Visit to Zurich

But before leaving Switzerland, both Ellen White and her son wanted to squeeze in a visit to Zurich. Wrote W. C. White:3BIO 362.11

For several days we have been thinking of making a short visit to Zurich. We have been reading the account of Zwingli's work, and before leaving we want to see his city. Mother is especially anxious to see Zurich, and we have some business matters to attend to also.—A-2 WCW, p. 225.3BIO 362.12

With anticipation of spending a day in the city where Zwingli labored and preached, Ellen White, accompanied by Willie and Mary, Marian Davis, and Wilbur Whitney, on Thursday morning, May 12, took the train for Zurich. On arrival they hastened to the cathedral and the nearby chapel in which Zwingli preached. In the courtyard was a statue of Zwingli with a Bible in one hand and a sword by his side. On reaching the site, Ellen White recognized the surroundings. According to teen-age Patience Bourdeau [later Sisco] as told by her to the author, Ellen White served as a guide to the group, pointing out features of interest and of how things appeared in Zwingli's day. As Ellen was engaged at the time in the enlargement of The Great Controversy, her comment “We gathered many items of interest which we will use” (Manuscript 29, 1887) is readily understood.3BIO 363.1

While the men were in the city on publishing house business Ellen White, Mary, and Marian continued sightseeing. Their tour included a ride in a rowboat on the placid Lake Zurich. They were back in Basel at nine-thirty that night.3BIO 363.2

Taking advantage of the weekend, she left Friday morning, May 13, with Whitney and his wife for Chaux-de-Fonds, where the little company of believers worshiped in a rather small room. Some of the believers had come in from Tramelan and Bienne, making an audience of sixty. So many were crowded together on Sabbath morning that they had no room to kneel for prayer.3BIO 363.3

When she learned that this growing church was buying a lot and hoped to build a house of worship, her heart was touched. Since she would be leaving Switzerland in less than two weeks, she pledged her horse, carriage, and harness to help build the church.3BIO 363.4