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1BIO - The Early Years by Arthur White
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1BIO - Chapter 11 -
| Chapter 11: Beginning to Publish ( 1849 ) |
| Responding to the cordial invitation of Albert Belden, James and Ellen White went to Connecticut to live. Ellen was within two months of giving birth to her second child, and it seemed well to reside in Rocky Hill for a season. Of God's providence she wrote: {1BIO 163.1} |
| Sister Clarissa M. Bonfoey proposed to live with us. Her parents had recently died, and a division of furniture at the homestead had given her everything necessary for a small family to commence housekeeping. She cheerfully gave us the use of these things, and did our work. We occupied a part of Brother Belden's house at Rocky Hill. Sister Bonfoey was a precious child of God. She possessed a cheerful and happy disposition, never gloomy, yet not light and trifling.-- 1LS, p. 258. {1BIO 163.2} |
| James was soon called to make a quick trip to New Hampshire and Maine to attend the conferences he had called to meet in June. He came back to Rocky Hill convinced that the time had come to publish the "truth" in a little paper. Had not the vision at Dorchester in November called for this? Had not Ellen after the vision turned to her husband and declared, "You must begin to print a little paper and send it out to the people" (3LS, p. 125)? There was also the promise "As the people read, they will send you means with which to print."--Ibid. But where was the means? {1BIO 163.3} |
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Ellen White wrote of James's reaction to his feelings and to circumstances: {1BIO 163.4}
My husband was impressed that it was his duty to write and publish the present truth. He was greatly encouraged and blessed as he decided thus to do. But again he would be in doubt and perplexity as he was penniless. There were those who had means, but they chose to keep it.-- 1LS, p. 259. {1BIO 163.5} |
| The year before, he had gone into the field to mow hay to earn money on which to live and to travel to the Sabbath Conferences. Perhaps, he thought, he should again go into the field to earn money with which to print. He started out in search of work. But God had other plans, of which Ellen wrote: {1BIO 164.1} |
| As he left the house, a burden was rolled upon me, and I fainted. Prayer was offered for me, and I was blessed, and taken off in vision. I saw that the Lord had blessed and strengthened my husband to labor in the field one year before; that he had made a right disposition of the means he there earned; and that he would have a hundredfold in this life, and, if faithful, a rich reward in the kingdom of God; but that the Lord would not now give him strength to labor in the field, for He had another work for him; that if he ventured into the field he would be cut down by sickness; but that he must write, write, write, and walk out by faith.-- Ibid., pp. 259, 260. {1BIO 164.2} |
| Writing for the Press |
| In harmony with the vision, James White took up not a scythe but a pen. It required faith, as he later recalled: {1BIO 164.3} |
| We sat down to prepare the matter for that little sheet, and wrote every word of it, our entire library comprising a three-shilling pocket Bible, Cruden's Condensed Concordance, and Walker's old dictionary, minus one of its covers. [We were] destitute of means; our hope of success was in God.-- RH, June 17, 1880. {1BIO 164.4} |
| Ellen was close by his side. She recalled: "When he came to some difficult passage we would call upon the Lord to give us the true meaning of His word."--1LS, p. 260. While preparing copy for the new publication, James White sought out a printer in Middletown, one who would print an eight-page paper for a total stranger and wait for his pay until the prospective readers would send the editor donations to cover printing costs. On the third floor of a brick building in the heart of Middletown, James found such a man--Charles Pelton--and walked back to Rocky Hill to finish preparing copy. Its subject matter would be the Sabbath truth. He decided to name the paper The Present Truth, and introduced his first-page editorial with words quoted from 2 Peter 1:12: {1BIO 164.5} |
| "Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the Present Truth." {1BIO 165.1} |
