anxious to become acquainted with the principles of Christianity; and such was his progress, that in the month of June he was admitted publicly into the Church of Christ by baptism, and in the following week the Missionaries enjoyed the high privilege of sitting down at the Lord's table with the first-fruits of their mission, a converted Burman. In reference to this interesting young man, Mrs Judson writes:—

6

"Little did I think, when I last wrote, that I should so soon have the joyful intelligence to communicate, that one Burman has embraced the Christian Religion, and gives good evidence of being a true disciple of the dear Redeemer. This event this single trophy of victorious grace, has filled our hearts with sensations, hardly to be conceived by Christians in Christian countries. This circumstance has convinced us, that God can and does operate on the minds of the most dark and ignorant; and that he makes his own truths, his own words, the instrument of operation. It serves, also, to encourage us to hope, that the Lord has other chosen ones in this place. As Mr Judson has given some account of the first impressions of this man, and as I have had him particularly under my instruction since his conversion, I will give you some of his remarks in his own words, with which you will be much interested. In our Religion there is no way to escape the punishment due to sin; but, according to the Religion of Christ, he himself has died in order to deliver his disciples. I wish all the Burmans would become his disciples; then we should meet together as you do in your country; then we should all be happy together in heaven. How great are my thanks to Jesus Christ for sending teachers to this country! and how great are my thanks to the teachers for coming! Had they never come and built that zayat, I should never have heard of Christ and the true God. I mourn that so much of my life passed away before I heard of this Religion. How much I have lost!' It is peculiarly interesting to see with what eagerness he drinks in the truths from the Scriptures. A few days ago I was reading with him Christ's sermon on the mount. He was deeply impressed, and unusually solemn. 'These words,' said he, take hold on my very heart; they make me tremble. Here God commands us to do every thing that is good in secret, not to be seen of men. How unlike our Religion is this! When Burmans make offerings to the pagodas, they make a great noise with drums and musical instruments, that others may see how good they are. But this Religion makes the mind fear God; it makes it, of its own accord, fear sin.'

Shortly after this period two more made a public profession of their belief in the principles of Christianity. The Missionaries and their object now became well known in Rangoon. The people, however, seemed to be afraid of repairing to the zayat, lest the jealousy of the government should be excited. The attendance, therefore, was daily diminishing. Mr Judson and his only remaining associate, Mr Colman, saw that no further attempts could with safety be made without the authority of the king. With the permission of the viceroy, accordingly, they set out to Ava, leaving their families at Rangoon. Their first convert, Moung Nau, accompanied them. They took with them as a present to his Burman Majesty, the Bible, in six volumes, covered with gold leaf, in the Burman style, and each volume enclosed in a rich wrapper.

On the 25th Janu

ary 1820, they arrived safely at Amarapora, at that time the capital of the empire. The particulars of their interview with the king are too important to be omitted :"We proceeded to the palace. At the outer gate we were detained a long time, until the various officers

were satisfied that we had a right to enter; after which, we deposited a present for the private minister of state, Moung Zah, and were ushered into his apartment in the dered us to sit before several governors and petty kings, palace-yard. He received us very pleasantly, and orwho were waiting at his levee. We here, for the first time, disclosed our character and object_told him, that we were Missionaries or 'propagators of Religion;' that we wished to appear before the emperor, and present our sacred books, accompanied with a petition. He took the petition into his hands, looked over about half of it, and then familiarly asked several questions about our God, and our Religion, to which we replied. Just at this crisis, some one announced that the golden foot was about to advance; on which the minister hastily rose up, and put on his robes of state, saying, that he must seize the moment to present us to the emperor. We now found, that we had unwittingly fallen on an unpropitious time, it being the day of the celebration of the late victory over the Cassays, and the very hour when his majesty was coming forth to witness the display made on the occasion. When the minister was dressed, he just said, 'How can you propagate Religion in this empire? But come along.' Our hearts sunk at these inauspicious words. He conducted us through various splendour and parade, until we ascended a flight of stairs, and entered a most magnificent hall. He directed us where to sit, and took his place on one side, the present was placed on the other, and Moung Yo, and another officer of Mya-day-men, sat a little behind. The scene to which we were now introduced really surpassed our expecta tion. The spacious extent of the hall, the number and magnitude of the pillars, the height of the dome, the whole completely covered with gold, presented a most grand and imposing spectacle. Very few were present, and those evidently great officers of state. Our situa tion prevented us from seeing the further avenue of the hall; but the end where we sat opened into the parade, which the emperor was about to inspect. We remained about five minutes, when every one put himself into the most respectful attitude, and Moung Yo whispered that his majesty had entered. We looked through the hall, as far as the pillars would allow, and presently caught sight of the modern Ahasuerus. He came for ward, unattended-in solitary grandeur-exhibiting the proud gait and majesty of an Eastern monarch. His dress was rich, but not distinctive; and he carried in his hand the gold sheathed sword, which seems to have taken the place of the sceptre of ancient times. But it was his high aspect and commanding eye, that chiefly rivetted our attention. He strode on. Every head, excepting ours, was now in the dust. We remained kneeling, our hands folded, our eyes fixed on the mo narch. When he drew near, we caught his attention. He stopped, partly turned towards us Who are these?" The teachers, great king,' I replied. • What, you speak Burman the priests that I heard of last night?" When did you arrive?' Are you teachers of Religion?' 'Are you like the Portuguese priests? Are you married?' Why do you dress so?" These, and appeared to be pleased with us, and sat down on an ele some other similar questions we answered; when he vated seat his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, and his eyes intently fixed on us. Moung Zah now be gan to read the petition.

