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article cannot cover all this ground, onlygive a setting for the work of yet anotheroutstanding Bible translator. Perhaps themost succinct summary is in the words ofa Victorian footnote:

Henry Martyn, after taking, in1801, the highest honours theUniversity of Cambridge couldbestow, entered the Church, andbecame Chaplain to the Hon. EastIndia Company. He distinguishedhimself by his rapid acquirementof the Sanscrit, translated theCommon Prayer into theHindostanee, and performedDivine Service publicly in thatlanguage. From India he went toPersia, and whilst there translatedthe Psalms and New Testamentinto the Persian tongue. Hispowers of memory were said tobe of the most extraordinarykind. He died of a decline broughton, as was thought, by his zealand exertions to promote thecause to which he had devoted hislife.2

Cornwall to Cambridge

WWhen Henry Martyn was born inTruro, Cornwall, 1781, John Wesley

and John Newton were still alive, and thelegacy of Samuel Walker’s mightyministry as curate of Truro was still apower in Cornwall. John Martyn, Henry’sfather, had been an enthusiastic memberof Walker’s congregation, and on Walker’sdeath became associated with theMethodists. It is possible that young

by C. P. HallihanPart I

Prologue

RResearching material for the QuarterlyRecord and related projects on India,

William Carey, Armenia, Afghanistan, thePersian Language, the Ottoman Empire,repeatedly brought one famous name toview – Henry Martyn. He has beenbeloved of the Lord’s people for nearly

200 years because of the frank record ofhis spiritual experience and emotions inDiaries and Letters, second only to thoseof David Brainerd in spiritual impact andfruitfulness. Martyn also challenges us,alongside Brainerd and M‘Cheyne, by thesheer volume of work so devotedly andsacrificially accomplished in a poignantlyshort life. There are abundant sources ofbiographical material, from the work ofJohn Sargent, Martyn’s contemporaryand friend, to the more recent offering byJ. R. C. Martyn.1 A Quarterly Record

1781 - 1813

“Scholar Missionary”, Bible Translator,Living Epistle of Grace and Truth

Timeline1759 Charles Simeon born1760-1820 George III King of England1761 William Carey born1776 American Independence1781 Henry Martyn born1789 French Revolution began1791 John Wesley died1792-1815 Napoleonic Wars 1792 (Particular) Baptist Mission Society 1792 Simeon at Trinity Church, Cambs.1793 Carey in India1795 London Missionary Society 1796 Jenner's first Vaccination1797 Henry Martyn at Cambridge1799 Church Missionary Society 1800 Cowper died. Regency begins.1801 Union of Britain and Ireland1804 British & Foreign Bible Society

formed1805 Nelson at Trafalgar1806 Henry Martyn in Calcutta, India 1807 John Newton died1809 Henry Martyn in Cawnpore, India1810 American Missionary Society 1811 Henry Martyn in Shiraz, Persia1812 Spencer Perceval assassinated1813 Henry Martyn died, in Turkey1814 Hindoostanee Common Prayer

published1815 Persian NT published1819 Hindoostanee NT published1825 Persian Psalms published 1831 Trinitarian Bible Society formed1834 William Carey died1836 Charles Simeon died

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of Grace, what amazing things arewrought by our great God! HenryMartyn is a man being prepared of Godto make the definitive rendering of theScriptures in two great languages.

At this same time Martyn becameassociated with Charles Simeon, thecelebrated evangelical Vicar of TrinityChurch, Cambridge. Through theministry, fellowship and friendship ofthis much used servant of God, HenryMartyn became numbered amongst the‘Simeonites’ and formed friendships inthe Gospel that would endurethroughout his travels and labours. Healso was introduced to members of the‘Clapham Sect’, including WilliamWilberforce, and John Newton, whogently reminded him that Satan wouldnot love him for what he was proposing

to do for Christ. Although in receiptof the University’s highest

accolades, and a Fellow of hiscollege, Martyn turned from

Mathematics, Law and

Classics, and entered the ministry of theChurch of England, serving as Simeon’scurate, or assistant.

To India

CCharles Simeon was mightily concernedwith the new bright dawn of

Missionary endeavour, and communicatedthis burden to many of the Simeonites,none more so than his new curate.5 At thesame time Henry Martyn fell under thespiritual power of the diaries of DavidBrainerd. Brainerd had died at the age of29, Martyn was to die aged 31. Both livedintensely, wrought mightily, andesteemed themselves little. Both left intheir recorded soul’s exercise a testimonythat has moved Christians to devotedGospel service from their days to thepresent time.

