1884. 57 Trans. N, V. Ac. Sci. 



his name has been prominent in connection with almost every good 

 work. His influence has been felt in all directions. He was an effec- 

 tive worker in the Evangelical Alliance, the American and Foreign 

 Christian Union, the Society for the Prevention of Crime, and the 

 New York Academy of Sciences. 



In 1862, Columbia College conferred on him the degree of S.T.D., 

 and, in 1869, the Regents of the University of the State of New York 

 bestowed on him the degree of L.H.D. 



Prof. Martin's married life lasted for forty-one years, and has been 

 rightly described as well-nigh ideal. Mrs. Martin's death, in April, 

 1883, was a terrible blow ; but her husband was not of those who sor- 

 row without hope, and his patience while thus stricken was a proof of 

 his Christian fortitude. The separation, however, was short, for on 

 December 26, 1883, he died of acute bronchitis, dying, as he had 

 lived, full of faithful, cheerful trust in his God, whom, with singleness 

 of heart, he had served for full fifty years. The only issue of the mar- 

 riage was one son, who is still with us, and whose labors in the ser- 

 vice of the Academy are second in importance only to those of his 

 father. 



Professor Martin was a faithful member of this Academy ; his ser- 

 vices were equally effective and unostentatious. It is no exaggeration 

 to say that the Academy owes very much of its prosperity to his exer- 

 tions. His quick and generous recognition of merit in the younger 

 members— his kindly words of encouragement, on occasions when 

 keen, and perhaps deserved, criticism was chilling hope, will not be 

 forgotten by some whom he thus kept in the way of study. 



Professor Martin's acquirements were remarkable. He began his 

 studies in science when most of the branches, now so important, were 

 in their infancy. With rare power he seized the salient points in each 

 subject, and, with careful, systematic study, he kept himself well 

 abreast with the advances of the succeeding thirty years. He was 

 not an expert in zoology, or geology, or mineralogy, or molecular 

 physics ; but he was so well grounded in the general principles of each 

 that no geologist, or zoologist, or mineralogist ever conversed with 

 him for an hour without gaining some new conception, without feeling 

 broadened, without feeling that he had talked with one who had 

 reached the higher planes of philosophy. This breadth of informa- 

 tion gave him wonderful power as an instructor in metaphysics — as an 

 instructor in any branch. He was encyclopaedic himself; he made his 

 students so also. Other instructors taught their specialties, but Pro- 

 fessor Martin, in addition to his own work, taught the student to 

 gather all together, to assort the information, and to put away every 

 fact in its own place along with those related to it. So, the thoughtful 



