Henry Martyn Saint and Scholar / First Modern Missionary to the Mohammedans, 1781-1812

peaking: he desired to prolong his life, but to prolong it only till he should give the Mohammedans of Arabia and Persia the Word of God in their own t

now what a profound scholar he is, and all his acquirements are dedicated to the service of Christ. If ever man, since St. Paul, could use these words, he may, One thing I do. But the length of his life will depend on his desisting from public duties.' To Martyn himself, when at last he had left Cawnpore, Corrie wrote: 'If you will not take res

o seal them up and leave them in his hands. Lord Minto, the Governor-General, and General Hewett, the Commander-in-chief, after receiving a statement of Martyn's object, gave their sanction to his spending his sick-leave in Persia and Syria. At first the only ship he could find bound for Bombay, en ro

t I might try to convert the Arab sailors, and so cause a mutiny in the ship. So I am quite

Mountstuart Elphinstone 'was proceeding to take the residency of Poona,' and Martyn secured a passage in the same

e Hoogli, anchoring for two nights in its treacherous waters, his henceforth brief entries in his Journal are these: '8th. Conversation with Mr. Elphinstone, and disputes with his Persian moulvi, left me weak and in pain. 9th. Reached the ship at Saugur, and

e sent for Dr. Anderson and said, 'An old tree must fall.' On the doctor's perceiving there was nothing the matter with him, Schwartz asked him whether he observed any disorder in his intellect; to which the doctor replied, 'No.

aving such a companion, and I found his company the most agreeable circumstance in my voyage.' They walked together in the cinnamon groves of Ceylon, when the ship touched at Colombo; together they talked of the work of Xavier as they skirted Cape Comorin, and observed Portuguese churches every two or three miles, with a row of huts on each side. 'Perhaps,' he wrote in his Journal, 'many of t

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of Malabar: Fe

ho was lately ambassador at the court of the King of Cabul, and is now going to be resident at Poona, the capital of the Mahratta empire. So the group is rather interesting, and I am happy to say not averse to religious instruction; I mean the Europeans. As for the Asiatics, they are in language, customs, and religion, as far removed from us as if they were inhabitants of another planet. I speak a little Arabic sometimes to the sailors, but their contempt of the Gospel, and attachment to their own superstition, make their conversion appear impossible. How stupendous that power which can make these people the followers of the Lamb, when they so nearly resemble Satan in pride and wickedness! The first part of the voyage I was without employment, and almost without thought, suffering as usual so much from sea sickness, that I had not spirits to do anything but sit upon the poop, surveying the wide waste of waters blue. This continued all down the Bay of Bengal. At length in the

sometimes try to put such a number of things together as shall produce the greatest happiness possible, and I find that even in imagination I cannot satisfy myself. I set myself to see what is that 'good for the sons of men, which they should do under heaven all the days of their life,' and I find that paradise is not here. Many things are delightful, some things are almost all one could wish; but yet in all beauty there is deformity, in the most perfect something wanting, and there is no hope of its ever being otherwise. 'That which is crooked cannot be made straight, and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.' So that the expectation of happiness on earth seems chimerical to the last degree. In my schemes of happiness I place myself of course with you, blessed with great success in the ministry, and seeing all India turning to the Lord. Yet it is evident that with these joys there would be mingled many sorrows. The care of all the churches was a burden to the mighty mind of St. Paul. As for what we should be together, I judge of it from our friends. Are they quite b

t to be expected? All things are yours, for ye are Christ's! We may ask what we will, and it shall be given to us. Now, why do I ever lose sight of Him, or fancy myself without Him, or try to do anything without Him? Break off a branch from a tree, and how long will it be before it withers? To-day, my beloved sister, I rejoice in you before the Lord, I rejoice in you as a member of the mystic body, I pray that your prayers for one who is unworthy of your remembr

at the archbishop and his principal agents would not be seen; but so it was, that I scarcely met with a man who could make himself intelligible. We are shown what strangers are usually shown, the churches and monasteries, but I wanted to contemplate man, the only thing on earth almost that possesses any interest for me. I beheld the stupendous magnificence of their noble churches without emotion, except to regret that the Gospel was not preached in

