Edward Judson · 30 of 47

Chapter X. Life in Maulmain (Continued). 1831-1845 · Part 2

“February 2. Went round the northern extremity of Kanlong, and up the eastern channel, to Poo-ah’s village, where we found the two disciples whom we sent away on the 21st ultimo. They have met with a few hopeful inquirers. Some who live near are expected here to-morrow. In the meantime, went down the river a few miles, to Poo-door’s village. My people preceded me, as usual, and about noon I followed them. But I found that the village was inhabited chiefly by Buddhist Karens, and, of course, met with a poor reception. After showing myself and trying to conciliate the children and dogs, who cried and barked in concert, I left word that, if any wished to hear me preach, I would come again in the evening, and then relieved the people of my presence, and retreated to the boat. At night the disciples returned, without any encouragement. One of them, however, accidentally met the chief, who said that if I came he would not refuse to hear what I had to say. On this half invitation I set out, about sunset, and never met with worse treatment at a Karen village. The chief would not even invite us into his house, but sent us off to an old deserted place, where the floor was too frail to support us; so we sat down on the ground. He then 390invited us nearer, and sat down before us, with a few confidential friends. He had evidently forbidden all his people to approach us, otherwise some would have come, out of curiosity. And what a hard, suspicious face did he exhibit! And how we had to coax him to join us in a little regular worship! It was at least an hour before he would consent at all. But in the course of worship his features softened, and his mind ‘crossed over,’ as he expressed it, to our religion; and I returned to the boat inclined to believe that all things are possible with God.

“February 3. Some of my people who slept at the village returned with the report that the place is divided against itself. Some are for and some against us. The opposition is rather violent. One man threatens to turn his aged father out of doors if he embraces the Christian religion. Perhaps this is not to be regretted. Satan never frets without cause. Turned the boat’s head again to the north, and retraced our way to Poo-ah’s village, where we spent the rest of the day. But the two hopeful inquirers that I left here on the 29th have made no advance.

“February 9. Visited Wen-gyan, Pah-len, and Zong-ing, Taling villages, where we found a few Karens. At the latter place, collected a small assembly for evening worship. A few professed to believe; others were violent in opposing.

“February 10. Visited several Taling villages in succession. In the afternoon, reached the confluence of the Salwen and the Gyne, upon which we turned into the latter, and went up to Taranah, where Ko Shan resides, as mentioned December 29. The inhabitants of this place, like the Talings in general, are inveterately opposed to the Gospel, and Ko Shan has had very little success. Two or three individuals, however, appear to be favorably impressed; but the opposition is so strong that no one dares to come forward.

“February 11. Left Ko Shan, with the promise of sending him aid as soon as possible, and in the afternoon reached Maulmain, after an absence of six weeks, during which I have baptized twenty-five, and registered about the same number of hopeful inquirers. I find that brother and sister 391Jones have arrived from Rangoon, brother Kincaid having concluded to take their place.”

But this second tour among the Karens was soon followed by a third, of which a brief account is given in Mr. Judson’s words:

“February 29, 1832. Left Maulmain for the Karen villages on the Salwen, accompanied by Ko Myat-kyau, who speaks Karen, three other Taling disciples, and the two Karen assistants, Panlah and Chet-thing. The other Karen assistant, Tau-nah, I expect to meet at Chummerah, according to the arrangement of February 4. At night, reached Tong-eing, and found that the few Karens near the place had concluded to reject the Gospel.

“March 1. Touched at the village above Nengyan, and found that the inhabitants have come to the same conclusion, ‘till the next rainy season.’ Passed by all the Taling towns, and touched at the village below Rajah’s, where we found that the people still adhere to the new Karen prophet, Aree-maday. Moung Zuthee unfortunately encountered a very respectable Burman priest, with a train of novices, who, not relishing his doctrine, fell upon him, and gave him a sound beating. The poor man fled to me in great dismay, and, I am sorry to say, some wrath, begging leave to assemble our forces and seize the aggressor, for the purpose of delivering him up to justice. I did assemble them; and, all kneeling down, I praised God that He had counted one of our number worthy to suffer a little for His Son’s sake; and prayed that He would give us a spirit of forgiveness, and our persecutors every blessing, temporal and spiritual; after which we left the field of battle with cool and happy minds. Reached Rajah’s late at night. He remains firm, though not followed by any of his people. His wife, however, and eldest daughter, after evening worship, declared themselves on the side of Christ.

