A back-page note in the Review and Herald of September 16, signed by the president of the General Conference, O. A. Olsen, informed the field of the plans that would involve Ellen White through the last months of 1890:
Elder W. C. White, Sister White, and Brother Chadwick will attend important meetings in District No. 1, viz., the annual meetings of the conference, and Tract and Missionary Society of the New England Conference; the same in the Atlantic Conference; the State meeting in Pennsylvania, and the Virginia Conference.--The Review and Herald, September 16, 1890.
Another notice on the same page gave dates. The schedule called for Ellen White and Sara McEnterfer, together with W. C. White, to leave Battle Creek on Thursday, evening, October 9, in order to fill appointments beginning at Adams Center, New York.
When she left Battle Creek she was not sure that she would be strong enough to move into a regular speaking program, going from one State meeting to another. But at Adams Center she soon discovered that with reasonable caution she could. So she usually spoke once each day of the week-long meetings. From Adams Center she hastened on to South Lancaster, Massachusetts.
Along with Sara and Willie, she was in South Lancaster for two weeks. Meetings were held at the church and with the students at the academy. Frequently she spoke to the delegates at this State meeting at the early-morning devotional and then another time during the day or in the evening.
At Salamanca, New York
The Pennsylvania State meeting, scheduled from Wednesday, October 29, to Tuesday, November 4, was actually held at Salamanca, New York, just above the Pennsylvania-New York State line. The travel to Salamanca by Ellen White and her party called for an overnight stop in New York City, where they were to stay at the mission. It was ten o'clock Wednesday night when they got to the city, and they took the elevated railway to the mission home. Ellen White had a cold caught on the trip from Boston by boat. Wrestling that night with the ascents and descents and waiting here and there in disagreeable currents of air led to an exposure that took its toll. When the traveling party arrived at Salamanca at eleven o'clock on Thursday night, Ellen White was "sick, tired, and nervous" (Manuscript 44, 1890). They had traveled in the rain all day, but at Salamanca the ground was covered with snow. Ellen White was to be entertained in the home of Brother Hicks, and it was he who met them at the railroad depot. Ellen White described the home situation:
Friday morning, October 31: We were introduced to Brother Hicks's mother, a kindly looking lady, not a Sabbathkeeper, and not opposed. Brother Hicks's wife is in the insane asylum in consequence of a fall sixteen years before, striking upon the back of her head. They have a son 15 years old, a quiet lad. He does not make any profession of religion.
Brother Hicks is employed to oversee the working force on the railroad, receiving $1,500 per year. He embraced the Sabbath and sent in his resignation, but the president of the road did not accept it, so he has continued to keep the Sabbath and do his work.--Ibid.
The meetings were being held in a rented church nearby. Ellen White was scheduled to take the Sabbath morning service, but that morning she wrote in her diary: "The cold is very severe upon me. I shall attempt to speak, but it will be with difficulty." Her diary entry mentions the strengthening blessing of the Lord and her topic:
The Lord did indeed help and strengthen and bless me in speaking to the people, dwelling largely upon the necessity of faith and love for one another as followers of Christ, which has been almost extinct in our churches. The words spoken were heartily received.--Ibid.
Sunday the meeting was to be held in the opera house, for the rented church was being used by its own congregation. Ellen White had been advertised as the speaker, and quite a large attendance of the townspeople was expected. As the time of the meeting approached it seemed it would be impossible for her to fill the appointment, but she insisted that she would, declaring, "I have a message for the people."--DF 1076, A. T. Robinson account. The hall was filled with expectant listeners. After the opening exercises, W. C. White and A. T. Robinson assisted her to the podium, and "she spoke for more than an hour, with most wonderful power" on the subject of temperance (Ibid.).
After the meeting she was assisted back to her room in the Hicks home. She was due to speak again the next afternoon. She wrote of her experience:
I had an appointment Monday afternoon and I tried to fill it. My head was suffering, my ears could scarcely hear my own voice, yet the Lord helped me, else I could not possibly have spoken. I could scarcely stand upon my feet, but I felt the sustaining power of God upon me. I dwelt again upon the necessity of faith, the necessity of loving God supremely and our neighbor as ourselves.
