Passing Away

DURING THE PAST FEW MONTHS MOTHER'S GENERAL CONDITION OF HEALTH HAS BEEN AS FAVORABLE AS COULD BE EXPECTED OF ONE OF HER AGE. SHE HAS STATED THAT AT NO OTHER PERIOD OF HER LIFE HAS SHE BEEN SO FREE FROM PHYSICAL PAIN. AND WHILE SHE HAS GRADUALLY BECOME MORE FEEBLE, YET SHE HAD NOT, PRIOR TO HER RECENT ACCIDENT, BEEN OBLIGED TO SPEND A DAY IN BED. SHE HAD BEEN ABLE TO GO UP AND DOWN STAIRS WITHOUT ASSISTANCE, AND, IN FAVORABLE WEATHER, HAS TAKEN PLEASURE IN RIDING OUT ONCE A DAY, AND SOMETIMES TWICE.

HER CHEERFULNESS HAS NEVER DIMINISHED. WHEN REFERRING TO HER AGE AND PHYSICAL CONDITION, SHE HAS OFTEN EXPRESSED GRATITUDE TO GOD FOR HIS CARE. HER ABIDING TRUST IN HIM HAS NEVER WAVERED. ALWAYS THOUGHTFUL OF OTHERS, SHE HAS MANIFESTED RECENTLY STILL GREATER SOLICITUDE REGARDING THE WELFARE OF HER FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES. SHE HAS FOUND GREAT JOY IN READING THE REPORTS OF PROGRESS IN THE REVIEW AND IN LETTERS FROM HER OLD FRIENDS. SHE HAS TAKEN A DEEP INTEREST IN THE WORK OF PREPARING HER MANUSCRIPTS FOR PUBLICATION.

WEDNESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 27, I RETURNED HOME AFTER AN ABSENCE OF SIXTEEN WEEKS IN THE EAST AND SOUTH. I FOUND MOTHER CHEERFUL AND INTERESTED TO HEAR ABOUT THE WORK IN THE PLACES THAT I HAD VISITED. SHE SEEMED TO BE ABOUT AS WELL AS WHEN I LEFT HOME EARLY IN OCTOBER.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON, FEBRUARY 12, AS I WAS LEAVING THE OFFICE FOR A QUICK TRIP TO ST. HELENA, MOTHER CAME OUTDOORS, AND WE SPENT TEN MINUTES IN WALKING ABOUT IN THE BRIGHT SUNSHINE, AND TALKING ABOUT THE PROGRESS OF THE MESSAGE IN ALL THE WORLD.

SABBATH MORNING, MOTHER APPEARED TO BE AS WELL AS USUAL. ABOUT NOON AS SHE WAS ENTERING HER STUDY FROM THE HALLWAY, SHE TRIPPED AND FELL. HER NURSE, MAY WALLING, WHO WAS IN THE HALL ABOUT TWENTY FEET AWAY, HASTENED TO HER ASSISTANCE, AND ENDEAVORED TO HELP HER ONTO HER FEET. WHEN MOTHER CRIED OUT WITH PAIN, MAY LIFTED HER INTO A ROCKING CHAIR, PULLED THE CHAIR THROUGH THE HALL TO MOTHER'S BEDROOM, AND GOT HER TO BED. THEN MAY TELEPHONED TO DR. KLINGERMAN AT THE SANITARIUM, AND AT ONCE APPLIED FOMENTATIONS TO THE HIP, WHERE THE PAIN SEEMED TO BE THE GREATEST.

WHEN THE DOCTOR CAME, HE SAID THAT IT WAS EITHER A BAD SPRAIN OR A FRACTURE, AND ADVISED AN X-RAY EXAMINATION AT THE SANITARIUM. THIS EXAMINATION SHOWED AN "INTRACAPSULAR FRACTURE OF THE LEFT FEMUR AT THE JUNCTION OF THE HEAD AND NECK." MOTHER BORE VERY PATIENTLY ALL THE PAINFUL EXPERIENCES OF BEING CARRIED FROM HER ROOM TO THE SANITARIUM AND BACK AGAIN.

