A Disquisition on the Evils of Using Tobacco Part 3

Here we have, then, the _expense_ of tobacco, $10,000,000 The _time_ lost by the use of it, $12,520,000 The _pauper tax_ which it occasions, $3,000,000 ___________ Total, $25,520,000

To this sum should be added one-tenth of the waste of property, which strong drink occasions; inasmuch as one-tenth of the rum-drinking must be charged to tobacco. Now, it has been estimated that the whole cost of strong drink used annually, in this country, amounts to one hundred and twenty-five millions of dollars; a tenth of which is twelve and a half millions of dollars. If this t.i.the be added to the above estimate, it will make the sum total thirty-eight and a half millions. But as I intend my estimates shall be _moderate_, I will say nothing of the waste of property which tobacco occasions in connection with strong drink. I will put down the sum total as above twenty-five millions of dollars.

Twenty-five millions of dollars, consumed by the use of tobacco, in this Christian nation, annually; and not a little of it by professors of religion, and ministers of the gospel, who are required by their Lord and Master to deny themselves,--to take up their cross,--to let their light shine before men, that they may see their good works, and glorify our Father in heaven. Nearly the whole of this twenty-five millions of dollars is a _dead loss_ to the nation; yes, it is infinitely _worse_ than a dead loss; it not only does no good, but it actually goes to make fools and beggars, idlers and sots,--to purchase dyspepsia, early graves and everlasting shame. And what would this vast amount of property accomplish, if saved and devoted to useful purposes.

Twenty-five millions of dollars annually, if applied to the improvement of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and to the advancement of the arts, sciences, and true religion, would accomplish everything for this nation, that the enlightened patriot and true Christian can ask for.

Twenty-five millions of dollars, annually, would soon furnish ca.n.a.ls, and rail-roads, and all other desirable facilities for intercommunication throughout the nation. Twenty-five millions of dollars, annually, would sustain all our colleges, academies and other schools, and all the religious and benevolent inst.i.tutions of this whole country. It would rear seminaries of learning in every State where they are needed; and it would plant a Sabbath school, with a sufficient library in every school district.

Twenty-five millions of dollars, annually, if applied in all feasible and suitable ways, would give freedom, with all the blessings of Christianity to the colored race in our own country, and throughout the continent of Africa in a very few years: and would terminate slavery and the slave-trade in every part of the world.

Twenty-five millions of dollars annually, would send forth to the nations now perishing in heathen darkness, ten thousand missionaries, and five millions of tracts, every year, provided the men could be found.

Twenty-five millions of dollars, annually, would, in five years, furnish all the money necessary to carry into complete execution, that n.o.ble purpose of the American Bible Society, of giving a copy of the Bible, within a specified time, to every accessible family on the earth. And what friend of man is there among us,--what patriot is there,--what Christian is there,--who can look at these truths, and not make up his mind to abandon all use of tobacco, _forever_; and to exert the whole weight of his influence and example to persuade others to do the same?

I am aware, indeed, that it may be said, if the whole company of tobacco-chewers, smokers, and snuffers, should at once abandon all use of this weed, and thus withdraw their whole patronage, this twenty-five millions of dollars, which now gives wealth to many a man engaged in growing, manufacturing, and vending the poison, would be so much capital unemployed; and the means of living would be cut off from many a family,--and bankruptcy, and wretchedness would be the consequent portion of many an individual. This may be true. And it may be true, too, that the like consequences would follow the universal abandonment of intoxicating liquors. But what then? Shall one sixth part of the nation continue to use this poison, because, forsooth, the _producers_ and _venders_ of it will lose their profits if it be abandoned? Shall the _intellect_, and _health_, and _comfort_, and _wealth_, and _lives_ of hundreds and thousands of our fellow citizens, be sacrificed yearly; and widows and orphans be multiplied by scores and fifties, in every section of this wide-spreading country; and one of the prominent auxiliaries of _intemperance_,--and consequently of _crime_, and _insanity_, and _eternal woe_--be cherished; and twenty-five millions of dollars be _wasted_, and worse than wasted; and all this, that the _producers_ and _venders_ may feed and fatten on the gains? This objection lies equally against the temperance reform and every other reform, where cupidity and avarice are involved.

