MR No. 1279—Conversations Between Ellen White, A. G. Daniells and Other Church Leaders Regarding the Work in Nashville
.17MR 266.1
Mrs. E. G. White: When I saw that sensational article in regard to what the Food Company in Nashville intended to do, I thought, I will say nothing on one side or on the other; this matter is beyond me. No matter what I should say, complaint would be made. God desires me to stand perfectly free from this whole matter, and I will.17MR 266.2
I desire you to know that I regard the publication of this article in regard to the food work as a great mistake. It is not right.17MR 266.3
.17MR 266.4
Mrs. E. G. White: I have written all about this matter. I have not sent the manuscript yet because, since returning home, I have been sick. I wrote the manuscript while I was away from home.17MR 266.5
. .17MR 266.6
.17MR 267.1
.17MR 267.2
Mrs. E. G. White: If they had done just as they promised to do, they would not have gone so far. The establishment would have been much smaller in size. It would have been a great deal better than it is at present.17MR 267.3
.17MR 267.4
Mrs. E. G. White: If it cannot be, it had better be closed.17MR 267.5
.17MR 267.6
Mrs. E. G. White: I do not believe it is right to devote so much attention to the sale of the smaller books, to the neglect of the larger ones. It is wrong to leave lying on the shelves the large works that the Lord has revealed should be put into the hands of the people, and to push so vigorously, in the place of these, the sale of small books.17MR 268.1
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Mrs. E. G. White: I have come to a point where I must not worry over any of these things. I have in the past worried so that I could not sleep after twelve and one o'clock in the morning. I have had to get up at these hours to relieve my mind by writing in regard to these matters. But I must not permit my mind to be taken up with these things so much that it will be affected. My memory is still good, and I desire to finish some things that I have in preparation.17MR 268.2
I am writing on the life of Solomon. And I wish to write more on the case that I have so many times brought before Dr. Kellogg as illustrative of his own dangers—the case of Nebuchadnezzar. Over and over again I have warned the doctor not to follow the course of this king, who said, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built ... by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?”17MR 268.3
Dr. Kellogg is now pursuing a similar course in Battle Creek. I am told that he made the remark that he was glad that the old sanitarium buildings burned down. Brethren, those buildings burned down as a reproof to him, but instead of taking it thus, he has given place to self-exaltation.17MR 268.4
. .17MR 268.5
Mrs. E. G. White: I think this work ought to be done. Edson has never made a success yet in financial matters, and he has had this fact spread before him constantly. He has been repeatedly told that his only success was in the ministry and in preparing books for the people. He has never made a success in finance.17MR 269.1
.17MR 269.2
Mrs. E. G. White: Over and over again the word of the Lord has come to them, telling them that neither of them has the physical strength nor the financial ability to carry the food business and the publishing work at one and the same time. If they should attempt this, either one branch or the other would have to suffer.17MR 269.3
. 17MR 269.4
Mrs. E. G. White: It has; and I say, Go ahead. God's cause must not be left to reproach, no matter who is made sore by arranging matters on a right basis. Edson should give himself to the ministry and to writing, and leave alone the things that he has been forbidden by the Lord to do. Finance is not his forte at all.17MR 270.1
I want the brethren to feel free to take hold of this matter. I do not want them to make any reference to me. I want them to act just as they would act if my son were not there.17MR 270.2
When I was in Battle Creek, before the Nashville Office was fully established, this young man Palmer was presented to me in the night season as one whom I was to treat as a son. I was instructed to be a mother to him; that he was in great danger of losing his soul, and that I should do all I could to help him to recover himself from the enemy's snare. It was revealed to me that when he associated with his friends his money went like the wind. He could not have money without spending it freely. I was further instructed that if he would take hold of the Southern work, and labor in the fear of God, he would be greatly blessed, and his soul would be saved.17MR 270.3
Recently I cautioned our brethren against making a change in the management of the Nashville Office too suddenly. They were to wait until some other man could be found whom the Lord would provide for that work. I do not think it is best for Brother Palmer to be connected with the Nashville Publishing House any longer. Let him go into the food business, if he so chooses. I do not think it is best for him to have the least connection with the office of publication.17MR 270.4
I must always stand on the right side of every question. I do not want anyone to feel that I am sustaining Edson in a wrong. He has felt that it is terrible for me to write to him in the straight way that I have written. I have presented things to him just as they are presented to me.17MR 271.1
.17MR 271.2
Mrs. E. G. White: I hope that he will never have such a treasury. I do not want the brethren ever to feel it their duty to let him have a fund independent from the union conference fund; for I will not encourage any such arrangement.17MR 271.3
.17MR 271.4
Mrs. E. G. White: This is my position exactly.17MR 271.5
.17MR 271.6
. .17MR 271.7
Mrs. E. G. White: So he was at one time, when no one stood ready to take hold of this work with him. But now that there are other people in the South who are helping to do this work, the burden does not rest upon him alone.17MR 272.1
It is highly proper that the work of the Southern Missionary Society should be under the direction of the Southern Union Conference.17MR 272.2
Regarding the steamer Morning Star, I have written Edson that I saw no objection to this boat's being used in missionary work if this fellow workers felt clear to advise its use. I told him that if the brethren, in counsel with him, felt that there was a class of people living along the rivers who could be reached only by means of a boat, and that if to reach these they were willing to undertake to put the Morning Star into service once, I had no objections to offer.17MR 272.3
17MR 272.4
Mrs. E. G. White: I cannot give countenance to Edson's operating independently, because I know that he is not a close financier.17MR 272.5
17MR 273.1
Mrs. E. G. White: No. When I saw that interview in regard to the Dixie Health Food Company, as printed in a Nashville paper, I said to myself, My duty is done for the present. Not another plea can I publish asking our people to help to establish the work in the Southern field, until something is done to right this matter. In this sensational article it was claimed that half a million dollars was to be expended in connection with the establishment of the health food business in Nashville. It was a terrible representation, and I determined not to have anything more to say.17MR 273.2
.17MR 273.3
Mrs. E. G. White: With that presentation in circulation, channels through which means should have flowed into the Southern field have been closed.17MR 273.4
.17MR 273.5
Mrs. E. G. White: Things must be put on a different basis. There was a time when the Southern field was being robbed and neglected. At that time it was necessary for appeals to be made for means independently of the organized body. But this time is in the past. Many are now interested in the progress of the cause there. The brethren acknowledge the mistakes that they have made in the past, and are ready to work that field. Let them plan to open new fields in the South, and carry forward the work on a right basis. Let them not falter in doing the right thing.17MR 273.6
.17MR 274.1
Mrs. E. G. White: I do not desire that any personalities should be brought into this question. I desire to see the business of the Nashville Publishing Association carried on just as it should be carried on—in God's order.17MR 274.2
.17MR 274.3
Mrs. E. G. White: My personality is not my own, and I have no right to use it for selfish purposes. I can stand before the throne of God, and be perfectly clear on this point; for I have never used my personality selfishly. My husband used to tell me that I was more in danger of going to the other extreme. -17MR 274.4
.17MR 274.5
. .17MR 274.6
Ellen G. White Estate
Washington, D. C.,
August 6, 1987.