tell you that he does it to get a light, or because others do it.

Is this true? You will probably think so. Let us examine the question.
Why does a man hold his hand in front of a match when he lights it in
the street? To screen it from the wind, or _to hide it from the sight
of passers-by?_ Why do ladies leave the dinner-table before the men
begin to smoke? To avoid the smell of tobacco--which is well known to
be aromatic, healthy, and delightful--or _because the natural modesty
of women shrinks from witnessing the striking of a match?_ Why, in a
railway-carriage, do you hold your fusee out of window when you light
it? Is it because you do not care about being half-choked--a paltry
plea--or is it to conceal from young persons who may be in the
carriage the sparkle which must inevitably remind them of wicked and
alluring eyes?

"_To get a light, or because others do it._" Is that true? Do not
trifle with the question. Read all my works. Do not get them from a
contemptible circulating library, but buy them.

II.

Some may not yet be convinced that the striking of matches is
suggestive and immoral. To me nearly everything is suggestive, but
there are some stupid persons in England. I will be patient with them,
and give them more evidence.

A wax match is called a vesta. Who was Vesta? But this is too
horrible. I cannot pursue this point in a periodical which is read in
families. I can only refer you to the classical dictionary, and remind
you that everything must infallibly suggest its opposite. Again,