Ellen G. White in Europe 1885-1887

Practical Help for the Workers

And there were other matters “closer to home” that required attention. One of the difficulties to be faced at headquarters centered on a young lady named Alace, daughter of a dedicated press worker. Alace had run away from home. Ellen White explained that “this is the fruit of ... flirtations and courtships.” This is no doubt considered a little chapter in romance resulting from the reading of “fiction and romance,” she said. Young people who read their Bibles did not “do these things.” (Ibid.) So we see her seeking to lead the youth in Basel to the Word of God. “Wherewithal shall a young man [woman] cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9). EGWE 271.5

And when the “cooks” at the publishing house were scrimping a bit on the meals the practical and realistic Mrs. White urged an abundance of nourishing food. About a month after the Swiss Conference terminated, she had a meeting with the families connected with the publishing house. “I spoke very plainly,” she said, “about how the boarders should be treated and how the table should be furnished with nourishing food.... We hope for a change in some respects for the better.”—Ibid. EGWE 272.1

In mid-April she wrote that “we are straining every power to close up our work in Basel.... We shall leave here for Prussia on the 20th of May for conference meetings” (Letter 82, 1887; Manuscript 29, 1887). Here were indications that the decision had been made to terminate the extended European trip and head westward to her homeland. EGWE 272.2