{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_30085/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_30085","id":"gutenberg_30085","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30085","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Martyn, Henry, 1781-1812","Missionaries -- India -- Biography","Missionaries -- Iran -- Biography"],"text":"MISSIONARY ANNALS.\n(A SERIES.)\n\n\n\n\nLIFE OF HENRY MARTYN, MISSIONARY TO INDIA AND PERSIA, 1781 to 1812\n\n\nABRIDGED FROM THE MEMOIR.\nBY\nMRS. SARAH J. RHEA.\n\n\n\n\nCHICAGO:\nWOMAN'S PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE NORTHWEST,\nRoom 48, McCormick Block.\n\n\n\n\nCOPYRIGHT, 1888,\nBY WOMAN'S PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF MISSIONS OF THE NORTHWEST.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n                                              PAGE.\nEDUCATION AND PREPARATION, . . . . . . . . . . .  5\n\nLIFE IN INDIA, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13\n\nLIFE IN PERSIA, AND DEATH, . . . . . . . . . . . 29\n\n\n\n\nI hold in my hand an album adorned with pictures of missionaries, my\nbrethren and sisters, the ambassadors of the King. On one of the first\npages is \"the tomb of Henry Martyn,\" given me by Dr. Van Lennep, who\nhad just visited the sacred spot and described it vividly. When I turn\nthe pages of my album and come to this, I pause with reverence and the\noverflowings of deep and tender emotion, and my mind adds other\npictures, both terrestrial and celestial, to the one upon the page. My\nown missionary life as the companion of him whom Dr. Perkins called\n\"the later Henry Martyn,\" was spent in Henry Martyn's Persia. They\nwere alike I think in many things, these two Persian evangelists, and\nalso in their deaths. When they passed out of the Tabriz gate,\njourneying homeward after a course of illness in the fated city, for\neach it was a quick ascent, a painful translation, to the heavenly\ncity with abundant entrance and the Master's \"well done\"--in heaven;\nand on earth, a foreign grave taking possession for Christ, as the\nNestorians reverently say, with \"white stones still speaking out.\"\n                                                          S. J. R.\n\n\n\n\nEDUCATION AND PREPARATION.\n\n\nHenry Martyn was born in England on the south-western coast of Truro,\nFebruary 18, 1781. His father, Mr. John Martyn, worked in the mines.\nHe was not educated but was very fond of learning. The miners were in\nthe habit of working and resting alternately every four hours. Mr.\nJohn Martyn spent many of his rest intervals in study, and so by\ndiligence and education raised himself to a higher position, and\nbecame a clerk in the office of a merchant in Truro. When Henry was\nseven years old, he went to school to Dr. Cardew. From his earliest\nyears all who knew him considered him a very interesting and promising\nchild. Dr. Cardew says his proficiency in the classics exceeded that\nof his schoolfellows; he was of a lively, cheerful temper and seemed\nto learn without application, almost by intuition. But he was not\nrobust, and loving books better than sport, and having a peculiar\ntenderness and inoffensiveness of spirit, he was often abused by rude\nand coarse boys in the school. A friendship which he formed at this\ntime with a boy older than himself was the source of great comfort and\nadvantage to him, and was kept up throughout his whole life. This\nfriend often protected him from the bullies of the play-ground. At\nthis school, under excellent tuition, Henry remained until fourteen\nyears old, when he was induced to offer himself as a candidate for a\nvacant scholarship at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Young as he was,\nhe went there alone, and acquitted himself so well, though strongly\nand ably opposed by competitors, that in the opinion of some of the\nexaminers he ought to have been elected. How often is the hand of God\nseen in frustrating our fondest designs! Speaking of this\ndisappointment he afterwards wrote: \"Had I remained and become a\nmember of the university at that time, as I should have done in case\nof success, the profligate acquaintances I had there would have\nintroduced me to scenes of debauchery, in which I must in all\nprobability, from my extreme youth, have sunk forever.\"\n\nHe continued after this with Dr Cardew till 1797, and then joined his\nschool friend at Cambridge at St. John's College. Here he obtained a\nplace in the first class at the public examination in December, a\ncircumstance which, joined to the extreme desire he had to gratify his\nfather, encouraged and excited him to study with increased alacrity,\nand as the fruit of this application, at the next public examination\nin the summer he reached the second station in the first class, a\npoint of elevation which \"flattered his pride not a little.\" At this\ntime he appeared in the eye of the world most amiable and commendable,\noutwardly moral, unwearied in application, and exhibited marks of no\nordinary talent. One exception to this statement is to be found in an\nirritability of temper arising perhaps from the treatment he had\nreceived at school. On one occasion in sudden anger, he threw a knife\nat the head of another boy, which providentially missed him and was\nleft trembling in the wall; but it was a narrow escape, and might have\nproved fatal. Though not a Christian at this time, he was under two\nstrong influences for good, one from his religious friend in college,\nthe other from his sister in Cornwall, a Christian of a meek, heavenly\nand affectionate spirit. He paid a visit to his home in the summer of\n1799, carrying with him no small degree of academical honor. It may be\nwell supposed that to a sister such as we have described, her\nbrother's spiritual welfare would be a most serious and anxious\nconcern; and that she often conversed with him on the subject of\nreligion we know from his own declaration. The first result of her\ntender exhortations and earnest endeavors was very discouraging; a\nviolent conflict took place in her brother's mind between his\nconviction of the truth of what she urged, and his love of the world;\nand for the present, the latter prevailed. Yet, sisters similarly\ncircumstanced may learn from this case, not merely their duty, but\nalso, from the final result, the success they may anticipate in the\nfaithful discharge of it.\n\n\"At the examination at Christmas, 1799,\" he writes: \"I was first, and\nthe account of it pleased my father prodigiously, who, I was told, was\nin great health and spirits. What, then, was my consternation when in\nJanuary I received an account of his death!\" Most poignant were his\nsufferings under this affliction, which led him to God for comfort in\nprayer and Bible study. He says: \"I began with the Acts, and found\nmyself insensibly led to inquire more attentively into the doctrines\nof the Apostles.\" Writing to his sister, having announced shortly and\nwith much simplicity that his name stood first upon the list at the\ncollege examination of the summer of 1800, he says: \"What a blessing\nit is for me that I have such a sister as you, my dear S., who have\nbeen so instrumental in keeping me in the right way. After the death\nof our father you know I was extremely low spirited, and like most\nother people began to consider seriously without any particular\ndetermination, that invisible world to which he was gone and to which\nI must one day go. Soon I began to attend more diligently to the words\nof our Savior in the New Testament, and to devour them with delight,\nwhen the offers of mercy and forgiveness were made so freely; I\nsupplicated to be made partaker of the covenant of grace with\neagerness and hope, and thanks be to the ever-blessed Trinity for not\nleaving me without comfort!\" How cheering to his sister it must have\nbeen to receive at a moment of deep sorrow such a communication as\nthis! How salutary to his own mind to have possessed so near a\nrelation to whom he could thus freely open the workings of his heart.\nAt this time he also received great benefit from attendance on the\nfaithful ministry of Rev. Charles Simeon, under whose pastoral\ninstructions he himself declares that he \"gradually acquired more\nknowledge in divine things.\" With this excellent man he had the most\nfriendly and unreserved intercourse. Mr. Martyn received his first\nimpressions of the transcendent excellence of the Christian ministry\nof Mr. Simeon, from which it was but a short step to choose this\ncalling for his own, for until now he had intended to devote himself\nto the law \"chiefly,\" he confesses, \"because he could not consent to\nbe poor for Christ's sake.\"\n\nIn January, 1801, the highest academical honor, that of \"senior\nwrangler,\" was awarded to him before the completion of his twentieth\nyear. His description of his feelings on this occasion is remarkable:\n\"I obtained my highest wishes, but was surprised to find that I had\ngrasped a shadow.\" So impossible it is for earthly distinction to fill\nand satisfy the mind.\n\nIn March, 1802, after another rigid examination, Mr. Martyn was chosen\nFellow of St. Johns, a situation honorable to the society and\ngratifying to himself. Soon after he obtained first prize for best\nLatin prose composition over many competitors of classical celebrity,\nand this was the more remarkable, as his studies had been almost\nentirely in mathematics.