| It was the Sabbath truth that burned in James White's heart, and his writing related to various aspects of the integrity and importance of the seventh-day Sabbath. He had in mind quite a wide spectrum of articles that would be printed at first in eight-page sheets issued and sent out semimonthly. Then he would bind them in pamphlets of more permanent nature (PT, July, 1849). Printing in installments would make it possible to begin getting the truth out before he had time and means to complete all he wished to publish. The readers would be Adventists--those who had been through the first and second angels' messages--and it would carry to them the Sabbath truth of the third angel's message. Back and forth between Rocky Hill and Middletown, James White trudged the eight miles, limping at each step, first with copy and then with proofs. When the sheets were finally printed he borrowed Albert Belden's buggy to transport the thousand copies of the precious document to the Belden home. {1BIO 165.2} |
| Ellen White described its reception: When he brought the first number from the printing office, we all bowed around it, asking the Lord, with humble hearts and many tears, to let His blessing rest upon the feeble effort of His servant.--1LS, p. 260. {1BIO 165.3} |
| Then there was the task of folding the papers and preparing them for mailing. White "directed the paper to all he thought would read it" and then, in a carpetbag, carried the copies to the post office. {1BIO 165.4} |
| The Proclamation of the Third Angel's Message |
| What feelings must have arisen in the hearts of the little group of penniless Advent believers. They had been a part of a movement in which thousands sounded the first angel's message, and they had witnessed unanimous support across the land in giving the second angel's message. Now they were but a handful who saw the significance and urgency of the third message but felt commissioned to send it forth. The visions had given assurance that God's blessing would attend James White as he wrote; that money would come in as the papers were sent out and read. It would be a success from the first, but most staggering of all -- from this small beginning, it would be like "streams of light that went clear round the world" (3LS, p. 125). But perhaps this was not all remembered as James trudged the eight miles to the Middletown post office with the carpetbag full of papers. {1BIO 165.5} |
| The Content of the Paper |
| The articles following White's opening editorial explanation carried such titles as "The Weekly Sabbath Instituted at Creation, and Not at Sinai"; "The Sabbath a Perpetual Weekly Memorial"; "The Law of God, or the Ten Commandments"; "Scriptures Usually Quoted to Prove the Abolition of the Sabbath Examined." {1BIO 166.1} |
| Two pages from the end of the first issue, he explained his motives, objectives, and sense of urgency in a one-column message addressed "Dear Brethren and Sisters." Still building on the theme "present truth," he explained and admonished: {1BIO 166.2} |
| I hope this little sheet will afford you comfort and strength. Love and duty have compelled me to send it out to you. I know you must be rooted, and built up in present truth, or you will not be able to stand "in the battle in the day of the Lord" (Eze. 13:5). {1BIO 166.3} |
| The time has come when we must be wholehearted in the truth. Everything is to be shaken that can be; therefore those whose feet are not planted on the rock will be shaken all to pieces. Those only will be able to stand in the day of slaughter who shall be found keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.-- PT, July, 1849. {1BIO 166.4} There was a commendable balance in White's position. He was careful to explain: {1BIO 166.5} |
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The keeping of the fourth commandment is all-important present truth; but this alone will not save anyone. We must keep all ten of the commandments, and strictly follow all the directions of the New Testament, and have living, active faith in Jesus. Those who would be found ready to enter the saints' rest, at the appearing of Christ, must live wholly, Wholly for Jesus now.--Ibid. {1BIO 166.6}
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| He declared that the little sheet was free to all, and added, "Those who are interested in Present Truth, and esteem it a privilege, are invited to help pay the expense." To swell the mailing list, he asked: {1BIO 167.1} |
| Will some brother or sister in each place where this sheet is received send me in plain writing the names and post office address of all who are seeking present truth. Write soon. My post office address is Middletown, Connecticut.-- Ibid. {1BIO 167.2} |
| Birth of a Second Son, James Edson White |
| The precise date when the Present Truth was brought home, prayed over, folded, addressed, and mailed is not recorded. It was late July, 1849. Almost simultaneously there was an important event in the White family, and that does carry a date. Ellen White wrote: "July 28, 1849, my second child, James Edson White, was born."-- 1LS, p. 260. {1BIO 167.3} |
| Reflected in the names that James and Ellen gave to their children is the high esteem in which they held certain of the stalwart Adventist families. The first son, Henry, also carried the name of Nichols, the loyal family in Dorchester, Massachusetts; the second son was named for Hiram Edson. {1BIO 167.4} |
