I make known to others what I have revealed to you," were the words that early rang in Ellen Harmon's ears. How could she do it? She was but a girl, just turned seventeen, who could speak only in a hoarse whisper, and her health generally was not good. She was timid and unknown. Her family was poor. It was midwinter in Maine. This was her situation in December, 1844. Finally after encouragement from her father that God would not fail to open the way, she terminated the struggle by a full surrender to His will.
A few days later found Ellen Harmon at Poland, Maine, about thirty miles north of Portland. She was at an Adventist home at Macguire's Hill, where the believers had gathered for an evening meeting. Her sister and her brother-in-law, with whom she had made the trip, that day in an open sleigh, accompanied her to the service. Already the believers had heard of her unique experience, and she was asked to tell her visions to those who had gathered.
The girl of seventeen arose and in a raspy whisper began to talk to the people. Recounting the experience, she later wrote: "I continued thus for about five minutes, when the soreness and obstruction left me, my voice became clear and strong, and I spoke with perfect ease and freedom for nearly two hours. When my message was ended, my voice was gone until I again stood before the people, when the same singular restoration was repeated."—Life Sketches, pp. 72, 73. Thus commenced a lifework of public speaking.
Through the years that followed she filled many speaking appointments, standing before audiences large and small, audiences sympathetic and audiences antagonistic, American audiences, European audiences, and Australian audiences. She had a message appropriate for each occasion, and it was delivered in a powerful manner. She became one of the best known and most popular women speakers of her time in America.
Most of her public speaking, of course, was with Seventh-day Adventist groups. In the earlier years it was a very common practice for Elder and Mrs. White to work together. He would lead out in a telling presentation of some vital subject, and after speaking lor twenty or thirty minutes, she would follow with appropriate remarks. Very effective work was clone by this team.
Mrs. White made careful preparation for her speaking appointments, choosing her text and forming a general outline of presentation. At times she would choose two texts and have in mind two quite different lines of thought; then during the opening exercise as she faced her audience, she would decide which to present. Often she looked into faces which she had seen before in vision, and the knowledge of their needs and experiences molded the subject matter presented. Occasionally the recognition of faces in the audience led her to make a radical shift in her subject while she was speaking. Sometimes this could be done smoothly, but at other times there was an abrupt break because she was unable to make an easy change in the presentation.
Recognition of Faces in Audience
Elder and Mrs. White were at Bushnell, Michigan, on Sabbath, July zo, 1867. It was their first visit there and the announcement had reached the believers through the appointment list in the Review of July 16, 1867, Elder White had planned on conducting a baptism and then joining in the celebration of the ordinances, but when they arrived at Bushnell, they found a sad state of backsliding. Sabbath morning he spoke to about sixty who had gathered in the grove for the meeting. In the afternoon Mrs. White was the speaker. She had selected a text from which she intended to preach, and at the appointed time stood before the congregation. Let us turn to James White's account of what took place :
"Mrs. White arose, Bible in hand, and began to speak from a text of Scripture. She suddenly stopped speaking, laid aside her Bible, and began to address those who had embraced the Sabbath in that place. She had never before seen one of them with the natural eye, and, of course, could not call them by name. But she designated each brother and sister by his or her position, as the one by that tree, or the one ,sitting by that brother or sister of the Greenville or Orleans church, with whom she was personally acquainted, and whom she called by name.
"She described each peculiar case, stating that the Lord had shown her their cases two years previous, and that, while she was just then speaking from the Bible, that view had flashed over her mind, like sudden lightning in a dark night distinctly revealing every object around."—Signs of the Times, Aug. 29, 1878.
For about an hour she spoke, describing the experiences of those who were before her, and then the persons addressed arose, one by one, and "testified that their cases had been described better than they could have done it themselves." Confessions were made, wrongs were righted, and a reformation ensued. The next week a strong church was organized from this company of believers who two weeks earlier had decided to disband.
