The winter of 1864-1865 was a dark period for Seventh-day Adventists. For nearly four years the Civil War between the North and the South had been in progress. Regarding it at first as merely an insurrection that would be speedily put down, the president of the United States issued a call for 75,000 men for a brief period of enlistment. As the struggle increased in intensity, call after call was made for additional men. And in December, 1864, President Lincoln issued a summons for another 300,000 men for the army. Any deficiency in the number volunteering was to be made up by a draft on February 5, 1865.
During the earlier part of the war money was raised by private subscription, and those volunteering for service were granted a bonus from this fund. This helped to stimulate voluntary enlistment so that the draft was resorted to but little. Seventh-day Adventists, from principle, were averse to the bearing of arms, but they cheerfully subscribed to the bonus funds. At first the amount granted to an individual who volunteered was only $25, but as the war progressed, it was increased to as much as $300. At Battle Creek, Michigan, a committee of nine persons was chosen to lead out in the securing of the bonus fund. Two Seventh-day Adventists, Elder James White and J.P. Kellogg, were members of this committee. Battle Creek Journal, October 24, 1862.
Divine Counsel Given
Through the Spirit of prophecy counsel had come setting forth principles to guide the members of the church in their relation to the civil powers in time of war. Pointing out that it was "duty in every case to obey the laws of our land, unless they conflict with the higher law which God spake with an audible voice," Mrs. White also added, in giving her testimony relating to voluntary enlistment:
"I was shown that God's people, who are His peculiar treasure, cannot engage in this perplexing war, for it is opposed to every principle of their faith. In the army they cannot obey the truth and at the same time obey the requirements of their officers. There would be a continual violation of conscience."--Testimonies for the Church 1:361. (January, 1863.)
Immunity from army service was possible as long as volunteer enlistment, stimulated by the bonus, was sufficient to meet the calls for men. Conscientious objectors against the bearing of arms were, under these conditions, free from serious trouble. But as the war progressed, a resort to the draft became more and more imminent. Fortunately before the real crisis came, proper steps were taken to declare the denominational position on war and military service, and official recognition was accorded to Seventh-day Adventists as conscientious noncombatants.
Two Courses Before Them
As such they were, if drafted, given their choice of two courses: They might enter the army and be assigned to noncombatant lines of duty; or they might secure release by payment of $300 for exemption. Unfortunately some who were drafted and thus entered the service found that the orders of the War Department were often disregarded by local officials who tried to force them to violate their conscience. The increasing number of believers who were drafted, and who appealed for help in buying their exemption, brought great perplexity to the leaders, especially to Elder James White, who was foremost in promoting the raising of a fund for that purpose.
So it was that Elder White, in the early part of 1865, found himself pressed beyond measure. His arduous labors in behalf of his brethren who were being drafted into the army added to his already heavy burdens and told heavily upon his strength. Yet he rose above his weaknesses, and during the conference session in May he labored untiringly for the upbuilding of the cause he loved, not allowing himself proper periods of rest. Despite his plea that his burdens be lightened, he was persuaded to accept the presidency of the General Conference.
Mrs. White also shared in the burdens of this meeting. One evening, as reported by Elder Uriah Smith, she spoke "on the connection between the physical and the mental and moral, the relation which health bears to, or the almost controlling influence it has over, our feelings, and the necessity of caring for the health of the body, if we would possess buoyancy and cheerfulness of spirit. The important bearing of this subject upon the present truth will be seen at once by all who realize how necessary is a reform in our physical habits to that high state of spirituality involved in the preparation needful for us to be partakers in the latter rain."--The Review and Herald, May 23, 1865.
Immediately after the conference Elder White and his wife were called by telegram to Wisconsin, where they met with unusual hardship in journeying from place to place. From there they hurried on to Iowa to meet serious difficulties that had arisen in that conference. Unfortunately during their travels they were frequently unable to obtain suitable food, and this circumstance proved a severe tax on their waning strength. Soon after returning home from this exhausting experience, they were urged to attend week-end meetings in Memphis, Michigan. There, following a late Sunday night service and a very short sleep, they arose before sunrise and walked a mile to the station to take a train for Battle Creek, Michigan. Then missing a connection at Detroit, they did not reach home till midnight. The following day Elder White attended to important matters connected with the office, hoping then to take a sorely needed rest.
