Earlier text: The SermonCHAPTER viii. verse 1. And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark; and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged. A wind. “The effects of these evaporating winds, frequent in the East, are truly astonishing. A friend of mine, who had been bathing in the Tigris, having on a pair of Turkish drawers, one of these hot winds, called samiel, passing over just as he had got out of the water, so effectually dried him in a moment, that no moisture was left either on his body or in his bathing dress. With such an electrified wind as this, how soon might God dry the whole of the earth’s surface!”—Dr. A. Clarke. Verse 4. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat. Ararat. “So Armenia was called, says Theodorus. The Greek translates Isa. xxxviii, 38, Armenia; the original Hebrew is Ararat, which is rendered Armenia in our common version, while at Jer. ii, 27, it retains Ararat. The Vulgate has here the mountains of Armenia; upon which, says Bochart, the most ancient heathen writers agree that the ark rested. [So do Jerome, the Chald. Par. and Arab. version.] Berosus, he adds, relates that people wore as amulets bits of bitumen from the ark which rested upon the mountains of Gordiene, called by the ancients, Carduchi Gordiaei. Nicol. Damasc. speaks of Mt. Baris, [boat, in Egyptian,] in Armenia, on which men were saved from a deluge.” HEIDEGGER. “There is even at this day a region in Armenia called Ararat, in lat. 39°. The mountain where the ark rested must be sought in this region, where Mt. Macis is found, 12 leagues from Erivan, covered with eternal snows, and called by the Persians, Couh Nouh, Mount Noah.” ROSENM. “Mt. Ararat is in the pachalic of Erzeroum. It stands on an extensive plain, and is connected by low hills with Mt. Taurus. Its inaccessible summit is in the form of a sugar loaf, cut into two peaks, [seven miles apart, between which the ark is supposed to have rested.] It presents a formidable appearance with its craggy cliffs [dazzling ice, and snow,] and deep precipices. Its highest peak, Mazis, is in the Persian province of Iran, rising to the height of about 9,500 ft.” ENCYC. AM. “Ararat can be seen at the distance of ten days’ journey.” Dodd. “180 or 200 miles.” Calm. Tavernier says that the city of Nachidchevan, [“the first place of descent,” Naxuana of Ptolemy,] 3 leagues from Mt. Ararat, is the most ancient in the world. Noah settled here when he left the ark; its name signifies, “ship stopped or settled.” “The tradition,” says Rosenmüller, “that the ark lodged upon the range of Ararat, is confirmed by the most weighty testimony of antiquity, and is one of the oldest which has reached us.” “The Chaldeans, Phoenicians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Goths, and Druids, Persians, Hindoos, Burmese, Chinese, Mexicans, Peruvians, Brazilians, Nicaraguans, West-Caledonians, Otaheitans, and Sandwich Islanders; all have recorded the event of the deluge, and it is incorporated in their annals.” “Truth of Rev. demonst.”—Jenks. Verse 11. And the dove came in to him in the evening, and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off; so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. Olive leaf, rather branch; so some. “The dove feeds upon the olive.” Chandler. “Gogareen in Armenia is said by Strabo to produce olive trees.” Gill. Modern travelers do not find olives now nearer than 130 miles, by the camel route, from Ararat; so Mr. Smith, in Bibl. Rep., who judiciously adds, that a dove might easily fly from Ararat there and back in a day.—Jenks. “Theophrastus and Pliny state, that the olive and laurel grow in the Red Sea, and continue green under water. It is sufficient for illustrating the text, to know, that they would grow and continue green, for many months under water.”—Hewlett. QUARTERLY MEETINGS IN MINNESOTA.