SARA MCENTERFER, WHO WAS HER TRAVELING COMPANION AND SECRETARY MOST OF THE TIME FOR THIRTY YEARS, IS WITH HER; AND SO IS MAY WALLING, WHO WAS BROUGHT UP IN HER HOME, AND WHO HAS BEEN HER FAITHFUL NURSE FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS. MRS. HUNGERFORD, A TRAINED NURSE FROM THE SANITARIUM, IS ALSO WITH HER.

MOTHER OCCUPIES HER STUDY, WHERE FOR THE LAST TEN BUSY YEARS SHE DID MOST OF HER WRITING. SOMETIMES WHEN HALF AWAKE, SHE ASKS HOW LONG THE JOURNEY WILL TAKE, AND WHEN SHE WILL GET HOME; AND THEN, WHEN FULLY AWAKE, SHE SAYS, "I AM RIGHT HERE IN MY OWN ROOM."

"EVEN WHEN EXCEEDINGLY BRAIN-WEARY, YOUR MOTHER SEEMS TO FIND GREAT COMFORT IN THE PROMISES OF THE WORD, AND OFTEN CATCHES UP A QUOTATION AND COMPLETES IT WHEN WE BEGIN QUOTING SOME FAMILIAR SCRIPTURE. AT SUCH TIMES SHE SEEMS TO ME TO BE EVEN MORE SPIRITUAL-MINDED THAN USUAL; THAT IS, SHE DWELLS MORE AT LENGTH ON HER PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND FAITH AND HOPE, AND RECOUNTS PROVIDENCES THAT CAUSE HER TO RENEW HER COURAGE IN GOD. AT SUCH TIMES SHE ALSO REACHES OUT AFTER SPIRITUAL COMFORT AND HELP, AND ASKS MORE FREQUENTLY THAN AT OTHER TIMES THAT WE UNITE IN PRAYER WITH HER.

"I DO NOT FIND HER DISCOURAGED OVER HER OWN CASE, NOR DO I FIND HER DISCOURAGED OVER THE GENERAL OUTLOOK THROUGHOUT THE HARVEST FIELD WHERE HER BRETHREN ARE LABORING. SHE SEEMS TO HAVE STRONG FAITH IN GOD'S POWER TO OVERRULE, AND TO BRING TO PASS HIS ETERNAL PURPOSE THROUGH THE EFFORTS OF THOSE WHOM HE HAS CALLED TO ACT A PART IN HIS GREAT WORK. SHE RISES ABOVE PETTY CRITICISM, ABOVE EVEN THE PAST FAILURES OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN REPROVED, AND EXPRESSES THE CONVICTION, BORN, APPARENTLY, OF AN INNATE FAITH IN THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD, THAT HER BRETHREN WILL REMAIN FAITHFUL TO THE CAUSE THEY HAVE ESPOUSED, AND THAT THE LORD WILL CONTINUE WITH THEM TO THE END, AND GRANT THEM COMPLETE VICTORY OVER EVERY DEVICE OF THE ENEMY.

"FAITH IN GOD'S POWER TO SUSTAIN HER THROUGH THE MANY WEAKNESSES ATTENDANT ON OLD AGE; FAITH IN THE PRECIOUS PROMISES OF GOD'S WORD; FAITH IN HER BRETHREN WHO BEAR THE BURDEN OF THE WORK; FAITH IN THE FINAL TRIUMPH OF THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE,--THIS IS THE FULL FAITH YOUR MOTHER SEEMS TO ENJOY EVERY DAY AND EVERY HOUR. THIS IS THE FAITH THAT FILLS HER HEART WITH JOY AND PEACE, EVEN WHEN SUFFERING GREAT PHYSICAL WEAKNESS, AND UNABLE TO MAKE PROGRESS IN LITERARY LINES. A FAITH SUCH AS THIS WOULD INSPIRE ANY ONE WHO COULD WITNESS IT." W. C. WHITE.

"During the last few days mother has been sitting up with more comfort than at first. Each day she sits for three or four hours in her big bay window, which, on these pleasant days, is flooded with sunshine. Sometimes we think she is growing stronger, and have hoped that some day she might be able to walk again; but she feels that her work is done, and expects that soon she will be at rest. Wednesday morning, about ten o'clock, she began to talk with her nurse about selecting books for the young that would strengthen their minds. The nurse called me, and I wrote down, as fully as I could, what mother said to me."

