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."