196 TOBACCO. 



incense, is an incongruity and an offence, a crop- 

 ping out of the old Phariseeism that made clean 

 f the outside of the cup and the platter.' Xot that 

 abstinence has merit or secures consecration ; it is 

 only its best condition." 



Consider what an almost insuperable obstacle 

 the tobacco-example of clergymen opposes to the 

 efforts of Christian parents and teachers against 

 this evil in their children and pupils ! 



Dr. Higginbottom, an English physician, testi- 

 fies : " After fifty years of most extensive and 

 varied practice in my profession, I have come to 

 the decision that smoking is a main cause of ruin- 

 ing our young men, pauperizing the working-men, 

 and rendering comparatively useless the best 

 efforts of the ministers of religion." 



In the session of a district Congregational con- 

 vention held in Wisconsin, a layman made an ad- 

 dress on the subject, " What the pews want from 

 the pulpit." Towards the close he said, "The 

 example set by some of the pulpits in the use of 

 tobacco is strongly objected to by many of the 

 occupants of the pews. The Wisconsin State 

 Congregational Convention, at its annual session 

 in 1869, declared,— 



" The common use of tobacco is an offensive 

 practice to persons of neatness and refinement, 

 hindering the influence of those who use it ; it is 

 a wasteful practice, using money that is needed 

 for other purposes ; it is a practice injurious to 

 health of body and mind ; it is a practice of in- 



