and his speaking was seriously interrupted by an elongation of the uvula. His brother, an intelligent physician, advised the discontinuance of his tobacco. He laid it aside. Nature, freed from its depressing influence, soon gave signs of returning vigor. His stomach resumed its wonted tone, his muscles acquired their former elasticity, and his speaking was no more annoyed by a relaxation of them.

A respectable man of my acquaintance, about forty years of age, who commenced chewing tobacco at the age of eighteen, was for a long time annoyed by depression of spirits, which increased until it became a settled melancholy, with great emaciation, and the usual symptoms of that miserable disease. All attempts to relieve him proved unavailing, until he was persuaded to dispense with his quid. Immediately his spirits revived, his countenance lost its dejection, his flesh increased, and he soon regained his health. Another man, who used tobacco very sparingly, became affected with loss of appetite, sickness at stomach, emaciation, and melancholy. From a conviction that even the small quantity he chewed was the source of his trouble, he entirely left it off, and very soon recovered.

I was once acquainted with a learned, respectable, and intelligent physician, who informed me, that from his youth he had been accustomed to the use of this baneful plant, both by smoking and chewing. At length, after using it very freely while indisposed, he was suddenly seized with an alarming vertigo, which, without doubt, was the result of this destructive habit. This afflicting complaint was preceded by the usual symptoms which accompany a disordered stomach, and a relaxation of nerves, with which, Gentlemen, you are too familiar to need a description here. After the application of a variety of remedies to little or no purpose, he quit the deleterious practice, and though his vertigo continued long and obstinate, he has nearly or quite recovered his former health. And he has never doubted but that the use of tobacco was the cause of all his suffering in this disagreeable disease. Many more cases might be cited, but sufficient has been said to establish the doctrine here laid down.[C]

Having gone through with an examination of the physical influence of tobacco, let us now, for a few moments, attend to its political and moral influence.

1. It is a costly practice. The whole adult population in the United States is estimated at six millions, one half of which are males. Allowing but one half of these to use tobacco in some form, we shall have one and a half millions to be taxed with this consumption. If we take into the account all who are in its use before they arrive at the period of adult age, it would swell the amount to two millions. Lest we should be accused of exaggeration, we will estimate the whole number of devotees at one million, who pay their daily homage at the shrine of this stupifying idol. The expense to the consumers of this drug varies, according to the quantity and mode of using. Those who are in the habit of smoking freely, and use none but the best Spanish cigars, pay a tax, I am informed by good judges, of not less than fifty dollars a year. While the moderate consumer of Scotch snuff pays from one to two dollars. Somewhere between these wide extremes, may be found the fair estimate of an average cost. If one fifth of the whole number of consumers should pay the highest estimate, it would amount to ten millions annually. Then if three-fifths pay but ten dollars apiece, it will amount to six millions; and if the remaining one-fifth pay but one dollar each, we shall have two hundred thousand dollars more. These added together will make an aggregate of sixteen millions two hundred thousand dollars. In this estimate nothing has been said of another class of consumers, which delicacy forbids me to mention, (and I hope I shall receive their forgiveness for my neglect;) nor of the time wasted in procuring and devouring this precious morsel. But lest even this very moderate calculation should be considered extravagant, which is by many competent judges believed to be far too low, we will reckon the consumers at one million, and the average cost at ten dollars each a year, for the whole; and then we have the enormous tax of three millions of dollars, to be annually paid in these United States for the useless consumption of this loathsome drug.

2. This practice paves the way to drunkenness. A few reasons have already been given, why smoking tends strongly to favor the introduction of ardent spirits. The dryness of mouth induced in some, is not the only case where a thirst for strong drink is produced. The great waste of saliva, occasioned both by smoking and chewing, has the same dangerous tendency. The fact that few of all the consumers of this plant are fond of those simple beverages so grateful to the unvitiated taste, and that most are inordinately attached to ale, wine, and brandy, is sufficient evidence of the dreadful truth, that it is the faithful pioneer to intemperance. What though there are some few and honorable exceptions; and what though there are many, who for a long time have used the poisonous plant, and have escaped the yawning gulf; still, a sufficient number have been swallowed up, to warrant the general conclusion. The few specifications already made above, might easily be increased a hundred fold.

Though every lover of tobacco is not a slave to rum, yet almost every drunkard is a slave to tobacco; and this is indirect evidence that the habits are in a manner associated, or have a sort of natural affinity. If such be its tendency, what moral responsibility rests upon the man who shall recommend it, either by professional advice, or by his own example! What an infinitude of moral evil must follow in its train, if drunkenness be its legitimate effect! What woes, what sorrows, what wounds without cause, may spring into existence at your bidding, when you prescribe the habitual use of this baneful plant! By such a prescription you incautiously open a fountain from which may issue streams, disturbing the peace of private families, pouring the waters of contention into peaceful and harmonious neighborhoods, embittering every condition of life, and poisoning every department of human society.[D]

3. It is an indecent practice. To say nothing of the disagreeable contortions of countenance assumed by the great variety of snuffers, smokers, and chewers; to say nothing of the pollution, inseparable from these habits, to the mouth, breath, and apparel, to the house and its furniture, (all which are too familiar to require description;) I ask, where is the man making any pretensions to refinement, who would not blush to offend the delicate sensibilities of the fair, by smoking his pipe or cigar in their presence? True politeness would seem to require, moreover, that even the feelings of gentlemen should be respected. But all sense of propriety seems to have fled before the indulgence of this foolish habit. To such an extent has it obtained, that we meet it in the kitchen, in the dining-room, and in the parlor; in every gathering of men of business; in every party of pleasure; in our halls of legislation; in our courts of justice; and even the sanctuary of God is sometimes polluted by this loathsome practice. It is impossible to walk the street without being constantly assailed by this noxious vapor, as it is breathed from the mouths of all classes in community, from the