The following report of a meeting for the discussion of the great tobacco question is published for the benefit of those who, from a variety of circumstances, are precluded the benefit of public meetings on this important subject / British Anti-Tobacco Society.

Date:
[1857?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The following report of a meeting for the discussion of the great tobacco question is published for the benefit of those who, from a variety of circumstances, are precluded the benefit of public meetings on this important subject / British Anti-Tobacco Society. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    snuffing, is calculated seriously to interfere with the laws of our nature, and ought, therefore, to be entirely rejected. 3. —That as smoking especially has a tendency to encoimage the drinking usages of society, not only by creating morbid thirst, but also by impairing the appetite for food, and thus inducing recourse to a falsely supposed substitute; it ought, therefore, to be discoun¬ tenanced by every lover of morality. 4. —That as smoking keeps multitudes who indulge in it from public worship, and thus excludes them from the means which God has appointed for their instruction and salvation; it ought to be looked upon as an impediment to the high elevation of which our nature is capable, and avoided as a fruitful source of evil. 5. —That as such of the uses of tobacco as are deprecated by this Society rob those who addict themselves to them of time, talent, and pecuniary resources ; the misapplication of these endowments ought to excite, in the minds of those who are looking with anxiety on “ the world lying in wickedness,” a deep and anxious concern that this in¬ fringement of the inspired precept, “ Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God,” should exist no longer. 6. —That as the use of tobacco has assumed in this country a magnitude of fearful extent, it is the imperitive duty of every lover of mankind to unite in suitable efforts to remove this rapidly increasing evil, by exhibiting its injurious effects on the health—its degrading <consequences on the morals, and its enslaving power on the habits of its deluded victims; and, also, by seeking to deter others, especially the young, from acquiring these unnecessary, offensive, and expensive practices. Time will not allow me, to expatiate on the several topics which these principles contain, and I must content myself with 9 few discursive observations. I hesitate not to affirm, and I believe that every smoker present is prepared to confirm the affirmation, that there is no practice existing in society which is more antagonistic, to the real happiness of mankind, than the use of tobacco. There is nothing more repulsive to the natural instincts and sensibilities, and until these are blunted by the torpor producing, and intoxicating poison of tobacco, is it possible to derive any pleasure from its use. This I need not attempt to prove. No one present can forget what he suffered, when he first began to smoke or chew. The effects are indescribable, and the injury which it produces when long continued are irreparable. It is worth any effort, within the compass of human agency, to accomplish the great object of preventing the young from touching this ensnaring weed. The evils which are resulting in their history no language can describe, and the faithful testimony of every smoker present, of riper years, would be, to the effect, that if he had not begun he never would. The laws of our nature, which were intended by our All-wise Creator to contribute to our happiness, and His beneficent designs, are by the use of tobacco and snuff, defeated to an extent, which cannot be contemplated by mere casual observers of these exceptionable habits. Nor are the victims of them at all conscious of the injury which they habitually, but surely, inflict on themselves by their use. Working men, we want you to guard against every habit of life which is calculated to injure you in mind, body, or estate. Thousands of instances might be adduced, in proof of the working man’s hinderance in the journey of life, by the use of the pipe. Not long since I saw a poor fellow, in a suburban part of Manchester, pale and emaciated, with a short pipe in his mouth and a sack on his back. It was painful to witness his exhaustion. He told me that he