The viceroy of Rangoon regarded with an unfavorable eye this attempt to introduce a new religion. When informed that a prominent Burman teacher was about to renounce the religion of the empire, he uttered the ominous sentence: “Inquire further.” These words scattered the group of inquirers that had gathered about Mr. Judson as quickly as the lifted hand disperses a school of fish. The new converts, indeed, stood firm even under the peril of the confiscation of their goods, and the risk of torture and death; but the work had come to a standstill. The inhabitants of Rangoon did not even dare to visit the foreign teacher. In these circumstances the boldest measure seemed to Mr. Judson the wisest. He determined to beard the lion in his lair. He resolved to go directly to Ava, the capital of Burmah, and lay the whole matter at the feet of the emperor. If he could gain from the Burman monarch permission to propagate the Christian religion among his subjects, then he would be at once exempt from the annoyance and persecution inflicted by provincial underlings. If, on the other hand, he should fail, matters could not be made any worse, as news of this religious movement would soon get to the ears of the king. The nature of the threatening persecution, and the reasons for going to Ava, may be learned from Mr. Judson’s letters and journals: _To the Rev. Dr. Baldwin._ “RANGOON, _August_ 26, 1817. “REV. AND DEAR SIR: I am at present wholly absorbed in the dictionary. I hope to have it finished by the time that brother Rice arrives. The rains make it difficult for me to go out much; and, for the same reason, we have not many Burman visitors in our insulated situation. Even those who have visited us frequently, and acquired some knowledge of our religion, and manifested some spirit of inquiry, are deterred from prosecuting their inquiries by fear of persecution. I do not mean to imply that all persecution is to be dreaded, but that persecution which would effectually prevent the use of the means of grace certainly is. It is true that God will call those whom He has chosen; but since He has made means necessary to the end, since it is by the Gospel of His Son that He calls His people, it is certainly as much the duty of His servants to endeavor to avert such persecution as would effectually prevent the use of means as it is to use any means at all; and we may reasonably conclude that, when God has a people whom He is about to call, He will direct His servants in such a course.