Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

The Topic.

OUGHT THE USE OF TOBACCO TO BE DISCOURAGED?

AFFIRMATIVE.

The use of tobacco ought to be discouraged, because its effects are injurious, both physically, mentally, and morally. It is physically deleterious. Its use is injurious to the mental faculties, and is intimately connected with and leads to other injurious habits. Though it has not in the same degree injurious effects upon all who use it, yet its natural tendency is of a degrading, debasing, besotting character. The great extent to which it is employed incurs a vast waste of both time and money. Its use tends to lessen a man's self-respect, as well as to lower him in the estimation of those whose esteem is most valuable. It is a most senseless, vapid, and inane employment for an intelligent being to spend time in inhaling and expiring tobacco-smoke. -S. S.

If we consider this question in a physical or economical point of view, it would lead us to the conclusion that the use of tobacco ought to be discouraged; it creates an appetite for an unhealthy stimulant, which drains the capital of the country of a large amount. -A. W.

At best the virtue of tobacco is medicinal, not nutritive. The habitual indulgence in it squanders a large amount of money, which, when the smoker has puffed it away, leaves him without the least shadow of an equivalent in either bodily or mental stamina; consequently, the money expended is entirely wasted. Wherefore we conclude that the use of tobacco ought to be strenuously discouraged, excepting as a medicine.-LUTHER.

Tobacco smoking does not improve the man; we see, alas! the majority of those who indulge in it do so in connexion with the curse of the landdrink. Whiskey-drinking and smoking

go hand in hand, the drinking-cup and the tobacco-pipe are very seldom absent from each other's company. Young men, especially, should beware of the use of tobacco, on account of the evils to which it leads.-J. W. L.

We make laws for the consumption of, smoke, and yet we enter the smoking room, and sit enjoying the narcotic weed, while the atmosphere is filled with its effluvium. If a habit exists, which is prejudicial to health, it ought to be discouraged. If we use an agent which acts injuriously upon the system, that agent ought to be abandoned. The use of tobacco exists to a very large extent, and is prejudicial to health, for it is an active narcotic agent, and acts deleteriously upon the nervous system. Consider the chemical ingredients of tobacco; its volatile oil, its volatile alkali, and its empyreumatic oil-the two last possessing poisonous qualities to a large degree-and then inquire if this does not account, to a great extent, for the nervous and stomach complaints which are so prevalent? Therefore, we would say, discourage the use of tobacco (especially among the young); for by doing so you improve the health of the community, and tend to prolong life.-J. T. K.

The use of tobacco ought to be discouraged, because it contains poison, which enters and pervades the human system to the gradual but certain detriment of physical and mental faculties. The first use of it deranges the whole system, and the stomach naturally revolts from it. The use of tobacco promotes drinking habits, which lead to inferior and demoralized society. As the inner man of smokers becomes disordered, so does the outer man; their dress, apartments, and whole household, present a slovenly, not to say, dirty, appearance. Smoking or chewing induces habits of indolence, listlessness,

[ocr errors]

apathy. The use of tobacco ought to be discouraged, because it is a waste of money and time; and because it tends to uphold the villanous and ever-to-be detested slave-trade. Arguments on the negative side of this question must inevitably end in smoke!-BETA.

Time is man's estate-his greatest treasure. It is the "bounden duty" of all to use it well, and exercise, with respect to it, the very greatest economy. The use of tobacco tends to form a habit of wasting time, by inducing a dreamy habit of obliviousness, which all men should be careful to avoid. "Do thyself no harm," saith the Scripture. We ought to avoid all practices which war against health-one of the most-to-be desired blessings that a man can enjoy. The use of tobacco often proves hurtful to the human frame. Borrhi relates an anecdote of a man who had so dried his brain by smoking, that, after his death, a little black lump, made up of membranes only, was all that was found in his skull. Economy in money matters is also of great importance. It has been computed that £48,000,000 are annually spent in this country upon strong drinks and tobacco. Does not this single fact speak volumes? We should rigorously avoid all habits which tend to make us unmindful of the comfort of others. The use of tobacco, especially when carried to an extreme, has this effect.-T. L. P.

