ome seeds of it into
France, to King Francis II., the Queen Mother, and Lord
Jarnac, Governor of Rochel, and several others of the
French Lords."]

As the history of Nicot is so intimately connected with that of the
plant, a short sketch of this original importer will doubtless be
interesting to all lovers of the weed:--

"John Nicot, Sieur de Villemain, was born at Nismes in 1530,
and died at Paris in 1600. He was the son of a notary at
Nismes, and started in life with a good education, but with
no fortune. Finding that his native town offered no suitable
or sufficient field for his energies, he went to Paris and
strove hard to extend his studies as a scholar and his
connections as an adventurer. He made the acquaintance of
some courtiers, who felt or affected an interest in learning
and in learned men. His manners were insinuating; his
character was pliable. When presented at court he succeeded
in gaining the esteem and confidence of Henry II., the
husband of Catherine de Medicis. Francis II., the son of
Henry II., and the first husband of Mary Stuart, continued
to Nicot the favor of which Henry II. had deemed him worthy,
and sent him in 1560 as ambassador to Sebastian, King of
Portugal. He was successful in his mission. But it was
neither his talents as a diplomatist, nor his remarkable
mind, nor his solid erudition, which made Nicot immortal. It
was by popularizing tobacco in France that he gained a
lasting fame.

"It is said that it was at Lisbon that Nicot became
acquainted with the extraordinary properties of tobacco. But
it is likewise stated with quite as much confidence, that a
Flemish merchant, who had just returned from America,
offered Nicot at Bordeaux, where they met, some seeds of the
tobacco, telling him of their value. The seeds Nicot sent to
Catherine de Medicis, and on arriving in Paris he gave her
some leaves of tobacco. Hence, when tobacco began to creep
into use in France it was called Queen's Herb or Medicean
Herb.[26] The cultivation of tobacco, except as a fancy
plant, did not begin in France till 1626; and John Nicot
could have had no presentiment of the agricultural,
commercial, financial and social importance which tobacco
was ultimately to assume. Nicot published two works. Th