By Stephen Pierce
As it was rainy and bad going on the 15th of February, I did not expect much interest in our meeting at Greenwood Prairie on the 16th and 17th. But Sabbath morn it cleared up and the brethren began to come in, some from the Orinoco church, six miles distant; and though our numbers were not great, we thought that the Lord's Spirit was in some measure vouchsafed to us, that we might worship in spirit as well as in truth. During the Sabbath, I gave two discourses. The evening after, we had the ordinances. First-day, the church held a harmonious business meeting; and I gave them two discourses with still more freedom than upon the day before. This little church is young in experience, but seems to be moving along in the best light that it has received. The two following appointments at Orinoco and Cherry Grove were by Bro. Ingraham merged into one at Pine Island, a location between the two, for the benefit of those there who had heard a course of lectures from Bro. I. last summer. But as Bro. H. F. Phelps has already made a good report of this meeting, nothing further is necessary. March 9 and 10, attended the meetings at Deerfield; and knowing something of the state of things in this church, I felt in two discourses out of four, such a spirit of labor and weeping as I have not usually experienced. We think the blessing of the Lord was there to convince of wrongs and of the necessity of righting them. And some who by error or neglect had brought injury to the cause, seemed to manifest a willingness to have their cases examined by good, judicious brethren and then to adjust matters as fast as practicable. Others on second-day came together, talked over and explained some of their difficulties in a manner that both parties seemed to be in a measure relieved. I trust also that these have come to the conclusion that in all that they have done wrong, they will make things right. Attended the appointment March 16 and 17, at Bass Lake; but such a cold and fever had attacked me by riding two days in the severest cold that I was unfit to discharge the duties devolving upon me. I however269gave them two discourses on the Sabbath, and one on first-day to an audience that seemed interested to hear, although circumstances connected with the speaker were all unfavorable. The brethren there, I believe, are generally young in the truth, except our Bro. Kunselman from Michigan. But I believe the dear brethren there mean to persevere unto the end. The appointment at Brush Creek the week following, I was hindered from attending by sickness. The Commentary.
By M'Cheyne
Tell me the meaning of Scriptures. One gem from that ocean is worth all the pebbles of earthly streams.—M'Cheyne. Eating and Drinking Unworthily.
By R. F. Cottrell
1 Cor. xi, 27-29. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. It is extremely doubtful whether a person can properly partake of the Lord's supper without a deep sense of unworthiness. The text does not refer to the worthiness or unworthiness of the person, but to the manner in which the eating and drinking is performed. The Corinthians had abused the sacred institution, forgotten its solemn significance, and made it a profane feast in which “one was hungry and another was drunken.” They ate and drank “unworthily”—“not discerning the Lord's body.” This is what the apostle reproved. “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.” Let him in the love and fear of God approach the table of the Lord, discerning the solemn, and yet joyful, significance of the sacred institution, and he will not eat and drink unworthily—eating and drinking condemnation to himself. SABBATH and first-day, March 30 and 31, I labored in word and doctrine with the few at Fairfield. The roads had been so bad in the winter that they had not met together often; yet some confessed that they had not made sufficient effort to attend the meetings; that they had excused themselves while they might have been more punctual by sacrificing a little; and that we get more strength by meeting together when it is practicable, than we would in staying at home. These acknowledgments are very true, and we hope they will be remembered. We were here glad to see Bro. Caviness, who had moved away, but now saw that it was better to remain with the church at present. The church expressed their satisfaction to see him among them again, and invited him to act in the capacity of leader as formerly. Sabbath and first-day, the 6th and 7th inst., we spoke three times to the church at Mount Pleasant, and held one business meeting. Our lectures were given in a large and commodious hall in the city, and seemed to be appreciated by the church, and by quite a number of unbelievers. We are still of the conviction that a good work will be done in this place and vicinity if a proper course is pursued by the church. At our business meeting over one thousand dollars were pledged for building a meeting house, and a building committee of three was appointed to take charge of the enterprise. Here is a noble object before this church, and we expect that as they are blessed in this direction, they will not overlook other enterprises which are of equal importance in the advancement of the common cause in which they have an interest. And from what we have seen, we have reason to hope that they will come up in sacrificing for every worthy object according to their ability. We do not believe in Sabbath-keepers colonizing merely for the sake of being together, neither would we recommend that Sabbath-keepers who belong to a small church, or elsewhere, where their help and influence are needed, should move to Mt. Pleasant. Yet if there are those who are by themselves, and are withering for want of work and experience, and cannot help others where they are, yet might help with their means and strength, and at the same time get an experience, such might find an opening with the church at Mt. Pleasant, and can correspond with Bro. A. A. Fairfield. But let it be remembered that this church are workers, and do not want any drones to come among them. And they wish to be well posted with regard to the religious standing of those coming. When it becomes duty for a church to build a meeting house for their good and for the benefit of those around them, and to further the cause of truth in their vicinity, it is of no small importance for them to keep together (unless they are very numerous), and to concentrate their strength, instead of scattering abroad regardless of the good of the