His hands, and besought Him to do with me what seemed good in His sight.  When I was thus enabled to commit myself into the hands of Christ, my mind was relieved from that distressing weight which had borne it down for so long a time.  I did not think that I had obtained a new heart, which I had been seeking, but felt happy in contemplating the character of Christ, and particularly that disposition which had led Him to suffer so much for the sake of doing the will and promoting the glory of His Heavenly Father.”

With so deep an experience it was only natural that the whole course of her outward life should be completely changed.  She soon made an open profession of religion by becoming a member of the Congregational Church at Bradford; and her friends could see the reality of her conversion by her consistent daily walk.

She now threw herself with greater zeal into her ordinary studies, and this soon resulted in her being requested to take temporary charge of a small school at Salem.  When the work there was done, a teachership was found for her in another place near at hand, and it was while thus engaged that she became acquainted, with her future husband, Adoniram Judson.

Mr. Judson, who was some sixteen months her senior, was the eldest son of a Congregational minister at Malden, near Boston, and had from his youth been noted for possessing intellectual powers far above the average.  When a boy, he diligently read every book that he could get hold of, and at Brown University he graduated head of his class.  For a time during his college course he became affected with the sceptical views which were then fashionable; but the death of a friend brought him back to the old faith, and as an outcome of his conversion he became a student at the Theological College at Andover.

While at college, Judson and three fellow-students had their interest deeply aroused in the conversion of heathen nations.  They petitioned the General Assembly of their church on the matter, and solicited its advice as to whether “they ought to renounce the object of missions as visionary or impracticable;” and if not, what steps they should take to translate their longings into action.

The importance of this appeal was at once recognised by the churches, and as an immediate consequence the “Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions” was formed, a society which has grown until it is now one of the greatest missionary organisations in the world.  Judson went on a visit to England in order to expedite matters, and to consult with the officials of the London Missionary Society.  After some delay, caused by the capture of the vessel in which he was sailing by a French privateer, he reached London and saw the directors.  They agreed to support him and his companions should the American Board be unable to do so, and with this assurance Judson returned to America.