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Signing the Pledge
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a low tone, “You, both of you, are in the greatest danger of being
overcome upon the point of appetite. The work of reformation must
commence at your tables and then be carried out conscientiously in
every place under all and every circumstance. Your eternal destiny
depends upon the decision you now make. You both have strong
points of character and are weak in some directions. See what your
influence has done.” I saw the names of all who had refused to sign
written upon the back of the pledge....
Again he presented the paper and in an authoritative manner
said, “Sign this paper or resign your positions. Not only sign, but
upon your honor carry out your decisions. Be true to your princi-
ples. As God’s messenger I come to you and demand your names.
Neither of you have seen the necessity of health reform, but when
the plagues of God shall be all around you, you will then see the
principles of health reform and strict temperance in all things,—that
temperance alone is the foundation of all the graces that come from
God, the foundation of all victories to be gained. Refuse to sign this
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and you will never have another solicitation. You both need your
spirits humbled, softened, and let mercy, tender compassion, and
dutiful tenderness take the place of coarseness, harshness, set and
determined will to carry out your ideas at any cost”....
I thought, with trembling hands the names were given and the
entire thirty signed their names.
Then one of the most solemn addresses was given upon tem-
perance. The subject was taken up from the table. “Here,” said the
speaker, “is the appetite created for love of strong liquor. Appetite
and passion are the ruling sins of the age. Appetite, the way it is
indulged, influences the stomach and excites the animal propensi-
ties....
The stomach becomes diseased, then the appetite is morbid and
continually craving something to stimulate, something to ‘hit the
spot’! Some acquire the disgusting habit of tea and coffee, and go
still further using tobacco, which benumb the tender organs of the
stomach and lead them to crave something stronger than tobacco.
They go still further to the use of liquor.”—
Manuscript 7, 1874
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An Early Experience in Pledge Signing
—Monday morning,
June 2, 1879, while in attendance at a camp meeting held at Nevada,
Missouri, we assembled under the tent to attend the organization