On several occasions Mrs. White was taken off in vision while she was addressing an audience. The "great controversy" vision was given to her one Sunday afternoon in 1858 at a funeral service, as she spoke a few words of comfort to those who mourned. Ten years later at the church in Battle Creek, while earnestly addressing the congregation at a Friday evening service, she was suddenly taken off in vision. For twenty minutes she continued in vision.
Divine Healing at Healdsburg
In 1883, as Mrs. White was speaking at the camp meeting in Healdsburg, California, bearing what she thought was her farewell message to the church, she was miraculously healed. For several weeks she had been critically ill, and was now failing rapidly, for all efforts to bring relief were ineffective. It seemed that her lifework was about to close. But she felt a great desire to meet just once more with the people gathered on the near-by campground. We will let her tell of this experience beginning with the time she reached the place of meeting:
"A sofa had been brought onto the platform in the large tent. Here I lay down, thinking I would deliver my farewell address. My face was as the face of one dead, without a particle of color.
"After a few testimonies had been borne, I asked Willie to help me to arise to my feet, and let me lean on him. There I stood, and began to tell the people that this was probably the last time they would ever hear my voice in camp meeting. But after speaking a few words, I felt the Spirit and power of God thrilling through every nerve of my body. Those who saw me said that the blood could be seen as it came to my lips and my forehead, and my flesh took on its natural appearance.
"Mr. Montrose, in great surprise, remarked to one of his neighbors, 'A miracle is being wrought in sight of this whole congregation!' I could not understand why all were looking so intently at me, some even arising to their feet. The Spirit of the Lord had healed me. During the remainder of the camp meeting, I spoke several times."—MS. 105, 1906.
If we were to accompany Mrs. White to her various speaking appointments, we would see her in the Opera House at Salamanca, New York, on Sunday morning, in 1890; or standing before the ship's passengers who gathered in the women's cabin for an evening meeting as they made their way up the Mississippi River twenty years earlier. The meeting was arranged by one of the businessmen on board when it was learned that Mrs. White was a passenger on the boat. Again we would find her in the State penitentiary in Oregon, talking to the prisoners, or at the veterans' home in Yountville, California, addressing the soldiers.
Mrs. White's work as a public speaker reached its peak in the camp meeting and temperance work of the seventies. As a revival speaker she was unsurpassed. As a temperance lecturer she reached her largest audiences.
On June 28, 1877, Barnum's circus came to Battle Creek, Michigan. The temperance forces, the leading citizens, and the church groups knew that on such an occasion many who were visiting the city would turn to the cheap eating houses and saloons for their meals. So plans were laid for a countermove. Under the auspices of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, the large tent provided by the Michigan Conference was pitched to serve as a temperance restaurant. The patronage surpassed all expectations. Then Sunday evening, July I, a temperance mass meeting was called. This was the climax of the concerted effort to make this occasion count for reform. Mrs. White herself gives an account of her part in this work:
"By invitation of the committee of arrangements, Mayor Austin, W. H. Skinner, cashier of the First National Bank, and C. C. Peavey, I spoke in the mammoth tent Sunday evening, July t, upon the subject of Christian temperance. God helped me that evening ; and although I spoke ninety minutes, the crowd of fully five thousand persons listened in almost breathless silence."—Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 275.
But this was not her first experience in meeting large audiences on the temperance question. The year before at the camp meeting held at Groveland, Massachusetts, she gave a temperance address. This was an era when Seventh-day Adventist camp meetings drew large crowds, and broad plans were laid for the meeting. A temporary railroad siding was built nearer the camp, and special trains were run to the campground on Sunday. Five hundred believers stayed on the site, but on Sunday 20,000 people poured onto the campground, coming by carriage, boat, and train from the surrounding cities. Both morning and afternoon Mrs. White spoke, and her subject was Christian temperance. "Every seat and all the standing room throughout the entire enclosure was full, some, following the example of Zacchaeus, climb trees to get a sight of the speaker. Standing at the upper part of the camp-ground, the eye swept over a living sea of humanity."—Signs of the Times, Sept. 14, 18761
The audience gave excellent attention, and Mrs. White spoke well. Although there was no amplifying system, all heard her clearly. Her speaking voice was excellent; in fact, on such occasions she could be heard a mile away. She brought into practice in her own experience the fundamental principles of proper breathing and voice culture so clearly set forth in her writings.
