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[Illustration: Longacre Sc.
H. MARTYN.]
THE LIFE
OF
REV. HENRY MARTYN.
WRITTEN FOR THE AMERICAN SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION,
BY JOHN HALL.
WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF ABDOOL MESSEEH,
A HINDOO CONVERT.
REVISED BY THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION.
AMERICAN SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION.
_PHILADELPHIA_:
NO. 316 CHESNUT STREET.
Entered according to the act of Congress in the year
1831, by PAUL BECK, Jr. Treasurer, in trust for the American
Sunday School Union, in the Clerk’s Office of the District
Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
PREFACE.
This volume has been principally compiled from the tenth English
edition of the Memoirs of MR. MARTYN, by the REV. JOHN SARGENT.
The author of the present publication has endeavoured to present
his subject in a manner which may not mislead the young, in forming
their estimate of Christian character, and to propose the humble
missionary, as an imitable example, rather than an object of vague
and curious admiration. To effect this design, he has avoided, as
much as possible, the use of terms of personal eulogy; in hopes that
the perusal of the biography will leave upon the youthful reader
a deeper impression of the indispensable need of Divine power,
to enable any creature to lead a useful and holy life. Children
are taught, at least by implication, to believe, that the eminent
instances of piety and zeal, which are recorded both in sacred and
ordinary history, are exceptions to the doctrine of Christ, who
directed his disciples to say—even after they should have done “_all_
those things which were commanded—we are unprofitable servants;
we have done that which was our duty to do.” This course is likely
not only to create an illusion which more mature knowledge will but
imperfectly dissipate, but to diminish the splendor of the single
example of perfect righteousness which has blessed our world. Its
tendency, moreover, is to foster that hidden corruption of religious
vanity in the heart of the young Christian, which usually needs no
extraneous aid to assist it in impeding the growth of grace.
It would seem, that the Memoirs of a Christian should be rather
adapted to instruct the living, than to applaud the dead; and it is
surprising that so few works of the kind are extant, prepared with
evangelical discrimination. It is especially important that this
principle should be regarded in biographies designed for pupils in
Sunday schools and it would be a new honor to the institution, if the
productions in this department, which claim their patronage, should
be marked by this rare moral distinction.
THE LIFE
OF
HENRY MARTYN.
CHAPTER I.
The father of Henry Martyn was a workman in the tin mines of
Cornwall, in England. As the miners worked very deep in the earth,
shut out from the light of the sun, and breathing an unwholesome
air, it was their custom to labour four hours, and then to spend the
same length of time in resting. During these hours of rest, John
Martyn devoted himself to improving his education, which had been
very slight; and by his industrious application, he soon became so
well acquainted with arithmetic, that he was at length engaged,
as clerk, by a merchant in the town of Truro, in the county of
Cornwall. The conduct of this man is an example to all persons whose
occupations afford them any leisure. There is scarcely any one who is
so constantly occupied, as not to have some time in the week, for the
improvement of his mind. Had John Martyn made no exertion to supply
his want of early instruction, he would probably have wasted his
life in the miserable toil of digging ore, in the unwholesome depths
of the mines. But by employing his spare time in learning, instead
of wasting it in idleness and intemperance, he was soon enabled to
maintain his family respectably, and to save his children from the
evils of ignorance, by giving them a good education.
Henry, his third child, the subject of this volume, was born at
Truro, on the 18th of February, 1781, and before he was eight years
old, was put under the charge of an excellent schoolmaster. At
school he was remarkable for the gentleness of his disposition; yet
he was not a general favourite with his school-fellows, as, owing
to the mildness of his spirit, he was not inclined to engage in
their sports, and was fond of quiet. After spending seven years at
this school, his father sent him to the city of Oxford, hoping that
he would be admitted as a student in one of the colleges of the
celebrated university at that place, and be supported by funds which
are raised for that purpose, called scholarships. From the boys who
apply for admission on these terms, the most promising scholars are
selected; but Henry had not been very studious, and, though some of
his examiners were in favour of electing him, he did not succeed.
