818

DR. JUDSON'S TRANSLATION.

Christ. The native Christians are well trained in the art of giving for religious purposes. In seven years they gave over $5,000 in gold for the support of the Gospel and mission schools. In connection with the station at Maulmain there were reported in 1886 about twenty Churches and more than 1,100 members.

Dr. Judson did his last work at Maulmain. He had spent ten years at Rangoon, two at Ava, and a brief time at Amherst, after which he removed to Maulmain and continued there to the close of life, chiefly pursuing the work of translation; though he kept the oversight of the Burmese Church there. The last leaf of his translation of the Scriptures was finished on January 31st, 1834, and he put his

revised translation to press

in 1840. When his health became thoroughly broken, he left this place under the advice of his physician, on board the French bark Aristide Marie, bound for the Island of Bourbon, in the hope that the voyage might prolong his life. But nine days after his embarkment, when scarcely three days out of sight of the Burmese mountains, he began to sink rapidly. All that love and skill could do for him were done, but at fifteen minutes past four o'clock P. M., on the 12th of April, 1850, he passed to the bosom of Jesus, as

peacefully as a child would drop asleep in its mother's arms. At eight o'clock the same evening, the crew, his two broken-hearted Burman assistants and Mr. Ranney assembled on the larboard part of the ship, and in reverent silence committed his body to the keeping of the Indian Ocean. No eye now rests upon the spot that closed over him but that of the true God. In latitude 13 degrees north, longitude 93 degrees east, God found a grave for one of his noblest sons on this globe. None can drop a tear or raise a shaft there, but his eternal monument lives in redeemed Burma. She glorifies God in him who to her was made the savor of life unto life.

TAVOY was the third of the Burman missions; its establishment being due to a suggestion of the first native Burman preacher, who proposed to make a missionary

journey there in 1827. Here that great work amongst the Karens commenced; here the first Karen preacher was baptized, and near Tavoy Mr. Mason performed his first official act as a missionary in baptizing thirty-four Karens. It is nearly two hundred miles distant from Maulmain and thirty-five miles from the sea, on Tavoy River. Its population at the opening of the mission, April 18th, 1828, was about 6,000; it is in British Burma and a stronghold of idolatry. Two converts soon formed the nucleus of the Church, and a missionary spirit possessed the converts, who visited many villages far and near with the word of life. The Karens of the vicinity held a tradition that at some time messengers from the West would bring to them a revelation from God. Hence, they were prepared to receive our missionaries with open arms and to accept their message. The printing-press was located at Tavoy for some time, and a chapel was built in the town, not far from the grave of Boardman. The Karen Church in the town is weak, but many Churches exist in the forest and jungle, some miles away. Mr. Morrow is the faithful missionary to the Karens there, and his wife, an educated physician, is his efficient helper. The Tavoy Association numbers 23 Churches, 950 members, 11 ordained and 10 unordained preachers, and 13 schools.

The second war between Burma and Great Britain, 1852, was brief, but had an important influence on the missionary work. It resulted in the annexation of a large portion of Southern Burma to the British realm in India, which opened a wider field for preaching and relieved the converts from the fear of persecution by a heathen government; our mission in Burma, therefore, took a sudden expansion. New stations were commenced in Toungoo, on the Sitang River, Henthada, and other places, and many triumphs crowned the labors of our brethren. Toungoo, one of the new stations, opened by Dr. Mason in 1853, was one of the most fruitful in converts. The zeal of Sau Quala, a native preacher, was awakened through a man from Toungoo, who had been converted three years previously. The second day after the beginning of the mission, a hundred Burmans called on Dr. Mason to inquire about the new religion, and in a few weeks found several disciples. Ill health compelled Dr. Mason to leave for the United States for a time; but the mission, left in charge of Sau Quala, seemed to be blessed with a new Pentecost. Active, faithful, wise and energetic, this native preacher took a broad field, planned prudently, superintended efficiently, and commended himself to all by his self-denying labors. In the first year of the mission 741 were baptized. Within a year and nine months he had administered the ordinance to 1,860 converts and formed 28 churches, while hundreds of converts were still waiting to be baptized. In 1856 zayats were erected in forty villages, where the people had renounced idolatry, and ten native preachers in the district were supported by the Maulmain Missionary Society. In a single month of 1857 Mr. Whitaker baptized 233 converts; two Associations were organized, and various Karen tribes were brought under Christian influences.