Present on the Sunday afternoon at Grove-land were officers of the Haverhill Reform Club. They requested her to speak at the Haverhill city hall the next evening. This she did, addressing eleven hundred people, striking intemperance at its very roots.
Speaking Appointments in Europe
A few years later Mrs. White visited Europe. Here also her work was not confined to Seventh-day Adventists. The record of her labors includes a meeting in a concert hall with the platform made of "beer tables," and on one occasion in Norway, in the "military gymnasium." Listen to her account of this important meeting:
"On Sunday, by request of the president of the temperance society, I spoke upon the subject of temperance. The meeting was held in the soldiers' military gymnasium, the largest hall in the city. An American flag was placed as a canopy above the pulpit ; this was an attention which I highly appreciated. There were about sixteen hundred assembled. Among them was a bishop of the State Church, with a number of the clergy; a large proportion were of the better class of society. I took up the subject from a religious standpoint."—Historical Sketches, p. 207.
So it was through her long and busy life. She met literally thousands of speaking appointments. "When I stand before large congregations," she told Elder Daniells in 1902, 'it seems as if I were reined up before the great white throne, to answer for the souls that have been presented before me as unready to meet the Lord in peace."—Letter 138, 1902.
Often it seemed that she would not be physically able to stand before the people, but her trust was in the Lord who gave her work. At the Sanitarium, California, church in 1901, she made reference to this oft-repeated experience:
"When I have been expected to speak to many people, at times I have felt that it was impossible for me to appear day after day before great congregations. . . . With trembling steps I have walked into the desk to speak to assembled thousands; but the moment I have stood before the congregation, the Spirit of God has always come to me with strengthening power.
'Often I said to my husband while he was with me, 'If only I could have the assurance beforehand, how much good it would do me.' He would answer, 'God has never failed to bless you the moment you rise to speak ; so whatever may be your feelings, you must put your trust in Him.' —MS. III, 1901.
Nor was her burden alone for congregations of thousands. The messenger of the Lord did not lose sight of her responsibility to small audiences. We discovered in 5903 that she not only took active part at Sabbath services in near-by churches but was also one of the speakers at the open-air missionary meetings held in a resort town nine miles from her home in northern California. Here is her account:
"In our vicinity, we are doing what we can to carry the truth to those around us. Three open air meetings have been held at Calistoga, in the Hot Springs Park. I spoke at each of these meetings. I did this that I might reach those who do not attend church. The Lord greatly blessed me in this effort."—Letter 122, 1903.
Before we close this picture of a very important phase of Mrs. White's work, let us look through the eyes of a writer of the world:
"Mrs. White is a woman of singularly well-balanced mental organization. Benevolence, spirituality, conscientiousness, and ideality are the predominating traits. Her personal qualities are such as to win for her the warmest friendship of all with whom she comes in contact, and to inspire them with the utmost confidence in her sincerity Notwithstanding her many years of public labor, she has retained all the simplicity and honesty which characterized her early life.
"As a speaker, Mrs. White is one of the most successful of the few ladies who have become noteworthy as lecturers, in this country, during the last twenty years. Constant use has so strengthened her vocal organs as to give her voice rare depth and power. Her clearness and strength of articulation are so great that, when speaking in the open air, she has frequently been distinctly heard at the distance of a mile. Her language, though simple, is always forcible and elegant. When inspired with her subject, she is often marvelously eloquent, holding the largest audiences spellbound for hours without a sign of impatience or weariness.
"The subject matter of her discourses is always of a practical character, bearing chiefly on fireside duties, the religious education of children, temperance, and kindred topics. On revival occasions, she is always the most effective speaker. She has frequently spoken to immense audiences, in the large cities, on her favorite themes, and has always been received with great favor." —American. Biographical History of Eminent and Self-Made Men of the State of Michigan, Third Congressional District, p. 108. (7878.)
Such is the picture of Ellen G. White the speaker.
