“Rangoon,February11, 1823.“Rev. and dear Sir: My last to you was written just before we left Rangoon for Ava.“You will learn from my journal, forwarded herewith to the Corresponding Secretary, the particulars of our visit to Ava. Suffice it here to say that the Lord has been gracious to us beyond our expectation. My reception, as a minister of religion, has been very different from what it was before. A liberal and candid spirit seems to prevail among all the members of the royal family, and among many of the leadingmembers of Government. It is distinctly understood by the king, and by all who have any knowledge of me at all, that I am a thah-tha-nah-pyoo-tsayah, that is, a religion-propagating teacher; and yet I have been smiled on, and listened to, and, by order of the king himself, have received from the chief public minister of state the grant of a small piece of ground, for the express purpose of building akyoung(a house appropriated to sacred characters). It is my intention, therefore, to return thither as soon as Mrs. Judson arrives, who, I hear, has gone on to America. And in the meantime, I shall occupy myself in finishing the translation of the New Testament—a work which I left unfinished with great reluctance, and which I rejoice to have leisure to resume.“During my absence, one of the best of our church members, the sister of Mah Men-la, was called from this world to join, I trust, the church triumphant. She died in peace and joy, professing her belief in Jesus Christ, and saying that she should soon be with Him in heaven.“During the whole of my residence at Ava, I was severely afflicted at intervals with the fever and ague. I did hope that a change of climate would effect my cure; but the disorder has followed me to Rangoon, and I am subject to it every other day. Brother Price was apprehensive that it would terminate fatally, having resisted every medical application, and become so deeply rooted; and he would have accompanied me hither, had I not dissuaded him. My only hope now is, that it will exhaust itself before my constitution is exhausted; but the Lord’s will be done. I could wish to live to finish the New Testament, and I should also be happy to see a little church raised up in Ava, as there has been in Rangoon. But the ways of God are not as the ways of man. He does all things well. Glory be to His holy name forevermore.”
“Rangoon,February11, 1823.
“Rangoon,February11, 1823.
“Rangoon,February11, 1823.
“Rev. and dear Sir: My last to you was written just before we left Rangoon for Ava.
“You will learn from my journal, forwarded herewith to the Corresponding Secretary, the particulars of our visit to Ava. Suffice it here to say that the Lord has been gracious to us beyond our expectation. My reception, as a minister of religion, has been very different from what it was before. A liberal and candid spirit seems to prevail among all the members of the royal family, and among many of the leadingmembers of Government. It is distinctly understood by the king, and by all who have any knowledge of me at all, that I am a thah-tha-nah-pyoo-tsayah, that is, a religion-propagating teacher; and yet I have been smiled on, and listened to, and, by order of the king himself, have received from the chief public minister of state the grant of a small piece of ground, for the express purpose of building akyoung(a house appropriated to sacred characters). It is my intention, therefore, to return thither as soon as Mrs. Judson arrives, who, I hear, has gone on to America. And in the meantime, I shall occupy myself in finishing the translation of the New Testament—a work which I left unfinished with great reluctance, and which I rejoice to have leisure to resume.
“During my absence, one of the best of our church members, the sister of Mah Men-la, was called from this world to join, I trust, the church triumphant. She died in peace and joy, professing her belief in Jesus Christ, and saying that she should soon be with Him in heaven.
“During the whole of my residence at Ava, I was severely afflicted at intervals with the fever and ague. I did hope that a change of climate would effect my cure; but the disorder has followed me to Rangoon, and I am subject to it every other day. Brother Price was apprehensive that it would terminate fatally, having resisted every medical application, and become so deeply rooted; and he would have accompanied me hither, had I not dissuaded him. My only hope now is, that it will exhaust itself before my constitution is exhausted; but the Lord’s will be done. I could wish to live to finish the New Testament, and I should also be happy to see a little church raised up in Ava, as there has been in Rangoon. But the ways of God are not as the ways of man. He does all things well. Glory be to His holy name forevermore.”
But before going to Ava, he must await Mrs. Judson’s arrival. Ten months intervened between his return from Ava and her arrival at Rangoon. During this time he completed the translation of the New Testament into Burmese,and prepared an epitome of the Old Testament, which might serve as an introduction to the study of the New. On the 13th of December, 1823, eight days after Mrs. Judson’s arrival, he set out in company with her for Ava, where they arrived on January 23, 1824. This marked an epoch in Mr. Judson’s life. His ardent, active temperament was to be subjected to the crucible of passive endurance; and we now pass from the record of his activities to the story of his sufferings.
26. See MapII.
26. See MapII.
27. “One of these female disciples was found at Rangoon by the missionaries in August, 1852, having attained the age of eighty years. From the time of her baptism until then, for thirty years, she had maintained, in the midst of heathenism, a consistent Christian profession. She remembered well Mr. Judson and ‘the Mamma’ Judson, and was in daily expectation of meeting them again in heaven.”
27. “One of these female disciples was found at Rangoon by the missionaries in August, 1852, having attained the age of eighty years. From the time of her baptism until then, for thirty years, she had maintained, in the midst of heathenism, a consistent Christian profession. She remembered well Mr. Judson and ‘the Mamma’ Judson, and was in daily expectation of meeting them again in heaven.”