I could not tell the words I spoke, but many said, "The power of God was upon you. The words came to us as wonderful inspiration."
I knew that the words of the Lord Jesus had come to the people. Many spoke of the help they received from the words spoken. I told them to render no thanks to me. God and He alone should have the praise. I was only an instrument in His hands.--Manuscript 44, 1890.
After her meeting she was detained by a sister in the faith who was greatly opposed by her husband, and listened for an hour to her tale of woe. Weary and in much discomfort, she made her way to the Hicks home. As she went to her room she was pondering the seeming impossibility of continuing through November to meet the appointments made for her. Considering the time of year and her situation, she felt she would have to follow Sara McEnterfer's insistent counsel and return to Battle Creek where she could have proper care. She knew the disappointment this would bring, first to church leaders who had arranged for the meetings, and then to church members in areas she had not before visited. She recorded in her diary what took place:
I knelt by my chair to pray, feeling disheartened in reference to my journeying. Many appointments were before me. I had not uttered a word when the whole room seemed filled with a soft, silvery light, and my pain and disappointment and discouragement were removed. I was filled with comfort and hope and the peace of Christ. "My peace I give unto you." I know it was upon me. The presence of Jesus was in the room. Genesis 28:12-15. I could better understand the meaning of these words. And Jacob said, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not." ...
Indeed, heaven seemed very near to me, and my heart well filled with joy and gladness. I had no inclination to sleep. I wanted to feast upon the heavenly manna, that Bread of Life that if we eat thereof, we shall live forever. What a night that was to my soul!--Ibid.
Then in vision many matters relating to the publishing work were opened up to her. In the morning she did not have an opportunity to write of what was revealed to her in the vision. In the brief entry under the dateline of November 4, she wrote: "I longed to be where I could write out the things that were opened to me the past night."--Ibid. But she had other things to do, and this must wait. She left a blank space in her diary that she might come back to this when there was opportunity.
The next appointments were in Virginia, but W. C. White and A. T. Robinson had given up hope of Ellen White doing anything but returning to Battle Creek, where she could make a recovery. Robinson, the supervisor of district one, where they were now laboring, wrote of the events that occurred early on Tuesday:
The next morning Elder White and I were summoned to her room, which we approached with no little anxiety. When we entered her room, Sister White arose and met us, her face beaming with joy and happiness.
She quickly told us of an experience the evening before. As she knelt beside her bed before retiring, she feared she would not have strength to rise again. As she was pleading with God, an angel appeared, standing at the foot of her bed. The angel said, "Satan is your destroyer, but I am your Restorer."...
After relating that much of the experience of the evening before, she said, "There were some things presented to me last night concerning the work in Battle Creek that I wish to relate to you brethren." She then began to talk about the remainder of our journey, and the matter that she had said she wanted to relate to us seemed to have passed out of her mind.--DF 107b, A. T. Robinson statement.
Although she could not call to mind what she wanted to relate to the men, she wrote out portions of the revelation in her diary-journal as she had opportunity. In the space left at the end of her 1890 diary, she wrote:
I had a very marked experience which I hope never to forget. Through the night season I was in communion with God. I was taken out and away from myself, and was in different states and assemblies, bearing a decided testimony of reproof and warning.
I was in Battle Creek, and in a council assembled there were ministers and responsible men from the Review office. There were sentiments advanced and with no very gentle spirit urged to be adopted, which filled me with surprise and apprehension and distress.... They [those assembled] were not spiritual, could not discern the devices of Satan, and were ignorant in a large degree of his workings. They would adopt plans which appeared wise, but Satan was the instigator of these measures. If these men had the molding of the work, God would be dishonored.--Manuscript 44, 1890.
Elsewhere in the diary-journal (a bound book of blank pages) she came back to the vision several times as opportunity afforded. But the fuller description of the many lines of instruction given to her she was unable to write until returning home to Battle Creek.
