Hall became acquainted with her future husband, who had recently decided to
become a missionary in the East. He made, with an offer of marriage, the
proposal of a missionary life. She had not then reached her eighteenth
year, and was a young, freehearted girl, who knew but little of toil or
anxiety. Her extreme youth caused her to hesitate; and she accepted the
proposal only when it appeared to be a solemn and imperious duty. Her
mind wandered forward to the parting with her dear parent and other fond
friends; to the tender farewell at sailing; to long years of labor, perhaps
of suffering, in China; to a rude home there, and perhaps a grave. Then
followed the prospect of usefulness; the hope of saving souls from death
and doing a work of benevolence on soil not before cultivated by the
Christian laborer. And perhaps with these were some vague and romantic
notions about a missionary life and a missionary home. Youth is fond of
new and strange objects; and our heroine doubtless became attracted by the
novelty and romance of the life she was to live. Strange were it not so in
the ardor and inexperience of youthful piety; and the fact that romance
casts its sombre shadow over the pious missionary female, as she leaves
home and native land, detracts but little from the admiration with which we
gaze upon her lofty career. The oldest, most prudent, man seldom fails of
being interested in such enterprises by their novelty; and should we cast
away all around whom it gathers its strange witchery, few would be left to
toil for human good. He who moves above all such motives must have a mind
perfectly trained and a heart perfectly alive to the glory of God. After a
due consideration of the subject, Miss Hall decided to go forth a servant
of her Master. She was married to Rev. J. Lewis Shuck on the 8th of
September, 1835. The service was performed by Rev. H. Keeling, in the city
of Richmond. On the 10th Mr. S. and Rev. R. D. Davenport were consecrated
to the work of God in one of the Baptist churches in the same city, and
soon after embarked for Boston, one to sail for China and the other for
Siam. The vessel in which passage had been engaged for Mr. and Mrs. Shuck
was the Louvre, which was to carry out a large delegation of missionaries.
They sailed on the 22d of September, a beautiful day, on which Nature
seemed to have bestowed her charms in profusion. On board were eleven
ordained ministers, who were leaving, home to do good in distant lands.
Among these was Rev. Howard Malcom, D. D., who went out at the request of
the Baptist Triennial Convention to visit the stations of that denomination
and advise and encourage the toilers in the East. The large number of
ministers on board, one of them having long been an esteemed pastor of a
flourishing church, drew together an immense crowd of pious people, who
came to exchange parting tokens and give the parting hand to the faithful
brethren and sisters who were about to fulfil the command of our ascended
Savior--"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."
The wharf was crowded with people; and the rigging of vessels in the harbor
was filled with strong men, who looked with strange feelings upon a sight
the like of which is seldom witnessed. The hour arrived. The ship swung off
from her moorings and floated down the harbor. One sail after another was
thrown out to the breath of heaven; and in beautiful style the vessel was
borne onward and soon lost from sight. The spectators slowly and sadly
returned to their homes, praying the God of ocean and storm to keep the
precious cargo safe from danger.
To Mrs. S. the voyage was not a pleasant one. A violent seasickness
commenced as soon as she left the Harbor of Boston and continued a long
time. This was succeeded by sickness of other kinds, and the whole voyage
was spent in suffering. In her published letters to her friends she gives
thrilling descriptions of her sorrow, and declares that while she did not
dream of half the suffering which she had experienced, yet the same voyage
would she take again, were there no other way to reach her field of labor.
Admirable woman! Worn down with sickness and scarcely able to hold the
pen, she writes the sentence at a time when we would suppose she would be
shrinking back and ready to faint.
On the 4th of February, 1836, anchor was cast at Kedgeree, nearly a hundred
miles below Calcutta. At night they all disembarked and for the first time
slept on heathen soil. From Kedgeree they sailed along to Amherst, where
sleep the forms of Mrs. Judson and her babe in the silence of the grave.
What were the feelings of Mrs. Shuck as she stood there over the spot so
dear to every pious heart, or plucked a small branch of the "hopia tree" to
send home to her sire, we do not know; but doubtless her mind was filled
with sad forebodings and awful thoughts. "Am I to sleep in such a grave? be
buried away from home, with such a tree as this to wave over me?" "Am I to
fall in China, and see my friends no more? Have I looked upon the shores of
America for the last time?" Questions like these must have been suggested
to her as she stood with her husband beside the grave of Burmah's
proto-martyr.
