sooty chimney-sweep, to the parson in his sacerdotal robe. You can scarcely meet a man in the street, with whom you have business, but he pours a stream of smoke into your face, exceedingly disgusting. And this he does too, without imagining that he transgresses the rules of politeness, or gives you any cause of offence.

In these habits we resemble the Aborigines of our country. They load their huge pipes with the dried leaves of this plant, and when lighted, they breathe the dark cloud of smoke from their mouth and nostrils, and as it curls around their head, ascending towards heaven, they present it as an offering to appease the anger of the Great Spirit. A mutual influence has resulted from our intercourse with the Indian. We have taught him how to debase himself below the brute, and destroy the quiet of savage life by the use of our whiskey; and he, in return, has taught us to destroy our constitutions, and interrupt the harmony of civilized society, by the habitual use of his deadly narcotic.[E]

Gentlemen, I have done. The subject, with a slight examination, is before you. I have plainly and fearlessly expressed my opinion, without intending to wound the feelings of a single individual. If your sentiments correspond with mine, you will assist in bringing this odious practice to the bar of public opinion. There let it be subjected to a severe, but dispassionate trial; and if on a cool and deliberate investigation, its pernicious tendency shall fully appear, then let the American people rise up, and with united voice pronounce its sentence of final condemnation.

Footnotes