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-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30085 ***
-
-MISSIONARY ANNALS.
-(A SERIES.)
-
-
-
-
-LIFE OF HENRY MARTYN, MISSIONARY TO INDIA AND PERSIA, 1781 to 1812
-
-
-ABRIDGED FROM THE MEMOIR.
-BY
-MRS. SARAH J. RHEA.
-
-
-
-
-CHICAGO:
-WOMAN'S PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE NORTHWEST,
-Room 48, McCormick Block.
-
-
-
-
-COPYRIGHT, 1888,
-BY WOMAN'S PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF MISSIONS OF THE NORTHWEST.
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS.
-
-                                              PAGE.
-EDUCATION AND PREPARATION, . . . . . . . . . . .  5
-
-LIFE IN INDIA, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
-
-LIFE IN PERSIA, AND DEATH, . . . . . . . . . . . 29
-
-
-
-
-I hold in my hand an album adorned with pictures of missionaries, my
-brethren and sisters, the ambassadors of the King. On one of the first
-pages is "the tomb of Henry Martyn," given me by Dr. Van Lennep, who
-had just visited the sacred spot and described it vividly. When I turn
-the pages of my album and come to this, I pause with reverence and the
-overflowings of deep and tender emotion, and my mind adds other
-pictures, both terrestrial and celestial, to the one upon the page. My
-own missionary life as the companion of him whom Dr. Perkins called
-"the later Henry Martyn," was spent in Henry Martyn's Persia. They
-were alike I think in many things, these two Persian evangelists, and
-also in their deaths. When they passed out of the Tabriz gate,
-journeying homeward after a course of illness in the fated city, for
-each it was a quick ascent, a painful translation, to the heavenly
-city with abundant entrance and the Master's "well done"--in heaven;
-and on earth, a foreign grave taking possession for Christ, as the
-Nestorians reverently say, with "white stones still speaking out."
-                                                          S. J. R.
-
-
-
-
-EDUCATION AND PREPARATION.
-
-
-Henry Martyn was born in England on the south-western coast of Truro,
-February 18, 1781. His father, Mr. John Martyn, worked in the mines.
-He was not educated but was very fond of learning. The miners were in
-the habit of working and resting alternately every four hours. Mr.
-John Martyn spent many of his rest intervals in study, and so by
-diligence and education raised himself to a higher position, and
-became a clerk in the office of a merchant in Truro. When Henry was
-seven years old, he went to school to Dr. Cardew. From his earliest
-years all who knew him considered him a very interesting and promising
-child. Dr. Cardew says his proficiency in the classics exceeded that
-of his schoolfellows; he was of a lively, cheerful temper and seemed
-to learn without application, almost by intuition. But he was not
-robust, and loving books better than sport, and having a peculiar
-tenderness and inoffensiveness of spirit, he was often abused by rude
-and coarse boys in the school. A friendship which he formed at this
-time with a boy older than himself was the source of great comfort and
-advantage to him, and was kept up throughout his whole life. This
-friend often protected him from the bullies of the play-ground. At
-this school, under excellent tuition, Henry remained until fourteen
-years old, when he was induced to offer himself as a candidate for a
-vacant scholarship at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Young as he was,
-he went there alone, and acquitted himself so well, though strongly
-and ably opposed by competitors, that in the opinion of some of the
-examiners he ought to have been elected. How often is the hand of God
-seen in frustrating our fondest designs! Speaking of this
-disappointment he afterwards wrote: "Had I remained and become a
-member of the university at that time, as I should have done in case
-of success, the profligate acquaintances I had there would have
-introduced me to scenes of debauchery, in which I must in all
-probability, from my extreme youth, have sunk forever."
-
-He continued after this with Dr Cardew till 1797, and then joined his
-school friend at Cambridge at St. John's College. Here he obtained a
-place in the first class at the public examination in December, a
-circumstance which, joined to the extreme desire he had to gratify his
-father, encouraged and excited him to study with increased alacrity,
-and as the fruit of this application, at the next public examination
-in the summer he reached the second station in the first class, a
-point of elevation which "flattered his pride not a little." At this
-time he appeared in the eye of the world most amiable and commendable,
-outwardly moral, unwearied in application, and exhibited marks of no
-ordinary talent. One exception to this statement is to be found in an
-irritability of temper arising perhaps from the treatment he had
-received at school. On one occasion in sudden anger, he threw a knife
-at the head of another boy, which providentially missed him and was
-left trembling in the wall; but it was a narrow escape, and might have
-proved fatal. Though not a Christian at this time, he was under two
-strong influences for good, one from his religious friend in college,
-the other from his sister in Cornwall, a Christian of a meek, heavenly
-and affectionate spirit. He paid a visit to his home in the summer of
-1799, carrying with him no small degree of academical honor. It may be
-well supposed that to a sister such as we have described, her
-brother's spiritual welfare would be a most serious and anxious
-concern; and that she often conversed with him on the subject of
-religion we know from his own declaration. The first result of her
-tender exhortations and earnest endeavors was very discouraging; a
-violent conflict took place in her brother's mind between his
-conviction of the truth of what she urged, and his love of the world;
-and for the present, the latter prevailed. Yet, sisters similarly
-circumstanced may learn from this case, not merely their duty, but
-also, from the final result, the success they may anticipate in the
-faithful discharge of it.
-
-"At the examination at Christmas, 1799," he writes: "I was first, and
-the account of it pleased my father prodigiously, who, I was told, was
-in great health and spirits. What, then, was my consternation when in
-January I received an account of his death!" Most poignant were his
-sufferings under this affliction, which led him to God for comfort in
-prayer and Bible study. He says: "I began with the Acts, and found
-myself insensibly led to inquire more attentively into the doctrines
-of the Apostles." Writing to his sister, having announced shortly and
-with much simplicity that his name stood first upon the list at the
-college examination of the summer of 1800, he says: "What a blessing
-it is for me that I have such a sister as you, my dear S., who have
-been so instrumental in keeping me in the right way. After the death
-of our father you know I was extremely low spirited, and like most
-other people began to consider seriously without any particular
-determination, that invisible world to which he was gone and to which
-I must one day go. Soon I began to attend more diligently to the words
-of our Savior in the New Testament, and to devour them with delight,
-when the offers of mercy and forgiveness were made so freely; I
-supplicated to be made partaker of the covenant of grace with
-eagerness and hope, and thanks be to the ever-blessed Trinity for not
-leaving me without comfort!" How cheering to his sister it must have
-been to receive at a moment of deep sorrow such a communication as
-this! How salutary to his own mind to have possessed so near a
-relation to whom he could thus freely open the workings of his heart.
-At this time he also received great benefit from attendance on the
-faithful ministry of Rev. Charles Simeon, under whose pastoral
-instructions he himself declares that he "gradually acquired more
-knowledge in divine things." With this excellent man he had the most
-friendly and unreserved intercourse. Mr. Martyn received his first
-impressions of the transcendent excellence of the Christian ministry
-of Mr. Simeon, from which it was but a short step to choose this
-calling for his own, for until now he had intended to devote himself
-to the law "chiefly," he confesses, "because he could not consent to
-be poor for Christ's sake."
-
-In January, 1801, the highest academical honor, that of "senior
-wrangler," was awarded to him before the completion of his twentieth
-year. His description of his feelings on this occasion is remarkable:
-"I obtained my highest wishes, but was surprised to find that I had
-grasped a shadow." So impossible it is for earthly distinction to fill
-and satisfy the mind.
-
-In March, 1802, after another rigid examination, Mr. Martyn was chosen
-Fellow of St. Johns, a situation honorable to the society and
-gratifying to himself. Soon after he obtained first prize for best
-Latin prose composition over many competitors of classical celebrity,
-and this was the more remarkable, as his studies had been almost
-entirely in mathematics.
-
-Henry Martyn's attention was called to the great cause of Foreign
-Missions by some remarks of Rev. Mr. Simeon on the work of Carey in
-India, but more particularly by reading the memoir of David Brainerd,
-who preached with apostolic zeal and success to the North American
-Indians, and who finished a course of self-denying labors for his
-Redeemer with unspeakable joy at the early age of thirty-two. Henry
-Martyn's soul was filled with holy emulation, and after deep
-consideration and fervent prayer he was at length fixed in a
-resolution to imitate his example. Nor let it be conceived that he
-could adopt this resolution without the severest conflict in his mind,
-for he was endued with the truest sensibility of heart, and was
-susceptible of the warmest and tenderest attachments. No one could
-exceed him in love for his country, or in affection for his friends,
-and few could surpass him in an exquisite relish for the various and
-refined enjoyments of a social and literary life. How then could it
-fail of being a moment of extreme anguish when he came to the
-deliberate resolution of leaving forever all he held dear upon earth?
-But he was fully satisfied that the glory of that Savior who loved him
-and gave Himself for him would be promoted by his going forth to
-preach to the heathen. He considered their pitiable and perilous
-condition; he thought on the value of their immortal souls; he
-remembered the last solemn injunction of his Lord, "Go teach all
-nations,"--an injunction never revoked, and commensurate with that
-most encouraging promise, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end
-of the world." Actuated by these motives, he offered himself as a
-missionary to the society for Missions, and from that time stood
-prepared with childlike simplicity and unshaken constancy to go to any
-part of the world whither it might be deemed expedient to send him.
-
-In the early part of 1804, Mr. Martyn's plans of becoming a missionary
-were dampened by the loss of his slender patrimony, and as his sister
-was also involved in the calamity, it appeared hardly justifiable for
-him to go away. After some delay his friends obtained for him the
-position of chaplain to the East India Company, and so the obstacles
-which detained him were removed.
-
-The time of the delay was spent in zealous service for his divine
-Master. He was associated with Rev. Mr. Simeon as curate and preached
-with great zeal and unction, often to very large audiences, and
-sometimes with such unsparing denunciation of common sins as to awaken
-opposition. He considered it his duty to rebuke iniquity, and on one
-occasion severely reproved a student for shocking levity,--reading a
-play with some young ladies while their father lay dying. He feared
-the result of this might be estrangement from his friend, but prayed
-earnestly that it might lead to his awakening. This prayer was
-answered, and afterwards this very friend became his beloved associate
-in missionary work in India.
-
-In very early youth Mr. Martyn became fondly attached to a young lady
-named Lydia Grenfell. She considered herself his superior in social
-position. The memoirs all speak of her as estimable, and we infer from
-the little that is said that she somewhat indifferently accepted Henry
-Martyn's homage, but she did not wholeheartedly and generously
-respond. What a contrast to the beloved and devoted Harriet Newell,
-who was not afraid to risk all for Christ, and counted not her life
-dear even unto the death! It was Miss Grenfell's greatest honor that
-Henry Martyn would have made her his wife, but she declined the honor,
-and yet gave him encouragement, for their correspondence only ended
-with his life, and his very last writing was a letter to her. He
-begged her with all the eloquence of a lonely and devoted heart to
-come out to him after he had gone to India, arranging every detail for
-her comfort with thoughtful tenderness, and urging and encouraging her
-and lavishing upon her an affection that would have crowned and
-enriched her life. We are left to infer from the history that she did
-love him in her way, but if she had shared his consecration and gone
-with him and taken care of him, and cheered and comforted him, and
-made for him a happy restful home, as some missionary wives have done
-in self-denying foreign fields, what a blessing she might have been,
-and her life, how fruitful, and her memory, how fragrant! As it was,
-she has this distinction, that she was Henry Martyn's disappointment
-and trial and discipline. No one less tender and sensitive than Henry
-Martyn can appreciate all he suffered on this account; but he made it,
-like all the other great sorrows of his life, a cross on which to be
-crucified with Christ.
-
-He writes to his dear sister S.: "When I sometimes offer up
-supplications with strong crying to God to bring down my spirit into
-the dust I endeavor calmly to contemplate the infinite majesty of the
-most high God and my own meanness and wickedness, or else I quietly
-tell the Lord, who knows the heart, I would give Him all the glory of
-everything if I could. But the most effectual way I have ever found is
-to lead away my thoughts from myself and my own concerns by praying
-for all my friends, for the church, the world, the nation, and
-especially by beseeching that God would glorify His own great name by
-converting all nations to the obedience of faith, also by praying that
-he would put more abundant honor on those Christians whom he seems to
-have honored especially, and whom we see to be manifestly our
-superiors."
-
-In spite of Henry Martyn's beautiful humility, honor after honor was
-heaped upon him by his admiring and appreciative Alma Mater. Three
-times he was chosen examiner, and discharged the duties of this office
-with great care and faithfulness.
-
-As the time approaches for his parting from all he holds dear,
-especially the beloved L., our hearts go out to him in irrepressible
-sympathy. He writes, "parted with L. forever in this life with a sort
-of uncertain pain which I know will increase to greater violence."
-
-And these forebodings were but too soon realized. For many succeeding
-days his mental agony was extreme, yet he could speak to God as one
-who knew the great conflict within him. Yet while the waves and
-billows are going over him he writes from these depths, "I never had
-so clear a conviction of my call as at the present. Never did I see so
-much the exceeding excellency and glory and sweetness of the work, nor
-had so much the favorable testimony of my own conscience, nor
-perceived so plainly the smile of God. Blessed be God, I feel myself
-to be His minister. This thought which I can hardly describe came in
-the morning after reading Brainerd. I wish for no service but the
-service of God, to labor for souls on earth and to do His will in
-heaven."
-
-
-
-
-LIFE IN INDIA.
-
-
-On the 17th of July, 1805, the Union East Indiaman conveying Mr.
-Martyn sailed from Portsmouth. Mr. Martyn says: "Though it was what I
-had been anxiously looking forward to so long, yet the consideration
-of being parted forever from my friends, almost overcame me. My
-feelings were those of a man who should suddenly be told that every
-friend he had in the world was dead."
-
-Though suffering much in mind and body throughout the long and tedious
-voyage of nine months, Mr. Martyn seeks no selfish ease. He preaches,
-reads and labors assiduously with officers, passengers and crew, and
-shuns not to declare the whole counsel of God, even the unpalatable
-doctrine of the future punishment of the wicked. He says: "The threats
-and opposition of these men made me willing to set before them the
-truths they hated, yet I had no species of hesitation about doing it.
-They said they would not come if so much hell was preached, but I took
-for my text, 'The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations
-that forget God.' The officers were all behind my back in order to
-have an opportunity of retiring in case of dislike. H., as soon as he
-heard the text, went back and said he would hear no more about hell;
-so he employed himself in feeding the geese. However, God I trust
-blessed the sermon to the good of many; some of the cadets and many of
-the soldiers were in tears. I felt an ardor and vehemence in some
-parts which are unusual with me. After service walked the deck with
-Mrs. ----; she spoke with so much simplicity and amiable humility that
-I was full of joy and admiration to God for a sheep brought home to
-His fold. In the afternoon went below intending to read to them at the
-hatchway, but there was not one of them, so I could get nothing to do
-among the poor soldiers."
-
-What a picture revealing Henry Martyn's character!--the contrasting
-attributes of sternness and gentleness, his martyrlike determination
-to do his whole duty at any cost to himself from suffering and insult,
-the keen shrinking of a nature so refined and sensitive from
-coarseness and abuse, undeviating yet uncompromising, bringing to our
-thoughts the Divine Exemplar. I pass by the incidents of the voyage,
-including mutiny, sickness and death, romantic stay at St. Salvador,
-battles at the Cape of Good Hope, etc., eloquently and vividly
-recorded.
-
-The Friday preceding his arrival in India he spends "in praying that
-God would no longer delay exerting his power in the conversion of the
-eastern nations. I felt emboldened" he says, "to employ the most
-familiar petitions by Is. xii. 6, 7, 'Keep not silence; give him no
-rest,' etc. Blessed be God for those words! They are like a cordial to
-my spirits, because if the Lord is not pleased by me or during my
-lifetime to call the Gentiles, yet He is not offended at my being
-urgent with Him that the kingdom of God may come."
-
-April 21, 1806, the nine months' journey is complete, and they land at
-Madras. Mr. Martyn gives first impressions and description of the
-natives, ending in these words: "In general, one thought naturally
-occurred: the conversion of their poor souls. I am willing, I trust,
-through grace, to pass my life among them if by any means these poor
-people may be brought to God. The sight of men, women and children,
-all idolaters, makes me shudder as if in the dominions of the prince
-of darkness. Hearing the hymn, 'Before Jehovah's awful throne,' it
-excited a train of affecting thoughts in my mind."