cause. If the cause demands that a church build a meeting house, it cannot justify them to scatter before or after the house is erected; for this would be defeating the object for which houses of worship are built. We therefore view it as a great sin for Sabbath-keepers to move away without considering the matter in the light of this important principle. While it may be duty for some individuals to go into new fields, that by their consistent lives they may open the way for others to receive the truth, it is equally important for most of the believers to come into church capacity for their perfecting, and to help those by their influence who are constantly embracing the truth. But as a general thing, the great object of those who desire to move away is not to help others into the truth, but to better themselves temporally; and all are not prepared by their experience and organization to launch out into an entirely new field. How much harm has resulted from overlooking this truth. I do not measure the strength of the cause in any State by the number of churches in it, unless they are strong and have an influence. I prefer to see a dozen churches in a State, which are strong and in good working order (and I have seen small churches bear these characteristics), than to see twice this number in a weak and scattered condition, mainly because not composed of material to constitute a church. In some cases scattered brethren who have an imperfect church organization would do better to unite with a stronger church until more are added to their numbers, even though they could not meet with the church every Sabbath. Last Sabbath and first-day, we had a good time with the church at Washington. We spoke three times, and were encouraged in seeing our close testimony appreciated. The church here are receiving the message to the Laodiceans in its proper light, and in an understanding manner. They have been coming up since their organization. With regard to Systematic Benevolence, they carry out the injunction, 'Upon the first-day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him,' to the letter. At our business meeting, three were added to the church by letter, and twelve shares more were pledged for the Health Reform Institute. Some of this will be paid in soon. This is a small church; but I see no reason why their numbers may not be doubled in the year to come, by the children and youth joining with them in serving the Lord. Some have already given their hearts to the Lord. D. T. BOURDEAU
By D. T. BOURDEAU
[Since the foregoing was in type, Bro. Bourdeau has arrived from Iowa, and handed us the following additional particulars of his labors in that State.—Ed.] Since closing my last report, I have spent two Sabbaths, and first-days with the church at Pilot Grove. At our first meeting, we found many of the church pretty well jaded down by hard labor, as could be seen by their countenances, and by the inclination of some to sleep. We found that it was next to an impossibility for those who had thus overworked to appreciate the truth, and having given a discourse on self-examination, we spoke over one hour on labor and rest. Our testimony was appreciated and received, as appeared from the difference in the countenances of the brethren and sisters the next Sabbath, and from a greater interest in the word spoken. At this busy season of the year, just before Conference, there is great danger of our industrious brethren and sisters overdoing. They may think that they must do as much again as they usually do to get along. But this is a mistaken idea. For what gain is there in doing two days’ work in one for a month or two, and then break down and have to lay up three or six months or longer, as many have been obliged to do? And as you thus overdo, you lose patience, become worldly-minded, and lose your appreciation of divine things. And some in this condition may want to go to the Health Reform Institute, and find fault because their brethren do not raise means to send them there. But be it understood that our Health Institute is not gotten up to receive, and our sacrificing brethren will not be encouraged to support, those who overlook and ride over what they already understand of the Health Reform. It would be squandering means to no profit. Let invalids first show a willingness to reform as far as they have light, and then it may be right to consider the propriety of their going to the Health Institute. And if it should be duty for them to go to the Institute, it would be a saving of time and means to commence correcting their wrong habits previous to their going. Our meetings last Sabbath and first-day were more interesting and encouraging. We dwelt on the suffering part of religion, which led the brethren to take courage, and manifest a willingness to suffer more for Christ’s sake. Our social meeting was lively and soul-reviving. Sunday morning I spoke an hour and a half on our business deal with God and man, and arranged Systematic Benevolence for the coming Conference year, raising the figures from $263.42 to $342.28. And we might have done better if all had been present. Some think that a business meeting is not as important as other meetings, and for this reason stay away; while others do not attend such meetings because they think their business is so important that they cannot afford to lose time. Bad excuses these. Suppose all would say this, what would become of business meetings? And which is the most important, our business or God’s? How easy it is for the Lord to suffer affliction to come upon us, and make us to lose far more than we should by attending a business meeting. It is not correct to say that business meetings are not important. They are some of the most important meetings to the cause, and often prove to be moistened by the rich and approving blessing of the Lord. At this meeting four shares were pledged for the Health Reform Institute, in addition to what had been previously pledged by this church. We intend spending next Sabbath with the church in this place, after which, the Lord willing, we start for General Conference. Our labors in this State thus far have been a source of encouragement to ourselves, and we hope also to others. We have formed many dear acquaintances, and received many prayers, sympathizing words, and other favors, for which we are thankful. Our prayers will follow this dear people and they will live in our hearts, whether we return among them or labor elsewhere. Washington, Iowa, May 1, 1867. THE RETURN.
