40 The Soverane Herbe 



the soothing herb, and that to their courage and 

 persistence this generation owes its liberty to ' drink 

 tobacco.' 



Neither the anathemas of Popes, the decrees of 

 Princes, the warnings of physicians, the wit of fools, 

 nor the wisdom of scholars could subdue tobacco. 

 It was all-conquering, and converted its sternest 

 enemies into its most ardent devotees. How could 

 priests obey the Bull when they themselves relieved 

 the monotony of service with a fragrant pinch .' The 

 Jesuits replied to James I.'s ' Counterblaste,' maintain- 

 ing that tobacco-smoking was to the advantage of 

 public health and morals. Even if this were not so, 

 they declared that it was ridiculous and against all 

 good sense that a plant so recently discovered that its 

 merits were still unknown should be condemned by 

 the Church. Such censure was prompted by vulgar 

 opinion, fanaticism, and superstition. Was it possible 

 for an official to punish a man for smoking when he 

 himself knew and loved tobacco's fragrant fume ? In 

 1724 Benedict XIII. revoked all Bulls against tobacco 

 for the very good reason that he smoked himself. 

 Louis XIII. tried a pinch of snuff and the law re- 

 stricting its sale vanished. Shah Abbas' wild wrath 

 against tobacco changed to deepest devotion when in 

 a moment of idleness he curiously tried a pipe. The 

 Persians have now a proverb which declares ' Coffee 

 without tobacco is like meat without salt.' That 

 Amurath would execute a fellow-smoker was absurd ; 

 tobacco created a bond of sympathy between the 

 Sultan and his slave. 



None of the fanciful names first bestowed upon 



