Slave, or Master—Which?
By C. L. Hill
WHAT do you think of it, boys? Which would you prefer to be? Do you feel any desire to become a slave, and have a merciless tyrant for your master, whom you would be compelled to obey? Or is there not a spirit of true, manly pride within your breast that scorns such a thought? I know of many young men who have voluntarily taken upon themselves a lifetime of servitude under the most exacting of masters. I have a friend, a young merchant, in one of New England's thriving villages, who has a queer, filthy, black-looking thing for a master, which he calls tobacco. He is thirty-two years of age, and has passed over half of those years under this bondage. Many times during the day will he salute this master by affectionately placing him to his lips. You would suppose by this that he either loved or respected him, while the fact is, he despises him. He has often told me that he would give a thousand dollars to be completely out of his power. He has tried several times to break his fetters, but with no success. I dropped into his store one day, and found him all out of sorts, fidgety, nervous, and suffering from a severe headache. It was a time when he was trying to break from his bondage. He had refused obedience for two days, and the relentless little master was after him with whips and hounds. One seemed to be gnawing ferociously at his stomach, another was licking his throat as dry as a bone, while a host of them seemed scampering through his brain, and darting back and forth on every nerve. Boxes of cigars and tobacco stood on his shelves for sale, and whenever he went near them they seemed to give the command: "Come, sir, you must take a bite," or "It is time for you to have a smoke." And the poor fellow was goaded until he had to submit, and, by his actions, acknowledge himself in their power. This young man learned to use tobacco when a boy, thinking it would make a man of him to be able to smoke a cigar. Do you think he is more manly now on account of the habit? Boys, don't allow yourselves to be deceived in this matter. Tobacco will never make a man of you, but will make you its slave instead. If you commence its use, it is almost certain that you will regret it afterwards. If you doubt this, just test its truth by the experience of others. Ask every candid man among your acquaintances who has used it for ten or more years, and see if nine out of every ten will not advise you to let tobacco alone. They regret having formed the habit themselves, and would gladly break from it if they could easily do so. "I can do something that you can't," said a boy to his companion. "I can chew tobacco." "And I can do something you can't," was the quick reply. "I can let tobacco alone." Now that is the kind of boy we love to see. The boy who has the "backbone" to refuse when asked to do a foolish or wicked thing, is the one we are proud of. It is an easy matter to sail with the wind or float with the tide, and it is easy enough to form bad habits, so no one can boast over the power to do that. It is the one who can let them alone that is worthy of the praise. And the best time to let tobacco alone is before the appetite for it has been formed. There is nothing inviting about it then. Don't use it, boys. It is filthy, poisonous, disgusting stuff at its best. Be man enough to let it alone. Hold your head up proudly and say that you are its master, and never intend to become its slave.—C. L. Hill.