By Sarah A. Santer
CHILD.
I love thee, dear Saviour, O, frown not on me,
Though far in life's journey I've wandered from thee,
I now would obey thee, I would now return,
And beg for thy smiles which I never can earn. SAVIOUR.
And wilt thou come back to me, wandering child,
And leave all thy haunts in the desert and wild?
Sure will be thy trials, if thou dost return,
But my grace is sufficient, my help do not spurn. CHILD.
I'm weary of traveling destruction's broad road,
That leads down to death and increases my load,
No more can I bear it! What then shall I do?
In sin and in guilt I am lying so low. SAVIOUR.
Cast all your cares on me, O be not dismayed,
I died for your sins, then rejoice and be glad;
Accept of the sacrifice, give me your heart.
You soon shall come home never more to depart. CHILD.
O Jesus, dear Saviour, how great is thy love,
I'll serve thee while here, and I'll praise thee above,
Forbid that I ever should stray from thee more,
But let me walk near thee to Canaan's shore. A CELEBRATED preacher of the seventeenth century, in a sermon to a crowded audience, described the terrors of the last Judgment with such eloquence, pathos and force of diction, that some of his audience not only burst into tears, but sent forth piercing cries, as if the Judge himself had been present, and was about to pass upon them their final sentence. In the height of this excitement the preacher called upon them to dry their tears and cease their cries, as he was about to add something still more awful and astonishing than anything he had brought before them. Silence being obtained, he with an agitated countenance and solemn voice addressed them thus: “In one quarter of an hour from this time the emotions which you have just now exhibited will be stifled; the remembrance of the fearful truths which excited them will vanish; you will return to your carnal occupations or sinful pleasures with your usual avidity, and you will treat all you have heard ‘as a tale that is told.’” THE FAST IN BATTLE CREEK.
A FAST and yet a feast. Such was Sabbath May 11, to the church here—not a feast of that which is designed to supply physical wants, but a feast of important truth for this time, a feast of heartfelt and cheering testimonies, a feast for the moral and spiritual nature. In the forenoon Bro. Cornell spoke on the duty, nature, and design, of fasting; a timely discourse, and filled with instruction appropriate to the occasion. A multitude of encouraging instances were presented, in which God has wrought for his people, when they have humbled themselves by fasting and prayer. God has not changed; and if we now maintain a fast such as he can accept, he will have respect unto our efforts and draw near and help. But we must remember that the day in which we publicly refrain from food, and engage in earnest prayer for heavenly aid, is not the whole of a fast. That is but the public record of our vows, the giving of a solemn pledge, that we will diligently search our hearts and lives for those wrongs which have made a fast and humiliation necessary, and indulge in them no more. All our future life must therefore be devoted to the fulfillment of this pledge. To refrain from food a day, and even to spend that day in the most intense and earnest prayer and supplication, with no intention, at the same time, of putting away wrongs, forsaking sins, and rising to a higher plane of spiritual life, is but solemn mockery. A lack of this element is the reason why so few prayers are answered, and so few outward fasts bring the wished-for result. It is yet possible to have a fast acceptable to the Lord. May that of last Sabbath prove to be such. At the close of the forenoon service it was our privilege to repair to a consecrated spot on the banks of the Kalamazoo river, and enjoy another pleasant and peaceful baptismal scene. Bro. Van Horn administered the ordinance to three candidates, who thus publicly professed their faith in the resurrection of Christ, and their determination to walk themselves, henceforth, in newness of life. The afternoon was devoted to a prayer and conference meeting. Freely, the brethren spoke of past experience, and the lessons to be derived therefrom, their failures and how they could be remedied, and their present determinations, and hopes for the precious cause of truth. The testimonies were heartfelt and encouraging. It was good to be there; but it will be better still to carry out the instruction given. This day the church here took leave of their present house of worship, which has been occupied for about nine years past, the new building now being ready for use. This led to many solemn reflections and some reminiscences of our past history. The mind was carried back to the first meeting of S. D. Adventists ever held in this place. The room of a private house, and that a small one, was used for the purpose. And when all the friends of the cause in this and adjoining towns were assembled, the room was about half full. The work began to grow here, and a house of worship was deemed necessary. A small one was erected which was then looked upon as a great step. That house now forms the wing of a dwelling house, close by our present meeting place, and yet at the time of the removal of the Office of publication to this place, in the autumn of 1855, when a meeting was held in it of delegates and brethren from all parts, called a General Conference, and then considered a large meeting, that house was but little more than half full. A larger house was soon demanded, and the present one was built. The first general meeting held in it did not fill it, and by some it was thought larger than would ever be needed. But it is now insufficient for our ordinary Sabbath meetings, to say nothing of larger