Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce Part 21

A humorous writer thus discourses on man, who he denominates as "common clays": "Yet we are all common clays! There are long clays and short clays, coa.r.s.e clays and refined clays, and the latter are pretty scarce, that's a fact. To follow out the simile, life is the tobacco with which we are loaded, and when the vital spark is applied we live; when that tobacco is exhausted we die, the essence of our life ascending from the lukewarm clay when the last fibre burns out, as a curl of smoke from the ashes in the bowl of the pipe, and mingling with the perfumed breeze of heaven, or the hot breath of--well, never mind; we hope not. Then the clay is cold, and glows no more from the fire within; the pipe is broken, and ceases to comfort and console. We say, 'A friend has left us,' or 'Poor old Joe; his pipe is out.' We have all a certain supply of life, or, if we would pursue the comparison, a share of tobacco. Some young men smoke too rapidly, even voraciously, and thus exhaust their share before their proper time,--then we say they have 'lived too fast,' or 'pulled at their pipes too hard.' Others, on the contrary, make their limited supply go a long way, and when they are taking their last puffs of life's perfumed plant their energy is unimpaired; they can run a race, walk a mile with any one, and show few wrinkles upon their brow.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The artist.]

"A delicate person is like a pipe with a crack in the bowl, for it takes continued and careful pulling to keep his light in; and to take life is like willfully dashing a lighted pipe from the mouth into fragments, and scattering the sparks to the four winds of heaven. An artist is a good coloring pipe; an attractive orator is a pipe that draws well; a communist is a foul pipe; a well-educated woman whose conversation is attractive is a pipe with a nice mouthpiece; a girl of the period is a fancy pipe, the ornament of which is liable to chip; a female orator on woman's rights is invariably a plain pipe; an old toper is a well-seasoned pipe; an escaped thief is a cutty pipe, and the policeman in pursuit is a shilling pipe, for is he not a Bob?"

From these ingenious "conceits" we turn to a few thoughts on the present condition and history of the plant.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Yankee smoker.]

The calumet or pipe of peace, decorated with all the splendor of savage taste, is smoked by the red man to ratify good feeling or confirm some treaty of peace. The energetic Yankee bent upon the accomplishment of his ends, puffs vigorously at his cigar and with scarcely a pa.s.sing notice, strides over obstacles that lie in his path of whatever nature they may be. The dancing Spaniard with his eternal castanets whispers but a word to his dark-eyed senorita as he hands her another perfumed cigarette. The lounging Italian hissing intrigues under the shadow of an ancient portico, smokes on as he stalks over the proud place where the blood of Caesar dyed the stones of the Capitol, or where the knife of Virginius flashed in the summer sun.

The Turk comes forth from the Mosque only to smoke. The priest of Nicaragua with solemn mien strides up the aisle and lights the altar candles with the fire struck from his cigar. The hardy Laplander invites the stranger to his hut and offers him his pipe while he inquires, if he comes from the land of tobacco. The indigent Jakut exchanges his most valuable furs and skins for a few ounces of the "Circa.s.sian weed." Its charms are recognized by the gondolier of Venice and the Muleteer of Spain. The Switzer lights his pipe amid Alpine heights. The tourist climbing aetna, or Vesuvius' rugged side, puffs on though _they_ perchance have long since ceased to smoke.

Tobacco, soothed the hardships of Cromwell's soldiers and gave novelty to the court life of the daughters of Louis XIV, delighted the courtiers of Queen Elizabeth and bidding defiance to the ire of her successors, the Stuarts, has never ceased to hold sway over court and camp, as well as over the ma.s.ses of the people.

In nothing cultivated has there been so remarkable a development.

Originally limited to the natives of America, it attracted the attention of Europeans who by cultivation increased the size and quality of the plant. But not alone has the plant improved in form and quality, the rude implements once used by the Indians have given away (even among themselves) to those of improved form and modern style.

These facts are without a doubt among the most curious that commerce presents. That a plant primarily used only by savages, should succeed in spite of the greatest opposition in becoming one of the greatest luxuries of the civilized world, is a fact without parallel. It can almost be said, so universally is it used, that its claims are recognized by all. Though hated by kings and popes it was highly esteemed by their subjects. Their delight in the new found novelty was unbounded and doubtless they could sing in praise as Byron did in later times of:

"Sublime tobacco which from East to West Cheers the tar's labor and the Turkman's rest."