As to the producers, it is affirmed on good authority, that hemp and corn, and other useful articles may be subst.i.tuted without loss, and even with advantage. As to the venders, their capital may all be profitably employed upon valuable merchandise, without damage. But if it were not so; where _health_, _life_, and _happiness_ are involved, no good man can hesitate. The path of duty is plain. We are bound to walk in it, even though it run counter to the gains of those engaged in unlawful commerce.

I maintain my position,

VI. From a consideration of the _mortality_ which tobacco occasions.

Some of my readers may be startled at this consideration. They may not have dreamed, even, that tobacco _kills_ any body. So insidious are the effects of this poison, and so insensible have the community been to its abominations, that very few have regarded the use of tobacco as the cause of swelling our bills of mortality. But though appalling, it is nevertheless true, that tobacco carries vast mult.i.tudes to the grave, all over our country, every year. Says Dr. Salmon, "I am confident more people have died of apoplexies, since the use of snuff in one year, than have died of that disease in an hundred years before; and most, if not all, whom I have observed to die, of late of that disease, were extreme and constant snuff-takers." The late Rev. Dr. Samuel Cooper, of Boston, by constant use of snuff, brought on a disorder of the head, which was thought to have ended his days. A very large quant.i.ty of hardened Scotch snuff was found, by a _post mortem_ examination, between the external nose and the brain. The late Gov. Sullivan, speaking of Gov. Hanc.o.c.k, the early President of Congress, says, "Gov. Hanc.o.c.k was an immoderate chewer of tobacco; but being a well-bred man, and a perfect gentleman, he, from a sense of decorum, refrained from spitting in company, or in well-dressed rooms. This produced the habit of swallowing the juice of the tobacco, the consequence of which was, his stomach became inactive, and a natural appet.i.te seldom returned; the agreeable sensations of hunger could not be experienced but by the use of stimulants, to satisfy which he swallowed more food than his digestive powers could dispose of.

This derangement in chylification increased his gout, his stomach became paralytic, and he died at the age of fifty-eight."

Again, says Governor Sullivan, "My own brother, the active General Sullivan, began early in life to take snuff. It injured essentially a fine voice which he possessed as a public speaker. When he was an officer in the American army, he carried his snuff loose in his pocket.

He said he did this because the opening of a snuff-box in the field of review, or on the field of battle, was inconvenient. At times he had violent pains in the head; the intervals grew shorter and shorter, and the returns more violent, when his sufferings ended in a stroke of palsy, which rendered him insensible to pain, made him helpless and miserable, and lodged him in the grave before he was fifty years of age; and I have no doubt [says the Governor,] but all this sprung from the use of snuff." He adds, "I have known some persons live to old age, in the extravagant use of tobacco; but they bear a small proportion to those who, by the habit of using tobacco, have been swept into the grave in _early_ or _middle_ life."

Professor Silliman mentions two affecting cases of young men, in the Inst.i.tution with which he is connected, who were carried to an early grave by tobacco. One of them, he says, entered college with an athletic frame; but he acquired the habit of using tobacco, and would sit and smoke by the hour together. His friends tried to persuade him to quit the practice; but he loved his l.u.s.t, and would have it, live or die: the consequence was, he went down to the grave, a suicide.

One of the German periodicals says, the chief German physiologists compute, that of twenty deaths of men between eighteen and twenty-five, ten, that is, one half, originate in the waste of the const.i.tution by smoking. They declare, also, with much truth, that tobacco burns out the _blood_, the _teeth_, the _eyes_, and the _brain_.

To this unequivocal testimony, which is confirmed by the observation of every intelligent person who has turned his attention to this matter, much more might be added; but it is unnecessary. How large a proportion of the twenty thousand deaths--reckoning one death to a hundred souls--which occur annually, among the two millions of tobacco consumers in this country, are to be charged to the use of this deadly narcotic, I am unable definitely to determine. If we suppose one quarter of these deaths to be caused by tobacco, it will give us the number of five thousand. Five thousand deaths in these United States, every year from the use of tobacco! and this is doubtless far below the actual number.

