By Mrs. E. G. White.

To secure the indulgence of appetite, Esau sacrificed his birthright. Afterward he saw his folly; but “when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.”

Esau represents a class who have a blessing of priceless value within their reach,–the immortal inheritance; life that is as enduring as the life of God, the Creator of the universe; happiness immeasurable, and an eternal weight of glory. Yet there are very many who have indulged appetite, passion, and inclination, so long that their power to discern and appreciate the value of eternal things is weakened. Esau had a strong desire for a particular article of food, and he had so long gratified self that he did not feel the necessity of turning from the tempting coveted dish.

He made no special effort to restrain his appetite, until that power bore down every other consideration, and controlled him, and he imagined he would suffer great inconvenience, and even death, if he could not have that particular dish. The more he thought upon it the more his desire strengthened, until his birthright, which was sacred, lost its value and its sacredness. He thought, Well, if I now sell it, I can easily buy it back again. He flattered himself that he could dispose of it at will, and buy it back at pleasure. When he sought to purchase it back, even at a great sacrifice on his part, he was not able to do so. He then bitterly repented his rashness, his folly, his madness. He looked the matter over on every side. He sought for repentance carefully and with tears. It was all in vain. He had despised the blessing, and the Lord removed it from him forever.

Some have thought that they could sacrifice the truth for a time to their worldly interests, without becoming entirely reckless, so that if they should be disappointed in their hopes and expectations of worldly gain, they could again interest themselves in the truth and become candidates for everlasting life. But in this they only deceive themselves. Under the parable of a great supper, our Saviour shows that many will choose the world above himself, and will as the result lose Heaven. The gracious invitation of our Saviour is slighted. The man in the parable had been to the trouble and expense of making a great preparation at an immense sacrifice, and then invited the guests to his feast. But they with one consent began to make excuse. One said, “I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it; I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them; I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.”

The Lord turns from the wealthy and world-loving, whose lands and oxen and wives were of so great value in their estimation as to outweigh the advantages they would gain by accepting the gracious invitation he had given them to eat of his supper. The master of the house was angry and turned from those who had thus insulted his bounty offered them, to a class who are not full, but are poor and hungry, and who are maimed and lame, halt and blind. These have not possessions of lands and houses, and will appreciate the bounties provided, and in return will render the master sincere gratitude, unfeigned love and devotion. But his house is not yet filled, and the command is, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled; for I say unto you that none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.” Here is a class rejected of God because they despised the invitation of the Master.

The Lord declared to Eli, “Them that honor me I will honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” Says Christ, “If any man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am there shall also my servant be; if any man serve me, him will my Father honor.” God will not be trifled with. Those who have the light and reject it, or neglect to walk in it, to them it will become darkness. An immense sacrifice was made on the part of God’s dear Son, that he might have power to rescue fallen man and exalt him to his own right hand, make him an heir of the world, and a possessor of the eternal weight of glory.

The riches, glory, and honor, offered by the Son of God, are of such infinite value that it is beyond the power of men or even angels to give any just idea of their worth, excellence, and magnificence. If men, plunged in sin and degradation, refuse these heavenly benefits, refuse a life of obedience, trample upon the gracious invitations of mercy, and choose the paltry things of earth because they are seen, and it is convenient for their present enjoyment to pursue a course of sin, Jesus will carry out the figure in the parable; such shall not taste of his glory; but the invitation will be extended to another class. Those who choose to make excuses, and continue in sin and conformity to the world, will be left to their idols. There will be a day when they will not beg to be excused. Not one will wish to be excused. When Christ shall come in his glory, and with the glory of his Father, and all the heavenly angels surrounding him, escorting him on his way, with voices of triumph, while strains of the most enchanting music fall upon the ear, all will then be interested; there will not then be one indifferent spectator.

Speculations will not then engross the soul. The miser’s piles of gold, which are before him, and which have feasted his eyes, will be no longer attractive. The palaces which the proud men of earth have erected, and which have been their idols, will be turned from with loathing and disgust. No one will then plead his lands, his oxen, or his wife that he has just married, as a reason why he should be excused from sharing the glory that bursts upon his astonished vision. All will want a share, but some will know that it is not for them.