CHAPTER VIII.

SNUFF, SNUFF-BOXES AND SNUFF-TAKERS.

The custom of snuff-taking is as old at least as the discovery of the tobacco plant. The first account we have of it is given by Roman Pane, the friar who accompanied Columbus on his second voyage of discovery (1494), and who alludes to its use among the Indians by means of a cane half a cubit long. Ewbank says:

"Much has been written on a revolution so unique in its origin, unsurpa.s.sed in incidents and results, and const.i.tuting one of the most singular episodes in human history; but next to nothing is recorded of whence the various processes of manufacture and uses were derived. Some imagine the popular pabulum[56] for the nose of translantic origin. No such thing! Columbus first beheld smokers in the Antilles. Pizarro found chewers in Peru, but it was in the country discovered by Cabral that the great sternutatory was originally found. Brazilian Indians were the Fathers of snuff, and its best fabricators. Though counted among the least refined of aborigines, their taste in this matter was as pure as that of the fashionable world of the East. Their snuff has never been surpa.s.sed, nor their apparatus for making it."

[Footnote 56: Dr. John Hill in his tract "Cautions against the immoderate use of snuff" gives the following definition of it. "The dried leaves of tobacco, rasped, beaten, or otherwise reduced to powder, make what we call snuff." This tract was published in 1761. The author, afterwards Sir John Hill, was equally celebrated as a physician and a writer of farces, as denoted by the following epigram by Garrick:

"For physic and farces his equal there scarce is; His farces are physic, his physic a farce is."]

Soon after the introduction and cultivation of tobacco in Spain and Portugal its use in the form of snuff came in vogue and from these notions it spread rapidly over Europe, particularly in France and Italy. It is said to have been used first in France[57] by the wife of Henry II., Catherine de Medici, and that it was first used at court during the latter part of the Sixteenth Century. The Queen seemed to give it a good standing in society and it soon became the fashion to use the powder by placing a little on the back of the hand and inhaling it. The use of snuff greatly increased from the fact of its supposed medicinal properties and its curative powers in all diseases, particularly those affecting the head, hence the wide introduction of snuff-taking in Europe. Fairholt says of its early use:

[Footnote 57: An English writer gives a different account--"The custom of taking snuff as a nasal gratification does not appear to be of earlier date than 1620, though the powdered leaves of tobacco were occasionally prescribed as a medicine long before that time. It appears to have first become prevalent in Spain, and from thence to have pa.s.sed into Italy and France."]

"Though thus originally recommended for adoption as a medicine, it soon became better known as a luxury and the gratification of a pinch was generally indulged in Spain, Italy and France, during the early part of the Seventeenth Century. It was the grandees of the French Court who 'set the fashion' of snuff, with all its luxurious additions of scents and expensive boxes. It became common in the Court of Louis le Grand, although that monarch had a decided antipathy to tobacco in any form."

Says an English writer "Between 1660 and 1700, the custom of taking snuff, though it was disliked by Louis XIV., was almost as prevalent in France as it is at the present time.

In this instance, the example of the monarch was disregarded; _tobac en poudre_ or _tobac rape_[58] as snuff was sometimes called found favor in the noses of the French people; and all men of fashion prided themselves on carrying a handsome snuff-box. Ladies also took snuff; and the belle whose grace and propriety of demeanour were themes of general admiration, thought it not unbecoming to take a pinch at dinner, or to blow her pretty nose in her embroidered _mouchoir_ with the sound of a trombone. Louis endeavored to discourage the use of snuff and his valets-de-chambre were obliged to renounce it when they were appointed to their office. One of these gentlemen, the Duc d'Harcourt, was supposed to have died of apoplexy in consequence of having, in order to please the king, totally discontinued the habit which he had before indulged to excess."

[Footnote 58: Grated tobacco.]

Other grandees were less accommodating: thus we are told that Marechal d'Huxelles used to cover his cravat and dress with it. The Royal Physician, Monsieur f.a.gon, is reported to have devoted his best energies to a public oration of a very violent kind against snuff, which unfortunately failed to convince his auditory, as the excited lecturer in his most enthusiastic moments refreshed his nose with a pinch.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A tobacco grater.]