Five thousand valuable lives sacrificed in this enlightened land, annually, in the use of a dirty plant, that no living creature, except man and the tobacco worm, will touch, or taste, or handle. Five thousand men and women carried to the grave, yearly, by a poisonous weed, which does _no good_, and which, for filthiness and disgust, scarcely has its parallel in the whole vegetable kingdom. Is there a _Christian_,--is there a _patriot_,--is there a _friend_ of humanity,--is there an _individual_, that values his own probationary existence,--who can look at the sweeping mortality which tobacco brings upon the nation, and longer indulge his attachment to his quid, his pipe or his snuff-box? Is there one who will pause and look at this matter, and not resolve that he will, _forthwith_, _entirely_, and _forever_, abandon a practice which does so much to people the grave?

I maintain my position,

VII.--From a consideration of the _apologies_ of the lovers of tobacco.

I call them _apologies_. They cannot be considered _reasons_. Almost every lover of the dirty weed, feels that he needs an apology. One will tell us he has a cold, watery stomach, and he thinks that tobacco, by promoting expectoration, relieves the difficulty. Another will tell us he is very much troubled with indigestion, and he thinks tobacco relieves the difficulty; though, in truth, tobacco is the very worst drug he could use to relieve that disease, and is among the primordial causes of inducing it. Another will tell us that he is afflicted with the rising of his food after eating, and he thinks tobacco gives immediate relief; not suspecting, perhaps, that this rising of the food is occasioned by over eating. Another will tell us he has a distressing difficulty in the head, and brain, and he thinks a little good Scotch snuff affords relief; as though the filling the pores, and cavities of the head, and clogging up the brain, with this dirty stuff, would remove a disease which in most cases it originates.

Others use tobacco to preserve the teeth; and this, though it is a solemn truth, that many a one loses his teeth by smoking and chewing the poisonous plant. Others, again, use tobacco to excite the mind to more vigorous intellectual effort. But when and where do we find great lovers of tobacco great students, and intellectual giants? Dr. Rush says, "I suspect tobacco is oftener used for the _want_ of ideas, than to excite them." There are some whose apology for using tobacco is, that it guards them against the power of contagious diseases. But Dr. Rees affirms that tobacco does not contain an antidote against contagion, and that, in general, it has no antiseptic power; and is therefore of no special use. There is another cla.s.s still, who use tobacco because it soothes the irksomeness of life. They fear solitude; and to prevent self-examination, and to while away their probation time, they fly to the _pipe_, _quid_, and _snuff-box_; and soon, by an easy transition, to the wine-gla.s.s and brandy-bottle.

These are the _usual apologies_ of the devotees to tobacco. And what do they amount to? In truth, the common opinion that tobacco is good for the head-ache,--weak eyes,--cold and watery stomachs,--the preservation of the teeth,--and the like, is sheer delusion. Let every man and woman, who would live long, and usefully, and happily, awake from this delusion; and let no one, as he values health, life, and salvation, _taste_, _touch_, or _handle_, the filthy poison.

I maintain my position,

VIII, AND LASTLY.--From a consideration of the _eternal ruin_ which tobacco occasions. On this point, a word or two only, will suffice. That tobacco carries many a soul down to the pit of eternal woe, is manifest from its connection with drunkenness, and from its inducing disease and death. Every man who dies a drunkard, and every man who, knowingly and recklessly, brings upon himself disease and death through the influence of tobacco, is a _suicide_. And drunkards and suicides cannot inherit the kingdom of G.o.d. How many will at last, ascribe their eternal ruin to alcohol and tobacco, cannot now be told.

That it will be a great mult.i.tude, (perhaps a great mult.i.tude which no man can number,) we have no reason to doubt.

What then, I ask, _ought_ to be _done_? What _can_ be done? What _must_ be done? If this poisonous narcotic be of _recent_ origin; if it be ruinous to the _health_ and _const.i.tution_, and _intellect_, and _public_ and _private morals_; if it occasions an amazing _waste of property_,--and a mult.i.tude of _deaths_,--and _eternal ruin_ to many precious souls; and if it do no good,--and there be no _apology_ for using it, which will bear examination; then _something ought to be done_, and it ought to be done _immediately_. And, _only one_ thing need be done. And that _can_ be done, and it ought to be done. It is this:--_tobacco can be abandoned_. And if moral influence enough can be enlisted, it _will_ be abandoned.

