A SHOUT FOR FREEDOM

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 1, 1861

A SHOUT FOR FREEDOM.

[Those of our brethren who have abandoned the use of tobacco, will rejoice as they read the following lines, that they have overcome the habit. And we trust that those who have not yet gained this victory, will be induced by their perusal, to make more strenuous efforts to free themselves from that thralldom than ever before.—Ed.]

As much as we boast of liberty, thousands among us are doomed to the most abject servitude. They may not be tortured by the lash of the southern planter, or crouch beneath the tyranny of a despot yet they are doomed to a still worse bondage—the slavery of appetite. Passing by the multitudes who quaff the intoxicating cup, and suffer its numerous ill, sacrificing wealth, home, friends, reputation, and even heaven itself, let us consider a class of slaves whose chains, being less apparent, are, nevertheless, more firmly rivited upon them—the slaves to the use of tobacco.

Here two questions arise, which will form the basis of this article: Is the use of tobacco an evil? and is there a remedy?

All will admit that chewing, snuffing, or smoking to excess, as some practice it, is an evil. But in regard to the evil generally there would be a great variety of opinions. We deem it, therefore, important to examine the extent of the evil, in order properly to apply the remedy. Let us consider its deleterious effects physically and morally.

Tobacco, according to the most approved botanical authors, belongs to the same order as Atropa Beladonna, or deadly nightshade; and Datura Stramonium, or poison thorn-apple. It is without doubt a native plant of American soil. Its extract forms one of the most virulent poisons yet known. Linnæus, an eminent botanist, has placed it in the class Lurida, which signifies pale, ghastly, livid, dismal, and fatal. How strikingly characteristic of the appearance and end of many of its votaries!

The use of tobacco seriously affects the organs of sensation.

The taste. This organ is located in the tongue, and its uses are of the utmost importance. It is also a source of great enjoyment. In sickness, when this organ is rendered inactive by fevers, the most delicious fruits are insipid and tasteless. Need we wonder, then, that its functions are greatly depreciated where this organ is constantly subjected to the action of an extract the most penetrating and poisonous, possessing both the properties of narcotic and irritant!

The sense of smell consists of a thin, white, transparent, and flexible skin, formed of fibers interwoven like net-work and connected by nervous filaments to the brain. The acuteness of this sense differs in different individuals. It enables us to enjoy the delightful odors of nature, and to distinguish between wholesome and unhealthy diet. The eye, the ear, and the touch would be insufficient without this organ. Now, while we observe its functions often suspended by a slight cold, can we doubt that the fumes of tobacco, so poisonous in its nature, hanging like a sooty cloud in the form of smoke, or the dust of the rattling ear in the form of snuff, obstruct and injure the sense of smell?

The sense of touch is formed by numerous minute projecting filaments, which are spread over the whole external surface of the body, being a termination of the nerves. Now, if the nervous system is seriously affected by the use of tobacco—as we shall endeavor to show—then this organ must be affected in the same proportion.

The ear is peculiarly complicated in its arrangement, and, like the other organs of sense, is connected with the nervous system, and must of necessity be more or less influenced by tobacco on this account. Dr. Mussey presents the case of a surveyor, by the name of Cummings, of Plymouth, New Hampshire, who, by the use of tobacco in all its forms for thirty-five years, became nearly blind and deaf. Upon giving up the use of tobacco both his sight and hearing returned, and all his senses became keener at the age of sixty-three than the average of men at that age, being able to keep notes without spectacles, with no other change in his habits but in the use of tobacco.

The eye is perhaps one of the most interesting and important organs of the body which is not absolutely essential to sustain life. Many would choose to be deaf and dumb, rather than be deprived of sight. Philosophers disagree in regard to the connection of the eye with the brain, but that it is so connected through the medium of the nerves scarce admits of a doubt. Now, as smoke is generally hurtful to the eye, and as it must of necessity come in contact with the eye of the smoker, it must therefore be injured by this habit. We have seen its effects in the account of Mr. Cummings.

