A Promise Fulfilled

A PROMISE FULFILLED.

REMARKABLE INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF MISSIONARIES IN INDIA.

WRITTEN BY THE LATE ELDER RICHARD BALLANTYNE.

' On the twenty-fourth of July, 1853, thirteen elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arrived in Calcutta, the capital of Hindoostan, to be from thence distributed to other parts of Asia. At a conference of the elders, I was appointed, with elders Robert Owen and Robert Skelton, to labor in Madras, and other parts of Southern India. Some were sent to Bombay; some up the Ganges to the north; some to Siam; and others, with elder N. V. Jones, the president of the mission, were to remain in Calcutta. On our arrival, we found a branch of the Church, numbering eleven souls, of whom two or three were elders. One of the main purposes for which we were sent out aside from preaching the gospel was to sustain the doctrine of plural marriage, which had, for the first time, in the previous September, been publicly published as a doctrine of the Church. As was ex- pected, almost everywhere, this doctrine aroused a most bitter sentiment against the Church, and caused it to be denounced as an institution created to foster vice and minister to the basest pas- sions of mankind. On the other hand, we were sent to proclaim it as a pure principle, designed to purify the relations of the sexes, and commanded of God to elevate mankind here, and to secure for them in the eternal worlds, a never-ending enlargement of poster- ity, with glory, honor, and exaltation, throughout the eternities

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to come. But notwithstanding our efforts, the hatred and perse- cution increased, and under these circumstances, few favors were given to the elders. In about six weeks after our arrival, we learned from a vision given me of the city of Madras, that the time had come to make arrangements for a voyage thence. This was when the south- western monsoons were blowing violently across the Bay of Bengal, rendering a voyage to Madras extremely perilous. In consequence, only two vessels could be found going thither. One was the English mail steamer, and the other a brig, owned and commanded by Captain Thomas Scott. The name of the vessel was The John Brightman. The officers of the mail steamer absolutely refused us a passage, and so, at first, did Captain Scott. Captain Scott's objection was that we were men of bad reputation, and as two English ladies of wealth were going with him, he said it would be an outrage on them were he to take us into his cabin to be their associates. However, this refusal did not discourage us, for we felt that go with him we must; we therefore continued to visit him

four successive mornings thereafter, but without avail. We finally asked him how much money he would take. He said his price was three hundred and fifty rupees, but added, "I cannot take you at any price." Next morning, on awaking early, I said to Brother Skelton, "Let us go down and see the captain again, and let us go in the name of the Lord." To this he freely assented. We at once arose, dressed ourselves, and, having called upon the name of the Lord for help, we, for the sixth time, reached the vessel, which was anchored in the Hoogley river. And having gone on deck, the captain sa- luted us and introduced us to a parsee merchant, who, with the captain was engaged in invoicing boxes of merchandise. At once, this gentleman engaged us in conversation, asking us questions concerning the Saints. To all his questions, I gave him satis- factory answers; which answers seemed also to satisfy Captain Scott. Noticing a favorable expression in his countenance, I addressed him thus: "Captain Scott, we want to go with you to Madras, We have but little money, and of that little we need ten rupees to buy a few needed articles for the voyage, but we will give you the

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balance, and promise you, in the name of the Lord, that you will go safely, if you take us with you." These words seemed to strike into the very heart of the cap- tain, and he slapped his hands together and exclaimed "It's a bargain; I will take you; be ready in a week from today." In the meantime, I was taken very sick, but at the appointed time, I was carried in a palanquin on board the ship, and immediately my health began to improve. That afternoon we dropped down the river about ten miles and anchored for the night. Next morning we again set sail, but having a strong head-wind, we made slow prog- ress, having to tack ship, first one way then another, to catch the wind. However, during the forenoon, we reached a point where many ships had been sunk in the quick-sands, some of whose masts we saw protruding above the surface of the river. To go further, there was only a narrow channel. As we were about to enter this channel, we were overtaken by a large three-masted ship, which was coming down upon us with all sails set. To avoid a collision seemed impossible, and to avoid it and go on the quick-sands was certain destruction. The channel seemed too narrow for both vessels, and after yelling out orders by the captains of both vessels to avoid either being sunk, Captain Scott, now frantic with despair looked to the poop where I was sitting, rushed to me, and with his clenched fist threatening my face, wildly exclaimed: "You promised me a safe passage to Madras!" **Yes," I promptly replied, "and you shall have it." At the top of his voice, he yelled out, "Impossible: we are sunk." "Oh no, captain," I quietly responded, "we are not sunk^ neither will we be." At this solemn moment the other large ship was within one hundred feet of us, under full sail, and bearing right for our broad- side. But by the miraculous power of God, as soon as I assured the captain we would not be sunk, the big ship eased off and passed by, within three feet, but doing us no harm. Captain Scott said nothing to me during the rest of the day, but when evening came, he asked me if I had any books. I said "Yes," and gave him a copy of the "Only Way to be Saved," a tract written by Apostle Lorenzo Snow. This he seemed to have

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read carefully, and asked for more. I then gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon, which he also read. The reading of these works, and the conversations we daily had at the dining table, convinced the captain of the divinity of our. mission, and when we reached Madras, he was fully prepared

to aid us in establishing the work of God. Next morning before going ashore he came into my state-room and handed me back fifty rupees of the money I had paid for our passage, and at other times paid us much more than we had given him; besides giving me the fifty rupees and a pair of new shoes, before he went ashore he said, "If you will stay till I return, I will arrange hotel quarters for your accommodation." I gratefully thanked him for his generous kindness, and promised to stay. After returning to the ship and attending to some business, towards evening Brother Skelton and myself accompanied him to a large and elegant hotel, where he had, at his own expense, pro- vided for us "gentleman's quarters," consisting of a combined parlor and dining-room to which the servants brought our meals, con- sisting of the best and richest food the hotel afforded but of this, ;

while thanking God for his marvelous care of his servants in this far off land, we ate sparingly. I should have added that in addition to the parlor and dining-room, we were provided with a bath-room and bed-room. In addition to all this, before darkness set in, the captain took me to the Oriental Printing Office and ordered one thousand copies of Apostle Parley P. Pratt's "Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the People of Asia and the Islands of the Sea." What heart that would not have been overwhelmed with all this good- ness, or that could have refrained from rendering to God, the Eternal Father, from a grateful heart, the prof oundest emotions of thanks, love and unfeigned consecration to his service who had

thus cared for his servants among strangers, and by the hands of one, who all his life long had been a stranger to God; all this we did on our bended knees before retiring that night to our rest; for this, to us, had been a memorable day; and, besides, we had been saved from a watery grave, and honored as his servants in the presence of a man who had been all his life long as to God, a pub- lican and a heathenish worshiper of Mammon, the God of this world.