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This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Adoniram Judson Jr. was an American Congregationalist and later Baptist missionary, who served in Burma. He translated the Bible into Burmese, as well as established a number of Baptist churches in Burma.
Background
Adoniram was born on August 9, 1788 at Malden, Massachussets, United States. He was the son of Adoniram and Abigail (Brown) Judson, was descended in the fifth generation from Joseph Judson who with his father, William, emigrated from Yorkshire, England, to America, settling at Concord, Massachussets The elder Adoniram Judson was a Congregational minister. Young Judson lived in turn in Wenham, Braintree, and Plymouth, where his father held successive pastorates.
Education
With the ordinary schooling in Wenham, Braintree, and Plymouth, he entered Brown University as sophomore at the age of sixteen and was graduated as valedictorian of his class in 1807. Later, he entered the second-year class at Andover Theological Seminary.
Career
Judson taught at Plymouth and published two textbooks, Elements of English Grammar and The Young Lady's Arithmetic (both 1808).
Later, he considered himself definitely a Christian and dedicated himself to the ministry. He became associated with the Williams College group, by this time at Andover, and soon was a leader in the movement resulting in the organization of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. He drew up the petition presented to the General Association at Bradford and was selected as messenger to England to consult with the London Missionary Society. On the voyage the vessel was captured by a French privateer and he was held a prisoner at Bayonne for a short time. When he reached London, although he was cordially received, he found opinion adverse to joint control of the missionary enterprise.
Returning to America, he was appointed on September 19, 1811, as one of four missionaries to Burma or other fields which might open. He was ordained to the Congregational ministry at Salem and on February 19 the Judsons, with Samuel Newell and his wife, embarked there for Calcutta. During the voyage, since he expected to meet English Baptist missionaries and might need to justify his own views and practices, Judson studied the question of baptism, and by the time they reached Calcutta, both Judson and Mrs. Judson were in serious doubt as to pedobaptism, though Judson had advanced nearer to the Baptist position than had his wife.
After further study, late in August he wrote to the English missionaries requesting baptism, and on September 6, 1812, both the Judsons received believers' immersion at the hands of Rev. William Ward. This change in views cut them off from treasured early associations and from their financial support. Judson at once communicated with the American Board and with Thomas Baldwin of Boston and Lucius Bolles of Salem, to whom he had already suggested the organization of a Baptist foreign mission society. These two men were subsequently leaders in the organization of the Baptist Triennial Convention which in 1814 assumed the support of what had become a Baptist missionary enterprise.
The officials of the East India Company ordered the Judsons to America, but after days of anxiety, they finally received a pass permitting them to board a ship bound for the Isle of France. After a further voyage of six weeks they reached Port Louis and there learned of the death of Mrs. Newell. Four months later they sailed to Madras, hoping to go from there to some suitable location in the Straits of Malacca. They found a vessel about to sail for Rangoon, and embarking, finally reached the land which had been most specifically their desired destination. Judson set about the task of learning Burmese in order to preach to the natives and to translate the Scriptures into their tongue.
From August 21, 1821, till December 13, 1823, while Mrs. Judson was absent on her only return to the homeland, he applied himself assiduously to the translation of the Bible (completed in 1834), though he also took advantage of every opportunity for evangelistic work. Upon his wife's return, they transferred their station to Ava.
Almost immediately the war with England began and Judson and others were seized on June 8, 1824. For eleven terrible months he was confined at the Ava prison, and then for six months which were possibly even worse, at the prison pen of Oung-pen-la. The horrors of the experience, hardly touched upon by Judson in his writings, have been described explicitly by some of his fellow prisoners, and most thrillingly by Mrs. Judson in a letter to her brother.
Release came when the progress of British arms made negotiations for peace necessary and Judson and his colleague, Dr. Price, were desired as interpreters. After the establishment of peace, Judson declined a relatively large salary offered him if he would continue as interpreter. Resuming his missionary work, he removed to Amherst where there was British protection. Later, encouraged by Mrs. Judson and hoping to secure liberty for religious work in Burma, he accompanied a British embassy to Ava. While on this mission the tidings reached him of the death of his beloved wife (October 24, 1826).
He transferred his work to Maulmain, which was to become for some time the center of American Baptist activities in Burma and the chief stage of his later career. During this period he showed a tendency toward asceticism and also, under the influence of the writings of Madame Guyon, toward mysticism. In 1829, he renounced the degree of doctor of divinity which Brown University had conferred upon him six years before.
Judson continued the voyage, reaching Boston October 15, 1845. He was shown much attention and traveled to many places to give missionary addresses, although the frailty of his health and the condition of his voice made it usually necessary to have another speaker convey his words to the audience.
Judson resumed his missionary work and in January 1849 had completed his Dictionary, English and Burmese, published that same year. The Burmese-English part, which he left unfinished, was completed by his colleague, Edward A. Stevens, and appeared as A Dictionary, Burmese and English in 1852. Burdened by recurring sickness in his home, Judson's own health soon gave way. In April 1850 he undertook a sea voyage, which seemed the only chance for his recovery; but four days after the vessel sailed he died, and his body was buried at sea.
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Personality
His linguistic ability was extraordinary.
Connections
His first wife was Ann Hasseltine, whome he married in 1812. She died in 1826.
On April 10, 1834, Adoniram married Sarah Hall Boardman, widow of George Dana Boardman, another missionary in Burma. There followed a marital association of over eleven years, quite as remarkable in its intellectual and spiritual compatibility as the first marriage had been. Eight children, including Adoniram Brown Judson and Edward Judson, were born of this marriage, but three died in infancy. The condition of Mrs. Judson's health compelled them to start for America in 1845, with the three older children. They were encouraged by a temporary improvement, but Mrs. Judson died on September 1, just after reaching St. Helena.
In America he met and was attracted to a young writer, Emily Chubbuck, whom he married, June 2, 1846. On July 11, following, they embarked at Boston, reaching Maulmain November 30; a daughter was born there in December 1847.