TOTAL ABSTINENCE is the only sure remedy. TOTAL ABSTINENCE will deliver us from all the evils which this weed has brought down upon individuals and families, and the nation.--Nothing else will do it. And total abstinence can be adopted and practiced. True; in some cases, it may cost an _effort_; but, in every instance, three weeks' perseverance will overcome the habit. Three weeks' _total abstinence_, will disenthrall every victim, and give him the prospect of _freedom_, _plenty_, _health_, and _happiness_. And shall this effort be made? A _mighty_ effort it must be, to liberate and save this whole nation--and especially our young men and maidens--from the curses of the _quid_, the _pipe_, and the _snuff-box_.

I appeal to my fellow citizens. I appeal to the _nation_, and the _whole nation_. _Shall_ the effort be made?

I appeal to _patriots_. Patriotism forbids the man who loves his country, to shrink from any personal sacrifice, if he can thereby arrest some great national evil. That the use of tobacco is a great national evil, appears from the considerations which have been laid before you.

It has been shown that tobacco is weakening the physical and mental energies of this nation,--that it is depraving our morals, and destroying the public conscience,--and that it is causing an amazing waste of property, and health and life. I ask every patriot to look at this portentous evil. Every true patriot, who will examine the length, breadth, and depth of this evil, cannot but feel that it claims his attention. And he will enquire what efforts, what sacrifices, can deliver us from the curses of this narcotic? The answer to this inquiry is an _easy_ answer,--the effort is an _easy_ effort,--the sacrifice is an _easy_ sacrifice. Let every true patriot in our country abstain from the poison, _immediately_, _entirely_, and _forever_; and let him use the whole weight of his influence and example to persuade others--and especially the young men and maidens of this republic--to practice entire abstinence; and the work will soon be done. We put the question to every true patriot: _will you do it_?

I appeal to _Christians_. Your religion requires you to abstain from the very appearance of evil. It requires you to deny yourselves, to take up your cross, and to follow Christ through evil, as well as through good report. Is there no appearance of evil, in the use of tobacco? Can the Christian deny himself and follow Christ, with the quid, or pipe in his mouth, or the contents of the snuff-box in his nose? If Christ himself, were here on earth, in this age of action, when six hundred millions of men, for whom he died, are perishing for lack of vision--think you he would waste a single cent of _property_, or a single moment of _time_, or a single ounce of health and mental energy, in the habitual use of this narcotic? Would he _handle_, _touch_, or _taste_, the poison? And will _you_, whose names are written in his book,--_you_, who have been bought with his blood, and sanctified through his grace, and made heirs of all the riches of his kingdom,--_you_, whom he requires to be _examples_ in all things,--will you _handle_, or _touch_ or _taste_ it?

Let every Christian in our country, abstain from this poison, _immediately_, _entirely_, and _forever_; and let him use the whole weight of his influence and example, to persuade others to practice _entire abstinence_; and this work of reform will soon be done. We put the question to every true Christian: _will you do it_?

I appeal to the _youth_ of both s.e.xes. You are the flower and the hope not only of this nation, but of all nations struggling for freedom. The destinies of this republic are about being placed, under G.o.d, in your hands; and inasmuch as all the friends of freedom, everywhere, are looking up to our inst.i.tutions for light and aid, the destinies of the world will rest with a mightier weight of responsibility upon your shoulders, than upon any other generation that has come forth upon the stage of action, for twenty centuries. The importance of sound and enlightened principles--of pure and elevated examples, and independent and decided action in _you_, is above all estimation. You are placed in the moral Thermopylae of the world. The evils arising from _alcohol_ and _tobacco_, which you have it in your power to avert from your country, are more dreadful than the invasion of Xerxes with his millions. The cause of moral reform, in the use of the latter of these articles, which we urge upon you with deepest and sincerest solicitude, is far more urgent than that in which the Bruti and the Gracchi offered up their lives. Some of you have not yet handled or tasted the fatal drug. Let all such stand firm henceforward, and never yield to the power of custom, temptation and l.u.s.t. Some of you, on the other hand, have permitted yourselves to become the victims of this drug. Let all such be urged by the voice of patriotism, religion, self-respect, reason, conscience, and duty, to _abstain_ from this poison, _immediately_, _entirely_, and _forever_. And then every young man, and every young woman, in the republic, shall be free from all the calamities attending the use of this narcotic; and love, and peace, and joy, will run through the land, and flow over the world. We put the question to every youth: _will you do it_?

