Henrj' Martyn reached Madras April 21, 1806. He stopped for a while at Calcutta, where he continued the study of Hindostanee, which he had commenced in Eng- land, and applied himself also to Sanscrit, as the key to most of the Eastern languages, and to Persian. He then removed to the station of Dinapore, where he was appointed to labor, primarily among the English troops there posted, and the families of the civilians. But to the natives also he constantly addressed himself, and, amid all these labors, yet found time to complete a trans- lation of the English liturgy into Hindostanee (Feb. 24, 1807), a translation of the N. T. in that language, and, this finished, commenced a version of the N. T. in Per- sian, in which he had the assistance of an Arab trans- lator, Sabat ((]. v.).
Near the close of 1809, ISIr. Martyn commenced his first public ministrations among the heathen at Cawn- pore, whither he had removed in April of this year. His auditory sometimes counted as many as eight hundred. They were young, old, male, female, bloated, wizened,
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clothed with abominable rags, nearly naked, some plas- tered with mud or cow-dung, others with matted, un- combeil locks, streaming to the heels, others bald or scabby-headed. The authorities seem to have had a wide-open eye on his proceedings, and anything which appeared to graze roughly against the superstitions of his auilitory would at once have wrecked his scheme. Finally, exhausted with these and otlier labors, his health began to give way, and he was recommended either to trj' the eifccts of a sea-voyage, or to return to England for a time. Having embraced the latter pro- posal, he determined to travel by way of Persia and Ara- bia, with a view of submitting his Persian and Arabic translations of the N. T. to the revision and critical judgment of learned Persians. He left Cawnpore in the last of September, 1810, and in the early summer of 1811 landed at Busliire, and thence proceeded to Shiraz, where he resided for more than ten months. Here he created great interest by the religious discussions which, as tlie sole advocate of the Christian faith, he carried on in the crowded conclaves of Mollahs and Soils. He completed his Persian version of the N. T. Feb. 24, 1812, and a Persian translation of the Psalms six weeks later. F'rom Shiraz he went to Tabriz, resolved on visiting the king in his summer camp, and presenting his work in person. His interview with the vizier, who was sur- rounded by a number of ignorant and intemperate Mol- lahs, called forth all the energies of IMartyn's faith and patience, and at length it was found that, owing to an informality — the want of an introduction from the Brit- ish ambassador — he could not be admitted to the royal presence. He now proceeded to Tabriz, where he was laid up for two months, and compelled to abandon all hopes of presenting his N. T. in person to the king, but Sir G. Ousely, the British ambassador, relieved his anx- iety by kindly promising to present the volume him- self. Ten days after his recovery from the fever which liad laid him up, he proceeded on his journey home- ward. His plan was to return to England via Constan- tinople, but, in consequence of too hurried travelling, he was laid up at Tocat with severe illness, and died Oct. 16, 1812. " No more is known of Henry Martyn save that he died at Tocat, without a European near. . . . He died a pilgrim's solitary death, and lies in an un- known grave in a heathen land." The regrets in Eng- land which this event created were great. Much was expected from him, and much would probably have been done by him in the cause to which he had devoted him- self. As it was, he brought not a few, both Hindus and iNIuhammedans, to make profession of the Christian faith, and he caused the Scriptures to be extensively dispersed among a people who had not previously known them. "The ardent zeal of the Cekic character; the religious atmosphere that .John Weslej' had spread over Cornwall, even among those who did not enr(jU them- selves among his followers; the ability and sensitive- ness hereditary in the Martyn family, together with the strong influence of a university tutur — all combined to make such a bright and brief trail of light to the ca- reer of Henry Martyn" (Miss C. M. Yonge, Pioneers and Founders,\s.l\). An interesting account of his life, com- piled from various journals left by him, was published by the Rev. John Sargent in 1819. Of his produc- tions there were published Sermons pi-eached in Calcutta and elseichere (4th edit. Lond. 1822, 8vo) : — Controver- sial Tracts on Cfiristianiti/ amlMohammedanism (edited by Prof. Samuel Lee, D.D., Camb. 1824, 8vo) -. — Jour- nals and Letters (edited by the Ecv. J. B. Wilberforce, later bishop of Oxford, Lond. 1837, 2 vols. 8vo ; abridged 1839, post 8vo, and often). See, besides the biography already referred to, that by John Hall (N. Y. 18mo, pub- lished by the American Tract Society). See also Eclec- tic Review, 4th series, iii, 321 ; Bost. Sj>i?-it of the Pil- grims, iv, 428 ; Albert Barnes, Essays and Iievieirs (1855), ii, 278; Edinb.Rev. 1844 (July),lxxx, 278; Ci/clopcrdia oj' Modern Religious Biofjraphy, p. 321 ; Timpson, Bible Triumphs, p. 423 ; EncyclopoBdia of Religious Knowledge ;