They will then call, in earnest, agonizing prayer, for God to pass them not by. The kings, the mighty men, the lofty, the proud, the mean man, will bow together under an inexpressible load of woe; and heart-anguished prayers of Mercy! mercy! Save us from the wrath of an offended God! will be wrung from their lips. A voice answers them with terrible distinctness: “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh.”

Then kings and nobles, the mighty man, and the poor man, and the mean man, alike will cry most bitterly. They who in the days of their prosperity despised Christ and the humble ones who followed in his footsteps, men who would not humble their dignity to bow to Jesus Christ, who hated his despised cross, are now prostrate in the mire of the earth. Their greatness has all at once left them, and they do not hesitate to bow to the earth at the feet of the saints. They then realize with terrible bitterness that they are eating the fruit of their own way, and being filled with their own devices. In their supposed wisdom they turned away from the high, eternal reward, rejected the heavenly inducement for earthly gain. The glitter and tinsel of earth fascinated them, and in their supposed wisdom they became fools. They exulted in their worldly prosperity as though their advantages were so great that they could, through them, be recommended to God, and thus secure Heaven.

Money was their power, and money was their god; but their very prosperity destroyed them. They became fools in the eyes of God and his heavenly angels, while men of worldly ambition thought them wise. Now their supposed wisdom is all foolishness, and their prosperity their destruction. Again rings forth in shrieks of fearful, heart-rending anguish, “Rocks and mountains, fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?” To the caves of the earth they flee as a covert, but these fail to be a protection then.

Said Christ: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.” If this commandment is obeyed, it prepares the heart to obey the second, which is like unto it,–Love thy neighbor as thyself. All the ten commandments are embodied in these two specified. The first takes in the first four commandments, which show the duty of man to his Creator. The second takes in the last six, which show the duty of man to his fellow-man. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. They are two great arms sustaining all ten of the commandments, the first four and the last six. These must be strictly obeyed. “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Very many who profess to be Christ’s disciples will apparently pass along smoothly in this world, and men will regard them as upright, godly men, when they have a plague spot at the core, which taints their whole character, and corrupts their religious experience.

“Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” This forbids the taking advantage of our fellowmen in order to advantage ourselves. We are forbidden to wrong our neighbor in anything. We should not view the matter from the worldling’s standpoint. To deal with our fellow-men, in every instance, just as we would wish them to deal with us, is a rule we should apply to ourselves. God’s laws are to be obeyed to the letter. In all our intercourse and dealing with our fellow-men, whether believers, or unbelievers, this rule is to be applied: Love thy neighbor as thyself. Many who profess to be Christians will not bear the measurement of God on this point; but will be found wanting when weighed in the balances of the sanctuary. “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” What a promise is this. We should not lose sight of the fact that this promise is based upon obedience to a specific command. God calls upon all to separate from the world, and not to follow its practices or be conformed to it. “But be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”

God calls for separation from the world. Will we obey? Will we come out from among them, and remain separate and distinct from them? “For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?” No one can mingle with worldlings, partake of their spirit, and follow their example, and be at the same time a child of God. The Creator of the universe addresses his children as an affectionate Father. All who separate from the world in their affections, and remain free from its contaminations, will be adopted into the family of God, and made heirs of an immortal inheritance. In place of this world, he will give them the kingdom under the whole heaven, and life that is as enduring as eternity. 

If we would have his blessing attend us, and his presence to abide in our families, we must obey him, and do his will irrespective of losses or gains, or our own pleasure. We should not consult our desires, nor the approbation of worldlings, who know not God, and seek not to glorify him. If we walk contrary to God, he will walk contrary to us. If we have other gods before the Lord, our hearts will be turned away from serving the only true and living God, who requires the whole heart, the undivided affections. God requires all the heart, all the soul, all the mind, and all the strength. He will accept nothing short of this. No separation is allowed here. No half-hearted work will be accepted.