After stopping a while at Maulmain and Singapore, the missionaries arrived
at Macao in November, 1836, and here commenced immediate preparation to
engage in the gospel work. Their first son was born shortly before their
arrival at Macao. They called him Lewis, for his father. On the 29th of
October the second son was born, who was named Ryland Keeling. With these
two babes around her, the labor of the mother was materially increased and
essentially changed. Her own family required more of her care, and gave her
less time and opportunity to do good abroad. Yet, with her family as
it was, she is said to have found much time for the usual purposes of
missionary life, and was zealously engaged in plans for the spiritual
improvement of those around her.
While at Macao her heart was cheered by hearing that God was pouring out
his Spirit in her own dear land; that he was converting sinners, and among
them some who had been her intimate friends. Her own sisters were led to
give their hearts to God; and when the intelligence crossed the deep,
and was told in the hearing of the sad and perhaps almost discouraged
missionary, her joy knew no bounds. It was as a cup of cold water to one
dying with thirst; and the letter which brought the tidings was read over
and over again, and frequently bathed in tears of joy. Her letters to her
sisters express her deep interest in their spiritual welfare. She pleads
with them by the love of Jesus that they be faithful to the Savior of their
souls and walk worthy of Him who has bought them with his own blood. To
do this, she urges them to study the word of God, and be constant in the
closet, and meditate much upon spiritual things, and watch and guard
the heart from temptation and sin. Nor does she forget to recommend the
cultivation of a missionary spirit, but, with all the eloquence of a
sister's love, urges them to do good as they have opportunity.
In January, 1837, Mr. Shuck baptized the first man who had been converted
through his agency. His name was Ah Loo. [+] For about a year previous
[Footnote +: The baptism of Ah Loo is thus described by Mr. Shuck: "At
seven o'clock this evening we repaired to the water; and although the
natural sun was not permitted to attest this first baptismal scene in
China, yet the effulgence of the Sun of Righteousness shone upon us; and if
ever we felt his genial rays, it was then. Contrary to our expectations, we
did not go half so far as we anticipated, but stopped upon the beach at a
suitable place, within a few rods-of a large Portuguese fort with mounted
ramparts. Here, in broken sentences, we united our hearts in prayer to God
that he would forgive--our weakness and many imperfections, and grant us
his smile and heavenly grace now and during our whole lives. Then handing
my cap and cane to Mrs. Shuck, who stood on the bank, the only earthly
witness of the joyful event, I had the privilege of burying with Christ in
baptism this willing convert from heathenism, being the first Chinese that
was ever baptized within the confines of this vast and idolatrous empire."]
to his baptism he lived as cook in the mission family. During the year
he became greatly attached to those whom he served, and would let no
opportunity pass without showing his gratitude. They, of course, instructed
him in the principles of the Christian religion. He was a willing learner,
and soon gave evidence of being a changed, regenerated man. Yet the
missionary was cautious, and for a long time held back his disciple; but at
length, convinced of the genuineness of his conversion, led him down into
the flowing tide and baptized him. This event was an occasion of great joy
to our sister, who, with her husband, had done so much to enlighten the
poor idolatrous Chinaman. Ah Loo maintained a constant walk for a long
time; but at length, temptation proving too powerful for him, he was
overcome, and sinned against God. This fall was full of sorrow to the
missionaries, as his conversion had been full of joy and hope; and when the
news came that he had disgraced his high profession and wronged his blessed
Savior, they bowed their hearts in sadness, and prayed to Heaven that the
wanderer might yet be restored and the straying child brought back to the
Father's arms.
In 1841 Mrs. Shuck gave birth to a beautiful little daughter, who was
called Henrietta Layton, for her mother, and a family by the latter name
who had been exceeding kind to them during all their residence at Macao. To
justify her course in conferring this name instead of one selected from her
numerous friends in America, she relates numberless instances of kindness
on the part of the family alluded to; instances of kindness without which
the missionary family would have been put to considerable inconvenience
and perhaps acute suffering. In 1842 Mr. Shuck removed to Hong Kong. The
providence of God clearly indicated this as the path of duty; and though
the separation with pleasant acquaintances at Macao was trying, the step
was cheerfully taken. A beautiful spot was selected for a chapel, and money
raised with which to erect it; and the divine blessing manifestly attended
every step. To complete the work, Mr. Shuck made great sacrifices and
practised great self-denial. He employed his own funds, expended his own
means, to complete the work; and deemed it no sacrifice, though he was
often deprived of the comforts of life. He was well aware that God would
prosper him; and though he knew not how, he rested in the confident hope
that he would ultimately receive at the hand of God far more than he had
expended in his service,
The health of Mrs. S., instead of improving, seemed to fail at Hong Kong,
and no means which were taken could restore it. Physicians were consulted
and journeys made, but all to no purpose. The hand of disease was laid
heavily upon her sinking system; and day by day her eye became more dim and
her cheek more bloodless. Still she labored on, and counted it her meat and
drink to do the will of her divine Master. Her language was,--
"Shall I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize
And sailed through bloody seas?"