820

HENTHADA AND ARRACAN.

Dr. Mason died in 1874. Mr. Bunker, Mr. Eveleth, Dr. Cross and others, had in the meantime, joined the station. Dr. Mason had translated the whole Bible into Sgau Karen, and later, Mr. Brayton translated it into Pwo Karen. Dr. Mason, being a man of scientific tendencies, contributed largely to the knowledge of natural history in the Burman empire. The mission in and about Toungoo numbers 102 native preachers, 110 Churches, and 3,869 members. From this point the mission to the Shans began, and the Bible has been translated into Shan by Dr. Cushing. The statistics of 1886 give 144 churches, 4,788 members, and 84 native preachers.

mans.

HENTHADA was opened as a mission station after the war of 1852. Mr. Thomas was the first missionary to the Karens of this mission, and Mr. Crawley to the BurAt first many of the natives, attracted by curiosity, thronged as visitors to the missionaries, who, after the Gospel was introduced, became zealous converts; for at the end of the first year the Karen department reported 8 churches and 150 members. At the end of ten years, the mission reported 751 Burman converts and five preachers. Mr. Thomas instructed a class of twenty or more native helpers every year, during the rains, and kept the charge of his field twelve or thirteen years, traveling in every part of his district, preaching and baptizing constantly, enjoying almost a perpetual revival. At length, broken in health, for a time he changed his field for that of Bassein, and Mr. Smith took the post at Henthada. In a short time Mr. Thomas was compelled to return to the United States, where he died on the day after his arrival. His widow returned to Henthada, where she efficiently continued the work which her husband had begun; their son, Williston, joined his mother in 1880, and is still toiling in a spirit worthy of his parents.

ARRACAN, on the western coast of Burma, became a mission station in 1855, and, at different times, thirteen missionaries and their wives labored there with much success. A chain of mountains, parallel with the coast, divided Burma Proper from the territory which had been ceded to Great Britain. In many instances, the converts on the Burman frontier, having embraced Christianity, crossed the mountains into English territory, and being baptized, returned, to live a Christian life amongst their fellow-countrymen. The work prospered and multitudes believed. The names of Abbott, Comstock, Stilson, Ingalls and others, are a memorial in this mission. All of them passed away early, and the Arracan Mission disappeared; but out of it grew the mission in Bassein, one of the fairest portions of the Christian heritage in Burma. It has become one of the great centers of evangelical labor amongst the Karens. In 1872, a Burman preacher, supported almost wholly by native contributions, visited 540 houses, conversed on religious themes with 1,397 persons, and distributed 600 or 700 tracts. As early as 1848, there were 36 teachers and more than 400 pupils in the schools of the Karen department. Dayschools existed in nearly every village, and the native Christians sustained the preaching of the Gospel in their own neighborhoods. The plan of self-support has

been effectively developed, and native Christians have contributed much to send the Gospel to others. A memorial hall, serving the double purpose of a place of worship and for higher education, spacious and provided with every facility, was dedicated at Bassein in 1878, on the fiftieth anniversary of the baptism of the first Karen convert. This building was paid for mainly by the liberality of the native Christians. In 1886 there were 99 churches, 8,490 members, and 97 native preachers.

PROME has ever been a scene of missionary interest, on account of the visit paid to that city by Dr. Judson in 1830, although for twenty-four years after that visit no missionary returned there. But the work was again taken up by Messrs. Kincaid and Simons, and still later by Mr. E. O. Stevens, son of the veteran missionary in Rangoon, and it has yielded good fruit. Four Churches connected with the mission are self-supporting, and there are now 11 native preachers, 4 churches, and 241 members. Many other stations in Burma have missionaries and native preachers, churches and schools, and are fully organized for Christian work. Thongzai, an exclusively Burman station, is remarkable for the labor of Mrs. Ingalls and a female associate, who have stood firmly at their post for many years. She has won the confidence and affections of the converts and of the heathen, and is held in high esteem by travelers of all ranks; for the railroad, extending between Rangoon and Prome, passes directly through Thongzai. Since the absorption of Burma proper into the British Empire in India, 1886, Bhamo and Mandelay, the former capital, have been adopted as stations of the Missionary Union. All upper Burma is now included in the territory cultivated by the American Baptists. A recent enterprise has been entered upon in a station amongst the Karens at Chiengmai, in northern Siam.

