Chapter 42—Fortitude Under Affliction
Sabbath afternoon, August 20, 1881, two weeks after the death of
her husband, Mrs. White met with the Battle Creek church, and spoke
to the people for nearly an hour. Reporting this service, Elder Uriah
Smith wrote:
“Her theme was the lesson we are to learn from the recent expe-
rience through which we have passed. The uncertainty of life is the
thought first impressed upon us We should also consider what manner
of persons we ought to be while we live
“The speaker’s mind then turned to those blessed exhortations of
the apostles in reference to the relation which the members of the
body of Christ should sustain one to another, and their bearing, words,
and actions toward one another. We were pointed to such passages
as these: ‘Be at peace among yourselves;’ ‘be kindly affectioned one
to another;’ ‘be kind;’ ‘be courteous;’ ‘speak the same thing;’ ‘be
perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment;’
‘speak not evil one of another;’ ‘live in peace; and the God of love and
peace shall be with you.’”
The Review and Herald, August 23, 1881
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Personal Reflections
Regarding her journey westward, en route to California, and her
reflections while tarrying a few weeks at her summer retreat in the
Rocky Mountains, Mrs. White wrote:
“August 22, in company with my daughters, Emma and Mary
White, I left Battle Creek for the West, hoping to receive benefit from
a change of climate. Though still suffering from the effects of a severe
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attack of malarial fever, as well as from the shock of my husband’s
death, I endured the journey better than I had expected. We reached
Boulder, Colo., on Thursday, August 25, and on the following Sunday
left that place by private carriage for our home in the mountains.
“From our cottage I could look out upon a forest of young pines, so
fresh and fragrant that the air was perfumed with their spicy odor. In
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