Letter to Mr. Hasseltine Asking for His
Daughter's Hand in Marriage
"Young Judson, before he had resolved to be a missionary, had made
up his mind to the sufferings and privations which he well knew were
in store for him. He thus wrote to Mr. Hasseltine, of Bradford, when asking for his daughter's
hand:"
"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 to 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?"
Letter to Ann Hasseltine Before Their Marriage
"These same anticipations of missionary sorrows pervade a pathetic
letter written by him to Miss Ann Hasseltine, during the period of
their betrothal:"
"January 1, 1811. Tuesday Morning
It is with the utmost sincerity, and with my whole heart, that I wish you,
my love, a happy new year. May it be a year in which your walk will be close
with God; your frame calm and serene; and the road that leads you to the
Lamb marked with purer light. May it be a year in which you will have more
largely the spirit of Christ, be raised above sublunary things, and be willing
to be disposed of in this world just as God shall please. As every moment
of the year will bring you nearer the end of your pilgrimage, may it bring
you nearer to God, and find you more prepared to hail the messenger of death
as a deliverer and a friend. And now, since I have begun to wish, I will
go on. May this be the year in which you will change your name; in which
you will take a final leave of your relatives and native land; in which you
will cross the wide ocean, and dwell on the other side of the world, among
a heathen people. What a great change will this year probably effect in our
lives! How very different will be our situation and employment! If our lives
are preserved and our attempt prospered, we shall next new year's day be
in India, and perhaps wish each other a happy new year in the uncouth dialect
of Hindostan or Burmah. We shall no more see our kind friends around us,
or enjoy the conveniences of civilized life, or go to the house of God with
those that keep holy day; but swarthy countenances will everywhere meet our
eye, the jargon of an unknown tongue will assail our ears, and we shall witness
the assembling of the heathen to celebrate the worship of idol gods. We shall
be weary of the world, and wish for wings like a dove, that we may fly away
and be at rest. We shall probably experience seasons when we shall be 'exceeding
sorrowful, even unto death. We shall see many dreary, disconsolate hours,
and feel a sinking of spirits, anguish of mind, of which now we can form
little conception. O, we shall wish to lie down and die. And that time may
soon come. One of us may be unable to sustain the heat of the climate and
the change of habits; and the other may say, with literal truth, over the
grave--
'By foreign hands thy dying eyes were closed;
By foreign hands thy decent limbs composed;
By foreign hands thy humble grave adorned;'
but whether we shall be honored and mourned by strangers, God only knows. At least, either of us will be certain of one mourner. In view of such scenes shall we not pray with earnestness 'O for an overcoming faith,' etc.?"
From The Life of Adoniram Judson by his son Edward Judson. New York: Anson D. F. Randolph & Company, 1883.
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