Mrs. S., according to her biographer, seemed to have premonitions of
her death. For a whole year previous to the occurrence of the event the
conviction was deepening in her mind that her race was well nigh run and
her days nearly finished. The idea that _something_ was soon to arrive, and
that something to be of importance to her, weighed upon her mind. Filled
with emotions which such a presentiment was calculated to produce, she made
preparation for the grave. She endeavored to have her family arrangements
made so that she could depart at a moment's notice. She was also led
to prayer and self-consecration; and her heart, as well as her family
arrangements, was in order. The premonitions which many persons suppose
they have are generally the results of an excited fancy, and as often prove
false as true. Every person may find in his or her daily life many events
which appear mysterious; and should importance be attached to them, we
should be rendered miserable. Many are alarmed at the breaking of a mirror
the crowing of a bird at midnight, the sudden extinguishing of a lamp by
the wind, and other things equally as simple. These common occurrences are
to them omens of approaching evil, and they allow them to have all the
influence of reality. Whether they prove true or false, they are sources
to the superstitious of unhappiness. With Mrs. S. there appeared to be an
indefinable impression, which might have arisen from the precarious state
of her health and from the fact that the period of her fifth confinement
was rapidly hastening, and it was doubtful if she could endure the trials
of such an occurrence in her weak and debilitated condition. But, whatever
may have been the cause of her forebodings, they were acted upon as facts:
and had she known of her death with absolute certainty, she could not have
made more temporal and spiritual preparation for it.
At three o'clock on the morning of the 27th of November, 1844, she died.
The evening previous to her death was spent in prayer with her husband and
children. Early on the night of the 26th, the long-expected and dreaded
event announced itself by the premonitory symptoms. The physician was
summoned, and the dear friends anxiously awaited the result. But nature was
unable to sustain the fearful burden imposed upon it, and gradually gave
way until the hour mentioned, when the spirit was released and all was
over.
"Vital spark of heavenly flame,
Quit, O, quit this mortal frame;
Trembling, hoping, lingering, flying,
O, the pain, the bliss, of dying!
Cease, fond nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life."
It was hard for the husband to give up his companion under such trying
circumstances, and harder still to have her die without the utterance of a
single expression; but who that knew her life would doubt the character of
the thoughts which crowded thick and fast upon her mind as the time of
her departure was at hand? Religion was her life; and the last words she
uttered were of high and holy import. A few hours before she died she
called her husband to her couch and asked him to kneel in prayer. He did
so, and to every expression of love to Jesus she responded by the warm
pressure of his hand. We cannot doubt the evidence which such a saint
gives; and though the last hour may be spent in a silence which nothing
disturbs but the sobs of friends, we can leave the cold clay in the tomb,
with the sweet consolation of _knowing_ that the ransomed spirit has fled
to a land of holy rest. We can say,--
"How blest the righteous when she dies,
When sinks a weary soul to rest!
How mildly beam the closing eyes!
How gently heaves th' expiring breast!"
The funeral of Mrs. Shuck was attended from her late home, and she was
borne to the grave by the European police corps, who volunteered their
services for the occasion. There have been cases in which missionary women
have died and had only _one_ to follow them to the grave. On some occasions
the husband has prepared the shroud, made the coffin, dug the grave, and
followed the corpse to the tomb, accompanied only by a weeping, motherless
child, or by the unseen One, who said, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto
the end." But on this occasion there were many mourners. A large company
followed to the grave in which her remains were placed. The religious
service on the occasion was performed by Rev. Mr. Devan. At the grave Rev.
Mr. Brown offered prayer and made appropriate remarks to the crowd who
assembled.
Thus mysteriously departed on the passage of death a most worthy and
beloved wife, a fond mother, and a faithful Christian. There were many
circumstances connected with her death to make it a sad one. Her husband
was not the only sufferer by the dreadful bereavement. Five motherless
children were left among strangers in a strange land; and from many who
had experienced her kindness went up a wail of lamentation over her early
grave.
