286 POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



the beaus of the court, who prided themselves in aping 

 the hardy voyagers who had trod the wilds of Virginia. 

 Sir Walter Raleigh and a few other great names gave still 

 greater encouragement to its adoption, so that before the 

 end of Queen Elizabeth's reign the habit was by no means 

 uncommon. 



Nevertheless its pernicious effects were clearly seen by 

 those not prejudiced in its favour, and strong efforts were 

 made in every country to resist the progress of the evil. 

 A German writer is said to have collected the titles of one 

 hundred different works condemning its use, which were 

 published within half a century from the date of its intro- 

 duction to Europe. In Russia it was prohibited, and the 

 smoker was threatened with the knout for the first offence, 

 and death for the second. Pope Urban VIII. fulminated 

 a bull against the use of tobacco, but the anathema fell to 

 the ground. The priests and Sultans of Turkey and Persia 

 declared smoking a sin against their holy religion ; but the 

 Turks and Persians became the greatest smokers in the 

 world. In our own country James I. wrote a treatise 

 against it, entitled ' A Counterblaste to Tobacco/ which 

 excited much attention, but, instead of checking the use of 

 the weed, probably introduced it to the notice of many who 