First concerns for Martyn weretowards China, but various combinedworkings of Providence and familynecessities brought him to be appointed a

St. John's College, Cambridge

Trinity Church, Cambridge

Henry heard John Wesley preach. Fromhis father, and famously from his youngersister, Henry was much reminded of thenecessity of the Gospel and thesolemnities of the world to come. Hisseemingly effortless proficiency inacademic matters meant that he went upto St. John’s College, Cambridge, in 1797.After one ‘false start’ he quickly attainedfirst place, carrying all before him.

Outwardly moral, but unconverted, helater looked upon this as a time of misery,when he was mastered by ambition andworldly desires. In 1800 John Martyndied. The realities of his father’s religion,

reinforced through his sister’s faithfultestimony and urgings to read the Bible,at last began to weigh with our scholar. “Ibegan to attend more diligently to thewords of our Saviour in the NewTestament, and to devour them withdelight.”3 Brought to recognize the mercyof the Gospel of Jesus Christ, HenryMartyn was made a new creature. Fromthis time on all that brilliance of mind,driving nervous energy and industry,tender vulnerability and loyalty, wererendered unreservedly to Christ. “Thework is real,” he recorded, “the wholecurrent of my desires is altered, I amwalking quite another way.”

His perception of the Scripturesbecame deeper and richer, and onvacation in Cornwall at this time herecords, “For want of other books, I wasobliged to read my Bible almostexclusively, and from this I derived greatspirituality of mind compared with what Ihad known before”. Though scorned bymany for his ‘methodistical’ and‘puritanical’ associations, Henry Martynappears to have had a childlike delight inthe wholeness of his Father’s World:“Since I have known God in a savingmanner, painting, poetry and music4 havehad charms unknown to me before”.

In amongst this redeemed realisationof the God of all the Earth was a love oflanguage and languages which bore richfruit. Already at this time proficient inHebrew, Greek and Latin, he nowdevoured Hindustani (Urdu), Bengali,Persian and Arabic, among others! Whennatural gifts are subsumed under the rule

Truro, birthplace of Henry Martyn

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conditions, climbed Table Mountain, andmet one of his own heroes of Cambridgedays, Dr. Vanderkamp. He asked thispioneer worker amongst the Africanpeople, had he ever regretted his calling?“I would not exchange my work for akingdom”, was the smiling answer of thisgospel Elijah to the nervous Elisha aboutto take up a similar work. Arriving inIndia at last, in May 1806, he recordedthe definitive cry of his soul, “Now let meburn out for God!”

In India

FFor five months Henry Martyn stayedin the vicinity of Serampore; indeed,

his first European connection in Indiawas breakfast with William Carey! The

Establishment expectations of the newchaplain were that he would administerconventional morality, carefully gradedto suit the social standing of expatriatecongregations. His blunt sermons,making application of the Gospelnecessity to all without distinction,ruffled many fine feathers. Furthermore,he associated freely with ‘natives’ ofevery caste, tribe or tongue, ever strivingto communicate in their languages,apparently expecting that the Gospelwould bear fruit amongst such poor ones!

The Serampore Baptists delighted inMartyn, so that Carey, Marshman andWard became lifelong friends andhelpers. The more perceptive of theCompany clergy7 and officials also

chaplain to the East India Company,6

where he should primarily minister tothe European community. Martyn’s visionextended far beyond that. The journey toIndia was harrowing, and yet holy, inmany ways. As to personal loss andseverance, he recorded, “It is an awful, anarduous thing to root out every affectionfor earthly things, so as to live only foranother world”. Those affectionsincluded his love for Lydia Grenfell,whom he had longed to wed, andprobably still did to the end of his life.

He now had to endure the vagaries ofa sea journey, in the year of Trafalgar,from Portsmouth to Falmouth, to Cork, toMadeira, to Azores, to San Salvador, toCape Town, to Calcutta. This journey ofnine months took almost twice the usualtime. Generally the company on the shipwas ungodly, and painful to theCambridge don, now become a Servant ofChrist. However, the occasion for Gospelministry, much good works and exploringof the linguistic opportunities among theship’s company was soundly grasped.Recovering from early seasicknesscompounded by love sickness, he busiedhimself with intense language study, hiscabin being full of the necessary books.Somehow he also found time to be anactive chaplain, tutor, sick visitor,preventer of fights, ever vigilantevangelist and counsellor to crew andpassengers alike. In Madeira he honed hisFrench pronunciation by readingsermons in that tongue to a criticalaudience. In San Salvador he becameacquainted with a Portuguese universitygraduate, and mingled his study ofHindustani with Portuguese,determinedly trying it out on his host’sfamily and servants.