\n\nHenry Martyn's attention was called to the great cause of Foreign\nMissions by some remarks of Rev. Mr. Simeon on the work of Carey in\nIndia, but more particularly by reading the memoir of David Brainerd,\nwho preached with apostolic zeal and success to the North American\nIndians, and who finished a course of self-denying labors for his\nRedeemer with unspeakable joy at the early age of thirty-two. Henry\nMartyn's soul was filled with holy emulation, and after deep\nconsideration and fervent prayer he was at length fixed in a\nresolution to imitate his example. Nor let it be conceived that he\ncould adopt this resolution without the severest conflict in his mind,\nfor he was endued with the truest sensibility of heart, and was\nsusceptible of the warmest and tenderest attachments. No one could\nexceed him in love for his country, or in affection for his friends,\nand few could surpass him in an exquisite relish for the various and\nrefined enjoyments of a social and literary life. How then could it\nfail of being a moment of extreme anguish when he came to the\ndeliberate resolution of leaving forever all he held dear upon earth?\nBut he was fully satisfied that the glory of that Savior who loved him\nand gave Himself for him would be promoted by his going forth to\npreach to the heathen. He considered their pitiable and perilous\ncondition; he thought on the value of their immortal souls; he\nremembered the last solemn injunction of his Lord, \"Go teach all\nnations,\"--an injunction never revoked, and commensurate with that\nmost encouraging promise, \"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end\nof the world.\" Actuated by these motives, he offered himself as a\nmissionary to the society for Missions, and from that time stood\nprepared with childlike simplicity and unshaken constancy to go to any\npart of the world whither it might be deemed expedient to send him.\n\nIn the early part of 1804, Mr. Martyn's plans of becoming a missionary\nwere dampened by the loss of his slender patrimony, and as his sister\nwas also involved in the calamity, it appeared hardly justifiable for\nhim to go away. After some delay his friends obtained for him the\nposition of chaplain to the East India Company, and so the obstacles\nwhich detained him were removed.\n\nThe time of the delay was spent in zealous service for his divine\nMaster. He was associated with Rev. Mr. Simeon as curate and preached\nwith great zeal and unction, often to very large audiences, and\nsometimes with such unsparing denunciation of common sins as to awaken\nopposition. He considered it his duty to rebuke iniquity, and on one\noccasion severely reproved a student for shocking levity,--reading a\nplay with some young ladies while their father lay dying. He feared\nthe result of this might be estrangement from his friend, but prayed\nearnestly that it might lead to his awakening. This prayer was\nanswered, and afterwards this very friend became his beloved associate\nin missionary work in India.\n\nIn very early youth Mr. Martyn became fondly attached to a young lady\nnamed Lydia Grenfell. She considered herself his superior in social\nposition. The memoirs all speak of her as estimable, and we infer from\nthe little that is said that she somewhat indifferently accepted Henry\nMartyn's homage, but she did not wholeheartedly and generously\nrespond. What a contrast to the beloved and devoted Harriet Newell,\nwho was not afraid to risk all for Christ, and counted not her life\ndear even unto the death! It was Miss Grenfell's greatest honor that\nHenry Martyn would have made her his wife, but she declined the honor,\nand yet gave him encouragement, for their correspondence only ended\nwith his life, and his very last writing was a letter to her. He\nbegged her with all the eloquence of a lonely and devoted heart to\ncome out to him after he had gone to India, arranging every detail for\nher comfort with thoughtful tenderness, and urging and encouraging her\nand lavishing upon her an affection that would have crowned and\nenriched her life. We are left to infer from the history that she did\nlove him in her way, but if she had shared his consecration and gone\nwith him and taken care of him, and cheered and comforted him, and\nmade for him a happy restful home, as some missionary wives have done\nin self-denying foreign fields, what a blessing she might have been,\nand her life, how fruitful, and her memory, how fragrant! As it was,\nshe has this distinction, that she was Henry Martyn's disappointment\nand trial and discipline. No one less tender and sensitive than Henry\nMartyn can appreciate all he suffered on this account; but he made it,\nlike all the other great sorrows of his life, a cross on which to be\ncrucified with Christ.\n\nHe writes to his dear sister S.: \"When I sometimes offer up\nsupplications with strong crying to God to bring down my spirit into\nthe dust I endeavor calmly to contemplate the infinite majesty of the\nmost high God and my own meanness and wickedness, or else I quietly\ntell the Lord, who knows the heart, I would give Him all the glory of\neverything if I could. But the most effectual way I have ever found is\nto lead away my thoughts from myself and my own concerns by praying\nfor all my friends, for the church, the world, the nation, and\nespecially by beseeching that God would glorify His own great name by\nconverting all nations to the obedience of faith, also by praying that\nhe would put more abundant honor on those Christians whom he seems to\nhave honored especially, and whom we see to be manifestly our\nsuperiors.\"\n\nIn spite of Henry Martyn's beautiful humility, honor after honor was\nheaped upon him by his admiring and appreciative Alma Mater. Three\ntimes he was chosen examiner, and discharged the duties of this office\nwith great care and faithfulness.\n\nAs the time approaches for his parting from all he holds dear,\nespecially the beloved L., our hearts go out to him in irrepressible\nsympathy. He writes, \"parted with L. forever in this life with a sort\nof uncertain pain which I know will increase to greater violence.\"\n\nAnd these forebodings were but too soon realized. For many succeeding\ndays his mental agony was extreme, yet he could speak to God as one\nwho knew the great conflict within him. Yet while the waves and\nbillows are going over him he writes from these depths, \"I never had\nso clear a conviction of my call as at the present. Never did I see so\nmuch the exceeding excellency and glory and sweetness of the work, nor\nhad so much the favorable testimony of my own conscience, nor\nperceived so plainly the smile of God. Blessed be God, I feel myself\nto be His minister. This thought which I can hardly describe came in\nthe morning after reading Brainerd. I wish for no service but the\nservice of God, to labor for souls on earth and to do His will in\nheaven.\"\n\n\n\n\nLIFE IN INDIA.\n\n\nOn the 17th of July, 1805, the Union East Indiaman conveying Mr.\nMartyn sailed from Portsmouth. Mr. Martyn says: \"Though it was what I\nhad been anxiously looking forward to so long, yet the consideration\nof being parted forever from my friends, almost overcame me. My\nfeelings were those of a man who should suddenly be told that every\nfriend he had in the world was dead.\"\n\nThough suffering much in mind and body throughout the long and tedious\nvoyage of nine months, Mr. Martyn seeks no selfish ease. He preaches,\nreads and labors assiduously with officers, passengers and crew, and\nshuns not to declare the whole counsel of God, even the unpalatable\ndoctrine of the future punishment of the wicked. He says: \"The threats\nand opposition of these men made me willing to set before them the\ntruths they hated, yet I had no species of hesitation about doing it.\nThey said they would not come if so much hell was preached, but I took\nfor my text, 'The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations\nthat forget God.' The officers were all behind my back in order to\nhave an opportunity of retiring in case of dislike. H., as soon as he\nheard the text, went back and said he would hear no more about hell;\nso he employed himself in feeding the geese. However, God I trust\nblessed the sermon to the good of many; some of the cadets and many of\nthe soldiers were in tears. I felt an ardor and vehemence in some\nparts which are unusual with me. After service walked the deck with\nMrs. ----; she spoke with so much simplicity and amiable humility that\nI was full of joy and admiration to God for a sheep brought home to\nHis fold. In the afternoon went below intending to read to them at the\nhatchway, but there was not one of them, so I could get nothing to do\namong the poor soldiers.\"\n\nWhat a picture revealing Henry Martyn's character!--the contrasting\nattributes of sternness and gentleness, his martyrlike determination\nto do his whole duty at any cost to himself from suffering and insult,\nthe keen shrinking of a nature so refined and sensitive from\ncoarseness and abuse, undeviating yet uncompromising, bringing to our\nthoughts the Divine Exemplar. I pass by the incidents of the voyage,\nincluding mutiny, sickness and death, romantic stay at St. Salvador,\nbattles at the Cape of Good Hope, etc., eloquently and vividly\nrecorded.\n\nThe Friday preceding his arrival in India he spends \"in praying that\nGod would no longer delay exerting his power in the conversion of the\neastern nations. I felt emboldened\" he says, \"to employ the most\nfamiliar petitions by Is. xii. 6, 7, 'Keep not silence; give him no\nrest,' etc. Blessed be God for those words! They are like a cordial to\nmy spirits, because if the Lord is not pleased by me or during my\nlifetime to call the Gentiles, yet He is not offended at my being\nurgent with Him that the kingdom of God may come.