HORAE NICOTIANE. 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 nicotiana quam Americane idiomati tobaca nuncupant (Paetum alii dicunt) hoc modo frequentissimè. Fistulæ in hunc finem ex argillâ 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 na tures enable them to display, the "Innocuos calices, et amicam Vatibus her. bam Vimque datam folio, et laeti miracula fumi.” It is chiefly for the further encouragement and stimulation of these solved to commence the present series zealous individuals that we have re 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 Phoebi nato promittis hon The poet next proceeds to the Muso 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 cupide Germanam dubia præsagit imagine mortem; Capripedes mediis diffusos stertere arenis. Cernere crat, 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 soɗalibus "Pars tubulos arsuro pulvere complet, affert) Pulvereum flumen, tussesque inducit iniquas. Ipse pater fremitus vana et conamina risit.” Next morning they are disturbed by an assault of the enemy. Thorius does not tell very exactly who they were, or in what force they came, but Silenus no sooner sees them coming down the hill, than he issues a general order for every man to light his pipe, and so armed, he very boldly draws them beyond the lines, and advances to meet the foe. The horror which was felt by the Mexicans, the first time they saw Cortes and Pizarro on horseback, appears to have been inferior to what the enemies of Bacchus on this occasion experienced. The narrative is in very splendid style. "Erea siștra manu quatiunt, et tympana pulsant, Vino acuunt iras resides, haustoque Tobaco Excludunt lethi faciem, suaque agmina cir armis, Quam dare victoris mallet clementia, vitam; Pars orat veniam, parere et jussa modestis Imperiis patiente jugum cervice capessit; After they discover the cause of their alarm, they feel considerably ashamed of themselves; but the mild and benignant conduct of their conquerors soon effectually reconciles them to their fate. Victors and vanquished sit down together in amity, and by way of putting the last touch to the tenderness of the scene, the poet represents them as exchanging pipes with each other-a truly Bata vian token of affection. Sed pudet erroris, stulta et formidine tactos Extimuisse piget vani sufflamina fumi; Libertate dolent serva; solatur at illos Indulgentis heri condița lepore potestas, VOL V: 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." After the historical part of the subject has been thus felicitously brought to its close, the poet proceeds to take a philosophical view of the component parts of the herb, and to speculate, in a highly dignified manner, on the rationale or rather the medicale of its effects. He sets out with the following fine apostrophe, in which it is. easy to see, that he derives his information from experience. "Planta beata! decus terrarum, munus Olympi! Non tantum agricolis duro lassata labore Membra levas, minuis victus absentis amoFundis et absque cibo sparsas in corpora rem, vires; Sed radium specimenque Dei sapientibus ipsis Ingenium illustras, si quando aut multa tenebras Colligit ingluvies cerebro, aut molimine longo Intellectus hiat, rerum neque concipit umbras, Conceptas ve tenet, vel cæca oblivia regnant; Ut semel irrepsit blando lux indita fumo, Aufugiunt nubes atræ, curæque tenaces. Vis micat inventrix, dempto velut obice veli Tota oculis animi patet ampli machina mundi, Eternæ species Naturæ ex ordine nexæ Succedunt, redeuntque suis simulacra fi, guris." 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 coronâ 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 stu penti !" 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 our extracts from this illustrious poet: Si cui grande caput prostanti fronte rotundum, Lati humeri, pectus patulum, torosaque membra, Sub cute obesa caro, pituitaque multa palato, Is bibat impune, et repetito indulgeat haustu, Si libet, et justos sumendi respicit usus: Parcius attingant graciles, quibus ardua cervix, Frons angusta, caput minimum, præcordia pressa, Excarnesque genæ, et pauca mucagine nares. orem. Quod si præterea roseus color infici ora, "Lati humeri, pectus patulum, torosaque membra." 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 "Sooty retainer to the vine, 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, Due to reasonable creatures, 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, 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. |