HORAE NICOTIANÆ. THOSE who are fond of observing the changes that take place in the manners and customs of nations, the sort of Periplus of the globe which particular fashions are at all times making, must of course be familiar with the travels of Paul Hentzner, a German Eruditus, who visited this island in the reign of Elizabeth. A translation of his book was published by Horace Walpole, at Strawberry hill; but as we have no copy of that in our possession, we must be excused if we quote from the original a short passage which strikes us, and will strike our readers, as containing as lively an instance of the mutability of modes as could well be wished for. This Bohemian travelling tutor stares at nothing so much in England as the fashion (misabile dictu!) of smoking tobacco. At that period it seems it was the custom for all " your gallants" to take their pipes with them when they went to the play-and, by the bye, the puffing of so many lusty performers must undoubtedly have been very serviceable to the manager in producing a seemly degree of nebulosity when battles were to be represented on the stage. It is amusing enough to observe the pains which our German takes to give his own countrymen some faint idea of an utensil which is now so familiar to them as the tobacco pipe-" Utuntur," says he," in hisce spectaculis, sicut et alibi ubicumque locorum sint Angli, herbâ nicotianá quam Americane idiomati tobaca nuncupant (Paetum alii dicunt) hoc modo frequentissimè. Fistulæ in hunc finem ex argilla factæ, orificio posteriori, dictam herbam, probe exsiccatam ita ut in pulverem facile ridigi possit, immittunt, et igni admoto accendunt, unde fumus ab anteriori parte ore attrahitur, qui per nares rursum tanquam per infurnibulum exit, et phlegma et capitisd efluxiones magnâ copiâ secum educit." In order to complete his picture of spectacular luxury, he adds, " circumferuntur insuper in hisce theatris varii fructus venales, ut poma, pyra, nuces, et pro ratione temporis, etiam vinum et cerevisia." Were nothing but the comfort of the indi vidual spectator to be considered, we must own that we should very much approve of seeing this old fashion revived; and hesitate not to say, that even the pleasure we experienced in seeing our good friend Mackay enact his inimitable " Glasgow body" would have been still more exquisite, could he have been permitted to sit during the whole of his performance with the bowl of our Meerschaum in the one hand, and a jug of "Giles' masterpiece" in the other. The general contempt into which tobacco has fallen is viewed by us, in spite of our own private affection for the herb, with a sufficiently philosophical degree of composure, chiefly, perhaps, because we regard the prospect of its revival as neither a very doubtful nor a very distant one. The present rage for travelling which leads so many hundreds of our young gentlemen on a dance from the Zuyderzee to the Hadriatic, sends back to us every returning year a host of proselytes to the use of the tube-who, not contented with a secret and furtive indulgence in the worship of their new idol, make it a point, in whatever company of good fellows they chance to find themselves, to celebrate, with all the ardent enthusiasm their natures enable them to display, the "Innocuos calices, et amicam Vatibus herbam Vimque datam folio, et laeti miracula fumi.” It is chiefly for the further encouragement and stimulation of these zealous individuals that we have resolved to commence the present series of very learned and instructive diatribes, wherein above all things it shall be our main and most important endeavour to shew in what dignity and estimation our neglected root hath in former times been held by the prime wits, poets, and philosophers, both of this and other christian nations. So encouraged and so stimu lated, let them gird themselves as it were anew unto their labour, and remember, with a higher enthusiasm, the words of their appointed motto, "Non ex fumo lucem, sed ex luce dare fumum." Nor, on mature consideration of the vast chaos of materials wherefrom this our regular creation is to be formed, have we been able to think of any more fitting or auspicious commencement, than a brief account of the most elaborate and comprehensive poem to which the Nicotian phantasy hath as yet given birth-we mean the hymnus tabaci, in two books, of the illustrious Dutch bard Raphael Thorius, master