Nicotiana Part 1

Nicotiana.

by Henry James Meller.

PREFACE.

Many an excellent cause has been lost through the want of sound arguments, founded on a knowledge of the case, to support and place it in its proper light. None, perhaps, more than _smoking_ and _snuff-taking_, the propriety of which, in the upper orders of life, have been and are, whether as regards their social or medicinal qualities, so frequently called in question by their enemies. These, the author is sorry to say, by the use of a few specious arguments, that chiefly pa.s.s current in refined society--the ladies in particular--have, strongly aided by prejudice, often made the defence succ.u.mb to the attack--an unpardonable weakness on the part of a _consumer_ of the herb, who is naturally enough expected to know the entire history of the favorite of his adoption. Unacquainted with the excellence of his subject, its importance and consequence in ancient and modern annals--its high worshippers and eulogists, medical, and non-medical, with its many endearing and social virtues acknowledged over the far greater part of the world; he, the Author a.s.serts, unacquainted with the above _data_ and references, opposes but a feeble barrier to the sweeping and general a.s.sertions of his adversary.

In the above glorious cause (i. e. Anti-Smokers and Snuff-Takers v. Lovers of the Herb) the Author himself holds a brief in the defence as counsel, and flattering himself he has made himself fully master of the case, he begs to impart it as a proper, if not an absolutely requisite accompaniment to all lovers of the 'soothing leaf.' The prejudices against smoking are numerous. Smoking that is called _unsocial_, the author affirms to be the common source of harmony and comfort,--the badge of good fellowship in almost every state, kingdom, and empire. Aye, from the English settlers in the wildernesses of America, where the _Calumet_ or Pipe of Peace is smoked by the natives, to the turbaned infidel of the East--from the burning zone of Africa to the icy regions of the North. In fact, in almost every clime and condition of society it is known as a common sign, or freemasonry of friendly feeling and social intercourse. In the East, the first act of hospitality is proffering the pipe with its invariable accompaniment coffee, which is more or less observed under various modifications over nearly the rest of the habitable world.

Smoking that is termed _low_ and _vulgar_ was, and is, an occasional recreation with most of the crowned heads of Europe, among which may be named his late Majesty, and their Royal Highnesses the Dukes of Suss.e.x and c.u.mberland--Ferdinand of Spain, and the Emperor Nicholas of Germany--besides very many of the n.o.bility of either empires and kingdoms.

Smoking that is termed _idle_, is singularly popular with mechanics, the most industrious cla.s.ses of England.

Smoking that is said to be _dirty_ and _filthy_, is in the greatest esteem, among the most moral and cleanly sect in Christianity--the Society of Friends or Quakers.

Smoking that is affirmed to be _revolting_ and _disgusting_, is indulged in by the most rigidly kept women in the world--those of Turkey, who elevated in the dignity of the Haram, are taught to consider a whiff of their lord's _chibouque_ a distinction. Then the ladies of both Old and New Spain, who twining in the mazes of the giddy waltz, take the _cigarros_ from their own pretty lips to transfer to those of their favoured partners. If indeed, royalty be wanted in the female line, since the good old times of Elizabeth, who can be so lamentably ignorant in the annals of smoking, as not to know, that the late _Tumehemalee_, Queen Consort of _Tirahee_, king of the Sandwich Islands, was dotingly fond of a pipe--sensible woman and above all petty prejudices as she was, at our own honoured court.

Now, in regard to snuff, that like smoking is so much abused, coming under the bans of the ignorant and prejudiced, _beastly_ is the word commonly given to its application, though used to the greatest excess in the famed land of _politesse_--France. The most polished and fascinating address is ever followed by the gracefully proffered snuff-box. What a vast deal does it not speak at once in a man's favor, begetting instantly a friendly sympathy in the head that gradually extends to the heart. What does not MOLIERE, their favorite author say, in favor of the herb? for the benefit of casuists we quote the sublime panegyric, which alone ought to confirm the bold lovers of the pipe and box, and 'inspire and fire' the diffident and wavering.

