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 THE OLD CHJRCH. NORTHAMPTON, MASS
 
 THE 
 
 MARTYR OF SUMATRA: 
 
 OF 
 
 HENRY LYMAN 
 
 "The noble army of martyrs praise Thee." TE DEUM. 
 
 NEW YOEK: 
 ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS, 
 
 No. 530 BROADWAY. 
 
 1857.
 
 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, In the year 185<5, 
 BY EOBEET CARTER & BROTHERS, 
 
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of 
 New York. 
 
 TEREOTYPED BT PRINTED BT i. B. TBCKSO-:, 
 
 THOMAS B. SMITH, E.O.JENKINS, BINDER, 
 
 82 A 84 Beekroan Stret. 24 Frankfort St. 82 A 84 Keekman St.
 
 
 TO 
 THE YOUNG COUNTRYMEN OF 
 
 HENRY LYMAN, 
 
 li6 boltnne is Jnacribcb 
 
 BY THEIR FRIEND, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 
 3022867
 
 CHAPTER PAGB 
 
 I. INTRODUCTION THE BOY. 7 
 
 II. THE CONVERSION . . . . . . .23 
 
 III. THE NEW MAN 45 
 
 IV. THE DECISION 91 
 
 V. THE HILL DIFFICULTY . . , . . .131 
 
 VI. THE ORDINATION 175 
 
 VH. THE CHAPLET FOR THE DEAD . . . . 205 
 
 Vm THE VOYAGE 237 
 
 IX. THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD 263 
 
 ' X. THE BATOE GROUP . . -.'*. .299 
 
 XI. NYAS . . 365 
 
 XIL THE MARTYRDOM 399 

 

 
 I. 
 
 Ifl Iff. 
 
 My boast is not that I deduce my birth 
 From loins enthroned, and rulers of the earth ; 
 But higher far my proud pretensions rise, 
 The son of parents passed into the skies. 
 
 COWPEB. 
 
 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlast- 
 ing upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto 
 
 children's children. 
 
 PSALM ciii. 17.
 
 I 
 
 THOSE who are now rapidly borne on the railroad 
 through Northampton, Mass., almost wonder that 
 they have heard so much of its exceeding beauty. 
 Noble elms and hills greet the eye, but other places 
 have seemed as fair and as pleasant. Let such, 
 however, from Round Hill, look abroad at evening 
 over hill and valley, river and woodland, with the 
 distant mountain-girt horizon ; let them count beyond 
 the Connecticut the spires of the village churches, 
 each springing from its cluster of green, gaze upon 
 Amherst College with its snowy tower, and then, 
 following the windings of the broad river, view 
 Holyoke and Mount Tom beyond it, cultivated each 
 year further and further toward their summits; or 
 let the eye rest upon the town beneath, the white 
 villas and substantial houses under the overshadowing 
 elms, the beautiful steeple of the Old Church rising 
 over all, and they will no longer be surprised that 
 the natives of Northampton consider it the most 
 beautiful town of New England. 
 
 Or let the stranger go to the quiet grave-yard 
 where slumber the fathers of the place. The rustic 
 1*
 
 10 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 stone wall has fortunately not been displaced by an 
 iron railing. Entering the avenue of pine-trees he 
 will mark on the right, a well-trodden path, and may 
 follow in the steps of thousands to the spot where 
 slumbers the dust how precious ! of the~ sainted 
 Brainerd, while just at his side rest the remains of 
 her who should have shared his watchings, and 
 cheered his lonely home on the banks of the Dela- 
 ware ; let him give himself up to the thick clustering 
 associations of the place, and he will feel that North- 
 ampton can boast of a shrine most sacred to every 
 follower of Jesus. 
 
 Near the remains of the holy Brainerd stands a 
 stone bearing this inscription : 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 REV. HENRY LYMAN, 
 
 SON OF 
 THEODORE AND SUSAN W. LYMAN ; 
 
 A MISSIONARY 
 OF THE AMERICAN BOARD, 
 
 WHO, 
 
 WITH HIS ASSOCIATE, 
 
 REV. SAMUEL MUNSON, 
 
 SUFFERED A VIOLENT DEATH 
 
 FROM THE BATTAHS 
 
 IN SUMATRA, 
 
 JUNE 28, 1834, 
 
 AGED 24. 
 
 "We are more than conquerors." 
 
 We would write the history of the life whose ter- 
 mination is thus recorded. We would tell of the
 
 THE BOY. 11 
 
 grace that found the boy, of the grace that trained 
 the man, of the grace that made the martyr "more 
 than conqueror," and we would do this if, perchance, 
 by this example some parent may be led to lay his 
 infant upon God's altar, or some son to give himself 
 to the missionary work. " The harvest is plenteous, 
 but the laborers' ' where are they ? From the spicy 
 groves of the Moluccas, from the pepper jungles of 
 Sumatra, from the ancient churches of Asia Minor, 
 comes the cry for the preacher. English enterprise 
 has forced an entrance into the Eastern Archipelago ; 
 American perseverance has secured admission to 
 Japan. Many a youthful heart has beat with the 
 desire to imitate the Rajah of Sarawak, but who has 
 been baptized for the martyr missionaries ? Who will 
 carry to the Battahs the tale of Jesus' love, which 
 will teach them to turn with loathing from their 
 hideous trophies, and " learn war no more?" Truly, 
 the blood of our missionaries calls aloud for ven- 
 geance ; for a revenge like that which their Master 
 taught when he said, "Beginning at Jerusalem." 
 God grant that this little book may awaken in some 
 youthful breast the desire to go "far hence to the 
 Gentiles." 
 
 On what is now the corner of Pleasant and Water- 
 streets in the beautiful town already named, stood 
 formerly an old gambrel-roofed house, shaded by large 
 English cherry-trees. The long garden at the back
 
 12 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 led to an orchard that stretched down to the Licking- 
 water River, which, overhung by the button-ball and 
 elm, and fringed by willows, wound its course onward 
 to the Connecticut. 
 
 Upon the brow of the first descent toward the 
 river, John Lyman pitched his tent in the year 1658', 
 and there dwelt his descendants, though no deed of 
 the land was ever made out until the subject of this 
 memoir had reached the age of nineteen. The bless- 
 .ing of God had been upon his posterity from genera- 
 tion to generation. The grandmother of Henry 
 Lyman especially was a woman of no common piety. 
 Well may one exclaim, standing by her grave, " The 
 Covenant is with children's children." Of the eight 
 who gathered around her knee to learn of Christ, all 
 have gone hence, most of them at an advanced age, 
 ''in the sure and certain hope" that their fathers' 
 God was their pc^jjon. 
 
 In the house we have described, lived, in the year 
 1809, a young couple who had within a few months 
 united with the people of God. Already their home 
 had been made happy by the birth of a daughter, and 
 saddened by the death of an infant son, and the father, 
 in the ardor of his first love, had consecrated his next 
 child, if a boy, to the work of the holy ministry. 
 And when on a dreary November morning, the 
 twenty-third day of the month, an infant was laid in 
 his arms, his wife alone knew how the parental heart 
 was repeating the pledge, that the child was the
 
 THE BOY. 13 
 
 Lord's. A few weeks passed and death seemed 
 hovering over the cradle. None supposed the babe 
 could recover, but the pious parents gave him anew 
 to his Master's work, and felt that He could do what 
 He would with His own. 
 
 He was carried to the house of God and there, 
 amid the people among whom Edwards had prayed, and 
 Stoddard labored, and Dwight was born, and Hooker 
 died,' ? * the name of a youthful uncle, lately deceased, 
 was given him ; there the baptismal water was sprinkled 
 upon his head, and in the united prayer of the con- 
 gregation " Grant, we beseech, thee, Almighty God, 
 that what is signified by the outward washing of water 
 may through thy grace be applied to the heart of this 
 little one ; " the father again received a pledge that 
 his offering would not be rejected. 
 
 As the child advanced in years his religious in- 
 struction was never neglected. itfLine upon line, 
 precept upon precept," was given. Scarcely could 
 the boy speak ere he lisped, 
 
 " Though I am young, a little one, 
 If I can speak, and go alone, 
 Then I must learn to know the Lord, 
 And learn to read His holy word." 
 
 Every thing that could tend to cultivate right habits 
 was cherished; he was taught to avoid evil because it 
 was sin. 
 
 Henry grew up, in the ordinary acceptation of the 
 * Rev. Dr. Spencer's inaugural discourse.
 
 14 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 words, a good boy; and his father had but little 
 cause of complaint. To the habit of letter-writing, 
 which he formed as early as his eighth year, he was 
 probably indebted for the ease which in after life he 
 manifested in epistolary intercourse, and for his love 
 of it. He says in one of his letters to an aunt, in 
 later years : 
 
 " You, my dear aunt, may have forgotten, but I 
 ever shall remember, that long winter evening when 
 you with mother and myself were seated in the old 
 dining-room. The conversation turned upon letter- 
 writing. Mother and you spoke of its advantages 
 especially to young persons, and urged upon me to 
 learn to practice it, and to begin that evening, and 
 address my first epistle to you. I provided apparatus 
 and commenced." 
 
 At school Henry was troublesome, and often re- 
 ceived chastisei^it, not from any thing especially 
 vicious in his disposition, but simply because he was 
 one of those easy, good-natured boys who are reckless 
 of consequences. One of his teachers remarked that 
 he hoped he should never in future be obliged to 
 punish any boy as much as he had done Henry 
 Lyman.* 
 
 Quite unknown to his father Henry learned to 
 swear. He says, " My first oath is written on my 
 
 * Years after, Mr. Lyman preached for this clergyman at Mod- 
 ford, and as they returned from church, Mr. W. said, "Well, 
 brother Lyman, who would have thought when I was flogging 
 you so much, that you would ever preach to my people."
 
 
 THE BOY. 15 
 
 memory as with a pen of iron. The time, the place, 
 the circumstances are before my mind, as if it were 
 yesterday. When at the age of twelve or thirteen, 
 and, with two or three of my companions, standing 
 near my father's house, I was addressed by one of 
 them, and in reply muttered out an oath, for I fear- 
 ed to speak it boldly, ' Oh ! Henry Lyman, what 
 would your father say if he heard that,' was his ex- 
 clamation, and ' Oh ! Henry Lyman, what would 
 your father say if he heard that,' was the simul- 
 taneous echo of every mouth ; and ' Oh ! Henry 
 Lyman, what will your father in Heaven say to that,' 
 was the response of conscience. I felt as if I had 
 taken a great stride in the broad road, or rather as if 
 I had given myself up to sin as if I were now 
 bound, and at full liberty to serve the adversary. I 
 had before that ventured to say words which bordered 
 on profanity, but had not dared to go further. Now 
 I had taken a step. It was a fearful step. I felt it 
 so. I felt my moral nature quiver and tremble under 
 the shock like an aspen leaf. That oath rolled back 
 on my conscience like a great mountain, as if it would 
 crush me beneath its weight. There I stood like one 
 who had vowed to God and to his companions which 
 course he would take. It was a solemn moment. 
 Every thing around, as if taking cognizance of the 
 deed, to bear testimony of the fact at the judgment 
 day, imprinted itself upon my mind. And at this 
 day, although years have passed, I see the appear-
 
 16 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 ance of the buildings, the earth, the sky, the atmos- 
 phere, my dress, the countenances of my companions. 
 I hear even now that oath ringing in my ears, the 
 tone of voice in which the reproof was uttered the 
 thunder of conscience. I feel yet that horrible heavy 
 mountain that rolled back upon my soul that with- 
 drawal of the restraints of divine grace. 
 
 " In the stream which is floating so many to despair, 
 there are frequent barriers. Below each the rapidity 
 of the current increases in a geometrical ratio, but 
 above the first the waters are smooth and placid and 
 gentle, though not less strong. I had leaped the first 
 barrier, and on I went careering in sin, and exulting 
 in doing it before many of my more sober companions, 
 till I could say, ' I was not a whit behind the very 
 chiefest.' 
 
 "I remember a reproof which, though not intended 
 for me, weighed upon my conscience till it was hard 
 to be borne. My father, in reproving a younger son 
 for improper language, appealed to him, that he had 
 "never heard his brother Henry swear." I knew 
 that neither my father nor he was aware of my 
 iniquity, yet to be held up as an example on the very 
 point on which conscience declared my transgression 
 so multiplied, made me shrink from myself, and wish 
 I was away from the society of .the virtuous. No 
 deep scrutiny of my countenance would have been 
 necessary to detect my guilt. 
 
 " If I could preach a whole sermon on the third
 
 THE BOY. 17 
 
 commandment, it would be, ' Beware of the first 
 oath: f 
 
 And now came to the father a time of perplexity. 
 His three sons were just entering life. The two 
 younger were permitted to choose their own employ- 
 ment, but Henry was desired to prepare for college. 
 To this he was very much averse. As the eldest son 
 he thought it unreasonable that he alone should not 
 be permitted to select his object of pursuit. He says 
 himself in a letter written some years after to a little 
 brother : 
 
 "ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 
 
 January 22d, 1831. 
 
 " I used to ask father very often to let me go into 
 a store, or on a farm, and once I recollect I went to 
 him with tears in my eyes to beg him to allow me to 
 do so. I thought it was very hard in him that he 
 should give E. and J. their choice, and say that I 
 must study whether I would or not. I felt so badly 
 about this treatment that I was so wicked as to think 
 of running off to be a sailor, and I got ready and 
 actually started, but a kind overruling Providence 
 prevented me. Do you ask then what made me con- 
 tinue to study? why it was only because father 
 wanted to have me. I was angry enough about it, 
 but then I loved him so much that I was determined 
 to persevere. If it had not been that I did not like 
 to displease him, I should never have been here. It 
 was merely this that induced me to go to college, and
 
 18 THE MAETTR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 now I am paid a thousand thousand fold. I can 
 never sufficiently thank father, because he insisted 
 upon my studying, nor enough thank God that He 
 gave me such feelings that I would rather forego my 
 own pleasure than to displease my father. 
 
 " Another thing which I wish you to keep in mind 
 is this ; during all your studies, keep your eye on the 
 ministry. You must think of nothing else, but of 
 being a minister, and of one day preaching the Gospel 
 to your fellow-men. You must not think of being a 
 lawyer or a doctor, but a minister. It is true that 
 you should not attempt to preach to others till you 
 love the Lord Jesus Christ yourself. You must hope 
 that God will prepare your heart, and make that 
 right. The reason why I wish you to keep your eye 
 on the ministry is that you may shape all your studies 
 that way, and form your tastes and habits for the 
 office. It is worth every thing to a young man to 
 have his future profession in full view. Then when 
 he enters upon it, it is no strange work and he has 
 nothing to do but to go forward in it. Permit me to 
 speak again of my own experience. Wicked as I 
 used to be in college, in my first and second years, I 
 always in my heart looked forward to the sacred 
 desk as my future sphere of labor. I could not for 
 a moment entertain the thought of any other pro- 
 fession. I hoped and believed that God would make 
 my heart better before the time came for me to leave 
 Amherst. I determined at any rate not to enter
 
 THE BOY. 19 
 
 upon the ministry without a new heart, and if this 
 were not given me before the expiration of my four 
 years' course that I would teach school till I was pre- 
 pared and these feelings I often expressed to friends. 
 "The result was, that I was always directing my 
 studies and my reading to this object. The books I 
 bought were usually preceded by the question, Will 
 these be useful in a minister's library ? In taking up 
 a volume to read, or in commencing a new study, it 
 was still the same question. The consequence is that 
 my views and feelings have been conforming to that 
 mode of life, until I can be happy in no other. Thus 
 should it be with you. As you grow older, keep 
 your eye upon this holy office. Remember what the 
 Bible says, ' He that desireth the office of a bishop 
 desireth a good thing.' I intend, ere many months 
 shall elapse, either to write to father or to converse 
 with him on the course which you should pursue. In 
 the meantime, 
 
 " I remain as ever, 
 
 " Your affectionate brother, 
 
 "HENRY LYMAN." 
 
 Speaking of his father's prayers for his conversion, 
 though he knew nothing of the special consecration 
 that had been made of him, he says : 
 
 "There was a prevailing predilection in my mind 
 for the pulpit. Through all my career of sin, there 
 seemed to be an invisible hand restraining me from
 
 20 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 making an entire shipwreck of my soul, and awaking 
 me occasionally to call upon God to save me from the 
 dominion of sin. I had at times, particularly after 
 entering college, as much confidence that I should be 
 a preacher of the Gospel, as that I was then living, 
 and while full of all manner of sin used in a measure 
 to direct my reading and study to that object." 
 
 Of these workings of God's grace, however, Henry's 
 father knew nothing. Yet with limited pecuniary 
 resources, and a large and growing family, Mr. 
 Lyman did not falter. "He believed God." He 
 trusted in the promises, and with faith unshaken by 
 all the irreligion of his son, he entered him as a 
 member of Amherst College, in September, 1826. 
 
 It would be wrong to leave this portion of young 
 Lyman' s history without calling attention to an 
 intimacy which had as much effect upon his career as 
 any other earthly influence. His cousin, Charles 
 Lyman of Troy, who had been compelled by his feeble 
 health to relinquish his studies at Middlebury College, 
 "spent many months with his relatives at North- 
 ampton, where by kind nursing and judicious medical 
 treatment, he regained in a great measure his health," 
 and at the same time formed with Henry a friend- 
 ship which, notwithstanding the disparity in their 
 ages, was most tender and enduring. From 1813 to 
 1848. Charles Lyman,. in his druggist's shop actively 
 engaged in business, accomplished as much for Christ 
 as many ministers of . the Gospel. Unmarried till
 
 THE BOY. 21 
 
 seven years before his death, all his time was dedi- 
 cated to his Master's cause. "The Bible, the Home 
 Missionary, the Education, the Tract Society, found 
 in him an active friend, an efficient helper. When 
 the Rev. Levi Parsons, the late devoted missionary to 
 Syria, visited Troy in 1819 under commission from 
 the American Board, to endeavor to awaken an interest 
 in the foreign missionary cause, he found in, Charles 
 Lyman a chord which could vibrate in harmony to 
 his appeals."* Few men have been more completely 
 consecrated to the service of God than this devoted 
 man. Yet withal there was no austerity about him, 
 and his letters were enlivened by a delicate humor. 
 The correspondence, so many extracts from which 
 will enrich these pages, was commenced as early as 
 1822, and to give some idea of its advantage to Henry 
 we subjoin a paragraph from his cousin Charles's first 
 letter : 
 
 " You asked me to correct all errors. There you 
 puzzled me, cousin Henry. I was obliged to hunt 
 for them like an Edinburgh reviewer ! After all, I 
 shall think it strange and myself well off if you do 
 not find more in my answer. Yes, I found one. 
 Poor little thing ! It is so small, I can hardly find 
 it now ! You knew how to spell very, when you 
 wrote it with two f's, and it was only a slip of the 
 pen an error of the hand, not of the head. A. S. 
 always makes the same mistake in that word, so you 
 * From a sketch of Charles Lyman, by Dr. Blatchford of Troy.
 
 22 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 had, if not proper, at least good authority for your 
 mode of writing it. Now do you criticise my spelling 
 and show me no mercy. Pull my letter all to pieces, 
 and I will continue 
 
 "Your affectionate cousin, 
 
 " CHARLEY." 
 

 
 
 II. 
 
 Lord thou hast won at length I yield ; 
 My heart, by mighty grace compelled, 
 
 Surrenders all to thee: 
 Against thy terrors long I strove, 
 But who can stand against thy love, 
 
 Love conquers even me. 
 
 NEWTON. 
 
 Howboit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in mo 'first 
 Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern 
 to them who should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting. 
 1 TIM. i. 16.
 
 
 II. 
 
 THE lovers of antiquity are fond of praising the 
 taste of the ascetics, which inclined them to select for 
 their monasteries the loveliest sites of the old world, 
 and which is even now crowning the hills of our 
 beloved land with cross-capped towers. Yet many, 
 of the colleges founded by the stern Puritans and 
 their descendants may, in their position, challenge a 
 comparison with the most picturesquely placed con- 
 vents. The elm-bowers of New Haven and Cam- 
 bridge are not inferior in this respect to the uni- 
 versities of old England, while Middlebury and 
 Burlington, Williams and Amherst, almost rival in 
 point of locality the seven-hilled city herself. 
 
 Amherst, to which our narrative now turns, over- 
 looks the lovely valley of the Connecticut. Who that 
 has stood upon the college tower at morning-tide, can 
 forget the vast sea of mist below him ; at first gently 
 undulating, then breaking away, until mountain-top 
 smiles to mountain-top, spire salutes spire, village 
 after village is un vailed ; while the vapor, gathering 
 itself over the river and its tributaries, glides like a 
 spirit up the sides of the hills, and as it rises higher, 
 2
 
 26 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 reflects in roseate hues the sun's early beams, until it 
 finally disappears in the blfce vault of heaven. 
 
 At evening too, where does the sun linger more 
 lovingly than within those valleys and on the sur- 
 rounding hills ? The glories of an Amherst winter, 
 in its be-jeweled coronation, are familiar through the 
 vivid description of its scientific President ; but what 
 pen or pencil can portray the gorgeous hues of 
 autumn ! Nowhere are the maples so vividly and 
 curiously tinted. Nowhere else is the red of the 
 sumach darker, or the crimson of the American ivy 
 deeper and "the sound of dropping nuts" in the 
 chestnut groves on Mount Pleasant, and its sister hill 
 behind it. Ah ! these pictures often rise in the mind 
 of many a one now far away; for the sons of this 
 missionary institution are scattered all over the earth, 
 and no palm-tree grove, no cocoa shade, can ever 
 seem to them so delightful as the sturdy tree beneath 
 which they rested from the noon- tide sun, or the pine 
 grove resounding with the rehearsal of their " Com- 
 mencement Oration." They can sympathize with 
 David's longing for "the water of the well of Beth- 
 lehem;" for the old oaken bucket of the Amherst 
 farm-houses has often come to their thoughts, when, 
 fevered and exhausted by missionary toil, one draught 
 from that bucket would, they thought, have invigor- 
 ated them. 
 
 To the college thus situated, we have already said, 
 Henry Lyman was sent, and there, in the year 1825,
 
 THE CONVERSION. 27 
 
 he commenced his course of study or rather he did 
 not commence it. The temptations which beset a 
 youth on his entrance upon student life can hardly be 
 exaggerated. To one of Henry Ly man's tempera- 
 ment, easily influenced, loving popularity, they were 
 increased tenfold; and the subject of this memoir, 
 and another son of Christian parents, were speedily 
 leaders in all that was wild and profane. 
 
 Happily for the parents, the tales of these excesses 
 never reached them, though the college faculty were 
 not ignorant of them. The Rev. Dr. Humphrey, then 
 President of Amherst College, says of Lyman : 
 
 "It was apparent that he had within him the ele- 
 ments of energy and enterprise ; but whether for good 
 or for ill, was exceedingly problematical, as he was at 
 that time far from being religiously inclined. At 
 times we felt a good deal of uneasiness about him, as 
 there were some perilous influences around him in 
 college, and as he seemed too much inclined to yield 
 himself to their sway." 
 
 A class-mate writes : 
 
 " My recollections of him from the time of his enter- 
 ing college are quite distinct. His traits of character 
 were such as almost necessarily to attract attention : he 
 was peculiarly ardent, active and gay. During the first 
 year and a half, he was the acknowledged leader of 
 the 'wild part' of his class, and no great exploit 
 could be performed without his aid. Sociable, frank 
 and good-natured, he was a favorite companion."
 
 
 28 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 Many have reacT with deep interest the follow- 
 ing passage in the " Corner Stone," written by the 
 Rev. Jacob Abbott, at that time Professor of Mathe- 
 matics in Amherst College, but few are aware that 
 the " leader" there referred to was Lyman : 
 
 "About a year before this time, there had been 
 similar indications of a returning sense of duty to 
 God among the students. The officers were much 
 encouraged, but our hopes were all dispelled by the 
 success of a maneuver which is so characteristic of 
 college life and manners, that I will describe it. The 
 plan adopted by the enemies of religion was to come 
 up boldly and face the awakening interest, and, as it 
 were, brave it down. The first indication which I 
 perceived of this design, was this. I had been invited 
 by the serious portion of the students to address them 
 one Saturday evening in a recitation-room. I took 
 my seat in the great arm-chair which had been placed 
 for me in a corner, with a Bible and hymn-book on 
 the oval leaf attached to it, 'whose form and fashion 
 any collegian will recollect, when the door opened, 
 and in walked, one after another, six or eight of the 
 most bold, hardened, notorious enemies of religion 
 which the institution contained. They walked in, 
 took their seats in a row directly before me, and 
 looked me in the face saying by their countenances 
 most distinctly : ' Sir, we defy you and all your 
 religion' and yet it was with that peculiar address 
 with which a wild college student can execute his
 
 THE CONVERSION. 29 
 
 plan, so that there was not the slightest breach of any 
 external propriety, or any tangible evidence of inten- 
 tional disrespect. Not one of them had, perhaps, ever 
 been voluntarily in a religious meeting at college 
 before, and every one in the room knew it. I can 
 see the leader now, as distinctly as if he were before 
 me ; his tall form, manly countenance, and energetic 
 look. He maintained his ground as the enemy of 
 God and religion for a year after this time ; but then, 
 his eyes were opened : he prayed with agony of spirit, 
 hour after hour in his own room, for forgiveness ; and 
 now he is in a foreign land preaching to Pagans the 
 Saviour whom I vainly, on this occasion, endeavored 
 to bring to him. I do not know whether this descrip- 
 tion will ever reach him ; if it does, he will remember 
 the meeting in the Freshman recitation-room, and be 
 as bold for God now, as he was then against him. 
 He has been so already." 
 
 But we need not trust to the memory of others. 
 From the time of his conversion, Henry Lyman kept 
 a minute journal. This was reviewed monthly, 
 usually with fasting, the results carefully summed 
 up, and each year a day of fasting and prayer was 
 observed one part of which was faithfully devoted to 
 an examination of the previous twelvemonth, and a 
 new period of time commenced with "resolutions of 
 new obedience." From this diary we shall "now 
 extract the story of his rescue from the great ad- 
 versary.
 
 30 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 " The next spring after I entered college there was 
 a little spiritual renovation among Christians, and I 
 believe one or two hopeful conversions. At times I 
 was quite anxious, and again quite loud in ridiculing 
 the pious. I was unwilling to be known as seeking 
 the Lord. While therefore the foremost among my 
 companions in evil, I would, as soon as bj myself, 
 call upon God to redeem my soul. About this time 
 too, a revival occurred in my native place. A beloved 
 sister was one of the first subjects of the work. Being 
 but eight miles distant, I was often at home. I wit- 
 nessed many of my friends, and those quite intimate, 
 coming out on the Lord's side. The thought of being 
 left alone in the world would at times make me un- 
 happy; still I disregarded all their warnings and 
 entreaties. My sister was especially earnest and 
 persevering, but I met her with scoffs and jeering. 
 
 " In the fall vacation I was determined to be out 
 of the infected atmosphere, and absented myself on a 
 journey. My understanding was convinced but my 
 heart did not feel. At the close of vacation, I re- 
 turned to college more hardened than ever." 
 
 And now God sent his judgments upon the boy. 
 A typhus fever broke out in the family in which 
 Henry boarded. One of his class-mates, a dearly 
 loved and joyous companion, died so suddenly that 
 before his parents reached his bed side he was unable 
 to speak. A judicious physician seeing the symptoms 
 displaying themselves in Henry, advised him to go
 
 THECONVEKSION. 31 
 
 home. He reached his father's house, lay down upon 
 the bed, and there, for many days, life and death 
 struggled for the mastery. His skillful physician, Dr. 
 Flint, said that his life was preserved by his mother's 
 nursing, and that away from home he must have 
 died. 
 
 To return to the journal: " As strength began to 
 return, my Christian friends and beloved pastor were 
 faithful in warning me to flee from the wrath to 
 come. I was somewhat alarmed, and almost per- 
 suaded. One or two circumstances will never fade 
 from my memory. On one occasion, it was one of 
 those clear pleasant Sabbath days in November, when 
 the birds, having deserted the leafless trees for a more 
 genial clime, break not in upon the silence with their 
 pleasant warblings ; when the sky presents a rich 
 mellow tint, the sun shorn of his fierceness shines in 
 his beauty, and the atmosphere, purified by autumnal 
 frosts, appears teeming with health and vigor. On 
 such a day, when all Nature seemed inviting to 
 meditation, in a village where the rattling carriages 
 of the pleasure-party are never heard, among a com- 
 munity where the Spirit of God was moving upon the 
 hearts of men, and causing a holy solemnity to per- 
 vade all beings and things in the awful loneliness 
 of that place 
 
 " ' Privileged beyond the common walk 
 Of virtuous life, quite on the verge of heaven, 
 
 uninterrupted by the presence of attendants, I lay
 
 32 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 and mused. Many of my family commemorating tho 
 love of the Saviour, myself unfit for that ordinance, 
 my recent nearness to the grave, my present weak- 
 ness, all stood before me as so many arguments to 
 yield my heart to God. But a little prayer and a 
 few tears would not purchase salvation, and so the 
 securing of this ' pearl of great price ' was given up 
 as too difficult a task. 
 
 " Again, one night I was awakened by a low voice 
 in my bed-room, which I soon found was that of my 
 elder sister my 'watcher' for the night in earnest 
 anxious prayer for my conversion. It was like an 
 arrow in my heart, though pride induced me to 
 remain quiet and feign sleep ; I endeavored to banish 
 it from my mind, but in vain. / must hear it. Oh ! 
 how restless it made me. Still I did not realize what 
 the trouble was, I only knew prayer was unpleas- 
 ant. 
 
 " When I returned to college at the commencement 
 of the 'spring term' of 1827, I became alarmed lest 
 dissipation should seriously undermine my constitution, 
 and made a determination to reform, so as to live a 
 very different life, though still opposed to the laws of 
 God." 
 
 The u Corner Stone" already quoted from, presents 
 a vivid picture of the scenes in which Henry Lyman 
 now found himself. After the revival commenced in 
 college, he amused himself and his gay associates by 
 the readiness with which he could suggest a cavil, or
 
 THE CONVERSION. 33 
 
 parry a serious remark, so readily turning into merri- 
 ment every attempt to do him good, as to render it 
 almost impossible for the grave friend who was re- 
 proving him to suppress a smile. 
 
 One of his class-mates has prepared a sketch of his 
 intercourse with Henry at this time, and we gladly 
 avail ourselves of his kind permission to transfer to 
 our pages some passages. They will perhaps give a 
 better idea of the character we are depicting than any 
 thing else. 
 
 " It was toward evening of a beautiful day in 
 spring, while walking slowly along in front of the 
 college buildings, that my eye fell upon a class-mate 
 who was leaning against a door-post, with eyes 
 intently fixed upon the ground. He stood as motion-' 
 less as the post against which he leaned. Deep and 
 stirring thoughts were plainly depicted upon his 
 countenance. It was not study hours, and yet there 
 was not another person to be seen, nor could any 
 sound or voice be heard. A stillness like that of the 
 holy Sabbath was all around us. I approached my 
 class-mate. He did not, it is true, openly oppose 
 religion, but had formed the habit, by a keen and 
 playful wit, of turning every thing of a serious nature 
 into a laugh. For this reason he had been avoided 
 by the pious students generally as almost a hopeless 
 case. 
 
 " ' L.,' said I, in a tender but earnest tone. 
 
 "He now raised his eyes apparently for the first 
 2*
 
 34 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 time, and fixing them steadily upon me replied, ' And 
 what would you have of me ?' 
 
 " ' Would you like to walk?' I replied. 
 
 " This short inquiry was at that time universally 
 understood to be an invitation to the person addressed 
 to have a serious conversation on the subject of 
 religion. 
 
 " ' Yes,' said he, instantly, ' I will walk as far as 
 you please, only let me go up and get my staff.' So 
 saying he went bounding and hurrying up the stairs 
 which led to his room, two steps at a time, and in an 
 instant was tearing down them in such a manner that 
 the noise resounded through the silent halls and sent 
 a thrill to my heart. 
 
 ' ' Which way,' said I, in a trembling voice, ' which 
 way will you walk ?' 
 
 " ' Why to be sure,' said he, raising his great black 
 staff with its ponderous crooked head high in the air ; 
 ' why, down here in the main street, if you please. 
 Nothing to be ashamed of I suppose ?' 
 
 " My heart sunk within me at this decision. How 
 unsuitable a place for conversation ! The street was 
 filled with people going and coming. Everywhere 
 we should be heard and seen, while back of the college 
 lay a grove of pine, beneath whose shade was a sanc- 
 tuary. Most gladly would I have walked in that 
 direction, but I had given him his choice and he had 
 chosen the broad and frequented way. He hurried 
 along before me with rapid strides, down the steep
 
 THE CONVERSION. 35 
 
 declivity, and, when in the street stopped, and allow- 
 ing me to come up with him, said, in a laughing, care- 
 less way, ' I suppose you want to talk to me on relig- 
 ion.' I felt that the crisis had come, and lifting up 
 my desires to God, I replied, ' My dear friend, you 
 have a precious soul, and I desire affectionately and 
 earnestly to ask your consideration of its value.' 
 
 " 'Ay, indeed,' said he with a sneer, whirling the 
 black cane over his head ' worth a great deal, one 
 would think, from the interest my pious neighbors 
 take in me. Here have I been through all this ex- 
 citement, and no one has told me whether I had a 
 soul. And now, I am to be honored with a soul.' 
 
 " 'L.,' said I, with solemnity, 'you have but one 
 life to live. That may be short, and the interests of 
 the undying soul are too great to be trifled with in 
 this manner.' 
 
 " ' Perhaps so,' said he, 'but if all your professors 
 go to heaven, there may after all be less occasion for 
 concern. Don't you think so yourself? For my 
 part, I think if I go to hell, I shall have good 
 company.' 
 
 " * It is not my design,' I replied, ' to vindicate the 
 character of Christians. It is not their souls in which 
 I now feel an interest, but yours ; your precious soul 
 which is in danger of being lost lost forever. No 
 doubt Christians have their faults, but will it be any 
 alleviation of your guilt and misery at the judgment, 
 that they were imperfect? Lyman, it is your own
 
 36 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA 
 
 eternal interests that I would persuade you to attend 
 to. What have you to do with others ?' 
 
 "'Well,' said he, 'there may be some truth in 
 that, but then there are so many religions, I do not 
 know which to believe !' 
 
 " ' Believe the Bible,' said I, ' which declares that 
 "without holiness, no man shall see the Lord." L., 
 are you prepared to meet a holy God, whose laws 
 you have broken, and whose grace you have de- 
 spised ?' 
 
 " ' But I do not believe,' said he, l in a religion of 
 excitements. It is worse than nothing.' 
 
 " 'My dear sir, there is a point beyond which you 
 may not go with safety in insulting and abusing the 
 Holy Spirit, and the mercy of an offended God. You 
 have before passed through precious seasons of 
 religious excitement when you grieved the Holy 
 Ghost. If you pass through this season in the same 
 way, if these golden moments are lost by you, you 
 are lost forever. It is the settled conviction of 
 many that this is your last time, and that eternal life 
 or death depend upon the decision you now make.' 
 
 ' ' He hesitated a moment. I saw plainly that a sim- 
 ilar conviction rested on his own heart. In this way we 
 conversed for half an hour, several times meeting his 
 former companions in sin, and as we passed them, he 
 swung his cane in the air, and pretended to give no 
 heed to what I said. I dwelt much on the subject of 
 his parents and their interest in his salvation. On
 
 THE CONVERSION. 37 
 
 this point he was tender, for he loved those pious 
 relatives, and knew their anxiety for him. 
 
 "As we ascended college hill and neared the build- 
 ings, he stopped as if wearied with his walk, and 
 assuming a pleasant tone and manner said, 'Will 
 you allow me to ask you one or two questions ?' 
 
 " ' Certainly,' said I, 'if they are pertinent to our 
 conversation.' 
 
 "'Well then, do you believe in the doctrine of 
 election ?' 
 
 " ' Lyman,' said I, sorrowfully, ' I shall not 
 answer that question. You are not fit to talk on 
 such matters. Go immediately to your room, and 
 give your heart to God. Then if you desire it, I will 
 converse with you on election till the morning light.' 
 
 "He looked disappointed, but retorted: ' Shall I 
 ask you one question that is practical ?' 
 
 " ' Most certainly.' 
 
 " ' Do you sincerely believe what you have been 
 saying ?' 
 
 " ' What in particular?' I asked. 
 
 " ' Why that I am such an awful sinner, and in 
 danger every moment of sinking into hell.' 
 
 " ' Certainly, and not only believe it, but know it. 
 God who can not lie, declares this of every impenitent 
 sinner.' 
 
 " 'Well then,' he replied, as he turned from me, 
 ' I demand of you in the name of my precious soul, 
 why you have not told me this before ?'
 
 38 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 " This stern demand, though certainly unkind, had 
 its intended effect: I went silently to iny room to 
 spend the night in tears. Asleep or awake the part- 
 ing inquiry of my class-mate was ringing in my ears, 
 ' Why have you not told me this before ?' 
 
 " The next day, after having passed through the form 
 of observing study hours as we were all advised to do 
 by our teachers, I walked out to breathe the air, and 
 revive my fainting spirits by a view of the surround- 
 ing scenery. No human being was in sight save my 
 class-mate L. He was standing in the same position 
 as when I saw him the day before. 
 
 " ' Would you like to walk,' he asked in a subdued 
 tone as I approached him. 
 
 " ' Nothing,' I replied, ' would give me mere pleas- 
 ure ; which way shall we go ?' 
 
 " ' Back, if you please, toward the grove.' He 
 made no mention of his staff. When we had crossed 
 the college hall and proceeded a few steps in the 
 rear of the building, he turned and looked me in the 
 face with a countenance such as I never before 
 witnessed. 
 
 " ' E.,' said he, ' I have been thinking of what we 
 said yesterday, and / am all in the wrong? Tears 
 rolled down his cheeks. 
 
 " I was taken by surprise." 
 
 We resume Henry's own narrative : 
 
 "I continued," he says, "opposing the work of 
 God until Tuesday, April 17, 1827. I arose on
 
 THE CONVERSION. 39 
 
 the morning of that day with feelings such as I never 
 before possessed. I had no longer a desire to keep 
 company with my wicked companions, or to engage 
 in any light or frivolous conversation. I felt as 
 solemn as death. The Holy Spirit had evidently 
 begun to strive in my heart. I was desirous of seeing 
 Christians, and instead of disputing with them, began 
 to inquire what I must do to be saved. 
 
 "This seriousness increased upon me till, walking 
 out before breakfast on Thursday, April 19th, I was 
 very sensible of my need of religion. How to obtain 
 it I knew not, but I made a solemn vow in the 
 presence of God, that I would neither eat nor sleep 
 till I had obtained it. At eight o'clock I attended a 
 prayer-meeting of my class and wept very much. By 
 the advice of one of my class-mates I called on the 
 president (Dr. Humphrey), who seemed to know my 
 case precisely, even before I told him my feelings. I 
 repeated to him my resolution. He selected Scripture 
 for me, and prayed with me. I took my Bible and 
 retired to a grove, where I read the chapters pointed 
 out, and spent the time in prayer till nearly twelve 
 o'clock, and having fasted eighteen hours and not 
 being able any longer to withstand my appetite, I 
 came to the conclusion that it was impossible to get 
 religion. I endeavored to quiet my conscience by 
 saying that I had probably committed 'the unpar- 
 donable sin,' in slighting the many warnings I had 
 received.'' 

 
 40 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 After this, he says, "he felt quite calm," and after 
 dinner returned to the college, and for the next twenty- 
 four hours was among his wicked companions, describ- 
 ing and ridiculing his serious feelings and the prayers 
 of Christians in such a manner as made the worst 
 among them tremble. In the mean time a knot of 
 praying souls were fervently supplicating God on be- 
 half of him who was finding it so "hard to kick 
 against the pricks;" nor did they cease their prayers, 
 even when the news spread among them, " Lyman 
 has returned to his gay associates." He says, " I 
 remember the face of one of my class-mates as we met 
 that afternoon in the hall. He stopped and looked at 
 me with a countenance expressive of sorrow and pity. 
 That look pierced my soul, and made an impression 
 upon me that time can never eradicate. 
 
 "'The next day was one of fasting and prayer in 
 college. To show my disregard of it, I sat for a fel- 
 low-student* to take my portrait. As I left the 
 painter, Professor Peckf called me to his room and 
 inquired if the report were true that I had deliberately 
 chosen the world for my portion, and had determined 
 to abide the consequences. I replied in the negative, 
 but added that I thought there was no hope for me. 
 He then counseled me most judiciously, and I at- 
 
 * The painter, it is believed, was at the time a Universalist, but 
 before long artist and sitter could rejoice together in the love of 
 Christ. 
 
 f Rev. Solomon Peck, D.D., Secretary of the Baptist Board of 
 Missions. 

 
 
 THE CON VERSION. 41 
 
 tended the meeting all day. In the afternoon the 
 president sent for me, and I left him with the resolu- 
 tion to go on seeking till I should find. Anxiety for 
 myself began again, and from this time increased till 
 the next Wednesday. 
 
 " On that day, the twenty- fifth, just before the bell 
 rung for evening prayers, I was in very great distress, 
 and cried unto the Lord that He would hear and have 
 mercy upon me. My mind seemed to be torn in 
 pieces. I thought I had entirely submitted to my 
 Maker, yet I found no relief. Something was wrong, 
 but what, I could not tell. It seemed to be sin to 
 pray and sin to withhold prayer, and yet I could not 
 assist myself in the least. It appeared to me that, 
 all the time I had been under conviction, I had been 
 sinning in the highest degree, for I had been trusting 
 to my prayers and to the aid of Christians, rather 
 than to Christ, and trying to climb up Borne other 
 way, to get relief from some other source, and to be 
 saved any way rather than by the righteousness of 
 Christ. I just began to perceive that I had not been 
 acting from the heart, had not been ' striving J and 
 my heart had given the lie to my mouth. I had not 
 before perceived that it was this wicked heart that 
 stood in the way, that this was the only obstacle to 
 my submission, that this was yet in rebellion against 
 so much mercy. 
 
 " What to do in this situation I knew not. I knew 
 what was required in the Bible. I had been told
 
 42 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 over and over again what I had to do. I thought I 
 had done all that was required, yet conscience had 
 told me I had not, and that something more was 
 wanting. In distress, I thought I would go to my 
 chum, and find out what he had done, for I had just 
 begun to cry in earnest, ' What must I do to be saved.' 
 He was not in. Meeting B. in the passage. I asked 
 him. He smiled, and said he ' could not tell me 
 what to do.' Oh ! how my soul loathed that smile. 
 If he had aimed a dagger at my heart, he could not 
 so much have stirred up my feelings. I burst into 
 tears, and walked the room for the first time in my 
 life in distress. It was so great I could not utter a 
 word it was like tearing asunder soul and body. 
 Never before did I know the meaning of agonize. 
 But human words are inadequate. ' / looked on my 
 right hand, and beheld, but there was no man thai 
 would know me. No man cared for my soul.' 
 
 " My mind could not long bear such a conflict. 
 My feelings began to calm, and the question, Will you 
 accept life or death ? to present itself to my mind, and 
 strange to say, though I had only to answer, the 
 former, to obtain pardon for the sins of my life, yet 
 the same indifference continued. I could not, however, 
 eat or sleep. I opened a letter from my uncle [David 
 S. Whitney, Esq., of Northampton], and read it." 
 
 This letter lies before the compiler of this memoir. 
 Surely it was directed by the Spirit of God to arrive 
 at that moment. It counsels in the most earnest,
 
 THE CONVERSION. 43 
 
 persuasive manner, instant submission to Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 " Nearly an hour elapsed," the narrative continues, 
 "before I, as it were, returned my answer to the 
 before-mentioned question. As soon as I did this, as 
 soon as I gave up the world, and submitted myself to 
 the Almighty disposal, and was willing to throw my- 
 self on his mercy, then, oh ! then, how shall I describe 
 my feelings ? A sudden weight was lifted from my 
 heart; a light suddenly broke in upon me like the 
 light of day to the eyes of one who has long been 
 deprived of it. I could not tell whether I was in the 
 body or out of it. I seemed to move without touch- 
 ing the earth, nay I seemed to fly. Space seemed no 
 space to me. I prayed that if I was deceived, and 
 my heart was yet opposed to God, that my life might 
 be taken from me at that instant, so that I might not 
 any more sin against God, and that if my heart had 
 been renewed, I might grow in grace to all eternity. 
 Yet I did not think of the question, whether I 
 had hope toward God. That did not seem to come 
 into my mind until a class-mate an hour or two 
 after suggested it. I believe if there is any such 
 thing as a man's being free from sin, that for a few 
 moments, I know not how long, I was free from con- 
 scious sin, and my affections entirely engrossed in 
 God. 
 
 "I would not exchange one hour of such happi- 
 ness, such bliss, such ecstasy, for thousands of years 

 
 44 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 the most happy that a sinner can enjoy. I could but 
 exclaim, 
 
 " ' Let everlasting thinks be thine 
 
 For such a bright display 
 As makes a world of darkness shine 
 "With beams of heavenly day. 1 
 
 " This flow of feeling continued to increase during 
 the evening, and at night, though the two preceding 
 ones had been nearly sleepless, it was with difficulty 
 I could close my eyes, so glorious did my Saviour 
 appear, bleeding and dying for me, and so merciful 
 did that God appear whom I had so often called upon 
 with the most bitter oaths to curse me, and whose 
 commands I had so long, and so often violated. Oh I 
 the joy, the happiness, the heaven on earth experienced 
 by the pardoned sinner. Praised be God, that my 
 eyes ever saw the light of the twenty-fifth of April, 
 1827. That day forms an era in my life." 
 
 The narrative thus concludes, and then follows a 
 solemn covenant, with the dates of its various renewals 
 a covenant at length sealed with his own blood.
 
 III. 
 
 "Wo need not bid, for cloistered cell, 
 Our neighbors and our work farewell; 
 Nor strive to wind ourselves too high, 
 For sinful man beneath the sky ; 
 
 The trivial round, the common task 
 "Will furnish all we ought to ask; 
 Room to deny ourselves ; a road 
 
 To bring us daily nearer God. 
 
 KEBLE. 
 
 This one thing I do. ST. PAUL. 


 
 III. 
 
 IF ever a man was "a new creature" in Christ 
 Jesus, on his conversion, Henry Lyman was such. 
 All the force and energy of his character were con- 
 centrated in that one direction. He was to be a 
 minister of Jesus. His college exercises must be 
 faithfully performed that he might be the better 
 furnished for his work. His health must be cared 
 for, that he might have the more strength to use for 
 his Master. His friends must be warned of their 
 danger, for they would bo needed in Christ's service. 
 He must be more dutiful and amiable at home, for his 
 brothers and sisters must be drawn to Christ by his 
 example. 
 
 His mother, some years after, was showing to a 
 clergyman a very poor crayon sketch of him taken 
 at this time. Said the minister, " This face reminds 
 me of a text in Proverbs, which I should think your 
 son obeyed : ' Let thine eyes look right on, and let 
 thine eyelids look straight before thee.' ' It was a 
 just description of the young man. 
 
 But the first two years of college life being wasted, 
 a student must go halting through the rest of his 

 
 48 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 course, and the subject of this memoir found it so. 
 He could not wipe out all the results of his folly. 
 He could never take in his class the position which 
 industry at first might have given him. The early 
 seed-time being lost, the harvest could not be so well 
 matured nor so plentiful as if the warm spring rams 
 had descended upon it, and the suns of June had de- 
 veloped it. 
 
 The extracts from his correspondence and diary 
 which follow, will show that the desire to preach the 
 gospel was almost simultaneous with its reception, and 
 that the determination to "go far hence unto the 
 Gentiles" was formed not long after. The main 
 object kept in view, in selecting from the letters and 
 journals, is, to show the development of the missionary 
 spirit. The playfulness, which had formerly charac- 
 terized his epistolary intercourse with his friends, 
 almost disappears ; not that he believed it to be wrong 
 in itself, but because he feared that in his own case it 
 might degenerate into levity. 
 
 TO CHARLES LYMAN, ESQ., TROY. 
 
 AMHERST COLLEGE, April 26, 1827. 
 
 DEAR DOCTOR: 
 
 I am desirous of renewing a correspondence which 
 I have reason to believe was dropped by you and 
 justly so, on account of the description of a letter I 
 
 received from a year since. With much anxiety 
 
 did I the other day hastily glance over the file of 

 
 THE NEW MAN. 49 
 
 letters from you, to obtain some relief to a troubled 
 conscience, but alas ! only one sentence could I find. 
 But I do not blame you. My feelings were not then 
 as they are now. Now I hope, through the mercy 
 and grace of God, through the blood of Jesus Christ, 
 that I have been brought to see my lost and ruined 
 condition by nature, that I have been humbled at the 
 foot of the cross, and, as I trust, have obtained pardon 
 for my sins. But, dear cousin, while you thank God 
 for his infinite, unbounded, unspeakable mercy to me, 
 do not forget to ask Him to make me humble that I 
 may rely upon His strength and not upon my own, 
 and likewise, as I have determined to devote myself 
 to His cause and to preach the unsearchable riches of 
 " Christ and him crucified," to enable me to do it for 
 His glory and not my own. I feel happy in the 
 extreme, but I am afraid I shall be too much elated, 
 and thus be disabled from doing my duty in warn- 
 ing my fellow-creatures to "flee from the wrath to 
 come." 
 
 Then follows a narrative of the conversion which, 
 as it differs not materially from the one already 
 selected, is omitted. 
 
 The letter concludes : 
 
 "The revival still continues. Twenty-three have 
 been brought to the foot of the cross. There is 
 scarcely a student, and in fact, I believe not one, who 
 does not feel the subject very deeply. There is such 
 a stillness and solemnity about college as have not 
 3
 
 50 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 been witnessed before for four years past. Almost 
 all studies are dispensed with. There will be no 
 junior exhibition here this spring on this account. 
 The prayers of Christians are much needed for us, 
 that the last day of the term may see every member of 
 this college a decided believer in Christ. 
 
 " The twenty-fifth day of April, 1827 ! May 
 God, in his infinite mercy, grant that I may remember 
 it with joy to the day of my death ! 
 
 " I remain your affectionate cousin, 
 
 " And, as I trust, brother in Christ, 
 
 "HENRY LYMAN." 
 
 A part of the reply to the above will best illustrate 
 the influence of this cousin, to which we have before 
 alluded. 
 
 TROT, May IQth, 1827. 
 
 BELOVED COUSIN HENRY: 
 
 It is now three weeks since brought me from 
 
 the post-office, your letter. It was the Sabbath, and 
 I felt somewhat grieved that he should have done so 
 on that day of rest, until I opened it, when I suppose 
 I had some of the sensations which good old Simeon 
 expressed when he sang "Nunc dimittis." It was on 
 our communion Sabbath, and fifty-two persons were 
 that day admitted to our church. Your glad tidings 
 
 . 
 
 added another link to the chain of good things which 
 God in mercy is permitting his people to enjoy, in 

 
 THENEWMAN. 51 
 
 the midst of the trials and difficulties of this troubled 
 city. 
 
 The relation you gave me of the way in which the 
 goodness of the Lord led you to repentance, was 
 peculiarly interesting. It is always delightful to 
 mark the dealings of His hand, and to trace the little 
 incidents by which he brings us to a better ac- 
 quaintance with ourselves. Though sometimes by a 
 mysterious and clouded path at the moment, we after- 
 ward can clearly see it to have been the wisest and 
 best course to attain the end. When the tenderest 
 mercies cease to allure us to a closer walk with God, 
 and the tide of earthly prosperity elates us with 
 pride, if we are God's children we shall find lean- 
 ness and barrenness of soul, or some severe stroke of 
 His providence to be the kind chastening of a father, 
 which "though for the present, it seemeth not joyous 
 but grievous, nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the 
 peaceable fruits of righteousness." To avoid them 
 we must " watch and pray." Watch our own hearts, 
 and pray against all temptations to sin, and, avoiding 
 every appearance of evil, " press toward the mark for 
 the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus our 
 Lord." 
 
 I am happy to find it in your heart and among 
 your thoughts to preach to a dying world "the un- 
 searchable riches of Christ." To God be the glory, 
 for He has put it there, and my prayer to Hiip is.
 
 52 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 that he may abundantly enrich your soul, and qualify 
 you to "face a frowning world;" that He may give 
 you the faith that will overcome, and the resolution 
 which will persevere. It is an awfully responsible 
 undertaking, but, if you are "determined to know 
 nothing among men save Jesus Christ and Him cruci- , 
 fied," you will "have abundant support, if you indeed 
 feel that your own strength is perfect weakness, and 
 that when you are weak then you are the strongest ! > 
 It is the childlike dependence on God in little as much 
 as in great things, which must be the foundation of 
 the Christian's happiness, whether in the pulpit or in 
 the pew. It is^ written of Dr. Scott that he never 
 felt himself qualified .to comment upon a verse until 
 he had lifted up an imploring eye for the Divine" 
 assistance to preserve him from error. It is the faith 
 that expects from God what we ask in Christ's name 
 which receives. The condition on which the promise is 
 made is " Nothing doubting." We must live by faith. 
 
 ***** 
 The Lord glorify Himself in us, and let us live 
 near to Him, and love more and more unto the end. 
 Your loving cousin-brother, 
 
 CHARLES LYMAN. 
 
 NOTE TO HIS FATHER. 
 
 AMHERST COLLEGE, June 5, 1827. 
 DEAR FATHER: 
 
 I once thought it hard that you should choose for 
 me my business for life, and permit E. and J. to 

 
 flj 
 
 *.. THE NEW MAN. 53 
 
 decide for themselves, but now I thank God that I 
 began a college course, and regret very much that I 
 have so long wasted my time, by not studying and 
 not improving my mind as I ought. I have a great 
 work to accomplish to make up for lost time, or, in 
 other words, to employ the present to the greatest 
 advantage. Yet when I look back and see that I had 
 no object in view, I do not wonder that study was a 
 hardship. Now it is a pleasure. I find no distaste 
 for it. All my lessons are comparatively easy. 
 
 The object now before me is worth studying and 
 living for worth all the exertion I can make. I 
 seem to be in a new world. Nothing appears as it 
 did. My only fear is that I shall forget whence all 
 my blessings flow, and begin to rely on my own 
 strength. 
 
 The next extract is from a long letter to a witty 
 and impenitent cousin, to whom he says : 
 
 "I have long enough advocated the side of the 
 world, and wish to do something now for that Saviour 
 whom I have so long neglected and despised, but whom 
 I now profess to follow. And, "W., let me assure you 
 that it is no hardship for me to take up my cross daily 
 and follow Him. No, I never before knew how to 
 enjoy life. I never knew before what happiness was. 
 I say not this by way of boasting God forbid ! but 
 to have you, dear W., come and taste that the Lord is 
 gracious. We have long associated together, and what
 
 54 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 should hinder it now when we meet at the end of this 
 term ? Yet we can not meet as we have done. I can 
 not ridicule with you religion and revivals, neither 
 can you take pleasure in religious conversation. Yet 
 I know you would not desire that I should go back 
 again to the world."* 
 
 In presenting some extracts from the journal of 
 this period, we must remark that the college friends 
 of Henry Lyman, who witnessed his earnest efforts to 
 promote the cause of Christ among the unconverted, 
 and who remember him as a Christian always full of 
 hope and cheerfulness, would be surprised on turning 
 over this private record, to perceive how seldom faith 
 breaks forth exultant. Now and then there is a joy- 
 ous strain ; but, in general, so minute was the self- 
 inspection exercised, so stern the control over the 
 passions, so high the standard set before him, that 
 self-reproaches, humble confessions, mark most of the 
 pages of this diary, in which he wrote almost every 
 day, sometimes three times daily. And though more 
 than twenty years have since passed, it seems almost 
 sacrilege to draw aside the vail which shrouds the 
 communion of the young Christian with his Master. 
 
 * It is an instance of God's encouragement to His people to be 
 faithful to his covenant, that this young man and his six brothers 
 and sisters were all, one by one, gathered into the fold of Christ, 
 though when their pious parents died, not one was decided for 
 God, and many of them afterward appeared to be entangled in 
 subtle error. The "W. to whom the above was addressed, preceded 
 his martyr friend only by about twelve hours, in his entrance into 
 heaven.
 
 THE NEW MAN. 55 
 
 Yet to Henry Lyman it is now but "a very small 
 thing to be judged of man's judgment," and, were 
 there more of this faithful introspection, which it has 
 of late been so fashionable to decry, perhaps fewer 
 professed Christians would make "shipwreck of their 
 faith." 
 
 " Sabbath, November 4 Evening. Attended 
 another meeting of the negroes.* Convinced that it 
 does no good to preach one thing, or pray for one 
 thing, and live for another that I am very far from 
 being as holy as I ought. I must conquer the re- 
 maining evil propensities of my heart, such as levity, 
 self-righteousness, etc." 
 
 " Thursday, December 27 'th Noon. The first 
 part of this day, I devoted to asking the direction of 
 my heavenly Father, that I might spend the vacation 
 to His glory. I have been in prayer most of the fore- 
 noon, but have just found that I have been praying to 
 God to direct me in the way my own heart should 
 dictate, i. e., that I might not have any striving or 
 warring, but might enjoy His presence at all times 
 and in all places. I hope that my prayer is now, that 
 I may dedicate my time to Him, and be conformed to 
 His will, though my own heart may be deceiving me. 
 Oh ! my God, teach me to pray as I ought." 
 
 As an instance of conscientiousness in little things, 
 the following extract is given : 
 
 * The Sabbath-school in East-street.
 
 56 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 11 Sabbath Morning, December 30. Yesterday, 
 gradual decline in feeling caused by spiritual pride 
 and a contented spirit. In the evening was sleepy, 
 and retired, after committing a great sin, in only half 
 performing my duty to my God, and that in a sleepy 
 manner, trusting that I should feel more awake and 
 just as well on the Sabbath. Conscience accused, 
 but I smothered it, and did not ask whether it would 
 be to the glory of God thus to conduct. When I first 
 awaked, felt inclined to take ' a little more sleep and 
 a little more slumber,' but on observing my watch, 
 and finding that I had wasted eight hours in sleep, 
 and the thought coming to mind of the manner hi 
 which I had retired to rest, I was convinced that I 
 had been sinning. I hope now that God has been 
 pleased to pardon this gross sin, doubly aggravated 
 by being committed in holy time. When shall I ' cease 
 to do evil, and learn to do well ?' Oh ! my God, and 
 injured Saviour, grant of thine infinite mercy that I 
 may for the future flee such temptations, and I pray 
 thee, support me through the duties of thine holy 
 day." 
 
 FROM A LETTER TO CHARLES LTMAN. 
 
 January 9, 1828. 
 
 DEAR COUSIN : 
 
 You are an experienced Christian. Do such have 
 at all times a burning love to God, an abiding sense 
 of the shortness of time and the danger of perishing 
 souls? I once thought I experienced these feelings
 
 THE NE^Y MAN. 57 
 
 in the highest degree, but alas ! "where are they ? I 
 knew not then the meaning of the command " WATCH 
 and PRAY," nor did I ever understand it until about 
 a week or two after I last wrote. I then knew, for 
 four or five days in a little degree, what it was to feel 
 entirely helpless and dependent upon the strength of 
 the Almighty, the influences of the Holy Spirit, and 
 the righteousness of Christ. Still, however, I had no 
 return of the ardent love. Spiritual pride I believe 
 was the cause of the departure of those feelings. My 
 understanding and reason are convinced of the reason- 
 ableness and justice of all the Almighty's require- 
 ments, and tell me that all I desire is to be conformed 
 to the will of God, but this heart tells another story, 
 and says that this world, with all its vanities, is better 
 than to be continually warring to please God. Once 
 in a great while I have a little season when I feel 
 happy, i. e., weak and strong, but when I arrive 
 there, I stop as though I had attained all that I wish. 
 I would write further, but there is a little meeting 
 of young Christians that I wish to attend. 
 
 From your affectionate and obliged cousin, 
 
 HENRY LYMAN. 
 
 Under date of January 2d, 1828, the following 
 extract is surely the dawn of the martyr spirit : 
 
 "The years are short. It is but a moment since 
 January 1st, 1827, although within that time a revo- 
 lution has taken place greater with me than the 
 3*
 
 58 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 bloody contests of France or the protracted struggles 
 of America. To look back I am happier, and the 
 pain of the conflict I have endured to obtain this hap- 
 piness is sunk in oblivion. So will it be with all our 
 afflictions. For the present they seem ' not joyous, 
 but grievous.' Oh ! let us from past experience, take 
 lessons for the future, and strive oh ! agonize. For 
 how much sweeter will be the rest in Jesus's bosom 
 the bosom of Him who suffered for us, when we reflect 
 that we labored to the utmost to obtain it. Did you 
 never go to bed tired with manual labor, and was not 
 the sleep you enjoyed far more sweet than when you 
 had wasted your time in sloth and idleness ? Such 
 will be the rest of those, who, with the glory of God 
 and the cross of Christ for .their pole-star, labor 
 and strive through this dark and cheerless wilderness. 
 Or did you never exercise till you had acquired an 
 appetite so keen that you would 'have given worlds, 
 had you possessed them, for a little food, and was not 
 the very coarsest morsel more delicious than when 
 after a day or two of feasting you attempted to eat ? 
 So sweet will be the bread we shall eat when we ' sit 
 down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom 
 of God,' if we suffer hardships and trials here, and 
 keep continually on the watch. Let us not be dis- 
 heartened 3 but let the last dying groans of our Saviour 
 open afresh the wounds of our hearts on account of 
 our sins, and when once open, probe them deeper and 
 deeper till all cause of complaint is removed, and at
 
 THE NEW MAN. 59 
 
 last we shall say with unspeakable joy, ' Thanks be 
 unto God who giveth us the victory through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ.' " 
 
 " January 29M, 1828. Yesterday conversed with 
 one whom I heard use profane language, and gave 
 him 'the Swearer's Prayer,' and felt that I could 
 heartily pray for him. I am convinced that the best 
 way to address others on such subjects, is, not to stop 
 long to meditate, for fear Satan will bring some ob- 
 jections ; but to do it at once, trusting in God and 
 lifting to Him an imploring spirit. We can not pray 
 for them in earnest, unless we exert ourselves in 
 warning them, and in laboring for them." 
 
 LETTER TO AN AUNT. 
 
 AMHEKST COLLEGE, March 28, 1828. 
 I have nothing to relate with regard to my feelings 
 very different from what every Christian has, unless 
 it be to tell you of more sloth and inactivity than any 
 body else can ; but since you wish it, I feel bound to 
 do it, and I use the more freedom as it is to the con- 
 fidence of a friend I relate them. The overflowing I 
 at first experienced when I found my Saviour, con- 
 tinued for two or three months, when it began to 
 decline and continued to do so till the beginning of 
 November. I joined the church and kept up the 
 outer, and after a certain form the inner Christian 
 life during this time, but without any spiritual vital- 
 ity. About the beginning of November, I, with a
 
 60 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 class-mate,* began to attend a Sabbath-school of 
 colored children about two miles from college, and in 
 the evening we held a conference meeting for all the 
 colored people in the neighborhood. It was my en- 
 deavor to lead these souls to the fountain to drink, 
 that induced me to drink myself, though I knew not 
 that I was dying with thirst. Then I began to see 
 what sin is, and how it appears in the sight of a holy 
 God. I started from my slumbers, though I had per- 
 formed all public and private duties, and had thought 
 I was doing well enough. From that time to this I 
 have seen a great deal of my own heart, without any 
 of the real, pure enjoyment of last spring. Then 1 
 stopped short and tried to make myself better before 
 I could go forward in what appeared to be my duty. 
 A week or more since, God was pleased to show me 
 that I had only to throw myself upon Christ, and let 
 His righteousness save me. I believe I did do it. 
 Never before did I feel such a sweet, calm, childlike 
 resignation to the will of God. I think I can say my 
 will was His will, and instead of complaining that I 
 had so much wickedness to struggle against, I felt 
 rejoiced that He is pleased to give me a disposition to 
 fight against it. Since then I have felt that though 
 ignorant, sinful, and unfit to labor for the Lord, yet I 
 am not in fault if I am not a Brainerd or a Payson. 
 I have only to make a faithful use of the talents which 
 are committed to me. I am conscious of neglecting 
 * Rev. E. D. Eldridge, of Monticello, Ga.
 
 THE NEW MAN. 61 
 
 what I have. What should I do had I more com- 
 mitted to my charge. Beside, the thought animates 
 me that I am yet but a junior, yet but eighteen and 
 in the time of preparation which I have before me, 
 much may be accomplished, if I am diligent ; that I 
 may be so is my prayer. 
 
 I sometimes long to be in the field of labor, 
 especially when I get among the negroes on Sabbath 
 afternoon. It seems a kind of foretaste of missionary 
 labor. But, after all, my destiny may be in the heart 
 of New England. I desire to be in the hands of God 
 "as the clay is in the hands of the potter." Four 
 years seems but a moment, yet it is a long enough 
 time in which to change the face of the whole world. 
 I may, we all may, in that time be admitted to the 
 New Jerusalem. Animating thought ! to commence 
 those angelic lays, those songs of Zion, which will 
 communicate such a thrill of joy unspeakable to every 
 purified soul. 
 
 "March 27th. One of the rules of Doddridge's life 
 was ' never to lose one moment of time or to incur 
 any unnecessary expenses, that he might have the 
 more to spend for God.' May this be a rule for me 
 also : " To use great moderation at meals, and to be sin- 
 cere and earnest in prayers and thanksgivings at them. 
 
 "Saturday Morning, YLth April. Visited Brain- 
 erd's tomb with a class-mate, on our way to N. H. 
 The emotions that I felt as I stood beside the monu-
 
 62 THE MAftTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 ment of this devoted soldier of the cross, were such as 
 I never before experienced. My prayer to God w,as, 
 and I thought it came from the heart : Oh ! that I 
 may be as devoted, soul and body, to my Master's 
 service. Lord, here I am, take me, and glorify thy- 
 self with me. It is all that I can do for thee. 
 
 "Saturday, April 19/A. Felt last night and to-day 
 in a little degree what Brainerd calls ' Sweet wrest- 
 ling with the Lord for souls.' It is truly hard work 
 to drag the cross then it meets with obstructions, 
 but it is easy to take it up and have it all on the 
 shoulders, 'for my yoke is easy and my burden is 
 light,' but who hath faith to believe it." 
 
 TO CHARLES LYMAN, ESQ. 
 
 "NORTHAMPTON, June 19, 1828. 
 
 "One reason why I did not reply to your letter was 
 that there was somewhat of a revival in college, at 
 least a heart-searching time with Christians. There 
 were a few conversions in the college and academy, 
 and many at the Mount Pleasant school. The term 
 closed three weeks since, and I have been pedestrian- 
 izing with a class-mate to visit Mount Monadnock 
 and Boston, to see who there was in the world and 
 what they were doing." 
 