“March 2. Spent the forenoon in instructing and examining the wife and daughter. The former we approved, but rejected the latter, as not yet established in the Christian 392faith. After the baptism, Rajah and his wife united in presenting their younger children, that I might lay my hands on them and bless them. The elder children, being capable of discerning good from evil, came of their own accord, and held up their folded hands in the act of homage to their parents’ God, while we offered a prayer that they might obtain grace to become true disciples, and receive the holy ordinance of baptism. At noon, left this interesting family, and proceeded up the river, stopping occasionally, and preaching wherever we could catch a listening ear. Entered the Mai-san, and landed at the village above Rai-ngai’s, which Ko Myat-kyau has formerly visited. In the evening, had two very attentive hearers.

“March 3. The two attentive hearers were up nearly all night, drinking in the truth. One of them became urgent for baptism; and on hearing his present and past experience, from the time he first listened to the Gospel, we concluded to receive him into the fellowship of the church. His wife is very favorably disposed, but not so far advanced in knowledge and faith. Returned to the Salwen, and made a long pull for Poo-door’s village; but late in the evening, being still at a considerable distance, were obliged to coil ourselves up in our small boat, there being no house in these parts, and the country swarming with tigers at this season, so that none of us ventured to sleep on shore.

“March 4. Lord’s day. Uncoiled ourselves with the first dawn of light, and soon after sunrise took possession of a fine flat log, in the middle of Poo-door’s village, a mile from the river, where we held forth on the duty of refraining from work on this the Lord’s day, and attending divine worship. Some listened to our words; and in the forenoon we succeeded in collecting a small assembly. After worship, the old man mentioned formerly, whose son threatened to turn him out of doors, came forward, with his wife; and having both witnessed a good confession, we received them into our fellowship. Poo-door himself absent on a journey; but his wife ready to become a Christian.

”March 10. Went on to the mouth of the Yen-being, and as 393far as the great log, which prevents a boat from proceeding farther. Providentially met with Wah-hai, of whom I have heard a good report for some time. He was happy to see us, and we were happy to examine and baptize him. We then visited the village, whence they formerly sent a respectful message, desiring us to go about our business, and found some attentive listeners.

“March 11. Lord’s day. Again took the main river, and soon fell in with a boat, containing several of the listeners of yesterday, among whom was one man who declared his resolution to enter the new religion. We had scarcely parted with this boat when we met another, full of men, coming down the stream; and, on hailing to know whether they wished to hear the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, an elderly man, the chief of the party, replied that he had already heard much of the Gospel, and there was nothing he desired more than to have a meeting with the teacher. Our boats were soon side by side, where, after a short engagement, the old man struck his colors, and begged us to take him into port, where he could make a proper surrender of himself to Christ. We accordingly went to the shore, and spent several hours very delightfully, under the shade of the overhanging trees, and the banner of the love of Jesus. The old man’s experience was so clear, and his desire for baptism so strong, that, though circumstances prevented our gaining so much testimony of his good conduct since believing as we usually require, we felt that it would be wrong to refuse his request. A lad in his company, the person mentioned January 30, desired also to be baptized. But, though he had been a preacher to the old man, his experience was not so decided and satisfactory; so that we rejected him for the present. The old man went on his way, rejoicing aloud, and declaring his resolution to make known the eternal God and the dying love of Jesus, all along the banks of the Yoon-za-len, his native stream.

