Ellen G. White and Her Critics

Literary Quality of Mrs. White’s Earliest Writings

1. In the first decades of Mrs. White’s writings she had no literary assistant aiding her, except her husband. But he, the same as she, had but a few grades of formal education, yet Mrs. White’s writings in those earlier decades reveal that she had no mean grasp of English, and only occasionally is a grammatical error revealed. What is more important, by far, her writings reveal there the same pulsing life and vital drive that they reveal in the later decades. There is a distinctive style running through all her writings, so much so that those who are well acquainted with her writings rarely have difficulty in identifying them without seeing her name. EGWC 473.1

2. A great many of her letters and manuscripts, beginning with the late 1840’s have been preserved. Examination of these—and some of them have been on exhibit at different times in various parts of the world—reveal several interesting facts. There are differences in grades of handwriting. Sometimes she wrote under much greater pressure than at other times. Indeed, in her later years the pressure of her writing became very great. She would often rise at an early hour in the morning and write as rapidly as possible, hour after hour. At such times the penmanship, as would be expected, is poorer than at other times. When she was not under pressure her handwriting is often superior to that of the average college student. And, as also might be expected, the grammar and the literary constructions are definitely better in those manuscripts that do not reveal pressure of writing. But all her letters and original handwritten book manuscripts—that is, writings untouched by any other hands—reveal the same pulsing life, the same vigorous spiritual drive, the same incisive presentation of spiritual truth that her printed books reveal. This is an impressive fact. EGWC 473.2