In behalf of our mission" read the memorial presented by the Committee of the Central European Mission to the 1884 General Conference session. "In behalf of our brethren and sisters generally, whose wishes we know, and on our own behalf personally, we express our earnest desire that Sister White may visit Europe." The reasons for this earnest invitation were stated: "That the cause here may share the benefits of her labors and of the precious light and instruction which the Lord so graciously grants us through His servant."--The Review and Herald, November 11, 1884.
George I. Butler, General Conference president, had only a few months earlier been in Europe. Under his encouragement plans had been launched to establish a publishing house at Basel, Switzerland, and the construction of a four-story stone building was under way. In late May he had attended the Second European Missionary Council. He reported in the Review and Herald of June 24, the rather comprehensive action taken by that council:
Whereas, Experience has taught us that the personal labors of our dear Sister White are invaluable to the cause in accomplishing what her writings alone cannot accomplish; and--
Whereas, Our European brethren feel the greater need of these for having never been favored with them, and have a strong desire to see and hear Sister White; therefore--
Resolved, That we extend to Sister White a hearty and urgent invitation to visit the different fields in Europe as soon as practicable.
Whereas, The publishing work in Europe has in its growth reached a point where it calls for the labors of those of special experience in the work of printing; therefore--
Resolved, that it is the sense of this meeting that Brother W. C. White should soon come to Europe to render the assistance in the publishing work that his experience qualifies him to bestow.
With this matter placed before the readers of the Review in the early summer, it was no surprise to Ellen White and her son when the memorial was read at the General Conference session and the respective actions taken. This had a strong influence on Ellen White's plans and work.
Back in California, she soon found that she was without the strength she had expected to enjoy. She spoke in the Oakland church Sabbath morning, January 3, 1885, but was soon aware that she must take steps to recoup her physical forces. The finishing touches were being put on her little home, Iliel, near the Health Retreat at St. Helena, and she divided her time for a few weeks between St. Helena and her headquarters at Healdsburg.
Oh, To Know What To Do!
Ellen White did not relish traveling to Europe, especially in time to attend the missionary council in September. "To travel across the continent in the heat of summer and in my condition of health," she wrote, "seemed almost presumptuous."--Ibid., September 15, 1885. How she wished for positive guidance to know what course to follow:
As the appointed time for starting drew near, my faith was severely tested. I so much desired someone of experience upon whom I could rely for counsel and encouragement. My courage was gone, and I longed for human help, one who had a firm hold from above, and whose faith would stimulate mine. By day and by night my prayers ascended to heaven that I might know the will of God, and have perfect submission to it. Still my way was not made clear; I had no special evidence that I was in the path of duty, or that my prayers had been heard.--Ibid.
As the time for final decision was at hand, W. C. White slipped away from Oakland and spent a few days at Healdsburg. He spoke courage to his mother. He bade her look to the past, when, under the most forbidding circumstances, she had moved out by faith according to the best light she had, and the Lord strengthened and supported her. Of the experience she reported:
I did so, and decided to act on the judgment of the General Conference, and start on the journey, trusting in God. My trunk was packed, and I returned with him to Oakland. Here I was invited to speak to the church Sabbath afternoon. I hesitated; but these words came to me with power, "My grace is sufficient for you." The struggle was hard, but I consented. I then felt that I must seek God most earnestly. I knew that He was able to deliver in a manner that I could not discern.
In [my] thus trusting, my fears were removed, but not my weakness. I rode to the church and entered the desk, believing that the Lord would help. While speaking, I felt that the everlasting arms were about me, imparting physical strength and mental clearness to speak the word with power. The love and blessing of God filled my heart, and from that hour I began to gather strength and courage.--Ibid.
Writing of the experience in her diary, she said, "I was no longer uncertain. I would venture to go with the party across the plains."--Manuscript 16a, 1885. There were twelve who left Oakland for the East on Monday, July 13. Among them, of course, were her son Willie, his wife, Mary, and their daughter, Ella. There was also Miss Sara McEnterfer, whom Ellen chose to go with her as a traveling companion not only across the country but also to Europe.