meetings, and Conferences. The number present on the occasion of which we now write, was larger than at the first Conference held in the house. We have thus been led to the erection of the new house, with accommodations, when closely seated, for about seven hundred persons. This constantly increasing demand for larger accommodations, shows that there has been an element of progress and advancement in the work, notwithstanding our lukewarmness and spiritual lack. And if the Lord could work for us, as he has in the past, while our condition has been such, what may we not expect when we get into the spiritual condition we should be in? To this condition we must attain; and it is one of the most encouraging features of the present state of the cause, that all hearts seem to be unanimously reaching out for it. We felt that it was appropriate that our last season of worship in that house should be on an occasion of fasting and prayer. At the close of the meeting, almost the entire congregation entered into a covenant, by standing upon their feet, while Bro. Loughborough read from 2 Chron. xv, to “seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart, and with all their soul;” and we left the house with feelings of thankfulness to God, for all the gracious seasons we have enjoyed within its hallowed walls. As we enter our new house of worship, we do it with high resolves and strong determinations to commence a new record in the service of the Lord, to seek a higher standard, and to have, with our better accommodations, a deeper and more effective spirit of worship in our hearts. The times demand this; the cause of truth demands it; our own good demands it. May the brethren pray for us; and may the Lord help us. PURE AIR.
By R. F. Cottrell
I HAVE been gratified to learn, as I have traveled from place to place during the last quarter, that there is a general movement with our people, in the direction of the Health Reform. But the subject is not understood as it ought to be. There are many things that need reform. It is not a one-idea thing at all. And perhaps there is no one part of the reform so little realized and understood as that respecting the air which we breathe. We may eat the most wholesome food, and yet if we deprive ourselves of a plentiful supply of the fresh and free air with which God has surrounded us, we shall pine away and die. There are but few that appreciate the importance of this. In the crowded cars I generally have to open the vents, or ask the conductor to do it; and most of the passengers seem afraid of their best friend, the pure air of heaven. And this is too much the case with our people where I have traveled. When I have said to them that their windows should be fixed to let down at the top, they have seemed to think that their houses were not warm enough to need it. And when the air of the room gets impure almost to suffocation, it is cooled down by opening a door into another room which has not perhaps had a window opened in it for a month or two. Now this is not the true idea. To cool down the temperature of a heated room with the dead air from another room is not the thing. It is not only the heat, but the impurity of the pent up air that we wish to exchange. It is the pure out-door, atmospheric air that we want to support our animal life. Neither is the object effected by throwing open doors and windows, when the heat becomes unendurable, and so have constant changes from heat to cold and from cold to heat. The temperature should be kept as nearly equal as possible. To effect this, the room should be ventilated as near the top as possible, at the top of the windows when there is no apparatus expressly for it, and an exchange of heated and vitiated air for the pure air of heaven, be constantly going on. Try it without delay, and see if those aching heads are not relieved. And our sleeping rooms too need the same treatment. Pure air, though it be cold, is better than that which is poisoned by being breathed over and over again. Except in the very stormiest of weather there should be a constant ventilation of our bed-rooms, during the night, and in the morning a thorough change of air by letting the out-door air pass freely through. Science testifies to the truth of this, and experience responds, It is the truth. My family have slept in a room the past winter, with a window let down six inches at the top as the rule. In the morning they open the bed and open largely two windows, closing the door to this room from the kitchen, and let it air till noon. Then the bed is made, the windows closed, and at evening, the room is warmed by opening the door, and thus made comfortable for going to bed; when the window is again opened as before, and the pure air of heaven admitted freely to the lungs, while the body is warmly covered in bed. Take cold! We were never so free from colds and headache. And we do not take cold when we go out into the open air. Thank the Lord for the sea of air that surrounds us! Some are afraid of night air, but it is the best we have in the night; and it is not improved by being caged up and loaded with impurities during the day. I close by recommending to all to read the book entitled, How to Live. The six articles contained in that work, entitled Disease and its Causes, are worth more than ten times the price of the book. It will pay to read. Take the Health Reformer. Its teachings well heeded will benefit you incomparably more than the dollar a year you will save by not taking it. And in all your taking do not forget to take the fresh air. “Throw open the window, and fasten it there,
Fling the curtain aside, and the blind,
And give a free entrance to heaven’s pure air,
’Tis the life and the health of mankind.” AN EXCUSE FOUNDED ON A REASON.
