Page:Lands of the Saracen 1859.djvu/188

 

 "the kind nymph to Bacchus born By Morpheus' daughter, she that seems Gifted upon her natal morn By him with fire, by her with dreams — Nicotia, dearer to the Muse Than all the grape's bewildering juice." 2em

painting the picture of an Oriental, the pipe and the coffeecup are indispensable accessories. There is scarce a Turk, or Arab, or Persian — unless he be a Dervish of peculiar sanctity — but breathes his daily incense to the milder Bacchus of the moderns. The custom has become so thoroughly naturalized in the East, that we are apt to forget its comparatively recent introduction, and to wonder that no mention is made of the pipe in the Arabian Nights. The practice of smoking harmonizes so thoroughly with the character of Oriental life, that it is difficult for us to imagine a time when it never existed. It has become a part of that supreme patience, that wonderful repose, which forms so strong a contrast to the over-active life of the New World — the enjoyment of which no one can taste, to whom the pipe is not familiar. Howl, ye Reformers I but I solemnly declare unto you, that he who travels through the East without smoking, does not know the East.

It is strange that our Continent, where the meaning of Rest