\"\n\nApril 21, 1806, the nine months' journey is complete, and they land at\nMadras. Mr. Martyn gives first impressions and description of the\nnatives, ending in these words: \"In general, one thought naturally\noccurred: the conversion of their poor souls. I am willing, I trust,\nthrough grace, to pass my life among them if by any means these poor\npeople may be brought to God. The sight of men, women and children,\nall idolaters, makes me shudder as if in the dominions of the prince\nof darkness. Hearing the hymn, 'Before Jehovah's awful throne,' it\nexcited a train of affecting thoughts in my mind.\"\n\n\"Wide as the world is thy command. Therefore it is easy for Thee to\nspread abroad Thy holy name. But oh, how gross the darkness here! The\nveil of the covering cast over all nations seems thicker here; the\nfriends of darkness seem to sit in sullen repose in this land. What\nsurprises me is the change of views I have here from what I had in\nEngland. There my heart expanded with hope and joy at the prospect of\nthe speedy conversion of the heathen; but here the sight of the\napparent impossibility requires a strong faith to support the\nspirits.\" Ah, how vividly this describes missionary experiences! After\ngreat peril from storm and illness, passing up the Hoogly from Madras,\nMr. Martyn arrived at Calcutta, May 14. In this city for years had\nbeen a band of English Christians faithfully praying for the coming of\nthe kingdom in that dark land, and into the home of one of these, Rev.\nDavid Brown, was Mr. Martyn received with much affection. A pagoda in\none end of the yard on the river bank was fitted up for him, and the\nplace where once devils were worshiped now became a Christian oratory.\nThe first experience here was of severe illness from acclimating\nfever, from which he was kindly nursed into convalescence. He then\napplied himself earnestly to the study of the Hindoostanee, having\nengaged a Brahmin as a teacher. Here he witnessed with horror the\ncruel and debasing rites of heathenism. The blaze of a funeral pile\ncaused him one day to hasten to the rescue of a burning widow who was\nconsumed before his eyes. And in a dark wood he heard the sound of\ncymbals and drums calling the poor natives to the worship of devils,\nand saw them prostrate with their foreheads to the ground before a\nblack image in a pagoda surrounded with burning lights--a sight which\nhe contemplated with overwhelming compassion, \"shivering as if\nstanding in the neighborhood of hell.\"\n\nMr. Martyn's plain and pungent preaching was a great offense to some\nof the easy-going formalists of the English church at Calcutta, and\nsome of the ministry attacked him bitterly from their pulpits,\ndeclaring, for instance, that to affirm repentance to be the gift of\nGod and to teach that nature is wholly corrupt, is to drive men to\ndespair, and that to suppose the righteousness of Christ sufficient to\njustify is to make it unnecessary to have any of our own. Though\ncompelled to listen to such downright heresies, to hear himself\ndescribed as knowing neither what he said nor whereof he affirmed, and\nas aiming only to gratify self sufficiency, pride and\nuncharitableness,--\"I rejoiced,\" said this meek and holy man, \"to\nreceive the Lord's supper afterwards;--as the solemnities of that\nblessed ordinance sweetly tended to soothe any asperity of mind, and I\nthink that I administered the cup to ---- and ---- with sincere good\nwill.\"\n\nSeptember 13, 1806, Mr. Martyn received his appointment to Singapore.\nA farewell meeting of great interest was held in his pagoda, followed\nby a tender parting from the family who had been so kind to him, and\ntwo fellow laborers who, following his bright example, had just come\nout from England. The voyage to Singapore was performed in a budgero,\na small boat with a cabin, in which he studied and translated and\nprayed while making the seventeen or eighteen miles a day of the\nsix-weeks' journey. At night the boat was fastened to the shore. His\njournal record of these days is very interesting and very\ncharacteristic. He says:\n\n\"October 27. Arrived at Berhampore. In the evening walked out to the\nhospital in which there were 150 European soldiers sick. I was talking\nto a man said to be dying, when a surgeon entered. I went up and made\nsome apology for entering the hospital. It was my old school-fellow\nand townsman, ----. The remainder of the evening he spent with me in\nmy budgero.\n\n\"October 28. Rose very early and was at the hospital at daylight.\nWaited there a long time wandering up and down the wards in hopes of\ninducing the men to get up and assemble, but it was in vain. I left\nthree books with them and went away amidst the sneers and titters of\nthe common soldiers. Certainly it is one of the greatest crosses I am\ncalled to bear to take pains to make people hear me. It is such a\nstruggle between a sense of propriety and modesty on the one hand, and\na sense of duty on the other, that I find nothing equal to it. I could\nforce my way anywhere, in order to introduce a brother minister; but\nfor myself, I act with hesitation and pain.\n\n\"Walking out into a village where the boat stopped for the night I\nfound the worshipers of Kali by the sound of their drums and cymbals.\nInvited by the Brahmins to walk in I entered and asked a few questions\nabout the idol. The Brahmin who spoke bad Hindoostanee disputed with\ngreat heat, and his tongue ran faster than I could follow, and the\npeople, about one hundred, shouted applause. I continued my questions\nand among other things asked if what I had heard of Vishnu and Brahma\nwas true, which he confessed. I forbore to press him with the\nconsequences, which he seemed to feel; and then I told him what was my\nbelief. The man grew quite mild and said it was _chula bat_ (good\nwords), and asked me seriously at last what I thought, 'Was idol\nworship true or false?' I felt it a matter of thankfulness that I\ncould make known the truth of God though a stammerer and that I had\ndeclared it in the presence of the devil. And this also I learnt, that\nthe power of gentleness is irresistible. I never was more astonished\nthan at the change in deportment of this hot-headed Brahmin.... Came\nto on the eastern bank below a village called Ahgadup. Wherever I\nwalked the women fled at the sight of me. Some men were sitting under\nthe shed dedicated to their goddess; a lamp was burning in her place.\nA conversation soon began, but there was no one who could speak\nHindoostanee. I could only speak by the medium of my Mussulman,\nMusalchee. They said that they only did as others did, and that if\nthey were wrong then all Bengal was wrong. I felt love for their\nsouls, and longed for utterance to declare unto these poor simple\npeople the holy gospel. I think that when my mouth is opened I shall\npreach to them day and night.\n\n\"October 31. My Moonshee said, 'How can you prove this book (the\ngospel), to be the word of God?' I took him to walk with me on the\nshore that we might discuss the matter, and the result of our\nconversation was that I discovered that the Mussulmen allow the gospel\nto be in general the command of God, though the words of it are not\nHis as the words of the Koran are, and contend that the actual words\nof God given to Jesus were burnt by the Jews; that they also admit the\nNew Testament to have been in force till the coming of Mohammed. When\nI quoted some passages which proved the Christian dispensation to be\nthe final one, he allowed it to be inconsistent with the divinity of\nthe Koran, but said, 'Then those words of the gospel must be false.'\nThe man argued and asked his questions seemingly in earnest, and\nanother new impression was left upon my mind, namely, that these men\nare not fools and that all ingenuity and clearness of reasoning are\nnot confined to England and Europe. I seem to feel that these\ndescendants of Ham are as dear to God as the haughty sons of Japheth;\nI feel, too, more at home with the Scriptures than ever; everything I\nsee gives light to, and receives it from, the Scriptures. I seem\ntransported back to the ancient times of the Israelites and the\nApostles. My spirit felt composed after the dispute by simply looking\nto God as one who had engaged to support His own cause; and I saw it\nto be my part to pursue my way through the wilderness of this world,\nlooking only to that redemption which daily draweth nigh. How should\nthis consideration quell the tumult of anger and impatience when I\ncannot convince men 'the government is on His shoulders?' Jesus is\nable to bear the weight of it; therefore we need not be oppressed with\ncare or fear, but a missionary is apt to fancy himself an Atlas.\n\n\"November 2. Walking on shore met a large party. I asked if any of\nthem could read. One young man who seemed superior in rank to the\nrest, said he could, and accordingly read some of the only Nagree\ntract that I had. I then addressed myself boldly to them and told them\nof the gospel. When speaking of the inefficacy of the religious\npractices of the Hindoos I mentioned as an example the repetition of\nthe name of Ram. The young man assented to this and said, 'of what use\nis it?' As he seemed to be of a pensive turn and said this with marks\nof disgust, I gave him a Nagree Testament, the first I have given. May\nGod's blessing go along with it and cause the eyes of the multitudes\nto be opened. The men said they should be glad to receive tracts, so I\nsent them back a considerable number. The idea of printing the\nparables in proper order with a short explanation to each, for the\npurpose of distribution and as school books, suggested itself to me\nto-night and delighted me prodigiously.... A Mussulman, when he\nreceived one of the tracts and found what it was, was greatly alarmed,\nand after many awkward apologies, returned it, saying that 'a man who\nhad his legs in two different boats, was in danger of sinking between\nthem.'