Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 143
143 he had certainly put the letter in the packet under the impression that as the letter only contained formal directions with regard to the contents of the packet there was nothing wrong in placing the letter in the packet. He made the same statement in court and the magistrate, who was a European, was so struck by his righteousness that he acquitted him, in spite of the remonstrances of the postal officials, remarking that he had not the heart to convict a man who could have secured his acquittal by a mere plea of not guilty or by a mere refusal to plead, but would not adopt that course as lending colour to a lie. I love to listen to the reminiscences of an old Sikh peasant who knew the Promised Messiah as from his childhood. He cannot talk of him without tears in his eyes. He says that when he used to go to the Promised Messiah as , the latter used to ask him to go to his (Prom- ised Messiah’s as ) father and request him that he should let him (i. e. , the Promised Messiah as ) serve God and the faith and should not insist upon his undertaking the conduct of worldly affairs. This old Sikh always con- cludes his narrative by exclaiming, 'He (meaning the Promised Messiah as ) was a saint from his childhood,' and on this he invariably bursts into tears. This simple and natural testimony from the mouth of a follower of another religion who had wit- nessed all the ups and downs of the Promised Mes- siah’s as life is not without its special value and signifi- cance. But this is not a solitary instance. Every man who came in contact with him carried away the same impres- sion, and the more familiar a man was with the mode of