Sylvester's satire. 85 



James cared for neither when the monopoly brought 

 large sums into his own pocket. 



Joshua Sylvester, the translater of Du Bartas, and a 

 favourite poet of James L, gratified that royal hater 

 of the herb by tuning his harp to a poem, bearing 

 the strange title of Tobacco battered, and the pipes 

 shattered {about their cares that idely Idolize so base and 

 barbarous a weed ; or at leastiuise overlove so loathsome 

 a vanitie) by a volley of holy shot, thundered from 

 Mount Helicon. The verbosity of the title page is 

 carried out in the poem, which is intolerably dull, and 

 only strong when abusive. The author, in a dedication to 

 the favourite, George, Duke of Buckingham, ventures : 



1 ' To call your aide against the proud oppression 

 Of th' Infidel, usurping Faith's possession, 



That Indian tyrant, England's only shame. 

 Thousands of ours he here hath captive taken, 



Of all degrees, kept under slavish yoak, 

 Their God, their good, king, country, friends, forsaken, 



To follow Follie, and to feed on smoake." 



In this spirit the whole is written, and one small 

 sample more may suffice : 



Two smokie engines in this latter age 

 (Sathan's short circuit ; the more sharp his rage) 

 Have been invented by too-vaunted wit, 

 Or rather vented from the infernal pit,* 

 Guns and tobacco pipes, with fire and smoak, 

 At least a third part of mankind to choak ; 



* Taylor, the water poet, had an equal enmity to tobacco and coaches, 

 and he says, " It is a doubtful question whether the devil brought tobacco 

 into England in a coach, for both appeared about the same time." 