One who knew her well, and who labored for Jesus and the dying heathen
in the same land, [Footnote: Rev. William Dean.] writes of her as
follows: "She was married to Rev. Mr. Shuck in 1835, and in September of
the same year sailed with her husband, in company with a large number of
missionaries, for the East. They remained in Singapore four months,
where their eldest son was born, and in September, 1836, arrived in
China. They remained in Macao till March, 1842, when they removed to
Hong Kong. While at Macao they were allowed to prosecute the study of
language, the instruction of youth, and teaching the people. On their
arrival at Hong Kong they were prepared to renew their labors on an
enlarged scale and without restraint. Chapels were erected, assemblies
collected, and schools gathered from the Chinese; and while her husband
labored among the former, Mrs. Shuck instructed the latter. She
possessed considerable knowledge of the written language, and still
greater familiarity with the colloquial of the Chinese, and devoted
joyfully and successfully her acquirements, time, and talents to the
interests of the mission. During the last year of her life a new school
house had been erected and a school gathered under her care of twenty
Chinese boys and six girls, besides her own four children; making, in
all, thirty under her supervision. In this work she took the greatest
interest, and all the time and strength which could be spared from the
care of her family and the culture of her own children were joyfully
devoted to the instruction of the children of the heathen. Her prospects
of usefulness had never been greater, and her heart had never been more
encouraged, than during the last year of her life. But in the midst of
her highest hopes, while children were seeking instruction, the heathen
were inquiring the way to Christ, and the general prospects of the
mission were brightening, and herself in comfortable health and active
life, she was cut down in a single night, and her family overwhelmed
with grief and the mission again overshadowed with gloom.
"Under the influence of a secret conviction that her end was near, she had
'set her house in order,' and was prepared for the event; while, at
the same time, she prosecuted her daily duties with her accustomed
cheerfulness, and laid out plans for labor which would have required a long
life to perform.
"It is a matter of devout gratitude to the wise Disposer of all events,
that, just before the death of Mrs. Shuck, her particular friends, Dr.
and Mrs. Devan, should become members of her family; and now the five
motherless children may find in Mrs. Devan one so well qualified and
so sincerely desirous of supplying, to the extent of her power, their
irreparable loss. Mrs. D. will also act as the superintendent of the school
for Chinese children. The friends of the mission will unite their prayers
that life may be preserved and health and grace may be adequate to the
responsibilities and duties of the station she is by such a mysterious and
painful providence so unexpectedly called to occupy.
"Mrs. Shuck left her father's house and native land in her eighteenth year,
and, by thus giving the freshness of her youth to the cause of Christ and
the good of the heathen, has left us the best proof of the purity of her
faith and the sincerity of her piety. During her eight years' residence
in China she has done much for the happiness of her family and to aid her
husband in his work, besides giving much direct instruction to those
around her. Her house was ever open to the stranger, and her heart ever
sympathized with the needy and afflicted, and her hands were diligently
employed in acts of kindness and charity."
Let us now draw the veil over the scene, and bow our hearts to the superior
wisdom of Him who cannot err; and, while we lament for the early fallen,
may we pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth new laborers into his
vineyard. The heathen are not yet converted, the world is not yet redeemed,
the throne of Satan is not yet overturned.
"O'er the realms of pagan darkness
Let the eye of pity gaze;
See the kindreds of the people
Lost in sin's bewildering maze!
Darkness brooding
O'er the face of all the earth."
Impressed by the terrible aspect of the world, let the contemplation of
missionary biography urge us on to missionary labors and missionary piety,
until the voice of joy and praise shall resound from pole to pole.
IX.
SARAH B. JUDSON, OF BURMAH.
Ralph and Abiah Hall lived in quiet Alstead, New Hampshire. On the morning
of November 4, 1803, their first child was born. They named her Sarah, in
memory of a deceased relative. While in her youth the parents removed from
New Hampshire to Massachusetts, and established themselves in Salem, where
the younger days of our subject were spent. Of her childhood but little
can be said. She was like other children, and spent her time in a childish
manner; and connected with her early years were but few circumstances of
any special interest.
Up to her sixteenth year she seems to have had but few convictions of sin.
The great subject of the soul's salvation, if presented at all, made slight
impression upon her mind and heart. The warnings and invitations of the
gospel were alike unheeded, and she lived until this period in sinful
thoughtlessness. In 1820 she found hope in the Savior, and on the 4th of
June made a public profession of religion, and in the presence of a great
congregation gave herself away to God and to his people. The solemn, awful
step she fully realized; and when she was led down into her baptismal
sepulchre, and buried there, her heart was fully given up to God. The
venerable and departed Dr. Bolles administered the ordinance, and received
her by the impressive rite of "fellowship" to the First Baptist Church in
Salem, of which he was then pastor.
