It was while we were still at Loma Linda, the second night after the dedication of the sanitarium, that there passed before me an awful scene of buildings shaken down and destroyed, with great loss of life. I have already described this scene, in the article, “The San Francisco Earthquake.”
Terrible as was the representation that passed before me, that which impressed itself most vividly on my mind was the instruction given in connection with it. The angel that stood by my side declared that God’s supreme rulership, and the sacredness of his law, must be revealed to those who persistently refuse to render obedience to the King of kings. Those who choose to remain disloyal, must be visited in mercy with judgments, in order that, if possible, they may be aroused to a realization of the sinfulness of their course.
Throughout the following day, I pondered the scenes that had passed before me, and the instruction that had been given. During the afternoon we journeyed to Glendale, near Los Angeles; and the following night I was again instructed regarding the holiness and binding claims of the ten commandments, and the supremacy of God above all earthly rulers. It seemed as if I were before many people, and presenting scripture after scripture in support of the precepts spoken by the Lord from Sinai’s height.
It has taken me many days to write out a portion of that which was revealed those two nights at Loma Linda and Glendale. I have not finished yet, as many other matters of urgent importance have come up for consideration. I hope soon to write several articles on God’s law, and the blessings that are promised the obedient.
Our God is the Ruler of the universe. His law is of universal application. It is founded on love,—love to God, and love to our fellow men. Satan’s supreme efforts are directed toward the setting aside of this law. In this work he has been largely successful. There is a marked disposition to exalt human enactments above the law of our Sovereign Ruler, the Monarch of the heavens and the earth. The world is filled with transgression. A spirit of lawlessness pervades every land, and is especially manifest in the great cities of the earth. The sin and crime to be seen in our cities is appalling. God can not forbear much longer. Already his judgments are beginning to fall on some places, and soon his signal displeasure will be felt in other places.
There is to be, at this period, a series of events which will reveal that God is Master of the situation. The truth will be proclaimed in clear, unmistakable language. As a people, we must prepare the way of the Lord, under the overruling guidance of the Holy Spirit. The gospel is to be given in its purity. The stream of living water is to deepen and widen in its course. In all fields, nigh and afar off, men will be called from the plow and from the more common commercial business vocations that largely occupy the mind, and will be educated in connection with men of experience. As they learn to labor effectively, they will proclaim the truth with power. Through most wonderful workings of divine providence, mountains of difficulties will be removed, and cast into the sea. The message that means so much to the dwellers upon the earth, will be heard and understood. Men will know what is truth. Onward, and still onward the work will advance, until the whole earth shall have been warned. And then shall the end come.
The startling and stupendous events connected with the warning of the world are fraught with momentous results. The messengers who proclaim the truth for this time are laboring in co-operation with all the forces of heaven. In tender compassion God himself is speaking to an impenitent world through judgments; and he will continue to speak in this manner. For many years we have known that the great cities would be visited with divine judgments because of long-continued disobedience. In no uncertain words the Lord has warned us not to establish large institutions in the cities. “Out of the cities; out of the cities,”—this is the message that has often come to us. And this is one reason why the Lord has been opening the way so wonderfully for our publishing houses and sanitariums and schools to be located in country places.
The cities must be worked. The millions living in these congested centers are to hear the third angel’s message. This work should have been developed rapidly during the past few years. A beginning has been made, for which we praise God. Outpost centers are being established, from whence, like Enoch of old, our workers can visit the cities and do faithful service.
This was the burden of my message to the brethren and sisters assembled in conference at Los Angeles. On the morning of the San Francisco earthquake, April 18, the second day after the scene of falling buildings had passed before me, I spoke in the Carr Street church, and bore a decided testimony on the necessity of our doing all we can to acquaint the people with the teachings of God’s Word. I referred to the great work that must be done in the cities of our land, and of our inability to do this work by establishing institutions in the heart of these cities. We must learn to labor from outpost centers, and to place our dependence, not on buildings or display, but on the power of the Word of God. The Holy Spirit will impress the honest heart. Our dependence is in God.
