Earlier text: HYGIENIC REFORM:About the time of the establishment of the first health institution, the publication of a journal, known as the Health Reformer, was begun, with the object of promulgating the principles of health and temperance reform which were advocated and practiced at the Health Institute. The journal soon acquired a large subscription list,230and became one of the most widely circulated health publications in the United States. About the time of the reorganization of the Health Institute, the name of the journal was changed to Good Health, under which title it is now published. Probably no other journal of the kind wields so wide an influence in the interests of health and temperance and social purity reform, as this. Eight or nine years ago a health journal in the Danish language was started in Christiana, Norway. This soon became so popular that it was necessary to publish an edition also in the Swedish language. More recently, two journals in the Scandinavian languages have been started in this country, so that now there are four health journals in those languages, and each has a wide circulation. Several years ago the managers of the Rural Health Retreat established a journal known as the Pacific Health Journal, which has reached a liberal circulation, and has accomplished much in the dissemination of the principles of health and temperance reform. In addition to the various journals mentioned, books, tracts, and pamphlets have been issued by the hundred thousand. Before leaving this subject, it will be proper to call attention to a prediction made by Mrs. White more than twenty years ago, regarding the health institution at Battle Creek: “With all the efforts in every department, put forth in a correct and judicious manner, and with the blessing of God, the institution will prove a glorious success.” Another statement, made before the institution had reached half its present dimensions and facilities, is as follows: “If it [the Sanitarium] is conducted in a manner that God can bless, it will be highly successful, and will stand in advance of every other institution of the kind in the world.” The following article from Mrs. White clearly sets forth the principles upon which the Sanitarium should be conducted:— In a vision given me Dec. 25, 1865, I saw that Seventh-day Adventists should have a home for the sick, where they could receive medical care, and also learn how to live so as to prevent disease; that it should be an institution whose influence would be closely connected with the work of fitting mortals for immortality; and that it should not be established for the object of gain, but to aid in bringing God’s people into such a condition of physical and mental health as will enable them rightly to appreciate eternal things, and correctly to value the redemption so dearly purchased by the sufferings and death of our Saviour. Unless this object should be continually set before the people, and efforts made to this end, the institution would prove a curse instead of a blessing. Health reform is a part of the great benevolent, sacrificing work of God; and this institution, incorporated for the special purpose of diffusing light upon this question, should prove itself a factor in this charitable work. Donations given to it should be considered a sacrifice to God, the donors looking for their dividends in his kingdom. The institution itself should be charitable, doing all it can for the relief of the worthy poor. Physicians, managers, and helpers should all work on the same liberal, sacrificing plan, not merely for money, but for the glory of God and the relief of their suffering fellow-men. Why should the Christian physician, who is waiting and longing for the coming and kingdom of Christ, when death will no longer have power over the saints, expect more remuneration for his services than the Christian minister or editor? He may say that his work is more wearing; but God does not require any man to work beyond his strength, in any employment. He should work as he can endure, and not violate the laws of life which he teaches to his patients. There is no good reason why he should overwork and receive high wages for it, more than the minister or the editor. No one who labors simply for money should be suffered to remain at the Sanitarium as a helper. There are those of ability, who, for the love of Christ, might fill positions of trust faithfully and cheerfully, and with a spirit of sacrifice. Those who have not this spirit should withdraw, and give place to those who have it. It is God’s design that the Sanitarium which he has established shall stand forth as a beacon of light and warning and reproof. He would prove to the world that an institution conducted on religious principles as an asylum for the sick, can be sustained without sacrificing its peculiar, religious character; that it can be kept free from the objectionable features that are found in other institutions of the kind. It is to be an instrumentality in his hand to bring about great reforms. The Lord has shown me that in an institution established among us, the greatest danger would be that its managers would depart from the spirit of the present truth, from that simplicity which should ever characterize the disciples of Christ. The prosperity of the Sanitarium is not dependent alone upon the intelligence and knowledge of its physicians, but upon the favor of God. If it is conducted in a manner that God can bless, it will be highly successful, and will stand in advance of every other institution of the kind in the world. Great light, great knowledge, and superior privileges have been given; and in accordance with the light received will be the accountability. The instruction given me concerning it, contained a special warning against lowering the standard of truth in any way in order to meet the ideas of those not of our faith, and thus secure their patronage. But if they choose to come where religion is exalted, and where the managers carry out Bible principles in all departments of the work, they place themselves directly under the influence of the truth; and many, besides obtaining relief from bodily infirmities, will also find a balm for their sin-sick souls. One precious soul saved will be worth more than233all the means contributed toward the establishment of such an institution. The Sanitarium, if rightly conducted, may be the means of bringing important truths before many whom it would be impossible to reach by ordinary