-
-"Wide as the world is thy command. Therefore it is easy for Thee to
-spread abroad Thy holy name. But oh, how gross the darkness here! The
-veil of the covering cast over all nations seems thicker here; the
-friends of darkness seem to sit in sullen repose in this land. What
-surprises me is the change of views I have here from what I had in
-England. There my heart expanded with hope and joy at the prospect of
-the speedy conversion of the heathen; but here the sight of the
-apparent impossibility requires a strong faith to support the
-spirits." Ah, how vividly this describes missionary experiences! After
-great peril from storm and illness, passing up the Hoogly from Madras,
-Mr. Martyn arrived at Calcutta, May 14. In this city for years had
-been a band of English Christians faithfully praying for the coming of
-the kingdom in that dark land, and into the home of one of these, Rev.
-David Brown, was Mr. Martyn received with much affection. A pagoda in
-one end of the yard on the river bank was fitted up for him, and the
-place where once devils were worshiped now became a Christian oratory.
-The first experience here was of severe illness from acclimating
-fever, from which he was kindly nursed into convalescence. He then
-applied himself earnestly to the study of the Hindoostanee, having
-engaged a Brahmin as a teacher. Here he witnessed with horror the
-cruel and debasing rites of heathenism. The blaze of a funeral pile
-caused him one day to hasten to the rescue of a burning widow who was
-consumed before his eyes. And in a dark wood he heard the sound of
-cymbals and drums calling the poor natives to the worship of devils,
-and saw them prostrate with their foreheads to the ground before a
-black image in a pagoda surrounded with burning lights--a sight which
-he contemplated with overwhelming compassion, "shivering as if
-standing in the neighborhood of hell."
-
-Mr. Martyn's plain and pungent preaching was a great offense to some
-of the easy-going formalists of the English church at Calcutta, and
-some of the ministry attacked him bitterly from their pulpits,
-declaring, for instance, that to affirm repentance to be the gift of
-God and to teach that nature is wholly corrupt, is to drive men to
-despair, and that to suppose the righteousness of Christ sufficient to
-justify is to make it unnecessary to have any of our own. Though
-compelled to listen to such downright heresies, to hear himself
-described as knowing neither what he said nor whereof he affirmed, and
-as aiming only to gratify self sufficiency, pride and
-uncharitableness,--"I rejoiced," said this meek and holy man, "to
-receive the Lord's supper afterwards;--as the solemnities of that
-blessed ordinance sweetly tended to soothe any asperity of mind, and I
-think that I administered the cup to ---- and ---- with sincere good
-will."
-
-September 13, 1806, Mr. Martyn received his appointment to Singapore.
-A farewell meeting of great interest was held in his pagoda, followed
-by a tender parting from the family who had been so kind to him, and
-two fellow laborers who, following his bright example, had just come
-out from England. The voyage to Singapore was performed in a budgero,
-a small boat with a cabin, in which he studied and translated and
-prayed while making the seventeen or eighteen miles a day of the
-six-weeks' journey. At night the boat was fastened to the shore. His
-journal record of these days is very interesting and very
-characteristic. He says:
-
-"October 27. Arrived at Berhampore. In the evening walked out to the
-hospital in which there were 150 European soldiers sick. I was talking
-to a man said to be dying, when a surgeon entered. I went up and made
-some apology for entering the hospital. It was my old school-fellow
-and townsman, ----. The remainder of the evening he spent with me in
-my budgero.
-
-"October 28. Rose very early and was at the hospital at daylight.
-Waited there a long time wandering up and down the wards in hopes of
-inducing the men to get up and assemble, but it was in vain. I left
-three books with them and went away amidst the sneers and titters of
-the common soldiers. Certainly it is one of the greatest crosses I am
-called to bear to take pains to make people hear me. It is such a
-struggle between a sense of propriety and modesty on the one hand, and
-a sense of duty on the other, that I find nothing equal to it. I could
-force my way anywhere, in order to introduce a brother minister; but
-for myself, I act with hesitation and pain.
-
-"Walking out into a village where the boat stopped for the night I
-found the worshipers of Kali by the sound of their drums and cymbals.
-Invited by the Brahmins to walk in I entered and asked a few questions
-about the idol. The Brahmin who spoke bad Hindoostanee disputed with
-great heat, and his tongue ran faster than I could follow, and the
-people, about one hundred, shouted applause. I continued my questions
-and among other things asked if what I had heard of Vishnu and Brahma
-was true, which he confessed. I forbore to press him with the
-consequences, which he seemed to feel; and then I told him what was my
-belief. The man grew quite mild and said it was _chula bat_ (good
-words), and asked me seriously at last what I thought, 'Was idol
-worship true or false?' I felt it a matter of thankfulness that I
-could make known the truth of God though a stammerer and that I had
-declared it in the presence of the devil. And this also I learnt, that
-the power of gentleness is irresistible. I never was more astonished
-than at the change in deportment of this hot-headed Brahmin.... Came
-to on the eastern bank below a village called Ahgadup. Wherever I
-walked the women fled at the sight of me. Some men were sitting under
-the shed dedicated to their goddess; a lamp was burning in her place.
-A conversation soon began, but there was no one who could speak
-Hindoostanee. I could only speak by the medium of my Mussulman,
-Musalchee. They said that they only did as others did, and that if
-they were wrong then all Bengal was wrong. I felt love for their
-souls, and longed for utterance to declare unto these poor simple
-people the holy gospel. I think that when my mouth is opened I shall
-preach to them day and night.
-
-"October 31. My Moonshee said, 'How can you prove this book (the
-gospel), to be the word of God?' I took him to walk with me on the
-shore that we might discuss the matter, and the result of our
-conversation was that I discovered that the Mussulmen allow the gospel
-to be in general the command of God, though the words of it are not
-His as the words of the Koran are, and contend that the actual words
-of God given to Jesus were burnt by the Jews; that they also admit the
-New Testament to have been in force till the coming of Mohammed. When
-I quoted some passages which proved the Christian dispensation to be
-the final one, he allowed it to be inconsistent with the divinity of
-the Koran, but said, 'Then those words of the gospel must be false.'
-The man argued and asked his questions seemingly in earnest, and
-another new impression was left upon my mind, namely, that these men
-are not fools and that all ingenuity and clearness of reasoning are
-not confined to England and Europe. I seem to feel that these
-descendants of Ham are as dear to God as the haughty sons of Japheth;
-I feel, too, more at home with the Scriptures than ever; everything I
-see gives light to, and receives it from, the Scriptures. I seem
-transported back to the ancient times of the Israelites and the
-Apostles. My spirit felt composed after the dispute by simply looking
-to God as one who had engaged to support His own cause; and I saw it
-to be my part to pursue my way through the wilderness of this world,
-looking only to that redemption which daily draweth nigh. How should
-this consideration quell the tumult of anger and impatience when I
-cannot convince men 'the government is on His shoulders?' Jesus is
-able to bear the weight of it; therefore we need not be oppressed with
-care or fear, but a missionary is apt to fancy himself an Atlas.
-
-"November 2. Walking on shore met a large party. I asked if any of
-them could read. One young man who seemed superior in rank to the
-rest, said he could, and accordingly read some of the only Nagree
-tract that I had. I then addressed myself boldly to them and told them
-of the gospel. When speaking of the inefficacy of the religious
-practices of the Hindoos I mentioned as an example the repetition of
-the name of Ram. The young man assented to this and said, 'of what use
-is it?' As he seemed to be of a pensive turn and said this with marks
-of disgust, I gave him a Nagree Testament, the first I have given. May
-God's blessing go along with it and cause the eyes of the multitudes
-to be opened. The men said they should be glad to receive tracts, so I
-sent them back a considerable number. The idea of printing the
-parables in proper order with a short explanation to each, for the
-purpose of distribution and as school books, suggested itself to me
-to-night and delighted me prodigiously.... A Mussulman, when he
-received one of the tracts and found what it was, was greatly alarmed,
-and after many awkward apologies, returned it, saying that 'a man who
-had his legs in two different boats, was in danger of sinking between
-them.'"
-
-Established at Singapore, Mr. Martyn began upon three different lines
-of work, establishing schools, attaining readiness in Hindoostanee so
-as to preach the gospel in that language, and translating the
-Scriptures and religious books. To his great discouragement he was
-informed by the Pundit that every four miles the language changed, so
-that a book in the dialect of one district would be unintelligible to
-the people of another. Being advised to learn Sanscrit, he took up
-this language with great zeal. The commencement of Mr. Martyn's
-ministry amongst the Europeans of Singapore was not of such a kind as
-to either gratify or encourage him. At first he read prayers to the
-soldiers at the barracks from the drumhead, and as there were no seats
-provided, was desired to omit the sermon. Afterwards more decent
-arrangements being made, the families came in; but taking offense at
-his evangelical plainness, they asked that he should desist from
-extempore preaching. These European members of his flock were jealous
-and angry at his constant efforts for the salvation of the heathen
-natives. They thought it much beneath the dignity of an English
-chaplain to care for these degraded souls. Some of Mr. Martyn's duties
-as chaplain were exceedingly onerous. On several occasions he was
-summoned to distant places involving long and dangerous journeys to
-perform a marriage ceremony. On these journeys he suffered severely,
-and they were a great draft upon his very delicate health; always weak
-and languid, and often alarmingly disordered. Yet through all he
-continued to labor incessantly. Every Sabbath he held at least four
-services: at 7 for Europeans; at 2 for Hindoos, about two hundred in
-attendance; in the afternoon at the hospital; in the evening in his
-own room for the soldiers. In his household were two natives who
-assisted in his studies and translations, the Moonshee and the Pundit,
-with whom he held long disputes and with whom he labored daily, though
-unsuccessfully, to bring them to faith in Christ. He says,
-"translating the epistle of St. John with the Moonshee, I asked him
-what he thought of those passages which so strongly express the
-doctrines of the Trinity and of the divinity of Christ. He said he
-never would believe it, because the Koran declared it sinful to say
-that God had any Son. I told him that he ought to pray that God would
-teach him what the truth really is. He said he had no occasion on this
-subject, as the word of God was express. I asked him whether some
-doubt ought not to arise in his mind whether the Koran is the word of
-God. He grew angry, and I felt hurt and vexed. I should have done
-better to have left the words of the chapter with him without saying
-anything. I went also too far with the Pundit in arguing against his
-superstition, for he also grew angry." If any qualification seems
-necessary to a missionary in India it is wisdom--operating in the
-regulation of the temper and the due improvement of opportunities. Mr.
-Martyn needed the heavenly gift of wisdom also in the management of
-his native schools, five or six of which were supported by himself in
-Singapore. Little by little he succeeded in introducing as a text-book
-a part of the Bible--his own translation of the sermon on the Mount
-and the Parables. He was called to do more and more of this work of
-translating the Scriptures, and was persuaded by the Rev. David Brown
-not only to continue the Hindoostanee, but to superintend the
-translation of the Scriptures into Persian. He engaged in it at once
-with zeal. He writes: "The time fled imperceptibly while so
-delightfully engaged in the translations; the days seemed to have
-passed like a moment. What do I not owe to the Lord for permitting me
-to take part in a translation of His word? Never did I see such wonder
-and wisdom and love in the blessed Book as since I have been obliged
-to study every expression. Employed a good while at night in
-considering a difficult passage, and being much enlightened respecting
-it, I went to bed full of astonishment at the wonder of God's Word.
-Never before did I see anything of the beauty of the language and the
-importance of the thoughts as I do now. What a source of perpetual
-delight have I in the precious Word of God!"
-
-This ecstasy of enthusiasm in most successful and congenial labor was
-suddenly dashed by a great wave of sorrow which came to Mr. Martyn in
-the news of the death of his eldest sister. To missionaries in foreign
-lands such news is especially bitter, and to recover from such a shock
-and sense of irreparable loss seems almost impossible. The mind,
-unsatisfied with details of the sad event, is left in shadow which
-deepens into heavy gloom. Mr. Martyn was all alone and felt it keenly
-and inexpressibly. Some of his most intimate and sympathetic friends
-at this time, realizing how it was not good for him to be alone,
-encouraged him to renew his matrimonial offer to his ever beloved L.
-After her refusal he says, "The Lord sanctify this, and since this
-last desire of my heart is also withheld may I turn away forever from
-the world and henceforth live forgetful of all but God. With Thee, O
-my God, is no disappointment. I shall never have to regret that I have
-loved Thee too well. Thou hast said, 'delight thyself in the Lord, and
-he shall give thee the desires of thy heart.'"
-
-Could sweeter words than these be expressed in any language! Could
-greater depths of submission or heights of consecration be attained!
-They deserve to be recorded on imperishable marble or blazoned on the
-sky in sight of all, and received as the confession of every Christian
-heart, to the honor and praise of Him who gave such glorious victory
-to this tried soldier of the cross.
-
-Providentially for Mr. Martyn's comfort his thoughts were much
-occupied after this by the arrival of his coadjutors in the work of
-translation, one of these, Mirza of Benares, well known in India as an
-eminent Hindoostanee scholar; the other Sabat the Arabian, since but
-too well known both in India and England by his rejection of that
-faith which he then appeared to profess in sincerity and faith. In the
-latter of these Mr. Martyn confidently trusted that he had found a
-Christian brother with respect to the reality of his belief in
-Christianity, although Mr. Martyn immediately discovered in him an
-unsubdued Arab spirit, and witnessed with pain many deflections from
-that temper and conduct which he himself so eminently exemplified;
-yet, he could not but "believe all things and hope all things," even
-while he continued to suffer much from him, and for a length of time,
-with unparalleled forbearance and kindness. Sabat's temper was a
-continual trial and mortification. The very first Sabbath in
-Singapore, imagining he was not treated with sufficient dignity, he
-left the church before service in great anger. Often in the midst of
-the translation he would come to a sudden stop and refuse to go on for
-the most trivial reasons, sometimes for fear that Mirza who would
-review the work might have part of the honor. About this time Mr.
-Martyn was much bereaved by the removal of a family with whom he had
-lived in intimate terms of Christian intercourse. "This separation
-affected him the more sensibly because it was not in every family at
-that station that he met with a kind and cordial reception." He says,
-"I called on one of the Singapore families, and felt my pride rise at
-the uncivil manner in which I was received. I was disposed at first to
-determine never to visit the house again, but I remembered the words,
-'overcome evil with good.'"
-
-In the month of March, 1808, the New Testament in Hindoostanee was
-completed. He says, "I have read and corrected the manuscript till my
-eyes ache; such a week of labor I believe I have never passed. The
-heat is terrible, often at 98 degrees, the nights insupportable." We
-next hear of Mr. Martyn suffering from severe illness with fever and
-vertigo, and pained with the thought of leaving the Persian gospels
-unfinished! So unselfish, so full of zeal! Again at work, mercury at
-102 degrees. "Arabic now employs my few moments of leisure. In
-consequence of reading the Koran with Sabat audibly, and drinking no
-wine, the slander has gone forth that the Singapore Padre has turned
-Mussulman.
-
-"June 6th. To-day we have completed the Persian of St. Matthew. Sabat
-desired me to kneel down to bless God for the happy event, and we
-joined in praise of the Father of lights. It is a superb performance
-in every respect, with elegance enough to attract the careless and
-please the fastidious; it contains enough of Eternal Life to save the
-reader's soul.... My services on the Lord's day always leave me with a
-pain in the chest, and such a great degree of general relaxation, that
-I seldom recover it till Tuesday. The society still meet every night
-at my quarters, and though we have lost many by death, others are
-raised up in their room. One officer, a lieutenant, is also given to
-me, and he is not only a brother beloved, but a constant companion and
-nurse; so you must feel no apprehension that I should be left alone in
-sickness."
-
-In April, 1809, Mr. Martyn removes from Dinapore to Cawnpore. Here he
-met friendship and hospitality. We quote from the graceful pen of Mrs.
-Sherwood: "The month of April in the upper provinces of Hindoostan is
-one of the most dreadful months for traveling throughout the year;
-indeed, no European at that time can remove from place to place, but
-at the risk of his life.
-
-"But Mr. Martyn had that anxiety to begin the work which his heavenly
-Father had given him to do, that notwithstanding the violent heat, he
-traveled from Chunar to Cawnpore, the space of about four hundred
-miles. At that time as I well remember, the air was as hot and dry as
-that which I have sometimes felt near the mouth of a large oven, no
-friendly cloud or verdant carpet of grass to relieve the eye from the
-strong glare of the rays of the sun pouring on the sandy plains of the
-Ganges. Thus Mr. Martyn traveled, journeying night and day, and
-arrived at Cawnpore in such a state that he fainted away as soon as he
-entered the house. When we charged him with the rashness of hazarding
-his life in this manner, he always pleaded his anxiety to get to the
-great work. He remained with us ten days, suffering considerably at
-times from fever and pain in the chest.
