Various
A String of Pearls
CHAPTER II
CURIOUS COINCIDENCE – IMPRESSION UPON MISS FLOYD – HER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT – CHALLENGED BY MR. RUBY – MEETING BY CHANCE – ELDER GRANT'S ESTIMATE OF MR. RUBY – THE PREACHER COWED.
It was the good fortune of Elder Grant to be the first to open the door of salvation to the people of South-Western Virginia, upon whom he made an impression that time does not seem to remove. This impression was the result of his honesty and truthfulness, and his readiness to meet the foes of truth, added to his peculiar clearness, force and power in preaching the divine principles of the gospel. He was an earnest worker. Through his earnestness, sincerity and practical common sense, he was often thrown into the society of men and women of the highest culture and intelligence that the State contained.
In this connection a rather singular coincidence is related.
About the time of his first appearance in Burke's Garden Tazewell County, Virginia, he held his meetings, generally, at the residence of Colonel Peter Litz, a man of considerable wealth and influence at that time.
At one of these meetings, I think about the second, a very large concourse of people had assembled, and it was decided, on account of the size of the congregation, to hold the meeting in the orchard, there being a beautiful blue grass lawn beneath the trees.
It was the Sabbath day. That morning, a Miss Floyd, sister of the late John B. Floyd, who lived a few miles distant, was reading the Bible, and accidentally turned to the passage, "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."
She arose immediately, ordered her carriage, and said: "Inspired by that injunction, I will go and hear what that 'Mormon' has to say."
When she arrived at the place of meeting, she gave orders for her carriage to be driven around to a position where she could remain seated in it, and still be able to hear the remarks of the speaker.
The moment her carriage stopped, Elder Grant arose and announced his text: "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good," from which he preached a most powerful sermon.
Colonel Litz told me he never heard anything so clearly set forth as the principles of the gospel were on that day. The evidence adduced as to the divine authenticity of the doctrines preached by the Saints was overwhelming, and the testimony borne was most powerful.
At the close of the meeting, Miss Floyd alighted, walked up and introduced herself to Elder Grant, and invited him home with her.
Miss Floyd was a lady of rare qualities of mind, and had taken advantage of every opportunity for intellectual advancement. Her information was vast, and of a solid nature. She was the best genealogist in the country, and was thoroughly posted in religious matters.
She was so deeply impressed by the sermon, that she made the remark to the Elder after the close of it:
"Mr. Grant, I am a Catholic; and if Catholicism is not true, 'Mormonism' is. I am fully persuaded that 'Mormonism' is next to Catholicism."
She was ever afterwards a true friend to Brother Grant.
That and other discourses of the same kind did a powerful work, and laid a foundation upon which Elders are building up branches of the Church in that region to-day.
Elder Grant had not the advantage of a collegiate education, and naturally had a dread of meeting with men who were highly educated. He often expressed this feeling to others. But when he came in contact with men of that type, they seemed to be mere pigmies in comparison with him, when discussing the principles of the true gospel.
One very amusing incident was told me, which shows the peculiar way Brother Grant had of testing the material with which he had to deal.
The Lutheran church in Burke's Garden had a minister, the Rev. Ruby, who was a very fine scholar in the Latin and Greek languages, and was considered a thorough theologian.
A certain man in the place, who was very fond of fun and debate, urged the Rev. Ruby to challenge Elder Grant to meet him in discussion on religion, stating to him that Elder Grant was uneducated and ignorant, and by so doing he would expunge the "delusion" from the community and do a great good.
Thus urged, the challenge was given and accepted.
The two, Rev. Ruby and Elder Grant, had never met, nor even seen each other.
A few days before the time appointed for the discussion, the two parties chanced to meet at a public gathering of some kind, and the waggish instigator of the discussion was there also. The latter stepped up to Elder Grant and said:
"Mr. Grant, allow me to introduce you to the Rev. Mr. Ruby, the Lutheran preacher."
Brother Grant stepped back and gave the reverend gentleman a thorough inspection, and then said:
"Did I understand you to say preacher?"
"Yes, sir.'
"Well, well! if I was secreted in the bushes along the side of the road for the purpose of waylaying a preacher, and Mr. Ruby should pass along, I wouldn't even snap a cap at him."
The reverend gentleman was completely thunderstruck. He had no more use for Elder Grant, and remarked: "If that is the kind of a man he is, I don't want to have anything more to do with him."
