Hatred Between Religious Opponents Turns to Respect Through Courage

Henry G. Boyle joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in November 1843 in Virginia. After his baptism, his father told him he must quit the Mormons or leave his home, and his friends became his enemies. At a store, a man named Henry McDowell, a constable and notorious bully who was always fighting, spoke evil of the Mormons and said he would whip the devil out of young Boyle. McDowell threatened to test whether the signs would follow Boyle by pitching him into the fire to see if he would come out like the three Hebrew children without the smell of fire on his clothes. When the conversation turned hostile, Boyle struck McDowell in defense. The fight was fierce, and though McDowell was a stout man weighing 180 pounds, Boyle knocked him down twice. After McDowell got up the third time, he threw Boyle over a chair into the corner of the counter. Sheriff White came and stood on Boyle's feet while McDowell drew his knife. Boyle grabbed an oven lid and struck McDowell three times with it, laying him out lifeless. It was a long time before McDowell regained consciousness, and he did not recover for six months. Remarkably, after this incident, most of the people in the community were glad that McDowell had been used up, having known him as a bully who was always fighting. Though the circumstances were violent, the Lord protected Boyle, who was not hurt a particle, and ultimately the community came to respect his stand for the truth.