I dare not longer remain silent. I speak to you and to the church at Battle Creek. You have made a great mistake. You have treated with injustice one to whom you and your children owe a debt of gratitude which you do not realize. You are responsible for the influence you have exerted upon the college. Peace has come because the students have had their own way. In another crisis they will be as determined and persevering as they have been on this occasion; and, if they find as able an advocate as they have found in Brother -----, they may again accomplish their purpose. God has been speaking to teachers and students and church members, but you have cast His words behind you. You have thought best to take your own course, irrespective of consequences. (5T 54.1) MC VC

God has given us, as a people, warnings, reproofs, and cautions, on the right hand and on the left, to lead us away from worldly customs and worldly policy. He requires us to be peculiar in faith and in character, to meet a standard far in advance of worldlings. Brother ----- came among you, unacquainted with the Lord’s dealings with us. Having newly come to the faith, he had almost everything to learn. Yet you have unhesitatingly coincided with his judgment. You have sanctioned in him a spirit and course of action that have nought of Christ. (5T 54.2) MC VC

You have encouraged in the students a spirit of criticism, which God’s Spirit has sought to repress. You have led them to betray confidence. There are not a few young persons among us who are indebted for most valuable traits of character to the knowledge and principles received from Brother -----. To his training many owe much of their usefulness, not only in the Sabbath school, but in various other branches of our work. Yet your influence encouraged ingratitude, and has led students to despise the things that they should cherish. (5T 54.3) MC VC