Elder White's Breakdown
It is not surprising that under these circumstances exhausted nature broke down under the strain. On the morning of August 16, 1865, Elder White was stricken with paralysis. In answer to earnest prayer a partial restoration was effected, but he did not rally from the nervous prostration induced by the shock. Attending physicians declared that unless a miracle were wrought in his behalf, he would never regain either his physical or mental vigor. They declared that they had never known of an instance of recovery from so severe a case of paralysis.
For five weeks everything possible was done for him at the White home in Battle Creek, but with no sign of improvement in his condition. Then, hoping that he might be benefited by a change of surroundings and the skillful services of Dr. Jackson, they decided to visit once more Our Home at Dansville, New York. They were accompanied by two other worn pilgrims, Elders J.N. Loughborough and Uriah Smith, the latter being editor of the Review and Herald. Of their experience, Elder Smith wrote:
"Brother and Sister White were cordially welcomed by Dr. Jackson, physician-in-chief of Our Home. Thursday, the day following our arrival, the doctor gave our party an examination, pronouncing upon our present condition and future prospects in respect to physical health and strength. His judgment in the case of Brother White was, that it was very fortunate for him that he was arrested in his course of toil and labor when he was; for if nature had held up even but a short time longer under the same pressure, it would have eventually given way, and in such a manner as to produce a complete wreck, for which there would have been no remedy."--Ibid., October 3, 1865.
Dr. Jackson held out hopes that under proper hygienic influences Elder White would in time make a complete recovery, but asserted that "the causes which have led to this attack must for all time be avoided, and to the work of recovery, quite a length of time, perhaps six or eight months, must be devoted." He suggested that Elder Loughborough should remain for treatment for five or six months, and Elder Smith for as many weeks.
The Whites at Dansville
Elder and Mrs. White and Elder Loughborough remained at Dansville for about three months. While there as patients they had a better opportunity than before to make observations regarding the efficacy of the treatments given, and to learn more of the principles of the institution. They found much to commend, yet some of the principles that were advocated there they regarded as contrary to the teachings of Christ. In fact, medical advice was given there that might well have proved fatal in the case of Elder White. In a manuscript giving many details of the affliction of her husband, Mrs. White wrote regarding the sojourn at Our Home:
"We did not feel that the three months passed at this institution was in vain. We did not receive all the ideas and sentiments and suggestions advanced, but we did gather many things of value from those who had obtained an experience in health reform. We did not feel that there was any necessity of gathering the chaff with the wheat."--E. G. White Manuscript 1, 1867.
What some of these matters of disagreement were can be ascertained from Mrs. White's writings. One pertained to the use of salt. Dr. Jackson's rule enforcing the absence of this seasoning from the tables was very strict. However, it soon became obvious that Mrs. White's digestion was impaired when she discontinued it entirely. Rather than to make her case a public exception, he requested her not to come to the dining room for her meals and arranged to have them sent to her own room, saying: "A moderate use of salt is necessary to you; without it you will become a dyspeptic."--E. G. White Letter 19a, 1891.
The Matter of Amusements
In a report written for the Review and Herald, Mrs. White speaks of the interest with which they compared the teachings given by the physicians in the institution with the instruction that had been given to her in vision. She gave two reasons why she and her husband did not attend many of the lectures: first, the heated and vitiated atmosphere of the hall where the lectures were given seriously affected Elder White's head; second, to use her own words:
"When he [Dr. Jackson] dwelt upon the subject of health, we were too deeply interested for the good of our wearied minds, for our minds would begin to travel, comparing Dr. J.'s philosophy with facts established in our minds, which had been received from higher and unerring authority. ... When Dr. Jackson and other physicians advanced and sought to sustain ideas that we could not receive from our religious standpoint, especially in regard to amusements and pleasure, dancing, card-playing, theatergoing, etc., we could not see harmony between his religious teachings, and the teachings of Christ recorded in the New Testament."--The Review and Herald, February 20, 1866.
