Henry Martyn, an English missionary and translator, died when he was only thirty-one years old. Though his life was brief, it was a remarkable one.
Martyn was educated at Cambridge. He had intended to become a lawyer, but Charles Simeon, the rector of Holy Trinity, Cambridge, inspired him to go to India as a missionary. After serving as Simeon’s curate for a short time, Martyn traveled to Calcutta in 1806 as chaplain of the East India Company.
During his five years in India, Martyn preached the gospel, organized private schools, and founded churches. In addition to his work as a missionary, Martyn translated the New Testament and the Book of Common Prayer into Hindi, which was a valuable missionary aid to the young Anglican Church in India. He also began the study of Persian, and translated the New Testament into that language as well.
Martyn longed to go to Persia, and in 1811, his persistence brought himto Shiraz, as the first English clergyman in that city. He engaged in theological discussions with learned Muslims and corrected his Persian translations of the New Testament. Martyn hoped eventually to visit Arabia and to translate the New Testament into Arabic.
While on his way to Constantinople in 1812, however, Martyn died in the Turkish city of Tokat. The Armenian Orthodox Christians of the city buried him with the honors usually accorded toone of their own bishops. Very soon afterwards, his life of energetic devotion and remarkable accomplishment became widely known. He is remembered as one of the founders of the modern Christian church in both India and Iran.
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