OUR FIRST AND LAST CIGAR.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 293, 2 April 1877, Page 4

OUR FIRST AND LAST CIGAR.

Tli* time Jad corn® in pot boyhood which demanded of ns a opacity to ■moke. The old people of the household coold neither abide siirht nor srnetl of tlie Virginian weed. "When mmis'ent came therev not by a positive injunction, but by &sort of bstmet as to which would be the •afest, they w hilled tht ir prprs on the back steps. If tlu> c:ittse could not stmd sanctified smoke to t may kt:ow how tittle chance there was for adolescent cigarpuffing. By some rare good fortune. which put into ottr bands twopence, we found access to a tobacconist's. As the lid of the long fragrant box was opened, and the first time we owned a cigar, our feeling* rf elation, manliness, superiority, and anticipation can scarcely be imagined, save by those who havtt had the same sensation. Our first ride on horseback, thong I '* we fell off before we got to> t ,: ie barn, and our first pair of new boots (reat srjuoakrra), we hail thought could never f><) surpassed in interest ; but when we put the cL'ar to our lips, and stuck the lucifer match to the end of the weed, and commenced ti» pull with an energy that brought every facial muscti) to its ntuiosS tension, onr satisfaction with this world was so jrreat, our temptation was never to want to leave it.

The euriw tti-it n»>fc l>nn» wetl It tfcptirect en amount of suction that tas>ed our eleterminnhiorv to th-w utmost. \ott see that our wordty means!* had Itnifcrtt 09 to a quality tli.it cost only twopence. But we had been taught that nothing great can, b<? accomplished without effort, so we pultVd away. Indeed, we Ivwt heard one elder brothers in their Latin lessons say, "Omnia vineit labor t" which translated tutsan*,. " If you want to make anything go, yott mrteh scratch for it." With these sentiments we passed ♦town the village street and out towards our country home. One heads <Ud not feet exactly -right,, ami the s ! re--t began to ro.-fc from side to side, so that it wa» uncertain to its which side of fc'ie street we wt re on. So we crossed orer, bitt found ourselves* OTV the same side that we were before we crossed over. Indeed» we ining: tied that we were on both, sides at the same time, and several fast teams driving between. We met another boy, whf»- asked rt< why we looked so pate, and- we told hint wedid not loo!c pale, but that he wm pate himself. We sat down under the bridge and begnn to reflect on the prospect of early decease and the uncertainty of all expectations. We hail determined to smoke the cigar alt up, and thin get the worth of our money, but were obliged to throw throt« fuurths of it away, yet knew just where we threw it in case we felt better the next day. letting home,, the ohl people were frightened, and demanded that we should state what kept us out so Late and -what was the matter with us.

N-fc fueling time we were catted t"< >■ £<» into- particulars, ami not wishing tic increase our parents' apprehension that *t' were going to turn out badly, we summed lip the case with a statement that we tV lt miserabte ah the pit of the sfomair'i. We had mustard plasters administered. and careful watching tf<'f some hours, w!h hwe fall asleep ami forgot our disapp<>intmt fit and humiliation in being obliged to throwaway three-fourths of onr tirst cigar. Bfcing naltt ally reticent, we have nsver mentioned it until this time. But how about otir last cigar f ft was three o'clock (Sabbath morning} in our western home. We had stnoktd three or few cigars since tea.. At that time we ■wrote our semtms, and took another cigar with each new head of discourse. Wo thought we were getting the inspiration from aliove, but we were getting much of it from beneath, Our hand* trembled along the line, and strung np to the last tension of nerves, we finished our werfc and started from our r00m... A book Standing on the table ft 11 over, atvd atthough it was not a large book its fall sounded to our excited system tike the crack of a pistol. As w-> went down the stairs th«.ir creaking made wir hair stand en end. Aa we tiling onr-vK'es upon a sleepless pillow, we n* solved, God helping, that we had smok. d our last cigar, and committed our last sin of study.

We kept our promise. With tiu; same resolution went overboard coffee- and tea. That night we were born into a new physical, mental,, arid moral life. E*erhaps it. may be better for some to smoke, »-t t study by night, and take exciting temperance beverages ; but we are persmadut that if thousands of people who< now go moping arut nervous arid exhausted through life, down with sick headaches ttudi rasped wish irritabilities, would try a large- duSo of absturtenc \. they would thank ©'oil for this paragraph of personal experience, and maku the world the same bciglit place we tind it, a phuw so attractive that nothing short of heaven would be good enough to exchange for it. The font eiu;tr made us desperately sick ; tlur throwing- away of our last made us gloriously well. For us the croaking of fchtt midnight owl had ceased, and the sinking of the birds hath come. lie v. Dr. Talmage,