ening, he
found his spectacles convenient. He certainly hears quick, and his eye
is altogether keener and stronger than usual with men of his age. He is
now in his _sixty-third_ year. That the defective vision and hearing
were owing, in a great degree, to the tobacco, must be inferred from
the fact of his food and drinks having been nearly the same, before and
since quitting that article, with the exception of tea, which, as he
drank it twice a day for many years, may doubtless claim a share in the
mischief done to the organs of the senses. Said he, "I never lived high,
my food was always plain, and I eat now the same things I did formerly."
For organs so enfeebled as his, and for so long a time, to regain their
powers to so great an extent, denotes a native energy of constitution,
far above the standard of mediocrity.

* * * * *

How can a temperance man use tobacco? With what consistency can he
ask his neighbor to abstain from alcohol, on the ground of its being
injurious to body and mind, while he indulges himself in the habitual
gratification of an appetite, unnatural and pernicious, and holding,
in some respects, a strong alliance with that produced by an alcoholic
beverage? How long shall the widow's mite, consecrated, under many
personal privations, to the great object of doing good to mankind, be
perverted to sustain a disgustful and hurtful habit, by the beneficiary
of an Education Society?

How long are the sacred altars of God to be polluted with this
unhallowed offering, and the garments of the priesthood to remain
uncleansed from its defilements? How long shall transgressors be called
upon to listen, with a spirit of conviction and repentance, to sermons
on the great duties of Christian _self-denial_, prepared and pronounced
under the inspiration of this poison?

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Essay on the Influence of Tobacco
upon Life and Health, by R. D. Mussey

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INFLUENCE OF TOBACCO UPON LIFE AND HEALTH ***

***** This file should be named 19667.txt or 19667.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/6/6/19667/

Produced by David Garcia and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Kentuckiana Digital Library)

Updated editions will