Nicotiana Part 4

Lowering our Pegasus a peg or two from the loftier flights of conception, we will proceed more immediately to a.n.a.lyze the merits of these legitimate offsprings of the parent plant, smoking and snuff-taking; first of all, however, having recourse to a pinch of Welsh, to clear our head for so arduous an undertaking. That smoking and snuff-taking have, as habits pernicious to the health, been attacked repeatedly by the heads of science, is no less true than that they have escaped each intended flagellation, and thrived under the fostering lip and nose of a discerning public. Previous, however, to proceeding further, we shall take a review of the different enemies arrayed against the good old customs we have had handed down to us from our fathers. These may most generally, we think, be divided into three cla.s.ses--the ladies,--physicians, and a certain cla.s.s of thin and pallid gentlemen, remarkable for the delicate susceptibility of their noses.

The ladies of England designate smoking and snuffing, filthy and dirty habits. If you chance, dear reader, to ask why--because--because--they are vile and dirty habits, and thereby--'hangs a tale.' Then, as a matter of course, comes to be cited a list of the most gentlemanly men, young and old, who are never guilty of committing the sin. Now, what does all this come to?--that they do dislike the habits, and therefore none but brutes, among the more refined orders, would think of annoying them by practising either in their sweet presence. The understandings of women generally, in comparison with those of men, are proverbially weak. Following the erratic course of the first of their s.e.x, who brought misery and woe upon the devoted head of man, they in turn would fain deprive him of his two cheapest comforts, left to console him in this vale of sorrow.

Reader, if thou should'st chance to be a married man, when thy rib--so vulgarly called in epitome, though perchance the better half of thyself--rails against thy only consolation in domestic broils,--smoking--answer not, we beseech thee. No, not a word of the volume of eloquence we fancy rising indignantly in thy throat, against the cruel calumnies levelled at thy favorite Virginia, as thou valuest the safety of thy tube, whether Dutch or Merschaum. The voice of an angel would not avail thee in thy cause.

With reference to the _faculty_, though divided in opinions, we shall only notice those arrayed against the plant divine. Indeed, the enmity of a physician dependent upon his profession for support may be always known; he detests anything cheap and soothing, conducive to health, and thence his frequent antipathy to tobacco in smoking. In regard to snuff he is wisely meek; for what were he himself without the stimulating dust in his pocket? In former times, indeed, its influence perhaps was greater and more respected than the wig and cane together, as Swift says:--

"Sir Plume, of Amber snuff-box, justly vain, And the nice conduct of a clouded cane."

Well, and what do the faculty say with reference to smoking? Some will tell you it is hurtful to the lungs; others, that the head and heart are more particularly affected by it; very few of them agreeing precisely as to ill effects to be attributed to it.

Grant us patience to bear such ingrat.i.tude! While they are indebted for their consequence and fluency of discourse, to the wit-inspiring influence of the herb in grain, they are running it down in another and not less delightful preparation and form. Then, by way of conclusion, like a crier of last dying speeches, comes to be related the death of some very promising young man, who, through the frequent habit of smoking, which he practised against the continued advice of the grave Monitor--made his exit in a consumption. So if a man habituated to the pleasures of a pipe goes off in a consumption, the anti-smokers must immediately a.s.sert it was brought on by the use of tobacco. How do we know, indeed, but that its magic influence kept him alive much longer than he would have been, without it: supposing--and we suppose it only for the sake of argument, that one or two, nay, say twenty in the thousand, suffer in their health through smoking,--the abuse and not the use of which we candidly admit may slightly impair some peculiar const.i.tutions,--where is the recreant who does not, feeling the joys of smoking, say with us, a "short life and a merry one!" What, after all, are a few years in the scale of human existence! Is the fear of losing one or two of their number, to deter us from availing ourselves of innocent pleasures within our reach?--if so, London, methinks, would soon be deserted by the scientific and intelligent portion of its inhabitants, merely because the Thames water chances to be a little poisonous, or so, and the air of the town notoriously unhealthy.