The Assurance Finally Came
Then something, to her quite remarkable, took place:
Although I had prayed for months that the Lord would make my path so plain that I would know that I was making no mistake, still I was obliged to say that God hangs a mist before my eyes. But when I had taken my seat on the cars, the assurance came that I was moving in accordance with the will of God.... The sweet peace that God alone can give was imparted to me, and like a wearied child, I found rest in Jesus.--Ibid., September 15, 1885.
This was her twenty-fifth trip to or from the West Coast. On Monday, July 20, they reached Battle Creek and were met by Edson and taken to his home for lunch. Tuesday was very warm, but she rode out to Oak Hill Cemetery, took a treatment at the Sanitarium, and visited the Review and Herald office. In the room there that had been set aside for her use and that of her husband, she "looked over my books," and "took such as I wanted" (Manuscript 16a, 1885). She visited here and there in Battle Creek, and was often drawn in with the brethren for counsel. On Sabbath morning she spoke in the Tabernacle.
Sabbath afternoon she spoke again for about forty minutes. She declined an invitation to speak on temperance on Sunday in the public square, but she took an evening meeting at the Sanitarium, addressing about four hundred. Tuesday evening she read a manuscript of thirty pages to the faculty, physicians, and workers at the Sanitarium. It related to physicians, physician training, and other matters having to do with the institution. This was later published in a tract and is on file as Manuscript 4a, 1885.
Closing up her activities in Battle Creek Wednesday morning, she took her noonday meal at the Sanitarium and was off to Massachusetts on the two-thirty train. Once settled in the car, she wrote a letter to A. R. Henry concerning matters at the Sanitarium. She was very weary when she arrived at Worcester, where she was to spend a few days joining D. M. Canright and R. S. Webber in their evangelistic tent meetings. Friday night, Sabbath morning, and again Sunday night, she spoke to large audiences. On Monday she drove the seventeen miles to South Lancaster, arriving in time for dinner. She noted in her diary that "dinner was acceptable, for we were hungry."--Manuscript 16a, 1885.
Here she was supposed to rest at the Harris home, but writing articles for the papers and letters to individuals she had begun at Worcester demanded her attention. On Friday, after writing for a few hours, at ten in the morning she left for Boston, where she and those traveling with her were to take ship for Southampton, England. As the S.S. Cephalonia was to leave Sabbath afternoon, the party embarked Friday afternoon so as to be settled before the Sabbath. She noted that "we accomplished this nearly." Her stateroom was large enough for the company to gather for Friday evening worship. She reported, "All take part. The Lord seems very near, and I feel peaceful and restful."--Ibid.
More than a week was spent in crossing the Atlantic; most of it was pleasant, but one storm was encountered, followed by foggy weather. Ellen White was able to do quite a bit of writing--articles and letters, with the help of Mary and Sara McEnterfer. She noted: "We used the calligraph [typewriter] with good effect."--Ibid.
Two Weeks in England
At Liverpool they were met by George Drew, who accompanied them to Grimsby, the city in which the mission headquarters was located. Thursday they went to the beach, but finding it cold and windy, Ellen White was glad to get back to their living quarters. Friday was a workday; recounting its activities, she recorded:
I have written ten pages of history of our journey, three pages to California, two to Marian Davis, and one to Brother E. P. Daniels. In the evening spoke in Temperance Hall upon the subject of temperance. The people gave the best of attention. It was raining and yet there were about 170 out to hear. May the word spoken drop like precious seed into the good soil.--Ibid.
She spent two weeks in England. The first Sabbath was at Grimsby. Of this day's activities she reported:
Sabbath afternoon, when the little company of Sabbath-keepers assembled for worship, the room was full, and some were seated in the hall. I have ever felt great solemnity in addressing large audiences, and have tried to place myself wholly under the guidance of the Saviour. But I felt even more solemn, if possible, in standing before this small company, who, in the face of obstacles, of reproach and losses, had stepped aside from the multitude who were making void the law of God, and had turned their feet into the way of His commandments.