“Out of the cities; out of the cities!”—this is the message the Lord has been giving me. The earthquakes will come; the floods will come; and we are not to establish ourselves in the wicked cities, where the enemy is served in every way, and where God is so often forgotten. The Lord desires that we shall have clear spiritual eyesight. We must be quick to discern the peril that would attend the establishment of institutions in these wicked cities. We must make wise plans to warn the cities, and at the same time live where we can shield our children and ourselves from the contaminating and demoralizing influences so prevalent in these places.
Since the San Francisco earthquake, many rumors have been current regarding statements I have made. Some have reported that while in Los Angeles, I claimed that I had predicted the San Francisco earthquake and fire, and that Los Angeles would be the next city to suffer. This is not true. The morning after the earthquake, I said no more than that “the earthquakes will come; the floods will come;” and that the Lord’s message to us is that we shall “not establish ourselves in the wicked cities.”
Not many years ago, a brother laboring in New York City published some very startling notices regarding the destruction of that city. I wrote immediately to the ones in charge of the work there, saying that it was not wise to publish such notices; that thus an excitement might be aroused which would result in a fanatical movement, hurting the cause of God. It is enough to present the truth of the Word of God to the people. Startling notices are detrimental to the progress of the work.8
Under date of Aug. 9, 1903, I further wrote regarding this sensational report:—
“How comes the word that I have declared that New York is to be swept away by a tidal wave? This I have never said. I have said, as I looked at the great buildings going up there, story after story, ‘What terrible scenes will take place when the Lord shall arise to shake terribly the earth! Then the words of Rev. 18: 1-3 will be fulfilled.’ The whole of the eighteenth chapter of Revelation is a warning of what is coming on the earth. But I have no light in particular in regard to what is coming on New York, only that I know that one day the great buildings there will be thrown down by the turning and overturning of God’s power. From the light given me, I know that destruction is in the world. One word from the Lord, one touch of his mighty power, and these massive structures will fall. Scenes will take place the fearfulness of which we can not imagine.
“But I have sent cautions to the brethren working in New York, saying that these flaming, terrifying notices should not be published. When my brethren go to extremes, it reacts on me, and I have to bear the reproach of being called a false prophet. . . .
“The destroying angels are to-day executing their commission. Death will come in all places. This is why I am so anxious for our cities to be warned. There is a work to be done by canvassing in our cities that has not yet been done. . . . The blessing of God rests on the workers who warn those that are unready to meet him. . . . Now is our time to work.”
For the past twenty years, and particularly since my return from Australia, I have borne a most decided testimony in favor of proclaiming the third angel’s message in the cities of America.
About thirty years ago, when my husband and I were planning for the building of a house of worship in San Francisco, some, when they saw the plan, said, “It is too large. The house will never be filled.” At the same time, we were erecting the first building of the Pacific Press and the meeting-house in Oakland. How great was the anxiety felt, and how earnest the prayers offered to God that he would open the way for the advancement of these enterprises!
At that time, I dreamed that I saw two beehives, one in San Francisco and one in Oakland. In the hive in Oakland, the bees were diligently at work. Then I looked at the hive in San Francisco, and saw very little being done. The hive in Oakland seemed to be far the more promising. After a time my attention was again called to the hive in San Francisco, and I saw that an entire change had taken place. Great activity was seen among the bees. They were earnestly at work.
When I related this dream, it was interpreted to mean that in San Francisco there was a great work to be done. There were among us at that time only a few men to whom we could look for large financial assistance. Believers were few in number, and we needed much courage and much faith to brace us for the work.
We prayed much in regard to the necessities of the cause and the meaning of the dream, and resolved to venture out in accordance with the light given. My husband and I decided to sell our property in Battle Creek, that we might use the proceeds in this work. We wrote to our brethren, “Sell everything we have in Battle Creek, and send us the money at once.” This was done, and we helped to build the churches in Oakland and San Francisco. And the Lord revealed to us that although at first the work in San Francisco would move slowly, yet it would make steady advancement, and San Francisco would become a great center. The Lord would inspire men by his Holy Spirit to carry forward the work with faith and courage and perseverance.
