St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1885-06-06
uUzLEnszzszaMEza
NARCOTICS.
The Opium Habit, Hasheesh' the
Pipe and the Chew.
A sermon by Rev. DR.. Talmage on the
DeleterIous and Deplorabie Effects
of the Indulgence in Tobacco
and Kindred Vices.


n De Witt Talmage was: "Does the use
of tobacco cause cancerous and other
troublesgU The text was from Genesis l.,
il: "Let the earth bring forth grass and
herb-vielding seed.v DIR. Talmage said:
The first born of earth were the grass
blade and the herb. They preceded the
brute creation and the human family-the
grass for animal life, the herb for human
service. The cattle took possession OF its
inheritance, the grass blade, and man took
possession of his inheritance, the herb.
This herb we have for food in case of hum
ger, for narcotic in case of insomnia, for
anodyne under paroxysm of pain, or Tor
stimulus when the pulses flag under the
weight of disease. The caterer takes the
herb and serves it up in all delicac1es. me
physician takes the herb and compounds
it for physical reeuperation. Millions or
the human race take it for ruinous delecta-
ton of body and mind. The herb, divinely
created and for good purposes, in cases
without number is prostituted for evil re-
suits. There is lawful and unlawful use
of the herbaceous kingdom.
There sprang up in Yucatan on this con-
tinent herb which has bewitched the
world. It crossed the Atlantic Ocean IN
the fifteenth century and captured SPAIN
Then it captured Portugal, and then the
French ambassadors took it to Paris and it
captured the French Empire. Then Wal
ter Raleigh introduced it into England.
The botanists ascribe it to the genus n1co-
tiana; but you all know it as the inspiring,
the,elevating the imparadising, the radiat-
ing, the nerve shattering, the dyspepsia
breeding, and the health destroying to-
bacco. I shall not be extensively personal
while sneak on this subject, because you
all use it, or nearly all, Indeed, know
from personal experience how it soothes
and roseates the world and kindles social
ity and know what are it's baleful results.
l know what it is to be its slave, and,
thank God, know what it is to be it's con-
queror. have no expectation that will
persuade the great masses of you to change
your habits upon this subject, but thought
I might help you in some advice to your
children.
POISON.
You say: ssDidn't God make tobacco?"
Oh, yes. You say: "Isn't Gcd good?"
Oh, yes. You say: "Then God, when He
created tobacco, must have created it for
some good purpose" Oh, yes; it is good
for great many things-tobacco is. 1t is
good to kill moths in the wardrobe and
tick in sheep, and to strangulate all kinds
Of vermin, and to fumigate pestiferous
places, and, like all other poisons, God
created it for some particular use. So He
did henbane, so nux vomica, SO copperas,
so beTladonna, SO all those poisons which
He directly created or had man extract.
But the same God who made the poisons
also created us with common sense to
know how to use them and how not to use
them. "Oh," say some of my friends,
tdon't people use it without seeming harm
to themselves, and are there not cases of
plethora which absolutely need this deple-
tionW Oh, yes. Skillful and prudent ply
sicians have sometimes prescribed it, just
as they sometimes prescribe arsenic, and
they prescribe it well. There can be no
doubt about its being poisonous. There
was case reported in which little child
lay upon its mothers lap and drop from
her pipe fell on the chiId's lip, and it went
into commissions and into death. 'aBut,
you say, "don't people live on to old age
who indulge in this habit?n Yes; SO
have seen an inebriate seventy years old.
There are some persons who in spite of all
the outrages to their physical system live
on to old age. In the case of the man OF
the jug he lasted so long because he was
picked. In the case of the man of the
pipe he lasted so long because he was
turned into smoked liver.
But, my friends, what advice had we
better give to our young people? / say in
the first place, let us advise them to alb
stain from this habit, because all the medi-
cal fraternity of the United States and
Great Britain pronounce it the cause OF
widespread and terrific unhealth. DIR.
Agnew, DIR. Hamilton, DR.. Olcott, DR.
Barnes, DR.. Woodward, DR.. Rush, DR..
Hosaek, DIR. Harvey, DR.. Mott-all the
medical fraternity, allopathic, homeo-
pathie, hydropathic, eclectic-denounce
the habit, and warn the community
against it, One distinguished physician
says: 'This habit is the cause of seventy
different styles Of disease. This habit is
the cause of nearly all the cases Of cancer
of the mouth" What is the testimony OF
the late DR.. John G. Warren, of Boston
than whom there is no higher authority
He says: ''For more than thirty years
have been in the habit of inquiring of pa
tients who came to me with cancer of the
tongue and lips whether they used to-
bacco; if 50, whether they chewed Of
smoked, and if they have sometimes
answered in the negative as to the frs
question I can truly say that to the best o
my knowledge and belief such cases arr
exceptions to the general rule. When, a.
is usually the case, one side OF the tongu,
is affected with liberated cancer, it arises
from the habibual retention of the tobacc,
in contact with this part.n Their unitet