164 THE FLORIST. 
a troubled and solemn aspect. Whether he thought it probable that 
he ‘should be called upon to oblige the company with a hymn, or 
whether he was under the impression that clergymen. were painfully 
affected by tobacco, after the manner of the green-fly, there was but’ 
brief time to speculate; for the Curate, noting his perplexity, forth- 
with proceeded to dispel it by filling and igniting an ample bowl of 
clay, and by taking his’ seat, next to Joseph, with a pleasant, and 
friendly smile. “I met old Michael Willis yesterday,” he said, ‘ “and 
as soon as he saw me, forgetting, I suppose, that he has not a monopoly 
of eyesight, he swiftly put his pipe in his pocket, So, after some little 
conversation, I suddenly expressed, to his great surprise, the anxious 
hope that he was insured. For if,” I continued, ‘‘the old saying be 
true, that’ where there is smoke there is fire, your waistcoat. pocket, 
Michael Willis, may soon be ready for the tinder-box. And you would 
be rightly rewarded, for doing that which you are ashamed of do1 ge 
and for attempting to deceive a true friend.”’ 
“Tm not ashamed o’ smoking,” he answered, “ but they do say, as. 
parsons hates it.” 
“Cruelly, despitefully, and with lying. lips, Michael, With the 
exception of a very small company, not conspicuous for liberality. or. 
learning, the English clergy have never spoken against the moderate 
use of tobacco. The majority of them, smokers themselves, would be 
hypocrites to do so; and of the remainder, they, who go much among» 
the-very poor, and know how few their comforts, how many. their 
hardships, must be glad to see the enjoyment (not the abuse) ofa. 
cheap and innocuous pleasure. They, who denounce it, must give up, 
all their luxuries, and nearly all their comforts, before they ean do so, 
consistently ; and then, Michael, we will argue the matter on, ‘the, 
principles of religion and common sense. We have smoked-our pipes, 
for three hundred years in England, beginning with a walnut for a. 
bowl and a straw for a tube; and, though kings haye blown their, 
**Counter-blasts to Tobacco,” and yellow ‘puritans have groaned and; 
snarled at it, it still brings pleasant solace, throughout the land and. 
under it—to the miner toiling for the coal, and to him who sits by the.. 
coal-fire’s blaze; and leaves men as brave and as good, Michael, as, 
when Raleigh, or whoever first brought the plant among us, was as yet.. 
unborn. ‘So I finished my little sermon, and my friend, J oseph, knows, ; 
why I have ventured to repeat it here.” | 
**There’s another little sermon, sir,” said Mr. Oldacre, ‘‘ upon. 
tobacco and the pipe, which rescues the memory of one puritan, at all 
events, from silly prejudices on the subject. . I mean that apathy 
touching, old ditty, which George Wither sang, and which Frank here’ 
(his son-in-law, Chiswick) “will sing for you if you wish.” | 
Whereupon was rapping of the table, and a preliminary sipping, of 
gin and water, and a re-arrangement of limbs into the most easy 
posture for listening; and then, Mr. Chiswick, with a voice very, 
pliable and mellow, sang to us the impressive words and SPPrRRRN Shi 
music of the well-known ballad. 
And now, my brothers, do'I feel glad at heart that I. am writing . 
for those who love a garden. I picture to MNS some BYPE Miss a 
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