By John Harvey Waggoner
In a former article I endeavored to show that the pretended reasons for eating flesh were only excuses. The following objection I wish to notice: God allowed people in past ages to eat meat, which shows that it was not wrong; and therefore it is not now wrong. The above has, perhaps, more show of reason than any other objection that can be urged; though I am not willing to give it any better title than that above, for I cannot think it a sufficient reason for now using meat as food. 1. It is no evidence that it was the best arrangement because God allowed it; for the Saviour asserts that divorce was allowed because of their condition, but “from the beginning it was not so;” it was not the design or pleasure of God that it should be so. God allowed the children of Israel to have a king, and such a state of things continued for generations, during which time he often gave directions to their kings, many of whom enjoyed his special favor; yet it was271not his desire that they should have a king, but very displeasing to him. Paul says of a certain condition of things, “God winked at” it; that is, suffered, or allowed it; though it certainly was not the best nor any way desirable. So we know that eating the flesh of animals was not originally allowed, and probably was never designed to be practiced. Certain it is that it was allowed to Israel in the desert after they came out of Egypt while they incurred God’s displeasure by its use. That it ever had any beneficial effect on the human race cannot be proved; while there are good reasons for believing to the contrary. 2. We must not consider this subject in the light of permission given in ages past, but according to the present state of things. And we need to consider (1.) The present condition of beasts. (2.) The present condition of the human race. And 1. That beasts are diseased no one will presume to deny; and that we are in danger of eating diseased meat in using their flesh, no one will deny. It is not possible for us to detect disease in the flesh as sold in the market or put on the table. Nor is it possible to detect disease in the living animal. So then, entire abstinence from the use of their flesh is the only safeguard against eating diseased flesh. The plea put forth by many that their animals are healthy because they fatten so readily is urged in utter ignorance of the animal constitution. Neither man nor beast will fatten up to be an unwieldy, bloated, carcass, if in a healthy condition, if the depurating and excretory organs are capable of discharging their functions, and of expelling the effete matter from the system. The last swine I ever assisted in slaughtering, had not a spot on its liver over one inch in diameter having any appearance of health; most of it being hard and of a gristly appearance. I told the owner I would not let my family taste of it, for it must soon have died of liver complaint; yet while living it seemed to be healthy, and he boasted that it fatted well, and on comparatively little grain. No wonder. The impurities were not expelled from the body, but were deposited in the flesh, and it bloated up a mass of disease. Nothing appears more repulsive and shocking to me than to put it on the table for food. And what must be the condition of a family eating daily meals of scrofula and liver complaint? But observation has proved that the fattening qualities of animals are according to the condition of the liver, fattening most readily where the liver is most diseased. It is a subject of general remark that animals fatten faster if put up very poor, and make a better quality of meat, than if put up in a better condition. The reason is obvious. Their appetite is stronger, and they eat more, thereby doing more violence to their digestive organs, and sooner destroying the conditions of health. And the change of habits is greater, and the shock given to the whole animal constitution is stronger, and diseased matter is more readily deposited in the system. The meat is considered of better quality because healthy flesh is hard and firm; diseased flesh is soft and tender, suited to the tastes of those who will gratify a depraved appetite at the risk of becoming themselves a mass of disease and corruption. This is shown by facts like the following. Place on the table the flesh of an animal fastened in close confinement, fed on the slops of a distillery, and place beside it that of an animal fed on solid food and allowed a wide range, and the epicure or flesh gourmandizer will invariably choose the former. And this is about the popular judgment on good meat. But to meet more directly the intent of the objection I ask, Why are the beasts diseased? It is positively stated in the Scriptures that