Tobacco seriously injures the alimentary and digestive organs.

First, the teeth. Who has not heard of a sure remedy for toothache in a pipe or quid of tobacco? This reminds me of a celebrated cure for corns which I once read in a public journal: "Soak the corns well over night in salt and water; in the morning cut off both feet just above the ankles: never known to fail." To think of smoking or chewing poison till the nervous system is so prostrate that it ceases its action, is to present a remedy worse than the disease. The use of tobacco, whatever may be said to the contrary, is evidently an injury to the teeth. Dr. Wm. Alcott on this subject says, "the soundness of the teeth is always in proportion to the soundness of the gums, and the lining membrane of the mouth and alimentary canal; and the fact that tobacco injures this lining membrane, is as well established as any fact in physiology." Drs. J. C. Warren and Mussey testify, "that many tobacco chewers have their teeth literally worn to the gums, as the natural effect of tobacco on the teeth is to lessen their hardness." "Scores," says Dr. M., "who have come under my observation, where the front of the jaws shut close, had the grinders so much worn, where the quid lay, that there was a space between them varying from one-tenth to one-sixth of an inch; and for twenty years I have questioned patients with cancers around the mouth, whether they used tobacco, and if ever I have found one to answer negatively, it was only the exception to the rule."

We proceed from the teeth to the stomach. How common the plea among tobacco users that they are troubled with indigestion, and need this stimulant to assist nature! How absurd, when the natural tendency of this habit is to throw off the saliva, whose very property is to aid the digestive organs! Dr. Rush, and many others of the medical profession, unite in their testimony that the use of tobacco is a fruitful source of dyspepsia and other diseases of the digestive organs.

Tobacco seriously affects the blood. Modern philosophers agree with Moses, the most ancient historian, that "the life of the flesh is in the blood." Lev. xvii, 11. Solomon, the world's wisest king, teaches the manner of its circulation through the system. Eccl. xii, 6. The average quantity of blood in an adult is estimated at about twenty-eight pounds. This, by the action of the heart, is thrown to the extremities about fourteen times every hour. When passing through the arterial system it is of a bright floral red color, having

been purified in its passage through the lungs by inhaling the vital air. As the blood returns, and gathers upon its surface the impurities of the system through which it has passed, it becomes dark in the venous system till it again reaches the lungs. Can there then remain a doubt of the deleterious effects of tobacco on this life blood, when, instead of inhaling the pure oxygen upon the lungs, there is taken with it the poisonous effluvia of tobacco in the form of smoke, dust, and spittle, to be carried through all the ramifications of this complicated machinery! More than this, as "the blood is the life," if that life-blood is impregnated with poison, its effects will be transmitted to the offspring, and thus the evil becomes wide-spreading in its influence.

The nerves are a prolongation of the medullary substance of the brain, which extends through every portion of the system. They are the organs both of sensation and motion, embracing both the feelings and the will. It is estimated that in the human body there are about 10,000 nerves. In their operations they convey influences from their extremities to the brain, and also convey the influences of the will from the brain to the voluntary muscles. As these organs are diffused through the whole system, does it require a great stretch of credulity to believe that they are often seriously affected by the use of tobacco, a poison so penetrating in its nature? And as the body and mind are always more or less in sympathy with each other, and as the whole physical man is injured by the indulgence of this habit, we conclude that consciousness, memory, reason, faith, imagination, yea, the whole intellectual man, is injured by it in the same proportion.

But let us consider the moral bearing of this habit. We shall use the term morality in its strict theological sense. "Morality," according to Dr. Webster, "is the quality of an action which renders it good; the conformity of an act to the Divine law, on the principles of rectitude, performed by a free agent, from a motive of obedience to the Divine will." We take the ground that the use of tobacco is a great moral evil. None will pretend to pursue this habit in conformity to the Divine law. That law, which is our rule of action, requires us to "abstain from the appearance of evil." We do not deny that tobacco may be used beneficially as a medicine, which may be said of arsenic and other fatal poisons. But we do say, without fear of successful contradiction, that its habitual use is at least unnecessary. The origin of the habit, in some cases, may be with a misguided physician, but more generally the practice commences in childhood. Like an infant playing at the mouth of a den of serpents, or the lair of a tiger, unconscious of danger, they fear no evil till the grasp of the destroyer is upon them.