In order to render to God perfect service, we must have clear conceptions of his will. This will require us to use only healthful food, prepared in a simple manner, that the fine nerves of the brain be not injured, making it impossible for us to discern the value of the atonement, and the priceless worth of the cleansing blood of Christ. “Know ye not that they which run in a race, run all; but one receiveth the prize? So run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air. But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

If, for no higher object than a wreath or perishable crown as a reward of their ambition, men subjected themselves to temperance in all things, how much more should those who profess to be seeking, not only an unfading crown of immortal glory, but a life which is to endure as long as the throne of Jehovah, and riches that are eternal, honors which are imperishable, and an eternal weight of glory. Will not the inducements presented before those who are running in the Christian race, lead them to practice self-denial, and temperance in all things, that they may keep their animal propensities in subjection, keep under the body, control the lustful passions and appetites? Then can they be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

If the exceeding precious and glorious reward promised will not lead us to welcome greater privations, and endure greater self-denial than worldly men who are seeking merely a bauble of earth, a perishable laurel which brings honors from a few of the worldly, we are unworthy of everlasting life. With earnestness and intensity of desire to do the will of God, we should excel the zeal of those who are engaged in any other enterprise, to a degree as much greater as the value of the object we are seeking to attain is higher. The treasure we are striving to secure is imperishable, immortal, and all-glorious; while that which the worldling is in pursuit of endures but a day is fading and perishable, fleeting as the morning cloud.

We should let nothing obstruct our progress in the way to everlasting life. Our eternal interest is at stake. There must be a thorough work wrought in us, or we shall fail of Heaven. But Jesus invites us to make him our strength, our support. He will be to us a present help in every time of need. He will be as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. May it not be our great anxiety to succeed in this world; but may the burden of our souls be, How shall I secure the better world? What have I to do to be saved? In saving our own souls, we save others. In lifting ourselves, we lift others. In fastening our grasp upon the truth, and upon the throne of God, we aid others to fix their trembling faith upon the promises of God, and his eternal throne. The position all must come into, is to value salvation, dearer than earthly gain, to count everything but loss that they may win Christ. The consecration must be entire. God will admit of no reserve, of no divided sacrifice, no idol. All must die to self, and to the world. Then let us each renew our consecration to God daily. Everlasting life is worth a life-long, persevering, untiring effort.

appetite birthright blessing Creator of the universe Esau eternal weight of glory God happiness immortal inheritance inclination indulgence of appetite passion repentance

By Mrs. E. G. White.
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(Continued.)
                            health and happiness.

And why should not men do these things if the law forbidding them is abolished? No message from earth or Heaven can forcibly impress the intemperate and the licentious who are deluded with the theory that the law of ten commandments is abolished. Many professed ministers of Christ exhort the people to holiness of life, while they themselves yield to the power of appetite, and the defilement of tobacco. These teachers, who are leading the people to despise physical and moral law, will have a fearful record to meet by-and-by.

health, truth, and happiness, can never be advanced without an intelligent knowledge of, and full obedience to, the Law of God, and perfect faith in Jesus Christ. The Lord uses no other medium through which to reach the human heart. Many professed Christians acknowledge that in the use of tobacco they are indulging a filthy, expensive, and hurtful practice. But they excuse themselves by saying that the habit is formed, and they cannot overcome it. In this acknowledgment they yield homage to Satan, saying, by their actions, if not in words, that “although God is powerful, Satan has greater power.” By profession they say, “We are the servants of Jesus Christ,” while their works say that they yield subjection to Satan’s sway, because it costs them the least inconvenience. Is this overcoming as Christ overcame? or is it being overcome by temptation? And the above apology is urged by men in the ministry, who profess to be Christ’s ambassadors.

Many are the temptations and besetments on every side to ruin the prospects of young men, both for this world and the next. But the only path of safety is for young and old to live in strict conformity to the principles of physical and moral law. The path of obedience is the only path that leads to Heaven. Alcohol and tobacco inebriates would, at times, give any amount of money if they could by so doing overcome their appetite for these body-and-soul-destroying indulgences. And they who will not subject the appetites and passions to the control of reason, will indulge them at the expense of physical and moral obligations.

