[Illustration]
I knew a young clergyman whose oratory obtained for him the admiration
of many influential persons, among whom was a gentleman of fortune, who
courted his company and taught him to smoke.
The young minister was warned of his danger, but could not be persuaded
to renounce that which he considered a harmless indulgence. He insisted
that his cigar soothed his mind and composed his feelings. A friend,
in reply, told him that the mind never needs composing when in health;
and the feelings never need artificial soothing only when improperly
irritated; and added, “Beware how you indulge in a bad habit.”
Impatient under the rebuke, the clergyman replied: “I smoke but seldom,
and could almost do without it.”
‘Seldom’ and ‘almost’ are two fatally ominous words. ‘Seldom’ will
become ‘regular,’ and ‘almost’ be converted into ‘always.’ And as
smoking and drinking are companions, let me beseech you, said his
friend, “not to make them yours. Ministers should be a fence around the
pit of perdition.
“Some inexperienced youth may see you smoke, and, imitating your
example, become a confirmed smoker, and sooner or later a confirmed
drunkard. The line of demarkation being once effaced, he may soon be
lost in the vortex of sin.”
Little did this young preacher suppose this to be a prophetic picture
of his own mournful case. But he continued the habit, and, little
by little, his splendid talents became dim, and his hearers forsook
him. His wealthy host, who first taught him to smoke, witnessed his
growing desire for stimulants, and with a look more expressive than
words, declared that “in spite of praying and preaching, professors
of religion like the good things of this life, as well as others; and
that, after all, saints and sinners are pretty much alike.”
The days of this eloquent young clergyman were ended in ignominy; and
a life which promised to be happy and illustrious, was early brought
to a miserable close. His intemperate habits, it was supposed, killed
his young wife, and made a beggar of his child. He died in a madhouse,
blaspheming the very Saviour whom he had once preached.
Avoid smoking. “It is the devil’s leading string, beginning with a hair
and ending with a cable.”
[Illustration: _DAVID PAULSON, M. D._
_President Anti-Cigarette League of America_]