28
Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene
the nervous system is disordered; Satan keeps the mind in a fever
of unrest; and the poor victim, imagining himself perfectly secure,
goes on and on, until every barrier is broken down, every principle
sacrificed. The strongest resolutions are undermined, and eternal
interests are too weak to keep the debased appetite under the control
of reason. Some are never really drunk, but are always under the
influence of mild intoxicants. They are feverish, unstable in mind, not
really delirious, but as truly unbalanced; for the nobler powers of the
mind are perverted.
Wherever we go, we encounter the tobacco devotee, enfeebling
both mind and body by his darling indulgence. Have men a right to
deprive their Maker and the world of the service which is their due?
Tobacco is a slow, insidious poison. Its effects are more difficult to
cleanse from the system than are those of liquor. It binds the victim in
even stronger bands of slavery than does the intoxicating cup. It is a
disgusting habit, defiling to the user, and very annoying to others. We
rarely pass through a crowd but men will puff their poisoned breath
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in our faces. It is unpleasant, if not dangerous, to remain in a railway
car or in a room where the atmosphere is impregnated with the fumes
of liquor and tobacco. Is it honest thus to contaminate the air which
others must breathe?
What power can the tobacco devotee have to stay the progress of
intemperance? There must be a revolution upon the subject of tobacco
before the ax will be laid at the root of the tree. Tea, coffee, and
tobacco, as well as alcoholic drinks, are different degrees in the scale
of artificial stimulants.
The effect of tea and coffee, as heretofore shown, tends in the same
direction as that of wine and cider, liquor and tobacco.
Tea is a stimulant, and to a certain extent produces intoxication.
It gradually impairs the energy of body and mind. Its first effect is
exhilarating, because it quickens the motions of the living machinery;
and the tea-drinker thinks that it is doing him great service. But this is
a mistake. When its influence is gone, the unnatural force abates, and
the result is languor and debility corresponding to the artificial vivacity
imparted. The second effect of tea drinking is headache, wakefulness,
palpitation of the heart, indigestion, trembling, and many other evils.
Coffee is a hurtful indulgence. It temporarily excites the mind to
unwonted action, but the after-effect is exhaustion, prostration, paral-