He afterwards considered this failure as a great mercy; for had he
been thrown, when not fifteen years of age, into the evil company
which he would then have met with at college, he might have become
dissolute beyond recovery. He returned to his school, and remained
under the same teacher, until he entered St. John’s college, in the
university of Cambridge, in October, 1797.
Ambitious to be distinguished, and anxious to gratify his father,
he applied himself diligently to study during his stay in college.
He was moral and amiable in his conduct, excepting that his temper,
which was usually very mild, was sometimes irritated to an improper
degree, and led him, as unrestrained passions always lead those
who indulge them, to hasty and dangerous conduct. Excellent as his
outward character was, it was not so because he was anxious to fulfil
his duty to God, who requires purity of heart and life from all his
intelligent creatures. And he was so insensible, at this time, to the
fact, that God most justly claims that every being should live to
his glory, that he thought it a very strange doctrine, when a pious
friend told him that he ought to attend to his studies, not for the
sake of gaining praise from man, but that he might be the better
qualified to promote the glory of God. He could not, however, but
acknowledge that it was entirely reasonable, and determined that he
would hold and maintain this opinion, but never once meant that it
should govern his conduct. Of course, his holding a correct opinion,
without acting accordingly, was worth nothing, and only increased
his sinfulness; as he continued to follow his own ambition, after he
was convinced that God rightfully claimed all his services. Thus,
many persons are well acquainted with the history, doctrines, and
commands of the holy scriptures, who do not live according to what
they require, and aggravate their guilt, because they sin wilfully,
after knowing the truth. And thus many believe all that is in the
scriptures, as they believe what is written in other books; but that
belief or faith, only, is of any value to a man, which causes him to
receive the truth in his heart, as well as in his memory; to live
according to its requirements, and to obey the commandment, “repent
and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ;” which is just as binding on
the whole human family, as any of the ten commandments which were
given at Sinai.
The great desire of Martyn’s heart was to excel at college, and to
be foremost in his class, and this ambition occupied his mind so
entirely, that he lived without God, and as if the world had been
created for his honor, instead of the Maker’s. His wishes and aims
were all selfish; he envied and even hated those who, by greater
industry or talents, attained to more distinction than he could
reach, whilst, in his pride, he considered himself superior to all,
and professed to regard them with contempt. These unholy feelings
were so much increased by his disappointment in not gaining as high
honours as he aspired to, that upon a visit to his home during a
vacation, he used disrespectful language to his father, when he would
express opinions differing from his own. When he became a penitent,
and looked back to this period, he exclaimed, “Oh what an example
of patience and mildness was he! I love to think of his excellent
qualities, and it is frequently the anguish of my heart, that I ever
could be so base and wicked, as to pain him by the slightest neglect.
Oh my God and Father, why is not my heart doubly agonized at the
remembrance of all my transgressions against Thee, ever since I have
known Thee as such!”—During this same visit, which was the last time
he saw his father, his pious sister often spoke to him on the subject
of religion; but he confessed, that the sound of the gospel, thus
tenderly accompanied with the admonitions of a sister, was grating to
his ears. Yet he could not escape the conviction that she spoke the
truth, when she urged its claims upon him; but then it required him
to sacrifice his selfish ambition, and this was too dear an object to
give up. He promised to read the Bible, but when he reached college,
his studies filled all his thoughts.