By the same silly fear, too, the gourmand must abstain from the pleasures of the table,--fas.h.i.+onables from late hours, and the army and navy from hard drinking; in all of which the aforesaid, like true spirits, exclusively delight and take a pride; doubtless, inspired in seeking to indulge in what our own bard, Byron, says:

"aught that gave, Hope of a pleasure, or peril of a grave."

An evident proof, if any be wanting, that beings of a pacific disposition are as careless of facing death as those who have served an apprentices.h.i.+p to it. Once more, taking the most virulent of the medical enemies of smoking, on their own a.s.sertions, and supposing people are killed outright by smoking, why should this deter others from practising it? What is more common, than that each year presents us with numerous deaths in every department of recreation, whether riding, sailing, shooting or bathing; and yet we should be surprised to learn that ever it deterred others from following similar pursuits; then, wherefore, on their own shewing, should the harmless happy recreation (that to the poor comprehends all the above amus.e.m.e.nts) be excepted?--Why, indeed?--O! ye sons of the 'healing art,'

we throw reason away upon ye, and _we_ have too much reason to fear that the true lights of science are lost to ye for ever, when ye attack that which is so beneficial to man.

The next, and in fact the most excusable of the triumvirate confederacy against smoking and snuff-taking, the former more particularly, that now calls for our attention, are the gentlemen of weak palates. These, first caught by the look of the thing, from perceiving the mild serenity ever attendant upon a smoker, and marking the sententious discourse of wisdom flowing like honey from his lips, have essayed the practice, without effect. At length, finding their nerves could never sustain the delightful fumes, without certain inward admonitions, that were not to be neglected or trifled with, they gave up all thoughts of that, which seemed to make so many happy. Now, nothing is more common in metaphysics, than to know that when a fancy or love is not returned by the object of affection, it generally turns into as great a hatred. Nothing, therefore, is more easily exemplified than the violence of the dislike expressed by this order of 'tobacco's foemen.' Although the efforts of the above, with the exception of an occasional treatise against the pernicious effects of tobacco from the medical department, are confined to oral discussion of the subject; the genial herb has enemies of a more aspiring and determined cast. These parties are not contented with throwing their antipathies on the sympathy of their own friends, but they must even occasionally cast them upon the public in the awful form of a printed sheet. Some of these, though written in a very grave style, are really amusing, and we shall note a couple of them, among many other originals before us, in proof. The first of these is the celebrated Counterblaste by King James the First, written apparently in all the rancour of prejudice, and occupying rather a curious place among his learned works. The second is a tract (published in 1824) ent.i.tled, "An Appeal to Humanity, in behalf of the Brethren of the Heathen World: particularly addressed to Snuff-takers and Tobacco-smokers in all Christian Lands.--Second Edition."

The application and tendency of this most facetious of pamphlets is, neither more nor less, than to induce the world at large to abstain from tobacco and snuff-taking altogether, and bestow the money formerly applied for that purpose, to the promotion of the missionary society to convert our 'heathen brethren.'

Such is the benevolent object of this barbarian himself--for what else can we, in the indignation that almost overwhelms us at his audacious attempt, call him. When we reflect but for a moment, if he succeeded by the powerful and charitable arguments he uses, the national wealth, powers, and consequences of the kingdom would be undermined. For what, we say, were Englishmen without tobacco?--no more than a Turk without his opium, a Frenchman without his snuff, or any man without an agreeable stimulant to the mind. Had he now only sought to deprive us of a meal in the day, our dinner even, for instance, we could have borne patiently with him; but to seek,--to conceive,--to attempt, banis.h.i.+ng one of the most soothing,--sympathising, and truest friends from the mansions of John Bull, is an atrocity we scarcely can credit; did not the identical barbarous proposition glare us in the face in good long-primer. Write of the heathen, indeed! he wants converting himself to a just and proper sense of the darkness in which he walks, or rather we should say, writes, when he could conceive such an enormity. However, after thus premising, we shall allow him an opportunity of speaking for himself.

