, 1882-05-26
Talmage on Tobacco,


Msfbere sprang up in 1ucatan, on
I;s continent, a weed which has be-
\ EE.obed the world 1t crossed the
NstIontic ocean in the fifteenth cen
t,rv and captured Spain then it cap
lms lurssd Portugal, and the French en-
Ssaaissadors took it to Paris and it cap
t"rsd the French empire then Wal
w. Raleigh introduced it into En-
T land You all know it as the inspir-
aa eleyating, radiating, nerve-shat-
toT toTTing, Notwithstanding tobacco.
Between the ages Of twelve and
.vanty years there are tens of thou
ssnds Of young men damaging them
sairos irretrievably by using tobacco.
You either use very good or cheap
tobacco. If you use cheap tobacco,
7 7 will tell you why it is cheap. 1t is
amixture Of burdock, lampblack, saw
/ Snst coltsfoot, plantain leaves, full
srs' I earth, salt, alum and tobacco.
Won cannot afford, my young brother,
10 fake such mess of stuff as that
| between your lips. If, on the other
hand, YOU use costly tobacco, let me
sav cav I do not think you can afford it,
Y6u take that which you expend and
will expend, if you keep the habit,
and put it aside, and it will buy for
Won a comfortable home wherein to
spend the afternoon of your life.
BENJAMIN Franklin said II never
saw a well man in the exercise of
common sense who would say that
tobacco did him any good" Thomas
Jefferson, in arguing against the cul-
ture OF tobacco, said: 1T is a cul-
ture productive of infinite wretched-
ness" Horace Greeley said of it !:
ut is a profane stencil" Daniel
Webster said : "If those men must
smoke, let them take the horse-shed." ."
N There are some ministers of relig
Mon to-day all over our land indulg
tRng in narcotics, dying by inches, and
! they do not know what is the matter.
might give my own experience, 1t
took ten cigars to make sermon. L
grew very nervous. One day | awak
eped to the outrage | was committing
upon myself, and then and there,
twenty years ago, quit, once and
forever. 1t made a new man of me,
and though L have since then done
as much hard work as any one, / have
had the best health God ever blessed
man with. - HAHat aiI I-9ah
must have a word also with all
those whom it does not hurt, who can
stop any time they want to, and who
can smoke the most expensive cigars.
Ny Christian brother, what is your
influence in the matter |? How much
can you afford to deny yourself for
the good of others ? 1t was a great
mystery to many, why Gov. Briggs,
Of Massachusetts, Bore q cravat, but
no collar Some thought it an alb
surd eccentricity. All, no. This was
the secret: Many years before, he
was talking with an inebriate and
telling him that his habit was un-
necessary, and the inebriate retorted
upon him and said "We do a great
many things that are unnecessary ; it
is not necessary for you to wear a
collar" u" Well" said Gov. Briggs,
Il will never wear a collar-again if
you win not drink" "Agreed," said
the man, Coy, Briggs never after
ward wore acollar They both kept
the bargain for twenty years, even
unto death That is the gospel of
the Son Of God self denial for the
good and for the rescue of others.
On, my brother, we might, by a little
effort now and then, save a brother.
By how little on how much self-de-
nial are we willing to be influenced
stop at this point, throwing all
the passion Ct my soul into one
prayer: God help us (! 10.