Some 230 letters, or extracts of letters. from the pen of Ellen G. White, taken from the private collections of David Paulson M. D. (1868-1916) and Daniel Hartman Kress M. D. (1862-1956). Both of these men were early Seventh-day Adventist physicians whose lives overlapped that of Ellen G. White by 48 and 53 years respectively. Both married Adventist women physicians-Mary Wild and Lauretta Eby respectively. Drs. Mary and David Paulson founded and built up the work of the Hinsdale Sanitarium in the Hinsdale suburb of Chicago, Illinois. Earlier Dr. David had been an instructor in the American Medical Missionary College at Battle Creek, Michigan and in 1899 he had taken charge of Battle Creek Sanitarium's medical missionary work in Chicago. Drs. Lauretta and Daniel Kress labored first at the Battle Creek Sanitarium and then were instrumental in establishing the Church's health work in England, New Zealand, and Australia. In 1907 they returned to the United States where Dr. Daniel became the first medical superintendent of the newly established Washington Sanitarium and Hospital. Because of the important leadership roles played by these two physician couples, they both received direct communications from the Lord's servant Ellen White. Their collection of such personal letters, as well as copies sent to them of letters directed to other individuals, make up this present publication. There are 191 entries from Dr. Paulson's collection and 43 from that of Dr. Kress. For reference purposes, material between sets of numbers in curly brackets-e.g.{123}and {124}- are considered to be from the page of the first number. COUNSELS REPEATED "AGAIN REPRESENTATIONS HAVE been made to me that all who have the care of the sick, in our sanitariums, should bear in mind that these institutions are established for a special work, and are to be conducted in a way that will bring honor to God. . . . "You are to depend much more than you have done on the cooperation of the Great Physician in the work of healing disease. Your faith is to lay hold upon the efficacy of Christ to make effectual the effort put forth for the recovery of the sick. . . . "I have been shown that the principles that were given us in the early days of the message are to be regarded as just as important by our people today as they were then. There are some who have never followed the light given us on the question of diet. It is time now to take the light from under the bushel, and let it shine forth in clear, bright rays. . . . "As a people, with all our profession of health reform, we eat too much. Indulgence of appetite is the greatest cause of physical and mental debility, and lies largely at the foundation of feebleness and premature death. Intemperance begins at our tables, when we use an unwise combination of foods. Let the individual who is seeking to possess purity of spirit, bear in mind that in Christ there is power to control the appetite." The Paulson Collection, p. 2-3, June 19, 1908

In the twenty first century many people would agree that more fruit and vegetables and less meat is the way to a healthy diet. Scientific studies often publish statistics comparing meat eaters with Seven Day Adventists (SDA) because the Adventists are a group of people who have advocated and practiced vegetarianism for almost 150 years. The reason this lifestyle came about is largely due to an event which occurred in the summer of 1863 in Michigan, USA. In June 1863 Ellen Gould White, one of the co-founders of the SDA has a vision. She was at the home of brother A. Hilliard, at Otsego, Michigan, when (as she puts it in her own words) "the great subject of health reform was opened before me in vision". Prior to this 'vision' physical health and diet was becoming an issue for the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) ministers and a number of them were in poor health. White claimed the vision was from God and that it lasted for 45 minutes, during which God was said by her to have revealed many important principles for a "health reform" movement she was to later institute in the SDA Church. Later that year she wrote her first pamphlet "An Appeal to Mothers" which was published in 1864, in which she asked questions such as; "have you not marked the lack of healthy beauty, of strength, and power of endurance in your dear children?" "Have you not noticed that there was a deficiency in the mental health of your children?" "Have you not been alarmed at their disregard of parental authority, which has bowed down the hearts of their parents with grief and prematurely sprinkled their heads with grey hair?" "It gives you pain to see your children feeble in body and mind; but does it not cause you still greater grief to see them almost dead to spiritual things, so that they have but little desire for goodness, beauty of character, and holy purposes?" White and many of the Adventists regarded her visions as gifts of prophecy and she went on to have many visions and to write many essays and books. According to Wikipedia's list of the best selling books of all time, her book "Steps to Christ" first published in 1892 has sold 62 million copies and her 5000 articles and 40 published books have been translated into more than 140 languages. In 1905 White's book The Ministry of Healing was published. In the preface she wrote; It is not the creator's purpose that mankind shall be weighed down with a burden of pain, that his activities shall be curtailed by illness, that his strength wane, and his life be cut short by disease. But all too frequently the laws established by God to govern the life are flagrantly transgressed; sin enters the heart, and man loses sight of his dependence upon God, the source of life and health. Then follow the penalties of transgression--pain, sickness, and death. The book emphasizes the link between diet and spiritual growth. It's a diet book, a self -help book, and a Christian spiritual guide all rolled into one, and it continues to be read widely to this day.