Dorchester Vision of 1848 and Our First Publishing Ventures
9
It was after this vision that Mrs. White informed her husband of his
duty to publish, and that as he should advance by faith, success would
attend his efforts.—
Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 116
, footnote.
Regarding this vision of November 18, 1848, Elder Joseph Bates
testified that he saw and heard the following from the lips of Ellen
Harmon:
“‘Yea, publish the things thou hast seen and heard, and the blessing
of God will attend. Look ye! That rising is in strength, and grows
brighter and brighter!’ ... The above was copied word for word as she
spake in vision, therefore it’s unadulterated.”—A Seal of the Living
God (seventy-two-page pamphlet published by Joseph Bates in 1849),
p. 26.
]—At a meeting held in Dorchester, Mass., November, 1848, I
had been given a view of the proclamation of the sealing message, and
of the duty of the brethren to publish the light that was shining upon
our pathway.
[16]
After coming out of vision, I said to my husband; I have a message
for you. You must begin to print a little paper and send it out to the
people. Let it be small at first; but as the people read, they will send
you means with which to print, and it will be a success from the first.
From this small beginning it was shown to me to be like streams of
light that went clear round the world.”
While we were in Connecticut in the summer of 1849, my husband
was deeply impressed that the time had come for him to write and
publish the present truth. He was greatly encouraged and blessed as he
decided to do this. 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. He at length gave up in discouragement, and decided to look
for a field of grass to mow.
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 to do, and 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. He immediately began to write, and when he