of arts. This great work is composed in imi tation of that of Lucretius" de rerum naturâ," and is indeed entitled, in addition to what we have already said"de Pato seu tobaco." The style of versification, however, which Thorius has adopted is more rich, in general, than that of the Roman-not indeed that the Batavian ever rises above the more splendid passages of his predecessor, but that throughout he seems to be more studious of maintaining an elevated and etherial spirit in his diction, Nothing can be finer than the commencement, in which he invokes (Pieridum loco) a certain celebrated smoking knight of Amsterdam, by name Paddæus, or Van Paddy. "Innocuous calices, et amicam vatibus herbam, Vimque datam folio, et læti miracula fumi Aggredior. Tu qui censu decoratus Equestri Virtutem titulis, titulos virtutibus ornas, Antiquum et Phœbi nato promittis hon orem, Tu Paddæe fave: nec enim præstantior alter Morbifugæ varias vires agnoscere plantæ, Inque tubo genitas haurire et reddere nubes. Da puer accensum selecto fictile Pæto, Vt Phoebum ore bibam: quis enim sine sumine Pæti Digna canat Pæto, et tantis se comparet ausis ?" The poet next proceeds to the Muse of his subject, the legend of Tobacco. Bacchus, it seems, in his progress of triumphant warfare through the Mahratta country, was, on one occasion, reduced to great distress by a scarcity of wine. Without this neither he, nor Silenus, nor the Satyrs, nor the Bacchantes could, with the least vigour or comfort, pursue the tenor of their march. An old grenadier Satyr, who had served many campaigns in the woods of that quarter, recommends tobacco as a substitute, but he appears to have been very little qualified for the office he had undertaken, for both he and his companions begin with eating the leaf. The con sequences are depicted by the Dutch Lucretius in these affecting lines. "Nec mora: quis patulis lateat sub frondibus error, Eventus docuit: totis (mirabile) castris Evomitur, caditurque velut cum gurgite pleno Ingruit admissi miranda potentia Bacchi; Volvitur in gyrum tellus, cœlumque videtur Nubibus adductis surgenti occurrere terræ: Tum sopor obrepit somnique invicta cupido Germanam dubia præsagit imagine mortem ; Capripedes mediis diffusos stertere arenis Cernere erat, disiecta solo deffessa furentum Membra Mimallonidum devota jacere sepulcro." Silenus, who acts in this poem the place of Nestor in the Iliad, at once comprehends the nature of the blunder which had been committed, and he delivers the result of his reflections as follows: Accipite; arentes prolixa uredine frondes Still, however, the spirit of blundering continues. The Satyrs procure pipes as he directs, and they cut their tobacco into shag, for the purpose of filling the bowls, but it never occurs to them to light the pipes, and they continue, for some time, to occupy themselves in the very unpleasant work of sucking the more minute shreds of the Oroonoko through the narrow thoroughfare of their tubes. Pars stricto ore trahit (risumque sodalibus "Pars tubulos arsuro pulvere complet, affert) Pulvereum flumen, tussesque inducit iniquas. Ipse pater fremitus vana et conamina risit.” Silenus, however, is at hand with a burning glass, and he has ere long the satisfaction to see the whole of his camp filled with genuine smokers. "Indulgent Cereri primo, tum Massica libant, Viteaque admistis alternant pocula fumis, Cuncta fremunt fumo, cantu, mistisque chorais, Donec dulcem oculis fudit nox alta sopbrem." Next morning they are disturbed Vino acuunt iras resides, haustoque Tobaco armis, Quam dare victoris mallet clementia, vitam; Sed pudet erroris, stulta et formidine tactos 49 Et victoris amor: simili discrimine victos Victoresque videt bellis utrinque remissis Una dies miscere epulas, Bacchumque ciere, Et simul alternis fumum potare cicutis ; Mirantur bona nata domi, nec nota queruntur, Et nebulas animi jucundis nubibus arcent." Non tantum agricolis duro lassata labore rem, vires; Sed radium specimenque Dei sapientibus ipsis tenebras Colligit ingluvies cerebro, aut molimine longo Intellectus hiat, rerum neque concipit um- Conceptas ve tenet, vel cæca oblivia regnant; Eternæ species Naturæ ex ordine nexæ He then introduces, with much propriety, a description of the hesitation and embarrassment felt by some young "black barrow-tram" of the Dutch Kerk, and of the delightful effects of a few whiffs of the pipe taken in that