 Then follows an enumeration of several revivals, 
 and the writer continues 
 
 " Such things speak loudly of the approach of that 
 time when ' none will have occasion to say to his
 
 THE NEW MAN. 63 
 
 neighbor, know the Lord.' Yet again when we hear 
 the Macedonian cry rolled in, louder and louder by 
 every western breeze, and by every wave of the sea, 
 all looks dark and gloomy, and we are almost ready 
 to doubt whether the work can ever be, or will ever 
 be accomplished. There are a great many yet wanted 
 in the field. The present senior class at Andover 
 consists of twenty-three or four members, and the 
 secretary of the A. B. C. F. M. has applied for seven- 
 teen laborers to go out the present year, and could 
 only obtain five or six. The secretary of the American 
 Home Missionary Society applied for one hundred, and 
 could only secure about the same number. Somebody's 
 prayers have yet to open the door-nail-clenched-fists 
 of some of our old misers, to forward this work. I 
 sometimes wish I were at work, and then the thought 
 comes, 'What could you do?' Sure enough, What 
 could I do? I wish I could feel a little the responsi- 
 bility which in the course of four or five years I shall 
 take upon myself. 
 
 " Please write soon, and believe me still, though 
 in haste 
 
 "Your affectionate cousin, 
 
 "HENRY LYMAN." 
 
 " Monday Evening, June 23. Had a little meet- 
 ing this evening of thirty of us to confer about the 
 wants of the heathen, intending it as an introduction 
 to regular meetings.
 
 64 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 ' ' July 26. Last night had more freedom, and nearer 
 access to the mercy-seat than I have had before, this 
 term. Believe I found yesterday, what has been the 
 matter with me. I have had a light spirit have .been 
 like a ship without ballast tossed here and there, and 
 inclined rather to lower than to raise the standard of 
 piety, jl have wanted to see a revival of religion in 
 college, but I have not felt the pressing importance 
 of it, neither has there been any alarm in my own 
 heart on account of the danger of the impenitent. 
 Now the reason of all this I believe to be that I have 
 had no object in view. Last winter I felt that there 
 must be a revival of religion among us, and as if it 
 all depended upon my individual exertions. It lay 
 like a great weight upon my shoulders, and with these 
 feelings I tried to act. Now what I want is some 
 particular object in view some great one. What 
 shall I place before me? The perfect character of 
 Christ; more particularly, 1. The conversion of 
 every soul in college. 2. The fulfillment of every 
 college duty. 3. To be prepared to go out in vaca- 
 tion and exert not only a good influence on the side 
 of Christ, but to be actively employed in the great 
 work of saving souls ; in arousing Christians, and in 
 persuading sinners. To accomplish all this, I must 
 be. 1. Much in prayer; 2. Diligent in studying the 
 Bible; 3. In humbling myself before God; 4. In 
 acquiring faith ; 5. In the active performance of all 
 duties whether public or private, which includes en-
 
 THE NEW MAN. 4- 65 
 
 deavors to overcome sloth and indolence, and constant 
 watchfulness over every action, word, and thought. 
 Finally, all these points may be summed up in either 
 the fourth, fifth, or seventh resolutions long since 
 made. Oh ! that God would enable me to live in the 
 continual light of the Holy Spirit, that I may lead a 
 more holy life, and glorify Him, who for our sake 
 ' gave his back to the smiters.' Oh ! for grace to 
 enable me to live. 
 
 "July 30, Evening. Have not had so much en- 
 joyment in religion to-day as yesterday, until this 
 P. M., at the regular social prayer-meeting. I had 
 'the old woman's meeting,'* i. e., a very good meet- 
 ing, although there was no one visibly present but 
 herself. I have been led to see to-day how true faith 
 will operate on the conduct; i. e., if I go to the 
 throne of grace, and pray for any object or person, for 
 instance college or the students or any one student 
 in it what will be my feelings after prayer if it is 
 offered in ' Faith ?' jCWhy, I shall be watching college 
 in all its operations, anxious to know all about its 
 concerns ; or if it is a student, I shall watch his con- 
 duct, and the least thing out of the way will cause me 
 
 * Many years ago, an aged woman, went to the usual place of 
 prayer-meeting in the school-house on the plain in Northampton. 
 She returned at the accustomed hour, and on being asked, " Had 
 you a good meeting, mother ?" replied, " Yes, a very good one." 
 "Who was there?" continued her son. "The Lord Jesus Christ 
 was there, and I was there we had a good meeting." She had 
 staid through the usual hour alone, and from that period dates a 
 powerful revival of religion in that town.
 
 66 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 pain, and induce me to seek the mercy-seat, with 
 prayers and tears, and to look for an opportunity of 
 conversing with him, and to do all I can to promote 
 his spiritual welfare. I shall ever be as active for 
 others as for myself. It is as impossible for a man 
 to pray for another in faith, and not to feel a love for 
 him, as it is for an unholy man to love God. God 
 grant me more light and heat within, so that I may 
 'be a green olive-tree in the house of my God,' and 
 praise Him forever. Oh ! that I might on the mor- 
 row, if God should be pleased to spare my life, make 
 a better improvement of time, for Jesus' . sake. 
 
 " Tuesday, August 12. Have been reading the 
 'Life of Rev. Jeremiah Hallock.' His great piety 
 and usefulness depended on his being often at a throne 
 of grace, often in prayer and fasting, and often 
 perusing the word of God. He was an uncommon 
 example of Christian meekness and humility ; always 
 living in such a frame that he could spiritualize every 
 thing that transpired around him. He kept the world 
 under his feet. Though bold as a lion when his 
 master required his services, yet his humility did not 
 desert him. He had zeal, but not without knowledge. 
 Conviction of truth generally accompanied his words. 
 
 " September 25, 1828. Commencement of first 
 term senior year. 
 
 "To thee God, would I dedicate this room, and 
 all there is, and may be in it ; and all the time I may 
 spend in it. Thou hast given it to me, use it for thy
 
 THE NEW MAN. 67 
 
 glory. Established this eve a little season of prayer 
 [among the students who roomed at the house] : God 
 has made all hearts to incline to it, and all attended 
 to-night. Oh ! that they may be blessed, and a spirit 
 of prayer increased, till all in this house shall love 
 God. " 
 
 " October 6. Rev. Mr. Brigham of the American 
 Bible Society met the officers of the College Bible 
 Society this morning. The news he brought us was 
 really cheering. How much that Society is doing, and 
 how much it has still to do. This interview, together 
 with searching out the condition of Malta to bring 
 before the association to-morrow, has somewhat aroused 
 my feelings on the subject. Shall I not feel the 
 greatness of the cause ! It is one in which the angels 
 would rejoice to engage. Oh ! that God would show 
 me if it is not my duty to leave my country and 
 home, and if it is, that He would purify my motives, 
 and prepare me for the work for Jesus' sake. Oh, 
 may my motto be onward forever ! 
 
 " October 11. Attended the missionary association 
 this evening. I shall not do for a missionary till my 
 heart is quickened, and affections warmed, and faith 
 is strengthened, and humility increased, and the world 
 given up. and indeed until I am made { a new creature 
 in Christ Jesus.' "
 
 68 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 TO A SISTER. 
 "AMHERST COLLEGE, November 2, 1828. 
 
 "M\ r DEAR SISTER: 
 
 " I was glad to hear of your prosperous journey and 
 safe arrival. How thankful ought we to bo that our 
 heavenly Father kindly watches over and protects us 
 in all our clangers. I rejoice that you have a heart 
 that can be touched by the melancholy condition of 
 the poor people around you; that you can feel for 
 their souls those souls that bear the impress of the 
 Almighty. And while you feel for them, will you 
 not pray for them ? And while in your closet you 
 contemplate, before God, their condition here and 
 hereafter, and your own relation to Jesus, do you 
 make the anxious inquiry. ' Lord what wilt thou have 
 me to do?' Is there not much that you can do? 
 Who knows but that your master has sent you into 
 those desolate regions for a time that you might be the 
 means of the conversion of some poor soul ! One soul ! 
 would it not be a recompense for the winter's anxious 
 prayers and active exertions." 
 
 * * * # # 
 
 " But, dear sister, is there no portion of the world 
 
 destitute but . My feelings have this term taken 
 
 a stronger turn toward this subject than ever before. 
 It makes my soul bleed to hear the cry from Europe, 
 Asia, Africa and South America ; to say nothing of 
 the voice from our own southern and western States, 
 where in many places, and especially in the State of
 
 TUB NEW MAN. 69 
 
 Ohio, they have only one minister to every ten 
 thousand inhabitants, and in some only one to every 
 twenty thousand. Millions bow to Juggernaut, mil- 
 lions to Mohammed, millions to the Pope, and millions 
 more to idols of then' own making. Now what shall 
 be done for them ? Few are willing to go, although 
 they know they can not ' hear without a preacher,' 
 and declare to them the news, good and joyful, that a 
 Saviour stands ready with .. open arms to receive 
 them. But by the leave and assistance of Divine 
 Providence I will go. When four years have rolled 
 around, I shall probably be in my grave, on a sick 
 bed, or on mission ground. Yes, the pleasures of 
 home, and country, and kindred shall be sacrificed. 
 But what do I say ? Bather, the pleasure of leading 
 the poor benighted heathen to Jesus shall not be sac- 
 rificed for home, country, or friends. Would that to- 
 morrow's rising sun might witness my final departure 
 from New England! 
 
 . " We have had a communion season to-day. I felt 
 willing, I think, to be Chrst's forever. Have just 
 returned from our meeting of negroes. It is more 
 and more interesting. We are now upon the story of 
 Joseph in the Bible-class. 
 
 " Pray for me that my faith fail not, and believe me, 
 "Your very affectionate brother, HENRY." 
 
 November 8th is recorded as a day of special 
 prayer and fasting, that God would pour out his
 
 70 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 blessing upon the meeting of the Bible Society on the 
 next Wednesday ; and on the day of its meeting 
 Lyman was elected its president. 
 
 " November 12. Had some interesting conversa- 
 tion with Professor ' Peck to-day, especially on the 
 mission cause. He said there were some things in my 
 character that would make it better for me to stay, 
 and be an Evangelist. Nevertheless I can pursue my 
 inquiries, cultivate a missionary spirit, and if Provi- 
 dence seems to open my way, offer myself to the Board 
 if they need my services. 
 
 "November 30 Lord's Day. Have feared 
 sometimes 'lions' in my path, but have invariably 
 found them 'chained;' especially last evening, when 
 in conversation with friend Riggs, whether or not to 
 allude to the 'times' we had had together", and the 
 difference in my feelings since. Finally I thought I 
 would, though it was not till just as we were about to 
 separate. Then I found him quite tender on the sub- 
 ject of religion, and he requested another interview 
 this evening. Oh ! that I could remember that the 
 Lord always supports those who would plead his 
 cause, and assists them in doing their duty. There 
 never is any thing lost in owning Jesus. 
 
 " December 14 Sabbath. Have just been read- 
 ing the Life of Mrs. Newell ; and did she, at so young 
 an age, and at so early a period of missionary opera- 
 tions, devote herself to the service of Christ in thai 
 field ? Whv do / not feel more for the heathen ?
 
 THE NEW MAN. 71 
 
 Why do I not feel more for those with whom I am 
 immediately connected ; who are more guilty than the 
 heathen ? Can I leave my country and engage in 
 this work ? I want to do it. No, I do not. I want 
 to do just what God will have me to do, whether to 
 go there or to stay here. I have no choice between 
 the most renowned station in the church, and the 
 lowest and most despised of all private Christians ; 
 between laboring in heaven-exalted, heaven-privileged 
 America, and the most degraded pagan nation upon 
 earth ; between the burning sands of the tropics, and 
 the ice-bound coasts of the poles. Everywhere is 
 heard the cry, ' Come over and help us !' 
 
 " ' From Greenland's icy mountains, 
 From India's coral strand.' 
 
 Lord here am I, send me. Where ? To the heathen 
 to preach the Gospel anywhere. But where are 
 my faith, humility, and love? "Where are the effects 
 of my godly life and Christian walk in college? 
 Lord, have mercy ! Humble me at the foot of the 
 cross for Jesus Christ's sake. Awake me arouse 
 me." 
 
 Again, December 15th, after some other remarks, 
 the journal continues : 
 
 ' ' Oh that I were now in some lone missionary 
 station with one, two, or even no other follower of 
 lesus ! But this is wicked. I must live and labor 
 where God has placed me, and ' hold forth the word
 
 72 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 ot life,' and be 'blameless and without rebuke in the 
 midst of a wicked and perverse nation.' Would it not 
 be well for the future to spend the first day of every 
 month ; 1. As a day of fasting and prayer for mis- 
 sions ; 2. To examine myself as to this work and see 
 what portion of the church He is fitting me for ? for 
 ' I am ready to 'go, even to prison and to death for 
 the name of Jesus ;' 3. To select some portion of the 
 moral world, or some missionary station, for investi- 
 gation during each month, and also to read some 
 missionary biography. God, make me holy in 
 heart, enlightened in mind, and sound in body. Direct 
 how I may best accomplish these three objects, so that 
 I may live long and bring thousands and millions of 
 souls to Jesus." Amen." 
 
 In another place he asks : 
 
 " Will it not be well to double my monthly concert 
 contribution next year?" 
 
 On the evening of the same day, we read in con- 
 clusion : 
 
 "Would that I might love thee, God, all the 
 time every moment ! I want to do nothing on earth 
 but to study the Bible and lead souls to Jesus Christ. 
 I want to go off somewhere, into some dark corner 
 where I can have my Jesus, and my Bible, and then 
 tell poor heathen that the blessed Saviour died for 
 them, and wants them to love Him. Where shall I 
 go, ' I would seek unto God to God I would commit 
 my cause.' 

 
 THE NEW MAN. 73 
 
 '' Thursday, December 18. Did not enjoy myself 
 much yesterday, but should I look for enjoyment 
 here ? No. I did not do any thing for Jesus. How 
 blessed it is that God has made all our comforts 
 depend upon our fulfillment of duty. The very means 
 we use for the advancement of His kingdom are the 
 only means we can use to promote our own happiness." 
 In December, in a review of the term, there is 
 a lamentation over neglect of duty ; especially the 
 having neglected to pray and labor more for the col- 
 lege of which he was a member. He continues 
 thus : 
 
 " Our colleges are among the bulwarks of Jesus' 
 kingdom in this land, so far as human means are 
 concerned. Those who leave them impenitent are 
 prepared to ' scatter fire-brands, arrows, and death.' 
 Whereas, were the young men there brought into the 
 kingdom in this stage of their education, when im- 
 pressed with an ardent desire to devote all to the 
 service of God, they would naturally consecrate their 
 talents to Him, and devote themselves to the sacred 
 ministry. Even if enough youth were converted in 
 our town revivals, and entered college pious, we 
 should still need a revival to quicken those who 
 are looking forward to the ministry, and upon whom, 
 in a great measure, the future hopes of the church 
 will depend. Oh ! on this college especially is the 
 dependence of the churches of middle and western 
 Massachusetts. Prayers are constantly ascending
 
 74 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 that laborers may be brought forth to preach the 
 Gospel, and how have I, as one here, ' born out of 
 due time,' and as one since placed as an evidence of 
 the transforming influences of the Bible, how have I 
 lived ? I have not watched over my conduct in 
 public, and as to private, I shrink from the view. 
 Such wickedness of thought ! Oh ! the vileness of 
 my heart any thing but Christ has been the lan- 
 guage of my life. 
 
 " Thursday, December 25th. Felt this morning 
 in prayer as though I wanted to have thousands and 
 millions of my fellow-sinners brought into the king- 
 dom, so as to swell to a louder and yet a louder 
 strain the song of redeeming love. Oh ! when shall 
 I go and sing? I believe the only sure evidence 
 a person can have that he loves Jesus, is his anxiety 
 of soul for the impenitent, and he will know when he 
 feels this sufficiently by the exertions he is led to 
 make for those around him, or if circumstances are 
 such as to prohibit that (which is more rarely the 
 case than Christians generally believe), the sorrow 
 he feels, or rather the increased anxiety with which 
 he prays. We can not be full of the Holy Ghost and 
 confine it within our own bosoms : others must see the 
 light shine and must be led to glorify our Father in 
 heaven. 
 
 " December 29th. Felt my heart enlarge toward 
 the heathen in prayer this morning. It seems to me 
 I can pray for them with more earnestness than for 

 
 THENEWMAN. 75 
 
 any thing else. When -will the time come that they 
 shall be brought to the light ! God let the time 
 be hastened ! 
 
 "Evening. Feel almost ready to say, No life but 
 a missionary to the heathen. But who knows if the 
 desire may not be used as a chastisement, permitting 
 me to set my heart upon it, and then withholding 
 from me the privilege and -the blessing. To thee, O 
 God, would I commit my ways. Glorify thyself 
 with me here and hereafter, through Jesus Christ, 
 thy dear Son. Amen." 
 
 TO AN AUNT. 
 
 NORTHAMPTON, January 13, 1829. 
 
 I suppose now it is pretty much decided that the 
 family will remove to Amherst in the spring. This 
 arrangement will, however, bring me no nearer home 
 for any length of time, as I shall, if the Lord will, go 
 to a Theological Seminary early in the fall. To 
 what one father has not yet decided. He is hes- 
 itating between Princeton, New Jersey, and Andover. 
 I hope our heavenly Father will wisely order all 
 things in the decision for His own glory and the good 
 of His church. When I look back and consider all 
 the way by which the Lord has led me, especially in 
 inclining me to go to Amherst .College, I can not 
 but call upon my soul and all that is within me to 
 rejoice and bless His holy name forever for His 
 goodness and loving-kindness to me. and tn sa T ..
 
 76 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 the future, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to 
 do?" " Here aim I, send me." Oh ! what a blessed 
 privilege to be permitted to devote our time, our 
 talents, our all to His service, whose we are and 
 whom we profess to love. One thinks if there is any 
 thing that will give a greater zest to the pure joys of 
 heaven, any thing which will cause us to strike those 
 golden harps with a higher and yet a higher strain, it 
 will be to hear the triumphal songs of those who 
 through our instrumentality have been saved from 
 " the worm that never dieth and the fire that never is 
 quenched." And with views of such an immortality 
 beyond the grave, how can we but devote all ! When 
 I consider my selfishness and love of the world, and 
 love of ease, and how much I like to say, iny will, not 
 "thy will be done," I almost despair of doing. any 
 good even if I enter the ministry. But blessed be 
 God for the consolation, and were it not for this, I 
 should despair, " My grace is sufficient for thee." 
 He has promised to build up His church. This 
 glorious work He will carry forward, and if we are 
 willing that He should, He will use us as instruments, 
 "poor, weak, unworthy though we be." 
 
 As I wrote to Abby, the prospects of the church 
 here are more encouraging. The Sabbath School 
 Teachers' meeting, ^ last evening, all said, was un- 
 usually interesting. There seemed to be a feeling 
 that efforts must be made greater and more strenuous 
 than heretofore, for the salvation of the children for
 
 THENEWMAN. 77 
 
 an immediate revival in the school. And. how can we 
 resist such impressions when we take a serious view 
 of what Sabbath Schools are, and what an influence 
 they are to exert on the evangelization of the world. 
 These children must some day take charge of these 
 same schools. From these must our churches be 
 replenished. From these must our colleges, our 
 theological seminaries, our law and medical schools 
 be filled. These must supply our Bible, tract, and 
 missionary establishments. Fathers and mothers, 
 masters and servants, rulers and people all are to 
 come forth a host for the service of the Lord from 
 this institution. And they will if we are faithful. 
 If we are not, they will be a 'host for evil. The 
 future destinies of our own country the destiny of 
 the world all, all is depending very much on the 
 Sabbath School. It seems to be a foundation on 
 which other benevolent operations are to be built 
 up. 
 
 Oh, that we may be faithful and persevere unto 
 the end : that we may live holily and die triumph- 
 antly. 
 
 Your affectionate nephew, 
 
 HENKY LYMAN. 
 
 u January ^th. Had a most interesting inter- 
 view with our good minister, Mr. Spencer.* 0, how 
 small it made me feel ! How much pride of heart 
 * Eev. I. S. Spencer, D. D., late of Brooklyn, L. I.
 
 78 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 was God then pleased to show me. When I told him 
 that in view of the greatness of a minister's office I 
 was almost tempted to draw back, he said, ' God 
 requires nothing more of any man than he is able to 
 accomplish. God must do all the work. If we think 
 we can do any thing, we are fools. Ministers are 
 nothing but old " ram's-horns ;" we must study and 
 stick to the truth : to God's word.' ' 
 
 Through the winter vacation of six weeks, mostly 
 spent beneath the paternal roof in Northampton, the 
 most minute watchfulness was exercised by Henry 
 Lyman over his daily life and conversation. Day by 
 day is recorded the struggle with sin. No visit was 
 paid which was not severely scrutinized and the result 
 recorded. Every conference meeting, every assembly 
 of God's people, was gladly welcomed, and his prayers 
 and anxieties for a revival in " the dear old church" 
 at Northampton seem scarcely less than those called 
 forth by the necessities of Amherst College. 
 
 "February Qth. Have been reading Stewart's 
 ' Journal of a Residence on the Sandwich Islands ;' 
 more and more I feel attached to that mission. But 
 I must guard against a predilection for any post of 
 duty. God direct me and be Himself glorified, is all 
 I ask. Had an interesting interview with Russel 
 this evening. My heart burned. We prayed to- 
 gether. God grant, for Jesus' sake, that his work
 
 T H E N E W M A N . 78 
 
 may be revived, and I permitted to labor, though 
 I have so departed from Him, and have so little 
 faith. 
 
 " February 1th. Have been engaged in inves- 
 tigating the Sandwich Island mission. My heart 
 seems drawn out in love toward it, especially toward 
 Mr. and Mrs. Richards. I do not know that I would 
 prefer going there to labor. It is too nearly a par- 
 adise for a missionary to go there now. I should 
 rather commence from the beginning than ' to build 
 on another man's foundation.' 
 
 " February 13th. Have selected as subject for 
 declamation before chapel, ' Literature and Science 
 indebted to the Missionary Enterprise.' that 
 He who put it into my heart to select it, would 
 bring into activity all my pOAvers of mind, energies 
 of soul, and affections of heart, to plead His cause 
 with effect. 
 
 "February \4tth. I am so full of sin, and so 
 liable to err that I need to have my heart raised every 
 moment to God for strength. I need to have my 
 strength renewed every moment. Which must I do, 
 fight against sin and look to God to assist me, or let 
 alone my sins and my heart, trust them to Jesus, 
 and go. about His work ? Undoubtedly the last. 
 
 "February 15th Lord's Day Evening. Have 
 reason to bless God for His signal mercies to me this 
 holy day, and shall, no doubt, praise Him through 
 the ceaseless ages of eternity, that I have been
 
 80 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 permitted to see its light, and enjoy its heaven- 
 exalted privileges. The morning prayer-meeting was 
 good : God was there. Forenoon sermon from our 
 beloved Professor Peck, was 'a feast of fat things.' 
 Something he said suggested to my mind the analogy 
 between the Christian's life and a journey in an un- 
 known country, up hill and down. We can not see 
 our way before or behind. Soon, however, we mount 
 a summit, where Ave have a full view of all our path 
 except the hills we have come up. All appears 
 pleasant, the toil is forgotten, and the mercies are 
 then in view. Here too we take a look forward and 
 get a glimpse of the goal which lies beyond many 
 more hills and valleys. We start for a certain point 
 on the next eminence after having been refreshed by 
 this Pisgah view. We descend rapidly, and rejoicing 
 in renewed strength, till at last we reach the valley, 
 where, surrounded by forests impenetrable, and sink- 
 ing in the mire, we think we are lost can neither 
 see the way before nor behind. However, having con- 
 sulted our compass, we press onward for the point, 
 hoping to come out at last, and after long struggling 
 we succeed, and so we proceed. 
 
 " East-street Meeting (the colored people's Sun- 
 day School). God was present; I believe it was not 
 in vain. that God would sanctify it more fully. 
 When I went to visit a sick man in the next house, 
 the older people all followed, and again I had an op- 
 portunity to speak and to pray with them. Two or
 
 THE NEW MAN. 81 
 
 three seemed dejected. Good conversation with brother 
 Schneider * who attended with me. Never were my 
 desires to labor for God so great. Never did the 
 missionary cause appear so lovely. 
 
 " February 20th. DAY OF FASTING AND PRAYER 
 FOR COLLEGES Evening. Good season of prayer 
 with Porter, Maxwell, and Matthews also with Bliss 
 and Page. Have had many sweet moments alone. 
 The most solemn day I ever knew. Have been ena- 
 bled to plead with God for His blessing. He has, I 
 trust, answered prayer. There is evidently more 
 feeling. This morning had little praying circles 
 scattered about all over college. At half-past ten 
 met by classes with instructors. President with us 
 (Seniors), who called attention to the fact that so 
 many were praying for the students ; to the shortness 
 of time ; to the wants of our own country, two hundred 
 and sixty ministers being needed in New England Con- 
 gregational churches, and in the United States three or 
 four thousand among Congregational, Presbyterian, 
 and Baptist churches. The wants of the world also 
 call upon us. 
 
 " At 2 P. M. Professor Hitchcock spoke to us all in 
 chapel. The President followed with remarks upon 
 the sovereignty of God. At half-past six, meeting 
 in rhetorical room. Professor Abbott preached from 
 ' take heed how ye hear.' A nightly prayer-meet- 
 ing has been established in Harrington's room. 
 * Rev.'B. Schneider of the Armenian Mission.
 
 82 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 " An hour's conversation with brother Lane.* It 
 was like the joy of my espousals. 0, I longed to 
 have eternity begin that I might commence my song. 
 I would sing it if I were confined in the lowest depths 
 of hell. I would make all hell ring with the praises 
 of redeeming love. But I feared it not. I could 
 lean on the arm of Jesus. I could not make myself 
 to doubt. I gave all up into His hands whose credit 
 is good. I am Christ's; heaven is mine. When 
 shall I go and be like him ? Eternity will be too 
 short if not soon begun. Stop ! stop ! some must go 
 and begin it with me. I must yet labor and wrestle 
 'with sins, and doubts, and fears.' Souls must be 
 saved. God must be glorified on earth, before He 
 can be praised in heaven. I must first be tried and 
 see if I can love when He frowns. After I returned 
 to my room I could wrestle for the influence of the 
 Spirit to descend upon college. may I be enabled 
 to bear prosperity, or adversity ; rejoicing on Pisgah's 
 top, or struggling with the roughest seas. 
 
 ''March 29th. If in times of apparent security 
 we are wrestling with sin, and digging up and rooting 
 out, and overturning ; then when temptation assails, 
 or God smites in mercy, we shall be prepared to re- 
 ceive the one with strength, and the other with hu- 
 mility. A constant watch must be kept a constant 
 din of battle must be heard. 
 
 " July 10/A. Last eve heard Mr. Dwight, a 
 * David B. Lane, of Stirling, Conn.
 
 THE NEW MAN. 83 
 
 missionary appointed to Greece ; text, ' Go ye into 
 all the world, etc.' Afterward he met our 'Friends.' 
 / be a missionary ! How then must I deny self! 
 Oh ! that from this hour I could begin a thorougli 
 course of self-denial. Lord Jesus have thou mercy 
 upon me. 
 
 " July IGth. ' No man when he hath lighted a 
 candle covereth it with a vessel or setteth it under a 
 bed, but on a candlestick, that he that cometh in may 
 see the light.' So it is, so it ever will be. It is as 
 impossible for him who is in the exercise of living 
 grace to be in company with another a few minutes 
 and that person not feel the influence of it, as it is 
 for a man to stand with his head uncovered in the 
 blaze of the noon- day's sun, and not feel its rays ; or 
 for the king of day to shine forth in his glory upon 
 the earth and not emit his light. By this I am con- 
 demned. Often have I been in company when I have 
 exerted naught but a negative influence and often not 
 that. my prayer unto God is for more grace! 
 Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me ! 
 
 "July 19th. Took up Mrs. Judson's Memoir; 
 not much prayer over it, hence not much benefit. I 
 was led to exclaim, ' Where are my qualifications for 
 missionary service, either in piety, or intellectual at- 
 tainments?' I am almost always discouraged in 
 reading the lives of such persons, and sometimes I am 
 tempted to renounce the service and enter upon some 
 secular employment. I do not doubt but that a spark
 
 84 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 of Divine grace has been implanted, but who wants to 
 be ' saved so as by fire ?' 
 
 "July 2Qth Sunday. As I was going to church 
 the evangelization of the world burst upon my soul in 
 all its beauty, its grandeur, its greatness. 0, I 
 wanted to be endowed with a tenfold portion of the 
 Spirit; to have my heart, mind, and body prepared 
 for a great and arduous labor in the vineyard. What 
 is the use of living, if a man can not have his influ- 
 ence felt in the cause of Christ. I ought to pray 
 more that I may not go down to the grave till thou- 
 sands in my day and generation shall have been 
 brought out of darkness into the marvelous light of 
 the Gospel, and till I shall have left an influence that 
 shall be felt as long as the earth shall exist so long 
 as the throne of God shall stand. And my prayer 
 ought to be more earnest that God would use all my 
 talents entirely and directly in His service and for the 
 promotion of His cause. So great did this subject 
 appear that I was constrained to adopt as a motto, 
 'Six hundred millions are perishing ! !' 
 
 "July 31s. Had the pleasure, and I hope profit, 
 of meeting the Rev. Mr. Nettleton this evening with 
 a few classmates. Spent about two hours. He dis- 
 coursed upon the motive which should induce us to 
 enter the ministry that should be the salvation of 
 one soul, and we should feel our unworthiness to be 
 the instrument even of this. ' Then if you don't get a 
 living, what of it?' ' It is not what you were after.
 
 THE NEW MAN. 85 
 
 If you don't obtain a name, etc. If you have insult, 
 etc. If not even permitted to see one soul converted 
 what of it? God looks at the motive. When we are 
 laboring, we should make as little noise as possible, or 
 rather none at all about the work. It will go on the 
 best when you do not care whether any body knows or 
 not, if you can be the means of saving any. . We 
 should not be free to express our opinion to every 
 body about those who are serious or anxious should 
 not talk about other denominations.' 
 
 " He then gave us an interesting account of the glo- 
 rious work of grace he had been permitted to witness 
 in Virginia. Believe I was led to see in some degree 
 my darkness, and love of reputation, and desire to 
 glorify self, rather than God." 
 
 The following was probably written about the last 
 of June, 1829 : 
 
 "MY MUCH LOVED SISTER: 
 
 "Yours of came safely to hand, but unavoidable 
 
 circumstances have prevented my answering it. I 
 am much obliged for the good, wholesome advice it 
 contained and should like more of it. I want to know 
 all that there is about me unfavorable to the holy 
 office toward which I am looking, and a remedy for 
 it ; so whenever you write to me, lift up your hand 
 and spare not. It is a holy and responsible place and 
 it is well to be prepared. 
 
 *******
 
 86 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 " Again I am glad you are gone because it will be 
 better for me perhaps to have one link broken at a 
 time : at least I shall not so sensibly feel the separa- 
 tion, for separation it will be with me. so soon as my 
 education is completed." 
 
 " AMHERST, August 4, 1829. 
 
 "DEAR SISTER: 
 
 "You say 'you can not bear the thought of my 
 going beyond the seas.' This reminds me of what 
 Mr. Nettleton he is in town now and met our class 
 last Friday told us : 'In the ministry always have 
 this question before your minds, How shall I wish I 
 had acted or spoken a hundred or a thousand years 
 hence?' Methinks the meeting of the missionary 
 with his friends at the consummation of all things, 
 must be made a thousandfold more pleasant by the 
 separation and its trials. 
 
 "Again 'Perhaps you may think differently be- 
 fore three years expire.' Do not think that I have 
 determined to go whether or no. I mean to keep an 
 ' if the Lord will,' in the business, and not to make 
 up my mind for a certainty till I find myself upon 
 missionary ground. Should I follow the bent of my 
 own inclinations, I should be a traveling agent for 
 the Board ; and I may yet find it my duty to stay 
 here in New England as a settled pastor. I want to 
 fill, if I know my own feelings, just that niche for 
 which I was made, and for which my talents are
 
 THE NEW MAN. 87 
 
 fitted. If my friends think me better adapted for 
 some other station than that of missionary, and the 
 path of duty seems plain, the only thing I shall 
 have to do, will be to obey the command, 'Walk 
 ye in it.' 
 
 " I may formerly have expressed myself rather too 
 strongly upon this subject. I always meant this, but 
 my prevailing feelings and expectations were, that 
 such would be my course did Providence throw no 
 obstacles in the way. If there are any books which 
 interest my feelings, they are the lives and journals 
 of missionaries. If there are any parts of the Bible 
 that rejoice my heart, they are those which speak of 
 the heathen being given to Jesus for an inheritance : 
 ' Ethiopia stretching out her hands unto God, etc.' 
 If there are any which speak consolation to my soul, 
 they are those which extend the promise of support 
 and consolation to him who forsakes house and lands, 
 father and mother, brothers and sisters, for Jesus. 
 If there is any thing which animates me in duty, or 
 leads to self-denial, it is the thought that souls 
 are perishing. If there is any pleasure in prayer, it 
 is in praying for benighted pagans. If any thing for 
 which my heart is drawn out to God, it is for the 
 missionary. And I have often felt peculiar pleasure 
 of late in prayers for Mr. and Mrs. Richards.* 
 
 " ' More young men have applied to the Board,' 
 
 * Of the Sandwich Islands mission. Mrs. B. was a native of 
 Northampton.
 
 88 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 you saj, 'than can be sent.' This, I fancy, is a 
 mistake. The Board are now in want of twenty or 
 thirty such." 
 
 ***** 
 
 The essay which young Lyman prepared for Com- 
 mencement, was on the " Moral Courage of John 
 Knox," and there was certainly manifest in the pro- 
 duction a strong sympathy with this trait of his hero. 
 The degree of A. B. was received, and the walls of 
 college left. 
 
 The desire the steady development of which we 
 have endeavored to show that he might go " far 
 hence to the Gentiles," was as yet unknown to his 
 parents. And this not from any want of confidence 
 in those whom the son most tenderly loved and 
 revered, but because he saw that their hearts were 
 filled with the idea of having him near them as 
 a settled pastor, and until the matter was more 
 matured in his own mind, Henry dreaded to disturb 
 them. 
 
 For the last three months of his stay in Amherst, 
 he dwelt again under the paternal roof, his father 
 having purchased the Pleasant Valley farm. His 
 younger brothers and sisters can well remember his 
 order and method, his interest in their plans of amuse- 
 ment, his room accessible to them at all hours of the 
 day save three. Soon had they found that at even- 
 ing, morning, and at noon, there was no admission 
 there. And they had felt the earnest but gentle
 
 THE NEW MAN. 89 
 
 
 
 force of his efforts to lead them to Christ. Between 
 the father and - son grew a confidence most complete 
 and tender. Every trial, every difficulty was con- 
 fided to Henry, and in his after letters the parent 
 reaped a thousandfold all that he had sowed. 

 
 o
 
 IV. 
 
 t iuisio. 
 
 For a necessity is laid upon me ; yea, woe is unto me, if I 
 preach not the Gospel! ST. PAUL. 
 
 Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. 
 ACTS xxii. 21.

 
 IV. 
 
 THE history of Henry Lyman's seminary course 
 must be mainly supplied by his correspondence and 
 journals. The following letter to Charles Lyman, 
 written from Amherst, August 4th, 1829, gives tho 
 appropriate introduction to the new scene. After 
 some remarks upon pecuniary matters, he says : 
 
 "It is difficult, I find, to tell what is the path of 
 duty. It has been a question in my mind of late, 
 whether I ought not to wait a year or two before 
 entering the theological school, on account of my age, 
 being only nineteen and two thirds. But my heart's 
 desire is to go x forward, though not if it would destroy 
 my future usefulness. I have, I believe, thoughktoo 
 much of these things. For the future it seems to me 
 best to inquire" what shall I do to-day, and regulate 
 myself to-morrow for the duties of that day, as cir- 
 cumstances may seem to direct. If I finally conclude 
 to go to Princeton and go this fall, I shall probably 
 see you on my way. * * * 
 
 " I felt, when we were declared candidates for A. B., 
 like a vessel without a pilot, just let out upon the
 
 94 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 broad ocean. Blessed be God ! He has taught me 
 where to look for a pilot, and a compass. If Jesus is 
 only ours, we need fear no storm." 
 
 TO HIS PARENTS 
 
 ANDOVEB, October 12th, 1829. 
 
 DEAR PARENTS: 
 
 Of my safe arrival, journey, etc., I suppose you 
 have heard through Mr. Strong. I am settled as 
 pleasantly as I could wish. I have not been sorry 
 for a moment that Providence so ordered events that I 
 was compelled to come here. I do believe "'tis all 
 for the best." I need, I think, the Andover discipline. 
 I feel confident of having pursued the course which 
 will best fit me for the responsible office toward which 
 I am looking. 
 
 You will be astonished when I tell you I have be- 
 gun my public labors, though without authority. I 
 preached yesterday all day, and held a conference in 
 the evening at West Haverhill, eleven miles from 
 the seminary. The minister was ill, and they could 
 get no one else, so I went; and as they were all 
 strangers, they did not know but that 1 could preach. 
 I had no notice of it till two o'clock Saturday P. M., 
 and started off immediately, returning this morning. 
 Besides three services, I attended a Bible class. I 
 spoke extemporaneously of course from Luke xviii. 
 7, in the morning, and Hebrews ii. 3, in the after- 
 Tr> the evening I took a portion of the first
 
 THE DECISION. 95 
 
 chapter of Isaiah. The benediction, of course, I was 
 not allowed to pronounce, merely saying, " the exer- 
 cises are closed." I 'felt humble enough in the Bible 
 class, when I asked a gray-headed old deacon a ques- 
 tion, and he rose from his seat with all reverence to 
 answer me. I never performed a harder still it was a 
 pleasant day's work. The effort of speaking, espec- 
 ially of speaking extempore, and the anxiety, are 
 greater than any one can imagine who has not tried 
 it. If I were only looking to the ministry as a busi- 
 ness, I would never again open my books. No, were 
 it not for the love which I feel for my Saviour and my 
 fellow-men, and the hope that, feeble as I am, I can 
 be the honored instrument of saving their souls, and 
 building up His kingdom, I would prefer to leave my 
 studies and labor on a farm. There is nothing but 
 this that can compensate for the toil, and anxiety, and 
 responsibility of the station. It is indeed an awful 
 thing for one weak worm of the dust to take upon 
 himself to direct his fellow-creatures to everlasting 
 happiness. I need, as I trust I have, your constant 
 prayers, that God would glorify Himself in and 
 through me. I could not help thinking yesterday, if 
 it is so hard to labor one Sabbath in this goodly land, 
 where Christian friends are many, and where there is 
 plenty to supply the temporal wants, what would it 
 be to toil all my life, in privation and want, among 
 the heathen, if God in his holy Providence should call 
 me there. Since I have been here, I have concluded
 
 96 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 to take up the question as to the part of the vineyard 
 I shall occupy, soon after the term commences, so as 
 not to be influenced by any popular excitement which 
 there may be among the students. I should like your 
 views on the subject when you write. I feel that I 
 am equally ready for New England, the torrid zone, 
 or the frozen poles, if the Lord says: "This is the 
 way ; walk ye in it." Love to all. 
 
 Your affectionate son, 
 
 HENRY. 
 
 TO CHARLES LYMAN. 
 
 ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, November 13tb, 1829. 
 * * * Verily, the Lord's "ways are not as 
 our ways," or I should not have been privileged to 
 date a letter from so holy, so consecrated a spot as 
 this. It is good to observe our heavenly Father's 
 dealings with us. It has seemed especially so to me 
 in meditating upon the manner in which, in His mer- 
 ciful Providence, He hath brought me hither. But 
 here I have arrived. I have given up myself, with 
 all my unworthiness and unfitness. to spend and be 
 spent in the holy office. I have taken upon myself a 
 responsibility under which Gabriel might well trem- 
 ble " how much more, then, man who is a worm;" 
 and how much more still, such an one as I, who am 
 as yet but as an infant in the school of Christ. I ask 
 more than ever for an interest in your prayers. I 
 want to be made more heavenly-minded. What ia
 
 THE DECISION. 97 
 
 the use, dear cousin, in our groveling along on earth, 
 when we are bid to "taste, and see that the Lord is 
 good?" Is there any such thing as concentrating our 
 affections in Jesus? I verily think, with Baxter, if 
 it were "only the exercise of the body, the moving 
 of the lips, the bending of the knee, men would as 
 commonly step to heaven as they would go visit a 
 friend. But to separate our thoughts and affections 
 from the world, to draw forth all our graces, and in- 
 crease each by its proper object, and hold them to it 
 till our work prospers in our hands ; this, THIS is the 
 difficulty." I find I must keep drive, drive, drive 
 all the time, pell mell. If I stop to take breath, " in 
 slips the devil." 
 
 Andover, though a heaven on earth, is not heaven. 
 It is not out of the world. I find I felt not my 
 wicked heart at college, but rather seem to be more 
 than ever given over to its influence. (See Saints' 
 Rest, p. 216.) I quote Baxter because it is so apro- 
 pos. Verily it is a treasure. It is a mine of gold 
 in which, when you have cleared one vein of rich ore, 
 you strike upon another. I think of you more than 
 once every day when I peruse this and the other ex- 
 cellent books you have added to my library. "The 
 blessing of many ready to perish" be upon you. 
 
 In a letter to his uncle, D. S. Whitney, Mr. 
 Lyman, after many expressions of humble gratitude 
 to God, says : "I mentioned to you the subject of my
 
 98 THE MARTT.R OF SUMATRA. 
 
 offering myself to the A. B. C. F. M. My feelings 
 strengthen toward it every day. Some friends, who 
 have been conversant with my character during my 
 college course, encourage it. Do you know any thing 
 concerning me why I should not submit myself to 
 their disposal?" 
 
 It is sometimes imagined by those not personally 
 acquainted with missionaries, that, being men of 
 cold, unsocial temperaments, they suffer less than 
 others would, in their separation from home and 
 kindred. The following letter will show the warmth 
 of Henry Lyman's heart : 
 
 TO HIS PARENTS. 
 
 ANDOVER, November 22, 1829. 
 
 DEAR PARENTS: 
 
 Having written three or four letters this evening, 
 and S. Hopkins intending to take an early start in the 
 morning, you will not expect a long communication. 
 Still a few words I will write, and have reserved it till 
 the last, that I might have the best to wind up with. 
 Especially do my thoughts turn this evening with 
 peculiar pleasure to the authors of my being, for to- 
 morrow numbers a score of years in my life. I should 
 be worse than a brute, could I, on such an occasion, 
 forget all your care and anxiety on my account ; 
 care and anxiety too, which, having been so often for- 
 feited, it seems a wonder to me that your patience has 
 not been a thousand times exhausted. Still your fos-
 
 TUB DECISION. 99 
 
 tering care has preserved me, under the smiles of a 
 kind Providence, till I have arrived at two sevenths 
 of the age allotted to man, and, as I fear, to half of 
 all the time which will be appointed to me on the 
 earth. I would not limit Providence, but would it 
 were so, if I could finish the work He has given me 
 to do ere that time. The sooner we enter upon our 
 eternal rest the better for us. Welcome death, if we 
 can only sing that triumphant song, "0, death, 
 where is thy sting ? 0, grave, where is thy victory?" 
 Thanks to God that we obtain the victory through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 I could wish, did not duty prevent, to be present 
 in the family circle, on the approaching joyful anni- 
 versary.* However, as far as the thanksgivings 
 are concerned, I see not why we may not mingle in 
 them though separated by such a distance. Still it 
 would be pleasant to make one around the family 
 altar on that day. That I shall be remembered there 
 makes up for all. What -reason we have for real, 
 heartfelt thanksgiving ! Many have been the changes 
 in our family, yet, for aught we can see, all in mercy. 
 Death, though he has been very near, has not been 
 permitted to enter our doors. Though the life of 
 one was endangered, God said, " Thus far shalt thou 
 come, and no further," and he is recovering. One 
 has left home, but for a new home, concerning which 
 we could all say, " Depart in peace." 
 
 * The annual " Tir anksgiving Day."
 
 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 As for temporal prosperity, what more could the 
 Lord have done that He has not done. So far His 
 dealings have been in mercy. Though there have been 
 seasons of darkness, no doubt, we are all ready now 
 to praise the hand of our heavenly Father. 
 
 How do Sabbath Schools flourish now in Amherst ? 
 I teach in the west parish, two miles from the sem- 
 inary. There are three hundred scholars of all ages 
 and both sexes, from five years old up to sixty. In 
 this parish there are four hundred and fifty of the 
 same ages, and sixty- three teachers. 
 
 Letters to E. J. and J. accompany this. I suppose 
 they will all be at home on the 25th. 
 
 Your affectionate son, 
 
 HENRY. 
 
 ANDOVEK, January 1th, 1830. 
 
 DEAR FATHER: 
 
 I hasten to answer your kind and highly interest- 
 ing letter by Kidder. The books I shall probably 
 need, go where I will. A missionary must study 
 every day as well as ministers at home, for this is the 
 only way in which he can ' ' bring out of his treasures 
 things new and old." It is impossible for a man to 
 continue to interest his fellow-men as a teacher or 
 minister, unless he is improving his own mind and 
 learning something new himself. 
 
 You mention many failures, and some of them 
 truly unexpected to me. I can not say, however,
 
 THE DECISION. 101 
 
 that I am sorry. Among whom have they happened ? 
 Are they not men of this world ? men who have been 
 laying up treasures " where moth and rust corrupt?" 
 And are these not afflictions sent in mercy to lessen 
 their confidence in the perishing things of time and 
 sense, and to induce them to look to Him, whose love 
 nothing can takeaway? (Rom. vii. 31-39.) I believe 
 these failures are a means which God has used for 
 promoting his own cause. Revivals have not been 
 more numerous for some years than they are now in 
 our churches and at the missionary stations under 
 their care. New revivals and increase of old ones are 
 reported frequently at our meetings. Individual 
 Christians were too strong, too rich, too much in- 
 creased in goods, and were saying to their souls, 
 " Take thine ease," etc., but God, in the plenitude of 
 His grace, instead of saying, " Thou fool, this night 
 thy soul shall be required of thee," has only said, 
 thy property, and is thus bringing them to Him- 
 self. 
 
 I find occasion to bless God daily, that He has so 
 placed me that I can pray for you. The light of 
 God's countenance is what all need to bear them 
 through external troubles. With this every thing 
 seems right, because every thing seems ordered by 
 Him who has said, afflictions for the present seem 
 " not joyous, but grievous, nevertheless afterward 
 they yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness." 
 " For, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and
 
 102 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 scourgeth every son whom he receiveth," etc. More- 
 over, we have the example of Job, who, when stripped 
 of all his earthly comforts, said, "The Lord gave and 
 the Lord hath taken away, and blessed be the name 
 of the Lord." It is hard work to trust when all is 
 dark and gloomy, and there seems no way of escape ; 
 but is not this the very time in which our faith in 
 God is called into exercise. We do not use the reins 
 for the horse when he is standing still. It is only 
 when he is running that they are required. So faith 
 is not exercised when we see the way clear and all is 
 prosperous. But when all is dark, and there is, to 
 our view, no way of escape, then it is that we must 
 trust the Lord. You say, "It is not best to borroff 
 trouble before it comes." I believe that a great part 
 of our misery here consists in the anticipation of 
 evil. The Lord will not send more than we can bear. 
 Still it is best to be prepared for the worst. Even 
 the very worst, after all, what is it? It all, I 
 believe, lies in our own feelings whether it shall 
 affect us unpleasantly or not. 
 
 The above was written at odd times do n't know 
 as you can read it. Love to all. 
 
 As ever, yours, 
 
 H. L. 
 
 tor the first two months, Henry Lyman's Andover 
 diary is filled with lamentations over his want of 
 earnest longing for the influences of the Holy Spirit,
 
 THE DECISION. 103 
 
 while the joyful record of revivals here and there, his 
 growing watchfulness over self, and earnest devotion 
 to the work of saving souls, would give the impression 
 that he was day by day growing in grace. Still be- 
 fore his mind was more prominently placed than any 
 other subject, the great question of the missionary 
 work. He writes in his journal, under date of 
 October 6th : 
 
 "Had the privilege of attending a conference this 
 evening, with three or four of the brethren. It showed 
 me, in some little degree, that I feel not the value of 
 the soul. I must condemn myself in all I have done 
 to-day. And why be constantly condemning myself? 
 Because I have been sinning ; because I am constantly 
 sinning. Have felt to-day more my own inefficiency. 
 Felt as though I did not want to do any thing but to 
 love God and to be swallowed up in Him wholly 
 conformed to His image. This has been the burden 
 of my prayers of late. This P. M., while viewing 
 the idols formerly worshiped by the Sandwich 
 Islanders, I received a fresh impulse to spend and 
 be spent on heathen shores. It seems to me this 
 is the Lord's will. I asked Him to-day to con- 
 tinue these desires for their salvation, even if He 
 had ordained I should labor in some other part of the 
 vineyard. 
 
 " Thursday Evening, October 8th. Have thought 
 that I was something, and that I wanted to do 
 something till this evening : visited brother Schauf-
 
 104 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 fler,* and oh, how small and insignificant did I 
 appear to myself! How little love! How much 
 worldliness ! What am I ? what am I ? 
 
 " Monday Morning, November 23d, 1829. To- 
 day is the anniversary of my first drawing breath in 
 this world of sin. 
 
 " To-day reminds me that I have lived a score of 
 years. 
 
 11 To-day reminds me that I have passed two 
 sevenths of all the time allotted to man on the earth. 
 
 ' ' I have had something of a conflict in my mind as 
 to duty : f study has seemed so pressing here in the 
 Institution. After prayer. I have determined, God 
 giving me strength, to look back upon the past year 
 and seek His guidance for the future. 
 
 " 10 o'clock, A. M. As I look from my window, the 
 clouds roll past in the west in awful grandeur. There 
 is a constant mingling of black, deep black, blue, 
 deep blue, light, white, heavy, fleecy. 
 
 ' ' Though engaged in reviewing my life, I can not but 
 stop to reflect thereon. Now they ride and clear the 
 western hills. Now the hills are enveloped in them. 
 Now the opposite houses are almost hidden from view. 
 Again they break, and light appears. Again all is 
 shrouded in twilight-darkness. ' Can any understand 
 the spreading of the clouds ?' ' Dost thou know the 
 
 * Rev. W. G. Schauffler, D.D., missionary to the Jews at Con- 
 stantinople. 
 
 f It was Lyman's custom to spend his birth-day as a time of 
 special devotion.
 
 THE DECISION. 105 
 
 balancing of the clouds, the wonderful works of Him 
 who is perfect in knowledge ?' 
 
 " 'Who can number the clouds in wisdom, or who 
 can stay the bottles of heaven ?' 
 
 " ' Bless the Lord, my soul. Oh Lord my God. 
 thou art very great.' 
 
 " ' Who maketh the clouds His chariot, who walketh 
 upon the wings of the wind.' 
 
 "'Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing 
 praises upon the harp unto our God.' 
 
 ' ' ' Who covereth the heavens with clouds, who pre- 
 pareth rain for the earth.' 
 
 " ' Who hath His way in the whirlwind and in the 
 storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.' 
 
 "They are glorious as being the throne on which 
 the Lord Jesus will make His appearing in the last 
 great day, when he ' cometh in his glory and all the 
 holy angels with him.' 
 
 ******* 
 
 "This eve had a good class meeting and finished 
 review. Comfort in intercession for my parents this 
 evening. In social devotions and in class meeting, not 
 that heart work in prayer which constitutes its very 
 essence. I have pleaded to-day for deadness to the 
 world and the flesh. This is essential to k&ping a 
 day of fasting and prayer. It was such observances 
 which gave the prophets power, and strengthened the 
 hands of the apostles. It was a Brainerd's strength, 
 
 a Hallock's support. In short, where are the holy 
 5*
 
 106 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA 
 
 men or holy women, of olden or present time, who 
 have not made this a means of great communication 
 with Jesus. 0, my soul, do thou likewise. 
 
 "Friday Evening, Zlth. In p. M. brother Schauf- 
 fllcr called, on the subject of missions. Good visit. I 
 felt ready, to go, only waiting for friends' advice. 
 Was privileged to hear from my dear family to-day. 
 The letter which most interested me was from father, 
 saying that he would not advise me to go to the hea- 
 then, but still wishes me to decide for myself. 
 
 " Lord's Day, November 29/7*. Sabbath School 
 peculiarly interesting. Sufficiently so, and infinitely 
 more than, to repay me for four miles' walk in the 
 snow and water, and two or three hours' wet feet. 
 Have taken the missionary class, and the Lord pre- 
 vailed upon four or five, through my instrumentality, 
 to listen to the truths of His word. Have to mourn 
 over indulgence of appetite. After tea, Sabbath 
 School teachers' meeting. Had a visit and prayers 
 with brother Clarke, especially on missions. My heart 
 was enlarged for perishing heathen ; also with breth- 
 ren Schauffler and Hathaway a very interesting con- 
 versation. 0, it was precious to talk over the wants 
 of Jesus' kingdom and consider the promises. Had 
 an uncommonly delightful season of prayer. My de- 
 sire was for the heathen, especially for those who have 
 not the bread of life, and that I may be privileged to 
 go and tell them of a dying Jesus. Sweet season of 
 intercession in social devotion to-night, especially
 
 THE DECISION. 107 
 
 for the heathen and for more of Jesus' love in my 
 heart. that ray countrymen were awake to this 
 subject ! that they would take one soul and count 
 its worth, and then look at the millions that are per- 
 ishing for the word of life, and then see if there is 
 not a motive for exertion ! What is the church, from 
 its foundation, but a missionary establishment ? If a 
 soul is added to it in any part of the world, is it not 
 increased ? Why not then send the Gospel to those 
 who have it not ? Must the church first be increased 
 at home ? Then why not wait till every soul at home 
 is converted ? Is there no encouragement to labor for 
 the heathen? The promises are vast. They have 
 been in an eminent degree fulfilled considering the 
 little exertion the church has made. Oh ! church of 
 Christ, I entreat you by the love you bear to perishing 
 souls ; by Jesus' bloody sweat ; by a Saviour's suffer- 
 ings ; by a Redeemer's dying groans ; by your own 
 professions ; by your own constant vows ; by all that 
 you hold dear on earth and in heaven ; by all you 
 hope to shun in hell ; by the promises of God ; by 
 the commands of Jehovah ; by the threatenings of the 
 Almighty, I beseech you. if you have any grace, any 
 love, send the bread of life to the perishing, dying 
 heathen ! 
 
 " Tuesday Evening, December 1st. This evening 
 had interesting conversation with brother Hubbard 
 concerning missionary consecration. Found him re- 
 volving the subject in his own mind, as to duty. My
 
 108 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 heart burned within me as I talked with him; so 
 grand, so beautiful, so sublime, so holy, so glorious, 
 did the work of evangelizing the heathen appear! 
 How a contemplation of the subject expands the mind 
 and heart ! I had almost said, well might the Son 
 of God die to save a lost world ! may he soon ' see 
 of the travail of His soul and be satisfied !' 
 
 " Monday Evening, December 1th. After prayer 
 for guidance and walk with brother Lane, I concluded 
 not to give up my studies [for a regular day of fast- 
 ing and prayer], but to take less food than usual, and 
 
 tO MEDITATE AS I HAVE OPPORTUNITY UPON THE CON- 
 SEQUENCES ATTENDING MY DECISION OF THIS MO- 
 MENTOUS QUESTION. And what are they ? 
 
 "I. Provided I go, and afterward find by bitter 
 experience that I am not i>i the path of duty. It 
 seems to me this would be more than I could bear. 
 It would be an injury to Christ's cause. It would 
 dishonor Him who has done so much for me so 
 much for a dying world. It would injure the cause 
 at the particular station, and at home. 
 
 "At the station. Look at that little band, who for 
 so long a time have been laboring and toiling against 
 error, superstition, and depravity. All has as yet 
 been confusion. Order and system have not been at- 
 tained. But many of these obstacles have begun to 
 disappear. The forest has been cleared, and the 
 ground broken. The seed is sown, though yet among 
 stumps and stones. The blade has sprung up, and
 
 THE DECISION. 109 
 
 now the prayer is for another laborer. Apparently 
 in mercy one arrives, but the Lord is not with him. 
 From enthusiasm or some worldly motive, perhaps to 
 get a name, he had determined to offer himself for the 
 service. Or possessing naturally a roving disposition, 
 he was not sufficiently earnest in the cry ' Lord what 
 wilt thou have me to do ?' He labors awhile. No 
 souls are converted. He grows dissatisfied and im- 
 patient. Conscience will not allow him to remain, 
 and pride will not allow him to return home. Per- 
 haps he walks disorderly. His brethren are grieved, 
 and the enemies have a new reproach put into their 
 mouths to cast in the teeth of those who have long 
 been endeavoring to teach them. And in short, he 
 undoes all that had been done ; or he finds it was not 
 the field designed for him, and at last is obliged to re- 
 turn home. But what is the effect produced at home ? 
 The confidence of the Board in their missionaries is 
 lessened. The confidence of the public not only in 
 him, but in the Board, is diminished. The enemies 
 triumph the treasury is injured. Is this all? He 
 wastes the Lord's money gleaned with so much labor 
 from His children. He wastes his own time and 
 talents ; above all, souls are lost who might have been 
 saved, had he been at home laboring where he ought. 
 Now all this is the result of an imperfect examination 
 of the leadings of Providence, and a self-sufficient 
 choice as to the field of labor. that I could feel 
 something of this evil as I seem to see it in all its
 
 110 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 ramifications. Money, time, talents, are too precious 
 to be wasted. 
 
 "II. Provided I stay at home when it is my 
 duty to ffo to the heathen, I should be what ? I 
 could not look to God for His blessing on my labors ; 
 or even if I should, He would withhold it, and I 
 should bd a dead, inactive minister a burden to the 
 Church -a dog in the manger a possessor of the 
 keys, not entering in myself, nor suffering those who 
 would, to enter in. Besides, many heathen might be 
 perishing through want of my instrumentality. ' But 
 then you can try it at home and afterward go.' True ; 
 but what would become of the heathen in the mean 
 time, and what of my desire to go to the heathen af- 
 ter that had been laid aside to try the experiment, 
 or had gradually cooled and died away amid the thick- 
 ening, seducing pleasures of the world. 
 
 " Such is the view I have taken to-day, and do I 
 not need care and anxiety ? Ought not my prayer to 
 be constant and earnest, ' Lord, what wilt thou have 
 me to do ?' Still I have not that anxiety which Par- 
 sons, Fiske, etc., had. The way seems so plain that 
 ' the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err 
 therein.' It seems plain as daylight ; yet this very 
 thing makes me doubt, and say there is no need of 
 argument to convince me. The Lord guide me. Had 
 a good monthly concert this evening and exceeding 
 much enlargement in prayer; in evening, devotions 
 for the perishing heathen.
 
 THE DECISION. Ill 
 
 " Tueslay Evening, 8th. The question which I 
 have had up to-day has been, ' What are the claims 
 which my own country has upon my talents?' In 
 other words, what is the moral condition of the 
 United States?" 
 
 Then follows, occupying several pages of the diary, 
 a review of the religious condition of his native 
 land. 
 
 " Wednesday Morning, Qth. To-day, with the 
 assistance of Divine Providence, I propose to meditate 
 upon the condition and prospects of the heathen, 
 and their claims upon my labors. 
 
 "Evening. Verily a world lieth in wickedness. 
 This is enough. That five eighths of them never 
 heard of Jesus is all we want to show us their present 
 condition. But to bring the picture nearer to our 
 eyes. Take one of our New England parishes, say 
 this one; here we behold twelve hundred people, 
 civilized, educated, refined, pious, surrounded by all 
 that can make life dear and pleasant friends, social * 
 fireside, houses, lands, the comforts, and in many in- 
 stances the superfluities, of life. But more than all, 
 they worship God according to the dictates of con- 
 science, and the direction of His word, in the full 
 enjoyment of Sabbath and sanctuary privileges, with 
 their train of attendant blessings. Now, suppose this 
 society should forsake God, the sanctuary be de- 
 molished, the minister be dismissed, the Sabbath 
 blotted out, and all the attendant blessings of religion
 
 112 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 be cast with it into non-existence. Still, though they 
 should retain their refinement and all temporal bless- 
 ings, would .we not say from our hearts, ' How are the 
 mighty fallen I' Verily it is heart-rending to behold 
 so much sin and wickedness ! 
 
 "But, further, suppose their temporal blessings to 
 remain, but the people themselves to have fallen into 
 all kinds of vice, and to have sold themselves to com- 
 mit all manner of iniquity. Drinking, gambling, 
 stealing, murdering, all are countenanced. How 
 would our hearts bleed to see them thus living, 
 and their children thus educated, every new gen- 
 eration, one more remove from the knowledge of 
 God than the preceding, till finally the name, the 
 existence, of God is unknown. Would you not mourn 
 to see them in such a case? But I have not yet done. 
 Look at them once more. They have made gods 
 which, 'having eyes, see not,' etc. Yes, they have 
 taken a huge block of wood, without form or comeli- 
 ness, and have set it up as their god, before which 
 they bow the knee, and to which their prayers 
 ascend ; and not only this, but they sacrifice their 
 friends and children to appease its imagined wrath. 
 They lay themselves before its altar, or throw them- 
 selves before the ponderous wheels of its car, that thus 
 they may go where ? The widow, too, in the bloom 
 of her youth, reckless of her infant orphans, volun- 
 tarily commits her body to the flames, that thus she 
 may rejoin her departed husband. Does not the
 
 THE DECISION. 113 
 
 heart sicken at such a sight? Would we not give 
 all, yea, hold not our own life dear, that we might 
 win them to Jesus, knowing that to be the only way 
 of escape from this thralldom of sin and Satan. Now, 
 there is not only one parish thus, but five hundred 
 thousand just such parishes as this are on our globe 
 in this condition. Behold them naked, or, at most, 
 with the skin of some wild beast thrown around them, 
 living in huts, or, perchance, in holes of the rocks, or 
 caves of the earth, herding together like beasts of the 
 field, feeding upon the reptiles on which we are ac- 
 customed to look Avith so much disgust; on living 
 flesh, and even see them devouring one another. 
 And is this the height of their misery ? Stand at 
 the bar of God when all nations under heaven shall 
 be gathered before His throne. See them under the 
 frown of the judge, taking their places on the left 
 hand. Listen to the sentence, ' Depart,' etc. Then 
 behold them driven away to ' blackness of darkness,' 
 to ' the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone,' 
 with only one exclamation, Why did you not warn us ? 
 Why did you not send us the Gospel ? And after 
 thousands of years shall have rolled past, see still the 
 smoke of their torment ascending up forever and ever, 
 bearing upon it the question, Why did you not send 
 us the Gospel ? Here there is misery, consummate 
 misery; tremendous misery. And have they no 
 hope of emancipation ? Have they no one to teach 
 them the good news of salvation ? Has nothing been
 
 114 THE MARTYR OP SUMATRA. 
 
 done for them? There are, perhaps, six hundred 
 teachers. But 'what are they among so many?' 
 While here in New England we have 'one preacher 
 to every one thousand of the enlightened and Chris- 
 tianized inhabitants, they have but one to one mil- 
 lion. But the labors of these instructors are confined 
 to one million. There are five hundred millions who 
 know not that there is ' balm in Gilead and a physi- 
 cian there,' nay, who see not that they are covered 
 with ' wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores.' 
 Some effort has been made to send them the Gospel. 
 As yet, however, the church has taken but one step 
 toward the commencement of the labor. There are 
 five hundred millions to whom it is to be carried ere 
 ' the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth, as 
 the waters cover the sea.' 
 
 " Now where are greater claims for my labors in 
 the cause of Jesus ? 
 
 " Thursday Evening, December IQth. To-day 
 have meditated somewhat on the sitccess of mis- 
 sions." 
 
 Seven closely written pages here review the course 
 of missionary enterprise and its success in different 
 parts of the world, but as it is presented in a 
 condensed form in the letter to his father, we omit 
 it. 
 
 "Saturday Morning, December 12th. I was 
 obliged to carry 'The Success,' etc., so far into yes- 
 terday, that I was unable to investigate, as I had
 
 THE DECISION. 115 
 
 intended, The Promises of God Concerning the 
 Heathen, together with the encouragement or dis- 
 couragement from the Bible, to engage personally 
 in evangelizing the heathen, any further than the 
 first part. I have found them abundant: Gen. xviii. 
 18, xxii. 18, xxvi. 4, xlix. 10; Ps. ii. 8, xxii. 27, 
 xlyi. 10, Ixviii. 31, Ixxii., cii. 13-15; Isa. ii. 2-4, 
 xi., xlii. 1-12, xlix. 1-16, Ii. 5, lii. 9, 10, liv. 
 1-10, lix. 19, lx., Ixii. 1, Ixv. 17-25, Ixvi. 7, 8, 
 18-24; Jer. xxxi. ; Mai. i. 11; Dan. vii. 1-27; 
 Micah iv. 1-7; Zeph. ii. 11,-iii. 8-10; Hab. ii. 14; 
 Zech. ix. 9, 10, xiv. 9; Matt. vi. 10, xxiv. 14, 
 xxviii. 19, 20; Mark xiii. 10, xvi. 15, 16; Luke 
 xi. 2, xxiv. 47 ; Rom. xv. 12 ; Gal. iii. 8 ; Heb. viii. ; 
 Rev. v. 9, vii. 9, xiv. 6, xv. 4. The promises are 
 truly rich. 
 
 " Encouragement, etc. ' Go ye therefore and 
 teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teach- 
 ing them to observe all things, whatsoever I have 
 commanded you, and lo ! / am with you always, 
 even unto the end of the world. Amen.' What 
 need have we of further witnesses? None. Yet 
 there is encouragement and duty set forth in the 
 following among many other passages of holy writ : 
 Mark xvi. 15 ; Luke xiv. 26-33, xvii. 29, 30 ; John 
 xii. 26, 27 ; Rom. viii. 31, 32, 35, 39 ; Gal. i. 15, 
 16 ; Heb. xi. ; Luke x. 1, 2, xxix. 37." 
 
 The remainder of this examination is rather an act
 
 116 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 of special pleading, than a fair and candid investiga- 
 tion of the subject. We have hesitated to introduce 
 it, yet, few things could more decidedly show what a 
 passion with Lyman was the missionary work, than 
 what follows. There are two letters referred to 
 repeatedly : the one we here introduce, that it may be 
 borne in mind, without again interrupting the nar- 
 .rative, the other can not be found. It was from a 
 beloved room-mate, D. T. Lane, of Sterling, Connec- 
 ticut, who had intended himself' to engage in the 
 missionary work. But it pleased the master to say 
 to him, "Come up higher," and he "entered into 
 rest" in 1832. 
 
 LETTER FROM REVEREND S. PECK, D.D. 
 
