Lives of the Three Mrs. Judsons | Page 6

one of four or five young men in the then newly founded
Theological Seminary at Andover, whose minds had become deeply
impressed with the wants of the heathen, and a desire to go and labor
among them. By their earnestness and perseverance, they so far
awakened an interest in their project, that a Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions was appointed, and the young men were set apart
as missionaries. During the two years in which Mr. Judson and his
associates were employed in efforts to accomplish this result, he had
formed an acquaintance with Miss Hasseltine, and made her an offer of
his hand. That he had no wish to blind her to the extent of the sacrifices
she would make in accepting him, his manly and eloquent letter to her
father, asking his daughter in marriage, abundantly proves. He says:
"I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter
early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can
consent to her departure for a heathen land, and her subjection to the
hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you can consent
to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence of the
southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to
degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death? Can you
consent to all this for the sake of Him who left his heavenly home, and
died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing immortal souls; for
the sake of Zion and the glory of God? Can you consent to all this in
hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with a crown
of righteousness, brightened by the acclamations of praise which shall
redound to her Saviour from heathens saved, through her means, from
eternal woe and despair?"
The writer of this letter, who, after nearly forty years of missionary
labor in which he endured all and more than all he has thus almost
prophetically described, has just gone to join "the noble army of
martyrs" and "those who came out of great tribulation," in his final
home,--as he looks back on the hour when he thus gave up his life and

what was more precious than life to the service of those souls, dear as
he believed to the Redeemer, though perishing for lack of vision,--with
what deep and serene joy must he contemplate the sacrifice! And she--
"Not lost, but gone before,"
who was there to meet and welcome him to
"happier bowers than Eden knew,"
where they rest from their labors, does she now regret that to his
solemn appeal, she answered, "I will go?"
Mr. and Mrs. Judson were married at Bradford on the fifth of February,
1812, and on the nineteenth of the same month embarked on the brig
Caravan, bound for Calcutta. Mr. and Mrs. Newell, also missionaries
sailed in the same vessel. We will here give some extracts from letters
written by Mrs. Judson to her friends at home, dated "at sea."
To her sister she writes, "I find Mr. Judson one of the kindest, most
faithful and affectionate of husbands. His conversation frequently
dissipates the gloomy clouds of spiritual darkness which hang over my
mind and brightens my hope of a happy eternity. I hope God will make
us instrumental of preparing each other for usefulness in this world, and
greater happiness in a future world."
"_June 16_.--Day before yesterday, we came in sight of land, after
having been out only one hundred and twelve days. We could
distinguish nothing but the lowering mountains of Golconda. Yesterday
we were nearer land ... and the scene was truly delightful, reminding
me of the descriptions I have read of the fertile shores of India--the
groves of orange and palm trees. Yesterday we saw two vessels.... You
have no idea how interesting the sight--a vessel at the side of us, so
near we could hear the captain speak--for he was the first person we
have heard speak since we sailed, except what belong to our ship.
"Tuesday.--Last night was the most dangerous, and to me, by far the
most unpleasant we have had.... To-day the scene is truly delightful.

We are sailing up the river Hoogly, a branch of the Ganges, and so near
the land that we can distinctly discover objects. On one side of us are
the Sunderbunds, (islands at the mouth of the Ganges.) The smell
which proceeds from them is fragrant beyond description.
"Wednesday.--On each side of the Hoogly are the Hindoo cottages, as
thick together as the houses in our seaports. They are very small, and in
the form of hay-stacks, without either chimneys or windows. They are
situated in the midst of trees which