186 Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists
of them to be true, and feels as zealous as ever Saul did, believing that
in trying to tear down my influence he is doing God service.
It has ever been against my principle to enter into controversy with
any one, or to spend my time in vindicating myself against the attacks
of those who do not hesitate to adopt any means to pervert the truth,
or to cast stigma upon those who stand in defense of the law of God.
Nothing would please Satan and his followers better than to have me
engage in this work; for then they would give me enough to keep me
busy all the time, and thus my real work would be left undone. But
this is not the work that God has given me. Years ago I determined
to let nothing draw me from the work of speaking and writing plain
Bible truth. Unmoved alike by condemnation or approval, censure or
applause, falsehood or flattery, I have not shunned to declare, without
partiality and without hypocrisy, the message that God has given me. I
have always borne, and trust that I shall ever continue to bear, a plain,
decided testimony against sin in the church and out.
Here in the valleys we were among a people, who, as a rule, are
ignorant of the Bible and of the power of God. Eld. Grant had no
hold upon them, and they knew little if anything of my former life and
labors. Then why should I depart from my established custom, and
spend the precious moments of my stay with this people in vindicating
myself? Would it not be better for me to crowd into my talks all the
practical religion possible, and thus do the people all the good I could?
We felt that it would be best to do this; and so it proved.
Some who heard Eld. G. preach went home and told their friends
that he had come to quarrel with a woman; that they did not like his
spirit, and they wanted no more of such meetings. The report went out
that two Adventists had come to the valleys, and were quarreling with
each other. This was a mistake, as some afterward learned; for there
was no response made to his unreasonable and untimely raid. In the
ten discourses that I gave in the valleys I made no more reference to
Eld. G. than if he had been in his own native State. After giving four or
five discourses, he withdrew to other parts, having accomplished little
if anything. Many who afterward attended our meetings seemed much
surprised and pleased with them. They said they had been entirely
misinformed in regard to the nature of our meetings, and expressed
much regret that they had not attended them all.