Before leaving Australia, I dreamed that I was standing before a large congregation in San Francisco; that the Lord gave me a message to bear, and freedom in bearing this message. The people had ears to hear, and hearts to understand.
Sabbath morning, Nov. 10, 1900, we entered the San Francisco church, and found it crowded to its utmost capacity. As I stood before the people, I thought of the dream and the instruction which had been given me so many years ago, and I was much encouraged. Looking at the people assembled, I felt that I could indeed say, The Lord has fulfilled his word.
During the past few years, the “beehive” in San Francisco has been indeed a busy one. Many lines of Christian effort have been carried forward by our brethren and sisters there. These included visiting the sick and destitute, finding homes for orphans, and work for the unemployed; nursing the sick, and teaching the truth from house to house; the distribution of literature, and the conducting of classes on healthful living and the care of the sick. A school for the children has been conducted in the basement of the Laguna Street meeting-house. For a time a working men’s home and medical mission was maintained. On Market Street, near the city hall, there were treatment rooms, operated as a branch of the St. Helena Sanitarium. In the same locality was a health food store. Nearer the center of the city, not far from the Call building, was conducted a vegetarian café, which was open six days in the week, and entirely closed on the Sabbath. Along the water front, ship mission work was carried on. At various times our ministers conducted meetings in large halls in the city. Thus the warning message was given by many.
I have carried a constant burden for our work in the large cities. Nearly two years after meeting with our brethren and sisters in the San Francisco church since my return to America, I wrote the following (Sept. 1, 1902):—
“The all-wise God is working on minds, leading men to see the advantage of getting away from the congested cities into the country. . . . It would be a mistake for us to purchase or erect large buildings in the cities of southern California for sanitarium work; and those who see advantages in doing this are not moving understandingly. A great work is to be done in preparing these cities to hear the gospel message; but this work is not to be done by fitting up in them large buildings for the carrying forward of some wonderful enterprise.
“Well-equipped tent-meetings should be held in the large cities, such as San Francisco; for not long hence these cities will suffer under the judgments of God. San Francisco and Oakland are becoming as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Lord will visit them in wrath.”
In this same manuscript, the opening of hygienic restaurants was mentioned as “a work that God would have done in the cities. If wisely conducted, these restaurants will become missionary centers.”
Some weeks later, Oct. 8, 1902, I wrote: “For years I have been given special light that we are not to center our work in the cities. The turmoil and confusion that fills these cities, the conditions brought about by the labor unions and the strikes, would prove a great hindrance to our work.”
Oct. 30, 1902: “To parents who are living in the cities, the Lord is sending the warning cry, Gather your children into your own houses; gather them away from those who are disregarding the commandments of God, who are teaching and practising evil. Get out of the cities as fast as possible. Parents can secure small homes in the country, with land for cultivation, where the children will not be surrounded with the corrupting influences of city life. God will help his people to find such homes outside the cities.”
Nov. 28, 1902: “A great work is to be done. I am instructed by the Spirit of God to say to those engaged in the Lord’s work, that the favorable time for our message to be carried to the cities has passed by; and this work has not been done. I feel a heavy burden that we shall now redeem the time.”
April 20, 1903: “The message of warning should be sounded in the large, wicked cities, such as San Francisco. San Francisco and Oakland are becoming as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Lord will visit them. Not far hence they will suffer under his judgments.”
June 20, 1903: “The judgments of God are in our land. The Lord is soon to come. In fire and flood and earthquake, he is warning the inhabitants of this earth of his soon approach. O that the people may know the time of their visitation!
