of the heroine appears, as the supreme occa-
sion is presented.
On the 8th of June, 1824, Mr. Judson was seized,
and, in common with another American, three Eng-
lishmen, one Greek, and Dr. Price, was thrown into
the death-prison at Ava. The seizure took place at
the dinner hour, in his own humble, home, and in the
presence of Mrs. Judson, the little Burnian girl pupils,
and the Bengalee servants ; and it was understood to
mean death. It was without the forms of civilized
warfare ; was a rude irruption of a peaceful home and
the sanctities of conjugal ties. An officer holding a
black book, attended by a dozen Burmans, rushed into
the house and demanded the teacher. Mr. Judson
having presented himself, he said, " You are called by
the King;" meaning that he was under arrest as a
criminal. At that instant the " spotted face," the
criminal who had the nefarious duty to perform,
seized him and threw him on the floor, and produced
the small cord used as a means of torture. Mrs. Jud-
son caught his arm and tried to stop the proceeding,
offering him money, the charm to a benighted mind.
But her effort only exasperated the officer, who said,
" Take her, too ; she also is a foreigner." Mr. Judson,
with an imploring look, begged that they would per-
mit her to remain until further orders. The scene as-
sumed a horrifying aspedl ; something terrible must be
involved in a casfe requiring such immediate torture,
and creating such excitement as at once prevailed.
The whole neighborhood collected; the masons at
work on the brick house fled, and the inmates of the
A MEMORIAL. 149
home, the servants and the pupils, were shocked, the
former with astonishment at the brutal treatment of
their master, and the latter with fear. The Burman
children cried and screamed. The heartless execu-
tioner responded to the entreating words and tears by
drawing the cords. In vain did Mrs. Judson beg, with
offers of money, that the ropes might be loosened.
Her husband was bound fast and dragged from her
sight, she knew not whither. She gave the money to
Moung Ing, the faithful disciple, with instru(5lions to
follow after and make further attempt to mitigate his
suffering ; but instead of being moved by her entreat-
ies, " the unfeeling wretches, when a few rods from
the house, again threw their prisoner on the ground
and drew the cords still tighter, so as almost to pre-
vent respiration."
The officer and gang, with the prisoner, appeared
at the court-house, where the governor of the city
and other officers were collected, and where one of
them read the order of the King to commit Mr.
Judson to the death-prison. He was soon hurled
into the prison, the door closed behind him, and
Moung Ing saw no more.
The day passed and the night shut down upon
a broken family; the husband in prison, with only
a violent death to be reasonably expected, and the
sleepless wife imprisoned in her own home, in awful
suspense as to both his condition and her own fate.
The magistrate had come into the veranda and called
her out for the purpose of being examined. She,
with quick forethought, destroyed all her letters and
journals, and writings of every kind, lest they should
I50 ANN H. JUDSON.
disclose the fa6l that they had correspondents in
England, and had kept a memorandum of all occur-
rences in the country since their arrival; then she
went out and submitted to a minute and very scru-
tinizing inquiry as to everything she knew. When
the examination was finished, the magistrate ordered
the gates of the compound to be shut, that no person
be allowed to go in or out. and placed a guard of
ten ruffians, under strict orders to keep her safe.
It being now dark, she retired with her four little
Burman girls to an inner room, and barred the doors.
But this was displeasing to the guard, w^ho commanded
her to unbar the doors and come out, or they would
break the house down. Rising in her conscious wo-
manhood, and with her crushed feelings under control,
she obstinately refused to obey, and threatened to
report their conduct to the higher authorities on the
morrow. Finding her firm, they sought satisfaction
in taking the two Bengalee servants and binding them
in the stocks, in a very painful position. This also
was too much for Mrs. Judson to endure, and, calling
the head man to the window, she promised to make
them all a present in the morning if they would
release them. They accepted the conditions, after
much parleying and threatening, yet tacitly reserved
to themselves the delightful privilege of annoying her
throughout the night. They indulged in dreadful
carousings and diabolical language about the house,
as if they would let no time or opportunity for heap-
ing contempt on the foreigners pass unimproved ; in
which conduct they knew they had the sympathy of
their superiors. Unprotected, desolate, and sleepless.
A MEMORIAI,. 151
the night was to her one of horror. Uncertaint}' as
to the fate of Mr. Judson was by no means the least
of the causes of her anxiety. All things conspired
to make the night the most distressing one she had
ever passed ; and yet, had she not been inured to hard
experiences, it would have hung still more heavily
over her, perhaps beyond endurance; and had she
have known what was before her, her great nature
might have been found inadequate to bear the hideous
prospe(5t.
Morning came and Moung Ing was sent to learn
the situation of Mr. Judson, and give him food, if
found living. He soon returned with the report that
he and all the white foreigners were confined in the
death-prison, each with three pairs of iron fetters, and
all fastened to a long pole to prevent them from mov-
ing. Mrs. Judson's anguish was now at its height ;
for while she was permitted to act she was hopeful of
surmounting even the greatest obstacles, but now
that she was herself a prisoner, what could she do for
the release of the missionaries ! She, in some way,
reached the ear of the magistrate and besought him to
let her go to some member of the government and
state her case, but he claimed that he could not con-
sent for fear she would make her escape. The next
expedient was writing a note to one of the King's
sisters, with whom she had been intimate, requesting
her to use her influence for the release of the 'teachers.
The note was returned with the reply that she did not
understand it ; a poHte refusal to interfere, lest, as it
was afterwards learned, the Queen should be dis-
pleased thereby. The day dragged heavily away, and
152 ANN H. JUDSON.
another night came on with its attendant horrors.
The guards were somewhat softened by presents of
cigars and tea, so that she was allowed to remain in-
side her room, without being threatened, as in the night
before. Her mind was thus relieved of fear, in some
degree, but only to be the more heavily laden by the
thought of her husband in the death-prison, in irons
and without anything better than the felon's fare.
The imagination performed an unwelcome office to
her wearied soul ; it brought no solace, but a haunt-
ing spectre instead.
The third day dawned and she was still a prisoner ;
but there was another prisoner in whose case her in-
terest centered, and her anxiet}^ for whom swallowed
up all her other anxieties. She first sent a message to
the governor of the city, requesting him to allow her
to visit him with a present. This course had the
desired effect, and he immediately sent orders to the
guards to permit her to go into town. He received
her pleasantly and listened to her statement. She in-
formed him explicitly as to the position occupied by
the foreigners, particularly that of the teachers who
were Americans, and had nothing to do with the war.
He told her that it was not in his power to release
them from prison or from irons, but that he could
make their situation more comfortable, and she must
consult his head officer as to the means. Turning to
this officer, she discerned through his countenance a
full assemblage of all evil passions, and she had little
to expect from him except by appealing to some one
of these, as, his greed or rapacity. And it is quite
probable that, in anticipation of the petition, he had
A MEMORIAI,. . 15^^
been advised by his superior. He took her aside and
endeavored to convince her that she and all the pris-
oners were at his disposal, which was manifestly false,
inasmuch as the governor himself had disclaimed such
power ; but vShe had not been impressed with the ve-
racity of the officials, and she was not just now con-
cerning herself with the sins of any one, but with the
release of her husband by any means not dishonoring
to herself. For this purpose she had carried consid-
erable money with her. And she was not taken una-
wares when informed by said head officer that the
future comfort of her husband and his family would
depend on her liberality as to presents. On inquiring
what she must do to obtain a mitigation of the suffer-
ings of the two teachers, he replied that she must give
him two hundred ticals (about one hundred dollars),
two pieces of fine cloth, and two pieces of handker-
chiefs; the specification of the character and amount
of the gifts showing that the price had been well pre-
meditated. Her home was two miles from the prison,
and she could not easily return ; she, therefore, begged
him to accept the money and not insist on the other
articles, as they were not in her possession. He hesi-
tated for some time, but the sight of the money and
the fear of losing his chance to get it, overcame his
disposition to parley, and he accepted the proposition,
promising to relieve the teachers from their most pain-
ful situation.
She then procured an order from the governor for
her admittance to the prison. The sensations pro-
duced by meeting her husband in that ''wretched,
horrid situation," and the affecting scene which en-
154 ^NN H. JUDSON.
sued, she would not, in her otherwise full delineation
of the circumstances, attempt to describe. But they
have been portrayed by Mr. Gouger, one of the seven
cast into the prison together, in the following words :
It so happened that at the moment of their interview out-
side the wicket door, I had to hobble to the spot to receive m>
daily bundle of provisions, and the heart-rending scene which
I there beheld was one that it is impossible to forget. Poor
Judson was fastidiously neat and cleanly in his person and
apparel, just the man to depi(5l the metamorphosis he had
undergone in these two wretched days in its strongest con-
trast. When Mrs. Judson had parted from him he was in the
enjoyment of these personal comforts, whereas now none but
an artist could describe his appearance. Two nights of rest-
less torture of body and anxiety of mind had imparted to
his countenance a death-like expression, while it would be
hardly decent to advert in more than general terms to his
begrimmed and impure exterior. No wonder his wretched
wife, shocked at the change, hid her face in her hands, over-
whelmed with grief, hardly daring to trust herself to look
upon him. Perhaps the part I mj'^self sustained in the pi6lure
may have helped to rivet it on my memory, for though more
than thirty-five years have since passed away, it reverts to
me with all the freshness of a scene of yesterday.
Mrs. Judson was not allowed to enter the prison,
so Mr. Judson crawled to the door w^here they had the
interview referred to, in which he gave some direc5tions
relative to his release. But before they could perfect
any arrangement she was ordered to depart. The iron-
hearted jailers, seemingly, could not bear to see them
enjoy the consolation of a meeting, even in that miser-
able place. In vain she pleaded the order of the gov-
ernor for her admittance ; they again harshly repeated,
" Depart, or we will pull you out." The same evening
A MEMORIAL. I55
the missionaries, with the other foreigners, who paid
an equal sum, were taken out of the common prison,
and confined in an open shed in the prison inclosure.
Here she was permitted to send them food and mats
to sleep on, but was not allowed to enter again for
several days.
The name of this prison was Let-7na-yoon, signify-
ing hand shrink ?iot. To the Burman mind the name
conveyed a sense of terror, since it told of the dread-
ful atrocities practiced within, under sanction of the
government. Mr. Gouger says: " It contemplates the
extreme of human suffering, and when this has reached
a point at which our nature recoils — when it is sup-
posed that any one bearing the human form might
well refuse to be the instrument to add to it, the hand
of the executioner is apostrophized and encouraged
not to follow the dictates of the heart — ' Thine eye
shall not pity, and thine hand not spare.' "
It was a building about forty feet long and thirty
feet wide; was five or six feet high along the sides,
and, having a sharp roof, was perhaps twice that height
at the center. There was no ventilation except by
means of the crevices, and of the door which was
seldom open. It was constructed of boards, and was
rather stronger than a common Burman dwelling
house; yet so little confidence was reposed in its
strength that an array of stocks and shackles was
always present, to which was added the frightful sur-
veillance of inhuman keepers. "On the thin roof
poured down the burning rays of the tropical sun."
Within were confined a crowd of prisoners, of both
sexes, and all nationalities.
156 ANN H. JUDSON.
The worst of criminals were huddled down beside the
highest of state officers — perhaps the very judges who sat upon
their crime the day before ; for an autocrat, possessed of limit-
less and irresponsible power, thinks it a small thing to pun-
ish even a favorite by thrusting him temporarily into this
place of degradation. It is well understood that all who are
cast into the death-prison are under the condemnation of
death, though they may yet be saved by the clemency of the
sovereign.
The missionaries were imprisoned in the month of June,
and though the rains, which are later and much lighter at Ava
than farther down the country, had commenced, their cooling
influence was insufficient to counteract the sickening sense of
suffocation to which the poisonous miasma rising from the
damp earth contributed in a most dangerous degree. The
prison was built on the ground, and so the consequences of a
lack of ventilation were rendered doubly serious. Prisoners
were continually dying of disease, as well as by violent treat-
ment, and yet the place was always full. They came from the
palace and from the robber's den ; from the shop of the handi-
craftsman, whose power of execution had fallen short of his
monarch's conception ; and from the more aspiring roof of
the merchant, sacrificed to his reputed wealth. Several se-
poys, and occasionally English soldiers, swelled the lists of
the miserable. These poor creatures, having no regular sup-
ply of food, were often brought to the very verge of starvation ;
and then, on some worship day, the women would come, as a
religious duty, to the prison, with rice and fruits; and the
miserable sufferers, maddened by starvation, would eat and
die. "O, I dare not tell you," said Mr. Judson to me, one da}-,
" half the horrors I have seen and felt. They haunt me, when
I am ill and sad, even now, and the simplest relation of them
would do no good to either of our dreams."
The keepers of the prison were all branded criminals;
some wearing the name of their crime burned into the flesh
of their foreheads or breasts ; others with a dark ring upon
the cheek, or about the eye; and others still with mutilated
noses, blind of an eye, or with their ears quite cut away.
A MEMORIAL. 157
They are called 'children of the prison," and form a distinct
class, quite out of the wa}' of reputable people, intermarrying
only among themselves, and so perpetuating vice, while they
are shut, both by their sentence and the horror with which
they are regarded by all classes, without the pale of virtue.
The cruelty or other vicious inclination which led to the per-
petration of the first crime, is now deepened and rendered
indelible by constant familiarity with every species of human
torture, until these creatures seem really to be actuated by
some demoniac spirit. The head jailer, called by the prison-
ers the tiger-cat, and branded in the breast loo-that, murderer,
was one of the most hideous and disgusting of his fraternity.
He affected great jocularity, and was facetious even in the
commission of his worst cruelties, bringing down his hammer
with a jest when fastening manacles, putting his hated arms
affectionately around the prisoners, and calling them his
beloved children, to get a better opportunity to prick or
pinch them, and withal studying torture as the most comical
of arts.— 71/r.y. E. C. Judson's Reminiscences of Conversations
with Dr. Jiidson.
As the reader is not presumed to have at hand, or
to have read full accounts of what the early mission-
aries saw or passed through, one or two more extracts
are given now, as a preparation to realize what Mrs.
Judson, as well as the prisoners, had to encounter.
