An Appeal to the Working Men and Women in the Ranks of Seventh-day Adventists

HYGIENIC BOOK FUND

White & wife, James,$200.00
Abbey, Ira,100.00
Hare, Jacob,100.00
Kellogg, H. W.,100.00
Root, E. H.,100.00
Palmer, D. R.,75.00
Abbey, Samuel I.,50.00
Butler, E. P.,50.00
Glascock, Eli,50.00
Grant, Newel,50.00
Landon, Betsey (tea and coffee money),50.00
Ward, Bro.,50.00
Bingham, Hiram,40.00
Lobdell, Edward,35.00
Andrews, M. C.,30.00
Byington, Catherine,25.00
Bradford, Mrs. Mary,25.00
Glascock, Fanny,25.00
Gargett, James,25.00
Harvey, James,25.00
Haskell, S. N.,25.00
Andrews, J. N.,20.00
Brackett, Theodore,20.00
Oreutt, N.,20.00
B.,15.00
Bailey, L. P.,10.00
Bradford, A. A.,10.00
E. M. M.,10.00
Fargo, Jerome,10.00
Gage, Wm. C.,10.00
Higley, E.,10.00
Kinne, P. Z.,10.00
Mears, Oliver,10.00
Rogers, Sanford,10.00
Russell, Chas. A.,10.00
Sawyer, Hannah,10.00
Van Deusen, Elam,10.00
Edmonds, M. M.,5.00
Fargo, R. C.,5.00
Haskell, Mary E.,5.00
Lane, Elbert,5.00
Lane, Ellen S.,5.00
McNeil, Charlotte,5.00
Martin, Henry,5.00
Palmer, A.,5.00
Shrivley, Maggie,5.00
Wheeler, Vernelia,5.00
West, Maria,5.00
Bowen, Addie,2.50
Bourdeau, Mrs. S. A.,2.00
Kynett, Wm. H.,2.00
Bramhall, L. A.,1.50
Trembley, M. C.,1.00
---------
$1,489.00

On the occasion of the S. D. A. General Conference, which held its annual session in this city, December, 30, 1871, a delegation from the several States of the earnest friends of the cause of health reform were invited to make the Institute their home during the period of their stay in the city, which was from one to two weeks. AWMW 138.1

Ample provisions were made by the Directors for the accommodation of all, and it seemed to be the highest pleasure of Physicians and Helpers to make all feel at home, and to make the occasion a happy one. AWMW 138.2

The opportunity for interchange of thought by those who had intelligently and conscientiously adopted the principles of the great health reformation was excellent, and each seemed to be delighted with the important facts in each other’s experience. And thus the time happily and profitably passed away. AWMW 138.3

New Year’s, by appointment, the ample Institute Hall was crowded with visitors and citizens, who listened to brief remarks relative to the origin and design of the Health Reform Institute, when the following platform was read, unanimously adopted, and the paper signed by more than one hundred friends of the cause. AWMW 139.1

“1. God, in the creation of man, established laws pertaining to both his moral and physical natures, which, had he always obeyed them, would have given him immunity from sickness, and would have perpetuated life. Sickness and suffering had their origin in the violation of these laws. AWMW 139.2

“2. As man cannot have eternal life without strict obedience to moral law, so he cannot have deliverance from the terrible bondage of sickness and premature death in this world without strict observance of physical law. AWMW 139.3

“3. The moral and physical natures of man are so intimately related that it is impossible to live in violation of either of these laws without doing violence to the other. Physical law, therefore, in its sphere, is as sacred and binding upon man as moral law. AWMW 139.4

“4. The gospel teaches that man should live healthfully as well as righteously. AWMW 139.5

“5. We recognize in nature the power to restore to health without the aid of medicines. The true Physician supplies conditions: Nature cures. AWMW 139.6

“6. Our materia medica: Good food, pure air, pure, soft water, light, heat, exercise, proper clothing, rest, sleep, moral and social influence. AWMW 139.7

“7. Our motto: Temperance in all things. Not only in eating, drinking, and in labor, but in everything that tends to exhaust the vitality of the system. AWMW 139.8

“8. It has been well said: ‘A contented mind is a continual feast.’ A well-founded trust in God is the best and surest promoter of cheerfulness of mind; and without this all other means may fail.” AWMW 140.1

With the extremes of those who are capable of taking no other than a narrow view of important subjects on the one hand, and the cry of “radicalism” by those who bend to popular practice, custom, and the indulgence of appetite, on the other hand, the friends and supporters of the HEALTH REFORMER and our Health Institute take their stand upon the above platform. AWMW 140.2