“We have no time to lose. We must make more determined efforts to lead9the people of the world to see that the day of judgment is at hand. . . . O, if our people would feel as they should the responsibility resting upon them to give the last message of mercy to the world, what a wonderful work would be done! We need the impartation of the Holy Spirit, that we may realize how closely heavenly things are bound up with God’s church on this earth.”
June 3, 1903: “There are many with whom the Spirit of God is striving. The time of God’s destructive judgments is the time of mercy for those who have no opportunity to learn what is truth. Tenderly will the Lord look upon them. His heart of mercy is touched; his hand is still stretched out to save, while the door is closed to those who would not enter. Large numbers will be admitted who in these last days hear the truth for the first time. The Lord calls upon every believer to consecrate himself wholly to his service. All are to work for him, according to their several ability.”
Nov. 12, 1902: “The time is nearing when the great crisis in the history of the world will have come, when every movement in the government of God will be watched with intense interest and inexpressible apprehension. In quick succession the judgments of God will follow one another,—fire and flood and earthquakes, with war and bloodshed. Something great and decisive will soon of necessity take place.”
May 27, 1903: “The mercy of God is shown by his long forbearance. He is holding back his judgments, waiting for the message of warning to be sounded to all. There are many who have not yet heard the testing truths for this time. The last call of mercy is to be given more fully to our world. The truths of the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters of Revelation should be read and understood by all.”
April 9, 1903: “The divine statutes have been set aside. The time will soon come when God will vindicate his insulted authority. ‘The Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: and the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.’ ‘Who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?’”
No Room for Jesus
O PLODDING life! crowded so full
Of earthly toil and care;
The body's daily need receives
The first and last concern, and leaves
No room for Jesus there.
O busy brain! by night and day
Working, with patience rare,
Problems of worldly loss or gain,
Thinking till thought becomes a pain;
No room for Jesus there.
O throbbing heart! so quick to feel
In other's woes a share;
Yet human loves each power in thrall,
And sordid treasures fill it all;
No room for Jesus there.
O sinful soul! thus to debase
The being God doth spare;
Blood-bought, thou art no more thine own;
Heart, brain, life, all are his alone;
Make room for Jesus there.
Lest soon the bitter day shall come
When vain shall be thy prayer,
To find in Jesus' heart a place,
Forever closed the door of grace,
Thou'll find no entrance there.
— Christian Observer.
Shall Satan Succeed?
By H. F. KETRING
H. F. KETRING
“I SAW that Satan bade his angels lay their snares for those who were looking for Christ’s second appearing, and keeping all the commandments of God. Satan told his angels that the churches were asleep. He would increase his power and lying wonders, and he could hold them. ‘But,’ said he, ‘the sect of Sabbath-keepers we hate; they are continually working against us, and taking from us our subjects, to keep the hated law of God. Go, make the possessors of lands and money drunk with cares. If you can make them place their affections upon these things, we shall have them yet. They may profess what they please, only make them care more for money than for the success of Christ’s kingdom or the spread of the truths we hate. Present the world before them in the most attractive light, that they may love and idolize it. We must keep in our ranks all the means of which we can gain control. The more means the followers of Christ devote to his service, the more will they injure our kingdom by getting our subjects. . . . Discourage and dishearten their ministers; for we hate them. Present every plausible excuse to those who have means, lest they hand it out. Control the money matters if you can, and drive their ministers to want and distress. This will weaken their courage and zeal. Battle every inch of the ground. Make covetousness and love of earthly treasures the ruling traits of their character. As long as these traits rule, salvation and grace stand back. Crowd every attraction around them, and they will be surely ours. And not only are we sure of them, but their hateful influence will not be exercised to lead others to heaven. When any shall attempt to give, put within them a grudging disposition, that it may be sparingly.’—“Early Writings,” pages 128, 129.
It will be seen from the foregoing speech made by the prince of demons to his associates that the prime object of their campaign against the “Sabbath-keepers” is to cause their destruction. This he is determined to accomplish by making them care more for money and the pleasures of this world “than for the success of Christ’s kingdom.” He knows that when the traits of “covetousness and love of earthly treasures” rule, “salvation and grace stand back,” and he will “have them yet.”