In the first instance, he states, that he had long seriously thought, that the abuse of tobacco in every form is altogether inconsistent with the grand rule of the inspired volume--"Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of G.o.d." (I Cor. x. 31.)

After stating what truly astonis.h.i.+ng large sums of money are annually expended in tobacco and snuff, he details the following anecdote.

"Travelling some time ago in a stage-coach, an elderly lady and a gentleman sat opposite to me. It was not long before the old gentleman pulled out his snuff-box, and, giving it a tap with his finger as the manner is, asked the lady if she would take a pinch; but she declined. As the lady particularly eyed me, I could scarcely refrain from smiling.--(_most facetious!_) 'Perhaps, ma'am, you do not decline taking a pinch, because you think there is any sin in snuff-taking?' 'Oh no. I do take snuff: do YOU think there is sin in it, Sir?' 'Yes ma'am,' said I, 'I think in _some cases_ it is sinful,' (_as cases are in italics we should feel happy to know whether they are of tin or composition he alludes to, but to proceed_.) At this, the lady expressed great surprise (_as well she might_) and would not be satisfied, unless I would a.s.sign some reason for thinking that snuff-taking was sinful. At length, for she teazed me, I said to her, 'Pray ma'am, (_cannot he drop the field-preacher and write Madam_) how much in the week may you spend in snuff?' 'Perhaps 7_d._' 'And how many years have you been in the habit of taking snuff?' 'Well, I suppose,' she replied, 'upwards of forty years.' 'Seven-pence a week, you say,--that is something more than thirty s.h.i.+llings in the year,--and if you have taken snuff at this rate for forty years, the same will amount to more than 60_l._' 'You surprise me,--you must be mistaken, Sir.' 'No, Ma'am,' said I, 'I am not mistaken. It amounts to more than 60_l._ without the interest (_profound calculation!_) Now, do you think that G.o.d will reward you for taking snuff?' 'Reward me for taking snuff!' said she, 'No, Sir, I do not expect that.' 'But suppose, instead of spending this 60_l._ in snuff, you had spent it in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked;'"--we really can follow these opinions no further, as we have more than one old maiden lady within our ken, that would have actually _fainted_ outright at such a want of modesty.

Trusting our reader will bear with us, we shall notice a little more of this self-created minister's appeal in favour of the heathens, who, doubtless, if favoured with the knowledge, could not but feel highly indebted for the exertions of so powerful an advocate in their cause. At the same time we strongly suspect, from the love he has of showing his knowledge of the tables of pence, that the writer was formerly an officiating deputy in a huckster's or chandler's shop, until seduced by the influence of the "spirit that moves" for a n.o.bler call of action. The following is another specimen of his _figurative_ powers.

"A few days ago, I mentioned the above anecdote in the house of a farmer.

'Why,' said the farmer, 'I could never have thought that 7_d._ a week would have come to so much.--Do you know my wife and I can a.s.sure you, that awhile back, we smoked an ounce a day.' 'An ounce a day,' said I, (_the echo!_) 'What is tobacco an ounce?' (_ignoramus!--we thought he knew not the value of what he attempts to depreciate_). 'Four-pence,' said he.

'Four-pence an ounce, and an ounce in the day, that is 2_s._ 4_d._ per week, and 52 weeks in the year will be the sum of 6_l._ and 4_d._ annually.--O Sir!--I am very sorry for you.'"--(_kind hearted soul!_)

Pursuing his system, apparently, of poking his head into the affairs of country farmers, he gives us another trite anecdote, too rich a _morceau_ to be pa.s.sed in silence; since it so admirably serves to shew the estimation the pipe is held in by the true representatives of John Bull.

"Since I commenced writing of this, I had occasion to call upon a respectable farmer, who is a member of your society--(_we smell a rat_)--and a leader I suppose, greatly esteemed by his neighbours, who certainly have the best opportunity of knowing him as a truly pious, and useful man. Almost immediately after we were seated, he called for his pipe (for some people cannot be cheerful or make a wise bargain--_symptoms of the shop_)--unless their heads are enveloped in smoke. 'Now, Sir,' said he, 'can you smoke any, will you have a pipe?' 'No, Sir,' said I, 'I never smoked a pipe in all my life;'--(_miserable man! this he says doubtless by way of shewing his Christian self-denial_). 'I have for a long time considered it sinful, and therefore I never smoke.' 'Sinful,'

said he, laughing--(_jolly fellow!_)--'how can it be sinful?' 'Because,'

said I, 'it wastes our power of doing good. Did you never consider that.'

