“Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Rector of St. George, was an opium smoker. He developed this addiction, as far as I understand, as a result of a stupid prank while he was still in college. After reading De Quincey's description of his dreams and sensations, he mixed opium into tobacco in an attempt to experience something similar. Like many, he discovered that the habit was much easier to acquire than to get rid of, and for many years he remained a slave to this drug, causing horror mixed with pity among his friends and family. It’s as if I see him now in front of me, huddled in a chair: a yellow, puffy face, swollen eyelids and pupils no wider than the head of a pin—the mournful ruins of a once noble man...”