Writing under date of March 19, Elder W.C. White states that his mother's condition is about the same as for the preceding week. She is able to sit up a few hours each day, and is courageous and hopeful. Her confidence is in God. She feels entirely resigned to his will, and is resting on the promises of his Word, which in this affliction, as in many other trials, she finds fully verified.

A letter from Elder W.C. White, written April 2, states that his mother has not been so well of late, and he feels that she is growing weaker. Her courage in God remains firm and steadfast, and she patiently awaits all that the future may have in store for her. Let us continue to pray that God may remember his aged servant, and give to her in her weakness that assurances of his grace.

Under the date of April 23 Elder W.C. White reports that the condition of his mother, Sister E.G. White, continues about the same as for the past few weeks. He says: "Sometimes mother is very feeble, and we think she cannot live but a few days. Then she revives again, and it seems today that the prospect of her continuing for some time is as good as it was three weeks ago. Still we must admit that week by week she shows much less strength. We thank the Lord that he has prolonged her days, that she suffers but little, and that she has the comfort of the Holy Spirit."

The last word we have from Elder W.C. White reports that his mother's condition is about the same as it has been for several weeks. Some days she feels a little stronger than at other times, and then again very weak, but at all times quite free from pain and of good courage in the Lord. Let us remember before the Lord his aged servant, that God may give to her grace and strength in her weakness the same as he has through her long and eventful life.

"'I am very weak. I am sure that this is my last sickness. I am not worried at the thought of dying. I feel comforted all the time, the Lord is so near me. I am not anxious. The preciousness of the Saviour has been so plain to me. He has been a Friend. He has kept me in sickness and in health.

"'I do not worry about the work I have done. I have done the best I could. I do not think that I shall be lingering long. I do not expect much suffering. I am thankful that we have the comforts of life in time of sickness. Do not worry. I go only a little before the others.'

AT THREE O'CLOCK SABBATH AFTERNOON, MAY 29, 1915, ELDER G. B. STARR VISITED SISTER WHITE. ELDER STARR FOUND HER IN HER RECLINING CHAIR, IN THE BAY WINDOW OF HER ROOM, LOOKING OUT UPON THE TREES AND HILLS ABOUT HER PLACE. HE REMARKED HOW GLAD HE WAS TO FIND HER AMID SUCH PLEASANT SURROUNDINGS, AND STATED THAT SHE LOOKED MUCH BETTER THAN WHEN HE SAW HER THE TUESDAY BEFORE.

SISTER WHITE THEN SAID: "I AM PAINED AT THE LIGHTNESS AND FRIVOLITY THAT HAS COME IN. IT SEEMS TO BE EVERYWHERE. WE MUST SEEK GREATER SOLEMNITY AS A PEOPLE, BEFORE WE SHALL SEE THE POWER OF GOD MANIFESTED AS IT SHOULD BE." THIS SHE REPEATED TWO OR THREE TIMES, ALMOST WORD FOR WORD, AND SHE SEEMED TO BE GREATLY PAINED OVER THE MATTER.

TO THIS ELDER STARR SAID: "GOD IS RAISING UP HUNDREDS OF STRONG YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN THROUGH OUR SCHOOLS AND SANITARIUMS, AND IS PUTTING HIS HOLY SPIRIT UPON THEM, AND QUALIFYING THEM TO DO A GREAT AND BLESSED WORK; AND MANY OF THEM ARE DEVOTED, SOBER, EARNEST, AND SUCCESSFUL."

"OH, YES," SHE ANSWERED, "I HAVE ALWAYS FELT A GREAT INTEREST IN THE CAUSE IN THE EAST, AND HAVE NOT LOST IT. THE WORK THERE IS NOT NEARLY FINISHED; IT IS ONLY JUST BEGUN. THERE IS A GREAT WORK TO BE DONE. I WISH THAT I MIGHT BEAR ANOTHER TESTIMONY TO OUR PEOPLE, A STRONG TESTIMONY."