“The dying words of an aged man of God, when he waved his withered, death-struck arm, and exclaimed, ‘The best of all is, God is with us,’ I feel in my very soul. Yes, the great 394Invisible is in these Karen wilds. That mighty Being who heaped up these craggy rocks, and reared these stupendous mountains, and poured out these streams in all directions, and scattered immortal beings throughout these deserts—He is present by the influence of his Holy Spirit, and accompanies the sound of the Gospel with converting, sanctifying power. ‘The best of all is, God is with us.’

“March 12. Alas! how soon is our joy turned into mourning! Mah Nyah-ban, of whom we all had such a high opinion, joined her husband, not many days after their baptism, in making an offering to the demon of diseases, on account of the sudden, alarming illness of their youngest child; and they have remained ever since in an impenitent, prayerless state! They now refuse to listen to our exhortation, and appear to be given over to hardness of heart and blindness of mind. I was therefore obliged, this morning, to pronounce the sentence of suspension, and leave them to the mercy and judgment of God. Their case is greatly to be deplored. They are quite alone in this quarter, have seen no disciples since we left them, and are surrounded with enemies, some from Maulmain, who have told them all manner of lies, and used every effort to procure and perpetuate their apostasy. When I consider the evidence of grace which they formerly gave, together with all the palliating circumstances of the case, I have much remaining hope that they will yet be brought to repentance. I commend them to the prayers of the faithful, and the notice of any missionary who may travel that way. In consequence of the advantage which Satan has gained in this village, the six hopeful inquirers whom we left here have all fallen off, so that we are obliged to retire with the dispirited feelings of beaten troops.

“I respectfully request and sincerely hope that this article may be neither suppressed nor polished. The principle of 395‘double selection,’ as it is termed, that is, one selection by the missionary and another by the publishing committee, has done great mischief, and contributed more to impair the credit of missionary accounts than anything else. We in the East, knowing how extensively this principle is acted on, do scarcely give any credit to the statements which appear in some periodicals, and the public at large are beginning to open their eyes to the same thing. It is strange to me that missionaries and publishing committees do not see the excellency and efficacy of the system pursued by the inspired writers—that of exhibiting the good and the bad alike. Nothing contributes more to establish the authenticity of the writing. A temporary advantage gained by suppressing truth is a real defeat in the end, and therefore μονη θυτεον αληθεια.

“March 27. Ran down the river without touching at any place by the way. At night reached Maulmain, after an absence of nearly a month, during which I have baptized nineteen, making eighty Karen Christians in connection with the Maulmain station, of whom one is dead and two are suspended from communion. Am glad, yet sorry, to find that brother Bennett arrived a fortnight ago from Calcutta, with a complete font of types, and yesterday sent a boat to call me, which, however, passed us on the way. Must I, then, relinquish my intention of making another trip up the river before the rains set in? Must I relinquish for many months, and perhaps forever, the pleasure of singing as I go,—

Truly, the tears fall as I write.”

At the close of the year 1832 Mr. Judson reported one hundred and forty-three baptisms: three at Rangoon, seventy at Maulmain, sixty-seven at Tavoy, and three at Mergui. This made five hundred and sixteen who had been baptized since his arrival in Burmah, only seventeen of whom had been finally excluded.

396On the first day of the new year a party of new missionaries arrived in Maulmain from America. These reinforcements seem to have come in response to a stirring appeal for help sent by the missionaries nearly a year before:

“Respected Fathers and Brethren: At our monthly concert this morning, it was unanimously agreed that a joint letter should be addressed to you on the importance of sending out more missionaries to this part of the heathen world. Being, every one of us, exceedingly pressed for want of time, we can not stop to prepare an elaborate statement, but must come at once to the point in hand.

