Times of Volume Three
ix
the dangers and the small fruitage of such contentious efforts. Volume
3 abounds in such counsels
.
So the topics of this volume are varied, ranging from counsel
to the wealthy farmer and his uneducated wife to instruction for the
minister and the executive. The general articles fill the larger part of
this volume. Here and there are found personal messages, published
for the benefit of all, because, as Ellen White wrote, so many of them
have to do with experiences “which in many respects represent the
cases of others.”
A few outstanding revelations form the basis of the larger part
of this volume. During this period the outstanding visions were less
frequent, but more comprehensive. Again and again reference is made
to the comprehensive visions of December 10, 1871, and January 3,
1875. The latter is described by James White in a footnote on page
570. The circumstances of the first will be described more fully here:
it was at Bordoville, Vermont, that this vision was given. A report of
[7]
the meeting held at that place, December 9 and 10, was sent to the
Review by Elder A. C. Bourdeau, in whose house it was held. From it
we learn that Mrs. White had labored “especially for the church.” At
one evening meeting “special testimonies were given to individuals
present; and as these were endorsed [by those spoken to], light and
freedom broke in.” Sunday afternoon two sons of one of the believers
and the wife of one of them came to bid Mrs. White good-by. They
had been “in a backslidden state.” Then elder bourdeau gives a vivid
picture of what took place:
“At this point, Sister White felt the real burden of their cases, and
a special yearning after them for their salvation, and gave them rich
instructions. She then kneeled down with them and prayed for them
with great earnestness, faith, and tenacity, that they might return unto
the Lord. They yielded and prayed, promising to serve the Lord. The
Spirit of the Lord drew nearer and nearer. Sister White was free, and
soon, unexpectedly to all, she was in vision. She remained in this
condition fifteen minutes
.
“The news spread, and soon the house was crowded. Sinners
trembled, believers wept, and backsliders returned to God. The work
was not confined to those present, as we have since learned. Some
who had remained at home were powerfully convicted. They saw
themselves as they had never done before. The angel of God was