Daughters of the Cross: or Woman's MissionEddy, Daniel C. (Daniel Clarke)
History
Daughters of the Cross: or Woman's Mission
Eddy, Daniel C. (Daniel Clarke)
Women -- Biography; Women missionaries
A statement was drawn up by an English prisoner, and published in Calcutta
and in England, in which the thanks of the prisoners are given to this
estimable woman. The writer dwells upon the theme with the interest of one
who has experienced acts of kindness and is himself under obligation. He
ascribes to _her_, a feeble woman, the honor of having, under God, prepared
the Burman empire to seek terms of reconciliation and peace. From a full
heart he utters the tribute of his gratitude to the frail child of humanity
who forgot her own weariness, forgot her own sufferings, forgot her own
privations, sickness, and want, and sought out the wants of the victims of
imperial despotism.
Her daily walk was from the prison to the palace. To one place she went to
whisper words of kindness, to wipe away the tears of sorrow, to wet the
parched lips of the dying with cool water, to bathe the limbs bruised and
chafed by heavy irons, and to apply healing balm to both body and spirit;
the other place she visited to plead and argue with a proud court, and a
haughty, tyrannical, and overbearing monarch. She risked her own life at
every trial, but ceased not her perilous work until God crowned her labors
with success--until the stubborn court of Ava relented--until she saw the
fetters fall, and the prisoners again at liberty. The English nation owes
her a debt of gratitude; for she has done more for it than many of its most
illustrious warriors. Humanity is a debtor to her memory; for she was kind
to man, and, in his want and suffering, surpassed humanity to do him good.
Religion is her debtor; for she was one of its most devoted advocates, and
presented in her life a sublime illustration of the power of faith. From
Ava Mr. and Mrs. Judson removed to Amherst, a town which was founded at the
close of the war in that territory, and which, by the treaty, was ceded to
the English. It was at Amherst that Mrs. Judson was visited with the fatal
fever which terminated her existence on the 24th of October, 1826.
At the time of her death Mr. Judson was absent from home, in company with
Mr. Crawford, the British commissioner. Her sickness was short and painful.
During most of the time her reason was dethroned; but in her moments of
calmness she gave evidence that all was peace. Without the hand of her kind
companion to lift her aching head, or bathe her throbbing temples, she
died.
Mr. Judson returned, not to hear her voice, not to gaze upon her form, but
to weep over her grave, and with his motherless child to sit in sorrow on
the spot where she breathed her last. Such was the violence of her fever
that she said but little, and left her husband without many of those tokens
of kindness which surviving friends esteem of so much value.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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