The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1854-09-12

James "Counterblast to Tobacco publish ;
ell by Charles Beckington, Newcastle ups n
Tyne, is43, with which we have been kind
ly favored by friend, 1t is stated that this
literary curiosity was first printed in quarto,
without name or date, by Barker and BIZ
London, 1916. It was again published WIN
the name Of the author, King James, on ine
title page, in 1914 In the frontispiece OF 'ne
first publication "was engraved the Tobacco
smokers coat of arms. consisting OF black
amoor's head, cross pipes, cross leg bones,
death heads, &c, curiously and scientifically
disposed. as a warning to Tobacconists.'
In the Introductory Remarks to the "Coun
terblast" very interesting sketch is given
of the primitive use of Tobacco in England
and the forms in which the usage appeared
when the King discharged his ''Counterblas
against it, A condensed view of some of
the principal facts in this sketch may amuse
our tobacco loving as well as tobacco-hating
readers
Smoking was the first mode of using To-
bacco in England, and Sir Walter Raleigh
as is well known, was the first man who in
troduced the fashion. Raleigh had his arms
emblazoued in bis dwelling at Islington, (af-
forwards an inn known as the Pied Bull
with Tobacco plant upon the top. 1t was
the first house in England in which Tobacco
was smoked The celebrated Tobacco-box
Of Sir Walter, used in entertaining his guests
"was of cylindrical form, about seven inch
es in diameter and 13 inches high; the out
side was of gilded leather, and within was
receiver of glass or metal, which would hold
about pound of Tobacco; kind OF collar
connected the receiver with the case, and on
every side the box was pierced with holes tor
the pipes"
The honor of being the first female smoker
in England is due to Queen Elizabeth, who
copied the bad habit from Raleigh, and was
in her turn initiated by ladies of her court
There was another claimant for this honor,
in the person of one Molly Cutpurse, low
woman famous for her frolics and crimes, but
upon examination it was found that the dis
tinction belonged to the royal hussy. Moll
never laid aside her pipe till her death in 1862.
She was an original genius, as was shown by
a direction in her will, that her nephew, to
whom she left the bulk of her property,
should not lay it out foolishly, but get drunk
with it while it lasted"
Raleigh stuck by his pipe till the day of his
death He smoked his pipe on the morning
of his execution, which, said a contemporary
writer, "some formal persons were scandal
lied at but think" he adds, "twas well
and properly done to settle his spirits On
being asked if it pleased him, "Aye," said
Raleigh, otis indeed good if a man might
tarry by it,
Smoking soon spread through all ranks and
became universal. The spectators at the
theatres, in Shakspeare's time, were permit
ted to sit on the stage during the perform.
snces, and puff away vigorously at their
pipes and tobacco. Smoking was also per
uitted in all other parts of the house. The
practice reached its climax about 1910. A
common mode of smoking was to swallow
the smoke partially, and afterwards blow it
out through the nostrils. This was called
Tobacco drinking. In 1914 there were said
to be upwards of 1000 tobacco selling houses
in London. The Virginia tobacco was usual
ly imported in the leaf, tied up in small loose
bundles the Spanish tobacco mostly in balls
about the size of mans head, coarsely spun
INTO kind of thick Irvine. The medical
profession of that period ascribed to tobacco
extraordinary medicinal effects The 'hu-
mors'' of the body could only be "purged'
by tobacco. These humors were purged by
salvation point which King James dis.
putes with great gravity.
Such was the prevalence of this practice
when King James wrote his "Counterblast, y
which, however, does not seem to have pro.
duced much effect He denounces smoking
as a barbarous and beastly imitation of god
less and slavish Indians combats the idea O
its benefits as a medicine, but on the contra
ry contends that it is poison; maintains thai
it will render Britons effeminate, so that the
land will produce no more great warriors
dilates upon its extravaganza, ''some of tn
gentry bestowing $500, some f4O0 yea
upon this precious stink; AYERS that smo
king "makes kitchen oftentimes in the in
ward pa is of man, soiing and injecting then
with an unctuous and oily kind of SCOT, a.
hath been found in some great Tobacce-ta
kers that after their deaths were opened
and winds up by pronouncing it "a custom
l"athsome to the eye-hateful to the nose
harmful to the advantageous to the lungs
and, in the black sinking fumes thereof,
nearest resembling the horrid Stygian fumes
of the pit that is bottomless"
COLONIAL CHURCHES OF VIRGINIA. "A
friend has called our attention to a series OF
very interesting and instructive articles on
the Colonial Churches of Virginia, which
have appeared from time to time in the
Church Review and Ecclesiastical Register
published in New Haven, Connecticut. These
article are accompanied by wood cuts, giving
very faithful and accurate representations of
various of the old colonial churches scatter.
ed through Eastern Virginia, and thus res
cuing from oblivion the appearance of these
venerable piles which, however, were built in
SO substantial manner, that they bid fair
to outlast the more snowy structures of a
more modern date. The artist by whom these