1849 ADONIRAM JUDSON. Correction Regarding Erroneous Statements Regarding His Missionary Departure.

A very finely preserved little item related to a controversy that involved the initial departure of Adoniram Judson and Samuel Newell for Burmah in 1812.

Shortly before the issue of the present tractate by friend of Judson and original member of the Missionary Committee, Samuel M. Worcester, a work by John Dowling entitled The Judson Offering went through several printings in quick succession. In the work, Dowling gives a rather detailed account of the departure of Adoniram Judson and Samuel Newell in February of 1812. As if out of thin air, Dowling gives a vivid description of Judson and Newell being abandoned by the Missionary Society at the docks with no one to bid them farewell.

He paints the Society in particular and the church in general as uncaring and unsupportive of the missionaries. One can suppose that he painted the touching scene in order to garner support for missionaries of his time, i.e. the 1840's and 1850's. Even so, he did so at the expense of the reputation of the Missionary Society . . . and it was, in fact, not true. Perhaps he read that they departed the dock alone, which was true, and inferred the rest. That would be the most generous reading. 

First edition, very scarce in this original side-stitched condition. Includes excellent primary resource material on the Judson mission.

Worcester, Samuel M. A Correction of Erroneous Statements Concerning the Embarkation of the Rev. Messrs. Judson and Newell, at Salem, February 18, 1812. Boston. Press of T. R. Marvin, 24 Congress Street. March, 1849. 24pp.

Good + to very good. Some handling, small stain, minor ships to wraps. A much better than usual copy.