Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1903-01-31


for the Good Physician, who at Laza-
rus tomb called the dead back to life.
Medicines Chief Triumphs.
But the purpose Of the medical pro-
fesson is not only to make the sick
well, but also to prevent the well from
getting sick We are all ready to agree
that the chief duty Of the good lawyer
Is to keep his clients out of court. Why
should we not he ready to confess that
the chief purpose of the doctor is to
keep his patients as long as possible
out of the hospital and the sickroom?
That the chief triumphs Of the med
ical profession have been won during
the last century in the prevention Of
disease rather than In the cure there is
no doubt How have tie great plaques
which used tO-sweep over Europe been
halted? by the power of the sword?
No. BY the power Of the bacteriol-
ogist's microscope and the physician's
pen. Dr. Earle, leading professor In
the Chicago College Of Physicians and
Surgeons. told me that when he first
commenced his practice in Chicago 30
per cent of all his patients sicknesses
were due to bad water and poor drain
age. With the improvement Of Chica-
COS drainage system that 30 per cent
of sickness is being gradually eliminat-
ed. Why is the longevity of the hu-
man race being increased year by Year,
Because people do not work as hard as
they used to work? Oh, no! An aver
age man today goes through more hard
work and nerve exhaustion and excite
ment in week than his grandfather
did in Il whole year. The longevity
of the human race is increasing in
spite of the strenuous life we lead. 1t
is increasing because the DOCTOR year
by year, is telling us how to eat, how
to dress and in what kind Of houses we
should live.
Young man about to enter the medical
profession. you are soon to be one OF
the great band of teachers of physical
hygiene. Can you not be a leader in
spiritual hygiene also? Your calling
opens for you the door of many homes.
1t not only opens for you the front
door. but also the closet door, In which
hang the beached bones Of a family
skeleton. You are to be the recipient
of the hearts secrets as no one else III
the community. You will have your
finger upon the pulse OF a community
and will ultimately know whether II
beats sinfully fast or sinfully slow.
Will you not say the right gospel word
to that young man who is doing what
he ought not to do? Will you not speak
a warning word to that wife, that
mother, that child, who may be drifting
into sin? They will gladly take Chris
tian advice from you, which perhaps
they would not take from a minister.
They may say, "a minister is merely
working for his salary" but they will
know that you are disinterested in
speaking in the name of the Lord Je
sus. In Christs name will you not try
to prevent sin as well as to cure sin
after it has already come?
have been trying to show you the
glorious opportunities of Christian
physician's life. But now there comes
over me the overwhelming thought that
perhaps YOU are not a Christian young
man. Perhaps you may be very bril-
liant in your medical studies, but have
never yet confessed the name Of Jesus
Christ.
Arc You n Christianf
"Yes," answers some young man III
my audience. that is the truth. Since
| came to Chicago l have only beeh
once or twice in a city church. We
medical students have TO work so hard
that when Saturday night comes we
are dead tired out, so | always take
nv Sabbath for rest and fun" Alas,
| know only too well that what you
say may be true; that your life may be
very similar to the hundreds and thou
sands of young men who every yeaI
enter our large cities to get medical
education. know that your state
ments may be too true, because scores
Of my old friends and classmates be-
came physicians. They have told me
many of the temptations besetting
medical students life. Besides that, l
have lived among the young medical
students not only in New York, but
also in Philadelphia.
But, though you may declare that
since you have entered the medical
school you have not lived a Christian
life, vet there are still two or three
tremendous facts that. think, may
work a change in you, two or three
facts by which, believe, you are go
ing to be redeemed for Christ and con
fess him and live for him as a Chris
tian physician. In the first place, !
know that you came from a Christian
home 1t is a wonderful truth to tel
that nearly all the men who enter the
medical or legal or ministerial protes'
sion come from Christian homes Az
soon as a father and mother becomt
converted their chief desire seems to
be to give their boys a liberal educa-
ton, so that they can make the mosl
out Of their lives for Christ. Thus,
young man, no matter where you go or
what you do, you can never get away
from the many parental prayers which
have been offered in your behalf. They
are always tugging and pulling you to-
ward q better life. They are pulling
your heartstrings now toward Christ.
In the next place, you are not a
homeopath in a spiritual sense. You
may be a disciple Of Hahnemann, as
many Of you are, but in spiritual
sense you are not. In the realm Of the
higher life you do not believe similia
similibus curantur, that like cures
like" You do not believe that "sin
cures sin" oh, no. You know and
you feel only the blood of Jesus, the
Saviour, can make you as spotless as
the driven snow So, now, feel that
the purer and holier life is dawning
upon you. feel that all the good and
the true in you are leading you on to
70 faa Mac