Divine Providence Staying the Hand of a Murderous Assailant
Published October 5, 2026 at 1:59 AM
Contributed by
Millennial Star Research
After escaping the dogs, the elder (the narrator) was pursued by the landlord carrying a club. The elder turned, approached the man, and engaged him in a conversation about Irish people in America, which caused the man to drop the club and eventually depart peacefully. The elder recognized this as divine intervention.
In Their Own Words
“I was travelling from Penrith to Bathurst, and had to pass through a lonely part of the country. I had been warned that it was a dangerous road, and that several persons had been robbed and murdered there. I had not gone far before I heard a rough voice calling after me, and I looked back in the road and saw a man coming on a run carrying a large club in his hand. He swore bitterly, and said as he had caught me now he would use me up with that club. I felt that my life was in danger, and I looked to the Lord for help. I walked up to him and offered him my hand, and asked him if he was an Irishman, and if he had ever been in America. This took him by surprise, and he stopped and shook hands with me. I then entered into conversation with him about the Irish people in America, and he became quite friendly. By this time he dropped his club and we walked along together for some distance. He confessed to me that he intended, when he came up to me, to have killed me with the club, but he was glad now that he did not strike me with it. We parted as friends, and I went on my way rejoicing in the goodness of God. Little did he think that it was an over-ruling providence that stayed his hand that he was not permitted to strike with the club.”
— Elder, The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star
Sources & References
The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star (Manchester, later Liverpool, England, May 1840–1970), 5 September 1871 (Vol. 33, No. 36). https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1871-09-05_33_36 (account extracted verbatim from the issue's Internet Archive OCR text; research confidence: high) Full first-person account: The Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star, Vol. 33, No. 36, 5 September 1871, p. 574 https://archive.org/details/per_utah-and-the-mormons_the-latter-day-saints-millennial-star_1871-09-05_33_36
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