The supposed necessity for amusements as a diversion from serious thoughts, because it was assumed by the physicians at Our Home that such thoughts were detrimental to the recovery of health, became an open issue between Mrs. White and some of the staff of the institution. On one occasion she found a favorable opportunity to express her views before a few of the patients and attendants. While in the bathroom she, with others, was solicited for an offering to pay the fiddler for a forthcoming dance. Writing of this incident, she thus quotes a portion of her response:
"I am a follower of Jesus. This dancing is thought essential to keep up the spirits of the patients, but have you not marked that the very ones who engage in this exercise are for a day or two languid, and some are unable to rise from their bed? ... The ideas that are here advanced, that we are too intensely religious, and that is the reason why we are invalids, I will not, I cannot admit. Do you ever see me gloomy, desponding, complaining? I have a faith that forbids this. It is a misconception of the true ideal of Christian character and Christian service that leads to these conclusions. It is the want of genuine religion that produces gloom, despondency, and sadness. Earnest Christians seek to imitate Jesus, for to be Christians is to be Christlike. ...
"A half service, loving the world, loving self, loving frivolous amusements, makes a timid, cowardly servant; he follows Christ a great way off. A hearty willing service to Jesus produces a sunny religion. Those who follow Christ the most closely have not been gloomy. ... We need more Christ, and less worldliness; more Christ, and less selfishness."--E. G. White Manuscript 1, 1867.
Earnest Prayer for Healing
Prayer seasons were held in Elder White's room three times daily, and great spiritual blessings were experienced on these occasions. Many nights, when Elder White was suffering and unable to sleep, he would call to his wife and she would arise from her bed in an adjoining room and pray earnestly for and with him. She says that for ten successive nights "we had the evidence that God heard us pray, and my husband would drop into a quiet sleep."--The Review and Herald, February 27, 1866.
These prayer seasons brought them much blessing and peace. But the attending physicians disapproved. They argued that Elder White's mind had been exercised to the breaking point on religious themes, and that his thoughts should be entirely diverted from the mental exercises that, they maintained, had caused his affliction.
There was an even more serious source of disagreement in his case. Mrs. White greatly deplored the counsel given by the physicians to the effect that complete physical and mental inaction should be sought. She argued to the contrary:
"The fact that his illness was the result of overwork, together with the instructions of the Dansville physicians concerning the importance of entire rest, led him, in his feeble state, to shrink from all exertion. Here was one of the most serious obstacles to his recovery. Naturally a man of great activity, both of body and mind, he had been constantly occupied, previous to his illness, in planning and carrying forward important enterprises; and now to sink down in aimless inactivity was to foster disease and to become the prey of despondency."--Life Sketches of James White and Ellen G. White (1888), 353, 354.
Mrs. White untiringly and devotedly cared for her husband until she was told that she herself was in danger of a breakdown. For her own good and that of her husband she was urged to leave the institution and let others care for him. This she refused to do.
At length she became convinced that she must take him away. She feared that he could not be led, in the environment and subject to the influences there, to exercise the faith necessary for his restoration. Day by day she saw with dismay that the courage, hope, and buoyancy of spirit which had formerly sustained him were failing; and she felt that she must take him where his tried and true brethren could associate with him and help him by their prayers, sympathy, and faith.
A Special Vision Given
When Mrs. White spoke to Dr. Jackson about taking her husband home, he expressed serious misgivings and advised that he be taken to some nearby place as an experiment. If this should work favorably, he might then go the rest of the way, whereas if he did not rally, it would be better to return with him to Dansville. So it was decided to attend a monthly meeting of the believers in Rochester, New York, about forty-five miles from Dansville.
Three weeks were spent in Rochester. Elder J.N. Andrews came from Maine, other brethren of faith arrived from places nearby, and for ten days special, earnest prayer was held daily in Elder White's behalf. Then some were obliged to return to their homes, but others remained and continued in their prayer seasons. Regarding some features of this experience, Mrs. White wrote:
"It seemed to be a struggle with the powers of darkness. Sometimes the trembling faith of my husband would grasp the promises of God, and sweet and precious was the victory then enjoyed. Then again his mind seemed depressed and to be too weak to hold the victory he had gained.
"Every season of prayer increased in interest, and everyone who took part in them felt repaid for their efforts in drawing near to God, and praying for my husband, by the work which they felt was wrought for their own souls. ... I felt the assurance that we should come forth from the furnace of affliction purified. ...
