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 PrintableVersion Letters to Lydia, 'beloved Persis'Doomed romanceLETTERS TO LYDIA Henry Martyn was converted while studying at Cambridge, and influenced by the great evangelical preacher Charles Simeon. Originally determined to go to India as a missionary, he was compelled by family responsibilities to accept the post of chaplain with the East India Company. He left in 1805. ‘I have nothing to do here, but to labour as a stranger, and, by secret prayer and outward exertion, do as much as possible for the Church of Christ and my own soul till my eyes close in death’, he wrote on the voyage. Within a few short years he became one of the most significant Bible translators in Asia. He served at military posts, but also established schools and translated the New Testament into Urdu, Persian and Arabic. In 1811 he went to Persia, where he engaged in significant debates with Islamic scholars. He died, aged just 31, in 1812. His journal became a spiritual classic; his life and writing inspired many to commit themselves to mission. The years of labour were overshadowed by Martyn’s deep love for Lydia Grenfell. En route to India, his ship unexpectedly docked for three weeks off the shore of Cornwall, and Martyn met and fell in love with Lydia. He was 24, she was 29. Their romance was doomed. They were up against the ‘proprieties’ of the day, intransigent opposition from Lydia’s mother, and huge difficulties in communication. Henry Martyn’s third letter to Lydia was a formal proposal, dated July 30 1806. He had to supply full instructions for joining him in India, in case of her acceptance. He waited for nearly 15 months, not knowing whether she was already on her way, or whether she had refused. The letters he wrote to her while waiting for her reply optimistically looked forward to her arrival. Lydia received the proposal in March 1807. She felt unable to accept and leave England without her mother’s blessing. Her refusal reached Martyn on October 24 1807: he wrote back on the same day pleading with her to reconsider, but to no avail. Lydia has not always been kindly treated by Martyn’s biographers, and this book seeks to set the record straight. Her genuine piety and deep feeling for Henry Martyn shines through. After his premature death, she seems to have grieved for him for the rest of her life; she died in 1829 at the age of 54. This book is valuable in terms of providing previously unpublished primary source material from Lydia’s journals. It discusses how this story was adapted in 19th-century fiction by Charlotte Bronte, Mrs. Sherwood and Harriet Parr. But it is so detailed that it will appeal most to specialists. It would be better to start with The Life and Letters of Henry Martyn (Banner of Truth Trust, £6.25), which includes all 17 letters of Martyn to Lydia. Sharon James© Evangelicals Now - October 2006 |
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