An Interesting Brahman Family
By Mrs. J. L. Shaw
ONE day, after William Carey had been preaching to a crowd in one of the cities of India, he met a Brahman priest, carried on the shoulders of several men. Carey handed him a piece of paper with these words written upon it: “I am a sinner; Christ is my Saviour.” Up to this time no one had ever dared to tell this Brahman priest that he was a sinner. He was regarded more as a god. He repeated these words again and again: “I am a sinner; Christ is my Saviour;” and he finally said, “It is true. I am a sinner; Christ is my Saviour.” He sought Mr. Carey, and said, as a test, “If this man is really true, and thinks Christ can save us, he will eat with us.” On invitation, Mr. Carey gladly accepted and ate his rice and dahl from the same dish. The Brahman priest laid aside his priestly robe, and in simple attire presented himself for baptism. This was the first Brahman to accept Christianity. In a garden house, in the suburbs of Calcutta, lives the grandson of this Brahman priest, a white-haired man of over seventy years of age. In another part of Calcutta lives his son, who has eleven bright boys and girls living with him. A few years ago Brother Ellery Robinson sold him a copy of “Patriarchs and Prophets,” then a copy of “The Great Controversy,” and later one of “Daniel and the Revelation.” Morning, noon, and night he always gathers his family together, stopping the work in the printing office to study the Word and pray. These occasions he used in studying these books through with his family. By means of these books he became acquainted with Elder D. A. Robinson, who was an instrument in the hands of God of bringing him into the full light of the third angel’s message. This home is truly a training-school, and it is interesting to see all this family, fourteen in number,—including the son-in-law, who has lately given his heart to God and accepted present truth,—assemble for Bible study at noon. When the gun is fired in the city, giving the noonday hour, all work is dropped, and in their quiet, simple way they study the Bible, or whatever book they have chosen for that time. Just now they are studying “The Desire of Ages,” paragraph by paragraph. The oldest son of the family is a nurse at the sanitarium. It was interesting to hear him relate, the other day, how God had used him to bring Christ to a dying man who came to the sanitarium. He knew the patient must die, and he told him he could just ask forgiveness for his sins, and Jesus would accept him. As he repeated to him some precious promises, the dying man grasped his hand and said, “You have done much for me.” The young man said, “I have done nothing for you. Christ has done all.” He asked for a song, and he sang to the man, “Safe in the arms of Jesus,” and in a little while he passed away, leaving the assurance that he had found Jesus, though at the eleventh hour. The grandfather learned the present truth from the books his son purchased from the canvasser, and accepted it, in the garden house, where so many for years have come and heard the gospel; for his home is a mission home. They now hear the gospel every Sabbath from this aged pilgrim. It is interesting to hear him tell what God has done for him, and what he has seen done here in India for missions in his time. The light that Carey brought to this family has been handed down from father to son, father to son. Greater light has come as the years have come and gone. May the gospel live in each heart, and may they all be as quick to accept the light as it comes, and to sacrifice position, rank, and worldly possessions as was their ancestor, the Brahman priest. It is of interest to note that the head of each of these families has received advanced light through the printed page.