ELDER STARR THEN ASKED IF SHE SHOULD LIKE TO HAVE HIM PRAY WITH HER. SHE REPLIED THAT SHE SHOULD BE VERY GLAD TO HAVE HIM PRAY. HE KNELT CLOSE BY HER SIDE, SO THAT SHE COULD HEAR WELL, AND AFTER THANKING GOD FOR HIS MANY BLESSINGS, IN GIVING TO US HIS TRUTH, AND THE SPECIAL PART HE HAD ENABLED SISTER WHITE TO ACT IN IT, HE REPEATED, WORD FOR WORD, VERY SLOWLY, PAUL'S PRAYER RECORDED IN EPH. 3:14-21, AS FOLLOWS: "FOR THIS CAUSE I BOW MY KNEES UNTO THE FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, OF WHOM THE WHOLE FAMILY IN HEAVEN AND EARTH IS NAMED, THAT HE WOULD GRANT YOU, ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY, TO BE STRENGTHENED WITH MIGHT BY HIS SPIRIT IN THE INNER MAN; THAT CHRIST MAY DWELL IN YOUR HEARTS BY FAITH; THAT YE, BEING ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN LOVE, MAY BE ABLE TO COMPREHEND WITH ALL SAINTS WHAT IS THE BREADTH, AND LENGTH, AND DEPTH, AND HEIGHT; AND TO KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST, WHICH PASSETH KNOWLEDGE, THAT YE MIGHT BE FILLED WITH ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD. NOW UNTO HIM THAT IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN US, UNTO HIM BE GLORY IN THE CHURCH BY CHRIST JESUS THROUGHOUT ALL AGES, WORLD WITHOUT END. AMEN."

A letter from Elder W.C. White, dated July 7, says: "Mother is slowly losing ground. She talks but little now and longs for rest. It is now 144 days since the accident (fell and broke her hip). What a strange world this will be to me when mother is gone!" (Ellen White died 9 days later on July 16.)

A Chosen Messenger at Rest--by A.G. Daniels (President of the General Conference): The announcement of the death of our greatly beloved sister in Christ, Mrs. E.G. White, will be received with sincere regret and deep sorrow by our people throughout the world. It does not come to us as a great surprise and shock, for we have been looking for it ever since the accident that befell her last February.

Her parents, Robert and Eunice Harmon, came of good New England stock in the State of Maine. They were earnest, devoted members of the Methodist Church. While active in Christian service for the conversion of sinners, Mr. and Mrs. Harmon had the joy of seeing their family of eight children yield their hearts to Him who died for them, and dedicate their lives to his service.

Miss Harmon seemed to be endowed with a deeply religious nature. In early youth she experienced a keen realization of the exceeding sinfulness of sin. The righteousness of God as revealed in the gospel charmed her, and for it her whole heart and soul seemed to yearn.

In 1840, when but thirteen years of age, she attended a few meetings conducted by William Miller. His thrilling sermons on the second coming of Christ made a profound impression upon her mind. Thousands were deeply moved by Mr. Miller's preaching, and many turned from their lives of selfishness and sin to live only for their Lord and Saviour. The impressions made upon Miss Harmon's mind grew stronger and deeper, until at the age of sixteen she found full salvation in Christ. Of this experience she wrote: --

"Faith now took possession of my heart. I felt an inexpressible love for God, and had the witness of his Spirit that my sins were pardoned. My views of the Father were changed. I now looked upon him as a kind and tender parent, rather than a stern tyrant compelling men to blind obedience. My heart went out toward him in a deep, fervent love. Obedience to his will seemed joy. It was a pleasure to be in his service. No shadow clouded the light that revealed to me the perfect will of God....My heart was so filled with love to God and the peace that passeth understanding, that I loved to meditate and pray."

This experience proved to be deep and abiding. It marked the beginning of a life of great devotion to God, and of the greatest activity for the salvation of a lost world. She began at once to lead her young associates to the Saviour. Although she was repulsed by some, she ceased not to pray and labor for them until every one for whom her heart was burdened experienced the new life.

Taking the Bible as the supreme guide of her life, she became fully convinced by its teaching that the second coming of Christ was near at hand. On this point she never wavered; and believing it with her whole soul, she felt that the one supreme purpose for which every person should live was the consecration of every resource of a blameless life to the salvation of the soul.

This view led her to unceasing prayer for the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. Her yearning for this divine Presence was answered beyond all that she had conceived. She prayed, as does every sincere Christian, for the gifts of the Spirit as set forth by the apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthian church, -- the gift of wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, etc.

In December, 1848, she was given a revelation of the second coming of Christ. In this vision of the future she received a view of the glorious reward that awaits the redeemed, and the terrible fate that will come to all who refuse to serve their Lord and Master. here she received her appointment as a messenger of God. She was commanded to give the message of light and salvation to others.

