ST NICOTINE 



SYMPOSIUM 



CHAPTER I 



Part I 



Let me adore with my thrice happy pen 



The sweet and sole delight of mortal men ; 



The cornucopia of all earthly pleasure, 



Where bankrupt nature hath consumed her treasure ; 



A worthy plant spring'ing from Flora's hand, 



The blessed offspring of an uncouth land. 



Beaumont. 



In the early days of her advent in these isles St Nicotine 

 stood high in the land. For she had come bearing cre- 

 dentials from France and Portugal testifying to her many 

 virtues as a healer of the sick as well as a social comfort. 

 And sober-minded folk would sit outside their doors, pipe 

 in hand, placidly inhaling the grateful vapour of the precious 

 herb a kind Providence had sent them to assuage the ills 

 flesh is heir to. But the quick eye and ready wit of the 

 city wags saw the matter in a different light. The Spanish 

 fashion of smoking, namely, of drawing the smoke into the 

 lungs and ejecting it through ' the organs of the nose,' 

 afforded them endless amusement, and sportive jests were 



I 



