'Heaven scarce believed the conquest it surveyed;
And Saints with wonder heard the vows he made'?
Wordsworth's lines, at least, on another devoted son of the Church, are
clearly appropriate to Martyn:
'He sought not praise, and praise did overlook
His inobtrusive merit; but his life,
Sweet to himself, was exercised in good
That shall survive his name and memory.'
His tomb is still, I believe, piously regarded by the natives, and it
has been adorned by Lord Macaulay with the following lines:
'Here Martyn lies! In manhood's early bloom
The Christian hero finds a Pagan's tomb:
Religion sorrowing o'er her favourite son,
Points to the glorious trophies which he won.
Eternal trophies, not with slaughter red,
Not 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.'
A Hall, dedicated to his memory, and designed to provide a place of
meeting for the different Religious Societies in Cambridge, is about to
be erected in Market Street; and on the centenary of Martyn's birth,
viz., 18th February, 1881, special services in his memory were held at
the pro-Cathedral at Truro. In the evening Bishop Benson delivered a
lecture on Martyn at the Town Hall, at the close of which he proposed
that subscriptions should be invited towards the construction of a
portion of the new Cathedral, as for instance an aisle or transept,
to be dedicated to the cause of Missions in honour of his name.
A Baptistry was finally decided upon; and about £1,250 had been
collected up to June, 1883. By the attainment of these objects, this
distinguished Cornishman, whose motto was, 'To believe, to suffer, and
to love,' will be provided with fitting memorials.