Upon this his wife who was sitting by, pleasantly observed, 'Our John is a terrible smoker'--(_worthy man!_)--'For goodness sake don't make him believe that it is sinful to smoke. If he can't get his pipe, we shall have no peace: he'll be quite out of temper.' 'Nay,' said I, 'surely not out of temper.' 'Yes, for sure, out of temper enough,--quite peevish and fretful.' 'Now,' said John, 'how thou talks my dear.' 'Talk! why is it not true? Thou wants it first thing in the morning--then again at breakfast time--then again at noon, and then again at night--just as it happens.

Why, I'll warrant you (turning to me) he has seven or eight pipes in a day, and sometimes more,'--(_sensible man!_)--'Perhaps,' said I, 'he's sick, and smokes for his health.' 'Nay, nay, sick, bless him! he's none sick, he has got a habit of it you see, and so he thinks he wants it. Oh, he must have his pipe--he can't do without his pipe--sin in it! nay, surely it cannot be sinful.' (_He concludes with his favorite computation_). Upon inquiry, I found, that though the only smoker in the family, yet at a moderate reckoning, he contrives to consume about 5_l._ worth of tobacco every year."

This would, doubtless, have been better employed in the hands of the good promoter of the Missionaries, of whom we now take our leave; and to whom, we wish no further punishment for his cruel attempt at seeking to banish the cheerful companions.h.i.+p of the pipe from mansions of peace, than being compelled to the smoking of a pipe of the oldest s.h.a.g himself.

In reference to King James' Counterblaste, although, from its antiquity, as well as the rank and learning of the author, it occupies a serious claim upon our attention, yet, upon the whole, it may be termed nearly as ridiculous as the foregoing, although not in its application. It, indeed, fully bears the stamp of those antipathies that, once conceived, the monarch was seldom or never known to waive. This is more singular, as they were formed against a plant, received into the greatest favour and esteem among all ranks, and, as a medicine, was in far greater request than it is even now. Facts like these plainly establish, that James' dislike, however acquired, proceeded from prejudice and _prejudice_ alone.

In the first paragraph, he tells us, that it was first introduced into England from the Indians, who used it as an antidote against "a filthy disease, whereunto these barbarous people (as all people know) are very much subject."

After bestowing a volley of abuse upon smoking, not of the most elegant description, he refers to the acquiring of the fas.h.i.+on that certainly generally applies in all things now, as well as it did in his own times.

"Do we not daily see, that a man can no sooner bring ouer from beyond the seas any new forme of apparell, but that he cannot be thought a man of spirit that would not presently imitate the same? and so, from hand to hand it spreads, till it be practised by all; not from any commodity that is in it, but only because it is come to be the fas.h.i.+on."

Of the popularity of smoking in his time, he says himself, "You are not able to ride, or walk, the journey of a Jew's Sabbath, but you must have a reekie cole brought you from the next poor-house, to kindle your tobacco with?"

"It is become in place of a care, a point of good fellows.h.i.+p, and hee that will refuse to take _a pipe_ of tobacco among his fellowes, though by his owne election he would rather not feel the savor of the stinke, is accounted peevish and no good company; even as they do tippling in the COLD Eastern countreys."

Of the consequences then often attending the habit of smoking, he observes, "Now how you are by this custome disabled in your goods, let the gentry of this land beare witness; some of them bestowing THREE, some FOUR HUNDRED POUNDS A YEERE upon this precious stinke, which I am sure might be bestowed upon far better vses."