-
-"Mr. Martyn's removal from Dinapore to Cawnpore was to him in many
-respects a very unpleasant arrangement. He was several hundred miles
-farther distant from Calcutta and more widely separated than before
-from his friend Mr. Corrie. He had new acquaintances to form at his
-new abode, and after having with much difficulty procured the erection
-of a church at Dinapore he was transported to a spot where none of the
-conveniences, much less the decencies and solemnities of public
-worship, were visible.
-
-"We find him soon after he arrived there preaching to a thousand
-soldiers drawn up in a hollow square, when the heat was so great,
-although the sun had not risen, that many actually dropped down,
-unable to support it."
-
-Yet Mr. Martyn's labors were not abated. Every Sabbath at dawn were
-prayers and sermon with the regiment, and again at eleven at the house
-of the general of the station. In the afternoon he preached to a crowd
-of poor natives, five, to eight hundred, rude, noisy, wretched
-beggars, for whose souls he felt a tender care. Again in the evening,
-the best of the day, he had a meeting with the more devout of his
-flock. These ministrations so earnestly performed were most
-exhausting, yet he knew not how to forego them; at this time, too,
-from England came the sad and sudden news of the death of his sister,
-the one who had led him to Christ.
-
-The alarming state of his health made some change necessary, and Mr.
-Martyn was urged to leave India and make trial of a sea voyage. His
-Persian New Testament had been criticised as unfit for general
-circulation, being written in a style too learned and exalted for the
-comprehension of the common people. He was advised to visit Persia and
-there revise his work and also complete his version in Arabic, almost
-finished. Mr. Brown, his devoted friend, and the Calcutta agent of the
-British and Foreign Bible Society, thus writes: "Can I then bring
-myself to cut the string and let you go? I confess I could not if your
-bodily frame were strong, and promised to last for half a century. But
-as you burn with the intenseness and rapid blaze of heated phosphorus,
-why should we not make the most of you? Your flame may last as long
-and perhaps longer in Arabia, than in India. Where should the Phoenix
-build her odoriferous nest, but in the land prophetically called 'the
-blessed?' and where shall we ever expect, but from that country, the
-true Comforter to come to the nations of the East? I contemplate your
-New Testament springing up, as it were, from dust and ashes, but
-beautiful as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and his feathers
-like yellow gold." His farewell services at Cawnpore were very tender
-and affecting, both with his great audience of natives and Englishmen.
-Of the latter, Mrs. Sherwood says: "He began in a weak and faint
-voice, being at that time in a very bad state of health; but,
-gathering strength as he proceeded, he seemed as one inspired from on
-high. Never was an audience more affected. The next day this holy and
-heavenly man left Cawnpore and the society of many who sincerely loved
-and admired him." Stopping to visit the friends in Calcutta, the Rev.
-Mr. Thomason says: "This bright and lovely jewel first gratified our
-eyes on Saturday last. He is on his way to Arabia, where he is going
-in pursuit of health and knowledge. You know his genius, and what
-gigantic strides he takes in everything. He has some great plan in his
-mind, of which I am no competent judge; but as far as I do understand
-it, the object is far too grand for one short life, and much beyond
-his feeble and exhausted frame. Feeble it is, indeed; how fallen and
-changed! His complaint lies in his lungs and appears to be an
-incipient consumption. But let us hope the sea air may revive him, and
-that change may do him essential service and continue his life many
-years. In all other respects he is exactly the same as he was; he
-shines in all the dignity of love, and seems to carry about him such a
-heavenly majesty as impresses the mind beyond description. But if he
-talks much, though in a low voice, he sinks, and you are reminded of
-his being dust and ashes." Though so infirm, Mr. Martyn preached every
-Sabbath of his visit, and his last sermon on the anniversary of the
-Calcutta Bible Society was afterwards printed and entitled "Christian
-India, or an appeal on behalf of nine hundred thousand Christians in
-India who want the Bible."
-
-
-
-
-LIFE IN PERSIA.
-
-
-From this time a change comes over Mr. Martyn's varied life. We have
-seen him the successful candidate for academical distinctions--the
-faithful and laborious pastor--the self-denying and devoted
-missionary--the indefatigable translator--the preacher of the gospel
-to the heathen; we are now called to admire in him the courageous
-spirit of the Christian confessor.
-
-He says, on his voyage towards Persia: "All down the Bay of Bengal I
-could do nothing but sit listless, viewing the wide waste of water, a
-sight that would have been beautiful had I been well. In my Hebrew
-researches I scarcely ever felt so discouraged. All the knowledge I
-thought I had acquired became uncertain, and consequently I was
-unhappy. It was in vain that I reflected that thousands live and die
-happy without such knowledge as I am in search of.
-
-"Proposed family prayer every night in the cabin--no objection was
-made.
-
-"February 18, anchored off Bombay. This day I finished the thirtieth
-year of my unprofitable life, the age at which David Brainerd finished
-his course. I am now at the age at which the Savior of men began his
-ministry, and at which John the Baptist called a nation to repentance.
-Hitherto I have made my youth and insignificance an excuse for sloth
-and imbecility, now let me have a character and act boldly for God.
-
-"March 5. Feerog, a Parsee who is considered the most learned man
-here, called to converse about religion. He spoke Persian and seemed
-familiar with Arabic. He began by saying that no one religion had more
-evidences of its truth than another, for that all the miracles of the
-respective founders depended upon tradition. This I denied. He
-acknowledged that the writer of the Zendavesta was not cotemporary
-with Zoroaster. After disputing and raising objections he was left
-without an answer, but continued to cavil. 'Why' said he, 'did the
-Magi see the star in the East and none else? from what part of the
-East did they come? and how was it possible that their king should
-come to Jerusalem in seven days?' The last piece of information he had
-from the Armenians. I asked him whether he had any thoughts of
-changing his religion. He replied with a contemptuous smile, 'No,
-every man is safe in his own religion.' I asked him, 'What sinners
-must do to obtain pardon?' 'Repent,' said he. I asked, 'Would
-repentance satisfy a creditor or a judge?' 'Why, is it not said in the
-gospel,' rejoined he, 'that we must repent?' I replied, 'It cannot be
-proved from the gospel that repentance alone is sufficient, or good
-works, or both.' 'Where then is the glory of salvation?' he said; I
-replied, 'In the atonement of Christ.' 'All this' said he, 'I know,
-but so the Mohammedans say, that Hosyn was an atonement for the sins
-of men.' He then began to criticise the translations he saw on the
-table.
-
-"April 23. Moscat, Arabia. Went on shore and met the Vizier. His
-African slave argued with me for Mohammed and did not know how to let
-me go, he was so interested in the business.
-
-"April 25. Gave him an Arabic copy of the gospel, which he at once
-began to read, and carried it off as a great prize, which I hope he
-will find it to be.
-
-"Bushire, Persia. Called on the governor, a Persian Khan. He was very
-particular in his attentions. Seated me on his own seat and then sat
-by my side. After the usual salutations and inquiries the calean
-(pipe), was introduced, then coffee in china cups placed within silver
-ones, then calean, then some rose-water syrup, then calean. Observing
-the windows of stained glass, I began to question him about the art of
-coloring glass, observing that the modern Europeans were inferior to
-the ancient in the manufacture of the article. He expressed his
-surprise that Europeans, who were so skillful in making watches,
-should fail in any handicraft work. I could not help recollecting the
-Emperor of China's sarcastic remark on the Europeans and their arts,
-and therefore dropped the subject. On his calean--I called it hookah
-at first, but he did not understand me--I noticed several little
-paintings of the Virgin and child, and asked him whether such things
-were not unlawful among Mohammedans. He answered very coolly 'Yes,' as
-much as to say, 'What then?' I lamented that the Eastern Christians
-should use such things in their churches. He repeated the words of a
-good man who was found fault with for having an image before him while
-at prayer, 'God is nearer to me than that image, so that I do not see
-it.' This man, I afterwards found, is like most of the other grandees
-of the East, a murderer.
-
-"On the 30th of May, our Persian dresses were ready, and we set out
-for Shiraz. The Persian dress consists of first, stockings and shoes
-in one; next, a pair of large blue trousers, or else a pair of huge
-red boots; then the shirt, then the tunic, and above it the coat, both
-of chintz, and a great coat. I have here described my own dress, most
-of which I have on at this moment. On the head is worn an enormous
-cone made of the skin of the black Tartar sheep with the wool on. If
-to this description of my dress I add that my beard and mustachios
-have been suffered to vegetate undisturbed ever since I left India;
-that I am sitting on a Persian carpet, in a room without tables or
-chairs, and that I bury my hand in the pillar (rice), without waiting
-for spoon or plate, you will give me credit for being already an
-accomplished Oriental.
-
-"At ten o'clock on the 30th our califa began to move. It consisted
-chiefly of mules with a few horses. I wished to have a mule, but the
-muleteer favored me with his own pony; this animal had a bell fastened
-to its neck. To add solemnity to the scene, a Bombay trumpeter who was
-going to join the embassy was directed to blow a blast as we moved off
-the ground; but whether it was that the trumpeter was not an adept in
-the science or that his instrument was out of order, the crazy sounds
-that saluted our ears had a ludicrous effect. At last, after some
-jostling, mutual recriminations and recalcitrating of the steeds, we
-each found our places and moved out of the gate of the city in good
-order. The residents accompanied us a little way, and then left us to
-pursue our journey over the plain. It was a fine moonlight night, the
-scene new and perfectly oriental, and nothing prevented me from
-indulging my own reflections. As the night advanced the califa grew
-quiet; on a sudden one of the muleteers began to sing, and sang in a
-voice so plaintive that it was impossible not to have one's attention
-arrested. Every voice was hushed.
-
-"These were the words translated:
-
-  Think not that e'er my heart could dwell
-    Contented far from thee,
-  How can the fresh-caught nightingale
-    Enjoy tranquility?
-
-  Oh, then forsake thy friend for naught
-    That slanderous tongues can say,
-  The heart that fixeth where it ought
-    No power can rend away.
-
-"Thus far our journey was agreeable. Now for miseries. At sunrise we
-came to our ground at Ahmedu, six parasangs, and pitched our little
-tent under a tree; it was the only shelter we could get. At first the
-heat was not greater than we had felt in India, but it soon became so
-intense as to be quite alarming. When the thermometer was above 112
-degrees, fever heat, I began to lose my strength fast; at last it
-became quite intolerable. I wrapped myself up in a blanket and all the
-warm covering I could get to defend myself from the external air, by
-which means the moisture was kept a little longer upon the body, and
-not so speedily evaporated as when the skin was exposed. One of my
-companions followed my example and found the benefit of it. But the
-thermometer still rising, and the moisture of the body being quite
-exhausted, I grew restless and thought I should have lost my senses.
-The thermometer at last stood at 126 degrees. In this state I composed
-myself and concluded that, though I might hold out but a day or two,
-death was inevitable. Captain ---- continued to tell the hour and
-heights of the thermometer, and with pleasure we heard of it sinking
-to 120 degrees, 118 degrees, etc. At last the fierce sun retired and I
-crept out more dead than alive. The next day we secured some comfort
-from a large wet towel wrapped about the head and body. At sunset,
-rising to go out, a scorpion fell upon my clothes. The night before we
-found a black scorpion in our tent, that made us uneasy, so we got no
-sleep."
-
-June 9 Mr. Martyn arrived at Shiraz, the celebrated seat of Persian
-literature, and at once began work upon his translation with the
-efficient help of Mirza Seid Ali Khan. In this work he had many
-interruptions, being himself an object of attention and curiosity. He
-received many calls, and unwilling to lose any opportunity of
-benefiting the inhabitants of Shiraz, was never inaccessible to them.
-He says, "June 17, in the evening, Seid Ali came with two Moollahs,
-and with them I had a very long and temperate discussion. One of them
-read the beginning of John in Arabic and inquired very particularly
-into our opinions respecting the person of Christ, and when he was
-informed that we did not consider His human nature eternal nor His
-mother divine, seemed quite satisfied, and remarked to the others,
-'how much misapprehension is removed when people come to an
-explanation.'"
-
-"June 22. The Prince's secretary called to talk about Soofeeism. They
-believe they know not what. He thought to excite my wonder by telling
-me that I and every created being was God.
-
-"June 26. Two young men from the college came, full of zeal and logic,
-to try me with hard questions such as, whether being be but one or
-two? What is the state and form of disembodied spirits? and other
-foolish and unlearned questions ministering strife. At last, one of
-them discovered the true cause of his coming by asking me bluntly to
-bring a proof of the religion of Christ. You allow the divine mission
-of Christ, said I, why need I prove it? Not being able to draw me into
-an argument they said what they wished to say, namely, that I had no
-other proof for the miracles of Christ than they had for those of
-Mohammed, which is tradition. 'Softly' I said, 'You will be pleased to
-observe a difference between your books and ours, when by tradition we
-have reached our several books, our narrators were eye witnesses;
-yours are not, nor nearly so.'
-
-"In the evening Seid Ali asked me the cause of evil. I said I knew
-nothing about it. He thought he could tell me, so I let him reason on
-till he soon found he knew as little about the matter as myself. He
-wanted to prove that there was no real difference between good and
-evil; that it was only apparent. I observed that the difference, if
-only apparent, was the cause of a great deal of misery.
-
-"June 30, Sunday. Preached to the Ambassador's suite on the 'Faithful
-Saying.' In the evening baptized his child. Zachariah told me this
-morning that I was the town talk." Indeed Shiraz was stirred to its
-depth by the presence of Mr. Martyn during the whole year of his stay.
-Men of every kind, especially the learned and zealous, came singly and
-in groups almost every day to argue and dispute against Christ. Now it
-was a party of Armenians, now learned Jews, now a prince, now a
-general, now the very Moojtuhid himself, the professor of Mohammedan
-law. This great dignitary invited Mr. Martyn to his house, where for
-hours he talked on and on, defending his Prophet and showing his
-learning; he was greatly annoyed at any difference of opinion, and
-decided it was "quite useless for Mohammedans and Christians to argue
-together, as they had different languages and different histories."
-But fearing Mr. Martyn's influence he was stirred to write a defense
-of his faith, which was said to surpass all former treatises on Islam.
-He concludes it in these words, addressed to Mr. Martyn: "Oh, thou
-that art wise! consider with the eye of justice, since thou hast no
-excuse to offer to God. Thou hast wished to see the truth of miracles.
-We desire you to look at the great Koran: that is an everlasting
-miracle." Mr. Martyn replied, showing why men are bound to reject
-Mohammedanism; that Mohammed was foretold by no prophet, worked no
-miracles, spread his religion by means merely human, appeals to man's
-lowest and sensual nature, that he was ambitious for himself and
-family, that the Koran is full of absurdities and contradictions, that
-it contains a method of salvation wholly inefficacious, sadly
-contrasting with the divine atonement of Jesus Christ. The Prince's
-nephew, hearing of the attack on Mohammed, said, "the proper answer to
-it is the sword."
-
-Mr. Martyn writes, February 8: "This is my birthday, on which I
-complete my thirty-first year. The Persian New Testament has been
-begun and finished in it. Such a painful year I never passed, owing to
-the privations I have been called to, on the one hand, and the
-spectacle before me of human depravity on the other. But I hope I have
-not come to this seat of Satan in vain. The Word of God has found its
-way into Persia, and it is not in Satan's power to oppose its progress
-if the Lord hath sent it."
-
-The Psalms in Persian was finished by the middle of March.
-
-On the 23d Mr. Martyn writes: "I called on the Vizier. In the court
-where he received me, Mirza Ibraheem was lecturing. Finding myself so
-near my old and respectable antagonist, I expressed a wish to see him,
-on which Jaffier Ali Khan went up to ascertain if my visit would be
-agreeable. The master consented, but some of the disciples demurred.