It is a matter of regret, that so many of our youth (nay, mere boys) are to be seen indulging in the habit of smoking; allowing it to have the mastery of them, and thereby clinging to them through life. That the evil effects of smoking are great, we have sufficient medical testimony to prove; and as no benefits accrue from its use, we say, Let its use be discouraged.T. I. M.

The use of tobacco ought to be discouraged, because it injures the brain, weakens the memory, and prevents the right development of the intellect. It is altogether a bad habit, and is an outward sign of an inward infirmity.

I can for two ounces of tobacco become a subscriber to the British Controversialist; and while smokers are darkening their intellect, I can be improving mine by the most excellent discussions contained within these pages.-J. W.

The following remarks, founded upon experience, may serve to show that the chewing and smoking of tobacco is injurious, even when used moderately. It is a well-known fact, that almost every individual who learns to smoke does so at the expense of his comfort; for he has frequently to go away from the company he may be in to some quiet corner, in order to gratify his passion. Having a few hours every day to devote to study, I sometimes resolve to accomplish a certain amount of workperhaps to write an exercise, or read a philosophical book: but, before proceeding to do so, I indulge in smoking for a short time, and find, when I commence to write, that my hand is tremulous; and when I begin to read, my brain is sluggish, and entirely incapacitated for exertion. These are the effects of smoking upon almost all who indulge in the practice; therefore, the use of tobacco ought to be discouraged.-J. L.

There are few habits with which so many peculiar considerations are connected as with tobacco-smoking; or which are more purely artificial, or more repulsive to the natural taste. King James says, "Herein is not only a great vanity, but a great contempt of God's good gifts, that the sweetness of man's breath, being a good gift of God, should be wilfully corrupted by this stinking smoke." The fragrant cloud that arises from this weed, when in a state of ignition, may possibly not be unpleasant to those who do not smoke, but the reeking, nauseous effluvium that remains after its use, disgusting even to those accustomed to tobacco. Though tobacco at this time may be pronounced cheap in comparison with its price in former years, yet the habitual use of it involves an expenditure which may be far more advantageously employed. Smoking is the common resort of idle

persons; it unfits both the mind and body for that sedulous application without which no success can be obtained in any diffiult undertakings. And thus the smoker

"Murders time, he crushes in the birth A power ethereal, only not adored." Experience tells us that the indulgence in this narcotic weed is productive of consumption, an emaciated frame, a parched throat, a propensity to drink. The slave to smoke never enjoys the hilarious sensation of a vigorous health; he begins his day's pursuits with a feverish throat, a clammy mouth, an enfeebled pulsation, and a low, despondent mind. We therefore condemn the use of tobacco on the ground of its being a filthy, expensive, time-consuming, and pernicious habit.-FRED. A. R.

What fills our gaols with men from whom every human feeling seems to have fled? What crowds our workhouses and lunatic asylums? What brings to poverty and wretchedness hundreds of husbands, wives, and children? The blighting influence of one great national evil," Drink!" Shall we, then, who are the fathers of children, fresh in life's rosy morn, foster in our midst another habit, which, from its tendency to lead youth into evil company, is equally pernicious. No! let us beware; and not, for the sake of what may seem a pleasure, sacrifice the well-being of those from whose joy we should derive one great source of our own happiness. -E. G.

