“July 29. Finished revising the tract for a new edition. Have considerably enlarged it, particularly by adding several prayers; so that it now stands, ‘A View of the Christian Religion, in four Parts, Historical, Practical, Preceptive, and Devotional.’ We intend sending the manuscript to Serampore, with a request to brother Hough that he will get it printed in a large edition of five thousand copies. The first edition, of one thousand, is nearly exhausted. Such, indeed, is the demand for it since the opening of the zayat, that we should have given away all the copies long ago, had we not been doubtful about a fresh supply.
“August 7. Brother Wheelock embarked for Bengal, but in so low a state that we fear the voyage, instead of being beneficial, will tend to shorten his life.
“August 8. Lord’s day. Several strangers present at worship; a larger assembly than usual.
“August 21. Have not lately mentioned Moung Thah-lah[Thah-lah], though he has continued to visit me regularly. To-day I had a conversation with him, that almost settled my mind that he is really a renewed man. He, however, thinks he is not, because he finds his heart so depraved that he can not perfectly keep the pure commands of Christ.
“August 22. Lord’s day. After worship, had another conversation with Moung Thah-lah. He hopes that he is a disciple of Jesus Christ in heart, but wants to know whether a profession of religion is indispensable to salvation. He fears the persecution that may hereafter come on those who forsake the established religion of the empire. I gave him such explanation as I thought suitable, and left him with the solemn consideration, that unless he loved Christ above his own life, he did not love Him sincerely, and ought not to hope that He is interested in his redemption.
“August 24. Another conversation with Moung Thah-lah, which at length forces me to admit the conviction that he is a real convert; and I venture to set him down the second disciple of Christ among the Burmans. He appears to have all the characteristics of a new-born soul, and though rather timid in regard to an open profession, has, I feel satisfied, that love to Christ which will increase and bring him forward in due time.
“August 31. A man, by name Moung Ing, has visited the zayat five or six days in succession. At first, a variety of other company prevented my attending much to him, and he conversed chiefly with Moung Nau, and employed himself in reading Matthew. He once told Moung Nau that he had long been looking after the true religion, and was ready to wish that he had been born a brute, rather than to die in delusion, and go to hell. Sunday I conversed with him largely, and his attention during worship was very close and solemn. To-day he has made me half inclined to believe that a work of grace is begun in his soul. He says that he formerly had some idea of an eternal God from his mother, who was christened a Roman Catholic, in consequence of her connection with a foreigner; but that the idea was never rooted in his mind until he fell in with the zayat. Within a few days he has begun to pray to this God. He is quite sensible of his sins, and of the utter inefficacy of the Buddhist religion, but is yet in the dark concerning the way of salvation, and says that he wants to know more of Christ, that he may love Him more. Lord Jesus, give him the saving knowledge of Thine adorable self!
“September 1. Moung Thah-lah continues to express similar sentiments to those already noted; is still afraid of persecution and death, but professes to be laboring to obtain that love to Christ, and faith in Him, which will raise him above the fear of man; and particularly requests us to pray that he may obtain these graces.
“September 3. A great crowd of company through the whole day, the teacher Moung Shwa-gnong, from ten o’clock till quite dark, with several of his adherents. He is a complete Proteus in religion, and I never know where to find him. We went over a vast deal of ground, and ended where we began, in apparent incredulity. After his adherents, however, were all gone, he conversed with some feeling; owned that he knew nothing, and wished me to instruct him; and when he departed, he prostrated himself, and performed the sheeko—an act of homage which a Burman never performs but to an acknowledged superior.
“After he was gone, Moung Ing, who has been listening all day, followed me home to the house, being invited to stay with Moung Nau through the night. We conversed all the evening, and his expressions have satisfied us all that he is one of God’s chosen people. His exercises have been of a much stronger character than those of the others, and he expresses himself in the most decided manner. He desires to become a disciple in profession, as well as to be in Christ, and declares his readiness to suffer persecution and death for the love of Christ. When I stated the danger to which he was exposing himself, and asked him whether he loved Christ better than his own life, he replied, very deliberately and solemnly, ‘When I meditate on this religion, I know not what it is to love my own life.’ Thus the poor fisherman, Moung Ing, is taken, while the learned teacher, Moung Shwa-gnong, is left.