\"\n\nEstablished at Singapore, Mr. Martyn began upon three different lines\nof work, establishing schools, attaining readiness in Hindoostanee so\nas to preach the gospel in that language, and translating the\nScriptures and religious books. To his great discouragement he was\ninformed by the Pundit that every four miles the language changed, so\nthat a book in the dialect of one district would be unintelligible to\nthe people of another. Being advised to learn Sanscrit, he took up\nthis language with great zeal. The commencement of Mr. Martyn's\nministry amongst the Europeans of Singapore was not of such a kind as\nto either gratify or encourage him. At first he read prayers to the\nsoldiers at the barracks from the drumhead, and as there were no seats\nprovided, was desired to omit the sermon. Afterwards more decent\narrangements being made, the families came in; but taking offense at\nhis evangelical plainness, they asked that he should desist from\nextempore preaching. These European members of his flock were jealous\nand angry at his constant efforts for the salvation of the heathen\nnatives. They thought it much beneath the dignity of an English\nchaplain to care for these degraded souls. Some of Mr. Martyn's duties\nas chaplain were exceedingly onerous. On several occasions he was\nsummoned to distant places involving long and dangerous journeys to\nperform a marriage ceremony. On these journeys he suffered severely,\nand they were a great draft upon his very delicate health; always weak\nand languid, and often alarmingly disordered. Yet through all he\ncontinued to labor incessantly. Every Sabbath he held at least four\nservices: at 7 for Europeans; at 2 for Hindoos, about two hundred in\nattendance; in the afternoon at the hospital; in the evening in his\nown room for the soldiers. In his household were two natives who\nassisted in his studies and translations, the Moonshee and the Pundit,\nwith whom he held long disputes and with whom he labored daily, though\nunsuccessfully, to bring them to faith in Christ. He says,\n\"translating the epistle of St. John with the Moonshee, I asked him\nwhat he thought of those passages which so strongly express the\ndoctrines of the Trinity and of the divinity of Christ. He said he\nnever would believe it, because the Koran declared it sinful to say\nthat God had any Son. I told him that he ought to pray that God would\nteach him what the truth really is. He said he had no occasion on this\nsubject, as the word of God was express. I asked him whether some\ndoubt ought not to arise in his mind whether the Koran is the word of\nGod. He grew angry, and I felt hurt and vexed. I should have done\nbetter to have left the words of the chapter with him without saying\nanything. I went also too far with the Pundit in arguing against his\nsuperstition, for he also grew angry.\" If any qualification seems\nnecessary to a missionary in India it is wisdom--operating in the\nregulation of the temper and the due improvement of opportunities. Mr.\nMartyn needed the heavenly gift of wisdom also in the management of\nhis native schools, five or six of which were supported by himself in\nSingapore. Little by little he succeeded in introducing as a text-book\na part of the Bible--his own translation of the sermon on the Mount\nand the Parables. He was called to do more and more of this work of\ntranslating the Scriptures, and was persuaded by the Rev. David Brown\nnot only to continue the Hindoostanee, but to superintend the\ntranslation of the Scriptures into Persian. He engaged in it at once\nwith zeal. He writes: \"The time fled imperceptibly while so\ndelightfully engaged in the translations; the days seemed to have\npassed like a moment. What do I not owe to the Lord for permitting me\nto take part in a translation of His word? Never did I see such wonder\nand wisdom and love in the blessed Book as since I have been obliged\nto study every expression. Employed a good while at night in\nconsidering a difficult passage, and being much enlightened respecting\nit, I went to bed full of astonishment at the wonder of God's Word.\nNever before did I see anything of the beauty of the language and the\nimportance of the thoughts as I do now. What a source of perpetual\ndelight have I in the precious Word of God!\"\n\nThis ecstasy of enthusiasm in most successful and congenial labor was\nsuddenly dashed by a great wave of sorrow which came to Mr. Martyn in\nthe news of the death of his eldest sister. To missionaries in foreign\nlands such news is especially bitter, and to recover from such a shock\nand sense of irreparable loss seems almost impossible. The mind,\nunsatisfied with details of the sad event, is left in shadow which\ndeepens into heavy gloom. Mr. Martyn was all alone and felt it keenly\nand inexpressibly. Some of his most intimate and sympathetic friends\nat this time, realizing how it was not good for him to be alone,\nencouraged him to renew his matrimonial offer to his ever beloved L.\nAfter her refusal he says, \"The Lord sanctify this, and since this\nlast desire of my heart is also withheld may I turn away forever from\nthe world and henceforth live forgetful of all but God. With Thee, O\nmy God, is no disappointment. I shall never have to regret that I have\nloved Thee too well. Thou hast said, 'delight thyself in the Lord, and\nhe shall give thee the desires of thy heart.'\"\n\nCould sweeter words than these be expressed in any language! Could\ngreater depths of submission or heights of consecration be attained!\nThey deserve to be recorded on imperishable marble or blazoned on the\nsky in sight of all, and received as the confession of every Christian\nheart, to the honor and praise of Him who gave such glorious victory\nto this tried soldier of the cross.\n\nProvidentially for Mr. Martyn's comfort his thoughts were much\noccupied after this by the arrival of his coadjutors in the work of\ntranslation, one of these, Mirza of Benares, well known in India as an\neminent Hindoostanee scholar; the other Sabat the Arabian, since but\ntoo well known both in India and England by his rejection of that\nfaith which he then appeared to profess in sincerity and faith. In the\nlatter of these Mr. Martyn confidently trusted that he had found a\nChristian brother with respect to the reality of his belief in\nChristianity, although Mr. Martyn immediately discovered in him an\nunsubdued Arab spirit, and witnessed with pain many deflections from\nthat temper and conduct which he himself so eminently exemplified;\nyet, he could not but \"believe all things and hope all things,\" even\nwhile he continued to suffer much from him, and for a length of time,\nwith unparalleled forbearance and kindness. Sabat's temper was a\ncontinual trial and mortification. The very first Sabbath in\nSingapore, imagining he was not treated with sufficient dignity, he\nleft the church before service in great anger. Often in the midst of\nthe translation he would come to a sudden stop and refuse to go on for\nthe most trivial reasons, sometimes for fear that Mirza who would\nreview the work might have part of the honor. About this time Mr.\nMartyn was much bereaved by the removal of a family with whom he had\nlived in intimate terms of Christian intercourse. \"This separation\naffected him the more sensibly because it was not in every family at\nthat station that he met with a kind and cordial reception.\" He says,\n\"I called on one of the Singapore families, and felt my pride rise at\nthe uncivil manner in which I was received. I was disposed at first to\ndetermine never to visit the house again, but I remembered the words,\n'overcome evil with good.'\"\n\nIn the month of March, 1808, the New Testament in Hindoostanee was\ncompleted. He says, \"I have read and corrected the manuscript till my\neyes ache; such a week of labor I believe I have never passed. The\nheat is terrible, often at 98 degrees, the nights insupportable.\" We\nnext hear of Mr. Martyn suffering from severe illness with fever and\nvertigo, and pained with the thought of leaving the Persian gospels\nunfinished! So unselfish, so full of zeal! Again at work, mercury at\n102 degrees. \"Arabic now employs my few moments of leisure. In\nconsequence of reading the Koran with Sabat audibly, and drinking no\nwine, the slander has gone forth that the Singapore Padre has turned\nMussulman.\n\n\"June 6th. To-day we have completed the Persian of St. Matthew. Sabat\ndesired me to kneel down to bless God for the happy event, and we\njoined in praise of the Father of lights. It is a superb performance\nin every respect, with elegance enough to attract the careless and\nplease the fastidious; it contains enough of Eternal Life to save the\nreader's soul.... My services on the Lord's day always leave me with a\npain in the chest, and such a great degree of general relaxation, that\nI seldom recover it till Tuesday. The society still meet every night\nat my quarters, and though we have lost many by death, others are\nraised up in their room. One officer, a lieutenant, is also given to\nme, and he is not only a brother beloved, but a constant companion and\nnurse; so you must feel no apprehension that I should be left alone in\nsickness.