m.
ь
MAY, 1861.
EMILY C. JUDSON.
{Continued from page 298.)
We now appi’oach another change in
that life which had been “ from the
cradle,” “full of changes.” The 23rd
of December, she writes to Mrs. Nott:
“Mr. Gillette has been to Boston, and
we are expecting him back to-morrow,
with Dr. Judson. We are promising
ourselves a rare treat in the company
of the good missionary.” . Dr. Judson
had recently buried his second wife in
the island of St. Helena ; and was en¬
joying (or suffering?) an ovation in his
native land, after an absence of more
than thirty years. The slightest things
may sometimes change the destinyof
men. On the way from Boston* to Phil¬
adelphia, the train4 was accidentally de¬
tained for a few hours. To relieve the
tedium incident to such detention, Mr.
Gillette put into Dr. Judson’s hands a
volume of the newly published “ Trip¬
pings.” The Doctor was, at first, a lit¬
tle afraid of a book bearing so ques¬
tionable a name, but having opened it,
he soon became deeply interested. Af¬
ter reading a few pages, he remarked
with the emphasis of repetition, that it
was written “ with great beauty and
power — with great beauty and power.”
Then followed the inquiries, “ Who is
the author?” “Is she a Christian?”
and the expression of a desire to see
and know her; and again, the other in¬
quiry, “ Is she a Baptist ?” and also an
expression of regret that a lady with
such powers should not employ them
more worthily. Dr. Judson was in
search of some one to write the memoir-
of his deceased wife, — had he not alrea¬
dy determined upon engaging “ Fanny
Forester ?” He was, also, probably,
in search of another wife,— -had he not
already some expectation of finding the
biographer and the wife in the same
person f At all events, he was grati¬
fied to hear that the young authoress
was under My. Gillette’s roof, and that
he might so readily make her acquaint¬
ance.
The courtship was brief ; and so shall
be our account of it. When Dr. Jud¬
son was already predisposed to fall in
love, what wonder that he should be cap¬
tivated by her who had taken all hearts?
And Emily ? The name and presence
of Dr. Judson recalled the dream of
her childhood. Of her ‘early life, she
writes ; “ One day I took up a little,
dingy, coarse newspaper — the Baptist
Register in its infancy — and my eye
fell on the words: “Little Maria, lies
b}r the side of her fond mother.” I had
read about the missionaries and my sis¬
ter had told me respecting them ; I
knew, therefore, at once, that the letter
wras from Mr. Judson, and that his lit¬
tle daughter was dead. IIow I pitied
his loneliness ! And then a new train
of thought sprang up, and my mind ex¬
panded to a new kind of glory. No,
thought I, though the Burmans should
kill him, I will not pity him ; and I —
yes I will be a missionary.” And now,
after the lapse of years, again he is
lonely ; again she pities his loneliness;