Thus, upon this fourth of July, he is going to crowd the world in upon us, to get us to devote our means to worldly enjoyment, so that it may not be used to advance Christ’s kingdom and the truths that Satan hates. He is determined to control the money matters and “drive their ministers to want and distress.” The object of this is to “weaken their courage and zeal.”
While many of our ministers and workers have left their friends and comfortable homes in this country, and have gone to foreign lands, and are there deprived of many of the comforts of home, can it be possible that Satan will cause us so far to forget God’s cause and our dear brethren in other lands that we shall spend money unnecessarily, for mere selfish gratification? He says that if he is successful in this, he will have us yet.
O my brethren, shall we not deny ourselves these selfish pleasures, and encourage our families to do the same? God’s message is speeding to the ends of the earth. Almost every field is entered. Soon Jesus will come. O, let us who know this truth have a part in heralding his coming to a dying world!
South Lancaster, Mass.
Deceptive Statements
PERHAPS good men do not mean to be deceptive when they write as the editor of one of our exchanges did concerning the late Sunday-school lesson, the topic of which was “Jesus and the Sabbath.” The writer showed in detail how Jesus kept the Sabbath, quoting here and there from the New Testament, and discussing what acts and duties constitute Sabbath observance. He used the words Sabbath, Sunday, and Lord’s day as equivalents, confounding them, and leading his readers to think of them as one and the same. Among other things he said: “We have not, however, any right to defer such work to the Lord’s day if it can be done during the week. In many instances works of charity are deferred until the Lord’s day because no time will then be lost out of the week day’s business or pleasure.” Continuing the discussion with the evident purpose of transferring the thought of Jewish observance of the Sabbath to the present observance of Sunday, the writer said: “This reference will make quite clear to all readers how the apostles kept the Sabbath. Acts 20:7, with other familiar references, will show how the first day took the place of the Jewish Sabbath.” Referring to Acts 20:7, and adding “other familiar references,” etc., the writer perverts truth. Acts 20:7 is the only place in the book of Acts in which the first day of the week is mentioned in any way. It is mentioned but once in all the epistles. When, therefore, this writer intimates that there are “other familiar texts” which “show how the first day took the place of the Jewish Sabbath,” he misleads the uninformed reader, thus perverting the real facts in the case. If he has studied the Bible, even in a slight degree, he knows that there are no other familiar references, and that the New Testament nowhere even suggests, much less states, that the first day of the week took the place of the Sabbath, in either the teachings or practises of Christ or his apostles. It is a matter of sorrow, and of condemnation, when good men thus lead their readers astray, and thereby weaken themselves and the cause of truth and righteousness. If there be good ground for the observance of Sunday rather than the Sabbath, let that ground be plainly set forth. To assume that there are “similar references” which one writing upon so important a question does not take time to quote, thus giving the general reader the impression that authority exists where it is not, comes close to handling the Word of God deceitfully. Such perversion of a record in a court of justice would subject a witness to punishment. Are not Christian writers morally under oath to tell “nothing but the truth”?—The Sabbath Recorder.
Rising Every Time We Fall
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
Vegetarianism and the Simple Life
By L. A. S.
L. A. S.
ONE of the chief faults of modern civilized life, unquestionably, is that it has lost its simplicity. Simplicity of living leaves a person time to attend to and enjoy the real essential things of life, which promote intellectual and moral growth. But the intensely civilized life of to-day compels people to devote all their time to the incidental things,—eating and drinking and dressing, etc. Women are compelled to drudge in the kitchen, getting up a thousand and one different preparations for the table which might be dispensed with to the advantage of all concerned, and other heavy tributes of time and effort are levied by the god of fashion which rules the complex life of the day. In some “Confessions of a Vegetarian,” by the Rev. Charles M. Sheldon, printed in a recent issue of The Independent, he says on this point:—
“I recall with a feeling of shame the immense amount of work it put on my mother and sisters, the bill of fare we men demanded on our farm for breakfast. We thought we must have, and did have, beefsteak and potatoes, eggs, hot biscuit, coffee, griddle-cakes, molasses, apple sauce, and very often some kind of pie. Dinner was, in the language of the card table, several better than this, and supper was a resounding echo of breakfast. We had meat three times a day, and thought we could not live without it. It is a marvel to me now that we have any of us lived so long with it.”
