Wisconsin tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1847-1854, 1848-12-08

must Cofnc IN cOnfac', that II VIII lessen her
daily enjoyment in spite of all her efforts to
the contrary-it cannot be otherwise. Car
the practice then be justified upon christian
principles | think it cannot And what
ever practice cannot be justified upon chris
tian principles, the christian must give up
or give up his claim to the character Of a
christian.
! Some years ago, I became satified that to-
bacco for the purposes Of ordinary use, was
an unlawful article of traffic. sometimes
use this illustration Suppose | make kind
| of preparation which | believe TO be benefi
cial to health, or remedy for some disease
| This sell to my neighbors at price which
remunerates me. So far there is nothing
wrong on my part. But in process of lime
| | become satisfied that the preparation is en-
tirely useless. Have then any right to con
tinue to sell the article and take my neigh
bors' money for it | say have not. be
cause take their money without giving them
an equivalent. The purchaser may put a
high estimate upon it. So the person who
receives counterfeit money for genuine thinks
it worth all he pays for it. But this does
not justify the man who passes it; he kno,cs
it to be worthless, and must abide the CON
sequences. But, if in addition to the fact
that my preparation is useless, become sat
isfied that it is positively injurious TO health,
the wrong on my part is much more papabe.
So with Tobacco, it is not only useless but
pernicious. 1t is susceptible of demonstration,
that it is Injurious to health and shorteus life
! Consequently, it is wrong to sell IT. and
wrong to use it. | have no right to injure
my own health, or to countenance by my ex
ample my neghbor in a practice which will
| injure his health. | have often been exceed
| ingly annoyed, and sometimes almost sicken-
ed by the breath of tobacco chewers in "A
stage coach, and sometimes by persons with
whom | was transacting business and compel
led to hear talk for some time. ] cannot see
upon what principle either of these persons
en- be justified in thus making me uncomfor-
table.
am satisfied that the use of Tobacco Gre
ates desire for more active s;imulanis. Con-
| sequently, in some cases leads to intemper-
ance in drinking; and the drunkard who is
also tobacco user, is more hopeless than one
who merely stimulates by drinking-you have
a double task TO perform if you attempt to
reclaim him. Can the christian who is en-
| lightened on the subject and continues to in
duge in the habit, have "a conscience void of
offence towards God and towards men"7 Am
! | not bound as christian to set such an ex-
ample before my family and before the world
as is safe and proper for every human being
TO follow And were christian minister.
my responsibilities would be increased, and
the Importance of setting perfect example
would also be increased.
am well aware that am called very ultra
that some OF my christian brethren think
me unnecessarily scrupulous. But at the
same time all. l suppose, admit TINT the
standard of piety and christian morals is Ia
mentally low-that there is a wnking at sin
! ful practices-a laxness in the walk and want
of tenderness of conscience, on the part of
professors Of religion. deeply TO be depIored
! Those who are attacking existing evils. may
sometimes 90 to extremes. But the great
danger, ! apprehend lies in the opposite di-
rection. I am satisfied there must be 3 higher
standard Of holy living, and avoiding of the
appearance of evil, before the evils complained
of can be remedied, General principles,
which all christians admit in the abstract
must be lived out by ministers and people in
all their applications to our daily department,
and business transactions, or we shall fail to
/ be lights in the world.
With respect,