"The emperor heard it, and stretched out his hand. Moung Zah crawled forward and presented it. His majesty began at the top, and deliberately read it through. In the mean time, I gave Moung Zah an abridged copy rected, and the whole put into the handsomest style and of the tract, in which every offensive sentence was cof dress possible. After the emperor had perused the pe tition, he handed it back without saying a word, and took the tract. Our hearts now rose to God for a display of his grace. O, have mercy on Burmah! Have

come.

mercy on her king!' But, alas! the time was not yet He held the tract long enough to read the two first sentences, which assert, that there is one eternal God, who is independent of the incidents of mortality, and that, besides him, there is no God; and then, with an air of indifference, perhaps disdain,-he dashed it to the ground! Moung Zah stooped forward, picked it up, and handed it to us. Moung Yo made a slight attempt to save us, by unfolding one of the volumes which composed our present, and displaying its beauty; but his majesty took no notice. Our fate was decided. After a few moments, Moung Zah interpreted his royal master's will, in the following terms :- In regard to the objects of your petition, his majesty gives no order. In regard to your sacred books, his majesty has no use for them-take them away.'

The next day they made some further efforts to accomplish their object, but in vain; and accordingly without delay they returned to Rangoon. They immediately called the three converts together, and stated the result of their visit, at the same time, expressing it as their determination to forsake their present station, and attempt the establishment of a mission in a populous tract of country between Bengal and Arracan. The converts remonstrated against their departure, and as some favourable symptoms were beginning to appear among the people, it was at length resolved that Mr and Mrs Judson should remain in Rangoon, and that Mr and Mrs Colman should proceed to Chittagong.

Thus were Mr and Mrs Judson again left alone, but their hearts were cheered by the evident spread of a spirit of enquiry among the natives. From the extent of her exertions, however, in imparting instruction to the native females, as well as from the effect of climate, Mrs Judson's health began to yield. The disease, which was an affection of the liver, increased to an alarming degree, and it became necessary that she should repair without delay to Bengal. Mr Judson thought it right to accompany her. But before setting sail, they had the satisfaction of seeing the Christian Church at Rangoon increased to the number of ten individuals, including one female. On the 19th of July 1820, Mr and Mrs Judson embarked for Bengal. They were accompanied to the vessel by all the native converts, and by nearly a hundred other individuals, who testified sincere grief at their departure.

After spending a few months at Serampore, Mrs Judson found her health considerably improved, and she resolved to return with her husband to the scene of their labours. Their return was hailed by the converts with the utmost satisfaction. It was soon but too apparent, however, that Mrs Judson's disease had been merely mitigated by her stay at Serampore, not totally eradicated. It was at length resolved, therefore, that she should visit America; and on the 21st of August 1821, she embarked for Bengal. Her feelings on parting from her husband, and from the little Church in Burmah, will be best described in her own words :

"Those only who have had to pass through a variety of toil and privation, to obtain a darling object, can realise how entirely every fibre of the heart adheres to that object, when secured. Had we encountered no difficulties, and suffered 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 individuals composing it, but should not have felt such tender solicitude and anxious affection, as in the present case.