This was a great trial to her. She was but seventeen years old, small, frail, and retiring, but after the severest struggle she was given courage and strength to enter upon her life work. Then followed other revelations of light and duty. These brought added burdens and responsibilities. They also brought larger blessings to others, as well as the enlargement of her own life.

Aug. 30, 1846, Miss Harmon was married to James White, a native of Palmyra, Somerset Co., Maine. Mr. White was born Aug. 4, 1821, and was a "lineal descendant on his father's side of Peregrine White, born on the 'Mayflower,' in the harbor of Cape Cod, before the Pilgrims had made a home in the wilderness, to whom the court gave two hundred acres of land in consideration of his birth on board the 'Mayflower.'"

About the time of their marriage they were both convinced that the fourth commandment of the Decalogue enjoins the observance of the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath of Jehovah. From childhood they had been taught a wholesome reverence for the law of God. When they came to see the plain statement that "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work," they courageously took their stand for loyal obedience. Their teaching regarding the imminence of Christ's coming, and their observance of the seventh day Sabbath, led to the adoption of the denominational name -- Seventh-day Adventists.

The revelations given Mrs. White by the divine Spirit filled her with profound reverence for the Bible. To the close of her life she exalted this book above all others. To her it was the voice of God. In it are set forth the duties of the human race. Its teachings are to be accepted without alteration. Nothing must be added to or taken from its vital, fundamental truths. It alone reveals God's plan for the redemption of this lost world. Its gospel is the only power unto salvation. Christ is the only Saviour. Faith in Christ is the only way of salvation from sin, and the only way to obtain the righteousness of Christ.

Accepting these great fundamental truths, she accepted in their fullest degree and without modification every other feature of gospel truth -- the presence of the Holy Spirit as Christ's representative on earth, the Lord's Supper as the memorial of his death, and baptism (immersion) as the memorial of his burial and resurrection. She recognized and emphasized the authority vested in the church by its sovereign Head; the principles of gospel order, organization, and administration set forth in the Scriptures. She was an earnest advocate of the brotherhood of man, leveling all national, racial, and class barriers, and teaching the doctrine of St. James, "Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: but the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away."

From the earliest days of her thought and activity for her Lord, she never ceased to impress upon Christians the solemn obligation in behalf of home and foreign missions. In order that Christ's followers should be able to render the greatest service to mankind, she emphasized the importance of a practical Christian education, -- an education that trains mind, body, and heart for the highest service. The cause of temperance reform -- eating, drinking, etc. -- and the use of rational remedies for restoration to health, found in Mrs. White an earnest advocate.

As we survey the whole field of gospel truth, -- of man's relation to his Lord and his fellow men, -- it must be seen that Mrs. White's life work has given these great fundamentals positive, constructive support. She has touched humanity at every vital point of need, and lifted it to a higher level.

For fully seventy years she gave her life in active service to the cause of God in behalf of sinful, suffering, sorrowing humanity. She traveled extensively through the United States from 1846 to 1885. Then she visited Europe, where she devoted two years to our work, which was at the time in a formative period. In 1891 she went to Australia, where she remained eight years, traveling about the colonies and devoting all her energies to the upbuilding of the work. Her labors there were of untold value to the cause of God in the Southern Pacific.

On returning to the United States in 1900, at the age of seventh-three, she seemed to feel that her duty to travel was done, and that she should devote the rest of her life to writing. Thus she toiled on until within a short time of her death, at the ripe age of almost eighty-eight years.

Now she is at rest. Her voice is silent; her pen is laid aside. But the mighty influence of that active, positive, forceful life will continue. That life was linked with the eternal; it was wrought in God. The message proclaimed and the work done have left a monument that will never crumble nor perish. The many volumes she has left, dealing with every phase of human life, urging every reform necessary to the betterment of society as represented by the family, city, State, and nation, will continue to mold public sentiment and individual character. Their messages will be cherished more than they have been in the past. The cause to which her life was devoted, and which that life molded and advanced to such a great degree, will press forward with greater force and rapidity than ever. We who are connected with it need entertain no fear except the fear of our own failure to do our part as faithfully and loyally as we should.

"And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them. And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle." Rev. 14:13-14.