October 8, 1857,1 As Ellen White was not in Battle Creek but in Monterey on October 8, 1857, the most reasonable conclusion seems to be that “October 8, 1857” was the date when the vision recounted in this letter was received, not the date when the letter was written. According to the detailed report appearing in the Review Ellen White was in Monterey, Michigan, on October 8 and received a vision there at an evening meeting. She probably wrote the letter some time later, after her return to Battle Creek. See: J. W. [James White], “Report of Meetings!” Review, Oct. 22, 1857, p. 196.
Letter to Identity: The facts given in the letter, that “Uriah” and “Harriet” are recently married and that “Uriah” holds a leading position in “the paper,” positively identify the couple as Uriah Smith, chief editor of the Review, and Harriet N. Smith, who had married four months earlier, in June 1857. See: Obituary: “Harriet N. Smith,” Review, Mar. 30, 1911, p. 23.
Uriah Smith and Harriet Newall Smith.2
This letter is published in entirety in S. T. Belden, G. W. Amadon, and William Hall, To Brother J. N. Andrews and Sister H. N. Smith (PH016), pp. 28-30.
Letter to recently married Uriah and Harriet Smith, offering advice and urging them to fully consecrated service. 1EGWLM 531.3
Dear Brother Uriah and Sister Harriet: 1EGWLM 531.4
While at Monterey3 See: Note 1 above. The Review and Herald office, located in Battle Creek. Both Uriah and Harriet were employed at the Review. Harriet, a person of literary talent, had earlier worked at the Review during the period 1854-1855. She rejoined the staff in the spring of 1857, shortly before her marriage. See: Obituary: “Harriet N. Smith,” Review, Mar. 30, 1911, p. 23.
I saw that you could have the salvation of God if you seek earnestly enough for it. I did not see that God was displeased with your marriage.6 The vision is somewhat ambivalent about the recent marriage of Harriet and Uriah. The marriage is portrayed as having potential for good, but also for harm to the work of God. Harriet's marriage was not insignificant—she was marrying the Review editor, a key thought leader of the Sabbatarian movement. Harriet, unfortunately, had a problematic background, having for many years shown little confidence in the leadership of the Whites or in the visions. She seemed to have undergone a change of heart during the Whites’ visit to Waukon 10 months earlier, but at this stage it was an open question which direction she would take in the future and what influence her opinions would have on Uriah. See Lt 7, 1860 (June), for details of Harriet Stevens's earlier problems with the Whites and the visions.
God wants that the only paper in the land bearing His solemn truth should come out right. A lack of the Spirit of God, or interest, is felt in the paper. If the salvation of God is with the one that writes for the paper, the same spirit will be felt by the reader. 1EGWLM 532.1
A piece written in the Spirit of God, angels approbate and impresses the same upon the reader. But a piece written when the writer is not living wholly for the glory of God, not wholly devoted to Him, angels feel the lack in sadness. They turn away and do not impress the reader with it because God and His Spirit are not in it. The words are good, but it lacks the warm influence of the Spirit of God. 1EGWLM 532.2
I saw that there must not be a shunning of burdens. You must reprove wrong when you see it,—those in the office.7 Described by his biographer, Eugene Durand, as a “gentle man,” Smith may have found this a particularly uncongenial task. The matter of correcting negligent workers at the office had developed into a major crisis by 1860, with Harriet, Uriah, and others rising up against James White whenever he cautioned or reproved workers. See: Eugene F. Durand, Yours in the Blessed Hope, Uriah Smith, p. 35; Ellen G. White, Lt 7, 1860 (June).
I saw you were feeling discouraged, Uriah. I saw that you should overcome when you are discouraged.8 In Lt 6, 1857 (Oct. 8), there is the strong suggestion that Uriah Smith had been discouraged to the point of contemplating resigning from his post.
I saw that there was a feeling among the hands of the office [that was] too selfish. There must be a sacrificing spirit with every one. Their interest must be [in] the paper, that everything be just right about it, that there be no errors about it. I saw God was not pleased with the hands in the office. They are not enjoying the salvation of God and they have but a faint realizing sense of the time in which we live and what God requires of them. 1EGWLM 532.5
I saw that there should be a willingness to suffer some loss of time if their help is needed to hasten off the paper, in any little aid they can render; but their feeling has been, they cannot leave their particular part of the work. There must be a spirit of consecration and self-denial in the office, and the greatest lack is the Spirit of God or salvation. There must be a change in that office, a reformation, then the blessings of God will rest upon those in the office. A care, I saw, should rest with weight upon every one, especially yourself, that the paper be free from error or mistakes. God is displeased with His work being marred with so much imperfection. 1EGWLM 533.1
Picture: Uriah Smith and his wife, Harriet. Courtesy of the Center for Adventist Research. 1EGWLM 533