| The six weeks of August and the first half of September James devoted to the publication of numbers 2, 3, and 4 of Present Truth, which gave the new mother a little time to make a good recovery. {1BIO 167.5} |
| Numbers 2 and 3 were sent out in August; by the time the September issue was being made up, James had one letter of response he could publish. It came from a J. C. Bowles, of Jackson, Michigan, and opens: {1BIO 167.6} |
| Dear Brother White: Your first and second numbers of the Present Truth are received, and we are thankful to our heavenly Father for the light of the truth. {1BIO 167.7} |
| I would say, for your encouragement, that the little band here have received the truth on the Sabbath without an exception. And we thank the Lord for ever inclining Brother Bates's mind to come to Jackson. O sound the alarm, and let the message fly! I think it is the last one to the remnant. {1BIO 168.1} |
| We herein send you ten dollars for the spread of the truth. If you need it all, use it; if not, let Brother Bates have a part of it to travel with.-- PT, September, 1849. {1BIO 168.2} |
| Bowles declared that he believed James White was doing the Lord's work. He added that if means would allow, he hoped the paper could be enlarged to include extracts of letters from readers. {1BIO 168.3} |
| The second August issue and the September issue carried several communications from Ellen White. These included her report of the vision of March 24, 1849, given at Topsham, Maine, dealing with the view of the heavenly sanctuary and the doors that were open and shut. She introduced this by the following note: {1BIO 168.4} |
| The Lord has shown me that it is my duty to relate to you, what He has revealed to me relating to the present truth, our present tried, scattered, and tempted state, and our duty in view of the coming judgments of God.--Ibid., August, 1849. {1BIO 168.5} |
| The September number included the vision given Ellen on Sabbath, January 5, 1849, with the commission to the angel to hold the four winds of strife, and a letter addressed "Brethren and Sisters." This opens with the words "In this time of trial, we need to be encouraged." The letter was intended to do just that. {1BIO 168.6} |
| As to financing this publishing effort, James White, in the fifth issue, published in December, wrote: {1BIO 168.7} While publishing the four first numbers in Connecticut, the brethren sent in more means than was necessary to sustain the paper, which I have since used in traveling to visit the scattered flock. -- PT, December, 1849. {1BIO 168.8} |
| The receipt for $64.50 given by Charles Pelton, the printer in Middletown, stating that payment had been made if full for printing four issues, testifies to the fulfillment of the promise God gave to Ellen in the vision. {1BIO 168.9} |
| With the four numbers James White had planned now published and in the field, he, his wife, and their six-week-old son traveled to Paris, Maine, to attend a conference called to open on Friday, September 14. The little company of believers there had been devastated by some who manifested wild fanaticism. {1BIO 169.1} |
| The Paris, Maine, Conference |
| Besides James and Ellen White, Bates, Chamberlain, and Ralph were present at the conference; there were also friends from Topsham, including Stockbridge Howland. Ellen White later described the rather unusual meeting: {1BIO 169.2} |
| One F. T. Howland, a notable fanatic, was present. He had long troubled God's children with his errors and harsh pirit. Honest souls whom the Lord loved, but who had long been in error, were at the meeting. While [he was] engaged in prayer the Spirit of the Lord rested upon Brother Stockbridge Howland. His face was white, and a light seemed to rest upon it. He went towards F. T. Howland, and in the name of the Lord bid him leave the assembly of the saints. Said he, "You have torn the hearts of God's children and made them bleed. Leave the house, or God will smite you." {1BIO 169.3} |
| That rebellious spirit, never before known to fear or to yield, sprang for his hat and in terror left the house. The power of God descended something as it did on the day of Pentecost, and five or six who had been deceived and led into error and fanaticism fell prostrate to the floor. Parents confessed to their children, and children to their parents, and to one another. {1BIO 169.4} |
| Brother J. N. Andrews with deep feeling exclaimed, "I would exchange a thousand errors for one truth." Such a scene of confessing and pleading with God for forgiveness we have seldom witnessed. That meeting was the beginning of better days to the children of God in Paris, to them a green spot in the desert. {1BIO 169.5} |