"Quoi que puisse dire Aristote, et toute la philosophie, il n'est rien d'egal au tabac; c'est la pa.s.sion des honnetes gens, et qui vit sans tabac, n'est pas digne de vivre. Non seulement il rejouit et purge les cerveaux humains, mais encore il instruit les ames a la vertu et l'on apprend avec lui a devenir honnete homme. Ne voyez-vous pas bien, des qu'on en prend, de quelle maniere obligeante on en use avec tout le monde, et comme on est ravi d'en donner a droit et a gauche, par tout ou l'on se trouve? On n'attend pas meme que l'on en demande, et l'on court au devant du souhait des gens; tant il est vrai que le tabac inspire des sentimens d'honneur et de vertu a tous ceux qui en prennent."

The pipe and the box are twin-brothers; they are the agents of friendship, conviviality, and mirth; they succour the distressed, and heal the afflicted; impartial and generous, they administer to all that sue for comfort, and the spirits of peace advance at their call; they live in charity with all men, unite them, and re-unite them, and they sympathise all hearts, entwining them in a cheerful and lasting community of soul and sentiment. The pipe and the box give a vigour to the mind, and a language to its ideas. They give harmony a tone, and discord a silence. They inspire the bold, and encourage the diffident. Yes! through their agency alone, all these benefits are received and experienced. In short, they express in one breath, superlative happiness. A few ill.u.s.trations will suffice:

A man in public company wishing to give utterance to some particular opinion or sentiment, invariably finds the pipe or the pinch the best prompter. A man wishing to be silent, in meditation finds the pipe his excuser. A man in anger with himself, his family, or the public, the pipe or the pinch will generally restore to kindness. A man desirous of meeting a friend, need but give him a "pinch," and the heart is at once opened to his reception. A man in misfortune, either in sickness or in circ.u.mstances, will learn philosophy from the pipe, and count upon the latter, at least, as his own: in this case, from both tobacco and snuff, he borrows an independent vigour, and a cheerfulness that shines even in the sadness of his heart. The impregnative spirit of tobacco will wind its way to the most secret recesses of the brain, and impart to the imagination a soft and gentle glow of heat, equally remote from the dullness of fervor, and the madness of intoxication; for to these two extremes, without the moderative medium of the pipe, an author's fancy will alternately expand itself. To the man of letters, therefore, the pipe is a sovereign remedy.

Amongst the incidental benefits of the pipe and box, may also be noticed their great advantages in a converzatione; they smooth the arrogance of an apostrophe, and soften the virulence of a negative, give strength to an e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n, and confidence to a whisper. In short, they extract the sting, and purify the spirit, which are too frequently inhering concomitants, in the common a.s.sociations of life.

In conclusion, fully impressed with the sovereign consequence of his subject, the Author taketh his leave of the reader with the a.s.surance, if his labours meet their due object, _viz._ imparting of the entire History of the much-aspersed, yet idolized herb, to its votaries, it will give him infinite pleasure. Should he not be so fortunate in upholding by that means,--

----the grand cause, I smokes--I snuffs--I chaws,--

Philosophy still offers him consolation for the degeneracy of the times, in a pinch of _Lundyfoot_, or the fumes of his Merschaum.

_Newington, Oct. 1831._

INVOCATION TO TOBACCO.

Weed of the strange pow'r, Weed of the earth, Killer of dullness-- Parent of mirth; Come in the sad hour, Come in the gay, Appear in the night, Or in the day: Still thou art welcome As June's blooming rose, Joy of the palate, Delight of the nose.

Weed of the green field, Weed of the wild, Foster'd in freedom,-- America's child; Come in Virginia, Come in Havannah, Friend of the universe, Sweeter than manna: Still thou art welcome, Rich, fragrant, and ripe.

Pride of the tube-case, Delight of the pipe.

Weed of the savage, Weed of each pole, Comforting,--soothing,-- Philosophy's soul; Come in the snuff-box, Come in cigar, In Strasburg and King's, Come from afar: Still thou art welcome, The purest, the best, Joy of earth's millions, For ever carest!

NICOTIANA.

THE HISTORY OF THE IMPORTATION OF THE TOBACCO PLANT INTO EUROPE, AND THE ORIGIN OF SMOKING IN ENGLAND.

The earth, perhaps, has never offered to the use of man a herb, whose history and adoption offer so varied a subject for thought and the mind's speculation, as tobacco. In whatever light we view it, there is something to interest the botanist, the physician, the philosopher, and even the historian, while, from the singularity of its discovery in a corner of the world where it had remained so long concealed, it would almost seem intended by Providence, to answer some especial purpose in the creation.