Being taken by his new friend to visitCarmelite and Franciscan monasteries,Henry took opportunity to discuss thedoctrines of purgatory, papal supremacyand transubstantiation, in Latin andPortuguese, with the friars. Coming nextto Cape Town he somehow becameinvolved in the Battle of Blaauberg as astretcher-bearer in the most horrid

Map representing Henry Martyn’s voyage to India

A ship’s rigging

CorkFalmoth

MadeiraAzores

SanSalvador

Cape Town

Calcutta

1805 - 1806

Henry Martyn’sVoyage to India

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Pilgrim’s Progress to patients. Under thesovereign shaping of Him whom we stylethe Potter, Henry Martyn learned in all ofthis that “the power of gentleness isirresistible and also that these men arenot fools. Clearness of reasoning is notconfined to Europe”. Some Englishfamilies of Christian conviction andsympathy, notably the Sherwoods,nurtured and encouraged him, affordedhim great joy in the company of theirchildren, and comforted his enduringdistress in the absence of his longed-forLydia. The nurturing became all outnursing at times, as his labours horriblyexacerbated the consumptive probleminherited from his mother.

In all that we have recorded we havenot actually addressed Martyn’s mostconsuming labour! That lay in the realm

of Bible Translation. To David Brown hewrote, “Without the work of translation Ishould fear my presence in India wereuseless”. In another Quarterly Record

we will hope to continue with HenryMartyn – Bible Translator, and seehow that led him to Persia, and thefinal journey to Turkey.

recognised Martyn for what he truly was,giving him leave to move inland to anIndian equivalent of ‘regions beyond’, inDinapore and then Cawnpore.Throughout his time in India HenryMartyn was deeply affected and affrontedby the demonic, demeaning, destructive,despairing nature and consequences ofthe common practices of ‘religion’, Hinduand Muslim, that he found. Yet thisfastidious, introspective CambridgeFellow sought out every kind, in everycondition, speaking of Jesus Christcrucified and risen. To the British Militaryand Government Officers and theirladies, to the common soldiery and their

mixed race camp followers, to thehelpless, sick and needy of everyethnic community, Martynhad but one message –repentance toward Godand faith in the LordJesus Christ. Many ofthe camp followers, bythe way, were ofPortuguese extraction,and because of his stayat San Salvador, he wasable to speak somespiritual words in theirown language.

He communicated his messagenot only to the limit but beyond thebounds of his physical and emotionalcapacity, sustained only by his utterlyrealistic spiritual communion with hisSaviour. “Oh have pity on my wretchedstate and revive thy work, increase myfaith. Thou art the resurrection and thelife – let me rest upon this Scripture”, herecords in the diaries, and again, “I findthat my wisdom is folly, and my careuseless, so that I try to live from day today, happy in His love and care”. Hewould preach, in any of two or threelanguages, in the heat and dust over andover again, until his ordinary speakingvoice was but a husky whisper, but stillfind power to preach again and to disputeand discuss with those who thronged hisliving quarters. As well as keeping openhouse for every needy or curious person,Martyn started schools for local children,using newly translated portions of theParables in Hindustani or Arabic as histexts, and he visited hospitals, reading

Indian ‘holy man’, city of Patna

Grounds ofDavid Brown’sAldeen Housewhere HenryMartyn was

a guestEndnotes

1 A bibliography would be large – ‘Henry Martyn’ inalmost any Internet search engine would lead youto most available material. Failing that, the HenryMartyn Library in Cambridge can be approached.2 John Booth, ed., Metrical Epitaphs, Ancient andModern. London: Bickers and Son, 1868, pp. 121-2.In addition, how many men of God have beenaccorded a poem by J. G. Whittier, or a poeticepitaph, as the following by Lord Macaulay?

‘HERE Martyn lies. In manhood’s early bloomThe Christian hero in a pagan tomb.

Religion, sorrowing o’er her favourite son,Points to the glorious trophies he has won.

Eternal trophies! Not with carnage red,Nor stained with tears by hapless captives shed,

But trophies of the cross! For that dear name,Through every form of danger, death, and shame,

Onward he journeyed to a happier shore,Where danger, death, and shame assault no more.’

3 Full reference to quotations of Martyn’s wordswould be labyrinthine. All are given in good faith aspurporting to be from Martyn’s own Diaries andLetters, mostly through John Sargent’s work, thoughoften taken from tertiary sources.4 Later in India he was able to lead worship withpowerful singing, and to teach and learn new tunesby ‘warblings’ on his flute.5 Several ‘Simeonites’ who preceded or followedMartyn in India were refreshment andencouragement to him.6 As chaplain he would have an income from whichto support his now dependent sisters.7 Especially David Brown, another Simeonite, whowas a chaplain in Calcutta, and a prodigiouslinguist and Bible translator himself.