| The Lord was bringing out Brother Andrews to fit him for future usefulness, and was giving him an experience that would be of great value to him in his future labors. He was teaching him that he should not be influenced by the experience of others, but decide for himself concerning the work of God.--1LS, pp. 260, 261. {1BIO 169.6} John Andrews was 20 years of age. {1BIO 170.1} |
| Among the Believers in Maine and New York State |
| The next eight or ten weeks were spent visiting believers in Maine and New York State. The records are filled with accounts of God's providences as they traveled, beginning with the instant healing of Ellen's mother, who was threatened with tetanus from stepping on a rusty nail, to the deliverance of Edson two months later, when it seemed that "an angel of God touched him." Ellen White wrote about their working for a time in New York: {1BIO 170.2} |
| We then decided that it was our duty to labor in the State of New York. My husband felt a burden upon him to write and publish. We rented a house in Oswego, borrowed furniture from our brethren, and commenced housekeeping. There my husband wrote, published, and preached.-- Ibid., p. 265. {1BIO 170.3} |
| He was able to arrange with R. Oliphant to print continuing numbers of the Present Truth--numbers 5 and 6, which came from the press in December, 1849. {1BIO 170.4} |
| A Hymnbook for the Sabbathkeeping Adventists |
| The issue of the Present Truth that came out from Oswego in late December, 1849 (volume 1, No. 6), carried a note introducing a new publication in preparation -- a hymnbook. It read: {1BIO 170.5} |
| Hymns for God's Peculiar People That Keep the Commandments of God, and the Faith of Jesus. {1BIO 170.6} |
| This is the title of a small collection of hymns of forty-eight pages now in the press, but will be out in a few weeks. It will contain a choice selection of hymns applicable to our faith and hope at this time. Those who have choice hymns that are appropriate to the present time will please forward them immediately to my address; and also, send in their orders for the hymnbook. As but a small edition will be wanted, they will come high. Price, twelve for one dollar -- 12 1/2 cents single copy.-- PT December, 1849. {1BIO 170.7} |
| Although the little hymnbook carried an 1849 date, it was not actually printed until early 1850 and was advertised in late March as “now ready.” { 1BIO 171.1 } |
| The Little Paper Almost Died |
| A note from James White in this December issue of the Present Truth, published in Oswego, suggested the need of financial help. There was also a letter to Joseph Bates, emphasizing the point. These items triggered a crisis that almost killed the little paper. Here is the statement: { 1BIO 171.2 } |
| At the present time I am destitute of means, and am some in debt. Dear brethren, I know that you are ready and anxious to sustain the cause of truth. Therefore, I state the above to inform you of the present condition of the paper as to means. I hope that all who may esteem it a privilege, and are able, will send in their donations immediately.—Ibid. { 1BIO 171.3 } |
| During the past four years Joseph Bates, the older member of the pioneer group, highly esteemed and much loved by James and Ellen White, had written and published six helpful pamphlets of forty-eight to eighty pages each. He was convinced this, rather than a regular periodical, was the way to reach the people with the message. He wrote along this line to James White. Bates’s letter led White to the depths of discouragement. On Thursday, January 3, he wrote to Leonard and Elvira Hastings: { 1BIO 171.4 } |
| As for the poor little paper, it has so little sympathy, and (I fear) so few prayers that I think it will die. I am in deep trial. The poor scattered sheep who do not see God’s servants face to face once a year beg for the paper, but those who are verily glutted with the truth seem to have little or no interest in it. I received a letter from Michigan today, and as I walked and read, I wept to see how they were refreshed with No. 5, and O, my God, what shall I do? I want to work for God, but to publish is an uphill work unless there are many prayers ascending, and an interest to sustain a paper. { 1BIO 171.5 } |
| Just a week later he wrote to them again: { 1BIO 171.6 } |
| I had been in a hot furnace for some time on account of the burden I felt for the little paper. In this time of trial Brother Bates wrote me a letter that threw me down as low as I ever was, and remained so until last evening. |
| Brother Bates discouraged me about the paper, and I gave it up forever, but still the burden grew heavier and heavier on me. These texts kept ringing, Let your light so shine, et cetera. No man lighteth a candle and putteth it under a bushel, or bed, et cetera. Ye are the light of the world, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. In this depressed, miserable state of mind I came here last night with Ellen and Brother Holt.—JW to L. Hastings, January 10, 1850. { 1BIO 172.1 } |
