Chapter XVIII: The End of the Journey

Soon after Bishop Skanchy returned from his last trip to Norway, he was seized with his last illness. The evil preyed steadily upon him, but his strong body and iron constitution could not be broken at once. It took years for the disease to undermine his strength and reach the vital processes of his system.

During his long illness, he composed the sketch now presented. From page to page it bears the marks of the physical sufferings which he endured. Had he been in good health, he would have told more of the marvelous experiences of his long missionary life. Perhaps, however, in good health, he would not have undertaken the work at all.

While withdrawn from active life by this lingering illness, he also reviewed his own poems, his favorite songs, and the word of God that he loved.

Bishop Skanchy, like all who live in close communion with spiritual things, was much of a poet; a lover of the fine arts, painting and sculpture, and an ardent worshiper of all natural beauty. In his last days, though filled with physical pain, he found the leisure for the contemplation of the things of the spirit he loved so well, which he had been denied in his active life.

Ever did his thoughts go back to the land of the midnight sun, in which he was born; where the gospel message found him, and where, in the full strength of his youth, he fought valiantly for the cause of truth, and won hundreds, yea, thousands, to the cause of eternal truth.

On Sunday, April 19, 1914, in his 75th year, his spirit returned to the God he had served so well. On the following Wednesday he was buried from the beautiful chapel he had built. Many wept at his grave, especially those who were poor in spirit or worldly goods, and whom this noble man had loved and helped and raised up, and brought into the glorious light of truth.

(THE END)

Transcriber's Note

This edition was based off scans available at Archive.org (see https://archive.org/details/anthonlskanchybr00skan). The Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University supplied the scans to Archive.org; the original book was donated to the library by Sidney Sperry; and it contained a dedication from John A. Widtsoe, reproduced above. Any minor typographical errors in the original have been silently corrected.