disagreeable predicament. This, it is obvious, must have been some severe personal allusion in the days of Thorius; but alas! Preacher and pipe are alike forgotten in ours. "O quoties visus magna spectante corona Orator populi cupidas dicturus ad aures Confudisse locis, lingua et siluisse rigenti, Contremuisse metu, docti sermonis acervos Quum memor ex tantis opibus sopita facultas Nil daret in vocem, sed res et verba negaret, Si modo vel micam generosa è stirpe vorasset Fumanti tubulo, accenso seu lumine, sensim Res reperisse suas, prendisse fugacia verba, Thesaurosque animi populo exposuisse stupenti !" In the second book, our poet treats at great length of the grave question G -what sort of persons ought to smoke tobacco-fat or lean, sanguine or adust, &c. &c. and he determines, apparently with much propriety, that those who have most moisture to spare ought to be the most diligent consumers of a commodity which has so strong a tendency to exhaust the salivatory organs. With equal good sense and good feeling Raphael decides, that nobody should smoke, merely because pipes are introducedas it would appear a very common manifestation of the mauvaise honte of young inexperienced Dutchmen. "Sunt qui fumum ideo, ut potent tuntummodo, potant, Urbanos inter ne non habeantur amœni, Prosit ne an noceat sibi sus deque ferentes: Rusticus ille, malusque pudor: nam vel ju vat haustus, Vel lædit. te ipsum noscas, et idonea fumo Corpora, ne sero tandem tua damna queraris." The following hints ought not to be lost upon the frequenters of Ben Waters, and with them we conclude extracts from this illustrious our poet: Quod si præterea roseus color infici ora, Never having seen Mr Charles Lamb, we cannot decide whether the dereliction of tobacco, which he found absolutely necessary for the preservation of his health, does or does not confirm these remarks of Raphael. From what we have heard, however, we do suspect that Mr Lamb cannot by any means claim to be one of those blessed with the We shall quote his adieu to the too delightful herb, not doubting that, so of our paper as of our pipe, the last will be the sweetest : A Farewell to Tobacco. Half my love, or half my hate: The plain truth will seem to be More from a mistress than a weed. Gainst women: thou thy siege dost lay "Thou in such a cloud dost bind us, steam, Does like a smoking Etna seem, "Thou through such a mist doth shew us, That our best friends do not know us, And, for those allowed features, Monsters that, who see us, fear us ; “Lati humeri, pectus patulum, torosaque Brother of Bacchus, later born, membra." The old world was sure forlorn, Wanting thee, that aidest more Or judge of thee meant: only thou "Scent to match thy rich perfume "Nay, rather, "Or, as men, constrain'd to part And their hasty wrath let fall, "For I must (nor let it grieve thee, Friendliest of plants, that I must) leave thee.. For thy sake, TOBACCO, I, Would do any thing but die, And but seek to extend my days Long enough to sing thy praise. But, as she, who once hath been A king's consort, is a queen Ever after, nor will bate Any title of her state, Though a widow, or divorced, So I, from thy converse forced, The old name and style retain, A right Katherine of Spain; And a seat, too, 'mongst the joys Of the blest Tobacco Boys; Where, though I, by sour physician, Am debarr'd the full fruition Of thy favours, I may catch Some collateral sweets, and snatch Sidelong odours, that give life Like glances from a neighbour's wife; And still live in the by-places And the suburbs of thy graces;. And in thy borders take delight, An unconquer'd Canaanite. In our next paper of this series, we shall consider, at some length, the effects which have probably been produced on the literati and churchmen of England by the disuse of the Tobacco Pipe; illustrating the subject by copious quotations from a curious MS. collection of Oxford jeux-d'esprit, which we were so fortunate as to pick up at Mr John Ballantyne's a few weeks ago; and concluding the whole with an original ode of Mr Odoherty, composed in the Cheshire Cheese Tavern, Fleet Street, in the year 1814, and addressed, as might well befit its theme, to no less a personage than that prince of puffers-Field Marshal Blucher. We shall also insert "An Elegy inscribed to Miss Foreman, by William Wastle, Esq." and "Lines written on seeing a spark fall from Mr Hogg's pipe, by R. P. Gillies, Esq. |