The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1874-09-24
STRoUDsBURG, MONROE COUNTY, PA, SEPTEMBER "a 1874

| ffuencc Of opium do not generally reel down
the streets, but confine themselves to a
quiet siesta in the solitary recesses of their
chambers, or, like Mr. John Jasper, visit
some priestcss Of the delightful art in the
recesses ofa back alley, it is extremely DIFF
ficult to detect its presence or organize a
crusade for its prevention.
y man or woman may 90 on using opium
without apparent injury to health for a
very long period, and it takes Il very close
| observer, indeed to detect its hidden pre-
! sence, even in habitual devotec There
IS, however, no slavery equal to it. 1t
binds the appetite, demoralzes the soul,
and destroys the body more than any pas
sion or taste known to the sane mind
Once a victim to its seductive influence. the
poor creature who has permitted himself
to fall can no more regain his or her liber-
ty than can the sufferer from nightmare
escape the yawning precipice.
The confessions of De Quincy give some
faint idea of its absorbing power, and even
his strong intellect was scarcely proof
against its tenacious clutch, The drunkard
may reform, the memory Of the last de
bauch may sicken on his soul, but the
dreamer who fills the air with the de-
lightful phantoms of opium returns to his.
unhealthy rapture with new desire, al
though, in the end, with palsied pleasure.
The victim of this distressing disease. for
it is a disease, are now so numerous as to
occasion serious alarm for the future men
tai and physical strength of our people
In its ranks are to be found men ofnote
and women Of acknowledged charms and
ability-clcrgymen, doctors, lawyers, liter
ary people, with men and women of all de-
nominations and classes. The brilliant SER
mon the thrilling story, the melting poem,
are far oftener the results Of opium than
people are apt to suppose. And being so
far an intellectual stimulant rather than an
animal one, it is the more difficult to reach
and to detect.
Many confirmed opium caters date their
there can be no doubt that the internal adj
niinstration Of this insidious drug is at all
times attended with danger. 1t soothes
pain, it brings temporary relief. it Iulls to
sleep and fills the Imagination with unna-
tural forms and shapes Of beauty. 1t is a
strong stimulant, and under It's influences
the poet creates his fabrics of vision, and
the orator his castles of airy rhetoric
The regular opium eater is generally of
sallow complexion when animated the
eyes are brilliant, the conversation spark
ling, and the spirits unnaturally high when
suffering from a reaction or a want of the
flyorite restorative, the skin is yellow, the
eyes are sunkcn, with a dark shadow be-
meath the lover lids; the general manner
moody and depressed, and no horror, it is
said can equal the gnawing hunger which
longs for its accustomed dose The We
tcran opium eater generally becomes a me
lancholy wreck His mind cannot be called
sane, because a distorted vision has sup
planted truth and reality.
With women, opium generally leads to
a lunatic asylum. Men may stand its de
letcrious effects for years but sooner or la
ter it claims its price. 1t is an evil which,
to naturally excited people, is iraught
with consequences the most serious and
alarming. 1t would seem in the United
States that we have u fatualty for picking
up the vices Of foreign lands and reycling
in them. One of the worst is opium. 1t
is time that a second crusade. more serious
than the first, was opened, and that this
vice should be dragged from It's hiding
place and shown forth in all It's glittcring
and mePhistophelian light