JUDAS MACCAB/EUS succeeded his father Mattathias Om 166 as the leader of the Jews in their patriotic attempts to throw off thi yoke of the Syrian kings (1 Mace. iii. 1.) He greatly distioguishec himself in the war by his military talents, his personal courage, an his implacable hostility to the Syrian princes. Immediately after hi, father's death ho defeated two Syrian armies, and in the following year conquered Lysias and Gerstell, who had been sent against hin with much larger forces. He afterwards took possession of Jerusalem purified the Temple from all Idolatrous pollutions, and restored th, national worship. He strengthened his power by subduing thy Idumasans and Ammonites and other nations bordering upou Palestine The unexpected success of Judea greatly exasperated Autiochua, win swore that he would destroy the whole Jewish nation, but ho diem before he could make preparations for the conquest of the country lie was succeeded by Antiochna Eupator, whu marched against Jeru niece, but was obliged to raise the siege and return to Upper Asia is Serampore missionaries presented a printing-press and is fount of Birmese type. Mr. Judson, now not only engaged in preaching and personally instructing the natives, but desirous to beuefit those whom his voice could not reach, drew up iu Birmese a 'Summary of Christian Doctrine,' which was the first work issued from the Rangoon press ; and portions of scripture and several tracts followed. As soon as the mission was fairly at work Mr. Judson made visits to other Birmese towns, and to Ave, where he had an interview with the king ; and, having obtained permission, set about establishing schools, in which Mrs. Judson, who had also mastered the language, was a very earnest and successful helper. The mission was going on favourably, when the sovereign of Birma provoked the English to declare war. Rangoon was made a point of attack by the British forces; but before they arrived, Mr. Judson, with the other missionaries, was seized and put into prison. There he remained for several months, subjected the greater part of the time to the most cruel treatment; but at length, when the success of the English was beyond question, he was employed to act as translator for the Birmese, and Mrs. Judson was sent to the British camp to mediate. A treaty of peace being signed, Mr. Judson and his companions were permitted to resume their labours. He returned to Rangoon ; and there, worn out with toil and anxiety, the companion of his early dangers and the sharer of his labours died, October 1826, during his absence in Ave. Some eight years later he married a second wife, the widow of a fellow-missionary named Boardman.
From an early period Mr. Judson had regarded the translation of the Scriptures into Birmese as the great work of his life ; and, after having been for several years engaged upon it, he at length, January 31st, 1834, had the happiness to complete his task. Ile lost no time in putting it to press, and by the end of 1835 the printing was finished of the first edition, in 3 vols. large 8vo. But he soon became con vinced of its many imperfections, and he at once set about thoroughly revising the whole, with such assistance as he could ohtain. This revision was completed in the autumn of 1840, and immediately printed in a thick 4to volume. It has since undergone careful
correction by various Oriental scholars, and now holds a high place among the translations of the Scriptures into the eastern tongues. Almost as soon as the printing of this revised edition of the Bible was finished, with characteristic energy Judson commenced at Moulmein, whither he bad removed, tho preparation of a Birmese Dictionary. But his own ill-health interrupted the work, and the health of his wife failing also, be determined to return to America, in the hope that their native air might restore their vigour. Mrs. Judson died off St. Helena (September 1st, 1845), but he arrived in safety at Boston a mouth afterwards. His reception by the various religious societies in America was of the most enthusiastic kind. Special services were everywhere got up, and enormous crowds of persons assembled to greet him. His stay however was hut brief : he had determined to return, and, if possible, end his days in firma. But he did not return alone. Anxious to find somo one qualified to write a memoir of his second wife (a memoir of the first had already been written), ho was introduced to an accomplished young lady, Mina Chubbuck, whose writings under the pseudonym of Fanny Forester had had an unusually large amount of popularity in religious circles ; and she not only undertook to write the life of the second Mrs. Jndaon, but soon consented to become the third. They were married in June 1846; in July they embarked at Boston, and in December they landed at Moul mein. The mission was now in a flourishing state, and Judson felt that ho might devote himself to the easier task of supervision, and to the completion of his Dictionary. Of this ho was permitted to see the first part printed in 1849, but ho did not live to complete it. His health failed, and he was directed to proceed to tho isle of Bourbon to recruit, lie embarked, but grew rapidly worse, and died at sea on the 12th of April 1850. His ' Burmese and English Dictionary' was completed from his papers by Mr. E. A. Stevens, and printed at Moul mein in 1852. It is regarded as a work of great value, and is in fact the only Dictionary that has been compiled of the Birmese language. With his Birmese Bible it formed a vast work for one individual to accomplish, in the midst of labours so many and so exhausting as those of the founder and director of an Indian mission. As a Christian missionary, Mr. Judson is regarded with the greatest respect by all sects among his countrymen, and also in England, though of course, with especial reverence by the Baptists.
Several Lives of Mr. Judson have been published, of which the chief are those by Clements, Gillette, and Wayland. Memoirs of each of his wives have also been published: one, ' Lives of the three Mrs. Judsons,' having passed through several editions. Each of these Indica was an authoress. Besides various papers for the Birmese converts, the first Mre. Judson wrote a 'History of tho Burman Mission ;' the second wrote poetry ; and the third, besides hex ' Memoirs of Mrs. Boardman Judeon,' wrote, as Fanny Forester, the 'Records of Alderbrook,' a work very popular in America, and more than once reprinted iu England; "The Great Secret ; " Missionary Biography ; ' "The Kathayan Slave,' &c.: she died June 1, 1854.