disease is the result of sin; but the poor dumb animals have done nothing to incur such a curse. The answer, then, is, the beasts which at first were placed under the dominion of man, suffered in his fall; as the earth itself was cursed for man’s sake, so every thing living on the earth must of necessity suffer under the curse. No one will disagree with this. But it is also evident that the power of the curse is increasing over man; or in other words, the race is degenerating and sinking lower and lower under the weight of that curse. Might we not expect that the beasts would also sink in the same degree, and be more liable to diseases now than in past ages, seeing that their condition is so inseparably connected with that of man? We might; and the facts correspond to such an expectation. Almost every month, far less than every year, brings to our notice accounts of new diseases and increased mortality among all classes of animals. Therefore they are becoming more and more unfit for food, and the danger in eating their flesh is vastly greater than when God first gave the permission, and is fast increasing. No one can deny that the circumstances are greatly changed; why, then, urge an objection so entirely overlooking that change. The world at large recognize the change, and thousands now fear to eat pork who would be glad to eat it if the increase of disease did not deter them. Let this be considered. And 2. The present condition of man, as compared with that three or four thousand years ago, must be considered. No one would think for a moment of feeding all persons, under all circumstances, on the same kind or quality of food. A strong, hardy, vigorous man may be permitted to eat “strong meat” (provided it be healthy), while a sickly man, prostrated with disease, consuming with fever, would be put upon a different diet. But the human race is now diseased to a deplorable extent; not to speak of the great variety of diseases, dyspepsia and scrofula are almost all prevailing. The digesting and depurating organs, not of a few only, but of all, are diseased. Not an individual can be found who is free from ailments of these organs, either inherited or contracted. And it is well known by every observing person that the present habits in diet are constantly increasing the difficulty. I think the two greatest sources of disease at this day are meat and white bread; and though white bread, by inducing constipation, indirectly affects the liver, greasy food, or meat, is the chief cause of liver complaint and scrofula. And while so loathsome a malady as scrofula is so very prevalent, is it not the height of folly to daily renew the cause by constantly irritating the organs with stimulating food, when the system is already consuming under the power of disease? How widely different when God first gave permission to man to eat flesh. Then his age was counted by hundreds of years; he was strong and vigorous; and the thousand maladies under which we constantly groan, and prematurely sink into the grave were then unknown. How can any person consistently urge that we may now follow their habits with impunity? It is as idle as to urge that we are able to do the labor they did. And yet we should have less to say if animal flesh was now as healthy as it was then. Their unfitness for food increases with our increased inability to use them as such. So that while the permission only shows what might then be done, not what was best, from that point we run diverging lines till we have now arrived where the reasons for entirely abstaining from flesh food are overwhelming. Of the future—the coming time of trouble—I have not room to speak; but ask a candid consideration of the above facts. Health Institute, Battle Creek, May 10. THE ASSEMBLING CONFERENCE.
From highways and hedges, from hill and plain,
Where toil weighs heavily on the few,
Where there's truth to be taught and souls to gain,
We come that we here may our strength renew. We gather to grasp the faithful hand,
Of the toil-worn servants of light and truth,
And hear them speak of the better land,
Where their brows shall gleam with the dew of youth. We come to mingle our words of cheer,
To speak of our coming joy and rest,
To bid the despondent quell each fear,
And whisper faith to the doubting breast. We come to talk of our blessed hope,
A hope that no wealth of earth can buy,
To say to each heart, Be lifted up;
For now your redemption draweth nigh. We come to mark, on our journey past,
The progress gained in the heavenly road,
And note how the signs are fulfilling fast,
Of the coming reign of the Son of God. And we come, O Saviour, to meet thee here,
To drink again from thy fount of love;
To thy waiting people now appear,
And lead us on to thy courts above.