In the afternoon a Sabbath school and social meeting were held. I spoke about thirty minutes in the meeting, and others followed. As I listened to the testimonies borne, I could not but think how similar is the experience of all true followers of Christ. There is but "one Lord, one faith, one baptism."--Historical Sketches of the Foreign Missions of the Seventh-day Adventists, 162.
Sunday morning, August 23, she met with the believers again in the mission room, crowded full of interested listeners. In the evening she spoke in the town hall to an audience of about 1,200. Every seat was taken, and some people stood. The American lecturer was honored by the Union Temperance Prize Choir, of some fifty voices. They sang seven numbers, three at the opening, two at the close, and two after the benediction. The topic of Ellen White's address was "The Love of God."
I tried to present the precious things of God in such a way as to draw their minds from earth to heaven. But I could only warn and entreat, and hold up Jesus as the center of attraction, and a heaven of bliss as the eternal reward of the overcomer.--The Review and Herald, 162, 163.
Monday she was at Ulceby and spoke to a congregation of about a hundred; Tuesday she was at Riseley, some forty miles from London, where S. H. Lane and J. H. Durland were holding evangelistic meetings in a newly secured linen tent. Although the tent would seat three hundred, when Ellen White spoke in the evening many had to stand outside. The evangelistic meetings had been fruitful, and a goodly company were convicted as the truths were presented. Thursday was a drizzly day; she spent it in London, taking the noonday meal with Henry Kellogg and W. C. White, who were there on publishing house business (Manuscript 16a, 1885). Kellogg, a former manager of the Review and Herald plant, was in Europe assisting in getting the new publishing house in Switzerland off to a good start.
At the mission in London on Friday, August 28, Ellen White met W. M. Jones, a Seventh Day Baptist minister laboring in the city. He took her and some who were traveling with her to the British Museum to view "ancient relics and curiosities." She noted in her diary, "It would take more than one week to see the different interesting objects that have been collected together" (Ibid.), but she appreciated the two hours she had there.
Then she took the train for Southampton and Durland's home. That night she spoke to a small company of believers, and on Sabbath had two meetings. While visiting Southamptom, she had an opportunity to see the Roman walls, some nine hundred years old. That Sunday night she spoke to a thousand people in a rented hall. The public press asked her to write up the address for publication, and she spent the next two days in London preparing the copy. On Wednesday they took the cars to the channel boat and were on their way to Basel, Switzerland.
On To Basel, Switzerland
[Three spellings were in common usage for the historic city in switzerland chosen by Seventh-day Adventists for their headquarters: Basel, bale, or basle, according to language preferences. "Basel" is employed in this account. In identifying cities and towns in europe and the names of individuals, the spelling used represents the opinions of european consultants.]
Crossing the English Channel by ship is often an uncomfortable experience, and so it was on Wednesday, September 2. However, even though many were seasick, Ellen White reported that she was not sick at all. But she does say, "We were glad, after one hour and a half's ride, to step off the boat at Calais."--Manuscript 16a, 1885. There they were met by a Mr. Brown, a literature evangelist in the city.
To secure a sleeping compartment to Basel would have cost $11 apiece. They thought they had better spend an uncomfortable night and save the dollars. She described the night's travel:
A bed was made for me between the seats on the top of the satchels and telescope boxes. I rested some, but slept little. The rest took their chances on the seats. We were not sorry to have the night pass.--Ibid.
Morning came as they entered Basel. As they began to see buildings, including castles on the top of high rocks and mountains, the first thought that came to Ellen White's mind was--having recently finished writing The Great Controversy--"whether the Reformers had not visited these places."
They were met at the train station by B. L. Whitney, president of the Swiss Mission, accompanied by R. F. Andrews and Albert Vuilleumier. Taking a hack, they drove to the publishing house, on the corner of Weiherweg and Rudolphstrasse. They were greeted by A. C. Bourdeau and were introduced to quite a number who had awaited their arrival (Ibid.).
As they entered the building Whitney said to her, "Look at our meeting hall before going upstairs." Observing all the features of the large room, she said, "It is a good meeting hall. I feel that I have seen this place before." She stepped into the offices across the hall for a brief look and then was taken to the pressroom, just below on the ground floor. The press was running, and she said, "I have seen this press before. This room looks very familiar to me."