-At last, one of them, observing that by the blessing of God on the
-master's conversation I might possibly be converted, it was agreed
-that I should be invited to ascend. Then it became a question where I
-ought to sit. Below all would not be respectful to a stranger, but
-above all the Moollahs could not be tolerated. I entered and was
-surprised at the numbers. The room was lined with Moollahs on both
-sides and at the top. I was about to sit down on the floor but was
-beckoned to an empty place near the top, opposite to the master, who,
-after the usual compliments, without further ceremony, asked me, 'What
-we meant by calling Christ, God?' War being thus unequivocally
-declared, I had nothing to do but stand upon the defensive. Mirza
-Ibraheem argued temperately enough; but of the rest, some were very
-violent and clamorous. The former asked 'if Christ had ever called
-himself God--was he the Creator or a creature?' I replied, 'The
-Creator.' The Moollahs looked at one another. Such a confession had
-never before been heard among the Mohammedan doctors.
-
-"One Moollah wanted to controvert some of my illustrations by
-interrogating me about the personality of Christ. To all his questions
-I replied by requesting the same information respecting his own
-person. To another, who was rather contemptuous and violent, I said
-'If you do not approve of our doctrine, will you be so good as to say
-what God is, according to you, that I may worship a proper object?'
-One said, 'the author of the universe.' 'I can form no idea from these
-words,' said I, 'but of a workman at work upon a vast number of
-materials. Is that a correct notion?' Another said, 'One who came of
-himself into being.' 'So then he came,' I replied, 'out of one place
-into another, and before he came he was not. Is this an abstract and
-refined notion?' After this no one asked me any more questions, and
-for fear the dispute should be renewed Jaffier Ali Khan carried me
-away."
-
-When we think of the bigotry and intolerance of these people and of
-Mr. Martyn's unflinching courage single-handed and alone, declaring
-the truth and preaching Christ, exposed to the greatest personal
-danger, contempt and insult, but unabashed, he stands before the world
-during his Shiraz residence as one of the bravest and grandest heroes
-that has ever lived. Such a spectacle is thrilling and sublime. God
-was with him to protect him and to inspire his magnificent
-confessions. A figure-head in history! A sight for angels and for men!
-
-                    Faithful found
-  Among the faithless, faithful only he,
-  Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified,
-  His loyalty he kept, his zeal, his love.
-
-And God was with him to cheer and comfort, and we rejoice to know that
-some of the scenes of his life in Shiraz were quiet and restful. At
-one time a tent was pitched for him in a garden in the suburbs of the
-city.
-
-Living amidst clusters of grapes by the side of a clear stream and
-frequently sitting under the shade of an orange tree, which Jaffier
-Ali Khan delighted to point out to visitors, until the day of his own
-departure, he passed many a tranquil hour, and enjoyed many a Sabbath
-of holy rest and divine refreshment.
-
-He says: "Passed some days at Jaffier Ali Khan's garden with Mirza
-Seid Ali, Aga Baba, Sheikh Abul Hassam, reading at their request the
-Old Testament histories. Their attention to the word and their love
-and respect for me seemed to increase as the time for my departure
-approached. Aga Baba, who had been reading St. Matthew, related very
-circumstantially to the company the particulars of the death of
-Christ. The bed of roses on which we sat and the notes of the
-nightingales warbling around us, were not so sweet to me as this
-discourse from the Persian."
-
-The plain of Shiraz is covered with ancient ruins, and contains the
-tombs of the poets Zaadi and Hafiz.
-
-  A vision of the bright Shiraz, of Persian bards the theme;
-  The vine with bunches laden hangs o'er the crystal stream;
-  The nightingale all day her notes in rosy thicket trills,
-  And the brooding heat-mist faintly lies along the distant hills.
-
-  About the plain are scattered wide in many a crumbling heap,
-  The fanes of other days, and tombs where Iran's poets sleep;
-  And in the midst, like burnished gems, in noonday light repose
-  The minarets of bright Shiraz,--the City of the Rose.
-
-  One group beside the river bank in rapt discourse are seen,
-  Where hangs the golden orange on its boughs of purest green;
-  Their words are sweet and low, and their looks are lit with joy,
-  Some holy blessing seems to rest on them and their employ.
-
-  The pale-faced Frank among them sits; what brought him from afar?
-  Nor bears he bales of merchandise, nor teaches skill in war;
-  One pearl alone he brings with him--the Book of life and death,--
-  One warfare only teaches he,--to fight the fight of faith.
-
-  And Iran's sons are round him, and one with solemn tone
-  Tells how the Lord of Glory was rejected by his own;
-  Tells from the wondrous gospel of the trial and the doom,--
-  The words divine of love and might,--the scourge, the cross, the tomb.
-
-  Far sweeter to the stranger's ear these eastern accents sound,
-  Than music of the nightingale that fills the air around;
-  Lovelier than balmiest odors sent from gardens of the rose,
-  The fragrance from the contrite soul and chastened lip that flows.
-
-  The nightingales have ceased to sing, the roses' leaves are shed,
-  The Frank's pale face in Tocat's field hath mouldered with the dead;
-  Alone and all unfriended midst his Master's work he fell,
-  With none to bathe his fevered brow, with none his tale to tell.
-
-  But still those sweet and solemn tones about him sound in bliss,
-  And fragrance from those flowers of God forevermore is his;
-  For his the meed, by grace, of those who rich in zeal and love,
-  Turn many unto righteousness, and shine as stars above.
-
-  1851.                                             --HENRY ALFORD.
-
-On the 24th of May, after a year's residence, Mr. Martyn left Shiraz,
-bearing his precious translation to be presented to the Shah. The
-journey was an occasion of disappointment, exposure and suffering.
-
-Arrived at the Shah's camp he says: "June 12th, attended the Vizier's
-levee, when there was a most intemperate and clamorous controversy
-kept up for an hour or two, eight or ten on one side, and I on the
-other. Amongst them were two Moollahs, the most ignorant of any I have
-met in Persia or India. It would be impossible to enumerate all the
-absurd things they said. Their vulgarity in interrupting me in the
-middle of a speech, their utter ignorance of the nature of an
-argument, their impudent assertions about the law and the gospel,
-neither of which they had ever seen in their lives, moved my
-indignation. The Vizier said, 'You had better say, God is God and
-Mohammed is the prophet of God.' I said, 'God is God,' but added,
-instead of 'Mohammed is the prophet of God,' 'Jesus is the Son of
-God.' They had no sooner heard this, which I had avoided bringing
-forward till then, than they all exclaimed in contempt and anger, 'He
-is neither born nor begets,' and rose up as if they would have torn me
-in pieces. One of them said, 'What will you say when your tongue is
-burnt out for this blasphemy?'
-
-"My book which I had brought, expecting to present it to the king, lay
-before Mirza Shufi. As they all rose up after him to go, some to the
-king, and some away, I was afraid they would trample upon the book; so
-I went in among them to take it up, and wrapped it in a towel before
-them, while they looked at it and me with supreme contempt. Thus I
-walked away alone to my tent to pass the rest of the day in heat and
-dirt. What have I done, thought I, to merit all this scorn? Nothing, I
-trust, but bearing testimony to Jesus. I thought over these things in
-prayer and found the peace which Christ hath promised. To complete the
-trials of the day a messenger came from the Vizier in the evening to
-say that it was the custom of the king not to see any Englishman
-unless presented by the ambassador or accredited by a letter from him,
-and that I must therefore wait till the king reached Sultania, where
-the ambassador would be."
-
-Traveling toward Tabriz he writes, June 22: "Met with the usual
-insulting treatment at the caravansarai when the king's servant had
-got possession of a good room built for the reception of the better
-order of guests; they seemed to delight in the opportunity of humbling
-a European--all along the road when the king is expected the people
-are patiently waiting as for some dreadful disaster; plague,
-pestilence or famine are nothing to the misery of being subject to the
-violence and extortion of this rabble soldiery.
-
-"June 26. Have eaten nothing now for two days. My mind much disordered
-from headache and giddiness;--but my heart is with Christ and His
-saints.
-
-"June 27. Passed the third day in the same exhausted state, my head
-tortured with shocking pains, such as, together with the horror I felt
-at being exposed to the sun, showed me plainly to what to ascribe my
-sickness."
-
-Thus in great illness and suffering Mr. Martyn reached Tabriz, and was
-nursed through a fever of two months' continuance at the ambassador's
-residence. This defeated his plan of presenting the Persian New
-Testament to the king--but it was afterwards done by Sir Gore Ouseley
-himself, and publicly received the royal approbation, and still later
-was printed in St. Petersburg.
-
-On leaving Cawnpore, Mr. Martyn had intended returning to England, but
-had willingly remained in Persia to finish the translation, which
-being now disposed of, he reverted to his original intention, and set
-out on his last fatal journey towards Constantinople, September 2. His
-journal is filled with expressions of gratitude for restored health,
-delight in the scenery of Tabriz, descriptions of the country and the
-journey, the Araxes river, the hoary peaks of Ararat, the governor's
-palace, the ancient Armenian church and monastery at Ech-Miazin, where
-he received great kindness from the Patriarch and the monks. He was
-profoundly impressed with the view from an elevated table-land looking
-out upon Persia, Russia and Turkey--a Pisgah vision, which excites in
-later missionaries a strong desire for Christian conquest. Describes
-Cars and Erzroom. September 29, left Erzroom. Was attacked with fever
-and ague.
-
-"September 30. Took nothing all day but tea; headache and loss of
-appetite depressed my spirits, yet my soul rests in Him who is as
-anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, which, not seen, keeps me
-fast.
-
-"October 1. Marched over a mountainous tract; we were out from seven
-in the morning till eight at night. After sitting a little by the fire
-I was near fainting from sickness. My depression of spirits led me to
-the throne of grace as a sinful abject worm. When I thought of myself
-and my transgressions, I could find no text so cheering as, 'My ways
-are not as your ways.' From the men who accompanied Sir Wm. Ouseley to
-Constantinople I learned that the plague was raging at Constantinople
-and thousands dying every day. One of the Persians had died of it.
-They added that the inhabitants of Tocat were flying from their town
-from the same cause. Thus I am passing into imminent danger. O Lord
-thy will be done! Living or dying, remember me.
-
-"October 2. Lodged in the stables of the post-house. As soon as it
-began to grow a little cold, the ague came on and then the fever,
-after which I had a sleep, which let me know too plainly the disorder
-of my frame. In the night Hossan sent to summon me away, but I was
-quite unable to move. Finding me still in bed at the dawn he began to
-storm furiously at my detaining him so long, but I quietly let him
-spend his ire, ate my breakfast composedly, and set out at eight. He
-seemed determined to make up for the delay, for we flew over hill and
-dale to Sherean, where we changed horses. From thence we traveled all
-the rest of the day and all night. It rained most of the time. After
-sunset the ague came on again, which in my wet state was very trying.
-I hardly know how to keep my life in me. About that time there was a
-village at hand, but Hassan had no mercy. The night was pitchy dark,
-so that I could not see the road under my horse's feet. However, God
-being mercifully pleased to alleviate my bodily suffering, I went on
-contentedly to the munzil (stopping-place). After sleeping three or
-four hours Hassan hurried me away, and galloped furiously toward a
-village, which he said was four hours distant, which was all I could
-undertake in my present state; but village after village did he pass,
-till night coming on, and no signs of another, I suspected he was
-carrying me on to the munzil; so I got off my horse and sat upon the
-ground and told him I neither could nor would go any farther. He
-stormed, but I was immovable, till a light, appearing at a distance, I
-mounted my horse and made toward it, leaving him to follow or not as
-he pleased. He brought in the party, but would not exert himself to
-get a place for me. They brought me to an open verandah, but Sergius
-told them I wanted a place in which to be alone. This seemed very
-offensive to them, 'and why must he be alone'? they asked, ascribing
-this desire of mine to pride, I suppose. Tempted at last by money they
-brought me to a stable room, and Hassan and a number of others planted
-themselves there with me. My fever here increased to a violent degree,
-the heat in my eyes and forehead was so great that the fire almost
-made me frantic. I entreated that it might be put out or that I might
-be carried out of doors. Neither was attended to; my servant, who from
-my sitting in that strange way on the ground, believed me delirious,
-was deaf to all I said. At last I pushed my head in among the luggage
-and lodged it on the damp ground and slept.
-
-"October 5. Preserving mercy made me see the light of another morning.
-The sleep had refreshed me but I was feeble and shaken, yet the
-merciless Hassan hurried me off. I was pretty well lodged and felt
-tolerably well till a little after sunset, when the ague came on with
-a violence I had never before experienced. I felt as if in a palsy, my
-teeth chattering, and my whole frame violently shaken. Aga Hosyn and
-another Persian on their way here from Constantinople, came hastily to
-render me assistance if they could. These Persians appear quite
-brotherly after the Turks. While they pitied me, Hassan sat in perfect
-indifference, ruminating on the further delay this was likely to
-occasion. The cold fit after continuing two or three hours was
-followed by a fever, which lasted the whole night and prevented sleep.
-
-"October 6. No horses were to be had, and I had an unexpected repose.
-Sat in the orchard and thought with sweet comfort and peace of my God:
-in solitude my companion, friend and comforter. Oh, when shall time
-give place to eternity--when shall appear that new heaven and earth,
-wherein dwelleth righteousness! There, there shall in no wise enter in
-anything that defileth; none of that wickedness which has made men
-worse than wild beasts, none of those corruptions which add still more
-to the miseries of humanity, shall be seen or heard of any more."
-
-Here abruptly closes the journal, with pantings for the glory and the
-purity of Immanuel's land, into which he was admitted by a blessed
-translation, released from all the sufferings of life on October 16,
-1812, at Tocat, Turkey. The manner of his death is not known, whether
-it resulted from the sickness described, or from the plague, then
-raging. Whether Hassan was cruel and driving to the last, whether all
-his heartless Turkish attendants deserted him or not in his hour of
-final agony, we cannot tell. No relative or friend was there, no
-tender voice of sympathy, no woman's soothing hand, no alleviations
-from medicine. Even the commonest decencies and necessities of
-civilized life were lacking. Earth gave nothing to Henry Martyn in his
-mortal need, but we are sure heavenly consolations were unstinted.
-
-  "Jesus can make a dying bed
-   Feel soft as downy pillows are."
-
-And Jesus was there! And Henry Martyn was satisfied, and is forever
-satisfied! "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
-saints." And the most priceless legacy of the blood-bought and
-commissioned church is the memory of a life, so gifted, so unselfish,
-so consecrated.
-
-It is wanting in no element of moral heroism. Our souls confess its
-grandeur. The contemplation lifts us into a higher atmosphere than
-that of mammon, and self, and earth. We rejoice to see a crown so
-rare, so fair, so precious, laid at the feet of Jesus, the King. He is
-worthy. And we long to see the youth of our land and the church
-inspired by Henry Martyn's example, as he was inspired by David
-Brainerd's. And so we would have the apostolic succession continued
-till the millennium, of such as shall not count their lives dear for
-the testimony of the gospel.
-
-It is said that after Mr. Martyn's death one of his earliest and most
-devoted friends, the Rev. Charles Simeon, used always to keep his
-picture before him in his study for help and inspiration. "Move where
-he would through the apartment, it seemed to keep its eyes upon him,
-and ever to say to him, 'Be earnest, be earnest; don't trifle, don't
-trifle,' and the good Simeon would gently bow to the speaking picture,
-and with a smile, reply, 'Yes, I will; I will be in earnest, I will
-not trifle; for souls are perishing and Jesus is to be glorified.'"
-
-Would that Henry Martyn's life might bring such a message to every
-heart, and awaken in every one a similar response.
-
-
-
-
-MISSIONARY ANNALS.
-Price per vol., cloth 30c., paper 18c.
-
-I.
-MEMOIR OF ROBERT MOFFAT
-_BY MRS. M. L. WILDER_.
-
-II.
-LIFE OF ADONIRAM JUDSON
-_BY MISS JULIA H. JOHNSTON_.
-
-III.
-WOMAN AND THE GOSPEL IN PERSIA
-_BY REV. THOMAS LAURIE, D.D._
-
-IV.
-LIFE OF REV. JUSTIN PERKINS, D.D.
-_BY REV. HENRY MARTYN PERKINS_.
-
-V.
-LIFE OF DAVID LIVINGSTONE
-_BY MRS. J. H. WORCESTER, JR._
-
-OTHERS IN PREPARATION. SENT POSTPAID ON RECEIPT OF PRICE.
-
-CHICAGO:
-WOMAN'S PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF MISSIONS OF THE NORTHWEST.
-Room 48, McCormick Block.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of Henry Martyn, Missionary to
-India and Persia, 1781 to 1812, by Sarah J. Rhea
-
-*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30085 ***
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30085 ***
+
+MISSIONARY ANNALS.
