ll/fl 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 BV 3271.J931W97 
 
 Ann H. Judson.A memorial.By Wflter N. W' 
 
 3 1924 023 048 287 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023048287 
 
ANN H.JUDSON. 
 
 31 ^stncviaW 
 
 By WAIvTER N. WYETH, D.D , 
 
 Associate Editor^ Journal and Messenger, Cincinnati, O. 
 
 •' She appears on the page of missionary history as an 
 
 illuminated initial letter." 
 
 B. J. LOSSING. 
 
 CINCINNATI, O.: 
 
 Published by the Author. 
 
 1888. 
 
'§zdicniion. 
 
 TO THE 
 
 Women's Missionary Circles 
 
 OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Very Sincerely, 
 
 The Author, 
 
 UJ 11/ (p9^ 
 
 JlfO / 
 A 
 
 Electrotyped, Printed and Bouncl by 
 
 THE ALDINE PRINTING WORKS, 
 
 No. 248 Walnut Street, 
 
 Cincinnati. 
 
 -/.*./ \ .^ 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, 
 
 in the year 1888, by W. N. Wyeth. 
 
 in the Office of the Librarian of 
 
 Congress, at Washington. 
 
'TTMIIS 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 ot 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 system 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 may justify, the religious press and pub- 
 lic aid in giving it a wide circulation. At his expense 
 alone, it is oiFered 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 Newell 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, 
 
PAGE. 
 
 I. Bradford, . . . 7 
 
 II. Born, AND Born Again, 12 
 
 III. Young Womanhood — Maturing, 22 
 
 IV. Young Wifehood — Launching, . • • ■ 37 
 V. Ocean and Orient— Drifting, ... 50 
 
 VI. Rangoon — Anchoring, .... ... 6; 
 
 VII. Hopes — Rising and Fai,i,ing, . 79 
 
 VIII. Changes — Gains and Losses, . . . 92 
 
 IX. Vicissitudes — Health and Homing, . . in 
 
 X. America — Shut In, .... .... 121 
 
 XI. The Return — Auxh^iaries — Ava, . -131 
 
 Xn. War — Prison and Irons, 142 
 
 Xm. War — Daunti^ess Devotion, 161 
 
 Xrv. War — Oung-pen-i<a, . . . 176 
 
 XA'. Treaty of Peace — Dire Distress, . . 192 
 
 XVI. Amherst — death, . . 209 
 
 XVII. The Oni,ook, . . . . 226 
 
ANN H. JUDSON. 
 
 Home, thy joys are passing; lovely- 
 Joys no stranger- heart can tell. 
 
 S, I''. Smttii. 
 
 Stream of my fathers! Sweetly still 
 
 'J'lx: sunset rays thy valley fill, 
 Pour slantwise down the long defile ; 
 Wave, wood, and spire heneath them smile. 
 
 Wui'C'rniR. -"The Merrimac." 
 
 IN the north-east part of Ma-ssachusetts, thirty-two 
 miles north from lioston, is the village of Brad- 
 fori-j. Its importance among the towns and cities of 
 the .state, which may be classified according to their 
 facturitig and commercial interests on the one part, 
 and their attract! venes.s 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 flays of the Old Commonwealth, 
 
 7 
 
8 ANN H. JUDSON. 
 
 before the sword of the Revolution was drawn, and 
 it has passed, therefore, through all the stages of de- 
 velopment and decay, and redevelopment incident to 
 the history of towns of great age. And though noted 
 for nothing of civil importance, it will have a place in 
 the revealments of the Daj' of Account, and will have 
 a credit surprising to the children of this world. Here 
 is located the typical Xe\v 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 west to 
 east, is a long and \vinding stream that favors two 
 states with its presence and profit, and finally la5's 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-eminenth- 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 "an)' 
 other river in America. 
 
 In the town, within the Acadeni}- and b}- 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 ser\'ice more highly beneficent 
 than that of any other female in the age in which it 
 appeared. It \vas the life of a woman — ^just a woman, 
 
A MEMORIAL. 9 
 
 but one on whom not the gods, but God did set His 
 seal iTj give the world the impress of sanctified Love, 
 the Charity that seeketh not her own. Like the stream 
 beside which she was born, more freakish near its be- 
 ginning than in its deep Sowings 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 gra-.-it:-- 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 ri'.-er, unconscious of its wealth of 
 power, yields, in its ongoing and through myriad 
 fingers, boundless supplies for human wants, so such 
 a h'fe, while directed to a single end, jields 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 fied since the one was born 
 to whom reference is made ; and it is fully time that 
 events had furni.shed 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. JUDSON. 
 