It was enough; there was no discussion. Thus, Brother Grant disarmed his foe, and marched on triumphantly to victory, scattering the seeds of eternal truth, which have taken root in the hearts of many and sprung up, and in their turn produced fruit.
It can be truly said of Elder J. M. Grant that he has left "footprints on the sands of time," for I saw them and took courage.
May the sons of this noble man emulate the glorious traits of a father who was so honored of heaven.
WAR HILL
BY J. MORGAN
ELDER J. M. GRANT CHALLENGED TO DEBATE – BOONE'S HILL CHOSEN AS THE PLACE – HIS ANTAGONIST GETS SIX MINISTERS TO HELP HIM – DEMORALIZED MINISTERS SEND FOR ANOTHER TO ASSIST THEM – INGLORIOUS DEFEAT OF THE EIGHT – ONE OF THEM ABSENT-MINDED – CHANGE OF NAME TO "WAR HILL."
Traveling through the State of North Carolina, I met with many reminiscences of President Jedediah M. Grant, who performed a mission there many years ago, making a vivid impression on the minds of the people, and converting quite a few to the truth.
An old gentleman, who is not a member of the Church, but who was a warm friend and ardent admirer of Elder Grant, relates a graphic and interesting account of a debate that the latter held with some ministers, in what is now Surry County.
Upon the advent of the "Mormon" preacher into that particular locality, a minister of one of the denominations challenged him to debate, which challenge was promptly accepted, and the necessary preparations were immediately made. A chairman and judge were selected, rules adopted to govern the discussion, and the well-known locality of Boone's Hill was chosen as the place to hold the debate. It was the birthplace and former home of Colonel Daniel Boone, the first white settler of Kentucky, and the building located there was known far and near as Boone's Hill Church.
After the preliminaries had been arranged, the minister appeared to have become a little nervous, and requested the privilege of bringing in a friend to assist him.
Elder Grant's reply was, "Yes, as many as you wish."
The result was that when the day came, he found seven sectarian preachers pitted against him.
He claimed and obtained the privilege of replying to each speaker consecutively.
The church proved much too small to accommodate the people; so a platform was erected at the rear of the building, and the people seated themselves under the shade of the trees.
The discussion opened, and the polemical battle waxed hot, and hotter, as hour after hour of debate went by. The Elder followed them whithersoever they saw proper to lead, and, with Bible quotations and historical facts, he struck blows so rapid and strong that his opponents became demoralized on the second day, and posted a runner on horseback off eighty miles, to bring to their assistance a noted divine. By a rapid journey, this theological Hercules soon reached the appointed place, and by his presence revived the drooping spirits of his friends.
But the Elder, after four days of continuous debate, only seemed to have got fairly into a condition to talk well, and doubly astonished the priests and people by the hurricane of thought, truth and logic that came rushing through his lips with such force as to sweep away their arguments and sophistry, holding spell-bound the audience, while he contrasted the man-made system of modern theology with the grand and glorious truths of God's revealed religion. He portrayed the sublimity of holy writ in its forecast of the glorious work of the latter days; the restoration of the gospel; the visitation of angels; the believer blessed with the gifts and signs following; the building up of the kingdom of God; the redemption of the human family and of the earth; until, at last, turning to the crowd of ministers who had been opposing him, he called upon them to turn from their erroneous doctrines and aid him in the promulgation of the true gospel, that must "be preached in all the world for a witness." He promised that if they would do so they should reap eternal life. Raising his hands towards heaven, he declared that he had spoken the truth to the people, that his hands were washed clean of their blood, and that his testimony was recorded in the archives of heaven, to be brought forth on the great day of God's judgment; and said, "you ministers, and you people, will meet it there that day."
At the close of this remarkable scene the men who had been opposing him began hurriedly leaving the platform. So excited were they in their movements, that the leading one of them left his Bible, cane and hat behind him.
Noticing these articles left behind, Elder Grant called and requested some one to carry them to the absent-minded owner, and one of the bystanders did so.
Elder Grant then dismissed the congregation, and from that day to this, Boone's Hill has been called War Hill, in memory of the religious battle fought there.