The victims of a depraved appetite, goaded on by Satan’s continual temptations, will seek indulgence at the expense of health and even life, and will go to the bar of God as self-murderers. Many have so long allowed habit to master them that they have become slaves to appetite. They have not the moral courage to persevere in self-denial, and to endure suffering for a time through restraint and denial of the taste, in order to master the vice. This class refuse to overcome as did their Redeemer. Did not Christ endure physical suffering and mental anguish on man’s account in the wilderness?

Many have so long allowed appetite and taste to control reason that they have not moral power to persevere in self-denial, and endure suffering for a time, until abused nature can take up her work, and healthy action be established in the system. Very many with perverted tastes, shrink at the thought of restricting their diet, and they continue their unhealthful indulgences. They are not willing to overcome as did their Redeemer.

What a scene of unexampled suffering was that fast of nearly six weeks, while Jesus was assailed with the fiercest temptations! How few can understand the love of God for the fallen race in that he withheld not his divine Son from taking upon him the humiliation of humanity! He gave up his dearly beloved to shame and agony, that he might bring many sons and daughters to glory.

When sinful man can discern the inexpressible love of God in giving his Son to die upon the cross, we shall better understand that it is infinite gain to overcome as Christ overcame. And we shall understand that it is eternal loss if we gain the whole world, with all its pleasure and glory, and yet lose the soul. Heaven is cheap enough at any cost.

On Jordan’s banks the voice from Heaven, attended by the manifestation from the excellent glory, proclaimed Christ to be the Son of the Eternal. Satan was to personally encounter the Head of the kingdom which he came to overthrow. If he failed, he knew that he was lost. Therefore, the power of his temptations was in accordance with the greatness of the object which he would lose or gain. For four thousand years, ever since the declaration was made to Adam that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head, he had been planning his manner of attack.

He put forth his strongest efforts to overcome Christ on the point of appetite at a time when he was enduring the keenest pangs of hunger. The victory gained was designed, not only to set an example to those who have fallen under the power of appetite, but to qualify the Redeemer for his special work of reaching to the very depths of human woe. By experiencing in himself the strength of Satan’s temptation, and of human sufferings and infirmities, he would know how to succor those who should put forth efforts to help themselves.

No amount of money can buy a single victory over the temptations of Satan. But that which money is valueless to obtain, which is integrity, determined effort, and moral power, will, through the name of Christ, obtain noble victories upon the point of appetite. What if the conflict should cost man even his life? What if the slaves to these vices do really die in the struggle to free themselves from the controlling power of appetite? they die in a good cause. And if the victory be gained at the cost of human life, it is not too dearly earned if the victor can come up in the first resurrection, and have the overcomer’s reward.

Everything, then, is gained. But life will not be sacrificed in the struggle to overcome depraved appetites. And it is a certainty that unless we do overcome as Christ overcame we cannot have a seat with him upon his throne. Those who in the face of light and truth destroy mental, moral, and physical health, by indulgence of any kind, will lose Heaven. They sacrifice their God-given powers to idols. God deserves and claims our first and highest thoughts and our holiest affections.

At an infinite cost, Christ our Redeemer has purchased every faculty and our very existence, and all our blessings in life have been purchased for us with the price of his blood. Shall we accept the blessings, and forget the claims of the Giver? Can any of us consent to follow our inclination, indulge appetites and passions, and live without God? Shall we eat and drink like the beast, and no more associate the thought of God with every good we enjoy than the dumb animals?

Those who make determined efforts in the name of the Conqueror to overcome every unnatural craving of appetite will not die in the conflict. In their efforts to control appetite, they are placing themselves in right relations to life, so that they may enjoy health and the favor of God, and have a right hold on the immortal life.