 AMHERST COLLEGE, November 15, 1829. 
 
 MY DEAR BROTHER: 
 
 Your letter of October 14th, did not reach me till 
 several weeks after date, and since then I have been 
 prevented from answering it by a variety of engage- 
 ments that could not have been conveniently set aside. 
 It is with real pleasure, and not without prayer to God 
 for you, that I avail myself of the present opportunity 
 to give a candid, though very brief reply to the ques- 
 tions you have proposed, reminding you, however, 
 not to attach too much importance to either of the 
 opinions I may express, founded as they must be, on 
 an imperfect knowledge of your character, yet bearing 
 on a subject of so vast importance.
 
 THE DECISION. 117 
 
 To your first inquiry I can reply, \vith Christian 
 sincerity, I know of no trait or traits in your charac- 
 ter that forbids your offering yourself to the Board, 
 nor have I learned from a recent conversation with 
 the President, or from conversation with others at 
 different times, that any of your acquaintance here en- 
 tertain a contrary opinion. We cherish the hope, 
 indeed, that if God shall grant you the distinguished 
 privilege of preaching the Gospel to the heathen. He 
 will pour out upon you such an abundant measure of 
 His grace, and will so accompany your ministrations 
 by the power of the Holy Ghost sent down from 
 heaven, that it will not at any future time become a 
 question of distressing uncertainty whether you had 
 entered on the work which was assigned you by our 
 Lord. 
 
 With like sincerity I would say in answer to your 
 second inquiry, that while I know nothing of a moral 
 or religious nature requiring animadversion, I think 
 it highly desirable that you should make it a constant 
 and special aim during your connection with the sem- 
 inary, second only to the cultivation of your own 
 heart, to discipline and furnish your mind to the 
 highest possible degree by laborious application and 
 entire faithfulness in all the departments of theolog- 
 ical study as they are there pursued. I was very 
 desirous you should go to Andover precisely on this 
 ground. Noplace, I believe, furnishes greater facili- 
 ties, or lays one under a more direct necessity to cul-
 
 118 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 tivate his intellectual powers, and on one of your age 
 and character, I believe, also, it is peculiarly calculated 
 to exert a salutary influence. 
 
 In regard to the time of offering your services to 
 the Board, I think the reasons you have suggested 
 for preferring an early occasion after determining the 
 question in your own mind, are entitled to great con- 
 sideration. Not only will your friends become more 
 fully reconciled to the course, and impediments of any 
 other nature more easily and entirely removed, but 
 your own mind will be more at rest, and your prepar- 
 atory studies will be stimulated and modified by the 
 habitual contemplation of the great object to which 
 they are all subservient. Objections to this measure 
 there may be, but I am not aware of any of a very 
 serious magnitude. 
 
 And now, my dear brother, I commend you to God, 
 and to the word of His grace. May the great Head 
 of the church Himself be your counselor and guide. 
 I doubt not that you are daily at His feet, endeavoring 
 to learn of Him. Nor do I doubt that in due time 
 he will distinctly say to you, " This is the way." In 
 His strength, and under His protection, may you go 
 forth, and may His good Spirit enlighten, sanctify, 
 encourage, and comfort you in the faithful performance 
 of His will, whether on Christian or heathen ground. 
 With much affection, 
 
 Your brother in Christ, 
 
 
 
 SOLOMON PECK.
 
 DECISION. 119 
 
 " Saturday Evening. My Qualifications is the 
 question which to-day I have thought of considering. 
 
 "Piety. This is the great thing. This is the found- 
 ation of all. Here my wicked heart, sins of omission 
 and of commission, want of love and faith, come up, but 
 what have I to do with them here ? If I should 
 attempt to enumerate them, it would keep me writing 
 not only all night, but all my life. If I regarded 
 these, I certainly should not go. Let me then look a 
 little at the other side. 
 
 " I can not, I will not doubt, that Jesus has redeemed, 
 by His blood, this soul from eternal burnings. I re- 
 joiced, when first He showed me the Father, to be in 
 His hands, to be any thing for Him. I saw the terrors 
 of Sinai removed. I beheld all love, all mercy. It 
 was nothing but ' come, come' and ' take of the wa- 
 ters of life freely.' Ever since that time I have re- 
 joiced in Jesus. I have never for the least part of a 
 moment doubted tha.t ' I am thine, thou art mine.' It 
 has ever seemed to me that all I had to do was to go on 
 and labor. I was safe with Jesus : I need not care for 
 myself. I have, when desponding, tried to realize my 
 hopes, but never could succeed. The voice has always 
 been, ' Work for Jesus. He has done enough for you.' 
 Whenever I have been down-hearted, it is because I 
 have swerved from the path of duty ; have been un- 
 willing to cut off a 'right hand,' or pluck out a 'right 
 eye.' I do n't know that I have ever lost sight of 
 Jesus, though often He has been so far distant, that I
 
 120 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 was scarcely able to discern whether it was He or not. 
 I have been wanting in a deep, devotional, prayerful, 
 teachable frame of mind. The Bible, ever since I 
 have been brought 'out of nature's darkness,' has 
 seemed to me more and more lovely, desirable yea, 
 I would rather read it, than do any thing else on 
 earth. Jesus has been increasingly all my hope and 
 desire ; just the Saviour I want, and the way of sal- 
 vation the most glorious and efficient and desirable 
 that could be provided. The justice of God I can 
 rejoice in ; yea, should He send me to hell, I would 
 still spend my breath in exalting it, and though cast 
 away myself, would still rejoice that so many souls 
 are saved through Jesus. My closet, especially since 
 I have been here, has seemed more and more pleasant 
 to me. I have often longed for the hour of secret 
 prayer and reading God's word. I do not feel enmity 
 toward any one, but as though I could shake all the 
 world, high and low, rich and poor, by the hand, and 
 hail them as brethren. I have loved Christians more 
 than the impenitent, yet for the impenitent I have 
 often felt distress and anguish of soul. All has been 
 prosperous with me as yet. I can not tell what ad- 
 versity may do. But ' Shall I bring to the birth and 
 not cause to deliver ?' 
 
 " My desires for the salvation of the heathen, and 
 love of the work. My inclinations, my feelings, my 
 taste, every thing urged me to the ministry. I 
 seemed to go forward to it instinctively. Just so
 
 THE DECISION. 121 
 
 plain has been the duty, or I would rather say privi- 
 lege (for it has always seemed to me the greatest 
 possible privilege that could be conferred on me), to 
 go to the heathen. It seems to be the only place for 
 me. All the wealth of the Indies would not tempt 
 me to swerve, though I do not know what temptation 
 would do, if God should leave me to myself. My 
 soul is engrossed in this. It is, and has been for 
 more than two years, my darling object. . The fact 
 that so many millions are perishing without the light 
 of the Gospel, has touched a chord of my heart which 
 only the chill of the grave can cause to cease vi- 
 brating. But I can not express my feelings. Suffice 
 it to say that the greatest trial that I could be called 
 upon to endure, would be to settle over a New England 
 congregation. Nothing but a clear conviction of duty, 
 amounting almost to immediate revelation, could in- 
 duce me to stay. I have often thought that if the 
 A. B. C. F. M. will not send me, I can apply to some 
 other Society. If none in this country will, and none 
 in England will, then my last resource will be to 
 work my passage out as chaplain, and throw myself 
 on the charity of the natives in some dark corner. 
 
 " Little points in my character, such as temper, etc. 
 These I can not stop to consider. I have only to say, I 
 see nothing in the way of my laboring as successfully 
 among the heathen, as at home, even more so, ceteris 
 paribus. Besides, friends whose advice I have craved 
 have said go as Professor Peck and brother Lane.
 
 122 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 " Obstacles in the way. There is not one, or a 
 sign of one, that I can see. My attachments to friends 
 and country have always seemed to me as nothing 
 when looking at this subject. I have for two years 
 been praying the Lord to make a clear path. So far 
 the sun has shone in meridian splendor. My beloved 
 father advises not, but still does not object. Indeed 
 how could he, when he dedicated me to God's service, 
 as a preacher of the Gospel, the night I first opened 
 my eyes in this revolted world. I would not care if 
 all my friends ' weep and break my heart ;' I would 
 not care ' if there were devils in the way, as many as 
 the tiles on the houses.' ' 
 
 Talents, fortitude in danger, and perseverance in 
 toil and hardship, habits of life, and health, are all 
 considered in the same way. The result is summed 
 up in the letter which follows : 
 
 " Lord's Day Evening-, December 13th, 1829. 
 Having attended at the communion table this day, and 
 resealed my vows to the Lord, before his people ; hav- 
 ing set apart the latter part of the day as a season of 
 fasting and prayer ; having reviewed last week's work, 
 and the letters alluded to ; and having again and again 
 called upon God. and committed my way to Him, I 
 have with much fear and trembling, on account of my 
 liability to err, and the consequences thereof to Jesus' 
 cause, said, ' Lord I will go to the heathen, provided 
 thou dost not close the door. And here now, God,
 
 THE DECISION. 123 
 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I consecrate my talents, 
 my time, my all, to carry the Gospel to the destitute 
 heathen. May I never lose sight of this consecration. 
 In my trials and temptations, blessed Jesus, remember 
 I am but an 'earthen vessel,' and fulfill thy blessed 
 promise, ' Lo I am with you alway, even to the end 
 of the world.' Amen and amen. 
 
 "HENRY LYMAN." 
 
 The following letter is that hi which the decision, 
 above recorded, was announced to his parents. The 
 father proposed, in reply, sending it to the New York 
 Observer for publication ; and the son consented, 
 merely altering dates, that its author might not be 
 suspected. No doubt there were in the original manu- 
 script some sentences which are here wanting; but 
 as that can not be found, we are compelled to insert it 
 just as it appeared in print : 
 
 THEOLOGICAL SEMINABT, * * * February 10th, 1830. 
 
 DEAR PARENTS: 
 
 I embrace the present opportunity of answering 
 yours of the 19th ult. I have employed my leisure 
 time the past week in considering the great question 
 to which I have alluded in former communications, 
 and which was the principal theme of your last letter. 
 I have considered, "He that loveth father or mother 
 more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that 
 loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of
 
 124 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 me;" "and he that taketh not his cross and folio weth 
 after me, is not worthy of me;" "he that loveth 
 his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this 
 world shall keep it unto life eternal;" "if any man 
 serve me, him will my Father honor ;" also, " Ask of 
 me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inherit- 
 ance, and the uttermost part of the earth for thy pos- 
 session ;" " Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands 
 unto God;" "the isles shall wait for His law, and 
 all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our 
 God;" " but whosoever shall call upon the name of 
 the Lord, shall be saved;" "how shall they call 
 on Him in whom they have not believed ? and how 
 shall they believe in Him of whom they have not 
 heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher ?" 
 also Christ's command, "Go ye, therefore, and teach 
 all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy GhosE" 
 
 I have also examined, 1. The moral condition of 
 my own country. 2. The condition and prospects 
 of the heathen. 3. The success of missions ; and 
 4. My own talents, character, and feelings, etc., 
 and I can find nothing in the way of my going to the 
 heathen, and there spending my days in building up 
 Christ's kingdom, unless the Lord should, in His 
 holy Providence, place some obstacle in the way. 
 
 1. I can not here give in full my thoughts on the 
 above topics, for want of room, and will only say con- 
 cerning the first, our country contains only one sixty-
 
 THE DECISION. 125 
 
 sixth of all the inhabitants of the world. It has one 
 evangelical minister to every two thousand inhabitants 
 (and New England has one to one thousand). Its 
 influence is on the side of piety; it has Sabbath 
 Schools, Bible classes, etc., etc. ; and in two years the 
 Bible will be placed in the hands of every family. 
 Verily we may say of the United States of America, 
 "They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear 
 them !" But, it may be said, " allowing one minister 
 to one thousand inhabitants in New England and the 
 middle States, it will leave the South and West very 
 destitute." They will not suffer, however. The 
 country is awake to this subject, and our young men 
 are flocking thither. In twenty years that region 
 will be as well supplied as New England now is. 
 Now we have no right to confine the Gospel to this 
 little portion of the world. Christ has said, "The 
 field is the world;" and when one asked Him "Who is 
 my neighbor?" he pointed him to the man in want, 
 and said, " Go and do likewise." 
 
 2. As to the second topic, suffice it to say, five 
 hundred million souls have never heard of Jesus. 
 Now the whole object of Christ's mission to earth 
 was to save souls. Hence, if we are possessed of His 
 spirit, we shall give our lives, our talents, our wealth, 
 our all for this object. Our happiness is not here; 
 " we have a building of God, a house not made with 
 hands, eternal in the heavens." 
 
 3. The Success of Missions. This, and the first
 
 126 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 topic, I have examined more critically, on account of 
 suggestions in your letter. I find that success has, in 
 every instance but two or three, attended them. At 
 the Nicobar Isles and in South America the mission- 
 aries were unsuccessful, but thousands have been hope- 
 fully converted in Asia, Africa, and North America. 
 The friends of missions hardly yet look for fruits of 
 labor, on account of the time necessary to be spent in 
 learning the languages, and translating the Bible, etc., 
 and yet there are as many converts, on an average, on 
 heathen ground, take the world through, to each 
 missionary as there are to ministers of the Gospel at 
 home, and, if the truth were known, I believe there 
 would be found to be more. This, however, will 
 make the numbers small when compared with five 
 hundred millions, for there are not more than six or 
 seven hundred missionaries in the whole world, and 
 the number of students in this seminary now, is 
 greater than that of all the missionaries that have 
 ever gone from this country. Add to this the m- 
 fluence these have over others, for we must consider 
 half the work done in getting a footing among the 
 heathen. Missions have raised the standard of piety 
 at home ; have added to science and literature. Even 
 men of this world say that "the geographical knowl- 
 edge obtained through missionaries will repay all the 
 lives lost, tune spent, and money expended, in the 
 cause." Commerce, too, has been aided. In short, 
 missions have given an impulse to science, literature,
 
 THE DECISION. 127 
 
 the arts, and the business of life, besides extending 
 the Redeemer's kingdom, and saving souls. 
 
 4. I see nothing in my talents, etc., in the way. 
 To be sure, I have nothing to boast of, but then some- 
 body must go. Better men wait A poor hand is 
 better than none ; besides, the cause calls for all kinds 
 of men, as much as the ministry at home. Why then 
 should not I go ? Concerning my feelings, I would 
 say, this object has been before my mind, as much as 
 the ministry, ever since I had hope in Christ. It has 
 been "growing with my growth, and strengthening 
 with my strength." If ever I have had any pleasure 
 in contemplating the future, or enlargement in prayer, 
 it has been concerning the heathen. They have 
 seemed to me to be in such a wretched condition 
 without the Gospel, that I have always been con- 
 strained to say, "Here am I, send me." Indeed my 
 future happiness is dependent upon going to them 
 with the news of salvation. Their darkness and 
 pfospects have touched a chord in my heart which 
 will not cease to vibrate while life remains. 
 
 You see that in my decision I endeavor to follow 
 Paul's example concerning "preaching among the 
 heathen." "I confer not with flesh and blood," 
 Indeed why should I ? We live in an age when con- 
 secration to the service of Christ must be so entire as 
 not to stop for trials of this kind. We ought certainly 
 to be willing to endure as much as the ancient worthies 
 in the latter part of Hebrews xi.
 
 128 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 " Shall I be carried to the skies 
 
 On flowery beds of ease, 
 While others fought to win the prize, 
 And sailed through bloody seas ?" 
 
 Think not that I have looked only at the pleasures 
 and happiness of a missionary life. I have seemed to 
 see myself separated entirely from the tender watch- 
 fulness, and solicitous care, and kind advice, of my 
 parents, exposed, perhaps, like Brainerd and Martyn, 
 to the inclemency of a stormy night, with naught but 
 a tree for a bed, and the canopy of heaven for a cover- 
 ing ; or, like Judson, to prison and death, or burning 
 sands, or driving snows, or inhospitable climes, or in- 
 human savages yet, what of it? "If God be for us, 
 who can be against us?" The treasure is committed 
 to earthen vessels, that the " excellency of the power 
 may be of God and not of us," and Christ says, " Lo 
 I am with you alway even to the end of the world." 
 The cause is the Lord's. It is to build up Zion, of 
 which he has said, "Behold! I have graven thee 
 upon the palms of my hands ; thy walls are contin- 
 ually before me." Perhaps I may meet an early 
 grave, and what if I should ? " It is better to wear 
 out than to rust out." I shall soon be free from sin, 
 and serve God without weariness and without end. 
 Though I should have rejoiced, had Providence so 
 ordered my lot that I could live near my parents, 
 and enjoy their society, and do something to re- 
 pay the immense debt of gratitude I owe to them,
 
 THE DECISION. 129 
 
 and, if I should survive them, to smooth their passage 
 to the tomb, yet, the path of duty is too plain to be 
 mistaken. If I regard the first passage of Scripture 
 which I have quoted above, I shall have no hesitation 
 in going. It is not as though I left them destitute. 
 They are surrounded by offspring who will, probably, 
 be more faithful in caring for them than I should. 
 Did I say leave ? How can I leave, especially to go 
 and endure the trials of a missionary life without their 
 blessing ? I hope my parents will not only be willing, 
 but rejoice to have me go, if Providence should so 
 order it, for I have not only now made myself willing, 
 but ready to go, if the Lord should call me. These 
 are the feelings of 
 
 Your affectionate son, 
 
 HENRY LYMAN. 
 
 A part of the father's reply is subjoined. 
 
 FROM THEODORE LYMAN. 
 
 "AMHERST, December 22, 1829. 
 
 "DEAR HENRY: 
 
 " I received your kind and interesting letter of the 
 13th instant, in which you informed us of your 
 decision as regards your future destination. You 
 have decided just as we expected you would, and, if 
 the feelings expressed in that letter are yours, just as 
 we should wish you to. Although it may be a pain- 
 ful and severe trial to part with you, yet, the thought 
 
 6*
 
 130 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA^ 
 
 of your being in the service of our Lord and Master, 
 in that part of His vineyard where you think you can 
 do the most good, and where you can be most happy, 
 will alleviate, in*a great measure, the trial. The suf- 
 ferings of a missionary are great, especially a foreign 
 one, yet the Lord can and will sustain you. How 
 precious His promises are, especially those to His 
 children, and to those who devote themselves and 
 their all to His service ! May you always enjoy the 
 light of His holy, reconciled countenance, and be sup- 
 ported in all your trials, is the prayer of your affec- 
 tionate parents." 
 
 ***** 
 
 " Wednesday, December \th. In the evening 
 was introduced to the " brethren." How solemn it 
 seemed to take the place of Mills, Hall, Judson, 
 Fiske, Parsons, etc. There was a sacredness about 
 it. To think I was a member of the Society which 
 is the mother of the American Board, American Bible 
 Society, etc., etc., branches of which are now estab- 
 lished at Auburn and Princeton. Jesus Christ and 
 His angels watch over it." 
 
 In the " Memoir of the Life of the Rev. Dr. Wor- 
 cester, of Salem," page 84, will be found the first 
 published account of this Society. It is deeply in- 
 teresting. The association was founded by Samuel 
 J. Mills, at Williams' College, 1808. " Its record is 
 on high."
 
 V. 
 
 ill Difficult]*. 
 
 But chiefly ye should lift your gaze 
 Above the world's uncertain haze, 
 And look with calm, unwavering eye 
 On the bright fields beyond the sky, 
 Te who your Lord's commission bear 
 His way of mercy to prepare ; 
 Angels, He calls ye ; be your strife, 
 To lead on earth an angel's life. 
 [ CHRISTIAN YEAR. 
 
 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all 
 things. ST. PAUL.
 

 
 V. 
 
 "!F any man will come after me let him deny him- 
 self, and take up his cross daily and follow me," said 
 our Lord Jesus Christ. This passage our young 
 theological student received literally, and in attempt- 
 ing to follow it, perhaps went to an extreme which 
 might, in time, have seriously impaired his constitu- 
 tion. The keeping under his body formed no small 
 part of 'his daily efforts in the Divine life. His 
 seasons of fasting were frequent, and one by one 
 he relinquished the use of many articles of food to 
 which he had been accustomed, and of which he was 
 fond, but which he fancied prevented him from enjoy- 
 ing the spirit he so much desired. As he had a large 
 frame and took a great deal of violent exercise, both 
 by working in the students' carpenter's shop, and hi 
 walking, it is, perhaps, true that his rigid abstinence 
 was injudicious. It certainly rendered him thin, and 
 sometimes "wan," but however we may doubt the 
 judgment, none can help respecting the piety which 
 urged to such sacrifices. Nay, it is possible that 
 some of those who so sorely dread, and so carefully
 
 134 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 avoid asceticism a trait easier to ridicule than to 
 imitate might be benefited by following at a humble 
 distance the self-control sought and practiced by 
 Henry Lyman. 
 
 Fancying that "should the Board see fit to send 
 him to Greenland," he must learn to bear the rigor 
 of the climate, he laid aside the use of flannel. The 
 first year of the trial at Amherst he accommodated 
 himself to the change without difficulty. But at 
 Andover the piercing winds had nearly proved fatal 
 to him, until, after having suffered for some weeks 
 from a succession of colds, he yielded to his mother's 
 wishes, and once more equipped in warm clothing, 
 decided that the polar regions would scarcely suit his 
 constitution. 
 
 He complains one Sunday of having slept in 
 church, "-owing probably to excess in eating," al- 
 though he had confined himself at dinner to "plain 
 bread and butter." But -it will be seen that as he 
 advanced in the conflict, these things assumed their 
 proper place, while the strength matured by self-con- 
 quest was most valuable. 
 
 One of his sisters writes : 
 
 "I well remember in one of his vacations, how 
 much Henry talked to us about our dress, reading to 
 us ' Dr. Judson's Letter to the Females of America on 
 Ornamental and Costly Attire.' Every unnecessary 
 button or superfluous bow was the subject of his ani- 
 madversion, until one of us laughingly told him that
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 135 
 
 he was engrossing our attention with our costume, 
 and that we had bestowed more thought upon it dur- 
 ing his brief visit than in all our lives before. No 
 ridicule moved him, however ; and when again we met 
 in the spring of 1832, we were surprised to hear 
 not one word on the old point. At length, A 
 remarked to him, 'Henry, you do not talk so 
 much of dress as you did ;' his reply was, in effect, 
 this : ' No, sister, I have learned that there are 
 things of more importance, and if the heart be 
 filled with love to Christ, such things will adjust 
 themselves.' ;: 
 
 We resume the extracts from journals. That of 
 January 2d, 1830, is a review of all the Sabbaths of 
 1829, with a memorandum concerning each, as, for 
 example, 
 
 " Anther st, March 8th. Solemn, prayerful, of 
 course, profitable Sabbath. 
 
 " Amherst, May 3c?. Communion best I ever 
 had spirit of prayer. 
 
 . "Amherst, May IQth. Good spirit of prayer, 
 and profit from sermon. 
 
 "Hartford, May 31s. But little spirituality. 
 
 "Amherst, July ~L2th. Not much life In private 
 all day. 
 
 "Amherst, August 30/A. Assistance from God 
 in the performance of duties." 
 
 The whole concluded with a summary of the proper-
 
 136 THE MARTYE OF SUMATRA. 
 
 tion of Lord's days profitably, and those unprofitably 
 spent. 
 
 " Wednesday, January 20th. After breakfast, 
 brother Thompson proposed a walk to Boston, to wit- 
 ness the departure of Messrs. Dwight and Whitney, 
 with their wives, as missionaries to the Armenians. I 
 accepted the proposition, and started with him and 
 brother Lane. I think the scene removed somewhat 
 of enthusiasm, and presented the work more as a re- 
 ality ; but my desire to go was" not lessened, but 
 rather increased. I felt more than ever, ' Without 
 me ye can do nothing ;' but ' through Christ strength- 
 ening me, I can do all things.' " 
 
 February 1st, 1830, is recorded as a day set apart 
 by a few of the students as one of fasting and prayer 
 on account of missions. "Have never," he says, 
 " enjoyed so much, such a day." 
 
 " Saturday Evening, February th. Yesterday 
 and to-day have seen something of my selfishness. 
 When, Jesus, shall I be conformed to thine image, 
 and engrossed in thy love? In 'brethren' meeting this 
 evening, felt that I wanted to be more entirely the 
 Lord's, that I had not been half given up to Him, in 
 the cause of missions. My desire this evening was, 
 to give up all for Jesus to select some hitherto un- 
 attempted field, and tell the church how much a mis- 
 sion was needed there, and that they must send me 
 and another companion, perhaps brother Lane, to es- 
 tablish a mission there.
 
 TIIE HILL DIFFICULTY. 137 
 
 " Wednesday Evening, February 17 th. The 
 Lord was graciously pleased to favor efforts to form 
 the missionary brethren in our class into an associa- 
 tion, and adjourned to meet next week in the room 
 where the immortal Mills held all his meetings. 
 Sacred place ! Jesus will be there, for it is ' sancti- 
 fied and meet for the Master's use.' ' 
 
 The following is an extract from a letter to a little 
 brother : 
 
 "You say you are ten years old. That is just 
 half as old as I am. I do not feel much older than I 
 did ten years ago. Time passes away very rapidly ; 
 so you must improve it every day. It will only be a 
 little while, if you live, before you will be out of col- 
 lege. And what will you do then? I want you to come 
 here, and be a minister. You can not tell how pleas- 
 ant it is. I wish you would think every day about it. 
 You will like it better than any thing else. Before 
 you can be a minister though, you must do as it says 
 in Deut. vi. 6 ; and in Lev. xix. 18." 
 
 To another brother of about twelve years of age : 
 
 * # * When you are as old as I am, you 
 will wish you had begun now to study. But there is 
 another thing you will wish more than this, dear 
 brother, if you neglect it, and that is that you had 
 begun now to love the Lord Jesus Christ. Every 
 year you put it off it will be harder and harder, until 
 finally you will take up with wishing you had at- 
 tended to religion when you were young. Besides, I"
 
 138 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 hope you will make a minister if you live long 
 enough ; you must think about this every day, and be 
 determined you will be a minister at any rate, and 
 you will always wish you had become pious when you 
 were young, so that you might have had a longer time 
 in which to overcome the wickedness of your heart, 
 and be prepared better to labor. 
 
 " I have just returned from preaching in a confer- 
 ence meeting, which I attend, with D. T. Lane, every 
 Sabbath evening. We had about thirty in to-night. 
 It is in the factory village the people rather worse 
 than those at Shepherd's factory in Northampton. 
 We hope, however, to do them some good. I will tell 
 you how I have employed my time since tea last 
 evening, which is a specimen of the manner in which 
 I spend every Sabbath. You will see it is the most 
 laborious day in the week. 
 
 "Immediately after tea last night, I attended a 
 prayer meeting ; after that a missionary meeting (the 
 brethren), and at ten o'clock another little prayer- 
 meeting up in Mrs. Emery's parlor, where I go every 
 night at that hour to pray for a revival here. There 
 has not been one in this place for more than twenty 
 years. After breakfast this morn studied my Sab- 
 bath School lesson. At nine o'clock, attended the 
 prayer-meeting for colleges. At ten, church ; as soon 
 as that was over, Sabbath School at the next parish 
 two miles off We have to run to get there, and then 
 run back to get our dinner before afternoon service.
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 139 
 
 which commences at a quarter to two o'clock. After 
 church studied subject for the conference in the even- 
 ing, attended there at half past six, a mile off, and 
 was back here at eight, when I ate my supper ; and 
 having just finished that, and having a letter to scrib- 
 ble to , and the meeting in Mrs. Emery's parlor yet 
 to attend, and withal, being a little tired, I bid you 
 good night, hoping you will not forget your brother, 
 
 " HENRY." 
 
 "March 1.2th. A special season of prayer. I was 
 bowed down under a sense of my past unfaithfulness, 
 and more especially from the consideration, ' Can you 
 be the Lord's and feel like serving Him, only when 
 He smiles ? Can you only return gratitude for gifts ?' 
 The natural man does this. Here I found myself in 
 a great error. I have always thought I was doing 
 well, because I felt gratitude to my heavenly Father 
 for His mercies, and a desire at every new expression 
 of His goodness to spend and be spent in His service 
 and to do more for Him than heretofore. I should 
 have served Him with increased alacrity when He 
 frowned, knowing that He chasteneth for our good. 
 Lord Jesus, my prayer is to thy throne. Make me 
 more entirely thine. 
 
 " The last thought at night and the first in the 
 morning must be upon God, in order to one's growth 
 in grace."
 
 140 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 LETTER TO CHARLES LYMAN, ESQ. 
 
 ANDOVEB THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, March ilth, 1830. 
 
 Yours of the 8th, cousin Charles, which arrived 
 last Sunday, ought to have received an earlier notice. 
 It certainly deserved it. I have had not a little to 
 do, or I should have attended to you. I spent Satur- 
 day morning in studying Hebrew. Evening in a 
 missionary tour in behalf of my class in Sabbath 
 School. Visited among the rest the parents of Mrs. 
 Bardwell, formerly of the Bombay mission; also a 
 Mrs. Morril, who, though she has not walked a step 
 for fourteen years, nor helped herself for half that 
 tune, is almost in heaven, and rejoicing in the mercy 
 God has constantly manifested to her. 
 
 Saturday evening attended a missionary meeting. 
 * * * * * 
 
 Monday night watched with a man, who, though 
 "guilty of a skin not colored like our own" was not 
 guilty in having neglected his Saviour in health, and 
 is rejoicing in Him. On the verge of Jordan he 
 fears no ill. His "rod and His staff" they comfort 
 him. It was a room about fourteen feet square and 
 seven high, warmed by a little sheet-iron stove, being 
 not only the nursery, but the parlor, kitchen, sick- 
 room, in short all the rooms they had in the house ; 
 for it was the house itself. In it was a boy of twelve 
 years, sick in another bed with the measles, and beside
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 141 
 
 the child lay the man's mother, while under the table 
 a dog slept. Yet the Lord I trust was there. I 
 made out, by dint of a little fire and two windows 
 partly open, to keep the air tolerable. * * * 
 
 Yesterday evening visited an old saint whose years 
 numbered upward of threescore, who has been con- 
 fined two years with the dropsy, and with whom the 
 Saviour has deigned to hold constant communication, 
 "except" as she says, "when a dark cloud comes across 
 for a few moments," although she can not boast of a 
 white skin or immense riches. This morning, imme- 
 diately after study, an interview with Mr. Anderson 
 of the missionary rooms, who is up here with his drum, 
 beating for recruits. 
 
 The receipt of your " old bachelor's present" caused 
 me to rejoice and weep ; rejoice, that the Lord hath 
 hitherto helped me ; that He has raised up so many 
 who take a deep interest in my welfare, that His 
 mercy has constantly attended me ; weep, because of 
 my unfaithfulness and hardness of heart, and blind- 
 ness of mind, and unwillingness to serve Him and to 
 be all the time at the foot of the cross, learning of 
 Him and obeying all His commands. All I can do 
 is to praise God for His grace. It is all of grace. I 
 can see nothing, which ever I have done, or tried to 
 do, that has given me the least claim. Oh ! do not 
 forget me when at the throne of mercy. 
 
 The reason why I have not advised with you on a 
 subject involving such momentous consequences as 

 
 142 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 the choice of my field of labor, you have stated in 
 your letter. For my views, etc., I refer you to the 
 New York Observer y February 17, the day on which 
 I last wrote you. The letter, as you will see by the 
 style, was not prepared for the public eye. I wrote it 
 one night two or three hours after I ought to have 
 been sleeping, but as father expressed a wish to pub- 
 lish it, I did not object, hoping the Lord would do 
 good with it. Besides, it would save me the trouble 
 of writing some things again to my friends. You are 
 at liberty to put it into the hands of any one who 
 cares so much about me, and so little about the Lord 
 as to object to my going, and if that won't satisfy 
 them I will take the trouble to write to them. There 
 are facts enough on the subject to answer any man 
 
 who will be converted by reason. Tell there is no 
 
 need of his fears : I know of naught but the Holy 
 Spirit that has ' prejudiced 1 me thus to decide. Ever 
 since I indulged the hope that I was Christ's, you 
 have seen that it has been uppermost in my mind. 
 
 ''Journal, March 27/A. Two more arguments 
 for the heathen ; the first drawn from Luke xiv : 15 
 24. When proud sinners reject the Gospel, as 
 here in this country, then it is our duty to go out 
 into the 'highways and hedges' (i. e., heathen lands) 
 and compel the poor starving souls to come in. Sec- 
 ondly, we can not expect, even if we keep our young 
 Tv>or, ^ *"VIA till there is one minister of the Gospel 
 
 '
 
 THE HILL. DIFFICULTY. 143 
 
 to every hundred souls, to do away with all error 
 and sin. It will abound till the millennium comes. 
 That will not come in this country first. No. it is 
 not possible that we should have an entirely holy 
 people while all the rest of the world lies in the 
 grossest darkness. ' A nation shall be born in a day.' 
 It will come over all the world at the same time, but 
 it must be gradual all over the world, i. e., the Gospel 
 must be introduced gradually. Bibles can not rain 
 down, neither will the Holy Spirit without the Bible. 
 It is not to be accomplished by miracles. The heathen 
 must have a preacher. He must preach. Christians 
 must send him." 
 
 The following entry is interesting as our first intro- 
 duction to Henry Lyman's colleague and fellow martyr. 
 
 " April 4:th. Interesting conversation with brother 
 Munson on the subject of missions on our way to 
 Sabbath School." 
 
 Mr. Munson the next year became the occupant of 
 the same rooms with Mr. Lyman, replacing his be- 
 loved friend Maxwell. Those familiar with the course 
 of the Secretaries of the A. B. C. F. M. know something 
 of their care and pains in the selection of missiona- 
 ries, and of the wisdom displayed in their designation 
 to different fields of labor. Rarely however has more 
 discrimination been shown than in the arrangement 
 which united these two brethren. It was the delight 
 of the younger man to honor his senior. He con- 
 sidered Mr. Munson' s talents superior to his own,
 
 144 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 and his diligence in study greater. This is perhaps 
 the most suitable place in which to introduce a sketch 
 of this valued associate, and we take the liberty of 
 extracting one from the much admired pen of Dr. 
 Cheever. as given in the ''Missionary Memorial."* 
 
 "The conversion of Samuel Munson took place at 
 nineteen years of age. He was born at New Sharon, 
 in the State of Maine, IP the year 1804. He had 
 been left an orphan at ten, but had been religiously 
 instructed by parents, both of them the subjects of 
 the grace of God. His native qualities were a win- 
 ning frankness, sweetness, and cheerfulness of temper 
 and disposition, a kind and sympathizing heart, joined 
 with a quiet decision of character, an accurate judg- 
 ment, and great perseverance and patience in the 
 application of his powers. He was modest, unassum- 
 ing, and conscientious; and his religious character, 
 developed in his college life at Bowdoin with beauti- 
 ful harmony and consistency, manifested the traits 
 requisite for a patient and devoted missionary. 
 
 " He received his theological education at Andover. 
 From the outset his attention had been turned, through 
 the whole of his religious experience, to the work of 
 the Gospel among the heathen ; but jus.t before enter- 
 ing on his theological course, he seems to have received 
 a new impulse in the same direction, by a missionary 
 sermon preached to the students at Bowdoin College 
 
 * The " Missionary Memorial," by H. W. Fierson. New York : 
 Harpers.
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 145 
 
 by the Rev. C. Stewart from the Sandwich Islands. 
 His career of study at Andover, and of progressive 
 intellectual improvement, was thorough, systematic, 
 and, at the same time, more varied than usual. The 
 development of his piety continued, as from the first, 
 deep, earnest, habitual ; and his intentions toward 
 the work of foreign missions were constantly ripening 
 to an intense, unalterable, determination. Yet he 
 analyzed with great care his motives, his feelings, his 
 views, and was anxious to admit nothing merely 
 imaginative, but to be filled with the sense of duty, 
 and the love of Christ. The year after leaving 
 Andover, he studied medicine in Boston and Bruns- 
 wick, in order that he might go forth with a fuller 
 and more abundant preparation for usefulness among 
 the heathen. His sermon, before embarking for the 
 missionary field, was from Acts viii. 4 : ' There- 
 fore they that were scattered abroad went every 
 where, preaching the word.' It was published 
 by the American Board as one of their missionary 
 papers. 
 
 " Its author had been made by the Saviour to drink 
 deep himself into the spirit of primitive Christianity, 
 and, like the early disciples, he went forth on no 
 romantic expedition, nor with any fitful or transitory 
 impulse, but in the solemn and habitual dedication of 
 his whole life to the service of his God and Saviour. 
 It had not been without great struggles that he gained 
 his education ; hardships had to be borne, difficulties 
 7
 
 146 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 overcome, strong faith exercised ; and from the outset 
 his heart had been set on the work of missions." 
 
 The entry of April 19th, shows us the reason for 
 Ljman's minute watchfulness over his conduct. 
 
 " Evening very unprofitably spent. -My levity has 
 been returning to-day. It may do for others to 
 associate together and talk about this and that, but 
 it will not do for me. My heart is still so prone to 
 every thing that is light, vain, and worldly, that 
 I injure the cause of Jesus. Watch, my soul, 
 watch and pray. 
 
 " Friday, 23d. Attended yesterday an ordination 
 at Billerica. Had good missionary talk by the way 
 with brother Munson, and good season of prayer in 
 the woods." 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM A LETTER TO D. S. WHITNEY, ESQ. 
 
 " I was sorry you allowed your train of thought on 
 stability and principles of action to be interrupted by 
 the thought that you were ' addressing one studying 
 for the ministry, and drawing his knowledge from the 
 fountain-head.' Such advice from Christian friends 
 is very much needed. The more the better. The 
 dangers incident to a student's life are greater here v 
 than in college, for this reason, that in college we 
 always put ourselves under restraint while reading 
 profane authors, and pursuing studies merely of an 
 intellectual nature, while here we feel a licence to 
 give ourselves up to them, arising from the fact that
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 147 
 
 they are connected with the Bible. Now, the Bible 
 can be studied like any other book, without in the 
 least affecting the heart. So notwithstanding I am 
 at Andover, I have not got out of the way of a wicked 
 heart, the world, or the devil. Notwithstanding I am 
 'drawing from the fountain-head' (of sacred liter- 
 ature), I am not the less in want of good, plain, 
 Christian advice, warnings, reproofs, exhortations; 
 and I trust my dear uncle will still continue to 
 point out those landmarks which he has set up in 
 passing over the ground, that one just commencing 
 the journey may be enabled to stefcr clear of diffi- 
 culties which otherwise might give him great 
 trouble. 
 
 ' ' You say I did not ask your advice as to giving 
 myself up to the A. B. C. F. M. I am sure I asked 
 and received advice last fall before I left home. But 
 then, if I did not, what more do I want to know than 
 { whether there is any thing in my character objec- 
 tionable ?' If there is nothing, what right have I tor 
 stay at home ? That the call of the heathen is great- 
 est is beyond all dispute. The only questions are, 
 Am I willing to go ? and then, Is there any thing so ob- 
 jectionable that the church can not place confidence in 
 me ? However, ere this you have, doubtless, learned 
 my determination from father. In this determination I 
 grow stronger and stronger every day. I long to be 
 off. However, if I am wrong in my decision, my 
 daily prayer is that my eyes may be opened.
 
 148 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 " Give love to grandfather, aunts, to C., etc. I 
 shall not, probably, see N. H. till fall vacation. 
 "Your nephew, 
 
 "HENRY LYMAN." 
 
 " ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, April \th, 1830. 
 
 " FATHER, MOTHER, SISTERS, BROTHERS : 
 
 " I am very well, and hope these few lines will find 
 you ditto. This I write to all as a sort of apology 
 for not showing my face in the midst of you the 
 coming vacation. I do not remain here because I 
 have forgotten you, or because I do not love your 
 company as much as ever, but because I have some- 
 thing else to do beside visiting. It will, probably, not 
 be a great while before I am separated from you for- 
 ever, and I must get broken away from home now. 
 I have often, especially within these two . or three 
 weeks past, imagined to myself the shaking of hands, 
 and hugging, and kissing, and cordial welcome I 
 should meet with ; and even have seemed to see S. 
 running out with the question, ' Brother, has not the 
 chunk* come ?' And I have let my mind run on till 
 I have almost felt your hands and heard your voices, 
 and seen your glad countenances, but when I awoke 
 from my reverie I found myself still at Andover. 
 However, if I get too lonely and low-spirited, you 
 may possibly see me pop in upon you some evening 
 with my pack on my back. 
 
 * The child's mistake for chum, three years before.
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 149 
 
 " But, though far from home and my family, I am 
 not yet away from friends, for a merciful Providence 
 has been kind in raising them up for me here. I 
 have sometimes thought my heavenly Father wanted 
 to show me how much mercy He could bestow upon a 
 great sinner ; that He wanted to contrast my wicked- 
 ness and ingratitude with His mercy and love. Bound- 
 less mercy it is ! Boundless love it is ! Should we 
 not consecrate soul and body to His service, all that 
 we are, and all that we have, for time and for 
 eternity? I have half a dozen invitations from 
 families here, to drop in as occasion offers and 
 take tea with them. Then I have to visit my 
 Sabbath class at the west parish. I shall have 
 conference-meetings in abundance to attend, as but 
 few students will remain. I shall visit Newburyport, 
 shall spend part of a week at Salem, and anniversary 
 week at Boston. The rest of the time I shall prob- 
 ably board myself. I find I can live on bread and 
 water night and morning. I have drank milk all 
 winter, till a few weeks past I have come down to 
 cold water, as have some thirty or forty of the 
 students on account of the injurious effects of tea 
 and coffee, and no one can tell how much better 
 we feel. 
 
 " I have likewise given up the use of butter, which 
 is also injurious to the system. But you little ones 
 are all ready to laugh at Henry's nonsense, and in- 
 quire ' How do you get along ?' Why, I never en-
 
 150 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 joyed my breakfast and supper so much in my life, 
 as now, eating bread and drinking water. You can 
 not only get along without these, but your health will 
 be better, your life be prolonged, and you will be hap- 
 pier. But that is not all. You can give the money 
 these things cost to send the Gospel to the poor 
 pagans. I suppose you know that while you are en- 
 joying your tea and coffee, a great many children in 
 Asia are thrown by their parents into the sea, or to 
 the wild beasts, or out into the streets. The parents 
 think it is right to do so, and that it will carry them 
 to heaven ; and all this is because they never had the 
 Bible to teach them about God and Jesus. 
 
 ***** 
 
 " April IGth, 6 o'clock A. M. Have just returned 
 from Prospect Hill, an eminence about two miles 
 from the seminary, from which there is a fine view, 
 extending about a hundred miles to the north, forty 
 west, and bounded by Salem and Boston on the coast. 
 Our object this morn was to see the sun rise. As he 
 came up out of the ocean, the waves began to change 
 their blue, until they became so bright that we could 
 distinctly see them run." * * * 
 
 The letter continues in journal form to a very great 
 length. 
 
 The preceding letter to his family brings into view 
 the young student's vacation employments. His ex- 
 cursions and journeys were almost entirely pedestrian ;
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 151 
 
 and this for two reasons, the one economy, and the 
 other preparation for the tours in a foreign land 
 which might be necessary. A little note-book, a few 
 inches square, carried in his pocket, received the jot- 
 ting down of his doings. On the fly leaf was written, 
 as was the case with all his later journals, 
 
 600,000,000 
 
 ARE PERISHING ! ! ! 
 
 Calvary. 
 
 This last word was added for the first time in May of 
 this year. 
 
 He often walked between forty and fifty miles a 
 day. Sometimes a friend's house would form his 
 home for the night. Some of his entertainers re- 
 member well the fervor of his prayers in the family. 
 As he trod his solitary path, the wayfarer who joined 
 him had a word in season given him, and a tract was 
 offered to those who would receive it. " The solitary 
 place" was his Bethel. We have already seen his 
 friend Munson and himself turning aside into the 
 woods for communion with God. Another of his 
 most tenderly attached friends reminds him in a letter 
 of their social prayer on the top of Mount Monadnock. 
 Many a pine grove has added to " its soft and soul- 
 like sounds" the murmur of his intercession for 
 perishing sinners. Many a stately tree has been the 
 witness of the young missionary's wrestling with God 
 for grace to fit him for his work.
 
 152 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 When the time of Henry's probable arrival at 
 home, on foot, was known, his little brothers would 
 surprise him with the horse and wagon at the last vil- 
 lage on the route; and glad indeed was the dusty, 
 weary traveler to avail himself of the services of even 
 the old horse whom he boasted of outwalking. How 
 well the younger members of the family recall the 
 watchings at the window, the running to the gate, 
 when, all fatigue gone in a moment, Henry would 
 spring from the carriage, and with one on each side of 
 him, and "little Helen" in his arms, stride up the 
 front yard to meet his father's welcome, and his 
 mother's kiss. How joyful was the greeting, how 
 pleasant the chat, how great the astonishment of the 
 "tinies" to see "brother" refuse mother's dainties, 
 and take a bowl of bread and milk, resisting even the 
 tender, "My son, after such a journey, do take a cup 
 of tea." 
 
 They saw, too, their brother's unremitting atten- 
 tion to their parents ; and though the cause might not 
 be quite comprehended, they could perceive that their 
 father's step seemed lighter during Henry's visit. The 
 skill acquired in the seminary workshop was exercised 
 in constructing a box for his mother's hydrangea, or 
 he trained her honey-suckles, and weeded her flower 
 beds. One of the four fir-trees is still standing which 
 he set out before the house, turfing a little mound 
 around each. Heartily did the youngsters reciprocate 
 Henry's regrets when the vacation did not take him
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 153 
 
 to Amherst, for in nutting or berrying, fishing, 
 skating, or sliding down hill, he was a delightful 
 companion, while the lessons, above all that for 
 the Sabbath, were by his aid rendered easy and 
 pleasant. 
 
 In -the spring of 1830, stern self-control kept the 
 student at the east. We read of his day of fasting 
 and prayer for direction as to his vacation; "a good 
 season of prayer with brother Schauffler before setting 
 out;" of his accomplished visits, and his self-chidings 
 for neglect of duty, and levity of manner. On his 
 return to Andover, another day was set apart for 
 devotion in view of the coming term, feeling it a 
 "bounden duty to keep heart, mind, and body in such 
 a state as that I can improve to the utmost the ex- 
 alted privileges I here enjoy." Some of his errors 
 of last term he attributed to his "want of decision." 
 Then he guards himself against neglecting his studies 
 from indulging his feelings. "I must," he says, 
 "improve every lecture, and make the most of every 
 recitation. No slight thing must prevent thorough 
 hard study every day." 
 
 " Wednesday, June 8th. Have had many good 
 seasons of prayer with brethren, as one after another 
 they have returned and called at my room : but still 
 have wanted the constant 'hungering and thirsting 
 after righteousness.' Faith has been wanting. Faith, 
 my want of faith ! ! Had my feelings called forth 
 to-day on the subject of missions. It seemed to mo 
 7*
 
 154 THE MAKTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 as though I was away from home till I set my foot 
 on pagan shores." 
 
 But later in the season, and most unexpectedly to 
 him, a family meeting summoned Henry home, and 
 the following letter to his sister is the first written 
 after his return to the beloved seminary : 
 . 
 
 PART OF A LETTER TO HIS ELDER SISTER. 
 "ANDOTEII THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, June 21lh, 1830. 
 
 " DEAR SISTER : 
 
 "I left home as you know, ere you had ceased giving 
 a little more ' sleep to your eyes, and slumber to your 
 eyelids.' though not till the sun had for some time 
 illuminated ' Pleasant Valley' with his life-giving 
 beams. I labored under a very great depression of 
 spirits all the time I was with you. The cause I 
 suppose to be as follows : I started after a long con- 
 finement in my room, over my books, and traveled 
 fifty miles the first day, and nearly forty the second, 
 both as hot days as we have had this season. Add to 
 this, the anxiety to get home which prevailed in 
 spite of me and the change of diet, which produced 
 a little fever. I was not myself. I wanted to speak 
 of a thousand things and ask ten thousand questions, 
 but I did not feel like saying any thing to any body. 
 However, I saw that you were alive and well; saw 
 how you looked as a mother, and how I looked in the 
 capacity of uncle ; and if I did not add any thing to 
 the pleasure of the family meeting you must take the
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 155 
 
 will for the deed and hope for the future. I started, 
 as I before said, low-spirited; but in the afternoon 
 having again entered upon my exercise, and cold 
 water system, I began to brighten, and had half a 
 mind to return home and finish my visit. However, 
 duty constrained me and kept my face like a flint 
 eastward till I arrived at Stirling at half past seven 
 o'clock, having traveled the distance an hour and a 
 half quicker than ' Old Graves'* did when we came 
 down last fall. Thursday morning started at half past 
 four o'clock, and arrived at my room (by way of 
 Concord, forty-eight miles), at nine o'clock hi the 
 evening. Took my last morsel of gingerbread the 
 second day at noon. Cost of journey back, fifty 
 cents." 
 
 EXTRACT FROM A LETTER TO AN AUNT. 
 
 August 19th, 1830. 
 
 " I was at Boston three weeks since at the embarka- 
 tion of the missionaries for Bombay and Bunnah, 
 Messrs. Hervey and Read. As you have ere this seen 
 an account of the exercises, I will only say that I was 
 one of the thirty who accompanied our beloved breth- 
 ren and sisters nine miles down the harbor. They 
 were full of joy and gladness at the prospect of 
 being privileged to carry the Gospel far hence to the 
 heathen. When we left the ship I took Hervey's 
 
 * An old horse.
 
 156 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 hand. Said he, ' Good by, or rather good night, for 
 we shall see each other again in the morning !" My 
 only regret on parting with them was that I could 
 not accompany them to the end of the voyage. Yes, 
 I was ready to bid a last farewell to the shores of 
 New England. Witnessing their departure divested 
 the subject of enthusiasm, and made it appear more a 
 reality. But the nearer it comes to reality, the more 
 the spirit is willing to go, though the flesh shrink the 
 more." 
 
 The journal says : 
 
 " I sorrowed most of all, not that they were to leave 
 me, but that I was to leave them and return to New 
 England. * * * 
 
 " Left Boston at five in the evening, accompanied by 
 brother Parker ; * attended monthly concert at South 
 Reading, and arrived (at seminary) at half past one 
 on Tuesday morning ; and well paid too for the night's 
 work, for I never attended a better concert. The 
 Lord sanctify it to those present. 
 
 " September 1st. A brother yesterday remarked 
 that you could not go into a house within five miles 
 of Middlebury but what every old woman knew and 
 would talk about the influence Fiske and Parsons ex- 
 erted on them, and they made their labors in vacation 
 tell. As for me, I am such a sinner that the Lord 
 never has, and I don't know that He ever will, let me 
 
 * Probably Rev. W. Parker, missionary to the Sandwich 
 Islands.
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 157 
 
 do any thing whereby any would remember me as the 
 means of their spiritual good. All my vacations have 
 been, and are likely to be, spent in inglorious sloth. 
 
 "September 17 th. Last night sinned very greiv- 
 ously in conversation with two or three. I told over 
 some of my former life, and especially some few of my 
 evil deeds, in a boasting way. What ! boast that you 
 had served the devil ! What ! tell the devil's subjects 
 how cunningly you used to work, that they may learn 
 from your experience ! And all this when you are a 
 sworn enemy to the father of lies and all his host of 
 myrmidons ! Had a season of sorrow, bitter sorrow, 
 ere I gave myself to sleep. 
 
 ' ' Motto for vacation : ' Seek first the kingdom of 
 God, and His righteousness.' 
 
 " November 23c? - Birth day. How solemn the 
 thought, I am this day to be turned over from boyhood 
 to manhood. Yes, J have at last arrived at the turn- 
 ing point. I stand to-day balancing on the line of 
 demarcation traced out by the world. My imperfec- 
 tions for past years, I have cloaked under my youth, 
 but thanks to God that can be no longer. However 
 I may look upon myself in future, my fellow-nftn 
 will regard me as a man. They will expect from me 
 the actions of a man. I am then to consider this day 
 what boyish things to renounce and what character- 
 istics of manhood to assume. It has seemed to me 
 of late that my habits were rapidly forming. To 
 what then have I been prone in times past which
 
 158 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 should now be corrected ? It seems to me all my 
 habits have been forming according to the state of my 
 heart. I wish then to attend solely to the condition 
 of my heart this day." Then follows a long self- 
 examination. 
 
 
 
 TO CHARLES LYMAN, ESQ. 
 
 AKHEEST, October^ 16&, 1830. 
 
 DEAR COUSIN: 
 
 I arrived at the family mansion Tuesday evening 
 last, in two days from Andover on foot, where I found 
 yours of September 24th. containing sundry valuable 
 papers, and Thursday found at Northampton an 
 epistle bearing date October 9th. 
 
 It is needless and impossible for me to express to 
 you the obligation under which I feel myself laid. 
 Suffice it to say, I will endeavor ever to bear in mind 
 that you have consecrated this -portion of your sub- 
 stance to the Lord, and not to Henry Lyman, and 
 my prayer is that I may be made more holy and 
 be enabled to live according to the increase of my 
 responsibilities. * * * 
 
 v erily, your Society are doing well in the tract and 
 education departments. But, dear cousin, wherefore 
 raise up more. ministers to send abroad, when the A. 
 B. C. F. M. must withdraw some of their missionaries, 
 and break up some of their stations ? I, last Thurs- 
 day, attended the anniversaries of the Hampshire 
 county benevolent associations, and there heard, not
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 159 
 
 for the first time, a great cry as of much distress, 
 lest these United States of America will not be sup- 
 plied, every family, with a Bible " within two years," 
 and lest every individual in the Mississippi valley will 
 not have a tract placed in his hands in the course of 
 six months ; and lest every five hundred inhabitants 
 in the western wilds should not have a minister, 
 while the claims of the world are passed by in com- 
 parative silence. To see all these home operations 
 carried forward would rejoice my heart and lead me 
 to say "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and 
 earth." But what if it should be even six years 
 before every family in this Protestant land should be 
 supplied? What if it should be a year before a 
 Sunday School should be established in every hamlet 
 in the west ? What if every individual should not 
 receive a tract ? Would it greatly retard the great 
 movement ? Would it dampen the ardor or diminish 
 the faith of him who is praying, " Thy kingdom 
 come?" Christians of our land seem to feel so; and 
 all the charities of this Christian country have been 
 for the past two years flowing into her own bosom. 
 But the stream which merely flows back into its own 
 fountain, can not widen and deepen in its course, and 
 increase as it proceeds, till it grows into a mighty 
 ocean covering the whole earth. I believe that 
 Christians must not neglect that ascending com- 
 mand, attended with the ascending promise, "Go ye 
 into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every
 
 160 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 creature" "and lo, I am with you always, even to 
 the end of the world." The American Board comes 
 short in its receipts this year $20,000, and taking 
 into account that it ought to have increased $20,000 
 upon last year, we have a deficiency of $40,000 in 
 the receipts of this corner-stone of benevolent Societies 
 the one, and we may say the only one, founded 
 directly in obedience to the last command of Jesus, 
 our Saviour and Redeemer. 
 
 And ought these things so to be ? Shall Meigs, or 
 Poor, or Richards, or Temple, or Smith, or Dwight, 
 or Read, return? Shall a school be given up, and 
 the half-reclaimed idolaters be suffered to return to 
 their images or superstitions in Bombay, or Ceylon, 
 or the Sandwich Islands ? Shall the press, which is 
 teeming with its thousands of Gospels and of tracts, 
 scattering light and heat through the dark domains 
 of sin, and infidelity, and paganism, be stopped at 
 Malta, or in that nation which is just emerging from 
 idol worship, and where forty thousand pupils in the 
 schools are crying for "books, books?" Yet this 
 must be done or the Christian public must pray more 
 at the monthly concert, must pray more in the family, 
 must pray more in the closet, must contribute more 
 of their substance to this work, must labor more to 
 save the heathen. Talk about withdrawing aid from 
 the old stations ! Every people under heaven, except 
 the Mohammedans, is now in a state for receiving a 
 mission. The voice of God in His providence is say-
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 161 
 
 ing, "Go forward, go forward, go forward,' 1 and 
 yet we are going backward. Do we in thus doing 
 look unto the great "Captain of our salvation?" 
 The disciples did not stop to convert every soul in 
 Jerusalem, although they were there to begin to 
 preach, before they proceeded to another city. Paul 
 did not stop short of Rome. Jesus Christ confined 
 not his labors to the Jews, his own countrymen, and 
 shall we see every soul in this land converted before 
 we go to the heathen ? Will the millennium come 
 here while all around are the habitations of sin ? No. 
 no. Let us plant the Gospel standard in every 
 nation, and let us go to work to convert every soul 
 in every nation. 
 
 But I am filling up my letter with what you no 
 doubt already know and feel. Forgive me for so 
 doing. You see by the appearance of it that it has 
 been run off from my brain without form or comeli- 
 ness in its eagerness to escape. 
 
 All well, and unite in love. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 HENRY LYMAN. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM A LETTER TO MRS. C. 
 
 
 
 " I suppose you have heard from Amherst since I 
 left, which was three weeks since. I performed my 
 journey home on foot in two days, and back again, 
 walking nearly all the way, in the same time. I 
 walked last vacation about two hundred and fifty
 
 162 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 miles, and rode one hundred and fifty : the latter, 
 however, was the hardest part. When I go to M., if 
 ever I do, I shall try walking. I can easily travel 
 forty miles a day. 
 
 " To-day has been a fast in the American churches 
 on account of the profanation of the Sabbath. We 
 have of course observed it in the seminary. It seems 
 to me, the week, in spiritual things, is according to 
 the Sabbath. If we slight the Lord's day, woe be to 
 our souls for the remainder of the week ! I felt the 
 want of Sabbaths very much last term.* I used to 
 go to Wilmington Saturday evenings, six miles, to 
 superintend the Sabbath School there, at noon, and in 
 the afternoon go to Reading, two miles, and hold a 
 conference in the evening. But my school closed last 
 Sabbath, and I shall now have only to see to the con- 
 ference, which will be sufficient, as there seems to 
 have been a little increase of attention within a few 
 weeks, and we are looking to see the ' little cloud' 
 come in sight. Pray for us, dear aunt. It is a 
 desolate place, and the inhabitants scattered, yet 
 eighty or ninety impenitent come together every 
 Sabbath evening to hear what I have to say. Last 
 Sunday was the most interesting service we have ever 
 had. Private Christians hardly realize how much 
 
 * Is not this a want which many Christians feel now? Sabbatli 
 schools, tract distribution, and public worship, so engross their 
 time as to compel them to acknowledge that 
 
 " Sunday dawns no Sabbath day to them." ED.
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 163 
 
 they enjoy in having holy time quietly to themselves 
 as hearers. The influences of the day are almost lost 
 to preachers I mean that profit arising from medita- 
 tion." 
 
 The next letter which will be given is a family 
 one, too long to present in full. Some extracts 
 follow : 
 
 "ANDOVEB THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, November 18th, 1830. 
 
 "BELOVED PABENTS, BROTHERS, AND SISTERS: 
 
 " Four weeks have now elapsed since I left home. 
 However long the time may seem to you, to me it is 
 but a dream, yet, many and many a time have my 
 thoughts been hovering over the family mansion, 
 endeavoring to conjure up in my mind your looks, 
 and words, and actions. And I have not unfre- 
 quently found myself conversing with some one or 
 more of you, although a hundred miles separate us. 
 I have loved to indulge in these illusions, as they 
 have carried me home, or brought home to me. 
 
 " * * * As my stay among you last vacation 
 was so short, I suppose you would like to know what 
 I did with my five weeks. So I will endeavor to let 
 you a little into the mystery, premising, however, 
 that if you are likely to weary before you have waded 
 through my ponderous tome, you had better commit 
 it to the flames ere you begin ; as a story half told is 
 just no story at all.
 
 164 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 "Well, to commence. It was on 'Thursday, Sep- 
 tember 23d, that the cage was set open, and we had 
 to try our skill in obtaining our own food. It was a 
 joyful, yet solemn, day to us all. We were, to be 
 sure, freed from a four months' confinement with the 
 patriarchs, prophets, sages, and fathers, who have 
 successively appeared, added one or two to the -rays 
 of light given to illuminate the moral, intellectual, 
 and spiritual darkness of our world, and then laid 
 aside their tabernacle of clay, and wended their way 
 upward, to commence their existence as disembodied 
 spirits ; yet, we were to go forth among those who 
 were looking to see 'the sons of Levi' purified 
 from the world, and ' fervent in spirit, serving the 
 Lord.' We separated, one to the north, and one to 
 the south ; this one to the east, and that to the west ; 
 one to join the domestic circle, another to enjoy a 
 tete-a-tete with , who had been anxiously wait- 
 ing for the dawning of the long wished-for day, while 
 another, perhaps fatherless and motherless, friendless, 
 houseless, penniless, entered upon this or that sphere 
 of labor to replenish his exhausted treasury, and 
 gratify the feelings of a benevolent heart. 
 
 " A few, unwilling, or unprepared so soon to ven- 
 ture forth upon the wicle world, lingered about the 
 now deserted halls. Among these you might have 
 seen Maxwell and his chum, for on that morning, ere 
 
 / O7 
 
 the sun had gilded the eastern sky, they were busy 
 as ants and gay as larks removing the household stuff
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 165 
 
 from their last year's residence to a more commodious 
 and pleasant situation. But methinks that little 
 black eye looks up and says, ' Mother, I wonder 
 what kind of a room Henry lives in at Andover ; is it 
 just like this ?" If it will be any gratification, I will 
 describe it and let you see how comfortable AVC are, 
 and how much reason we have to thank our kind 
 heavenly Father for temporal mercies. Our study- 
 room is almost as large as ' Pleasant Valley' parlor, 
 handsomely furnished, on the lower floor, facing the 
 west, and supplied with a good stove. On the right 
 of the fire-place is a book-closet, containing our 
 libraries, except those volumes in daily use, which lie 
 on our desks : on the left is a large closet containing 
 wood, lamp, washing apparatus, etc., etc. On the 
 north side of the room are two sleeping closets. The 
 furniture consists of a complete fire set, two desks, 
 four chairs, a bureau, and a looking-glass. These 
 rooms are thus comfortably provided through the 
 benevolence of ' old father Bartlett.' * * * 
 
 "I, as is my custom, went on Saturday afternoon 
 to Wilmington, and so on Sabbath morning I set off 
 for meeting in a drizzling rain, shielded, however, by 
 Dr. B.'s surtout. But this mile-and-a-half walk was 
 almost in vain, for I found only twelve people at 
 church, and one boy at Sabbath School. 
 
 "* * * Lodged at a house which, like many 
 others in this vicinity, was ' anti-masonic,' or in other 
 words, destitute of lath and plaster, and overhead but
 
 166 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 a single floor. I slept in one of the lower rooms, 
 which was used as kitchen, drawing-room, dining- 
 room, parlor, bed-room, and china-closet, and the 
 young man, his wife, and two children, were over- 
 head. And here was the benefit of the one tier of 
 boards between us. Had it not been thus, I should 
 have been deprived, yes, utterly deprived of the 
 cheering music of one of the little folks, to keep 
 alive my spirits, and wile away the tedious hours of 
 night ! ! 
 
 " November 2Qth. Morning came at last ; the cock 
 crew, the day dawned, the sun rose, not, however, 
 till I had been braced by a warm breakfast, and had 
 made half an hour's headway toward the sea-coast. 
 Arrived at Salem (fourteen miles) at 10 A. M. The 
 road is like all other roads that are not specially 
 interesting." 
 
 We omit the description of Salem and Marblehead, 
 with a journal of visits. 
 
 " Returned after dinner by way of N. Reading to 
 Wilmington, and arrived at Dr. Brown's about eight 
 o'clock. The next morning attended a church con- 
 ference at Woburn (seven miles). Four churches 
 were represented. The meeting was very solemn 
 and interesting. * * * Returned same night 
 
 to Wilmington, to Mr. . After joining 
 
 the old gentleman in a flowing bowl of baked 
 apples and milk I sought to take rest in sleep, 
 and found it amid a pile of feathers up garret
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 167 
 
 " Awoke bright and early Thursday morning, par- 
 took of a plentiful breakfast, left this hospitable man- 
 sion at eight o'clock, visited all the school districts in 
 town, set half a dozen ladies at work collecting money 
 for the enlargement of our Sabbath School library, 
 and arrived at Andover about half past seven, having 
 made about twenty miles. 
 
 " Friday, October 1st. At four P. M. started for 
 Wilmington. Took tea at Dr. B. 's, lodged at Mrs. 
 E. 's (twelve miles). Mrs. E. is the mother of Mrs. 
 Allen, missionary to the Choctaws. She is a pious, 
 devoted, intelligent, energetic, benevolent, go-forward 
 woman ! Sabbath morn attended meeting, afterward 
 started for my conference (three and a half miles) ; 
 
 supped at , and after conference rode home part 
 
 of the way, and arrived at nine o'clock, having be- 
 guiled the tediousness of the latter part of it by 
 transporting myself on imagination's wing to ' Plea- 
 sant Valley.' " 
 
 TO CHARLES LYMAN, ESQ. 
 ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, December 2d, 1830. 
 
 DEAR COUSIN: 
 
 As this is the evening of a Thanksgiving day, and 
 I have had occasion to call to mind the temporal mer- 
 cies of the past year, I could not but remember those 
 who have been the second causes in bestowing these 
 blessings. And I must give up to my own feelings
 
 168 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 and devote a few minutes to one who has had not a 
 small share of the burden to bear. 
 
 I have just come out of the meeting of the Society 
 of Inquiry. The dissertation read was on "Thibet 
 and Lamaism." What a picture of sin does that re- 
 ligion present, and how wide-spread its ravages! 
 Two hundred and fifty millions, or one third of the 
 human family, bow to a fellow-man, and worship flesh 
 and blood like their own, believing it to be inhabited 
 by the omniscient, omnipresent Jehovah. ' ' Kings are 
 his nursing fathers and queens his nursing mothers." 
 As for the number of his servants, or inferior Lamas, 
 they are as numerous as the locusts of Egypt, and no 
 less voracious. Twenty thousand reside on the holy 
 hill, on which his royal temple is built. There is one 
 to almost every family throughout *the whole of 
 Thibet. There are one million in China, and they 
 are not less numerous in other parts of Asia. The 
 King of Burmah annually contributes to the support 
 of these temples more than eighty thousand pounds of 
 silver. Crowned heads fall prostrate before the Grand 
 Lama, and all in authority bow themselves nine times 
 in the dust when they approach into his august 
 presence. But enough, for you have doubtless read 
 the history of this abominable idolatry. Two thoughts 
 irresistibly urge themselves upon my mind. First, 
 we must emulate the heathen in our self-consecration 
 to our religion and worship of the true God. Sec- 
 ondly, we must do more for the salvation of a world
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 169 
 
 lying in darkness that can be felt, horribly felt, 
 painfully felt. Let the pagan world be divided 
 equally among Christians, and every Christian has 
 seventy-five souls for whose salvation he is to pray 
 and labor. Let one missionary be sent forth to every 
 twelve thousand heathen, and fifty thousand ministers 
 are needed. What is to be done? One is almost 
 led to cry out, Lord, hast thou promised, wilt thou 
 not fulfill ? A door of entrance is opened into al- 
 most every country on the habitable globe. Even 
 the lofty wall of China begins to totter. But the 
 American Church, which God seems to have raised 
 up to do this work, is asleep, or nearly so ; I mean 
 the great body of it. The Board must drop their 
 schools or withdraw some of their missionaries, when 
 the increase of their funds ought to be going forward 
 in geometrical ratio. Twenty or more in this school 
 of the prophets stand ready, as soon as sufficiently 
 fledged, to fly to the utmost verge of day to tell the sto- 
 ry of Jesus. But, alas ! because some have ' ' kept back 
 a part of the price" they must tarry at home, or, at 
 least, spend a portion of their precious time to solicit 
 aid to embark from their native shores. 
 