 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 Ufe 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 L,ord'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 words of a somewhat refined critic of the 
 
A MKMOUIAI,. IZ 
 
 period in which this narrative is laid, and concerning 
 the heroine herself: " It is our deliberate conviction 
 that the whole enterprise was uncalled lor. * * * 
 Wc repeat our most serious conviction that she would 
 better have remained at home." — {Christian I'lxaminrr, 
 ( fiiilan'aii,.) 
 
 'llie reader is invited to trace the rugged road over 
 which passed this woman, who is praised by the critic 
 ju,st quoted for her "talents, energy, and .self-sacrificing 
 si)irit," ;iiul of wlioni Mr. L,ossing so aptly remarks: 
 "She appears on the page of missionary history as an 
 illuminated initial letter." vShe will be seen in circum- 
 stances and in trials ])assed 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 
 Amhei-st, 
 
12 ANN H. JUDSON. 
 
 II. 
 
 That wiiicli 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. 
 
 A NN HASSEIyTINE, daughter of John and Re- 
 -^^ becca Hasseltine, was born at Bradford, Mass., 
 December 22, 1789. In Ufe's morning there was no 
 appearance of precocity ; in girlhood, no marked eccen- 
 tricities which may be made the basis of a startUng 
 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 MElMORlAlv. 13 
 
 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, well 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 familiarity 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 be 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 
 years of age, her religious habits were much inter- 
 rupted, and her purpose 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 was 
 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 
 
l6 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 eye 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 was 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 MEMORIAIv. 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 sh'e 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 
 
1 8 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 destroyed 
 her love for amusements, 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 con^-iction 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 was a Christian. Then she began to give 
 very diligent attention to her studies, feeling under 
 a new and solemn obligation to improve her mind and 
 advantages to the glory of God. She faithfully occu- 
 
20 ANN H. JUDSON. 
 
 pied all her school 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 3ret 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 MEJMORIAI,. 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 H. JUDSON. 
 
 III. 
 
 |0x»ttn0 ^0tncinlj0c^ — maturing. 
 
 standing, with reluctant feet, 
 Where the brook and river meet, 
 Womanhood and childhood fleet! 
 
 LONGFEIvI<OW 
 
 Shalt show us how divine a thing 
 
 A woman may be made. 
 
 Wordsworth, 
 
 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 depravitj', 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 ha^-e 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 independentlj'. Her nat- 
 ural thirst for knowledge was now sanctified, and she 
 
A MEMORIAL. 23 
 
 became very desirous to understand Gospel truth. To 
 the daily study 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 many 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- 
 
7.± ANN H. JUDSON. 
 
 mittal of herself to the I^ord, 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 efiisctiveness 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 MEMORIAL. 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 merely 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 fo try 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 Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and her journal 
 shows that she continued her own personal discipline 
 
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 views 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 
 by way of information concerning them. She had no 
 example of a foreign missionary before her, and no 
 organization for the diffusion of Christianity in other 
 lands then existed on this continent. 
 
 Miss Hasseltine was now rapidlj^ 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. Kven 
 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 duty 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 
 v.'ould 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 Plymouth, Mass., of which 
 his father was pastor. In the same year 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 East. 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 
 February, 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 supplj^ 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 East than he under- 
 took to create a missionary sentiment that should 
 result in establishing and sustaining missions there. 
 
A MEMORIAL 29 
 
 The Ivondon Missionary Society 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 opportunity it presented for starting the move- 
 ment he so warmly cherished. He drew up a docu- 
 ment of "statements and inquiries," very 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 bodj^ 
 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, 1810. 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 ready to respond, heart to 
 heart, regarding the claims of a perishing world 
 
30 ANN H. JUDSON. 
 
 They had but just passed their majority ; were still 
 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 3-oungest daughter, 
 Ann, was waiting on the table. Her attention was 
 attracted to the 5'oung 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. L,ittle 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. KnoA\-les : 
 
A MEMORIAL. 31 
 
 The influence which her affections ought to have, in decid- 
 ing a question of this kind, it would not, in ordinary cases, 
 have been difScult 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 of&ce 
 so responsible and so arduous, would spring up in any mind ; 
 but Miss Hasseltine was required to decide on this 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, slie would very naturally release such 
 friends from responsibility for sympathy 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 intimate 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 weU 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 reaUties 
 before them were distinctly and fully summarized, and 
 the ordinary, pleasant features of married life as care- 
 
A MEMORIAL. 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 
 assure the funds needed in this emergency, and for 
 such conference made Mr. Judson its deputy. 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 
 Bast, 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 effectually 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, eventually, 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, 
 1812, 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 
 
36 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 MEMORIAL. 37 
 
 IV. 
 
 |J<>ttn0 ^iUhit0tf— LAUNCHING. 
 