\"\n\nIn April, 1809, Mr. Martyn removes from Dinapore to Cawnpore. Here he\nmet friendship and hospitality. We quote from the graceful pen of Mrs.\nSherwood: \"The month of April in the upper provinces of Hindoostan is\none of the most dreadful months for traveling throughout the year;\nindeed, no European at that time can remove from place to place, but\nat the risk of his life.\n\n\"But Mr. Martyn had that anxiety to begin the work which his heavenly\nFather had given him to do, that notwithstanding the violent heat, he\ntraveled from Chunar to Cawnpore, the space of about four hundred\nmiles. At that time as I well remember, the air was as hot and dry as\nthat which I have sometimes felt near the mouth of a large oven, no\nfriendly cloud or verdant carpet of grass to relieve the eye from the\nstrong glare of the rays of the sun pouring on the sandy plains of the\nGanges. Thus Mr. Martyn traveled, journeying night and day, and\narrived at Cawnpore in such a state that he fainted away as soon as he\nentered the house. When we charged him with the rashness of hazarding\nhis life in this manner, he always pleaded his anxiety to get to the\ngreat work. He remained with us ten days, suffering considerably at\ntimes from fever and pain in the chest.\n\n\"Mr. Martyn's removal from Dinapore to Cawnpore was to him in many\nrespects a very unpleasant arrangement. He was several hundred miles\nfarther distant from Calcutta and more widely separated than before\nfrom his friend Mr. Corrie. He had new acquaintances to form at his\nnew abode, and after having with much difficulty procured the erection\nof a church at Dinapore he was transported to a spot where none of the\nconveniences, much less the decencies and solemnities of public\nworship, were visible.\n\n\"We find him soon after he arrived there preaching to a thousand\nsoldiers drawn up in a hollow square, when the heat was so great,\nalthough the sun had not risen, that many actually dropped down,\nunable to support it.\"\n\nYet Mr. Martyn's labors were not abated. Every Sabbath at dawn were\nprayers and sermon with the regiment, and again at eleven at the house\nof the general of the station. In the afternoon he preached to a crowd\nof poor natives, five, to eight hundred, rude, noisy, wretched\nbeggars, for whose souls he felt a tender care. Again in the evening,\nthe best of the day, he had a meeting with the more devout of his\nflock. These ministrations so earnestly performed were most\nexhausting, yet he knew not how to forego them; at this time, too,\nfrom England came the sad and sudden news of the death of his sister,\nthe one who had led him to Christ.\n\nThe alarming state of his health made some change necessary, and Mr.\nMartyn was urged to leave India and make trial of a sea voyage. His\nPersian New Testament had been criticised as unfit for general\ncirculation, being written in a style too learned and exalted for the\ncomprehension of the common people. He was advised to visit Persia and\nthere revise his work and also complete his version in Arabic, almost\nfinished. Mr. Brown, his devoted friend, and the Calcutta agent of the\nBritish and Foreign Bible Society, thus writes: \"Can I then bring\nmyself to cut the string and let you go? I confess I could not if your\nbodily frame were strong, and promised to last for half a century. But\nas you burn with the intenseness and rapid blaze of heated phosphorus,\nwhy should we not make the most of you? Your flame may last as long\nand perhaps longer in Arabia, than in India. Where should the Phoenix\nbuild her odoriferous nest, but in the land prophetically called 'the\nblessed?' and where shall we ever expect, but from that country, the\ntrue Comforter to come to the nations of the East? I contemplate your\nNew Testament springing up, as it were, from dust and ashes, but\nbeautiful as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and his feathers\nlike yellow gold.\" His farewell services at Cawnpore were very tender\nand affecting, both with his great audience of natives and Englishmen.\nOf the latter, Mrs. Sherwood says: \"He began in a weak and faint\nvoice, being at that time in a very bad state of health; but,\ngathering strength as he proceeded, he seemed as one inspired from on\nhigh. Never was an audience more affected. The next day this holy and\nheavenly man left Cawnpore and the society of many who sincerely loved\nand admired him.\" Stopping to visit the friends in Calcutta, the Rev.\nMr. Thomason says: \"This bright and lovely jewel first gratified our\neyes on Saturday last. He is on his way to Arabia, where he is going\nin pursuit of health and knowledge. You know his genius, and what\ngigantic strides he takes in everything. He has some great plan in his\nmind, of which I am no competent judge; but as far as I do understand\nit, the object is far too grand for one short life, and much beyond\nhis feeble and exhausted frame. Feeble it is, indeed; how fallen and\nchanged! His complaint lies in his lungs and appears to be an\nincipient consumption. But let us hope the sea air may revive him, and\nthat change may do him essential service and continue his life many\nyears. In all other respects he is exactly the same as he was; he\nshines in all the dignity of love, and seems to carry about him such a\nheavenly majesty as impresses the mind beyond description. But if he\ntalks much, though in a low voice, he sinks, and you are reminded of\nhis being dust and ashes.\" Though so infirm, Mr. Martyn preached every\nSabbath of his visit, and his last sermon on the anniversary of the\nCalcutta Bible Society was afterwards printed and entitled \"Christian\nIndia, or an appeal on behalf of nine hundred thousand Christians in\nIndia who want the Bible.\"\n\n\n\n\nLIFE IN PERSIA.\n\n\nFrom this time a change comes over Mr. Martyn's varied life. We have\nseen him the successful candidate for academical distinctions--the\nfaithful and laborious pastor--the self-denying and devoted\nmissionary--the indefatigable translator--the preacher of the gospel\nto the heathen; we are now called to admire in him the courageous\nspirit of the Christian confessor.\n\nHe says, on his voyage towards Persia: \"All down the Bay of Bengal I\ncould do nothing but sit listless, viewing the wide waste of water, a\nsight that would have been beautiful had I been well. In my Hebrew\nresearches I scarcely ever felt so discouraged. All the knowledge I\nthought I had acquired became uncertain, and consequently I was\nunhappy. It was in vain that I reflected that thousands live and die\nhappy without such knowledge as I am in search of.\n\n\"Proposed family prayer every night in the cabin--no objection was\nmade.\n\n\"February 18, anchored off Bombay. This day I finished the thirtieth\nyear of my unprofitable life, the age at which David Brainerd finished\nhis course. I am now at the age at which the Savior of men began his\nministry, and at which John the Baptist called a nation to repentance.\nHitherto I have made my youth and insignificance an excuse for sloth\nand imbecility, now let me have a character and act boldly for God.\n\n\"March 5. Feerog, a Parsee who is considered the most learned man\nhere, called to converse about religion. He spoke Persian and seemed\nfamiliar with Arabic. He began by saying that no one religion had more\nevidences of its truth than another, for that all the miracles of the\nrespective founders depended upon tradition. This I denied. He\nacknowledged that the writer of the Zendavesta was not cotemporary\nwith Zoroaster. After disputing and raising objections he was left\nwithout an answer, but continued to cavil. 'Why' said he, 'did the\nMagi see the star in the East and none else? from what part of the\nEast did they come? and how was it possible that their king should\ncome to Jerusalem in seven days?' The last piece of information he had\nfrom the Armenians. I asked him whether he had any thoughts of\nchanging his religion. He replied with a contemptuous smile, 'No,\nevery man is safe in his own religion.' I asked him, 'What sinners\nmust do to obtain pardon?' 'Repent,' said he. I asked, 'Would\nrepentance satisfy a creditor or a judge?' 'Why, is it not said in the\ngospel,' rejoined he, 'that we must repent?' I replied, 'It cannot be\nproved from the gospel that repentance alone is sufficient, or good\nworks, or both.' 'Where then is the glory of salvation?' he said; I\nreplied, 'In the atonement of Christ.' 'All this' said he, 'I know,\nbut so the Mohammedans say, that Hosyn was an atonement for the sins\nof men.' He then began to criticise the translations he saw on the\ntable.\n\n\"April 23. Moscat, Arabia. Went on shore and met the Vizier. His\nAfrican slave argued with me for Mohammed and did not know how to let\nme go, he was so interested in the business.\n\n\"April 25. Gave him an Arabic copy of the gospel, which he at once\nbegan to read, and carried it off as a great prize, which I hope he\nwill find it to be.