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, you will readily imagine, that no ordinary consideration could have induced my departure."

On her arrival in Calcutta, Mrs Judson was persuaded to change her intention, and to embark in a ship bound for England. On her passage she had a severe attack of her complaint, which confined her to her cabin for several days. During her stay in England, she resided chiefly in the house of the late excellent Mr Joseph Butterworth, member of parliament, a man of an admirable Christian spirit, and one who could so fully appreciate the worth of his guest, that at a meeting of the English Baptist Missionary Society, he stated that Mrs Judson's visit to his family showed him more strongly than ever the effect of the apostolic admonition :-" Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."

After spending a few months in visiting various places, both in England and Scotland, she set sail for New York, where she arrived on the 25th of September 1822. I was during her visit to America, that she prepared fo the press her " History of the Burman Mission," which has been read with no small interest by Christians on both sides of the Atlantic. The labour connected with the compilation of this work, tended not a little to retard her restoration to health. By the care and kindness of her friends, however, and particularly of her brother-in-law, Dr Elnathan Judson, she had so far recovered as to set sail from Boston in the summer of 1823, along with Mr and Mrs Wade, who had been set apart as Missionaries for Burmah.

During the absence of Mrs Judson, the members of the Church at Rangoon had increased to eighteen, and Mr Judson's hands had been strengthened by the arrival of Dr Price, as a coadjutor in the mission. No sooner, however, did the king hear that a Missionary had come to the country, possessed of medical knowledge, than he instantly gave orders that he should be brought to the capital. Dr Price, accordingly, obeyed the summons, and Mr Judson also, a few days after his wife reached Rangoon, set out with her for Ava, the residence of the king.

At this time, in consequence of repeated encroachments of the Burmese government on the British possessions in India, a war was proclaimed, and in May 1824, an army of nearly six thousand English and native troops, under the command of Sir Archibald Campbell, arrived at Rangoon. The Missionaries who had remained after the departure of Messrs Judson and Price were for some time in imminent danger, until the capture of the town by the British, secured for them liberty and protection. News speedily reached Ava that Rangoon had been taken, and the court was thrown into the greatest commotion. A suspicion arose, and was quickly propagated, that the foreigners residing in the country must have been conveying to the British army secret information, and orders were issued for the apprehension of all foreigners then in the capital. The scene which ensued is graphically delineated by Mrs Judson, in a letter to her brother-in-law in America:——

"On the 8th of June, just as we were preparing for

son

• You are

dinner, in rushed an officer holding a black book, with a dozen Burmans accompanied by one who, from his spotted face, we knew to be an executioner, and a of the prison.' Where is the teacher?' was the first Mr Judson presented himself. inquiry. called by the king,' said the officer; a form of speech always used when about to arrest a criminal. The spotted man instantly seized Mr Judson, threw him on the floor, and produced the small cord, the instrument of torture. I caught hold of his arm; Stay, said I, I will give you money.' Take her too,' said the officer; she also is a foreigner.' Mr Judson, with an imploring look, begged they would let me remain till further orders. The scene now was shocking beyond description. The whole neighbourhood had collected -the masons at work on the brick house threw down their tools, and ran the little Burman children were screaming and crying-the Bengalee servants stood in amazement at the indignities offered their master-and the hardened executioner, with a kind of hellish joy, drew tight the cords, bound Mr Judson fast, and dragged him off I knew not whither. In vain I begged and entreated the spotted face to take the silver, and loosen the ropes, but he spurned my offers, and immediately departed. I gave the money, however, to Moung Ing to follow after, to make some farther attempt to mitigate the torture of Mr Judson, but instead of succeeding, when a few rods from the house, the unfeeling wretches again threw their prisoner on the ground, and drew the cords still tighter, so as almost to prevent respiration. "The officer and his gang proceeded on to the courthouse, where the governor of the city and officers were collected, one of whom read the order of the king, to commit Mr Judson to the death prison, into which he was soon hurled; the door closed, and Moung Ing saw no more. What a night was now before me! I retired into my room, and endeavoured to obtain consolation from committing my case to God, and imploring fortitude and strength to suffer whatever awaited me. But the consolation of retirement was not long allowed me, for the magistrate of the place had come into the verandah, and continually called on me to come out, and submit to his examination. But previously to going out, I destroyed all my letters, journals, and writings of every kind, lest they should disclose the fact, that we had correspondents in England, and had minuted down every occurrence since our arrival in the country. When this work of destruction was finished, I went out and submitted to the examination of the magistrate, who inquired very minutely of every thing I knew, then ordered the gates of the compound to be shut, no person to be allowed to go in or out, placed a guard of ten ruffians, to whom he gave a strict charge to keep me safe, and departed.