+(A SERIES.)
+
+
+
+
+LIFE OF HENRY MARTYN, MISSIONARY TO INDIA AND PERSIA, 1781 to 1812
+
+
+ABRIDGED FROM THE MEMOIR.
+BY
+MRS. SARAH J. RHEA.
+
+
+
+
+CHICAGO:
+WOMAN'S PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE NORTHWEST,
+Room 48, McCormick Block.
+
+
+
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1888,
+BY WOMAN'S PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF MISSIONS OF THE NORTHWEST.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+                                              PAGE.
+EDUCATION AND PREPARATION, . . . . . . . . . . .  5
+
+LIFE IN INDIA, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
+
+LIFE IN PERSIA, AND DEATH, . . . . . . . . . . . 29
+
+
+
+
+I hold in my hand an album adorned with pictures of missionaries, my
+brethren and sisters, the ambassadors of the King. On one of the first
+pages is "the tomb of Henry Martyn," given me by Dr. Van Lennep, who
+had just visited the sacred spot and described it vividly. When I turn
+the pages of my album and come to this, I pause with reverence and the
+overflowings of deep and tender emotion, and my mind adds other
+pictures, both terrestrial and celestial, to the one upon the page. My
+own missionary life as the companion of him whom Dr. Perkins called
+"the later Henry Martyn," was spent in Henry Martyn's Persia. They
+were alike I think in many things, these two Persian evangelists, and
+also in their deaths. When they passed out of the Tabriz gate,
+journeying homeward after a course of illness in the fated city, for
+each it was a quick ascent, a painful translation, to the heavenly
+city with abundant entrance and the Master's "well done"--in heaven;
+and on earth, a foreign grave taking possession for Christ, as the
+Nestorians reverently say, with "white stones still speaking out."
+                                                          S. J. R.
+
+
+
+
+EDUCATION AND PREPARATION.
+
+
+Henry Martyn was born in England on the south-western coast of Truro,
+February 18, 1781. His father, Mr. John Martyn, worked in the mines.
+He was not educated but was very fond of learning. The miners were in
+the habit of working and resting alternately every four hours. Mr.
+John Martyn spent many of his rest intervals in study, and so by
+diligence and education raised himself to a higher position, and
+became a clerk in the office of a merchant in Truro. When Henry was
+seven years old, he went to school to Dr. Cardew. From his earliest
+years all who knew him considered him a very interesting and promising
+child. Dr. Cardew says his proficiency in the classics exceeded that
+of his schoolfellows; he was of a lively, cheerful temper and seemed
+to learn without application, almost by intuition. But he was not
+robust, and loving books better than sport, and having a peculiar
+tenderness and inoffensiveness of spirit, he was often abused by rude
+and coarse boys in the school. A friendship which he formed at this
+time with a boy older than himself was the source of great comfort and
+advantage to him, and was kept up throughout his whole life. This
+friend often protected him from the bullies of the play-ground. At
+this school, under excellent tuition, Henry remained until fourteen
+years old, when he was induced to offer himself as a candidate for a
+vacant scholarship at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Young as he was,
+he went there alone, and acquitted himself so well, though strongly
+and ably opposed by competitors, that in the opinion of some of the
+examiners he ought to have been elected. How often is the hand of God
+seen in frustrating our fondest designs! Speaking of this
+disappointment he afterwards wrote: "Had I remained and become a
+member of the university at that time, as I should have done in case
+of success, the profligate acquaintances I had there would have
+introduced me to scenes of debauchery, in which I must in all
+probability, from my extreme youth, have sunk forever."
+
+He continued after this with Dr Cardew till 1797, and then joined his
+school friend at Cambridge at St. John's College. Here he obtained a
+place in the first class at the public examination in December, a
+circumstance which, joined to the extreme desire he had to gratify his
+father, encouraged and excited him to study with increased alacrity,
+and as the fruit of this application, at the next public examination
+in the summer he reached the second station in the first class, a
+point of elevation which "flattered his pride not a little." At this
+time he appeared in the eye of the world most amiable and commendable,
+outwardly moral, unwearied in application, and exhibited marks of no
+ordinary talent. One exception to this statement is to be found in an
+irritability of temper arising perhaps from the treatment he had
+received at school. On one occasion in sudden anger, he threw a knife
+at the head of another boy, which providentially missed him and was
+left trembling in the wall; but it was a narrow escape, and might have
+proved fatal. Though not a Christian at this time, he was under two
+strong influences for good, one from his religious friend in college,
+the other from his sister in Cornwall, a Christian of a meek, heavenly
+and affectionate spirit. He paid a visit to his home in the summer of
+1799, carrying with him no small degree of academical honor. It may be
+well supposed that to a sister such as we have described, her
+brother's spiritual welfare would be a most serious and anxious
+concern; and that she often conversed with him on the subject of
+religion we know from his own declaration. The first result of her
+tender exhortations and earnest endeavors was very discouraging; a
+violent conflict took place in her brother's mind between his
+conviction of the truth of what she urged, and his love of the world;
+and for the present, the latter prevailed. Yet, sisters similarly
+circumstanced may learn from this case, not merely their duty, but
+also, from the final result, the success they may anticipate in the
+faithful discharge of it.
+
+"At the examination at Christmas, 1799," he writes: "I was first, and
+the account of it pleased my father prodigiously, who, I was told, was
+in great health and spirits. What, then, was my consternation when in
+January I received an account of his death!" Most poignant were his
+sufferings under this affliction, which led him to God for comfort in
+prayer and Bible study. He says: "I began with the Acts, and found
+myself insensibly led to inquire more attentively into the doctrines
+of the Apostles." Writing to his sister, having announced shortly and
+with much simplicity that his name stood first upon the list at the
+college examination of the summer of 1800, he says: "What a blessing
+it is for me that I have such a sister as you, my dear S., who have
+been so instrumental in keeping me in the right way. After the death
+of our father you know I was extremely low spirited, and like most
+other people began to consider seriously without any particular
+determination, that invisible world to which he was gone and to which
+I must one day go. Soon I began to attend more diligently to the words
+of our Savior in the New Testament, and to devour them with delight,
+when the offers of mercy and forgiveness were made so freely; I
+supplicated to be made partaker of the covenant of grace with
+eagerness and hope, and thanks be to the ever-blessed Trinity for not
+leaving me without comfort!" How cheering to his sister it must have
+been to receive at a moment of deep sorrow such a communication as
+this! How salutary to his own mind to have possessed so near a
+relation to whom he could thus freely open the workings of his heart.
+At this time he also received great benefit from attendance on the
+faithful ministry of Rev. Charles Simeon, under whose pastoral
+instructions he himself declares that he "gradually acquired more
+knowledge in divine things." With this excellent man he had the most
+friendly and unreserved intercourse. Mr. Martyn received his first
+impressions of the transcendent excellence of the Christian ministry
+of Mr. Simeon, from which it was but a short step to choose this
+calling for his own, for until now he had intended to devote himself
+to the law "chiefly," he confesses, "because he could not consent to
+be poor for Christ's sake."
+
+In January, 1801, the highest academical honor, that of "senior
+wrangler," was awarded to him before the completion of his twentieth
+year. His description of his feelings on this occasion is remarkable:
+"I obtained my highest wishes, but was surprised to find that I had
+grasped a shadow." So impossible it is for earthly distinction to fill
+and satisfy the mind.
+
+In March, 1802, after another rigid examination, Mr. Martyn was chosen
+Fellow of St. Johns, a situation honorable to the society and
+gratifying to himself. Soon after he obtained first prize for best
+Latin prose composition over many competitors of classical celebrity,
+and this was the more remarkable, as his studies had been almost
+entirely in mathematics.
+
+Henry Martyn's attention was called to the great cause of Foreign
+Missions by some remarks of Rev. Mr. Simeon on the work of Carey in
+India, but more particularly by reading the memoir of David Brainerd,
+who preached with apostolic zeal and success to the North American
+Indians, and who finished a course of self-denying labors for his
+Redeemer with unspeakable joy at the early age of thirty-two. Henry
+Martyn's soul was filled with holy emulation, and after deep
+consideration and fervent prayer he was at length fixed in a
+resolution to imitate his example. Nor let it be conceived that he
+could adopt this resolution without the severest conflict in his mind,
+for he was endued with the truest sensibility of heart, and was
+susceptible of the warmest and tenderest attachments. No one could
+exceed him in love for his country, or in affection for his friends,
+and few could surpass him in an exquisite relish for the various and
+refined enjoyments of a social and literary life. How then could it
+fail of being a moment of extreme anguish when he came to the
+deliberate resolution of leaving forever all he held dear upon earth?
+But he was fully satisfied that the glory of that Savior who loved him
+and gave Himself for him would be promoted by his going forth to
+preach to the heathen. He considered their pitiable and perilous
+condition; he thought on the value of their immortal souls; he
+remembered the last solemn injunction of his Lord, "Go teach all
+nations,"--an injunction never revoked, and commensurate with that
+most encouraging promise, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end
+of the world." Actuated by these motives, he offered himself as a
+missionary to the society for Missions, and from that time stood
+prepared with childlike simplicity and unshaken constancy to go to any
+part of the world whither it might be deemed expedient to send him.
+
+In the early part of 1804, Mr. Martyn's plans of becoming a missionary
+were dampened by the loss of his slender patrimony, and as his sister
+was also involved in the calamity, it appeared hardly justifiable for
+him to go away. After some delay his friends obtained for him the
+position of chaplain to the East India Company, and so the obstacles
+which detained him were removed.
+
+The time of the delay was spent in zealous service for his divine
+Master. He was associated with Rev. Mr. Simeon as curate and preached
+with great zeal and unction, often to very large audiences, and
+sometimes with such unsparing denunciation of common sins as to awaken
+opposition. He considered it his duty to rebuke iniquity, and on one
+occasion severely reproved a student for shocking levity,--reading a
+play with some young ladies while their father lay dying. He feared
+the result of this might be estrangement from his friend, but prayed
+earnestly that it might lead to his awakening. This prayer was
+answered, and afterwards this very friend became his beloved associate
+in missionary work in India.
+
+In very early youth Mr. Martyn became fondly attached to a young lady
+named Lydia Grenfell. She considered herself his superior in social
+position. The memoirs all speak of her as estimable, and we infer from
+the little that is said that she somewhat indifferently accepted Henry
+Martyn's homage, but she did not wholeheartedly and generously
+respond. What a contrast to the beloved and devoted Harriet Newell,
+who was not afraid to risk all for Christ, and counted not her life
+dear even unto the death! It was Miss Grenfell's greatest honor that
+Henry Martyn would have made her his wife, but she declined the honor,
+and yet gave him encouragement, for their correspondence only ended
+with his life, and his very last writing was a letter to her. He
+begged her with all the eloquence of a lonely and devoted heart to
+come out to him after he had gone to India, arranging every detail for
+her comfort with thoughtful tenderness, and urging and encouraging her
+and lavishing upon her an affection that would have crowned and
+enriched her life. We are left to infer from the history that she did
+love him in her way, but if she had shared his consecration and gone
+with him and taken care of him, and cheered and comforted him, and
+made for him a happy restful home, as some missionary wives have done
+in self-denying foreign fields, what a blessing she might have been,
+and her life, how fruitful, and her memory, how fragrant! As it was,
+she has this distinction, that she was Henry Martyn's disappointment
+and trial and discipline. No one less tender and sensitive than Henry
+Martyn can appreciate all he suffered on this account; but he made it,
+like all the other great sorrows of his life, a cross on which to be
+crucified with Christ.
+
+He writes to his dear sister S.: "When I sometimes offer up
+supplications with strong crying to God to bring down my spirit into
+the dust I endeavor calmly to contemplate the infinite majesty of the
+most high God and my own meanness and wickedness, or else I quietly
+tell the Lord, who knows the heart, I would give Him all the glory of
+everything if I could. But the most effectual way I have ever found is
+to lead away my thoughts from myself and my own concerns by praying
+for all my friends, for the church, the world, the nation, and
+especially by beseeching that God would glorify His own great name by
+converting all nations to the obedience of faith, also by praying that
+he would put more abundant honor on those Christians whom he seems to
+have honored especially, and whom we see to be manifestly our
+superiors."
+
+In spite of Henry Martyn's beautiful humility, honor after honor was
+heaped upon him by his admiring and appreciative Alma Mater. Three
+times he was chosen examiner, and discharged the duties of this office
+with great care and faithfulness.
+
+As the time approaches for his parting from all he holds dear,
+especially the beloved L., our hearts go out to him in irrepressible
+sympathy. He writes, "parted with L. forever in this life with a sort
+of uncertain pain which I know will increase to greater violence."
+
+And these forebodings were but too soon realized. For many succeeding
+days his mental agony was extreme, yet he could speak to God as one
+who knew the great conflict within him. Yet while the waves and
+billows are going over him he writes from these depths, "I never had
+so clear a conviction of my call as at the present. Never did I see so
+much the exceeding excellency and glory and sweetness of the work, nor
+had so much the favorable testimony of my own conscience, nor
+perceived so plainly the smile of God. Blessed be God, I feel myself
+to be His minister. This thought which I can hardly describe came in
+the morning after reading Brainerd. I wish for no service but the
+service of God, to labor for souls on earth and to do His will in
+heaven."
+
+
+
+
+LIFE IN INDIA.
+
+
+On the 17th of July, 1805, the Union East Indiaman conveying Mr.
+Martyn sailed from Portsmouth. Mr. Martyn says: "Though it was what I
+had been anxiously looking forward to so long, yet the consideration
+of being parted forever from my friends, almost overcame me. My
+feelings were those of a man who should suddenly be told that every
+friend he had in the world was dead."
+
+Though suffering much in mind and body throughout the long and tedious
+voyage of nine months, Mr. Martyn seeks no selfish ease. He preaches,
+reads and labors assiduously with officers, passengers and crew, and
+shuns not to declare the whole counsel of God, even the unpalatable
+doctrine of the future punishment of the wicked. He says: "The threats
+and opposition of these men made me willing to set before them the
+truths they hated, yet I had no species of hesitation about doing it.
+They said they would not come if so much hell was preached, but I took
+for my text, 'The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations
+that forget God.' The officers were all behind my back in order to
+have an opportunity of retiring in case of dislike. H., as soon as he
+heard the text, went back and said he would hear no more about hell;
+so he employed himself in feeding the geese. However, God I trust
+blessed the sermon to the good of many; some of the cadets and many of
+the soldiers were in tears. I felt an ardor and vehemence in some
+parts which are unusual with me. After service walked the deck with
+Mrs. ----; she spoke with so much simplicity and amiable humility that
+I was full of joy and admiration to God for a sheep brought home to
+His fold. In the afternoon went below intending to read to them at the
+hatchway, but there was not one of them, so I could get nothing to do
+among the poor soldiers."
+
+What a picture revealing Henry Martyn's character!--the contrasting
+attributes of sternness and gentleness, his martyrlike determination
+to do his whole duty at any cost to himself from suffering and insult,
+the keen shrinking of a nature so refined and sensitive from
+coarseness and abuse, undeviating yet uncompromising, bringing to our
+thoughts the Divine Exemplar. I pass by the incidents of the voyage,
+including mutiny, sickness and death, romantic stay at St. Salvador,
+battles at the Cape of Good Hope, etc., eloquently and vividly
+recorded.
+
+The Friday preceding his arrival in India he spends "in praying that
+God would no longer delay exerting his power in the conversion of the
+eastern nations. I felt emboldened" he says, "to employ the most
+familiar petitions by Is. xii. 6, 7, 'Keep not silence; give him no
+rest,' etc. Blessed be God for those words! They are like a cordial to
+my spirits, because if the Lord is not pleased by me or during my
+lifetime to call the Gentiles, yet He is not offended at my being
+urgent with Him that the kingdom of God may come."
+
+April 21, 1806, the nine months' journey is complete, and they land at
+Madras. Mr. Martyn gives first impressions and description of the
+natives, ending in these words: "In general, one thought naturally
+occurred: the conversion of their poor souls. I am willing, I trust,
+through grace, to pass my life among them if by any means these poor
+people may be brought to God. The sight of men, women and children,
+all idolaters, makes me shudder as if in the dominions of the prince
+of darkness. Hearing the hymn, 'Before Jehovah's awful throne,' it
+excited a train of affecting thoughts in my mind."