One of the English fellow-prisoners of Mr. Judson has
left a vivid and definite description of the jail's interi-
or, from which we gather that in after-time a sense of
the humorous, mingled with that of horror, influenced
his mind as he wrote :
The only articles of furniture the place contained were
these : First, and most prominent, was a gigantic row of
stocks, similar in its construction to that formerly used in
England, but now nearly extindl ; though dilapidated speci-
mens may still be seen in some of the market-places of our
rSt
158 ANN H. JUDSON
own country towns. It was capable of accommodating more
than a dozen occupants, and,4ike a huge alligator, opened and
shut its jaws with a loud snap upon its prey. Several smaller
reptiles, interesting varieties, of the same species, lay basking
around this monster, each holding by the leg a pair of hapless
victims consigned to its custody. These were heavy logs of
timber, bored with holes to admit the feet, and fitted with
wooden pins to hold them fast. In the center of the apartment
was placed a tripod, holding a large earthen cup filled with
earth-oil, to be used as a lamp during the night watches ; and
lastly, a simple but suspicious-looking piece of machinery,
whose painful uses it was my fate to test before many hours
had elapsed. It was merely a long bamboo, suspended from
the roof by a rope at each end, and worked by blocks or pul-
leys, to raise or depress it at pleasure. {For suspending pris-
oners by the feet) .
Before me, stretched on the floor, lay forty or fifty hapless
wretches, whose crimes or misfortunes had brought them into
this place of torment. They were all nearly naked, and the
half-famished features and skeleton frames of many of them
too plainly told the story of their protracted sufferings. Very
few were without chains, and some had one or both feet fast in
the stocks besides. A sight of such squalid wretchedness can
hardly be imagined. Silence seemed to be the order of the
day ; perhaps the poor creatures were so engrossed with their
own misery that they hardly cared to make any remarks on
the intrusion of so unusual an inmate as myself.
If the ensemble be difficult to portray, the stench was ab-
rolutely indescribable, for it was not like anything which
exists elsewhere in creation. I will, therefore, give the facts,
and leave the reader's nose to understand them by a synthetic
course of reasoning — if it can.
Forbearing for the present to give more from the
Englishman's delineation, a little space will be given
to the impressions that Dr. Price received on being
ushered to his quarters :
A MEMORIAL. 159
A little bamboo door opened, and I rose to go toward it.
But, Ob ! wbo can describe my sensations ! — shackled like
a common felon, in the care of hangmen, the offscouring of
the country, turned like a dog into his kennel, my wife, my
dear family, left to suffer alone all the rudeness such wretches
are capable of. The worst, however, was yet to come ; for,
making the best of my way up the high steps, I was ushered
into the grand apartment. Horror of horrors ! What a sight !
Never to my dying day shall I forget the scene ; a dim lamp
in the midst, just making darkness visible, and discovering
to my horrified gaze sixty or seventy wretched objects, some
in long rows made fast in the stocks, some strung on long
poles, some simply fettered ; but all sensible of a new acqui-
sition of misery in the approach of a new prisoner. Stupe-
fied, I stopped to gaze till, goaded on, I proceeded toward
the further end, when I again halted, A new and unexpected
sight met my eyes. Till now I had been kept in ignorance
of the fate of my companions. A long row of white objects,
stretched on the floor in a most crowded situation, revealed
to me, however, but too well their sad state, and I was again
urged forward. Poor old Rogers, wishing to retain the end
of the bamboo, made way for me to be placed alongside of
Mr. Judson. "We all hoped you would have escaped, you
were so long coming," was the first friendly salutation I had
yet received ; but, alas ! it was made by friends whose sympathy
was now unavailable.
Such were the "accommodations" — "the grand
apartment " — furnished the excellent of the earth in
common with those regarded as felons under a gov-
ernment which was scarcely less than an embodiment
of crime against mankind. Mrs. Judson, without en-
tering the place, was sufficiently convinced through
her several senses, and especially by the horrid appear-
ance of Mr. Judson, so characteristically tidy, that
there was trouble enough upon them all. She saw
that while a most horrible bondage had been imposed
l6o ANN H. JUDSON.
on her best beloved, a severe strain, in consequence,
was to come upon all her own faculties — a prolonga-
tion of that of the two preceding days which seemed
of itself almost too much. The exigency of the case
was just beginning to appear in its magnitude, and
debaring all thought of what might have been, and
of what actually had been in other days, and of what
was now beyond the ocean, she girded herself for the
most heroic and protradled, yet unforeseen, efforts in
woman's history.
A MEMORIAL. l6l
XIII.
I^ax— DAUNTLESS DEVOTION.
Man's love is of man's life a thing apart,
'Tis woman's whole existence.
Byron.
Woman ! Blest partner of our joys and woes !
Even in the darkest hour of earthly ill,
Untarnished, yet thy fond affection glows,
Throbs with each pulse and beats with every thrill.
Sand's Yanwyden.
MRS. JUDSON now began to project methods of
reaching and influencing those ill power, not
disheartened by her experiences thus far, nor contem-
plating for a moment a cessation of experiments in
case any one or many should prove ineffectual. There
was a great life to be saved ; one of vast consequence
to those who were heartlessly, murderously taking it
away, and nothing short of its loss, or the sacrifice of
her own on the altar of Love, was to cause a cessation
of effort. Nor were her labors, whether at court or at
prison, to be limited except by her means and gift of
endurance ; other valuable lives were in jeopardy, and
she would sustain them so far as it was in her power,
and liberate the victims if possible.
Aftci her visit to the prison she contrived a
method of reaching the Queen with a petition. In
consequence of Mr. Judson's imprisonment, and her
l62 ANN H. JUDSON.
own distressing circumstances, they both were in a
state of disgrace before the government, and no per-
son disgraced was admitted to the palace. So she
sought to suppHcate Her Highness through her
brother's wife, w^hom she had visited, and from whom
she had received particular marks of favor in better
days. She called on her, carrying a present of consid-
erable value, but was coolly received. She found her
lolling on her carpet, with her attendants about her,
and, without w^aiting to be accosted in the usual way,
she at once, in a direct, bold yet respectful manner,
stated the distresses and wrongs being suffered, and
begged her assistance. Her ladyship partly raised her
head, opened the present and indifferently replied:
" Your case is not singular ; all the foreigners are
treated alike."
" But it is singular," was the answer. " The teach-
ers are Americans ; they are ministers of religion ;
have nothing to do with war or politics, and came to
Ava in obedience to the King's command. They
have never done anything to deser\^e such treatment,
and is it right they should be treated thus?"
" The King does as he pleases ; I am not the King;
what can I do? "
" You can state their case to the Queen, and obtain
their release. Place yourself in my situation ; were
you in America, your husband, innocent of ciime,
thrown into prison, in irons, and you, a solitary, un-
protected female, what would you do? "
With a slight degree of feeling she said, " I will
present your petition ; come again to-morrow."
A MKMORIAlv. 163
Mrs. Judson returned to her house with consider-
able hope that the missionaries would be released;
hopefulness being her main-stay. But before it was
time to return for the reply from the Queen, an act of
confiscation was committed on the property of Mr.
Gouger, to the amount of fifty thousand rupees, and
it was carried to the palace. The officers on their
return politely informed her that her house would be
visited on the following day; whether they did so
tauntingly, or with a view to receiving gifts, or through
respect, does not appear. She felt much obliged for
the information, and forthwith proceeded to secrete as
many articles as she possibly could, together with con-
siderable silver ; for should the war be protracted the
money would be needed to enable them to avoid star-
vation. It was very hazardous to practice secretive-
ness in such a case, because, had she been detected in
it she might have been thrown into prison. Her mind
was greatly agitated in consequence of the attempt to
save her own goods and money, and had she thought
It possible to procure means from any other quarter
she would not have ventured on such a step.
What must have been her feelings of dismay and
uncertamty when, on the following morning, the royal
treasurer, the governor of the north gate of the palace
and another nobleman, with a retinue of forty or fifty,
came to take possession of all that she and her hus-
band owned ! What other woman could have endured
the coming, not to mention the irruption and plun-
dering? It may have been an important part of the
Heavenly Father's care that she was notified, and yet
she would doubtless have commanded her powers to
164 ANN H. JUDSON.
good advantage had she been surprised; As it was
she treated the three officers and one of the royal
secretaries, who alone entered the house, wdth such
civility as the circumstances suggested. She gave
them chairs to sit on, and tea and sweetmeats for their
refreshment ; and they conducted the confiscation with
more respect for her feelings than would have been
expected of Burmese officers on such an errand.
They saw that she was deeply affected, and apologized
for what they were doing by saying that it was pain-
ful for them to take possession of property not their
own, but that they were compelled thus to do by order
of the King.
"Where are your silver, gold, and jewels?" said
the royal treasurer.
" I have no gold or jewels," she replied, " but here
is the key of a trunk that contains the silver. Do
with it as you please." When the trunk had been
produced and the silver weighed, she added : " This
money was collected in America by the disciples of
Christ, and sent here for the purpose of building
a kyoung (the name of a priest's dwelling), and for
our support while teaching the religion of Christ.
Is it suitable that you should take it?"
The Burmese being averse to taking what is
offered in a religious point of view, they felt the force
of the objection so skillfully and properly presented,
and said they would mention the circumstance to the
King, and that perhaps he would restore it. " But is
this all the silver you have?"
"The house is in your possession; search for
vourselves."
A MKMORIAI,. 165
" Have you not deposited silver with some person
of your acquaintance ? "
"My acquaintances are all in prison; with whom
should I deposit silver? "
They next ordered her trunks and drawers to be
examined, but the secretary only was allowed to
accompany her in the search. Everything nice or
curious that met his view, was shown to the officers
for their decision, whether it should be taken or left.
She begged that they would not take the wearing
apparel, because it would be disgraceful to take clothes
partly worn, into the presence of His Majesty, while
to the family they were of unspeakable value. They
assented and took a list only, as they did with the
books, medicines, etc. Her little work-table and rock-
ing chair, presents from a beloved brother, she man-
aged to rescue from their grasp, partly by artifice and
partly through their ignorance. They also left many
articles that were of inestimable value during the long
imprisonment that ensued.
The search and confiscation being finished, and the
officials having departed, Mrs. Judson left her broken
house, as if it were nothing to be deplored when com-
pared with the interests at the prison, and hastened
to the Queen's brother to learn the outcome of her
petition. Failure again ! His wife, with much indiffer-
ence, said that she had stated the case to the Queen,
who replied, *' The teachers will not die ; let them re-
main as they are." This was crushing, as her hope
had been quite sanguine, notwithstanding the disap-
pointments before experienced. And now, since the
Queen had refused assistance, who would dare to inter-
l66 ANN H. JUDSON.
cede for her? With a heavy heart she turned away,
and on her way home attempted to enter the prison
gate to communicate the result to her husband — tid-
ings in nowise calculated to alleviate his feelings or
soften the boards on which he lay — but she was harsh-
ly refused admittance, and for ten days after, in spite
of daily efforts, she was not allowed to enter. She
attempted to communicate by writing, and after being
successful for a few days the practice was detected ;
and the poor fellow who carried the writing was beaten
and put in the stocks, while the affair cost her about
ten dollars, besides two or three days of agony through
fear of the consequences.
In presenting the seized property to His Majesty,
the officers remarked, "Judson is a true teacher; we
found nothing in his house but what belongs to
priests. In addition to this money there are an im-
mense number of books, medicines, trunks of wearing
apparel, etc., of which we have only taken a list.
Shall we take them, or let them remain?" *' Let them
remain," said the King, " and put this property by it-
self, for it shall be restored to him again if he is found
innocent." He was supposed to be a spy.
For two or three months following, Mrs. Judson
was subject to continual annoyances, partly through
ignorance of police management, and partly through
the insatiable desire of every petty officer to enrich
himself through her misfortunes. The officers who
confiscated the property insisted on knowing how
much she had, given the governor and prison officers
to release the teachers from the inner prison. On be-
ing informed, they demanded the sum from the gov-
A MEMORIAL. 167
ernor, which threw him into a dreadful rage, and he
threatened to put all the prisoners back. This cir-
cumstance made it necessary for her to visit him and
settle the disturbance. On approaching him, his first
words were: "You are very bad; why did you tell
the royal treasurer that you had given me so much
money." She replied, " The treasurer inquired ; what
could I say?" "Say that you had given nothing,"
said he, " and I would have made the teachers comfort-
able in prison ; but now I know not what will be their
fate." " But I cannot tell a falsehood ; my religion
differs from yours — it forbids prevarication, and had
you stood by me with your knife raised, I could not
have said what you suggest." His wife, who sat by
his side, and who always, from this time, continued her
firm friend, instantly said, " Very true ; what else could
she have done ? I like such straightforward conduct.
You must not be angry with her."
Mrs. Judson then presented the governor with a
beautiful opera-glass, which she had just received from
England, and begged that his anger toward her would
not cause him to treat the prisoners with unkindness,
promising to make him presents from time to time to
compensate him for his loss. He said that she might
intercede for her husband only, and that for her sake
he should remain where he was: "but let the other
prisoners take care of themselves." She plead hard
for Dr. Price, but he would not listen, and the same
day remanded him to the inner prison, where he re-
mained ten days ; after which time he was taken out,
on the promise of the doctor to give him a piece of
broadcloth, and on receiving from her two pieces of
handkerchiefs.
l68 ANN H. JUDSON.
At about this time she was officially summoned to
the Lut-d'hau. What new evil was now at hand she
could not imagine. On arriving she was allowed to
stand at the foot of the stairs, contrary to custom, or
law, which prohibits females from ascending the steps
or even standing at the foot, and compels them to sit
on the ground. Hundreds were collected around. The
presiding officer, in an authoritative manner began :
"Speak the truth in answer to the questions I shall
ask. If you speak true, no evil will follow ; but if not,
your life will not be spared. It is reported that you
have committed to the care of a Burmese officer a
string of pearls, a pair of diamond ear-rings, and a sil-
ver tea-pot. Is it true?" "It is not; and if you, or
any other person, can produce these articles, I refuse
not to die." The officer again urged the necessity of
" speaking true." She told him she had nothing more
to say in reference to the matter, and begged him to
use his influence to obtain the release of Mr. Judson.
Mrs. Judson returned to her house, breathing more
freely, glad of another peril passed, yet fully conscious
that other troubles awaited her. The anticipation of
unknown difficulties and persecutions, however cause-
less, had come to be a habit of mind, which itself op-
pressed her, as a present trouble. And yet her re-
peated exertion of mind in the contrivance of new
means of relief served as a counter-exercise, banishing
the spedlres of the imagination by the introduction of
some important purpose. It may safely be believed
that either some special, new besetment, or a well-
founded fear of some annoyance, or a severe strain of
mind in planning for the exigencies of her daily life
A MKMORlAt. 169
was the constant, crucial condition under which her
hours, weeks and months passed tediously away.
