The Indian Devotee

The following is related by the late Reverend Mr Swartz, then a Danish Missionary in the East Indies. A certain man, on the Malabar coast, had inquired of various devotees and priests, how he might make atonement for his sins; and at last he was directed to drive iron spikes, sufficiently blunted, through his sandals; and on these spikes he was directed to place his naked feet, and to walk, if I mistake not, two hundred and fifty coss, that is about four hundred and eighty miles. If, through loss of blood, or weakness of body, he was obliged to halt, he might wait for healing and strength. He undertook the journey, and while he halted under a large shady tree, where the Gospel was sometimes preached, one of the missionaries came, and preached in his hearing, from these words, "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin." While he was preaching, the man rose up, threw off his torturing sandals, and cried out aloud, "This is what I want!" and he became a lively witness that the blood of Jesus Christ does indeed cleanse from all sin.