The habit of smoking is expensive. Though all smokers come not up to the average of " from ten to twenty-five cigars daily for each individual," as we are told is the case in Rotterdam, yet there is not a smoker of your acquaintance but will tell you that his pipe or cigar costs him a pretty round sum in the year. It is idling. A fellow tells you he is going to have a smoke," just as he would tell you he was going to his dinner. Possibly the former has

[blocks in formation]

greater attractions for him; at any rate he as willingly gives up his time to it. It is a filthy habit. Smoking or chewing-it's all the same; spitting is a consequent upon both; while blinding and choking smoke, and an offensive smell, result from the former. Such reasons, one would think, were sufficient to banish from civilized society any mere luxury. But the friends of the weed put forth higher claims for their client; they actually contend that it innocuously smooths the rough path of life before them. But is it so? Were such the case, man might well be pleased to buy at a little sacrifice so great a good; while woman would gladly suffer some inconvenience in order that he who toiled might soothe both body and brain. Here, however, we turn the tables, contending that tobacco is absolutely hurtful. This is no jumped-at conclusion. It is arrived at by chemically assigning tobacco its proper place. Sir Benjamin Brodie does this distinctly, when he ranks it with "alcohol" and other vegetable productions," which act "upon the nervous system." Dr. Mar

shall Hall, in a letter to the junior members of the medical profession, says, "It is plain tobacco acts on the cerebrum, the medulla oblongata, and the heart; its effects are stupidity, defective breathing, defective action of the heart-forms of debility and impaired energy. These phenomena are primarily physical and physiological; no doubt the blood is poisoned, and in its turn poisons the brain, the medulla, and the heart. Sometimes, in those who smoke for the first time, these symptoms occur in a form even of danger." Immediately following, he gives the details of a case illustrating his remarks. Dr. Geoghegan, of Dublin, a high authority in such matters, speaking some time since to a friend who is addicted to the pipe, bore a strong testimony against it, warning him of its eminently injurious consequences. Finally, is it not an unsafe principle to

* See the Lancet, for October, 1857.

hold that pleasure is to be sought for its own sake? Is it not much more so when the pleasure-giving habit is injurious? This is the case with the use of tobacco. Does the weed lessen hunger, and soothe the mind in times of distress? It does so by partially deadening the natural susceptibilities. Surely this is not allowable. When body or mind is in an abnormal condition, should not natural means be resorted to, to restore their tone, and not such as tend to render them still more abnormal? Seeing, then, that tobacco is a positive nuisance, and a positive evil, ought it not to be banished by common consent from this world of civilization, science, and Christianity ?-D.

NEGATIVE.

Abstractedly speaking, it is perhaps better not to smoke, as, abstractedly speaking, it would be better to drink nothing but water. But we are not dealing with abstractions. In real life water almost always tastes of pills, and is otherwise an unsatisfactory beverage: and in real life people, who work, want something to look forward to. All we can say for tobacco is, that taken in moderation, it supplies that something in a cheap, accessible, and harmless form.-SAMIVEL.

Though tobacco does some harm, its main effect is to furnish the greatest amount of enjoyment which is derived from any one source of physical gratification. No one can watch the labourer enjoying his mid-day rest, or plodding home at night, or sitting after the day's work at his cottage-door, without understanding that tobacco is the one great luxury of his existence. Such a man has not to trouble himself with the amount of duty it has paid. Be that as it may, he knows that it comes well within the reach of his scanty means, and that is about the only nice thing that does.-HORNYHAND.

The fact that certain squeamish, asthmatical old women flash their prophetic eyes far into the fuliginous future, and see emaciated generations wasting VOL. IV.

away before the poisonous drug, does not in the least affect us, inasmuch as the abuse of an article like tobacco does not seem at all likely to prevent its use with all strong-minded men who act out the precept," Enough is as good as a feast."-SPITTOON.

Kane, the Arctic explorer, told an Englishman very shortly before he died, that it was tobacco that had enabled him to keep up the spirits and the courage of his men under their dreadful sufferings. He was opposed to their having much alcohol, and he found that they would go willingly without stimulants, and preserve their equanimity and elasticity of spirits, if he did but supply them with a moderate quantity of tobacco. This fact, I think, ought to weigh with those who oppose the use of tobacco without any better reason than that they don't like it, forsooth, because they never felt the want of it. I hope they never will, but I much question it.-PUFF.

Spenser calls it "Divine tobacco," and Lilly, "The holy weed Nicotian." Great, however, have been the obstacles through which the divine weed had to struggle.

