The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-09-25
THE WORLD IN ARMS AGAINST TOBACCO,

VI the WoTlnleS 10 WnOm they are indebted
for its free enjoyment; and Of those who
delight in n nasal alimcnt, how few ever
call to mind the Diocletian persecution their
predecessors passed through for adherins
to their faith in and transferring to their
descendants the virtues Of tobacco. Eu-
rope frowncd and Asia threatened. Pagan,
Mohammedan and Christian monarchs COM
bined to crush them. James l., foaming
with rage, sent forth his "counter-blast; >
the half savage ruler of the Muscovitcs fol-
lowed suit; the King Of Persia, Amaratll
w, of Turkey, the Emperor of Jehan
Geer and others, joined the crusade. They
pronounced death to all found inhaling the
fumes Of the plant through tube, or
caught with I. pellet Of it under their
tongues. Those who used it as a sternuta-
tory only, were to bc deprived of their
noses. To perfect the miseries of the de-
lrnquents, Urban Will, went in state TO the
Vatican, where, tremuous with holy anger,
he shook his garments, to initiate that tho
blood of the offenders would lie on their
own heads, and then thundercd cxcommu-
nlcation on every soul who took the accurs-
cd thing in any shape into church. Loss
Of life for lighting pipe! Mulilation for
taking pinch! Torturcs here, and end
less tornents hereafter, Cor a whitf or a
quid of tobacco! One wonders how the
sufferers managed 10 pass through the fire
unscathed. or even to escape annihila,ion :;
yet most of them did escape, and they did
more-they converted the NeLucla,nczzars
who sought to consume them.
The modes adopted to cxtermnatc the
plant increased the demand for it till it was
sought for with an avility that no penal
enactments could suppress. Royal and
sicer,iot;,l caiiioT had raised its coiisump-
ton thousand fold. The tide turned, and
all began to praise the magic leaf. Ladies
Joined their lords in smoking after meals;
boys carried pipes in their s;,tclcls to school,
and ut certain hour pedagoyues and pu-
pills whitfield together. Mothers i'll the six,
tcenth century filled their sons pipes carly
i'll the morning, to serve them instead of
breakfast. People wcnt 10 bed with cigars
or pipes in their mouths, and rose in the
night 10 light them. Ali classes became
consumers; even priests were not excepted,
provided they reiraucd till after mass. TO
accommodate travellers, poor and transient
persons, tatayics, Or smoking houses, were
licensed on the continent i'll every marine
and inland town, where sailors and timer
ants could, OH moderate terms, bc made
happy either by inlaling the vapor of a
popular stimulant, or tickling their nasal
membranes with it. The ambitious sought
fame by associating themselves with the
introduction Of the plant and its cultivation;
hence we find it named after cardinals. le-
gates and ambassadors, while in compi-
mcnt to Catherine dc Mcdicis, it was called
the "Qucen's herb"
Kings now rushed TO the tobacco trade.
Those Of Spain took the lead, and became
the largest manufacturers of snuff and ci-
gars i'll Christerdom. The royal workshops
in Seville are still the most extensive in Eu-
rorc. Other monarchs monopolised the
business i'll their dominions, and I'LL began
to reap enormous profits from it, rs most
do at this day. Much has been written OH
revolution so unique in its origin, unsur-
passed i'll incidents and results, and consti-
tuting one Of the most singular episodes in
human history, but next to nothing is re-
corded of whence tho various processes of
manufacture and uses are derived. Some
imagine the popular pabulum for the nose,
of transatlantic origin; no such thing
Columbus first beheld smokers in the An
TILES, Pizarro found clewers in Peru, but It
was in the country discovered by Cabral
that the great sternutatory was originally
found. Brazilian Indians were the fathers
of snuff, and its best fabricators. Though
counted among the least refined of the alb.
origince, their taste in this matter was as
pure as that of tho fashionable world of the
East. Their snuff has never been surpassed
nor their apparatus for making lt.--Ew-
banks Sketches Of lhin Brazil.
Can DO Their Own Kissing.-Not a
thousand miles from this village, lives a
very exacting landholder. He makes his
tenants "come to time" on the very day
the rent comes due, and will only relax
his stern DEGREES when handsome woman
is in question. Not long since, he called
for his rent of worthy mechanic, who, by
the way, rejoices in the possession of pref
ty little wife. The husband was not ut
homo when sbylock called, and he was
enchanted with the pretty little wife of the
tenant. She could not liqpidate the amount
due, but the landlord becoming really en-
anored, told her he would give her re.
CENT in full for iust or,a k;as 0S;rm :1