 Mutual love, tlie crown of all our bliss. 
 
 Mii<TON. 
 
 How strong and beautiful is woman's love, 
 That, taking in its band its tbornless 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. L. 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 Unes 
 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 affliction was repeated each day for 
 
A MEMORIAI,. 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. Judsou, in the tour which he made shortly after his gfraduation, 
 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 
 sensations. 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 
 Lives 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 
 of&cers, 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 affectionate 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 subjedl 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 
 subjedl 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 corredlness 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 anj- faculty of his being, demanded 
 a corredl decision, with an attitude "corresponding to it. 
 But the change of relations attending a change of views 
 
' wife of the Rev. Sajviuel Newell, died at Port-I,ouis, 
 tlae Isle of France, Nov. 30, 1812, in the 20th year of 
 her age, having accompanied her husband 
 in the benevolent attempt to preach 
 Christ to the Heathen." 
 
 FROM ORIGINAL 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 prospedl 
 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 subjedl of baptism to the concerns of the mis- 
 sion and the difi&culties in the government. But that 
 subjed: 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 yiew. 
 
 Mrs. Judson, not an indififerent spectator at the 
 commencement of this ordeal, and presently herself 
 becoming subje(5l 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 she 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 affedlion and esteem of many 
 of our American friends. But the most trj'ing 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 prospecft of disfellowship in 
 a heathen land, and in respedl to the most vital of inter- 
 ests ! It was not enough to refledl that though one 
 should forsake another would take her up. To her, 
 
A MEMORIAIv. 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 difierent 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." 
 "These 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 effedt 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. I,uther 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 subjedt 
 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, mj- dear sister, witnessed or read an3rtliing 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 Compan)-, 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 fadt that the Company derived a large 
 revenue from a tax on idolatry— an admission tax, for 
 
A MBMORIAL. 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 annoying. 
 
 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. 
 
 ®ce(xn anif ®vUnt — drifting. 
 
 Strongly it bears us along in swelling and limitless billows. 
 Nothing before and nothing behind but the sky and the ocean. 
 
 SCHIHER. 
 
 I know not where His islands lift 
 Their fronded palms in air; 
 I only know I cannot drift 
 Beyond His love and care. 
 
 WhiTTiER. 
 
 1\ /TRS. Judson at once became greatly interested in 
 ^^ things about her — the curious construction of 
 the house she was in, the EngUsh church in which 
 punkahs were used, a native wedding procession, etc., 
 fining 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 MKMOEIAL. 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 
 tnarch 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 A-essel 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 Sth). 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 MEMORIAL. 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 almost seemed to form a part. 
 Anticipating her baptism, Mrs. Judson says in her jour- 
 nal : " In consequence of our performance of this dut}^ 
 we must make some ver}- painful sacrifices. We must 
 be separated from our dear missionary associates, and 
 labor alone in some isolated spot. We must expe<5l to 
 be treated with contempt, and be cast oif by many of 
 our American friends — forfeit the charadter 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 Ivord'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 highwa5s 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 da}' baptized. He has been 
 
54 ANN H. JUDSON. 
 
 examining the subjedl 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 seriousl}^ 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. Rolfs, 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 
 adtually spoken for a passage. 
 
 I/ate 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 effecfted 
 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- 
 sou 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 was 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, -n-ithout 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 fee 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 thin'o-s 
 
A MEMORIAL. 57 
 
 remain until the vessel readied 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 C.ey- 
 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 female, and unprotected. 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 given 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 man}' 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 MEMORIAIv. 59 
 
 intent on saving her goods, desirable and necessary 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 Prance. 
 A fortnight of anxiety and discomfiture, though not 
 erasable from the memory, seemed as nothing compared 
 with the prospedt of going, not to a home of peace and 
 love, but into the thick darkness of superstition, carry- 
 ing the Ivight of I^ife. 
 
 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 Louis, Isle of Prance (or Mauritius), in 
 the 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. NeweU! 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, 1812, 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 MEjMORIAi. 6 1 
 
 Dr. Kdward 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, sufiiciently 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 hor 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 
 little 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 MBMORIAI,. 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, 18 13, they embarked in the 
 Countess of Harcourt, and had a pleasant voyage, arriv- 
 ing 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 AXX H. JUDSON. 
 
 them go. They would not have chosen Rangoon at 
 the time, having regarded a mission there with " feel- 
 ings of horror," but ver\- soon thej' 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 
 eternity." She even strengthened her mind with the 
 consideration that though she now bade adieu to 
 "polished, refined. Christian society," she would 
 henceforth live bej^ond 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 22d 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 who could 
 speak English. The passage was verj- 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 bj- steering it through a 
 narrow channel between two of them. The vnnd 
 being broken by the islands, the water was \-er\- 
 smooth, yet the captain ne^er before had been there, 
 
A MEMORIAL. 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 cr^ft 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, 1813. 
 
