Shipping Tobacco.
It seems hardly possible to draw a more graphic picture of the blessings diffused by the balmy plant, than that just given. Its peculiar charms and soothing influence are well calculated to inspire in the breast of man, feelings of peace and happiness, rather than elements of discord and strife. The pipe of a king burns not more freely the shreds of the plant, than it does the last remnant of hostile feelings and the recollections of bitter wrongs; while the snuff-box of the diplomat contains the precious dust that has soothed the fierce hatred of rival houses and cemented the divided factions of a tottering throne.[Back to Contents]
CHAPTER IV.
TOBACCO IN EUROPE.
The discovery of the tobacco plant in America by European voyagers aroused their cupidity no less than their curiosity. They saw in its use by the Indians a custom which, if engrafted upon the civilization of the Old World, would prove a source of revenue commensurate with their wildest visions of power and wealth. This was particularly the case with the Spanish and Portuguese conquerors, whose thirst for gold was gratified by its discovery. The finding by the Spaniards of gold, silver, and the balmy plant, and by the Portuguese of valuable and glittering gems, opened up to Spain and Portugal three great sources of wealth and power. But while the Spaniards were the first discoverers of the plant there seems to be conflicting opinions as to which nation first began its culture, and whether the plant was cultivated first in the Old World or in the New. Humboldt says:—
"It was neither from Virginia nor from South America, but from the Mexican province of Yucatan that Europe received the first tobacco seeds about the year 1559.[20] The Spaniards became acquainted with tobacco in the West India Islands at the end of the 15th Century, and the cultivation of Tobacco preceded the cultivation of the potato in Europe more than one hundred and twenty years. When Sir Walter Raleigh brought tobacco from Virginia to England in 1586, whole fields of it were already cultivated in Portugal.[21] It was also previously known in France."
Another author says of its introduction into Europe:—
"The seeds of the tobacco plant were first brought to Europe by Gonzalo Hernandez de Oviedo, who introduced it into Spain, where it was first cultivated as an ornamental plant, till Monardes[22] extolled it as possessed of medicinal virtues."[23]