by John Marshall

“ The observations you make respecting the visits of ships of war to the coast of Labrador, are indeed very just. Unless conducted in the manner you did, they would necessarily have a very pernicious effect upon the mission; and we hope, that as no particular object can be obtained by them, that it will not become a common practice. You, however, may always consider yourself a privileged man, and to see you will always give the missionaries the greatest pleasure. ”

“ Your account of your visit to our settlements on the coast of Labrador was highly gratifying to me and to our whole society, as likewise to all who have read it. the testimony you are pleased to bear to the character of the missionaries, and to that of the Esquimaux congregations, cannot but be important to those who wish to have such evidence that Christianity has not only been adopted as a system, but that it has brought about a favorable change of heart, mind, and conduct, in a people naturally ignorant and barbarous. ”

“ Your visit to our missionaries will always he remembered by them, and the Esquimaux under their care, with the greatest delight; and the strict discipline you kept upon board your ship, more particularly claims their gratitude, as it contributed so greatly to lessen the anxiety they first felt on the approach of a ship of war, of the conduct of whose crew they could not form very favorable expectations. ”

“ You have thus been a messenger of peace to the Esquimaux, who now declare that their old suspicion that the King of England and his people were not their friends, is now entirely done away with; for that they see that they only mean to do them good. ”

“ You have with your eyes seen the change wrought by the Divine power of the gospel of Christ; for nothing else has brought it about. To those who love God and their neighbour as themselves, such manifestations and proofs of his mercy towards mankind, revealed in the gospel of our Saviour, are delighted and most encouraging’. ”

“ Third son of Mr. Thomas Martin, of Spring Mount, co. Cork, Ireland; a gentleman well known to the government of that kingdom, during the rebellion, as a magistrate and the commander of a corps of yeomanry, who, by his activity and zeal, helped to maintain the peace of his district, obtained himself the good will of the neighbouring gentry, and secured the esteem of General Myers, then commanding at Cork and in the surrounding country.
Mr. William Martin was born near the village of Glamuir, about three miles from Cork, in 1783 ”

“ In the mean time, Lieutenant Martin had been ordered by Sir Charles Hamilton to explore the Grand Esquimaux Inlet, and from thence to proceed to the northward in order to find out and communicate with the different stations of the Moravian missionaries on the coast of Labrador. ”

“ Martin was promoted into the Saturn 74, Captain Lord Amelius Beauclerk, then employed on the Mediterranean station, and subsequently exposed to much peril, in consequence of getting on shore near Cadiz light-house, when returning home for the purpose of undergoing repair. ”