RECEPTION AT BOSTON.

REV. WM. CROWELL.

Dr. Judson landed in Boston on Wednesday, the 15th of October, after a voyage of about six weeks from the grave of his beloved wife, at St. Helena. The following thrilling account of his public reception in Boston, on the day following, is slightly abridged by the editor of the present work, from an editorial in the Christian Watchman of October 4th, 1845.

The arrival of this devoted missionary in his native land, has produced a thrill of emotion in a multitude of hearts, which may be imagined, but cannot be described. His appearance among us was like life from the dead; for although he has been known to us by abundant labors, and been cheered in these labors by the sympathies, prayers and sacrifices of hundreds of thousands of Baptists, during a period of time usually considered as the measure of a whole generation of men on the earth, yet he was unknown by face, not only to the churches, but even to the members of the Board, with whom he held official intercourse. He is the oldest surviving American missionary to the East, and the first who gave himself personally to that work. His whole course of life has been signalized by devoted piety, unwavering faith, ardent zeal for the glory of Christ in the conversion of the

world, great constancy of purpose, diligence and perseverance in carrying out a definite plan of effort, and a noble, generous, disinterestedness, which all must admire, though few can appreciate.

When it was known that he had arrived in the city, thousands were eager to look upon the face of a man whom God had so highly honored as the messenger of his grace to the heathen. To gratify this desire, intelligence was circulated on Friday, verbally, in order to avoid all publicity, that the friends of missions would meet in the Bowdoin Square church, in the evening, to see and welcome him. The house was densely filled. The pastors of the churches in the city and vicinity were present, and a more affecting meeting we never before attended. We never before saw so large a congregation all moved by so deep and mighty an impulse. Language could not give vent to emotions which struggled in every bosom. The eye affected the heart. There he stood, among the pastors of our churches — the long-loved, the toil-worn missionary- the man who had been brought before kings and councils for the testimony of Jesus; who had been in bonds, in dungeons, and in chains; who had been led away to be put to death, but, by the overruling hand of God, had

been preserved; who, when let go, returned to his own company, and, with a fortitude which the terrors of martyrdom could not shake-love, which neither ingratitude, nor cruelty, nor fear, could quench, again set himself patiently and quietly to the work of turning the deluded Burmans from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.

How rapidly did the thoughts run over the history of the past! to the events of the Burman war to the more than romantic fidelity, devotion, and heroism of his now glorified companion the first Mrs. Judson; -to his deep sorrow and loneliness when bereft of that incomparable wife to his repeated afflictions in the loss of his children to his deep depression and heaviness of soul under accumulated trials and afflictions to the rapturous joy of his heart when he knelt before God with the last leaf of his Burman Bible translated in his hand, to offer thanksgiving that he had been spared to complete it to additional years of labor, which at last he was compelled to relinquish, to accompany his companion to her native country; till, on the passage, he was called a second time to part with a beloved wife. His first companion lies entombed at Amherst, in British Burmah; the second, in St. Helena.

After the services had been introduced by singing and prayer, Rev. Dr. Sharp arose, and, as President of the Board of Missions and the oldest pastor of the churches, addressed Dr. Judson, in the name of the friends of missions, whose missionary he had so long been, though not originally sent out by them, as follows:

"There are some feelings," said Dr. Sharp, "which are too sacred for public utterance. There are sentiments of respect and regard, which, when whispered to the ear, or spoken in the privacy of confidential intercourse, are pleasant and refreshing as the breath of spring, but which lose their fragrance in the atmosphere of a public assembly. Were I to express my own feelings towards yourself, my admiration, my confidence, my gratitude, my regard, I should say many things that in this assembly would seem out of place. I may, however, without violating Christian propriety, speak in behalf of the public in the presence of the public.

"I may say, without the semblance of flattery or adulation, the denomination have cherished a deep, and affectionate, and grateful interest in your labors; they have wondered at your steady and unfaltering perseverance; they have admired your disinterested and self-denying course; and they have tenderly sympathized with you, and

prayed for you, when they have heard of your personal sufferings, your imprisonment, and loss of personal liberty; and when they have heard. of those greater losses to which, in the death of loved and cherished ones, you have been subjected. And they have rejoiced with you, not indeed that all your work was done, but that a glorious work was done, when, in humble prostration before the beneficent Author of revela tion, you devoutly thanked Him that you had completed the translation of the Holy Scriptures in the Burman language. That was a memorable day, not only in the

history of your own life, but in the history of missions.

"We can only pray, dear brother, that after a still more extended and critical knowledge of the Burman language, the result of patient and laborious study and research, your life may be prolonged to revise and amend your translation of those soul-sanctifying and soul-comforting truths, which tell with wondrous power in any language in which an accurate version of them is given. Your prosecution of that other great work, to which your mind, and pen, and days are given a Burman Dictionary-at the completion of which you may well rest from your labors, will aid you greatly in giving your last correcting touch to the Burman Scriptures.