Mr. Sheldon became a vegetarian long before the exposures regarding the unpalatable and dangerous character of meat foods, and has found such a diet to be very conducive to his welfare. He gives a description from his own experience on this point which is worth repeating. He says:—
“There was a man once who, when the dew was on his strawberry vines, and the wren that had her nest in the box-elder near his bedroom window had begun her morning thanks, arose and dressed him leisurely and strode out into his little garden at the back of his lot, and without losing any of the wren’s melody plucked him a bunch of radishes, cut a liberal supply of heads of tender lettuce, picked a pan of strawberries, and while in the garden took out of the soil several handfuls of young beets with their tops, and also picked a dish of green peas. Going back to the house, he picked over and washed the vegetables and berries, laying the peas and beets aside to be cooked for dinner. The radishes, lettuce, berries, together with a pitcher of milk and a plate of crackers or bread, went on the table. Breakfast was ready. There had been no banging of stove lids, no frantic stirring of the hot fire on a hot summer morning, no greasy odor of bacon or beefsteak pervading the house, no toilsome and lengthy preparation on the part of a flush-faced ‘hired girl’ to get ready coffee, steak, and hot biscuit for reluctant stomachs of people who are going to leave half the breakfast on their plates to be wasted or served up again in hash. The time this man used to get this breakfast ready was the time spent by the wren in her morning devotions, but it was enough. I could tell the name of this man and of this wren, but these confessions are already too personal.
“Not only do civilized people eat too much, but they spend twice the time necessary in getting food ready to eat. I do not see why my wife should be expected to spend more than half her lifetime planning meals and getting them on the table, or why another woman called the ‘help’ should spend three fourths her time in washing a multitude of dirty dishes and putting them back on the table to be dirtied again. The vegetable habit simplifies life. It helps us do other things besides get our meals. Ten minutes is time enough to get breakfast. Then we have leisure to eat slowly the little we have. The general American plan is to spend half an hour getting twice as much food on the table as the family needs, and then omit family prayers, and hurry through breakfast in fifteen minutes.
“If The Independent prints this article, I foresee trouble for myself. People are going to write to ask what the vegetarian does when he is invited out; when he is one of the victims at a banquet; when apples are two for a quarter in New York; when the frost has taken the peaches in Delaware, and the potato-bug has eaten all the invisible supply in Nebraska. These things do not trouble me. Most of my friends have enough on their tables besides meat to keep me from starving until I get home. If apples fail, I fall back on prunes. At most banquets there are radishes, celery, and olives. If potatoes are high, I can thrive on rice.
“Meanwhile I have the satisfaction of unusually good health, and the consciousness every day that, so far as I am concerned, no man need work in an abattoir, and the double satisfaction of the consciousness every day that, so far as I am concerned again, the beef trust can get nothing out of me.”
A Deceitful Medicine
In a recent issue of American Medicine, Nov. 18, 1905, Dr. T. D. Crothers states that for a long time all the leading authorities on therapeutics regarded alcohol as a valuable stimulant and tonic, and supported their claims by many exhaustive studies until it appeared that its therapeutic power was established beyond question. In small doses alcohol was said to be a tonic and stimulant, while in larger doses it depressed and lowered vitality. Modern research has failed to confirm this theory, but has indicated the action of alcohol to be that of an anesthetic and narcotic.