The repulse of the Queen was " like a thunder-
clap to her feelings ;" and, in the matter of releasing
the prisoners, who would venture to come after the
Queen? Still she would not and could not slacken
her endeavors. Prison-relief had come to be her oc-
cupation; and while becoming inured to it, in some
respects, it continually assumed new and repulsive,
and even alarming features, and if one lost a degree
of its horror by being often met, something shocking
was sure to make up the deficiency. One disappoint-
ment, also, was followed b}^ another. Yet in her mind
nothing could stand before exertion. And although
she had made the round of those in influence, and had
been suspected and summoned for imagined duplicity
when trjdng to satisfy the rapacity of those in power,
yet, with a clear conscience and a sense of the great-
ness and justness of her cause, she had the courage
to repeat the steps in which she had failed. Time
after time she visited the Queen's sister-in-law, not
desisting until she had exhausted her patience — till
she refused to answer a question, and signified in her
looks that her importunate visitor had better keep out
of her presence.
For the seven succeeding months she visited,
almost daily, some one of the members of the gov-
ernment, or branches of the royal family, in order to
gain their influence. The magnitude of such a ser-
vice in the cause of the prisoners, taken with what
else she was compelled to do for them, added to the
care of herself and the little girls she had undertaken
lyo ANN H. JUDSON.
to educate, may well appall the minds of even those
who at this far-off day come to a knowledge of the
facts. It was a constant embassadry of love, an
unceasing effort at diplomacy with a hostile power in
whos"^ hands she and all her interests rested. What
could she find as a support for her hopes during that
protracted series of visitations ? What, to save her from
an expectation or a fear of violence, the ripened fruit
of impatience? She secured nothing as the reward of
her pains except an occasional encouraging promise;
but this seemed to save her from despair and to alle-
viate her otherwise hopeless situation, when taken in
connection with the fact that she had gained several
friends who w^ere ready to assist her with articles of
food, in a private manner, and who used their influ-
ence in the palace to destroy the impression that the
missionaries were in some way engaged in the war. No
one dared to speak a word to the King or to the Queen
in favor of a foreigner while there were such continual
reports of the success of the English arms.
And during this long period Mrs. Judson was
obliged to keep her mind fixed also on the constantly
recurring necessities of Mr. Judson, and to do her ut-
most to furnish the relief. He and the other white
prisoners were subjected to extortions and oppressions
which distressed herself as well as them. Sometimes
sums of money were demanded ; sometimes pieces of
cloth and handkerchiefs, for which the Burmans
seemed to have an insatiable desire. Then an order
w^ould be issued that they should not speak to each
other, nor hold communication with their friends with-
out ; and that servants should not carry in their food
A MEMORIAL. 171
without an extra fee. For days and days together
Mrs. Judson could not go into the prison until after
dark, and when through with her visit she had two
miles to walk in returning to her home, if a place
might be called home, which had been stripped of
its requisites and pleasant things, of testimonials and
souvenirs from different lands, and robbed of the in-
spiring presence of its " head," who was not dead —
for death could have been borne — but who was
wearing felon-chains, and was, all the time, in ex-
treme distress. As if in view of what her home
was not, she ordinarily referred to it as " the house."
It was her resting-place, in case the civil commotion
and her cares did not deprive her of rest. When
through at the prison she sought its precarious shelter
and well-nigh sepulchral gloom. Night after night
she returned from that dreary prison, at a late hour,
flitting through the darkness, herself its most expres-
sive impersonation. Only the faint hope of a dawn
sustained her weary steps ; and even with that, solitary,
fatigued and worn with anxiety, she often threw her-
self down in her house and tried to devise some new
scheme for the release of the prisoners. There she
might have been found, after ten o'clock, sitting in the
rocking-chair, provided for her in Boston, and which
she resolutely saved in the confiscation ; and with only
a moment's glance toward the land of which it re-
minded her, giving herself to the study of ways and
means of relief from existing troubles. Sometimes
she slept— for " He giveth His beloved sleep "—and
was thus recruited for another day's struggle.
172 ANN H. JUDSON.
The Burmese government was now prosecuting
the war with all its energy and conceited prowess.
New troops were being dispatched southward to the
seat of war, while reports of their loss were continu-
ally received. Bandoola, however, was having some
success in Arracan, and the King called him home in
order to give him the more difficult command of the
army sent to Rangoon. He was believed to under-
stand the art of fighting with foreigners, and Avas
flattered with all conceivable attentions, even to the
relinquishment of the duties of the throne to his
temporary kingship. Mrs. Judson, determined to miss
no opportunity, resolved, against the advice "of some
members of the government, to apply to him for the
release of the missionaries. She was told that in
reminding him of their existence, she would expose
them to execution. But it was her last hope and, as
it proved, her last application.
Mr. Judson framed the petition privately, stating
every circumstance that would be likely to interest
him in their behalf, and she, with fear and trembling,
approached him, while he was surrounded by a crowd
of flatterers. One of his secretaries took the petition
and read it aloud. After hearing it, he asked several
questions, spoke to her in an obliging manner, said he
would think of the subjecft, and bade her come again.
She was overjoyed, and ran to the prison to tell Mr.
Judson of the favorable reception, and both then en-
tertained sanguine hopes of an early release. But the
governor of the city expressed his amazement at her
rashness and his conviction that it would be the means
of destroying all the prisoners. Not daunted by the
A MEMORIAI,. 173
Opinions or prophecies of others, she visited Ban-
doola again, in a day or two, taking a present of con-
siderable value. He was not at home, but his lady,
after ordering the present taken to another room,
modestly informed her that she was ordered by her
husband to say that he was very busy in preparing for
Rangoon, and that after he had retaken that place he
would return and release all the prisoners. The
foreigners knew how to look for results at Rangoon ;
and if a Burmese victory there was to be the condition
of their relief, their future was dark indeed.
With their hopes all shattered they could only sit
down and submit to their lot. They must await the
termination of the war. But meantime the condition
of the prisoners must be made tolerable, if such a
thing might be, and to this end Mrs. Judson still con-
tinued to visit the officials, with presents. She usually -
spent the greater part of every other day at the gover-
nor's house, giving him particular information concern-
ing American manners, customs, government, etc.; and
her unflagging perseverance w^as rewarded in exciting
in his mind great interest -in her communications, so
that he felt greatly disappointed whenever any occur-
rence interfered with her visitation. Such was her
social power, even under great depression of mind.
During the period under review, the white men
wore three pairs of fetters, which were so constructed
and applied as to give a very little freedom to the feet ;
they could walk, with their ankles a few inches apart,
and were permitted to go about the prison-yard, fol-
lowed by their keepers. And through the exertions
of Mrs. Judson they were permitted, for the most of
174 ANN H. JUDSON.
the time, to spend the day in the open shed in the
yard. The same good angel obtained permission to
build a little bamboo-room, in the inclosure, where
her husband could be b}^ himself for a part of the
time, and where she was allowed sometimes to spend
two or three hours. This expedient was a great relief
to him, who was so fastidiously nice in his habits that
promiscuous herding was almost intolerable, particu-
larly in the Ava prison ; and it gave him temporary
shelter from the cold which at the time was felt in the
open shed. But it was too much of a luxury ; it was
not long to be enjoyed.
An interruption of the angel-visits of Mrs. Judson
now took place. For some months the anticipated
birth of a child had occupied the parents' minds, caus-
ing peculiar solicitude. Mr. Judson's anxiety, in con-
sequence of the solitary situation in which his wife was
to be placed by the customs of the country, culminated
in " the gloomiest forebodings." But the crisis passed
safel}^ and the little one was presented for his wel-
come at the door of the prison — a beam to enlighten
his countenance, and a shaft to pierce his heart, in
view of the dread uncertainty of the future. For
twenty days the mother did not appear at the jail with
her benefactions, and when she came with little Maria
in her arms, there seemed to be no new occasion for
solicitude. Mr. Judson came forward in his manacles,
under the power of the new attraction, and was forced
back again as usual; while she, after improving the
precious moments of the interview to the highest ad-
vantage, retraced the two miles of beaten path, with
her added charge, and the routine of tribulation
went on.
A MEMORIAI.. 175
In her " Reminiscences of Conversations with Mr.
Judson," Mrs. B. C. Judson mentions the following
interesting circumstance :
Mrs. Judson had long previous to this adopted the Burmese
style of dress. Her rich Spanish complexion could never be
mistaken for the tawny hue of the native; and her figure,
of full medium height, appeared much taller and more com-
manding in a costume usually worn by women of inferior
size. But her friend, the governor's wife, who presented her
with the dress, had recommended the measure as a concession
which would be sure to conciliate the people, and win them
to a kindlier treatment of her. Behold her, then— her dark
curls carefully straightened, drawn back from her forehead,
and a fragrant cocoa-blossom, drooping like a white plume
from the knot upon the crown ; her saffron vest thrown open
to display the folds of crimson beneath; and a rich silken
skirt, wrapped closely about her fine figure, parting at the
ankle, and sloping back upon the floor. The clothing of the
feet was not Burman, for the native sandal could not be worn
except upon a bare foot.
It was understood by the writer of the above that
our heroine presented herself in this costume when
she brought to the prison the birdling of her " Indian
nest" for its father's recognition, and to emphasize the
cheer. Her sentiment was aptly expressed by an
unknown poet:
"A springing joy,
A pleasure which no language can express,
An ecstasy that mothers only feel,
Plays round my heart, and brightens up my sorrow,
Like gleams of sunshine in a low'ring sky."
The little daughter bore the honored name of
Maria Butterworth, doubtless in recognition of friends
in England.
176 ANN H. JUDSON.
XIV.
l^<tX—OUNG-PEN-LA.
Love can hope where reason would despair.
Lord LvTTEiyTON.
"Ah! whither should we flee for aid,
When tempted, desolate, dismayed;
Or how the hosts of hell defeat,
Had suffering saints no mercy-seat?"
OTHER experiences were soon to be added, to
break the uniformity. Monotony of suffering
is exceedingly irksome, and ofttimes the intervention
of a new feature, even though more distressing, is not
an unwelcome change. The prisoners had been in
three pairs of fetters for seven weary months, when
they were suddenly loaded with five pairs, and thrust
into the inner prison. The little bamboo shelter was
ruthlessly torn away, and the mat, pillow, and other
little comforts were seized by the jailers. The hand
that provided them, with a dexterity worthy of a bet-
ter opportunity and better means, was absent and em-
ployed in a service still more loving and of greater
moment to Mr. Judson than any performed at the jail.
And when Maria was two months old a report of the
new inflictions was sent to Mrs. Judson, who was
greatly shocked by it, as it seemed to her to be pro-
phetic of still greater evils. Events of the war con-
firmed her fears. Bandoola had been defeated, his
A MEMORIAI.. 177
army destroyed, and the court thrown into consterna-
tion ; and the EngHsh forces were marching on in the
direction of the capital. This disaster to the Burman
army was the immediate cause of the closer confine-
ment of the prisoners, which was attended by new
forms of distress. Mrs. Judson now resumed her ef-
forts with the officers for the amelioration of the con-
dition of the prisoners. She went immediately to the
house of the governor, who was not at home, but had
left orders with his wife to tell her not to ask for the
removal of the additional fetters, for // could not be
done. She then went to the prison-gate, but was for-
bidden to enter. "All was still as death— not a white
face to be seen, or a vestige of Mr. Judson's little room
remaining." She determined again to see the gov-
ernor, and for this purpose returned into town the
same evening, at an hour when she knew he would be
at home. He was in his audience room, and, as she
entered, looked up without speaking, and exhibited a
sense of shame and affected anger. He understood his
visitor, and, without doubt, she was the only foreigner
in the Empire who could persistently besiege him for
such an objedl as she was trying to gain. She had the
elements of character that warded off brutaHty and as-
sured respect, even with uncivilized officials, and after
she had wearied them by her continual coming. She
broke the silence by saying :
"Your lordship has hitherto treated us with the
kindness of a father. Our obligations to you are very
great. We have looked to you for protection from
oppression and cruelty. You have in many instances
mitigated the sufferings of those unfortunate, though
178 ANN H. JUDSON.
innocent, beings committed to your charge. You
have promised me particularly that you would stand
by me to the last, and though you should receive an
order from the King, you would not put Mr. Judson
to death. What crime has he committed to deserve
such additional punishment?"
The old man's hard heart was melted, for he wept
like a child. "I pity you, Tsa-3'ah-ga-dau" — a name
by which he always called her — " I knew you would
make me feel; I therefore forbade your application.
But you must believe me when I say I do not wish to
increase the sufferings of the prisoners. When I am
ordered to execute them, the least that I can do is to
put them out of sight. I will now tell you what I
have never told 3^ou before — that three times I have
received intimations from the Queen's brother to assas-
sinate all the white prisoners privately, but I would
not do it. And I now repeat it, though I execute all
the others I will never execute 3^our husband. But I
cannot release him from his present confinement, and
you must not ask it."
In view of the governor's manner and decision, she
could but conclude that dreadful scenes were at hand.
The condition of the prisoners was already distressing,
beyond description. One hundred of the general class
were shut up together, with no air, except what found
its way into the den between the siding; the season
was hot, the fevered breaths and the exudations fetid,
and the ordinary belongings of such a place as impure
as they could well be. The foreigners, after being
stripped of half their clothing, were hurled into this
repulsive crowd, stretched on the floor, and, ''strung"
A MEMORIAL. 1 79
on a bamboo pole, which was run between their legs
in a manner to make one leg bear the weight of the
pole and the weight and fetter of the other. With
this added torment it was whispered through the pris-
on that the foreigners would be led out to execution
at three o'clock in the morning. Thoughts of the dear
one at "the house" were uppermost in Mr. Judson's
mind, but he concluded that his death would end her
sufferings, in part, while liberating him completely.
The night passed, and, for some cause, the let-mah-yoon
(the unshrinking hand) did not fall upon them. Mrs.
Judson's forebodings, however, were doubtless well
founded. From this time she occasionally obtained
permission to go to the door for five minutes, when
her heart sickened at the sight. The white prisoners
appeared more like the dead than the living. She still
made daily applications to the governor, but with no
other effect than to gain permission for the foreigners
to eat their food outside, and this privilege continued
but a short time.