 We pity the heathen, and wonder at their feasting 
 on the bodies of their fellow-men. Let us rather 
 turn our thoughts homeward? Do not Christians 
 sometimes, I will not say feast on their fellow-men, 
 but RIOT ON THEIR SOULS? How many thousands of 
 dollars were needlessly wasted in this and the neigh- 
 8
 
 170 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 boring States last week !* Would that I could ask 
 some thousands of Christians, Will you sell the soul 
 of a fellow-being for a plum pudding ? 
 
 But these things are no doubt inscribed in glowing 
 colors on the walls of your closet, and I am wasting 
 time and paper. 
 
 Messrs. Tinker and Dibble, of Auburn, destined 
 for the Sandwich Islands, preached here last Sunday 
 with very happy effect. Quite a library was collected 
 for them the next day. Last Sabbath brother 
 Schauffler, who graduated last fall, and is residing 
 here another year to fit himself further, to carry the 
 Gospel to the Persians, preached all day on "the 
 duty of Christians to consecrate their property to the 
 Lord." Last evening we had an uncommonly inter- 
 esting monthly concert. Revivals were reported from 
 almost every part of New England and New York. 
 Reports from all the missionary stations encouraging. 
 
 We are endeavoring to live more temperately in 
 this evil world. At the commencement of the present 
 term the brethren voted the following bill of fare for 
 commons hall : Breakfast, porridge or warm milk 
 and bread, with baked apples. f Dinner, one dish of 
 meat and vegetables water for drink. Supper, same 
 as the morning, except butter in place of baked ap- 
 ples. No pies, puddings, cakes, tea, coffee, sugar, 
 
 * At the annual "Thanksgiving." 
 
 f Many a student of Andover will smile as this excitement is 
 thus recalled to him.
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 171 
 
 molasses, cheese, or butter, except at night, or any 
 other article of dyspeptic food is now admitted. A 
 few, who are disaffected, and can not give up the 
 flesh-pots of Egypt, have gone out to board, where 
 they can get something besides "this manna ;" but 
 we trust the King will find at the end of the term that 
 those who have "lived upon pulse" are "better 
 favored" than all others. 
 
 As to spiritual things, our meetings have not been 
 so full, nor solemn, nor interesting as now, since I 
 have been here. I believe there is more real closet 
 religion than last year. Yet how far are we off! 
 How far am I, for one ! My easily besetting sin is, 
 giving way to appetite. The more I fight against it, 
 the more it seems to rage. All effort seems vain. I have 
 been almost ready to exclaim, What profit is there in 
 prayer ? I thought to-day I would try a new way : 
 think no more about it, try to do the work the Lord 
 has given me to do, and let Him take care of my ap- 
 petite. Is this right? Were you ever assailed on 
 every hand by so powerful an enemy ? If so, how 
 did you manage him? " Pilgrim," as his last resort, 
 betook himself to "the weapon called all-prayer." 
 
 You speak, I believe, in one of your letters, con- 
 cerning the Roman Catholics, or infidels, or at least 
 
 uncle L does. Now the only way to get rid of 
 
 this host is, to send missionaries abroad. Satan 
 needs no effort to keep quiet possession of the heathen 
 world as long as Christians are inactive ; and, having
 
 172 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 nothing to do there, he comes into our very camp to 
 give us battle. Let missionaries go forth, and attack 
 him in these secure retreats, and he- will soon be 
 alarmed, and draw off his forces from this country, in 
 order to maintain his cause abroad. The world will 
 never be converted so long as we attempt to drive out 
 the prince of darkness from one spot, while all around 
 is his own. No, we must scatter the heralds of the 
 cross from the Arctic to the Antarctic, " from the 
 rising of the sun, to the going down of the same." 
 We must scatter his forces as much as possible, and 
 with the Lord's help, we will make him an easy con- 
 quest. Pray for the world. Pray for your 
 
 COUSIN HENRY. 
 
 TO HIS FATHER. 
 
 December 29th, 1830. 
 
 DEAR FATHER : 
 
 I read yours of December 6th, with mingled pain 
 and pleasure pain, that you have had so much 
 trouble with your worldly affairs, and pleasure yes 
 real heartfelt pleasure it gave me that your afflictions 
 have been sanctified to you, and especially that this 
 latter trial has proved for the furtherance of your 
 growth in grace. * * * 
 
 But the word of God speaks more than I can ex- 
 press concerning sanctified affliction. I will here note 
 several texts, which I would write out fully had I 
 time. Job v. 17, 18 ; Ps. xciv. 12, 13, cxix. 67, 71,
 
 THE HILL DIFFICULTY. 173 
 
 75; Prov. iii. 12; .Horn. v. 3; 1 Cor. xi. 32; 2 Cor. 
 iv. 16, 17 ; Heb. xii. 6, 11 ; Rev. iii. 19. 
 
 I have long felt much for you under your multi- 
 plied troubles. I console myself with the reflection 
 that this life was not made for us all to live peaceably 
 and smoothly in. It is but a state of probation. 
 Trials must be looked for, expected. Indeed we 
 ought and do pray for them every time we pray to be 
 made more holy and more conformed to the image of 
 God. I often wish I could be afflicted in some way, 
 so that my pride would be abased, and my depravity 
 subdued. This accursed pride is stubborn. It will 
 not be brought into subjection by kindness and mercy. 
 These only feed the flame, and cause it to burn the 
 fiercer. I feel as though I must have some sore chas- 
 tisement or other before I can be useful in the vine- 
 yard of the Lord.* Our cares and our troubles we 
 can not manage ourselves. The Lord is ready to 
 take them; and "we must walk by faith, not by 
 sight." " Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He 
 shall sustain thee ; He shall never suffer the righteous 
 to be moved." Lam. iii. 33 ; John xvi. 33. I should 
 be glad to pursue this subject, but am obliged to 
 desist. 
 
 * Mr. L. forgot that our Saviour's prayer was, " Sanctify them 
 through thy truth; thy word ia truth." ED.
 
 VI. 
 
 r & i tt t i n . 
 
 Within this temple, Christ again, unseen, 
 
 Those sacred words has said ; 
 A.nd his invisible hands to-day have been 
 
 Laid on a young man's head. 
 
 And evermore beside him on his way, 
 
 The unseen Christ shall move, 
 That he may lean upon his arm and say, 
 " Dost thou, dear Lord, approve ?" 
 
 LONGFELLOW. 
 
 For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. ST. PAUL,
 
 

 
 VI. 
 
 THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, ANDOVER, January IQth, 1831. 
 
 DEAR COUSIN CHARLES: 
 
 I have been employed, during the past six weeks, 
 in investigating " The Condition of Females in Hea- 
 then Countries." I finished my dissertation of 
 forty-six pages yesterday, and expect to read it 
 before the Society of Inquiry next Tuesday evening. 
 Although it has been laborious, having been obliged 
 to visit Boston, and ransack book-stores, and the 
 library at the rooms of the A. B. C. F. M., and to 
 neglect all my correspondents, yet it has been profit- 
 able to me. I was never before so fully convinced 
 of the woes and miseries of paganism. I have been 
 fully confirmed in the missionary faith. I have also 
 found that facts fully substantiate the latter part of 
 the first chapter of Romans. The women are, of 
 degraded tyrants, the more degraded drudges. They 
 are as debased as the African slaves. Nay, more, 
 they are as impure as impurity itself as immoral as 
 the imagination can conceive. As for virtue, it is an 
 unmeaning term with them. I might relate facts 
 8*
 
 178 THE MARTYR OP SUMATRA. 
 
 which would make decency blush, and debauchees of 
 Christian countries hang their heads. This we might 
 expect from the ignorance in which they are kept. 
 A mental " darkness that might be felt" is extended 
 over them : not one in a million can either read or 
 write. In such a state of things do we wonder that 
 the mother can stifle the cries of her prattling babe in 
 the river, or expose it to the beasts of prey, or dash 
 its tender head against a stone, or, with her own 
 cruel hands, draw its flowing blood, or check its 
 gentle breath, or stamp its little body under her feet, 
 or cover it in the cold grave while yet it is screaming 
 for protection ? In such circumstances are we amazed 
 that she prefers for herself the flaming pile or the 
 living tomb rather than drag out her miserable exist- 
 ence on earth? Again, she has nothing to dread 
 hereafter. She is taught either that she has no soul, 
 or that such a death is the certain and only way of 
 insuring heaven for herself or her husband. Then 
 follow these deluded creatures into eternity. But 
 enough. I can not longer dwell at this time upon 
 this interesting, though horrible subject. I have only 
 one inference to draw. 
 
 How shall I, in view of this subject, and of the 
 judgment-day, when I shall meet these wretched 
 idolaters, answer the question in your last, "What 
 think you?" (concerning a Congregational church in 
 T.) Shall I say, "Go forward, and draw away a 
 missionary from those stations?" If so be that
 
 THE ORDINATION. 179 
 
 Christ is preached, what matters it whether it is by 
 Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Baptists, or Meth- 
 odists ? Go to one of the anxious sinners by whom 
 you are surrounded, and ask him whether he was 
 convicted under the preaching of a Presbyterian or a 
 Congregational minister. Would he not say, " 0, 
 tell me what I must do to be saved." And in full 
 view of the danger of sinners, of death, judgment, 
 and eternity, ought we not to be snatching them as 
 brands from the eternal burning ; and worship with 
 whatever denomination of real Christians there may 
 be in the place where, in Providence, we are located. 
 If you have room for all church-going people, this 
 is all I have to say in answer to your question. 
 
 Providence permitting, I may possibly have occa- 
 sion to visit Troy during the spring vacation. My 
 present intention is to take an agency for the Mis- 
 sionary Herald, and spend five weeks in getting my 
 soul more enlisted in this glorious cause. 
 
 A happy New Year, and much love to all the 
 
 friends. 
 
 From your affectionate 
 
 COUSIN. 
 
 . 
 
 TO A YOUNG SISTER. 
 
 "ANDOVER, January 2lst, 1831. 
 
 # * * Were you to sit down to the examin- 
 ation of a difficult sum in arithmetic you would give 
 up your whole mind to it. You would be free in
 
 180 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 your thoughts from other things, ready to receive the 
 truth as soon as you had finished. So must you 
 receive Divine truth. You must be willing to be 
 convinced of your sins." 
 
 The considerations urged in the following letter to 
 D. S. Whitney, Esq., are not now less important than 
 when they were written : 
 
 " I suppose you and others about you have your 
 eye on the day of fasting and prayer for colleges 
 which is approaching. It will be an interesting occa- 
 sion for Zion, no doubt. An immediate supply of 
 ministers we must have. For them we have nowhere 
 to go but to the youth in our colleges. The Lord 
 has heard the prayers of His children for this object 
 in days past. His ear is not now heavy, nor His arm 
 shortened. A revival of religion in college why, 
 what is it ? Twenty, thirty, or forty young men are 
 sent immediately to the theological seminary. Old 
 Christians are revived, and the hopes of the church 
 are raised, which gives her an onward impulse. 
 When a young man in college hopes in Christ, 
 the question arises, ' Lord, what wilt thou have me to 
 do ?' He has no property to consecrate. Nothing is 
 left him but his education. He says, l Lord, here am 
 /, send me? He does not then go out to scatter fire- 
 brands, arrows, and death through the land. He 
 goes, in the name of Jesus, to win souls to Christ ;
 
 THE ORDINATION. 181 
 
 those win others. He also, perhaps, leaves behind 
 him a ' Dairyman's Daughter,' or a ' Rise and Prog- 
 ress,' or a ' Saints' Rest,' which tells upon distant 
 nations at remote ages. Amherst has now (1831, it 
 will be recollected.) five foreign missionaries in the 
 field, two of whom loved not Christ when they entered 
 college. She has also forty of her sons at this sem- 
 inary, one fourth of whom first learned the language 
 of the upper world in college : one fourth of them 
 design to spend their lives among the heathen. 
 
 " Indeed these are the fountains which send their 
 streams over the earth. Shall they leave traces of 
 devastation in their course, or shall they fertilize all 
 around, and make the earth what it should be, the 
 garden of the Lord? Let us pray for the salt of 
 Divine grace to be cast into them that they may be 
 for the healing of the nations. 
 
 "Love to all at grandfather's. I often think of 
 him these cold days. How does he stand the winter ? 
 "In haste. 
 
 " Your affectionate nephew, 
 
 "HENRY LYMAN." 
 
 ANDOVEB THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, February, 28th, 1831. 
 
 DEAR SISTER: 
 
 It is needless for me to say, I was gratified exceed- 
 ingly at receiving your dateless letter in the family 
 package. Especially did it rejoice my heart, that you 
 expressed yourself so freely concerning your feelings 

 
 182 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 on the subject of religion. And now you wish me 
 to answer it immediately, and tell you "what to 
 do." I might reply by asking, Why come to me? 
 Why not go to your Bible, the only sure guide 
 to heaven ? I might tell you to follow the apostle's 
 direction to the trembling jailor, when he asked 
 the same question: "Repent, and believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." This, 
 you say, you know already, but "do not know 
 how to set about it." Now, how can you set about 
 being sorry for any thing ? What does the seventy- 
 seventh Village Hymn 'say? What says the fif- 
 teenth of Luke ? How did the prodigal son set about 
 being sorry for what he had done ? Did he sit down 
 and reason with himself thus ? How shall I be sorry ? 
 How shall I feel my sin more ? I do not yet feel it 
 enough to want pardon from my father ? No ; he did 
 not stop for this. He was starving ; and he says, 
 Why need I starve when there is sufficiency in my 
 father's house? No, "I will arise, and go to my 
 father, and say, I have sinned, and am no more worthy 
 to be called thy son." He thought nothing about 
 making himself better before he went. He felt his 
 sin. made confession therefor, and "his father had 
 compassion on him." So in your case, you can never 
 make yourself better more acceptable in the sight 
 of Christ if you pray and read your Bible all your 
 life. You think these would be the means of your 
 feeling more your sins ; and if you could only feel,
 
 THE ORDINATION. 183 
 
 then you could come to Christ, and He would accept 
 you. .But, dear sister, you never can make yourself 
 better never can merit salvation. Bead Village 
 Hymns 43, 44. "Stop, and think," then, what is 
 your condition. You are a sinner against an infinitely 
 holy God, and an infinitely merciful Saviour. You 
 are every moment in danger of being cast into the 
 lake " where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not 
 quenched." Still there is a heaven of everlasting 
 happiness in store for you, and sovereign mercy is 
 calling yet with open arms, " Come unto me, and I 
 will give you life." Think what it is to be lost and 
 lost forever. Think what it is to glorify God and 
 enjoy him forever, then arise, and go to Jesus, con- 
 fess your sins, and throw yourself upon His mercy. 
 If He has compassion upon you, give Him the praise ; 
 if He casts you off forever, acknowledge His justice in 
 so doing. You have no merit, no claim. If ever 
 you are saved, it will be by infinite mercy in Jesus 
 Christ. Remember, "I can but perish if I go," and 
 "if I stay away, I know I must forever die." You 
 are looking too high. You think you have some 
 great work to do before you can have salvation. 
 Lower then your views, simplify them, bring them 
 down to the level of the Gospel, and trust in Christ. 
 There is a high wall which you are endeavoring to 
 climb over ; and all you want is to creep through a 
 hole there is close to the ground. To repent, is to 
 come to Christ and acknowledge your sins ; to believe
 
 184 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 on Him, is to resign your immortal soul into His 
 hands to be at His disposal, believing that He Avill 
 do that for you which will be for His own glory. If 
 this letter finds you still at enmity with God, let me 
 beseech you, dear sister, no longer to delay this. 
 Every thing is at stake. This world is all a shadow 
 and vanity ; in a moment you will be at the judgment, 
 where no one but Jesus can be your friend : and oh, 
 what if He should be your enemy ! 
 
 Your brother, 
 
 . HENRY. 
 
 In April, Henry received from his father a letter 
 full of thanksgiving. A powerful revival, which 
 commenced in Northampton under the pastorate of 
 the Rev. I. S. Spencer, had extended to Amherst, 
 and two of Mr. Lyman's children were rejoicing in 
 Christ. There are many who recollect the manifest- 
 ations of Divine grace at that time, when, in numer- 
 ous places, the whole population seemed with one con- 
 sent to turn to the Lord. These were chronicled by 
 the young student, in his letters and journal, with ex- 
 ultation, while he was unceasing in his efforts to stir 
 up others to pray for those in preparation for the holy 
 office ; as, for example, in the following extract from 
 a letter to D. S. Whitney, Esq. : 
 
 " I hope, too, you will remember this seminary. 
 Do Christians generally, in our country, feel the 
 need of being muck in prayer in behalf of the ris-
 
 THE ORDINATION. 185 
 
 ing ministry ? We must at any rate have a purifying 
 in this fountain, or- we shall send out a lukewarm 
 stream one neither cold nor hot-^one which shall 
 not refresh nor purify. There have been revivals of 
 God's work in other theological seminaries of our 
 land, and we have been passed by. If we can not 
 pray for ourselves, ought not the Church to make 
 prayers without ceasing unto God on our behalf." 
 
 As a manifestation of Christian love in giving and 
 receiving reproof, the following notes are introduced. 
 They were written about this period. 
 
 HENRY LYMAN TO * * * 
 
 MY DEAR BROTHER : 
 
 Christian faithfulness is a virtue in which we are all 
 wanting, especially in reminding one another of little 
 things, easy to be corrected, but which, left to gain 
 the power of habit, will prove, in a greater or less 
 measure, an obstacle to our usefulness as ministers of 
 the Gospel. I fall short in this thing myself; no 
 more, however, than others do in their duty to me. 
 If I now take the liberty to mention something I have 
 noticed in you, which,. though small in itself, I am 
 confident in some circumstances of future life, might, 
 in the more refined part of the community, excite pre- 
 judices against you which would be remembered even 
 when in the sacred desk, I hope you will be as free 
 with me in detecting any little irregularities of a like 
 nature. I have reference now to table etiquette.
 
 186 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 Your own good sense will preclude the necessity of 
 any thing other than this gentle hint ; still, as I have 
 commenced, permit me to mention two or three things 
 I have observed, such as helping your neighbor to 
 meat with your own fork, when a carving fork was at 
 hand, cutting vegetables with your own knife, stick- 
 ing your own fork into two or three pieces of meat 
 before being able to suit yourself, reaching over your 
 neighbor's plate, etc., etc., etc. 
 
 Allow me one further remark, hoping still it will 
 be received in Christian kindness. We are all prone 
 to take care of self. I feel this in my own case every 
 day. Some have much of this, but so manage them- 
 selves as not to have it appear to their neighbors. 
 Others are not conscious of loving self too well, who 
 still so conduct as to carry the appearance of it. I 
 hope in your case the manifestation is the result of 
 heedlessness. I refer to appropriating this or that 
 particular thing to yourself, without regard to mess- 
 mates. I am aware this is a point in which most, if 
 not all of us are prone to err in " Commons Hall," 
 but if we could only bring ourselves to observe the 
 precept, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," it 
 would give us true politeness at all times. I hope 
 you will be as faithful to me, and receive this in 
 Christian love, from your brother, 
 
 HENRY LYMAN.
 
 THE ORDINATION. 187 
 
 FROM * * * TO HENRY LYMAN. 
 
 DEAR BROTHER LYMAN: 
 
 Your letter was received as a kind and friendly 
 admonition. I must commend you for your Christian 
 fidelity and return you my hearty thanks. In regard 
 to those who give me friendly hortations, I feel my- 
 self bound to adopt the language and sentiment of 
 the apostle in 1 Thes. v. 13. I am ever grateful for 
 any suggestions which will tend to my improvement, 
 either as a gentleman or a follower of Christ. When 
 such suggestions seem to be prompted by a Christian 
 spirit can not receive them otherwise than with 
 kindness. 
 
 Your remarks in regard to " table etiquette" in 
 general I feel to be just, and my irregularities such 
 as require correction. I am aware that my manners 
 at our Commons-table, have often been unseemly, 
 and unlike the manners of polite circles. It has 
 arisen partly from inadvertence or heedlessness, and 
 partly from a habit brought from college, where little 
 other ceremony was used, than that of helping one's 
 self as well as he could. At first I was disgusted, 
 but soon fell in with the customs of the Commons- 
 table. This, however, I do not offer as the least apol- 
 ogy, but it tends to show the power of habit, and the 
 importance of avoiding such things at all times, in all 
 seasons, and in all places. For had I always been 
 careful, it would have cost me less attention to be so
 
 188 THE MAKTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 now. It is with me, in this matter, as it is with some 
 swearers, who can easily refrain from oaths while in 
 serious company, but among their companions throw 
 off that very necessary restraint which they ought 
 always to wear. I do not so sensibly feel your re- 
 proof in regard to "taking care of self," as I do in 
 respect to the others named. Nevertheless, it may 
 have seemed so to others, if not to myself. I hope I 
 shall in future avoid not only the sin, but even the 
 appearance of it. 
 
 I trust also that I shall give good heed to your 
 friendly suggestions and receive more of them when 
 it shall seem to you that occasion requires ; not only 
 in regard to " table etiquette," but on any other sub- 
 ject. We should all, I believe, make more rapid im- 
 provement, and eventually be far better ministers of 
 the Gospel, did we faithfully follow the injunction of 
 the apostle to "admonish one another daily." Had 
 your letter breathed" any other than a Christian spirit. 
 I should not probably have received it kindly. Let 
 brotherly love abound, and instances of Christian 
 fidelity be multiplied between us, and around us, and 
 believe me 
 
 Yours in the purest bonds of Christian love, 
 
 FROM A LETTER TO MRS. C. 
 
 " November 30^/i. I am now in the midst of 
 writing my first sermon, and have chosen that precious
 
 THE ORDINATION. 189 
 
 theme which occupied the pens of the sacred historians 
 and prophets ; which inspired Israel's bard and stayed 
 the heart of the Gentile apostle ; which caused the 
 morning stars to sing together for joy, and now leads 
 heaven's holy choir to one united, universal symphony 
 of praise the love of Christ. It seems almost 
 preposterous to one who knows nothing of this love 
 to attempt to speak of it. I fear I may be-little the 
 subject. Still who can forbear making this the theme 
 of his first discourse? Who that is privileged to 
 stand up before his dying fellow-men, a herald of 
 salvation from God, can avoid commencing his proc- 
 lamation with a theme so commanding, so enchanting, 
 so infinite ! Truly, if one can not speak well on this 
 subject, he is fit to speak on none ! I think a plain 
 and obvious inference from this subject is that Chris- 
 tians should be ready to perform any duty their Lord 
 may assign them ; however small, however great. 
 They should especially do all in their power to spread 
 abroad a knowledge of this love. Christ's love to 
 man forbids every thing like selfishness. A benevo- 
 lence higher than heaven, deeper than hell, longer 
 than the earth, and broader than the sea, glowed in 
 the breast of the Son of God. This same spirit in 
 kind is implanted in every one of Kis real children, 
 and in degree according as they are more or less con- 
 secrated to His service. How then can they help 
 laboring to disseminate this love and to bring others 
 to a knowledge of this salvation ?
 
 190 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 " 0, aunt, how long shall it be ere we are able to 
 give up all for Christ ? I say give up ALL ; not keep 
 back a part of the price. How long ere the church 
 will rejoice that they may have the privilege of con- 
 tributing of their substance; of pleading in their 
 closets ; of giving up their friends, or of going in 
 person, that salvation (0 the joyful, joyful sound !) 
 may be proclaimed to the poor, benighted, ignorant, 
 deluded, earth-sorrowing pagan ? 
 
 " Let us say with the sainted apostle, ' The love of 
 Christ constraineth us, that we henceforth live, not 
 unto ourselves, but to Him who died for us and rose 
 again.' Whatever work the Lord has for us to do, 
 ' Here we are, send us,' should be our language. We 
 may in doing so be called to forego the gratification 
 of self ; but what of it ? Can He not, and will He 
 not make us more happy in a course of self-denial 
 for His sake than in the possession of all earthly good. 
 the stings of a guilty conscience ! the blessedness 
 of a ' conscience void of offence towards God and 
 towards man !' Give me the latter, and come life, 
 come death, I care not, for then I shall be ready at 
 any time to ' depart and be with Christ' where I shall 
 see as I am seen and know as I am known. 
 
 " 0, dear aunt, there are few privileged with the 
 blessedness of being constrained by the love of Christ. 
 It is but a few who have the luxury of doing good. 
 The world knows not of it. If, in the Providence 
 of God, we are permitted to be of the number, let
 
 THE ORDINATION. 191 
 
 us do with our might what our hand findeth to 
 do, for the night is approaching when we can not 
 work." 
 
 ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, December 21st, 1831. 
 DEAR SISTER: 
 
 I hope the extreme frosts of the winter do not have 
 the tendency to pinch the soul. They certainly will 
 not if you do two things, viz. : pray much, and read 
 your Bible much. I suppose you have begun the 
 Christian life with a resolution to be a whole Chris- 
 tian or none at all ; of course you have learned to 
 pray. Prayer is, indeed, the Christian's soul his 
 life. The 289th Village Hymn expresses what I wish 
 to say of the utility of prayer especially the second 
 verse. But I will mention one thing for which I wish 
 you to pray : that God would show you something of 
 your own heart. You are but little aware what a 
 sink of pollution that is. You are sanctified, if at 
 all, but in part. There remains yet very much 
 depravity to be rooted out, which can only be done 
 by Divine grace. You should also pray much to be 
 kept from temptation and to be preserved in the hour 
 of trial. Then it is that the Christian is proved 
 whether he is the child of God or not. If he can not 
 resist sin, and is not inclined to look upward whence 
 cometh help, how can he believe himself such ? In 
 reading the Bible look much to God for the holy 
 Spirit to enlighten your mind. . (See Luke xxiv. 45,
 
 192 THE MARTYE OP SUMATRA. 
 
 and Acts xvi. 14.) If you read any books besides 
 the Bible for your spiritual growth, you will find 
 none to exceed John Newton's works, Hannah More's, 
 Baxter's ' Saints' Rest,' and ' Pilgrim's Progress.' 
 These bring out the heart more, and better detect its 
 deceitfulness than any others with which I am ac- 
 quainted. Aim not only to keep along respectably in 
 a profession, but to go forward and set an example. 
 Never let another's failings be an excuse for yours. 
 Always be in the habit of reproving sin whenever you 
 see it. Be determined, whatever others may say or 
 think, to be an active Christian. Resolve you will 
 never leave a person you meet without their feeling 
 that you have been with Christ. Always endeavor 
 to introduce religious conversation, and always sup- 
 port others who do. Much more I would say, but 
 good-by, and the Lord bless you evermore. 
 
 HENRY. 
 
 ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, January 3lst, 1832. 
 
 DEAR SISTER HELEN : 
 
 Though you are " the baby," you have grown so 
 large by this tune that I suppose you will not like it 
 if I do not send you a letter as well as the rest of the 
 girls. Father wrote me that you were very sick and 
 the doctor did not think you would live. This made 
 me very sorry, because I thought if Helen should die 
 I should never see her again in this world, and could 
 not give her a kiss when I get home the next time.
 
 THE ORDINATION. 193 
 
 So I went away by myself where nobody could see me 
 but God, and prayed to Him that He would spare 
 Helen's life. But this was not all. I thought if she 
 should die now, what would become of her afterward, 
 for she does not love the Lord Jesus Christ ? So I 
 prayed more and more that the Lord would make 
 that sickness the means of leading her to the Saviour, 
 so that she might always afterward love God while 
 she lives, and when she dies go to heaven and live for- 
 ever and ever, with her father, and mother, and sis- 
 ters, and brothers. 
 
 Now, the reason, my dear little sister, why God 
 sent this sickness upon you is, that you do what dis- 
 pleases God and He, in this way, has been punishing 
 you, to keep you from doing these bad things, and to 
 make you love Him all the time ; just the same as 
 father does. You know when any of the children 
 do what he thinks wrong, he punishes them so as to 
 make them remember to obey him. He never does it 
 because he likes to see them suffer pain or to hear 
 them cry. It always gives him more pain than it 
 does them, but he must do it for their good to make 
 them better. God does not love to give pain to any 
 of His creatures. He takes away the property of 
 some, and sends sickness upon others in order to make 
 them love Him ; for every one that does not love God 
 does wrong. God sent sickness upon you to make 
 you love Him, and to pray to Him every day. I 
 want to have you think of this. You can begin to
 
 194 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 love Him now a good deal better than you can by- 
 and-by. You should go away by yourself and pray 
 that He, by His holy Spirit, will show you what to 
 do, so that you may love Him all the time, and may 
 not do any thing else that will make Him displeased 
 with you. 
 
 I can not now write any more. Though you can 
 not answer it now, I hope one of these days, if I live, 
 and you live, after I go across the great ocean, that 
 you will write me many long letters. 
 
 From your affectionate brother, 
 
 HENRY. 
 
 EXTRACT OF A LETTER TO D. S. WHITNEY, ESQ. 
 
 "ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, February 4th, 1832. 
 " * * * I am more and more impressed with 
 the necessity of a thorough preparation for the 
 ministry ; not in mind only, but also in heart. A 
 minister, above all men, ought to be dead to the 
 world, and have entire control over the things within 
 ' that Avar against the soul.' I despair of ever doing 
 this. I sometimes think it my heaviest curse that I 
 was so profane and dissipated before the Lord had 
 mercy on me and snatched me ' as a brand from the 
 burning.' These sinful habits which have become so 
 firmly inwrought with my constitution, are a continual 
 occasion of my falling. I begin to see and feel a 
 little the force of what you and aunt H. E. urged so 
 continually upon me the first vacation after I indulged
 
 THE ORDINATION. 195 
 
 a hope in Christ (though at the time I saw no occa- 
 sion for the caution), viz., that the Christian's life 
 was a continual warfare. I begin to find it a terrible 
 contest. Sometimes, e. g., by a day of fasting and 
 prayer, I am enabled to get away from the world, and 
 all appears vanity. I feel willing to resign all to 
 Christ, and to trust entirely in Him. In an un- 
 guarded moment, however, I find myself again in- 
 volved in sin. and my heart is polluted, my conscience 
 is defiled. And so it is, up and down, up and down, 
 all the time. At times I am almost discouraged ; but 
 a momentary glimpse through the shepherd's glass,' 
 toward the celestial city, inspires fresh courage, and I 
 try to move on again. My life seems to be a con- 
 tinual round of promising, and breaking promises; 
 and, what is worse than all, I do this directly in the 
 face of motives which I urge upon the sinner, and 
 think sufficient to take from him all excuse. 
 
 "Must this be so always? In what way can the 
 heart be purified ? How caji we lead a devout,' holy 
 life all the time?" 
 
 "April 22c?, 1831. Christian self-denial con- 
 versed upon. I have in days of yore been very fond 
 of purchasing little knick-knacks, and the habit still 
 remains to some extent. A brother, after the meet- 
 ing, mentioned that my example had eased his con- 
 science in the same things in several instances. The 
 Lord save me from this and every evil practice,
 
 196 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 and help mo to be ' an ensample to the flock' in all 
 things. 
 
 "June 4th. I do a great deal of injury to my 
 fellow-students and get still more by so much light 
 and trifling conversation. Let my theme, then, be 
 for this term, ' Christ and Him crucified? Let me 
 speak if it be but 'five words' in the language of 
 Canaan, rather than a great many ' in an unknown 
 tongue.' 
 
 " June 20th Evening. Blessed be thy name, 
 0, thou chief among ten thousand, l and altogether 
 lovely.' How glorious it is, once in awhile, to break 
 away from earth, and feel a freedom with Christ, a 
 freedom in prayer. It is like the rising of the sun in 
 a cool, clear June morning, after a week's easterly 
 storm. It diffuses a joy and serenity through the 
 whole frame, and seems to compensate fully for the 
 days of darkness. 0, for a childlike, humble spirit, 
 that will take hold of Jesus, and with filial confidence 
 look up and say, ' My Father,' in all times of ap- 
 parent darkness ! 
 
 " June 23d. The apostles could not face death in 
 the cause of Christ till the Comforter was sent ! So 
 it is now. Without the Spirit of Christ, man can not 
 face a Felix and an Agrippa. With the Spirit, ' Come 
 life, come death, I am for Christ.' So is a man's 
 courage according to the degree of the influences of 
 the Spirit in the heart. How important that I be 
 diligent and earnest in cherishing the secret influences
 
 THE ORDINATION. 
 
 of the holy One, and avoid every thing tending to 
 drive Him away ! 
 
 " June 24/A. It is one thing, I found last evening, 
 to talk about Christian self-denial, and another 
 thing to practice it. It is no self-denial to do this 
 thing or that thing, because it suits our taste, though 
 it may appear self-denial to others. It is no self-denial 
 to give up a thing because we have an aversion to it, 
 though it may appear so to others. Doing real good 
 to others, and in order to it, denying one's self, is 
 denying self. Overcoming a fit of drowsiness or lazi- 
 ness, in which we love to indulge, while the fit is yet 
 upon us ; this is denying self. 
 
 "August Qth. I would this morning devote a few 
 moments to a consideration of the manner in which 
 Fiske and Parsons lived in this seminary, in order 
 that I may ascertain wherein I can do better than 
 hitherto. 
 
 " The first thing that meets my eye from Parsons is 
 this : ' When I walk with my fellow-students I would 
 have devotional and interesting subjects employ our 
 time.' (1st ed., page 47.) Again. (page 48) : 'It 
 shall be my constant prayer that I may be preserved 
 from wicked conversation, from the appearance of 
 vanity before my fellow-students.' What a depth of 
 piety runs through the whole of Parsons' journal, 
 while a member of this beloved institution. What 
 fervor of soul he ever manifested ! What an entire 
 consecration to God is apparent! What a constant
 
 198 THE MAKTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 meditation on heavenly and Divine things shows itself! 
 Did Parsons live thus ? Was this the breathing of 
 his soul? 0, how small does it make me appear! 
 How does a perusal of his life cause me to shrink back 
 from the bright light which shows me so clearly my 
 own darkness ! I would fall down, down, down into 
 the lowest dust. Do I number myself among the 
 children of God ? Have I a part in His love ? and is 
 that love shed abroad in my heart ? When it operates 
 thus upon another, why is it so weak in me? 0, 
 the depth of my depravity I 0, the hardness of my 
 heart! Dear, blessed Saviour, come take possession 
 of thine own. Come fill me with thyself; make 
 me holy. 0, I have but a spark of grace. 
 
 " February 8^, 1832. I have this day accepted 
 the appointment of the A. B. C. F. M." 
 
 In reply to the Secretary's announcement of this 
 fact, Henry Lyman writes : 
 
 " In accepting this appointment, I do it with trem- 
 bling, yet willingly, joyfully; for while a great 
 treasure is to be committed to an earthen vessel, it is 
 a consolation that God has so ordained it, ' that the 
 excellency of the power' may be of Himself, and not 
 of man. The addition of my influence in the ciuse, 
 I feel to be less than a drop to the ocean; yet siuh as 
 I am, I have consecrated all unreservedly to this 
 work. So clear are, and ever have been, the convic- 
 tions of duty, that I can say, ' Woe is unto me, if I 
 preach not the Gospel' to the heathen. I do most
 
 THE ORDINATION. 199 
 
 earnestly request that the committee, in assigning 
 my particular field of labor, will weigh well my im- 
 perfections, and send me with some one in whose 
 judgment I can place confidence. My desire is to be 
 of the greatest possible benefit to the souls of dying 
 millions, whatever of toil or suffering may attend it. 
 I feel as though to accomplish this, I ought to have 
 an associate of age and maturity of mind to whom I 
 could look for advice, although I have laid down the 
 principle in every question of duty, however trivial, 
 to look first to the Lord. 
 
 "In thus surrendering unconditionally my future 
 location, in the vineyard of the Lord, to the com- 
 mittee, I do it, not because I am indifferent and care- 
 less on the subject, but from a conviction that they 
 are better qualified to judge, and will give, if called 
 upon, sufficient reasons for the assignment they may 
 make ; and, with earnest prayer to the Holy Ghost, 
 that He Avill so guide them in judgment that the great- 
 est glory shall redound to God, I subscribe myself 
 "Yours respectfully, 
 
 "HENRY LYMAN." 
 
 In the spring of 1832, Mr. Lyman visited his sister 
 in Montreal, preaching, and delivering his address on 
 the Condition of Females in Pagan and Mohammedan 
 Countries, as he had opportunity. Forty-two times 
 was this thrilling display of the degradation of woman 
 repeated before he left America. And there was
 
 200 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 need of it. The state of the heathen was not then so 
 thoroughly known as it is now. Twenty years have 
 so multiplied books, tracts, and newspapers, that the 
 necessity which then existed for such an array of facts 
 can scarcely be comprehended by the rising genera- 
 tion. Nor was Lyman alone in such efforts. The 
 missionary brethren, then at Andover, were instant in 
 season, and out of season, in diffusing information 
 concerning the fields they were to occupy. Thus they 
 became "known by face to the churches," and a mu- 
 tual interest was established. 
 
 The following extract of a letter will show the ar- 
 rangements for the winter : 
 
 TO CHARLES LYMAN, ESQ. 
 ANDOVEU THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, July 27<A, 1832. 
 
 MY DEAR COUSIN: 
 
 I have been delaying a letter, from the expectation, 
 every day since my return, of receiving something 
 definite from the "Rooms." Be assured you were 
 not forgotten during all the long time that has elapsed. 
 I have been appointed, with class-mate Samuel Mun- 
 son as colleague, to south eastern Asia, especially to 
 the Indian Archipelago, for exploration. The com- 
 mittee have decided also that we shall remain in this 
 country during the winter, in order that we may at- 
 tend lectures on medicine and surgery, saying they 
 " believe it will abundantly compensate for the delay, 
 by rendering you so much more useful and successful
 
 THE ORDINATION. 201 
 
 in your contemplated explorations. You are already- 
 aware of the value of the healing art to the mission- 
 ary in certain parts of the heathen world, and par- 
 ticularly in that to which you are destined; how it 
 multiplies facilities for intercourse with the people, 
 secures confidence, enables the missionary to gratify 
 his benevolent desires toward the sick, and supplies, 
 to some extent, the absence of the miraculous gifts of 
 healing." 
 
 The courses (of medical lectures) at Boston and 
 Brunswick, Me., are so arranged that we can attend 
 both. Boston commences the last of October, and 
 Brunswick soon after that closes. * * * If I 
 take two courses of lectures I shall probably stay at 
 Amherst from anniversary here, September 12, to my 
 ordination, which will be at Northampton at the annual 
 meeting of the Hampshire county benevolent socie- 
 ties, October 11 ; President Humphrey is to preach 
 the sermon. 
 
 TO A YOUNG BROTHER. 
 
 " ANDOVER, August 28h. 
 
 " * * * How do you now prosper in spiritual 
 things ? Do you love to pray and to read your Bible as 
 much as you did last spring ? Do you continually 
 ask God in prayer what you shall do, and entreat 
 him to help you fulfill your duties ? You will find 
 one thing indispensable : that you guard against the 
 first sin. If you give way once it will be easier the 
 second time, and easier still the third. 
 9*
 
 202 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 " Have a regular time to pray and read, and read 
 the Bible a great deal at other times, always asking 
 for the Holy Spirit to enlighten your mind, and to 
 teach you that you may understand its truths. 
 
 " When with Christians, ask them how you shall 
 grow in grace. To become more holy and to love 
 God more, should be the great and first business of 
 life. You should say, ' What are a few earthly plea- 
 sures in comparison with the salvation of my soul?' 
 You must not suppose that because you think you 
 have been converted, that you have secured salvation. 
 You may after all be deceived. Your only evidence 
 now can be in your still loving and serving God. 
 You must thus be securing your eternal interest every 
 day you live. * * * Always, when about to do 
 those things which unfit you for prayer, think of 
 ' the end of those things.' ' : 
 
 TO A YOUNG SISTER. 
 
 "August 10th, 1832. 
 
 * # * You say you are not in a state of 
 soul-prosperity. You want something to rouse you. 
 Have you lost your Bible. Prayerfully read a por- 
 tion of God's word every morning and evening, and 
 as much oftener as you have time, and if your soul 
 does not prosper, pray more earnestly. Reading the 
 Bible, self-examination and prayer, are the foundation 
 of our advancement Zionward. Make conscience of 
 performing these duties. Read Doddridge's Rise and
 
 THE ORDINATION. 203 
 
 Progress, especially Chapters 13, 16, and 19-21, 
 and forward as you have time. Also read Baxter's 
 Saints' Best. If they are not in the house they 
 ought to be. Ask yourself, and answer the question 
 honestly, Do I wish to make my chief business to 
 advance in holiness, and save my fellow-men ? This 
 you will do if you have given yourself wholly to the 
 Lord. All the time endeavor to keep in a praying 
 frame, asking the Lord to preserve you from tempta- 
 tion, especially from your easily besetting sins. Ask 
 him to guide your thoughts, and direct your feelings, 
 and stay up your soul on Him. The business of re- 
 ligion, always remember, is one thing, and its spiritu- 
 ality another. Five minutes' prayer at one time will 
 avail more than half an hour at another. See that 
 you are not only attending to outward duties, but also 
 to the heart ; that you seek to glorify God. Aim at 
 eminence in holiness. Be not afraid of the world. 
 Head Hebrews xi, and xii. Be willing to be known as 
 a spiritually minded Christian. Be willing to have 
 your influence felt. That you may always ' seek first 
 the kingdom of God and His righteousness' is the 
 prayer of Your brother, 
 
 " HENKY." 
 
 October llth, 1832, hi the old church at North- 
 ampton, the same hi which the infant had been conse- 
 crated to God hi baptism, the man was set apart to 
 the sacred office of proclaiming Christ to his fellow
 
 204 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 men. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr. 
 Humphrey, President of Amherst College ; the charge 
 was given by Rev. Dr. Brown of Hadley ; and the 
 Rev. Mr. Maltby of Sutton, Mass.. gave the right 
 hand of fellowship, and acted as colleague with Mr. 
 Lyman in representing the A. B. C. F. M. at the 
 anniversaries of the benevolent societies of Hamp- 
 shire. Hampden, and Franklin.
 
 VII. 
 
 t far t\t 
 
 Let those below in concert sing 
 
 "With those to glory gone ; 
 For all the servants of our King 
 
 In heaven and earth are one. 
 
 One army of the Jiving God, 
 
 To His command we bow ; 
 Part of the host have crossed the flood, 
 
 And part are crossing now. 
 
 C. WESLEY. 
 
 That they all may be one ; as thou, Father, art in me, and I 
 in thee, that they also maybe one in us: that the world may 
 believe that thou hast sent me. JOHN, xvii. 21. 

 
 VII. 
 
 WHEN the compiler of this memoir had reached the 
 Andover period of the young missionary's history, it 
 was felt that to complete the picture of the seminary 
 life the impressions of others were needed. One of 
 Henry Ly man's family therefore addressed letters to 
 some of his former associates, requesting from them 
 their recollections of the brother who so long tune 
 ago had been connected with them. Scattered up 
 and down in the earth, they have responded heartily 
 to the call, and with no doubtful note comes their 
 testimony in favor of their friend and class-mate. 
 
 The individual who produced on the minds of such 
 men an impression so permanent and vivid, that 
 twenty-five years have not impaired its strength, 
 possessed a power of character which surely author- 
 ized this attempt to gather up the fragments that 
 remain, and to re-produce the youthful warrior as an 
 example worthy of imitation. 
 
 No apology is needed to our readers for presenting 
 them with communications from those "whose praise 
 is in all the churches ;" every word from whose pens
 
 208 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 is treasured, who have been sustained by their Divine 
 Lord in bearing " the burden and heat of the day," 
 gladly toiling on, and envying not the crown and palm 
 branch of the young martyr. 
 
 Long may it please the Lord of the harvest to 
 continue them each a rich blessing in His field of la- 
 bor guides and counselors to their brethren, while 
 themselves " in labors most abundant." Every year 
 makes their lives more precious to the church, and 
 our faith staggers at the thought that the time will 
 ever come when we shall be ready to hear that they 
 have entered "into the joy of their Lord." A glo- 
 rious constellation truly, will the society of "breth- 
 ren" form in the celestial firmament, yet we still 
 need their light here. Bright with precious gems 
 will be the crowns they can cast at Jesus' feet. 
 
 FROM THE REV. JUSTIN PERKINS, D.D., MISSIONARY 
 TO THE NESTORIANS OF PERSIA. 
 
 OROOMIAH, PERSIA, June IQth, 1853. 
 
 MY DEAR Miss LYMAN : 
 
 Your letter of February 28th has just come to 
 hand. The "Missionary Memorial," to which you 
 refer, I have not yet seen. I rejoice that a sketch 
 of your brother, the missionary martyr, has a place in 
 it, and that it was prepared by so competent a hand as 
 that of Dr. Cheever, which is a sufficient warrant that 
 the work is well done. I anticipate reading that
 
 THE CHAPLET, FOR THE DEAD. 209 
 
 volume, "the Memorial," with great interest, when- 
 ever it shall reach me. Some, very dear to me on 
 earth, who are now in glory and your brother 
 among them will thus be brought fresh to my 
 remembrance. I trust a portrait accompanies a sketch 
 of him.* 
 
 Your announcement that a memoir of your brother 
 is also to be prepared, is exceedingly gratifying to 
 me. Few are more worthy than Henry Lyman to 
 be held in cherished remembrance, and, though his 
 bright career was so brief, there must still be ample 
 materials, if you can recover them, for a full, very 
 interesting, and very useful volume. 
 
 It affords me sincere pleasure to comply with your 
 request to furnish a few paragraphs from my recol- 
 lections of your brother while a student, the only 
 period of my acquaintance with him. He was my 
 class-mate in college ; and though he was one of the 
 youngest, and I one of the senior members of the 
 class, we soon became intimate; he ever seeming to 
 regard me somewhat in the light of an older brother, 
 and I gladly reciprocating the fraternal feelings of 
 my esteemed young class-mate. I well remember 
 how our acquaintance commenced. He one day en- 
 tered my room, soon after our class came together, and 
 modestly proposed to purchase a share in my wood- 
 saw. I remember, as though it were but yesterday, 
 
 * The picture in the " Missionary Memorial" is, unfortunately 
 no likeness of Lyman.
 
 210 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 the tall form and manly features of that fine boy of 
 fifteen, as he then stood before me. Using the same 
 saw alternately, from day to day, naturally threw us 
 at once together, and other relations soon enabled us 
 to read each other's character. It would be easy to 
 detail many incidents along the path of our college 
 course, exceedingly grateful to his relatives and 
 friends; but I forbear, and hasten to the period 
 of the most momentous event of his life to him per- 
 sonally and to the .church of God his hopeful con- 
 version. This occurred in the spring of 1827. Your 
 brother had then nearly attained the height of man- 
 hood. The strong traits of his noble character were 
 also rapidly developing. 
 
 . Naturally possessed of extraordinary ardor and 
 energy, he was an object of peculiar interest to all of 
 us ; and his eminently social and generous disposition 
 might now have endangered him, amid the manifold 
 evil influences incident to college life inclining as he 
 was to become somewhat wild, though still very 
 reluctant to throw off the hallowed restraints of 
 paternal instruction had not the mighty hand of 
 God been stretched out, at that important crisis, to 
 transform him suddenly from the bounding young 
 lion to the subdued, quiet lamb. The ever memor- 
 able revival in Amherst College, at this period, was a 
 blessed epoch to many, but to none more so than to 
 Henry. From the commencement of that wonderful 
 work of grace, your brother was the subject of many
 
 THE CHAPLET FOR THE DEAD. 211 
 
 fervent prayers on the part of his pious classmates, 
 probably more so than any other individual in col- 
 lege. 
 
 I find a few notices of him in my journal of that 
 perigd, -which will of course be a more accurate record, 
 though very brief, than any I could make out from 
 memory after the lapse of more than a quarter of a 
 century. They are the following : 
 
 " April nth, 1827. I attempted to converse with 
 Lyman, and found him arrayed in opposition to all 
 that pertains to religion. He is made a subject of 
 special prayer in my class. 
 
 " April 18th. Every countenance is expressive 
 of solemnity. Lyman, of my class, is borne down 
 with a sense of his sins. Little interest has been 
 taken this evening in our literary society meetings. 
 The voice of prayer is heard from room to room. 
 
 "April Vdth. Some one knocked at my door soon 
 after I returned from breakfast. I opened it, and 
 found LYMAN trembling, and inquiring, ' What shall 
 I do to be saved ?' We soon afterward had a meet- 
 ing at my room for all who belong in the entry. 
 Several of the impenitent were in. 
 
 "Every thing indicated the presence of God. A 
 more solemn meeting I never attended. 
 
 " Lyman visited the president in the course of the 
 forenoon. He was much cast down. About three 
 o'clock in the afternoon he resolved to seek no longer. 
 He went from room to room announcing his deter-
 
 212 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 mination to give up the concerns of his soul. All 
 were filled with deep anxiety for him. 
 
 "April 20th. Lyman has again resolved to seek 
 the salvation of his soul. 
 
 "April 25th. Cases of conversion are frequent. 
 The pious students devote much of their time to 
 prayer, self-examination, and conversation with the 
 impenitent. This evening our ordinary society meet- 
 ing was converted into a .season of prayer. Lyman 
 attended our little meeting at nine o'clock, and told 
 us of his joys, in the hope of having made his peace 
 with God. 
 
 "April 21th. This afternoon we had a very 
 pleasant assembly at my room. Some of the con- 
 verts took a part. 0, is it possible that Henry 
 Lyman has become a Christian ? Yes, we hope he 
 has. Never were my feelings more deeply affected 
 than when he rose and addressed his former com- 
 panions in sin on the great subject of salvation. 0, 
 what hath God wrought?" 
 
 These incidental allusions to your brother, which I 
 find in my journal, give, of course, but a faint view 
 of the pungency of his convictions, of his dreadful 
 struggles with the great enemy of souls, his agony by 
 day and by night, until he at length found deliverance 
 and joy at the foot of the cross. At the time, during 
 his convictions, when he resolved to seek .no longer, 
 and was going through college, proclaiming his deter- 
 mination to that effect, his look of desperation struck 

 
 THE CHAPLET FOR THE DEAD. 213 
 
 terror to the hearts of the impenitent, and did much 
 to quicken the progress of the revival. He stated his 
 purpose, also, to write his father and mother, and re- 
 quest them to stop praying for him : I am not aware 
 whether he did so. Almost overcome with solicitude 
 for him, I called on President Humphrey, and in- 
 formed him of his case, and my fears, on which the 
 reverend man turned to me with a smile, and calmly 
 said, "I trust God will take care of His own work 
 in Lyman, if Christians only keep on praying for 
 him." 
 
 From the hour of your brother's conversion, his 
 peace was like a river, and his path from that time 
 onward to the end of his college life, was that of the 
 just, shining brighter and brighter. His face was 
 radiant with heavenly serenity, while his zeal in the 
 cause of that Saviour, who, he deeply felt, had pur- 
 chased him with His own blood, never tired. In sub- 
 sequent seasons of religious interest in college, he was 
 ever active and useful, being unwearied in labors and 
 prayers, both among the impenitent and the hopefully 
 pious. Indeed with him there seemed to be an unin- 
 terrupted revival. The strong and universal impres- 
 sion in college, from the time of his conversion till he 
 finished his course, was, that he was a very holy 
 young man an impression which I hardly need say, 
 the sequel of his short life fully confirmed. Not long 
 after his hopeful conversion, if I mistake not, he 
 decided to become a missionary, and never after- 
 

 
 214 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 ward halted or wavered in his consecration to that 
 work. 
 
 On leaving college, your brother went to Andover 
 to commence his theological course, while I lingered 
 a year as an instructor in Amherst Academy. 
 
 On joining the seminary at Andover, the next 
 year, I found that your brother held gloriously on, in 
 his luminous course as an active and devoted Chris- 
 tian. He had improved much in general manliness 
 and stability of character. He now stood very high 
 among the missionary candidates, whose number was 
 then quite large I think larger than at any other 
 period during the history of that missionary nursery, 
 owing probably to no earthly influence more than to 
 his example and efforts. The cause of missions was 
 as his life, his standing theme at all times, and in all 
 connections ; in his walks with beloved brethren, in the 
 social meetings, and at the public altar ; and formed 
 as he was by nature to be a leader in whatever enter- 
 prise he espoused, it is not strange that he held such 
 a place in the estimation and the hearts of his fellow- 
 students most of whom were much his seniors in 
 years especially in the cause of missions. And 
 while he did so much to promote it at Andover. as he 
 had also done in Amherst College, he in turn was not 
 a little indebted to that sacred cause. The reciprocal 
 effect of the missionary spirit which he so ardently 
 cherished in his own soul and diffused among others, 
 was very apparent and striking in its elevating, ex-
 
 THE. CHAPLET FOR THE DEAD. 215 
 
 paneling, and hallowing influences on his mind, and 
 heart, and entire character. 
 
 Not the seminary alone felt the power of his whole- 
 souled consecration, and his fervent appeals. The 
 churches of the town also, and of the surrounding 
 towns, where he visited, and held prayer-meetings, 
 received a strong impression of his ardent devotion to 
 Christ and the cause of missions, and many were 
 stimulated to action by his influence. 
 
 Your brother was fruitful in inventing ways and 
 means for advancing the cause of missions while a 
 student. I distinctly remember his delivering an ad- 
 dress before tl:e Society of Inquiry at Andover, on 
 the Condition of Females in Heathen and Moham- 
 medan Countries, which he had prepared with great 
 labor, and which produced a strong impression at the 
 time. With some modifications, that address was af- 
 terward published as a tract. He was always careful 
 to be furnished with missionary tracts, and other 
 "words in season," to dispense in all companies and 
 on all occasions for the advancement of Zion, and es- 
 pecially for the promotion of the cherished cause of 
 missions. 
 
 One of the last interviews I recollect to have en- 
 joyed with your brother was just before he left 
 Andover. A beloved college class-mate a Baptist 
 brother who was a very sweet singer, had come from 
 Newton Theological Seminary to Andover, to jpass a 
 Sabbath with us just before one of the glorious sum-
 
 YR ( 
 
 216 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 mer sunsets, so celebrated on Andover Hill ; as the 
 hallowed hours of that Sabbath were drawing to a 
 close, a few of us assembled at your brother's room 
 for a prayer-meeting. When about to separate, dear 
 Henry said, "Now, brother Chapin, sing that sweet 
 hymn, 
 
 '"Our souls by love together knit, 1 
 
 just as you used to sing it at Amherst." The hymn 
 was sung by brother Chapin in his melting style the 
 rest of us who could sing following him while a 
 flow of Christian fellowship, affection, and holy joy, 
 swelled every bosom, not often surpassed in this vale 
 of tears. 
 
 Your brother left Andover, and spent a few months 
 in attending medical lectures, and making other prep- 
 arations for his missionary work, and then boldly set 
 his face toward south eastern Asia, as an explorer, 
 with the intrepid Munson, ready to be offered there, 
 where he at length fell a prey to the cannibals of Su- 
 matra a very precious sacrifice on the altar of mis- 
 sions only to be thus the earlier ushered into the 
 high and holy employments and enjoyments of heaven. 
 How blessed are the parents who have trained a son so 
 worthy to be a Christian and a missionary martyr ! 
 
 I in due time made my solitary way to distant 
 Persia, where I still live and labor, now in my twenty- 
 first missionary year, anticipating may I not say 
 longing for ? the day, when I shall join your sainted
 
 THE CHAPLET FOR THE DEAD. 217 
 
 brother, and other loved ones gone before, in the 
 realms of glory, to be separated no more forever. 
 I am very respectfully, and most truly yours, 
 
 J. PERKINS. 
 
 FROM THE REV. H. B. HACKETT, PROFESSOR IN THE 
 NEWTON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 
 
 NEWTON CEXTER, June Wi, 1853. 
 DEAR Miss LYMAN: 
 
 I regret that your letter should remain so long 
 unanswered. It has been contrary to my intention, 
 and in spite of my efforts. I was not, as you sup- 
 posed, a class-mate of Henry's either in college or at 
 Andover, though like every one else, who was at 
 either of those places while he was there, I was quite 
 well acquainted with his character and history. The 
 change in him was so marked, and his influence so 
 decided, that no one who had enjoyed only general 
 opportunities for knowing him, could fail to retain 
 distinct recollection of an individuality so peculiar. 
 You may remember that Rev. S. F. Smith, pastor of 
 the Baptist church in this place, was a member of the 
 same class with your brother in the theological semin- 
 ary ; I therefore placed your note in his hands with a 
 request that he would perform the office for which his 
 more intimate connection with our common friend 
 rendered him so well qualified. His testimony will 
 be the more acceptable to you inasmuch as Smith is 
 well known to the public as the author of several of 
 10
 
 218 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 our most popular religious hymns. The Missionary's 
 Farewell 
 
 "Yes, my native land I love thee, 
 All thy scenes, I love them well" 
 
 is from his pen. It was composed, I think, during 
 the period of his intimacy with your brother. His 
 employments interfered with a prompt compliance 
 with my request, and it is this chiefly that has occa- 
 sioned the delay. I can join heartily in every word 
 that he has written. Henry has always stood before 
 my mind as one of the most signal examples of the 
 transforming and elevating power of the Gospel that 
 I have ever known. He was a whole-souled Christian : 
 every one who came in contact with him felt that he 
 was a man above the common stamp. He kept none 
 of his powers back from the service of his Lord and 
 Master. No one doubted but he would face death in 
 any form sooner than desert the faith. He seemed 
 born to be a martyr. Distressing as his fate was, it 
 always struck me as being in singular harmony with 
 his bold, energetic spirit. His moral qualities had 
 something answering in them to his imposing exterior : 
 they may be thought to have shaped his manly, ex- 
 pressive countenance, and his commanding form. Not 
 one of the hundreds who knew Henry Lyman at 
 college can ever fail to associate with his name a 
 distinct image of the mind and physical man. That 
 image will live in their minds as a source of no ordi- 
 nary religious fervor.
 
 THE CHAPLET FOR THE DEAD. 219 
 
 It will come back to them, from time to time, as 
 long as they live, full of stirring energy ; full of re- 
 proof for reserve, inaction, half-heartedness in relig- 
 ion ; and full of admonition to the indifferent and 
 the irreligious. The manner in which Henry has 
 connected himself with the remembrance of so many 
 of his youthful associates should be taken into account 
 in forming an estimate of the value of the result of 
 his brief but efficient career. 
 
 I am very respectfully and sincerely, 
 
 Your friend, 
 
 H. B. HACKETT. 
 
 FROM THE REV. S. F. SMITH. 
 
 I take pleasure in contributing a share to the me- 
 morial of my esteemed friend and brother Lyman. 
 
 Munson and Lyman were my class-mates at the 
 institute in Andover. I was intimate with Munson, 
 as we were for a considerable period fellow-boarders 
 in a private family. Of Lyman I knew less, though 
 I often saw him* and always with pleasure. There 
 were, however, in his character, peculiarities which 
 stood out, so as to be' obvious to the most careless ob- 
 server. I knew the history of his conversion, and 
 could easily read, by a slight inspection, the promi- 
 nent elements of his mental constitution. I was 
 impressed with the fact that every thing in him 
 was perfectly consistent, perfectly in keeping with all 
 that nature had done for him, and with what grace.
 
 220 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 had wrought in him. As the natural characteristics 
 of the great apostle were visible in his acts and bearing 
 subsequently to his conversion, so it was with Lyman. 
 One who saw him in his converted state could easily 
 conceive what he was in his unregenerate state. A 
 natural energy and force were constantly active within 
 him. He had a courageous spirit, not readily shrink- 
 ing from danger, nor turned aside by difficulties. It 
 was precisely the spirit required for the success of an 
 enterprise such as that in which he lost his life. 
 
 He was eminently and habitually cheerful. On 
 the morning on which he sailed from Boston, his col- 
 league, Munson, playfully bantered him in reference to 
 his cheerfulness, saying, " Do, brother Lyman, for 
 once, put on a sober face." Care sat lightly upon 
 him, and when he saw his long cherished hopes so 
 near the point of fulfillment, he had no place for sor- 
 row. True, he had a heart that could feel. But he 
 had taken leave of most of his early friends and 
 kindred previously, and now saw before him only 
 the broad ocean, and beyond that ocean the end for 
 which he lived, and the accomplishment of the wishes 
 which had dwelt for years in his heart. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding his cheerfulness, he was a 
 man of fervent piety. He was always ready to ex- 
 hibit the Christian. Often in a casual conversation 
 he made it manifest on what subjects he delighted to 
 dwell, and what interests lay nearest his heart. He 
 fell into religious discourse as the most natural thing
 
 THE CHAPLET FOE THE DEAD. 221 
 
 in the world. He delighted in prayer. None that 
 ever heard him could fail to be impressed with the 
 fervency of his manner. His prayers were pleading 
 with God. None that ever heard him could forget 
 the tones of his voice, the evident ardor of his spirit, 
 the* variety and suitableness of his language, the 
 wrestling with the angel of the covenant, in which 
 soul and body seemed to be alike engaged. A person 
 who knew so well how to pray, must have had much 
 communion with God, and it was in such communion 
 that he acquired the fitness for his great work. 
 
 I remember Mr. Lyman as a person of extra- 
 ordinary openness and sincerity of temper, and of 
 an unsuspicious disposition. He acted freely and 
 naturally, with the utmost innocence, speaking out 
 and speaking on, in his own way. as if the question 
 "What will others think of it?" never crossed his 
 mind. He was kind, affectionate, affable, an ardent 
 friend, and free from censoriousness. But the most 
 prominent characteristics of his nature, as they ap- 
 peared to me in the period of my acquaintance, were 
 his frankness, his cheerfulness, and his piety. 
 
 S. F. SMITH. 
 
 BEBEK, CONSTANTINOPLE, April ISth, 1854 
 
 DEAR Miss LYMAN: 
 
 Your name reminds me of one of the most intimate 
 and precious friends I ever had. He was in the 
 junior class in the theological seminary in Andover
 
 222 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 when I was a member of the senior class ; as I staid 
 in Andover a year beyond the regular time, Henry 
 Lyman and myself had two years to cement our fel- 
 lowship as Christians and as missionaries of the cross, 
 which we had fully resolved to become. 
 
 I well remember the time vhen he entered the 
 seminary, together with his room-mate, David T. 
 Lane, brother to the present Mrs. D wight of our 
 mission at this capital. Both these brethren were 
 fully resolved as to their duty to the missionary 
 cause, and it was by their influence that a kind of 
 missionary inquiry meeting was commenced among the 
 members of their class, which was to be continued till 
 every man should have come to a satisfactory result 
 before God, whether it was his duty to go to the 
 heathen, or to labor at home. I was invited to come 
 into these meetings as an older brother, who was also 
 preparing for the missionary work, and who, in fact, 
 had already been on missionary ground. It was in 
 one of these meetings and most solemn seasons they 
 were that I saw and conversed with Samuel Mun- 
 son, the fellow-martyr of Lyman. That good, con- 
 scientious man was not yet resolved what his duty 
 was, but cherished a spirit of solemn, honest, un- 
 flinching inquiry, ready to follow duty wherever it 
 might lead. I shall never forget the solemnity of 
 that evening, and especially the anxiety with which 
 brother Munson put the question to me, how a man 
 could know that he was called to the foreign field ?
 
 THE CHAPLET FOB THE DEAD. 223 
 
 Brother Lyman, on the other hand, enjoyed the most 
 perfect and settled conviction of duty, and was 
 happy in the prospect of his missionary life. The 
 following year the junior class then entering, fol- 
 lowed the noble example of their older brethren. 
 That year I left America myself, but I believe 
 the practice continued through several years, each 
 class entering being anxious to settle the solemn 
 question. 
 
 From the time of my leaving America to the day 
 I heard of the death of our brethren in the Batta 
 country, I exchanged no letter with either of them. 
 They left a year after me, I believe. We were then 
 struggling with the many and stubborn obstacles 
 existing in this country, and being almost two thirds 
 of the year in the midst of plague, were hardly ever 
 out of imminent danger of life. When I heard of the 
 death of these two good men, Lyman and Munson, I 
 was thunderstruck. It appeared to me more myste- 
 rious than any providence I had seen for many years. 
 But I could not deny that the more inscrutable God's 
 ways are with us now, the more glorious they will be 
 in a world where we shall see as we are seen know 
 as we are known. 
 
 I might now enter at large upon what my grateful 
 memory has preserved of the character of our dear 
 brother. I have a clear recollection of his personal 
 appearance, and I might almost hear him talk. But 
 these are all things far better- known to those who
 
 224 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 were with him from his youth, and after I left the 
 western shores. 
 
 But let me not close these lines without expressing 
 to you my satisfaction in knowing that a memoir of 
 Henry Lyman is being prepared. May the* good 
 Lord guide its compiler. The memoirs of mission- 
 aries are not too many as yet by a great deal, and 
 they may always have a special, and permanent, and 
 general interest, by being so closely and so naturally 
 connected with the history of the missionary field 
 where the individual has lived and died. 
 
 May we be made faithful unto death to be at last 
 admitted among those who have not counted their 
 lives dea* unto themselves, but have lost their lives 
 for Christ's sake, that they might gain them ! 
 Yours most truly, 
 
 W. G. SCHAUFPLER. 
 
 
 
 CONSTANTINOPLE, July Uh, 1854. 
 
 DEAR MADAM : 
 
 I was a class-mate of your sainted brother, Henry, 
 both at Amherst College, and at the theological 
 seminary, Andover. Well do I remember the days 
 of his first love of Christ ; and that ardor which dis- 
 tinguished his first consecration of himself to the 
 Lord, continued in a remarkable degree through his 
 subsequent course. His zeal for the cause of Christ, 
 and especially for missions to the heathen, glowed 
 always bright. Whatever dark hours he passed
 
 THE CHAPLET FOR THE DEAD. 225 
 
 through in his own personal experience and who 
 does not pass through dark hours ? he always came 
 out strong in Christ and for Christ. 
 
 Having been absent from the seminary during large 
 portions of the first and second years of the course. I 
 am not able to give particular reminiscences of that 
 period. My impression is that his dedication of him- 
 self to the missionary service dated from the begin- 
 ning of his theological studies. A zeal like his could 
 not be satisfied with home service. Nothing could 
 satisfy him short of doing what he could, and this, in 
 his view, required, or rather permitted, engagement 
 in the* foreign field. 
 
