Millennium Guild pamphlets
AUTHOR: Freshel, Emarel
PUBLICATION: Pamphlets Distributed by The Millennium Guild, 1913-1940. University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections. Repository Identifier: Coll-1618/2/1/3/2/84. Index: https://archives.collections.ed.ac.uk/repositories/2/archival_objects/221211
The description of the collection is as follows:
A selection of pamphlets distributed by the Millennium Guild, New York which relate to animal welfare and promotes vegetarianism. Topics and titles of articles include
1. Address by Dr. Walter R. Hadwen, of England, Before the Millenium Guild (on the topic of vivisection) (2 copies) 2. How Snake and Lizard Skins are Obtained 3. The Cost of Skin 4. Peace on Earth, Good Will to All 5. Mark Twain on Vivisection 6. A True "Service" (vivisection) (2 copies) 7. The "Motif" of the Bible 8. Universal Peace is a Possibility Only When Man Evolves a True Sense of Rights of All Races, Human and Sub-human 9. Some Opinions of Eminent Physicians 10. "Why Do You Spit Upon Me? said the Glow-worm - "Why Do You Shine So?" said the Toad 11. From Plutarch's Essay on Flesh Eating 12. Verses for Meat-Eaters 13. As to "Humane Slaughter" 14. Romain Rolland on Flesh-Eating 15. Humane Education, World Peace Through Kindness 16. Furs 17. Tolstoy 18. John Cowper Powys on Vivisection 19. Anti-Vivisection and Meat-Eating 20. On Influence 21. Zoological Gardens, Etc. 22. Whose Guinea Pig? 23. On a Thoughtless Woman 24. "Mother Goose" - Is she a Good Guide 25. The Meat Fetish 26. The Vegetarian's Pets 27. Leonardo da Vinci 28. Our Indifference to Compassion.
The Millenium Guild was founded in 1912 by Emarel Freshel. The guild's object was "to promote by precept and example, a just consideration of the rights of all races, human and subhuman and to teach that foremost among the unnecessary evils of the world and one which underlies most of the other evils, is the mutilation and slaughter of our fellow creatures for food and other selfish ends and to set forth the physical and moral reasons why this is so.
KEYWORDS: animals, animal rights, animal welfare, food, ethical veganism
SUMMARY (Deborah Madsen)
"The 'Motif' of the Bible" (no date)
This is a reprint of Freshel's response, printed in the Boston Transcript, in reply to a letter attaching vegetarianism that was published in the same periodical. She points out that the same Biblical texts used to support meat-eating also promote slavery and polygamy which practises are illegal in the US. The claim that meat is an effective medical cure she contests by pointing out that many health professionals consider meat to the cause of illness not a cure. The biblical motif to which the title refers is love which, Freshel argues, informs the complete spirit of scripture.
"On Influence" (no date)
This one-page handbill addresses the unwillingness of those who have adopted a vegan diet to attempt to change the habits of others, even their children. Quotes the philosopher and sociologist Herbert Spenser, and also the poet and novelist John Oxenham to stress that influence is unaviodable because actions, gestures, and judgments all assert influence. The issue at stake is whether influence will be used for good or ill.
"Peace on Earth, Good Will to All" (no date)
This single-page handbill is an extract from "A Christmas Address" by M. R. L. Freshel that ironically contrasts the season of Christian love and peace with the violence perpetrated on animals, especially ducks and turkeys, for whom the Christmas season is a death sentence. Freshel describes the tortuous conditions in which such creatures are prepared for and transported to slaughter, and the lack of conscience on the part of humans whose bodies become the graveyards of these animals. She asks whether this carnage is divinely sanctioned, quoting Genesis and the Commandment that forbids killing, in comparison with her own vegan seasonal feast.
" 'Why Do You Spit Upon Me? said the Glow-worm - 'Why Do You Shine So?' said the Toad" (no date)
This pamphlet takes its title from one of Aesop's fables. In it, Freshel addresses the normalization of meat-eating and the suppression, by ridicule or silence, of historical texts that promote veganism, by such writers as Charles Darwin, Plutarch, and Romain Rolland (winner of the 1915 Novel Prize for Literature). Noting that the reluctance of veg*ns to convert others, she points out that the issue goes far beyond diet reaching to issues that are crucial on the global level: inter-species justice, refusal of the violent exploitation of sentient beings, and the right exercise of power. She concludes with a long list of veg*ns that includes individuals from diverse cultures and histrical moments.