Waste of property has an immoral tendency. "Time is money," has grown to a proverb. It is penciled on our time-pieces, placed conspicuously in our mechanic shops, and heralded in our public journals. Now, if property is squandered in the shape of wasted moments in the use of tobacco, its immoral tendency is so far established. We leave this thought with the reader. He can not, will not deny this point.

The use of tobacco often leads to intemperance and idleness. Go among store and tavern loungers and record the names of all who abstain from the use of tobacco, and you will find them to be only the exceptions to the general rule. I will not say that every tobacco user is a drunkard; but I will say, that almost without an exception, every drunkard is a tobacco user.

Tobacco users behold your associate! If filthiness has an immoral tendency, then we have another evidence of the immorality of tobacco using. Mix in society and who do you generally find most chaste in their conversation, those who indulge or are free from this habit? That obscene jest, that vulgar attempt at wit or blasphemous attempt at Scripture quotation, is frequently either followed or preceded by the curling wreath, as of the smoke of the pit, or a dark polluted stream from those worse polluted lips. I am aware that there are exceptions, would to God we could say "honorable exceptions;" for although there are points of honor in those who use tobacco, I have yet to learn where lies the honor of tobacco chewing. I think this honor should be classed with the honor of rum-selling, rum-drinking, and duelling—the less we have of it the better. Not only does the bride plead with her newly pledged husband to abandon a habit of all things most offensive to her, while he remains unmoved; but crowds of beautiful females are seen, with handkerchiefs to their faces, while the would-be-thought gentleman is seen puffing tobacco smoke in their faces, or pouring streams of pollution at their feet. "Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon."

But let us call up witnesses to testify to the filthiness of tobacco. Speak, ye tobacco-scented mouths and stomachs, ye crammed nostrils and smoke-dried faces! Ye mechanic shops and gilded saloons; ye steamboat decks and railroad cars; ye shining stove-hearths and glistening spittoons; ye rich and costly carpets and hearth-rugs; ye coaches, cabs, and crowded omnibuses; ye seminaries, academies, and colleges of learning; ye halls of legislation and temples of religion—speak and bear testimony to the filthiness of this habit. Come forward, ye ladies dressed in delicate fabric; ye "maids of honor," who sweep, and scrub, and clean; ye benevolent societies, who furnish and keep in order the house of God; ye who have snuff-taking cooks and tobacco-chewing bakers—say, is it a filthy practice? Speak, ye cart-loads of old tobacco pipes and tubs of snuff handkerchiefs; ye pyramids of juicy tobacco quids and floods of richly-colored saliva; ye lads and lasses who have snuff-taking grandmas and tobacco-chewing grandfathers—say, is this a filthy habit? Come from the four winds, ye tobacco-scented zephyrs, and bear on, from every clime, your testimony upon the question, is the use of tobacco an evil?

Let us now attend to the second question:

IS THERE A REMEDY?

The old proverb, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," comes too late to that man who is confirmed in an evil habit that binds him as in the folds of the boa-constrictor. To prevent, in his case is to cure. But if the great Physician has provided a remedy for the very worst of diseases, the plague of the heart, and has opened a fountain which can cleanse from the foulest stain, then there is hope even here. We would say, then, to every tobacco user, there is hope, for there is a remedy. "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." We proceed to present several successive steps to the annihilation of this most disgusting yet expensive habit.

