Stories of My Grandmother

Chapter 10—Battling the Enemy

My grandparents were on the road again. Forty miles of their trip had to be made by stagecoach over rough, dusty roads. Every ten miles the stagecoach would stop for exchange of horses, and Elder White would escort his wife to the lobby of the inn, where she could rest on a couch for ten or fifteen minutes. Little did they dream of the surprise awaiting them at Sutton, Vermont. SMG 73.1

After Elder White had spoken to the company there, Mrs. White stood up to speak. How tired and pale she looked! After the meeting, as the people stood around talking, someone remarked, “The Whites travel so much; surely they should have an easier way to get around; they need a horse and carriage of their own.” SMG 73.2

The suggestion was quickly caught up. “Why can’t we get them one?” Everybody wanted to have a part in the gift. Within a few minutes $175 was raised. SMG 73.3

On Monday morning, according to arrangements, Elder and Mrs. White met their friends at the crossroads where the men who had horses to sell were to come. The Whites were told to select one for their own. “We’ll take this one,” Mrs. White said, pointing to a sleek, dappled chestnut with an intelligent face and gentle ways. “Last night I was given a dream in which the angel of the Lord spoke to me. I saw this exact group of people standing here. I saw these three horses led out, and was told to choose this one.” SMG 73.4

“All right, Mrs. White, Charlie is yours,” said their friends. Two men harnessed Charlie to a covered carriage and presented the gift to the happy couple. SMG 74.1

How much pleasanter the rest of the journey was! When tired, they could stop and rest by the roadside. At noon James would unharness the horse and tether him where he could eat grass. Not having a rope, James made one by braiding the tall roadside grass into long strands. Then he would spread their coats or a blanket under a shady tree, where they could sit while they ate their lunch and rested. SMG 74.2

One day while trotting along, Charlie reached down and picked up an apple from the ground. His master loosened the check rein so that he could reach apples more easily. After that, whenever Charlie saw an apple tree, he would slow down, select a good apple within reach, then throw his head high in the air and dash on at full speed, munching as he went. SMG 74.3

At Centerport the Whites again stayed with the Harris family. SMG 74.4

James White called his helpers together, then when their committee work was done, he harnessed Charlie to the carriage and took Elder Rhodes to catch the canalboat. Since it was only two miles to the landing, Mrs. White went with them, leaving her year-old Edson with Clarissa, his nurse. SMG 74.5

When they returned, Mrs. Harris met them at the door. “Your baby is dying!” she cried. Rushing to his bed, they found him unconscious, his eyes closed, his little arms purple. SMG 74.6

Trying to steady her voice, Mrs. White said, “Our only hope is in God; let’s call the elders and pray immediately.” SMG 74.7

“What can we do?” sighed Elder White. “Brother Rhodes is the only minister nearby, and he’s on his way to Michigan!” Without waiting for an answer, he hurried downstairs, jumped into the carriage, and drove as fast as old Charlie could gallop back to town and along the towpath after the canalboat. Five miles down the path he overtook the boat, got Elder Rhodes off, and rushed him back to the Harris home. SMG 75.1

There in the little upstairs room they prayed and anointed the baby. Immediately he opened his eyes and smiled. God had answered their prayer. SMG 75.2

Soon after this James suffered severe cramps in his legs. His wife rubbed them until her strength gave out. “It looks like cholera,” she said. Many were dying of cholera in the city. SMG 75.3

“Pray! Ellen, pray!” he whispered between groans. Sarah, Clarissa, and Mrs. Harris were standing near. The three women knelt beside the bed while Mrs. White laid her hands on her husband’s head and pleaded with God for healing. At once the pain left, and natural color returned to his face. SMG 75.4

That same night, about midnight, my grandparents heard screams in the room above. They rushed upstairs. Clarissa was holding little Edson in her arms, and he was clinging frantically to her. Now and then he would let go of her arm and fight the air with both hands, crying out in terror, “No! no! no!” Again he would clutch her arm and scream, “No! no! no!” SMG 75.5

“He sees something that’s frightening him, something invisible to us,” his father said. SMG 75.6

“Yes,” replied Ellen. “I’m sure Satan has sent one of his angels to torment the child.” Again they knelt in prayer. In the name of Jesus, Elder White rebuked the evil spirit. Little Edson immediately fell asleep and did not waken till morning. SMG 75.7

His father, too, slept until light shone through their bedroom window. As soon as he opened his eyes, he said to Ellen, “This is the day we go to Auburn for proof sheets of the paper. Satan is doing all he can to hinder us, just as you were warned. Shall we let him stop the work? No, never!” SMG 76.1