 When, during our second year, we were earnestly 
 engaged in the examination of theological questions, 
 always interesting, sometimes very exciting, it was 
 his habit to view every thing in its bearing upon his 
 chosen work. While others would be studying them 
 in a more abstract and general manner, he would often 
 raise the question, How does this or that bear upon 
 preaching to the heathen ? 
 
 Your brother did not, however, so look abroad as 
 to prevent an earnest interest in perishing souls at 
 home. He felt that he who does not seek first the 
 kingdom of God at home, is not fit to go abroad, and 
 will have no more genuine zeal for Christ among the 
 heathen than he has in a Christian land. Both be- 
 fore and after being licensed to preach, he was earnest 
 in seeking and improving opportunities of attending
 
 226 THE MAKTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 meetings and laboring for the universal revival of 
 pure and undefiled religion. This earnestness led him 
 to go to the utmost limits permitted by the regulations 
 of the institution, and sometimes perhaps even to 
 transgress the letter of them, when he thought there 
 was an opening for doing good to immortal souls. 
 
 He was not unaware that the ardor of his temper- 
 ament led him into some danger of imprudence or im- 
 patience ; and it was pleasant to observe, toward the 
 close of his seminary life, how artlessly and affection- 
 ately he spoke of the aid and advantage he hoped to 
 derive from the somewhat opposite qualities of his 
 prospective associate. Mr. Munson's room was just 
 opposite mine ; and this gave occasion to much pleas- 
 ant intercourse. He was a man of deep and steady 
 piety, in temperament sedate and cautious. He, too, 
 was equally aware of the advantage to himself of be- 
 ing associated with your brother. The one needed a 
 spur, the other a check ; and both were prepared to 
 furnish these aids to each other in the spirit of Chris- 
 tian meekness and love. 
 
 When we parted, nearly twenty-two years ago, I to 
 proceed to south eastern Europe, and he soon to follow 
 to the more distant region of south eastern Asia, your 
 brother gave me a card which I have preserved among 
 mementoes of departed friends, and it is before me 
 while I write. On the one side he has written my 
 name and his own, with the year (1832), and on the 
 other these solemn words from James v. 20: "He
 
 THE CHAPLET FOR THE DEAD. 227 
 
 which converteth the sinner from the error of his way 
 shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a mul- 
 titude of sins." The spirit which animated him was 
 manifest in the choice of this text, and the object to- 
 ward which he looked with longing was equally evi- 
 dent from the words which he had underlined : " save 
 a soul from death" May his short and striking 
 course prove in the great day to have been the means 
 of saving many souls from death ; and may we be pre- 
 pared to join him in that blessed world where "he 
 that soweth and he thfat reapeth shall rejoice to- 
 gether." 
 
 I remain yours, 
 
 In the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 
 ELIAS RIGGS. 
 
 FROM THE REV. IRA TRACY, WISCONSIN, FORMERLY 
 MISSIONARY OF THE A. B. C. F. M. IN SIAM. 
 
 " # # # My first and only acquaintance with 
 Henry Lyman was at Andover, except that I met 
 him for a few moments at Springfield, after leaving 
 the seminary. He was an early member of a little 
 company that had resolved to devote their lives to the 
 missionary work, and a most regular and interested 
 attendant of their meetings. His heart seemed al- 
 ways alive to the interests of the Redeemer's cause, 
 and he was ready to do whatever he could for its 
 promotion. The buoyancy of his spirits, and his 
 Christian cheerfulness, made him a pleasing associate,
 
 228 
 
 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 and I think we all felt that he was one of our most 
 esteemed members. He seemed to love prayer, and 
 to rejoice to hear of the progress of the Lord's cause 
 in any part of the world. He prepared several 
 articles on missionary subjects while in the seminary, 
 one of which was on ' The Condition of Females in 
 Heathen Countries.' This was heard with much 
 interest, and it was proposed that it be prepared for 
 publication by some member or members of our 
 missionary circle. It was put, I think wrongfully, 
 into the hands of a committee, of which he was not 
 one. This was, of course, trying to him ; but such 
 was the strength of his Christian feelings and prin- 
 ciples that it produced no alienation between him and 
 the brother who was chief actor in the matter. I 
 mention this incident to show his meekness of spirit. 
 I have always, in recalling the circumstances, felt 
 that it was a noble exhibition of piety, for which I 
 loved and admired him. 
 
 " He was very regular in all the duties of seminary 
 life ; and seemed to be pursuing that course of alter- 
 nate mental and physical labor which best disciplines 
 and informs the mind, without the diminution of 
 strength to work with, and to make a man useful to a 
 dying world. He was a teacher in a Sabbath School, 
 probably all the time he was at Andover; I think 
 most of the time in the next parish. The labor of 
 going thither did not weigh much with him, when 
 there was a prospect of doing good. He walked to
 
 THE CHAPLET FOR THE DEAD. 229 
 
 neighboring towns to attend meetings occasionally; 
 and probably as often as any one in the seminary : 
 such was his vigor and care of time that he once 
 walked to Boston, twenty miles, attended to business 
 there with several persons, and returned the same 
 day. As a student his standing was respectable, I 
 think above the average ; but he seemed a man for 
 active, rather than sedentary life ; for going forth to 
 speak the truth, rather than for searching for it by 
 deep and continued study. 
 
 " As a speaker, he was heard with much interest, 
 and I recollect that his address on missions seemed to 
 awaken new zeal in the breasts of many. 
 
 " I will add that I have never seen any justification 
 of the course pursued by these two martyr missiona- 
 ries, that seemed to me to present the matter as I 
 would like to have it shown. Had they turned back 
 when told that there was danger in their course, it 
 would have been said by most people, that they had 
 acted the part of fools and cowards. What could 
 they expect but that the natives would endeavor to 
 dissuade them from going ? Could they take all their 
 sayings for truth ? No one who has any considerable 
 acquaintance with the heathen will answer in the 
 affirmative. When the natives told them of danger 
 it did not prove there was danger. They had no 
 means of learning the state of the country before 
 them. The two or three attempts made to prevent 
 their advancing into it, would, if they had yielded to
 
 230 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 them, and turned back from their chosen course, have 
 been regarded as altogether insufficient motives for 
 giving up their plan of exploration ; and they would 
 have been considered cowardly men, and unfit for the 
 work to which they had been sent. 
 
 " I hope these remarks will suffice to give my view 
 of the case, and that the writer of the memoir will 
 set the matter in a strong light, so that the readers 
 of it will feel that the brethren are not to be regarded 
 as having been rash, as they would seem, had they 
 been where the words of men can be relied upon." 
 
 A missionary lady, in the course of a most inter- 
 esting private letter, in which she attributes to her 
 friend Lyman's influence, her own determination to 
 engage in the missionary work, says : 
 
 "It is with pleasure .1 call to mind the precious 
 interview we had with him in Boston, when on our 
 way to 'these fair ocean isles.' He rejoiced in our 
 prospects, and felt that he had a long time to wait, 
 ere he could say farewell, to his native land. A 
 friend said to him, ' Supposing the Prudential Com- 
 mittee will not send you on a mission.' ' Then,' said 
 he, ' I will work my passage on board of some ship, 
 for, the Lord willing, I am determined to go.' At 
 the same time he expressed himself strongly in regard 
 to entering a new field. I regret that I can not recall 
 more of his expressions, so as to give a correct version 
 of them."
 
 THE CHAPLET FOR THE DEAD. 231 
 
 FROM THE REV. D. B. LYMAN, MISSIONARY TO THE 
 SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
 
 HILO, HAWAII, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, August 5, 1853. 
 DEAR MADAM: 
 
 Your welcome favor of March 4th, came to hand 
 a few days since. Why it was so long on the way, 
 or by what conveyance it came, I do not know. 
 
 Probably the contemplated memoir will have been 
 fully prepared for the press, if not published, ere this 
 reaches you. I regret this the less, however, from 
 the conviction that what I might be able to say would 
 only be the testimony of another witness to points 
 which had before been clearly established. 
 
 It is in reference to your brother's course at Ando- 
 ver you request me to write. I fear you will feel 
 disappointed that I am able to say so little of one 
 whose remembrance is so much cherished. I hope 
 and trust, however, you have applied to those who, 
 from their previous acquaintance with him, and close 
 intimacy, are able to present a more full and complete 
 view of his whole course at the seminary than I can 
 give. 
 
 When your brother and myself were at Andover, 
 the number of students was large. We were in dif- 
 ferent classes, and in different divisions of the Rhe- 
 torical Society. I was never in any other institution 
 where close study occupied so large a portion of the 
 time ; and our hours for exercise were mostly spent
 
 232 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 at the bench in the carpenter's shop. This, though 
 favorable to health, and tending to prepare the poor 
 minister to endure poverty at home, or in a foreign 
 field, gave little time for forming new acquaintances. 
 I can hardly say that I had any intimate personal 
 acquaintance with your brother till the last six months 
 of my residence at Andover. 
 
 He entered the seminary comparatively young. 
 But we soon learned from his college acquaintances 
 that he was a man of decided character, and one that 
 might be depended upon for the foreign field. 
 
 Though a warm-hearted Christian, and eager to be 
 engaged directly in the work of winning men to 
 Christ, he rightly judged, that in the seminary, his 
 first duty was, by diligent improvement of the means 
 offered, to qualify himself to go forth " a workman 
 needing not to be ashamed." In looking back upon 
 his course it seems to me he was unusually free from 
 all appearance of wishing to attract attention to him- 
 self. There was no effort to seem to be a leader. 
 Enough for him that the great object was effected. 
 Like Paul, he ardently desired to preach the Gospel 
 where Christ had not been named. But this was not 
 to gain a pre-eminence ; he would that all his breth- 
 ren could enlist in the same work and become even 
 as himself. 
 
 He had a warm and feeling heart. But his feelings 
 were little exhibited, except in noble, manly, judi- 
 cious action, in the sphere of kbor to which he was
 
 THE CHAPLET FOB THE DEAD. 233 
 
 best adapted. So far as it came under my observation 
 in the seminary, for a man of so warm feelings, uni- 
 formly at his post, and in the unexceptionable discharge 
 of every duty, his course of action was remarkably 
 unobtrusive. I think he exerted an influence, rather 
 than appeared either to himself or others to exert it. 
 
 Tke same reasons, probably, which led him to 
 choose the foreign field, for the labors of his life, led 
 him in no ordinary degree to make efforts to awaken 
 a missionary spirit in fields less cultivated than the 
 seminary. In doing this, though he iiad something 
 for all, and was not backward to address the meeting 
 for conference, or the more public assembly, yet pri- 
 vate personal efforts with individuals, were those 
 which he seemed to have. most at heart. In these 
 efforts he was patient, persevering, hopeful, and, I 
 may add, successful. To awaken an interest by a 
 public address, and so increase the contributions of a 
 church to the missionary cause was a thing not to be 
 despised ; but to lead one, two, or more members of 
 that church to go themselves to the heathen and 
 thus open a fountain which would flow on and be 
 perpetual, was the object at which he specially aimed. 
 With this object in view, it was easy for him to per- 
 form a journey of three hundred miles on foot, in a 
 short vacation, and to follow it with correspondence 
 till he had seen, in consequence of his efforts, two or 
 more fairly enter the missionary field. 
 
 You are aware, probably, that I was not at Anduver
 
 234 THE MARTYR OP SUMATRA. 
 
 during the last year of your brother's seminary course. 
 I much regret, therefore, that it has been impossible 
 for me to confer with Mr. Parker of our mission, who 
 was his class-mate both in college and in the seminary. 
 But this is impossible, Mr. P. being absent at the 
 Marquesas whither he has gone to assist in the loca- 
 tion of a new missionary sent out from these Islands 
 in June. The particulars of this interesting move- 
 ment at the Marquesas you will have learned from 
 the publications of the day, ere this reaches you. 
 Your brother in the Gospel, 
 
 D. B. LTMAN. 
 
 FROM PROFESSOR MAXWELL, MARIETTA COLLEGE, 
 OHIO. 
 
 MARIETTA, September 5th, 1853. 
 
 MY DEAR Miss LYMAN : 
 
 Your note needs no apology. With pleasure will I 
 answer it, though time forbids me to go into detail, 
 and my own feelings will not allow : for although 
 more than twenty years have gone by since we met, 
 tears will blind my eyes whenever I think of him. 
 We were, as perhaps you know, class-mates in college, 
 and class, and room-mates at Andover, so that after 
 an intimate acquaintance of more than six years it is 
 not strange that I should feel strongly attached to 
 him. Henry was a very devoted and active Christian, 
 and entered warmly and heartily into every good 
 work. He was active either as teacher or superin-
 
 THE CHAPLET FOB THE DEAD. 235 
 
 tendent in the S. S., and with his friend Munson held 
 one or more meetings every week. He was one who 
 took the lead in such affairs, and the advancement of 
 the Redeemer's kingdom lay very near his heart. I 
 used often to feel reproved by his activity and zeal. 
 
 As a student he was a close one, though he did not 
 always take the course marked out. When he pre- 
 pared that very valuable paper, "The Condition of 
 Females in Heathen and Mohammedan Countries," 
 and from which a tract has been published, he devoted 
 nearly all his time day and night for several weeks to 
 the exclusion of almost every thing else, and when I 
 once said to him, "Brother Lyman, will not that 
 infringe on your regular studies?" he replied, "I 
 don't know but it will, but it will do others more good 
 than the lectures will me." So the event proved, as 
 I fully believe. He seemed to have been moved by 
 the Divine Spirit to perform that work and thus to 
 open the eyes of the Christian world to a sight hardly 
 dreamed of before. 
 
 I rejoice that a memoir of him is in progress. I 
 think it is due to the Church. His name ought to be 
 in lasting remembrance, and I wish I could do more 
 than this brief sketch, toward rescuing it from for- 
 getfulness among mortals. I know it will never fade 
 from one memory till hope shall be lost in bright 
 and glorious fruition. 
 
 Yours, etc, 
 
 SAMUEL MAXWELL.
 
 VIII. 
 
 ft. 
 
 , Strange scenes, strange men ; untold, untried distress 
 Pain, hardships, famine, heat and nakedness, 
 Diseases ; death in every hideous form, 
 On shore, at sea, by fire, by flood, by storm, 
 "Wild beasts and wilder men ; unmoved with fear, 
 Health, comfort, safety, life, they count not dear, 
 May they but hope a Saviour's love to show, 
 And warn one spirit from eternal wo ; 
 Nor will they faint ; nor can they strive in vain, 
 Since thus to live is Christ, to die is gain. 
 
 MONTGOMERY. 
 
 Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they 
 should see his face no more. ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.
 
 VIII. 
 
 
 THERE is little of incident to record in the time 
 that intervened between Mr. Lyman's ordination and 
 his embarkation. The study of medicine engrossed 
 the missionary party both in Boston and Brunswick, 
 Maine. His letters will supply all the necessary 
 details, though these were less frequent, as medical 
 studies pressed heavily upon him. A few extracts, 
 which follow, from some of these, show that the ruling 
 passion was still the same. 
 
 TO AN AUNT. 
 
 "BOSTON, November 2d, 1832. 
 
 " * * * Methinks you must be somewhat 
 lonely, now that Lucy has left. However, since she 
 is gone in our Master's service, you will have not a 
 word to say. It will not do for us all to ' settle down 
 on the old farm.' We should be as narrow-minded as 
 old E. D. This scattering of families not only brings 
 the ends of the world together and enlarges our 
 minds, and extends our knowledge, but it binds 
 together the family of Christ. It leads us to a 
 deeper interest in, and of course to more earnest
 
 240 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 prayer for, the prosperity of the distant branches of 
 the great Vine. When will the members of the 
 Church have their hearts thus enlarged ? When will 
 all the followers of Jesus Christ feel that when He 
 said, ' Go ye into all the world,' he meant them in 
 particular? 0, that the mantle of the Master might 
 fall upon His disciples ! If Christians only knew how 
 much real happiness they lose by not praying more 
 fervently for the universal spread of the religion of 
 Nazareth, they would no longer remain in this state 
 of apathy. I verily believe that he, who by his 
 prayers shall be the means of a revival of religion at 
 one of our missionary stations, will do more towards 
 rousing the church at large to action, will do more for 
 the actual conversion of the world, than the mission- 
 ary who goes forth and merely labors, or the man who 
 only contributes his thousands of dollars. 0, that I 
 could pray ! If I could only take hold of the 
 promises of God, I should think I could accomplish 
 something." 
 
 "BOSTON, December 2th, 1832. 
 
 "DEAR SISTER: 
 
 * * * I h ave seen j us t enough of disease 
 and death to make me loathe life. All my time is 
 employed in visiting the sick, witnessing surgical 
 operations, and hearing descriptions of the ten thous- 
 and diseases to which flesh is heir. It seems as 
 though there was nothing in the world but sickness- 
 and distress. Oh, the woes, I often exclaim, that sin 

 
 THE VOYAGE. 241 
 
 has brought upon us ! But I can assure you, dear 
 sister, these scenes have not made redeeming love 
 appear any less valuable. More and more they lead 
 me to cling to the Saviour, and to feel that in Him 
 alone is help and strength. I think it enables me to 
 preach on the Sabbath with greater zest : for I am led 
 to feel more forcibly the misery of those who have no 
 Saviour to whom they can flee. 
 
 " I was truly rejoiced to hear that you had come 
 out from the world and separated yourself. I would 
 have you call to mind your responsibility, by recol- 
 lecting how you looked upon those who were pro- 
 fessors before you indulged a hope, and remember 
 that others will watch you, and any wanderings from 
 the strict path of Christian duty will be marked 
 against you. And what then shall you do? The 
 only way to live unimpeachable in the sight of the 
 world is to live so in the sight of God. Aim then to 
 glorify God in all that you do. ' Let your standard 
 be high. Do not think it enough that you give 
 negative evidence of being a Christian. This is 
 insufficient for the nineteenth century. Aim to be a 
 Christian wholly a Christian. Strive to lead the 
 minds of others to the contemplation of Divine truths. 
 To do this you must be a devout, humble, closet 
 Christian. Pray much, read your Bible much, 
 read other good books, meditate upon holy things. 
 Especially read that chapter in Baxter's ' Saints' 
 Rest' upon l Holding communion with God all day 
 11
 
 242 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 long,' I think it is. That you may be enabled to 
 overcome this wicked world, and at last stand ' puri- 
 fied, and justified, and sanctified, in the name of 
 the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God,' is 
 the prayer of 
 
 "Your brother, 
 
 " HENRY." 
 
 TO A YOUNG GIRL, WHO ASKED HIM " HOW CAN I 
 FIT MYSELF FOR A MISSIONARY?" 
 
 BOSTON, January 16th, 1833. 
 
 As to the main question of your letter, it deserves 
 more attention than I can possibly bestow at this op- 
 portunity. Suffice it to say, in brief be much in 
 prayer. Set apart seasons of prayer and meditation 
 on this subject. Put full confidence in God that He 
 will guide you aright. Look to Him for direction. 
 Aim to talk less about trifles that do no good to 
 yourself .or others. Be more active, physically. 
 Be more regular in your habits. Form a set of 
 resolutions in which you guard against your easily 
 besetting sins, and engage to perform the most ob- 
 vious duties. Examine yourself frequently by these 
 resolutions, and whenever you have broken them ask 
 help of God, that you may do so no more. Follow 
 these directions, dear , and you will fit your- 
 self for any station to which God in His providence 
 may call you. . Yours, etc.. 
 
 HENRY.
 
 THE VOYAGE. 243 
 
 FROM A LETTER TO CHARLES LYMAN. 
 
 "Bostox, January \1tfi, 1833. 
 
 " Last Lord's day I preached at Reading, and spent 
 Monday there (annual day of fasting and prayer for 
 the conversion of the world). The church entered 
 into the spirit of the occasion. The prayer-meetings 
 were like those where a revival of religion prevails. 
 
 " This church has sent forth two missionaries : 
 Temple, of Malta, and Parker, now on his way to 
 the Sandwich Islands. They have a great deal of the 
 spirit that acknowledges ' the field is the world.' 
 Old Mr. and Mrs. Parker are full of joy. They 
 think ' Christians must send off their children and 
 then they will know how blessed it is to pray for the 
 heathen.' 0, if we could all the time possess a spirit 
 of anxious desire for the salvation of the whole world, 
 how full of joy should we be ! There is something 
 so ennobling in embracing all the human family in 
 one's prayers, and spreading their case before the 
 throne of grace, as would lead one 'to be often 
 there.' When we let ourselves and the little things 
 of time dwindle away into their own insignificance, 
 and grasp all the heathen world, how it expands the 
 soul ! I think the first Monday in January had a 
 good effect upon those churches that observed it." 
 
 Under the same date, in writing to his parents, 
 Lyman says, in regard to the fast at Reading :
 
 244 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 " It seemed like a revival season. 0, could 
 prayers, thus fervent, continually go up for me, 
 what should I have to fear even among the most 
 barbarous savages? To see those of God's people 
 who remain at home thus alive to this great work, 
 and sympathizing so deeply in the trials of mission- 
 aries, and commending them thus fervently to Him 
 who can do all things for them, is enough to encour- 
 age me onward with a firm, unyielding purpose. 
 None seemed so joyful there as the father and mother 
 of Mr. Parker. Mrs. P. wished me to give her love 
 . to my mother, and tell her that she would be amply 
 repaid for all the sacrifices made of her own feelings 
 for the good of souls ; that she might be thankful 
 that she was permitted to be the humble instrument 
 of raising up children to go forth in this glorious 
 work, and to win souls to Christ. 0,' said she, 
 ' you can not tell how full of joy I have been since 
 Wyman left.' " 
 
 TO A SISTEK. 
 
 "MEDICAL SCHOOL, BRUNSWICK, MAINE, March 12th, 1833. 
 " * * * The prospect now is that I shall 
 remain here till about May 10th, then proceed to 
 Boston, attend to the ' consummation devoutly to be 
 wished,' and leave the same day for Keene, Peacham, 
 Montpelier, Troy, Amherst, etc. However, when 
 these things are decided on I will write you forth- 
 with. * * *
 
 THE VOYAGE. 245 
 
 " One of our number wa,s yesterday called to Mass- 
 achusetts to pay, probably, his last visit to Miss , 
 
 whom he expected to take with him to S. E. Asia. 
 She is not expected to live long. So you perceive, 
 dear sister, that our health and life are not our own, 
 even if we live in America under our own father's 
 roof. Three of my fellow-students who intended to 
 sail this season, to preach Christ to the heathen, are 
 no more. Messrs. Barr, and Lane, and Packard were 
 not permitted, in the mysterious, but all-wise Provi- 
 dence of God, to rear the standard of the cross among 
 the heathen : the two latter were my Andover class- 
 mates, and one my room-mate. I noticed briefly the 
 character of Mr. Lane in the Recorder a few weeks 
 since, and have sent an obituary of Mr. P. to that 
 paper for this week. We are apt to think we are not 
 so much dependent on God when surrounded by 
 friends. Herein, / think, is the glory of missionary 
 life. It makes us feel more our dependence, and 
 resign ourselves more implicitly to the Lord for safe 
 keeping. 
 
 " And how do you, and your husband, and little 
 Emily flourish this winter? I regret not having 
 had more opportunity of becoming acquainted with 
 him. 
 
 "I suppose as you both advance in life you feel 
 more and more the responsibility resting upon you as 
 heads of a family. In reference to many things I 
 can not say any thing better than recall to your mind
 
 246 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 the manner in which father's family was conducted 
 when we were children. I would not hold it up as a 
 model in all points ; but in its excellencies it was 
 truly excellent. For example, the manner in which 
 the Sabbath was observed was, you know, worthy of 
 imitation. The principles that were instilled into our 
 minds were good. Remember how permanent they 
 are, and how they now influence our conduct ; and that 
 you too .have little immortals under your care, whom 
 you are training up, and whose minds you are form- 
 ing. Form them for the Lord, and when He calls 
 for them give them up willingly." 
 
 A postscript informs his sister that " Northampton 
 and Northboro' people are at work for my especial 
 benefit; also Bowdoin-street church for Miss P." 
 
 The unconverted state of many of the medical 
 students pressed heavily upon Lyman's mind, not 
 only because "we need pious physicians at our bed- 
 sides, but we need medical men as missionaries;" and 
 he concludes the subject in a letter to his cousin 
 Charles, with the appeal, " Brother pray for us." 
 
 Again in a letter to a friend : 
 
 "How rich is the Lord, in mercy toward us. He 
 says, ' Ask, and ye shall receive.' Make known to 
 Him our wants, and like a kind father He will bestow 
 upon us to the extent of our necessities. If we see 
 ourselves deficient in any thing, especially in spiritual 
 strength, He stands ready with a thousand mercies to 
 bestow as soon as we make the request. Let us then,
 
 ,V THE VOYAGE. 247 
 
 dear E., never cease our importunities. Let us ever 
 come to the throne of grace like little children, with 
 the simple prayer, ' Lord teach me what to do ; Lord 
 instruct me how to grow in grape,' and then we shall 
 be guided aright. 
 
 " We often pray for ourselves, E., that we may have 
 ' the light of God's countenance.' What is this 
 ' light ?' Is it not an entire succumbing to the will 
 of God? It seems to me there is nothing half so 
 sweet as to get a frame of mind, humbled and BROKEN 
 DOWN into the dust at Jesus' feet. It is sweet thus 
 to live. that it were so with my soul always. 0, 
 for a humble, contrite heart that esteems others better 
 than itself, and that knows its own depravity. When 
 in your closet you bestow a thought upon your absent 
 friend, dear E., there is no greater boon for which you 
 can petition heaven in his behalf than this. It is 
 such a frame that leads one to bear the apparently 
 adverse things of life with a happy resignation to the 
 Divine will, to which the worldly-minded and self- 
 sufficient Christian is an utter stranger; that leads 
 one to that holy, childlike resignation, 'Even so 
 Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight;' that 
 feels ' it is all for the best' even should we be called 
 to resign that which appeared to us eminently calcu- 
 lated to promote our happiness. So long as our self- 
 sufficiency and pride prevail, we forget to look at an 
 over-ruling Providence, which though it dashes the 
 cup from our lips when about to drink a delightful
 
 248 THE MAETYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 draught, yet does it for our profit : and though we 
 can at the moment see no good reason for it, yet sub- 
 sequent time reveals that there was poison in it." 
 
 We give a few extracts from the journal of this 
 period : 
 
 " April 14*A, 1833. I feel from day to day 
 stronger in the Lord ; and the things of religion are 
 more and more delightful. It is more pleasant to be 
 spiritual, than to be carnal. Still I want an earnest- 
 ness, an unction, a moral courage, a humble bold- 
 ness in the Lord's service. 0, I want to be swallowed 
 up in the thoughts of eternity ; to be supremely de- 
 voted to God. I want that God should be all in all 
 with me. Come, 0, Holy Spirit, and take up thine 
 abode in my heart never to depart therefrom. Come, 
 Lord Jesus, and make me entirely thine." 
 
 "April IQth. 0, to sit all the time at the feet of 
 Jesus. Thanks to God that the pursuit of holiness 
 has been so delightful, increasingly so, since I have 
 been in Brunswick. 
 
 "This morning Chase was taken to heaven. Lord, 
 why was not I permitted to go ? But I will not re- 
 pine. So long as thou dost see fit, I will stay here 
 and toil. I desire to lie in thy hands like a little 
 child. I give thee a blank with my name signed, 
 and pledge myself to acquiesce in thy filling out. 
 Thou knowest best. I have no wish but thine. Only, 
 I pray thee, keep me from sin."
 
 THE VOYAGE. 249 
 
 " May 1, Evening. It has been a day in which I 
 have been joyful, though not enough in the Lord. 
 Our destiny is decided, and we are soon to embark for 
 the heathen. 0, Lord, of what avail any happiness 
 unless thou art in it ! Prepare me for the great, the 
 arduous work, upon which I am so soon to enter. I pray 
 for thy Spirit to be with me in the changing scenes which 
 are so immediately before me. Two short months and 
 the farewell will have been spoken, and the last look 
 taken. Lord prepare thy servant for these things." 
 
 May 16th, 1833, Henry Lyman was married to 
 Miss Eliza Pond, of Boston, and after a rapid journey 
 through Vermont, going as far as Stanstead, C. E., 
 they met under the paternal roof all his family save 
 one. A busy season it was. The stores for ship- 
 board which had during the past year gradually been 
 preparing in the household must be packed and for- 
 warded. The mother must find time for the last charges 
 about her son's health. The children must make 
 Henry array himself in his white linen suit, that ' 
 they might know how he would look in Batavia. It 
 was a time of cheerfulness, yet of sore grief. The 
 parents' hearts were full of sorrow, for though they 
 would not for worlds have recalled their offering to 
 the Lord's cause, they could not but mourn that their 
 first-born son was going forever from them. Twenty 
 years ago the return of missionaries was less common 
 than now. Many months were required for the 
 transmission of intelligence from the East Indies, 
 11*
 
 250 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 and though none of the Board's servants had yet 
 suffered death, from savage violence, it was well 
 known that these young men were to encounter fierce 
 animals, and almost fiercer men. 
 
 Christian friends commended them to God, and a 
 brother and sister accompanied them to Boston, but the 
 parents abode in their own house, their very heart- 
 strings quivering with the separation. 
 
 The instructions to the missionaries were delivered 
 in Bowdoin-street church, Boston. More than one 
 remembers the manly form* and earnest bearing of 
 Henry Lyman as Rev. Dr. Anderson read the follow- 
 ing sentences : 
 
 " Your labors may be soon terminated by death. 
 But you have given yourself to Jesus Christ without 
 reserve, for the work of missions among the perishing 
 heathen. That work, you know, He regards with pe- 
 culiar favor ; for none is so nearly like His own and 
 that of His beloved apostles. He has pledged to you, 
 everywhere, and in all circumstances, His special 
 presence, assistance, and comfort. ' Lo, I am with you 
 always.' ' My grace is sufficient for thee.' ' As 
 thy days, so shall thy strength be.' ' When thou 
 passest through the waters, I will be with thee ; and 
 through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee ; when 
 
 * In complexion, height, and figure, even in the arrangement 
 of the hair, the resemblance of Mr. Lyman to that holy man of 
 God, Dr. Duflj was most remarkable, though the profiles were 
 very different. Mr. Lyman's nose inclined to the aquiline.,
 
 THE TOYAGE. 251 
 
 thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be 
 burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thce : for 
 I, Jehovah, am thy God, and the Holy One of Israel 
 thy Saviour.' ' Touch not mine anointed, and do my 
 prophets no harm.' ' For ye shall go out with joy, 
 and be led forth with peace ; the mountains and hills 
 shall break forth before you into singing, and all the 
 trees of the field shall clap their hands.' ' Be ye 
 faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of 
 life.' What need you fear in such a work, with such 
 a Saviour, and such promises ! May you have hearts 
 filled with love to Him and His cause, and faith to 
 realize continually His presence, and preciousness, and 
 power, and to trust the wisdom and plenitude and 
 unchangeableness of His love." 
 
 June 10th, 1833, Messrs. Lyman, Munson, Robin- 
 son, and Johnson, with their wives, embarked at Bos- 
 ton for Batavia, Isle of Java. The two latter gentle- 
 men were destined for Siam. The incidents of the 
 voyage will be gathered from the correspondence and 
 journals. For his spirit on the occasion we may 
 refer to the letter of the Rev. S. F. Smith, in the 
 preceding chapter. 
 
 SHIP "DUNCAN," AT SEA, LAT. 34 37' N. 
 LONG. 36 40' W. June 22d, 1833. 
 
 BELOVED PARENTS: 
 
 I commence my correspondence by addressing you. 
 We have not yet been a fortnight at sea, and this
 
 252 THE MAETYK OF SUMATRA. 
 
 may not take a homeward-bound course till it has 
 been wafted some twelve thousand miles eastward. 
 If my lines are not straight, and my letters true, you 
 must blame the winds that rock the vessel and not 
 my nerves. The circumstances of our journey to 
 Boston, the kindness of friends there, in making us 
 ready, the farewell services in Bowdoin-street church, 
 the appearance of our ship, and the pleasing circum- 
 stances of our final departure, you have, doubtless, 
 learned from sister A. 
 
 I was exceedingly gratified at the joy manifested at 
 our departure. Few tears were shed. This is as it 
 should be. Sure I am, it was a joyful day to me. 
 Not one desponding feeling, not one heart-rending 
 emotion, not even a suppressed sigh was elicited by 
 giving the parting hand to so many friends, and 
 taking the last look of the steepled churches of my 
 native land. I had long looked forward with a kind 
 of dread to parting with my parents. This, I thought, 
 would be a trial. Had we been less hurried at, our 
 departure, I know not how it would have been. As it 
 was, the composure of my parents, and the thought that 
 we should soon meet in heaven buoyed up my spirits.* 
 
 There were several causes of regret to me in our 
 being so suddenly called to embark. One, and by no 
 
 * The author asked one of the younger children if she remem- 
 bered her brother's parting, and if he wept. "Yes, indeed," was 
 the reply, "the great tears rolled down h\a face, and father and 
 mother wept all the day after he left.".
 
 THE VOYAGE. 253 
 
 means a small one, was that I did not have an oppor- 
 tunity of expressing to you, my father and mother, 
 the obligations under which I feel myself laid, for 
 your ten thousand kindnesses in all my past life. 
 All that I am, I owe, under God, to you : my edu- 
 cation, my character, even, in a great measure, my 
 salvation. I wished, too, to ask your forgiveness for 
 all the trouble I have willfully cost you, and to 
 entreat you to help me to praise God for His un- 
 bounded grace toward me. You are not. I believe, 
 aware how great a sinner your son has been ; how I 
 was foremost among my companions in Northampton 
 and in college, in carousing and profanity. But I 
 will not enter into particulars. It is enough that I 
 rehearse my iniquities in the ears of the Lord, and 
 ask His forgiveness. 
 
 Still, during the whole of my wanderings in by and 
 forbidden paths, the voice of parental caution, and the 
 effects of parental prayers, were not entirely lost. 
 No, I have retired from the midnight revel unable to 
 forget myself in sleep till I had first called on God, 
 the Being whose name I had been for hours using in 
 the most profane manner; and this because of the 
 early instruction of those who watched over my 
 infancy. I often complained in my early life of your 
 strictness. Now I thank you for it. I have caused 
 you much trouble and anxiety, and you would have 
 suffered even more could you have followed me to all 
 my scenes of dissipation. All the return I can make
 
 254 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 is to pray for you a compensation which will nei- 
 ther feed nor clothe you; but, if the prayer is ac- 
 cepted, will enable you to bear hunger and nakedness. 
 
 It was in my heart to send you some small, but 
 substantial, token of filial affection, but there were a 
 thousand things at the last which drew away dollar 
 after dollar, till I found it utterly impracticable to do 
 as I desired. The Lord reward you a thousand fold. 
 If you have done all in His name He will reward 
 you. It will be you instead of me whom the heathen 
 will rise up and call blessed, if the Lord sees fit to bless 
 my labors. I will teach them to pray for those who 
 have raised me up and sent me out to do the work. 
 
 Be not discouraged, my dear parents, at the way- 
 wardness of any others of your children. Methinks 
 you can have none so reckless as he who is now 
 addressing you. Though they may not seem to hear 
 your instructions, yet, "in due season you shall reap 
 if you faint not." 
 
 Thus far the Lord has prospered us on our voyage. 
 We have a large ship, ample accommodation, a pleas- 
 ant, obliging captain and fellow-passengers. Besides 
 our missionary party there are Mr. Hooper of Marble- 
 head, supercargo, and Mr. Carter of Boston, half 
 owners of the ship and cargo. The wind has been 
 favorable. We are now about seventeen hundred 
 miles from you, though for the last three days we 
 have not made forty miles a day. My sea-sickness 
 was very slight. It has been otherwise with Eliza.
 
 THE VOYAGE. 255 
 
 She was wearied out when we went on board, and has 
 been much prostrated. She has now only strength 
 to sit up for a few minutes at a time. 
 
 I wish you could just pop in and see how comforta- 
 ble we are in our little state-room. Perhaps A. de- 
 scribed it. We have since lined the inside of our 
 berth with white cotton cloth, hung up the looking 
 glass, pictures, etc., and it is as convenient as that 
 little room could be made at the head of your back- 
 stair-case. We are reminded of you, dear mother, 
 every time we eat pickles, every time we use our 
 spoons, etc., etc. 
 
 July 26th. For particulars of our voyage I refer 
 to the Boston Recorder. I have prepared letters for 
 that, and what the editor does not print, he is to hand 
 to Deacon Noyes, who, after our Boston friends have 
 read them, is to forward them to you. This is only 
 for yourselves to read. I don't want all I write home 
 to be " known and read of all men." 
 
 Your affectionate son, 
 
 HENRY. 
 
 Extracts from letters on the voyage : 
 
 " As to sea-sickness, Mrs. M. and E. have had, I 
 think, the most serious time. The former quite 
 alarmed us. We watched her one day and night 
 with much anxiety, while her husband was too sick 
 to counsel or aid. Thank God, we are getting better. 
 No one but he who has experienced sea-sickness can
 
 256 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 duly estimate all the trials attending it. Had it not 
 been for the little extras furnished by the kindness of 
 friends, especially Mrs. N. 's grocery box, Mr. N. 's 
 medicine chest, and brother Edward's fan and per- 
 fumery, I know not how we could have weathered 
 it."* 
 
 "BATAVIA, JAVA, October 4th, 1833. 
 
 "MY DEAR SISTER A.: 
 
 " The story of our voyage is to me an old one, there- 
 fore suffice it to say we arrived in safety with only 
 the loss of a hat or bonnet apiece, and a yard or two 
 from the mainmast, in one hundred days from Bos- 
 ton to Java Head. It was not until three or four 
 days after coming in sight of land that we anchored 
 in the road. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, and Mr. and 
 Mrs. Robinson remained a week and then took ship 
 for Singapore. Mr. and Mrs. Munson and ourselves 
 were most kindly received by the Rev. Mr. Medhurst 
 of the London Missionary Society, and remained with 
 his family until a week since when we moved into 
 our 'own hired house.' It is a snug little place, 
 without windows, except in front, without fire-place, 
 chimney, garret or cellar. Our kitchen, or ' cook- 
 house,' servant's room and store-house are in a separate 
 building. Our floors are stone, or brick, our outside 
 walls brick up to the windows, and bamboo the rest 
 
 * Mr. Lyman addressed to his missionary brethren at Andover, 
 a long letter giving them the benefit of their party's experience, 
 in " advice for the voyage."
 
 THE VOYAGE. 257 
 
 of the way ; the roof is of atap, a kind of weed 
 used here for thatching. The windows are mere 
 openings with bars across to keep out intruders, and 
 close shutters to lock at night. A verandah runs 
 completely around the dwelling, in front twelve feet 
 wide. A hall, used as a sitting-room, is the first 
 apartment you enter, and on each side is a bed room, 
 and a little room that serves for a study. 
 
 " We live four miles from the business part of the 
 city, on one side of the 'King's Plain,' which is a 
 park three miles in circumference surrounded entirely 
 with elegant edifices. The present is the most un- 
 healthy season of the year, yet I see no great differ- 
 ence between the salubrity of the climate here, and 
 in New England. It is almost certain death, at any 
 rate certain fever, for a European to sleep on the 
 lower floor in the business part of the city." 
 
 Mr. Lyman then goes on to give a detailed account 
 of the illness of Mrs. Lyman, who seemed to be a 
 victim to consumption; so that he apprehended a 
 speedy parting. But it was God's will to disappoint 
 their fears. lie adds, 
 
 "Mr. Munson has been somewhat troubled by the 
 change of climate, fever, etc., but is better. Desola- 
 tion and moral death prevail all around us. Many of 
 the European residents are very dissipated. A few 
 go to church, but the number is small. We have 
 preaching twice every Sabbath at the English chap- 
 el, from Mr. Medhurst, his assistant, Mr. Young,
 
 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 Mr. Munson, or myself. There is one service on 
 ship-board, and there are two Malay services in town. 
 During the week there is preaching once in English, 
 once in Malay." 
 
 In a letter to his parents we find the following de- 
 tails of domestic affairs : 
 
 "Everything here costs money except servants. 
 Four of them cost as much as one with you, and 
 will accomplish just about as much work. We have 
 one to cook, one to take care of the horses, one to 
 watch at night, one for the table, and one for the 
 rooms. We give them at the rate of $2.50 per 
 month, and they board themselves. You may be 
 inclined to think us extravagant, yet our establish- 
 ment is very small compared with those around 
 us. 
 
 "Then we keep horses. A European would not 
 live three months in this climate, if he were to walk 
 any considerable distance. He must ride, or soon be 
 carried to his grave. Our friends here do not allow 
 us to walk or stand in the sun, even a few minutes 
 at a time. Its rays are so powerful as to cause my 
 head to ache in a few minutes. The horses used are 
 small. We gave thirty-two dollars for two at auc- 
 tion. But if. we drive one to town to-day, as I must 
 to carry these letters, we can not use him to-mor- 
 row. 
 
 " We should enjoy our home much, but we can not
 
 THE VOYAGE. 259 
 
 trust our servants. We are annoyed by mosquitoes, 
 who bite us ; by white ants, who eat up all our fur- 
 niture, and by rats ; and the lizards are running about 
 our walls all the time, day and night. But we shall 
 soon become used to these things. 
 
 " Our field of usefulness is very great. There are 
 hundreds of thousands of natives all around us; a 
 whole village within a stone's throw of our house. 
 In this city are about two hundred thousand Moham- 
 medans, twenty thousand Chinese, and one thousand 
 Europeans, mostly Dutch, and a few Americans. 
 I shall give you a more particular account of this 
 beautiful country, and its terrible moral desola- 
 tion. This is merely to let you know how, and 
 where we are. My Malay teacher, a Mohammedan 
 hadji or pilgrim, has come, and I must say fare- 
 well. 
 
 "Your affectionate son, 
 
 "HENRY." 
 
 "If you see any member of the Social Union of 
 (Amherst) College, say to him that I have already a 
 package of curiosities for them, and am picking up 
 more to send by the first ship to Boston." 
 
 We conclude this chapter with a few notes from the 
 private diary : 
 
 " Batavia, Friday, December 27th, 1833. I 
 am at last landed in Java. I have arrived at the
 
 260 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 field of my future labor. I have seen an answer to 
 iny long-offered prayer. But what am I, or what is 
 my father's house, that this honor should be conferred 
 upon me, of preaching Christ ? 
 
 " Unexpected difficulties are before us. But can 
 not the Lord cause the wrath of man to praise Him, 
 and the remainder can He not restrain ? Lord, I 
 know thou canst do all. Grant me then an over- 
 coming faith. Give me such a lively sense of heavenly 
 and Divine things as that I may at all times feel 
 that my hope is in God, and in Him is everlasting 
 strength. 
 
 " October 25th. Almost a month has elapsed and 
 I have not noted the dealings of God with my soul. 
 Well, it is nobody's loss but my own. Now, that 
 once more I have a study, a place that I can call my 
 own, a corner where I can run away and be alone 
 with God, I am in hopes not only to keep along, but 
 to know how I do it. 
 
 " Lord, I consecrate this study to thy service, 
 and pray that often I may here meet my Saviour, 
 and that I may never be left to sin, so as to forfeit my 
 privileges. And, Lord, I need grace to enable me to 
 rule over this household with humility, and in the 
 fear of the Lord. Do thou evermore guide me. 
 Make me this day to live to thy glory. Let me not 
 become secularized by the multiplicity of cares that 
 come upon me. To thee, Lord Jesus, I commend 
 my soul."
 
 THE VOYAGE. 261 
 
 Mourning over his ignorance of the language, Mr. 
 Lyman says : 
 
 " It seems as if most of my life was to be spent in 
 preparations to do good. When shall I begin to 
 work ?" Again : 
 
 " Sunday, December Is/. All my life will be 
 spent in preparation to do good ! When shall I be 
 able to tell the heathen about Christ ? It seems as 
 if my heart would break to be with them so much, 
 and yet not able to talk with them. 
 
 " December 29/A. that I had more of the 
 spirit of the apostles and primitive Christians. The 
 Lord have i9&rcy upon my soul and cause me to 
 'awake to righteousness and sin not.' Lord, come 
 thou, come and blot out my sins, come and take full 
 possession of my heart. Thou knowest my weakness. 
 0, leave me not for the great Redeemer's sake ! 
 Leave me not, but fill me with THYSELF."

 
 IX. 
 
 f 
 
 4 oft these hearts will whisper, 
 
 That better 'twould betide 
 If we were, near the friends we love, 
 
 Andjwatching by their side ; 
 But jjire.thou'lt love them dearer, Lord, 
 
 For trusting thee alone ; 
 And sure thou wilt draw nearer, Lord, 
 
 The further we are gone. 
 Then why be sad 7 since, thou wilt keep 
 
 Watch o'er them, day by day ; 
 Since thou wilt soothe them when they weep, 
 
 And hear us when we pray. 
 
 MONSELL. 
 
 I will be the God of all the families of Israel. JEREMIAH 
 zxzLL 

 
 * 

 
 IX. 
 
 THE island of Java lies four hundred and twenty 
 miles from the eastern peninsula of India ; it is about 
 six hundred miles long, and one hundred broad. The 
 thermometer ranges from 72 to 84 in the dry 
 season, from April to September, and from 8i 
 to 90 in the rainy season. There are no violent 
 storms and hurricanes, as in many tropical islands, 
 though the thunder and lightning are at times fear- 
 ful. Earthquakes occur, but never so severe as to 
 destroy the European villas. The wet season has its 
 days of sunshine, and the dry is varied by pleasant 
 showers. 
 
 It was the deliberate opinion of Sir S. Raffles that 
 " Java need no longer be held up as the grave of 
 Europeans, for, except in the immediate neighbor- 
 hood of the forests and salt marshes, as at Batavia 
 and two or three other places on the north coast, it 
 may be safely affirmed that no tropical climate is 
 equal to it in salubrity. From its lofty peaks it pos- 
 sesses the great advantage that in a few hours' ride, 
 any degree of cold may be found." Ice, a fourth 
 12
 
 266 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 of an inch in thickness, has been seen on the mount- 
 ains. 
 
 The ruins found in some places attest a higher 
 degree of civilization in former days than now, and 
 the decaying temples prove that the worshipers of 
 Boodh were once numerous. At present the false 
 prophet holds the Malay population in subjection. 
 
 The Chinese do most of the business. They are 
 only industrious when working for themselves. The 
 Malays are less numerous than in other large islands. 
 The Javanese are, according to Raffles, "an agricul- 
 tural race, attached to the soil, of quiet habits and 
 contented dispositions, almost entirely unacquainted 
 with commerce and foreign trade, and little inclined 
 to engage in either." They are easy and courteous 
 in their manner, respectful even to timidity, circum- 
 spect, and slow of speech. 
 
 Such, briefly, is tTava, where our missionary family 
 first pitched its tent. That household is gone. Mr. 
 Medhurst, too, has left the island, and its multitudes 
 still are going down to death without the light of the 
 Gospel. When shall Satan be there hurled from his 
 throne ? 
 
 Our narrative draws rapidly to a close. We have 
 followed the young missionary from his loved New 
 England to the spicy groves of the tropics, and we 
 linger around his missionary home, loth to leave the 
 hallowed spot where, daily, the four young Christians
 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 
 
 worshiped God. Soon time's record is to close for 
 them. Ere twelve months have elapsed desolation is 
 to sweep over that happy circle. Its strongest and 
 wisest are to be taken from it. Will those left 
 behind be able to say, "Even so, Father, for so it 
 seemed good in thy sight?" 
 
 We introduce here an extract from one of Mr. 
 Munson's letters to the Missionary Society of Barn- 
 stable county, Massachusetts, which was pledged for 
 his support : 
 
 " It is a blessed work, and I wish to bind myself to 
 it by every chord that can entwine itself around a moral 
 being. Every day that I look at the great enter- 
 prise before me it appears greater and more glorious, 
 and my prayer is, that it may go on increasing in 
 magnitude and splendor, till it shall fill the whole 
 horizon of my moral vision, so that I shall see, and 
 feel, and be warmed and fired by nothing else. Time 
 will not permit me to state particulars, but be assured 
 I never felt more confident of the final and speedy 
 success of the Gospel. The obstacles which the 
 church will have to encounter in preaching the Gos- 
 pel here are many ; the enemies that oppose are 
 numerous and formidable ; yet, in the name of the 
 Lord 'we shall conquer. ' They that are for us are more 
 than they that be against us.' But. dear brethren, what 
 we do let us do quickly. ' Behold, I come quickly, ' says 
 the Lord of the harvest, ' and my reward is with me.' 
 Even so come, Lord Jesus, come quickly."
 
 268 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 Nor was Mr. Lyman less earnest. The cocoa-nut 
 and cinnamon-trees that overshadowed his dwelling, 
 the " coffee-plants beneath the window," the reptiles 
 on their walls, above all, the besotted idolaters about 
 them, all reminded him that the desire of his heart 
 was granted. He was on heathen ground. Yet hia 
 zeal had not grown cold. His efforts had not relaxed. 
 Speedily was 'the order of exercises for the day 
 marked out, and faithfully was each moment im- 
 proved. 
 
 Mr. Munson began the study of Chinese, Mr. 
 Lyman that of the Malay, and even before they 
 could speak these languages they commenced the 
 distribution of tracts. They also drew up a petition 
 to be presented to the governor, that he would grant 
 them permission to settle in any part of Netherlands' 
 India, "with the express understanding," it is said, 
 " that we confine our labors to the pagan population, 
 inasmuch as the government is bound to protect the 
 Mohammedan religion. The government looks with 
 a jealous eye upon any effort made to pour light into 
 the dark minds of those whom they compel to fill their 
 coffers. They say to the natives, you must raise so 
 much coffee, and you must sell it to us at such a 
 price, whether you will or not. They then dispose 
 of it at auction, at from one hundred to two hundred 
 and fifty per cent, profit." 
 
 A dispensary was procured rent-free through Mr. 
 Medhurst's exertions, and by the first of November,
 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 269 
 
 eight or ten patients were in attendance. It was no 
 small advantage that these young laborers had the 
 privilege of accompanying Mr. M. in his rounds, 
 learning from his example, profiting by his experience, 
 and receiving from him the wisest instruction. It is 
 difficult to make selections from the very copious and 
 interesting journals which were kept. We will give a 
 few specimens. 
 
 " September 28th. Toward evening witnessed a 
 Malay wedding procession. First came, dancing 
 along, hideous images of a man and a woman, made 
 of light basket work eight or nine feet in height, and 
 very broad in proportion, with black faces and tiger- 
 like teeth, the man having a drawn kris in his hand, 
 and the woman a small baby under her arm. A man 
 was inside each of these monsters. Next followed 
 music of various kinds, then the presents, consisting 
 mostly of artificial flowers, and paper cut into divers 
 fanciful shapes. The friends of the bridegroom followed 
 on horseback. Then advanced that important personage 
 himself, also mounted ; loaded with jewels, and fanned 
 by a friend. Others on horseback, and a crowd of 
 men and boys, closed the procession. 
 
 " And here we must pause to say a few words of 
 that which had preceded this parade. When the 
 time of the marriage is fixed, the family of each party 
 inform all their friends, and say to one : We should 
 like you to furnish so many flowers,' to another, 
 ' Will you send us so much pastry ?' etc. ; so that 

 
 270 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 when the time comes there is no want of the where- 
 withal to make merry. The preparation is going on 
 at the house of the bride for three or four days, during 
 which time music is playing, even all night. When 
 all is ready, the bridegroom remains at the bride's 
 house three days, then returns to his own home for 
 three days. Both then visit her parents, afterward 
 all their other friends ; then they are ready to begin 
 housekeeping. These arrangements occupy about a 
 month. 
 
 " To return ; when we arrived at the bride's house, 
 gongs, cymbals, torn toms, drums, fifes, and ' all 
 kinds of music,' were almost drowning the cheers of 
 the crowd. Through dust, noise, half naked men, 
 women, and children, we made our way to the throne 
 a bamboo platform where the happy pair were 
 seated, almost stifled by the immense quantity of 
 fancifully cut paper with which they were surrounded, 
 and scarcely able to hold up their heads for the quan- 
 tity of jewelry. 
 
 " But the multitude seemed to care more for the good 
 things without the house, than for the company within. 
 Large bamboo sheds had been erected for the occasion, 
 under which tables were spread with four times the 
 variety and twice the quantity which is found on a 
 plentifully supplied Thanksgiving table. The board 
 spread for the women fairly groaned beneath the 
 pastry. 
 
 " October 7th. This morning accompanied Mr.
 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 271 
 
 Medhurst to town for the distribution of tracts. Vis- 
 ited the Arabian Campong. One of the men led us 
 to the High Priest, who is quite a learned man and 
 an acute reasoner. Mr. M. was obliged to contend 
 with him, while forty or fifty priests and people gath- 
 ered around to hear. The old man was at home in 
 the Socinian argument. Indeed, the whole force of 
 his reasoning, and of all the Mohammedans here, is 
 precisely that of the Unitarians of Massachusetts. 
 
 " October 9th. This morning at five o'clock started 
 for Dep5k, a Christian village twenty miles from this. 
 Horses are supplied for Mr. Medhurst by the govern- 
 ment, which feels obliged to furnish D. with a preacher. 
 Two horses ran with the phaeton four miles to the 
 first post-house, when they were walked back to town 
 by a servant, 'and four fresh ones were attached for 
 four miles more, etc. At the third post we took sad- 
 dle horses and rode across the fields three miles to the 
 village. 
 
 "I can not well judge of the appearance of the coun- 
 try, as it is near the close of the dry season, and vege- 
 tation is suffering from the long drought. The surface 
 is a little undulating with no high hills. The village 
 is very romantically situated on the banks of a river, 
 and contains about two hundred souls, all of whom 
 profess Christianity. Sixty are communicants. Their 
 lands were formerly the estates of a Dutch gentleman, 
 and these people his slaves. At his death he freed 
 them and secured to them his property on condition
 
 272 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 of their becoming and remaining Christians. They 
 are a very meek, unassuming, kind-hearted people, 
 and much in advance of the pagans in every point of 
 view. Most of them are clad in black ; the men in 
 drawers with a gown over them, while the women 
 substitute a petticoat for the drawers. The houses 
 are as comfortable as a thatched, floorless, bamboo 
 tenement can be made. 
 
 " They eat with their fingers, yet at our lunch we 
 had two different kinds of pastry, besides rice-flour 
 prepared in several ways, with coffee. At another 
 house seven kinds of preserves were placed before us, 
 besides tea, cakes, fruit, etc., while at dinner we had 
 seventeen different dishes. As soon as seated at table, 
 a servant brought water to wash our hands, and the 
 same office was performed after dinner. 
 
 "Mr. Medhurst visits this place once a month, and 
 appoints the schoolmaster, or sends some one to offi- 
 ciate in the chapel on the Sabbath. Soon after we 
 arrived, the sound of the church-going bell was heard, 
 echoing and re-echoing through the forest. The fol- 
 iage is so thick that every thing is literally a forest. 
 Mr. Medhurst preached in the chapel. After serv- 
 ice a couple were married, and two infants were 
 baptized. A case of discipline was then attended to. 
 The school was visited and forty-two pupils were ex- 
 amined in the Scriptures, the Catechism, reading and 
 writing. The appearance of these intelligent children 
 would put to the blush most of our New England
 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 273 
 
 schools. Not a word was missed ; not an answer but 
 was at the tongue's end ; not a sum given at which 
 they hesitated ; not a blot upon their copy books, and 
 the bill of absences for the month was surprisingly 
 small. 
 
 " Afterward a class of young men and women, 
 catechumens, met in the church and recited, and 
 heard explained, a portion of the Catechism. Here, 
 too, all was attention, and every one perfectly pre- 
 pared. The mission-house at this place, which is 
 
 now vacant by the death of Mr. four years 
 
 since, stands near the church. It is high and airy in 
 its situation, affording an eligible retreat for mission- 
 aries when exhausted with their labors at Batavia. 
 Besides, it offers just work enough to do for a short 
 time by way of recreation. A few weeks' residence 
 there is well adapted to refresh and invigorate." 
 
 The return in the evening was through a hard 
 thunder shower. The spectacle of a Christian Malay 
 village was to Mr. Lyman, however, an ample reAvard 
 for twenty miles of driving in wet clothes. 
 
 Frequent mention is made of preaching on board 
 the ships in the roads, and of labor among the crews, 
 also acknowledgments of presents of American articles 
 of food to the mission family from the captains. We 
 give the following to show in what manner the light 
 is diffused in the tropics : 
 
 " November llth. Saw a Dutch missionary from 
 Moa, a small island of the Timor group. He has 
 12*
 
 274 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 there two hundred children in the schools, and eight 
 or ten hopeful Christians. There are seven mission- 
 aries in all those islands, and seven in the Mo- 
 luccas. 
 
 11 The early missionaries baptized all whom they 
 could, by hundreds, and those who thus received the 
 sacrament are the worst part of the population. It 
 is difficult to induce the children to attend school. 
 All the instruction is given in Malay. The mission- 
 aries were sent from the Netherlands with the promise 
 of support, but nothing has been done for them, and, 
 after contracting debts for five years, till the credit of 
 the Society is exhausted, the little band have sent 
 Mr. Hoffker to this place to see whether money 
 can be raised, or whether the operations must be 
 stopped.* 
 
 " November 13M. Favored with a view of the 
 mountains back of Batavia. They seem more grand 
 than any I have seen in America, perhaps because 
 contrasted with the dead level around. The drought 
 produces such a haze as usually obscures them in the 
 dry season. 
 
 " December \st. Oh, how long ere these heathens 
 will ' hear and live.' My heart at times almost 
 breaks with sorrow that I am obliged to be with them 
 so much, and yet am unable to direct them to the 
 
 * "What a cause of gratitude is furnished us that the course of 
 the A. B. C. F. M. to her missionaries stands in such bright con- 
 trast to this picture.
 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 275 
 
 'Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the 
 world.' We attempt to cure the bodies of men, but 
 what good so long as we can not tell them of the 
 physician of souls? Come, Lord, speedily take 
 possession for the great Redeemer's sake. 
 
 "January 5th. Atmosphere very clear and cool 
 when in the draft." 
 
 TO A SISTER. 
 "B ATA VIA, JAVA, November 8th, 1833. 
 
 " DEAR SISTER : 
 
 * * * I often long to see you, and to learn 
 concerning your spiritual welfare. Let your standard 
 of piety be high. Do not be afraid of aiming too 
 high. You never will go beyond your mark if you 
 take the Gospel standard, and there is danger of your 
 falling below it. In whatever you do, whatever 
 question you have before your mind, always inquire, 
 How can I best serve the Lord ? There is a great 
 inclination among Christians to accommodate religion 
 to the world. This will not do if one would advance 
 rapidly toward heaven. We must sometimes do 
 violence to our own natural feelings for the sake of 
 promoting the interests of our own souls, and the 
 souls of others. Be faithful unto death. Do every 
 thing by prayer. Read often the thirty-seventh 
 Psalm, and the God of peace be with you and bless 
 you in this life and the life to come, is the prayer of 
 your brother "HENRY."
 
 276 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 TO HIS PARENTS. 
 
 "BATAVIA, November 30th, 1333. 
 
 " MUCH-LOVED PARENTS : 
 
 "Absence from the parental roof has not cooled 
 filial affection. I have a map of Amherst nailed 
 upon the door that separates my study from the 
 bed-room, so that I can constantly view the scene* 
 which meets your eyes whenever you look from the 
 front windows. I have also marked out the farm on 
 the map, and often love to wander over the ground in 
 my mind. 
 
 "I send with this, by the Florence of Boston, a 
 box of curiosities to the Social Union of Amherst 
 College. You will please to call for a part of them, 
 viz., one set of the shark's back-bone, some of the 
 shells where there are duplicates, the little palm-leaf 
 wagon, two of the nutmegs, one of the cotton-pods, 
 and the basket which contains the Chinese god the 
 image itself is for the Society. We took the shark 
 on board the Duncan. He was eight feet long. The 
 little wagon I thought would amuse Frances and 
 Emily. Put the axle-tree through the holes at the 
 bottom of the body, and then into the center of the 
 wheels. The axles turn and not the wheels, as is the 
 case with all the native made carts. Its material is 
 a species of the palm, and it is quite a curiosity. 
 
 The cotton-pods are not the real cotton, but a native 
 
 flk 
 
 * The view of Mount Pleasant
 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 277 
 
 kind with which all beds, pillows, and cushions here 
 are stuffed. The basket was sent merely for the safe- 
 keeping of the fat old god. I hope it will be none 
 the less useful, coming from a far country. 
 
 " Methinks you ask, How do you get along ? I re- 
 ply, we stay here yet. Just settled down in our new 
 house, it is sold over our heads, and we must look out 
 for another. There is no such thing as written leases, 
 and landlord and tenant do each as they choose. 
 However, this is a small trouble. Ha ! ha ! ha ! I 
 just raised my eyes and looked out of the window, 
 before which I am sitting, when lo, a white horse 
 and chaise exactly like Uncle E.'s, so I thought he 
 had come down to make us a visit, being Saturday. 
 Oh ! no, it is an old Chinaman. Farewell to the 
 visit. 
 
 "My health never was better. Not so with E. 
 * * * As for climate, this is the best in the 
 world for her. We have a physician here not a whit 
 behind Dr. Flint, who attends missionaries gratis, and 
 the doctor is confident she will be raised up to perfect 
 health. However, our affairs are all in the hands of 
 God. ' Let Him do as seemeth Him good.' If He 
 sees fit to continue us long here, we will rejoice in 
 being permitted to labor for Him. If He prefers to 
 remove us hence, we shall be ' forever with the Lord.' 
 We all need to live as though journeying to the 
 grave, for we know not what an hour may bring forth. 
 Farewell. The Lord bless you all with abundant
 
 273 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 spiritual blessings. Do not forget to send me the 
 Gazette or Northampton Courier, or both, and write 
 often, all of you. I preach every Sunday in English 
 either on ship-board, or in the English chapel. I can 
 jabber some in Malay. Farewell." 
 
 TO CHARLES LYMAN, ESQ. 
 
 " BATAVIA, December 4:th, 1833. 
 
 " DEARLY BELOVED : 
 
 * * * \\r e hope and pray [alluding to his 
 wife's illness] that if the Lord see it to be necessary 
 to afflict us, He will bestow so much of His Spirit, that 
 the afflictions may be sanctified. Pray for us that 
 our faith fail not. I believe that there is an impres- 
 sion abroad in the Christian Church that there is no 
 need of praying that the souls of missionaries may 
 prosper. People sometimes say, that there is no situ- 
 ation in which a man can be placed so favorable to 
 growth in grace, as that of a missionary. Instead of 
 which, every thing is against a man's spiritual prog- 
 ress, and this may be the very reason why some ad- 
 vance so rapidly. Every thing tends to draw them 
 away from God, and hence they are led to seek Him 
 more earnestly. I never before found so many obsta- 
 cles to a holy life, and feel more than ever the need of 
 an interest in your prayers. 
 
 * * * You have heard that Malay is the Ital- 
 ian of the East. I will give you a few verses from 
 the Malay hymn-book in the Roman character :
 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 279 
 
 1. Eesa soodah dating pgnggl 1. Jesus hath come to call 
 Orang akan tobat ; Men to repentance ; 
 Tapee bookan orang adil But it is not righteous men, 
 Haaya orang jakat. But wicked men. 
 
 2. Kaloo barang orang ing-at 2. If any man thinks 
 Dere bookan salah, He is not guilty, 
 
 Eea teeda heudak tobat He does not choose to repent 
 
 Pada Tookan allah. Before the Lord God. 
 
 3. Kaloo keeta teeda rasa 3. If we do not think 
 Dosa keeta bauyuk, Our sin great, 
 
 Muta tooloong pada Eesa To ask assistance of Jesus 
 Mana keeta heudak. How shall we wish ? 
 
 4. Kaloo hatee keeta, dooka 4. If our heart is sad 
 Olee sebub dosa ; Because of sin ; 
 Soongoo keeta banyak sooka Surely we all joy 
 
 Samboot rah mat Eesa. Shall receive from Jesus' mercy. 
 
 5. Jangam keeta ecnet ing-at 5. Do not let us think 
 Deeree keeta adil, That we are righteous, 
 
 Hauya segrah brama tobat But immediatelybring repentance 
 Sedang Eesa pfing-gil. While Jesus calls. 
 
 " I admire these hymns for singing because they are 
 so free from the hissing sounds, common in English. 
 
 "This is a large city, its inhabitants wholly given 
 to idolatry. I fear there is scarcely enough good in 
 the fifteen hundred Europeans here to save it from 
 destruction. There is a spirit of inquiry excited. 
 Ten years ago it was impossible to distribute a single 
 book. Now two thousand are scattered monthly in 
 Malay and Chinese. The Malays, two hundred thou- 
 sand, are Mohammedans. The Chinese, thirty thou-
 
 280 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 sand, are all idolaters. Oh, it makes my heart sick 
 to see these thousands dying, and going to their ' own 
 place,' and my tongue tied, so that I can not preach 
 to them a word. In a month or two I hope to speak 
 Malay. 
 
 " There are here no such things as books or news- 
 papers, or any thing literary or scientific. Send, 
 therefore, all the newspapers you can, also occasional 
 sermons or any thing new. * * * 
 
 " As ever, yours in the Gospel, 
 
 "H. LYMAN." 
 
 Again in a letter to the same friend dated Janu- 
 ary 1st, he says : 
 
 * * * But I trust, dearest beloved, you 
 have already taken warning, and laid up your treasure 
 above. How happy shall we be when our pilgrimage 
 is over to sit down in heaven ! 
 
 " ' With joy shall we stand, when escaped to the shore ; 
 "With harps in our hands, we will praise Him the more ; 
 We'll range the sweet plains, on the banks of the river, 
 And sing of salvation, forever and ever.' 
 
 " Blessed ' HIM !' Who would lay up treasure on 
 earth ? Who would have his portion here ? I envy 
 not that man, even though he sit upon a throne, and 
 have millions at his command. Give me an interest in 
 Jesus' love, and I ask no more. As we are constantly 
 receiving new pledges of God's mercy, how does it 
 become us to consecrate ourselves more exclusively to
 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 281 
 
 His service. Let us be all the Lord's and we shall 
 be the gainers. 
 
 " My dear wife joins me in love to you all. She is, 
 thank God, better of her first attack." 
 
 To a letter, from Mrs. Lyman to his parents, 
 he adds : 
 
 "We wish you a happy New Year! not only 
 temporally but spiritually. I was never happier in 
 my life than since the 10th of last June." 
 