The studies of Professor Kraepelin, of the University of Heidelberg, showing the depressing action of spirits and its narcotic properties to cover up pain and discomfort, fully confirm the work of Richardson and others who, a few years ago, announced that alcohol must be considered a narcotic, and any medicinal action it had was entirely due to this power. The good results obtained in some of the clinical researches of the older physicians are now explained by the modern physician as due to this anesthetic and narcotic action. This kind of medication, like that from the use of opium, covers up the symptoms of pain and discomfort at the peril of injury to the metabolism and vitality of the body.
Within the last few years alcohol has become less and less popular as a drug in public hospitals, and where used has been11chiefly employed for external applications, as a bath in fevers. Formerly alcohol was thought to be very useful as a tonic for worn-out elderly persons. This theory is also rapidly passing away. Nearly all the old people's homes and hospitals for the aged have abandoned spirits as a tonic.
It seems to be a settled conviction that alcohol used medicinally or as a beverage is depressive and lowers vitality, lessening the oxygen-carrying properties of the blood corpuscles and increasing the waste of the system. Several authorities urge with great positiveness that the use of alcohol favors the growth of toxins and bacterial products in the body, by its disturbing action on nutrition.
Strange to say, in view of the above-mentioned facts, quite a large class of physicians continue to use alcohol as a stimulant, and in cases in which vitality is low, for the purpose of increasing the heart's action, and particularly in collapse. This practise has proved to be especially dangerous in many ways, notably in the collapsed condition of persons found on the street, and to whom spirits are given as heart stimulants. Should such collapse and coma be due to cerebral hemorrhage, the action of spirits on the heart would cause a sudden flow of blood through the arteries, thereby increasing the hemorrhage, and practically making a fatal condition that might have been overcome otherwise. . . .
One of the recent conclusions, which is confirmed by daily experience, is that alcohol, taken either as a drug or as a beverage, has cumulative action. The apparent good results are misleading, and the invalid who has taken spirits in moderation for a long time, with the belief that he is regaining health and vigor, is suddenly seized with acute inflammation of the lungs or kidneys, which he attributes to some trivial cause. A sclerotic (hardened) condition of the arteries, combined with a feeble heart action, culminates in a fatal issue. The inference is very clear that the connection between the continuous anesthetic and narcotic action of alcohol and the final collapse is far more intimate than we realize.
This every-day experience confirms, and it is seen in the low vitality and feeble power of resistance of all persons who use spirits either as a drug or as medicine. The mortality of moderate or excessive users of spirits is a well-known clinical fact. Constant anesthesia of the nerve-centers going on for a long time must inevitably result in organic changes. If this condition follows when its use began in health, its effects will be much more complete when used on diseased tissue and degenerative processes.
“In the exhaustion of old age,” says the author, “the dangerous prescription of alcohol in some form still continues to be given, and the results are always fatal. . . . I know of but one use of alcohol in the sick-room that is thoroughly scientific — that is its use, as a refrigerant, to cool off the skin in fevers.”—Current Literature.
The Pasture
By Susan Hartley Sweet
On the rough hillside far apart
From the gay city street
The pasture in green stillness lies,
A corner cool and sweet,
Where rosy thistles white and old
Grow ere the summer’s tale is told.
Where mullein-stalks like candles pale
Within the gray rocks shine;
The hardhack builds her crimson tower
Against the wall’s rough line;
The lady birch in silken ease
Whispers soft secrets to the bees.
Brooks that of woodland gossip know
Through clumps of sweet-fern trail,
And fill the blue-striped iris cups
Ere they rush down the dale.
The daisies with their broad, white breasts
Hide strawberries and sparrows’ nests.
At night the sheep-bells, tinkling soft,
Lull the green world to sleep;
The white stars crowd above the hill,
And watch while night is deep,
As tenderly as o’er the eaves
Of far, still homesteads deep in leaves.
Dame Nature’s household large and sweet,
Where all the beds are free,
There are no locks upon the door,
And quiet company
May rest in peace till from the sod
The skylark rises, praising God.