CHAPTER III.

HER ARRIVAL AT CALCUTTA.—­DIFFICULTIES WITH THE BENGAL GOVERNMENT.—­VOYAGE TO THE ISLE OF FRANCE.—­DEATH OF MRS. NEWELL.—­CHANGE OF SENTIMENTS.—­VOYAGE TO RANGOON.

Mr. and Mrs. Judson landed at Calcutta on the 18th of June, 1812, and were hospitably received by the venerable Dr. Carey, who immediately conducted them to his home in Serampore.  There they found a delightful mission family, consisting of Messrs. Carey Marshman and Ward, with their wives and children who welcomed them most cordially, and invited them to remain until the arrival of their brother missionaries.  Of the arrangements in this truly Christian family—­the schools, the religious exercises, the cultivation of the gardens belonging to the establishment, and the instruction communicated to the natives, they express themselves in the highest terms of eulogy.

Hitherto the course of our missionaries in their enterprise had indeed run smooth, and they had begun to flatter themselves that they had over-estimated the trials and dangers of the life they had chosen; but sad reverses awaited them.  They had been in Serampore but ten days, when Messrs. Judson and Newell were summoned to Calcutta, where an order from government was read to them, commanding them immediately to leave the country, and return to America.  The British East India Company were at that time unfriendly to missions, and especially intolerant to missionaries from America.  The idea of returning, without effecting the object for which they had left their native land, was too painful to be endured by the missionaries, and they immediately attempted to gain permission to go to some country not under the company’s jurisdiction.—­Burmah, the field to which they had been assigned by their brethren at home, seemed, for various reasons, utterly inaccessible; but they finally got leave to take passage in a ship bound for the Isle of France.  The vessel would, however, accommodate but two passengers, and the health of Mrs. Newell requiring that she should be in a place of quiet, it was agreed that she and her husband should embark in it.  For three months the rest of their company remained in Calcutta, watched with jealousy by the British Government, but unable to find a vessel to convey them away.  At length they had peremptory orders to embark in a vessel bound to England.  All hope of escape seemed now cut off, when Mr. Judson accidentally learned that a ship was about sailing for the Isle of France.  They applied for a passport to go on board of her, but were refused.  They informed the captain of the vessel of their circumstances, and were allowed to go on board without a pass.  They had got but a few miles down the river, however, when a government despatch overtook them, commanding the pilot to conduct the ship no further, as there were persons on board who had been ordered to England.