In addition to the above discouragements, he had experienced others still more severe. One of the native converts, who had given satisfactory evidence of piety, and had received the sacrament, became guilty of immoral conduct, and was afterwards excluded from their little church. This, to Mr. B. was like the cutting off of his right hand. He thus speaks of it: "For some time past the conduct of Moung Bo has given us pain. We are now called to sorrow over those, who, till lately, have given us uniform pleasure. The evidence that he had been indulging in sins covertly from the first, was so satisfactory, that we found it necessary to exclude him from our little church. How painful was the stroke to us all! O, who can tell the agonies we have this evening felt! These are a missionary's trials, and we expected to experience such things. May God sanctify them to us."

In view of these disheartening circumstances we are not surprised when we hear him holding the following plaintive language:

"It is now several months since I began to preach the Gospel publicly in this place. A large number of people attended at first, and gave me some encouragement to hope they would become true converts. But when the novelty of the subject ceased, and curiosity was gratified, and especially when the priests saw the tendency of the Gospel to subvert idolatry, the people left me. The Gospel is now known in some small degree by many in Tavoy, and is known only to be despised and neglected. The zayat is nearly deserted; many who once offered us some encour agement, have fallen off like blighted blossoms, and we are left to trust entirely to the promises of God. I scarcely know a single outward circumstance suited to encourage us. Every thing looks dark and unpromising. How long affairs will remain so, is known only to Him in whose name we trust. We are not required to convert the heathen, but to preach the Gospel to them, and God, in his own time and way, will bestow converting grace. We feel deeply impressed with our own helplessness and insufficiency. But if God has a work for us to do here, we are willing and waiting to execute his commands. We have no other ob

ject on earth to accomplish but to serve God and our fellow men. For this, and we trust, for this alone, do we desire our hitherto unprofitable lives to be protracted. Yes, we are willing to spend our life, whether it be long or short, in this service.

"At present none come to the house, or to the zayat for instruction. The ways of our little Zion truly mourn because few come to her solemn feasts. Lord, wilt thou not revive us again, that thy people may rejoice in thee? If these troubles serve truly to humble us, and make us feel our entire dependence on God, they will not have been sent in vain.

"The great confusion we are in at present, being just on the point of removing to our new habitation, prevents my making such reflections in my journal as the close of the year would seem to suggest and demand. I cannot, however, suppress our conviction of the importance of our looking more constantly to God for grace to qualify us for our work, and for success to attend our efforts. We have been, of late, more deeply impressed than ever, with the necessity of our being entirely engaged, both body and soul, in our work. At the same time, we are fully aware that God alone can give us success in our toils. But this circumstance, instead of discouraging us, should only excite our zeal in labor, and our importunity in prayer."

tate.

In tracing Mr. Boardman's movements thus far, we see nothing deserving of censure, but much to admire and imiIf his success had not been quite equal to his expectations, it was such as ought certainly to have afforded, and probably did afford encouragement in relation to the future. The prospects which opened upon him with so much promise, on his entrance into Tavoy, had indeed become a little obscured by the madness of the heathen upon their idols, their refusal to receive religious instruction, and by the apostacy of some who had avowed themselves the disciples of Christ. These things were calculated to operate as discouragements, and to try the strength of his Christian graces; they composed a part of the preparatory discipline by which God was fitting him for more extensive usefulness. Brighter and better days were in reserve for him, as to the success of his enterprise, and he hailed them, as we shall hereafter learn, with devout gratitude to God.

While he was thus toiling alone at Tavoy, not indeed without considerable success, but in the midst of opposition and discouragement, his brethren at Maulmein were enjoying a season of refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the fruits of which served greatly to encourage their hearts, as well as to awaken a deeper and more general interest in the American churches. Up to the twentieth of May, a number had given evidence of piety, six of whom had been baptized, five males and one female. Among those baptized were two who gave pleasing evidence that God had called them to testify the Gospel of his grace to their benighted countrymen. Several others who had not been baptized, were hopefully pious.

CHAPTER XV.

Mr. Boardman's first tour into the Karen jungle-Baptisms-Visit to the prison in Tavoy-Execution of a bandit.

On the 2d of Jan. 1829, Mr. Boardman with his family removed into the house which he had erected for himself on a site best calculated to facilitate his intercourse with the people of Tavoy. Having become quietly settled again in his own habitation, he resumed his labors with fresh ardor. Towards the close of the month, two Karens, who had travelled several days' journey with the expectation of finding him at some of their settlements, on being disappointed, came three days' journey further to see him at the mission premises, and to receive his instructions. One of them was from the province of Mergui. He informed Mr. Boardman that the Karens in Tavoy, Mergui, and Tenasserim, had heard of him and were desirous to receive his instruction. Soon after, several others arrived from the eastern settlements. They stated to him that the people in those places were anxiously waiting his arrival among them. A number of them had some time previously expressed a desire to be baptized, but had been advised to defer the ordinance for a season, that they might become better acquainted with the nature of that sacrament, and with the general principles of the Gospel.

The following is a sketch of his first tour to the Karen villages:

"Feb. 5th. Having committed my beloved family, the little church, and the schools, to the care of an ever kind and watchful Providence, I set out this morning on my long expected visit to the Karens. Besides myself, the company consists of Ko-thah-byoo, and another Karen, who professes to believe in Christ, two of the largest boys in the school, and a Malabar man who serves as cook. We left home at 9 o'clock, A. M. and directed our course eastward towards Tshick-koo, the village of Moung So. For the first two hours and a half, we passed along a winding foot