Mr. Judson and Mr. Colman returned from Ava utterly disheartened, for their journey had been a complete failure. The emperor had refused to give them permission to propagate the Christian religion among his subjects; and any Burman who should renounce Buddhism and become a Christian, would incur the displeasure of his sovereign. Mr. Judson at once decided to remove the mission to Chittagong, where, under the protection of the British flag, he could preach Christ to a Burmese-speaking population. He gathered his converts and inquirers together, and made no concealment of the failure at Ava. He pictured the sufferings to which the Burman would be exposed who should espouse Christianity, while he declared his intention, reluctantly formed, of leaving the country. But, to his great surprise, his converts stood firm. They expressed their willingness to suffer persecution, and even death, rather than renounce Christ. They entreated him not to leave them. “Stay at least,” they said, “until a little church of ten is collected, and a native teacher is set over it, and then, if you must go, we will not say nay. In that case we shall not be concerned. This religion will spread of itself. The emperor can not stop it.” The heroism of the disciples prevailed to keep the teacher in Rangoon. It was thought best, however, that Mr. Colman and his wife should go to Chittagong[26] and gather together the few converts left there by the English Baptists, and to preach the Gospel to the Arracanese. Thus Chittagong might prove an asylum for the Judsons and their Burman converts if they should be hunted out of Rangoon. On March 27, 1820, Mr. Colman embarked for Arracan, where, after a short but heroic missionary career, he died at Cox’s Bazaar on the 4th of July, 1822. Thus Mr. and Mrs. Judson again found themselves alone at Rangoon. The Houghs, the Wheelocks, the Colmans had gone. They were left with their little group of three converts to continue the conflict with heathenism. But, strange to say, in this darkest hour of all the Spirit began to work mightily in the hearts of the Burmans. Within five months, in the very face of impending persecution, seven heathen, one after another, were converted and baptized, among them the learned skeptical Moung Shwa-gnong, and the first woman, Mah-men-la. The church of three native converts rapidly grew into a church of ten. But, at this point, Mrs. Judson’s health became so completely shattered that, in order to save her life, Mr. Judson had to take her to Calcutta. All these interesting events will be found narrated, with fuller detail, in the succeeding extract from Mr. Judson’s journal: