The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1887. A MODERN MARTYR.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1485, 17 February 1887, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1887. A MODERN MARTYR.

Although m these days of light and liberty men aro nob called upon to give their bodies to the flitups for conscience sake, there are not wanting instances of noble se'.f-abneg^tlon which prove that there are anil those who value duty more highly than all other considerations, and are ready to Baorifice even life itself m its performance. No grander example of this true heroism is to be fonnd m the pages of history than that of the Rev. Father Daruien. the missionary priest of the leper settlement at Molokai. Molokai la a small island iti the Hawaiian or Sandwich group, which haa for many years been act apart f<>r the realdence of the lep« j ra of th4t_.ißland__kioj;dom, who are alaß^eX6se3ingly~narneroua^ MololcaT being tenanted by hundreds of all ages and conditions. On the appearance ol Bymptoms of the dre ided disease, whiah ia the soourgo of tho .Native population, the patient is forthwith deported to Molokai, and touching are the accountß given of the enforced parti. ga betwee hnsbanda and wives, parents and children, which are necessarily attendant upon this involuntary migration — ♦h*) wife or th»husband sometimes ay. imming for miles after the veaaul wh'ch benra away th belovod never more to bo seen. Vet »■:.■ dreadful Is the disease, and bo infectious it 3. nnt-ire, that the law of tho lalandn which compels the isolation of the lepern ia a humane and necessary one, and the macagemeut of the great lozaret of Hawaii ia described as being distinguished by the greatest care for the oomfort and happiness of its afflicted tenants, so far as comfort and happiness are possible to the victims of bo dreadful a scourge as leprosy. The buildinga are said to be commodious and well-appointed, and the surroundings oharming and those of the inhabitants of Molokai who are not m the advanced stages of disease are said to enjoy existence as much as those who live elsewhnre under happier oircumatanceß, But much na these unfortunates owe to the Government of their country for the care token to render existence as endurable aa possible, they owe even more to the Belf-denying heroism of a uoble prieat of the Roman Oaiholio Church who haa for years labored among them, seeking to prepare them for a hereafter m whioh all the sorrows of their present state of being will be forgotten* Nut only has the Reverend Father thus out hitmelf off from ail other aooiety for the lepern' sake, and voluntarily give himaelf up to labor among those whose dfeeaßo oftou takes tho moat ioathsoma forma, but he haa run tho terrible risk of bacoming and haa unhappily at length become hims>3if a leper. Not long ago he pinned a noble letter asking for help for his suffering charge, and exhibiting at the same time aa unmurmuring aooeptanoe of his own sad lot, which cannot but have aroused the admiration of every reader, and great was the regret wlUi which it whs felt tlvit It could nob be long ere this Udrldt-like priest sealed his faih by his martyr. lom. It is, therefore, with a corresponding j>y that it will now be lxarnrd on the authority of a letter the Reverend Fa'hiT Damlen himself wbioh has been published m The Catholic Missions, a German monthly serial, lhn •hero is room to hnpo not only thao the Rev Father himself, but that with him mitr.y t f ihe native lepers of Molokai may yet bo cured of their dreadful disease and restored t« health and strength. And Tor this plensing proepeot it would seem — surprising aa ia the fact — that the world ia indebted not to European but to Jxp .noae medical oklll. The following ex tract from the letter of the Key Father Damion, re- published m our Ohriatchuroh contemporary the Press, will be read with Interest : — " Fcr abouv. twenty yoars our atost distinguished physicians tried every josßihle means to mnßter ih-s dreadfn) J'fii^HHo, but ull I heir ttfiiis failed to check tbeaprnad of the distemper. Abou< three yvara ago a wiiite miD wob e» zed with t prosy Bring very wealthy he pie* fetred to go to Japau rather than submit to a lifelong exile at Molokai. In Japan he continued for two yean a courie of

hydropathic tvoatme'it under Dr Goto, I Ha returned hither, accompanied by the aoti of Or G to, with ovary npprarance "i -i peifeot cure. About the end of last year the hoalth committee re.S'»!v<d to m U'lduc?, un'ler the guporvisr.n of T;v G <t< hi Japanese tvo.itmQMt into the lepe hoaptta), which is iv tho charge of Franciscan Siaterß at Kakn.iko, uoar Honolulu. Already (hen I fo't ino'ined to £»o to Wonolnlu to oonftu't Dr Goto about Uk dißoase. which had already made havoc with on 9 of my ears. Afc that time, how* | ever, my superiors did not oonaider th<- ( "tcp advisable. Last July, however, I bad occaaum to personally satisfy myself of tbe buoco'S whioh hid attended the treatment m question ia the hospital of t^B "Sißtera at Kakaako, »nd to carefully ihsetve its method, which o insists In this: — Every d»y the leper h.is to take two baths In hot water, m whlob. a certain quantity of Japanese medicine has been dissolved. After every meal he has to ;<ilre a small pill, and an hour later ar ou^ce of tea. prepared from tho. bark of a Jipanene tree. This i 8 the whole treatraoiit. •'Both young Dr Goto and tbe whi>e pitient, ot whom I mad mention above, have assured me that m Japan many » leper has been completely cured by th ; « treatment. Whatever truth there be m this statement, I must own that the improvement during those six monthi In the condition of many lepers, whose illness wai already In a very developed state, has been simply marvellous. I think myse'f therefore justified m seeing m this treat meut a glimpse of hope for our poor outcast lepers of MoloksJ. King Kalakau and his Prime Minister honored me with a visit during my short stay at the hospital at Kakaako, near Honolulu They told me It was their intention to introduoe the same system of treatment In our great leper settlement. I look forward with satisfaction to the day on which we shall receive a steam boiler which may heat about fifteen bath tubs at the same time. "Fora few weekß I have undergone the treatment m question, At the same time t commenced the same treatment with about forty or fifty of my orphan children. We have already derived some banefit from it. My work seems lighter and my strength la returning. Laßt Snnday, for instance, I said two masses and preached during each without being obliged to sit dowD, and without feeling particularly wearied." Heartily indeed it ia to be hoped tha* m the oase of the Rev Father, and of those to whom his self-denying labors are devoted, these natiefaoeory results will continue to be experienced, and if bo, this would eeem to open up the pleasing poasiblllty of the eventual rooting ont of the terrible scourge which is the saddest feature of life m the Sandwich Islands.