Publisher's Synopsis
FOR NEARLY 150 years, the Review and Herald has been the official church paper of the Seventh-day Adventist people. A paper, The Present Truth, was first printed in August 1849. In 1851 the name was changed to Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald. Over the decades the church paper has carried a number of names, and as of 2012 it is simply Adventist Review. Our "church paper"actually preceded, by fourteen years, the official organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1863. From its inception, throughout her life, the messenger of the Lord, Ellen G. White, used the Review and Herald as one of the main avenues of communicating God's counsels to His remnant people. During that sixty-six year span nearly 2,000 messages by God of direction, reproof, and inspiration were published in the Review and Herald. This present edition has all of her articles, published through 1915, unabridged in four volumes. Ellen G. White passed away Friday, July 16, 1915. Upon hearing of her death, Arthur W. Spalding penned the following lines that appeared in The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald of July 29, 1915. And Israel Mourned "Upon the sweet Sabbatic calm The evil tidings swept; And, hushing every joyful psalm, An orphaned people wept. Alas, that human lips must tell The somber message dread: "O Israel! O Israel! Thy godly seer is dead!" Long, long the tale of freighted years That marked the judge's seat, From Shiloh's mingled hopes and fears To Ramah's counsel sweet. The chorus of their graces swell The lamentation sore: "O Israel! O Israel! Thy prophet speaks no more!" What hand hath not that guidance felt, Or sore-pressed heart that touch, When wayward life its impulse dealt And sorrow overmuch? What tender memories compel That saddened, low refrain: "O Israel! O Israel! Thy messenger is slain!" But hush, thou Jacob, feeble, faint, Beset by traitor foe; Take thee a pean for thy plaint, A kingdom for thy blow. With seer and prophet all is well. Loud let the heavens ring: "O Israel! O Israel! Prepare to meet thy King!" In an editorial of the same Review and Herald issue, the editor, Francis M. Wilcox, stressed the point that though dead, the messenger of the Lord still speaks through her published works. "Set as a teacher in Israel, she was true to the trust imposed upon her. With unswerving fidelity she bore her testimony as the Spirit of God directed her utterance in reproof. in exhortation, in encouragement. As a special watchman upon Zion's walls. as the messenger of God, she never faltered in bearing the burden which this ministry imposed. How often during her long ministry has she stood in the breach to call Israel back to their allegiance to God! How often has she rebuked sin in high places in the church! She has not betrayed her trust, but has proved loyal to the position appointed her. . . . "Of the great influence exerted by her words, spoken and written, we need not speak. The judgment will reveal, we believe, a wonderful fruitage of the labors of this devout servant. Though dead. she still speaks. Her works follow her. They still live to bless the church. Her stirring appeals, her exhortations, her instructions in the divine life, are still left us. To these we can still seek for the help which personally she is powerless to give. . . . "We shall miss our beloved sister. but we trust that we shall treasure even more carefully the instruction that she has given us. If we shall do this, if we shall turn to the Lord with all our hearts, . . .
