The Great Second Advent Movement: Its Rise and Progress

Convincing Nature of the Vision

This was part of a view given to Mrs. White at Bordoville, Vt., Dec. 10, 1871. She began to write the part relating to this brother’s case Dec. 27, 1871, but for some reason the completion of the document was delayed until Jan. 18, 1872, at which time it was finished and mailed from Battle Creek. It then required about nine days to get letters overland from Michigan to California. GSAM 388.5

In vision many things are shown her prophetically. It was so in this instance. At the time of the vision there was but a shadow of what was actually developed when the testimony arrived in San Francisco. It will be seen, from a comparison of dates, that the culmination of the case in San Francisco came after the written testimony left the former place. Our brethren in San Francisco saw at once that no person could have written to Battle Creek and communicated the intelligence to Mrs. White in time for her to write this letter, for the state of things did not then exist. GSAM 388.6

This fact was of great weight with the brethren there, convincing them that there was divine power with that vision. I had not written a line to Elder White or his wife concerning the state of things in San Francisco, and the fellow-laborer declared that he had written nothing; and the brethren said, “If he had written, he would not have told the things that were brought out concerning himself.” GSAM 389.1