Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1856-03-12
For the Spirit of the Age.
On the use and abuse of Tobacco.

At this day, when the use of intoxicating
drinks is producing such fearful ravages up
on the physical and moral constitutions Of
men, it is common to hear the use Of strong
drinks denounced in the most unqualified /
terms, by persons who are incestantly stuff
ed with ore of the most loathsOme and Of |
fcnsive weeds that the soil of our planet
ever produced Now we are no advocates of
the hahitual and unnecessary use of incbri- |
ating beverages, but when we hear it de-
nounced by people who indulge in customs
no less disgusting, and scarcely less destruc-
tive to the moral and physical welfare of the
human family, we think, alas for the consis-
tency of man.
The use of Tobacco is a serious evil ) and
it is one Of almost unbounded extent. Wei
regret to say that we have more than once
heard men try to defend the CUSTOM and we
regret farther, that there are hundreds and
thousands of people in our own enlightened
and christianized land, who are so ignorant
Of thcic own constitutions, and of the laws
/ by which they are governed, as to believe
that they cannot only indulge in the habitual
use of the article with impunity, but that it
is actually essential to health, and that there
can be no moral law infri6ged in the use.
Tobacco is one of the most active medicines
! in the whole catalogue Of vegetables. 1t is,
perhaps, the most powerful emetic ever ta-
! ken into the human stomach and its ca
thartic and sedative properties are so great
that it is seldom used hy judicious and skill
| ful physicians F; such only administer it as a
de,'nier resort. Its potency as medicine we
conceive to be strong argument against its
use in health for the we'll need no medi-
cine nor can they use it with impunity.-
Let the most sane and robust of our popula-
tion commence using medicine, even the best,
and let them use it daily and hourly, and we
vouch for it, that not many years will elapse
ere their health will be found upon the wane.
, The inroads may be slowly and impercepti-
bly, made it is true, but they are not the less
! certainly made. We would not deny the
) fact, that some persons are benefited by the
/ use Of Tobacco, but, perhaps, while one II
9 thousand is benefited, nine hundred anC
:, ninety are seriously and irreparably In
, Ijured. 1t is in that, just as it would be
: were it to become a custom for the whole
6 population to take dose of rhubarb twice
d day. it would be the very thing that SOM
l. few individuals would need, but while tn
J. health of the few would profit by the Gus
= tom, the alimentary canals Of the many
would suffer perpetual irritation and fna
destruction. Yet it would be Just as fai
Oh and philosophical, to conclude that becaus
the health of one man was restored or prt
served by the use of rhubarb, therefore, a
ne should use it; as it is to infer that becaus
ne one mans health was improved by the us
la of Tobacco, all could use it to advantage,
n even with impunity.
of But we likewise hold that it is mor
.al evil, or in other words, that it is moral
nd wrong. 1t is plain that whoever Injuries h
la health, intentionally or inconsiderately, vi