Merrick, James Lyman

Merrick, James Lyman a Presbyterian minister, was born at Monson, Mass., Dec. 11, 1813. He graduated at Amherst College in 1830, and in 1833 at the theological seminary at Columbia, S. C.; was ordained as a missionary to the Persians in 1834; in August of the same year he sailed for Constantinople, and in October, 1835, arrived at Tabriz, Persia. He labored, travelled, and explored among the Mohammedans about two years, then joined the Nestorian Mission at Oroomiah, and in 1845 returned to America, and in 1849 was installed pastor of the Congregational Church at Amherst, Mass. He died June 18,1866. Mr. Merrick had a strong mind, and was a good scholar, a faithful pastor, and an earnest missionary. He was thoroughly acquainted with the Persian, and well read in the Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, Greek, Latin, and French tongues. He was altogether absorbed in the interests of the Persian language and literature, and bequeathed his property to the literary institutions which had afforded him his early advantages, for the founding of four Persian scholarships. He was the author of The Pilgrim's Harp, a volume of poems (1847) : — The Life and Religion of Mohammed, translated from the Persian (1850) :-Keith's Evidences of Prophecy, translated into Persian (1846). He also left in MS., A Full Work on Astronomy, selected, compiled, and translated into Persian, A Friendly Treatise on the Christian Religion, and A Treatise on the Orthography and Grammar of the English Language. See Presb. Hist. Almanac, 1867, p. 181, 182; N. Amer. Revelation lxxi. 273; Brownson's Quar. Revelation 2d ser., 4:408. (J. L. S.).