"It was now dark. I retired to an inner room with my four little Burman girls, and barred the doors. The guard instantly ordered me to unbar the doors and come out, or they would break the house down. I obstinately refused to obey, and endeavoured to intimidate them by threatening to complain of their conduct to the higher authorities on the morrow. Finding me resolved in disregarding their orders, they took the two Bengalee servants, and confined them in the stocks, in a very painful position. I could not endure this; but called the head man to a window, and promised to make them all a present in the morning, if they would release the servants. After much debate, and many severe threatenings, they consented, but seemed resolved to annoy me as much as possible. My unprotected, desolate state, my entire uncertainty of the fate of Mr Judson, and the dreadful carousings and almost diabolical language of the guard, all conspired to make it by far the most distressing night I had ever passed. You may well imagine, my dear brother, that sleep was a stranger to my eyes, and peace and composure to my mind.

"The next morning I sent Moung Ing to ascertain the situation of your brother, and give him food if still living. He soon returned, with the intelligence, that Mr Judson, and all the white foreigners, were confined in the death prison, with three pair of iron fetters each, and fastened to a long pole to prevent their moving! The point of my anguish now was, that I was a pri soner myself, and could make no effort for the release of the Missionaries. I begged and entreated the magistrate to allow me to go to some member of government to state my case, but he said he could not dare to consent, for fear I should make my escape. I next wrote a note to one of the king's sisters, with whom I had been intimate, requesting her to use her influence for the release of the teachers. The note was returned with this message-she did not understand it;' which was a polite refusal to interfere; though I afterwards ascertained, that she had an anxious desire to assist us, but dared not, on account of the queen. The day dragged heavily away, and another dreadful night was be fore me. I endeavoured to soften the feelings of the guard, by giving them tea and cigars for the night, so that they allowed me to remain inside of my room, with out threatening as they did the night before. But the idea of your brother being stretched on the bare floor, in irons and confinement, haunted my mind like a spectre, and prevented my obtaining any quiet sleep, though nature was almost exhausted.

"On the third day I sent a message to the gover nor of the city, who has the entire direction of prison affairs, to allow me to visit him with a present. This had the desired effect; and he immediately sent orders to the guards to permit my going into town. The governor received me pleasantly, and asked me what I wanted. I stated to him the situation of the foreigners, and particularly that of the teachers, who were Americans, and had nothing to do with the war. He told me it was not in his power to release them from prison or irons, but that he could make their situation more comfortable; there was his head officer, with whom I must consult, relative to the means. The officer, whe proved to be one of the city writers, and whose countenance, at the first glance, presented the most perfect assemblage of all the evil passions attached to human nature, took me aside, and endeavoured to convince me, that myself, as well as the prisoners, were entirely at his disposal; that our future comfort must depend on my liberality in regard to presents, and that these must be made in a private way, and unknown to any officer in the government! What must I do,' said I, to obtain a mitigation of the present suffer ings of the two teachers?" Pay to me,' said he, hundred tickals, (about a hundred dollars), two pieces of fine cloth, and two pieces of handerchiefs.' I had taken money with me in the morning, our house being two miles from the prison; I could not easily return. This I offered to the writer, and begged he would not insist on the other articles, as they were not in my [os session. He hesitated for some time, but fearing to lose sight of so much money, he concluded to take it, promising to relieve the teachers from their most painful situation.

66

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I then procured an order from the governor, for my admittance into prison; but the sensations produced by meeting your brother in that wretched, hor rid situation, and the affecting scene which ensued, I will not attempt to describe. Mr Judson crawled to the door of the prison (for I was never allowed to enter), gave me some directions relative to his release; but before we could make any arrangement, I was of dered to depart, by those iron-hearted jailors who could not endure to see us enjoy the poor consolation of meeting in that miserable place. In vain I pleaded the order from the governor for my admittance; they again harshly repeated, Depart, or we will pull you