 In the same communication, Mr. Lyman speaks of 
 the anticipated arrival of the Emily Taylor. By 
 her they would receive letters from home. Not one 
 word of intelligence had reached them since they left 
 Boston, seven months before. At length the ship 
 came, bringing, in its supercargo and his wife, kind 
 friends. Indeed, scarcely did an American vessel 
 arrive but some act of courtesy is recorded of its 
 officers. Presents of hams, butter, apples, etc., 
 articles which had the home look, were constantly 
 bestowed. 
 
 But the long-expected Emily Taylor brought also 
 sorrow. Just two months after the departure of 
 his son, the father, who, up to that moment, had 
 scarcely known a day's illness in his life, was seized 
 with congestive fever, and in less than a fortnight 
 went to his rest, August 13th, 1833. Most peace- 
 ful and happy were his last moments. He trusted 
 his family, five of whom were under seventeen years
 
 282 THE MARTYR OP SUMATRA. 
 
 of age, to his covenant-keeping God. His only 
 anxiety concerning them seemed to be that they 
 might be earnest Christians. 
 
 By some accident the letters from Amherst, giving 
 an account of Mr. Lyman's last moments, did not 
 reach Boston for the Emily Taylor. The only intel- 
 ligence Henry received concerning it was contained 
 in the journal-letter of a sister, who, absent from 
 home, and supposing the family would send par- 
 ticulars, merely said, " Since I last wrote you our 
 dear father has been taken from us. Of course you 
 will hear the details from the others," etc. It was 
 the young missionary's first experience of bereave- 
 ment. We give its effect upon him in his own 
 words: 
 
 TO A YOUNGER SISTER. 
 
 BATAVIA, February loth, 1834. 
 
 SISTER DEARLY BELOVED : 
 
 You have doubtless ere this received many letters 
 from me, as I have also your long epistle, which I 
 pronounce the greatest treat that I received by the 
 Emily Taylor. Not one word else from any of 
 the family except A.' s of June 20th. And is it so, 
 I asked myself again and again, that my mother is a 
 lone widow, and my brothers and sisters are father- 
 less? I could hardly believe it, yet there was your 
 assertion of the fact. Yet when, where, by what 
 means, in what frame of mind, father left the 
 world, I am yet ignorant. Cruel, cruel friends ! I
 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 283 
 
 said again and again. They must all know my 
 ardent attachment to my family, and the deep 
 interest I have always taken in the welfare of every 
 member of it, and yet not a word about father's 
 death, and the circumstances of the others. For this 
 I wept. For my father I have no tears but those of 
 joy. He has gone home to rest. Long have I 
 prayed that his passage there might be easy, and 
 I believe the Lord made it so. Blessed be God that 
 he gave evidence that all his treasure was not on 
 earth. And for the last two or three years of his 
 life the world daily diminished in his estimation, and 
 eternal things increased. So may it be with us. 
 We know not, dear sister, when our time may come. 
 Let us have our work done every night, and all our 
 spiritual accounts settled. 
 
 You are truly left upon the wide world. But 
 cling to the cross. Never desert your closet, and 
 you will do well. Desert that, .and, however flatter- 
 ing may be worldly prospects, they will in the end 
 "bite like a serpent and sting like an adder." Re- 
 member the world is deceitful. Strip every thing of 
 its false colors by the light of eternity. Do not 
 believe every fair exterior honest at heart. Deliber- 
 ate long. Count the cost. Have two or three tried 
 friends. Open to them all your heart. 
 
 Would that I had time to point out all the diffi- 
 culties I see in your path. When of your age I did 
 not think they were thorns. It was only when
 
 284 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 I was wounded by them that I believed what others 
 told me. Had I not prayed much, very much, I 
 should have been destroyed by them. Be prayerful. 
 Be watchful. Remember 2 Cor. xi. 14. 
 
 Do you wish to know how much you ought to 
 commune with God ? I reply, How much grace do 
 you need ? I will tell you, inter nos, what I used 
 to do in college. I spent half an hour in the morn- 
 ing in reading in the New Testament, with com- 
 mentary, meditation, and prayer; half an hour at 
 noon in reading the Old Testament, with prayer; 
 half an hour at evening in reading some religious 
 book like " Saints' Rest," a review of the day's duty, 
 and prayer. Beside I used to pray when I wrote a 
 letter, or when I read one, when I sat down to study 
 a lesson, when I was going to a religious meeting, 
 visiting, or the like. So I would have you do, or 
 rather more. For with all this I advanced but 
 slowly in spiritual things. My soul always moved 
 sluggishly. Perhaps other people do not need so 
 much prayer, to advance at the same rate I did. 
 But sure I am, if most Christians would pray more, 
 they would see the need of more prayer. 
 
 Farewell ! In haste, but nevertheless in Christian 
 love and brotherly affection, 
 
 Yours, etc., 
 
 HENRY.
 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 285 
 
 TO MRS. THEODORE LYMAN. 
 
 "BATAVIA, January 21th, 1834. 
 
 " BELOVED MOTHER : 
 
 " ' The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of 
 God the Father, and the communion of the Holy 
 Ghost be with you all.' But I trust you have already 
 felt that the Lord is good, and though he afflicts, yet 
 he accompanies affliction with mercies. 
 
 " And is it possible, I ask myself, that I must pray 
 for the widow and the fatherless'? I can hardly per- 
 suade myself that I am not dreaming. Yet there it 
 is on paper. I can not be mistaken. It is even so. 
 ' You see desolation written on the post of every door.' 
 But, mother beloved, I weep not that one of our 
 family has gone home to rest, to be no more troubled 
 with the cares and sins of the flesh. If it were not 
 wicked to wish otherwise than God has ordained, 
 I would wish we were all with him we so much loved, 
 uniting in that unending anthem. I wept, however, 
 and wept bitterly, as I thought of those left behind. 
 All the news I got from America, while all others 
 have letters in abundance, is one solitary epistle of 
 
 June 20th, from sister A., and one from , in which 
 
 she" says, ' Since I last wrote you,' etc. * * * 
 
 " You must not wonder, then, that I wept. I knew 
 not whether the widow and fatherless had found an 
 earthly friend, nor whether the Divine Comforter was 
 near to pour the balm of consolation into the wounded 
 spirit. For once I wished myself at home. I felt
 
 286 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 
 
 distressed that I could not have been there at the 
 time. I then found how good was prayer. Eliza and 
 I knelt at the throne of grace, and commended the 
 bereaved to the care of Him who has promised to be 
 the widow's God, and the Father of the fatherless. 
 We remembered the promises. They were sweet. I 
 can now say I feel resigned to leave you all in the 
 hands of Him whom I have ever found to be a faith- 
 ful God. We commend you all to the Saviour, and 
 feel confidence in Him, who has brought us in so 
 much safety hitherto, that He will care for you, that 
 He will grant you His Holy Spirit, that He will raise 
 you up friends, and in short, that all things shall be 
 ordered well concerning you. * * * 
 
 "In his last moments how did father look upon all 
 his self-denials to prepare me for the ministry ? Poor 
 man ! they were many. I always felt it, but never 
 expressed it to him. Kich man ! he has his full re- 
 ward. I bless God, yea, I would magnify His name 
 forever and ever, that I have been permitted for BO 
 long a time to pray that he might be prepared for his 
 final change. I trust in God that it was so. I can 
 not believe that he was left in darkness. It can not 
 be otherwise than that his lamp was trimmed and 
 
 burning when the Bridegroom came. Must 
 
 give up the idea of being a minister ? I wish I could 
 have little Helen with me. But I commend you all 
 to the Lord and ' to the word of His grace,' in which 
 I am joined by Eliza. Yourson 3 HENRY."
 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 287 
 
 From the time of Mr. Ly man's embarkation two 
 separate journals were kept, the one intended as a 
 reference book, a mere record of occurrences. The 
 other was for his own spiritual profit. The para- 
 graphs which follow, are taken sometimes from the 
 one, sometimes from the other, and show that his 
 watchfulness and prayer increased, as his temptations 
 multiplied : 
 
 "January 12th. In just glancing at my cove- 
 nant and resolutions I am wholly condemned. How 
 then would it be were I to examine closely ? I want 
 to arrange my time. How much am I wasting for 
 want of a fixed plan. But then I want to fast and 
 pray over my plan, over my studies, over my ser- 
 mon, and over my soul, and over souls around me. 
 Lord, bless me. 
 
 "January \kth. This morning had a precious 
 season at family devotions. It was really getting 
 near to God. My heart felt soft and light, and I 
 desired that God would search out all my secret sins, 
 and purify me entirely by His Spirit. I wanted God 
 to set up His throne in my heart, for surely I am His, 
 and all the glory of my salvation belongs to Him. 
 
 " January ZQth. My soul is not yet waked up to 
 serve the Lord with all its energies. A poor sinner 
 I am ! vile and polluted ! 
 
 " I notice by the papers just received, the death of 
 some friends, particularly of my former class-mate, 
 H. B. McLellan, of Boston. But he has gone to
 
 288 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 heaven. No more sorrow or trouble will he have!. 
 Would I could feel the same of P., poor soul! Once 
 he had the strivings of the Spirit. But ambition had 
 more powerful claims than immortality. In the midst 
 of his anxiety he received a literary appointment) in 
 some college exhibition probably) and when he car- 
 ried for criticism the performance, to write which he 
 had thrown off his trouble as a sinner, he said to his 
 instructor, 'There is the price of my soul.' I hope 
 he may have since met with a change ; but hearing of 
 his death has brought gloom over my mind, and led 
 me to exclaim, ' How unsearchable are His judgments,' 
 while the account of Me L.'s death filled me with all 
 joy, for though he was soon to have preached the 
 everlasting Gospel, yet he will never serve God in a 
 more exalted manner. 
 
 " February ~\.st. Wrote to Seaman's Friend Soci- 
 ety, an account of our labor here, also an account of 
 Captain Laming's covenant with God, and his death. 
 
 " Early this morning witnessed the embarkation of 
 his excellency the Commissary General of Nether- 
 lands' India. The pomp of the Malays lining the 
 road for three miles, the military, the music, the arch, 
 appeared different from the offering of grateful hearts 
 rejoicing in view of his administration. He has gone, 
 and were his influence over these islands to end here, 
 all would rejoice. But he has obtained the appoint- 
 ment of Minister for the Colonies, and still must 
 rule. 

 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 289 
 
 " February 5th. It seems as if I was making no 
 advancement in my studies, and was in no way pro- 
 moting the great work for which I was sent here. 
 But I must be up and doing. In reading brother 
 Smith's [Rev. S. K] article on 'Ardent Piety,' in 
 the Baptist Magazine, I was led in some degree to 
 see my short-comings, and to seek the Lord for guid- 
 ance to enable me to be more faithful." 
 
 We beg to call special attention to the statement 
 that follows : 
 
 "February Qth. Was introduced this evening to 
 Mr. Francis, Dutch Resident at Padang. He was 
 very polite, gave us much information, and promised 
 to send us an account of Nyas. He spoke of the 
 Battas as opposed to Mohammedanism, and rather 
 favorable to the Christian religion. Every thing he 
 said encouraged us much as to the great. object of our 
 mission, although he laid before us many trials of a 
 minor character, such as being obliged to travel on 
 foot amid leeches, etc., etc., exposed to robbery, and, 
 perhaps, death. ' But none of these things move 
 me, neither count I my life dear to myself,' etc. 
 
 " February \\th. Learned that Mr. H , who 
 
 has been long residing in the interior of Borneo, is 
 murdered. 
 
 " Sunday, 23d Preached on board the Eugene. 
 
 We had a good congregation on account of distributing 
 
 printed notices. Heard of an earthquake at Padang 
 
 which very much damaged the hill ; opened the river 
 
 13
 
 290 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 so as to make it dry, and filled it with fish not known 
 before. It also drove upon this coast a large shoal of 
 fish, never before seen here, something like alewives." 
 
 February 27th, 1834, the little household was 
 gladdened by Mrs. Munson's giving birth to a son. 
 In Christian lands such an arrival is a joyous event, 
 but in the missionaries' lonely home it would be 
 difficult to describe the thrilling excitement it pro- 
 duces. And as the little creature grows, and puts 
 forth its infantile charms, the whole circle claim it as 
 then- own. We can never read without emotion of 
 the death of an infant at one of our missionary 
 stations. For we know that the pang that wrings 
 the exiled mother's heart is far more keen than that 
 which is felt by her who, surrounded by brothers and 
 sisters, sees her baby snatched from her bosom. And 
 thus a new delight was added to this home so soon to 
 be made desolate. Two months only might the boy 
 cheer his father's heart in this vale of tears. Then 
 must he be written fatherless ! 
 
 " March 5th. A Chinaman came to Mr. Med- 
 hurst saying he was convinced, from the books, that 
 Jesus was a great prophet and worthy to be wor- 
 shiped, and desired to be directed whether he should 
 make an image of him, or burn gilt paper. When 
 Mr. M. expounded the way of salvation, ' he went 
 away sorrowful, for he had great' pride in his heart. 
 It is easy to see hence how the Roman Catholic relig- 
 ion spreads among the heathen.
 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 291 
 
 " Every month seems a year till I can preach to 
 the natives in their own tongue." 
 
 a 
 
 So jealous are the Dutch government of all inter- 
 ference with their Indian possessions that special per- 
 mission was necessary for the missionaries to prosecute 
 their explorations. At length, after two interviews 
 with his excellency the governor, and the prepara- 
 tion of a duplicate copy of the petition to make their 
 tour, they were permitted to set out. " Both the 
 Commissary General, Van der Bosch, and the gov- 
 ernor, Bonde, expressed themselves favorably disposed 
 toward the establishment of a mission at Puloe Nyas, 
 and, in the same breath, advised the establishment 
 of a mission in the Batta country of Sumatra." 
 
 We find recorded an interesting account of the 
 Parapattan Orphan Asylum, established through Mr. 
 Medhurst's influence, where numbers of Malay youth 
 were trained in a Christian manner, who would other- 
 wise have been sunk in heathen degradation. A visit 
 to an opium shop stirred Mr. Lyman's inmost soul, 
 especially when, in connexion with its deep vice, he 
 remembered that it was a Christian government that 
 permitted, nay, derived a revenue from these abom- 
 inations, "these ante-chambers of hell." 
 
 In preparation for his departure, Mr. Lyman care- 
 fully reviewed his spiritual history since leaving 
 America, and continues : 
 
 " I have no fear that I shall fall away and be lost.
 
 292 THE MARTYR OP SUMATRA. 
 
 Mj fear is that I shall not so live under the light of 
 God's countenance, and so seek to be guided by Him, 
 as that I shall glorify Him and promote His kingdom. 
 When I look at the troubles that will assail me, and 
 the responsibilities under which I am to act, what can 
 I do without God's blessing ? 
 
 " The troubles that will assail me. I must bid 
 farewell to my wife, perhaps forever, as her health is 
 so delicate. I thank the Divine grace which has 
 already brought me to say 'Thy will be done.' Not 
 only do I need grace to bear me up at this time, but 
 during all my absence, to save me from uneasiness or 
 trouble on her account ; to prevent me from imagining 
 her pining away in disease without the attention and 
 care of her husband ; to keep me from the too san- 
 guine expectation of again meeting her on earth. I 
 must therefore pray to Him who gave me such an 
 overflowing abundance of support during the painful 
 trial of bidding adieu to my early home, and my 
 country, asking that God would impart to me the 
 same strength now. 
 
 "Having bidden my wife farewell, and having fairly 
 embarked, I shall be exposed to sickness and to 
 sudden death. In either case I need to have strength 
 imparted from on high, that I may glorify God. To 
 have my throat cut by a /cris, or my body run 
 through by a spear, or to be roasted slowly to death, 
 is to me horrible, horrible in the extreme. Neverthe- 
 less I must fear these things so little, and trust so 

 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 293 
 
 implicitly in God. that I shall go fearlessly forward 
 in the discharge of duty. Especially I need to be 
 guarded lest a fear of death shall warp my judgment 
 as to duty. The Lord give me grace in all time of 
 my trouble. The Lord help me to be fearless and 
 humble, without being reckless. 
 
 "Again, my temper will be much tried by ten 
 thousand little indefinable things. * * * 
 
 " The responsibility under which I shall act. I 
 must recommend the religion of Jesus wherever I go ; 
 often to those who have never before listened to the 
 way of salvation, and who will never again have the 
 opportunity. How, without the Holy Ghost, can I 
 win them to Christ ? 
 
 "Again, I am commissioned by the churches to 
 investigate personally the condition of these countries, 
 and to report upon the location of a mission. Does 
 the spy, sent to examine the stronghold of an enemy 
 and report upon the most favorable point of attack, 
 tremble from a view of the consequences attending his 
 statement? I more. I go to report upon the in- 
 troduction of the Gospel into a whole nation. The 
 salvation of hundreds of thousands of souls is in- 
 volved. 
 
 " Some of my friends deem me rash and self- 
 confident. I am so in little things I freely ac- 
 knowledge, but, Lord, thou knowest whether I 
 look to thee ; whether I am rash in any thing re- 
 lating to thy cause.
 
 294 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 " But there will arise multitudes of unforeseen 
 trials. I commend my soul to thee, God, in all 
 times of trouble and difficulty. By prayer, and by 
 an attentive perusal of such Scriptures as Romans 
 viii., I hope to derive strength. He who com- 
 missioned me will fulfill His promise, and as my day 
 so shall my strength be. ' If God be for me, who 
 can be against me ?' Amen. 
 
 "Sunday, March Qth. And now comes the last 
 time that I am for six long months, perhaps forever, 
 to look at my heart in this quiet place. All now will 
 be bustle and confusion. And will it prove 
 
 " ' A friend to grace 
 
 To help me on to God ? 
 Sure I must fight if I would reign : 
 
 Increase my courage, Lord, 
 To bear the cross, endure the pain, 
 
 Supported by thy word.' " 
 
 Sunday, April 6th, there gathered in the little 
 mission chapel at Batavia the usual assembly. The 
 dear baby received the rite of baptism, and the 
 name of his father. 0, who can tell how that 
 father's heart yearned over the boy, whom he felt he 
 might never again see ? Who can conceive the un- 
 utterable longings for the Divine ratification of the 
 solemn sacrament. 
 
 Then fifteen gathered round the Lord's table, and 
 their blessed Master met them. His banner over 
 them was love. "Lo, I am with you always," was
 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 295 
 
 fulfilled. Twenty-two years have passed away, yet 
 never more have these bowed together before the 
 memorials of Jesus' love. To most of the party they 
 have been years of toil, of anxiety, of struggling with 
 sin, but for Munson and Lyman they have long 
 been "more than conquerors through Him who loved 
 them." 
 
 We can not forbear to introduce some of the letters 
 of welcome which met the mission-band at Batavia. 
 They are fresh proofs of the oneness of spirit which 
 exists between these soldiers of the cross : 
 
 FROM THE REV. DR. BRIDGMAN OF CANTON. 
 
 CANTON, December 20th, 1833. 
 
 DEAR BROTHER: 
 
 I have great pleasure in acknowledging yours " at 
 sea, September 18th, 1833," and of hearing of your 
 safe arrival at Batavia. Brother Medhurst, I dare 
 say, has ere this initiated you into the work. He is a 
 good pattern for you, as well as counselor. He will 
 show you more than I can tell you. 
 
 The field before you is wide and desolate, and 
 requires all mind, might, and strength. We send you 
 a copy of the Chinese Repository from the begin- 
 ning, and hope you will do something toward filling 
 its pages. Brother Tracy goes to the Chinese man- 
 darin, or court dialect. Brother Williams learns the 
 Canton dialect ; they both enjoy good health, and go 
 about their work in good earnest.
 
 296 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 Write to us as often as you can, and remember us 
 in your prayers. Live as in the presence of Christ 
 He is with us. Love, and cherish, and strengthen, 
 each other, and all who labor in Christ. Farewell. 
 Yours over, 
 
 E. C. BRIDGMAN. 
 Love to Mrs. L. and all who are with you. 
 
 FROM THE REV. EDWIN STEVENS. 
 
 CANTO*, November 6th, 1833. 
 
 VERY DEAR BROTHER IN THE LORD : 
 
 Having nothing in the way of business to com- 
 municate, I thought that I might still allow myself 
 the gratification of adding my welcome to that of 
 others. Welcome to this great harvest-field of our 
 Redeemer, for to Him it does belong; it must be 
 reclaimed for Him, and bring forth fruit to the glory 
 of His grace. We have heard of your safe arrival at 
 Batavia, but I do not know the destination of each of 
 you, as. perhaps, you do not yourselves. Brother 
 Gutzlaff, who is now with us, but is going again up 
 the coast in a day or two, says the mission to Siam 
 
 / f 
 
 must not be abandoned. I hope it will not be, but 
 that the fire which you may help to light there will 
 meet the already kindled flame from Burmah > till 
 nation after nation shall see the light of salvation, 
 and rejoice in the hope of the glory of our God. 
 
 Dear brethren, who go to Siam, and sisters also, 
 T think the Lord will show you there how great
 
 THE MISSIONARY HOUSEHOLD. 297 
 
 things you must suffer for His name's sake. Jones, 
 who has gone there, has been deeply afflicted by 
 sickness, but the Lord restored him, and he is able to 
 restore you and to preserve you from the heat, and 
 the moisture, and the vapors of that climate. 
 
 The Lord of hosts go with you the God of Jacob 
 be your refuge. There lie the remains of poor Mrs. 
 Gutzlaff, whose heart was so set on coming into 
 China with her husband that when it was thought 
 she ought not to go, she replied that then she should 
 die. she knew that she should die. And she did die 
 before he went. Her prayers remain yet to be 
 answered, and may prepare the way for you there in 
 Siam. 
 
 Will those of you who remain in Batavia study the 
 Chinese language? Mr. Medhurst is so good a 
 Chinese scholar that some of the best assistance may 
 be had there. But in all these matters I will not 
 presume to say any thing. But permit me to add 
 my most hearty welcome to you, and thanks to 
 Almighty God who has inspired your hearts to re- 
 member these populous nations, and who has watched 
 over you, and brought you thus where Satan's seat is. 
 I view it as indicative that in the mind of the Lord 
 there is more good in store for these our degraded 
 fellow-men. 0, if the Redeemer's heart is now fully 
 set upon the renovation of these nations, we shall see 
 change after change, and all conspiring for the fulfill- 
 ment of His gracious plans. 
 13*
 
 298 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 Though I have welcomed you in so paternal a 
 style, yet the term of my residence here has been but 
 one year. Let me introduce myself. I am now in 
 the service of the A. S. F. Society, at the post of 
 Canton, with the ultimate hope and design of trans- 
 ferring myself to the missionary service. 
 
 How much brother Medhurst has suffered in Bata- 
 via, and been impeded in his work by unholy Chris- 
 tians, no one else can fully appreciate. Bridgman is 
 well and busy, and very useful. Dr. Morrison is 
 feeble : I think he never will do much more work in 
 his shattered body. 
 
 His son is increasingly active and useful. 
 
 Give my bachelor welcome to your beloved part- 
 ners ; they are the first American females who have 
 come so far eastward, solely for the Lord's work. I 
 think there will "once," as Gutzlaff says, be room 
 for them in China. 
 
 Yours very affectionately, 
 
 EDWIN STEVENS.
 
 X. 
 
 Gales from heaven, if so He will, 
 
 Sweeter melodies can make 
 On the lonely mountain rill, 
 
 Than the meeting waters make; 
 Who hath the Father and the Son 
 May be left, but not alone. 
 
 Sick or healthful, slave or free, 
 Wealthy or despised and poor, 
 
 What is that to him or thee 
 So his love to Christ endure? 
 
 When the shore is won at last, 
 
 Who will count the billows past ? 
 
 KEBLB. 
 
 Surely the isles shall wait for me. ISAIAH. Ix. 9.
 
 X. 
 
 THE true missionary work of the young brethren 
 was now to commence. Like the apostles of old they 
 were to go forth in their Master's name. Nor did 
 they proceed blindly. Well did the little household 
 feel that an unhealthy climate, a perilous voyage, a 
 fatiguing journey, were not the only dangers to be 
 encountered, and heart-rending and solemn was the 
 farewell. what an hour was that when the last 
 adieu was spoken, the last embrace given! With 
 what sickening hearts the poor wives sat down to their 
 lonely meal, or knelt at the family altar ! The 
 household band was broken. Would it ever again 
 be united? 
 
 The island of Sumatra stretches along, on the 
 west of the peninsula of Malacca, from which a nar- 
 row strait separates it. Its beauty of scenery and of 
 vegetation can hardly be exaggerated. The flower- 
 scented breeze warns the voyager of his approach to 
 its shores, and the agreeable impression is not re- 
 moved by a closer inspection of the land. 
 
 The inhabitants of the coast are principally Ma- 
 lays. Those of them who are not pirates, are the
 
 302 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 most trusty people on the island, and even with re- 
 gard to piracy, it is more than probable that much 
 which is so called is but savage revenge for the out- 
 rages of Europeans. 
 
 The native Sumatrans are, in general, mild, 
 peaceable, and forbearing, except when roused by vio- 
 lent provocation. Then their anger is implacable. 
 Their only beverage is water. Their diet is mostly 
 vegetable, and though they will kill a fowl, or a goat 
 for a stranger who lodges with them, they rarely par- 
 take of it themselves.* They are devoid of cunning, 
 yet endued with quickness of apprehension, and a 
 good degree of penetration and sagacity. On the 
 other hand, the Sumatrans are described by the same 
 author as indolent, addicted to gaming, dishonest in 
 their dealings with strangers, regardless of truth, 
 servile, filthy in their apparel, and improvident. 
 
 The island is divided into several small kingdoms, 
 and the habits and customs differ somewhat in the 
 different tribes, of which the Batta is perhaps the 
 most interesting. Large and populous as are their 
 villages, the earth brings forth abundantly for all 
 their wants ; while cattle, pigs, goats, and fowls are in 
 the best condition, and without number. They have 
 manufactures of cotton and silk, and are, in the main, 
 a simple, inoffensive, and happy people. 
 
 They believe in three gods : one above, one in the 
 air, one below, but they offer no petitions, and pay no 
 * Anderson's " Sumatra."
 
 THE BATOB GROUP." 303 
 
 adoration. Their only worship is beating a drum. 
 When they die they believe they shall become ghosts. 
 
 But one dark stain rests upon this fair picture. 
 The demon of war rouses into malignity this other- 
 wise gentle people, and whenever a captive is taken, 
 a feast is celebrated, at which his flesh is devoured, 
 while his skull is suspended as a trophy in the house 
 of his captor. Such is human nature without the 
 Gospel. Such was the tribe to whom Munson and 
 Lyman were to go. 
 
 The Dutch have settlements on the western coast 
 of Sumatra at Padang, Palembang, and Bencoolen, 
 and not far from these lies a long chain of islands to 
 which the attention of the missionaries was to be first 
 directed. Afterward they were to return and explore 
 the country of the Battas. 
 
 We shall endeavor to select from the journals what- 
 ever is of special interest, and of the few letters written, 
 omit only such parts as are repetitions of others. 
 
 Each day, according to an agreement with his be- 
 loved mother, Henry read the text in " Daily Food," 
 so that the same portion of manna supplied each. 
 And at family prayer the two lonely wives read by 
 agreement, the same Psalm which was sustaining the 
 faith of their sea-tossed husbands. Mr. Lyman writes : 
 
 "Monday, April 1th. Embarked on board the 
 Diederieka Captain Townsend, for Padang. In 
 looking forward to this time, I have had some anxicm 
 forebodings as to the future, and even the startling
 
 304 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 question came up, Can I leave my family ? But the 
 Lord happily brought me to a full and entire acqui- 
 escence in His will, in a way peculiarly His own. A 
 few evenings since, a thunderbolt broke so near our 
 house, that the sound seemed to catch my attention, 
 before the flash, and with a startling crash such as I 
 never before heard. It brought home to my mind with 
 such force the power of the Almighty, that it was His 
 to take life, even when we might be dwelling under the 
 same roof, and to preserve it, even though we might be 
 exposed to the ferocity of wild men and wild animals, 
 that I fell like a little child at His feet, and have since 
 felt naught but a perfect acquiescence in His will on 
 the subject. I have rejoiced that my name is written 
 in heaven. And truly I can say when the time of 
 separation came, I seemed to lean on the promises, 
 ' As thy day is, so shall thy strength be ;' ' Lo I am 
 with you always,' as one would lean on the arm of 
 a friend. I thought I could say with all my heart, 
 if I must return and find my wife in the grave, ' Thy 
 will be done ;' or if I must be sacrificed to the un- 
 tamed passions of cruel men, or to the ferocity of 
 wild beasts, ' Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good 
 in thy sight,' shall be my language. Still hope has 
 not deserted me. I had not rode a mile toward the 
 ship, before I began to say, ' Only six months more, 
 and I hope to be restored to home.' 
 
 " To separate from one's family, and plunge still 
 deeper into the depths of heathenism, is quite another
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 305 
 
 thing from leaving home, to go on a foreign mission. 
 Still the great God can, and will protect. He who 
 could open the Red Sea, stay the flames of the fiery 
 furnace, and shut the mouths of lions, can now do 
 the same. So 'I will not fear what man can do 
 unto me.' 'If God be for me, who can be against 
 me?' 
 
 " Tuesday 8th. We weighed anchor this morning, 
 and with a gentle breeze, soon left the shipping of the 
 roads far on our stern. It is encouraging to reflect 
 that as the sails are filling with the breeze, to bear us 
 on our perilous and responsible enterprise, the friends 
 of Christ are assembling in our native land for united 
 prayer to the God of missions, thatf He will prosper 
 those who are laboring in foreign lands. And we, too, 
 are especially remembered by some, because of the 
 reference which our labors have to the cause of God. 
 To move out of the harbor under the prayers of the 
 church is indeed animating. 
 
 ' ' We find our accommodations good in the extreme, 
 if we except the annoyance of cockroaches, ants, and 
 centipedes. But alas ! I am not on board a temper- 
 ance ship. At eleven o'clock the old square bottle 
 is brought out, and I must witness the same scenes 
 that I might have done formerly in my native land. 
 All on board have their allowance of arrack, except 
 the convicts, twenty-five of whom are here in chains. 
 
 " Tuesday night we passed Angier, and are now, 
 Thursday, in sight of the coast of Sumatra, and
 
 306 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 fifteen miles from it. It is an even highland, without 
 any mark to guide the ship. 
 
 "April \\th. To-day and yesterday have been 
 reading 'Landers' Expedition to Africa.' I could 
 not but reflect if these men were willing to undergo 
 so much for the sake of benefitting science and obtain- 
 ing their wages, shall I shrink back when my object 
 is to benefit the soul for time and eternity ? No, no. 
 Blessed be God if I may be ' counted worthy to suffer 
 for His name.' If I am never permitted to return 
 and reap the reward of my labors here, by seeing the 
 kingdom of God established among these people to 
 whom I am sent, while in this world, yet I know in 
 whom I have trusted, and in eternity all will be seen 
 to be right. 
 
 " Our passengers consist of a lieutenant in the 
 Dutch service, a French Catholic infidel, and a 
 young man in the employment of government. 
 
 "We had this evening quite an interesting dis- 
 cussion. The lieutenant had read Voltaire ten times, 
 but the Bible not once, because he was not allowed 
 by the priests to do so. With him it was ' all a lie,' 
 ' on the same footing with the Koran,' etc. He is 
 very much of a gentleman, and stated his objections 
 with a great deal of apparent honesty. I endeavored 
 to answer them at some length, although I regretted 
 that my limited knowledge of Malay, in which lan- 
 guage only we can converse, prevented my presenting 
 the arguments as clearly as I could wish. 

 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 307 
 
 " But the most convincing argument in favor of 
 the Holy Scriptures as being what they profess to be, 
 and that which I have often found most successful 
 with skeptics in New England, was the incomparable 
 excellence of their doctrines and precepts, and their 
 tendency to make society better, as well as the lives 
 of those who adhere most closely to their precepts, 
 particularly as manifested in their benevolence. 
 
 "It is a lamentable fact that infidel books are 
 abundant in India, having been brought out and sold 
 at auction at just sufficient to cover the duty. Who 
 will try the speculation of sending in the same way a 
 cargo of Bibles ? 
 
 " Saturday 12th. This afternoon we drew near 
 the coast, and most beautiful was the scenery. A tier 
 of hills two or three hundred feet in height, sometimes 
 rising abruptly from the ocean, at others with a gentle 
 slope, interspersed with woodlands or cultivated fields, 
 was overtowered by others, some of them deserving 
 the name of lofty mountains. Floating along their 
 blue sides, or resting upon their summits, were light, 
 fleecy clouds, sometimes heavy enough to resemble a 
 newly-fallen snow-bank. In the morning we were 
 favored with a sunrise more beautiful than any thing 
 I have ever seen. The sun's rays pouring out from a 
 small opening in the cloudy canopy above us, gave 
 the water the appearance of a sea of molten silver."
 
 308 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 TO HIS WIFE. 
 
 "BARK DIEDERIEKA, AT SEA, 
 OFF WEST SUMATRA, April \3th, 1834. 
 
 "You perceive, my dear -wife, that it is the Sab- 
 bath day, yet we are floating on the mighty deep. 
 Rat Island and Bencoolen are just in sight. Twenty- 
 four hours of such fair wind as we often had on board 
 the Duncan, and we should soon drop anchor in our 
 destined port. * * * 
 
 " And now you ask, dearest, how we are employ- 
 ing our Sabbath. With ninety souls on the ship you 
 suppose us to be preaching and doing much good 
 otherwise. But there are thirteen or fourteen differ- 
 ent languages spoken on board. True, all under- 
 stand a little Malay, but it is only a little. I have 
 been reading to-day in Baxter's ' Saints' Rest,' and 
 if you are troubled at all with despondency, or mis- 
 givings as to the future, I advise you to read, nay, to 
 study it. Surely in view of the rest that remaineth 
 for us, we can not be borne away and overwhelmed 
 by the troubles that may fall to our lot, in this proba- 
 tionary state. With Christ our friend, God our sup- 
 port, the Holy Spirit our comforter, and heaven the 
 end of our toils in the flesh, why need we ' fear what 
 man can do unto us?' Even supposing the very 
 worst that may befall us, though it may be ten 
 times more than Paul's ' thorn in the flesh,' and the 
 afflictions of Job, yet will not we be afraid, for nothing 
 shall be able to ' separate us from the love of Christ.'
 
 THE BATOB GROUP. 309 
 
 I Lave thought much since leaving you that there 
 must como at some time a separation between us, for 
 this world. We can not both expect to live here 
 always. I hope and pray that, if consistent with His 
 will, it may not take place during this tour. Then, 
 again-, I ask myself, Shall I be any more willing for it 
 to occur at another time ? and I am unavoidably led 
 to say, ' Not my will, but thine, God, be done.' 
 Only grant that we may be so prepared that that 
 hour shall not ' so come upon us as a thief in the 
 night,' but whether it be to-day, or to-morrow, or 
 next year, it may find us fulfilling the responsible 
 duties devolving upon us as soldiers of the cross. So 
 let us live, E., not over anxious as to what shall 
 befall us, but discharging the duties of each day, and 
 then, if the Lord in mercy spares us to meet in the 
 flesh, we shall enjoy it far more than if our absence 
 had been passed in brooding over the future. 
 
 " Think often of the portion of ' Food ' for the day 
 I left Batavia roads, April 8th. 
 
 "To-day is no time for news. You may expect 
 other letters, and I will retire to my state-room to 
 pray God on your behalf, and to gain strength for my 
 own soul." * * * 
 
 "MY DEAR WIFE: Not at Padang yet? you 
 will say. Nay. Not long after my last we encoun- 
 tered a north-west gale which floated us back forty- 
 five miles per day. After rolling and tumbling one 
 day and two nights, and having our shrouds carried
 
 310 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 away, our sails split, and our seamen almost killed 
 with incessant labor, we put in to Poeloe Bay, near 
 Bencoolen. Monday morning we went up to Ben- 
 coolen, twelve miles." 
 
 " April 2Qth. Went on shore to see if any mis- 
 sionary work could be done. Had a long and inter- 
 esting conversation with a Malay gentleman, formerly 
 a writer for the government. He was far the best 
 specimen of his race that I have seen. He invited 
 me to stop with him while the ship remained in the 
 bay, and, at any rate, to come to-morrow and hunt 
 wild deer. In giving him medicines, I asked for a 
 piece of paper. He called for his writing-desk with 
 the nonchalance of an old veteran in civilization. 
 He gave me to drink what he said was cocoa-nut 
 water, taken that morning and slightly fermented. 
 The taste was exactly that of wine whey flavored with 
 nutmeg. When his servant approached him, it was 
 in a squatting position, waddling up for six feet 
 or so. 
 
 " The houses are all of bamboo, with verandah and 
 floor of the same, elevated about five feet from the 
 ground, on posts. Some of them were cleanly swept 
 beneath, while others were untidy. Their padatis, 
 or buffalo carts, are of a peculiar construction. The 
 wheels, about three feet in diameter, are solid, and the 
 cart is raised upon a frame on the axletree, about one 
 foot above the top of the wheels. The roof is like
 
 THE BATOB GROUP. 311 
 
 that of a house, except that the ridge pole is depressed 
 in the middle and the front point is a little higher 
 than the one behind. It is covered with mats. A 
 small door in front gives ingress and egress. I should 
 judge them to be three feet wide by five long, designed 
 for one buffalo. 
 
 " The grass was not far from three inches in height, 
 and without exaggeration, twice as fine, and four times 
 as thick as I ever saw it in the most cultivated parts 
 of New England. It was truly like velvet. 
 
 " April 21st. We learned much in Bencoolen, 
 that is likely to be of use to us. We have hitherto 
 been advised in regard to Nyas, to make our chief 
 residence at a Malay or Mohammedan village, and not 
 to trust ourselves among the Nyas people. Now we 
 are told to avoid the Malay village, but to go directly 
 in among the people, and we shall be well received. 
 There is a Christian, a native of Tappanooly, on the 
 island, Mr. Messam, married to one of the Prince's 
 daughters. We have previously been advised to go 
 armed, which we have strongly resisted, and -had 
 determined to risk the contrary course. Now we are 
 recommended to go without arms, and to give up our- 
 selves to the generosity of the natives. This is the 
 advice of a worldly man. Much more may we pur- 
 sue this course going, as we do, in the name of the 
 Lord. 
 
 " Bencoolen was built by the English, and was only 
 given up by them to the Dutch in 1825, as an equiva-
 
 312 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 lent for other places. It now forms a part of the 
 Residency of the western coast of Sumatra, and has 
 an assistant Resident stationed here, the Resident liv- 
 ing at Padang. The former assistant Resident was 
 murdered last year by the natives, on account of his 
 tyranny, and when the government came to investigate 
 the matter, his course had been so outrageous, that 
 the people could hardly be blamed. 
 
 ' ' The town is built on a point of land on the outer 
 entrance to Poeloe Bay. A sand-bank and coral 
 reef extend far out, so that ships of large burden 
 usually anchor at Rat Island, seven miles distant. 
 The fact that most of the houses have, for want of 
 inhabitants, been going to decay, together with the 
 damage done by earthquakes, gives to the place any 
 thing but an appearance of life, business, and im- 
 provement. There are five hundred Chinese, then a 
 mixture of Malays, Bugis, Nyas, etc., all professing 
 Mohammedanism. The whole number of inhabitants 
 is not far from one thousand five hundred. The trade 
 is in the spices which grow luxuriantly. The nutmeg 
 and clove have much the appearance of the pear-tree." 
 
 The next day, the missionaries called on the Res- 
 ident who expressed himself as kindly disposed toward 
 them, and gave them permission to distribute books. 
 Mr. Lyman took the Malay part of the population, 
 but met with little success, until encountering a priest, 
 he says, " I entered into conversation with him, giv- 
 ing him a Testament, and two tracts, after reading
 
 THE BATOB GROUP. 313 
 
 aloud which for a few moments he walked on with 
 them in his hand, through the bazaar. Soon I was 
 necessitated to return to my lodgings for more books, 
 and when all were gone, I had still applications for 
 them. 
 
 "Mr. Munson was as successful, and like myself 
 regretted the small supply we had brought from the 
 ship. I was surprised at the number of children able 
 to read, and the earnest request of their parents for 
 books for them. The Lord grant that this seed may 
 bring forth fruit an hundred fold. 
 
 "Fort Marlborough built by the English, is the 
 strongest fortification in the Eastern Archipelago. Its 
 white walls in contrast with the lively green of the 
 grass around and on the top of its bastions, together 
 with its square tower, present a beautiful, though 
 formidable appearance. 
 
 " While British power prevailed, Mr. Ward and his 
 associates in the missionary work, labored here, and 
 some of the productions of the mission press are still 
 extant, and are most valuable. At evening we put 
 off to the ship. 
 
 " April 2Sd. At sunset, we enjoyed one of those 
 pleasant scenes that appear on a sea- voyage like an 
 oasis in the desert. The breeze fanning one with its 
 gentle breath, neither hot nor cold, but most delicious, 
 fitting one to view the sun gradually sinking in the 
 west, and to watch while the vessel glides on silently 
 and easily, the almost unruffled surface of the dark 
 14
 
 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 blue waters contrasted with the gradually melting 
 golden hues of the sky spotted here and there by a 
 fleecy cloud, till one star after another begins to 
 twinkle. One could not well avoid meditation, nor 
 being subdued into a heavenly state of mind, at peace 
 with himself, at peace with his fellow-men, at peace 
 with God. So may it ever be with me while I live 
 on earth. 
 
 " April 2Qth. About noon, Padang Head and 
 Poeloe Pisang were in sight, and just as the sun was 
 setting, orders were given to let go the anchor. We 
 proceeded immediately to the town, distant three miles, 
 and after a voyage of nineteen days, once more took 
 lodgings on terra jirma. 
 
 " The coast, all day, has been extremely romantic. 
 Lofty mountains come boldly down upon the sea, com- 
 pletely wooded, broken into peaks and ridges, towering 
 one above another. The small islands, too, which are 
 numerous near the coast, and in themselves are low 
 mountains, add much" to the scenery by presenting to 
 the eye the appearance of small bays and inlets, while 
 here and there the view opens on a fisherman's hut 
 or small village on a bit of level ground with a cocoa- 
 nut grove. 
 
 "The row from the anchorage to the town is very 
 picturesque. We landed in a little bay, and blindly 
 followed our captain till we found ourselves comfortably 
 situated in his father's family circle. 
 
 " April 29#A. Spent most of the day with Mr. N.
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 315 
 
 M. Ward, formerly of the English Baptist Society. 
 He now cultivates a sugar plantation, but still pur- 
 sues the study of Malay. He has translated the New 
 Testament and has collected forty thousand words for 
 a Malay dictionary. This is many more than Mars- 
 den has accumulated. He came out as missionary 
 printer, and labored successfully for five years at 
 Bencoolen, having established well-regulated schools 
 in all that vicinity. When the Dutch took possession, 
 Mr. Ward removed to Padang, where he labored for 
 two years. Mr. Evans, who had toiled here for five 
 years, left for England about the time Mr. W. came. 
 
 " Mi'. Burton labored for two years at Tappanooly, 
 and vicinity, among the Battas. He gathered two 
 small schools, when ill health compelled him to pro- 
 ceed to Bengal, where both he and his wife died. A 
 manuscript collection of Batta words, made by him, 
 and some other of his manuscripts, are in the college 
 at Serampore. Copies of them might be obtained 
 which would be of use to future missionaries. 
 
 " These missionaries found the Dutch officials al- 
 ways fair-spoken, but as regularly secretly opposing 
 their efforts. 
 
 " Messrs. Ward and Burton made a short incursion 
 into the Batta country, but did not reach the most thick- 
 ly inhabited part, which is on the borders of the great 
 Lake Tobah. The furthest point they obtained was a 
 fine level plain, covered with rice and houses as far as 
 the eye could see. It is called the Salindong District.
 
 316 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 They went up at the invitation of the people, who 
 traded at Tappanooly and soon after starting fell in 
 with a chief who accompanied them, and at whose 
 house they remained during the six days of their 
 stay, making three short excursions. Everywhere 
 the people gladly received them. 
 
 " As the first white men known there, they attracted 
 great attention. The whole population came out to 
 see them, and feel of them, whether they were flesh 
 and blood. Sometimes the crowd fairly blocked up 
 the way. The missionaries carried the British flag 
 always flying. This was reverenced by the Battas as 
 a charm. A double-barreled fowling piece, or ' a 
 gun that could speak twice,' excited their wonder, as 
 did their clothes, candles, etc. 
 
 " All the chiefs in the vicinity assembled to hear 
 the object of the missionaries explained. The ten 
 commandments were read and expounded to them, and 
 they discussed whether or not they should follow the 
 moral law. Then they had two dances, one to the 
 English flag and one to the missionaries. The meet- 
 ing lasted from 9 A. M. to 3 P. M. 
 
 " Lake Tobah is thirty miles in length, and has a 
 regular tide ; attributed by the natives to the influence 
 of evil spirits. 
 
 "The natives had a dread of white men. They 
 are opposed to the Mohammedan religion. 
 
 "April 30^A. Visited Mr. I., a truly venerable 
 patriarch, a Dutchman. . The half century passed by
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 317 
 
 him in India has left him healthy and vigorous. For- 
 merly he used to translate sermons into Malay and 
 read them of an evening in the church to a congrega- 
 tion, in that language. 
 
 "We found at his house many American pamph- 
 lets. Among them was a ' Farmer's Almanac,' and 
 the first number of ' The Shrine' published at Am- 
 herst College. The latter' awakened a train of pleas- 
 ing associations which exhilarated my spirits, and long 
 after I retired kept me from sleep. That institu- 
 tion interests me more and more, the further I recede 
 from it. 
 
 " We are now living in the old mission-house which 
 is yet unsold. It is in a healthy and pleasant neigh- 
 borhood, within a few yards of the beach, and the 
 waves roar, break, and die along the shore just under 
 our windows. 
 
 " M<jy ~Lst. Captain B. was once at Tappanooly 
 when an intelligent chief came to invite him and the 
 Post-holder to a feast upon a boy seven years of age. 
 The boy's father, thirteen years before, had murdered 
 the Rajah's brother. So the boy was to be eaten for 
 the sins his father had committed six years before 
 the son came into the world. Captain B. expostulated. 
 ' 0,' said the chief, ' I know how bad it is, as well as 
 yourself, but it is the law of my country, and I must 
 abide by it.' 
 
 " Called upon the Resident, who offered every as- 
 sistance in his power ; letters to Post-holders, etc.
 
 318 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 "May 5th. Wrote to the sultau of Indrapore. 
 The former power of his family gives him great influ- 
 ence over his people, though he has now scarcely the 
 shadow of authority. He was two years in Mr. 
 Evans's school here, reads and writes English, is very 
 much interested in the cause of education and the 
 improvement of his people, and delights in intercourse 
 with Europeans. 
 
 " May Qth. Met to-day with a Chinaman bora at 
 Bencoolen, who spoke English and Malay, and also 
 reads the former language, while Malay he can 
 scarcely read, and Chinese not at all. He seemed 
 to understand that Christ was the only way of salva- 
 tion. At my request he called this evening, when we 
 endeavored to impress on his mind the necessity of 
 making Christ his friend, prayed with him, gave him 
 some tracts, and promised if possible to obtain for him 
 an English Testament, before he leaves for Bencoolen 
 to-morrow. 0, that he may be taught of God and 
 become the spiritual guide of many of his deluded 
 countrymen. He is another proof of what Mi. 
 Ward's schools accomplished in those few years at 
 Bencoolen. One needs only go to that place to see 
 
 I 
 
 the results of those efforts, if superior intelligence and 
 a reading community are any proof. 
 
 " May 1th. Copying charts for our tour. Re- 
 ceived a note from the Chinaman, alluded to yester- 
 day, requesting the Bible. Having been unable to 
 obtain one here, I sent him the gift of my mother
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 319 
 
 when I entered college ; my guide to Jesus Christ, 
 and subsequent conductor in the way of salvation. It 
 was a hard struggle for me to part with it, but how 
 could I resist ? I have a Testament and Mr. M. a 
 Bible, so I can manage till I return to Batavia, where 
 there is an abundance. The Lord send His Spirit, 
 and make the book what it has been to me, and I 
 shall not regret having parted with it." 
 
 We insert the note of the Chinaman verbatim et 
 literatim. It is written in a fine clear English hand, 
 and superscribed 
 
 TO THE MISSIONARY. 
 SIR: 
 
 I beg leave to take the liberty of writing to you 
 these few lines, and beg you will have the kindness 
 to deliver the Testament and the Bible which you 
 promise me yesterday if you have any to supply, 
 by so doing I shall feel extremely oblige forever. 
 I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 HAN AQUANQ. 
 
 5th May, 1834. 
 
 " The Resident has appended to the resolutions of 
 government in reference to us, a circular to the local 
 authorities of Natal, Tappanooly, and Poeloe Batoe, 
 also a letter to the Malay chiefs, and another to the 
 Nyas chiefs on Nyas. He had also, in a report 
 recently made to government on the Residency, 
 recommended that missionaries be sent into the
 
 320 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 Batta country, also into Borneo. He does not, how- 
 ever, refer to Dutch missionaries. If the A. B. C. 
 F. M. occupy the field it is all the same. He advises 
 that the missionaries should reside at Natal, Tappa- 
 nooly, or Poeloe Batoe, and make occasional visits 
 there, while acquiring the language. 
 
 " He thinks the great point in gaining influence 
 over the natives is to be able to think and speak in 
 the native tongue. Eloquence will do what the sword 
 can not. They are neither difficult to approach nor 
 to be persuaded. A man must know them, allow for 
 their prejudices, bear with their ignorance, be patient 
 under their stupidity, and enter into their feelings, and 
 there will be no trouble. Since we have been here 
 the nights are cooler than in Java. There has been 
 rain almost every night. I have frequently caught a 
 glimpse of a bird flying with what seemed an ex- 
 tremely long feather in its tail, but I find it to be a 
 creature like our chipping-bird in New England, 
 which comes down, plucks a blade of long, broad grass, 
 which grows just beneath my window, and carries it 
 off to build its nest." 
 
 We beg especial attention to the statements recorded 
 as made concerning the Battas. The young mission- 
 aries, it has sometimes been insinuated, were not quite 
 prudent in venturing their lives where they lost them, 
 and it is only by marking the statements which from 
 time to time they received concerning this people, 
 that a correct judgment can be formed.
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 321 
 
 H. G., who has traveled all around these islands, 
 and speaks all their languages, informed Mr. Lyman 
 at this time, that "the Batta country extends from 
 Ayer Bangy to Sinkel on this coast, a distance of 
 perhaps ninety miles. He recommends our entering 
 it from Sawkeem. Thence to the lake is a journey of 
 about fourteen days. The Rajah of Sawkeem, who is 
 half Malay, half Batta, says, the people about the 
 lake are as thick as trees : that there is nothing there 
 but men and cattle. The head chief of the Battas 
 was, within the year, killed in a battle with the 
 Padrees, who overran the Row district and made 
 advances toward the lake ; many of the people took 
 refuge on the island in the middle of the lake. 
 
 " These Padrees are a new sect of Mohammedans, 
 who are pushing their conquests, but, as the Dutch 
 protect the Battas, have only succeeded in conquer- 
 ing the Row district. 
 
 " May 9/A. We are clear from the custom-house, 
 and in the morning at seven o'clock, the Lord pros- 
 pering us, we hope to be under way. 
 
 ' ' As to missionary life, every thing seems to have 
 been but preparation until now. I resolved to go. but 
 it was distant. I left my father's house and country, 
 but it was in company with my wife, to reside in a 
 city where was enlightened, Christian society. I 
 bade my wife adieu, but it was to sail with pleasant 
 company in a fine ship, to remain a few days among 
 a Christian people, to make inquiries and prepare for 
 14*
 
 322 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 the work. Now the work of preparation is at an end ; 
 all is completed. We have spent the evening in a 
 pleasant circle of friends (at. Captain Townsend's), 
 and have bidden them farewell. We stand now on 
 the verge of civilization, just poising for a leap among 
 the untamed savages, and the perils of exploring a 
 new country. And do these things move me ? As I 
 am not a brute nor a madman that I should be des- 
 titute of feeling, I feel. I have at times almost been 
 led to say, ' Why was not I settled over a snug parish 
 in New England ? and why did not the Lord send by 
 some other ?' But no ; the consolations of the Gos- 
 pel, the strength of the Lord, the fulfillment of that 
 promise, ' Lo, I am with you alway,' has subdued 
 every other feeling. I have, thanks to the Saviour, 
 found my strength equal to my day. I rejoice ; I 
 triumph. I envy not one of my New England 
 settled class-mates. ' I am now ready to be offered.' 
 In the words of to-day's ' Daily Food,' ' for me to 
 live is Christ, and to die is gain.' In our evening 
 devotions the twenty-seventh Psalm was read; my 
 soul seemed to enter into every word of it ; prayer 
 was sweet ; it was pleasant to thank the Lord that He 
 counted us worthy for the work, and to resign all into 
 His hands for life or death ; it was pleasant, too, to 
 return thanks for all His dealings, in bringing us to 
 this time, and to pray for all those friends whom, in 
 His infinite mercy, He has raised up to assist us. It 
 was sweet, also, in breaking away from this last point
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 328 
 
 of the civilized world, and plunging for months into 
 the depths of darkness and moral desolation, to raise 
 one more anxious prayer in behalf of Christendom, 
 that the Church may be watered, and her watchmen 
 may not cease to lift up their voice. 
 
 " Especially did my soul reach forth after a blessing 
 upon the colleges of my native land. those fount- 
 ains ! those fountains ! The arbiters of the fate of 
 so many millions ! Standing as I now do between 
 the light of salvation, and all the darkness of death, 
 with what importance do they rise before me ! 0, 
 that I had, while a member of one of them, seen and 
 felt their connection with the world's salvation in the 
 light that I now do ! How would I have prayed and 
 labored. My soul has been much weighed down ; 
 my prayers have ascended on their behalf, especially 
 for that which was the scene of my espousals." 
 
 In a letter to his mother dated Padang, May 3d, 
 1834, after speaking in tenderest terms of his wife 
 and of the trial of parting with her, he goes on : 
 " The struggle, however, was short. The consolations 
 of the Gospel have been so abundant, that I have 
 been quite happy all the time. Yes, dear mother, 
 the Lord Jesus is so kind in fulfilling His promises, 
 notwithstanding my neglect of Him, that I can truly 
 say, I rejoice in Him with 'joy unspeakable and full 
 of glory.' Now and then, when I see one of the 
 happy Padang families, enjoying domestic life, and
 
 824 THE MARTY R OF SUMATRA. 
 
 think of the four or five months yet before us, I say 
 to myself, How happy are these. But immediately 
 the thought comes home with peculiar force, ' There 
 remaineth therefore a rest,' and Jesus Christ and 
 His salvation appear most precious. 
 
 " When at home, I used to say, Never grieve for me ; 
 Jesus Christ will sustain me in all times of trouble. 
 Now, dear mother, I can say in all time of trouble 
 Jesus Christ does sustain me, and the nearer danger 
 and death come, the more desirable does Heaven 
 appear. 
 
 "With past experience of mercy from the hand of 
 God, shall I not go on in His service ? Surely, so long 
 as the promises continue yea and amen in Christ Je- 
 sus. Look, for example, at the ' Daily Food' for to- 
 day, ' Fear not, for I am with thee ; be not discouraged 
 for I am thy God/ 
 
 " ' When I walk through the shades of death, 
 
 Thy presence is my stay ; 
 A word of thy supporting breath 
 Drives all my fears away." 
 
 " ' Lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of 
 the world.' 
 
 " But trust in the promises of God which relate to 
 the support of myself as one of His children is not all. 
 I heard nothing from you, dear mother, and those 
 with you before I left, and, of course shall not expect 
 to hear, till next October, fourteen months after the
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 325 
 
 death of my beloved father. At times, anxiety springs 
 up as to the circumstances of my family. But in the 
 promises to the widow and fatherless I find consola- 
 tion. The Lord ' doeth all things well.' Whatever 
 may have been the circumstances of father's death, 
 and whatever may be your circumstances, I endeavor 
 to leave all things with Him who has ordered them. 
 
 " To another I would not write so much of my own 
 feelings. I know not. how I can more conduce to 
 your happiness than by referring you to the Word of 
 God, assuring you that you are not forgotten in those 
 hours when the Christian loves to remember his 
 friends. 
 
 " If the Lord prospers us we shall leave this place 
 on Wednesday or Thursday next, in a little boat of 
 eight tons, and one mast, manned by seven men, 
 (equal to two Yankees.) for the island of Nyas. 
 Having explored that, we shall land at Tappanooly, 
 and take a journey of two months or so, on foot, staff 
 in hand, and having passed around the great lake 
 where no European has yet been, return as speedily 
 as possible to Batavia, where, if the Lord prospers us, 
 we shall be sitting in our little family circle by the 
 time this reaches you. * * * 
 
 " As this goes by Batavia, I shall leave the corners 
 for Eliza to fill up, and only add, the Lord be with 
 you and bless you, is the prayer of your son 
 
 " HENRY."
 
 826 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 TO A SISTER. 
 
 , May llih, 1834. 
 
 "DEAR SISTER: 
 
 " * * * Truly now I can say that in all I 
 have experienced of missionary life, I have ever found 
 a something within, so comforting, so consoling, such 
 a firm support, yea repaying with such a manifold in- 
 crease, that were I at liberty to choose between what I 
 have passed through and a comfortable situation at home 
 I would prefer the former yes, parting with my dear 
 wife added. Truly it is sweet to be made recipients 
 of the Lord's favors. I mention His sustaining good- 
 ness to add my testimony to that of thousands of oth- 
 ers. It is, as I always told you it would be : the Lord 
 calls no one to a particular duty, but He gives sus- 
 taining grace. 0, dear sister, put all your trust in 
 God. You perhaps think it terrible to be exposed, 
 as we expect to be. Believe me when I say, I am 
 glad to think I may again see my E., but I rejoice, I 
 triumph in the thought of going home, to be ' forever 
 with the Lord.' " 
 
 After describing their plans, and the delay in sail- 
 ing owing to the indolence of their crew, he goes on : 
 
 " As to our boat, it is of eight tons, with one mast 
 and manned by seven Malays. Of course there is 
 nothing but deck and hold, the former sloping like a 
 house-roof with its ridge-pole within one foot of the 
 spanker boom. Then below, even where it is highest 
 in the middle, I cannot stand up with my hat off.
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 327 
 
 We have partitioned off, with mats, six feet in length in 
 the after part, and have arranged our chests on each 
 side, as a sitting, eating, and sleeping place, there not 
 being room sufficient between them to place even a 
 very small table and leave a passage-way. I never 
 before attempted to live in such small, hot, ill-aired 
 quarters. 
 
 "The remainder of the hold is appropriated to 
 the stores, a few goods, the crew, and three men who 
 accompany us." 
 
 In a letter to his wife of May llth, we find : 
 "The situation of Padang is exactly like that of 
 Montpelier, Vermont, except that it has the sea on 
 one side. All those wild mountains surrounding it, 
 and a pretty river running through the midst of it, 
 really I thought myself again among the Green 
 Mountains. In the sides of the hills, close by the 
 village, is as sweet and nearly as cold water as that 
 of Vermont springs. 
 
 " # * * I hope I am not deceived when I say 
 that our separation has been sanctified to my spiritual 
 good, weaning me in some measure from earth. In 
 whom can we now trust but in the Lord ? It seems 
 as if I was driven near to Him. But it is sweet 
 getting there at any rate." 
 
 We resume the extracts from the journal : 
 " May \\th. This morning we found ourselves 
 still in the river, there having been no wind during 
 the night. Not wishing to sail on the Sabbath
 
 328 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 \ve took breakfast at our old home, Captain Town- 
 send' s. Most of our conversation this evening has 
 been in reference to the temperance cause. All over 
 India the brandy, gin, and wine, come upon the table 
 of every European as regularly every day as his food, 
 and no less regular is his cigar ; but it will be best, 
 perhaps, to give a view of a day's living as I have 
 observed it. A cup of coffee is the first thing when 
 out of bed ; then bathing, dressing, exercise, etc., till 
 breakfast, at eight or nine o'clock, which is served up 
 with coffee, tea, or wine, or all. At eleven o'clock 
 comes strong drink ; at twelve or one o'clock, luncheon, 
 with wine ; half past five, dinner, at which wine is 
 drank without reference to quantity, accompanied 
 usually with strong beer ; after the cloth is removed 
 the ladies retire to the drawing-room to take their 
 coffee or tea, and the gentlemen remain, furnished 
 with fresh supplies of wine, together with a stand of 
 brandy, gin, etc., etc. Every gentleman, almost, has 
 a servant following "him with a lighted rope, as if not 
 a breath could be drawn inseparably from tobacco- 
 smoke. Such is the general character of the East 
 India Europeans in reference to living, though there 
 are many exceptions. Where the English customs 
 prevail, the people are much more temperate, and 
 approach nearer the New England style of living, as 
 at Padang. Still here are the strong drink and cigars. 
 Under such circumstances, with the apparatus before 
 us, the discussion was highly interesting."
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 329 
 
 This subject of intemperance greatly disturbed Mr. 
 Lyman. May 18th, on board their boat, he addressed 
 a letter to John Tappan, Esq., of Boston* as to one 
 who would be interested in the subject, in which 
 he says : 
 
 " My heart is sick with seeing the glass filled and 
 emptied before breakfast, with breakfast, at eleven 
 o'clock, before dinner, with dinner, and continually 
 after, till bed-time. Wherever I have been in India, 
 wine is placed on the table in the morning ; when the 
 table is cleared the decanter-stand of strong drink 
 makes its appearance ; with dinner, wine and beer are, 
 like water, in abundance, and after dinner, strong drink 
 again. I believe the quantity consumed is diminishing, 
 but still it is terrible. Formerly it was so pernicious 
 in its effects at Padang, that it obtained the Malay 
 name of Pakoe (nail), because the people said, ' It 
 drove one more nail into a man's coffin.' You might 
 hear them call to their servants, ' Bring me the red 
 nail ;' or, ' Bring me the white nail.' Mr. Vangrale, 
 of Bencoolen, told me that when he came to India, 
 twenty years since, the young men when warm with 
 wine, would go out, fasten weights to the legs of the 
 table and the chairs, and sink them in the canal, 
 then sit in the water till daylight, drinking. 
 
 " The influence of the American Temperance So- 
 ciety has been felt here. A spark has been kindled 
 that ought to be fanned into a flame. I dined and 
 spent some time with the governor-general (Bonde),
 
 330 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 and almost all the time I could spare from my mis- 
 sionary business was employed by him in making 
 inquiries concerning the temperance movements in 
 the United States. In every place where I have not 
 introduced the subject, the people have. Our tem- 
 perance ships, and temperance captains and super- 
 cargoes, have done wonders. And now, dear sir, what 
 is to be done ? For done something must be." 
 
 Again he says: " Ships are coming hither daily. 
 They can bring any quantity of temperance publica- 
 tions. If no one else will take the trouble, send them 
 to me. I will (D. V.) forward them to every station, 
 whether missionary, civil, commercial, or military, 
 where a man can be found to read the English lan- 
 guage." 
 
 The situation of Padang .Mr. Lyman describes as 
 being very beautiful, along the banks of a river, and 
 stretching out into a plain, which, like a basin, was 
 shut in on all sides, except that washed by the sea, 
 by mountains from two thousand to four thousand 
 feet in height. Excepting just on the stream, the 
 cocoa-nut trees, as in all towns here, conceal the 
 houses, so that they are almost hidden from one 
 another. 
 
 " The principal business of the place is done on tho 
 northern bank of the river by Europeans and Chinese. 
 The great export is coffee. Then the Malay bazaar 
 stretches for a mile and a half on each side of a long 
 street. The goldsmith's work is exquisite, and,
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 331 
 
 wonderful to say, made with no other tools than a 
 file, a pair of pliers, and a hammer and plate for 
 drawing wire. The whole number of inhabitants on 
 the Padang plain is about thirty-five or forty thousand. 
 About four hundred are Europeans, or their descend- 
 ants ; the rest are native Chinese, Malays, Bugis, and 
 Nyas people. Of these last, two thousand are slaves. 
 
 " The dwellings are mostly of wood, on account of 
 the earthquakes which are here very frequent. The 
 climate is healthy, being on a sandy soil, and among 
 the mountains. It is too near the equator to have a 
 regular rainy season. The small church is so injured 
 by earthquakes that it ought to be taken down. Mr. 
 Hartig, a laborious missionary of the Netherlands' 
 Society, expects to be stationed here. He would be 
 a hearty friend to any missionaries. 
 
 "The Chinese have one temple; the Malays have 
 twelve mosques. The Dutch have one school, taught 
 by a common soldier." 
 
 Mr. Lyman then strongly urges the propriety of 
 sending a missionary to Padang, stating what articles 
 he should, carry with him, and what should buy there. 
 
 "May ~L2th. Landed at Priaman, in the praou's 
 boat, hewed out of the trunk of a tree. The passage 
 is between breakers, but we had the good fortune to 
 escape with but one surf breaking over us. The 
 country, like Padang, is a large plain, bounded by 
 mountains. But the harbor is so wretched that all 
 the coffee is carried down in boats to Padang.
 
 832 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 " I called immediately upon the Toeangkoe, or Ra- 
 jah. In front of his house, which was not unusually 
 large, and built as a portico to it, was the bally-bally, 
 or bechara (consultation house), forty feet square, 
 larger than the main body of the house. 
 
 " He is an inveterate opium smoker, as his eyes, 
 his house, etc., gave lamentable proofs. He is not, 
 however, alone in this, for from this solitary campong 
 of two thousand five hundred persons, the income of 
 government is 2,040 guilders per month for opium. 
 
 " I began to make inquiries about his people, but 
 he ' could answer no inquiries,' until he had asked of 
 the men who accompanied me, whether I belonged to 
 government; I saw from whence the trouble arose, 
 and explained fully who and what I was, and showed 
 him Medhurst's school-book, in which he. was inter- 
 ested, and was very desirous of retaining it to teach 
 his own children. 
 
 " He would be glad to have schools established, and 
 the children taught. There are here but twenty per- 
 sons who can read. The priests instruct at their 
 houses. 
 
 "There are twenty priests, two hadjies, and one 
 mesjid (mosque), a miserable, dirty, little place, in 
 which -a priest resides. 
 
 "I discoursed a while with his excellency, upon 
 the way of salvation, and bade him a ' salamat tingal,' 
 (good by,) with apparently much good-will on both 
 sides.
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 333 
 
 " About one o'clock we weighed anchor and soon 
 left Priaman far astern. 
 
 " Our praou having come to anchor, and all things 
 being in readiness, we left at one o'clock for Ayer 
 Bafigy, distant eight or ten miles. Ayer Baiigy is 
 the first town on the west coast, in the Batta country, 
 though no Battas of consequence are found until a 
 day's journey. 
 
 "The Malays, or Malay Battas, usually inhabiting 
 the coast, are not considered within the precincts of 
 that country. 
 