After being thus imprisoned for a month or more,
Mr. Judson was taken with fever. Mrs. Judson felt
the new emergency that had arisen, and in order to
meet it she removed from her house and erected a
small bamboo room in the governor's inclosure, nearly
opposite the prison gate, where for a time she re-
mained. There she resumed her importunities for
relief, and by and by the governor, worn out by her
entreaties, gave her an order for the removal of her
husband to a more comfortable situation, and an order
for free admission to administer medicines and other
necessaries. This success made her happy indeed, and
l8o ANN H. JUDSON.
very soon he was placed in a little bamboo hovel, too
low to admit ol an upright posture, but a palace in
comparison with what he had left. She, herself, car-
ried in the food, for the sake of an interview, and
would remain an hour or two, unless driven out.
The story of the caged lion, the symbol of British
Royalty, tortured to death by slow starvation, within
the immediate view of the prisoners, is as pathetic as
it is familiar. Within the iron bars from which death
released it, Mr. Judson begged to be placed as a special
relief; and there his loving wife ministered to him in a
manner befitting an angel, though barely possessed of
means by which to save him from the lion's fate.
About this time Bandoola died, or was cut off.
The event produced universal consternation. In the
palace and in the streets of the town a lamentation
went up. Who would undertake to lead the armies
after the fall of the invincible Bandoola ! The com-
mon people, from whom had been exacted the entire
amount requisite to the prosecution of the war, were
muttering rebellion. At length the pakan-woon, who
had previously been disgraced and incarcerated, of-
fered his services, with great promises ; and he, being
known to be a man of great ability, and a violent
enemy of all foreigners, was entrusted with supreme
command.
Mrs. Judson could expect nothing good from this
new movement, yet she and her husband were in
a comparatively comfortable situation for a few days.
Then, one morning, having carried in his food, and
having remained somewhat longer than usual, she
received a request from the governor to appear in his
A MKMORIAI.. l8l
presence, with haste. Her alarm was allayed when he
informed her that he only wished to consult her in
regard to his watch, and he seemed to be unusually
agreeable and sociable. But she afterward learned
that he merely wished to detain her until a new act
in the prison scenes should be passed.
When she left the governor to return to her room,
she was met by one of the servants, who, with a ghastly
countenance, informed her that all the white prison-
ers had been carried away. She could not credit the
report, and went back to the governor to make in-
quiry concerning it, who replied that he had just heard
of it. She then ran into the street, hoping to get a
glimpse of them before they were out of sight, but
was disappointed. Running from one street to an-
other she inquired of all she met, but no one would
answer her, till, finally, an old w^oman told her that
the white prisoners had gone toward the little river,
and were to be carried to Amarapura. She then ran
to the banks of that stream, about half a mile, but did
not see them, and concluded that she had been de-
ceived. Some of their friends went to the place of
execution, but they were not there. She went back to
the governor to ascertain the cause of their removal,
and the probability of their future fate, and the old
man assured her that he was ignorant of the intention
of the government until that morning, and that, since
she went out, he had learned that they were to be sent
to Amarapura, but for what purpose he knew not.
'' I will send off a man immediately," said he, " to see
what is to be done with them. You can do nothing
more for your husband ; ^a/:e care of yourself ''
l82 ANN H. JUDSON.
The governor, with all his knowledge of her zeal
and courage, was not aware of the resources of her na-
ture not yet exhausted ; or, he may have considered
the prisoners' doom already sealed. His advice was
friendly, but to take care of herself was a secondary
object, so long as Mr. Judson was not knowm to have
been cared for. She went to her room and sank down
almost in despair, indeed, for there was nothing in
sight to incite her to exertion. Her feelings at the
moment are thus described by herself:
For several da3-s previous I had been actively engaged in
building my own little room, and making our hovel -comfort-
able. My thoughts had been almost entirely occupied in
contriving means to get into prison. But now I looked
toward the gate with a kind of melancholy feeling, but no
wish to enter. All was the stillness of death ; no preparation
of Mr. Judson's food, no expectation of meeting him at the
usual dinner hour ; all my occupations, all my employment
seems to have ceased, and I had nothing left but the dreadful
recollection that he was carried off, I knew not whither. It
was one of the most insupportable days I ever passed. To-
ward night, however, I came to the determination to set off
the next morning for Amarapura, and for this purpose was
obliged to go to our house out of town.
Never before had I suffered so much from fear in travers-
ing the streets of Ava. The last words of the governor,
"Take care of yourself," made me suspect that there was
some design with which I was unacquainted. I saw, also, that
he was afraid to have me go into the streets, and he advised
me to wait till dark, when he would send me in a cart, and
a man to open the gates. I took two or three trunks of the
most valuable articles, together with the medicine chest, to
deposit in the house of the governor; and after committing
the house and premises to our faithful Moung Ing, and a Ben-
galee servant, who continued with us, though we were unable
to pay his wages, I took leave, as I then thought probable,
of our house in Ava forever.
A MKMORIAI.. 183
On returning to the governor she found a servant
of Mr. Gouger who had followed the prisoners when
they were led away, and who informed her that they
had been taken before the lamine-woon, at Arhara-
pura, and were to be sent next day to a village be-
yond. She was somewhat relieved to learn that Mr.
Judson was still alive, yet was distressed with anxiety
as to what was to be done with him. Next morning,
after obtaining a pass from the government, she took
little Maria, then only three months old, Mary and
Abby Hasseltine (two of the Burman children), and
the Bengalee cook, who was the only one of the party
able to render her any assistance, and set out for Ama-
rapura, six miles distant. The day was dreadfully
hot, but having obtained a covered boat they were
tolerably comfortable until they left the river; then
they rode in a cart to the government house, two
miles, which passage, in consequence of the violent
motion of the vehicle, with the heat and dust, made
her "almost distracted." Another disappointment
awaited her; the prisoners had been driven on two
hours before, and the cartman refused to go any far-
ther. After waiting an hour in the burning sun, she
procured another cart, and, with the babe still in her
arms, urged her way on for four miles more, to that
"never-to-be-forgotten place, Oung-pen-la."
She obtained a guide from the governor, and was
conducted directly to the prison-yard. What a scene
of wretchedness was there presented to her view!
The prison was an old shattered building, without roof
or fence ; though some Burmese were on the top, try-
ing to make something like a covering, by means of
184 ANN H. JUDSON.
leaves. Under a low projection, outside, sat the for-
eigners, chained two and two as they had been driven,
almost dead from suffering ; less one, the poor Greek,
who was unequal to the heat and the abuse of the
way, and had died at Amarapura. Mr. Judson looked
up as Mrs. Judson approached, and said, " Why have
you come? I hoped you would not follow, for you
cannot live here." But he had learned to expect that
her love and bravery would carry her wherever he
went, if she were needed, and it were at all possible,
and, of course, he was not altogether surprised.
Night was at hand, and she was destitute of pro-
visions for the prisoners and for herself, and without
shelter for her little family. She tried her familiar
expedient — permission to put up a little bamboo house
near the prison — but it failed ; the jailer said it was
not customary. She then begged the jailer to procure
for her a shelter for the night, hoping to obtain some-
thing more permanent on the morrow. He took her
to his own house, which contained but two small
rooms; one of these his family occupied, and the
other, a store-room for grain, he gave to her, and that
little filthy place was her abode for the next six
months. Worn out by her hard journey, she spread
a mat over the paddy and threw herself down upon
it to get a little rest.
The next morning .she endeavored to find some-
thing answering the description of food, but there
was nothing to be procured. However, one of Dr.
Price's friends brought some cold rice and vegetable
curry from Amarapura, which, with a cup of tea,
answered for the breakfast of the prisoners; and for
A MEMORIAL. 185
dinner she made a curry of dried salt fish. All the
money she could command had been brought, secreted
on her person. In view of the uncertain length of
the war, the extortions, of the jailers, and such exi-
gencies as to food and illness as had thus far attend-
ed their prison life, her financial condition was not
flattering.
At this time her personal bodily sufferings began.
The very morning after her arrival at Oung-pen-la,
one of the little girls, Mary Hasseltine, was taken
with the small-pox, the natural way. Though very
young, she was the only assistant in taking care of
little Maria ; and now she requiredr all of Mrs. Judson's
time that could possibly be spared from Mr. Judson,
whose fever, setting in at Ava prison, had continued,
and whose feet were so dreadfully blistered and lacer-
ated by the forced march over the hot sand and gravel
that for several days he was unable to move. She
could not procure assistance or medicine, and all day
long she traveled from the house to the prison, back
and forth with the child in her arms. The small-pox
began to spread. She herself had nearly a hundred
pustules ; for, notwithstanding that she had been vac-
cinated before leaving America, the interval had been
long, and she had been constantly exposed. But there
was compensation for this new trial. She commenced
to vaccinate the children, and presently her fame in
that practice spread throughout the village, and every
child, young and old, who had not previously had the
small-pox, was brought to her for inoculation. She
was unacquainted with the disorder, but she could
achieve success by the use of the needle in vaccina-
ting and by instrucfting the patients as to diet.
l86 ANN H. JUDSON.
Mr. Judson's health was gradually restored, and he
was much more comfortably situated than when in the
city prison. The prisoners, at first chained two-and-
two, were separated, and each wore but one pair. The
prison was repaired, and a large, airy front shed was
constructed, in which they were permitted to remain
during the day. All of the children recovered from
the small-pox, but Mrs. Judson's watchings and
fatigue, together with her miserable food and more
miserable lodgings, brought on one of the diseases of
the country, which is almost always fatal to foreigners.
Her constitution was affected, and she became so weak
as to be scarcely able to walk to the prison. In this
debilitated state she set off in a cart for Ava, to procure
medicines and food. She reached the house in safety,
and for two or three days the disorder seemed at a
stand ; after which it became so violent as to destroy
her hope of recovery, and her chief anxiety then was
to return to Oung-pen-la, and die near the prison. It
was with the greatest difficulty that she obtained the
medicine-chest from the governor, with whom it had
been deposited, and then she had no one to administer
the medicines. She, however, got the laudanum, and
by taking two or three drops at a time for several
hours, the complaint was so far checked that she was
enabled to get on board a boat, though too weak to
stand, and again to set out for Oung-pen-la. As be-
fore, the last four miles was in that wonderful convey-
ance, the cart, and the rainy season was in progress,
when the mud almost buries the oxen. The Burmese
cart, it will be remembered, consisted simply of small
wheels cut from thick planks, with axletree and
A MEMORIAL. jgy
tongue, and a body resting on them. In America it
would be called a jolt-cart, and it proved to be that to
Mrs. Judson, who barely survived the ride.
On reaching Oung-pen-la, the good native cook, to
whom she had entrusted her cares during her absence,
came out to help her into the house, and he was so
shocked by her emaciated appearance that he burst
into tears. She crawled onto the mat in her forlorn
little room, where she was confined ^or more than two
months; and she did not fully recover until after
removal to the English camp. At this time both she
and Mr. Judson must have died from their sufferings,
had it not been for "the faithful and affectionate care
of the Bengalee cook," who seemed to forget his caste
and his own wants in his efforts to serv^e them. Some
days he did not taste of food until near night, in
consequence of having to go some distance for wood
and water, and in order to have Mr. Judson's dinner
in readiness promptly. He never complained, never
asked for his wages, never for a moment hesitated to
go anywhere or to do anything required. He contin-
ued with the family, it seems, through the remainder
of Mrs. Judson's life, and his important services may
be mentioned as a gracious provision of the Divine
Hand— an ignoble instrumentality for a great emer-
gency—duplicated many times in this world, in ob-
scured circumstances. God is not unrighteous to
forget such labor of love.
At this time, also, little Maria, the child of her trib-
ulations, was the greatest sufferer of all. On account
of her own illness she could not give her the nourish-
ment natural to her, and she could not obtain a nurse
l88 ANN H. JUDSON.
or a drop of milk in the village. As a last expedient,
she devised a mode of getting assistance from the
mothers of the neighborhood who were nursing chil-
dren; and having resorted to the old and effective
method of influencing the jailers — the giving of gifts
— she obtained permission for Mr. Judson to come out
of the prison and carry the pitiable creature from door
to door, begging milk from maternal breasts. What
straits! Parents from an enlightened land, Christian
and cultured parents seeking to prolong the existence
of their offspring through the "tender mercies" of
begrimmed pagan females!
Mrs. Judson now began to think, more than ever
before, that "the very afflictions of Job" had come
upon her. The cries of her child in the night were
heart-rending ; she could not supply her wants. When
in health she could bear her trials and pass through
all vicissitudes with strength of heart, but now, to be
sick and disabled from helping dear ones in distress,
w^as almost too much for her to bear. Sometimes the
jailers seemed a little softened at the distress they wit-
nessed, and for several days together allow^ed Mr. Jud-
son to go to the hoUvSe and spend the hours with his
family, which was "an unspeakable consolation" at
this particular time. Then, again, as if there were no
occasion for compassion, or to make an offset for the
special privilege granted, they would be iron-hearted
in their demands, and would annoy, extort, and oppress
beyond description.
Some time after their arrival at Oung-pen-la the
prisoners learned of the object for which they had
been sent there, viz. : their sacrifice to the god of war ;
A me;moriai,.
189
probably by fire, according to current belief at the
time they were driven away from the Ava prison, and
agreeably to their own convidlions when they arrived
and saw the lack of adequate provision for safe incar-
ceration. The pakan-woon, the new head of the
army, an unscrupulous wretch, intended witnessing
the horrid scene, but he himself was executed for his
treachery to the government, and his diabolical pur-
poses were not carried out. There was universal re-
joicing at his death, and the lives of the missionaries
were thus spared. Various attempts were made to
subdue the English forces, which were marching to-
ward the capital and conquering as they went, but the
commanders did not meet with success, and each one
in the succession was weakened at heart and in reality
by the failures going before. And even the adling
King, who had been induced to take command, and in
whom great hopes had been reposed, was too cowardly
to do so much as to approach the enemy. The Bur-
mese were ready to make terms of peace.
Six months had been passed by the missionaries at
Oung-pen-la, when the Providential Hmit of their stay
at that " never-to-be-forgotten place" was reached. An
official order came for Mr. Judson's release. It was re-
ceived in the evening, and on the following morning,
with gladness of heart, Mrs. Judson began to prepare
for an early departure. What was her surprise at being
met by the jailers with an objection to her going.
Their avarice had not yet been satisfied, and it was not
likely to be, so long as her supply of desirable goods or
money should hold out. They claimed that the order
did not include her, but she, seeing her opportunity to
190 ANN H. JUDSON.
assert her rights, found herself amply supplied with
the courage to do so ; she insisted that she was not a
prisoner, and that they had no authority over her.
