70 The Soverane Herbe 



become that in 1621 Mr. William Stroud, afterwards 

 one of the famous Five Members, rose from his place 

 in the House of Commons and moved that he ' would 

 have tobacco banished out of the kingdom, and that 

 it may not be brought in from any part nor used 

 amongst us.' Sir Guy Palmes, supporting this motion, 

 declared ' that if tobacco be not banished it will 

 overthrow ioo,ooo men in England, for now it is so 

 common that he has seen ploughmen take it as they 

 are at the plough.' The House, however, contented 

 itself with merely prohibiting the cultivation of 

 tobacco in England on the ground that so to do was 

 to 'misuse and misemploy the soil of this fruitful 

 kingdom.' 



In spite of the fulminations of James and other 

 erratic moralists, and the more effective duties and 

 monopoly, smoking had become firmly established. 

 Men, women and children all smoked, for the efforts 

 of tobacco's opponents were powerless to prevent the 

 herb's conquest. Truth cannot be destroyed by per- 

 secution, and tobacco has proved itself to be the 

 truth if its vitality in face of persecution be any 

 proof. Most of the courtiers, out of consideration for 

 the King's antipathy to the weed, were too politic to 

 smoke, and the herb was more generally indulged in 

 by the middle and lower classes, though it did not 

 lack adherents among the representatives of wealth 

 and position. As many obstacles as possible were 

 thrown in the way of smokers, the habit being for- 

 bidden in taverns, which had been up to that time 

 the chief places for the consumption of tobacco. 

 Bishop Earle described a tavern as ' a torrid zone 