SIGN-SEEKING
BY J. H. VAN NATTA
PERSECUTING THE MISSIONARIES – A DISCUSSION – NOT CONTENT WITH BIBLE PROOFS – A SIGN DEMANDED – NO SIGNS PROMISED TO UNBELIEVERS – WARNED TO REPENT, OR ENDURE THE CURSE OF GOD – THE RESULT.
In the year 1841, three Elders – James M. Adams, James M. Emmett and Hiram Page – were traveling in Erie Country, Pennsylvania, preaching the gospel. The opposing power, which is always ready to contest the ground with the Elders, inch by inch, manifested itself there in a most violent manner. As usual, this opposition came from those who professed to be Christians. A Baptist minister and his sons disfigured Elder Emmett's pony by clipping off its hair, daubing tar on it, etc., and the Elders were also threatened, though the threats were not put into execution.
The Elders were finally challenged to debate with a number of preachers, on the subject of the gospel.
The challenge was accepted on condition that the preachers would confine their arguments to Bible proofs, which they agreed to do.
The discussion accordingly opened by Elder Adams preaching a discourse on the first principles of the gospel. He spoke in such a plain, pointed and forcible manner, that the opponents to the truth were disconcerted. When their turn to speak arrived, they laid aside the volume of inspiration which they had agreed to take as their guide, and commenced reading from Howe's "Mormonism Unveiled," a book written by one D. P. Hurlbut. This book contained the most glaring falsehoods and inconsistent ideas that wicked men could invent.
The umpires informed the preachers that they must not deviate from their written contract, but confine themselves to Bible proofs, as they had agreed to do. If the "Mormon" doctrine was false, it must be proved so from the Bible.
After the old preachers had tried in vain to produce any scripture proofs, or logic either, to sustain their false views, and the powerless form of religion which they held to, they were reinforced by a young Free-will Baptist preacher, named Solon Hill. It was soon evident that he could offer nothing in the way of argument, for he soon drifted into the same strain of slander and vituperation in which the others of his party had sought to indulge Finally, however, he hit upon a plan which he seemed to think would enable him to come off victor.
Turning to Elder Adams, he said, "If you are a servant of God, as you boldly say you are, I demand a sign of you, to convince me that you are genuine."
Elder Adams told him that he had taken a dangerous stand; that signs followed believers, but did not go before them; that signs came by faith, not faith by signs. He informed him who the first sign-seeker was – Satan, whose children had always been faithful in following his example. He testified that the truths of heaven had been plainly laid before them, that the Spirit had given unmistakable evidence of its truth, and that unless he repented of his sins, rendered obedience to the gospel and lived up to its requirements, the curse of God would rest upon him.
The meeting was dismissed without the preachers being able to disprove any of the truths advanced by the Elders; the people were left to reflect at leisure upon what they had listened to, and the preacher, Hill, to accept the consequence of disobeying the servant of God.
* * * * * * *
After a lapse of sixteen years from the time of the events just narrated, I happened to be in the same part of Pennsylvania upon a mission.
Calling one day at a house to water my horse, I saw one of the most deformed and repulsive looking beings I ever beheld.
On arriving at my destination, I informed my brethren of the hideous sight I had met with, when I was told that the being I had seen was what was left of the man who had demanded a sign from a servant of God.
In 1878, Elder Butler, of Ogden, was on a mission to the same place, and I wrote to him for information concerning Hill. His reply was, "He is still alive, and an object of charity."
There are two ways of knowing the truths of the gospel. One is to obey and live up to them. The antediluvians took the other way and were overwhelmed; and the man who wanted a sign also took it, and, as a consequence, had to drag out a long and most miserable existence, manifesting by his appearance to every beholder, that the curse of the Almighty was certainly resting upon him.
MISSIONARY INCIDENTS
By H. G. B
CHAPTER I
A BUSY MISSION – A RICH HARVEST OF SOULS – JUDGMENTS UPON OUR OPPONENTS.
I am writing from a place (Mount Airy, Surry County, N. C.) that I visited as a missionary first in 1868. Then I labored in company with Howard K. Coray, in this and Stokes Counties, N. C., and in some three or four Counties of Va., for two years and three months, during which time we baptized nearly three hundred souls, one hundred and sixty of whom accompanied us home to Utah. It is of some of the incidents of this mission that I wish to write.