I appeal to the _friends of temperance_. You have enlisted your energies to expel intoxicating drinks from common use throughout the world. Go on, and prosper. But, as you go, remember, that complete success will not crown your exertions unless you are consistent,--unless you abandon all use of tobacco, the companion and sister of alcohol. As you go forth to the n.o.ble work you have undertaken, you will be met at every corner, with the declaration of A. B. and C., _I_ am ready to abstain from alcohol when _you_ do from tobacco; and how effectually will this declaration shut your mouth, and destroy your influence. Be _consistent_. Carry your principles into _all_ your evil habits, and a moral potency will be diffused through what you say and do, that nothing can resist. We put the question to every friend of temperance: _will you do it_?

I appeal to American _females_. As mothers, wives and daughters, you have it in your power (without turning aside from your appropriate duties) to put an end to the use of this disgusting weed. The children and youth of this nation, to say nothing of the young men and fathers, are almost exclusively under your control; and may be moulded at your pleasure. You know how _filthy_, _disgusting_, _ruinous_, is the practice against which we ask you to set your faces. Only practice ENTIRE ABSTINENCE yourselves, and urge this practice upon all within your reach; and in less than twenty years, this reformation will be completed. We put the question to every mother, wife, daughter: _will you do it_?

I appeal to the _medical_ profession. You are the guardians of the health of the republic. You are acquainted with the deadly properties of the drug in question. You can understand the necessity, and appreciate the importance of reform. You know that _entire abstinence_ is urged by paramount considerations. In the work of reform from spirit-drinking, you have acted in a manner that reflects honor upon your profession. In the work of reform now urged upon your notice, we calculate upon your active, hearty co-operation. If you put your hand to this work, by _precept_, and by _example_; if you abstain _entirely_, and _forever_, from all use of this plant, and inculcate entire abstinence, as you have opportunity; the work which now bespeaks your attention will soon be done. We put the question to every medical man: _will you do it_?

Finally--I appeal to _ministers_ of the Gospel. You are stationed on the watch-towers of Zion, as guardians of the public morals. Against every abomination your great Master requires you to cry aloud and spare not; to lift up your voice like a trumpet; to show the people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. He requires you to be _examples_ to the flock, in all things, that, while

"You allure to brighter worlds,"

you "may lead the way." I ask you to look at the influence of tobacco upon the _health_, _wealth_, _morals_, and _lives_ of this republic; and then to decide, as in the fear of G.o.d, whether the blood of souls may not be found on your garments, if you do not _abstain_ yourselves from all common use of this drug, and warn every man around you to do likewise.[A] Suffer us to point you to Him who went about doing good, and pleased not himself, and set a pure and perfect example in everything; and also to that early servant of his, who would abstain from things good and lawful, rather than prejudice the interests of Zion. What reception would the Apostles have met, when they went about to enlighten and reform the world, if they had carried with them their _snuff-boxes_, _pipes_, _cigars_, and _pig-tail_ tobacco? But a word to the wise is sufficient. Let all who minister in holy things, abstain from this poison, immediately, entirely, and forever; and let them use the whole weight of their influence, and example, to persuade others--and especially our youth--to practice entire abstinence; and this good work will soon be done. We put the question to every minister of Christ: _will you do it_?

[A] Says a distinguished correspondent--the most efficient officer of one of our benevolent inst.i.tutions, "Not long since a clergyman called on me as agent for one of the most popular Societies for spreading the knowledge of Christ crucified throughout the world: his breath was intolerable, and the tobacco juice had formed a current from each corner of his mouth downward. I need not describe to you my feelings at this exhibition."