The Irish standard., 1896-12-19

|ECthuaeh,s MN t1s ob ion ~,
fessiori Ii after thrse days ttlhe lent
aid not recover. The Church did aome-
thing to make people cleanly, but beyond
that she ignored the medical fraternity
altogether. Il ..ssgs.
The medical profession is q very hon
sorabte and lucrative calling and in the
ranks Of medical men are found some Of
the brightest minds Of our time They
take high rank among men of science
and their influence is fest in other dee
partments than their own. 4.
But do they know they owe all their
high honors and influence to the Church?
She made medicine a science and saved
1T from the common ruin and disgrace
that overlook alchemy and necromancy.
Our Lord honored medical men. In His
constant and manifold dealings with the
sick He never uttered q word against
the uses of medicine as known and prac-
ticed in His time. He takes the charac-.
ter of a physician and answers the OBJ;
lection He places in the mouth OF q
critic, physician, cure tfyself." But He
endorses the whole medical faculty by
saying that those who are well need not
a physician. but those who are i'll" The
Church made the science Of medicine
one Of the chief branches taught in her
schools. The Medical Colleges attached
to the Universities Of Bologna. Of Paris,
OF Vienna and of Padua, were world ia
nous. In this she had to do battle with
ignorance and superstition. But the ig-
norant and superstitious in this case
were the physicians themselves. They
were the authors of amulets and charms
and superstitious drugs that were sup
posed to possess the power Of healing.
The balm of the medical profession in all
ages was quackery; and in establishing
her medical schools the Church did her
best to destroy quackery. The next OBJ
stacle to the progress Of medical science
was the impiety of physicians They
were generally in league with the devil.
This Is trouble which she experiences
even I'm our day. A certain class of med
ical men parade their intidelity: in q most
tantalizing manner. They are not con-
tent with the privilege Of unbelief, but
they claim the right to disturb and carp
at those who believe. The so-called SCI
ence Of the modern doctor upon close
analysis will be found very much like
the theories of the alchemist of old, with
this exception, that the latter. was real
student, while the former is well-fed
and lazy boaster. The world has lived
long enough to have discovered the gem
esis of the infidel Personal uncleanness
is the field in which the weeds of in
fidelity grow rank. France became in
fidel when she became baud. Germany
became inf1del when she ceased to put
locks on the doors of her womens cham
bers. In this country the infidel is gen.
orally the disguised roue. No wonder
the Church made the doctors go to con-
fession. It is pity they are not made to
go still. ::
The Church has always been a strong
believer in the medicinal properties Of
water and the efficacy of personal clean
illness as an agent Of health. She, in a
very early day, placed fonts at the
church doors that people might battle
their feet and hands before entering the
sacred edifice. The priest was made to
wash his hands before beginning the di-
vine mysteries. The publication Of the
soul from sin was typified by bath and.
in baptism the Christian was taught the
close efflnity between spiritual and cor
poral cleanliness. '"The clean of heart
shall see Cod" A dirty Christian was
hateful to her, but dirty doctor was an
abomination in her eyes. No wonder she
banished them, especially in hot weather.
The. Church has always believed that
God was the great physician. Our mod
ern doctors, like this DR.. Stewart, think
"He does not know a darned thing about
it." She believes In prayer. and en-
courages the sick to ask for health from
on high. God help them if they had to
rely on doctors alone. If we were to
say that they ''do not know a darned
thing. about it," we,eswould not be far
from the truth. Why do they use drugs?
Why do they. employ quinine and Gallo
mel and morphia and rhubarb and a
Thousand other things that are in the
pharmacopoeia? They find that they do
good. This is the modicum of empirical
knowledge that has grown on the weep
ing willows Of million grave-yards.
The best physicians of the age have CIV
en- up all faith in drugs and regard the
practice Of medicine almost q species OF
charlatanism. The science Of medicine
in our day is confined to chemistry and
hygiene. If the doctors Of today went to
a medical school before putting out their
single and went to confession regularly
afterwards. they would be better. ply
sicians and better men. IT this DR.. Stew
art would only turn from the ways that
have brought him to his present infdel
stand and adopt the different baths the
Church has prepared for dirty hearts,
fetid souls, and dead consciences, he