I remember very well, that after laboring some months in Virginia, and baptizing some thirty persons, we left Burke's Garden, Va., the 20th of January, 1868, reaching this point after three days' travel. We were absent from Burke's Garden just two months to a day, and during that time we held fifty-four public meetings, baptized thirty persons, and organized them into a branch of the Church. In addition to our public meetings, we visited from place to place among the people, constantly teaching, both day and night, often till after midnight.
It was generally understood where we were to visit, each day and night, for a week ahead, and at each of these places, crowds of the neighbors would assemble, coming from their homes, guided through the darkness of the night by their pitch-pine torch-lights.
When, on these occasions, we met with the people, we had to do a vast amount of teaching and singing (Elder Coray being an excellent singer), and answer hundreds of questions. What one could not think of another would. And thus we had to teach and explain and answer the demands made upon us day after day, and night after night, until our instructions in this manner covered hundreds of discourses, and until we were so nearly worn out, that we had sometimes to retire to the woods and hide, to get a little respite from our too-constant labor.
We indeed literally sowed the seed in tears and in peril, in the midst of opposition and bitter persecution. But the Lord fully magnified His name, His cause, and His servants, in all that we had to do and to bear.
The new Methodist church in this place, which was denied us to preach in, was, two days afterwards, struck by lightning, and so nearly demolished that, I am told, it was never repaired. A man, who was a class leader, who abused his sister for going to our meetings, and shamefully lied about Elder Coray and myself, and said all manner of evil, falsely, against the Latter-day Saints and the gospel, was found by his wife, the next morning, dead by her side; and because his body did not get cold like ordinary corpses, he was not buried for nearly a week after his death.
Two wealthy and prominent men, who used their influence and the power of their wealth and position-to retard the work of the Lord here, met with sudden and unexpected deaths.
Many other incidents of like nature might be mentioned that occurred here during our stay. So many of them, in fact, occurred, that great fear came upon the people.
While we labored in poverty, in all humility, contrite in spirit, reaching out in our weakness after the honest-in-heart, many souls were added to the Church. The poor had the gospel preached to them, the Lord giving us a harvest of sheaves. The people hung upon our words as the words of life; every expression and every movement was narrowly watched. They read their Bibles as they had never read them before; "They that erred in spirit came to understanding, and they that murmured learned doctrine;" and they rejoiced in the Holy One of Israel.
How faithful then ought we messengers of the gospel to be, in the trust that is reposed in us, to carry this glad message to our poor, fallen brethren and sisters in humanity!
In conclusion, I wish to offer a little advice to the boys and young men who may read this: Be very diligent in storing your minds with all useful knowledge – with all the truths of the new and everlasting gospel. Live pure lives in the sight of heaven, and the angels that constantly watch every act of your lives. Be truthful, honest, sober, virtuous and faithful in all things. The Almighty wants you, with your innocence and purity and strength, to redeem the nations that sit in darkness. And you may yet stand before rulers, kings, emperors, and the great of all nations of the earth, when they will tremble and quail before you, because of the power of God that will rest upon you.
CHAPTER II
VISIT TO A BAPTIST MEETING – ABUSE OF THE VARIOUS CHURCHES, ESPECIALLY THE "MORMONS" – BOASTED BIBLE-NAME AND RELIGION – RETURN TO THE TEXT – THE "HARD-SHELL" WAIL – REPLY TO THE FALSE ASSERTIONS – THEIR "BIBLE-NAME" DISPROVED – THE TRUE SCRIPTURE NAME POINTED OUT.
While Brother H. K. Coray and I were laboring as missionaries in North Carolina, we attended a Baptist meeting, rather on his account than mine, as he had never been to such a meeting.
It was on Saturday, and the meeting was held in a bowery in the edge of a wood, in Stokes County.
Shortly after our arrival, the meeting was opened in the usual way, by the minister, the Rev. Mr. Mourning, the leading preacher of that denomination. He arose and read his text from the Song of Solomon, 8th chapter and 8th verse: "We have a little sister, and she hath no breasts," etc., after which, the preacher launched out in a discourse made up from abuse and slander of other denominations.
First he commenced a tirade against the Methodists, by saying:
"There is the Methodist church; I do not read in the Bible of the Methodist church; therefore, that church cannot be the true church. Neither do I read of the Presbyterian church; it is, therefore, not God's church. Nor do I read anything in the good book about the Lutheran church; nor does the scriptures say anything about the Campbellite church, nor the Catholic church, nor the Quaker church."
