CHAPTER II.
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."