\n\n\"Bushire, Persia. Called on the governor, a Persian Khan. He was very\nparticular in his attentions. Seated me on his own seat and then sat\nby my side. After the usual salutations and inquiries the calean\n(pipe), was introduced, then coffee in china cups placed within silver\nones, then calean, then some rose-water syrup, then calean. Observing\nthe windows of stained glass, I began to question him about the art of\ncoloring glass, observing that the modern Europeans were inferior to\nthe ancient in the manufacture of the article. He expressed his\nsurprise that Europeans, who were so skillful in making watches,\nshould fail in any handicraft work. I could not help recollecting the\nEmperor of China's sarcastic remark on the Europeans and their arts,\nand therefore dropped the subject. On his calean--I called it hookah\nat first, but he did not understand me--I noticed several little\npaintings of the Virgin and child, and asked him whether such things\nwere not unlawful among Mohammedans. He answered very coolly 'Yes,' as\nmuch as to say, 'What then?' I lamented that the Eastern Christians\nshould use such things in their churches. He repeated the words of a\ngood man who was found fault with for having an image before him while\nat prayer, 'God is nearer to me than that image, so that I do not see\nit.' This man, I afterwards found, is like most of the other grandees\nof the East, a murderer.\n\n\"On the 30th of May, our Persian dresses were ready, and we set out\nfor Shiraz. The Persian dress consists of first, stockings and shoes\nin one; next, a pair of large blue trousers, or else a pair of huge\nred boots; then the shirt, then the tunic, and above it the coat, both\nof chintz, and a great coat. I have here described my own dress, most\nof which I have on at this moment. On the head is worn an enormous\ncone made of the skin of the black Tartar sheep with the wool on. If\nto this description of my dress I add that my beard and mustachios\nhave been suffered to vegetate undisturbed ever since I left India;\nthat I am sitting on a Persian carpet, in a room without tables or\nchairs, and that I bury my hand in the pillar (rice), without waiting\nfor spoon or plate, you will give me credit for being already an\naccomplished Oriental.\n\n\"At ten o'clock on the 30th our califa began to move. It consisted\nchiefly of mules with a few horses. I wished to have a mule, but the\nmuleteer favored me with his own pony; this animal had a bell fastened\nto its neck. To add solemnity to the scene, a Bombay trumpeter who was\ngoing to join the embassy was directed to blow a blast as we moved off\nthe ground; but whether it was that the trumpeter was not an adept in\nthe science or that his instrument was out of order, the crazy sounds\nthat saluted our ears had a ludicrous effect. At last, after some\njostling, mutual recriminations and recalcitrating of the steeds, we\neach found our places and moved out of the gate of the city in good\norder. The residents accompanied us a little way, and then left us to\npursue our journey over the plain. It was a fine moonlight night, the\nscene new and perfectly oriental, and nothing prevented me from\nindulging my own reflections. As the night advanced the califa grew\nquiet; on a sudden one of the muleteers began to sing, and sang in a\nvoice so plaintive that it was impossible not to have one's attention\narrested. Every voice was hushed.\n\n\"These were the words translated:\n\n  Think not that e'er my heart could dwell\n    Contented far from thee,\n  How can the fresh-caught nightingale\n    Enjoy tranquility?\n\n  Oh, then forsake thy friend for naught\n    That slanderous tongues can say,\n  The heart that fixeth where it ought\n    No power can rend away.\n\n\"Thus far our journey was agreeable. Now for miseries. At sunrise we\ncame to our ground at Ahmedu, six parasangs, and pitched our little\ntent under a tree; it was the only shelter we could get. At first the\nheat was not greater than we had felt in India, but it soon became so\nintense as to be quite alarming. When the thermometer was above 112\ndegrees, fever heat, I began to lose my strength fast; at last it\nbecame quite intolerable. I wrapped myself up in a blanket and all the\nwarm covering I could get to defend myself from the external air, by\nwhich means the moisture was kept a little longer upon the body, and\nnot so speedily evaporated as when the skin was exposed. One of my\ncompanions followed my example and found the benefit of it. But the\nthermometer still rising, and the moisture of the body being quite\nexhausted, I grew restless and thought I should have lost my senses.\nThe thermometer at last stood at 126 degrees. In this state I composed\nmyself and concluded that, though I might hold out but a day or two,\ndeath was inevitable. Captain ---- continued to tell the hour and\nheights of the thermometer, and with pleasure we heard of it sinking\nto 120 degrees, 118 degrees, etc. At last the fierce sun retired and I\ncrept out more dead than alive. The next day we secured some comfort\nfrom a large wet towel wrapped about the head and body. At sunset,\nrising to go out, a scorpion fell upon my clothes. The night before we\nfound a black scorpion in our tent, that made us uneasy, so we got no\nsleep.\"\n\nJune 9 Mr. Martyn arrived at Shiraz, the celebrated seat of Persian\nliterature, and at once began work upon his translation with the\nefficient help of Mirza Seid Ali Khan. In this work he had many\ninterruptions, being himself an object of attention and curiosity. He\nreceived many calls, and unwilling to lose any opportunity of\nbenefiting the inhabitants of Shiraz, was never inaccessible to them.\nHe says, \"June 17, in the evening, Seid Ali came with two Moollahs,\nand with them I had a very long and temperate discussion. One of them\nread the beginning of John in Arabic and inquired very particularly\ninto our opinions respecting the person of Christ, and when he was\ninformed that we did not consider His human nature eternal nor His\nmother divine, seemed quite satisfied, and remarked to the others,\n'how much misapprehension is removed when people come to an\nexplanation.'\"\n\n\"June 22. The Prince's secretary called to talk about Soofeeism. They\nbelieve they know not what. He thought to excite my wonder by telling\nme that I and every created being was God.\n\n\"June 26. Two young men from the college came, full of zeal and logic,\nto try me with hard questions such as, whether being be but one or\ntwo? What is the state and form of disembodied spirits? and other\nfoolish and unlearned questions ministering strife. At last, one of\nthem discovered the true cause of his coming by asking me bluntly to\nbring a proof of the religion of Christ. You allow the divine mission\nof Christ, said I, why need I prove it? Not being able to draw me into\nan argument they said what they wished to say, namely, that I had no\nother proof for the miracles of Christ than they had for those of\nMohammed, which is tradition. 'Softly' I said, 'You will be pleased to\nobserve a difference between your books and ours, when by tradition we\nhave reached our several books, our narrators were eye witnesses;\nyours are not, nor nearly so.'\n\n\"In the evening Seid Ali asked me the cause of evil. I said I knew\nnothing about it. He thought he could tell me, so I let him reason on\ntill he soon found he knew as little about the matter as myself. He\nwanted to prove that there was no real difference between good and\nevil; that it was only apparent. I observed that the difference, if\nonly apparent, was the cause of a great deal of misery.\n\n\"June 30, Sunday. Preached to the Ambassador's suite on the 'Faithful\nSaying.' In the evening baptized his child. Zachariah told me this\nmorning that I was the town talk.\" Indeed Shiraz was stirred to its\ndepth by the presence of Mr. Martyn during the whole year of his stay.\nMen of every kind, especially the learned and zealous, came singly and\nin groups almost every day to argue and dispute against Christ. Now it\nwas a party of Armenians, now learned Jews, now a prince, now a\ngeneral, now the very Moojtuhid himself, the professor of Mohammedan\nlaw. This great dignitary invited Mr. Martyn to his house, where for\nhours he talked on and on, defending his Prophet and showing his\nlearning; he was greatly annoyed at any difference of opinion, and\ndecided it was \"quite useless for Mohammedans and Christians to argue\ntogether, as they had different languages and different histories.\"\nBut fearing Mr. Martyn's influence he was stirred to write a defense\nof his faith, which was said to surpass all former treatises on Islam.\nHe concludes it in these words, addressed to Mr. Martyn: \"Oh, thou\nthat art wise! consider with the eye of justice, since thou hast no\nexcuse to offer to God. Thou hast wished to see the truth of miracles.\nWe desire you to look at the great Koran: that is an everlasting\nmiracle.\" Mr. Martyn replied, showing why men are bound to reject\nMohammedanism; that Mohammed was foretold by no prophet, worked no\nmiracles, spread his religion by means merely human, appeals to man's\nlowest and sensual nature, that he was ambitious for himself and\nfamily, that the Koran is full of absurdities and contradictions, that\nit contains a method of salvation wholly inefficacious, sadly\ncontrasting with the divine atonement of Jesus Christ. The Prince's\nnephew, hearing of the attack on Mohammed, said, \"the proper answer to\nit is the sword.\"\n\nMr. Martyn writes, February 8: \"This is my birthday, on which I\ncomplete my thirty-first year. The Persian New Testament has been\nbegun and finished in it. Such a painful year I never passed, owing to\nthe privations I have been called to, on the one hand, and the\nspectacle before me of human depravity on the other. But I hope I have\nnot come to this seat of Satan in vain. The Word of God has found its\nway into Persia, and it is not in Satan's power to oppose its progress\nif the Lord hath sent it.