William Budge's Warning Voice — Saved from a Wrecked Steamer by Divine Interposition (c. 1879)

Elder William Budge (1828–1919), a Scottish convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who became a prominent missionary, president of the European/British Mission (1878–1880), and later president of the Bear Lake Stake, recorded a striking instance of divine interposition that he published in the Faith-Promoting Series. Returning from a visit to Scotland, where he had met old friends, Budge arrived at Liverpool intending to continue his journey by steamer to Bristol. As he was about to board the vessel, he was warned by a voice not to go. Heeding the heavenly warning, he turned back. He then found himself short of money for an alternate route, but the needed means were providentially provided at that very moment, enabling him to journey on to Portsmouth instead. The sequel confirmed the reality of the warning: the steamer he had been about to take was wrecked. Budge regarded the timely warning voice and the providential provision of funds as a manifest preservation of his life through divine interposition — one of several faith-promoting experiences he contributed to the Church's instructional literature for the rising generation.

Fuller account of this event (the complete account as preserved in William Budge, 'An Instance of Divine Interposition,' in Fragments of Experience, Sixth Book of the Faith-Promoting Series (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1882), 101-102.):

I had been visiting some friends in Scotland, and on my return, I arrived in Liverpool, intending to take the steamer for Bristol. I went to the office to secure my passage, and while standing there, a voice said to me, as plainly as if a person had spoken, 'Do not go by that steamer.' I turned round to see who had spoken, but there was no one near me. I thought it was strange, but I felt that I must obey the warning. I left the office, and as I did so, I felt that I had not enough money to pay my fare by rail to Portsmouth, where I wished to go. I walked along the street, wondering what I should do, when I met a gentleman who owed me a small sum of money, which he paid me, and it was just the amount I needed to pay my fare by rail. I went to the station, and took the train for Portsmouth. The steamer I had intended to take was wrecked on the voyage, and many lives were lost.