 " We saw here to-day the gourd used for water- 
 goblets. New England was forcibly brought to mind. 
 And no less so, as we gazed upon the undulating 
 surface of the hill north of the town, covered with 
 light green grass. The whole bay is beautiful. It 
 may rather be called several small bays within a bay, 
 all having fine head-lands at their entrance and grace- 
 fully curving back upon a level country. At a little 
 distance inland, ranges of mountains rear their lofty 
 summits, only to be overtopped by others, particu- 
 larly that of Ophir. 
 
 "We saw to-day the son of the Rajah of the Row 
 or Rawd country. He had as heavy a beard, long, 
 bushy mustaches and whiskers, and handsome curly 
 hair, as is seen upon the finest European head. 
 
 "The Row is the Batta district which has been 
 mentioned as having been subdued by the Padrees; 
 most of the people have become Mohammedans.
 
 334 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 "The Dutch were not driven out of the district 
 until after being shut up in a fort nine days, and re- 
 duced so near to starvation that they devoured their 
 dogs and horses. They made their egress in the 
 night, in silence, and escaped to the Mandheeling 
 district, where they have two forts to defend that 
 people, at their own request, from the incursions of 
 the Mohammedans. To the inquiry whether it would 
 he now safe to travel there ? he replied, ' Perfectly, 
 if a man behaves himself well.' So all say, and so 
 we have hitherto found it ; treat the natives well, and 
 they will treat us well. 
 
 " May \th. The wind continuing ahead, we did 
 not weigh anchor till day-light this morning : and 
 soon after, the wind coming ahead again, we cast 
 anchor five or ten miles in advance of this morning, 
 near Pulo Poegago. This island is, for the most part 
 low, and covered with cocoa-nut trees. Half a dozen 
 families reside here, and have a few buffaloes, fowls, 
 and goats. Here we found a small praou from Natal ; 
 its owner was quite an intelligent man. He had been 
 twenty days in the Batta country, (Mandheeling dis- 
 trict.) He advised an entrance at the Tobah district, 
 by way of Tappanooly. He says that if we declare 
 ourselves Englishmen or Americans, the Battas, Bugis 
 or Achinese, will receive us at once as friends. If 
 the latter suppose us to be Dutchmen, nothing would 
 induce them to spare our lives. 
 
 " Our conversation, on collecting the islanders, and
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 335 
 
 some from the main, who had come here, two or three 
 miles, to obtain cocoa-nuts, turned on the plan of 
 salvation, which was brought forward and discussed, 
 with no other apparent effect than to lead them to 
 suspect that I was a Padree. 
 
 " The Sumatran shore, from Ayer Baflgy to Pulo 
 or Poelo Tamong, where we left it for Pulo Pingie, 
 is wild, mountainous, and deeply indented with bays. 
 Passed this morning Doesaen Telloe LdLlng, which 
 four or five years since was destroyed by the Padrees. 
 At that time it contained two hundred inhabitants. 
 
 - ' Had a conversation to-day with the Nakkoda 
 upon some of the Mohammedan superstitions, as em- 
 braced by the Malays. He did not, nor did any of 
 the Malays, to his knowledge, abstain from the use 
 of wine and strong drink because the Koran prohib- 
 ited them, but because they were of no use, but rather 
 tended to make men worse. Nor did he abstain 
 from the use of pork because the Koran prohibited it, 
 but because if a Malay ate it. it would cause his skin 
 to crack, and his hair to fall off. 
 
 " The Nyas people are said to be treacherous : un- 
 der a pretense of examining a man's fire-arms they 
 use them against him ; under the pretense of leading 
 him to a fine hunt of wild hogs, they lead him into 
 an ambuscade. This spirit, if it exists, has been pro- 
 duced by the nefarious traffic in slaves, which has 
 been so long carried on there. More than two hun- 
 dred per annum are now actually carried off by the
 
 336 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 Dutch government, and private individuals under the 
 gentle appellation of ' debtors.' 
 
 " The encouragement of the trade leads every vil- 
 lage to be continually in arms with a neighboring 
 village, and every man with his neighbors. Even the 
 child who is sent to the spring for a little water, may 
 never find his way back to his home again. The 
 Rajahs seize their subjects, their subjects seize one 
 another, and foreigners, Dutch, French, Chinese, 
 Malays, etc., seize whoever they can lay their hands 
 upon. 
 
 " May 18th. It was some time, in making out our 
 outfit, before I could bring my feelings to put down in 
 the list, firearms and ammunition, they appeared so in- 
 consistent with our object. But Mr. Ward joined all 
 others in saying, that while it would be a temptation of 
 Providence to go where wild beasts were so abundant 
 without arms, they would be a kind of scare-crow to 
 all the natives, and save us, not by their use, but sight, 
 from much trouble and insult, and insure us, on the 
 contrary, safety and respect. This, together with the 
 fact that all natives go armed, and that we are on a 
 tour of investigation, finally overcame my scruples. 
 But I must confess I would almost as soon allow my 
 own life to be taken, as to take that of a fellow-man, 
 though a savage. However, God will lead us into 
 no trial but He will find a way of escape. In Him 
 we trust." 
 
 The small islands which were passed by our voy-
 
 THE BATOE GEOUP. 337 
 
 agers were extremely beautiful, always with a beach 
 of white sand and coral reefe; the people mostly 
 simple and accessible. Mr. Lyman complains of the 
 want of elementary books, and wishes some of Gal- 
 laudet's were translated into Malay. 
 
 Poeloe Batoe or Pulu Batu, is a small rock, which, 
 on account of its peculiar appearance, gives its name 
 to a large group of islands off the west coast of 
 Sumatra, between Nyas on the north, and Si Boeroe 
 on the south. The largest is called Tanah Massa. 
 Since the whole group is named from the one island, 
 there has arisen an apparent contradiction of travelers 
 as to the situation of Poeloe Batoe. 
 
 The emporium of the group is Tclo, situated at the 
 head of a fine bay, on the east side of Si Boehari, 
 forty-eight hours' sail from Natal and from Ayer 
 Buugy, and about three days from Padang. Telo is 
 a small town, containing only one hundred and fifty 
 Malays, and thirty Chinamen. It is the residence 
 of a Post-holder, with some native police. There 
 are six or seven hundred" Nyas people, and many 
 small craft resort thither to purchase oil, sago, and 
 sea-slug. Thus the intercourse with other places 
 is constant. 
 
 The whole number of people in the group is about 
 eight thousand, living on nineteen different islands, of 
 whom seven thousand three hundred and fifty-seven 
 are Nyas, three hundred and fifty are Malays, one 
 hundred are Chinese, and three are descendants of 
 15
 
 338 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 Dutch, making in all seven thousand eight hundred 
 and ten. 
 
 The population was diminished nearly one half by 
 the small pox, a few years since. The people pay no 
 taxes. They use sago instead of rice. 
 
 " Having spent most of the morning with the Post- 
 holder pro tern., we visited the nearest Nyas cam- 
 pong. At its entrance we found some men who 
 informed us that several persons were sick with the 
 small pox, and we could not enter, the village, as they 
 were making medicine, i. e., sacrificing to their idols. 
 The taboe is, in such cases, laid on all not belonging 
 to the campong for eight days. The chief and twenty 
 or thirty men and boys came down to see us. We 
 found him an intelligent man, and able to speak 
 Malay. Their dress was a strip of cloth, not more 
 than three inches in width, passing between the legs, 
 and wound about the body from one to six times. 
 Sometimes strips of three or four colors were intro- 
 duced, and in front several ends hang down, as a kind 
 of loose curtain. 
 
 The women are more modestly attired, wearing the 
 Malay sarong, which fastens about the waist, and 
 hangs down to the knees ; and when they go out of 
 the village a loose cloth is thrown over the shoulders. 
 Many wore the Nyas kris, which has a defense for 
 the hand, consisting of a ball three or four inches in 
 diameter, containing bits of iron, shells, little wooden 
 images, and other charms. This is their full-dress
 
 THE BATOB GROUP. 339 
 
 weapon. There is a smaller one always in the girdle. 
 Some had the shield. There seemed to be no one 
 mode of arranging the hair. Some wore it long, 
 some shaved, others were half shaved. Some had 
 the finger-nails stained. When a young man begins 
 to act for himself in life, his teeth are cut off close to 
 the gums and stained black. The right ear had a 
 large slit, increased by the weight of the huge rings 
 they wore. The teeth of the women are also cut. 
 They appeared more open-hearted, manly, intelligent, 
 independent, and friendly, than the Malays, Javanese, 
 or central Sumatrans. They seem to be much in- 
 terested in our object in visiting these parts, and 
 expressed a willingness to have schools. I then took 
 out my pencil and showed them how their language 
 could be written, and their king could give his orders 
 and be understood without leaving his house, and they 
 could correspond with one another ; at this they were 
 highly delighted, and could hardly find words to 
 express themselves. We left them, much gratified 
 with our introduction to the people for whom we had 
 so long prayed, and whose salvation has taken such 
 deep hold of our hearts. 
 
 "In the afternoon called on the Malay Datuk, or 
 Head-man. He brought a Bengal edition of the 
 Malay Testament, which had evidently been much 
 used. 
 
 " May 2\st. Disappointed in our plans for the 
 day, we went again to the campong. The curiosity
 
 340 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 of the natives in examining the spy-glass and watch 
 was very great. After selling us plantains and oil 
 they made us a present of another bottle of oil 
 and some eggs. This would never be done by a 
 Chinaman or Malay. 
 
 "We saw a Nyas fishing.- He had a bundle of 
 fibers, I should think made of the cocoa-nut leaf, bound 
 together two inches from each end. This he threw 
 into the water with such dexterity that fish stuck 
 between the fibers, and, as the rod floated, he went 
 and secured both. His string of fish was exquisitely 
 splendid. Each seemed to possess all the colors of 
 the rainbow, but no two were similarly variegated." 
 
 In a letter to the Secretary of the A. B. C. F. M., 
 of May 18th, Mr. Lyman says: " If we are unable 
 to enter Nyas, we beg you will not say, ' There are 
 yet four months and then cometh the harvest.' In 
 Padang and the Batoe group are at least ten thousand 
 Nyas people, all bowing to gods which their own 
 hands have made ; loving pork and hating Moham- 
 medanism ; friendly to Europeans, and free to choose 
 life or death ; people of intelligence, ingenuity, and a 
 cast of mind superior to any Asiatics we have yet 
 seen." 

 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 
 
 TO CHARLES LYMAN, ESQ. 
 
 ON BOARD THE PRAOU " TANJAH," among the Batoe 
 group of Isles, nearly on the Equator, May 18th, 1834. 
 
 DEAR COUSIN CHARLES: 
 
 I should like exceedingly to step in this evening at 
 the corner of Albany-street and learn how you fare in 
 your Zion-bound course. It is now nearly one year 
 since I heard aught concerning you or any of your 
 family. Taking it for granted that you are all well, 
 I sometimes allow my imagination to run away with 
 me, in endeavoring to conjure up the particular cir- 
 cumstances in which you are all placed. * * * 
 
 I can never retire to pray for friends without seeing 
 your image and calling to mind that natural friend- 
 ship which for so many years has been strengthening 
 between us. And if I could only learn, were it but 
 in a word, that the Lord is leading you in mercy, and 
 making your way prosperous toward heaven, it would 
 gratify me exceedingly. Not that I doubt it, but to 
 be assured of it from yourself, is my desire. 
 
 Of my own poor self I can say I never enjoyed so 
 much in America in one year as since I have left 
 there, nor so much anywhere as since I have left 
 wife and all, and commenced the present voyage. 
 True, I have not been free from troubles, but you 
 know medicine is sometimes made exceedingly pleas- 
 ant to the taste, by an excess of the medium in which 
 it is taken, and after its operation leaves the body in
 
 342 T11E MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 a more healthy and vigorous state : so has it been 
 with -what little I have seen of trouble. The separa- 
 tion from home, and recently from my wife, were 
 bitter pills, but I would like to go through with the 
 same again next week, if it could be attended with 
 the same consolations from on high. I mention this 
 to make one remark, viz. : a New England home, 
 with all its endearments, is not a sine qua non for 
 happiness in this world. Many in America thought 
 I was making myself perfectly miserable in engaging 
 in the missionary labor. I could not convince them 
 that God can make thorny beds as "soft as downy 
 pillows are." Now I can speak from experience. 
 While the blessings of New England are rich, and 
 calculated to make one happy in this life, yet happi- 
 ness does not consist in them, but rather in the mind, 
 in the man himself. One may be perfectly wretched 
 in America, while in the midst of savages another 
 may be perfectly happy. And why can a missionary 
 be happy? Because God fulfills His promise, " Lo, 
 I am with you always, even unto the end of the 
 world;" and also according "as thy day is, so shall 
 thy strength be." In our little boat of eight tons, 
 managed by Malays, who are rather indifferent navi- 
 gators, in our little cabin, partitioned off by mats in 
 the back part of the hold, with not room sufficient to 
 stand upright amidst all the smell of bilge-water 
 and ship-stores with our chests on each side for 
 sleeping and writing, and a clean mat spread on the
 
 . 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 343 
 
 floor, on which to eat our rice and chicken broth, for 
 want of room to place a table, / was never more 
 happy, if I except the few first hours after I opened 
 my eyes in the kingdom of Christ. 
 
 Why is it that so many will cling to the good 
 things of this world ? as if in them was centered all 
 happiness; as if God had no power to make these 
 very blessings the bane of their existence ; as if He 
 were unable to give them grace sufficient when they 
 follow His commands, and make what appears to be 
 a sacrifice, a blessing. The truth is, no Christian 
 makes a sacrifice when he follows Christ, any more 
 than the impenitent sinner does when he gives up the 
 world, and yields his heart to his Saviour. He 
 receives a hundredfold more; if not in this world, 
 yet he lays it up in a sure banking-house for the 
 next. 0, had I a voice that could be made to ring 
 in every Christian's ear, I would send peal upon peal 
 the cry, Live for Christ devote all to Him, until 
 it should make an abiding impression upon his heart, 
 and lead him to throw away his unsatisfying reliance 
 upon worldly gratifications, and seek all good in 
 endeavoring to build up the kingdom of Christ. Not 
 that he must necessarily leave his home and country, 
 but that he must daily ask the Lord with an earnest 
 anxiety to know the truth, " Lord, what wilt thou 
 have me to do this day ? So guide and direct me that 
 my influence may be felt in eternity, and so direct
 
 344 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 my affairs in all future life as that the greatest glory 
 may redound to thy holy name." 
 
 Much love to all your family and Uncle L.'s. 
 With your father's carpet-bag before my eyes all the 
 time, my head on aunt Mary's pillow-case, a shaving 
 apparatus from Abby, etc., etc., etc., I can not for- 
 get you all if I would. May you all experience 
 richly the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, commu- 
 nion with God the Father, and the fellowship of the 
 Holy Ghost, is the prayer of your cousin, 
 
 HENRY. 
 
 TO HIS WIFE. 
 
 " ON BOARD THE PRAOU ' TANJAH,' off the north coast 
 of Poelo Pingie, Sunday, May 18th, 1834. 
 
 " DEARLY BELOVED : 
 
 " ' Grace be unto you, and peace from God our 
 Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.' ' We give thanks 
 to God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 praying always for you, that ye might be filled with 
 the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual 
 understanding ; that ye might walk worthy of the 
 Lord unto a,ll pleasing, being fruitful in every good 
 work, and increasing in the knowledge of God ; 
 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious 
 power, unto all patience and long-sufiering with joy- 
 fulness : giving thanks also unto the Father who hath 
 made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of 
 the saints in light, and who hath delivered us from the
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 345 
 
 power of darkness, and hath translated us into the 
 kingdom of His dear Son.' 
 
 " Truly it is a blessed Gospel which the Lord hath 
 revealed unto us, and it is a signal display of grace 
 which has constrained us to accept its rich privileges. 
 And now, whether at church in a Christian land, or 
 mingling our songs and prayers with a little number 
 of saints in the midst of a heathen population, or 
 confined at home to a bed of sickness, or tossed about 
 on the ocean in a little boat, or wandering among 
 savage men, and more savage wild beasts, we can 
 still draw nigh to the same throne of grace and obtain 
 consolation and strength from the same common 
 source. We are still one in Christ Jesus, and through 
 His blood look forward to the same common rest which 
 He has prepared for those that love Him. This one- 
 ness in Christ Jesus, this common interest ^v-hich we 
 have to-day at the same place of audience leads me 
 almost to forget that for six long weeks we have not 
 bowed the knee in one of those delicious seasons of 
 social retirement, when, alone with God. we could 
 unreservedly pledge ourselves to Him and ask through 
 Jesus for blessings on ourselves and those we love ; 
 and that hundreds of miles now intervene between us. 
 
 " If you are regular in seeking your portion of 
 ' Daily Food,' our thoughts often run in the same 
 channel, and we find ourselves condemned, and our 
 hearts comforted, by the same declarations of the 
 Gospel and the same rich promises. Yesterday my 
 15*
 
 346 THE MARTYE OP SUMATRA. 
 
 mind was so carried away with evil thoughts, and I 
 became so estranged from that sweet, pure communion 
 with God which I have enjoyed for many days past, 
 that this day's portion was truly adapted to my case. 
 " 'He will subdue our iniquities.' How rich ! He 
 will subdue our iniquities. He will bring under, 
 will conquer, will destroy, will blot out, will forgive, 
 will forget, all our willful wanderings and thoughtless 
 neglects ; will purify, cleanse, sanctify us and make us 
 a meet residence for His Holy Spirit. Yes : even 
 though ' our very frame is mixed with sin,' yet, 
 
 " ' Such virtues from his sufferings flow 
 At once to cleanse and pardon too." 
 
 " And when once made partakers of His heavenly 
 calling, to what glory are we permitted to look forward 
 as our portion ! One would think it designed for 
 kings and princes of a more glorious, if not even a 
 celestial character. ' But behold ! only a shell full 
 of dust, animated with an invisible rational soul, and 
 that rectified with as unseen a restoring power of 
 grace, is the creature that is to inhabit that peaceful 
 place where unbroken, sweet, tranquillity prevails ; 
 that free place where none are servants ; that resting 
 place where none are tired with their labors ; that 
 rich place where there is no more hunger, thirst, or 
 nakedness ; that equable place where are no pinching 
 frosts or scorching heats ; that healthful place where 
 none are sick ; that joyful place where there is no
 
 THE BATOE GROUP, 347 
 
 more sadness or sorrow ; that social place where there 
 is no lack of friendship, nor separation of friends; 
 that princely place where all are kings ; that holy 
 place whele all are priests ; that spiritual place where 
 there is no more flesh or sense ; that glorious place 
 where God shall be all in all ; where we shall no 
 more look into our cabinets and miss our treasures: 
 
 
 
 into 'our hearts and miss our Christ, and no more seek 
 him from ordinance to ordinance,' but all be merged 
 into a full fruition ; an unbounding, unending enjoy- 
 ment of God our Father, Jesus Christ our Redeemer, 
 the Holy Ghost our sanctifier. 
 
 "Indeed, I forget that we are not on the throne of 
 a little kingdom ; we are contented, happy. One rea- 
 son is, that this kind of life agrees so perfectly with 
 my iaste ; another that God has given me a kind of 
 easy disposition, in the long run, to take things s 
 they come, and make the best of them, and. last, 
 though by no means the least, the Lord has blessed us 
 abundantly, having thus far kindly ordered all things, 
 so that scarcely any thing has occurred of an adverse 
 kind. To His name be all the glory. You must 
 think of us only as happy in our labors, willing and 
 desirous to perform all with fidelity, and then with no 
 less eagerness and desire to run to those we love and 
 recount all the Lord's dealings with us in our absence. 
 So says your 
 
 "HUSBAND."
 
 348 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 " May 22d. Information was received here this 
 morning that a Padang praou, with eight Malays on 
 board, was cut off at Nyas, and all murdered." 
 
 The same day at half-past seven in the 1 morning, 
 the missionaries, with a lunch on board, set off, and 
 in three hours, dashing through a very narrow pas- 
 sage in the breakers opposite the banyan-tree which 
 shades the boat-sheds and entrance of a small village, 
 they found it almost deserted, most of the people 
 having gone to a wedding-feast, of which the mis- 
 sionaries had already heard, at Bambavo Si Toeru. 
 At length some men made their appearance and sup- 
 plied the cook with fire for the preparation of break- 
 fast. The brethren walked on for a mile on the beach, 
 to another village. " The boat-sheds, as usual, marked 
 its entrance. From these, a broad path led up through 
 fjMiick grove, used for a cemetery, with here and there 
 a trunk, or a mat and pillow, or perhaps cooking uten- 
 sils, set upon a stone, or hung upon a stick for the use of 
 the dead, to the gate of the village about twenty rods." 
 Their arrival being announced, the Head-man came out 
 and led them 'in; the reception was rather cool, till, find- 
 ing they were Americans, & hearty "good, very good," 
 burst forth, and " we were conducted to the Head- 
 man's house, where we found twenty or thirty women 
 who remained sitting, and the floor was immediately 
 crowded with men to the number of two hundred. The 
 chief then informed the people where we were from, 
 and inquired if our coming was pleasant to them.
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 349 
 
 Immediately they gave three loud cheers till we were 
 almost stunned. When the people had gratified their 
 curiosity and began to retire, we commenced collecting 
 ourselves. My first thought was that I was among a 
 large assembly of that interesting people for whom I 
 had so long been praying. I felt so overjoyed, and 
 my heart was so drawn out to them, that I could not 
 but express it to the chief. He repeated it to the 
 people, when again came three cheers. I- never shall 
 forget my feelings. Home, country, and wife were 
 forgotten in the desire to remain, and endeavor to lead 
 this people in the way of salvation. 
 
 "As to the village. A wall of about six feet 
 high, much like the stone fence of America, sur- 
 rounds a level space, supposed to be four or five hun- 
 dred feet. The only entrance is at the head of the 
 path from the beach by a wooden door wide enough f6r 
 four persons to enter abreast. On three sides are the 
 houses fronting toward the center ; the Head-man's 
 or Ametjoer's being in the center opposite the gate. 
 In this village there were twenty-five houses ; fourteen 
 on the longest side, and the remainder on the ends. 
 In the center of the inclosure, and facing the 
 entrance, is the guardian deity, as stupid as a 
 rudely-carved piece of wood, firmly planted under 
 a bamboo-shed, can be. 
 
 " The houses are constructed of wood, raised about 
 seven feet on large pillars of the same, leaving room 
 beneath for the surue. From the floor up, the front
 
 350 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 and back walls incline outward to the height of seven 
 or eight feet, or rather jut out like the after part of 
 a ship, and the inside is something like a cabin, the 
 first being, perhaps four feet wide, for a platform, 
 and the second narrower, for a seat. Above the seat 
 the whole is slatted or latticed, and generally in the 
 center is a scuttle in the roof, which serves for a win- 
 dow or opening, affording light and air. An atap, or 
 thatched roof, extends up with an extremely acute 
 angle at the ridge-pole, leaving room sufficient in the 
 attic for two tiers of rooms, but it is all occupied with 
 an immense quantity of timber, sufficient, with its 
 ingenious construction, to support the whole weight of 
 a, well-tiled roof of the same size. The jointing of 
 the floors, hanging of the doors, etc., display much 
 skill. There is an entrance from the ground to every 
 two or three houses, and all are connected by inter- 
 mediate doors. Several families occupy one. house, 
 each keeping its own account of outlay, and without 
 dispute dividing the labor. 
 
 " There were the Ametjoers of seven villages with 
 many of their people, not less than a thousand persons, 
 met to celebrate the marriage of this Ametjoer's 
 daughter. We descended to the square. Near the 
 god-house was a high pole, from the top of which 
 floated in the breeze a banner at least ten yards long, 
 composed of two strips, one scarlet (the bridegroom's 
 color), the other yellow (the bride's color). At 
 a little distance on either hand were four other
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 351 
 
 streamers, one of chintz, one of white, one of red and 
 white, and another of blue. Around the center flag- 
 staff a large party were dancing, perhaps a hundred 
 and fifty people, each sex by themselves, arranged 
 according to age. The movement was a kind of 
 spring, obliquely forward and back, and a measured 
 step around the circle, to no other music than a half 
 shout, half singing. Then half drew off and the other 
 half closed round the bride and some of her com- 
 panions, while those inside performed similarly to the 
 Malay dancing-girls. 
 
 " While this was going forward, another party were 
 busy at the extremities of the inclosure slaughtering, 
 singeing, and cutting up eighteen or twenty hogs, 
 throwing every part of them into huge caldrons, 
 temporarily set. After the dance the women retired 
 to an awning made of a sail. The pork for which there 
 was not room in the kettles was then laid in separate 
 portions for each village. Then was the time for dis- 
 tributing presents. One shabbily-dressed old man 
 gave away gold ornaments that could not have cost 
 less than $200. The feast was now seryed up, 
 and portions were brought to us : a plate of dark- 
 looking boiled rice, and a bowl of the boiled pork 
 with a quantity of dirty salt poured upon it, and 
 water to drink. We swallowed as much as we could, 
 and then distributed our presents. Some of them 
 were a yard of red camlet, a coarse handkerchief, a 
 brass pencil-case, a pen-knife, and a large hair-pin
 
 352 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 for the bride. We took our leave, exceedingly in- 
 terested, and leaving the natives as much so. 
 
 "With Savoevo the Ametjoer of Sigese, one of 
 the villages of Sigata, the most populous island in 
 the Batta group, I was much pleased. He spoke a 
 little Malay, was quite intelligent, and very inquis- 
 itive. All with whom I conversed would rejoice to 
 have schools established and the children instructed. 
 
 " The holiday dresses were very splendid. The 
 women especially were many of them tastefully at- 
 tired. The hair was knotted behind with a frame- 
 work of brass or gold ornaments, resembling some- 
 what an immense comb. A band of the same passed 
 around the forehead. In the ears were gold orna- 
 ments, four or five inches long. A scarlet petticoat 
 hung from the waist. Above, on the upper part of 
 the body, was wound round several times a long piece 
 of chintz, and over it was thrown a cape [a berthe] 
 of yellow beads terminating just below the waist in a 
 kind of fringe of little bells and white shells. Just 
 around the hips was wound an immense quantity of 
 brass wire chain. Beside there were necklaces, 
 bracelets, and rings of gold, brass, and ivory. In 
 contrast with all this were their bare feet, and wad- 
 dling, sailor-like walk. There was more variety in 
 the dress of the men ; a mere strip of cloth, a cotton 
 jacket, and even a long, full robe of yellow silk, 
 or crimson broad-cloth, or camlet with a fancy border. 
 
 " The Head-man of Sasara, had, in addition to his
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 353 
 
 gold breastplate and collar, a piece of (I thought,) 
 brass passing round his upper lip, and fastening 
 
 behind his head. From the corners of the mouth 
 
 
 
 upward, extended a pair of large tusks, in imitation 
 of the wild boar, while a piece of the brass fastened 
 under the chin. 
 
 "May 23rf. At Oro Hili, at the north part of 
 Si Boehasi found the Ametjoer's house on a hill more 
 than a hundred feet high, overlooking the village, 
 which has no wall about it, and was not well built. The 
 wife was present during my interview with the chief. . 
 Her infant of four months was as white and sprightly 
 and interesting as an American child. Its little ears 
 were dragged half way to the shoulders by fourteen 
 rings about an inch in diameter, mostly of lead wire. 
 
 ' ' In their color, the Nyas people are fairer than the 
 Javanese or Malays, while their cast of countenance is 
 far superior to any other Asiatics I have met, many 
 of them reminding me strongly of friends at home. 
 They are open and frank, unlike in this, to both Ma- 
 lays and Chinese. 
 
 "The women generally occupy a back apartment, 
 and are timid in their deportment. The curiosity to 
 see a white man could scarcely draw them nearer to us 
 than the next room. 
 
 "May 26th. Though the rain poured in torrents, 
 we went to visit Rajah Boekit. The town, which is 
 situated on an eminence ascended by a flight sixty 
 feet in height, of narrow, rude, steep stone steps, is
 
 354 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 poor and filthy, built in the Nyas fashion. The Ra- 
 jah received us very courteously, with a semicircular 
 group of men in attendance. He is a talkative, active 
 man, showing energy, strength, and decision of mind 
 in every word. His cast of countenance indicates a 
 superior parentage. He is nominally the native head 
 of the Batoe group. But like all other kings on 
 Sumatra and its dependencies, his monarchy is a 
 feudal republic, the real authority residing in the 
 chief of each village. Boekit receives no revenue 
 from the people, but about forty dollars per annum 
 from the Dutch government. His ancestors were 
 originally Mantaivi people. They settled on Massa 
 about two hundred years since. At that time in all 
 these islands (which being coral have been constantly 
 increasing in size) there were not more than one hun- 
 dred people. When the Nyas began to emigrate here, 
 they acknowledged the sovereignty of these Rajahs. 
 
 "Boekit appeared quite interested in the plans of 
 the Board. He and his people would be glad to re- 
 ceive missionaries and their instructions. 
 
 " Thence we sailed two hours to Mari, landed, and 
 walked across the island to Goroe, which is a fine 
 large village containing sixteen houses. We saw here 
 the first Nyas blacksmith's shop that we have seen. 
 The forge consisted of a few small stones laid around 
 in a circle on the ground. The bellows were two 
 perpendicular wooden cylinders, with a cotton-stuffed 
 swab in each, which a boy. standing on an elevation
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 355 
 
 equal to the top, worked alternately .up and down, on 
 the principle of an air-pump or syringe, and thus 
 forced the air through a small bamboo at the bottom 
 of each, which directed from both a continual stream 
 upon the coals. 
 
 " )Vhen a person dies he is not buried, but placed 
 in the grove above ground the next day. After lay- 
 ing him aside in a coffin, in the morning, the family 
 of the deceased make a feast, as they do at the birth 
 of a child. These feasts are like those of the mar- 
 riage, which has been described, pork being the prin- 
 cipal dainty. The head of the person buried is always 
 placed in a plate or large earthen dish, and the mat, 
 pillow, clothes, and a plate, are fastened to a stake 
 near by, that they may decay with him who used 
 them. 
 
 " A month after birth, every male child receives a 
 slit in the right ear, every female child in both ears, 
 at which time the name is fixed for life. 
 
 " In their persons they are neat, using no oil. At 
 each village is a bathing-place for the women, walled 
 in by stone. Wherever we went we were sure of 
 finding a clean seat, and cleaner mat. The platforms 
 and seats before described (page 350), are the only 
 furniture. In one house I saw an ill-shaped arm- 
 chair. Overhead the whole of the attic is open. 
 Large plates, each in a wicker case, are suspended 
 from the lower beams. Among the upper timbers, 
 are the larger Penates, ani hung about on the walls
 
 356 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 are the smaller ones, of divers sizes and shapes. The 
 skulls of hogs killed in ' duaking 1 (making medicine) 
 are also suspended here. Back of the principal apart- 
 ment, are the sleeping and eating rooms. 
 
 " The people are quiet and peaceable, living together 
 in great harmony, and exchanging visits and feasts. 
 Their principal articles of trade are cocoa-nut-oil, sago 
 and the sea-slug, so much prized by. the Chinese. 
 Many of them acquire considerable property. The 
 only way in which they expend money for ostentation 
 is in earthen plates and ornaments. 
 
 " Their women are treated with more respect than 
 in almost any other heathen nation. They are on 
 terms of companionship with the men. They are 
 very fair, extremely interesting, and there is more of 
 the wife and mother about them, than I have seen in 
 the natives of Java and Sumatra. 
 
 "No person can marry more than one wife at a 
 time. Upon the decease of a man's wife he can 
 marry again if he chooses, in two or three days. 
 When a woman's husband dies she must wait as many 
 months before she again marries. No man can put 
 away his wife as long as she retains a good character. 
 In case he designs to do it, he must apply to the 
 Ametjoer, whose decision is final. If he objects they 
 can not be divorced. If he gives his consent, the man 
 must pay the woman twenty dollars. 
 
 "When a young person is detected in a lie by his 
 parents, he receives a chastisement. When the delin-
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 357 
 
 quent is older he is brought before the Ametjoer, and 
 if he Avill not confess his fault, and exhibit penitence, 
 he is fined twenty dollars. 
 
 " When one is found out in theft, if he will not 
 confess his fault to the Ametjoer, ask pardon of the 
 one he has offended, and restore the property, his 
 hands and feet are bound together, and he is cast into 
 the sea. 
 
 ' ' Adultery and murder are punished with instant 
 death by decapitation. These crimes occur so infre- 
 quently that some of the Ametjoers have almost lost 
 the run of the laws. Some of the oldest inhabitants, 
 in some villages, can not recollect when either of the 
 above crimes has occurred. 
 
 " One Ametjoer, of Oro Hili, informed me that if a 
 Nyas man became a Mohammedan, it would subject 
 him to expulsion from the Bunwa (village). When 
 asked how they would regard a man's throwing away 
 his idols and becoming a Christian, he replied, no, 
 such case had yet occurred, and he knew not how far 
 it would interfere with their customs. It would be 
 time to decide, when one had become a Christian. 
 Others, however, informed us that there was no notice 
 whatever taken of a man's turning Mohammedan. 
 He would be obliged, however, on his own part, to be 
 very careful not to become defiled where there were 
 so many swine. 
 
 " Rajah Boekit says, that but one has turned to 
 the ways of the false prophet, and he resides still in
 
 358 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 his Bunwa. Others say there are twenty in Pulo 
 Batu. 
 
 " They believe that a benevolent deity resides 
 above, and a malevolent one below. The latter, 
 Ladoe Radano, is the most powerful while men 
 reside in this world, retaining them here and inflicting 
 upon them whatever trouble or disease they may 
 experience. Death, however, frees one from 1m 
 power, and gives the soul liberty to ascend to the 
 good deity, where it dwells forever. The celestial 
 king they have no occasion to propitiate ; but it is 
 different with the evil deity. The large, ugly image 
 always found in the center of the Bunwa, or village, 
 and the images suspended in their houses, are all 
 representations of Satan. Ladoe Radano does not 
 dwell in any particular place, but walks up and down 
 in the world, and we could not but add to their 
 description, ' seeking whom he may devour.' 
 
 "The priests are only employed to 'make med- 
 icine,' i. e., to offer sacrifices of hogs to the god when 
 any one of the people is ill. For this last they re- 
 ceive a fee, otherwise they support themselves. 
 
 "We have witnessed nothing among them that for- 
 bids the introduction of the Gospel. They have great 
 dread and reverence for white men, and great love for 
 the English. They would rejoice to have their chil- 
 dren taught to read and write, if it can be possible to 
 write the Nyas language. A missionary among them 
 would be well received. He would be sufficiently far
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 359 
 
 removed from the eye of the Dutch to escape inter- 
 ference from them, while sufficiently near to receive 
 aid in times of trouble. He must, however, be careful 
 that he always pursues such a course as to convince the 
 people that he has no connection whatever with gov- 
 ernment, while at the same time, according to Gospel 
 principles, he must render ' tribute to whom trib- 
 ute is due, and custom to whom custom,' and be 
 cautious that he never does or says aught that will 
 
 if 
 
 prejudice the minds of the people against the govern- 
 ment. 
 
 " There is no question that now is the time to look 
 after these eight thousand souls. Every facility 
 possible presents itself for present labor. The situa- 
 tion of the people in a village, afibrding facilities for 
 establishing a church and school is unparalleled in 
 the history of missions. It is as easy calling them 
 together, and the people would have no further to go 
 than the students of a New England college. Then 
 their superiority of mind and elevation of character, 
 their present exemption from vice, the looseness of 
 their bonds to heathenism, their respect for foreigners, 
 their love for the English, every thing seems to say the 
 field is white, already white for the harvest. Then 
 its relation to Nyas. It is like a portico to a house. 
 If a man does not find labor sufficient, one day's sail 
 will carry him to two hundred thousand speaking the 
 same language, and possessing the same customs. Or 
 in connection with this might be established a school
 
 360 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 or two at Padang, where are one thousand ' free, and 
 two thousand slave Nyas." 
 
 Some extracts from letters close this long chapter : 
 
 " May 25th 0, to have a will swallowed up in the 
 Lord's Avill ; to entirely acquiesce in His government, 
 this is the acmd of Christian attainment. That I may 
 have such a spirit, iet your prayers continually 
 ascend. 
 
 " Notwithstanding our raised expectations, we are 
 more than ever interested in the Nyas people, and for 
 one, I should rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, could I 
 be permitted to learn their language and spend my 
 life in leading them in the way of salvation. I long 
 to go home, bring you, and go about it at once. 
 
 " June 7th. The Sabbath has dawned upon us 
 once more, bringing with it the close of one third of 
 the time allotted for our absence. I hope it finds you 
 as it does us, still in the enjoyment of health and of 
 every blessing needed for you. 'Hitherto,' can we 
 truly say, ' hath the Lord blessed us.' While you 
 have been in church I have been taking a little re- 
 freshment with friend Baxter, and think I can truly 
 say, 
 
 " ' Though ail the flocks and herds were dead 
 My soul a famine need not dread, 
 For Jesus is my living bread.' "
 
 THE BATOE GROUP. 361 
 
 Juno 15th, near Tappnnooly 
 and all well, having finished 
 our investigations at Nyas. 
 
 On board the Praou " Tai jah," off tho 
 east coast of Nyas (a little below Goe- 
 nong Stoli), Sunday, June 1st, 1834 
 
 DEAR SISTER: 
 
 My friends generally, and those especially from 
 whom I have received no letters, can lay no claim to 
 a scrawl while on my tour. But the gratitude caused 
 by your long epistle by the Emily Taylor induces 
 me to spend a few moments of to-day in penning a 
 word to you. 
 
 I long to look in upon you after the separation of a 
 year, and see how you have improved not only in the 
 formation of mind, but also in the growth of your 
 soul in Divine things. Since the death of our beloved 
 earthly parent, you have doubtless been constrained 
 to look oftener, and with more child-like confidence to 
 your Father in heaven, and herein the death has been 
 sanctified to you. You will doubtless now, while 
 trusting more in the Lord, look to some other earthly 
 friend for advice in matters of doubt and perplexity. 
 But I hold to some notions which I have often heard 
 derided; even by Christians so called. One is, to look 
 to the Lord for advice and direction in ALL affairs. 
 I love to contemplate the Lord as one to whom I have 
 consecrated all my powers of body and mind. One 
 who is all wise and powerful ; One who can control 
 the hearts of men and all natural circumstances ; One 
 who can bring good out of evil; One who can so 
 manage little circumstances as that his children shall 
 
 16
 
 862 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 be led in the right way ; One who if we act as wisely 
 as possible and look to Him with all earnestness, will 
 so direct us, that we shall glorify Him, and if there 
 is difficulty will provide a way of escape ; One who 
 does not scorn the ignorant, and who will bear with 
 our weaknesses, and when we feel them ourselves, 
 give us strength. Feeling God to be such an one, 
 and placing unlimited confidence in His mercy and 
 care of me, unworthy, sinful, and hell-deserving as I 
 am, I have ever gone to Him in my troubles and per- 
 plexities, with a minuteness of request for aid, and 
 advice and guidance, that I have often heard ridiculed 
 in others, and I have ever found deliverance and guid- 
 ance, far beyond what I had expected. At times I 
 have been led in rather a dark dubious way, but either 
 I have found a resignation to the Divine will, or an 
 implicit confidence in God, that all would be for the 
 best, or something else to comfort and console. Some- 
 times things have apparently gone against me, but in 
 such cases I have learned a lesson, that under the 
 same circumstances perhaps I should not, if the Lord 
 had not in mercy sanctified to me the dispensation of 
 his providence. I do not think that a lesson I learn 
 with/wu/i is on that account any the less of the Lord's 
 teaching. 
 
 As your elder brother in the Lord as well as in the 
 flesh, I make this statement of my own experience in 
 making the Lord a friend and adviser, in the hope 
 that you may be able to draw some hints as to the
 
 THE BATOB GROUP. 363 
 
 beet course for yourself to pursue. But do not un- 
 derstand me as having always gone to the Lord. I 
 would not belie my own character so much, lest my 
 shame should be greater at the judgment day. I 
 mourn that I have lived so far from Him, that I have 
 sought Him so little, and that I have leaned so much 
 to my own understanding and the judgment of others. 
 It is a wonder to me since I have been so neglectful 
 of the Lord, that He has been so mindful of me, that 
 when I have so often forgotten to ask His assistance 
 He should always aid when I have asked. This one 
 thing I can say, I have found it good to go to Him, 
 as counselor and guide, and intend still so to do, and 
 wish to impress upon your mind the importance, the 
 profit, the superiority of pursuing the same course. 
 Endeavor to sacrifice every interest to the glory of 
 God, no matter how dear it may be. Let every thing 
 that is not glorifying God in the highest possible de- 
 gree be put far away. Be decided on this point. Let 
 it be your only wish, your only desire to glorify God. 
 Be assured the quicker you bring yourself to thig 
 point, the better. So long as you keep back part of 
 the price, pursue any darling plan, cherish any 
 thoughts, or cling to any thing whatsoever that con- 
 science tells you is not the most for God's glory, you 
 will never find perfect peace. Commit your ways en- 
 tirely to the Lord, and He shall direct your steps. 
 Lean entirely on His arm and you will find support. 
 Renounce all your own means of support and become
 
 364 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 a dependent on Him, and He will be bound by His own 
 promises to furnish every thing. And now may the 
 God of all peace be with you, and comfort, and 
 strengthen, and support you ; and that you may find 
 all consolation in serving Him in time, all support in 
 trusting Him in death, and all joy in praising Him in 
 eternity, is the prayer of your brother 
 
 HENRY. 
 
 Read Baxter's "Saints' Rest," through and through. 
 Get your heart steeped in his spirit. Amen.
 
 XI. 
 
 Pl-Il. 
 
 soft are the breezes that wave the tall cocoa, 
 And sweet are the odors that breathe on the gale, 
 
 Fair sparkles the wave as it breaks on the coral, 
 Or wafts to the white beach the mariner's sail. 
 
 The forests are brilliant with gay, glossy plumage, 
 And flowers deck with splendor the mountain and lea, 
 
 But the shadow of death o'er the whole scene is lying, 
 And Satan is lord of these isles of the sea. 
 
 ANONYMOUS. 
 
 For He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in 
 nil thy ways. PSALM xcL 11.
 
 XI. 
 
 CONSPICUOUS among the islands on the west of 
 Sumatra lies Nias, or Nyas as it is sometimes spelled. 
 To explore it and to see if it were possible to establish 
 there a Christian mission was one great object which 
 Messrs. Munson and Lyman had in view, and thither 
 they now steered their praou. Encouraged by what 
 they had seen of the emigrants from Nyas, they 
 fondly hoped to find there "a people prepared for 
 the Lord." But the accursed slave-trade had turned 
 every man's hand against his brother. War was uni- 
 versal, and traveling dangerous. 
 
 It is worthy of notice that the brethren carefully 
 weighed the conflicting testimony concerning the safety 
 of an inland journey, and finally abandoned the idea, 
 because it was deemed perilous. Resolutely they 
 turned away, and sailed for Sumatra, only to encounter, 
 unwarned, that which they deemed they had avoided. 
 
 So similar are the customs of the Nyas to those of 
 the emigrants, that fewer extracts will be given from 
 the journal. The same large villages were noticed, 
 differing only in situation. But we will leave Mr. 
 Lyman to speak for himself.
 
 368 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 " May 28th. At early dawn I was on the look- 
 out and speedily discovered the highlands of the long- 
 desired Nyas. Soon after noon we were just off the 
 south-east corner. The coast is much broken into 
 bays. The mountains are neither high, nor wild and 
 ragged in their appearance. Some of the hills are 
 cultivated to their summits. Arriving toward night 
 at Simambawa, a fine green plain was spread out be- 
 fore us, presenting a strong temptation to land. In 
 the harbor were three sail, with the Dutch flag 
 hoisted. We heard that the Chinese meditate an 
 attack on Goenong Si Tolis, intending to possess them- 
 selves of the whole island. Surely if ever news was 
 received with heavy hearts, this was. The idea of re- 
 turning, at once brought on temporary fever. The 
 Arab slaver revived our hopes, the captain assuring 
 us that there would be no danger to the English. 
 
 " May 29th. Spent part of the morning in con- 
 versation with the Arab. He says around this bay 
 
 v / 
 
 are five thousand people, but under different chiefs. 
 The villages are upon the summits of the hills, and 
 almost entirely concealed by the heavy foliage. He 
 is commissioned here by government a Christian 
 government for the purchase of slaves. 
 
 " The Dutch gravely talk of ' debtors,' of ' sending 
 to Nyas for debtors.' But here things go by their 
 right names. It is selling slaves. They are brought 
 down to the beach corded, and while the trade is going 
 on, are bound to a post ; and when the bargain is
 
 NT AS. 
 
 concluded, handed over like dumb beasts to the pur- 
 chaser, and na.kcd except a bit of bark about the loins, 
 are led by the cords to the boat, apd on board are fet- 
 tered, and carried to a foreign land. ' And why do 
 they fetter them ?' I asked the Arab. ' Because they 
 would throw themselves overboard, or in some other 
 way destroy themselves : and perhaps they will do it 
 now, as many do, before they arrive, or as soon as 
 they arrive and are freed. I never fetter those who 
 go willingly.' All the men on board were fettered. 
 I saw on the guard-boat that accompanied him a very 
 interesting boy and girl, of about four and five or six 
 years of age. Their father and mother having died, 
 their uncle, having the temptation laid before him, 
 had sold them. The government purchase them for 
 a number of years, at the expiration of which they 
 are free. In the mean time they make coolies of 
 them, and give them their clothes, food, and $1.20 
 per month ; or they sell their services to others. I 
 have never yet, in all my inquiries, met with any one 
 who has seen these people return to their native land, 
 or who has known them to be liberated. It may be 
 said the slaves are better off than in Nyas. But who 
 created them free ? And who is to be responsible for 
 turning the hand of every man against his neighbor, 
 and filling a nation of two hundred thousand most in- 
 teresting people with the worst of crimes, stealing and 
 trafficking in human flesh, and to obtain it, wading 
 
 through their neighbors' blood ? 
 16
 
 870 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 " About eleven o'clock two Rajahs, one over three 
 hundred, the other over two hundred and fifty people, 
 came down to the audience-house, which is a small, 
 temporary building on the beach. The greatest 
 Rajah was quite an intelligent man, of apparently- 
 great decision and firmness of purpose, but a notorious 
 beggar. He had upon him five badjoes, or jackets 
 of different materials. These form a shield against the 
 kris, as also did the twelve rings of brass and ivory 
 which he wore on his arm. All the people were well 
 armed. 
 
 " When he learned we were Americans, he would 
 take us up to his village, if we would supply him 
 with grog, as he said Americans always carried it. 
 He would scarcely believe that we belonged to the 
 Temperance Society. Next, we might go if we 
 would give him some tobacco, etc., etc. He informed 
 us, however, that we could go to no other village with 
 safety." 
 
 Each day the missionaries heard a different report 
 as to the state of the island. Their crew were very 
 much alarmed, and desired to return immediately 
 to Padang, but subsequent reports were more favor- 
 able. 
 
 " June 1st. The wind is cold and damp, so that 
 a cloak is comfortable when sitting on deck in the 
 evening. 
 
 "June 2d. Last night (Sunday), I lay awake a 
 long, long time in delightful contemplations of the
 
 NY AS. 371 
 
 future triumphs of the Gospel, and in studying how I 
 can best bring my poor efforts to bear upon the good 
 cause. Prayer succeeded for the descent of the Holy 
 Ghost upon our colleges, that missionaries may be 
 raised up. Then my thoughts turned to absent 
 friends, and they were commended to the care of 
 God Almighty, and the blessedness of His grace. 
 
 "This evening I have been reviewing the past. 
 Now, anticipations are closed, I am in the field at 
 work. I have nothing before me but to toil faith- 
 fully till death shall end the scene, and I rest from 
 my labors. When that shall be, or through what 
 previous changes I must pass, I would not desire to 
 inquire. Of one thing I am certain, INDUBITABLY 
 CERTAIN. I ' know in whom I have believed.' He 
 will do ' all things well.' His grace shall be sufficient. 
 In Him I have implicit confidence. He desires the 
 highest good of all His kingdom. He will make 
 every thing turn to the promotion of His glory, 
 causing even 'the wrath of man to praise Him.' 
 Like a little child, then, would I throw myself into 
 His arms, hoping and praying that when the Son of 
 man shall come I may be found doing His work, with 
 my lamp trimmed, and my loins girded. Even so. 
 Amen. Amen. 
 
 " June 3d. This morning we anchored before a 
 Malay village, Mene. It is palisaded by sharpened 
 bamboos, and entered by a door at each end of a for- 
 tified way, which is twenty feet or more in length.
 
 372 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 There are perhaps fifty people. The prospect was 
 delightful. Before us was the breaking surf, the 
 white beach, an interval of a quarter of a mile, 
 checkered with patches of trees, underwood, cultivated 
 fields, and scattered huts, backed by a long range of 
 hills of an undulating surface, divided between the 
 wildness of nature and the improvements of the hus- 
 bandman, with their tops covered with cocoa-nut 
 groves, and villages of the Nyas ; behind these rose a 
 higher and still higher range, till their outline was 
 lost in the blue vail of distance. As we drew nearer, 
 the further summits became hidden from view, till we 
 found ourselves beneath a highland on whose top were 
 fields of Indian corn, whose luxuriant growth would 
 have cheered the heart of the husbandmen of my 
 native meadows. On the peak that looks directly 
 down upon us the large house of the village chief 
 peers above the trees, with the high quadrangular 
 pyramidal roof, surmounted by his god, and, with the 
 glimpses obtained of other houses, seems to carry one 
 back to the castles of the old feudal lords. But what 
 gives a beauty to the scene, unknown in the more 
 temperate climates, is the tall, gracefully waving 
 
 palm. 
 
 r 
 " Thursday, June th. We left the Malay vil- 
 lage about nine o'clock, in company with Mr. Messam 
 (see page 311), and the Malay Datoek, or Head-man, 
 with Mr. Messam' s servants, to visit the Rajah of 
 this district, Erenoqueah. A walk of more than a
 
 NTAS. 373 
 
 mile brought us to the foot of a conical hill, perhaps 
 fifty feet high and a third of a mile in circuit at its 
 base, on the summit of which stood the house of the 
 Rajah of the sea-coast. He was planting rice, but 
 soon made his appearance, with his twelve brothers. 
 Soon after, their wives entered, tugging great loads at 
 their backs. The house was single, like all those in 
 this district, and was very poor. It was soon to bo 
 replaced by a new one. After chatthlg, drinking 
 cocoa-nut water, and giving medicine to some of the 
 people, the Datoek having received his instructions, 
 intimated that he had affairs of a public nature 
 to communicate. The Rajah called one of his 
 brothers, and they placed themselves exactly in 
 front of the Datoek, a few feet distant on the floor, 
 and signified that they were ready to hear. The 
 Datoek then made a long speech, in which he ex- 
 plained our object, the wishes of the good people of 
 America to send men to reside among them, and 
 instruct them, etc., etc. The Rajah expressed a 
 great deal of pleasure at the proposal, and further- 
 more said he was very desirous such men should 
 come, and no doubt they would be joyfully received 
 by all the people. I could not but notice the elo- 
 quence with which the speeches on both sides, but 
 particularly by the Rajah, were delivered. 
 
 " The language was more soft and smooth than any 
 I have before heard (being the court dialect), and was 
 perceptibly different from that spoken in the same 

 
 374 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 room by others. The chief sat on the floor holding 
 his infant in his arms, and from time to time hushing 
 its uneasiness. In all his answers he seemed to con- 
 sult his brother. We attempted to explain to him 
 how his own language could be written ; then he took 
 down a bamboo containing some Dutch and Malay- 
 documents. Though the ink was much faded we 
 made out the date, May 26th, 1755, signed by one 
 Krygsman as one party, and various Nyas chiefs as 
 the other party. 
 
 " On the corner post of the house hung in a wicker 
 frame a human skull, taken some years before by the 
 Rajah's father. After making some presents, we 
 took leave." 
 
 To the house of another Rajah the missionaries 
 now turned their steps ; and after walking for a mile 
 " through grass higher than our heads, through under- 
 brush, and then thick forests, we came upon a large 
 plot of ground where four or five women in a state of 
 nudity excepting one small bit of cloth wrapped about 
 the hips, and extending nearly to the knees, were en- 
 gaged in gathering and burning the brush which 
 some men were cutting. Another man was resting 
 for a while under a little shed near which two children 
 were playing, and a woman was cooking. We were 
 much surprised, on drawing near the shed, to be in- 
 troduced to the Rajah for whom we were in search. 
 He was much chagrined at being found at labor, and 
 scarcely knew what to say. But we reassured him by
 
 NTAS. 375 
 
 some remarks commendatory of his industry, and he 
 took us to his house. After climbing for two miles a 
 path, which in some places might have been ascended 
 on horseback, and in others led us -up a flight of very 
 steep stone steps, we finished the ascent of about nine 
 hundred feet at noon. So many months having elapsed 
 since making such an effort, I was completely ex- 
 hausted. I threw myself upon a mat and found rest 
 in sleep. 
 
 "The dwelling itself, though its proprietor is 
 powerful, was miserably poor and dirty. But the 
 situation was very beautiful. There was on the top 
 of the hill just sufficient space for the house and a 
 semicircular grass-plot, bounded by a terrace, faced 
 with stone, with steps of the same, and" a row of 
 cocoa-nut trees on the edge, while below, the land 
 gently sloped away, showing to full advantage the 
 rich verdure which covered it. At a short distance 
 rose another thickly-wooded hill, on whose summit 
 was the former Rajah's house. A winding path, 
 planted on each side with the betel-tree, led to it. 
 
 " This old house bears marks of former magnificence, 
 and contains many idols : rude wooden images as large 
 as life and quite naked. The female figures had a bit 
 of cloth tied about the waist. 
 
 " On the timbers above was a museum of idols. 
 The house is the one we had observed facing us from 
 the harbor. The green hills descending to the water's 
 edge, the sea sparkling in the sun, and the whole ter-
 
 376 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 minated by the mountains of Sumatra, all present a 
 picture of wonderful beauty, while the prospect on the 
 land side, though different, is not less lovely. Our 
 bitjara or conversation with this chief was attended 
 by the same formalities as the other. lie not only 
 expressed the same opinion as the other Rajah, but 
 said he would send to school all his own children, 
 amounting to six or seven. 
 
 " He said, also, that there would be no necessity of 
 seeing the other five chiefs of this district, because he 
 and his colleague were at the head of affairs. After 
 leaving a present, we took our leave and commenced our 
 descent. The soil we observed was a rich clay above 
 a bed of coral rock, in which we saw imbedded some 
 shells. Houses were scattered all along for the last 
 mile, but always situated on an eminence. 
 
 " We returned to the praou not a little rejoiced to 
 find again a resting place and some food, having tasted 
 nothing since breakfast. No sooner had we dined, 
 than a praou, with a dozen of patients, drew near. 
 An hour was employed in dealing out medicines to 
 them, and then I was ready for a night's rest. 
 
 " There are five dialects of Nyas besides the court 
 dialect, or that used by the Rajahs in their public 
 consultations on state affairs. The common people 
 scarcely understand this. 
 
 " In the Erenoqeah and Gunong Si Toolis districts, 
 there is much parental and filial affection ; but in the 
 south-eastern districts scarcely any at all. A man
 
 NY AS. 377 
 
 there seizes his neighbor, binds him, and offers him 
 for sale as a slave. If the unhappy man complains 
 to the Rajah, a few dollars from his captor makes all 
 quiet, and he can obtain no redress. Sometimes, in 
 this way, parents sell their own children, and children 
 their own parents. When a man's wife dies, he makes 
 nothing of selling a child or two she has borne him, 
 to purchase a second wife. Messam himself once 
 bought a child sold in this way. As to the number 
 of slaves annually carried hence, there are conflicting 
 opinions. One, who has many years been engaged in 
 the traffic, says, two hundred from the whole island. 
 Another, who has resided here fifteen years, and was 
 formerly engaged in it, says one thousand from Sim- 
 ambawa alone. Perhaps they will average five hun- 
 dred per annum. 
 
 " The Dutch government have now a large praou 
 on the coast, engaged to obtain two hundred in six 
 months. They likewise wish for one hundred more 
 in the same time. They allow about twenty dollars 
 per head, and four dollars more as a premium. 
 
 " The Achinese also purchase them, and occasionally 
 the French. About two years since, a French ship took 
 four hundred as a cargo, and landed them on the Isle 
 of France. 
 
 " In some things, the women appear to have an 
 equality with the men. Though they are not allowed 
 to eat with their husbands, and are compelled to labor 
 hard, yet no man can purchase any thing without his
 
 378 THE MARTYR OP SUMATRA. 
 
 wife's consent. A man can marry as many wives as 
 he has means to support. There is no divorce, and 
 there are few quarrels between the wives. The 
 price of a wife differs according to the rank or wealth 
 of her family. M. paid six hundred dollars in gold 
 for his, the daughter of a Rajah. When a man 
 wishes to marry he mentions it to some friend, and he 
 tells it to the girl's parents, who express their willing- 
 ness, and the price is paid. When this is settled, the 
 parents, or if they are dead, some near relation, knock 
 together the heads of the couple, and they are married. 
 A feast ensues, in which pork forms the principal 
 dish. 
 
 "Adultery and murder are punished by death. 
 For theft a fine, according to its degree, is levied. 
 Stealing gold and men is by law worthy of death, but 
 bribery can prevent its infliction 
 
 " When a Rajah dies, his eldest son, or if he has no 
 son, his nearest relation, and if he has none, the man 
 who will give the people the most -money is made 
 Rajah. Women are never allowed to assume this 
 power. When a man is to be introduced into office, 
 the people assemble and make a great feast, dance, 
 and carry upon their shoulders a platform upon which 
 the new Rajah exhibits himself in a dance. 
 
 " There are on the island deer, hog-deer, monkeys, 
 hogs, dogs, and cats. The Malays have also buffaloes, 
 goats, and four or five horses. Snakes are numerous. 
 There are no singing-birds, but many small green
 
 NYAS. 379 
 
 parrots. Fowls are raised in small numbers and com- 
 mand a high price. 
 
 " The more common fruits of the climate have been 
 introduced by the Malays. Coffee is raised, though 
 inferior in quality to that of Padang. Beside slaves, 
 rice is the only article of exportation, and this must 
 be transplanted in order to yield well. 
 
 "Hogs are the principal food of the Nyas, and 
 their consumption forms the great distinction between 
 themselves and their Mohammedan neighbors.* 
 
 "A few edible birds' -nests are obtained in the north, 
 and sold to the Chinese at twelve dollars per pound, 
 averaging about thirty to the pound. 
 
 "The water is said to be good, which is possible, 
 where the springs are in the coral rock. The island 
 is generally healthy. Last year the small-pox raged 
 fearfully. 
 
 "The Nyas have no temples, or what may be 
 strictly called, public priests. They have no holi- 
 days. They believe in two gods, Love Langi, the 
 benevolent god above, and the least powerful, and Batoe 
 Bedani, Satan, who has power over all men and evils 
 in this world. To the latter they make all sacrifices, 
 as being the most powerful, by the intervention, how- 
 ever, of the images in their houses. Besides these 
 
 * It is possible that this enormous amount of pork consumed 
 may be the cause of the kind of leprosy, or white scurf, which is 
 nearly universal among the Nyas, and very disgusting to Eu- 
 ropeans.
 
 380 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 representations of Satan, they have in their houses 
 images of all their family who have died, and when 
 they make a feast, they give a portion to these ; be- 
 lieving that when they cease paying their respects to 
 the dead evil will befall them. They have, also, at- 
 tached to the handle of their krises, a charm, to pre- 
 vent a blow upon the head, and two or three little 
 images, which are able to give rain when it is needed, 
 and direct them in the right road at night. 
 
 " They bury their dead in the northern districts, 
 generally beneath the ground, and in the southern, 
 above, generally near the house, under a small shed, 
 with a roof built up to a high peak, and terminating 
 in some sort of device. 
 
 "If a missionary wishes to reside in the island, he 
 would do well, as I have said before, to bring with 
 him his household furniture, iron work for building, 
 and stores, such as sugar, coffee, tea, etc., etc., and 
 goods for purchasing the necessaries of life, and 
 making some few presents. Goods should consist of 
 tobacco, iron and steel, and coarse cloths particularly. 
 When arrived here, he should pay his respects imme- 
 diately to all the chiefs in the district ; state distinctly 
 that he is not a Dutchman, but an American. He 
 should ask them for a piece of land, or. rather, select 
 a piece and tell them he wishes to build upon it. His 
 timber he will purchase cheap. Laborers he will 
 obtain, who will make his house after a fashion, if he 
 can have ' patience to give them an exact plan, and
 
 NTAS. 381 
 
 show them all the parts. When he is ready to raise 
 it, he must purchase a few hogs, and get ready a few 
 pieces of cloth, and invite all the chiefs of the district. 
 They will come, bring" some of their followers, par- 
 take of his feast, receive his presents, raise his house, 
 confer upon him a Nyas name, and he will ever be 
 considered an initiated citizen, able to go anywhere in 
 the district, unattended, and be admitted to sit in the 
 bitjaras of the chiefs. This ground he can fence in, 
 too, and cultivate, and it will ever after be considered 
 his property. 
 
 "He would do well to raise his own vegetables, 
 fruits, fowls, hogs, sheep, and to keep a horse, with a 
 saddle and bridle. Rice and potatoes he could always 
 purchase cheap, with goods. He must, of course, 
 first obtain leave of the Resident at Padang before he 
 establishes himself permanently. 
 
 " The farming utensils of the Nyas are extremely 
 simple. The men are of middle stature, well made, 
 and manly in appearance. Many of them have fine 
 foreheads. They have no beard, and their hair is 
 black and straight like the Malays and Javanese. 
 The women are short, thick, and heavily made, gen- 
 erally bandy-legged, and with an awkward, waddling 
 gait. The people here are neither so neat nor so in- 
 telligent as those of Batu, the reason being that the 
 emigrants to that group were from the south of this 
 island, which is superior to the north in every thing 
 but peaceableness. "
 
 882 THE MAETYE OF 8UMATEA. 
 
 "The southerners live in fortified villages, have 
 more trade, more ingenuity, more independence, and 
 more nationality of character. The Batu people 
 combine with these qualities the gentleness of the 
 northerners. 
 
 "The people here live in detached houses of an 
 oval or circular form, always well placed, and some- 
 times fortified. But they are small, ill-built, and 
 dirty, compared with those of Batu. 
 
 " June Qth. Spent the whole day in going to 
 Gunong Si Toolis, encountering head-winds and a 
 squall. 
 
 "June 7th. Left our praou at anchor in the bay, 
 and in the lampan or skiff proceeded up the river and 
 landed at the Malay campong. This is situated some 
 little distance from the banks, amidst a grove of 
 cocoa-nut and durion-trees. It is damp, filthy, and 
 unhealthy. 
 
 " The people seemed interested in our exposition of 
 our object, and Hadji Palembang, son-in-law of the 
 Datoek, the most intelligent Malay here, who speaks 
 a little Arabic, Portuguese, Chinese, and English, 
 and is one of the Panghooloos, or members of council, 
 said he had no children, but if we would establish a 
 school he would give a building for it, and see that 
 the Malay children were gathered in ; also, that we 
 might obtain a suitable teacher here for about three 
 dollars per month, payable in goods. About fifty 
 people came in and listened to the bechara or bitjara ;
 
 NY AS. 383 
 
 to a few we administered medicines. But as for books, 
 it was impossible to supply their demand. We had 
 application upon application all the time we remained, 
 till, after making at least fifty promises to bring more, 
 we became tired. It was with the greatest difficulty 
 that I brought away Medhurst's school-book. It 
 seemed as if every one could read. I think I never 
 before met with more free, frank, open-hearted, intel- 
 ligent Malays. 
 
 " June 8th. After breakfast visited the Malay vil- 
 lage with my medicine, fifty tracts, and a volume of 
 the New Testament. The books went like the dew ; 
 and I was obliged not only to use sharp language, but 
 to pull them away by force from those who could 
 read none, or but little, and who had taken them from 
 the bundle before I was aware. In point of intel- 
 ligence and vivacity I have never seen any Malays 
 like them ; and to-day, as I went from house to house, 
 I was surprised to find that the children were as fair 
 as Nyas children of the same age, and as bright and 
 intelligent ; they approach so much nearer than the 
 Malays of Java to Europeans, that I could hardly 
 persuade myself that they were pure Malay, but the 
 inhabitants assured me that they were. 
 
 " The house of Nakhoda Si Addi, is more than 
 seventy feet long, and so well fortified with a stone 
 wall eight feet in height, and a ditch four feet deep 
 and six wide, that as I entered its arched gate, or 
 rather the wicket in the large gate, above which were
 
 384 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 swivels, a gong, etc., I thought I was entering the 
 castle of some feudal lord of former times." 
 
 Juno 9th was devoted to a visit to the Rajah of 
 Gunong Si Toolis. After various difficulties in pro- 
 curing an interpreter, etc., the party set out, and 
 being, through the ignorance of their guide, led fur- 
 ther than was necessary, did not reach their praou 
 till evening, exhausted by twenty-five miles of most 
 fatiguing travel, which had been performed without 
 other refreshment than a bit of cocoa-nut. But from 
 this chief they received the same encouragement as 
 from the others. He and his people were ready to 
 welcome the ministers of Christ. 
 
 " About four o'clock, p. M., the anchor was hoisted 
 and we sailed rapidly down the coast ; our helmsman 
 wishing to go south before he crosses over to Tappa- 
 nooly, rather than directly across, on account of 
 breakers occasioned by Drake's reef. 
 
 " Our visit has been, indeed, short, and our inves- 
 tigations brief. But we think we have acquired 
 sufficient information to direct the movements of the 
 Board, and further explorations would be attended by 
 extra expense and danger. 
 
 " The island is divided into several small districts, 
 containing a number of villages. Over each village is 
 a chief, and over the whole district is a head chief, or 
 two who act as colleagues. The district chiefs, how- 
 ever, exercise no unlimited power, but are merely 
 moderators of their councils, etc. And in South
 
 NYAS. 385 
 
 Nyas each village is often quite independent. In the 
 middle and northern portion of the island all causes 
 are decided, and all justice consummated by a council 
 of all the chiefs in the district, in which they use the 
 court or high dialect The great mass of the popula- 
 tion reside in the southern part of the island in walled 
 villages, while in the middle and northern part the 
 people are more scattered ; and, though living on the 
 summits of the hills, do not generally build in com- 
 pact bodies, or in rows of connected houses. Their 
 dwellings are detached and circular. The south is 
 more given to trade than the north : principally in 
 slaves and rice, which they exchange for tobacco, iron, 
 steel, and cloths. The people in the interior trade 
 with the Rajah nearest the coast, and he with the 
 boats and ships. The slave-trade curses this island 
 also, and the greatness of a man is known by the 
 number of heads he possesses. Foreign heads stand 
 in great estimation. Those of the Chinese higher 
 than the Malays, and white men higher than either. 
 The rich buy them of their poorer neighbors who are 
 so fortunate as to take them. 
 
