1 6 A NTI- TOBA ceo. 



which it is closely allied. Thick-set, as the path of the 

 victim is, with dangers on the right and on the left, he 

 rushes on regardless of consequences, and gratifies the 

 unnatural and purely artificial appetite, in spite of all 

 the remonstrances of an outraged constitution, and the 

 pangs of distress felt in every vital organ. He sophisti- 

 cates his reason and common-sense with the deceitful 

 pleas that the use of tobacco is a quietus to the agitated 

 nerves, a relief from fatigue, prevents the waste of 

 tissues, and that many smokers and chewers round out a 

 good old age of eighty or ninety years. It is true that 

 the human system is so wonderfully constituted, by the 

 wisdom and mercy of the Creator, that it can stand a 

 great deal of abuse before it finally succumbs. Ironclad, 

 tobacco-proof, and alcohol-proof — some persons seem 

 to carry a charmed life, that defies sickness and death. 

 But these are the exceptions that confirm the general 

 rule. Let no man, however stalwart, presume too much 

 on the native strength of his constitution. To every one 

 the day of reckoning, though long delayed, comes at last, 

 when all the items that have been registered in the day- 

 book are transferred to the ledger, and summarized in 

 one fatal bill. A lawyer and statesman of New York, just 

 deceased, adds another vivid illustration to this statement. 

 He prided himself on his ability to endure, freely exposed 

 himself on all occasions, never wore an overcoat in the 

 coldest weather, always slept with a window open, but at last 

 dropped off suddenly with Bright's disease of the kidneys. 

 But, haply, it is not always death which is the result of 

 our numerous and often unconscious violations of the 

 laws of health. It is the abridgment and diminution of 

 life. It is the gradual and almost imperceptible depres- 