A MEMORIAI,. 67 
 
 VI. 
 
 Rangoon— ANCi/OR/JVG. 
 
 O, when will my wanderings terminate! — Mrs. Judson. 
 
 " Not by appointment do we meet Delight or Joy, 
 They heed not our expeftancy ; 
 But round some corner in the streets of life 
 They on a sudden clasp us with a smile." 
 
 TXTHAT 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. Judson could not 
 now enjoy 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, which 
 induced many of the native females to come ver\' 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 MEMORIAI,. 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 
 bgen 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 bej^ond 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 
 
yo ANN H. JUDSON. 
 
 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 bj- 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 montlis ; the other, Mr. Chater, was 
 joined by Mr. Felix Carey, son of Dr. Wm. Carey, and 
 soon after two others from the Eondon Missionary 
 Society also entered the mission. The work of trans- 
 
A MBMORIAI,. 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 dictionary 
 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-servartf 
 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 
 ofiBcer or sea captain an opportunity for a little conver- 
 
A MlgMOElAL. 73 
 
 sation. How very desirable were letters from home, 
 and yet how infrequently were they received! The 
 heralding of an incoming vessel was Uke 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 sailing 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 missionary 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 
 East, says: "I recall, from my 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 wiselj' 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 bej'ond the 
 ordinary expectation. In the spring Mr. Rice arrived, 
 and with his trumpet voice awakened those churches 
 
A MEMORIAI,. 77 
 
 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 
 loneliness and obscurity, and hard study with little 
 progress in 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, 
 1 8 14, in the formation of the "General Missionary 
 Convention of the Baptist Denomination in the United 
 States of America for Foreign Missions," which, on 
 November 20, 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 
 that bearing 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 little matter of 
 want and supply, whicli 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 MEMORIAL. 79 
 
 VII. 
 
 ^CV^-a—RISING 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. 
 
 GOI,DSMITH. 
 
 DURING 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 ii, 1815, 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- 
 har 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 hei 
 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 down 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 MEMORIAI,. 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 I,anguage," 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 support 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 largeh' in the sufiering 
 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. 83 
 
 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. L,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 days 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 who 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 only 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 
 
§4 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 joyous 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 MEMORIAL. 85 
 
 like the conception of what angel faces are, as when these 
 strangers etitered my cabin." They were very much shocked 
 at his visible wretchedness ; he was haggard, unshaven, dirty, 
 and so weak that he could with difficulty support his own 
 weight. Their earnest cordiality was peculiarly grateful to 
 him. One of the officers took him to his own house, supplied 
 him from his own wardrobe, procured a nurse, whom, however, 
 he had occasion to employ but a short time, and displayed 
 throughout a generous hospitality which 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. Prom 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 coiirse 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 by 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 while 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 MEMORIAIv. 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 of&cers 
 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 year, and Rangoon 
 was iilled with consternation. The death drum was 
 lieard 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 
 j^et 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 jdelded. 
 "But," she sa^'S, "the uncertainty of meeting Mr. Jud- 
 son in Bengal, and the possibilit},- 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 MEMORIAIv. 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 Burman, finally refused to go. This loss in her 
 calculations tended to increase her disinclination to 
 leave 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, 
 
go 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 ultimately 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 }'ou rejoice with me, my dear 
 parents, when I tell you that I ha^-e this moment heard 
 that Mr. Judson has arrived at the mouth of the river I 
 This joyful intelligence more than compensates for 
 the months of dejection and distress which his long 
 
A MEMORIAI,. 91 
 
 absence has occasioned. Now I feel ashamed of my 
 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 will again 
 brighten, and cause us to forget this night of afBliction, 
 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 by 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. 
 
 (S:,han0e&— 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, 1818, was the day on whicli the ray of 
 Hght 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. Anj- 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 pri\'ations, 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 MElMORlAt. $3 
 
 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, 1818, 
 and " entered on their work with a simple-hearted Chris- 
 tian earnestness," says Dr. Wayland, "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 lunges, 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 one year and one day after his arrival at 
 Rangoon. Mr. Colman, a mo?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 pubUc 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 pubUc 
 resort, much needed for meeting the people ; and on 
 April 4, 1 8 19, 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 countrj- 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. Jtidson. 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 
 «iews. The belief of the missionaries was at once 
 
g6 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, 181 9, 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 be to His name fok 
 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 l,ord'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 zayat, 
 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 
 Ivord's Day ''the three converts repaired to the say at, 
 and held a prayer meeting 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 were 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 
 reUgion. 
 