 " Their offensive armor is a spear and two knives, or 
 krises, one perhaps eighteen inches, the other two feet 
 in length. The spears are of their own manufacture ; 
 the head is of steel, sometimes straight, at others 
 with an inverted prong, sharp on its outer edge. 
 The handle is of a dark-colored, hard wood; some- 
 times ornamented with plates of braided rattan, lead, 
 
 17
 
 386 THE MAKTYB OF SUMATRA. 
 
 steel, or brass, two inches asunder ; sometimes inlaid 
 with a spiral plate of brass one half or three fourths 
 of an inch in width, and sometimes ernamented just 
 below the head with a tuft of hair, according to the 
 fancy of the owner. The knives are also native, 
 with wooden sheaths ornamented like the spear han- 
 dle, or plain, according to fancy. The smaller is the 
 common knife, which they employ for all the purposes 
 for which we use a multitude of complicated tools, 
 and it is never laid aside at home or abroad. It is 
 generally plain and made for hard work. The larger 
 is a full-dress weapon, for purposes of war. A large 
 ball is formed by binding some light substance on 
 the outside just below the hilt, as a guard for the 
 hand ; on the outside of this are bound by narrow 
 strips of different colored cloths, little wooden images, 
 whose province is to give rain, direct the way in the 
 night, etc. ; besides these, there are various other 
 ornaments, according to the taste or wealth of the 
 owner. 
 
 "Their defensive armor consists of a light, oblong 
 wooden shield, and in some cases, a wooden breast- 
 plate, and a jacket reaching to the hips, made of the 
 bark of trees, or of cotton of native manufacture, 
 woven without seam, thick and hard, offering nearly 
 as much resistance as a coat of mail; or they wear 
 four, five, or six jackets of different kinds of cloth 
 for the same purpose. The native jacket they value 
 at about eighty cents or a Spanish dollar, payable in
 
 NY AS. 387 
 
 goods; the shield at the same; and the spear and 
 knives according to quality, varying from eighty cents 
 to four dollars each. 
 
 " In the use of their weapons they are very expert, 
 and for a little tobacco any one of them will go 
 through with the evolutions. These consist in dex- 
 terously throwing the body from side to side, into the 
 air, and again squatting, constantly defending it with 
 the shield, and brandishing the spear until it leaves 
 the hand, when the knife is drawn and a tremendous 
 onset is made with that. Their aim is taken just 
 over the upper left corner of the shield. Not only 
 would it be difficult to one unaccustomed to their 
 movements to hit them with a spear, but they will 
 allow a person to throw stones at them as fast as pos- 
 sible, one at a time. 
 
 " Southern Nyas is the most populous. One vil- 
 lage there, Baba Babds town, contains two thousand 
 men, the same as the whole district of Erenoqeah or 
 Larago (Gunong Stolis), and another has one thou- 
 sand five hundred men, Paleta's town. The Nyas 
 reckon more women than men, and from all we have 
 seen and heard, we should say the smallest calculation 
 for children would be equal to both, and I should think 
 it might be even double the number of men and wo- 
 men. Taking, however, the equality, we make eight 
 thousand people in one village, and six thousand in 
 another. 
 
 " Of the Malays who have established themselves
 
 388 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 in villages on Nyas, it is said they do not lose sight 
 of education or religion, but like most other Malays, 
 they have only the form even of Mohammedan godli- 
 ness. They have one miserably poor mosque and 
 two praying places only. Their priests are eight, 
 and hadjis three. I saw some half dozen or more 
 copies of the Koran in different houses ; the first I 
 have ever seen among the Malays. Some few Arabs 
 reside here, who, of course, are rigid followers of the 
 false prophet ; but they never can influence the Ma- 
 lays where their own interest is concerned. Some of 
 the Malays I think would oppose a mission on their 
 own account. 
 
 " The population we had no means of ascertaining ; 
 yet I should suppose it would be safe to put it at two 
 hundred thousand. 
 
 " The missionaries on Nyas will find that letters 
 from government, etc., will not procure for them so 
 much respect and attention as their American name, 
 their own character, and their own purses. The 
 Dutch name is everywhere feared by the Malays. 
 By no people, perhaps, is it more hated, than by the 
 Achinese ; whereas they hail as a friend every English- 
 man or American. Still, the favor of government 
 must be obtained so far as residence, etc., is concerned. 
 And nominally, government affords protection to all 
 who have leave of residence, by application to the 
 nearest civil officer ; but it is such a heavy machine, 
 and moves so slowly through its different grades of
 
 N T A S . 389 
 
 officers, and under-officers, that the best protection 
 would always be the affections of the people among 
 whom the missionary resides. 
 
 " We observed among them no signs of musical 
 taste. We saw no instruments of native manufacture, 
 except, perhaps, one or two rude drums, which must 
 have been patterned after the Malays. Their song, 
 which accompanies the dance, is a rude kind of 
 bawling. 
 
 "All the attempts of a missionary nature that 
 have been made among this people, were by two 
 French papists, about two years since. They ob- 
 tained Nyas servants at Penang, and learned a little 
 of the language. One of the servants became a 
 convert. They arrived at Padang ; spent a short 
 time in visiting the military posts on Sumatra ; and 
 were well received by the Catholic officers and soldiers. 
 They were, from all we learn, monkish, clownish en- 
 thusiasts. Their pay was but one hundred Spanish 
 dollars per annum, and they were miserably fitted 
 out. They, however, refused all assistance for them- 
 selves, but willingly received old clothes from the 
 officers, to give to the Nyas. One of them embarked 
 at Padang, in a little open boat, which, after he had 
 put in his own baggage, scarcely contained room for 
 himself. He arrived at Gunong Stolis, and was 
 kindly received by Messam, who offered him his own 
 house. But he chose rather to erect a little miserable 
 open shed, on the hill, near the house of a petty chief.
 
 390 THE M.ARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 He visited among the people, and obtained a child of 
 that chief as his pupil ; but in a short time took a 
 fever, and died. His servant, also, had the same 
 fever, but returned soon after to Padang, and resided 
 a while with Mr. Embrycht. This man was hardly 
 dead, and his goods sealed up, ere the other came, 
 having embarked at Natal, where he had been to visit 
 the upper stations of the Dutch. But the fever was 
 already upon him, and he only landed at Gunong 
 Stolis, to linger out eight or ten days, and go to his 
 final account. 
 
 " The papists do not yet despair. They have held 
 correspondence with Mr. Embrycht on the subject of 
 sending out other men, and expressed a determination 
 to do so. It would be a very easy matter for the fol- 
 lowers of the Pope to substitute their pictures and idols 
 for the idols of the Nyas, and engraft their mum- 
 meries, and impose their dazzling, pompous ceremonies 
 upon them. They would not, like the Mohammedans, 
 meet an insuperable obstacle at the threshold : an un- 
 conquerable attachment to pork. 
 
 " In the summer of the present year six French 
 Catholic priests came to Batavia, three of whom pro- 
 ceeded toward Cochin China and Siam, and three to 
 Padang. The latter, on arriving at their destination, 
 began to study the Nyas language, and officiate in the 
 mean time among the Catholic soldiers found there. 
 One of them, however, finding his salary, one hun- 
 dred dollars per annum, too small, returned to
 
 NT AS. 891 
 
 Batavia in the same vessel that took them from 
 thence, to remonstrate with their superiors on the 
 necessity of increasing their allowances ; but, after a 
 short conference with his friends here, he proceeded 
 immediately to Macao. The Praefectus Apostolicus 
 Scholten, who presides over all the Catholics in 
 Netherlands' India, went this fall, in person, to 
 Padang ; doubtless with a view of arranging and con- 
 solidating their missions in Sumatra ; from thence he 
 goes to Rome, for which he has obtained leave of 
 absence for two years. From all this we may pre- 
 mise that, the Catholics intend doing great things in 
 that quarter. 
 
 "How long the people may be preserved in a wait- 
 ing posture, for American Christians to lead them to 
 the fountain of life, who can tell ? The curse may 
 even now be hanging over them, ready to fall in the 
 shape of Papal delusion, or Mohammedan hatred. 
 The time for action is the present. The Lord will 
 give success. Their houses shall be purified, and 
 Satan no longer command the offerings of the family 
 altar. Their hearts shall be cleansed and rejoice in 
 redeeming love, while the sound of the church-going 
 bell shall soon peal over these valleys, and reverberate 
 among the hills, and echo shall answer to echo, as the 
 songs of salvation rise from the full choir of the con- 
 gregated multitudes." 
 
 Two or three letters will conclude this chapter.
 
 392 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 Surely, had Henry Lyman known that they were his 
 last, they could hardly have been different. 
 
 From a letter to his wife, dated "just below Tap- 
 panooly, June 15th, 1834," we make the following 
 extract : 
 
 "We have finished our researches on Nyas, and 
 are on the point of entering Tappanooly bay, to make 
 the Batta tour. Our health has been extremely good, 
 our labors, at times, severe, our accommodations small 
 and filthy. Since we left Nyas we have been exposed 
 to something of a squall, considering how small our 
 boat is, but 
 
 " ' The gates of the devouring grave 
 
 Are opened wide in vain, 
 If He that holds the keys of death 
 Commands them fast again.' 
 
 " Four of our little number have been laid aside by 
 sickness from their labor. We have climbed the hills, 
 waded knee-deep through the soft clay, tumbled up 
 and down rocky precipices, or slid over those of clay ; 
 measured the long beaches reflecting from their white 
 sand the noon-day sun, have been exposed all day in 
 a little canoe on the ocean ; threatened with destruction 
 in our praou, toiled from six A. M. to eight P. M. 
 without a mouthful of food ; and we must acknowledge 
 the goodness of God in delivering us out of all these 
 trials, and bringing us in health, safety, and pros- 
 perity to this place : and shall we distrust Him for the 
 future ? No. He who has saved us, still will save.
 
 NYAS. 393 
 
 We trust all to Him, and, relying on His almighty 
 arm, go on cheerfully to the remainder of our labor, 
 whether for life or for death. I would not, if I could, 
 return home before the work is completed. When it 
 is done, if the Lord spares us all, you may hope 
 again to see my long, homely face. Till then be not 
 over anxious. 
 
 " I have collected about two bushels of shells, and 
 intended to send them on direct from Padang to 
 Amherst College, but I have changed my mind, and, 
 if you like, will carry them home, and we will spend 
 an hour a day in studying conchology, and then for- 
 ward them. * * * 
 
 " Tuesday Morning, June Vlth. By the good 
 Providence of God we were enabled, Sabbath evening, 
 to come under Poeloe Ely just as a heavy squall met 
 us from the north-west, accompanied by a flood of 
 rain. Had we been out at sea I think we must have 
 been lost, for I doubt if our frail bark would have 
 weathered the storm. We are now safe inside Tap- 
 panooly bay, with a prospect of leaving the praou to- 
 morrow. Glad shall we be. We have slept on board 
 of it forty nights, and have been sailing, in that time, 
 more than twenty days. Every thing has reached 
 the ne plus ultra of all possible filth. Our men are 
 bad navigators, and as lazy as the day is hot. Had 
 we been in a good craft, well managed, we should have 
 saved one third of our time. 
 
 "This bay is truly beautiful. The mountains from 
 17*
 
 894 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 its gracefully-curved shore rise ridge above ridge, 
 and peak above peak, in majestic wildness, here 
 deeply furrowed by valleys and defiles, and the wild- 
 ness broken in upon by the husbandman's toil, so that 
 the green fields look out in gladness; while there, 
 nought but the somber hue of forests, terminating 
 only with the highest peaks, presents a vivid picture 
 of the natural character of its inhabitants. Far up at 
 the left is Pangchun island where we are to land 
 with its fort. The flag is visible with the glass. 
 Till we stop there, farewell. 
 
 TO A SISTER-IN-LAW. 
 
 "Praou 'TANJAH,' west coast of Sumatra, a little 
 below Tappanooly, June 15th, 1834. 
 
 "MY DEAR MARY: 
 
 " Allowing for the difference of longitude, you have 
 not yet consulted your Daily Food. When you do, 
 your thoughts will doubtless run in the same channel 
 that mine have, as you read, ' In the world ye shall 
 have tribulation ; but be of good cheer, I have over- 
 come the world.' The chapter of Baxter's Saints' 
 Rest, which occurred this morning in my course of 
 reading, was quite a comment upon it, and although 
 the whole work, is interesting at any time, occurring as 
 this did; so apropos, has made it doubly so. How 
 ashamed we shall be at the judgment day, when we 
 look back, and see how little we have kept in view 
 the prize of our discipleship. Our Saviour informs
 
 NT AS. 395 
 
 us in the outset, that in the world we ' shall have 
 tribulation.' But when afflictions come, we exclaim 
 that all these things are against us, and envy those 
 who are freed therefrom. We would feign believe 
 that because we are the children of God, He is bound 
 to free us from the common evils of life, and make 
 all our way smooth and easy. God has nowhere thus 
 promised. He will send His rain on the evil and the 
 good ; He will send tribulation, not free us from it. 
 He fulfills his part of the covenant, not by 
 
 " ' Our being carried to the skies 
 On flowery beds of ease, 1 
 
 but by comforting and sustaining us, 
 
 " ' While we fight hard to win the prize, 
 And sail through bloody seas.' 
 
 " It is in bearing us through the Red Sea, not in 
 destroying the enemies behind us, that the Lord dis- 
 plays His grace to His children. Had we no troubles, 
 how ill should we be fitted for our everlasting rest ! 
 Our affections are all centered in the world, ' till af- 
 flictions cool and moderate them.' ' Afflictions speak 
 convincingly, and will be heard when preachers can. 
 not.' ' If our Lord did not put these thorns under 
 our head, we should sleep out our lives, and lose our 
 glory.' Every Christian, as well as Luther, may 
 call affliction one of his best school-masters ; and with 
 David he may say, ' Before I was afflicted I went 
 astray, but now have I kept thy word.' ' Oh, what
 
 396 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 difference is there betwixt our prayers in health and 
 in sickness ; betwixt our repentings in prosperity and 
 adversity ! Alas ! if we did not sometimes feel the 
 spur, what a slow pace would most of us hold toward 
 heaven !' I believe the more we study the Divine 
 government and our own past experience, we shall find 
 that although at the time many things have appeared 
 dark and mysterious, yet all has been well ; there has 
 been no mistake in the government of God. Why, 
 then, is it that we are so slow to learn the lesson our 
 kind heavenly Father is desirous of teaching ? Why 
 can not we show our gratitude to the Redeemer by 
 trusting Him when clouds obscure the Sun of right- 
 eousness, or the cold damps of the world cut off the 
 soul-reviving rays of the Spirit? Oh what strange 
 creatures are we ! What strange things our hearts ! 
 We see that prosperity makes us easy, happy, con- 
 tented here and yet we complain when that is sent 
 which tends to wean us away from earth, and center all 
 our affections in the object of the saint's love and the 
 angel's praise. 
 
 " Dear sister, I would say it to- my own heart, and 
 trust you will not object if I say, let us strive more 
 to look upon all the events of life as directed by the 
 hand of infinite wisdom ; upon all the adversities as 
 coming directly from Him ; though it may be through 
 the agency of some fellow-creature ; and learn a les- 
 jn from Providence for the benefit of our souls ; not 
 finding fault with ourselves as the objects of this ad-
 
 NT AS. 397 
 
 versity, nor with our fellow-men in various circum- 
 stances of life, as the immediate agents of the evil. 
 If we can bring ourselves to ' be of good cheer' amid 
 the tribulations of the world, we shall let our light so 
 shine before men, that others, seeing our good works, 
 shall be led to glorify our Father who is in heaven. 
 Read the whole of that tenth chapter of Baxter ; if 
 it does you as much good as it has done me, you will 
 find yourself amply repaid. 
 
 "I do not forget that, while rocked about in the 
 filthy hold of this little praou, in a room partitioned 
 off at the ends by mats, scarcely six feet long and 
 eight broad, with only room sufficient to sit and lie 
 down, and eat on the floor or on chests, God is as 
 near as He will be in your large, airy, nicely-finished 
 church. But really it seems as if it would refresh 
 my soul once more to unite with your large congrega- 
 tion of intelligent Christians in the worship of the 
 sanctuary; especially to have my thoughts raised 
 upward, my heart melted, and my soul brought into 
 sweet unison with the solemnities of the day, by the 
 performance of your well-trained choir, and the full- 
 swelling notes or softening melody of your fine organ. 
 But farewell ! a long farewell ! ! I have voluntarily 
 given up this, to me most exquisite pleasure, and ex- 
 pect on earth to receive no equivalent, until I can, 
 Sabbath after Sabbath, look over a throng of those 
 now dreaming out existence in the darkness of hea- 
 thenism, and hear from them songs dictated by hearts
 
 398 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 warm with a new redemption. Oh how I long to 
 stand, like Richmond, on some eminence, and view 
 the crowded avenues of the multitudes flocking to 
 hear the word of life ! Perhaps this goodly sight 
 will never be granted me. I may be doomed always 
 to go out into the wilderness, leveling the mountains 
 and raising the valleys, and preparing a way. If 
 the Lord chooses so to employ me, His will be done. 
 But there is one consolation. Glory, glory to God in 
 the highest ! Let us rejoice and triumph in it ! There 
 is a consolation ! There is an organ there is a choir ! 
 But human hands ply not the keys, and human voices 
 raise not the sound. Now and then we catch a gentle 
 whisper of the symphony, as it comes wafted on some 
 gentle breeze. But soon, Mary ! soon we shall 
 swell our voices as never yet they have poured forth 
 notes. Higher and higher yet shall they rise, and 
 the soul with all its powers join, till all enwrapped in 
 the harmony, without fatigue, or dread of its close, 
 we shall no more envy the choirs of earth, nor sigh 
 for joys marred by cumbering flesh." * * *
 
 III. 
 
 0, weep not for him I He but rose to his rest, 
 From his own lov'd land of the fervid line, 
 
 With his silvery sheaves of the dawn all gleaned, 
 Ere bright dews blazoned the sun's decline. 
 
 He shall toil with tears In the gloom of a dim 
 
 Lone harvest no more. Oh ! weep not for him I 
 
 Weep not I In the home where the sinless meet, 
 
 Lingers no lonely yearning for this, 
 As the pilgrims sorrow'd and smil'd the while 
 
 In dreams, o'er the visions of banish'd bliss : 
 No sorrow enters that radiant realm, 
 No mourning, no yearning; oh! weep not for them! 
 
 ANONYMOUS. 
 
 Grant, Lord, that in all our sufferings here upon earth, for the 
 testimony of thy truth, we may steadfastly look up to heaven, and, 
 by faith, behold the glory that shall be revealed ; and being filled 
 with the Holy Ghost, may learn to bless our persecutors by the 
 example of thy first martyr, St. Stephen, who prayed for his mur- 
 derers to thee, blessed Jesus, who standest at the right hand 
 of God to succor all those that suffer for thee, our only " Mediator 
 and Advocate." COLLECT TOR ST. STEPHEN'S DAT.
 
 XII. 
 
 IF there had been any one portion of their field of 
 labor toward which the hearts of Munson and Lyman 
 had turned with especial longing, it had been the 
 island of Nyas. Yet they had quietly relinquished 
 the exploration of the southern and more interesting 
 part of it, because "it would be dangerous in the 
 extreme ;" "a risk they had no right to run." 
 
 They reached Tappanooly June 17th, and the Post- 
 holder says, were earnestly dissuaded from attempting 
 to prosecute their journey. Three men in office under 
 the Dutch government told them they would be in 
 danger from the natives, yet they went on, like ob- 
 stinate men, careless of life, not even mentioning in 
 letters to their wives that such statements had been 
 made to them. They were met on their journey by 
 natives, apparently friendly to them, who informed 
 them of fearful hazard ; still these missionaries who 
 so carefully balanced probabilities, and sifted truth 
 from chaff on Nyas, refused to return, but proceeded ! 
 
 We can not but feel that the case needs only to be 
 thus put, in order to clear the missionaries from any
 
 402 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 suspicion of rashness. It is incredible that one month 
 could have changed them from careful and considerate, 
 into reckless and headstrong men. 
 
 The friends of Henry Lyman have always dis- 
 believed the statements made by the Post-holder con- 
 cerning his own course, since no record can be found 
 of it in communications of either gentleman. More- 
 over, to allow them quietly to go off, and then, fearing 
 blame from his own government, to attempt to excul- 
 pate himself, by charging the dead with obstinacy, is 
 in exact accordance with the representations uniformly 
 given of the course of similar officials in Netherlands' 
 India. 
 
 We proceed to give the last written words of Mr. 
 Lyman, who thus concludes his letter to his wife, of 
 Sunday, June 22d : 
 
 ' ' We leave to-morrow, accompanied by eight coolies 
 for carrying our baggage, an opas, or police-runner, to 
 look after them, a Malay Rajah as interpreter, and my 
 instructor, our cook (a Nyas man), and Ian Cing Sa.' 
 Mr. M.'s Chinese teacher remains here. You would 
 laugh to see how our baggage has dwindled down. 
 [Then follows a list of articles taken.] Every thing 
 else we send back to Padang. You will learn some 
 things from our letter to the Board which M. has 
 written. We expect to be absent from this place one 
 month. If no longer, you may expect to see us in two, 
 if our health is preserved, and we are not detained for 
 want of a passage, which will probably be the case, so
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 403 
 
 that we may not arrive in Batavia before three months 
 from this. 
 
 " We expect many difficulties in our route, but 
 when you receive this they will probably be all passed, 
 and we safe again under the roof of our very kind 
 friend, Mr. Bonnett. The Lord keep you and us is 
 the prayer of your husband." 
 
 The many difficulties expected are explained in the 
 following communication, and will be seen to arise not 
 from the ferocity of men : 
 
 TAPPANOOLT, June 22d, 1834. 
 
 REV. DR. ANDERSON, 
 Secretary of the A. B. C. F. M. 
 
 DEAR SIR : We can not permit any favorable 
 opportunity of acquainting you with our circumstances 
 to pass unimproved. Since we last wrote you from 
 Poeloe Batoe we have finished our observations there, 
 also on the island of Nyas, and have arrived in safety 
 at this place. Though some of our boatmen were 
 visited by disease, yet our own lives and health have 
 been mercifully preserved. 
 
 We can not, in a single letter, fully communicate 
 the result of our observations, yet we wish to give 
 you the impressions that have been gradually spring- 
 ing up and maturing in our own minds. The facts 
 from which these impressions have originated will be 
 stated at length in our report to the Board. But, in 
 the mean time, we would say we have decided to
 
 404 THE MARTYR O.F SUMATRA. 
 
 recommend strongly to the Committee the immediate 
 establishment of a mission among the Nyas people. 
 Padang, as we before stated, holds out every possible 
 facility for the acquisition of the language, and for 
 reducing it to writing. The Batoe islands offer a safe 
 retreat for the commencement of a mission. Four or 
 five thousand inhabitants grouped together in singu- 
 larly compact villages of from fifty to three or four 
 hundred souls each, present many and great advan- 
 tages for familiar intercourse with the people, for the 
 establishment of schools, and, indeed, for introducing 
 and carrying forward the whole train of missionary 
 operations. Our impressions respecting the charac- 
 ter of the Nyas people are exceedingly favorable. We 
 consider them as superior to the Malays in every 
 respect, except that the latter are able to read. After 
 the most diligent and repeated inquiries we can not 
 learn that any customs or prejudices prevail among 
 them which will be likely to hinder the progress of 
 the truth. 
 
 From Batoe we had a quick passage to Nyas, where 
 we remained two weeks. We visited Sumbawa, Mana, 
 and Goenong Stoli, and called on several Rajahs ; but 
 did not penetrate far into the interior. The reason 
 of these partial investigations on Nyas will be fully 
 stated in our report. But we now say in a word, it 
 is unsafe travelling in the interior of the island. 
 After the information we gained at Batoe, we did not 
 think that the object to be gained by a journey inland
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 405 
 
 would compensate for the time, the labor, and ex- 
 pense. There are some places in Nyas where a 
 missionary might live in safety, yet we do not con- 
 sider it as the best point to commence the work of 
 reform. We arrived at this place last Tuesday, since 
 which we have been making diligent preparations for 
 our journey into the Batta country, hoping to pene- 
 trate as far as the great lake which is in the heart of 
 the Batta territory; and return by another route to 
 this place. Mr. Bonnett, the Post-holder here, who, 
 though a Catholic, treats us with great kindness, has 
 himself been in the country. He thinks we may be 
 able to accomplish the journey in one month. All 
 testimonies concur in pronouncing the way very 
 difficult, owing to high mountains and impenetrable 
 forests. Our arrangements are now completed, and to- 
 morrow we start. Should we return in one month we 
 may possibly reach Batavia early in September. Thus 
 far the Lord has prospered us beyond our expectations. 
 We trust the Board and the churches will make every 
 possible exertion to follow up these incipient efforts, 
 and to thrust in laborers wherever the fields are white 
 and ready to harvest. The work that has been as- 
 signed us is beset with perplexities ; it is laborious 
 and trying to both body and mind. Yet we labor 
 cheerfully. Our greatest danger is that our faith will 
 fail us, and the grand object be lost in the shade of 
 minor considerations. 
 
 Yesterday we visited the village where Mr. Burton
 
 406 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 formerly resided ; but nearly all traces of his opera- 
 tions are now obliterated. His house is removed, his 
 school scattered, and, indeed, no vestige of missionary 
 efforts now remains. With many prayers that you 
 and we may be guided by unerring wisdom, 
 We remain, dear sir, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 SAMUEL MUNSON. 
 HENRY LYMAN. 
 
 Alas ! alas ! we can not trace the route of these 
 beloved men. The documents that follow are all the 
 intelligence we have of their fate. The Post-holder's 
 letter of self-justification is hardly corroborated by the 
 account of Si Jan, who had been some years in the 
 employ of the missionaries at Batavia, and who, 
 though simple, was believed to be truthful. 
 
 LETTER FROM MR. BONNETT. 
 
 "TAPPANOOLY, July Id, 1834. 
 
 " To my bitter grief I find myself under the neces- 
 sity of communicating to you the following melancholy 
 account : 
 
 " On the 17th of June there arrived here, on board 
 the praou Tanjah, under the command of Malim 
 Soctan, from Padang and Nyas, the Rev. Messrs. 
 Lyman and Munson, both American missionaries of 
 the reformed persuasion, who informed me that it was 
 their intention to undertake a journey into the Batta
 
 THE MARTYEDOM. 407 
 
 country, to Tobah, etc., for which end they requested 
 my assistance in the providing the necessary guides, 
 interpreters, and coolies for their baggage, which were 
 accordingly provided by me, consisting of fourteen 
 persons, viz : Datoek Radjae Mankoeta, the head of 
 Kalangan district, together with a police-runner, 
 named Si Rakim, and ten coolies, to which were 
 added their own two servants; but not before I 
 myself, together with the second lieutenant, Schack, 
 military commandant here, and Mr. Sickman, com- 
 mander of his Netherlands majesty's schooner Argo, 
 had most strongly dissuaded them from their purpose, 
 but in vain. On the 23d of June they went from the 
 island on which the fort was built, by way of Tappa- 
 nooly to Tobah, and on the 30th there appeared before 
 me the above-named Datoek Radjae Mankoeta, the 
 police-runner, all the coolies, and one of the servants 
 of the above-named gentlemen, called Si Jan, return- 
 ing out of the Batta country, who, both severally and 
 collectively, related to me the following tale : 
 
 <: That after their departure from Tappanooly they 
 passed the first night in the village of Si Boenga- 
 Boenga, at the house of Rajah Si Boendae ; the 
 second night in the village of Rappet, at the dwelling 
 of Rajah Swasa; the third at Pagerau Sambong, at 
 the place of Rajah Gooroo Si Nongan ; and from 
 thence they went to Goeting, to the house of Rajah 
 Amani Bussir (iron father), by all which chiefs they 
 were received with hospitality and respect, who. not-
 
 408 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 withstanding, most strongly advised them not to prose- 
 cute their journey any further towards Tobah, saying 
 that at Tobah there existed disturbances ; that at that 
 moment the journey was not to be undertaken without 
 danger, and that they could not, and would not, be 
 responsible for the consequences. To which Messrs. 
 Lyman and Munson gave answer to the Rajahs, -that 
 since they came not as enemies but as friends to visit 
 the Batta country, they had therefore no reason to 
 fear the least danger, and thus they would prosecute 
 their journey to Tobah. In this resolution they 
 remained firm till the 28th, when they again pros- 
 ecuted their journey from Goeting toward the village 
 Sukka, at Selingdong, with the intention of spending 
 the night with the Rajah Berampak, at that place. 
 While they were upon the march, about half way 
 there, just at noon, they were met by five armed 
 Batta people, who entreated them to return, and not 
 to prosecute their journey any further if they would 
 avoid exposing their lives to danger. 
 
 ' ' That the above-named gentlemen, notwithstanding 
 all these warnings, and the urgent request of their 
 own followers to return, would pay no attention to all 
 this ; and the five Battas, after being provided with a 
 little tobacco, were sent back with orders to tell their 
 Rajah that they saw no danger in prosecuting their 
 journey to Tobah, since they came to visit them as 
 friends and not as enemies. Whereupon they pro- 
 ceeded upon their march, till about 4 p. M., when
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 409 
 
 suddenly they saw themselves surrounded, in a wood, 
 by a band of about two hundred armed Battas, who 
 made them lay down their arms, and then inhumanly 
 murdered both Messrs. Lyman and Munson, and one 
 of their servants. In the mean time the rest were 
 enabled, after having forsaken the baggage, to jump 
 into the thicket and, by flight, to save themselves. 
 
 " That they, on their retfeat hither wards, had heard 
 that Mr. Lyman and his servant, the same evening on 
 which they were murdered, and Mr. Munson the fol- 
 lowing, morning, had been made away with by their 
 murderers. 
 
 "You will thus, by this declaration, be pleased to 
 observe, that however great this misfortune has been, 
 the gentlemen themselves have been much to blame, 
 because neither here nor in the Batta country, would 
 they give ear to any one's warning or good counsel. 
 
 "The property of the deceased, as much of it aa 
 was found here, shall be sent by me to Mr. Boyle, at 
 Padang, according to their request before they went 
 from hence into the Batta country." 
 
 Si Jan who returned to Batavia and was then ques- 
 tioned by Mr. Med hurst and Mesdames Munson and 
 Lyman. stated that, " they found the road exceedingly 
 difficult, consisting of hills and ravines covered with 
 thick forests, so steep in many places, that they were 
 obliged to ascend by means of rattans, tied from the 
 tops of rocks, and to descend on their haunches. The 
 coolies were compelled to tie their burdens on their 
 18
 
 410 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 backs, being unable to carry them on their shoulders 
 or heads. The brethren, however, were enabled to 
 master these difficulties. The thicket was so dense, 
 that they were not much troubled with the heat of 
 the sun, and the road so solitary, that they seldom 
 met above four or five individuals in the course of a 
 day's march. No houses or villages were seen on the 
 road, and only at the end* of each day's journey did 
 they come to any thing like a village. The journey 
 was, of course, performed on foot, and yet they man- 
 aged to advance about ten or twelve miles per day. 
 When they arrived at a village, they were immedi- 
 ately surrounded by : multitudes of natives, men, wo- 
 men, and children, who showed no sort of timidity at 
 the presence of Europeans, but came boldly up to the 
 travelers, and examined their persons and dresses with 
 eagerness, asking importunately for tobacco. On the 
 second night after their departure, they fell in with a 
 Rajah Swasa, who told them that it would be better 
 not to attempt to enter the Batta country at first, but 
 stay at Pauchan until he should have time to go into 
 the interior and make inquiries, when he would send 
 them a letter from Tobah. to inform them whether or 
 not they would be well received. The brethren re- 
 plied, that they came with peaceable intentions, and 
 that there was' no necessity for such a measure." On 
 being questioned whether he had joined in persuading 
 the brethren not to proceed, Si Jan replied that ho 
 had not ; but while staying at Tappanooly and hearing
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 411 
 
 such fearful accounts from the Malays residing there, 
 of the murderous practices and cannabalic habits of 
 the Battas, he had requested Mr. Lyman to be allowed 
 to remain behind, with the Chinese teacher, but that 
 Mr. Lyman replied, he must go, and that they could 
 not do without him. He therefore went, accordingly. 
 The following village which they came to, with the 
 names of their Rajahs, Si Jan does not recollect ; he 
 only remembers crossing a very rapid river, which 
 they effected by swinging across on rattan, tied from 
 one side to the other. The day on which the brethren 
 fell, he thinks must be Saturday, because he heard 
 Mr. Lyman propose stopping a day at the next stage 
 for the Sabbath. He has no recollection of the Jive 
 Battas met* on the day of their murder, who cau- 
 tioned the brethren to return, nor any other warning 
 but that given by the Rajah Swasa. 
 
 It was Saturday, because Mr. Lyman proposed 
 stopping a day at the next stage for the Sabbath. 
 
 And on that Saturday morning, knowing from the 
 preceding pages something of the habits of the men, 
 we can picture a part at least of their procedure. 
 We can see them waked by the chattering of mon- 
 keys, or the shrill scream of the parrots, rising at 
 very early dawn, and can follow each as he goes like 
 Nathanael "under the fig-tree," to commune alone 
 with God. We can mark Lyman as, after gazing 
 abroad on the gorgeous display of vegetable life which 
 * According to Mr. Bonnett
 
 412 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 surrounds him, he opens his Daily Food. It carries 
 his thoughts far away to " Pleasant Valley." The 
 widow and the fatherless rise before him, and he can 
 only find peace in trusting them to God. But there 
 is a nearer and dearer home, and his thoughts dwell 
 lovingly there, as he wonders whether his wife has 
 yet opened her eyes to the gladsome light. 0, how 
 his whole frame quivers with emotion as he remem- 
 bers that she may be stretched upon a sick-bed, may 
 be dead ! 
 
 He opens the little book and reads, 
 
 " The Lord of Hosts is with us, the God of Jacob 
 is our refuge." Psalm xlvi. 7. 
 
 " Great God, assist mo through the fight, 
 Make me tiiumphant in thy might: 
 Thou the desponding heart can raise 
 The victory thine, and thine the praise." 
 
 " We are more than conquerors through Him that 
 loved us." Romans, viii. 37. 
 
 Ah ! his eye is dry now. His fears are gone. 
 That dreadful sinking of heart is "swallowed up in 
 victory." He falls on his knees. Who that ever 
 joined with Henry Lyman in prayer, but can think 
 how he poured forth his thanksgiving for such " a 
 strong-hold in the day of trouble" for such a 
 Saviour. Like Paul he exulted in hope of the glory 
 of God. Strengthened, invigorated, calmed, he joins 
 his companion at their frugal meal. 
 
 Then comes their family prayer, and they read
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 413 
 
 aloud that precious ninety-first Psalm. It is a new 
 sound for Sumatran breezes to catch. Angels rejoice 
 as amid the perfume of wild spices floats on the air : 
 
 " He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most 
 High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." 
 
 The attendants know not the meaning of the words, 
 they join not in the fervent worship that follows, but 
 they see the face of each "as it had been the face of 
 an angel," and they reverence that which they can not 
 comprehend. 
 
 Si Jan tells us not of the especial perils of that 
 day, but we know that whatever they were, One was 
 with them ; that their weary feet forgot fatigue in the 
 recollection of those which trod the ascent to Calvary ; 
 that the heated brow was refreshed by a thought of 
 the crown of thorns, and as we read the concluding 
 statement of Si Jan, we feel that in that short and 
 fearful encounter, in those dying moments, they wore 
 "more than conquerors through Him that loved" 
 them. 
 
 This is what Jan says : 
 
 " About four o'clock in the afternoon of that day, 
 they came suddenly upon a log fort, which was occupied 
 by a number of men armed with muskets, spears, etc. 
 To this fort they had approached within a hundred 
 yards without being aware of it. On spying the fort 
 and the men ; the interpreter offered to go first and 
 parley with them. After him followed the coolies 
 with the baggage, and the brethren, their two servants,
 
 414 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 and the police-runner behind. When the interpreter 
 arrived at the fort, Si Jan heard a disturbance, and 
 on looking round, found a band of about two hundred 
 armed men close upon them, from the side and the 
 rear. The coolies, upon seeing the troop, and hearing 
 the noise, threw down their burdens and fled, escaping 
 on the other side ; the interpreter also became invisi- 
 ble. Immediately the crowd of Battas came upon 
 them, hallooing and brandishing their weapons, threat- 
 ing to dispatch the travellers at once. They came so 
 near with their pointed spears and muskets, that Mr. 
 Lyman was enabled to push by their weapons with 
 his hands, entreating them to wait a little, and come 
 to an explanation, taking off, at the same time, their 
 hats and throwing them to them, with some tobacco 
 which they had. This not pacifying the rabble, Mr. 
 Lyman delivered up his pistols, as did also Mr. Mun- 
 son, which were received and handed to the rest, but 
 the disturbance continued. Mr. Lyman then asked 
 Si Jan for the musket which he carried, but Si Jan 
 refused to deliver it up, saying he then should be left 
 defenceless. Si Jan even offered to fire, but Mr. Ly- 
 man withheld him, and asked for the musket for his 
 own use. Si Jan gave it to him accordingly, and Mr. 
 Lyman immediately handed it over to the Battas. 
 Mr. Lyman then said, ' Call the interpreter;' Si Jan 
 ran a little way to call him. but not perceiving him, 
 turned round to go to Mr. Lyman, when he heard the 
 report of a musket, and saw Mr. Lyman fall, calling
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 415 
 
 out 'Jan ! Jan !' A shout then rose from the Battas, 
 which was answered by those from the fort. A rush 
 was then made on Mr. Munson. who was run through 
 
 ' O 
 
 the body and fell. Another shout then followed. 
 The cook, who had on a jacket given him by Mr. 
 Munson, was the next victim. On seeing the breth- 
 ren fall, he attempted to escape, but was pursued, and 
 by one blow of their cleavers, had his arm cut off, 
 while the cleaver went through the arm into his side. 
 Si Jan and the police-runner now ran for their lives, 
 and got into a' thicket at a short distance. Here they 
 secreted themselves under the bushes, and remained 
 all night (the evening shades having already set in), 
 until five o'clock next morning. While Si Jan was 
 in the thicket, he heard much shouting and rejoicing; 
 and about seven o'clock the Battas fired off all their 
 muskets, and then remained quiet." 
 
 The missionaries had resolved to rest for the Sab- 
 bath at Sacca. He who had " loved them even unto 
 the end;" He for whose dear sake they had rejoiced 
 to bear hunger, and toil, and pain; He had said, 
 " Come up higher." He had determined that " the 
 rest that remaineth for the people of God," and of 
 which, on their tour, He had afforded them such sweet 
 glimpses, should now be theirs. Sacca was but the 
 door to the blessed abode where they "go no more 
 out forever." Blessed privilege ! Only twenty- four 
 and a half years of the earthly, to be succeeded 
 by the everlasting heavenly inheritance. Their
 
 416 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 Sabbath commenced at Sacca. It hath Dot yet 
 ended. 
 
 Later travelers have found that the poor natives 
 being at war with a neighboring village, were sus- 
 picious of all strangers, and rushed out to attack 
 these, slaying them before there was time for explan- 
 ations. And rarely has there been found in history 
 a more fearful instance of retribution than that re- 
 corded in the following words : 
 
 "When it became known from natives on the 
 coast, and from others on the road, that the brethren 
 were good men, and had come to do the Batta nation 
 good, all the villages around leagued together for 
 vengeance against the village where the outrage was 
 perpetrated, and to require blood for blood. The un- 
 happy village was named Sacca. In an unsuspected 
 hour the surrounding population came upon it, set the 
 houses on fire, killed as many of the inhabitants as 
 they could, and destroyed their gardens and fields. 
 Those who escaped were dispersed, some in one direc- 
 tion, and some in another, so that their community 
 was dissolved. In their fields, and the place where 
 their village stood, a thick jungle or swamp is now 
 growing up. and the name of Sacca is no more 
 heard." 
 
 From the "Memoir of Munson and Lyman" we 
 make the following extract of a letter addressed by 
 the Rev. Mr. Medhurst of Batavia, now of China, to
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 417 
 
 the Barnstable county Auxiliary Missionary Society, 
 which had supported Mr. Munson : 
 
 " By the report of the Post-holder, he appears to 
 have freely offered to the brethren his advice, and 
 strongly to have persuaded them against the journey ; 
 yea, he repeats this so often, and urges it by so many 
 considerations, as strongly to excite the suspicion that 
 he is mainly anxious to exonerate himself from blame 
 in allowing them to proceed on such a dangerous ex- 
 pedition. The impression on my mind is that he did 
 not use those strong dissuasives which he gives out, 
 and that, on the contrary, he represented the journey 
 as comparatively free from danger, though the travel- 
 ing would be extremely difficult. This appears from 
 a letter written by Mr. Munson the day previous to 
 his departure from Tappanooly, and by the report of 
 the Chinese teacher, who speaks much more strongly 
 on the subject than I have ventured to insert in the 
 report. I have been a traveler myself on exploring 
 tours something similar to those undertaken by our 
 beloved brethren, and I know that it is exceedingly 
 difficult for travelers to know how to act on the advice 
 given them. Sometimes I have had an undertaking 
 represented to me as certain destruction, when the 
 result has turned out favorable, and, on the other 
 hand, have not recived a single warning when dangers 
 thick and many awaited me. If the brethren must, 
 therefore, perform the duties required of them, it was 
 incumbent on them frequently to act on their own 
 18*
 
 418 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 judgment, independent of the advice given them, or 
 to compare different accounts together, and decide ac- 
 cording to their own impressions. A pusillanimous 
 and hesitating line of conduct is bad policy in the 
 common affairs of life, much more so on an exploring 
 tour. Something must be ventured, and we have 
 instances enough on record of the success attending 
 such expeditions, to encourage us to persevere, though 
 now and then a melancholy fact of a contrary nature, 
 to teach us not to presume. I am one of those who 
 do not regard missionaries as under peculiar protec- 
 tion as to temporals ; they must bear their share of 
 the ills of humanity as well as the rest of mankind. 
 This, however, is certain : a good man is immortal till 
 his work is done. Their warfare was accomplished, 
 the crown of glory was awaiting them, and the Lord 
 saw fit thus early to call them up to wear it. To 
 them sudden death was sudden glory ; they departed 
 and were with Christ, which was far better. The 
 manner of their death was violent, and, to human 
 feelings, dreadful ; but of Stephen, who died a more 
 dreadful death, an inspired penman assures us that 
 he ' fell asleep.' Thus of our brethren it may be said. 
 ' they sleep in Jesus,' etc. With regard to the in- 
 terests of religion, and the salvation of the Battas, 
 the prospects, indeed, appear gloomy, and Zion may 
 mourn because her sons have fallen ; but when did 
 the interests of the Christian Church ever appear 
 more gloomy than when the disconsolate fellow-
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 419 
 
 travelers exclaimed, ''We hoped that it had been He 
 who should have redeemed Israel, and besides all this, 
 to-day is the third day since these things were done ;' 
 and yet, when did an event ever take place so favor- 
 able to the interests of true religion, and when before 
 were poor heart-broken saints so near the period of 
 their comfort ?" 
 
 We append Mrs. Lyman's own account of the 
 thunderbolt which this time fell not "near"* but in 
 the house : 
 
 " Language is utterly impotent to describe our 
 feelings at the reception of such tidings as fell upon 
 our ears September 4th, 1834. 
 
 " It was evening, and many of our American friends 
 who were to sail the next morning had called for the 
 last time. They congratulated us upon the arrival 
 of the vessel from Padang, and expressed many kind 
 wishes for the safe return of our dear husbands, whom 
 WA had been expecting to see all that day. No sooner 
 had they taken their leave than another carriage rolled 
 into the yard, at the sound of which we started, and 
 were at the door in a trice, confidently expecting to 
 meet those who had been the objects of our tenderest 
 solicitude for many months, but they were not there. 
 Judge then of our disappointment and surprise at 
 seeing our kind friends Mr. and Mrs. Medhurst who 
 we supposed were already in the chapel, it being a 
 
 * See page 304, chap. X.
 
 420 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 little past the time for the commencement of the 
 evening lecture, to which I was about going. 
 
 "They met us not as usual with cheerful saluta- 
 tions, which led me for a moment to think that some 
 accident had befallen them. The question was asked ; 
 but no answer returned. Again Mrs. Munson asked, 
 ' Mrs. Medhurst, is any thing the matter-?' My eye 
 at the same moment falling upon Mr. M.'s counten- 
 ance as the light from the verandah shone full in his 
 face, saw the struggle, and I answered, ' Yes.' How 
 changed now the scene ! A moment previous how 
 bright were our anticipations ; now, all was dark; fore- 
 bodings the most fearful took possession of our minds. 
 Not a word was spoken, and for some time our im- 
 aginations were left to picture out the most horrid 
 scenes of savage cruelty. At length the tale was 
 told, and our worst fears realized. Desolation swept 
 over us like a surge. It seemed as though we were 
 literally forsaken of God ; surely clouds and darkness 
 were round about the throne, and we were rcadv to 
 exclaim, 'To whom shall we flee?' All our plans 
 and most sanguine hopes for future usefulness were 
 suddenly destroyed, our offering seemed to be re- 
 jected, and we smitten by the ' rod of His wrath ;' 
 nevertheless it seemed just. 
 
 " True, our fears had been greatly excited in regard 
 to the dangers and difficulties they might be called to 
 encounter, but hope, at the same time, predominated. 
 We felt that they were in the path of duty, engaged
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 421 
 
 in the service of One who was able, and who would 
 protect them from all danger, and return them in 
 safety if it should be consistent with His designs of 
 mercy to a fallen race ; and the feeling of our hearts, 
 though unexpressed, was that their lives would be 
 precious in the sight of the Lord, inasmuch as He had 
 raised them up, qualified them for, and led them to, 
 that part of his vineyard which was so destitute of 
 laborers. But not so. Our ways were not the Lord's 
 ways, and it was some time ere we could adopt the 
 language, ' Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in 
 thy sight.' 
 
 " That night brought us nothing but the Post- 
 holder's communication to the governor, the main 
 object of which seemed to be to exonerate himself, 
 and to impute rashness to them. Thus another barb 
 was added to the sharp arrow which had already 
 pierced our hearts, and we knew not but the same mys- 
 tery and darkness might ever shroud the melancholy 
 evej|t. But the Lord in great mercy and kindness 
 permitted us to receive their journals and letters up to 
 the date of their entering the Batta country, which 
 was by no means a small consolation, although the 
 sight of them increased, if possible, the anguish of our 
 hearts; still it was again soothed in some degree 
 when we learned (that which I doubted not) from 
 their own writing that their waiting eyes were unto 
 the Lord ; by His Spirit they were guided, and ad-
 
 422 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 vanced only in His strength, ready to be offered up 
 if the glory of God should require it. 
 
 " It was not until we could look away from ' things 
 that are seen to those unseen,' and see the 'great 
 refiner and purifier sitting by,' that we were enabled 
 through grace to say, ' Though He slay me, yet will I 
 trust in Him.' 
 
 "It now became necessary to prepare communica- 
 tions for the Board, and other friends, to bring all our 
 affairs to a close as speedily as possible, and to make 
 preparations for quiting the field which we had hoped 
 was to be the scene of our labor until death. Painful 
 as it was, we had scarcely a doubt in regard to the 
 expediency of such a course, for our spirits were so 
 crushed that we had neither strength of body or mind 
 to assist in carrying forward the great work to which 
 we had devoted our lives." 
 
 Nothing could exceed the kindness manifested for 
 the missionary ladies by the European population of 
 Batavia. A purse of $1,700 was presented to them, 
 and all vied in expressions of sympathy. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Medhurst especially, who well knew "the heart 
 of a stranger," were devoted to them. In a short time 
 every thing was sold, the cottage occupied by other 
 tenants, and the sorrow-stricken mourners returned 
 to their native land. 
 
 But there was another home where these tidings 
 
 O 
 
 must go. The reverberations of the peal had at once
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 423 
 
 been heard across the ocean,* but autumn had suc- 
 ceeded summer, and it was now a bright January day. 
 For the first time since her husband's death the widow 
 had been singing some of the beautiful lines of her 
 favorite Watts, 
 
 " Why do we mourn departing friends, 
 
 Or shake at death's alarms, 
 'Tis but the voice that Jesus sends 
 To call them to his arms." 
 
 A sleigh drives up to the door. She hastens to 
 meet her only brother and beloved sister, welcoming 
 them with more than her usual glad hospitality. 
 
 But her smile is unanswered, and she hardly knows 
 why gloom has settled upon her soul. Gently her 
 brother communicates the fact, first, that one of her 
 band is taken then, that it is Henry. 
 
 She. goes to her bed. Gentle hands smooth the 
 
 * June 28th, 1834, Mrs. Lyman had been unaccountably op- 
 preffied. Remarkable through her whole life, for cheerfulness and 
 hope, she could, on that day, rouse herself to no exertion, but as 
 she moved about her desolate home, again and again sank into a 
 chair exclaiming, "I cannot throw off this depression. "Why 
 should it come to day ?" On receiving the next day the intelli- 
 gence that a favorite nephew had died on the twenty-seventh, she 
 said as she marked his name opposite the date in Daily Food, 
 " Strange I should have felt so the day after, instead of the day 
 on which "William was called away." The months rolled by, and 
 when she came at length to record in the little book the date of 
 her son's departure, to her astonishment she found it the same as 
 that on which the cloud had overshadowed her spirit
 
 424 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 pillow, but like Job's friends they can but sit down in 
 the dust with her, for they see that "her grief is 
 heavy/' Yet she only knows that Henry has gone ! 
 At Batavia, she supposes, with his wife, he has died. 
 But as she lies there, the Comforter draws near, and 
 she can whisper, " Though He slay me, yet will I trust 
 in Him." 
 
 The" children are summoned from school, and the 
 mother sits with them while the letters are read to 
 them. Then flashes across her for the first time the 
 idea, that by violent hands her son has been destroyed. 
 A groan of unutterable anguish, and grace has tri- 
 umphed. She feels herself supported by the ever- 
 lasting arms. 
 
 Then she exclaims, while the tears stream down her 
 cheeks, " 0, these poor people, what can they do with- 
 out the Gospel?" 
 
 In the mean time the Rev. Dr. Humphrey, her 
 friend, and her son's spiritual father, hjs own heart 
 rent with anguish at the sad intelligence, and probably 
 bearing a letter from Dr. Wisner, went to the house, 
 supposing that he was carrying to the sorrowful widow 
 the first intelligence of her fresh bereavement. 
 
 But the grace has been "sufficient," though her 
 whole being quivers with intense suffering. As Dr. 
 H. says, "The tears flowed freely, it is true, but 
 what a light shone through those tears !" Almost as 
 soon as she could say any thing, she exclaimed, "I 
 bless God who gave me such a son to go to the hea-
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 425 
 
 then, and I never felt so strongly as I do at this mo- 
 ment, the desire that some other of my children may 
 become missionaries also, and may go and teach the 
 truths of the Bible to those savage men w.ho have 
 slain Henry." 
 
 This was no stoicism, no Spartan mother's bravery, 
 or heartlessness rather. Mrs. Lyman's children well 
 remember the days of anguish and of weeping which 
 followed. They recollect that the chest which con- 
 tained some of Henry's clothes, and which had been 
 forwarded from Padang to Amherst, remained for 
 months unopened, because their mother had not the 
 courage to look therein. And when, as was sometimes 
 the case, that chord was struck by rude, though well- 
 meaning hands, even twenty years after the event, a 
 sleepless night, weary tossings to and fro, and the 
 pallid face of the next day would testify to the depth 
 of feeling in the mother's heart. 
 
 We subjoin Dr. Wisner's letter, probably one of 
 the last written by that blessed man of God : 
 
 MISSIONARY ROOMS, Boston, January 20th, 1835. 
 
 MRS. SUSAN LYMAN, AMHERST, MASS. : 
 
 MY DEAR MADAM : We have intelligence to-day 
 from your son, and our beloved missionary, Henry Ly- 
 man, whom you gave up to God to use as He should see 
 best for the promotion of His kingdom and glory, which 
 I feel it my duty to communicate to you, as you may 
 not have received it in any other way. He has been
 
 426 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 released from pain, and toil, and sin on earth, and re- 
 ceived to the service and enjoyment of God in heaven. 
 The release took place on the 28th of June last. He 
 and Mr.- Munson, in their explorations, had <jome to 
 Sumatra, and left Tappanooly on the coast, for the 
 Batta country in the interior, -with attendants, on the 
 23d of June. On the 28th they came unexpectedly to 
 a log fort, from which rushed about two hundred armed 
 natives, who attacked them with tumultuous noise, and 
 the result was their massacre and that of an attendant 
 in European dress. The other attendants fled, and 
 reached Tappanooly, and gave to the Dutch officer 
 there the accounts which he transmitted to Batavia, 
 whence they were sent to this country. The Dutch 
 officer at Tappanooly represents them as having rashly 
 gone into the interior, against his warning and that of 
 others. But a letter from them, written at Tappanooly 
 the night before they set out, satisfies us that they 
 are not to be blamed in that particular. Their 
 wives have been heard from at Batavia, as late as 
 September 10th, when they were well, but greatly 
 afflicted, yet having there sympathizing and kind 
 friends. 
 
 And now, dear Madam, may the Lord sustain and 
 comfort you under this severe trial, and sanctify it to 
 you and other friends, and to the Church, in reference 
 to their great work of evangelizing the world. Doubt 
 not the goodness and faithfulness of God. Think of 
 the happiness and usefulness of your son now in
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 427 
 
 heaven. Rejoice that you were permitted to be the 
 mother of one who was honored to follow Christ so 
 nearly, in sacrificing his life for the salvation of the 
 world. The Lord be with you, and give you His grace 
 as you need. 
 
 Yours, with much respect, 
 
 B. B. WlSNER, 
 
 Sec. of the A. B. C. F. M. 
 
 Many now live who recollect the thrill caused by 
 the news of the martyrdom of Munson and Lyman. 
 " Show us wherefore thou contendest witji us?" was 
 the language of many a heart, as in secret the friends 
 of missions poured out their souls before God. At 
 the theological seminaries "there were great search- 
 ings of heart" among those who had consecrated 
 themselves to the work of foreign missions. Up to 
 that time the lives and health of the missionaries had 
 seemed very "precious" in God's sight. Romance 
 had wrapped her flowing drapery around the work. 
 There was danger that youthful enthusiasm might be 
 mistaken for the voice of God to the soul. But this 
 startling event dissipated such illusions and separated 
 the tares from the wheat. 
 
 Extracts from some of the letters received by 
 Henry Lyman's mother may better show the state 
 of feeling than mere description. 
 
 The first is from his friend and benefactor,
 
 428 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 CHARLES LYMAN, ESQ., OF TROY, TO MRS. THEODORE 
 LYMAN. 
 
 "TROY, February 1th, 1835. 
 
 "MY DEAR AUNT: 
 
 "When I penned my last letter how little did I 
 imagine the sad tidings which the next passing breeze 
 was to bring to our ears, that one, concerning whom I 
 had formed so many, fond expectations of usefulness to 
 come, was already cut down and set aside ! Yet, the 
 thought that the Lord had done it. and knew what 
 was best, both for the accomplishment of His holy 
 purposes of love and salvation to our race, and for the 
 happiness and holiness of His faithful ones, who had 
 with such singleness of purpose left all for Christ, 
 seemed so comforting, I had not a heart to repine. 
 So also the reflection that the beloved Henry should 
 have been already six months in heaven, in the enjoy- 
 ment of all its Divine entertainments, was a source 
 rather of joy than of sorrow, and, although the dis- 
 pensation was one of unfathomable mystery to so poor 
 a creature as myself, I have felt that it was, never- 
 theless, perfectly right as well as wise. And I doubt 
 not, my dear aunt, the same considerations have 
 brought the like results to your mind. Truly, this 
 is a vale of tears, and we can not but weep, if it were 
 only at our own weakness, when we see those we love, 
 in the full vigor of their existence, crumbling back to 
 dust. Yet we may learn how plainly this earth is not
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 429 
 
 our home, that we are strangers and pilgrims here 
 below, having no abiding-place, but seeking one to 
 come. I hope the Lord will grant you all the con- 
 solations of His word, with His abundant 'blessing 
 which niaketh rich and addeth no sorrow,' and that 
 you may find Him a present help in trouble, since it 
 is. He that destroys 'the hope of man.' But your 
 beloved, martyred son has not lived in vain. Much 
 has already been accomplished by his writings, which 
 have been' published in the periodicals of our country. 
 You will find extracts from his last letter to me in 
 the New York Observer of January 31st. It is the 
 same to which I referred in my last to you. In the 
 same paper you will see an account of our Tract 
 Anniversary. The extraordinary effort then made 
 was in a great measure accomplished by the arrival of 
 the appalling news of the martyrdom of the mission- 
 aries on that day, and, though dead, cousin Henry 
 spoke that night, through his letter to me, read by 
 Mr. Tucker, with a power and effect that he never 
 could have done while living. The words, ' Live for 
 Christ devote all to Him /' fell like an electric 
 spark upon that assembly, and led every man to ask 
 himself, ' Have / done what I could for Christ ? How 
 do my sacrifices for Christ compare with those of 
 these dear missionary martyrs?' The amount sub- 
 scribed will tell to what effect."
 
 430 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 FROM A FRIEND. 
 
 "ANDOVEB, February 20th, 1835. 
 
 " MY DEAR MRS. LYMAN : 
 
 "I have had it in my heart to write you for several 
 weeks past, but whenever I have been about to fulfill 
 my purpose I have thought ' What can I say ? what 
 words of sympathy can I address to this afflicted 
 friend that will not cause her heart to bleed afresh ?' 
 I could hardly think of you for days without a groan, 
 and I knew that unless an almighty arm sustained 
 you, you would 'perish in your affliction.' 'Vain 
 is the help of the tenderest earthly friends in such an 
 hour, and I feel that all that I can say will be vain 
 indeed, except that our hearts are soothed sometimes 
 when others mingle their grief with ours. 
 
 " I rejoice to know, dear Mrs. L., that the Most High 
 did appear for you, that he hastened to fulfill His 
 promises to you in the extremity of your grief; and 
 having enabled you freely to surrender this dear son 
 to His service, I trust He also enabled you to acquiesce 
 in the manner in which He has been pleased to 
 glorify Himself in him. Do you not feel as if far 
 more will be accomplished (probably), in consequence 
 of his death than could ever have been done in his 
 life ! Will not the service of a missionary be stripped 
 of all vain glory, and our young men be led to search 
 and see what manner of spirit they are of, so that 
 those who go will be holier men, and ready to die
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 431 
 
 ' for the name of the Lord Jesus.' Only think how 
 many petitions now ascend for the poor Battas from 
 those who would never have thought of them in their 
 prayers but for this awful event. I know of Chris- 
 tians who believe that they shall yet hear of the con- 
 version of these murderers, and for this I believe they 
 will often pray. And will any Christian mother 
 withhold her children from this work because she 
 fears for them a death like this ? Would you, even 
 you, dear Mrs. L., if God would accept your other 
 sons for His service, and grant them the spirit of the 
 departed one, refuse to yield them to the heathen ? I 
 have heard of one mother who has said that if she 
 knew God would appoint to her children so terrible a 
 death, she should not dare to withhold them from His 
 service. I know that the hearts of some mothers 
 tremble when they look round upon their flock of 
 little ones whom they have given to God, but still 
 they give them to Him anew, and strive to make no 
 conditions as to the manner in which He shall use 
 them for His glory. And this is one of the ways in 
 which God will bless His Church, through this afflic- 
 tion, for every true member of -it in this land, and in 
 every land where the cause of missions is known and 
 loved, has been dismayed, and distressed, and grieved, 
 at this appalling bereavement. Wherever this event 
 is known his widow is borne on pious hearts before 
 God, and, dear Mrs. Lyman, do you think there is a 
 mother that knows how to pray that does not remem-
 
 432 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 f 
 
 ber ' his mother' before Him who, in all our afflic- 
 tions, is afflicted ? I have been thinking that one of 
 the last things recorded of our Saviour was an act of 
 tenderness toward His mother, in commending her to 
 the sympathy and care of His 'beloved disciple;' 
 and does He not tenderly pity those believing mothers 
 whom His own hand bereaves, especially when He 
 sees fit to appoint circumstances which aggravate 
 and embitter their grief? Dear Dr. Wisner brought 
 the letters from Batavia to Andover, and read them to 
 a large assembly in our chapel : afterwards he let me 
 have them to read. I asked him about you, and he 
 told me he had written you. We had a very solemn 
 visit, and when he parted from us it was with peculiar 
 tenderness and seriousness, as if he might never see 
 us again, and we spoke of it after he was gone. In a 
 little more than a fortnight we heard that he was in 
 eternity!" 
 
 ***** 
 
 Resolutions expressive of sympathy were trans- 
 mitted to Mrs. Lyman from the Social Union of 
 Amherst College, and from the Association of Minis- 
 ters of Hampshire county, the same that had licensed 
 and ordained her son, and the sympathy and prayers 
 of thousands availed to the gradual healing of her 
 lacerated heart. 
 
 The American Board of Missions did not forget 
 the islands consecrated by the blood of the martyrs. 
 Dr. Cheever says in his sketch of Munson and
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 4G3 
 
 Lyman:* "The exploring expedition in the Indian 
 Archipelago could not easily be renewed,, because the 
 movements were so greatly restricted by the Dutch 
 government. They were forbidden to establish them- 
 selves anywhere in Netherlands' India except in 
 Borneo. Of the missionaries who were sent out by 
 the American Board, soon after the death of Munson 
 and Lyman, one of them explored a part of Sumatra ; 
 and, while in the Batta country, in the very region 
 where his predecessors had been murdered, he was 
 himself taken sick, and treated with great kind- 
 ness, being carried by the Battas in a litter of split 
 bamboos upon their shoulders six days, and then 
 transported in a canoe to Tappanooly. "We may be 
 sure that those isles are yet to be a scene of the 
 Divine glory. There will be displays of grace as 
 wonderful as those in the Sandwich Islands, and 
 as mighty and extensive in their influence." 
 
 One more item of information was gleaned by the 
 friends of Lyman. Through the exertions of Schoch 
 the skulls of the two brethren were not left to adorn 
 the bamboo huts of the Batta chiefs. It was not 
 difficult to distinguish them from those of the Asiatics, 
 and they were forwarded to the Secretary of the A. 
 B. C. F. M. When they reached America it was 
 easy to tell which had contained the calm and thought- 
 ful brain of Munson, and which the busy, energetic, 
 one of Lyman. The widows met in Boston, and 
 
 * American Missionary Memorial. 
 19
 
 434 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 there, with solemn and touching prayer, by him who 
 had instructed these beloved men to go forth, they 
 Avere committed to the tomb. We are not sure but 
 Lyman would have preferred to have his remains left 
 upon Sumatra, as holding possession of it for his 
 Lord and Master. 
 
 But, we doubt not, the time is at hand when the 
 King will himself assume the scepter. Speedily the 
 feast upon the slaughtered enemies shall be exchanged 
 for the blessed festival of love which commemorates 
 the Divine philanthropy of Him who was " taken and 
 by wicked hands was crucified and slain." 
 
 While on his last tour Henry Lyman addressed to 
 the Monthly Missionary Concert of Prayer in Amherst 
 College an interesting paper on the Chinese of Bata- 
 via. After begging a place in their prayers for Rev. 
 Mr. Medhurst and his work, he concludes : 
 
 " Not only will I ask you to pray, but, brethren, 
 who is girding himself to come forth to this part of 
 the battle ? While yet a dweller on that consecrated 
 eminence which you are now privileged to occupy, my 
 thoughts were to this part of the world. Thank God, 
 feeble as I am, I am counted worthy to labor here, 
 and I would fain persuade some, yea, many of you, to 
 ' lift up your eyes and look upon the field, for it is 
 white already to harvest.' ' 
 
 Twenty-two years have passed since this earnest 
 appeal was made ; yet Batta, and Nyas. and Sumatra, 
 are unchanged by the Gospel. The grain then ripe
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 435 
 
 has been gathered. Was it by heavenly reapers? 
 Twenty-two years of cruelty, and war, and can- 
 nibalism ! ! 
 
 Verily, the children of this world are, in their gen- 
 eration, wiser than the children of light. Of this we 
 have a remarkable exemplification in the proceedings 
 of Great Britain with regard to Sebastopol. The 
 news reached England of various disasters. The 
 troops were starving, dying ; the officers cut down. 
 Mean time the foe was mighty. The fortifications 
 were daily strengthening, the hope of success daily 
 diminishing. The wail of widows and orphans might 
 be heard all over the land. The people clamored. Was 
 their cry "Abandon the field? Send no more officers 
 to die; no more men to perish?" Nay, nay. An 
 immense widows' and orphans' fund was provided 
 that those brave men who fought might feel how their 
 country loved and prized their services ; the youth 
 pressed forward to enlist. Forsaking wife and kin- 
 dred, the officers contended to lead "the forlorn 
 hope." Delicate and tender women consecrated them- 
 selves to the care of the wounded, and the treasures 
 of the rich, and the little hoards of the poor were 
 poured forth like water. 
 
 And then the siege. Men saw comrades killed at 
 their sides. It but nerved their arm, steadied their 
 aim. A ladder was no sooner planted than it was 
 mounted. A man fell, and the gap was filled up by
 
 436 THE MARTYR OF SUMATRA. 
 
 another. Nothing was counted dear for the glory of 
 victory. 
 
 And the result? Sebastapol fell! Great were 
 the rejoicings. Every face beamed with delight. 
 Every heart gave thanks. Did meetings for con- 
 ga tulation satisfy them ? Scarcely had the booming 
 of cannon and the merry peal of bells died on the air 
 than forth went the cry: "Ye have done well. Ye 
 have taken one stronghold. Hundreds remain to be 
 destroyed. Up and be doing." Army and navy 
 heard and obeyed. The ranks are all full, and on 
 they press, driving back, step by step, the foe. 
 " There must be no flinching till the allies can dic- 
 tate a peace," was the universal cry. 
 
 The contrast between all this and the niggardly 
 supplies of men and money which are doled out to our 
 missionary Boards is too obvious to need another 
 word. Where is the church's fund for the widows 
 and orphans of her soldiers ? Where the young men 
 who press on to fill the ranks ? Where the wealth 
 poured forth for their support? Where the deter- 
 mination that there must be no flinching till the king- 
 doms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord 
 and His Christ? 
 
 " Now, they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, 
 but we an incorruptible." 
 
 " Verily, I say unto you, there is no man that 
 hath left home, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or
 
 THE MARTYRDOM. 437 
 
 mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake 
 and the Gospel's, 
 
 " But he shall receive an hundred fold now in this 
 time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, 
 and children, with persecutions ; and in the world to 
 come, eternal life !" 
 
 WHO WILL ACCEPT THIS SERVICE, WITH THIS 
 REWARD ? 
 
 THE END

 
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