On to Virginia
Having been completely healed, she was ready to proceed to Virginia and with others took the train Tuesday morning at 11:00 A.M. She spent a few days in Sands (now Stanley), Virginia, relaxing before the meetings began. She took occasion to visit one of the caverns that abound in that region. Her diary for Thursday, November 6, tells the story:
Brother Robinson, Sara McEnterfer, Willie White, and I were accommodated to Brother Lewis taking us with his horses and carriage about eight miles to Luray to see the caverns. We went into a building and for $1 each we were furnished a guide, and I was astonished at what my eyes beheld. To give a description of this scene is simply impossible. It was wonderful, too wonderful to describe.
We spent one hour and a half, with electric lights and lanterns or a tin with candles, three in each tin. We rode back, taking our dinner as we rode back to our stopping place at Sands. The road was quite rough, but we enjoyed the ride very much. The day was mild, the sun shone in clearness, and the scenery was good. I was glad for this privilege to ride. It did us all good.--Manuscript 45, 1890.
Meetings started in the house of worship Friday morning, and Ellen White filled her usual place, often speaking at the early-morning meetings, and at other meetings as occasion seemed to indicate. Sunday night, November 9, she received another vision, then on November 12 the worker group started north for the meetings of the Atlantic Conference, held in Brooklyn, New York.
She wrote in her diary: "I think not best to attend morning meetings. I am urged by the Spirit of the Lord to write important matters in reference to the work of God for this time."
Several Visions Relating to the Publishing Work
It seems that in several visions of the night at this time she was taken over the ground traversed in the vision at Salamanca earlier in the month, and much additional instruction was given to her. She referred to this here and there in her diary-journal through November and December. She filled in blank pages and half pages with her writing on what had been opened up to her concerning the publishing work and the attitudes of unconsecrated men who were carrying responsibilities in that work. Clearly the vision given at Salamanca and these subsequent visions presented a very broad spectrum of warnings and important counsels. One dramatic scene she viewed in the vision at Salamanca--the one she attempted to tell to W. C. White and A. T. Robinson right after the vision--made an indelible impression on her mind, and it was one to which she made allusions several times. She wrote of this somewhat in detail in her journal, most likely while at Brooklyn, New York:
In the night season I was present in several councils, and there I heard words repeated by influential men to the effect that if The American Sentinel would drop the words "Seventh-day Adventist" from its columns, and would say nothing about the Sabbath, the great men of the world would patronize it; it would become popular, and do a larger work. This looked very pleasing....
I saw their countenances brighten, and they began to work on a policy plan to make the Sentinel a popular success. The whole matter was introduced by men who needed the truth in the chambers of the mind and the soul.
This policy is the first step in a succession of wrong steps. The principles which have been advocated in The American Sentinel are the very sum and substance of the advocacy of the Sabbath, and when men begin to talk of changing these principles, they are doing a work that it does not belong to them to do. Like Uzzah, they are attempting to steady the ark which belongs to God, and is under His special supervision.--Manuscript 29a, 1890.
In January, 1891, after returning home, she spoke more fully on the overall warnings regarding the perils that threatened the publishing work. She did this in two extended statements, each carrying the key dateline, tying them in with the vision of November 3.
Following the work in Brooklyn, Ellen White filled appointments in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. There she participated in the meetings through the Week of Prayer.
In Washington she was entertained in the home of J. S. Washburn, pastor of the Washington church. One day in conversation, thinking of the Minneapolis session and the discussions on righteousness by faith, Washburn asked Ellen White,"What is faith?" Her reply was prompt and simple: "You believe what your father tells you, do you not? That is faith."--As related by J. S. Washburn to the author. To Ellen White, faith was a simple, uncomplicated experience--just trusting belief as a child would trust a father.
Back Home at Battle Creek
With Sara, Ellen White arrived back in Battle Creek on Tuesday afternoon, December 30, 1890, at three o'clock. Soon she was introduced to encouraging news. The Week of Prayer reading she had written had been read in the Tabernacle on Sabbath, December 27, the closing day of the special event. With joy she recorded in her diary the reports that came to her:
The article I had written, published in the Extra, was read, and the power of the Spirit of the Lord sent the truth home to many hearts. No one could doubt that the Lord witnessed to the words written for the benefit of the church. Hearts were deeply stirred and remarks were made by Elder Prescott and others.