They determined that she should not leave, and for-
bade the villagers to lend her a cart. Before the dis-
pute ended, Mr. Judson was taken from the prison and
brought to the jailer's house, where, by promises and
threatenings he gained consent for her to go, on con-
dition that the remainder of the provisions she had re-
cently received from Ava should be left. The conces-
sion was more galling than the price paid.
By noon the stricken little family were allowed to
depart toward Ava, glad of what appeared to be free-
dom, yet not knowing what might befall them there.
The order for release no doubt included the requisition
to report at the capital; because, on reaching Amara-
pura, he was conducted to the governor of the city,
and by him placed under another guard which con-
veyed him to the court-house in Ava, at which place
he arrived sometime in the night. Mrs. Judson took
another course from Amarapura; she obtained a boat
and went down the river to her house, reaching it
before dark.
The next morning she went in search of Mr. Jud-
son ; a course which she must have anticipated, and a
pursuit with which she was by no means unacquainted.
But what was her mortification on finding him again
imprisoned ! She followed the thread of investigation
with which she was so familiar, going first to her old
friend, the governor of the city, who was now holding
the rank of a woon-gyee. From him she learned that
Mr. Judson was to be sent to the Burmese camp, to
A MEMORIAL. 191
act as a translator and interpreter, and that he was in
durance only until his affairs were settled. The next
morning she went to the same source of information
again, and learned that he had just received twenty
ticals from the government, with orders to go immedi-
ately on board a boat for Maloun (Mah-looan), and
there to act in the above capacity. Hastening back to
the house, she had the privilege of welcoming her
husband to his family once more ; in this case a satis-
faction of a character and an intensity rarely experi-
enced in this world.
192 ANN H. JUDSON.
XV.
^matt^ 0f l^tatt—DIRE DISTRESS,
He restoreth my soul. — Ps. 23 : 3.
No bliss I'll seek, but to fulfill
In life, in death, Thy perfect will ;
No succors in my woes I want,
But what my Lord is pleased to grant.
Madame Guyon.
THE joy granted to saints whose cup of affliction
is not full, is very brief; and in the case of Mrs.
Judson it was attended with active preparation for
another separation. She must prepare food and cloth-
ing for his future comfort amid the contingencies of
army life. He had permission to vStop for only a few
minutes, when he was hurried away and "crowded
into a little boat, where he had not room sufficient to
lie down, and where his exposure to the cold, damp
nights threw him into a violent fever which had
nearly ended all his sufferings. He arrived at Maloun
on the third day, w^here, ill as he was, he was obliged
to enter immediately upon the work of translating.
He remained at Maloun six weeks, suffering as much
as he had at any time in prison, excepting that he was
not in irons, nor exposed to the insults of those cruel
jailers."
Mrs. Judson, for a little time not advised as to her
husband's health, was measurably relieved of the dis-
A MEMORIAI,. 193
tressing anxiety she had experienced. Being well
aware that the Government officers would too highly
appreciate his services to justify them in doing him
violence, and that he was coming into a position to be
petitioned by them, she turned attention upon herself,
as it was necessary she should do. Relaxation of the
terrible strain of previous months was naturally fol-
lowed by such a seeming luxation as to bring out all
her ailments and make way for others. Her health
declined daily, and ere long she was seized with the
spotted fever, "w.ith all its attendant horrors." Know-
ing the nature of this disease, and the shattered state
of her constitution, and being in want of medical as-
sistance, she concluded that it must prove fatal. Yet
her solicitude was much abated, on the day she was
taken, by the appearance of a Burmese nurse who
offered her services for Maria. This provision for the
exigency, after repeated failures on her own part to
secure such a person, gave her renewed confidence in
the God of Providence, and thus fortified her soul for
new trials. The fever raged with violence and with-
out intermission ; and she contemplated settling all
her worldly affairs, entrusting her little daughter to
the care of a Portuguese woman, and so be ready
for the worst. But while her plans were maturing,
her reason failed ; she was shut up in deepest dark-
ness, and the tumultuous world went on its way regard-
less of its imperilled treasure.
.At this critical juncture Dr. Price was released
from prison, and, hearing of her illness, obtained per-
mission to go and visit her. He undertook to treat
the case, afterward testifying that he did not then
194 -^^N H- JUDSON.
think she could survive many hours, and that her situ-
ation was the most distressing he had ever witnessed.
The fever had run for seventeen days, and her head
was shaved and bHsters were appHed to both head and
feet ; also, the Bengalee servant was instru(5led to en-
deavor to persuade her to take a little nourishment,
which for several days she had obstinately refused.
One of her first recollections, after reason again
dawned, was the presence of this faithful nurse at her
side, trying to induce her to take a little wine and
water. She was so far gone that the Burmese neigh-
bors, who had come in to see her expire, said, " She is
dead; and if the King of Angels should come in, he
could not recover her."
In Mr. Judson's reminiscences of her dreadful sit-
uation, even after the return of consciousness, is found
the following statement, couched in the expressive
language of Mrs. Emily C. Judson. The description
covers his first entrance to his house, after his final
release :
With a step more fleet than for the past two j^ears he
had practiced, and in spite of the maimed ankles which some-
times almost refused their office, he hurried along the street
to his beloved home. The door stood invitingly open, and,
without having been seen by any one, he entered. The first
object which met his eye was a fat, half-naked Burman
woman, squatting in the ashes beside a pan of coals, and
holding on her knees a wan baby, so begrimmed with dirt
that it did not occur to the father that it could be his own.
He gave but one hasty look, and hurried to the next room.
Across the foot of the bed, as though she had fallen there,
lay a human object, that, at the first glance, was scarcely more
recognizable than his child. The face was of a ghastly pale-
ness, the features sharp, and the whole form shrunken almost
A MEMORIAL. 195
to the last degree of emaciation. The glossy black curls had
all been shorn from the finely shaped head, which was now
covered by a closely-fitting cotton cap, of the coarsest and
— unlike anything usually coming in contact with that head-
not the cleanest kind. The whole room presented an appear-
ance of the very extreme of wretchedness, more harrowing to
the feelings than can be told. There lay the devoted wife,
who had followed him so unweariedly from prison to prison,
ever alleviating his distresses, without eve|i common hireling
attendance. He knew, by the very arrangement of the room,
and by the expression of sheer animality on the face of the
woman who held his child, that the Bengalee cook had been
her only nurse. The wearied sleeper was awakened by a
breath that came too near her cheek. Perhaps a falling tear
might have been added; for, steady as were those eyes in
difficulties, dauntless in dangers, and stern when conscience
frowned, they were well used to tender tears.
Mrs. Judson now began to recover slowly, but it
was more than a month after the recovery of her
reason before she was able to stand. And while in
this helpless condition, the servant who had followed
Mr. Judson to the Burmese camp came in, and in-
formed her that his master had arrived and had been
conducted to the court-house. Thereupon she sent off
a Burman to watch the movements of government,
and to ascertain, if possible, in what way he was to be
disposed of Returning, he reported that he saw him
go out of the palace yard, accompanied by two or
three Burmans, who conducted him to one of the
prisons, and that it was reported in town that he was
to be sent back to Oung-pen-la. She was too weak to
bear ill tidings of any kind ; " but a shock so dreadful
as this," she says, " almost annihilated me. For some
time I could hardly breathe, but at last gained suffi-
196 ANN H. JUDSON. ,
cient composure to dispatch Moung Ing to our friend,
the governor of the north gate, and begged him to
make one more effort for the release of Mr. Judson, and
prevent his being sent back to the country prison,
where I knew he must suffer much, as I could not fol-
low. Moung Ing then went in search of Mr. Judson ;
and it was nearly dark when he found him in the in-
terior of an obscure prison. I had sent food early in
the afternoon; but being unable to find him, the
bearer had returned with it, which added another pang
to my distresses."
While Mrs. Judson was on her feet, whatever the
degree of her health, she would follow her husband at
all hazards, and always minister to his wants in prefer-
ence to her own. And she could scarcely acquiesce in
circumstances of inability to see him, and to know
what his necessity might be. As it was said of him,
so it was with her, she could do better than she
could endure. Only her deep piety, her unbounded
confidence in Divine Providence, saved her from com-
plaining when she was hedged in and could know of
his situation only by hearsay, and the tidings some-
times difficult of interpretation. The present was a
time in which she must acquiesce, and in her prostrate
condition she had the Everlasting Arm to lean upon,
and the consciousness of access to a court from which
she would never be spurned. Her very pleadings
seemed to bear with them the assurance of answer in
some form, and the promises furnished resting to her
wearied soul.
It was true that Mr. Judson was ordered back to
Oung-pen-la, there being much confusion in the mind
A MEMORIAL. 197
of the presiding officer, just then, as to who he was.
When told that he came from that place, he replied,
"lyct him be returned thither." But Mrs. Judson's
old helper, the governor, whose friendship she had
gradually and permanently secured, by her lady-like,
yet firm diplomacy, came forward with a petition to
the high court of the Empire for his release, offering
himself as his security ; and he prevailed. With Mrs.
Judson on the one part, and this old governor, Moung-
shwa-loo, on the other, all movements were made that
availed anything toward the amelioration of the pris-
oners' condition during their long confinement and
for their final liberation, and she, in reality, drilled and
cultivated him in the practice of court appeals and of
humaneness toward the suffering. He was ever after-
ward a better man for having become acquainted with
her, and it would seem that he was superior to his
race, as she was to hers. He took Mr. Judson to
his own house and treated him kindly, he being in his
charge.
Meantime the English were pressing their way
northward toward the capital, creating the utmost
consternation. And still the Burmese held out, reject-
ing all the overtures of Sir Archibald Campbell, filled
with the conceit that they were the lords of the
nations, and believing that they would yet drive the
English from the country. They continued in the
greatest possible activity, pressing men and beasts
into work on the defenses, strengthening the old and
erecting new. Whatever buildings were in the way
were wantonly torn down, and this destruction in-
cluded Mr. Judson's house, with his beautiful little
IQS ANN H. JUDSON.
compound, which was turned into a road and a place
for the erection of cannon. Mrs. Judson had been re-
moved to the governor's house on the improvement of
her health, and, after that knew no more of " house "
or home in Ava.
After six weeks of residence with the governor,
Mr. Judson was forced to aid in negotiating for peace,
a business on which Dr. Price had been dispatched
twice, and with whom he was to be associated. The
Burmese affairs were in a state of desperation. Ex-
citement ran high, and on the return of the deputation
and the announcement of the terms, the government
w^as disappointed and incensed, and it accused the mis-
sionaries of not trying to make the terms favorable to
the Burmans. They must go again, and they were
threatened that they and their families should suffer,
unless they made the English give better conditions.
In the interval, another desperate general undertook
the subjugation of the English, and returned with the
usual shame of defeat, and was condemned to be exe-
cuted on account of it, but was cruelly killed before
he could reach the fatal block.
The second attempt at negotiation on Mr. Judson's
part (the fourth by Dr. Price, who rather desired the
office of mediation), onl}^ made matters worse. The
English were incensed, and were still threatening the
capital by a closer approach. And, added to previous
demands, Mr. Judson was commissioned to require the
release of all the remaining foreigners who should
desire release , of whatever country, and to question
them concerning their wishes in the presence of the
Burmese government. It was so done, and he had
A ME^MORIAI,, IQQ
the happiness to release the very last of his fellow-
prisoners.
In the negotiation preceding the last, the British
general had authorized Dr. Price to demand Mr. and
Mrs. Judson and Maria. When this order was com-
municated to the King, he replied : " They are not
Knghsh; they are my people, and shall not go." The
answer had some appearance of plausibility, in view of
the representations that Mrs. Judson had made from
time to time, while a natural jealousy arose on their
account. Besides, the King had become impressed as
to the importance of such people in his kingdom;
especially the value of Mr. Judson's services, who had
been in his employ as commissioner and interpreter
for three months. Mrs. Judson felt convinced at this
time that they never would be released from Ava.
But at the final test of the foreigners' desires, before
referred to, members of the government placed them-
selves in the attitude of beggars. They said to Mr.
Judson, -You will not leave us; you shall become a
great man if you will remain ; " and this made it seem
possible to go or to stay. Mr. Judson avoided the
odmm of saying he wished to leave the service of His
Majesty, by referring to the order of Sir Archibald
Campbell, that whoever desired to depart should be
given up; and inasmuch as Mrs. Judson expressed a
wi^h to go, It would be necessary for him to go also.
The prisoners at Oung-pen-la," says Mrs. Judson,
'were all released, and either sent to their houses, or
down the river to the English; and in two days from
the time of Mr. Judson's return, we took an affection-
ate leave of the good-natured officer who had so long
200 ANN H. JUDSON.
entertained us at his house, and who now accompanied
us to the water-side, and we then left forever the banks
of Ava. It was on a cool, moonlight evening, in the
month of March, that with hearts filled with gratitude
to God, and overflowing with joy at our prospe(5ls, we
passed down the Irrawaddy, surrounded by six or
eight golden boats, and accompanied by all we had on
earth." It was in allusion to this departure that Mr.
Judson made the characteristic remarks contained in
the reminiscences of Mrs. Emily C. Judson :
Oue evening several persons at our house were repeating
anecdotes of what different men in different ages regarded
as the highest type of sensuous enjoyment ; that is, enjoy-
ment derived from outward circumstances. "Pooh!" said
Mr. Judson; "these men were not qualified to judge. I
know of a much higher pleasure than that. What do you
think of floating down the Irrawaddy, on a cool, moon-
light evening, with your wife by your side and your baby
in your arms, free — all free ! But yoii cannot understand it,
either ; it needs a twenty-one months' qualification, and I can
never regret my twenty-one months of misery, when I recall
that one delicious thrill. I think I have had a better appreci-
ation of what heaven may be ever since."
Mrs. Judson's experience corresponded fully to that
of her husband. With a capacity for suffering and for
happiness fully equal to his, and for discerning, as
well, the transition from one of these states to the
other, with its " delicious thrill," she had, likewise, the
joy of achievement— a whole series of victories run-
ning through the twenty-one months, in which he
could be only a passive participator. And the good
fight was fought in behalf of a number of persons —
prisoners whose only dependence for a gentle and
A MEMORIAI,. 20I
grateful service was placed in this frail yet mighty
woman, who was constantly ill and all the while over-
whelmed with domestic cares. She made pagans quail
and weep. She reached the end — cowed unreasonable
officers, alleviated distress, and continued her ministry
of love and heroism until the oppressed were set free.