At that time the missionary spirit was beginning to pervade the churches of
America and exert its holy influence upon the minds of the members. Young
Sarah Hall caught the holy enthusiasm. Just converted, fresh from the
public vows of consecration, the anxious question, "Lord, what wilt thou
have me to do?" upon her lips, she was in the exact frame of mind best
adapted to be moulded by holy zeal for a dying race.
The feelings which struggled in her soul found utterance through the
columns of the Christian Watchman in various prose and poetic effusions.
These articles do not exhibit any extraordinary poetic merit. They hardly
do credit to her real abilities. Bearing the marks of haste, these early
productions never gave any peculiar pleasure to the authoress; but for deep
feeling and pathos they are remarkable. They seem to be the outgushings of
a soul stirred up with holy enthusiasm and flowing out in channels of its
own formation. She evidently wrote, not for the severity of the critic, but
for the warm heart of the Christian; not to awaken feelings of admiration,
but to kindle up the flame of divine animation; not to win fame for
herself, but to inspire others with love for the perishing.
One of these poems was the instrument in bringing her into an acquaintance
with George D. Boardman, her future husband. The poem was upon the death
of Coleman, whose fall in a distant land, ere he had buckled the armor on,
produced feelings of sadness in the hearts of all American Christians.
Boardman saw it, and his soul was moved by it. Who the writer was he did
not know, but determined to discover, if possible, what heart kept time
with the wild beatings of his own. The first verse of that poem runs as
follows:--
"'Tis the voice of deep sorrow from India's shore;
The flower of our churches is withered, is dead!
The gem that shone brightly will sparkle no more,
And the tears of the Christian profusely are shed.
Two youths of Columbia, with hearts glowing warm,
Embarked on the billows far distant to rove,
To bear to the nations all wrapped in thick gloom
The lamp of the gospel--the message of love.
But Wheelook now slumbers beneath the cold wave;
And Coleman lies low in the dank, cheerless grave:
Mourn, daughters of Arracan, mourn!
The rays of that star, clear and bright,
That so sweetly on Chittagong shone,
Are shrouded in black clouds of night;
For Coleman is gone!"
Mr. Boardman at once determined to discover the writer of these thrilling
lines, and in a short time was enabled to trace them to the pen of Miss
Hall. Ere he had seen her who was to be the companion of his arduous
labors, the sharer of his success, and the attendant of his dying bed, he
seems to have sought for the youthful authoress with a kind of intuition
that God had fitted her to be his companion. Nor was he disappointed on an
acquaintance with his young friend. He found her in possession of an active
mind, a warm heart, and an agreeable person. He made proposals to her
immediately, and requested her company to the heathen world. To such
an enterprise all her friends were averse. To Mr. Boardman they had no
objection; but the idea of sending out the flower of their family to wither
and die on heathen soil they could not endure. The parents were oppressed
with sorrow at what they considered the wild and romantic notions of their
child, and for a long time withheld all consent, and steadfastly resisted
every movement towards a missionary life. And when the daughter did gain
their permission, it came like water wrung from the solid rock. These pious
people did not understand the claim which God has upon the services of all
his children; they did not understand the honor and glory of having a child
in heathen lands laboring for the salvation of the dying; they did not know
what a halo of light would in after years be thrown around the name of her
who was about to embark on the perilous voyage; and when she left them they
looked upon her as buried out of their sight.
Probably much of Miss Hall's enthusiasm in the missionary work was caught
from Mrs. Judson, who visited this country in 1823. They became acquainted
shortly after the arrival of Mrs. J., and continued correspondence as long
as she remained in America; and when she sailed forth again, to return no
more, no prayer of greater fervency was offered for her safety and success
than was breathed forth by young Sarah Hall, who was so soon to follow her
illustrious example in scenes of trial and self-devotion.
George D. Boardman and Sarah Hall were married in Salem, by Rev. Lucius
Bolles, D.D., on the 3d day of July, 1825. Her personal appearance was
good. Though not positively handsome, her countenance was agreeable and
prepossessing. She usually wore a pleasant smile; and an air of frankness
and ingenuous openness was a peculiar characteristic. She was affable and
courteous, with sufficient dignity and grace. We may, however, suppose her
husband to have been more attracted by her intellect and heart than by the
outward ornament of person.