+
+"Wide as the world is thy command. Therefore it is easy for Thee to
+spread abroad Thy holy name. But oh, how gross the darkness here! The
+veil of the covering cast over all nations seems thicker here; the
+friends of darkness seem to sit in sullen repose in this land. What
+surprises me is the change of views I have here from what I had in
+England. There my heart expanded with hope and joy at the prospect of
+the speedy conversion of the heathen; but here the sight of the
+apparent impossibility requires a strong faith to support the
+spirits." Ah, how vividly this describes missionary experiences! After
+great peril from storm and illness, passing up the Hoogly from Madras,
+Mr. Martyn arrived at Calcutta, May 14. In this city for years had
+been a band of English Christians faithfully praying for the coming of
+the kingdom in that dark land, and into the home of one of these, Rev.
+David Brown, was Mr. Martyn received with much affection. A pagoda in
+one end of the yard on the river bank was fitted up for him, and the
+place where once devils were worshiped now became a Christian oratory.
+The first experience here was of severe illness from acclimating
+fever, from which he was kindly nursed into convalescence. He then
+applied himself earnestly to the study of the Hindoostanee, having
+engaged a Brahmin as a teacher. Here he witnessed with horror the
+cruel and debasing rites of heathenism. The blaze of a funeral pile
+caused him one day to hasten to the rescue of a burning widow who was
+consumed before his eyes. And in a dark wood he heard the sound of
+cymbals and drums calling the poor natives to the worship of devils,
+and saw them prostrate with their foreheads to the ground before a
+black image in a pagoda surrounded with burning lights--a sight which
+he contemplated with overwhelming compassion, "shivering as if
+standing in the neighborhood of hell."
+
+Mr. Martyn's plain and pungent preaching was a great offense to some
+of the easy-going formalists of the English church at Calcutta, and
+some of the ministry attacked him bitterly from their pulpits,
+declaring, for instance, that to affirm repentance to be the gift of
+God and to teach that nature is wholly corrupt, is to drive men to
+despair, and that to suppose the righteousness of Christ sufficient to
+justify is to make it unnecessary to have any of our own. Though
+compelled to listen to such downright heresies, to hear himself
+described as knowing neither what he said nor whereof he affirmed, and
+as aiming only to gratify self sufficiency, pride and
+uncharitableness,--"I rejoiced," said this meek and holy man, "to
+receive the Lord's supper afterwards;--as the solemnities of that
+blessed ordinance sweetly tended to soothe any asperity of mind, and I
+think that I administered the cup to ---- and ---- with sincere good
+will."
+
+September 13, 1806, Mr. Martyn received his appointment to Singapore.
+A farewell meeting of great interest was held in his pagoda, followed
+by a tender parting from the family who had been so kind to him, and
+two fellow laborers who, following his bright example, had just come
+out from England. The voyage to Singapore was performed in a budgero,
+a small boat with a cabin, in which he studied and translated and
+prayed while making the seventeen or eighteen miles a day of the
+six-weeks' journey. At night the boat was fastened to the shore. His
+journal record of these days is very interesting and very
+characteristic. He says:
+
+"October 27. Arrived at Berhampore. In the evening walked out to the
+hospital in which there were 150 European soldiers sick. I was talking
+to a man said to be dying, when a surgeon entered. I went up and made
+some apology for entering the hospital. It was my old school-fellow
+and townsman, ----. The remainder of the evening he spent with me in
+my budgero.
+
+"October 28. Rose very early and was at the hospital at daylight.
+Waited there a long time wandering up and down the wards in hopes of
+inducing the men to get up and assemble, but it was in vain. I left
+three books with them and went away amidst the sneers and titters of
+the common soldiers. Certainly it is one of the greatest crosses I am
+called to bear to take pains to make people hear me. It is such a
+struggle between a sense of propriety and modesty on the one hand, and
+a sense of duty on the other, that I find nothing equal to it. I could
+force my way anywhere, in order to introduce a brother minister; but
+for myself, I act with hesitation and pain.
+
+"Walking out into a village where the boat stopped for the night I
+found the worshipers of Kali by the sound of their drums and cymbals.
+Invited by the Brahmins to walk in I entered and asked a few questions
+about the idol. The Brahmin who spoke bad Hindoostanee disputed with
+great heat, and his tongue ran faster than I could follow, and the
+people, about one hundred, shouted applause. I continued my questions
+and among other things asked if what I had heard of Vishnu and Brahma
+was true, which he confessed. I forbore to press him with the
+consequences, which he seemed to feel; and then I told him what was my
+belief. The man grew quite mild and said it was _chula bat_ (good
+words), and asked me seriously at last what I thought, 'Was idol
+worship true or false?' I felt it a matter of thankfulness that I
+could make known the truth of God though a stammerer and that I had
+declared it in the presence of the devil. And this also I learnt, that
+the power of gentleness is irresistible. I never was more astonished
+than at the change in deportment of this hot-headed Brahmin.... Came
+to on the eastern bank below a village called Ahgadup. Wherever I
+walked the women fled at the sight of me. Some men were sitting under
+the shed dedicated to their goddess; a lamp was burning in her place.
+A conversation soon began, but there was no one who could speak
+Hindoostanee. I could only speak by the medium of my Mussulman,
+Musalchee. They said that they only did as others did, and that if
+they were wrong then all Bengal was wrong. I felt love for their
+souls, and longed for utterance to declare unto these poor simple
+people the holy gospel. I think that when my mouth is opened I shall
+preach to them day and night.
+
+"October 31. My Moonshee said, 'How can you prove this book (the
+gospel), to be the word of God?' I took him to walk with me on the
+shore that we might discuss the matter, and the result of our
+conversation was that I discovered that the Mussulmen allow the gospel
+to be in general the command of God, though the words of it are not
+His as the words of the Koran are, and contend that the actual words
+of God given to Jesus were burnt by the Jews; that they also admit the
+New Testament to have been in force till the coming of Mohammed. When
+I quoted some passages which proved the Christian dispensation to be
+the final one, he allowed it to be inconsistent with the divinity of
+the Koran, but said, 'Then those words of the gospel must be false.'
+The man argued and asked his questions seemingly in earnest, and
+another new impression was left upon my mind, namely, that these men
+are not fools and that all ingenuity and clearness of reasoning are
+not confined to England and Europe. I seem to feel that these
+descendants of Ham are as dear to God as the haughty sons of Japheth;
+I feel, too, more at home with the Scriptures than ever; everything I
+see gives light to, and receives it from, the Scriptures. I seem
+transported back to the ancient times of the Israelites and the
+Apostles. My spirit felt composed after the dispute by simply looking
+to God as one who had engaged to support His own cause; and I saw it
+to be my part to pursue my way through the wilderness of this world,
+looking only to that redemption which daily draweth nigh. How should
+this consideration quell the tumult of anger and impatience when I
+cannot convince men 'the government is on His shoulders?' Jesus is
+able to bear the weight of it; therefore we need not be oppressed with
+care or fear, but a missionary is apt to fancy himself an Atlas.
+
+"November 2. Walking on shore met a large party. I asked if any of
+them could read. One young man who seemed superior in rank to the
+rest, said he could, and accordingly read some of the only Nagree
+tract that I had. I then addressed myself boldly to them and told them
+of the gospel. When speaking of the inefficacy of the religious
+practices of the Hindoos I mentioned as an example the repetition of
+the name of Ram. The young man assented to this and said, 'of what use
+is it?' As he seemed to be of a pensive turn and said this with marks
+of disgust, I gave him a Nagree Testament, the first I have given. May
+God's blessing go along with it and cause the eyes of the multitudes
+to be opened. The men said they should be glad to receive tracts, so I
+sent them back a considerable number. The idea of printing the
+parables in proper order with a short explanation to each, for the
+purpose of distribution and as school books, suggested itself to me
+to-night and delighted me prodigiously.... A Mussulman, when he
+received one of the tracts and found what it was, was greatly alarmed,
+and after many awkward apologies, returned it, saying that 'a man who
+had his legs in two different boats, was in danger of sinking between
+them.'"
+
+Established at Singapore, Mr. Martyn began upon three different lines
+of work, establishing schools, attaining readiness in Hindoostanee so
+as to preach the gospel in that language, and translating the
+Scriptures and religious books. To his great discouragement he was
+informed by the Pundit that every four miles the language changed, so
+that a book in the dialect of one district would be unintelligible to
+the people of another. Being advised to learn Sanscrit, he took up
+this language with great zeal. The commencement of Mr. Martyn's
+ministry amongst the Europeans of Singapore was not of such a kind as
+to either gratify or encourage him. At first he read prayers to the
+soldiers at the barracks from the drumhead, and as there were no seats
+provided, was desired to omit the sermon. Afterwards more decent
+arrangements being made, the families came in; but taking offense at
+his evangelical plainness, they asked that he should desist from
+extempore preaching. These European members of his flock were jealous
+and angry at his constant efforts for the salvation of the heathen
+natives. They thought it much beneath the dignity of an English
+chaplain to care for these degraded souls. Some of Mr. Martyn's duties
+as chaplain were exceedingly onerous. On several occasions he was
+summoned to distant places involving long and dangerous journeys to
+perform a marriage ceremony. On these journeys he suffered severely,
+and they were a great draft upon his very delicate health; always weak
+and languid, and often alarmingly disordered. Yet through all he
+continued to labor incessantly. Every Sabbath he held at least four
+services: at 7 for Europeans; at 2 for Hindoos, about two hundred in
+attendance; in the afternoon at the hospital; in the evening in his
+own room for the soldiers. In his household were two natives who
+assisted in his studies and translations, the Moonshee and the Pundit,
+with whom he held long disputes and with whom he labored daily, though
+unsuccessfully, to bring them to faith in Christ. He says,
+"translating the epistle of St. John with the Moonshee, I asked him
+what he thought of those passages which so strongly express the
+doctrines of the Trinity and of the divinity of Christ. He said he
+never would believe it, because the Koran declared it sinful to say
+that God had any Son. I told him that he ought to pray that God would
+teach him what the truth really is. He said he had no occasion on this
+subject, as the word of God was express. I asked him whether some
+doubt ought not to arise in his mind whether the Koran is the word of
+God. He grew angry, and I felt hurt and vexed. I should have done
+better to have left the words of the chapter with him without saying
+anything. I went also too far with the Pundit in arguing against his
+superstition, for he also grew angry." If any qualification seems
+necessary to a missionary in India it is wisdom--operating in the
+regulation of the temper and the due improvement of opportunities. Mr.
+Martyn needed the heavenly gift of wisdom also in the management of
+his native schools, five or six of which were supported by himself in
+Singapore. Little by little he succeeded in introducing as a text-book
+a part of the Bible--his own translation of the sermon on the Mount
+and the Parables. He was called to do more and more of this work of
+translating the Scriptures, and was persuaded by the Rev. David Brown
+not only to continue the Hindoostanee, but to superintend the
+translation of the Scriptures into Persian. He engaged in it at once
+with zeal. He writes: "The time fled imperceptibly while so
+delightfully engaged in the translations; the days seemed to have
+passed like a moment. What do I not owe to the Lord for permitting me
+to take part in a translation of His word? Never did I see such wonder
+and wisdom and love in the blessed Book as since I have been obliged
+to study every expression. Employed a good while at night in
+considering a difficult passage, and being much enlightened respecting
+it, I went to bed full of astonishment at the wonder of God's Word.
+Never before did I see anything of the beauty of the language and the
+importance of the thoughts as I do now. What a source of perpetual
+delight have I in the precious Word of God!"
+
+This ecstasy of enthusiasm in most successful and congenial labor was
+suddenly dashed by a great wave of sorrow which came to Mr. Martyn in
+the news of the death of his eldest sister. To missionaries in foreign
+lands such news is especially bitter, and to recover from such a shock
+and sense of irreparable loss seems almost impossible. The mind,
+unsatisfied with details of the sad event, is left in shadow which
+deepens into heavy gloom. Mr. Martyn was all alone and felt it keenly
+and inexpressibly. Some of his most intimate and sympathetic friends
+at this time, realizing how it was not good for him to be alone,
+encouraged him to renew his matrimonial offer to his ever beloved L.
+After her refusal he says, "The Lord sanctify this, and since this
+last desire of my heart is also withheld may I turn away forever from
+the world and henceforth live forgetful of all but God. With Thee, O
+my God, is no disappointment. I shall never have to regret that I have
+loved Thee too well. Thou hast said, 'delight thyself in the Lord, and
+he shall give thee the desires of thy heart.'"
+
+Could sweeter words than these be expressed in any language! Could
+greater depths of submission or heights of consecration be attained!
+They deserve to be recorded on imperishable marble or blazoned on the
+sky in sight of all, and received as the confession of every Christian
+heart, to the honor and praise of Him who gave such glorious victory
+to this tried soldier of the cross.
+
+Providentially for Mr. Martyn's comfort his thoughts were much
+occupied after this by the arrival of his coadjutors in the work of
+translation, one of these, Mirza of Benares, well known in India as an
+eminent Hindoostanee scholar; the other Sabat the Arabian, since but
+too well known both in India and England by his rejection of that
+faith which he then appeared to profess in sincerity and faith. In the
+latter of these Mr. Martyn confidently trusted that he had found a
+Christian brother with respect to the reality of his belief in
+Christianity, although Mr. Martyn immediately discovered in him an
+unsubdued Arab spirit, and witnessed with pain many deflections from
+that temper and conduct which he himself so eminently exemplified;
+yet, he could not but "believe all things and hope all things," even
+while he continued to suffer much from him, and for a length of time,
+with unparalleled forbearance and kindness. Sabat's temper was a
+continual trial and mortification. The very first Sabbath in
+Singapore, imagining he was not treated with sufficient dignity, he
+left the church before service in great anger. Often in the midst of
+the translation he would come to a sudden stop and refuse to go on for
+the most trivial reasons, sometimes for fear that Mirza who would
+review the work might have part of the honor. About this time Mr.
+Martyn was much bereaved by the removal of a family with whom he had
+lived in intimate terms of Christian intercourse. "This separation
+affected him the more sensibly because it was not in every family at
+that station that he met with a kind and cordial reception." He says,
+"I called on one of the Singapore families, and felt my pride rise at
+the uncivil manner in which I was received. I was disposed at first to
+determine never to visit the house again, but I remembered the words,
+'overcome evil with good.'"
+
+In the month of March, 1808, the New Testament in Hindoostanee was
+completed. He says, "I have read and corrected the manuscript till my
+eyes ache; such a week of labor I believe I have never passed. The
+heat is terrible, often at 98 degrees, the nights insupportable." We
+next hear of Mr. Martyn suffering from severe illness with fever and
+vertigo, and pained with the thought of leaving the Persian gospels
+unfinished! So unselfish, so full of zeal! Again at work, mercury at
+102 degrees. "Arabic now employs my few moments of leisure. In
+consequence of reading the Koran with Sabat audibly, and drinking no
+wine, the slander has gone forth that the Singapore Padre has turned
+Mussulman.
+
+"June 6th. To-day we have completed the Persian of St. Matthew. Sabat
+desired me to kneel down to bless God for the happy event, and we
+joined in praise of the Father of lights. It is a superb performance
+in every respect, with elegance enough to attract the careless and
+please the fastidious; it contains enough of Eternal Life to save the
+reader's soul.... My services on the Lord's day always leave me with a
+pain in the chest, and such a great degree of general relaxation, that
+I seldom recover it till Tuesday. The society still meet every night
+at my quarters, and though we have lost many by death, others are
+raised up in their room. One officer, a lieutenant, is also given to
+me, and he is not only a brother beloved, but a constant companion and
+nurse; so you must feel no apprehension that I should be left alone in
+sickness."
+
+In April, 1809, Mr. Martyn removes from Dinapore to Cawnpore. Here he
+met friendship and hospitality. We quote from the graceful pen of Mrs.
+Sherwood: "The month of April in the upper provinces of Hindoostan is
+one of the most dreadful months for traveling throughout the year;
+indeed, no European at that time can remove from place to place, but
+at the risk of his life.
+
+"But Mr. Martyn had that anxiety to begin the work which his heavenly
+Father had given him to do, that notwithstanding the violent heat, he
+traveled from Chunar to Cawnpore, the space of about four hundred
+miles. At that time as I well remember, the air was as hot and dry as
+that which I have sometimes felt near the mouth of a large oven, no
+friendly cloud or verdant carpet of grass to relieve the eye from the
+strong glare of the rays of the sun pouring on the sandy plains of the
+Ganges. Thus Mr. Martyn traveled, journeying night and day, and
+arrived at Cawnpore in such a state that he fainted away as soon as he
+entered the house. When we charged him with the rashness of hazarding
+his life in this manner, he always pleaded his anxiety to get to the
+great work. He remained with us ten days, suffering considerably at
+times from fever and pain in the chest.