In harmony with this statement is the following
tribute of one of the prisoners, an enterprising Eng-
lish merchant :
Mrs. Judson was the author of those eloquent and forcible
appeals to the government, which prepared them by degrees
for submission to terms of peace, never expected by any who
knew the hauteur and inflexible pride of the Burman court.
And while on this subject, the overflowings of grateful
feelings, on behalf of myself and fellow-prisoners, compel
me to add a tribute of public thanks to that amiable and hu-
mane female, who, though living at a distance of two miles
from our prison, without any means of conveyance, and very
feeble in health, forgot her own comfort and infirmity, and
almost every day visited us, sought out and administered to
our wants, and contributed in every way to alleviate our
misery.
While we were all left by the government destitute of food,
she, with unwearied perseverance, by some means or other, ob-
tained for us a constant supply. When the tattered state of
our clothes evinced the extremity of our distress, she was ever
ready to replenish our scanty wardrobe. When the unfeeling
avarice of our keepers confined us inside, or made our feet
fast in the stocks, she, like a ministering angel, never ceased
her applications to the government, until she was authorized
to communicate to us the grateful news of our enlargement,
or of a respite from our galling oppressions. Besides all this,
it was unquestionably owing, in a chief degree, to the re-
peated eloquence and forcible appeals of Mrs. Judson, that
the untutored Burman was finally made willing to secure the
welfare and happiness of his country, by a sincere peace.
202 ANN H. JUDSON.
To show, further, the self-forgetfulness of Mrs. Jud-
son and the intensity of her application to duty, a sen-
tence from her letter is here quoted : " Sometimes for
a moment or two my thoughts would glance toward
America, and my beloved friends there ; but for nearly
a year and a half, so entirely engrossed was every
thought wath present scenes and sufferings, that I sel-
dom reflected on a single occurrence of my former life,
or recollected that I had a friend in existence out of
Ava."
This is one of the most remarkable statements in
missionary annals. Had the contrary been said, no
one should have been surprised ; for it would have
been in keeping with what is known of the human
heart, and the environments of one who has goiie into
a heathen land, in voluntary exile from " friends, con-
nections, happy country." The element of her dispo-
sition thus revealed was a saving provision in her
mental character, preventing it from giving w^ay at
critical junctures. Ever before and ever after the Ava
troubles she evinced the most tender, thoughtful re-
gard for friends in America, and this temporary obliv-
ion into which she plunged was to her the means of
displaying a power of devotement seldom seen in the
history of woman.
The destination of the missionaries, under the
terms of peace, was the quarters of the English army.
They passed down the Irrawaddy, attended by the flo-
tilla of golden boats, dreading only a possible detention
in passing the Burmese camp. Their apprehensions
were not without foundation ; for the woon-gyee and
high ofiicers there wanted to hold them as hostages,
A ME'MORIAI,. 20-^
subject to an amicable consummation of the stipula-
tions. But Mr. Judson, conscious of the freedom of
which he had been deprived so long, and had but just
secured, rose in protest ; and after two hours was per-
mitted to pass on. Mrs. Judson, as she says, now felt
free, and in the morning, with sensations of supreme
delight, " beheld the masts of the steamboat, the sure
presage of being within the bounds of civilized life."
On reaching that vessel two of the officers of the
Knglish army came and congratulated the missionaries
on their arrival, and invited them on board, where
Mrs. Judson passed the remainder of the day. Mr.
Judson went on to army quarters, a few miles farther
down the river, and in the evening returned with an
invitation from Sir Archibald Campbell to come di-
reaiy to his quarters. The next morning she was
introduced and received with the greatest kindness.
The general had a large tent pitched near to his own,
for the use of the missionary family, and fed them at
his own table. He also recovered all their property
that had been wrested from them at Ava, and his hos-
pitality and kind attention to the accommodations for
their passage when leaving, left an impression on their
hearts that only subjects of sympathy can receive.
Mrs. Judson's heart, in particular, overflowed with
gratitude for the courtesy and kindness of diff-erent
officers, causing her to feel that she was still accounted
worthy of the respeA of mankind; and in the inno-
cence of her soul she "presumed to say that no
persons on earth were ever happier than they were
during the fortnight they passed at the English
camp." That "twenty-one months' qualification"
204 ANN H. JUDSON.
ought not to be necessary very often in this world,
yet it is evident that many need the discipline more
than did these missionaries. The final efFecft was not
to make Mrs. Judson a complainer, to sigh for the
homes and hills, the society and the churches of New
England, but, rather, to cause her to lift up her. voice
in praise to Him who had preserved and delivered,
shouting, " What shall we render unto the Lord for all
his benefits," and then to turn her face joyfully toward
the very work in the prosecution of which all her
griefs had arisen. The work was not to cease on
account of temporary obstructions, however obstinate
and long continued, but the uses of war and the
lessons of its miseries and events were to be learned,
and its results to be wrought into future missionary
plans. As her husband, when lying on the hard
boards of the prison-house, contemplated the ultimate
consequences of the invasion — the probable opening
of the Empire to the Gospel, liberty of conscience, and
the taking up, by himself and by others, of the work
he had been compelled to drop, and carrying it on to
a glorious success — so she, now that she found time for
contemplation, looked to nothing but procedure with
the enterprise; trusting, as she said, that "the pros-
perity of the Burman mission (still the dearest object
of our hearts) will be promoted by those events which
have taken place the last two years." She had fought
the good fight, and now she was to finish her course.
The reader will be glad to linger at Yandabo, Eng-
lish headquarters, and learn further as to Mrs. Judson's
entertainment there, as revealing her character in
other lights;
A MKMORIAI,. 205
General Campbell was to give a dinner to the Burmese
commissioners, and he chose to make it an affair of some
pomp and magnificence. At a given order, almost as by
magic, the camp v^as turned into a scene of festivity, with
such a profusion of gold and crimson, and floating banners,
as is thought most pleasing to an Oriental eye. When the
dinner hour arrived the company marched in couples, to the
music of the band, toward the table, led by the general, who
walked alone. As they came opposite the tent with the ve-
randa before it (Mr. Judson's), suddenly the music ceased, the
whole procession stood still, and while the wondering Bur-
man's turned their eager eyes in every direction, doubtful as
to what would be the next act in the little drama, so curious to
them as strangers, the general entered the tent. In a moment
he reappeared with a lady on his arm — no stranger to the con-
scious commissioners — whom he led to the table, and seated
at his own right hand. The abashed commissioners slid into
their seats shrinkingly, where they sat as though transfixed
by a mixture of astonishment and fear. " I fancy these gentle-
men must be old acquaintances of yours, Mrs. Judson," Gen-
eral Campbell remarked, amused by what he began to suspect,
though he did not fully understand it ; " and, judging from
their appearance, you must have treated- them very ill." Mrs.
Judson smiled. The Burmans could not understand the re-
mark, but they evidently considered themselves the subject of
it, and their faces were blank with consternation.
"What is the matter with yonder owner of the pointed
beard ? " pursued Sir Archibald ; " he seems to be seized with
an ague fit."
" I do not know," answered Mrs. Judson, fixing her eyes on
the trembler, with perhaps a mischievous enjoyment of his
anxiety, " unless his memory may be too busy. He is an old
acquaintance of mine, and may probably infer danger to him-
self from seeing me under your protection."
She then proceeded to relate how, when her husband was
suffering from fever in the stifled air of the inner prison, with
five pairs of fetters about his ankles, she had walked several
miles to this man's house to ask a favor. She had left home
206 'ANN H. JUDSON.
early in the morning ; but was kept waiting so long that it
was noonday before she proffered her reqiiest, and received a
rough refusal. She was turning sorrowfully away, when his
attention was attracted by the silk umbrella she carried in her
hand, and he instantly seized upon it. It was in vain that she
represented the danger of her walking home without it ; told
him she had brought no money, and could not buy anything
to shelter her from the sun ; and begged that, if he took that,
he would at least furnish her with a paper one, to protect her
from the scorching heat. He laughed, and, turning the very
suffering that had wasted her, into a jest, told her it was only
stout people who were in danger of a sunstroke — the sun
could not find such as she ; and so turned her from the door.
Expressions of indignation burst from the lips of the
listening officers; and try to restrain them as they would, in-
dignant glances did somewhat detract from that high tone of
courtesy which it is an Englishman's, and especially an Eng-
lish officer's pride to preserve in all matters of hospitality.
The poor Burman, conscience-taught, seemed to understand
everything that was passing, and his features were distorted
with fear ; while his face, from which the perspiration oozed
painfully, appeared, through his tawny skin, of a deathly
paleness. It was not in a woman's heart to do other than pity
him ; and Mrs. Judson remarked softly, in Burmese, that he
had nothing to fear, and then repeated the remark to Sir Arch-
ibald. The conversation immediately became general, and
every means was taken to reassure the timorous guests, but
with little success. There sat the lady, whom all but one of
them had personally treated with indignity, at the right hand
of power, and her husband, just released from his chains, close
beyond; and they doubtless felt conscious that if they and
their lady wives were in such a position they would ask the
heads of their enemies, and the request would be granted.
"I never thought I was over and above vindictive," re-
marked Mr. Judson, when he told the story; *' but really it was
one of the richest scenes I ever beheld. "
A British officer, Major Calder Campbell, describing an
adventure in Ava in the year 1826, gives a beautiful and
A MEMORIAI,. 207
affecting description of Mrs. Judson. Major Campbell, then a
lieutenant, when descending the Irrawaddy river in a canoe
manned by Burmans, was attacked in the night, while asleep,
by his faithless boatmen, and severely wounded and robbed!
When waiting on the beach with much anxiety and distress
for the passage of some friendly bark, a row-boat was seen ap-
proaching. Signals of distress were made, and a skiff sent to
his assistance. The following is the language of the writer:
'•We were taken on board. My eyes first rested on the
thin, attenuated form of a lady— a white lady ! the first white
lady I had seen for more than a year ! She was standing on the
little deck of the row-boat, leaning on the arm of a sickly-
looking gentleman with an intellectual cast of countenance, in
whom I at once recognized the husband or the brother.
" His dress and bearing pointed him out as a missionary.
I have said that I had not beheld a white female for many
months; and now the soothing accents of female words fell
upon my ears like a household hymn of my youth.
" My wound was tenderly dressed, my head bound up, and
I was laid on a sofa-bed. W^ith what a thankful heart did I
breathe forth a blessing on these kind Samaritans! With
what a delight did I drink in the mild, gentle sounds of that
eweet woman's voice, as she pressed me to recruit my strength
with some of that beverage 'which cheers but not inebri-
ates!' She was seated in a large sort of swinging chair, of
American construction, in which her slight, emaciated, but
graceful form appeared almost ethereal. Yet, with much of
heaven, there were still the breathings of earthly feeling about
her, for at her feet rested a babe, a little, wan baby, on which
her eyes often turned with all a mother's love; and gazing
frequently upon her. delicate features, with a fond yet fearful
glance, was that meek missionary, her husband. Her face was
pale, very pale, with that expression of deep and serious
thought which speaks of the strong and vigorous mind within
the frail and perishing body; her brown hair was braided
over a placid and holy brow; but her hands— those small, lily
hands— were quite beautiful; beautiful they were, and very
wan; for, ah! they told of disease— of death— death in all its
208 ANN H. JUDSON.
transparent grace — when the sickly blood shines through the
clear skin, even as the bright poison lights up the Venetian
glass which it is about to shatter. That lady was Mrs. Judson,
whose long captivity and severe hardships amongst the Bur-
mese have since been detailed in her published journals.
" I remained two days with them ; two delightful days they
were to me. Mrs. Judson's powers of conversation were of
the first order, and the many affecting anecdotes that she
gave us of their long and cruel bondage, their struggles in the
cause of religion, and their advantages during a long resi-
dence at the court of Ava, gained a heightened interest from
the beautiful, energetic simplicity of her language, as well as
from the certainty I felt that so fragile a flower, as she in very
truth was, had but a brief season to linger on earth.
"Why is it that we grieve to think of the approaching
death of the young, the virtuous, the ready? Alas! it is the
selfishness of human nature that would keep to itself the
purest and sweetest gifts of Heaven, to encounter the blasts
and the blights of a world where we see them, rather than
that they should be transplanted to a happier region, where we
see them not.
" When I left the kind Judsons, I did so with regret. When
I looked my last on her mild, worn countenance, as she issued
some instructions to my new set of boatmen, I felt my eyes
fill with prophetic tears. They were not perceived. We
parted, and we never met again; nor is it likely that the
wounded subaltern was ever again thought of by those who
had succored him. Mrs. Judson and her child died soon after
the cessation of hostilities." — Reminiscences of Conversa-
tions, by Mrs. Emily C. Judson.
A MEMORIAL. 209
XVI.
^Va\Xi^X&i— DEATH.
Through suffering and sorrow thou hast pass'd,
To show us what a woman true may be.
J. R. IvOWEl,!,.
" How vain are all the trials we meet with here,
If we but feel that a better world is near,
And voices from the lov'd and lost our wear}' spirits cheer."
ti/^N the jo3^ful 2ist of Februarj^ 1826," Mr. Judson
^^ and family took leave of Ava. On the 6th of
March following, after the treaty of peace and sojourn
at Yandabo, they sailed down the Irrawaddy in a British
gun-boat. While on the way, they met converts of
their former labors, who had been scattered and peeled ;
stragglers were they, but not deserters of the Cross.
The mutual recognition, after the long separation, was
clear and joyous. Some had died, some gone into the
interior of the country, some were living in boats at
Prome. When the new plans for missionary work
were told to them, they were ready to rejoin their
leaders and go with them to the service.
On March 21st the missionaries arrived at Ran-
goon, the seat of their first mission, and the scene of
early trials and triumphs. They were not surprised,
perhaps, to find the little church, the nucleus of the
denomination in Burmah, completely wrecked. The
2IO ANN H. JUDSON.
Wades and Houghs, left in charge, had been driven by
the war to Calcutta, narrowly escaping with their lives.
But though the candlestick had been ruthlessly torn
away, the lights it contained were here and there shin-
ing in a darkness that comprehended them not. " With
the exception of two, none had disgraced their holy
profession." One had continued at the mission-house
through the whole time.
In forming their plans for the future, Mr. and Mrs.
Judson, again the only standard-bearers at Rangoon,
found that the circumstances indicated the practica-
bility of a new mission elsewhere. But four of the
native Christians could be found, and two of these
were the women who had come down with them from
Prome, and a third the faithful Moung Ing, who had
been with them from the time they left for Ava, leav-
ing Moung Shwa-ba, who, " faithful through every ad-
versity, alone dwelt at the mission-house, awaiting the
return of the teachers." Besides, the English were
certain to vacate Rangoon, and their departure would
leave the missionaries again subject to the intolerance
of the Burman Power, as they now were to the ravages
of famine and beasts of prey.