And while they gratefully acknowledge, and accept, the doctrine of Christian temperance, clearly set forth in the Sacred Scriptures, they recognize the providence of God in the scientific demonstrations of this great subject in the able writings of Graham, Trall, and others who have proved true to the principles they have espoused and taught. AWMW 140.3

The visiting friends, wishing to give a definite expression of their gratitude and confidence, presented the following paper, which was also signed by more than forty visiting friends who were present at that meeting: AWMW 140.4

“By the kindness of the Directors and managers of the Health Institute, we have enjoyed its hospitalities for a number of days, which has given us an opportunity of observing the good order, the quiet, and the neatness of this institution; the care manifested on the part of the Superintendent, Physicians, and Helpers, to have everything harmonious and right in every respect, the bounteous supply of purely hygienic food and good water, thorough ventilation of rooms, cheerful and pleasant surroundings, with its marked religious influence, and the entire absence of all frivolous, unseemly deportment, which is so often manifested where so many of all ages and both sexes are congregated. AWMW 140.5

“We heartily commend this Institution to all those who are in need of the recovery of their health, as a place to which they may safely resort, with the reasonable hope of receiving the best care and most skillful treatment; where they will not be imposed upon by exorbitant prices, or by being treated with neglect; where they will be sure to find all and everything pleasant and cheerful, and where they may expect to meet the blessing of God. AWMW 141.1

“We shall carry away from this Institute the most pleasant remembrances; and with this expression of our gratitude we leave the assurance that all who labor here in this blessed work shall have our encouragement, our sympathy, and our prayers.” AWMW 141.2

It was at this meeting that we introduced the matter of Hygienic Book Fund, passed round a paper for pledges, which not only met with success in promises of future payment, but several hundred dollars were then and there paid. And, although no general call has been made for donations to this fund, it has, without any effort of the kind, reached the sum of $1,489.00. With this good beginning we start off with courage, and full expectation of raising the Twenty Thousand Dollars mentioned on page 97. We invite the reader to turn back and read pages 94-97 again. After bringing the amount of money saved annually by Seventh Day Adventists, in adopting the health reform, down to one-third what we sincerely believe it to be, we find the respectable sum of One Hundred Thousand Dollars annually saved. Certainly a grateful people can do no less, and be clear before God, than to donate this sum to our Health Institute, and to our Hygienic Book Fund. Therefore it will not be regarded strange that we expect two-fifths only of one-half of this sum donated to the Hygienic Book Fund before January 1873. AWMW 141.3

We here take pleasure in calling especial attention to the liberal donation of sister Betsey Langdon (tea and coffee money), which she wished understood was a sum saved during a certain period by abstaining from the unnecessary and hurtful use of these slow poisons. Should all our people follow her example, and put into this fund only what they save each month in abstaining from tea, coffee, chewing, smoking and snuffing tobacco, with all such appurtenances as pipes, tobacco-boxes, and snuff-boxes, the sum annually that would come pouring into this Book Fund in behalf of health, and reform, would be at least five times the entire sum suggested. AWMW 142.1

We appeal in the name of reason and religion, and in behalf of besotted humanity, Let us follow sister Langdon’s example, and let the thank-offerings come pouring in from all directions, as tributes of true gratitude in view of our happy emancipation from the slavery of these poisons. At this date (May, 1872), a large edition of the most important work from the pen of Dr. Trall is in print. His essay on tobacco-using is a work for the time, and as a duty we owe to the chewing, smoking, snuffing thousands in each State of the Union, ten thousand copies of this work should be distributed in our country alone, each quarter. AWMW 142.2

And then we have a large edition ready of the doctor’s most brilliant effort in his scientific exposition of the Hygienic System, in contrast with the iniquitous practices of drugging. We regard his late work, entitled “The Hygienic System,” peculiarly adapted to the general reading public at this time, and well calculated to shake confidence in the several schools of drug-practice, and thus prepare the way for the reception of further light. God has given us as a people the great subject of health reform, not that we should treat it in a manner to disgust the people, but that it may be a sort of John Baptist to prepare the way for the greater light of the last message of mercy. AWMW 143.1

We hope, by the grace of God, to issue numerous tracts, pamphlets, and several bound volumes, on the subject of health, before the close of the present year, adapted to the wants of the people. AWMW 143.2