The Trial of Tobacco 37 



of tobacco. It was said that a great fire in Moscow 

 had been caused by smokers ; and the Tsar Michael, 

 prompted by anxiety for the spiritual and material 

 well-being of his subjects, decreed that for the first 

 offence smokers should be whipped, and executed for 

 a second indulgence in tobacco. Those who pre- 

 ferred snuff to smoke escaped with the amputation 

 of the nose. The Ambassadors of the Duke of 

 Holstein to Russia in 1634 saw eighteen men and 

 one woman publicly knouted for selling tobacco and 

 brandy. 



In Turkey the use of tobacco was speedily pro- 

 hibited. Here, also, the persecution of tobacco was 

 on religious as well as temporal grounds. As in 

 Russia, a tradition was discovered prohibiting its use 

 by the faithful : Mahomet, it was said, had pro- 

 phesied that in future ages some of his followers 

 would smoke a herb called tobacco, but these would 

 be unbelievers. Sultan Amurath IV. strictly pro- 

 hibited its use. Search was made for smokers ; 

 tobacco-pipes were driven through their cheeks, 

 and rolls of tobacco hung as collars round their 

 necks. Thus arrayed, they were mounted on asses, 

 facing the tail, and driven through the streets, as a 

 warning to lusters after tobacco, to be hanged. In 

 Persia the Shah Abbas prohibited the use of tobacco, 

 and on one occasion burnt a merchant alive in his 

 stock of the plant. The Mogul Emperor Jehan 

 Geer likewise visited with death the smoking or 

 snuffing of the American herb. 



In 1653 tobacco began to be smoked in the canton 

 of Appenzfel, in Switzerland. These daring smokers 