Mr. Judson was invited by the Civil Commissioner,
Mr. Crawfurd, to aid in selecting the site of a new
capital for the ceded provinces ; and in accepting he
sailed with that officer southward to the mouth of the
Sal wen, and chose the promontory where its waters
empty into the sea. " The climate was salubrious, the
land high and bold to the seaward, and the view of the
distant hills of Ballon Island very captivating." The
place was named Amh-erst, in honor of the Governor-
A MEMORIAI,. ' 211
General of India. At once Mr. Judson determined on
this as the location of his mission, and on July 2, 1826,
he and Mrs. Judson, with their family and the four
native converts above mentioned, gathered at Amherst
to begin missionary life anew.
Meanwhile Mr. Judson had been solicited by the
English Commissioner, Mr. Crawfurd, to accompany
him on an embassy to the Court at Ava, to aid in nego-
tiating a secondary treaty, relating to commerce. He
had complied, though reluctantly, and only after re-
ceiving assurance that the Commissioner would use
his utmost endeavors to have a clause inserted securing
religious toleration, an object to which Mr. Judson
still clung, with the utmost solicitude for its accom-
plishment, but with defeat in this as in former in-
stances. He first accompanied his family to Amherst,
since the native converts had already gone there, and
it was desirable that Mrs. Judson should be with them,
and the new work begin as early as practicable. The
family were soon temporarily settled in a house belong-
ing to Captain Fenwick, Civil Superintendent of the
place, which was kindly vacated for their accommo-
dation. And within a week from the time of arrival,
Mr. Judson was off again for Ava.
With what emotions of horror must Mrs. Judson
have contemplated his return to Ava ! The war was
over, but heathenism remained, and that city was still
a habitation of cruelty. And Oung-pen-la was near by,
" that never-to-be-forgotten place ! " She must have
suspected some danger nigh. The British were hated
the more for being the conquerors, and it was, doubt-
less, still a conceit of the Burmans that their own
212 ANN H. JUDSON.
power was superior to theirs. Why should they not;
at any moment of supposed advantage prove treacher-
ous to treaties, and strike down any one within their
reach who should not contribute to their personal
emolument or superstitions ? Two years of almost
insupportable strain, with frequent and terrible shocks,
left her with a mind not pleased by a mention of the
Golden City. The joy of a release could not heal a
broken, nervous system. She was not to go back to
the arena of her sad exploits, but the prisoner for
whom she so nearly gave her life was to do so ; he
never wearied of testing expedients for the readier
introduction of the Gospel to the Burman Empire, and
was not to be deterred by lions in the way. She
acquiesced in his going.
Once more the hero and the heroine of the Bur-
man mission bade each other adieu. A temporary
separation was an experience to which they had be-
come accustomed; and they had learned to expect a
re-union, even w^hen the absence was greatly pro-
tracfted. In this instance Mr. Judson was confident
that he would be detained only a few months at most,
after w^hich he would prosecute the w^ork in his new
field with renewed zeal, and perhaps with the joyous
consciousness that religious toleration had become a
law of the Empire. But the day of parting,, the 5th
of July, 1826, was the last of their conjugal life to-
gether. He proceeded to Rangoon, thence to go on to
Ava ; she, amid strangers, still in a heathen land and
essentially homeless, turned her attention again to the
fitting up of a place in which to live and where she
might labor for perishing souls. In taking a retro-
A MEMORIAL. 213
spe(?t of her missionary career, she might have ex-
claimed, as on the Isle of France, thirteen years be-
fore, " When shall I find some little spot that I can
call my home, while in this world?" Ah, how near
was she to the house not made with hands, eternal in
the heavens !
For more than two months Mrs Judson apphed
herself, as other duties would admit, to the building of
a bamboo house for her family, and also two school-
houses. Her little daughter was in declining health,
but her own health was declared by her husband to be
good, and she was "comfortably situated, happy in
being out of the reach of savage oppressors, and ani-
mated in prospedl of a field of missionary labor open-
ing under the auspices of British protection." The
completion of her house was singularly coincident
with the writing of her last letter to Mr. Judson. The
message, dated September 14, 1826, contains the fol-
lowing cheering, prophetic, affectionate words :
I have this day moved into the new house, and, for the first
time since we were broken up at Ava, feel myself at home.
The house is large and convenient, and if you were here I
should feel quite happy. The native population is increasing
very fast, and things wear rather a favorable aspect. Moung
Ing's school has commenced with ten scholars, and more are
expected. Poor little Maria is still feeble. I sometimes hope
she is getting better ; then again she declines to her former
weakness. When I ask her where papa is, she always starts
up and points towards the sea. The servants behave very well,
and I have no trouble about anything but you and Maria.
Pray take care of yourself, particularly as it regards the inter-
"snittent fever at Ava. May God preserve and bless you, and
restore you in safety to your new and old home, is the praj^er
of your affectionate Ann.
214 ANN H. JUDSON.
The last half of the month (September) wore
away in watchings over her little daughter, whose life
hung in the balance, but was for much of the time de-
spaired of. To part with another child, the. only one
left, and the only ray in the memory of protracted per-
secution and prison life, would have been to add a
poignant pang to previous bereavements. But she
was to be spared this sorrow — spared by herself enter-
ing upon a life not subjedl to sorrow nor sighing, nor
any pain, the former things having passed away. She
was to be taken, Maria to be left. The one of whom
Captain Fenwick wrote, October 3d, saying that she
was " extremely well," hastened her departure to the
future world ; while the one who hovered, as a bird-
ling, about the maternal nest, with scarcely enough
vitality to poise herself or to maintain her hold for an
instant, remained for a time in the vacant home. The
nurse, by too close attendance on the patient, became
the greater patient, and drew to herself the deepest
solicitude of the household and friends. Soon after
the above flattering report was rendered, Mrs. Judson
was taken with fever. " The shocks which her consti-
tution had received from previous attacks of disease,
and during the scenes at Ava, rendered her incapable
of withstanding the violence of this last attack." On
the 1 8th of October the hope was expressed that she
would again and soon be quite well, as the fever had
not yet been so severe as to reduce her. Her care of
her child had been rewarded by a most favorable
change of its condition, after which it " improved won-
derfully; " and thus for the moment the cloud on her
home began to part asunder.
A MKMORIAI,. 2115
But the time of trial appointed to Mrs. Judson had
nearly reached its limit, and it was not to be extended
by 'human love and sympathy. Mother and child re-
vived and awakened to mutual recognition and em-
brace, before the parting came. From the first of this
sickness Mrs. Judson felt a strong presentiment that
she should not recover, yet nothing was spared that
could be provided by physician and friends to avert the
sad result. Captain Fenwick procured her the serv-
ices of a European woman, of the English army, who,
with others, gave her the most assiduous attention, be^
cause, added to the humaneness required, none felt that
one so important to society, as well as indispensable to
the mission, and emphatically a helpmeet to her hus-
band, could possibly be spared. Still no one could do
more than to comfort her in her sufferings and smooth
the passage to the grave. On the 20th the physician
began seriously to suspect danger. Before that period
the fever had abated at intervals, but now it baffled all
medical skill. " On the morning of the 23d she spoke
for the last time. The disease had then completed its
conquest, and from that time up to the moment of dis-
solution, she lay nearly motionless and apparently
quite insensible." For some days her head had been
much affected, and she said but little. Sometimes she
moaned thus : " The teacher is long in coming, and
the new missionaries are long in coming. I must die
alone, and leave my little one. But as it is the will of
God, I acquiesce in His will. I am not afraid of
death, but I am afraid I shall not be able to bear these
pains. Tell the teacher that the disease was most vio-
lent, and I could not write ; tell him how I suffered
2l6 ANN H. JUDSON.
and died ; tell him all that you see ; and take care of
the house and things until he returns." Mr. Judson,
on his return, gathered the following, also : " When
she was unable to notice anything else, she w^ould still
call the child to her, and charge the nurse to be kind
to it, and indulge it in everything, until its father
should return. The last day or two she lay almost
senseless and motionless, on one side — her head re-
clining on her arm, her ej^es closed — and at eight in
the evening, with one exclamation of distress, in the
Burman language, she ceased to breathe."
This sorrowful event occurred October 24, 1826; a
day that soon would have been entered in the Baptist
Calendar as a Saint's Day, had a list been compatible
with the Christian faith. It stands first in the mor-
tuary register of distinguished Baptist servants on the
foreign field, who went from American shores, and no
similar death has yet occurred to detract from the illus-
trious precedence of her who was the subject of it, and
who triumphed over it. Her career marked the be-
ginning of a new era of usefulness to American Bap-
tist women. The date and place of her birth, as also
the time and place of her death and burial, are memo-
rialized in an ever-increasing number of Christian
hearts the world over. No writer on the history of
missions, and scarcely a biographer of eminent char-
acters, would leave out her name and hope to obtain a
verdict for competency.
It cannot be doubted that one cause of Mrs. Jud-
son's death was overdoing, made necessary by the
dreadful circumstances attending her husband's im-
prisonment, together with the supervening effect of
A MKMORIAI,. 217
the climate on her debilitated constitution. Mr. Jud-
son wrote to friends, concerning that part of her
experience :
You ask many questions in A.'s letter about our sufferings
at Ava; but how can I answer them now? There would be
some pleasure in reviewing those scenes if she were alive;
but now I cannot. The only pleasant reflection — the only one
that assuages the anguish of retrospection — is, that she now
rests far away, where no spotted-faced executioner can fill her
heart with terror ; where no unfeeling magistrate can extort
the scanty pittance which she had preserved through every
risk to sustain her fettered husband and famishing babe ; no
more exposed to lie on a bed of languishment, and stung with
the uncertainty, what would become of her poor husband and
child when she was gone.
Again :
Oh, with what meekness, patience, magnanimity and Chris-
tian fortitude she bore those sufferings ! And can I wish they
had been less? Can I sacrilegiously wish to rob her crown of
a single gem ? Much she saw and suffered of the evil of this
evil world ; and eminently was she qualified to relish and
enjoy the pure and holy rest into which she has entered.
As it has been intimated, Mrs. Jiidson, on first
being attacked with fever, was persuaded that she
should not recover. However, her mind was uni-
formly tranquil and happy in the prospect of death.
" She only expressed occasional regret at leaving her
child, the native Christians, and the schools, before her
husband or another missionary family could arrive."
Her "ruling passion," the salvation of Burmah, was
strong in death. How touching the circumstance that
her final utterance on earth was made in the tongue of
the poor benighted Burman, whose cause she had es-
2l8 ANN H. JUDSON.
poused, and at whose hands she may be said to have
suffered and died ! Ungrateful, wicked hands virtually
had crucified and slain her. And though through ig-
norance they may have done this, yet it is evident that
there was a consciousness of sin in the doing, and that
conscience was not utterly dethroned in their natures.
The case of the Belshazzar at Sir Archibald's feast, at
Yandabo, who trembled at his interpretation of the
handwriting in her meek, forgiving, and triumphant
countenance, shows how conscience still had the power
to make cowards of them all. Those who had been
converted were susceptible to the appeal of so gentle
and beneficent a ministry as hers, and they could re-
spond, in their rude way, by a grateful and loving ser-
vice ; and there have not appeared in any land truer
disciples and friends than those she gathered about her.
To illustrate the last statement, let the reader recall
the case of Moung Ing, who went with her from Ran-
goon to Ava, and abode with her through all those
fiery trials, aiding her in every way, and with hazard to
himself, and who came back with the family, and at her
death was still with them, as a teacher; the instance of
devotion on the part of Mah-men-la and her sister,
Mah Doke, who came with them from Prome; of
Moung Shwa-ba, who staid at the mission-house at
Rangoon while the tragedy of Ava and Oung-pen-la
was being enacted, and until the missionaries returned ;
even of Moung Shwa-gnong, naturally weak at heart
but made strong by divine grace, honoring his profes-
sion to the last ; and those native Christians at Am-
herst who came out to meet Mr. Judson on his return
to his desolated home, and when they saw him, began
A MKMORIAI,. 219
to weep. The instances of gratitude and love ma}^ be
thought to have been few, but those of the opposite
character were much fewer. And thus it has been to
the present day.
The Httle society of EngHsh residents at Amherst
partook of the sorrow pervading the community of
natives, and in a degree by so much greater as they
were better quaUfied to appreciate Mrs. Judson's
worth. And their expressions were not made as a
diplomatic or martial formality, but as sincere personal
testimony, given, to some extent, among themselves.
Thus, one writes to a friend in Rangoon, with a view
to reaching Mr. Judson with the news of her death,
indirectly :
I trust that you will be able to find means to inform our
friend of the dreadful loss he has suffered. Mrs. Judson had
slight attacks of fever from the 8th to the 9th inst., but we had
no reason to apprehend the fatal result. I saw her on the
i8th, and at that time she was free from fever, scarcely, if at
all, reduced. I was obliged to go up the country on a sudden
business, and did not hear of her danger until my return on
the 24th ; on which day she breathed her last, at 8 p. m. I
shall not attempt to give you an account of the gloom which
the death of this most amiable woman has thrown over our
small society. You, who were so well acquainted with her,
must feel her loss more deeply; but we had just known her
long enough to value her acquaintance as a blessing in this
remote corner. I dread the effect it will have on poor Judson.
I am sure you will take every care that this mournful intelli-
gence may be opened to him as carefully as possible.
Sir Archibald Campbell writes to the envoy : "Poor
Judson will be dreadfully distressed at the loss of his
good and amiable wife. She died the other day at
Amherst, of remittent fever, eighteen days ill."
220 ANN H. JUDSON.
The Assistant Superintendent of Amherst writes
Mr. Judson direct, detaiHng the circumstances of her
illness, adding :
On the morning of the 23d Mrs. Judson spoke for the
last time. The disease had then completed its conquest, and
from that time, up to the moment of dissolution, she lay
nearly motionless, and apparently quite insensible. Yester-
day morning I assisted in the last melancholy office of put-
ting her mortal remains in the coffin ; and in the evening her
funeral was attended by all the European officers now resident
here. We have buried her near the spot where she first
landed ; and I have put up a small, rude fence around the
grave to protect it from incautious intrusion.
