AN incident in the early life of Thomas Burchell, a devoted and successful missionary to the West Indies, is very striking.
Mr. Burchell was in early life a cloth manufacturer in the west of England. His first piece of cloth he sold to a person in Bristol, who, a few days afterward, was reported to be on the point of insolvency. With the energy which characterized him throughout his whole life, he determined, if possible, to regain legal possession of his property, of which it appeared he was about to be defrauded. It occurred to him, that by walking all night he should be in Bristol some hours earlier than if he waited for the coach, which did not start till morning. He therefore set out at once, and had walked nearly twenty miles by daybreak. He now approached the Severn, at a point where he expected to find someone who would ferry him over. As he reached it, he saw a boat push off hastily from the land. He hailed the crew, but they plied their oars more vigorously, and were soon out of hearing.
Looking round, he saw another boat just putting out, and feeling that if he did not succeed in gaining a passage in her, he should fail to attain the object for which he had made such efforts, he used all the means in his power to attract the attention of the boatmen and induce them to return. It soon became evident that they had noticed him, and seemed debating whether they should return or not. He at length had the satisfaction of seeing them pull for the shore. As they approached, it struck him that he had never seen five such desperate looking ruffians. After some objection on their part, they told him to get in. He had not long done so before he found that he was in most undesirable company. They began whispering together, and the few words he caught showed him that he was in extreme peril. He then perceived that they were steering in the opposite direction to that in which he wished to go. He spoke to them of this, when one of the number, an Irishman, openly and resolutely avowed their design of murdering him. They all then set up a loud shout in confirmation of their purpose, and as though to urge one another on to the deed.
From their horrid oaths and avowed intentions, he now found that they took him for a spy in the preventive service, and he perceived some kegs of spirits covered with straw in the bottom of the boat. It was in vain he assured them that they were mistaken in their suspicions; they only renewed their imprecations and threats of immediate and signal vengeance. Finding that they scoffed at his protestations, he ceased, and began to speak with them of God, a judgment, and eternity. After speaking in this strain for some little while, he observed the countenance of one of them to relax, and a tremor to pass over the frame of another. Still they did not alter the boat’s course, but continued steadily rowing in the wrong direction.
He then addressed each one solemnly and separately, and this with so much evident sincerity and deep feeling, that the captain of the crew cried out, “I say, I can’t stand this. I don’t believe he’s the man we took him for. We must let him go. Where do you want to be put out, sir?” The traveler replied that he wished to be taken up the won as far as Bristol. The man said that they could not go so far as that, as they dared not pass Pill; but that they would take him as far as possible, and put him in a way to continue his journey by the shortest route. He thanked them, and begged them to make the utmost speed, for his business was urgent. Finding them so subdued, he spoke to them of their sinful lives, and pointed them to Christ as their Saviour. They all appeared impressed by his statements and conduct, and not only refused to receive what he had stipulated to pay as fare, but offered to forward a keg of spirits to any place he would mention―an offer which was of course declined. On landing, one of the men accompanied him to a farmhouse, and induced the occupant to drive him to Bristol. He; by these means, succeeded in reaching his journey’s end at an early hour, and in regaining possession of the greater part of his property.
Even had the results of this perilous boat voyage stopped here, it would have afforded a striking instance of the blessings which attend Christian fidelity and boldness, springing from a sense of God’s presence and access to Him in prayer. But more remains to be told. Many years afterward, on Mr. Burchell’s return from Jamaica, he was at a small village in the neighborhood of Cheddar Cliffs, when a man accosted him, offered his hand, and appeared surprised that he was not recognized. It proved to be the smuggler who had guided Mr. Burchell to the farmhouse. After some conversation, he said, “Ah sir, after your talk, we none of us could follow that trade again. I have since learned to be a carpenter, and am doing very well in this village; and attend a chapel three or four miles off. And our poor captain never forgot to pray for you till his dying day. He was quite an altered man, took his widowed mother to live with him, and became a good husband, a good father, and a good neighbor. Before, everyone was afraid of him, he was such a desperate fellow; afterward he was as tame as a lamb. He opened a little shop for the maintenance of his family; and what was better still, held prayer meetings in his house. The other three men are now in a merchant vessel.”