Thousands are continually selling physical, mental, and moral vigor for the pleasure of taste. Each of the faculties has its distinctive office, and yet they all have a mutual dependence upon each other. And if the balance is carefully preserved, they will be kept in harmonious action. Not one of these faculties can be valued by dollars and cents. And yet, for a good dinner, for alcohol, or tobacco, they are sold. And while paralyzed by the indulgence of appetite, Satan controls the mind, and leads to every species of crime and wickedness. God has enjoined upon us to preserve every faculty in healthful vigor, that we may have a clear sense of his requirements, and that we may perfect holiness in his fear.
                     (To be continued)

abolished appetite Christ earth faith happiness health Heaven holiness intelligent knowledge intemperate Jesus Christ law Law of God licentious life moral law obedience physical professed ministers teachers ten commandments tobacco truth

On the Subject of Life, Health, and Happiness,–No. 3.
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By Mrs. E. G. White
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Health is a great blessing, and can be secured only in obedience to natural law. Good health is necessary for the enjoyment of life. A calm, clear brain, and steady nerve, are dependent upon a well-balanced circulation of the blood. In order to have good blood, we must breathe well.

Mothers are accountable, in a great degree, for the health and lives of their children, and should become intelligent in regard to laws upon which life and health depend. Their work does not end here. They should carefully educate their children upon this subject, that they may, by obedience to nature’s laws, avoid disease, and secure health and happiness. It is not necessary that all mothers should teach their children all the details of physiology and anatomy. But they should avail themselves of all the means within their reach to give their children instruction relative to the simple principles of hygiene.

It is well that physiology is introduced into the common schools as a branch of education. All children should study it. It should be regarded as the basis of all educational effort. And then parents should see to it that practical hygiene be added. This will make their knowledge of physiology of practical benefit. Parents should teach their children by example that health is to be regarded as the chiefest earthly blessing. They cannot do this while the love of money and of display is made of greater consequence than the health of their children.

Mental and moral power is dependent upon the physical health. Children should be taught that all pleasures and indulgences are to be sacrificed which will interfere with health. If the children are taught self-denial and self-control, they will be far happier than if allowed to indulge their desires for pleasure and extravagance in dress.

The great burden of life with very many is, What shall I eat? What shall I drink? And wherewithal shall I be clothed? Many mothers indulge in pride, and in many things which are hurtful to the health of the body, in order to be in fashion. What deplorable lessons are they giving their children in this respect. They do not, by precept and example, educate their children to practice self-denial as a sacred duty, in order to possess health, serene tempers goodness, and true beauty. Good health, sound minds, and pure hearts, are not made of the first importance in households.

Many parents do not educate their children for usefulness and duty. They are indulged and petted, until self-denial to them becomes almost an impossibility. They are not taught that to make a success of Christian life, the development of sound minds in sound bodies is of the greatest importance. The dear children should be taught to flee every taint of sin. In order to do this, they must separate from the hurtful fashions of the world.

It is a sad fact that many, even professed Christians, make their pleasures, their amusements, the gratification of pride in dress, the gratification of appetite, almost everything; while the cross of Jesus Christ, and purity of heart and life, are left out of the question. God has claims upon them, but they do not, by their life, show that they have a sense of their duty to him. They acknowledge the claims of the world in their obedience to fashion. They devote time, service, and money, to its friendship, and, in so doing, prove themselves to be not the true friends of God. He demands of his people the first place in their hearts. He requires their best and holiest affections. The Christian religion invites, urges, and claims self-denial, and the bearing of the cross for Christ’s sake. And the soul’s interest should come first.

The world may clamor for our time and affections, fashion may invite our patronage; but the words of the apostle should be enough to lead Christian mothers from the indulgence of pride in dress and demoralizing amusements. “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?” “Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God.”

Christian mothers should take their position on the platform of truth and righteousness; and when urged to unite with the world in patronizing fashions which are health-destroying and demoralizing, they should answer, We are doing a great work, and can not be diverted from it. We are settling the question of our everlasting destiny. We are seeking to develop in our children, sound and worthy and beautiful characters, that they may bless the world with their influence, and have immortal beauty and glory in the world to come that will never fade. If children had such an example from their parents, it would have a saving influence upon their lives.