Although disliked by the most polished prince of Europe, the use of snuff increased and soon spread outside the limits of the court of France and in a short time became a favorite mode of using tobacco as it continues to be with many at this day.[59] The snuff-boxes of this period were very elegant and were decorated with elaborate paintings or set with gems. It was the custom to carry both a snuff-box and a tobacco grater, which was often as expensive and elegant as the snuff-box itself. Many of them were richly carved and ornamented in the most superb manner. Others bore the t.i.tles and arms of the owner and it was considered as part of a courtier's outfit to sport a magnificent box and grater. The French mode of manufacturing snuff was to saturate the leaves in water, then dry them and color according to the shade desired. The perfume was then added and the snuff was prepared for use. The kind of tobacco used was "Tobac de Virginie."

Spanish snuff was perfumed in the same manner with the additional use of orange-flower water. Carver gives the mode of manufacturing snuff in America (1779).

[Footnote 59: The Rev. S. Wesley speaking of the abuses of tobacco, intimates that the human ear, will not long, remain exempted from its affliction.

"To such a height with some is fashion grown They feed they very nostrils with a spoon.

One, and but one degree is wanting yet, To make their senseless luxury complete; Some choice regale, useless as snuff and dear, To feed the mazy windings of the ear."]

"Being possessed of a tobacco wheel, which is a very simple machine, they spin the leaves, after they are properly cured, into a twist of any size they think fit; and having folded it into rolls of about twenty pounds weight each, they lay it by for use. In this state it will keep for several years, and be continually improving, as it every hour grows milder. When they have occasion to use it, they take off such a length as they think necessary, which, if designed for smoking, they cut into small pieces, for chewing into larger, as choice directs; if they intend to make snuff of it they take a quant.i.ty from the roll, and laying it in a room where a fire is kept, in a day or two it will become dry, and being rubbed on a grater will produce a genuine snuff. Those in more improved regions who like their snuff scented, apply to it such odoriferous waters as they can procure, or think most pleasing."

Dutch snuff was only partially ground, and was therefore coa.r.s.e and harsh in its effects when inhaled into the nostrils. The Irish, according to Everards, used large quant.i.ties of snuff "to purge their brains." Snuff-taking became general in England[60] at the commencement of the Seventeenth Century, and scented snuffs were used in preference to the plain. Frequent mention is made in the plays of this time of its use and varieties. In Congreve's "Love for Love," one of the characters presents a young lady with a box of snuff, on receipt of which she says, "Look you here what Mr. Tattle has given me! Look you here, cousin, here's a snuff-box; nay, there's snuff in't: here, will you have any? Oh, good! how sweet it is!"

[Footnote 60: "The custom of taking snuff was probably brought into England by some of the followers of Charles II., about the time of the Restoration. During his reign, and that of his brother, it does not appear to have gained much ground: but towards the end of the Seventeenth Century it had become quite the "rage" with beaux, who at that period, as well as in the reign of Queen Anne, sometimes carried their snuff in the hollow ivory heads of their canes."--_A Paper of Tobacco._]

Portuguese snuff seemed to be in favor and was delicately perfumed. It was made from the fibres of the leaves, and was considered among many to be the finest kind of the "pungent dust." Some varieties of snuff were named after the scents employed in flavoring them. In France many kinds became popular from the fact of their use at court, and by the courtiers throughout the kingdom. Pope notes the use of the snuff-box by the fops and courtiers of his time in this manner:--

"Sir Plume of amber snuff-box justly vain, And the nice conduct of a clouded cane; With earnest eyes, and round, unthinking face, He first the snuff-box open'd, then the case."

The mode of "tapping the box" before opening was characteristic of the beaux and fops of this period, and is commented on in a poem on snuff:--

"The lawyer so grave, when he opens his case, In obscurity finds it is hid, Till the bright gla.s.s of knowledge illumines his face, As he gives the three taps on the lid."

Spain, Portugal, and France early in the Seventeenth Century became noted as the producers of the finest kinds of snuff. In Spain and Portugal it was the favorite mode of using tobacco, and rare kinds were compounded and sold at enormous prices. Its use in France by the fair s.e.x is thus commented on by a French writer:--

[Ill.u.s.tration: Demi-journees.]

"Everything in France depends upon _la mode_; and it has pleased _la mode_ to patronize this disgusting custom, and carry about with them small boxes which they term _demi-journees_."