| That evening Ellen was given a vision in regard to the Present Truth: { 1BIO 172.2 } |
| I saw the paper, and that it was needed. That souls were hungry for the truth that must be written in the paper. I saw that if the paper stopped for want of means, and those hungry sheep died for want of the paper, it would not be James’s fault, but it would be the fault of those to whom God lent His money to be faithful stewards over, and let it lie idle; and the blood of souls would be upon their garments. { 1BIO 172.3 } |
| I saw that the paper should go; and if they let it die they would weep in anguish soon. I saw that God did not want James to stop yet; but he must write, write, write, write, and speed the message and let it go. I saw that it would go where God’s servants cannot go.— Ibid. (see also Manuscript 2, 1850). { 1BIO 172.4 } |
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Rather triumphantly James could now write: “My way now seems to be made plain, and I hope all my brethren will do their duty, and no more, nor less.” He declared: { 1BIO 172.5 }
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| I do not doubt for a moment Brother Bates’s good will and kindness toward us; still he does not see everything correctly at one glance. I shall write him this vision, which will, no doubt, make him see a little differently on some things.—Ibid. { 1BIO 172.6 } |
| He added, “I hope to be humble and faithful in my work. I need all your advice and prayers.” The account of the vision did change Bates’s mind. { 1BIO 172.7 } |
| Concerning the home situation James wrote, “Ellen is well. She would write if she could, but has not time. She has some writing of her visions to do, and the babe is teething, and is troublesome.”—Ibid. { 1BIO 173.1 } |
| James went on with his writing for the paper. They continued to reside in Oswego; numbers 7 and 8 were published in March, number 9 in April, and number 10 in May. While he kept the emphasis on the Sabbath, the little paper was now, through letters from the readers, becoming an organ of general communication and exchange among the growing group of believers. { 1BIO 173.2 } |
| Death Invades the Camp |
| While residing at Oswego, James and Ellen White received word of the sudden death of Mrs. Elvira Hastings, wife of Leonard Hastings, of New Ipswich, New Hampshire, on February 28. She was 42, the mother of four children, and a very devoted believer in the Sabbath and the Second Advent. Her death, caused by a ruptured appendix, called from James and Ellen letters of sympathy, written on March 18. Ellen opened her letter to the bereaved husband and father: { 1BIO 173.3 } |
| I hardly know what to say to you. The news of your wife’s death was to me overwhelming. I could hardly believe it and can hardly believe it now. God gave me a view last Sabbath night which I will write.... { 1BIO 173.4 } |
| I saw that she was sealed and would come up at the voice of God and stand upon the earth, and would be with the 144,000. [The wording was similar to that spoken by the angel to Ellen White in the vision in which she seemed to be visiting another planet. She was reluctant to return to the earth, and the angel said to her, “you must go back, and if you are faithful, you, with the 144,000, shall have the privilege of visiting all the worlds.”—Early Writings, 40. There is no tension between this and Ellen White’s clear statement in The Great Controversy That this special company were those translated without seeing death (see The Great Controversy, 648, 649).] I saw we need not mourn for her; she would rest in the time of trouble, and all that we could mourn for was our loss in being deprived of her company. I saw her death would result in good.—Letter 10, 1850 |
| Then she turned attention to the children. Addressing Arabella, the oldest, she urged her and the others to prepare to meet Jesus; then they would meet their dear mother, never to be separated from her. “Get ready to meet Jesus,” she urged. { 1BIO 173.6 } |
| James, in his letter, pointed to the bright prospect of the Christian when “death will lose its iron grasp, and Elvira, who has been a faithful wife and mother, ... will join in the victor’s shout of triumph.... To that bright, overwhelming prospect I can point you for solid and enduring consolation.”—JW to L. Hastings, March 18, 1850. He then alluded to some problems, one of which touched the Hastings family, that only some sort of organization could remedy. He declared: { 1BIO 174.1 } |
