TOBACCO A BLESSING. 123 
wealth. They doubtless in some measure comprehended the 
close relation existing between it and commerce and realized 
how extensive would be its use. 
From the nature of the plant, it affords states and nations 
an opportunity to engage either in its culture or commerce 
with the prospect of the largest success. In this respect it is 
far different from any other tropical plant, and unlike them 
is capable of being cultivated in portions of the earth far 
remote from the tropics. In Switzerland and in the Caucas- 
sias it attains to a considerable size, but is nevertheless 
tobacco although it may possess but few of the. excellences of 
some varieties, still it affords some enjoyment to the user, 
from the fact that it is the Indian weed. Fairholt speaking 
of the tobacco trade says : 
“ The progress of the tobacco trade from the earliest intro- 
duction of the plant into Europe until now, is certainly one of 
the most curious that commerce presents. That a plant 
originally smoked by a few savages, should succeed in spite 
of the most stringent opposition in church and state, to be 
the cherished luxury of the whole civilized world ; to increase 
with the increase of time, and to end in causing so vast a 
trade, and so large an outlay of money; is a statistical fact, 
without an equal parallel.” * 
The tobacco plant notwithstanding its fascinating powers, 
has suffered many romantic vicissitudes in its fame and 
character; having been successively opposed and com- 
mended by physicians, condemned and eulogized by priests, 
vilified and venerated by: kings, and alternately pro- 
scribed and protected by governments, this once insignifi- 
cant production of a little island or an obscure district, has 
succeeded in diffusing itself throughout every clime, and— 
exhilarating and enriching its thousands—has subjected the 
inhabitants of every country to its dominion. And every 
where it is a source of comfort and enjoyment; in the highest 
grades of civilized society, at the shrine of fashion, in the 
depths of poverty, in the palace and in the cottage, the 
fascinating influence of this singular plant demands an equal 
tribute of devotion and attachment. 