But it is a lamentable fact, that many professed Christian women, who are mothers, take the lead in patronizing the fashions, and those who make no pretensions to Christianity follow in the footsteps of professed Christians. Some who are in humble circumstances in life, in their efforts to keep pace with fashion, that they may retain their position in fashionable society, endure privation, and work far beyond their strength, that they may dress equal to the example given them by their more wealthy Christian sisters. Unless they can dress somewhat to compare with their more wealthy sisters, they have no desire to attend church, where there is such a display of costly adorning. The contrast is humiliating, say they, and they can only think of their humble dress.

The temptation is so strong before some to come up to the standard of fashion that they are sometimes led into dishonesty and theft to gain their desired object. Others sell their virtue, that they may have the means to decorate themselves for display. They see this is the great aim of life with many who profess to be righteous. Professed Christians, whose example thus proves a stumbling-block to their weak sisters, will have a fearful account to meet in the day of final reckoning. They have, by their example, opened a door of temptation to the inexperienced, who are charmed with the respect paid to those dressed in fashionable style, and they became so infatuated that they at last sold honor and virtue, woman’s greatest adornments, and sacrificed health and happiness for artificial decorations for display. I clip the following pointed remarks from the Marshall Statesman, under the caption of Fashionable Ruin:

“At a fashionable party in Fifth avenue, New York, a few evenings since, a beautiful young woman turned sharply upon an elderly dowager who was prosing about the Magdalens, and the hopelessness of doing anything for these ‘lost women,’ with the assertion: ‘I know a class more hopelessly lost than they. We fashionables, who murder time and squander money, and lead women to become Magdalens that they may dress like us, why does nobody send missionaries to us?’ The intensity of the utterance was eloquent of better possibilities. No doubt there are more ways than one of being lost. The sirens are not all of one class, or confined to one locality.”

The apostle presents the inward adorning, in contrast with the outward, and tells us what the great God values. The outward is corruptible. But the meek and quiet spirit, the development of a beautifully symmetrical character, will never decay. It is an adornment which is not perishable. In the sight of the Creator of everything that is valuable, lovely, and beautiful, it is declared to be of great price. “Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel. But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner, in the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands.” 1 Pet. 3: 3-5.

It is of the greatest importance that we, as Christian mothers, show, by precept and example, that we are cultivating that which the Monarch of the universe estimates of great value. In doing this, what an influence for good can we have upon our children; and how important we can make our lessons of instruction, that purity and holiness should be the great aim and object of their lives. The following should be read with attention:
                                  Dress.

     “Female loveliness never appears to so good advantage as when set off with simplicity of dress. No artist ever decks his angels with towering feathers and gaudy jewelry; and our dear human angels, if they will make good their title to that name, should carefully avoid ornaments, which properly belong to Indian squaws and African princesses. These tinselries may serve to give effect on the stage, on the ball-floor, but in daily life there is no substitute for the charm of simplicity. A vulgar taste is not to be disguised by gold or diamonds. The absence of a true taste and refinement of delicacy cannot be compensated for by the possession of the most princely fortune. Mind measures gold, but gold cannot measure mind.

“Through dress the mind may be read, as through the delicate tissues of the lettered page. A modest woman will dress modestly; a really refined and intellectual woman will bear the marks of careful selection and faultless taste.”

A great amount of time and money is squandered upon needless adornments. Many inventions have been sought out in extra puffings, tucks, and trimmings, which have a direct tendency to lessen vitality and shorten life. Almost every conceivable style of dress may be seen in crowded cities, and upon the great thoroughfares of travel. There are customs and styles in dress current now, that a few years ago would have been looked upon by Christians as monstrosities.

The corsets which are again being generally worn to compress the waist is one of the most serious features in woman’s dress. Health and life are being sacrificed to carry out a fashion that is devoid of real beauty and comfort. The compression of the waist weakens the muscles of the respiratory organs. It hinders the process of digestion. The heart, liver, lungs, spleen, and stomach, are crowded into a small compass, not allowing room for the healthful action of these organs.

     The following item is clipped from the Herald of Health:–

“A female servant died suddenly a short time since in the East. The doctor could not account for the death, and made a postmortem examination, which showed that the stomach had been reduced to the size of a child’s, and the heart pushed out of its proper place through tight-lacing.”