 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 highly expedient in others. 
 At this juncture it seemed evident that it would 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, 1819, 
 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 Eife of his father. The trip was full of in- 
 terest; in fact, it was a thrilling 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 passed 
 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 awaj'." 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, Tremout Temple, Boston. 
 
A MEMORIAI<. 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 Burman 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 efiFect 
 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. They all appeared immovable and more 
 zealous than ever before ; the>' 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,. 103 
 
 stating tliat he had been visiting his neighbors and 
 had found some already examining the new reUgion. 
 " 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 suggestion or exam- 
 ple from others, somewhat astonished the missionaries 
 and deeply affedted their hearts. It would seem that 
 they were in advance of their instrudlion ; 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 district 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 ANN H. JUDSON. 
 
 had formerly labored there, and baptized several, who 
 at his death were left without instrudlion. 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 prospecft 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 MElMORIAt. 105 
 
 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 afQicted 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 yet 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 difierent 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 MEMORIAL. lO;^ 
 
 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 facility 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. 
 
Io8 ANN H. JUDSON. 
 
 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 protradted 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 young 
 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 they 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 Blephant (or Elephant Grove, so called 
 from its resemblance to the animal), a point that 
 marks the western outlet of the Irrawaddy, 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 were 
 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 Ufted 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, 
 
 ^icia&itXXiie&^I/BALTI/ 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 respedts 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 lyord'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 corredled 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- 
 hgion 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 MBMORIAL. 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 was 
 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 ■'^NN H. JUDSON. 
 
 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 
 life — 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 slow 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 MEMORIAL. 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 prospedtive 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 suiferer. 
 But the contingencies of war have left us with but a 
 slight mention. The affedlionate disciples who fol- 
 lowed her to the river on her previous departure, to 
 Bengal, must have been more deeply afFecSted 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 products 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 tQ 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 MEMORIAI,. 119 
 
 prelibations of heaven, which she enjoyed 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 
 lyiverpool ladies who generously defrayed the expense 
 of her passage, and on August 16, 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 youth, 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 refledtions, in part, indulged imme- 
 iiately after bidding her friends farewell, in the ofiing 
 at lyiverpool. Traveling around the globe in those 
 days, with the partings going before, and the greetings 
 coming after, had a far deeper significance than it has 
 
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 I/iverpool, brings her 
 safely back to her own shores. 
 
A MEMORIAL. 121 
 
 X. 
 
 ^ntevicaSHU-T in. 
 
 Great God, we thank thee for this home— 
 This bounteous birthland of the free ; 
 
 Where wanderers from afar may come, 
 And breathe the air of liberty ! 
 
 WlWAM 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." — (^Gammell.) 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 
 anjd:hing 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 prevaiUng 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 were 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 MEMOKIAI,. 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. — K^iowles. 
 
 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 ne\er 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. Elnathan 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 would 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 bodily 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 countr5^ 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 MEMORIAL. 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 I^on- 
 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 every-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 I,etters, 
 addressed to a gentleman in I^ondon." It was pub- 
 lished in I/ondon 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 fi^-e 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 MEMORIAL. 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 corredting 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 respedting 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."— Awc^ze'/,?^. 
 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 respecting 
 the mission or herself" 
 
 She negotiated for a passage on the ship Edward 
 Newton, transadting 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 ner\-es are in such a state 
 that I have to make ever}- possible exertion to keep 
 them quiet. It will only increase my agitation to take 
 
A MEMORIAI,. I2g 
 
 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. Judson 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 tadt, unflinching courage, and a power of resolute 
 endurance even unto death, ^^'hen I saw her, her complexion 
 bore that sallow hue which commonlv 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 away, 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 ]]'ayland. 
 
A MEMORIAI,. 131 
 
 XI. 
 
 ®Jj* Return — auxiliaries— .4 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 — "Farewell to a Blissionary." 
 
 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 employ, 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 
 Burman 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 characfterized 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. 133 
 
 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 hu,sband, 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 
 
 "iDr. Price married a native, as his second wife. In the practice of his 
 profession he had treated her eyes, and, thoug^h 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 throug-h the old cemetery at 
 Ava, found her tomb-stone, containing an elaborate inscription, in both 
 English 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 thirty 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. Judson 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 pay, 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, aud Mr. Judson somewhat more so than previ- 
 