“We are in distress. We see thousands perishing around us. We see mission stations opening on every side, the fields growing whiter every day, and no laborers to reap the harvest. If each one of us could divide himself into three parts, happy would he be, not only to take leave of his native land and beloved connections at home, but of still nearer and more intimate connections. We want instantly to send aid to the Tavoy station, where brother Mason is laboring, almost alone. We want instantly to send a missionary to Mergui, a pleasant, healthful town, south of Tavoy, where a small church has been raised up, and left in charge of a native pastor. Our hearts bleed when we think of poor Mergui and the Karens in that vicinity, many of whom are ready to embrace the Gospel and be saved. But how can we allow ourselves to think of that small place, when the whole kingdom of Siam lies in our rear, and the city of Bangkok, at once a port for ships and the seat of imperial government? We want instantly to dispatch one of our number to Bangkok. One? There ought, at this moment, to be three, at least, on their way to that important place. Another ought to be on his way to Yah-heing, a large town east of Maulmain, from which there is a fine river leading down to Bangkok; there are many Karens at Yah-heing. The Christian religion is creeping that way by means of our Karen disciples. North of Yah-heing and the Thoung-yen River, the boundary of the British territory on that side, lies the kingdom or principality of Zenmai. There have been several communications between the Government of Maulmain and Lah-bong, the present capital of that country. Moung Shway-bwen, one of our disciples, formerly with brother Boardman at Tavoy, is a nephew of the prince, or deputy prince, of that country, and is anxious to return thither. But how can we send him, a very young man, without a missionary? If we had a spare missionary, what a fine opportunity for introducing the Gospel into that central nation! It 397would open the way to other neighboring nations, not even mentioned in foreign geographies, and even to the borders of China and Tartary. Between Maulmain and Zenmai are various tribes of Karens, Toung-thoos, Lah-wahs, etc. The former are literally crying out aloud for a written language, that they may read in their own tongue the wonderful works of God. From the banks of the Yoon-za-len, on the north-west, the celebrated prophet of the Karens has repeatedly sent down messages and presents to us, begging that we would come and instruct his people in the Christian religion. But how can we think of supplying that quarter, when the old kingdom of Arracan, now under British rule, and speaking the same language with the Burmese, is crying, in the whole length and breadth of her coast, for some one to come to her rescue? In that country are one or two hundred converts, and one country-born missionary, from the Serampore connection, who is laboring without any prospect of reinforcement from Bengal, and desirous that one of us should join him. Kyouk Phyoo, lately established by the English, is esteemed a healthy place. The commandant is disposed to welcome a missionary, and afford him every facility. Our hearts bleed when we think of Kyouk Phyoo, and the poor inquirers that one of our number lately left there, ready to embrace the Christian religion, if he would only promise to remain or send a successor. From Kyouk Phyoo the way is open into the four provinces of Arracan, namely, Rek-keing. Chedubah, Ramree, and Sandoway; and what a grand field for our tracts, and the New Testament, now in press! Of all the places that now cry around us, we think that Kyouk Phyoo cries the loudest. No; we listen again, and the shrill cry of golden Ava rises above them all. Oh, Ava! Ava! with thy metropolitan walls and gilded turrets, thou sittest a lady among these Eastern nations; but our hearts bleed for thee! In thee is no Christian church, no missionary of the cross.

“We have lately heard of the death of poor Prince Myen Zeing. He died without any missionary or Christian to guide his groping soul on the last dark journey. Where has that journey terminated? Is he in the bright world of Paradise, or in the burning lake? He had attained some knowledge of the way of salvation. Perhaps, in his last hours, he turned away his eye from the gold and silver idols around his couch, and looked to the crucified Saviour. But those who first taught him were far away; so he died, and was buried like a heathen. It is true that the one of our number who formerly lived at Ava would not be tolerated during the present reign; but another missionary would, doubtless, be well received, and, if prudent, be allowed to remain. Two missionaries ought, at this moment, to be studying the language in Ava.

