The Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, Ohio) 1853-1861, 1858-09-09
Bad Habits--SOund Advice to Young
NUpn.

In "Timothy Titcomb's" letters. from the
pen of DR.. Holland, we clip the following, which
should meet the attention OF every tobacco
user. and especially the young:
cit is entirely natural for people to form hab-
it's so that if the bad habits be avoided the good
ones will generally take care of themselves.
had no intention when commenced these let
ters, of saying anything about dogmatic theolo-
gy, but take the liberty of suggesting to those
who are interested in this kind of thing, that If
there be anything that demonstrates total de
pravity, it is the readiness with which young
men imbibe bad habits. have seen original
sin in the shape of "a short six, sticking out of
the mouth of lad of ten years. II is strange
what particular pains boys and young men will
take to learn to do that which will make them
miserable, ruin their health render them digust-
ing to their friends, and damage their reputa-
ton.
"Some of the fashionable bad habits OF the day
are connected with the use of tobacco. Here
is a drug that young man is obliged 10 become
accustomed to before he can tolerate either the
taste or the effect of it, 1t is rank vegetable
poison: aad in the unaccustomed animal pro-
duces vertigo, faintness and horrible sickness
But young men persevere in the use OF 1t, until
they can endure it, and then until they love it.
They 60 about the streets with cigars in their
mouths, or into society with brea tn sufficiently
them. They calculate their saliva upon the
sidewalk, in spittoons which become.in incorporate
stenches, in dark corners of railroad cars to
stain the white skirts Of unsuspectng women,
in lecture rooms and churches, upon fences, aud
in stoves that hiss with anger at the insult
And the guilds after they are elected They are
to be found in odd corners, in out-ot way
places-great boulders, boluses bulbs Horses
stumble over them, dogs bark at them they
baHa md
the constitution of sweepers. This may be an
exaggeration Of the facts, but not of the dis
gust with which one writes of them.
"Now, young men just think OF this thng!--
You are born into the world with sweet
breath. At proper age, you acquire good
set of teeth. Why will you make of one pu-
trescent exhalation, and of the other set Of
yellow pegs? A proper description OF the hab-
it of chewing tobacco would exhaust the tilthy
adjectives themselves for further use; and yet,
you will acquire the habit and persist in it af-
ter it is acquired 1t is very singular that
young men will adopt the habit of which every
man who is its victim is ashamed. There is,
probably, no tobacco -chewer in the world who
would advise young man to commence this
habit. have never seen a slave Of tobacco who
did not regret his bondage; yet against all ad-
vice. against nausea and disgust, against clean
illness, against every consideration of health and
comfort, thousands every year bow the neck TO
this drug, and continue to wear its repulsive
yoke. They will chew it; they will smoke it
in cirgars and pipes until their bedrooms and
shops cannot be breathed in, and until their
breath is as rank as the breath of foul beast,
and their clothes have the odor Of sewer
Some of them take snuff; cram the fiery weed
up their nostrils to irritate that subtitle sense
which rarest flowers were made to feed--in all
this working against God, abusing nature, per-
verting sense, injuring health planting the seeds
of disease, and insulting the decencies of life
ard the noses Of the world"