The most expensive materials were employed in the manufacture of snuff-boxes, such as agate, mosaics, and all kinds of rare wood, while many were of gold, studded with diamonds. Some kinds were made of China mounted in metal, and were very fanciful. In "Pandora's Box," a "Satyr against Snuff," 1719, may be found the following description of the snuff-boxes then in vogue:

"For females fair, and formal fops to please, The mines are robb'd of ore, of sh.e.l.ls the seas, With all that mother-earth and beast afford To man, unworthy now, tho' once their lord: Which wrought into a box, with all the show Of art the greatest artist can bestow; Charming in shape, with polished rays of light, A joint so fine it shuns the sharpest sight; Must still be graced with all the radiant gems And precious stones that e'er arrived in Thames.

Within the lid the painter plays his part, And with his pencil proves his matchless art; There drawn to life some spark or mistress dwells, Like hermits chaste and constant to their cells."

Some of the more highly perfumed snuffs sold for thirty shillings a pound, while the cheaper kinds, such as English Rappee and John's Lane, could be bought for two or three shillings per pound. There are at least two hundred kinds of snuff well known in commerce. The Scotch and Irish snuffs are for the most part made from the midribs; the Strasburgh, French, Spanish, and Russian snuffs from the soft parts of the leaves. An English writer gives the following account of some of the well-known snuffs and the method of manufacturing:--

"For the famous fancy snuff known as Maroco, the recipe is to take forty parts of French or St. Omer tobacco, with twenty parts of fermented Virginia stalks in powder; the whole to be ground and sifted. To this powder must be added two pounds and a half of rose leaves in fine powder; and the whole must be moistened with salt and water and thoroughly incorporated. After that it must be 'worked up' with cream and salts of tartar, and packed in lead to preserve its delicate aroma. The celebrated 'gros grain Paris snuff' is composed of equal parts of Amersfoort and James River tobacco, and the scent is imported by a 'sauce,' among the ingredients of which are salt, soda, tamarinds, red wine, syrup, cognac, and cream of tartar."

The mode of manufacture of snuff now is far different than that employed in the Seventeenth Century. Then the leaves were simply dried and made fine by rubbing them together in the hands, or ground in some rude mill; still later the tobacco was washed or cleansed in water, dried, and then ground. Now, however, the tobacco undergoes quite a process, and must be kept packed several months before it is ground into snuff. One of the most celebrated manufacturers of snuff was James Gillespie, of Edinburgh, who compounded the famous variety bearing his name. The following account of him we take from "The Tobacco Plant:"--

[Ill.u.s.tration: James Gillespie.]

"In the High Street of Edinburgh, a little east from the place where formerly stood the Cross,--

"'Dun-Edin's Cross, a pillar'd stone, Rose on a turret octagon,'

was situated the shop of James Gillespie, the celebrated snuff manufacturer. The shop is still occupied by a tobacconist, whose sign is the head of a typical negro, and in one of the windows is exhibited the effigy of a Highlander, who is evidently a competent judge of 'sneeshin.' Not much is known regarding the personal history of James Gillespie, but it is understood that he was born shortly after the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, at Roslin, a picturesque village about six miles from Edinburgh. He became a tobacconist in Edinburgh, along with his brother John, and by the exercise of steady industry and frugality, he was enabled to purchase Spylaw, a small estate in the parish of Colinton, about four miles from Edinburgh, where he erected a snuff-mill on the banks of the Water of Leith, a small stream which flows through the finely-wooded grounds of Spylaw. The younger brother, John, attended to the shop, while the subject of our notice resided at Spylaw, where he superintended the snuff-mill. Mr. Gillespie was able to continue his industrious habits through a long life, and having made some successful speculations in tobacco during the war of American Independence, when the 'weed' advanced considerably in price, he was enabled to increase his Spylaw estate from time to time by making additional purchases of property in the parish.

"Mr. Gillespie remained through life a bachelor. His establishment at Spylaw was of the simplest description. It is said that he invariably sat at the same table with his servants, indulging in familiar conversation, and entering with much spirit into their amus.e.m.e.nts. Newspapers were not so widely circulated at that period as they are now, and on the return of any of his domestics from the city, which one of them daily visited, he listened with great attention to the 'news, and enjoyed with much zest the narration of any jocular incident that had occurred. Mr. Gillespie had a _penchant_ for animals, and their wants were carefully attended to. His poultry, equally with his horses, could have testified to the judicious attention which he bestowed upon them. A story is told of the familiarity between the laird and his riding horse, which was well-fed and full of spirit.