Elder Prescott confessed that he had not taken the course he should have taken in Battle Creek. He went far back to Minneapolis and acknowledged he did not have the true discernment there, and since that time he had not said much, but he had talked with Elder Smith and a few others. He made thorough work. Elder Smith stated that the testimony in the Extra was meant for him. He accepted it as reproof to him.--Manuscript 54, 1890.
In gratifying response Prescott linked his arm in Smith's and they identified themselves as seeking the Lord most earnestly. The night after the encouraging word came to Ellen White she could not sleep. She wrote: "Elder Smith was before me, and my supplications went up to heaven in his behalf all night. I was in a spirit of agony wrestling with God, and great hope took possession of my soul for him. He is one of our old hands, one of our reliable men, and the Lord will give him His keeping power."--Ibid.
The next day she wrote a twelve-page letter to Smith, appealing to him most earnestly to come fully into the light (Letter 40, 1890).
Feelings of Loneliness
In this letter she bared her own soul, declaring:
My brethren have trifled and caviled and criticized and commented and demerited, and picked and chosen a little and refused much until the testimonies mean nothing to them. They put whatever interpretation upon them that they choose in their own finite judgment and are satisfied. I would, if I had dared, [have] given up this field of conflict long ago, but something has held me....
But I leave all this in the hands of God. I feel cut loose from many of my brethren; they do not understand me or my mission or my work, for if they did they could never have pursued the course they have done.
I love to have the ones who feel they need help--poor, hungry, starving souls. I love to see them enjoy the precious light God has given me for them. Oh, how Jesus rejoiced when a place was found for the truth in the heart of the woman of Samaria.--Ibid.
Friday night, January 2, 1891, she spoke to a well-filled Tabernacle, giving an account of the workings of the Spirit of God in the meetings she had attended through the past three months. Sabbath morning she spoke again, taking as her text Matthew 11:16-27 with its emphatic message "Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes" (verse 21). She wrote of the meeting:
I made a decided application of this lesson to those who had great light, precious opportunities, and wonderful privileges, and yet their spiritual growth and advancement was not in accordance with the blessings and light and knowledge given of God. There was a solemn impression made upon the congregation, and fully two thousand persons were present. I had great freedom in speaking.--Letter 32, 1891.
Sabbath afternoon many of the church members returned to the Tabernacle; soon they divided into four groups for testimony meetings.
In her diary report of the work of that Sabbath she noted: "I had not an idea of saying as plain and pointed things as I did say, but the Lord spoke through the human agent. I felt pressed, and could not withhold the message given."--Manuscript 40, 1891.
Uriah Smith Seeks a Deeper Experience
Monday, January 5, Smith came to see Ellen White. They had an earnest talk. She could see that he had a very different spirit from what he had manifested through the past two years. She wrote to Washburn:
He was not hard and unimpressible; he felt the words I spoke to him, laying before him faithfully the course he had taken, and the harm he had done through this position. He said he wanted to come into harmony with the testimonies of the Spirit of God.--Letter 32, 1891.
The next day he called again and asked if she would meet with a select few, for he had something to say. She told him she would.
I had conversation with Elder Smith, more favorable than any previous talk. He seems to be desirous to come to the light. He sees that his course has not been right in some things, and this I knew he must see before he could be closely connected with God. Since the Minneapolis meeting he has been counteracting my work by his position. The light that God has given me for the church has not been fully received because of his position. His attitude has said more than words.
But after conversing with him freely, and showing him what harm he was doing to those who did not want to believe the message or receive the messenger and the counsel from God, he seemed to see more clearly the position he had occupied. He was determined to make straight paths for his feet, and to take up the stumbling blocks, that the lame may not be turned aside out of the way, but rather be healed of their weakness and inefficiency.--Manuscript 40, 1891.