Notwithstanding the fact, which he afterwards acknowledged, that
during his stay at home the wickedness of his heart rose to a
greater height than at any other time, yet the change which soon
afterwards took place in him, seems to have been connected with the
peculiar state of his circumstances and feelings at that period. At
an examination after his return to college, his ambition attained
its object, and he was pronounced first in his class. A few weeks
afterwards, he received information of the sudden death of his
father. This was a great affliction to him, and was more severe,
as it happened in the midst of his triumph, and brought to his
remembrance the acts of filial disrespect which his evil passions
had led him so lately to commit. Finding that in this state of mind,
he could take no pleasure in his usual studies, he resorted to his
Bible, under the impression that its perusal would be more suitable
to his present feelings. In this new direction of his inquiries
he was encouraged by his pious friend at college, and commenced
reading Luke’s narrative of the Acts of the Apostles, as the most
entertaining part of the New Testament. This led him gradually to
examine the doctrines of those holy men; and the duty of religion, in
the circumstances of his affliction, made this much of an impression,
that he began to use prayers, and to ask formally for pardon, though
he had little sense of his sinfulness. His heart was evidently
softened by the occurrence of his father’s death; and the admonitions
and prayers of his sister, with the convictions of his own judgment,
disposed him to pay attention to the subject, from which he was not
violently drawn away, as formerly, by his pursuit of fame, having now
reached the highest station to which he could attain in his class.
But his pride caused him to shrink from the humility which every
sinner must feel before he can come to the Saviour: so little did he
yet know his own heart; for the man who truly feels the condition in
which he stands in the sight of a Supreme Being, infinitely great,
infinitely holy, infinitely just, against whose laws, and mercy, and
goodness, he has sinned without excuse, cannot but be humble when he
becomes acquainted with his true character.
Such was the apparent commencement of the influence of the Holy
Spirit on Martyn’s heart; and although on his return to Cambridge,
those sacred impressions were in danger of being destroyed by his
diligent application to the study of mathematics, which once more
threatened to engage his whole attention, yet the divine mercy
preserved him in the trial. Some passages in a letter written to his
sister at this period, show that religion must have entered into
his daily thoughts, and that he was already brought to see the
reasonableness and beauty of spiritual devotion.
“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. When I consider how little human assistance you have had, and
the great knowledge to which you have attained on the subject of
religion, especially observing the extreme ignorance of the most wise
and learned of this world, I think this is itself a proof of the
wonderful influence of the Holy Ghost on the minds of well-disposed
persons. It is certainly by the Spirit alone that we can have the
will, or power, or knowledge, or confidence to pray; and by Him alone
we come unto the Father through Jesus Christ. ‘Through Him we both
have access by one Spirit unto the Father.’ How I rejoice to find
that we disagreed only about words! I did not doubt, as you suppose,
at all about that joy which true believers feel. Can there be any
one subject, any one source of cheerfulness and joy, at all to be
compared with the heavenly serenity and comfort which such a person
must find in holding communion with his God and Saviour in prayer; in
addressing God as his Father, and more than all, in the transporting
hope of being preserved unto everlasting life, and of singing praises
to his Redeemer when time shall be no more? Oh! I do indeed feel
this state of mind at times; but at other times I feel quite humbled
at finding myself so cold and hard-hearted. That reluctance to
prayer, that unwillingness to come unto God, who is the fountain of
all good, when reason and experience tell us, that with him only true
pleasure is to be found, seem to be owing to Satanic influence.”
After mentioning that his mathematical studies required such deep
thought as to exclude, for the time, every other subject from the
mind, and that they were, on this account, very dangerous to him, he
speaks in the same letter of the beginning of his religious feelings.
“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. Yet I still
read the Bible unenlightened; and said a prayer or two rather through
terror of a superior power than from any other cause. Soon, however,
I began to attend more diligently to the words of our Saviour 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.
Throughout the whole, however, even when the light of divine truth
was beginning to dawn on my mind, I was not under that great terror
of future punishment, which I now see plainly I had every reason to
feel: I look back now upon that course of wickedness which, like
a gulf of destruction, yawned to swallow me up, with a trembling
delight, mixed with shame at having lived so long in ignorance, and
error, and blindness. I could say much more, but I have no more room.
I have only to express my acquiescence in _most_ of your opinions,
and to join with you in gratitude to God for his mercies to us: may
he preserve you and me and all of us to the day of the Lord!”