+
+"Mr. Martyn's removal from Dinapore to Cawnpore was to him in many
+respects a very unpleasant arrangement. He was several hundred miles
+farther distant from Calcutta and more widely separated than before
+from his friend Mr. Corrie. He had new acquaintances to form at his
+new abode, and after having with much difficulty procured the erection
+of a church at Dinapore he was transported to a spot where none of the
+conveniences, much less the decencies and solemnities of public
+worship, were visible.
+
+"We find him soon after he arrived there preaching to a thousand
+soldiers drawn up in a hollow square, when the heat was so great,
+although the sun had not risen, that many actually dropped down,
+unable to support it."
+
+Yet Mr. Martyn's labors were not abated. Every Sabbath at dawn were
+prayers and sermon with the regiment, and again at eleven at the house
+of the general of the station. In the afternoon he preached to a crowd
+of poor natives, five, to eight hundred, rude, noisy, wretched
+beggars, for whose souls he felt a tender care. Again in the evening,
+the best of the day, he had a meeting with the more devout of his
+flock. These ministrations so earnestly performed were most
+exhausting, yet he knew not how to forego them; at this time, too,
+from England came the sad and sudden news of the death of his sister,
+the one who had led him to Christ.
+
+The alarming state of his health made some change necessary, and Mr.
+Martyn was urged to leave India and make trial of a sea voyage. His
+Persian New Testament had been criticised as unfit for general
+circulation, being written in a style too learned and exalted for the
+comprehension of the common people. He was advised to visit Persia and
+there revise his work and also complete his version in Arabic, almost
+finished. Mr. Brown, his devoted friend, and the Calcutta agent of the
+British and Foreign Bible Society, thus writes: "Can I then bring
+myself to cut the string and let you go? I confess I could not if your
+bodily frame were strong, and promised to last for half a century. But
+as you burn with the intenseness and rapid blaze of heated phosphorus,
+why should we not make the most of you? Your flame may last as long
+and perhaps longer in Arabia, than in India. Where should the Phoenix
+build her odoriferous nest, but in the land prophetically called 'the
+blessed?' and where shall we ever expect, but from that country, the
+true Comforter to come to the nations of the East? I contemplate your
+New Testament springing up, as it were, from dust and ashes, but
+beautiful as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and his feathers
+like yellow gold." His farewell services at Cawnpore were very tender
+and affecting, both with his great audience of natives and Englishmen.
+Of the latter, Mrs. Sherwood says: "He began in a weak and faint
+voice, being at that time in a very bad state of health; but,
+gathering strength as he proceeded, he seemed as one inspired from on
+high. Never was an audience more affected. The next day this holy and
+heavenly man left Cawnpore and the society of many who sincerely loved
+and admired him." Stopping to visit the friends in Calcutta, the Rev.
+Mr. Thomason says: "This bright and lovely jewel first gratified our
+eyes on Saturday last. He is on his way to Arabia, where he is going
+in pursuit of health and knowledge. You know his genius, and what
+gigantic strides he takes in everything. He has some great plan in his
+mind, of which I am no competent judge; but as far as I do understand
+it, the object is far too grand for one short life, and much beyond
+his feeble and exhausted frame. Feeble it is, indeed; how fallen and
+changed! His complaint lies in his lungs and appears to be an
+incipient consumption. But let us hope the sea air may revive him, and
+that change may do him essential service and continue his life many
+years. In all other respects he is exactly the same as he was; he
+shines in all the dignity of love, and seems to carry about him such a
+heavenly majesty as impresses the mind beyond description. But if he
+talks much, though in a low voice, he sinks, and you are reminded of
+his being dust and ashes." Though so infirm, Mr. Martyn preached every
+Sabbath of his visit, and his last sermon on the anniversary of the
+Calcutta Bible Society was afterwards printed and entitled "Christian
+India, or an appeal on behalf of nine hundred thousand Christians in
+India who want the Bible."
+
+
+
+
+LIFE IN PERSIA.
+
+
+From this time a change comes over Mr. Martyn's varied life. We have
+seen him the successful candidate for academical distinctions--the
+faithful and laborious pastor--the self-denying and devoted
+missionary--the indefatigable translator--the preacher of the gospel
+to the heathen; we are now called to admire in him the courageous
+spirit of the Christian confessor.
+
+He says, on his voyage towards Persia: "All down the Bay of Bengal I
+could do nothing but sit listless, viewing the wide waste of water, a
+sight that would have been beautiful had I been well. In my Hebrew
+researches I scarcely ever felt so discouraged. All the knowledge I
+thought I had acquired became uncertain, and consequently I was
+unhappy. It was in vain that I reflected that thousands live and die
+happy without such knowledge as I am in search of.
+
+"Proposed family prayer every night in the cabin--no objection was
+made.
+
+"February 18, anchored off Bombay. This day I finished the thirtieth
+year of my unprofitable life, the age at which David Brainerd finished
+his course. I am now at the age at which the Savior of men began his
+ministry, and at which John the Baptist called a nation to repentance.
+Hitherto I have made my youth and insignificance an excuse for sloth
+and imbecility, now let me have a character and act boldly for God.
+
+"March 5. Feerog, a Parsee who is considered the most learned man
+here, called to converse about religion. He spoke Persian and seemed
+familiar with Arabic. He began by saying that no one religion had more
+evidences of its truth than another, for that all the miracles of the
+respective founders depended upon tradition. This I denied. He
+acknowledged that the writer of the Zendavesta was not cotemporary
+with Zoroaster. After disputing and raising objections he was left
+without an answer, but continued to cavil. 'Why' said he, 'did the
+Magi see the star in the East and none else? from what part of the
+East did they come? and how was it possible that their king should
+come to Jerusalem in seven days?' The last piece of information he had
+from the Armenians. I asked him whether he had any thoughts of
+changing his religion. He replied with a contemptuous smile, 'No,
+every man is safe in his own religion.' I asked him, 'What sinners
+must do to obtain pardon?' 'Repent,' said he. I asked, 'Would
+repentance satisfy a creditor or a judge?' 'Why, is it not said in the
+gospel,' rejoined he, 'that we must repent?' I replied, 'It cannot be
+proved from the gospel that repentance alone is sufficient, or good
+works, or both.' 'Where then is the glory of salvation?' he said; I
+replied, 'In the atonement of Christ.' 'All this' said he, 'I know,
+but so the Mohammedans say, that Hosyn was an atonement for the sins
+of men.' He then began to criticise the translations he saw on the
+table.
+
+"April 23. Moscat, Arabia. Went on shore and met the Vizier. His
+African slave argued with me for Mohammed and did not know how to let
+me go, he was so interested in the business.
+
+"April 25. Gave him an Arabic copy of the gospel, which he at once
+began to read, and carried it off as a great prize, which I hope he
+will find it to be.
+
+"Bushire, Persia. Called on the governor, a Persian Khan. He was very
+particular in his attentions. Seated me on his own seat and then sat
+by my side. After the usual salutations and inquiries the calean
+(pipe), was introduced, then coffee in china cups placed within silver
+ones, then calean, then some rose-water syrup, then calean. Observing
+the windows of stained glass, I began to question him about the art of
+coloring glass, observing that the modern Europeans were inferior to
+the ancient in the manufacture of the article. He expressed his
+surprise that Europeans, who were so skillful in making watches,
+should fail in any handicraft work. I could not help recollecting the
+Emperor of China's sarcastic remark on the Europeans and their arts,
+and therefore dropped the subject. On his calean--I called it hookah
+at first, but he did not understand me--I noticed several little
+paintings of the Virgin and child, and asked him whether such things
+were not unlawful among Mohammedans. He answered very coolly 'Yes,' as
+much as to say, 'What then?' I lamented that the Eastern Christians
+should use such things in their churches. He repeated the words of a
+good man who was found fault with for having an image before him while
+at prayer, 'God is nearer to me than that image, so that I do not see
+it.' This man, I afterwards found, is like most of the other grandees
+of the East, a murderer.
+
+"On the 30th of May, our Persian dresses were ready, and we set out
+for Shiraz. The Persian dress consists of first, stockings and shoes
+in one; next, a pair of large blue trousers, or else a pair of huge
+red boots; then the shirt, then the tunic, and above it the coat, both
+of chintz, and a great coat. I have here described my own dress, most
+of which I have on at this moment. On the head is worn an enormous
+cone made of the skin of the black Tartar sheep with the wool on. If
+to this description of my dress I add that my beard and mustachios
+have been suffered to vegetate undisturbed ever since I left India;
+that I am sitting on a Persian carpet, in a room without tables or
+chairs, and that I bury my hand in the pillar (rice), without waiting
+for spoon or plate, you will give me credit for being already an
+accomplished Oriental.
+
+"At ten o'clock on the 30th our califa began to move. It consisted
+chiefly of mules with a few horses. I wished to have a mule, but the
+muleteer favored me with his own pony; this animal had a bell fastened
+to its neck. To add solemnity to the scene, a Bombay trumpeter who was
+going to join the embassy was directed to blow a blast as we moved off
+the ground; but whether it was that the trumpeter was not an adept in
+the science or that his instrument was out of order, the crazy sounds
+that saluted our ears had a ludicrous effect. At last, after some
+jostling, mutual recriminations and recalcitrating of the steeds, we
+each found our places and moved out of the gate of the city in good
+order. The residents accompanied us a little way, and then left us to
+pursue our journey over the plain. It was a fine moonlight night, the
+scene new and perfectly oriental, and nothing prevented me from
+indulging my own reflections. As the night advanced the califa grew
+quiet; on a sudden one of the muleteers began to sing, and sang in a
+voice so plaintive that it was impossible not to have one's attention
+arrested. Every voice was hushed.
+
+"These were the words translated:
+
+  Think not that e'er my heart could dwell
+    Contented far from thee,
+  How can the fresh-caught nightingale
+    Enjoy tranquility?
+
+  Oh, then forsake thy friend for naught
+    That slanderous tongues can say,
+  The heart that fixeth where it ought
+    No power can rend away.
+
+"Thus far our journey was agreeable. Now for miseries. At sunrise we
+came to our ground at Ahmedu, six parasangs, and pitched our little
+tent under a tree; it was the only shelter we could get. At first the
+heat was not greater than we had felt in India, but it soon became so
+intense as to be quite alarming. When the thermometer was above 112
+degrees, fever heat, I began to lose my strength fast; at last it
+became quite intolerable. I wrapped myself up in a blanket and all the
+warm covering I could get to defend myself from the external air, by
+which means the moisture was kept a little longer upon the body, and
+not so speedily evaporated as when the skin was exposed. One of my
+companions followed my example and found the benefit of it. But the
+thermometer still rising, and the moisture of the body being quite
+exhausted, I grew restless and thought I should have lost my senses.
+The thermometer at last stood at 126 degrees. In this state I composed
+myself and concluded that, though I might hold out but a day or two,
+death was inevitable. Captain ---- continued to tell the hour and
+heights of the thermometer, and with pleasure we heard of it sinking
+to 120 degrees, 118 degrees, etc. At last the fierce sun retired and I
+crept out more dead than alive. The next day we secured some comfort
+from a large wet towel wrapped about the head and body. At sunset,
+rising to go out, a scorpion fell upon my clothes. The night before we
+found a black scorpion in our tent, that made us uneasy, so we got no
+sleep."
+
+June 9 Mr. Martyn arrived at Shiraz, the celebrated seat of Persian
+literature, and at once began work upon his translation with the
+efficient help of Mirza Seid Ali Khan. In this work he had many
+interruptions, being himself an object of attention and curiosity. He
+received many calls, and unwilling to lose any opportunity of
+benefiting the inhabitants of Shiraz, was never inaccessible to them.
+He says, "June 17, in the evening, Seid Ali came with two Moollahs,
+and with them I had a very long and temperate discussion. One of them
+read the beginning of John in Arabic and inquired very particularly
+into our opinions respecting the person of Christ, and when he was
+informed that we did not consider His human nature eternal nor His
+mother divine, seemed quite satisfied, and remarked to the others,
+'how much misapprehension is removed when people come to an
+explanation.'"
+
+"June 22. The Prince's secretary called to talk about Soofeeism. They
+believe they know not what. He thought to excite my wonder by telling
+me that I and every created being was God.
+
+"June 26. Two young men from the college came, full of zeal and logic,
+to try me with hard questions such as, whether being be but one or
+two? What is the state and form of disembodied spirits? and other
+foolish and unlearned questions ministering strife. At last, one of
+them discovered the true cause of his coming by asking me bluntly to
+bring a proof of the religion of Christ. You allow the divine mission
+of Christ, said I, why need I prove it? Not being able to draw me into
+an argument they said what they wished to say, namely, that I had no
+other proof for the miracles of Christ than they had for those of
+Mohammed, which is tradition. 'Softly' I said, 'You will be pleased to
+observe a difference between your books and ours, when by tradition we
+have reached our several books, our narrators were eye witnesses;
+yours are not, nor nearly so.'
+
+"In the evening Seid Ali asked me the cause of evil. I said I knew
+nothing about it. He thought he could tell me, so I let him reason on
+till he soon found he knew as little about the matter as myself. He
+wanted to prove that there was no real difference between good and
+evil; that it was only apparent. I observed that the difference, if
+only apparent, was the cause of a great deal of misery.
+
+"June 30, Sunday. Preached to the Ambassador's suite on the 'Faithful
+Saying.' In the evening baptized his child. Zachariah told me this
+morning that I was the town talk." Indeed Shiraz was stirred to its
+depth by the presence of Mr. Martyn during the whole year of his stay.
+Men of every kind, especially the learned and zealous, came singly and
+in groups almost every day to argue and dispute against Christ. Now it
+was a party of Armenians, now learned Jews, now a prince, now a
+general, now the very Moojtuhid himself, the professor of Mohammedan
+law. This great dignitary invited Mr. Martyn to his house, where for
+hours he talked on and on, defending his Prophet and showing his
+learning; he was greatly annoyed at any difference of opinion, and
+decided it was "quite useless for Mohammedans and Christians to argue
+together, as they had different languages and different histories."
+But fearing Mr. Martyn's influence he was stirred to write a defense
+of his faith, which was said to surpass all former treatises on Islam.
+He concludes it in these words, addressed to Mr. Martyn: "Oh, thou
+that art wise! consider with the eye of justice, since thou hast no
+excuse to offer to God. Thou hast wished to see the truth of miracles.
+We desire you to look at the great Koran: that is an everlasting
+miracle." Mr. Martyn replied, showing why men are bound to reject
+Mohammedanism; that Mohammed was foretold by no prophet, worked no
+miracles, spread his religion by means merely human, appeals to man's
+lowest and sensual nature, that he was ambitious for himself and
+family, that the Koran is full of absurdities and contradictions, that
+it contains a method of salvation wholly inefficacious, sadly
+contrasting with the divine atonement of Jesus Christ. The Prince's
+nephew, hearing of the attack on Mohammed, said, "the proper answer to
+it is the sword."
+
+Mr. Martyn writes, February 8: "This is my birthday, on which I
+complete my thirty-first year. The Persian New Testament has been
+begun and finished in it. Such a painful year I never passed, owing to
+the privations I have been called to, on the one hand, and the
+spectacle before me of human depravity on the other. But I hope I have
+not come to this seat of Satan in vain. The Word of God has found its
+way into Persia, and it is not in Satan's power to oppose its progress
+if the Lord hath sent it."
+
+The Psalms in Persian was finished by the middle of March.
+
+On the 23d Mr. Martyn writes: "I called on the Vizier. In the court
+where he received me, Mirza Ibraheem was lecturing. Finding myself so
+near my old and respectable antagonist, I expressed a wish to see him,
+on which Jaffier Ali Khan went up to ascertain if my visit would be
+agreeable. The master consented, but some of the disciples demurred.