| I hope the church will soon get right—when they can move in gospel order. Our conference here was excellent. The brethren all feel the importance of speeding the truth. Brother [G. W.] Holt is a powerful laborer in the vineyard. Brother Rhodes is strong in God....God has chosen men to write and preach His Word, and nothing has a lasting effect but the Word of God. It is true that God may occasionally call on those who have other gifts, but they are not messengers. “A messenger has a message,” said Ellen in vision.— Ibid. { 1BIO 174.2 } |
| Fruitage of Public Ministry in Oswego |
| In describing their stay in Oswego, New York, Ellen White stated: “My husband wrote, published, and preached” ( Life Sketches of James White and Ellen G. White (1880), 265; italics supplied). While there is little recorded concerning his preaching, one incident of significance has been reported. { 1BIO 174.3 } |
| As James White held meetings in Oswego he presented particularly the third angel’s message, emphasizing the Sabbath truth. Ellen White told the story in Spiritual Gifts,, Volume II; and J. N. Loughborough, who heard it recounted by members of the Oswego church, told the story in detail in his book The Great Second Advent Movement. We quote from both, first from Ellen White: { 1BIO 174.4 } |
| At this time there was quite an excitement among the Methodists in Oswego. They held many meetings, and their leaders were very zealous, praying for and exhorting sinners to be converted.... The question was often asked, “What do you think of Brother M. [the county treasurer serving as Methodist lay preacher]? The Lord works through him in a special manner. He and his wife visit from house to house conversing with sinners, and praying for them, and Brother M. was engaged so zealously in prayer last night for the mourners who came forward to the anxious-seats, that he broke a blood vessel, and was carried to his home in a feeble condition.” They triumphed over the believers in present truth.—Spiritual Gifts, 2:123. { 1BIO 174.5 } |
| Two who asked the Whites what they thought of the county treasurer were 21-year-old Hiram Patch and his fiancee. They had attended the meetings of the lay evangelist, had listened to James White, and were undecided as to which group to join. Ellen White was given a vision that they witnessed. After the vision she told the young couple, “Wait and see the result of the matter.” She referred them to Scripture texts presented to her in vision, which read: “They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the Lord; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them. They have dealt treacherously against the Lord: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions” ( Hosea 5:6, 7). { 1BIO 175.1 } |
| Then, according to Loughborough, she said to Mr. Patch: { 1BIO 175.2 } “I was told to say to you that in this case the statement of the text will be literally fulfilled. Wait a month, and you will know for yourself the character of the persons who are engaged in this revival, and who profess to have such a great burden for sinners.” Mr. Patch said, “I will wait.”—GSAM, p. 231 (see also JNL, in The Review and Herald, February 24, 1885). |
| During the next two weeks the treasurer broke a blood vessel in his stomach and was confined to his bed at home. The sheriff and constable took over the county finances and found a shortage in funds of an even $1,000. On inquiry of the treasurer at his home, he declared he knew nothing of the money. At this point the deputy, who had gone to the back of the house and hid in a shed, brought in a money bag containing the missing $1,000, which he had seen the treasurer’s wife hide in a snowbank. The treasurer’s evangelistic revival suddenly collapsed, and Hiram Patch and his fiancee, on the strong evidence they had witnessed, made their choice to join the Sabbathkeeping Adventists; they remained loyal members till their death. Significantly, as Loughborough pointed out, they had not been in the 1844 movement. { 1BIO 175.3 } |
| Vision of Future Events |
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The April issue of Present Truth, published in Oswego, carried in it an Ellen White letter addressed “To the ‘Little Flock.’” It presented a number of points of special interest opened up to her in vision on January 26, 1850 (see Early Writings, 48-52). The account closes with a glimpse of some phases of the great controversy story, related by an angel. { 1BIO 176.1 }
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| I then beheld the beauty and loveliness of Jesus. His robe was whiter than the whitest white. No language can describe His glory and exalted loveliness. All, all who keep the commandments of God, will enter in through the gates into the city and have right to the tree of life and ever be in the presence of the lovely Jesus, whose countenance shines brighter than the sun at noonday.... { 1BIO 176.2 } |
