Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1884-05-10
Opium ns Hindropce 10 III Progress oJ
fhristianitn IN OHM.

] comparisons, mGniy complimentary 10 thc
japanese, but quite dispanging TO the people
Of China, have been instituted again and again
by outsiders as to the adoption Of foreign in.
yentions and the success Of missions in the
two empires, few persons taking into consider
alton the chief reason for the striking differ
cuce which exists. II is not that fewer forms
Of idolalory and superstition prevail in Japan, |
Tor the false gods OF that nation are numbered 1
10y the million-it IS not that less immortality !
is found there, or that deceit and ialsehood are
less inherent to the japanese nature. The |
policy Of exclusivencss which the Chinese
Government has always maintained is indeed
great barrier to the ready adoption Of foreign
customs and belief, but the japanese, until
within comparatively few years have pre-
served more rigid exclusivencss even than
their Chinese ncighhor. As late as 1897.
they passed law procaiming that so long
as the sun shall shine no foreigner shall touch
, the soil OF Japan, and no native shall leave
the county under pain Of death" The magni.
tude Of the Chinese nation and It's immense
extent Of territory must, Of course, hinder the
people from being as readily Influenced 10
embrace Christianity and the customs Of west
ern nations as are The people Of Japan
The volatile and impressible nature Of the
Japanese inclines them more readily to adopt
innovations Of all kinds, but the thoughtful
observer cannot fail to perceive that the para
: mount cause for the difference in the progress.
siveness Of the two nations is comprised in
that one fateful word-opium.
, China is saturated with the liquid poison, a"
as they term it., "that black dew Of hell, - as
the poet has it, and its use so "enieeblcs the
body, dwarfs the intellect, and deadens the
f moral sense Of the victims Of the drug that
missionary, though endowed with the burn.
ing zeal Of a seraph, would hardly succeed in
rousng them TO a realizing sense Of their con-
dition.
The opium traffic, also, and its immoral his
u tory have, even more than the vice of opium
smoking, hindered the progress Of the gospel
d in China, and it will require more centuries
q than one to disabuse the Chinese mind Of the
inveterate prejudice against white foreigners
}. which the iniquitous trade has engcndered and
fostered.
IN In Japan, on the contrary opium. smoking is
:. almost unknown, and no hatred and dis,rust OF
d foreigners have been excited there by having
CT poisonous drug forced into the country at the
point OF the bayonct.
Attempts have been made in various quar-.
. tiers, even by persons skilled in medical
science, to prove that opium. smoking was not,
on the whole, dcleterious TO the human system,
and that representations of ITS evil effects had
. been greatly exaggerated. But missionaries &c
China, who, more than any other class o
people, have been familiarzcd with the dis
lis as,rous consequences resulting from the use o
I'd the drug, unite in denouncing it as terribl,
h. curse-a curse physically, a curse morally, anc
ne a curse socially. Its fascinating power is IA
r. greater than that of alcohol. OF those whc
he commence making of the drug, scarcely
e. one in hundred escapes utter ruin. A Frencl
gentleman who had seen much Of its ravage
=, in China. says, 81 do not believe that man
:; kind has ever known a more terrible scourge,
- Another writer remarks that "for seductive
L ness, immeasurabc agony and appalling ruin
-, the world has yet to see its parallel" Tn
:, account given by traveller in China of al
l.. aged opium smoker, wealthy Chinese gentle
man. robed in silks and satins, who was
elbow voyager in a native boat, affords vivi'
ITS picture Of the mental and physical condition
m OF the individual who has become enslaved b,
ng the habit. His craving for the stimulant wa
he so great that, 10 resist it, even during til
at, hours Of sleep, was beyond his feeble power
n n t,ayaltav f,e
ok and often, when happening TO awake, say
the miserable mans opium lamp burning an
!, could smell the sickening fumes OF the drug
The mans form was thin and emaciated, HI
:, cheek pale and haggard, and his skin had thu
peculiar classy polish by which the victims
:, the poison always betray themselves, Ii
days were evidently numbered, and yet tn
-, man tried to convince himself and others thi
he was smoking incidentally, and that IL
use OF opium was Indispensable TO his healtl
the The sery which this vice brings into famili'
'ns is Undesirable.
ION One of my neighbors in China, whose hu:
tn band was an inveterate smoker, was at OF
~ time overjoyed To learn that, through III
ID" agency of Christian friend, he had been il
10" duced to abandon the habit. But her happ
ness was OF short duration. In three month
rye time the mans craving for the drug owe
red powered him, and he resumed his pipe, plum,
ow ing his wife and children again into pover
ON and disgrace. The poor woman, IN she
hey despair attempted suicide by hanging, and WI
of rescued only at the last moment.
I'M To millions Of men in China, opium is dea
mi. run any risk and defy any law, human or d
mill vine, rather than be deprived Of the covete
n narcotic. 1t is doubtless true that shalt Il
Of crimes in the land have their origin in its use
h. The last Missionary Herald cites the ca
lam Of young man. the only son Of his wdows
,,n mother who had been an opium smoker Il
only five years, yet having spent all his mon'
died Of lack Of bread and Of opium. "Coff
mas less. with no covering but a strip of coai
OK, mating, and borne by the ragged opiu
IVY, smokers, evidently hurrying to the same drea
mes full doom, he was followed to his wretche
; j. lgrave by only one mourner, his weepir
me, mother. This is but one of myriads OF cas-
MIR. Of death by opium, in poor SHINING, suiierir
ED, China"
What an unproductive soil is family life svc
as this for the growth Of gospel Truth
All sense Of right and wrong is oblilerat,
off from the mind OF the besoited husband al
aalo father, and the wife and children, descendiI
In as thew are constantly doinp from one den