296
Testimonies for the Church Volume 4
tearing down, picking flaws, and seeking spot and stain in others, than
to be washing their own robes of character from the defilement of sin
and making them white in the blood of the Lamb.
But I now come to the most painful part of this history, that concern-
ing Brother D. The Lord caused me to pass through an investigation
in which you and Brother C figured largely. God was grieved with
you both. I saw and heard that which caused me pain and regret. Such
an unreasonable, godless course as was pursued in this investigation
was just what might have been looked for from the Brethren B; but my
greatest surprise and grief was that such men as Brother C and yourself
should bear an active part in this shameful, one-sided investigation.
To Brother C, who acted the lawyer, to question and bring out
the minutiae in the strongest light, I would say: I would not have
that work laid to my charge for the riches of the world. You were
simply deceived and deluded by a strange spirit that should have had
no semblance of quarter, no grain of respect. Envy, jealousy, evil
[325]
surmisings, and doubtful disputations held a carnival on that occasion.
You may think me too severe, but I cannot be more severe than
the transaction deserves. Did you all think, when you condemned
the guiltless, that God was altogether such a one as yourselves? The
subsequent condition of Brother D was the result of the position taken
by you on that occasion. Had you shown fairness and sympathy, he
would stand today where his influence would tell on the side of truth
with the power that a meek and quiet spirit exerts. Brother D was not a
ready speaker, and the smooth words and fair speeches of A B, uttered
with apparent coolness and candor, had effect. The poor, sightless man
should have been regarded with pity and tenderness; but, instead of
this, he was placed in the worst possible light. God saw and will not
hold one of you guiltless who acted a part in that unfair investigation.
Brother A, it will not then appear so amusing to you as when you
were sitting in judgment against a blind brother. You should learn a
lesson from this experience; namely, to close your ears to those who
would prejudice you against the very ones whom God would have you
sustain, pity, and strengthen.
Brother C and you could not see the defects in the Brethren B;
neither could you discern the opposite traits of character in Brother D.
But his influence, sanctified by the Spirit of God, would tell upon the
cause of God with tenfold greater power than that of the Brethren B.