\"\n\nThe Psalms in Persian was finished by the middle of March.\n\nOn the 23d Mr. Martyn writes: \"I called on the Vizier. In the court\nwhere he received me, Mirza Ibraheem was lecturing. Finding myself so\nnear my old and respectable antagonist, I expressed a wish to see him,\non which Jaffier Ali Khan went up to ascertain if my visit would be\nagreeable. The master consented, but some of the disciples demurred.\nAt last, one of them, observing that by the blessing of God on the\nmaster's conversation I might possibly be converted, it was agreed\nthat I should be invited to ascend. Then it became a question where I\nought to sit. Below all would not be respectful to a stranger, but\nabove all the Moollahs could not be tolerated. I entered and was\nsurprised at the numbers. The room was lined with Moollahs on both\nsides and at the top. I was about to sit down on the floor but was\nbeckoned to an empty place near the top, opposite to the master, who,\nafter the usual compliments, without further ceremony, asked me, 'What\nwe meant by calling Christ, God?' War being thus unequivocally\ndeclared, I had nothing to do but stand upon the defensive. Mirza\nIbraheem argued temperately enough; but of the rest, some were very\nviolent and clamorous. The former asked 'if Christ had ever called\nhimself God--was he the Creator or a creature?' I replied, 'The\nCreator.' The Moollahs looked at one another. Such a confession had\nnever before been heard among the Mohammedan doctors.\n\n\"One Moollah wanted to controvert some of my illustrations by\ninterrogating me about the personality of Christ. To all his questions\nI replied by requesting the same information respecting his own\nperson. To another, who was rather contemptuous and violent, I said\n'If you do not approve of our doctrine, will you be so good as to say\nwhat God is, according to you, that I may worship a proper object?'\nOne said, 'the author of the universe.' 'I can form no idea from these\nwords,' said I, 'but of a workman at work upon a vast number of\nmaterials. Is that a correct notion?' Another said, 'One who came of\nhimself into being.' 'So then he came,' I replied, 'out of one place\ninto another, and before he came he was not. Is this an abstract and\nrefined notion?' After this no one asked me any more questions, and\nfor fear the dispute should be renewed Jaffier Ali Khan carried me\naway.\"\n\nWhen we think of the bigotry and intolerance of these people and of\nMr. Martyn's unflinching courage single-handed and alone, declaring\nthe truth and preaching Christ, exposed to the greatest personal\ndanger, contempt and insult, but unabashed, he stands before the world\nduring his Shiraz residence as one of the bravest and grandest heroes\nthat has ever lived. Such a spectacle is thrilling and sublime. God\nwas with him to protect him and to inspire his magnificent\nconfessions. A figure-head in history! A sight for angels and for men!\n\n                    Faithful found\n  Among the faithless, faithful only he,\n  Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified,\n  His loyalty he kept, his zeal, his love.\n\nAnd God was with him to cheer and comfort, and we rejoice to know that\nsome of the scenes of his life in Shiraz were quiet and restful. At\none time a tent was pitched for him in a garden in the suburbs of the\ncity.\n\nLiving amidst clusters of grapes by the side of a clear stream and\nfrequently sitting under the shade of an orange tree, which Jaffier\nAli Khan delighted to point out to visitors, until the day of his own\ndeparture, he passed many a tranquil hour, and enjoyed many a Sabbath\nof holy rest and divine refreshment.\n\nHe says: \"Passed some days at Jaffier Ali Khan's garden with Mirza\nSeid Ali, Aga Baba, Sheikh Abul Hassam, reading at their request the\nOld Testament histories. Their attention to the word and their love\nand respect for me seemed to increase as the time for my departure\napproached. Aga Baba, who had been reading St. Matthew, related very\ncircumstantially to the company the particulars of the death of\nChrist. The bed of roses on which we sat and the notes of the\nnightingales warbling around us, were not so sweet to me as this\ndiscourse from the Persian.\"\n\nThe plain of Shiraz is covered with ancient ruins, and contains the\ntombs of the poets Zaadi and Hafiz.\n\n  A vision of the bright Shiraz, of Persian bards the theme;\n  The vine with bunches laden hangs o'er the crystal stream;\n  The nightingale all day her notes in rosy thicket trills,\n  And the brooding heat-mist faintly lies along the distant hills.\n\n  About the plain are scattered wide in many a crumbling heap,\n  The fanes of other days, and tombs where Iran's poets sleep;\n  And in the midst, like burnished gems, in noonday light repose\n  The minarets of bright Shiraz,--the City of the Rose.\n\n  One group beside the river bank in rapt discourse are seen,\n  Where hangs the golden orange on its boughs of purest green;\n  Their words are sweet and low, and their looks are lit with joy,\n  Some holy blessing seems to rest on them and their employ.\n\n  The pale-faced Frank among them sits; what brought him from afar?\n  Nor bears he bales of merchandise, nor teaches skill in war;\n  One pearl alone he brings with him--the Book of life and death,--\n  One warfare only teaches he,--to fight the fight of faith.\n\n  And Iran's sons are round him, and one with solemn tone\n  Tells how the Lord of Glory was rejected by his own;\n  Tells from the wondrous gospel of the trial and the doom,--\n  The words divine of love and might,--the scourge, the cross, the tomb.\n\n  Far sweeter to the stranger's ear these eastern accents sound,\n  Than music of the nightingale that fills the air around;\n  Lovelier than balmiest odors sent from gardens of the rose,\n  The fragrance from the contrite soul and chastened lip that flows.\n\n  The nightingales have ceased to sing, the roses' leaves are shed,\n  The Frank's pale face in Tocat's field hath mouldered with the dead;\n  Alone and all unfriended midst his Master's work he fell,\n  With none to bathe his fevered brow, with none his tale to tell.\n\n  But still those sweet and solemn tones about him sound in bliss,\n  And fragrance from those flowers of God forevermore is his;\n  For his the meed, by grace, of those who rich in zeal and love,\n  Turn many unto righteousness, and shine as stars above.\n\n  1851.                                             --HENRY ALFORD.\n\nOn the 24th of May, after a year's residence, Mr. Martyn left Shiraz,\nbearing his precious translation to be presented to the Shah. The\njourney was an occasion of disappointment, exposure and suffering.\n\nArrived at the Shah's camp he says: \"June 12th, attended the Vizier's\nlevee, when there was a most intemperate and clamorous controversy\nkept up for an hour or two, eight or ten on one side, and I on the\nother. Amongst them were two Moollahs, the most ignorant of any I have\nmet in Persia or India. It would be impossible to enumerate all the\nabsurd things they said. Their vulgarity in interrupting me in the\nmiddle of a speech, their utter ignorance of the nature of an\nargument, their impudent assertions about the law and the gospel,\nneither of which they had ever seen in their lives, moved my\nindignation. The Vizier said, 'You had better say, God is God and\nMohammed is the prophet of God.' I said, 'God is God,' but added,\ninstead of 'Mohammed is the prophet of God,' 'Jesus is the Son of\nGod.' They had no sooner heard this, which I had avoided bringing\nforward till then, than they all exclaimed in contempt and anger, 'He\nis neither born nor begets,' and rose up as if they would have torn me\nin pieces. One of them said, 'What will you say when your tongue is\nburnt out for this blasphemy?'\n\n\"My book which I had brought, expecting to present it to the king, lay\nbefore Mirza Shufi. As they all rose up after him to go, some to the\nking, and some away, I was afraid they would trample upon the book; so\nI went in among them to take it up, and wrapped it in a towel before\nthem, while they looked at it and me with supreme contempt. Thus I\nwalked away alone to my tent to pass the rest of the day in heat and\ndirt. What have I done, thought I, to merit all this scorn? Nothing, I\ntrust, but bearing testimony to Jesus. I thought over these things in\nprayer and found the peace which Christ hath promised. To complete the\ntrials of the day a messenger came from the Vizier in the evening to\nsay that it was the custom of the king not to see any Englishman\nunless presented by the ambassador or accredited by a letter from him,\nand that I must therefore wait till the king reached Sultania, where\nthe ambassador would be.\"\n\nTraveling toward Tabriz he writes, June 22: \"Met with the usual\ninsulting treatment at the caravansarai when the king's servant had\ngot possession of a good room built for the reception of the better\norder of guests; they seemed to delight in the opportunity of humbling\na European--all along the road when the king is expected the people\nare patiently waiting as for some dreadful disaster; plague,\npestilence or famine are nothing to the misery of being subject to the\nviolence and extortion of this rabble soldiery.\n\n\"June 26. Have eaten nothing now for two days. My mind much disordered\nfrom headache and giddiness;--but my heart is with Christ and His\nsaints.