Tobacco's World Triumph 45 



streets and cast them into the gutter. Thus Italy 

 was literally freed by tobacco, which has been ever the 

 friend of freedom and foe of despots. 



The story of tobacco in Russia is a unique and 

 curious one. At first, as we have seen, its use was 

 prohibited by the joint decree of the Church and the 

 Tsar Michael Fedorowitz, This law succeeded in 

 preserving Russia from the contamination of tobacco 

 until Peter the Great introduced smoking, against the 

 will of the people. During his sojourn in England 

 and on the Continent he acquired the practice of 

 smoking. Noting the universal use of tobacco in the 

 countries he visited, he determined to introduce it 

 into Russia for the sake of the revenue it would yield. 

 A Russian merchant, Orlenka, offered 15,000 roubles 

 for the monopoly of the sale of tobacco in Russia, but 

 the Marquis of Carmarthen on behalf of an English 

 company offered 48,000 roubles (;£'28,ooo) for the 

 privilege. For this sum the syndicate was to be 

 allowed to import into Russia 1,500,000 pounds of 

 tobacco per year, and Peter agreed to permit the free 

 use of the herb among his subjects, revoking all 

 previous edicts and laws. A rebellion among his 

 subjects and soldiers was the partial result of this 

 action. They complained of the number of foreigners 

 that Peter had introduced into Russia who ' come to 

 Moscow, have their beards shaven, and publicly smoke 

 tobacco to the discredit of orthodoxy.' 



In what measure modern Russians share these 

 opinions is best shown by the fact that on Russian 

 railways there is always one compartment ' For ladies 

 who do not smoke.' The recent edict of the Tsarina 