To Washburn she told of the Wednesday meeting:
Elder Smith read the letter I had sent him, read it to them all, and said he accepted it as from the Lord. He went back to the Minneapolis meeting and made a confession of the spirit he had occupied, casting on me very heavy burdens. Brother Rupert confessed also, and we had a very profitable, excellent meeting.
Brother Smith has fallen on the Rock, and is broken, and the Lord Jesus will now work with him. He took my hand as he left the room, and said, "If the Lord will forgive me for the sorrow and burdens I have brought upon you, I tell you this will be the last. I will stay up your hands. The testimonies of God shall hold this place in my experience." It is seldom that Elder Smith sheds a tear, but he did weep, and his voice was choked with the tears in it.--Letter 32, 1891.
By interviews and letters the work of confession and reconciliation continued. Ellen White wrote, "Now you see I have reason to be glad and rejoice and praise the Lord. Professor Bell was present. Elder Smith confessed to him the wrong that he had done to him in the school trial in 1882. Oh, how glad I was to see and hear and know that these things that had barred the Spirit of God from coming into our meetings were removed."--Ibid.
George I. Butler Confession
Uriah Smith was not alone in coming to see the need of making confessions and coming into the light. Among others was George I. Butler, who soon after the Minneapolis session retired in Florida. In the summer of 1893 he sent to the Review and Herald for publication a significant communication in which he reviewed his experience.
I fully believe that God has blessed greatly to the good of His people and the cause the greater agitation of the doctrines of justification by faith, the necessity of appropriating Christ's righteousness by faith in order to our salvation, and the civil and religious liberty principles now so much dwelt upon....
I am well satisfied that additional light of great importance has been shining upon these subjects, and fully believe that God has greatly blessed it to the good of those who have accepted it....
I hope never to despair, never to fall out by the way. Christ seems very precious to me, the best Friend by far I ever had. My heart burns within me many times to be able yet to bring souls to the truth. I hope yet to labor again in some humble way in His vineyard.--The Review and Herald, June 13, 1893.
Butler did labor actively again. Released from the care of his invalid wife by her death late in 1901, he was soon drawn into administrative work, first in Florida and then in the newly organized Southern Union Conference.
Others Confess and Turn About
It was in 1893 also that several other leading men repented of their attitude at Minneapolis and made confessions: Isaac Van Horn, Leroy Nicola, J. H. Morrison, and Madison Miller. It would be saying too much to declare that all of those who at one point after the Minneapolis session confessed their failure to walk in the light always held to their good intentions, but they left the ranks of opposers and were counted among those who lived and worked with an understanding of righteousness by faith.
Writing in 1899, Ellen White defined the period of particular difficulty mentioning the "confusion that came into Battle Creek from the Minneapolis meeting." Two years of opposition were brought in, and at two General Conferences [1889, 1891], [Even though the 1891 conference was marked with positive circumstances, quite different from the 1888 meeting, some still held out in opposition.] a spirit prevailed among some of our leading men which was not inspired by God.--Letter 183, 1899.
The two men used mightily by God at Minneapolis and in the decade that followed, Waggoner and Jones, became the special point of attack of the great enemy of God and man. In time they were misled and their positive testimony was hushed. [See appendix B in Thirteen Crisis Years for an account of "what became of A. T. Jones and E. J. Waggoner?"] With a seeming premonition of this, Ellen White wrote in 1892:
It is quite possible that Elder Jones or Waggoner may be overthrown by the temptations of the enemy; but if they should be, this would not prove that they had had no message from God, or that the work that they had done was all a mistake. But should this happen, how many would take this position, and enter into a fatal delusion because they are not under the control of the Spirit of God....
I know that this is the very position many would take if either of these men were to fall, and I pray that these men upon whom God has laid the burden of a solemn work may be able to give the trumpet a certain sound, and honor God at every step, and that their path at every step may grow brighter and brighter, until the close of time.--Letter 24, 1892.
In her many articles in the Review and Herald and Signs of the Times, and in her many books, Ellen White has kept that light shining. Others have joined her in this important mission.