| “The saints will rest in the Holy City and reign as kings and priests one thousand years; then Jesus will descend with the saints upon the Mount of Olives, and the mount will part asunder and become a mighty plain for the Paradise of God to rest upon. { 1BIO 176.3 } |
| “The rest of the earth will not be cleansed until the end of the one thousand years, when the wicked dead are raised, and gather up around the city. The feet of the wicked will never desecrate the earth made new. Fire will come down from God out of heaven and devour them—burn them up root and branch. Satan is the root, and his children are the branches. The same fire that will devour the wicked will purify the earth.”—Ibid., 51, 52. { 1BIO 176.4 } |
| The Visit to Vermont and Maine |
| Number 10 of Present Truth, published in May, 1850, carried on its last page a James White note that stated: “We now expect to leave this State in a few days, [They left May 15 (Advent Review, August, 1850.).] to spend some weeks visiting the dear brethren in the east; therefore the brethren may not expect to receive the Present Truth for a short time at least.”—Ibid. Ellen White put it this way: “We decided to visit Vermont and Maine. I left my little Edson, then nine months old, in the care of Sister [Clarissa] Bonfoey.” Henry was at Topsham with the Howlands. They ventured forth, labored hard, and suffered “many privations.” Of this she wrote: { 1BIO 176.5 } |
| We found the brethren and sisters in a scattered and confused state. Almost everyone was affected by some error, and all seemed zealous for their own opinions. We often suffered intense anguish of mind in meeting with so few who were ready to listen to Bible truth, while they eagerly cherished error and fanaticism.—Life Sketches of James White and Ellen G. White (1880), 268. { 1BIO 177.1 } |
| The Gift of a Horse and Carriage |
| The journey to Sutton, Vermont, was climaxed by a forty-mile stagecoach trip that was very painful to Ellen. Her husband whispered words of courage and every ten miles, while the horses were being changed, she would slip into a hotel for a few minutes’ rest lying down. Thinking of her children, one in Maine and the other in New York, Ellen reached a low point of discouragement. She especially thought of one woman who had said to her a few days before that it must be very pleasant to be riding through the country without anything to trouble her. The woman felt that it was just such a life as she should delight in ( Ibid., 269). { 1BIO 177.2 } |
| A night or two later she found herself saying, “It won’t pay! So much labor to accomplish so little.” She fell asleep and was soon dreaming: { 1BIO 177.3 } I dreamed that a tall angel stood by my side, and asked me why I was sad. I related to him the thoughts that had troubled me, and said, “I can do so little good; why may we not be with our children, and enjoy their society?” { 1BIO 177.4 } |
| Said he, “You have given to the Lord two beautiful flowers, the fragrance of which is as sweet incense before Him, and is more precious in His sight than gold or silver, for it is a heart gift. It draws upon every fiber of the heart as no other sacrifice can. You should not look upon present appearances, but keep the eye single to your duty, single to God’s glory, and follow in His opening providences, and the path will brighten before you. Every self-denial, every sacrifice, is faithfully recorded, and will bring its reward.”—Ibid., 269, 270. { 1BIO 177.5 } |
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| The believers at Sutton saw the difficulties that attended James and Ellen White in their journeys, and united in making up a purse of $175 with which to provide a horse and carriage to aid them in their journeys. James and Ellen were given the choice of several horses brought for their inspection. The process of selecting one did not take long, for in vision the night before Ellen seemed to be at the crossroads appointed, and as horses were led before them the angel had given counsel. { 1BIO 178.1 } |
| The first was a high-spirited, rather nervous sorrel, and the angel said, “No.” “Not that one” was the reply to the second, a large gray horse. Then, as a beautiful dapple chestnut, somewhat swaybacked, was led before them, the angel said, “That is the one for you.” His name was Charlie, and he lightened their journey to Canada and through a period of many years (WCW, “Sketches and Memories of James and Ellen G. White,” The Review and Herald, April 25, 1935). The labors of James and Ellen White in Melbourne, Canada East (Quebec), and Vermont, were hard but accompanied with the blessing of God evidenced in many ways. James White reported on July 21: “I saw tenfold more accomplished than I looked for in Vermont and Canada East.”—JW to “Dear Brother,” July 21, 1850. { 1BIO 178.2 } |
| Continue to Chapter 12—(1850) The Summer the Tide Turned | |
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