Few things ever created a greater sensation than it did, on its first introduction into Europe. It was adopted with an avidity, so far from decreasing with time, that the experience of nearly three centuries has but rendered it universal. That the habits of snuffing, and smoking, are not beneficial to the human const.i.tution, has been a.s.serted as a fact by many _savans_, and more powerfully defended by others. Probably, after all, the most singular thing in favour of these habits is, that the practice of them, which should perfect our knowledge, advocates so strongly their use as agreeable stimulants, promoting cheerfulness, and mild and gentle in their operation when not adopted to too great an extent. This will be found the belief among the most enlightened, as well as the millions who echo its praises, from every clime and corner of the habitable globe.

The precise introduction of the tobacco plant into Europe, from the varied and contradictory accounts that exist concerning it, is involved in some obscurity. That it was unknown to the Europeans, till the discovery of South America by that indefatigable voyager Columbus, is certain; although Don Ulloa,[1] a Spaniard, and a writer of celebrity in the last century, would fain have shown that the plant was indigenous to several parts of Asia; as China, Persia, Turkey, and Arabia. He a.s.serts, with some ingenuity we grant, that the plant was known and used in smoking in those countries, long previous to the discovery of the New World. But, as the Old Testament and the Koran, books that treated of the most trifling Eastern customs, make not the slightest mention of it, and more especially as no travellers have ever recorded its existence previous to the discovery of America, we cannot but dismiss the supposition, for want of data, as idle in the extreme.

Although we cannot, with the powers of observation Columbus is said to have possessed, but imagine the plant must have been known to him, particularly as it was so popular among the natives, yet no mention is made of that fact or of its introduction into Spain by him. On the contrary, one account furnished us, attributes it to Hernandez de Toledo, and another with a greater show of probability to Fernando Cortes.

This latter adventurer, after the death of his great and ill-fated predecessor, succeeded to the command of a flotilla to prosecute those researches in the New World, as it was then called, that promised such an influx of wealth to the nation. It was in the year 1519 that Cortes, flushed with the sanguine expectations of an ambitious people, set out to take possession, in the name of the Spanish sovereignty, of a country whose treasures were deemed boundless.

Coasting along for several days, he came to a part of the sh.o.r.e of a very rich and luxuriant description, which induced him to come to anchor, and land; the natives a.s.serting that it abounded in gold and silver mines.

This place was a province of _Yucatan_ in the Mexican Gulf, called _Tobaco_, the place from whence tobacco is supposed to have derived its present name. There it was that the plant was discovered, in a very thriving and flourishing state. Among the natives who held it in the greatest possible esteem and reverence, from the almost magical virtues they attached to it, it was called _petun_, and by those in the adjoining islands _yoli_. So singular a production of the country could not but draw the attention of the Spanish commander to it. The consequence was, that a specimen of it was shipped home with other curiosities of the country, with a long detail of its supposed astonishing virtues, in pharmacy. In the latter end of the year the plants arrived at their destination, and this may fairly be deemed to have been their first entry into the civilized portion of the world.

A dreadful disease, first brought from America by the last return of Columbus, raged about this period with a fearful and unchecked virulency in Spain, committing dreadful devastations on the human frame, and finally ending in the most horrible death imagination could picture. This circ.u.mstance served to procure it a most sanguine welcome; for the sailors composing the fleet, having learnt it from the natives, had disseminated the belief, that it was the only known antidote against its ravages,--that it in fact answered the purposes of mercury in the present day, a belief welcomed with enthusiasm, and ending in despair.

No sooner, however, was its inefficacy perceived, than it sunk in the estimation of its worshippers, as low as it previously had risen. Indeed, into such obscurity did it fall after the hopes it had vainly excited, that nearly forty years elapsed, ere it obtained any notice worth commemorating. At about the end of that period, however, we find that it had regained the ground it had previously lost, on a surer and better footing, as a soothing and gentle stimulant.

