The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1899-09-30
TO ENJOY LONG LIFE.
A Prescription Prepared BY Rev.
Dr.. Ialmage
ReIiEteu Wfn onset the D~tssipstisns
sad D~estroyers of Life-rhe
gospel a Chariot Tor
the LIVlng.

In this discourse DR.. Ialmage gives
prescriptions for the prOlongation Of
life and breaches the gospel Of physical
health. The text Is Psalms 81, ID, With
long life will l satisfy him"
Through the mistake Of us friends re-
llgion has been chiefly associated with
sick beds and g~rAyeyards The whole
subject TO many people is Odorous with
chlorine aud carbolic acid. There are
people who canno, pronounce the word
religion" without hearing in 1t the clip
ping chisel Of the iombstons cutter. II
is high time that this thing were
changed and that religion, Instead OF
being represented as q hearse TO carry
out the dead, should be represented as
a chariot in which the living are TO tri-
umph.
Religion, SO far from ~subtraeting
from ones vitality, is a glorious add-
ton. 1t IS sanative, curative, hygienie.
1t is good for the eyes, good for the
ears. good for the spleen. good for the
digestion, good for the nerves, good for
the muscles. When David in another
part Of the psalm prays that religion
may be dominant. he does not speak Of
it as a mild sickness OF an emacistion or
an attack Of moral and spiritual eramp.
He speaks of il as ~the saving health OF
all nations, while God in the textprom-
ises longevity I o the pious, saying;
with long life will l satisfy him" The
fact IS that men and women die too
1t is high time that religion
Joined the hand Of medical science in at
tempting TO improye~human longevity.
Adam lived $50 years; Methuselsh lived
so years. As late in the history Of the
world as Nespasian there were At one
time in his empire As people 135 years
old. So far down as the sixteenth een-
tury Peter Tartan died At is5 years Of
age. / do not say that religion will ever
take the race back 70 antediluyian lon
geyity. but l do say the length Of life
will be increased.
II is said in Isaiah: The child shall
die a hundred years old" Now, II, ae-
cording to Scripture. the child is TO be
a hundred years Old. may not the men
and women reach 10 300 and 400? The
fact is that we are mere dwaris and
skeletons compared with some Of the
generations that are TO come. Take
the African race They have been un-
der bondage for centuries. Give them
a chance, and they develop a Frederick
Douglass or a T~oussaint LOuverture.
And, II the white race shall be brought
from under the seridom Of sin, what
shall be the body. what shall be the
soule Religion has only jus; touched
our world. Give IL full power for a few
centuries. ami who can tell what viii be
the strength Of man and the beauty OF
women and the longevity OF alp
My design is TO show that practical re-
lgion is the friend OF long life. lproye
It first from the fact that IL makes the
care Of our health a positive Christian
duty. Whether We shall keep early OF
late hours. whether we shall take food
digestible or indigestible, whether there
shall be thorough or incomplete masti'
cation, are questions very often de.
ferredtothe realm OF whimsicallty. But
the Christian man lifts this whole prob
lem OF health into the accountable and
the Divine. lie says: God has given
me this body, and He has called 1t the
7 temple Of the Holy Ghost, and TO de
face its affairs or mar It's walls OF crum
BILE its pillars Is a God defying sacri
D lege." He secs Gods caligraphy II
every page, anatomical and phyzolog
zeal. Hesays: God has given me a won
derful body for noble purposeS"-thA'
arm with 81 curious bones-wielded b!
40 curious muscles and all under tn
brains ~telegraphy, $50 pounds Of bloc,
= rushing through the heart every hour
u the heart in "a hours beating 10000
o times, during the "a hours the lung
: taking in 81 hogsheads Of air, and al
this mechanism not more mighty thai
delicate and easily disturbed and de
molished. The Christian man SAYS I
Y himself: III / hurt my nerves, H. hur
my brain, II ! hurt any of my physics
faculties, / insult God and call for dir
retribution." Why did God tell the L.
yites not 10 offer to Him in sacrifice an
er mails Imnerfsct and diseased Ua mea,
20 tell rs in ali the aces that we are !,
10 offer TO God our very best physical col
rs dition, and a mar who through ire
ular or gluttonous eating ruins h
bs health is no, offering 70 God ,uch a sa
riAce WHY ala paul write for hi. clos
Al Troas? Wbv should inch = gre,
man as papl he anxiop, about a hi,
,e' a. insioniacant AZ an o-vercoato 7, ",
becsuse he kpew that with nneumon
and rheumatism he wopld not he wor
half a. much IN God and The church
with r~esnirat,on ss,v nnd loot Tree
An intelligent Christian man .wou
consider it an absurdity to kneel doy
at night and pray and ask Gods prot,
ton while at the same time he kept {
window Of his bedroom tight sh
40. against fresh air. He would Just as so
think Of going out on the bridge
au' tween New York and Brooklyn, lea
ing of and then praying to God to Ike
him from getting hurt. Just as long
you refer this whole subject Of physi,
health to the realm OF whimsical
nos ortothe pastry cook or 10 the butcher
arc TO the baker or 10 the spotbecary or
49, the clothier you are not acting lik'
Christian. Take care OF all your ply
'ee cal forces-nervous, muscular, DO
my brain, cellular tissue-for all you IN
rect be brought 10 judgment. Smoking y,
tive nervous system into Rdgets. burn.
are out the coating Of your stomach "
Il Of wine longwooded and strychnir
lus- walking with thin shoes 10 make y
,lete feet look delicate, %pinched at the vi
Until you are nigh cut In two and
thar mart worth ANYTHING proar
-, gioL haadaobe and nsinitstio,