Than the a.s.sertion of the above individual enormous expenditure, nothing perhaps is better calculated to display James's exaggeration, which actually here can only be considered hyperbolical. The idea, the bare possibility, is scarcely conceivable for a moment, that in those days, three hundred pounds, at least equal to nine hundred of our present money, was ever laid out by a single individual in smoking; excepting, indeed, perhaps, as a very rare and singular occurrence. King James concludes his Counterblaste in the following piece of declamation.

"Have you not reason then to be ashamed, and to forbeare this filthie noveltie so basely grounded, so foolishly received, and so grossly mistaken, in the right use thereof? In your abuse thereof, sinning against G.o.d, harming yourselves both in persons and goods, and raking also thereby, the markes and vanities vpon you: by the custome thereof, making yourselves to be wondered at by all forreinne civill nations, and by all strangers that come among you, to be scorned and contemned: a custome loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmefull to the braine, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stigian smoke of the pit that is bottomlesse."

What a pity it is, James never smoked; instead of this long tirade against the most cheerful of all pastimes, we should have had an eulogy, glowing with the warmth and feeling of truth from the head and heart. From the very gall perceivable at times, one could easily know he was an utter stranger to the gentle sympathy of a pipe. He ridicules and condemns that, which, like many others, he knows not, and therefore cannot appreciate.

Had he but put the pipe fairly upon its trial, and found it guilty of the mischiefs ascribed to it, then could we have excused him; but to conceive ideas not founded upon truth and justice and the welfare of the kingdom he was called upon to govern, and to act upon those ideas, by the framing of arbitrary laws, repressing the tastes of the nation at large, raises in its remembrance an indignation in our mind, that takes repeated whiffs of our 'German' to quell.

Now the truly immense extent of the benefits Europe is indebted to for the introduction of the tobacco-plant, is by no means generally known. For the instruction of our _fellow_ creatures--we say instruction, because probably our numerous readers may never have met with them before,--we shall proceed to enlighten the world upon the subject. If we look backward to the earlier periods of History, what barbarous and savage manners do we not mark characterizing the people and the times. Rapine and murder stalking hand in hand among them, and scarce at all repressed by laws, divine or human. Now mark, sweet readers, especially if true lovers of the invaluable herb, whose praises we are about singing! Mark what "great effects from little causes spring." No sooner did tobacco make its appearance and get into notice and use, than the pa.s.sions of all men wooing its soothing influence, gradually began to receive a change. As it got more generally diffused, its influence might almost be termed magical; the sword, in a great degree, was exchanged for the quill, the wine-cup for the coffee-cup (thence its use in Turkey always with smoking), and letters began to flourish--the first grand step towards that civilization I shall prove it was gradually destined to effect in the world. Doubtless, like many other great writers, who open out a new light to the world, we shall have enough of sceptics, as opponents, to contend with; but we are sanguine from the facts we shall clearly establish, that far more is to be attributed to the powers of tobacco, than millions dream of.

In the first place, it is too well known to admit of much doubt, that tobacco, whether smoked or taken as snuff, exercises a very considerable power upon the mind, more especially when taken in considerable quant.i.ties. When such is the case, the faculties are refined and exalted to a degree of spirited buoyancy, that forms a strange and pleasing contrast to the usual unstimulated lethargic state of the mind. We can only compare it, though in a much milder, and more inoffensive degree, to the species of delirium the Turks so vividly describe, when labouring under the effects of opium. The intellectual senses, more particularly that part of them forming the imagination, become so much more powerful and pervading, that its conceptions receive a warmth and strength of colouring they never can, under common excitement.

Now tobacco, as we have recorded, was first brought to England in the reign of Elizabeth, who greatly patronized it among the n.o.bles and poorer orders, by whom it came speedily into general use. Most mighty herb!--the effects of thy wors.h.i.+p were soon visible, for where do we find a reign so great and glorious either for victories by land and sea, or the distinguished talent and genius, whether in the camp or cabinet, it fostered at home. Then was it, that Shakespeare--the magnificent Shakespeare, (blest and honored was the reign in which he drew life) burst forth like a star destined to excite the astonishment of the world he came to throw the effulgent light of his genius upon. He was a smoker.

