Lt 10, 1850

March 18, 1850, Oswego, New York1EGWLM 199.1

Letter to
Leonard W. Hastings.¹

Identity: The letter is addressed “Leonard Hastings, New Ipswich, N.H.”

1EGWLM 199.2

This letter is published in entirety in Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 14, pp. 52-54.

A letter of comfort to a close friend, Leonard Hastings, whose wife had just died, aged 42, leaving him alone with six children.1EGWLM 199.3

Dear Brother Hastings:

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.²

Ellen White had a strong friendship with Elvira Hastings. “Especially was the heart of sister Hastings knit with mine, as were David's and Jonathan's,” she wrote in her autobiography. “Our union was not marred while she lived.”

See: Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts [vol. 2], p. 111.

God gave me a view last Sabbath night which I will write.1EGWLM 199.4

I saw God gave Brother Bates [Joseph Bates]³

Identity: Other than the well-known Joseph Bates, several other Bateses are mentioned in the Review in the period up to the end of 1852: “Daniel Bates,” “W. Bates,” “Peter Bates,” and “M. R. Bates.” Nevertheless, there are indications that Ellen White is referring to Joseph Bates here. The connection between Bates and the Hastingses alluded to in this letter can be confirmed in the existing three personal letters from Joseph Bates to Leonard and Elvira Hastings during the period 1848-1849. It is also clear from James White's correspondence that Joseph Bates had visited the Hastingses in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, during the autumn of 1849. In addition, the connection between Bates and Chamberlain indicated in this letter corresponds well with the movements of Joseph Bates and lay preacher E.L.H. Chamberlain who, during the period 1849-1851, interacted several times on committees and meetings.

See: Search term “Bates,” “Hastings,” and “Chamberlain” in Words of the Pioneers; James White to Leonard and Elvira Hastings, Jan. 3, 1850.

a dream which if he had followed, he would have been with you in your wife's distress; and if Brother Chamberlain [Ezra L. H. Chamberlain]4

The only Chamberlain mentioned in the early Sabbatarian papers (The Present Truth, The Advent Review, The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald) prior to 1852 is E.L.H. Chamberlain, of Middletown, Connecticut. The likelihood that Ellen White was writing to E.L.H. Chamberlain is increased by the fact that she describes him in this letter as a preacher (even though “it was not his duty to travel”), which matches the description in the Review of his preaching activities.

See: Search term “Chamberlain” in Words of the Pioneers.

had not been with him, he would have gone to God alone, and he would have seen by the dream and by the drawings of the Spirit that he must come directly to your house when Satan had got your wife in his grasp, and by faith in God would have wrenched her from the power of the enemy. But he leaned upon Brother Chamberlain some for duty and followed his impressions instead of the light God gave him in the dream.1EGWLM 199.5

I saw it was for no wrong of yours that she was taken away, but if Brother Bates had come directly to your house, she would have been rescued from the grasp of the enemy.1EGWLM 200.1

I saw they did wrong in afflicting the afflicted by reproving you for having the funeral on the Sabbath. I saw they had better been looking at themselves and seeing where they had erred from the path of duty that God had marked out for them to go in.1EGWLM 200.2

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. I saw we need not mourn for her; she would rest in the time of trouble,⁵

See: EGWEnc, s.v. “Seal of God,” “144,000,” “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.1EGWLM 200.3

I warn Arabella [Harriet Arabella Hastings]⁶

Arabella was about 17 at the time of her mother's death and the oldest of six children. Her full name is given as “Harriet A. Hastings” in her 1854 obituary. Ellen White in her correspondence sometimes referred to her as “Arabella” and sometimes as “Harriet” (cf. Lt 5, 1849 [Apr. 21], and Lt 10, 1850 [Mar. 18], with Lt 7, 1851 [July 27], and Lt 3, 1851 [Aug. 11]). Presumably the middle initial “A” in the obituary stands for “Arabella.”

See: Obituary: “Harriet A. Hastings,” Review, Sept. 5, 1854, p. 31; 1850 U.S. Federal Census, “Harriet A. Hastings,” New Hampshire, Hillsborough County, New Ipswich, p. 272.

and the rest of the children to prepare to meet Jesus, and then they will meet their mother again, never more to be parted. O children, will you heed her faithful warning that she gave you while she was with you, and let not all her prayers that she has offered up to God for you, be as water spilt upon the ground? Get ready to meet Jesus and all will be well. Give your hearts to God and do not rest a day unless you know that you love Jesus.7

James White reported that three months later, on June 22, 1850, while on a visit to New Ipswich, New Hampshire, he baptized four of the oldest Hastings children.

See: W. [James White], “Our Tour East,” Advent Review, August 1850, p. 14; Ellen G. White, Spiritual Gifts [vol. 2], pp. 111, 112.

1EGWLM 200.4

Dear brother, we have prayed to God to gird you up and strengthen you to sustain your loss. God will be with you and uphold you. Only have faith. God has shown me about Brother Chamberlain that it was not his duty to travel. I saw his company was pleasant while he [was] with us, but when he was gone everything was gone. He had not left any truth from the Word of God for the mind to feast upon and had left nothing at all substantial, but everything had gone when he went. I saw he was not one of the messengers.⁸

Another vision given in 1852 reinforced the message here discouraging Chamberlain from assuming responsibilities as a traveling preacher. The case of Chamberlain illustrates the growing problem of “self-appointed” traveling preachers in this early period.

See: Ellen G. White, Lt 4, 1852 (Oct. 25); Ms 4, 1850 (Jan. 28), note 5.

1EGWLM 200.5

Dear Brother Hastings, sorrow not as those who have no hope. The grave can hold her but a little while. Hope thou in God and cheer up, dear brother, and you will meet her in a little while. We will not cease to pray for the blessings of God to rest upon your family and you. God will be your sun and your shield. He will stand by you in this your deep affliction and trial. Endure the trial well and you will receive a crown of glory with your companion at the appearing of Jesus. Hold fast truth, and you will be crowned with her with glory, honor, immortality and eternal life.1EGWLM 201.1

Give my love to Sister Gorham [Elizabeth Gorham]⁹

Identity: See Lt 5, 1849 (Apr. 21), note 25.

and all the saints. Much love to you and your dear children.1EGWLM 201.2