A Man Who Wouldn't Take "No" for an Answer

13 May 2008

Scripture: Psalm 103:105

The names of Carey, Marshman, and Ward are outstanding in missionary history. We have previously considered William Carey and William Ward, but Joshua Marshman deserves our serious contemplation as well. Born in a Baptist home in Wiltshire, England, on April 20, 1768, the lad knew early the message of saving grace. He possessed a voracious appetite for reading and perused everything available to him in his youth. When he was twenty-four, he moved to Bristol, England, to supervise a school which the Broadmead Baptist Church provided. Immediately, Mr. Marshman enrolled to take classes simultaneously at the seminary, and for five years he studied the classics, Hebrew, and Syriac.

Carey had gone to India in 1793, and the missionary reports had stirred the hearts of the Marshmans for the cause of missions. Mr. and Mrs. Marshman applied to the mission, were accepted, and sailed in May, arriving in Calcutta in October of 1799. The Marshmans opened a young ladies’ boarding school which became the largest of its kind in India. This was done to supplement the support from the English brethren, and all profits accrued to the Serampore Mission. During their ministry, the Marshmans established two other such schools, and all three institutions were very successful. This work was carried on primarily by Mrs. Hannah Marshman, and she thrived in her labors and the climate. She continued on in Serampore until her death in 1847, ten years following the home going of her blessed husband.

Joshua Marshman had not been robust in his youth, and at the time of his embarkation, his health was very poor. One day, meeting the blunt but popular Methodist preacher, ‘Sinner Saved’ Huntington, and remarking to him that he was about to go to Calcutta, "You, go out to India!" exclaimed Huntington; "you look as pale as if you had been kept by the parish!"

But the Lord undertook for His servant, and "hence he could in his old age boast that, after a residence of thirty-six years in India, his medicine had not cost him a single sovereign."¹

Mr. Marshman labored in association with Mr. Carey, translating the Scripture, preaching, and performing other missionary work. In 1806 Mr. Marshman began the gargantuan work of mastering Chinese so that he might translate the Scriptures into that language. For eighteen years, he used every spare moment that he could wrest from his regular responsibilities, for it was imperative to Mr. Marshman that the teeming millions in China’s empire should be able to read the Word of God. When the governor general refused to assist financially in the printing of the Chinese Bible for fear of the response of the East India Company, Mr. Marshman hit upon an idea empowering him to care for the matter himself. He printed the works of Confucius and used the profits to place God’s precious Word in the hands of the disciples of Confucius.

Satan stirred up opposition in India and abroad. In preaching to the nationals, Mr. Marshman was mobbed and arrested on at least one occasion. Tragically, the worst trials were to come from abroad. With the death of the original mission society leaders, youthful ministers took control of the leadership. They knew nothing of the mission operation in India but desired to obtain control over the property. The end result was that Dr. Carey, the Marshmans, and Mr. Ward actually gave approximately £80,000 to keep the work solvent. This money had been gained through their own employment on the field.

Dr. Marshman was honored by Brown University with an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree in June of 1811. He died on December 4, 1837, and was laid to rest in God’s Acre. That plot is now consecrated by the mingled dust of generations of missionaries and converts who are awaiting the resurrection call of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. --DLC

[1]G. Winfred Hervey, The Story of Baptist Missions in Foreign Lands (St. Louis: C.R. Barnes Publishing Co., 1892), p. 228.