ill and discontented, those at least whose countenances expressed anything. One sat by reading, as if nothing were going on. I asked to see the book, and it was handed through the grate. Finding that it was a Latin prayer-book, I wrote in Latin something about the love of the world, which seclusion from it would not remove. The Inquisition is still existing at Goa. We were not admitted as far as Dr. Buchanan was, to the Hall of Examination, and that because he printed something against the

amongst whom I live bring idle objections against religion, such as I have answered a hundred times. How insensible are men of the world to all that God is doing! How unconscious of His purposes concerning His Church! How incapable, seemingly, of comprehending the existence of it! I feel the meaning of St. Paul's words-'Hath abounded toward us

, and believe me to be eve

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his books, the Hebrew Old Testament, 'reading Turkish grammar, Niebuhr's Arabia, making extra

I enjoyed communion with the saints, though far remo

using the Persian and Pushtu languages. Their chief tribe is the Doorani, from which the king is elected. Shah Zeman was dethroned by his half-brother Mahmood, governor of Herat, who put out his eyes. Shah Zeman's younger brother Shoujjah took up arms, and after several defeats established himself for a time. He was on the throne when Mr. Elphinstone visited him, but since

bic tract, also in reading the Koran; a book of

. As for self, contemptible self, I feel myself saying, let it be forgotten for

wentieth part. If I cannot act, and rejoice, and love with the ardour some did, oh, let me at least be holy, and sober, and wise. I am now at the age at which the Saviour of men began His ministry, and at which John the Ba

the Governor, and was kindly accommoda

sionable class, the Marathi Brahmans, and it is the point from which most widely to influence the Parsees. But as a base of operations against Islam it has never yet been fully used or appreciated. The late Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer preferred Aden, or the neighbouring village of Sheikh Othman, the British door into Arabia, of which he took possession for the Master by there laying down his life in the ripeness of his years, his scholarship, and his prosperity. But even in Arabia such work may be directed from Bombay. The city, like its harbour for commerce, stands without a rival as a missionary and civilising focus. Henry Martyn spent his weeks there in mastering the needs of its varied races a

from such men as Elphinstone, Mackintosh, and Malcolm. In their journals and letters, written with all the frankness of private friendship, we see the consistent and ever-watchful saint, but at the same time the lively talker, the brilliant scholar, and, above all, the genia

el. We have people who speak twenty-five languages (not apiece) in the ship.' Again, in his Journal of July 10, 1811, Elphinstone has this entry: 'Mr. Martyn has proved a far better companion than I reckoned on, though my expectations were high. His zeal is unabated, but it is not troublesome, and he does not press disputes and investigate creeds. He is familiar with Greek and Latin, understands French and Italian, speaks Persian and Arabic, has translated the Scriptures into Hindustani, and is

a very extraordinary man.' Malcolm introduced Mackintosh and Elphinstone to each other, and Elphinstone lost not a day in taking Martyn to call on the Recorder. Although the distinguished Scots Highlander, who had become the admiring friend of Robert H

good deal with the Governo

party, amongst whom were Sir J. Mackintosh and General Malcolm: with Sir James I had

nt of their first

r health and partly to improve his Arabic, as he is translating the Scriptures into that language. He seems to be a mild and benevolent enth

a wee

of acuteness and learning; his meekness is excessive, and gives a dis

had not lived with Sabat. Another month passed, a

derably more pleasant evening than usual; he is a mild and ingenious ma

tion of Mackintosh is seen in t

riental world made Greek by the successors of Alexander, in order to make way for the religion of Christ. He thought that little was to be apprehended, and little hoped for, from the exertions of missionaries. Called at General Malcolm's, and though I did not find him at home, was very well rewarded for

