The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1880-08-26
Carried Safely; Throush.

Il. - .OAG11HHeE ~ Sx0v1v0S III Ol0 0ppec
tito, or Of creating . new ono, by ad-
:: ninisteffing Alcoholic drinks tosick per-
sons has led many conscientious medical
9mento abandon the practice. .4tfss.#s @',afs
81 In the following case is an instance
where q patient with the assent and
sympathy Of his physician, refused
STRONG drink to the very verge, a death.
Trusting in God he fought his battle
through, and conquered. The facts are
condensed from q narrative in . recent
address Of =, member Of the Women's
Christian Temperance Union. ..
A reformed drunkard, after sixteen
years Of faithful adherence to his pledge,
was attacked with pyzn,ia, or decay OF
the blood, probably the slow growth Of
seeds sown during his early excesses.
l. The physician who WAS called to him
was well aware that wine and malt IL
quors were always prescribed in such
cases, but he shrunk from the RESPONSE
biity Of possibly making the man o
drunkard sgain-d he recovered.
The disease is almost incurable, under
any treatment. He frankly told his pa
tient 80, and submitted to him the ques-
ton Of the remedies. The patient re-
ferred it back to him. -: Il 10
"With q wife. and nine children de-
pendent on me, he said, ~ do not wish
to die; but, doctor, my children know
nothing about strong drink. u" -
The physician was in q distressing
dilemma. To withhold the liquors, and
probably lose his patient, seemed almost
like committing crime against ahuman
life. To prescribe them, and save his
patient would probably only insure the
mans slower ruin. !:
The physician was q Christian man.
He asked for guidance from Him in
whose hands are the lives Of all men, and
decided at last to dispense with all aloo-
holic stimulants, and use only ample
nutrients and oo1rectives. II he could
not restore the mans health, he would
do nothing to injure his soul.
The patient, who was also follower
OF Christ, grew weaker every day, but
his faith in his physician, and his faith
in his Savior, were touching to see.
Week after week he 10y helpless on his
bed, praying alternately for life, for his
family, and for resignation. Bnt all the
time the thought that he was free from
the poison that he hated for the harm it
had done him gave him joy.
"Thank God" he would nay, "if
die, I shall go into Gods presence q
sober man."
At last his friends 1nterfered, and IN;
sisted that he should take wine. 1t was
the only thing that would revive him,
they said, for he was almost gone. But
he replied:
"No, no; If this is the passage from
lite to death, I am happy: Once was
dying drunkard, and that was misery
unspeakable."
His wife entreated him with tears, but
even she could not move him.
"Take the wine away" he whispered,
pointing to it with his feeble finger.
1T nearly lost me heaven once. Take
it awayr
By-and-by the crisis came. The ply
sician in despair wrote what he believed
to he his last prescription, ordered care
full nursing and went awayA The patient
lay scarcely breathing, his attentive
watcher leaning over him, with fingers
on his pulse. The pulse began to grow
stronger; the breathing became deeper
and more regular. The weeping family
in the next room waited for the closing
scene. They heard strange sound and
flushed to the sufferers bedside. The
poor man had opened his eyes and was
trying to sing
Praise God, from whom al b'essings dow.
The crisis seemed to be passed, and
the gladness with which wife and chill
dren joined in that thanksgiving must
hove made itself heard in heaven.
The man got well, and that physician
will always believe that his recovery was
due to the fidelity and Christian trust
which enabled him to keep his pledge
through trial such as few men would
care to encounter.