BUEMA 
 
 
 92 
 
 9^ 
 
A MEMORIAL. 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 respedting 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 abstradl 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. Judson 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 . years' toil, just at the opening of 
 their prospect under a translated Gospel, with a Uttle 
 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 
 walked on the bank in advance of it, apparentl}' for 
 relief from the tedium, and to do a little good. They 
 " always attradted 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 assembly that such a writing was worthy 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 they 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 ? 
 lyife in an untried place, another heathen citj^, 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 dwelHng, 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 ME^MORIAI,. 139 
 
 preseiitea a scene well calculated to fill the imagination with 
 the sublia/est conceptions of Oriental grandeur and wealth. 
 '^ ■^ * The missionaries, with a few European residents 
 at the capital, gazed with wonder on this unwonted display of 
 grotesque magnificence, made to gratify the pride of the Bur- 
 man monarch. 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 noi long before an order was issued that no European 
 should emer the palace, and in a few days afterwards the tid- 
 ings of tae approaching war, which 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 slowly 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 wa}' 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. 141 
 
 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. 
 
 XTI. 
 ^ax— PRISON AND IRONS. 
 
 They cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep 
 them safel}'; who, having received such a charge, thrust them 
 into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 
 Acts l5: 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 thej^ 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 MEMORIAI, 143 
 
 records. People diiFered, and all was doubt and uncer- 
 tainty, witli 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 (English) 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 •'^NN H. JUDSON. 
 
 had met them in a small boat, a few days below Ava, 
 and through him they learned that important changes 
 had taken place at the palace ; the privy council 
 having been turned out and a new set appointed, with 
 which they 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 m.anner 
 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 word nor a look. The Queen, who 
 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 the>- thought 'it most prudent to 
 pursue their original intention of building a house and 
 to commence missionar}' operations as occasions might 
 appear, thus endeavoring to convince the government 
 that they really had nothing to do with the existing 
 
A MEMORIAI,. 145 
 
 war. Public' worship was held at Dr. Price's house 
 every I^ord's Daj', inasmuch as through his acquaint- 
 ance with the neighbors an assembly of a dozen to 
 twenty 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(5t them. And yet there remained 
 in the dark, distrustful mind the conviction that all 
 having a white face, except the French, were subjects 
 of the King of England ; a belief that bore against 
 the Americans with special force, because of the 
 identitjr 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 was 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 by 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 MBMORIAIv. 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 Row 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 sufiicient 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." — Knowles' 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 Burman 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 an<3 
 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 aspecft ; something terrible must be 
 involved in a case 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 instrudtions 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 
 
150 ANN H. JUDSON. 
 
 disclose the fadt 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, who 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 annoj-ing her 
 throughout the night. They indulged in dreadful 
 carou sings 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 MEMORIAL. 151 
 
 the night was to her one of horror. Uncertainty 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 
 prospedt. 
 
 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 polite 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 oihce 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 anxietj' 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 b}^ 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 MEMORIAL. 153 
 
 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 she 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 -A-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 my 
 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 depift 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 myself sustained in the pidture 
 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 where they had the 
 interview referred to, in which he gave some diredtions 
 relative to his release. But before they could perfe<5l 
 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 MKMORIAt. 155 
 
 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-ma-yoon, signify- 
 ing hand shrink not. 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 Jater 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 Jlr. Judson to me, one day, 
 "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 way 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. — Mrs. E. C. JudsofCs Reminiscences of Conversations 
 with Dr. Judson. 
 
 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 ol our 
 
158 ANN H. JUDSON 
 
 own country towns. It was capable of accommodating more 
 than a dozen occupants, and, like 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 w;as 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 nearlj- 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- 
 solutely 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, Oh ! who 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 protradted, yet unforeseen, efforts in 
 woman's history. 
 
A MEMORIAI,. l6l 
 
 XIII. 
 
 '^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 ! 
 
 Bven in the darkest hour of earthly ill, 
 Untarnished, yet thy fond affection glows, 
 
 Throbs with each pulse and beats with every thrill. 
 
 Sand's Yamoyden. 
 
 MRS. JUDSON now began to project methods of 
 reaching and influencing those in 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 lyove', 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. 
 
 After 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, the}' both were in a 
 state of disgrace before the government, and no per- 
 son disgraced was admitted to the palace. So she 
 sought to supplicate Her Highness through her 
 brother's wife, whom 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 waiting 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 MEMORIAI,. 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 
 uncertainty 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 fift},-, 
 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, with 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 5-'ou have?" 
 
 " The house is in your possession ; search for 
 yourselves." 
 
A MEMORIAIv. 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 famil}^ 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 eiforts, 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 Majestj-, 
 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 ever}- 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 MEJMORIAL. 1 67 
 
 ernor, wWcIl 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 rhat 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 I/Ut-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 MEMORIAL. 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-celief 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 by 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 trying 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 
 whose 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 were 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 
 would 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 was 
 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 likeh' 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 subject, 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 MEMORIAL. 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 was 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 ■'^NN 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 by 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 
 safely, 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. E. 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 upou 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, 
 
 lyike 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. 
 