ASSAM was opened as a mission in 1836 by Messrs. Nathan Brown and O. T. Cutter, who had been previously stationed in Burma. The first station of the mission was Sadiya, 400 miles north of Ava, and about 200 from Yunnan, on the borders of China. But about a dozen stations are now occupied, mostly on the south side of the Brahmaputra, and are accessible by British steamers. A printing-press was established by Mr. Cutter, and the translation of the New Testament into Assamese was begun by Dr. Brown, Jan. 1, 1838. Mr. Bronson undertook to open a mission amongst the Nagas, in their hills, but on account of the insalubrity of the climate he changed his residence to Nowgong, where he baptized the first Assamese convert, June 13, 1841. The Nowgong Orphan Institution was for several years a fruitful part of the mission work, for in it many were converted and trained for usefulness. The school was dispersed after twelve years, but more native helpers were brought out of this school than from any other source. Other stations were occupied in succession by new missionaries, Messrs. Ward, Whiting, Danforth and others, whose labors were crowned by abundant blessings. In 1851 the second edition of the New Testament was issued, and revivals of religion, with large additions to the

Churches, followed. In 1857, at the time of the Indian mutiny, much apprehension was felt; but the storm passed, and not a hair of the head of any missionary was touched.

The GAROS were first visited in 1857, and that movement opened one of the brightest chapters in the history of the mission to Assam. A torn tract, swept out of a building which had been cleaned and prepared for a new tenant, was picked up by a Sepoy guard and read. It led to his conversion; he became an efficient preacher to his tribe, and in 1867, a Church was formed amongst them, numbering 40 members. The next year the number increased to 81, and in 1869 to 140; from these sprang 5 native churches, 8 native preachers, and a Normal School. The mission has conveyed the Gospel to tribe after tribe in the hills and on the plains adjoining the Brahmaputra. Two Assamese native preachers and one Garo have visited the United States, and the latter, who had learned English, spent a year in the Newton Theological Institution. The statistics of 1886 show, 30 churches, 1,889 members, and 27 native preachers, with 7 stations and 21 missionaries, male and female. The stations of the Assam Mission are divided into three Assam, three Naga, and one Garo, amongst which there are 72 schools and 1,229 pupils.

SIAM was the second mission undertaken by American Baptists amongst the heathen inhabitants of Asia. Rev. John Taylor Jones was the first missionary. He had labored about two years in Burma, and had become so proficient in that language as to preach to the natives in their own tongue. He reached Bangkok in March, 1833, and the first converts were baptized in December of that year. They were all Chinese, which race form the majority of the people of that city. Dr. Jones translated the New Testament into Siamese and made much progress in preparing a Dictionary of the language, a grammar and other works. Mrs. Jones prepared a Catechism of the Christian religion. From the mission-press in Bangkok, much Christian literature was scattered abroad. Dr. Dean joined the mission in 1834, and devoted himself to the Chinese department; left Siam in 1842, and returned to Bangkok in 1864. In August, 1835, he preached his first sermon to 34 natives, and in 1841, formed a class of Chinese preachers, which he continued till he left for Hong Kong. Mr. J. H. Chandler joined the mission in 1843. He was not a preacher, but possessed remarkable mechanical skill, and largely through his influence the king became one of the most progressive native rulers of Asia. In the palace is a working printing-press, and one or more steamboats belonging to the government ply in the river before Bangkok.

During the next ten years Messrs. Davenport, Goddard, Jencks and Ashmore, with their wives, joined the mission, and Miss Harriet H. Morse, the latter to labor in the Siamese department, the others in the Chinese. Dr. Jones died in 1851. A decree was issued tolerating Christian worship, and by authority of the king the ladies of the mission were invited to the palace daily to teach the court ladies English. After the death of Dr. Jones, the Siamese work was continued by Mr. S. J.