Two young men were at work, and they were introduced to Ellen White. She shook hands with them and inquired, "Where is the other one?"
"What other one?" Whitney asked.
"There is an older man here," she replied, "and I have a message for him."
Whitney explained that the foreman of the pressroom was in the city on business (Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, 282, 283). It was ten years before, in Battle Creek, on January 3, 1875, that Ellen White was given a vision in which this publishing house and the foreman of the pressroom were shown to her. Needless to say, this experience brought courage to the heart of Whitney and his associates involved in the work in Basel.
After meeting many of the workers, Ellen White was escorted into the hydraulic elevator and taken to the third floor, where the Whitneys had an apartment, for breakfast and a rest. Before long she was shown what was to be her apartment, close to the one the W. C. White family would occupy. These, apparently, were on the south side of the building and had the advantage of exposure to the winter sun.
The Publishing House
The press building, constructed of stone, was forty-six by seventy-six feet. In the subbasement were the furnace and two gas motors that provided power for the presses. The next level, or ground floor, just slightly below ground level, provided room for the presses, bindery, the stereotype foundry, storage space for paper, and some storage space for the families living above. On the main floor to the right, or east, was the meeting hall, with seating capacity for three hundred; the other half was given to the business offices and the folding and mailing rooms.
Typesetting was done on the second floor; here also were rooms for the editors, translators, and proofreaders. On the east side there was some family housing. The third floor was devoted entirely to living apartments.
Ellen White lost no time in getting to her writing. On the day she arrived she not only got settled but wrote twelve pages to Dr. Gibbs at the Rural Health Retreat, in California. The next day she wrote some thirty pages to a number of individuals. She was favorably impressed with the good location of the building, and by its construction--one "in keeping with the importance of the message that is being sent out from it" (The Review and Herald, October 13, 1885). She noted:
While sufficiently near the center of the town for all business purposes, it is far enough out to avoid the noise and confusion. The building faces the south, and directly opposite is a sixty-acre common of government land, enclosed by trees. Just beyond this are buildings, and then come gentle hills with their sprinkling of fir trees, green fields, and cultivated lands. And back of all this rise higher mountains, forming a fine background to the lovely scene.--Ibid.
"To my mind," she exclaimed, "a more beautiful location could not have been obtained." Then her mind turned to the role of the city in religious history, being a place of great importance to the Protestant Reformers. Writing for the readers of the Review, she enumerated principal points, mentioning such names as Erasmus, Zwingli, John Foxe, and Frobenius, who published the writings of Luther. She declared:
As we looked upon our press, working off papers containing the light of truth for the present time, we could but think how much greater difficulties than we had met had been encountered in former times by the advocates of Bible truth. Every movement had to be made in secrecy, or their work would be destroyed and their lives imperiled. Now the way seems to be prepared for the truth to go forth as a lamp that burneth. The Bible standard is raised, and the same words that fell from the lips of the early reformers are being repeated. The Bible, and the Bible alone, is the foundation of our faith.
In the providence of God, our publishing house is located on this sacred spot. We could not wish for a more favorable location for the publication of truth in the different languages.... The work begun here in weakness will be carried on to a glorious consummation.--Ibid.
Organization of the Work in Europe
It was in Switzerland that J. N. Andrews began his work when sent to Europe in late 1874, and here he started to publish as he was learning the French language. He died in Basel in 1883, and was buried there. In the late 1870s literature from America reached the northern countries. In various places the minds of individuals, in one way or another, were called to the Sabbath truth, and workers were sent to augment Andrews' work. The interests of the church stretched out to France, Germany, Italy, and Romania, and companies of believers emerged. With minimal steps in organization, what came to be known as the Central European Mission developed. Work begun in Norway, Denmark, and Sweden culminated rather quickly in what were designated as the Norway and Denmark conferences; in England the work was known as the British Mission.