Then, to sketch forth the gigantic march of intellect, in the ages of which we write, came forth those luminaries of the world; Hobbes, the parent of Locke's philosophy, the profound philosopher Lord Bacon, the most ill.u.s.trious mathematician and philosopher, Sir Isaac Newton, and the singularly talented metaphysician Locke, each and all of whom were celebrated for their devotion to the soothing and stimulating powers of a pipe! It is related of Hobbes, who was one of the most profound thinkers of his time, that as soon as the dinner was over, he used to retire to his study and had his candle with _ten or twelve_ pipes of tobacco laid by him; then shutting the door he fell to smoking, thinking and writing for several hours together. Locke and Bacon smoked much for recreation; the latter of whom probably was indebted to the practice for the preservation of his life in the plague of 1665, from whose contagious influence in London he sought safety in the country and his pipe.

Now, to what, we should like to know, are to be attributed the mighty and successful efforts of these wonderful men, who may justly be considered the founders of modern civilization and literature, but the all--the far pervading fumes of the sovereign tobacco-leaf they wors.h.i.+pped with such devotion. To its exhilarating influence and invigorating aid, exciting the imagination to realms of undiscovered beauties, are we indebted for those works that shall live, while time is,--the wonder of this and all future ages.

Are we singular in our opinion? Mark, learn, and inwardly digest, ye unbelievers, what the learned Dr. Raphael Thorious says on the subject:--

"Of cheering bowls I mean to sing the praise, And of the herb that can the poet's fancy raise; Aid me, O! father Phoebus I invoke, Fill me a pipe (boy) of that fragrant smoke, That I may drink the G.o.d into my brain; And so enabled, write a n.o.ble strain.

For nothing great or high can come from thence, Where that blest plant denies its influence."

Smile on, ye critics; but let us ask ye, if those works that have so strong a claim to our respect, would ever have come into existence had there been no tobacco, to rarify and stimulate the mind. No!--must be your candid answer, if only in verification of the old saying, '_No pipe, no Parr_.' Then, what mighty blessings are we not indebted for to the much-aspersed, calumniated, and insulted herb. Nor is the fact of its consequence in regard to these first great discoverers in science, the only proofs that exist of its reputation; successive generations, under the weed's cheering auspices, have but continued what they so ably began.

Dr. Johnson,[16] Dr. Thorious, Dr. Aldrich, Dr. Parr, Pope, Swift, Addison, Steele, and a host of other approved writers of celebrity, independent of those of the present day, are all similarly indebted to the genial influence of tobacco, under one preparation or another, for the stimulus of their inspiration. The fact is incontrovertible. Where was transcendant literary ability before the introduction of tobacco?--Nowhere--it was unknown:--but, no sooner, we repeat, did IT become known and in use, than its generative powers became quickly visible: the minds of men, though previously barren, became fructified by its influence, and letters flourished. With truth it is observed, we formerly were a nation of readers; but, who is so ignorant as not to know, that as tobacco has become diffused, with knowledge, we are now a nation of smokers and writers. It may, indeed, be fairly set down as an axiom we may rely upon, that nearly every one occasionally gets a penchant for scribbling who smokes or snuffs; from the cobler, whose "_soul_ on higher things is bent," that composes a ditty to the measure of some admired production gracing his stall, to the peer of the realm, who, lounging on an ottoman under the inspiration of prince's mixture, dictates a sonnet, or a novel, to his secretary, as the humour may chance to be of the moment. That tobacco has effected wonders in the promotion and promulgation of knowledge, we flatter ourselves we have plausibly shown; that it is equally distinguished in _diplomacy_ and _war_, is a fact we shall now proceed to demonstrate. To commence then: who ever knew or heard of a plenipotentiary without his jewelled _snuff-box_?--The thing were out of nature: without _it_, indeed, he were but an automaton--a body without a head--a mere 'cypher in the great account,' unbacked and unsupported. So well aware, indeed, are civilized governments of this fact, that snuff-boxes set with brilliants to the value of a _thousand pounds_ are given them, that they may be stimulated to business; diving into the cabals and intrigues of the state,--concealing their own, and, in a word, never be deserted at a PINCH. Nay, so much is snuff the fas.h.i.+on, that a courtier in most European countries without it were a sort of curiosity.

