1859,1 The original document bears only the year 1859. This date was confirmed some years later when Ellen White, in 1872, published a slightly edited version of it, together with other documents, in Testimony for the Church, No. 21, and prefaced the material with the words “I will now copy from a testimony given in 1859.” See: Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, pp. 10, 11.
Vision for James White. 1EGWLM 751.7
Previously unpublished. 1EGWLM 751.8
The need for others to share James White's heavy workload in order that he can focus more on “speaking and writing.” 1EGWLM 751.9
I was shown in my last vision that God would have James give himself more to the study of the Word, labor more in word and doctrine, in speaking and writing. I was pointed back and saw that we had exhausted our energies in times past. Past anxiety and care had not been in vain. It was needed to bring the cause into a position where it would not languish and sink.2 Throughout the 1850s James White, with the support of Ellen, had been at the forefront of every major new church venture. With his strong leadership and administrative talents he tended to micromanage every aspect of the movement, and this lead to exhaustion. The focus of this vision, that James should shed some of his many tasks and focus on “speaking and writing,” was, for a number of reasons, never to become a reality. In 1871, for example, James White was not only reelected General Conference president, but also elected “editor of the Review and the Health Reformer, president of the Publishing Association, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Benevolent Association, and president of the Missionary Society.” See: Virgil Robinson, James White, p. 230. This “tide of opposition” no doubt included the attempts of the Messenger Party (see EGWEnc) to disrupt the Sabbatarian movement led by the Whites during the mid-1850s. By 1858, however, James White reported that not only had the Messenger Party challenge faded away, but during the years of conflict paid subscriptions to the Review had almost doubled from 1,000 to near 2,000. See: Virgil Robinson, James White, p. 230. This “tide of opposition” no doubt included the attempts of the Messenger Party (see EGWEnc) to disrupt the Sabbatarian movement led by the Whites during the mid-1850s. By 1858, however, James White reported that not only had the Messenger Party challenge faded away, but during the years of conflict paid subscriptions to the Review had almost doubled from 1,000 to near 2,000. See: J. W. [James White], “A Sketch of the Rise and Progress of the Present Truth,” Review, Jan. 14, 1858, p. 78.
And then I saw that the voice must be heard in the great congregation upon points of present truth, in clearness and with decision presenting to the hearers and before the readers of the Review,4 Gerald Wheeler, in his biography of James White, gives White high marks as writer for “careful reasoning and balance. … White's articles, tracts, and books have stood the test of time better than many other early Seventh-day Adventist writers. His writings have an authority and sensibility that convinces even the twenty-first-century reader.” See: Gerald Wheeler, James White, p. 80.
I was shown that God did not lay on us such heavy burdens as we have borne. Talk the truth to the church, show them the necessity of working for themselves. The church has been carried too much.5 This theme, that the burdens of church leadership were being disproportionately carried by the Whites, especially by James White, appears repeatedly in visions from the 1850s and onward. The implication was that some church leaders were not pulling their full weight. Expectations were high that fellow workers would, like James, “venture all—life, health, strength, time, everything—to push this work ahead.” Why James White's colleagues in leadership sometimes failed in this respect is not addressed in this manuscript. See: Ellen G. White, Lt 28, 1859 (June/July). For a selection of Ellen White's visions on this theme from 1855, 1859, 1863, and 1869, see “An Appeal for Burden Bearers,” in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3, pp. 9-16.
I saw that our efforts have been crippled by the enemy, affecting the church to call forth from us almost double labor to cut our way through, then afterwards follows lassitude and lack of strength. Our efforts have been crippled in this way. I saw that we had a work to do. Sometimes the adversary would resist every effort we might attempt to make, and the condition of the people was not such that God could safely bless them. But I saw that we should go right along and not feel that we are responsible for the result of these different meetings. We do our duty, and if the result is not as we could wish, it should not discourage us and weaken our confidence. At times the power of God will distill upon the people, and the result of our labor be very encouraging. We must take an even course and then in the end we can accomplish much more good. 1EGWLM 753.1
I saw that we must have system, and plan that we may expend our strength to the best advantage. I saw that care should be used in praying and speaking, that we should not injure the speaking organs but we should command the voice, and by so doing the speaking organs will be preserved from weakness a greater length of time, and will be less liable to disease.6 The need for ministers, in particular, to avoid abusing their vocal cords when speaking in public is a recurring theme in Ellen White's writings. This may well be the earliest instance of such instruction from her pen. For a selection of Ellen White's counsel on the proper care of the vocal organ, see Ellen G. White, Counsels on Speech and Song, pp. 193-203.