 ©Utttr— (9 UNG-PEN-LA. 
 
 Love can hope where reason would despair. 
 
 Lord LyttelTon. 
 
 "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 English 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 it 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 objedt as she was trying to gain. She had the 
 elements of character that warded off brutality 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 
 
1 78 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-yah-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 you 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 your 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. 179 
 
 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 ot 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 MBMORIAI,. 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 woman 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 ; take 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 known 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 days 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 j'ourself," 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 MEMORIAL. 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 Amara- 
 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 rendet 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 bj- 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 required 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 instrudling 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 anxietj' 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. 187 
 
 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 for 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 serve 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 
 
188 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, 
 was 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 allowed Mr. Jud- 
 son to go to the house 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 MEMORIAI,. 189 
 
 probably by fire, according to current belief at the 
 time they were driven away from the Ava prison, and 
 agreeably to their own convicftions 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 enem}^ 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 limit 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 
 
I go ANN H. JUDSON. 
 
 assert her rights, found herself amply supplied with 
 the courage to do so ; she insisted th9.t 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 citj', who was now holding 
 the rank of a woon-g>-ee. 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, 
 ®;i?«rttU 0t 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 L,ord 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 stop for only a few' 
 minutes, when he was hurried awa}- 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, where, 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, "with 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 ^'^'^ 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 applied to both head and 
 feet ; also, the Bengalee servant was instrudled 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 years 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 invitingh- 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- 
 viess, the features sharp, and the whole form shrunken almost 
 
A MEMORIAI,. ig5 
 
 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 even 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, datmtless 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 sufh- 
 
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 -^-ery 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 MfiMORIAt. 197 
 
 of the presiding officer, just then, as to who he was. 
 When told that he came from that place, he replied, 
 "Ivet 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 httle 
 
igS 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 
 was 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 EngUsh 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), only 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 MEiMORIAI,. 199 
 
 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 
 English; 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 
 odium 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 
 wish 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 prospedls, 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 : 
 
 One evening several persons at our house were repeating 
 anecdotes of what diiferent men in diflFerent 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 you 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 MEMORIAL. 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. JTJDSON. 
 
 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 with present scenes and sufferings, that I sel- 
 dom reflected on a single occurrence of my former Ufe, 
 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 gone 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 way at 
 critical junctures. Kver 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 officers there wanted to hold- them as hostages, 
 
A MEMORIAL. 203 
 
 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 
 English 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- 
 redtly 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 sympathj' can receive. 
 Mrs. Judsori's heart, in particular, overflowed with 
 gratitude for the courtesy and kindness of different 
 officers, causing her to feel that she was still accounted 
 worthy of the respedt 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 discipHne more 
 than did these missionaries. The final effedl 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 lyOrd 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 MEMORIAL. 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 was 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 shriukingly, 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 abopt his ankles, she had walked several 
 miles to this man's house to ask a favor. She had left home 
 
2o6 ANN H. JUDSON. 
 
 early in the morning ; but was kept waiting so long that it 
 was noonday before she proffered her request, 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 iind 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 MKMORIAI^. 207 
 
 aflfecting 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. With 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 
 sweet 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 tJiefn 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; uor 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." — Re>niniscences of Conversa- 
 tions, by Mrs. Emily C. Judson. 
 
A, MEMORIAL. 209 
 
 XVI. 
 
 ^mhev&t—DEA TH. 
 
 Through suffering and sorrow thou hast pass'd, 
 To show us what a woman true may be. 
 
 J. R. IvOWEi<iv, 
 
 " How vain are all the trials we meet with here, 
 
 If we hut feel that a better world is near, 
 
 And voices from the lov'd and lost our weary spirits cheer." 
 
 u/~\N the joyful 21st of February, 1826," Mr. Judson 
 ^^ and family took leave of Ava. On the 6th of 
 Mai"ch 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. JUDSOrT. 
 
 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 
 Salwen, 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 Ballou Island very captivating." The 
 place was named Amherst, in honor of the Governor- 
 
A MKlMORIAl,, ril 
 
 C\'ikm;iI of Iiulia. At once Mr. Judson (k'teniiiiictl on 
 this as the location o( his mission, and on Jnl\' j, iSjd, 
 he and Mis. Judson, with their l'aniil\ and the lour 
 native converts ahove tuentioneil, j^athered at Audiersl 
 [o bei;iu missiotuu>' lite anew. 
 
