Sometimes we hear the plausible statement made that Uriah Smith's "Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation" was the response to Mrs. White's counsel, suggesting that the Bible books of Daniel and Revelation be issued together in pamphlet form, with a few simple explanations. Is that the case? When was Smith's "Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation" brought out, and when was this counsel on the issuance in pamphlet form givenf Does Mrs. White make any comment on the fulfillment?
Uriah Smith's Thoughts, Critical and Practical, on the Revelation (328 pages) was first issued in 1867. Five years later his Thoughts on Daniel (352 pages) was printed, in 1872. They were combined and issued as Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation in 1882 (840 pages). Later editions ran Soo pages, or over. (The present revised edition has 830 pages.)
Mrs. White's counsel to the effect that the Bible books of Daniel and of the Revelation should be gotten out "in little books and made as simple as possible," to be scattered and given everywhere, first appeared in Letter 87, in 1898 —thirty-one years later. That is the time relationship of the counsel to the initial Smith volume. And her counsel on the needed pamphlet was amplified four years later in MS. 165, 1902, when the message was repeated to issue these two prophetic books "together in pamphlet form, with a few explanations added." This was now further explained as "a pamphlet bound inexpensively, costing but a trifle, and small enough to be carried in the pocket."—Ibid. Then, in Letter 1, 1903, in reiterating the still unsupplied need, Mrs. White adds: "A few explanations of certain portions might be added, but I am not sure that these would be needed."
She had mentioned this matter to S. N. Haskell, which resulted in the issuance of his two books, The Story of Daniel the Prophet, of 350 pages, (1901), and The Story of the Seer of Patmos, of 424 pages (1905), or a total of 783 pages. Concerning this attempt by Elder' Haskell, Mrs. White wrote explicitly, "The need is not filled"—by the Haskell books. "It was my idea to have the two books bound together, Revelation following Daniel, giving fuller light on the subjects dealt with in Daniel.-The object was to bring these books together showing that both relate to the same subjects." Letter 1, 1903.
It is quite apparent, therefore, that Smith's 800-page Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation, brought out over thirty years before, and which Mrs. White had commended in 1889 and 1890 for its wholesome influence as an evangelistic agency, was not the compact, pocket-sized booklet called for. The need for that pamphlet still stands on record, and has not yet been met.
L. E. F.
