ommenced "as a tobacco merchant and monopolist," and
in 1627 issued a proclamation renewing his already strong monopoly
more effectually, by appointing certain officers of London
"to seize
all foreign tobacco, not of the growth of Virginia or
Bermudas, for his benefit, agreeable to a former commission:
also to buy up for his use all the tobacco coming from our
said plantations, and to sell the same again for his
benefit."

[Illustration: Growing tobacco in the streets.]

Again in 1630 King Charles issued another proclamation, and among
other restrictions limited the importation of it from the colony.
Quickly following this the King issued in 1632 another proclamation
regulating the retailing of tobacco. In 1634 he also prohibited the
landing of tobacco any where except at the quay near the custom house
in London.

In 1636 Charles appointed Sir John Harvey to be continued governor of
the Plantation. In 1643 parliament laid a tax for the year 1644,
calling it Excise, and also laid a duty of four shillings per pound on
foreign, and two shillings per pound on English tobacco. From what has
already been written, it will be seen that both King James and his son
Charles I. enacted the most stringent laws against its importation,
nearly suppressing the trade, which caused the English farmers to
cultivate it for home use; but another law was now added to suppress
its growth on English soil.

Fairholt in speaking of the hostility of King James to the plant says:

"When Kings make unnecessary and unjust laws, subjects
naturally study how to evade them: it is a mere system of
self-defence; and as James nearly suppressed the importation
of tobacco the English began to grow it on their own land.
But the Scottish Solomon who was on the alert, added another
law restraining its cultivation 'to misuse and misemploy the
soil of this fruitful Kingdom.' As this enforced the trade
with the English colony of Virginia alone, it was soon found
that Spanish and Portuguese tobacco might be brought into
port on the payment of the old duty of twopence a pound;
thus a large trade was carried on with their planters to the
injury of the British colonists.

"Its use increased in spite of all legislative laws and
enactments and James ended by prohibiting any person from
dealing in the art