1. Reflection. This is most important. Think of man's original state in Paradise. Did his happiness consist in pipes and cigars, etc.? Think how recently its use commenced, and how the people lived without it. Contrast the difficulties of tobacco users with those who are free. See the tobacco chewer in that richly carpeted mansion, with closed fire-boards and minus a spittoon. See him approaching the sanctuary, struggling to decide whether to sacrifice his appetite, and sit an hour without his quid, or pollute the holy temple of God while listening to a discourse from the words of the apostle, "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit," etc. Reflect on the influence you may have in society, both in the indulgence and the abstinence from the practice, and lastly, upon its expensiveness, and the good that might be accomplished with the money thus spent.

2. Resolution. Not merely a resolution to try, but to quit at all hazards. It will be all in vain to try. I'll try, may do wonders in other enterprises, but will be foiled here. I'll try, is "the strong man armed." I must have it, is the "stronger than he that overcometh him and taketh from him his armor and spoileth his goods." To overcome this habit needs an indomitable will. Like the prodigal after his reflection, in his second step of reform he must say, "I will arise and go." There must be no compromise, such as giving up the quid and smoking an occasional cigar, or vice versa. This would be like an attempt to tame a tiger by giving him occasional bits of flesh just to inflame his appetite. But "lay the ax at the root of the tree;" then deal a death blow, as you would in killing a serpent, at the habit at once. And as you would press on to the destruction of a writhing serpent after the first blow, repeating them in quick succession, so deal with this habit. As to the weapons to be used, I would say anything may be of use which will correct this morbid appetite for tobacco.

And here I would recommend the course of a noted dram-drinker who signed the total abstinence pledge. Soon after he took the pledge he called at a neighbor's house to borrow an article, and, as the custom was, he was offered a glass of cider. But said the man, "I have taken the pledge." "O! well, a glass of cider won't hurt you," said the other. But he refused, and the neighbor repaired to another place to get the desired article, when a most burning thirst came upon the other, and he soliloquized thus: "What will be the harm to take a very little of that cider just to quench this thirst?" "But," says conscience, "you are pledged." Here his habit again assaulted him, and the thought was again suggested, "What is the harm?" At this juncture, addressing the habit which was struggling for victory, he said, "Well, old fellow, if you are so very thirsty, I think a little cold water won't hurt you." So suiting the action to the word, and not waiting for another struggle of the besieged habit, he goes to the well and from the "old oaken bucket" he drank as long as breath would allow from nature's bubbling fount. He paused, thought of the cider; his thirst returned, and poising the old bucket on the curb he repeated the draught, doubling the dose. The habit surrendered, and he went home shouting the victory, having drowned the "old fellow" in a bucket of water. I would say deal not with this monster homeopathically, but hydropathically.

3. Association. In addition we would say, look well to your associates and places of resort. If you had been bitten by a serpent on some mountain, you would dread mountain scenery, and would tread cautiously if business called you there. Tread cautiously, then, where lurks this poisonous tobacco worm, and look out for its sting. Among all these resorts none should be more dreaded than the polite and fashionable cigar circles. These are like the gilded saloons, where the devil's hook is covered with gold and tinsel.

4. Lastly. Let your watchword be, "liberty or death." I once heard of a man who thought he should die before morning with toothache. Being alone, and fearing it would not be known of what disease he died, he wrote on a slip of paper and put it in a conspicuous place, "Died with the toothache." But he fell asleep and the morning found him well, and in his joy he neglected to take down the notice of his death, which was afterward found by his friends. I never knew a case of one who, in the strength of grace, resolved to quit the cup of inebriation, that died with the delirium tremens. Many have thought they should die in the struggle, but they have come off victorious by perseverance. So will it prove with the resolute and determined reformer in the habit, who, like the patriots of the Revolution, rely on the "aid of divine Providence." If the foe demand an immediate surrender, then shout, "Victory or death!" You may feel that you must die, but write not your obituary yet, but resolve to strike another blow for freedom, and determine no longer to be a slave in a free country. When one stronghold gives way, stop not to count the spoils, but press on to other conquests, shouting victory! victory! And as Gideon, with his three hundred men, took the vast multitude of the Midianites by crying, "The sword of the Lord and of Gideon," so may you conquer by shouting the Sword of the Lord and emancipation!—Ladies' Repository.