Lt 4, 1853

June 30, 1853, Rochester, New York1EGWLM 370.1

Letter to
Alfred B. and Adaline Pearsall.¹

It is safe to conclude that the addressees are Alfred B. Pearsall and his wife, Adaline, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. During the period 1852-1858 no other Pearsalls are mentioned in the Review.

See: 1850 U.S. Federal Census, “A. B. Pearsoll” [sic], Michigan, Kent County, Grand Rapids, p. 373. For full name “Alfred B. Pearsall” see 1880 U.S. Federal Census, “Alfred B. Pearsall,” Michigan, Calhoun County, Battle Creek, p. 63; search term “Pearsall” in Words of the Pioneers.

1EGWLM 370.2

Previously unpublished.

In response to a query on parenting.1EGWLM 370.3

Dear Brother and Sister Pearsall:

We received your letter yesterday.²

This letter is not in the White Estate archives.

I hardly know how to answer it. Parents have a sacred duty to perform to their children, which many neglect, but they will yet mourn their sad neglect.3

It is interesting to note that the Review, dated June 23, 1853, had carried an article by A. A. Dodge entitled “Admonition to Parents.” Dodge's emphasis, in the manner of the times, centered on the liberal use of “the rod.” The same draconian approach had characterized an article on the same topic by Elias Goodwin the previous year, in 1852. Ellen White's vision on this issue, briefly related here, provides a much more nuanced approach to child discipline, a corrective to the severity of Dodge and Goodwin.

See: A. A. Dodge, “Admonition to Parents,” Review, June 23, 1853, pp. 21-23; Elias Goodwin, “Duty of Parents to Their Children,” Review, Aug. 5, 1852, p. 53.

Great care should be taken by parents to study the disposition of their children, and it is also necessary to be very kind and affectionate to their children, and thereby gain their affections, and make them love you. It is not the wisest course to be very severe but it is always best to be decided and unyielding, and when we tell a child anything, never let them tease you out of it. Be very careful of this.1EGWLM 370.4

July 5, 18531EGWLM 370.5

You see I commenced your letter some days ago but have not had time to finish it. Last Sabbath I was taken off in vision and was shown many things,⁴

Various parts of this vision of “last Sabbath” (July 2, 1853) are related in Lt 5, 1853 (July 5), Ms 3, 1853 (July 2), and Ms 4, 1853 (July 2). Ellen White writes that her original account of the vision of July 2 “covers 24 pages” (Lt 5, 1853 [July 5]).

some of which I have not [time] to write.1EGWLM 370.6

I saw something about the government of children, that parents were standing in the place of God to their children and that parents must be united in their efforts to save their children, and must take hold of the Word in good earnest and while they may be corrected for their faults, ever encourage their well-doing and pray with them and for them.1EGWLM 371.1