THE ROAD TO RANGOON.
After a four months' voyage the missionary party reached Calcutta, and
there they received a warm welcome from Dr. Carey and his
fellow-workers. They were invited to the missionary headquarters at
Serampore, a spot some few miles from Calcutta, in possession of the
Danish Government, where the Baptist missionaries resided in order to
avoid the interference of the English authorities. At that time the
British rulers of India were opposed to all missionary work, and
discouraged it by every means in their power. Foreign preachers were not
allowed to reside in India even for a few weeks, and English
missionaries were not suffered to remain unless they could obtain
special permission from the East India Company. The American
missionaries had not been many days in India before they discovered
this. They were summoned from Serampore to Calcutta, and there formally
commanded, in the name of the Company, to leave India at once and return
to America. To do this would have ruined all their plans, so they asked
and obtained permission to go instead to the Isle of France (Mauritius),
whither a vessel was about to sail. But as it would only accommodate Mr.
and Mrs. Newell, the Judsons perforce remained in Calcutta waiting for
another ship.
They were allowed to stay in peace for a couple of months; but when the
authorities learnt that they had not yet departed, an urgent order was
issued, commanding that they should be immediately sent to England in
one of the East India Company's vessels. There seemed no possibility of
their evading the order this time, but they learned that another vessel
was just going to set out for the Isle of France. Unfortunately it was
impossible for them now to obtain permission to go there; but the
captain of the vessel, on hearing the circumstances, offered to take
them without leave. So they quietly got on board. But on the second day
of their journey down the river a Government dispatch arrived, ordering
the pilot to stop the vessel, as it had among its passengers persons
who had been ordered to go to Europe. In consequence of this demand Mr.
and Mrs. Judson were at once hurried on shore, and the ship went on
its way.
They were landed at the village of Fultah, and here they remained for
four days, not knowing what to do. If they returned to Calcutta they
would be at once sent to England, and they could not remain where they
were for any time without discovery and arrest. Every day their
perplexity increased. The sight of a boat coming down the river or a
stranger entering the village would fill them with alarm, for they
expected at any moment to be seized by Government agents sent after
them. At the end of the fourth day relief came in a most unexpected way.
A letter was handed to Mr. Judson containing an official permit for them
to go on to the Isle of France in the vessel from which they had a few
days before been removed. How this permit was obtained, or who had sent
it to them, they could never discover; and there was no time then to
speculate on the matter. The ship was now at least seventy miles away,
in the Saugur Roads, and had probably already set out to sea. In the
hope that it might possibly have been delayed in starting, and that they
might catch it, they at once started down the river in boats. After
being rowed all night and all next day, they found on reaching the roads
that they were in time, as owing to the absence of some of the crew the
vessel had been delayed. It may be imagined how thankfully they found
themselves once more on board.
Before leaving Calcutta an important change had taken place in Mr. and
Mrs. Judson's views about the question of infant baptism. While on the
voyage from America, Mr. Judson, knowing that he would come in contact
with the Baptist missionaries at Serampore, had studied the subject in
order to be able to defend his position to them. The result had been
that doubts had gradually arisen in his mind as to the correctness of
his own point of view, and he spoke on the subject to his wife. She
deprecated any hasty action, but they both resolved to give careful
attention to the matter. Every consideration of human interest would
have led them to cling to their old belief, for, as Mrs. Judson pointed
out, "If her husband should renounce his former sentiments he must
offend his friends at home, hazard his reputation, and, what was still
more trying, be separated from his missionary companions."
"I hope that I shall I be disposed to embrace the truth," she wrote,
"whatever it may be. It is painfully mortifying to my natural feelings to
think seriously of renouncing a system which I have been taught from
infancy to believe and respect ... We must make some very painful
sacrifices. We must be separated from our dear missionary associates,
and labour alone in some isolated spot. We must expect to be treated
with contempt and cast off by many of our American friends--forfeit the
character we have in our native land, and probably have to labour for
our support where we are stationed."
After prayerful consideration they both applied to Carey for baptism,
much to the surprise of the great English missionary, who had known
nothing of their struggles. This step necessarily involved their
separation from the Congregational Board of Commissioners who had sent
them out, and there was then no American Baptist Missionary Society to
which they could look for help; but Mr. Judson wrote to the American
Baptist churches stating what he had done, and appealing to them to
support him in his labours. The Baptists soon afterwards responded to
his appeal by forming a Missionary Union, and they appointed Mr. and
Mrs. Judson two of their agents. Thus was Mr. Judson an important though
indirect instrument in causing another great American denomination to
throw itself into the work of evangelising the world.
The first news that Mrs. Judson heard on reaching the Isle of France was
that Mrs. Newell, her companion from America, had died a few weeks
previously, before even being allowed to commence the work to which she
had dedicated her life. The governor of the island had been warned about
the coming of the Americans, and advised "to keep an eye on them;" but
he gave them a warm welcome, and expressed a hope that they would settle
in the place and work among the natives and the soldiers. But the Isle
of France hardly seemed to offer a sufficiently extensive field for
their energies, and there were other places more in need of their
services. Mr. and Mrs. Judson specially wished to go to Burmah, where,
with a population of many millions, there was hardly a single Christian
teacher. But the character of the people and of the government was such
that any strangers going among them must take their lives in their
hands, Notwithstanding this they determined, after due inquiry, to go to
Penang, and thence to attempt to find access to the country. It was
necessary first to go to Madras, in order to find a vessel which would
take them eastwards. But on arriving at Madras they found that it would
be impossible to procure a passage to Penang; so they took passage in a
ship that was going to Rangoon, and after some adventures reached the
field of their future work in July, 1813. "We cannot expect to do much
in such a rough, uncultivated field," wrote Mrs. Judson, "yet if we may
be instrumental in clearing away some of the rubbish and preparing the
way for others, it will be sufficient reward."