“O God of mercy, have mercy on Ava, and Chageing, and A-ma-ra-poo-ra. Have mercy on Pugan and Prome (poor Prome!), on Toung-oo, 398on the port of Bassein, and on all the towns between Ava and Rangoon. Have mercy on old Pegu and the surrounding district. Have mercy on the four provinces of Arracan. Have mercy on the inhabitants of the banks of the Yoon-za-len, the Salwen, the Thoung-yen, and the Gyne. Have mercy on all the Karens, the Toung-thoos, the Lah-wahs, and other tribes, whose names, though unknown in Christian lands, are known to Thee. Have mercy on Zen-mai, on Lah-bong, Myeing-yoon-gyee, and Yay-heing. Have mercy on Bangkok, and the kingdom of Siam, and all the other principalities that lie on the north and east. Have mercy on poor little Mergui, and Pah-lan, and Yay, and Lah-meing, and Nah-zaroo, and Amherst, and the Island of Ba-loo, with its villages of Talings and Karens. Have mercy on our mission stations at Tavoy, Maulmain, and Rangoon, and our sub-stations at Mergui, Chummerah, and Newville. Pour out Thine Holy Spirit upon us and our assistants, upon our infant churches and our schools. Aid us in the solemn and laborious work of translating and printing Thine holy, inspired word in the languages of these heathen. Oh, keep our faith from failing, our spirits from sinking, and our mortal frames from giving way prematurely under the influence of the climate and the pressure of our labors. Have mercy on the Board of Missions; and grant that our beloved and respected fathers and brethren may be aroused to greater effort, and go forth personally into all parts of the land, and put in requisition all the energies of Thy people. Have mercy on the churches in the United States; hold back the curse of Meroz; continue and perpetuate the heavenly revivals of religion which they have begun to enjoy; and may the time soon come when no church shall dare to sit under Sabbath and sanctuary privileges without having one of their number to represent them on heathen ground. Have mercy on the theological seminaries, and hasten the time when one-half of all who yearly enter the ministry shall be taken by Thine Holy Spirit, and driven into the wilderness, feeling a sweet necessity laid on them, and the precious love of Christ and of souls constraining them. Hear, O Lord, all the prayers which are this day presented in all the monthly concerts throughout the habitable globe, and hasten the millennial glory, for which we are all longing, and praying, and laboring. Adorn Thy beloved one in her bridal vestments, that she may shine forth in immaculate beauty and celestial splendor. Come, O our Bridegroom; come, Lord Jesus; come quickly. Amen and Amen.

“(Signed),

399A letter from one of the new-comers[47] to her parents gives us an interesting glimpse of our missionary’s personal habits:

“Our intercourse with Mr. Judson is of a very pleasing nature, and we feel happy to be permitted in the least degree to take off the edge of his loneliness. It is affecting to hear his petitions for a long life, to labor among the heathen, mingled as they are with panting aspirations after heaven. He seems uniformly seriously cheerful. His days and nights are spent in a room adjoining the native chapel, where he spends all his time, except that devoted to meals (twice a day) and exercise, and generally he has a sort of social conversation with some one of the mission families in the evening. He is confining himself as closely as possible to the completion of his translation of the Scriptures. His exhortations to us all to exercise, are practically enforced by his own example. He walks very early in the morning, rain or shine; also after sunset. He told me that he had no doubt that so much loss of health and life to foreigners in this climate is principally due to their negligence on this point.”

But the time had at last come when Mr. Judson’s long domestic solitude was to end. Under date of April 10, 1834, we find in his journal the following important entry:

“Was married to Mrs. Sarah H. Boardman, who was born at Alstead, New Hampshire, November 4, 1803, the eldest daughter of Ralph and Abiah O. Hall—married to George D. Boardman, July 4, 1825—left a widow February 11, 1831, with one surviving child, George D. Boardman, born August 18, 1828.”

Nearly eight years of loneliness had passed since he laid his beloved Ann beneath the hopia-tree. He had arrived at the age of forty-six, when he married Mrs. Boardman. He found in her a kindred spirit. She had spent the three years of her widowhood in heroic toil among the Karens at Tavoy, and had turned persistently away from the urgent appeals of her friends in America to return home for her own sake and the sake of her little boy. She had resolved 400to continue her husband’s labors alone, and thus wrote concerning her purpose:

“As to my future walk, I feel, I trust, a desire to be guided by unerring Wisdom. I have never been able to think of abandoning forever the cause in which my beloved husband rejoiced to wear out his feeble frame and sink into a premature grave. The death-bed scene has inspired me with a fortitude, or I would hope, faith unknown before, and encircled the missionary enterprise with a glory not until then perceived.”

