n provided. It is said
that three American women were the cause of this innovation. The
superintendent of one of our largest American railways says that he
would not be surprised if the American roads were compelled to follow
the lead of their English brethren.

It is not unreasonable to suppose that this addiction to the use of
tobacco is in many cases inherited. A friend told me of a very
charming young woman who was passionately devoted to tobacco. At a
time when it was not usual for women to smoke in public her craving for
a cigarette was so strong that she could not deny herself the
indulgence. She said her father, a deacon in the church, had been an
inveterate smoker, and her love of tobacco dated back to her earliest
remembrance. Every woman should use the uttermost of her influence to
discourage the use of the cigarette and enlist the girls as well as
boys in her fight against the evil and injurious practise of cigarette
smoking.

CHAPTER XLIX

THE POWER OF PURITY

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.--SERMON ON THE
MOUNT.

My strength is as the strength of ten
Because my heart is pure.
TENNYSON.

Virtue alone raises us above hopes, fears, and chances.--SENECA.

Even from the body's purity the mind
Receives a secret sympathetic aid.
THOMSON.

Purity is a broad word with a deep meaning. It denotes far more than
superficial cleanness. It goes below the surface of guarded speech and
polite manners to the very heart of being. "Out of the heart are the
issues of life." Make the fountain clean and the waters that flow from
it will be pure and limpid. Make the heart clean and the life will be
clean.

Purity is defined as "free from contact with that which weakens,
impairs or pollutes." How forceful then is the converse of the
definition: Impurity weakens, impairs, and pollutes. It weakens both
mind and body. It impairs the health. It pollutes not only the
thoughts but the conduct which inevitably has its beginning and its end
in thought.

Innocence is the state of natural purity. It was the state of Adam and
Eve in the Garden of Eden. When they sinned "they knew that they were
naked." They lost innocence never to regain it. But purity may be
attained. As an unclean garment may be washed, so the heart may be
purified and made clean. Ghosts of past impurities still may dog us,
but they are ghosts that may be laid with an imperative "G