The honors bestowed at her funeral, and the tender-
ness with which her remains were interred, and her
grave protected, show that those English officers enter-
tained toward her some higher sentiment than that of
personal or ethnic courtesy. And turning to the in-
ner circle of all, the public are permitted to know how
the bereavement affedled the heart of him who uni-
formly made but a modest and partial expression of
the trials he endured, and who ever felt that no disci-
pline was too severe for him ; such revealment coming
from the heart that had most experience of good
through her life and of grief in her death. Mr. Judson
writes, while yet at Ava :
The news of the death of my beloved wife has not only
thrown a gloom over all my future prospects, but has forever
embittered my recollections of the present journey, in conse-
quence of which I have been absent from her dying bed, and
prevented from affording the spiritual comfort which her
lonely circumstances peculiarly required, and of contributing
to avert the fatal catastrophe which has deprived me of one of
the first of women, the best of v.ives.
A MEMORIAI.. 221
And Rev. Dr. Edward Judson, from the view-point
of one having entered into the inheritance of her price-
less memory, says :
The hands so full of holy endeavors were destined to be
suddenly folded for rest. She died apart from him to whom
she had given her heart in her girlhood, whose footsteps she
had faithfully followed for fourteen years, over land and sea,
through trackless jungles and strange, crowded cities, sharing
his studies and privations, illumining his hours of gloom with
her beaming presence, and with a heroism and fidelity unpar-
alleled in the annals of missions, soothing the sufferings of
his imprisonment. He whom she had thus loved, and who,
from his experience of Indian fever, might have been able to
avert the fatal stroke, was far away in Ava. No missionary
was with her when she died, to speak words of Christian con-
solation. The Burman converts, like children, gathered help-
lessly and broken-heartedly about their white mamma. The
hands of strangers smoothed her dying pillow, and their ears
received her last faint, wandering utterances. Under such
auspices as these her white-winged spirit took its flight to
the brighter scenes of the New Jerusalem.
The Calcutta Review, of 1848, more than twenty
years after her career was ended, gave a tribute to her
character which shows the verdict of a later time, as
rendered by a leading periodical of a neighboring
kingdom, viz. :
Of Mrs. Judson little is known in the noisy world. Few,
comparatively, are acquainted with her name, few with her
actions, but if any woman, since the first arrival of the white
strangers on the shores of India, has, on that great theatre
of war, stretching between the mouth of the Irrawaddy and
the borders of the Hindoo Kush, rightly earned for herself
the title of a heroine, Mrs. Judson has, by her doings and
sufferings, fairly earned the distinction — a distinction, be it
said, which her true woman's nature would have very little
222 ANN H. JUDSON.
appreciated. Still it is right that she should be honored by
the world. Her sufferings were far more unendurable, her
heroism far more noble than any which in more recent times
have been so much pitied and so much applauded; but she
was a simple missionary's wife, an American by birth, and she
told her tale with an artless modesty — writing only what it
became her to write, treating only of matters that became
a woman. Her captivity, if so it can be called, was voluntarily
endured. She of her own free will shared the sufferings of
her husband, taking to herself no credit for anything she did ;
putting her trust in God, and praying to Him to strengthen
her human weakness. She was spared to breathe once again
the free air of liberty, but her troubles had done the work
of death on her delicate frame, and she was soon translated
to heaven. She was the real heroine. The annals in the East
present us with no parallel.
The cloud still hung heavy over the humble home
at Amherst. " Poor little Maria is still feeble," wrote
Mrs. Judson, in her last letter to her husband. Mr.
Judson was still at Ava, and dependent now for infor-
mation on such friends in the British army as might
feel compassionate and s^^mpathetic toward him ; and
they, with a tenderness that tempered their judgment,
sought to modify their tidings with favorable state-
ments. Mrs. Judson 's condition was represented in
the best possible light, until the end came ; and then
one said to another, " I trust that you will be able to
find means to inform our friend of the dreadful loss
he has suffered." A similar course was pursued re-
specting the daughter. And presently, when the
letter bearing the black seal had been forwarded, it was
handed to him with the misleading but perhaps well-
intended remark of the bearer that he was sorry
to inform him of the death of his child. He went to
A MEMORIAL. 223
his room to read the message, grateful that the worst
possible had not come, but only to be painfully aston-
ished by the intelligence that it was the mother and
not the child, of which he had been bereaved.
Little Maria lingered on. In about one month
after her mother's death, Mr. and Mrs. Wade arrived
from America — they being the recruits to the mission
that the dying saint thought were " long in coming "—
'and they occupied the home of the deceased and took
full charge of her child. After an absence of nearly
eight months Mr. Judson returned to Amherst and
went to the house built and then left desolate by his
beloved Ann. Mr. Wade met him at the landing
place, and as they proceeded toward the house " one
and another of the native Christians came out, and
when they saw him they began to weep"; weep for
him and for themselves, as a sense of the desolation
settled down upon them. As he entered the home —
"old and new," with the most that made it " old" for-
ever gone, and with little there to make it seem a
home at all — he saw in the arms of Mrs. Wade "a
puny child, who could not recognize her weeping
father, and from whose infant mind had long been
erased all recollections of the mother who loved her so
much." She turned from him in alarm, and he,
obliged to seek comfort elsewhere, went away to the
grave where "the hopes of earth were laid," and
thence to the house in which her father and mother
had exchanged the parting kiss, and looked at the
spot where they last knelt in prayer. An only child
remained to him now, and she a fast fading flower.
224 ^^^^' ^- JUDSON.
Time sped along, and avS it flew it " winged away"
the spirit of poor, suffering Maria. The complaint, to
which she was subject for several months, proved
incurable; and on April 24, 1827, just six months after
her mother departed, she followed her in death, aged
two years and three months. The event is made the
subject of a letter by Mr. Judson to her grandmother
Hasseltine, in which appear these pathetic words :
We then closed her faded eyes, and bound up her discol-
ored lips, where the dark touch of death first appeared, and
folded her little hands— the exact pattern of her mother's— on
her cold breast. The next morning we made her last bed
in the small inclosure that surrounds her mother's lonely
grave. Together they rest in" hope, under the hope tree
(Hopia), which stands at the head of the graves; and to-
gether, I trust, their spirits are rejoicing, after a short sep-
ation of precisely six months.
Thus I am left alone in the wide world. My father's
family and all my relatives have been, for many years, sep-
arated from me by seas that I shall never repass. They are
the same to me as if buried. My own dear family I have
actually buried; one in Rangoon and two in Amherst. What
remains for me but to hold myself in readiness to follow
the dear departed ?
Rev. George D. Boardman, who had then just
arrived from America to enter on his short but dis-
tinguished career as a missionary, was present at
this event, and with his own hands made a cofiin, and
also made the preparations for the funeral. The re-
mains were mournfully, tenderly borne away to the
sheltering Hopia, which could be seen from the room
in which the mother breathed her last ; and after their
return from the grave, Mr. Boardman and Mr. Judson
had a delightful conversation on the divine goodness,
A MEMORIAL. 225
during which the latter "seemed carried above his
grief."
Mrs. Boardman wrote a pathetic poem on the death
of Maria, in which occur the following lines:
Ah! this is Death, my innocent; 'tis he
Whose chilling hand has touched thy tender frame.
And would'st thou seek thy mother in the grave?
(For 'tis the grave I speak of) — there is rest —
And thou art weary, love, and need'st repose.
Though short thy life, full many a day of pain,
And night of restlessness, has been thy lot.
Born in a heathen land — far, far remov'd
From all thy parents loved in former years —
When thou first saw'st the light, these were not there
To kneel beside thy mother, and implore
Blessings upon thy little head, and sing
The song of gratitude, and joy, and praise.
Strangers were there; strangers to truth and peace;
Strangers to feeling; strangers to her God.
Thy father came not then to kiss his babe.
And glad'n the heart of her who gave thee birth.
«- «- »«--»* «- *- *
But all is over now. She sweetly sleeps
In yonder new-made grave; and thou, sweet babe,
Shalt soon be softly pillowed on her breast.
226 ANN H. JUDSON.
XVII.
** One soweth and another reapeth."
There lies no desert in the land of life,
For e'en that tract that barrenest doth seem,
Labor'd of thee in faith and hope, shall teem
With heavenly harvests and rich gatherings rife.
Frances Kembi^e Buti^er.
HAVING reached the prescribed limits of this biog-
raphy, the author asks the reader to decide
whether, in his judgment, the criticisms mentioned in
the first chapter are deserving of his approvaL In a
rational view of human relations, and of the law ef
charity, can it be said that a missionary life in any part
of the world is a sacrifice to a false idea or to an un-
necessary service ? With a full conception of the su-
preme value of elevated characfter, can it be maintained
that such charadler, when cast as leaven among the
degraded masses of earth, is not devoted to its highest
uses ? And, notwithstanding the expensiveness of in-
telledlual acquirements, will it be assumed that their
devotement to such portions of the human race as
more especially need their uplifting power, is a waste
of precious ointment?
It is scarcely just to require immediate, visible
results as a proof of usefulness ; and it is not essential
A MEMORI\L. 227
to the support of faith that a laborer for God should
gather sheaves from his own sowing. This remark is
the more forcible as touching pioneer work ; and all
missionary labor is pioneering in its nature. The Jud-
sons and their co-laborers did the preparatory work.
They opened parts of heathendom to the Gospel of
Christ, and prepared much of the means for its full
introdu<5lion ; and this was enough for one generation
of workers, entitling them to the praises of earth and
the benedi(5lion of Heaven.
When Mrs. Judson went to rest, the work in Bur-
mah seemed as yet unorganized. Over fourteen years
had passed since the first missionaries, herself one of
the number, left their native shore to undertake its
inauguration, and a few scattered converts alone repre-
sented its visible fruits. And yet influences had been
started which were manifestly approved of God, and
which, therefore, were in His keeping and under His
guidance. Mrs. Judson left her work as hopefully as
she began it. The little bamboo school houses she
built at Amherst, just before her death, proved that
she possessed a faith that would not shrink, though
pressed by every foe. The impress of her faith con-
tinued with the native Christians, and if they ever
thought of surrendering the work the evidence has not
appeared. In the darkest hours they have thought of
nothing but procedure. Whenever the teachers have
embarked for their native land, in broken health, they
have remained faithful, ever straining their eyes sea-
ward in expectation and longing for their return.
Mrs. Judson's intellectual ability had but little
opportunity for improvement, amid her hardships, yet
228 ANN H. JIJDSON.
her successes in circumstances under which refined
women had never been tested, proved the existence
of talents of a superior order. Her literary work was
excellent, and it might have been greatly increased
had there been less occasion for the development of
the heroic elements of her nature. While at Rangoon,
carrying on her studies, she prepared a catechism
which has been found serviceable to this da}^ Mrs.
Ingalls says that "it is taught to ever}^ child in the
Burman mission schools." And Rev. F. S. Dobbins,
a specialist in mission-field knowledge, says that " Mrs.
Ann H. Judson was the first to make any effort for
the christianizing of the Siamese; her first attempt
was in translating a catechism, which Mr. Judson had
prepared, into the Siamese, in 1818." It was the finst
Christian book printed in that language. From this
primary but effective impulse the work has proceeded
there for more than sixty years, and the results are
on record, both in earth and in heaven.
More than sixty years have passed away since Mrs.
Judson left her work for her everlasting rest. She
seems to have been one of the number called to fill up
that which is behind of the sufferings of Christ ; and,
consequently, the work she began has amplified in the
hands of those following her, and the fruits have
continued to appear year by year, and with large an-
nual increase. To a recent date, here and there an
aged saint was found by the Irrawaddy or the
Salwen who would testify with beaming face to the
white mamma who once appeared in that region of
cruelty, and taught the religion of peace and love.
Mrs. Ingalls, in a traa entitled " A Golden Sheaf from
A MEMORIAL. 229
the Judsons' work at Ava," gives the beautiful story
of Mah-Po, the " TaHng maiden," who was aUve at the
time the tracft was produced, a few years ago. She
and others mentioned therein compose the " golden
sheaf," late-ripe for the heavenly garner, which was
provided for in teachings amid the scenes of the death-
prison. One voices the feeling of all: " Those words
were not wasted upon us, for we lost confidence in the
idols ; our hearts never revered them as gods, and it
was only fear of the rulers which ever made us go to
the temples. We had a secret feeling that this was
the true way, and now we are full of joy."
Mrs. Ingalls further says :
" Years ago we read in Mrs. Judson's letters of their suffer-
ings in Ava ; and, while we were thankful for the records, we
have longed to lift the veil from the past and know more of
her own friendless life there. It has been my fortune to find
a leaf telling of the past ; and, as a few more years will oblit-
erate these records, I have told you of one who braved the
displeasure of the Golden-faced, and carried food to our Ann
H. Judson. You may not take her by the hand, but you may
look upon her piAure (given in the trad) ; and perhaps you
will pray that she, too, may have friends in her time of need."
The modest tribute of this excellent missionar>^
one of those favored with the privilege of entering into
the labors of Mrs. Judson, in the Burmese Department,
serves to verify the prophetic words of Prof Knowles,'
spoken some sixty years ago, when all the converts iii
heathendom, taken together, were a httle flock. He
says, in closing his Memoir : '' Her name will be re-
membered in the churches of Burmah, in future times,
when the pagodas of Gaudama shall have fallen ; when
the spires of Christian temples shall gleam along the
230 ANN H. JUDSON.
waters of the Irrawaddy and the Salwen ; and when
the ' golden city ' shall have lifted up her gates to let
the King of Glory in."
Add to this the firm, rational predidlion of Mr.
Judson, and consider its rapidly progressive fulfillment,
and there is at hand a triumphant verdi(5l on the sacri-
fice that Mrs. Judson and others made, which puts to
silence the cavils of unbelieving and faint-hearted
men: ''About one or two hundred years hence, the re-
ligion of Boodh, of Brahma, of Mahomet, and of Rome,
together with all other false religions, will disappear
and be lost, and the religion of Christ will pervade the
whole worlds
Rest! Rest! — the Hopia tree is green,
And proudly waves its leafy screen
Thy lowly bed above;
And by thy side, no more to weep,
Thine infant shares the gentle sleep.
Thy youngest bud of love.
How oft its feeble waiUng cry
Detain'd unseal'd thy watchful eye.
And pained that parting hour,
When pallid death, with stealthy tread,
Descried thee on thy fever-bed,
And proved his fatal power.
Ah! do I see with faded charm.
Thy head reclining on thine arm.
The Teacher far away?
But now, thy mission-labors o'er,
Rest, weary clay, to wake no more.
Till the Great Rising-day.
Mrs. Iv. H. Sigournky.
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