The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-06-23

III, dau oluCO III oihICChth
average Of human life has risef%
years to A, and 1t will continue to n
til the average Of human life will be 50,\
it will be go, and It will be 10, and q man
will have no right to die before 80, and the
prophecy of Isaiah will be literally fulfilled,
sand the child shall die 100 years old"
The millennium for the souls OF men will
be the millennium for the bodies OF men.
Sin done, disease will be done, the clergy
man and the physician getting through
with their work at the same time time.
But it seems to me that the most beauti-
full benediction Of the medical profession
has been dropped upon the poor. No ex-
cuse now for any ones not having scientific
attendance. ~Dispensaries and lnarmaries
everywhere, under the control of the best
doctors, some of them poorly paid. some OF
them not paid at all. Ahalf starved woman
comes out from the low tenement house
into the dispensary and unwraps the rags
from her babe, a bundle OF ulcers and rheum
and pustules, and over that little sufferer
bends the accumulated wisdom Of the ages,
from Esculapius down to last weeks
autopsy. In one dispensary in one year
$50, 900 prescriptions were issued. Why do
Ishow you what God has allowed this pro-
fession to do? Is 1t to stir up your vanity?
Oh, mol The day has gone by, for pompous
doctors, with conspicuous ~gold-headed
CouCS III pOmuOlOo "tSoy AiS USIS taS
accomplishments In the days when the bar
Der used to carry through the streets Of
London DR.. Brockelsby's wig, to the ad-
miration and awe Of the people, saying:
Make way! Here comes DR.. Brockelsby's
wig" No; I announce these things not
only to increase the appreciation OF laymen
in regard to the work Of physicians, but to
stir in the hearts Of the men Of the medical
profession a feeling Of gratitude to God
TINT thav hpva heaO allowed RI mt their
hand to such a magnificent work and that
they have been called into such illustrious
company. Have you never felt q spirit Of
gratitude for this opportunity Do you
not feel thankful now? Then, l am afraid,
doctor, you are not a Christian and that the
old proYerb which Christ quoted In his SER
mon may be appropriate to you, "Physi-
clan, heal myself"
Another reason why I think the medical
profession ought to be Christians Is be-
cause there are 80 many trials and annoy
ances in that profession that need positive
Christian solace. I know you have the
gratitude Of a great many good people, and
I know 1t must be a grand thing to walk in
diligently through the avenues OF human
life, and with anatomic skill poise yourself
on the nerves and ibers which cross and
recross this wonderful physical system. I
suppose o skilled eye can see more beauty
even in a malformation than an architect
can point out In any OF his structures,
though 1t be the very triumph Of arch and
plinth and abacus. But how many annoy
ances and trials the medical profession
have! DR.. Rush used to say In his valedic-
tory address to the students Of the medical
college: young gentlemen, have two pock-
ets-a small pocket and q big pocket; q
small pocket In which to put your fees, q
large pocket In which to put your annoy
apces."
In the first place the physician has no
Sabbath. Busy merchants and lawyers
and mechanics cannot afford to be sick
during the secular week. and so they nurse
themselves along with lozenges and hore-
hound candy until Sabbath morning comes,
and then they say, ~ must have q doctor"
Anfth spoils the Sabbath morning church
service for the physician. Besides that,
there are a graat many men who dine but
once q week with their families. During
the secular DAYS they take a hasty lunch at
the restaurant, and on the Sabbath they
make up for their six days abstinence by
especial gormandizing, which, before
night, makes their amazed digestive Or
gans cry out for q doctor. And that spells
the evening church service for the phys
ician.
Then they are annoyed by people coming
too late. Men wait until the last fortress
of physical strength Is taken and death
has dug around 1t the trench Of the grave,
and then they run for the doctor. The
slight fever which might have been cured
with q footbath has become ~virulent typhus,
and the hacking cough-killing pneumonia.
As though a captain should sink his ship
off ~Amagansett, and then put ashore In a
yawl, and then come to New York to the
marine Office and want to get his vessel In
sured. Too late for the ship, too late for
the patient.
Another reason why the medical profess
sion ought to be Christians is because there
opens before them such a grand field for
Christian usefulness. You see so many
people in pain, in trouble, In bereavement.
You ought to be the voice OF heaven to their
souls. Old DR.. GasherietDe Witt, a prac-
titioner Of New York, told me In his last
days, 81 always present the religion OF
Christ to my patients, either directly or in
able" brs' Abercrombie and Brown, OF
Scotland, brs. Hey and Fothergill OF Eng
land and DR.. Rush of our own country
were celebrated for their faithfulness in
that direction. ooh" says the medical
profession, "that IS your occupation.
That belongs to the clergy, not to u.s."
Ny brother, there are severe illnesses IN
which you will not admit even the clergy,
and that patients salvation will depend
Upon your faithfulness. With the medicine
for the body in one hand, the medicine for
the soul In the other, oh, what a chance.
There lies a dying Christian on the pillow.
You need to hold over him the lantern OF
the gospel until It's light streams across the
pathway Of the departing pilgrim, and you
need to cry into the dull ear OF death,
clark to the song Of heavens welcome
that comes stealing over the waters!'
There lies on the pillow a dying sinner.
All the morphine that you brought Wiz
you cannot quiet him. Terror In the face:
Terror in the heart. How he jerks himself
UP on one elbow and looks wildly into your
face and says: Doctor, I a die. an
not ready to die. What makes 1t 80 dark!
Doctor, can you pray?" Blessed for you
and blessed for him II then you can kneel
down and say: go God, I have done the
best I could to cure this mans body, n l
have failed. Now I commit to thee his
Door, suffering and a~f1righted soul. Open
Paradise to his departing spirit"
But I must close, for there may be SUI
fering men and women waiting IN your
Office. or on the hot pillow, wondering
why you don't come. But before you go,
O doctors, hear my prayer for your eternal
salvation. Blessed will be the reward IN
heaven 1Or the 1altulul CurlsIlau PnySf
clan. Som day, through overwork or from
bending over a patient and catching his
contagious breath, the doctor comes home,
and he lies down faint and sick. He Is too
weary to feel his W pulse or take the d.
agnosis OF his own complaint. He Is worn
out. The fact Is, his work on earth Is
ended. Tell those people in the office
there they need not wait any longer. The
doctor will never go there again. He has
written his last prescription for the allevia-
ton OF human pain. The people will run
UP his front steps and inquire, "How Is the
doctor to-day" All the sympathies OF the
~neighborhood will be aroused and there
will be many praYer5 that be who has