And again she says:

“When I first stood by the grave of my husband, I thought that I must go home with George. But these poor, inquiring, and Christian Karens, and the school-boys, and the Burmese Christians, would then be left without any one to instruct them; and the poor, stupid Tavoyans would go on in the road to death, with no one to warn them of their danger. How then, oh, how can I go? We shall not be separated long. A few more years, and we shall all meet in yonder blissful world, whither those we love have gone before us.”

And so for three years this beautiful and intrepid woman continued her husband’s work. She was the guiding spirit of the mission. She pointed out the way of life to the Karen inquirers who came in from the wilderness. She conducted her schools with such tact and ability that when, afterward, an appropriation was obtained from the English Government for schools throughout the provinces, it was expressly stipulated that they should be “conducted on the plan of Mrs. Boardman’s schools at Tavoy.” She even made long missionary tours into the Karen jungles. With her little boy carried by her followers at her side, she climbed the mountain, traversed the marsh, forded the stream, and threaded the forest. On one of these trips she sent back a characteristic message to Mrs. Mason at Tavoy: “Perhaps 401you had better send the chair, as it is convenient to be carried over the streams when they are deep. You will laugh when I tell you that I have forded all the smaller ones.”

Mrs. E. C. Judson relates the following incident concerning her:[48]

“A single anecdote is related by Captain F——, a British officer, stationed at Tavoy; and he used to dwell with much unction on the lovely apparition which once greeted him among those wild, dreary mountains. He had left Tavoy, accompanied by a few followers, I think on a hunting expedition, and had strolled far into the jungle. The heavy rains, which deluge this country in the summer, had not yet commenced; but they were near at hand, and during the night had sent an earnest of their coming, which was anything but agreeable. All along his path hung the dripping trailers, and beneath his feet were the roots of vegetables, half-bared, and half-imbedded in mud; while the dark clouds, with the rain almost incessantly pouring from them, and the crazy clusters of bamboo huts, which appeared here and there in the gloomy waste, and were honored by the name of village, made up a scene of desolation absolutely indescribable. A heavy shower coming up as he approached a zayat by the wayside, and far from even one of those primitive villages, he hastily took refuge beneath the roof. Here, in no very good humor with the world, especially Asiatic jungles and tropic rains, he sulkily ‘whistled for want of thought,’ and employed his eyes in watching the preparations for his breakfast.

“‘Uh! what wretched corners the world has, hidden beyond its oceans and behind its trees!’

“Just as he had made this sage mental reflection, he was startled by the vision of a fair, smiling face in front of the zayat, the property of a dripping figure, which seemed to his surprised imagination to have stepped that moment from the 402clouds. But the party of wild Karen followers which gathered round her had a very human air; and the slight burdens they bore, spoke of human wants and human cares. The lady seemed as much surprised as himself; but she courtesied with ready grace, as she made some pleasant remark in English; and then turned to retire. Here was a dilemma. He could not suffer the lady to go out into the rain, but—his miserable accommodations, and still more miserable breakfast! He hesitated and stammered; but her quick apprehension had taken in all at a glance, and she at once relieved him from his embarrassment. Mentioning her name and errand, she added, smiling, that the emergencies of the wilderness were not new to her; and now she begged leave to put her own breakfast with his, and make up a pleasant morning party. Then beckoning to her Karens, she spoke a few unintelligible words, and disappeared under a low shed—a mouldering appendage of the zayat. She soon returned with the same sunny face, and in dry clothing; and very pleasant indeed was the interview between the pious officer and the lady-missionary. They were friends afterward; and the circumstances of their first meeting proved a very charming reminiscence.”