Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-06-11

in. and since the sixteenth century the
average Of human life has risen from Is
wears to a. and il will continue 20 rise IN
al the average Of human life will be 50. aud
il will be- 60. aud Il will De- 20 aud a man
will have no right 90 die before 20. aud the
prophecy Of Isaiah viii he literally fulflled.
And the child shall die 100 years old. -
The millennium for the souls % men will
be- the millennium for the bodies Of men.
Sin done. disease will De- done the clergy
man and the physician getting through
with their work NJ the same time time.
But Il seems to me that the most beauti-
ful bcnediction Of the medical profession
has been dropped upon the poor. No ex-
cuse now for any ones not having scientific
attendance. Dispensarics and inlrmaries
everywhere, under the control Of the best
doctors, some OF them poorly paid. some Of
them not paid nj 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 pustulcs, and over that little sufferer
bends the accumulated wisdom Of the ages,
from Fsculapius down TO last weeks
autopsy. In one dispensary in one year
$50 600 prescriptions were issued. Why do
show you what God has allowed this pro-
tession to dog Is II to stir up your vanity?
oh, no! The day has gone by for pompous
doctors, with tconspicuous gold-headed
canes and powdered wigs, which were the
accomplishments in the DAYS when the bar
her used to carry through the streets of
London DR.. Brockelsby's wig, to the ad-
miration and awe OF the people, saving:
Make way! Here comes DIR. Brockelsbys
wig" No; | 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
that they have been allowed to put their
hand to such magnificent work and that
they have been called into such illustriOus
company. Have you never felt a spirit of
gratitude for this opportunity? Do you
not feel thankful now2 Then. am afraid,
doctor, you are not n Christian and that the
old proverb which Christ quoted in his SER
mon may be appropriate to you, "Physi-
elan, heal myself"
Another reason why think the medical
profession ought to be Christians is be-
cause there are so many trials and annoy
anccs in that profession that need positive
Christian solace. I know you have the
gratitude Of great many good people, and
| know it must be a grand thing to walk in
telligently through the avenues of human
life, and with anatomic skill poise yourself
ON the nerves and iibers which cross and
recross this wonderful physical system. |
suppose skilled eye can see more beauty
even in a mafOrmatiOn 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 peck
ets-a small pocket and a big pocket
small pocket in which to put your fees a
lu pAaLpt I'm NUbiph ~
anccs."
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, Il must have a doctor"
And that spols the sabbath morning church
service for the physician. Besides that,
there are graat many men who dine but
once a week with their families. During
the secular days they take hasty lunch Mt
the restaurant, and on the Sabbath they
make up for their six days abstinence by
especial gormandi2ing, which, before
night, makes their amazed digestive or
gans cry out for doctor. And that spoils
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 it the trench Of the grave,
and then they run for the doctor. The
slight fever which might have been cured
with foOthath 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 u
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.
Then there are many who always blame
the doctor because the people die, forget
ting the divine enactment, 1T is appointed
unto all men once to die" The father in
medicine who announced the fact that he
had discovered the art by which to make
men in this world immortal, himself died at
A years Of age, showing that immortality
was less than half century for him. Oh,
how easy it is when people die to cry out.
"Malpractce" Then the physician must
bear with all the whims, and the sophistries.
and the receptions, and the stratagems,
and the irritations Of the shattered nerves
and the beclouded brains of women, and
more especially with men who never know
how gracefully to be sick. and with their
salvated mouths curse the doctor, giving
him his dues, as they say-about the only
dues he will in that case collect. The last
bill that is paid is the doctors bill. 1t
seems so incohcrent for a restored patient
with ruddy cheeks and rotund form. to be
bothered with a bill charging him for old
calomel and jalap. The physicians Of this
country do more missionary work without
charge than all the other professionals put
together. From the concert room, from
the merry party, from the comfortable
couch on a cold night, when the thermOm-
eter is five degrees below zero, the doctor
must 90 right away-he always must 90
right away. To keep up under this nervous
strain. to go through this night work, to
bear all these annOyances, many physicians
have resOrted to strong drink and Persisted
Others have appealed to God for sympathy
and help and have lived, Which were the
wise doctors, judge ye?
Again, the medical profession ought to
be Christians because there are profess
sional exigencies when they need God
Asa's destruction by unblCsSed physicians
was warning. There are awful crises in
every medical practice when doctor ought
to know how to pray. All the hosts of ills
will sometimes hurl themselves on the
weak points of the physical organism, or
with equal ferocity will assault the entire
line of susceptibility to suffering. The
next dose of medicine will decide whether
or not the happy home shall be broken up.
Shall it be this medicine or that medicine?
God help the doctor! Between the five
drops and the ten drops may be the ques-
tiOn of life or death. Shall it be the five or
the ten drops? Be careful how you put that
knife through those delicate portions of the
body, for if it swing out of the way the
sixth part of an inch the patient pcrishes.
Under such circumstances q physician
needs not so much consultation with men
of his own calling rs he needs consultation
with that God who strung the nerves aud
built the cells and swung the crimson tide
through the arteries. You wonder why the
heart throbs. why it seems to Open ant
shut. There is no wonder about it. 1t is
Gods hand, shutting. opening shutting,
opening, on every heart. When a man
comes to doctor the eye, he ought to be in
communication with Him who said to the
blind, "Receive thy sight" When doctor
comes to treat paralytic arm, he ought to
be in communication with Him who said
"Stretch forth thy hand, and he stretched
| it forth" When a man comes to doctor
a bad case Of hemorrhage, he needs to be in
| an nj ant ton, with ,hn