Still feeling weak and shaky, he dressed and prepared to go. When he climbed into the carriage, Ellen got in beside him and picked up the reins. “I’ll go with you,” she said. They drove the six miles, praying as they went. With every mile, Elder White gained strength. All Satan’s schemes had not delayed the paper one day. SMG 76.2

They brought the printed sheets home, then called the family together to fold, wrap, and address them. Snatching food when they could, they worked early and late. SMG 76.3

As soon as the rush was over, the Whites were off again. Since they had lent Charlie and the carriage to one of the traveling ministers, they made this short trip in a farm wagon drawn by two horses. James and Ellen sat on the high seat in front. Suddenly the horses shied. The wagon was thrown against a steep bank and turned over on its side. Extricating themselves, the riders scrambled to their feet. SMG 76.4

“Are you hurt, Ellen?” SMG 76.5

“Scarcely a scratch or bruise. And you?” SMG 76.6

“The same; not hurt a particle!” SMG 76.7

They straightened up the wagon and went on their way with a song of thanksgiving. SMG 76.8

Soon after this Clarissa became severely ill. She too was healed by prayer. Again Satan’s plans were defeated. SMG 76.9

Mrs. White wrote to Mrs. Bates, “Oh, what battles we have had to fight with the enemy since we commenced to get out the paper! We have had to pray, pray, pray, and have faith, faith, faith, and that is the only way we have been able to live!” SMG 77.1

Were they discouraged? No, indeed! The more trouble the devil caused them, the more earnestly they prayed and the more diligently they worked. Elder White enlarged the Present Truth and changed its name to The Second Advent Review and Sabbath Herald. This was the beginning of the “good old Review.” SMG 77.2

A publishing committee was appointed, and young John Andrews was chosen as a member. As he gave his strength and time to the work of God, he rapidly developed into one of the greatest of Seventh-day Adventist writers, preachers, and missionaries. SMG 77.3

The next summer the Whites were needed at Saratoga Springs. Of course the publishing work had to move with them. They rented a house and set up housekeeping with borrowed furniture, as usual. The day the Review came off the press, Ellen’s sister Sarah was married to Stephen Belden, a son of their good friend in Rocky Hill. SMG 77.4

The borrowed furniture must have been slow in arriving, for we read in one of Mrs. White’s letters: “The same day that we moved, Number 1 of Volume II of the paper came off, and we folded and wrapped them. And, not having a table to fold and wrap on, we took a fireboard and put it on an old sink and made that answer. By sitting up late we got the papers into the mail the next morning.” No doubt the bride and groom were there with the others, mailing papers. SMG 77.5

In August, Ellen G. White’s first book was printed—a small, paperbound volume called A Sketch of the Christian Experience and Views of Mrs. E. G. White, commonly shortened to Experience and Views. SMG 77.6

“Thank God,” she breathed, as she took the book lovingly in her hand. SMG 78.1

“Thank God,” echoed her husband, “we no longer have to spend weary hours copying the visions to send to our friends. Now we have them printed in a book!” SMG 78.2

Why did Satan try so hard to discourage those who were printing the Advent Review? No doubt it was because this paper reminded the Adventist people of the wonderful blessings they had experienced while giving the “midnight cry.” The articles it contained explained their disappointment in 1844 and showed where they had misunderstood the prophecy. They showed from the Scriptures that the sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 years was not on earth but in heaven. SMG 78.3

They also showed that even the great disappointment itself had been foretold in Revelation 10, and they called special attention to the words, “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” For a time, while expecting Jesus to come in the immediate future, the Adventists had thought their work on earth was finished. Now they were called to give another message to the world. SMG 78.4

The fourteenth chapter of Revelation contains a prophecy of three messages that would go to all the world just before Jesus comes. The Adventists had been preaching only the first and second. Now they saw that there was a third—the great Sabbath message, which must go to the entire world. The church waiting for Christ’s coming must be keeping all the commandments of God, including the Sabbath commandment. In calling attention to the very last Christian church, the angel said, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” The true Sabbath is a sign between God and His people, a constant reminder that God created the heavens and the earth. SMG 78.5

No wonder Satan did everything in his power to hinder the printing of that paper. But God defeated all of the devil’s schemes. Today the message of Jesus’ soon coming and the call to honor the day He sanctified are being proclaimed in nearly every country of the world. SMG 79.1

God’s waiting people are more than a hundred years nearer the coming of the Saviour and their heavenly home than when the Review and Herald was first published. If we follow Jesus, we shall soon be with Him in our eternal home. SMG 79.2