\n\n\"June 27. Passed the third day in the same exhausted state, my head\ntortured with shocking pains, such as, together with the horror I felt\nat being exposed to the sun, showed me plainly to what to ascribe my\nsickness.\"\n\nThus in great illness and suffering Mr. Martyn reached Tabriz, and was\nnursed through a fever of two months' continuance at the ambassador's\nresidence. This defeated his plan of presenting the Persian New\nTestament to the king--but it was afterwards done by Sir Gore Ouseley\nhimself, and publicly received the royal approbation, and still later\nwas printed in St. Petersburg.\n\nOn leaving Cawnpore, Mr. Martyn had intended returning to England, but\nhad willingly remained in Persia to finish the translation, which\nbeing now disposed of, he reverted to his original intention, and set\nout on his last fatal journey towards Constantinople, September 2. His\njournal is filled with expressions of gratitude for restored health,\ndelight in the scenery of Tabriz, descriptions of the country and the\njourney, the Araxes river, the hoary peaks of Ararat, the governor's\npalace, the ancient Armenian church and monastery at Ech-Miazin, where\nhe received great kindness from the Patriarch and the monks. He was\nprofoundly impressed with the view from an elevated table-land looking\nout upon Persia, Russia and Turkey--a Pisgah vision, which excites in\nlater missionaries a strong desire for Christian conquest. Describes\nCars and Erzroom. September 29, left Erzroom. Was attacked with fever\nand ague.\n\n\"September 30. Took nothing all day but tea; headache and loss of\nappetite depressed my spirits, yet my soul rests in Him who is as\nanchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, which, not seen, keeps me\nfast.\n\n\"October 1. Marched over a mountainous tract; we were out from seven\nin the morning till eight at night. After sitting a little by the fire\nI was near fainting from sickness. My depression of spirits led me to\nthe throne of grace as a sinful abject worm. When I thought of myself\nand my transgressions, I could find no text so cheering as, 'My ways\nare not as your ways.' From the men who accompanied Sir Wm. Ouseley to\nConstantinople I learned that the plague was raging at Constantinople\nand thousands dying every day. One of the Persians had died of it.\nThey added that the inhabitants of Tocat were flying from their town\nfrom the same cause. Thus I am passing into imminent danger. O Lord\nthy will be done! Living or dying, remember me.\n\n\"October 2. Lodged in the stables of the post-house. As soon as it\nbegan to grow a little cold, the ague came on and then the fever,\nafter which I had a sleep, which let me know too plainly the disorder\nof my frame. In the night Hossan sent to summon me away, but I was\nquite unable to move. Finding me still in bed at the dawn he began to\nstorm furiously at my detaining him so long, but I quietly let him\nspend his ire, ate my breakfast composedly, and set out at eight. He\nseemed determined to make up for the delay, for we flew over hill and\ndale to Sherean, where we changed horses. From thence we traveled all\nthe rest of the day and all night. It rained most of the time. After\nsunset the ague came on again, which in my wet state was very trying.\nI hardly know how to keep my life in me. About that time there was a\nvillage at hand, but Hassan had no mercy. The night was pitchy dark,\nso that I could not see the road under my horse's feet. However, God\nbeing mercifully pleased to alleviate my bodily suffering, I went on\ncontentedly to the munzil (stopping-place). After sleeping three or\nfour hours Hassan hurried me away, and galloped furiously toward a\nvillage, which he said was four hours distant, which was all I could\nundertake in my present state; but village after village did he pass,\ntill night coming on, and no signs of another, I suspected he was\ncarrying me on to the munzil; so I got off my horse and sat upon the\nground and told him I neither could nor would go any farther. He\nstormed, but I was immovable, till a light, appearing at a distance, I\nmounted my horse and made toward it, leaving him to follow or not as\nhe pleased. He brought in the party, but would not exert himself to\nget a place for me. They brought me to an open verandah, but Sergius\ntold them I wanted a place in which to be alone. This seemed very\noffensive to them, 'and why must he be alone'? they asked, ascribing\nthis desire of mine to pride, I suppose. Tempted at last by money they\nbrought me to a stable room, and Hassan and a number of others planted\nthemselves there with me. My fever here increased to a violent degree,\nthe heat in my eyes and forehead was so great that the fire almost\nmade me frantic. I entreated that it might be put out or that I might\nbe carried out of doors. Neither was attended to; my servant, who from\nmy sitting in that strange way on the ground, believed me delirious,\nwas deaf to all I said. At last I pushed my head in among the luggage\nand lodged it on the damp ground and slept.\n\n\"October 5. Preserving mercy made me see the light of another morning.\nThe sleep had refreshed me but I was feeble and shaken, yet the\nmerciless Hassan hurried me off. I was pretty well lodged and felt\ntolerably well till a little after sunset, when the ague came on with\na violence I had never before experienced. I felt as if in a palsy, my\nteeth chattering, and my whole frame violently shaken. Aga Hosyn and\nanother Persian on their way here from Constantinople, came hastily to\nrender me assistance if they could. These Persians appear quite\nbrotherly after the Turks. While they pitied me, Hassan sat in perfect\nindifference, ruminating on the further delay this was likely to\noccasion. The cold fit after continuing two or three hours was\nfollowed by a fever, which lasted the whole night and prevented sleep.\n\n\"October 6. No horses were to be had, and I had an unexpected repose.\nSat in the orchard and thought with sweet comfort and peace of my God:\nin solitude my companion, friend and comforter. Oh, when shall time\ngive place to eternity--when shall appear that new heaven and earth,\nwherein dwelleth righteousness! There, there shall in no wise enter in\nanything that defileth; none of that wickedness which has made men\nworse than wild beasts, none of those corruptions which add still more\nto the miseries of humanity, shall be seen or heard of any more.\"\n\nHere abruptly closes the journal, with pantings for the glory and the\npurity of Immanuel's land, into which he was admitted by a blessed\ntranslation, released from all the sufferings of life on October 16,\n1812, at Tocat, Turkey. The manner of his death is not known, whether\nit resulted from the sickness described, or from the plague, then\nraging. Whether Hassan was cruel and driving to the last, whether all\nhis heartless Turkish attendants deserted him or not in his hour of\nfinal agony, we cannot tell. No relative or friend was there, no\ntender voice of sympathy, no woman's soothing hand, no alleviations\nfrom medicine. Even the commonest decencies and necessities of\ncivilized life were lacking. Earth gave nothing to Henry Martyn in his\nmortal need, but we are sure heavenly consolations were unstinted.\n\n  \"Jesus can make a dying bed\n   Feel soft as downy pillows are.\"\n\nAnd Jesus was there! And Henry Martyn was satisfied, and is forever\nsatisfied! \"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his\nsaints.\" And the most priceless legacy of the blood-bought and\ncommissioned church is the memory of a life, so gifted, so unselfish,\nso consecrated.\n\nIt is wanting in no element of moral heroism. Our souls confess its\ngrandeur. The contemplation lifts us into a higher atmosphere than\nthat of mammon, and self, and earth. We rejoice to see a crown so\nrare, so fair, so precious, laid at the feet of Jesus, the King. He is\nworthy. And we long to see the youth of our land and the church\ninspired by Henry Martyn's example, as he was inspired by David\nBrainerd's. And so we would have the apostolic succession continued\ntill the millennium, of such as shall not count their lives dear for\nthe testimony of the gospel.\n\nIt is said that after Mr. Martyn's death one of his earliest and most\ndevoted friends, the Rev. Charles Simeon, used always to keep his\npicture before him in his study for help and inspiration. \"Move where\nhe would through the apartment, it seemed to keep its eyes upon him,\nand ever to say to him, 'Be earnest, be earnest; don't trifle, don't\ntrifle,' and the good Simeon would gently bow to the speaking picture,\nand with a smile, reply, 'Yes, I will; I will be in earnest, I will\nnot trifle; for souls are perishing and Jesus is to be glorified.'\"\n\nWould that Henry Martyn's life might bring such a message to every\nheart, and awaken in every one a similar response.\n\n\n\n\nMISSIONARY ANNALS.\nPrice per vol., cloth 30c., paper 18c.\n\nI.\nMEMOIR OF ROBERT MOFFAT\n_BY MRS. M. L. WILDER_.\n\nII.\nLIFE OF ADONIRAM JUDSON\n_BY MISS JULIA H. JOHNSTON_.\n\nIII.\nWOMAN AND THE GOSPEL IN PERSIA\n_BY REV. THOMAS LAURIE, D.D._\n\nIV.\nLIFE OF REV. JUSTIN PERKINS, D.D.\n_BY REV. HENRY MARTYN PERKINS_.\n\nV.\nLIFE OF DAVID LIVINGSTONE\n_BY MRS. J. H. WORCESTER, JR._\n\nOTHERS IN PREPARATION. SENT POSTPAID ON RECEIPT OF PRICE.\n\nCHICAGO:\nWOMAN'S PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF MISSIONS OF THE NORTHWEST.\nRoom 48, McCormick Block.","title":"Life of Henry Martyn, Missionary to India and Persia, 1781 to 1812","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":13339}