. Captain Stewart, who had accompanied him as his secretary into

Malcolm's, who gave me letters of introduction and s

, and who, because he taught a class in the Sunday School that used to meet in the Town Hall, was for the time an object of

impression than on Mackintosh. Perhaps the habitual cheerfulness of his manner communicated itself to the 'saint from Calc

any other saints are persuaded lie hid in the mountains of Persia. Mr. Martyn also expects to improve himself as an Oriental scholar; he is already an excellent one. His knowledge of Arabic is superior to that of any Englishman in India. He is altogether a very learned and cheerful man, but a great enthusiast in his holy calling. He has, however, assured me, an

e is a man of that character that I must believe. I am satisfied that if you ever see him, you will be pleased with him. He will give you grace before and after dinner, and admonis

e chaplains, the weeks passed all too rapidly. A ropemaker who had just arrived from London called on him. 'He understood from my preaching that he might open his heart to me. W

st Saturday that some sons of Belial, members of the Bapre Hunt,[43] intended to have a great race the following day, I informed Mr. Duncan, at whose house I was staying, and recommended the interference of the secular arm. He accordingly sent to forbid it. The messengers

1 Timothy i. 15, was misunderstood and resented, as his f

collecting the multitude, and commanding their attention, which moral discourses never did. Th

e fanaticism of Mohammed-ibn-Abdul-Wahab, the 'bestower of blessings,' as the name signifies. The East India Company tolerated them, retaining two or three ships of war in the Gulf for the protection of the factories at Gombroon, Bushire, and Busrah. But, in an evil moment, in the year 1797, the Joasmi pirates dared to seize a British vessel. From that hour their fate was sealed, though the process of clearing the southern coast of Asia of pirates and slavers ended only with the accession of Queen Victoria, in the year when Aden was added to the empire. In 1809-10 the Bombay Government expedition, und

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April

le pretensions to the name, unless burning barren rocks convey an idea of felicity; but perhaps

but that selfish friendship of which you once confessed yourself guilty, will think only of the preservation of a friend. This last marine excursion has been the pleasantest I ever made, as I have been able to pursue my studies with less interruption than when ashore. My little congregation of forty or fifty Europeans does not try my strength on Sundays; and my two companions are men who read their Bible every day. In addition to all these comforts, I have to bless God for having kept me more than usually free from the sorrowful mind. We must not always say with Watts, 'The sorrows of the mind be banished from the place;' but if free

ad not received any of mine, and would write no more. But I am not yet without hopes that a letter in the beloved hand will yet overtake me somewhere. My kindest and most affectionate remembrances to all the Western circle. Is it because he is your brother that I love George so much? or because he is the last come into the number? The angels love and wait upon the righteous who need no repentance; but there

fter receiving this, if it be not of a very old date, to Bombay, all after to B

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azaar; we wished to ascend one of the hills in the neighbourhood

ary for the corre

on of being declining in spiritual life is deeper and deeper. I would stop and paus

the Word of God in their own tongue, and of the long delayed and too brief efforts of his successors, Ion Keith-Falconer

, out of the reach of air as well as wind, lies the good ship Benares, in the great cabin of which, stretched on a couch, lie I. But though weak I am well-relaxed but no

bazaar and up the hill, but saw nothing but what was Indian or worse. The Imam or Sult

e are got out of our way, so that I may now hope to get safe throu

ley beyond. There was nothing to see, only the little bit of green in this wilderness seemed to the Arab a great curiosity. I conversed a good deal with him, but particularly with his African slave,

e wrote on

se mighty chieftains. I attended as interpreter. The Company's agent is an old Hindu who could not get off his bed. An old man in whom pride and stupidity seemed to contend for empire sat opposite to him. This was the Wazeer. Between them sat I, opposite

and recrossed the Gulf from shore to shore, surveying its coasts and islands in the heat of

y, which I little thought was in me at al

he 1

Lydia, whose old letter I had been reading the day before, that I ha

fair wind, carrying

tory which I have been making all the voyage, and e

nry Martyn at last

m danger, and, above all, make my journey a source of future good to this kingdom of Persia, into which I am now come. We were hospitably recei

cessary a part of spiritual discip

of Persia,' a course which he declared to be rendered necessary by the ad

TNO

(John Murray), 1884,

second edition, London (Moxon),

son, D.D., F.R.S. (John M

ence, vol. ii. p. 65 (Sm

ack or hunt is the Anglo-Indian for a pack of hounds of different breeds, or no breed, wherewith young officers hunt j

e Indian Navy, chapter x. vol

ritten April 22