Never can the proper education be given to the youth in this country, or any other country, unless they are separated a wide distance from the cities. The customs and practices in the cities unfit the minds of the youth for the entrance of truth. The liquor-drinking, the smoking and gambling, the horse racing, the theater going, the great importance placed upon holidays,—are all a species of idolatry, a sacrifice upon idol altars. If people conscientiously attend to their lawful business upon the holidays, they are regarded as mean-spirited and unpatriotic. The Lord cannot be served in this way. Those who multiply the days for pleasure and amusement are really giving patronage to liquor-sellers, and are taking from the poor the very means that should purchase food and clothing for their children, the very means that, used economically, would soon provide a dwelling place for their families. These evils we can only touch upon. (FE 312.1) MC VC

It is not the correct plan to locate school buildings where the students will have constantly before their eyes the erroneous practices that have molded their education during their lifetime, be it longer or shorter. These holidays, with all their train of evil, result in twentyfold more misery than good. In a large degree the observance of these days is really compulsory. Even persons who have been truly converted find it difficult to break away from these customs and practices. Should schools be located in the cities or within a few miles from them, it would be most difficult to counteract the influence of the former education which students have received in regard to these holidays and the practices connected with them, such as horse racing, betting, and the offering of prizes. The very atmosphere of these cities is full of poisonous malaria. The freedom of individual action is not respected; a man’s time is not regarded as really his own; he is expected to do as others do. Should our school be located in one of these cities, or within a few miles of it, there would be a counterworking influence constantly in active exercise to be met and overcome. The devotion to amusements and the observance of so many holidays, give a large business to the courts, to officers and judges, and increase the poverty and squalor that need no increasing. (FE 312.2) MC VC