h
enthusiasm of the pleasure they have enjoyed in the society of Mr. and
Mrs. B, and, like theirs, breathes ardent wishes to be able to go to
Burmah. These wishes were soon to be realized. A letter from Mr.
Boardman dated Calcutta, April 12th, 1826, commences: "My dear
Brother,--The joyful news of peace with Ava, and of the safety of our
friends Dr. and Mrs. Judson, and Dr. Price, you will doubtless receive
from other sources. We can only say that the preservation of our friends
both at Rangoon and at Ava, seems to us one of the most striking and
gracious displays of God's special care of his people and his cause,
which has been experienced in modern times.

"Brother Wade and myself, with our beloved companions, expect to leave
Calcutta in six or eight weeks, to join brother Judson. As Rangoon is
not retained by the British, we do not think it best to recommence the
work there, but rather to settle in some of the towns which are by
treaty ceded to the British.... The members of the church in Rangoon are
collecting and will probably go with us. We need divine direction.

"We have great reason to be thankful for the health we enjoy. We long to
proceed to Burmah and engage in the delightful work before us. May God's
strength be made perfect in our weakness."

But his cherished enterprise was still longer delayed. By the
solicitation of the English missionaries, and the appointment of the
American Board, he was induced to remain in Calcutta a while, and preach
in Circular Road Chapel, recently vacated by the death of Mr. Lawson.
Mr. Wade and his wife reached Rangoon on the 9th of November, and found
there the desolate and heart-stricken Mr. Judson, and his feeble babe,
of whom Mrs. Wade was able for a brief period to supply the place of a
mother.

The place fixed upon as the seat of government in the newly acquired
British territory in Burmah, was Amherst, on the Martaban river, about
75 miles eastward of Rangoon. This place had been laid out by British
engineers under Mr. Judson's direction, and in an incredibly short time,
became a city numbering in thousands of houses. In southern India,
houses are built almost in a day, and the population fluctuates from
place to place with a facility surprising to Europeans. It is only
necessary to make a clearing in the jungle, and erect barracks for a few
soldiers, and--as water rushes at once into hollows scooped in the damp
sea-sand--so do the natives of India swarm into the cl