Where tight-lacing is practiced, the lower part of the chest has not room sufficient for action. The breathing, therefore, is confined to the upper portion of the lungs, where there is not sufficient room to carry on the work. But the lower part of the lungs should have the greatest freedom possible. The compression of the waist will not allow free action of the muscles.

Alcohol and tobacco pollute the blood of men, and thousands of lives are yearly sacrificed to these poisons. Confinement indoors, shut away from the glorious sunshine, and deprived of the invigorating air of heaven, improper eating, with wrong habits of dressing, corrupt the blood of women. The compression of the waist by tight-lacing prevents the waste matter from being thrown off through its natural channels. The most important of these is the lungs. In order for the lungs to do the work God designed, they must be left free, without the slightest compression. If the lungs are cramped they cannot develop; but their capacity will be diminished, making it impossible to take a sufficient inspiration of air. The abdominal muscles were designed to aid the lungs in their action. Where there is no compression of the lungs, the motion in full breathing will be observed to be mostly of the abdomen. When lacing prevents this, the breathing is restricted to the upper portion of the lungs. Women’s dress should be arranged so loosely upon the person, about the waist, that she can breath without the least obstruction. Her arms should be left perfectly free, that she may raise them above her head with ease.

By lacing, the internal organs of women are crowded out of their positions. There is scarcely a woman that is thoroughly healthy. The majority of women have numerous ailments. Many are troubled with weaknesses of most distressing nature. These fashionably dressed women cannot transmit good constitutions to their children. Some women have naturally small waists. But rather than regard such forms as beautiful, they should be viewed as defective. These wasp waists may have been transmitted to them from their mothers, as the result of their indulgence in the sinful practice of tight-lacing, and in consequence of imperfect breathing. Poor children born of these miserable slaves of fashion have diminished vitality, and are predisposed to take on disease. The impurities retained in the system in consequence of imperfect breathing are transmitted to their offspring.

Very many children are born with their blood tainted with scrofula through the wrong habits of the mother in her eating and dressing. The very many miscarriages that now occur may generally be traced to fashionable dress. Lacing causes displacements, and this character of disease is increasing with each successive generation. Many suffer years without making their condition known. They remain in ignorance of the causes of their difficulties, and endure sufferings, which it is impossible for language to express. Not a few women have strength sufficient to carry them through the period of child-bearing. Either her own life or that of her offspring is frequently sacrificed. If both live, she has not been able to give her offspring physical vitality sufficient to withstand accidents and prevailing epidemics. Any trifling cause may put out the feeble flame of existence. And the Christian mother tries to be resigned to her bereavement, which she believes to be in God’s special providence. But could she look back, and trace in her life the true cause, and be convinced that her living and dressing fashionably had put out of the life of her child, she might be wise, and repent of her murderous work.

The following excellent remarks are from The Household:

“The ordinary dress that men wear diminishes their breathing capacity one-fourth; and what woman wears her clothing so loose as that? I call a dress too tight that you hit when you draw in the fullest possible breath.

“‘But my waist is naturally slender,’ says one woman. She means that she has inherited small lungs. Her ancestors, more or less of them, compressed their lungs in the same way that we do, and it has become in her case a congenital deformity. This leads us to one of the worst aspects in the whole matter–the transmitted results of indulgence in this deadly vice. And it shows itself in diminished vitality and in liability to take on disease of many kinds. A mother may even make her child scrofulous by her imperfect breathing during the period of gestation, and many a mother does so. Almost all the reading public, very possibly all whose eyes fall upon these lines, and have been told again and again how the tightness of clothing about the waist and abdomen (please remember my definition of tightness) displaces the yielding viscera within, pressing them upward upon the lungs and downward upon pelvis, and produces directly or indirectly all the female complaints to which the generation is so largely subject. One medical writer declares that ‘this influence upon the organs in the lower part of the abdomen is so great that it furnishes to the medical profession nearly half its business,’ notwithstanding the fact that many women and young girls from native delicacy keep their sufferings to themselves. The very list of these complaints is alarming, and there is no question but the public at large, and even women themselves, have very little idea how much they suffer in this way from the effects of tight dress.