 Meaiwvhile Mr. Judson had been solicited b>- the 
 ]\nglish Ootnnu.ssiouer, Mr. Crnwt'urd, to accompany 
 him on an cmha.ssN' to the Court at A\a, to aid in uei^o- 
 tiatiuj; a .secondar\ treats', relating to conimerco. lle 
 h,id complied, thon;-;li rehictaiUl\, and onK- alter re- 
 ceiviui; .issnrance th.it the Conunissioner would use 
 his utmost endeavors to luive a clause inserted securin;;' 
 relis;ions toleration, ,ui object to which Mr. Judson 
 still cluns;, with the utmost solicitude lor its accoui- 
 plishment, but with defeat in this as in former iu- 
 st.uices. He tirst accomp.uueil his t'ainily to Amherst, 
 since the native cotu'crts had alreaily i^one there, and 
 it w.is desirable that Mrs. Judson should be with them, 
 and the new work be,!;in as earl\' ,\s practicable. The 
 tamily were siion tempor.irily settled iu a house beloui;- 
 iui; to t.\iptain I'Vnwick, Cixil Superintendent of the 
 place, which w,\s kindl\' \\icated for their accommo- 
 d,\tion. And within a week troni the time of arrival, 
 Mr. Judson was otT .li^.iin for A\'a. 
 
 With wh.it emotions of horror must Mrs. Jndsou 
 have contempl\tcd l\is retnr!\ to Ava ! The w.u" was 
 over, but he.ulienism reui.uncd, .lud that city was still 
 .1 habit. uion of crueltv. .\nd Onn;.; pen la was near by, 
 "th.it never to be torsAotten place!" v^he must have 
 suspected some d.in_t;er ui>;h. The r>ritish were hated 
 the moic tor bciu;,; the conquerors, and it was. donlit- 
 less, still a conceii of the lUinnans 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 when the absence was greatly pro- 
 tra(fted. In this instance Mr. Judson was confident 
 that he would be detained onh' a few months at most, 
 after which he would prosecute the work 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 
 
 spedl 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 applied 
 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, 
 axid I have no trouble about anything but you and Maria. 
 Pray take care of yourself, particularly as it regards the inter- 
 •aittent fever at Ava. May God preserve and bless you, and 
 restore you in safety to your new and old home, is the prayer 
 of your affectionate Ann. 
 
214 A.NN 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 protra<fted 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 A^-a, 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 MEMORIAI,. 215 
 
 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 bafiied 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 would 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 eyes 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 MEMORIAI,. 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 bow can I answer tbem now? Tbere 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 languishnient, 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. Judson, 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 wliose 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 MBMORIAlv. 2ig 
 
 to weep. The instances of gratitude and love may 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 EngUsh residents at Amherst 
 partook of the sorrow pervading the community of 
 natives, and in a degree by so much greater as they 
 were better qualified 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 gth in St., 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, detailing 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 laj 
 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 affecfted 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 wives. 
 
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 ivhite 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 an5rthing 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 sympathetic 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 5^ou 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 MHMORIAIy. 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 ANN H. JUDSON. 
 
 Time sped along, and as it flew it " winged away" 
 the spirit of poor, sufiering 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 5'ears 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 T 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 coffin, and 
 also made the preparations for the funeral. The re- 
 mains were mournfullj', 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 di^'i^e 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. 
 ^ ^ -:;i w •:;; -.-^ f 
 
 And would'st thou seek thy mother in the grave? 
 (For 'tis the grave I speak of) — i/iere 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 soou 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 Umits 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 of 
 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 character, can it be maintained 
 that such character, 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 MEMORIAL. 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 
 introdudlion ; and this was enough for one generation 
 of workers, entitling them to the praises of earth and 
 the benedidlion 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 expedtation and longing for their return. 
 
 Mrs. Judson's intellectual ability had but little 
 opportunity for improvement, amid her hardships, yet 
 
228 ANN H. JUDSON. 
 
 her successes in circumstances under which refined 
 women had never been tested, proved the existence 
 of talents of a superior order. Her Uterary 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 day. Mrs. 
 Ingalls says that "it is taught to every 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 first 
 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 tradl entitled " A Golden Sheaf from 
 
A MBMORIAI.. 229 
 
 the Judsons' work at Ava," gives the beautiful story 
 of Mah-Po, the " TaUng maiden," who was alive at the 
 time the tradt 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 pi<?ture (given in the tradt) ; and perhaps you 
 will pray that she, too, may have friends in her time of need." 
 
 The modest tribute of this excellent missionary, 
 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 in 
 heathendom, taken together, were a little 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 verdidl 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 world." 
 
 Rest! Rest! — the Hopia tree is green. 
 And proudly waves its leafy screen 
 
 Tliy 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 wailing 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. L. H. Sigourney.