Thus he went on, mentioning all the leading sects of the present day, saying none of these could possibly be the true church, because the Bible was silent as to their names.
He seemed to take some pains to save the "Mormons" till the last, so as to be thoroughly warmed up, that he might be the better able to do justice to their case.
After awhile, getting all the steam on – mustering all his force, he opened his battery upon the "Mormon" Church, saying the "Mormon" Church was not mentioned anywhere in the scriptures, nor the "Mormon" religion; neither the "Mormon Bible," nor "Joe" Smith, nor Brigham Young, not even the word "Mormon" was mentioned there.
He finished up his abuse of the "Mormons" by saying they were the most dangerous, and altogether the worst of the whole bad lot.
"But," said he, referring to the Baptist church, "ours is the Primitive Baptist church – a Bible name. Ours is a Bible church, a Bible religion," etc.
"Sometimes," he added, "we are called 'Iron Jackets,' sometimes, 'Hard Shells,' but these are nicknames. Our true Bible name is 'Primitive Baptists.'"
By this time he had been talking an hour, and had not once referred to the text. But having apparently satisfied himself and a few of his hearers in abusing other denominations in general, and the "Mormons" in particular, he suddenly assumed the old "Hard Shell" wail, or preaching tune, and drawled out:
"But my dear friends and breethring-ah, we have a little sister-ah, and she hath no breasts-ah. I am very much afraid, my dear friends and breethring-ah, that in that great day when we shall be spoken for-ah, that some of us will be brought into that awful presence-ah, and there find we have no breasts-ah. And oh, my dear friends and breethring-ah, will not this be an awful condition to be found in-ah?"
Honestly, this is no exaggeration! Thus he held forth for an hour longer, expressing no two sentences without the phrase, "my dear friends and breethring-ah," being sandwiched in between.
I am very sorry I cannot give my readers the music, for it would be a rich treat.
As he was about to close the meeting, I asked for permission to speak for a few minutes.
"Not," said he, "till we dismiss our meeting; then if the people wish to hear you I have no objection."
When he had dismissed his meeting, all the congregation sat down again, thus giving me to understand they wished me to talk to them.
I commenced by stating to the audience that I wished to correct some mistakes made by Mr. Mourning, relative to the name of the Church to which I belonged. We were called the "Mormon" Church, which was a nickname given us by our enemies, the true and legal name being, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; also that there could be no other appropriate name for Christ's church. Churches that are not His, should always be called by some other name than His, illustrating to them that the church of Christ was never called by any man's name. Christ's church in the days of Noah was not called Noah's church. Neither was His church called the church of Abraham in his day, nor the church of Moses when Moses lived. Nor was it ever called the church of John the Baptist in the day that he was upon the earth. I closed by saying that I never in the Bible had read anything about a "Primitive Baptist church."
In the absence of anything better to say, he asked me if I did not like John the Baptist.
I answered "Yes," and that he was called the Baptist because he had baptized the people in all Judea and Jerusalem, and the region round about Jordan, as Mr. Cloud (referring to a man that sat near me) had made shoes for all the people near where he lived, and on that account was called a shoemaker, but it did not follow that those for whom he had made the shoes were also called shoemakers.
I requested him, if there was any evidence in the scriptures to establish the Bible name of his church, to open his Bible and read it to the people.
This he could not do, for the simple reason that there was no such evidence in the Bible. Nor do I believe that this great Baptist minister ever knew, till I brought this fact to his notice, that there was no evidence in the scriptures to establish a "Baptist" church. And the members of his church seemed to be disappointed and utterly astonished that he was unable to produce the proofs asked for.
To prove that ours was a scriptural name, I referred to, and quoted Matt. xvi. 18; Col. i. 18; Acts xx. 28; I. Cor. xiv. 33, and other passages.
When I concluded my remarks, a large number of the assemblage gathered about me, that is, the portion that were not Baptists, manifesting towards me in various ways their good feelings. They were like their prototypes, the Pharisees and Sadducees of old.
When the Savior overthrew some pet dogma of the Pharisees, as He often did, the Sadducees would gather about Him, feeling very much elated; and when He, in like manner, demolished some tenet of the Sadducees, as very often happened, then the Pharisees rejoiced. But in the end all the parties united against the Savior.
So it is in these days. The only thing in which the sects of this day are united, is in their opposition to and persecution of the Saints – the true followers of Christ.