Many of the greatest of men, have been remarkable for the snuff they took.

Napoleon was among this number; he (acute and penetrating) _was up to snuff_, disdaining your common methods of wors.h.i.+pping that "spirit stirrer" of the human mind, he took it out of his waistcoat-pocket, and when vexed or thwarted by any unexpected occurrence, was always observed to have recourse to it, previous to exerting his mind on the subject. The greatness of his fortunes was commensurate with the quant.i.ty he consumed: the greatest snuff-taker in the French territories, it is by no means singular to relate, he became the first in grandeur and consequence, as well as the most idolized of men. At the same time, he was by no means insensible of the powers of smoking, for we find it recorded, that his greatest relief from extreme fatigue (as he used to declare) arose from "a CIGAR, _a cup of coffee, and a warm bath_;" three things, we affirm, highly creditable to the taste of so great a genius. Nor did Buonaparte confine the use of it solely to his own person: fully impressed with its powers, he ordered its use throughout the whole of the French army. The immediate consequence was, that under his influence and that of the stimulating weed, they conquered all before them, and became renowned throughout Europe for their discipline and determined bravery. This may, by those who dive no further than the surface, be attributed to the ability of their general, to a certain degree we in our candour acknowledge; but the grand secret and mover of it was tobacco--sovereign tobacco! What sceptic so rash, dares breathe a doubt of the truth of this statement? Does he require additional evidence?--If so! let him turn his eyes to the British navy. What is it, ever since the time of Elizabeth, from the defeat of the Spanish Armada up to the victory at Trafalgar, has rendered them invincible and the terror of the world?--what, we exclaim, but tobacco! To quids! quids! alone is their success to be attributed; but deprive them of these, and you take the spirit of the men away. Immortal, G.o.dlike pigtail! And well too does government know this fact, and wisely inst.i.tute an allowance to each man. Hunger, thirst, and every hards.h.i.+p is borne without a murmur by each gallant tar, so long as there is pigtail in the locker. Go seek the man, whether _topman_, _afterguard_, or _idler_, who has ever been upon a seven or three years' station, and ask him whence his chief consolation in the watch of safety, or peril, and he, if a true sailor, shall answer with an indescribable roll of the jaw--"Pigtail!!!"

'Tis the essence, in fact, the very quintessence of the man, and its consideration in his mind may be sufficiently gleaned from the following well-known epistle--at once an irrefutable proof, if any be needed.

"Warren Hastings East Indyman, off Gravesend.

March 24, 1813.

Dear Brother Tom;

This comes hopein to find you in good health as it leaves me safe anckor'd here yesterday at 4 P. M. arter a pleasant voyage tolerable short and a few squalls.--Dear Tom--hopes to find poor old father stout, and am quite out of pig-tail.--Sights of pig-tail at Gravesend, but unfortinly not fit for a dog to chor. Dear Tom, Captain's boy will bring you this, and put pig-tail in his pocket when bort. Best in London at the Black Boy in 7 diles, where go acks for best pig-tail--pound a pig-tail will do, and am short of s.h.i.+rts. Dear Tom, as for s.h.i.+rts ony took 2 whereof one is quite wored out and tuther most, but don't forget the pig-tail, as I a'n't had a quid to chor never since Thursday. Dear Tom, as for the s.h.i.+rts, your size will do, only longer. I liks um long--get one at present; best at Tower-hill, and cheap, but be particler to go to 7 diles for the pig-tail at the Black Boy, and Dear Tom, acks for pound best pig-tail, and let it be good. Captain's boy will put the pig-tail in his pocket, he likes pig-tail, so ty it up. Dear Tom, shall be up about Monday there or thereabouts. Not so perticuler for the s.h.i.+rt as the present can be washed, but don't forget the pig-tail without fail, so am your loving brother."