"Christmas evening, as we were humbling ourselves before God, and earnestly pleading for deliverance, the light of Heaven seemed to shine upon us, and I was wrapt in a vision of God's glory. It seemed that I was borne quickly from earth to heaven, where all was health, beauty, and glory."--The Review and Herald, February 27, 1866.
This vision was supplementary to, and perhaps of equal importance with, the first vision given to Mrs. White on the health reform two years and a half before. The first revelation set forth great health principles and urged their adoption by the remnant church. The second pointed out that the response to the light on health reform had been far short of what it should have been, and it made more clear the relation of that reform to the gospel message to be given to the world. Of the inadequate response on the part of church members, Mrs. White wrote:
"In the vision given me in Rochester, N.Y., Dec. 25, 1865, I was shown that our Sabbath-keeping people have been negligent in acting upon the light which God has given in regard to the health reform; that there is yet a great work before us; and that, as a people, we have been too backward to follow in God's opening providence, as He has chosen to lead us. ... While some feel deeply and act out their faith in the work, others remain indifferent and have scarcely taken the first step in reform."--Testimonies for the Church 1:485, 486. (First published in January, 1867.)
A Part of the Third Angel's Message
Of the relation of the health reform to the third angel's message, and to the work of preparation for the coming of Christ, it was further stated by Mrs. White that the health reform "is a part of the third angel's message" and is as closely connected with it as "the arm and hand with the human body." Advance moves were to be taken in this great work, ministers and people acting in concert.
"In order to be fitted for translation, the people of God must know themselves. They must understand in regard to their own physical frames. ... They should ever have the appetite in subjection to the moral and intellectual organs. The body should be servant to the mind, and not the mind to the body. I was shown that there is a much greater work before us than we as yet have any idea of, if we would insure health by placing ourselves in the right relation to life. ... Our faith requires us to elevate the standard and take advance steps."--Ibid., 486-488.
In order to take such advance steps as were called for in this instruction, provision had to be made for an effective campaign of education in the principles of health reform. And some way had to be opened for those who needed medical care to go to some place where they could not only receive rational treatment, but also be free from the temptation to violate their conscience.
The Temptation to Compromise
A year earlier Elder White had felt free to recommend that those whose health was in a critical condition should place themselves under the care of the skillful physicians at Dansville. How to Live 1:18. Experience had now made it clear that conscientious Sabbath-keepers would find constant temptation to compromise with principle even in the very best and most advanced medical institutions. This difficulty was thus stated by Mrs. White in speaking of her vision at Rochester:
"I was shown that those who are strongly fortified with religious principles and are firm to obey all God's requirements cannot receive that benefit from the popular health institutions of the day that others of a different faith can. Sabbath-keepers are singular in their faith. To keep all God's commandments as He requires them to do in order to be owned and approved of Him is exceedingly difficult in a popular water cure. They have to carry along with them at all times the gospel sieve and sift everything they hear, that they may choose the good and refuse the bad."--Ibid., 489, 490.
This instruction not only pointed out the difficulties confronting Sabbath-keepers who might seek to avail themselves of proper care and rational treatment in popular health resorts, but went further in giving them definite, practical instruction and counsel. The need was manifest, and the reasons could now be easily understood for the following proposal:
"I was shown that we should provide a home for the afflicted and those who wish to learn how to take care of their bodies that they may prevent sickness. ...
"Sabbath-keepers should open a way for those of like precious faith to be benefited without their being under the necessity of expending their means at institutions where their faith and religious principles are endangered, and where they can find no sympathy or union in religious matters. ...
"Our people should have an institution of their own, under their own control, for the benefit of the diseased and suffering among us, who wish to have health and strength that they may glorify God in their bodies and spirits which are His."--Ibid., 489-492.
To establish and to conduct a denominational health institution might seem an impossible undertaking for the few Seventh-day Adventists of that time with their limited means and with almost no trained medical workers. But with the command came the faith and the enabling to obey. No one could have foreseen, in that day of small things, to what large enterprises and endeavors the instruction given in the vision of December 25, 1865, would lead. The sad afflictions of Elder White and other overburdened workers proved to be the birth pangs which marked the beginnings of our present system of health institutions and other medical missionary lines of service.