“Of course, in this form it does not end with the individual, unless she dies before marriage, or so utterly disables herself that she cannot bear children at all, which is not unfrequently the case. If not quite so bad as that, she is still often unable to complete her time, and the little one falls out of being from sheer lack of the vitality which the mother has not been able to give it. She cannot take nearly breath for one, much less for two. A large proportion of the alarming number of miscarriages in respectable society is directly due to tight dressing. I met a lady a few days since who would have been a beautiful and queenly woman but for this deformity (her waist was less than half the circumference of her shoulders), and I was not at all surprised to learn that a few months before she had come within a few minutes of death from this cause.

“In many cases where the child lives, it drags out a feeble existence, ready to be snatched away by any trifling accident, and the mother piously tries to be ‘resigned to the will of Providence.’ She never dreams that it was through any fault of hers. ‘I am perfectly healthy,’ said such a childless mother to me once, and then she went on with a list of the untoward circumstances that took away one little innocent after another, without a suspicion of the truth that if she had been ‘perfectly healthy’ she would have been able to give each child such vitality that it would have brushed aside these accidents as trifles lighter than air. I do not say that all such troubles arise from tight dressing, but I do say that so far as mothers are concerned, it is far the most prolific source of them.

“And this sort of thing will go on, I suppose, until our women acquaint themselves with practical physiology, so as to get some idea what it means to be ‘perfectly healthy.’ It will be absolutely  necessary, too, in order to make them comprehend intelligently the mischief of tight dress, that they should know something about individuality of the organs within, and the importance of keeping them in right places.”

Says the Western Rural: “I saw a young lady, not long since, dressed for a party. Her waist was incased in corsets, laced so tightly that she was absolutely deformed, still it wasn’t tight (of course not; it would be absurd to imagine it was ); and for fear of looking stout, she wore one thin skirt only. On remarking it, she demanded to know if one hadn’t a right to lace if she pleased. No, said I, emphatically, one has no right to entail misery upon her offspring, nor commit suicide, and then unjustly accuse the Lord of taking them out of the world.

“But what is the use of talking? Ignorance and folly go hand in hand, and stronger brains are wanted before we can hope for reform. The day after the party, the young lady mentioned was forced to wear her dress several inches looser than usual, was unable to take a full inspiration without experiencing a sharp pain in her side, and endured the torture throughout the day from pain in the chest; and I suppose the heroism which enabled her to endure it was sublime.”

“While on a tour west, we spent some hours in Chicago, at the Massasoit House. Several young ladies waited upon the table, and all of them were deformed by tight lacing. My husband’s hands could have spanned their waists. Their shoulders were broad, their hips were large. The artificial paddings over the chest, and the large appendages upon the back of the head, and upon the small of the back, made these girls appear anything but attractive. Their faces were pale, and they moved about languidly. There was nothing like sprightliness or gracefulness in their movements. Their vital organs were pressed in so small a compass that it was impossible for them to fill their lungs. They could not breathe naturally. They could only gasp. They could not walk naturally and gracefully. They wriggled in their walk, as though every step required an effort. Thought I, this is one of Dame Fashion’s tortures. And these poor girls adopt her inventions, although in so doing they appeared like fools going to the correction of stocks. Read what Good Health says of Corsets.

“Among the causes which prevent muscular exercise, the compression of the chest by corsets is the most remarkable. Where on the earth, or under the earth, or in the waters, or in the air, in things animate or inanimate, this fashion found its original model, unless it be in the venomous wasp, it would be hard to discover. Tradition insists that corsets were invented by a butcher of the thirteenth century, as a punishment for his wife. Finding nothing to stop her loquacity, he put a pair of stays on her to take away her breath, and so prevent her from going about and talking. This effectual punishment was inflicted by other cruel husbands, till at last there was scarcely a wife in all London who was not tied up in this manner. The punishment became so universal at last, that the ladies, in their defense, made a fashion of it, and so it has continued to the present time. The form given by corsets to the female chest is directly opposed to Grecian and Roman models of beauty.”–Health Reformer.

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