methods. While our faith should not be urged upon the patients, nor any religious controversy forced upon them, our papers and publications, carefully selected, should be in sight almost everywhere. The religious element must predominate. I have seen that physicians and helpers should be of the highest order,—those who have an experimental knowledge of the truth, who will command respect, and whose word can be relied on. They should be free from jealousy and evil-surmising,—persons who have a power of will that does not yield to slight indispositions, who are unprejudiced, who think and move calmly and considerately, having the glory of God and the good of others ever before them. Those only should be chosen to responsible positions who are qualified to fill them; and they should first be proved, to see if they are free from jealousy and favoritism. Those who treat the sick should constantly seek the blessing of God upon their work, expecting him to aid them in the use of the means he has so graciously provided, and to which he has specially called our attention as a people,—pure air, cleanliness, healthful diet, adequate rest, and the use of water. They should allow no selfish interest to divert their attention from this important and solemn work. To care properly for the physical and spiritual interests of the afflicted who place themselves under their care, will require their undivided attention. No one has so great a mind, or is so skillful, that the work will not be imperfect, even after he has done his best. Let those to whom are committed the physical, and also to a great extent the spiritual, interests of the afflicted people of God, beware how they, through worldly policy or personal interest, or a desire to be engaged in a popular work,234call down upon themselves the frown of God. They should not depend upon their skill alone. If the blessing of God is upon the institution, holy angels will attend patients, helpers, and physicians, to assist in the work of restoration, so that in the end the glory will be given to God, and not to feeble, short-sighted man. Wrong habits of life are to be corrected, the morals elevated, the tastes changed, the dress modified. A great amount of disease is brought into the world through the prevailing style of dress; and the fact should be made prominent that a reform must take place before treatment can effect a cure. The crippled, diseased organs of the body, and the dwarfed faculties of the mind, cannot be strengthened and invigorated without decided reforms. Those who are connected with the Sanitarium should be in every respect correct representatives of the principles advocated there. I saw the beneficial influence of out-door labor upon those of feeble vitality and poor circulation, especially upon women who have induced these conditions by too much confinement in-doors. Their blood has become impure for want of fresh air and exercise. Instead of inventing amusements to occupy the patients in-doors, employment should be afforded them in cultivating the ample grounds around the Sanitarium; and this labor should be made a part of their prescription. Flowers, fruit, and vegetables might be raised, under the direction of an experienced gardener, and thus afford employment appropriate to the sex and condition of every one. While the Sanitarium may have patronage from people of wealth, there are many among us who are not able to pay the expenses of a journey thither, and a lengthened stay. Shall poverty keep these friends of our Lord away from the blessings which he has so bountifully provided? Shall they be left to struggle on with the double burden of sickness and poverty? Those who are wealthy, and have all the conveniences and comforts of life, may, by taking home treatment, often enjoy a very235fair state of health. But it is our poor brethren, who have hardly the necessaries of life, that need our help. They may have faults, and yet may be living up to duty better than some who have means; and many of them are humble Christians. The expenses of some of these should be defrayed by the churches to which they belong. Some, again, have rich relatives to whom they can look for assistance. But there are many others who have no such resource; and for these a fund should be provided by those to whom God has intrusted means. The stay of such at the Sanitarium must necessarily be short. By means of the lectures they hear, and by securing good books, they can learn how to live at home; and on their return they can carry out the principles they have learned there. They must not rely on the physician to cure them in a few weeks, but must learn to live so as to give nature a chance to work the cure. It may require years to complete the healing process begun at the Sanitarium. But those who receive the benefits of this liberality, must be willing to be taught. They should cherish a spirit of gratitude to God and to their brethren for the help they receive. They should understand that their sickness and poverty are misfortunes, often caused by their own sins and their ignorance of the laws of health; and if the Lord puts it into the hearts of his people to help them, it should inspire in them a spirit of gratitude. Let no one entertain the idea that the Sanitarium is the place to be raised up by the prayer of faith. It is rather the place to find relief from disease by treatment and right habits of living, and to learn how to avoid sickness. But if there is one place under heaven more than another where sympathizing prayer should be offered by men and women of devotion and faith, it is at such an institution. I have seen that the reason why God did not more frequently answer the prayers of his servants for the sick among us, was that he could not be glorified236in so doing while they were violating the laws of health. He designed health reform and the Sanitarium to prepare the way for the prayer of faith to be answered. Faith and good works should thus go hand in hand in relieving the afflicted among us, and in fitting them to glorify God here, and to be saved at the coming of Christ. God forbid that these afflicted ones should ever be disappointed and grieved in finding the managers working only from a worldly standpoint, instead of adding to the hygienic practice the blessings and virtues of nursing fathers and mothers in Israel. The following sketches of the lives of Elder Bates and Elder Andrews were written by Elder James White in 1877, and appeared in the pages of Good Health of that year:—