To his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales : a letter / by the Rev. George Trask.

  • Trask, George, 1798-1875.
Date:
[1861?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: To his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales : a letter / by the Rev. George Trask. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    1/4
    One Penny. Sixpence per dozen. Three Shillings and Sixpence per hundred. TO HIS EOYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE OF WALES A LETTER BY THE REY. GEORGE TRASK, FITCHBURG, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A. “My Lord: I am told that God has endowed you with intellect, and, though born and bred amidst courtiers, you are not insensible to the dictates of friendship and common sense. American citizens, with one voice, thank you for your late visit, and trust that Divine Providence may make it a presage of signal good to your nation and our own. We gave you, my lord, unmistakeable evidence of affectionate homage, when “ the shout of a king ” went up on every hand, and men of all parties cried “ God save the Queen,” and you, the heir of her illustrious throne! Hence, in this appeal, I shall not disgust you by offering a needless amount of homage, nor degrade myself by unnecessary apologies. Your likeness is among us in daguerreotypes by thousands; and it may gratify you to know that our artists have in no instance disfigured the countenance of your royal highness by the presence of your meer¬ schaum with its noxious fumes. But I am sorry to say that our youth, far and near, have discovered that the Prince, whom we delighted to honour, is a devotee of this idol —a victim of this master-vice of the age ! Wherever these dear boys trace you in your route, whether on rail¬ roads, rivers or lakes, in Canada or Illinois, in Baltimore or Boston, on the heights of Quebec or on the banks of the Potomac, they see you with this idol in your mouth, environed by smoke! I have spent ten of the best years of my life in battling tobacco, in warning our rising millions against this fashionable abomination and its apfinities, and in forming Bands of Hope. Hence, you compel me to tell you, my lord, that your example has been contagious, and in this particular pernicious. We were afflicted with juvenile smokers before. These young Etnas were about us in abundance. But now our tobacconists, urged by cupidity, are rapidly manufacturing the Prince of Wales Cigars, and, by this fascinating brand, our urchins and dandies are fast copying this vice of yours, who may never copy your virtues. I hate tobacco as lord Nelson hated a Frenchman. “ I will fight a Frenchman,” was his language, “ wherever I can find him ; wherever he can anchor, my ship shall be there.” Hence, even your royal high¬ ness may expect no quarter for this vice ; for, God helping me, I will battle it alike on a throne or in a dungeon. English travellers reproach us for our national intemperance; English philanthropists for our atrocious system of slavery. For this fidelity your countrymen have our thanks. And now, my lord, I wish in some measure to reciprocate this kind¬ ness ; I wish, if possible, to save you from a baneful habit, which has power “ to bind kings with chains, and bring princes to nothing.”