76 The Soverane Herbe 



every-day practice, acknowledged by all classes to be 

 a boon and a blessing, a herb without equal under 

 the canopy of heaven. 



In ' The Wit's Recreation,' 1650, it was joyfully 

 declared : 



' Tobacco engages 

 Both sexes, all ages, 

 The poor as well as the wealthy. 

 From Court to the cottage, 

 From childhood to dotage, 

 Both those that are sick and the healthy. 



' It plainly appears 

 That in a few years 

 Tobacco more custom hath gained 

 Than sack or than ale, 

 Though they double the tale 

 Of the times wherein they have reigned.' 



So firmly was it established, so widely were its 

 virtues known, that ere it had been an inmate of 

 Britain for a century people wondered how their 

 ancestors had lived without it. In the preface to a 

 translation of Dr. Everard's ' Discovery of the 

 Wonderful Virtues of Tobacco taken in a Pipe,' pub- 

 lished in London in 1659, testimony is borne to the 

 general popularity of the herb. ' Tobacco is grown 

 to be not only the physick but even the meat and 

 drink of many men, women and children. In a word, 

 it hath prevailed so far that there is no living without 

 it. If we reflect upon our forefathers, and that 

 within the time of less than one hundred years before 

 the use of tobacco came to be known amongst us, we 

 cannot but wonder how they did to subsist without 