From Spain, the plant was carried into Portugal; and from thence, gradually exported to the different kingdoms throughout Europe. Shortly after this, it was sent to the East, where it soon came into notice, as a narcotic, and consequently found a ready market. Peculiar facilities at this time too presented themselves to the Spaniards, above every other nation; for Vasco de Gama, another of its adventurers, had discovered and explored a great portion of the countries lying beyond the Cape of Good Hope. Among other articles, exchanged in the way of commerce with the natives, was tobacco: and this, despite of the reasoning of Don Ulloa mentioned some time back, was the first channel through which Hindostan, Arabia, and China, received the plants, now so common throughout the whole of the Eastern Empire. This occurred about the year 1560, shortly after it had been carried into France and Italy.

While the nations of the Peninsula were thus distinguishing themselves, and in the meridian of their glory, extending their discoveries, conquests, and trade to the furthermost parts of that world which they had opened to the eyes of astonished Europe, England, for a time, was incapacitated from pursuing a similar course by intestine broils and factions at home. And even when Elizabeth ascended the throne, her naturally enterprising and ambitious spirit was almost solely confined to arranging domestic discords, and settling foreign quarrels.

Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a plain blunt soldier, instigated by feelings of emulation and national enterprise, was the first to direct the attention of the maiden queen towards the benefits that would naturally result from planting a British colony in America. At his request a patent was granted, empowering him to plant and colonize some of the southern districts. He accordingly fitted out a squadron at his own expense, and proceeded on his voyage, which, from different circ.u.mstances that occurred, miscarried. A similar fate attended two subsequent attempts, when Sir Humphrey's half-brother, the after-celebrated Sir Walter Ralegh or Raleigh, as it is now spelt, returned home from the wars in the Netherlands.

Inspired by a restless ambition that ever distinguished this great man, he succeeded in persuading the knight to undertake a fourth voyage, offering to accompany him himself. Combining courage, enterprise, and perseverance, with a degree of knowledge little known at the period we treat of, few men were better qualified for the successful execution of such an enterprise than Raleigh. The sequel proved the truth of this remark, Newfoundland was discovered and taken; though the original gallant projector, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, we have recorded, was drowned on his pa.s.sage home.

In the year 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh applied for the renewal of the letters patent in his own name, which the queen immediately granted him.

Having fitted out a squadron, he put to sea, and after a somewhat tedious voyage, discovered Wingandacoa, which he afterwards called _Virginia_, in honor of Elizabeth. On his return, he was received with peculiar favour by the queen, who testified her satisfaction by making him a knight, while she lent a willing ear towards the colonizing schemes Sir Walter opened to her aspiring view.

In pursuance of some of these, Sir Richard Grenville, another relation of Sir Walter Raleigh's, was sent out with Captain Lane, whom he left in command of one hundred men in one of the southern districts of the country, appointing him at the same time to act as governor; and promising to return to him before the next spring with stores and fresh provisions.

Circ.u.mstances, that have never yet been properly explained to this day, prevented Sir Richard from keeping his word, in consequence of which, the colony was reduced to great distress. Shortly afterwards, taking the advantage of Sir Francis Drake's return from the Spanish wars, they embarked on board his ships for England, where they arrived in the month of July, A. D. 1686, with their commander, Lane. Among the specimens of the productions and peculiarities of the country, they brought with them that which forms our subject, the tobacco plant.

This, by some, is said to have been its first importation into Great Britain; Lobel, however, a.s.serts, it was cultivated here in 1570, a statement plausible enough, we admit, considering the previous length of time the plant had been known in Spain and Portugal, but yet irreconcileable with the data our own historical research gives us. That it might indeed have been introduced from France previous to its importation from Virginia, and cultivated in trifling quant.i.ties, is highly probable, inasmuch as the French date its first appearance among them in 1560, just ten years previous to Lobel's affirmation. _Linnaeus_ likewise mentions that the plant became known in Europe the same year the French date from, and _Humboldt_ so far corroborates him, as to state that seeds of it were received from Yucatan in 1559.

That it was known in France, some years previous to its being carried into England, from the above accounts handed down to us, we cannot doubt. The French history of the importation of the plant into their country, attributes it to _Jean Nicot_ of Nismes, who was their amba.s.sador at the court of Lisbon in the reign of Francis II. Some of the seed, we are informed, was given him by a Dutchman, who had brought it with him from Florida. This, we imagine, must have been shortly after it had begun to regain notice in Spain.

Impressed with the current account of its properties as a medicine and luxurious stimulant, he sent a portion of it home, where it arrived, and under high court patronage soon became popular.