Christian kings wrote big books against it. Pope Urban excommunicated those who used it in churches (not, we allow, altogether without reason). The Czar of Muscovy cut off the noses of the snuffers. And Shah Jehan tortured all smokers. Christendom and Islam combined in vain against tobacco. There must be something very congenial to human tastes in what resisted this combination of persecution, unless, as in more momentous matters, the sufferings of the martyrs of tobacco were the seeds of its triumphs. -S. E.

Of all the luxuries in which Englishmen indulge, smoking is the most harmless, and affords the greatest amount of innocent gratification. Its soothing influence is felt by thousands, and thoroughly enjoyed by all whỏ follow the example of Sir Walter Raleigh, who conferred no small blessing upon his fellow-countrymen by the in2 c

troduction of tobacco into England. The labouring classes of this country, who are dependent for their daily bread on the sweat of toil, need some stimulant to enable them to work on day by day, and through the influence of tobacco are they alone able to achieve so much, for it is a stimulant, without any of those evil effects which follow the use of alcohol. Dr. Kane, the celebrated Arctic traveller, says that without tobacco his followers would never have been able to overcome all the difficulties they had to encounter. The merchant, during the cares and troubles of the day, looks forward with pleasure to the time when he shall derive some comfort from a smoke in the evening, for over his meerschaum he plans and schemes for the future. The old boys of Greenwich love a smoke as much now as when it helped to cheer them through the storm, or beguile away many a lonely and weary mid. night watch. And so on, through all trades and professions smoking is enjoyed; and should any measure be brought forward to discourage its use, such a storm of opposition will be raised against it, that it will be powerless. For smoking leads to thinking and enables man to forget for the time the cares of the world. Around, and often during the few quiet minutes which he enjoys while smoking, thoughts are suggested which lay the foundation of future prosperity; and whatever any old crusty philosopher may say, his is a theoretical, philosophical view of the question; ours is a practical one,—and practice before theory, all the world over.-S. W.

Notwithstanding the strictures of Sir Benjamin Brodie, I think the use of tobacco ought not to be discouraged. I can advance nothing original to support my opinion, which is based on the following reasons:-Tobacco is one of the most effectual and pleasant sedatives we possess; a fact which can only be proved by those who use it. It is used by the inhabitants of all nations without exception, and its use is increasing

yearly in Great Britain and Ireland, as shown by the Custom House returns. Surely an article of such universal consumption must have some virtue in it. Its use, instead of undermining the constitution of man, enables him-so far as my experience goes-to endure hardships with a cheerfulness which, under the circumstances, could scarcely be expected. The experience of men every way as well qualified as Sir Benjamin Brodie of judging of the effects of tobacco must be taken into consideration. Dr. Pritchard, at the recent meeting of the Social Science Association, tells us that by means of tobacco he has been enabled to enter climes and places, where others had failed. The opinion of this eminent traveller is corroborated by Dr. Lankester, the able editor of the Sanitary Review. My remarks apply to the use of tobacco. Concerning its injurious effects when abused, I presume there are not two opinions; it is difficult, I admit, to draw the line of demarcation between moderate and excessive smoking; it remains for lovers of the weed to show by moderation, and a regard for the comfort and convenience of others, that the assertions of the anti-tobacconists are without foundation; it is, in fact, my opinion, that they may attempt to suppress sunshine with as great success as smoking.-J. W.

66

This is a subject upon which capital arguments could be adduced on both sides of the question;" but as my convictions tend, so will I uphold; and I proceed, therefore, briefly to state my reasons for affirming that the use of tobacco ought not to be discouraged. Generally, in the first instance, tobaccosmoking is not an absolute necessity, as that health can be retained without it, this is a fact that needs no demonstration; but after the use of it has been indulged in for a short period, the pleasure and comfort derived therefrom induces the habit to become continuous, and we have to consider whether this habit is injurious to the health. Sir Benjamin Brodie admits that an occasional indulgence is not deleterious;

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »