James VI had it about right, when he wrote his famous essay against tobacco four hundred years ago this year. Reading it this morning, I was left wondering how it could be that we spend billions fighting a war on terror, an evil which has killed few, but do virtually nothing about a much greater menace. Last night, I sat in a restaurant obliged to suffer the stinking assaults of tobacco fiends, who as a species bring about the deaths of 3,600 of my innocent countrymen each year, filling as they do, our public spaces with obnoxious, reaking, chemical fumes.
I can do no better than quote the Stewart King himself:
"... a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black stinking fume thereof nearest resembling the horrible stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless."
I get the feeling he wasn't a fan... Check out the whole of the 1604 essay by following the link below. He seems to have been well ahead of the modern tobacco industry on the effects of the deadly weed.
http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/kjcounte.htm
3 comments:
Hi Cinders,
Thanks for dropping by. Yes, things are beginning to move that way on this side of the pond too. The Irish have banned public smoking (at least in enclosed public space) and I think the dastardly frogs have too, although it is said that the law is not enforced there. It will happen here too soon, there have been some hard hitting adverts by our NHS on TV, and it is coming onto the agenda. Right - must take a look at your blogs.
Fred
Hey there Fred.
I think it's pretty incredible that James said this and no one listened. In any case, I agree... they've established similar laws in New York City- it's very strange, after years of going to the city (and concerts there as well, which become so smoke-filled it's difficult to see..), to be there now, where it's illegal to smoke inside. Smokers, then, huddle in packs in the doorways of bars, concerts, etc. It's eerily refreshing for a nonsmoker such as myself who is used to fighting for fresh air when going out.
Hi Liz,
Thanks for your comment. I love to meet up with other militant anti-smokers and complain about the dreadful weed. Yes, I've seen bars and concerts like that - you know - where your eyes sting as you try to see the barman, and when you get home, your jacket stinks so badly you need to hang it outside for a week. It is THE most bizarrely filthy habit. Did you read James's essay? He goes on in some part about how the tobacco fiends oblige their wives to take up the vile habit, since not doing so, leaves them in a life time of stinking torment (Breathing the reeking breath of their husbands, presumably.
Fred
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