At a meeting attended by S. N. Haskell in Switzerland in 1882, the several emerging units were bound together in a parent organization known as the European Missionary Council. Each of the local organizations was managed by committees; the chairman of each was an ex-officio member of the European Missionary Council, which met annually.
In 1884 George I. Butler attended the second annual meeting of the European Missionary Council, held in Basel. At that time the loosely organized Central European Mission, the largest and strongest of the four local organizations in Europe, became the Swiss Conference. Organizational plans were perfected, and the decision was made to erect a publishing house in Basel. It was at this meeting that the invitation was extended for Ellen G. White to visit Europe and for W. C. White to aid in establishing the publishing business. Now the building was built, and Ellen White and her son were there for the first general meetings to be held in the publishing house chapel--first the Swiss Conference, scheduled to meet in session from September 10 to 14, and then the European Missionary Council, to open September 14.
The Swiss Conference Session
The Swiss Conference consisted of 224 members in ten churches, and an additional thirty-nine Sabbathkeepers in groups. The members were served by one ordained minister and seven licensed ministers. There were 251 Sabbath school members, enrolled in eleven Sabbath schools.
Of the session that opened on Thursday evening, September 10, Ellen White wrote:
The conference was quite generally attended by our Swiss brethren, and by representatives from Germany, France, Italy, and Romania. There were nearly two hundred brethren and sisters assembled; and a more intelligent, noble-looking company is seldom seen. Although gathered from different nations, we were brought near to God and to one another by our eyes being fixed upon the one object, Jesus Christ. We were one in faith, and one in our efforts to do the will of God. The influence of the gospel is to unite God's people in one great brotherhood.--Ibid., November 3, 1885
Of course, not all assembled there could converse in one language. The congregation was divided into three parts, according to the language they understood. These were seated in different parts of the hall--French, German, and English. Ellen White found it a bit awkward and confusing when she first spoke, for her words were picked up by two translators, one speaking in French and the other in German. But with the audience divided into groups, time was conserved as the translators spoke to their respective groups at the same time. She soon found this method of addressing the conference less taxing than her usual manner of continuous speaking, for she had more time for thinking of the construction of what she would say (Ibid.).
Friday afternoon it was her turn to speak, and she was surprised at the large number assembled. It was a new experience to have Sister White with them, and the people did not want to miss a word. She described the weather as "cold and rough": on Sabbath she added the word "muddy." Of the Sabbath services she wrote:
The morning meetings are good and beneficial. Brother Bourdeau spoke in French in the forenoon. I spoke in the afternoon with great clearness. Testimonies were then borne--about one hundred. Brother A. C. Bourdeau gathered the English people together and interpreted the testimonies done in French. All expressed that they were impressed and benefited by the discourse given. Certainly this people seem to be in earnest to be helped, willing to receive my testimony.--Manuscript 16a, 1885.
Sunday was a sunny and interesting day. Reports were given in the morning meeting. Ellen White spoke for a half-hour on missionary work.
The Sunday afternoon meeting was memorable. She made particular mention of it in her report to the readers of the Review:
The Lord especially blessed in speaking Sunday afternoon. All listened with the deepest interest, and at the close of the discourse an invitation was given for all who desired to be Christians, and all who felt that they had not a living connection with God, to come forward, and we would unite our prayers with theirs for the pardon of sin, and for grace to resist temptation.
This was a new experience for many of our brethren in Europe, but they did not hesitate. It seemed that the entire congregation were on their feet, and the best they could do was to be seated, and all seek the Lord together. Here was an entire congregation manifesting their determination to put sin away, and to engage most earnestly in the work of seeking God.--Ibid., November 3, 1885
As this was an official session, there was business to attend to. Monday was the last day of the meeting, and business was cleared away by noon. Ellen White spoke again in the early afternoon, this time on the necessity of cultivating love and Christian courtesy and of being forbearing with one another (Manuscript 16a, 1885).
Following this timely message more than twelve were baptized, using the new baptistry in the meeting hall for the first time. Then they united in celebrating the ordinances of the Lord's house. In Ellen White's heart was the prayer that all would grow together in grace and in the knowledge of the truth as they climbed the ladder of progress in their Christian experience.