+At last, one of them, observing that by the blessing of God on the
+master's conversation I might possibly be converted, it was agreed
+that I should be invited to ascend. Then it became a question where I
+ought to sit. Below all would not be respectful to a stranger, but
+above all the Moollahs could not be tolerated. I entered and was
+surprised at the numbers. The room was lined with Moollahs on both
+sides and at the top. I was about to sit down on the floor but was
+beckoned to an empty place near the top, opposite to the master, who,
+after the usual compliments, without further ceremony, asked me, 'What
+we meant by calling Christ, God?' War being thus unequivocally
+declared, I had nothing to do but stand upon the defensive. Mirza
+Ibraheem argued temperately enough; but of the rest, some were very
+violent and clamorous. The former asked 'if Christ had ever called
+himself God--was he the Creator or a creature?' I replied, 'The
+Creator.' The Moollahs looked at one another. Such a confession had
+never before been heard among the Mohammedan doctors.
+
+"One Moollah wanted to controvert some of my illustrations by
+interrogating me about the personality of Christ. To all his questions
+I replied by requesting the same information respecting his own
+person. To another, who was rather contemptuous and violent, I said
+'If you do not approve of our doctrine, will you be so good as to say
+what God is, according to you, that I may worship a proper object?'
+One said, 'the author of the universe.' 'I can form no idea from these
+words,' said I, 'but of a workman at work upon a vast number of
+materials. Is that a correct notion?' Another said, 'One who came of
+himself into being.' 'So then he came,' I replied, 'out of one place
+into another, and before he came he was not. Is this an abstract and
+refined notion?' After this no one asked me any more questions, and
+for fear the dispute should be renewed Jaffier Ali Khan carried me
+away."
+
+When we think of the bigotry and intolerance of these people and of
+Mr. Martyn's unflinching courage single-handed and alone, declaring
+the truth and preaching Christ, exposed to the greatest personal
+danger, contempt and insult, but unabashed, he stands before the world
+during his Shiraz residence as one of the bravest and grandest heroes
+that has ever lived. Such a spectacle is thrilling and sublime. God
+was with him to protect him and to inspire his magnificent
+confessions. A figure-head in history! A sight for angels and for men!
+
+                    Faithful found
+  Among the faithless, faithful only he,
+  Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified,
+  His loyalty he kept, his zeal, his love.
+
+And God was with him to cheer and comfort, and we rejoice to know that
+some of the scenes of his life in Shiraz were quiet and restful. At
+one time a tent was pitched for him in a garden in the suburbs of the
+city.
+
+Living amidst clusters of grapes by the side of a clear stream and
+frequently sitting under the shade of an orange tree, which Jaffier
+Ali Khan delighted to point out to visitors, until the day of his own
+departure, he passed many a tranquil hour, and enjoyed many a Sabbath
+of holy rest and divine refreshment.
+
+He says: "Passed some days at Jaffier Ali Khan's garden with Mirza
+Seid Ali, Aga Baba, Sheikh Abul Hassam, reading at their request the
+Old Testament histories. Their attention to the word and their love
+and respect for me seemed to increase as the time for my departure
+approached. Aga Baba, who had been reading St. Matthew, related very
+circumstantially to the company the particulars of the death of
+Christ. The bed of roses on which we sat and the notes of the
+nightingales warbling around us, were not so sweet to me as this
+discourse from the Persian."
+
+The plain of Shiraz is covered with ancient ruins, and contains the
+tombs of the poets Zaadi and Hafiz.
+
+  A vision of the bright Shiraz, of Persian bards the theme;
+  The vine with bunches laden hangs o'er the crystal stream;
+  The nightingale all day her notes in rosy thicket trills,
+  And the brooding heat-mist faintly lies along the distant hills.
+
+  About the plain are scattered wide in many a crumbling heap,
+  The fanes of other days, and tombs where Iran's poets sleep;
+  And in the midst, like burnished gems, in noonday light repose
+  The minarets of bright Shiraz,--the City of the Rose.
+
+  One group beside the river bank in rapt discourse are seen,
+  Where hangs the golden orange on its boughs of purest green;
+  Their words are sweet and low, and their looks are lit with joy,
+  Some holy blessing seems to rest on them and their employ.
+
+  The pale-faced Frank among them sits; what brought him from afar?
+  Nor bears he bales of merchandise, nor teaches skill in war;
+  One pearl alone he brings with him--the Book of life and death,--
+  One warfare only teaches he,--to fight the fight of faith.
+
+  And Iran's sons are round him, and one with solemn tone
+  Tells how the Lord of Glory was rejected by his own;
+  Tells from the wondrous gospel of the trial and the doom,--
+  The words divine of love and might,--the scourge, the cross, the tomb.
+
+  Far sweeter to the stranger's ear these eastern accents sound,
+  Than music of the nightingale that fills the air around;
+  Lovelier than balmiest odors sent from gardens of the rose,
+  The fragrance from the contrite soul and chastened lip that flows.
+
+  The nightingales have ceased to sing, the roses' leaves are shed,
+  The Frank's pale face in Tocat's field hath mouldered with the dead;
+  Alone and all unfriended midst his Master's work he fell,
+  With none to bathe his fevered brow, with none his tale to tell.
+
+  But still those sweet and solemn tones about him sound in bliss,
+  And fragrance from those flowers of God forevermore is his;
+  For his the meed, by grace, of those who rich in zeal and love,
+  Turn many unto righteousness, and shine as stars above.
+
+  1851.                                             --HENRY ALFORD.
+
+On the 24th of May, after a year's residence, Mr. Martyn left Shiraz,
+bearing his precious translation to be presented to the Shah. The
+journey was an occasion of disappointment, exposure and suffering.
+
+Arrived at the Shah's camp he says: "June 12th, attended the Vizier's
+levee, when there was a most intemperate and clamorous controversy
+kept up for an hour or two, eight or ten on one side, and I on the
+other. Amongst them were two Moollahs, the most ignorant of any I have
+met in Persia or India. It would be impossible to enumerate all the
+absurd things they said. Their vulgarity in interrupting me in the
+middle of a speech, their utter ignorance of the nature of an
+argument, their impudent assertions about the law and the gospel,
+neither of which they had ever seen in their lives, moved my
+indignation. The Vizier said, 'You had better say, God is God and
+Mohammed is the prophet of God.' I said, 'God is God,' but added,
+instead of 'Mohammed is the prophet of God,' 'Jesus is the Son of
+God.' They had no sooner heard this, which I had avoided bringing
+forward till then, than they all exclaimed in contempt and anger, 'He
+is neither born nor begets,' and rose up as if they would have torn me
+in pieces. One of them said, 'What will you say when your tongue is
+burnt out for this blasphemy?'
+
+"My book which I had brought, expecting to present it to the king, lay
+before Mirza Shufi. As they all rose up after him to go, some to the
+king, and some away, I was afraid they would trample upon the book; so
+I went in among them to take it up, and wrapped it in a towel before
+them, while they looked at it and me with supreme contempt. Thus I
+walked away alone to my tent to pass the rest of the day in heat and
+dirt. What have I done, thought I, to merit all this scorn? Nothing, I
+trust, but bearing testimony to Jesus. I thought over these things in
+prayer and found the peace which Christ hath promised. To complete the
+trials of the day a messenger came from the Vizier in the evening to
+say that it was the custom of the king not to see any Englishman
+unless presented by the ambassador or accredited by a letter from him,
+and that I must therefore wait till the king reached Sultania, where
+the ambassador would be."
+
+Traveling toward Tabriz he writes, June 22: "Met with the usual
+insulting treatment at the caravansarai when the king's servant had
+got possession of a good room built for the reception of the better
+order of guests; they seemed to delight in the opportunity of humbling
+a European--all along the road when the king is expected the people
+are patiently waiting as for some dreadful disaster; plague,
+pestilence or famine are nothing to the misery of being subject to the
+violence and extortion of this rabble soldiery.
+
+"June 26. Have eaten nothing now for two days. My mind much disordered
+from headache and giddiness;--but my heart is with Christ and His
+saints.
+
+"June 27. Passed the third day in the same exhausted state, my head
+tortured with shocking pains, such as, together with the horror I felt
+at being exposed to the sun, showed me plainly to what to ascribe my
+sickness."
+
+Thus in great illness and suffering Mr. Martyn reached Tabriz, and was
+nursed through a fever of two months' continuance at the ambassador's
+residence. This defeated his plan of presenting the Persian New
+Testament to the king--but it was afterwards done by Sir Gore Ouseley
+himself, and publicly received the royal approbation, and still later
+was printed in St. Petersburg.
+
+On leaving Cawnpore, Mr. Martyn had intended returning to England, but
+had willingly remained in Persia to finish the translation, which
+being now disposed of, he reverted to his original intention, and set
+out on his last fatal journey towards Constantinople, September 2. His
+journal is filled with expressions of gratitude for restored health,
+delight in the scenery of Tabriz, descriptions of the country and the
+journey, the Araxes river, the hoary peaks of Ararat, the governor's
+palace, the ancient Armenian church and monastery at Ech-Miazin, where
+he received great kindness from the Patriarch and the monks. He was
+profoundly impressed with the view from an elevated table-land looking
+out upon Persia, Russia and Turkey--a Pisgah vision, which excites in
+later missionaries a strong desire for Christian conquest. Describes
+Cars and Erzroom. September 29, left Erzroom. Was attacked with fever
+and ague.
+
+"September 30. Took nothing all day but tea; headache and loss of
+appetite depressed my spirits, yet my soul rests in Him who is as
+anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, which, not seen, keeps me
+fast.
+
+"October 1. Marched over a mountainous tract; we were out from seven
+in the morning till eight at night. After sitting a little by the fire
+I was near fainting from sickness. My depression of spirits led me to
+the throne of grace as a sinful abject worm. When I thought of myself
+and my transgressions, I could find no text so cheering as, 'My ways
+are not as your ways.' From the men who accompanied Sir Wm. Ouseley to
+Constantinople I learned that the plague was raging at Constantinople
+and thousands dying every day. One of the Persians had died of it.
+They added that the inhabitants of Tocat were flying from their town
+from the same cause. Thus I am passing into imminent danger. O Lord
+thy will be done! Living or dying, remember me.
+
+"October 2. Lodged in the stables of the post-house. As soon as it
+began to grow a little cold, the ague came on and then the fever,
+after which I had a sleep, which let me know too plainly the disorder
+of my frame. In the night Hossan sent to summon me away, but I was
+quite unable to move. Finding me still in bed at the dawn he began to
+storm furiously at my detaining him so long, but I quietly let him
+spend his ire, ate my breakfast composedly, and set out at eight. He
+seemed determined to make up for the delay, for we flew over hill and
+dale to Sherean, where we changed horses. From thence we traveled all
+the rest of the day and all night. It rained most of the time. After
+sunset the ague came on again, which in my wet state was very trying.
+I hardly know how to keep my life in me. About that time there was a
+village at hand, but Hassan had no mercy. The night was pitchy dark,
+so that I could not see the road under my horse's feet. However, God
+being mercifully pleased to alleviate my bodily suffering, I went on
+contentedly to the munzil (stopping-place). After sleeping three or
+four hours Hassan hurried me away, and galloped furiously toward a
+village, which he said was four hours distant, which was all I could
+undertake in my present state; but village after village did he pass,
+till night coming on, and no signs of another, I suspected he was
+carrying me on to the munzil; so I got off my horse and sat upon the
+ground and told him I neither could nor would go any farther. He
+stormed, but I was immovable, till a light, appearing at a distance, I
+mounted my horse and made toward it, leaving him to follow or not as
+he pleased. He brought in the party, but would not exert himself to
+get a place for me. They brought me to an open verandah, but Sergius
+told them I wanted a place in which to be alone. This seemed very
+offensive to them, 'and why must he be alone'? they asked, ascribing
+this desire of mine to pride, I suppose. Tempted at last by money they
+brought me to a stable room, and Hassan and a number of others planted
+themselves there with me. My fever here increased to a violent degree,
+the heat in my eyes and forehead was so great that the fire almost
+made me frantic. I entreated that it might be put out or that I might
+be carried out of doors. Neither was attended to; my servant, who from
+my sitting in that strange way on the ground, believed me delirious,
+was deaf to all I said. At last I pushed my head in among the luggage
+and lodged it on the damp ground and slept.
+
+"October 5. Preserving mercy made me see the light of another morning.
+The sleep had refreshed me but I was feeble and shaken, yet the
+merciless Hassan hurried me off. I was pretty well lodged and felt
+tolerably well till a little after sunset, when the ague came on with
+a violence I had never before experienced. I felt as if in a palsy, my
+teeth chattering, and my whole frame violently shaken. Aga Hosyn and
+another Persian on their way here from Constantinople, came hastily to
+render me assistance if they could. These Persians appear quite
+brotherly after the Turks. While they pitied me, Hassan sat in perfect
+indifference, ruminating on the further delay this was likely to
+occasion. The cold fit after continuing two or three hours was
+followed by a fever, which lasted the whole night and prevented sleep.
+
+"October 6. No horses were to be had, and I had an unexpected repose.
+Sat in the orchard and thought with sweet comfort and peace of my God:
+in solitude my companion, friend and comforter. Oh, when shall time
+give place to eternity--when shall appear that new heaven and earth,
+wherein dwelleth righteousness! There, there shall in no wise enter in
+anything that defileth; none of that wickedness which has made men
+worse than wild beasts, none of those corruptions which add still more
+to the miseries of humanity, shall be seen or heard of any more."
+
+Here abruptly closes the journal, with pantings for the glory and the
+purity of Immanuel's land, into which he was admitted by a blessed
+translation, released from all the sufferings of life on October 16,
+1812, at Tocat, Turkey. The manner of his death is not known, whether
+it resulted from the sickness described, or from the plague, then
+raging. Whether Hassan was cruel and driving to the last, whether all
+his heartless Turkish attendants deserted him or not in his hour of
+final agony, we cannot tell. No relative or friend was there, no
+tender voice of sympathy, no woman's soothing hand, no alleviations
+from medicine. Even the commonest decencies and necessities of
+civilized life were lacking. Earth gave nothing to Henry Martyn in his
+mortal need, but we are sure heavenly consolations were unstinted.
+
+  "Jesus can make a dying bed
+   Feel soft as downy pillows are."
+
+And Jesus was there! And Henry Martyn was satisfied, and is forever
+satisfied! "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
+saints." And the most priceless legacy of the blood-bought and
+commissioned church is the memory of a life, so gifted, so unselfish,
+so consecrated.
+
+It is wanting in no element of moral heroism. Our souls confess its
+grandeur. The contemplation lifts us into a higher atmosphere than
+that of mammon, and self, and earth. We rejoice to see a crown so
+rare, so fair, so precious, laid at the feet of Jesus, the King. He is
+worthy. And we long to see the youth of our land and the church
+inspired by Henry Martyn's example, as he was inspired by David
+Brainerd's. And so we would have the apostolic succession continued
+till the millennium, of such as shall not count their lives dear for
+the testimony of the gospel.
+
+It is said that after Mr. Martyn's death one of his earliest and most
+devoted friends, the Rev. Charles Simeon, used always to keep his
+picture before him in his study for help and inspiration. "Move where
+he would through the apartment, it seemed to keep its eyes upon him,
+and ever to say to him, 'Be earnest, be earnest; don't trifle, don't
+trifle,' and the good Simeon would gently bow to the speaking picture,
+and with a smile, reply, 'Yes, I will; I will be in earnest, I will
+not trifle; for souls are perishing and Jesus is to be glorified.'"
+
+Would that Henry Martyn's life might bring such a message to every
+heart, and awaken in every one a similar response.
+
+
+
+
+MISSIONARY ANNALS.
+Price per vol., cloth 30c., paper 18c.
+
+I.
+MEMOIR OF ROBERT MOFFAT
+_BY MRS. M. L. WILDER_.
+
+II.
+LIFE OF ADONIRAM JUDSON
+_BY MISS JULIA H. JOHNSTON_.
+
+III.
+WOMAN AND THE GOSPEL IN PERSIA
+_BY REV. THOMAS LAURIE, D.D._
+
+IV.
+LIFE OF REV. JUSTIN PERKINS, D.D.
+_BY REV. HENRY MARTYN PERKINS_.
+
+V.
+LIFE OF DAVID LIVINGSTONE
+_BY MRS. J. H. WORCESTER, JR._
+
+OTHERS IN PREPARATION. SENT POSTPAID ON RECEIPT OF PRICE.
+
+CHICAGO:
+WOMAN'S PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF MISSIONS OF THE NORTHWEST.
+Room 48, McCormick Block.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life of Henry Martyn, Missionary to
+India and Persia, 1781 to 1812, by Sarah J. Rhea
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30085 ***