opium and the people

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opiate use in literary and middle-class society taking of the Rev. Robert Hawker was exaggerated by the stress of his wife's death in 1862. Hawker had a neighbour, Oliver Rouse, whose favourite tipple was gin and paregoric.46 Mostly the opium use of these less known circles went unremarked. In general, a gallery of such individual opium users and eaters is certainly no reliable guide to the incidence of usage at that time. It is, however, a valuable indication of how the situation of open availability operated before the 1868 Pharmacy Act and to a great extent beyond it. It is perhaps surprising to find that famous personalities of the period were dependent on, or regular users of, a drug the use of which is now shunned or regarded most usually as symptomatic of a diseased or disturbed personality. Many managed their dependence without the physical and mental deterioration, the social incapacity, or the early death which is the stereotype of contemporary narcotic addiction. Addiction, in fact, was not the point at issue for those users of the drug and their contemporaries. The experiences, and their publication, of Coleridge and De Quincey may with hindsight be seen as landmarks in the process of changing perspectives on opiate use, as helping gradually to engender a harsher, more restrictive response. But for their contemporaries, opium was a simple part of life, neither exclusively medical nor entirely social. References 1. For an example of this tendency, see R. E. Reinert, `The confessions of a nineteenth century opium eater: Thomas De Quincey', Bulletin of Menninger Clinic, 16 (1972), pp. 455-9. 2. E. Schneider, Coleridge, Opium and Kubla Khan (University of Chicago Press, 1953), p. 17. 3. A. Knight, `The milk of paradise in the patent remedy: a study of the uses of opium in eighteenth century English society and literature', unpublished typescript, c.1971, argues that `stimulant' effects of the drug were experienced by eighteenth-century writers. I am grateful to Judith Blackwell for loaning me this typescript. 4. A. Hayter, Opium and the Romantic Imagination (London, Faber and Faber, 1968, paperback edn 1971), p. 335. 5. Quoted by A. Hayter, op. cit., p. 107. 6. T. De Quincey, Confessions of an English Opium Eater (London, Taylor and Hessey, 1822, Penguin edn 1971), P. 71. 7. W. C. B. Eatwell, À medical view of Mr De Quincey's case', appendix 1, in A. H. Japp, Thomas De Quincey: His Life and Writings (London, John Hogg, 1890). 8. J. Gillman, The Life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (London, William Pickering, 1838), vol. 1, p. 245. 9. Some of De Quincey's criticisms of Coleridge are in `Samuel Taylor Coleridge', pp. 93-4; and 'Coleridge and opium eating', pp. 7 ][-111 in The Works of Thomas De Quincey, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, Adam and Charles Black, 1862). 10. J. D. Campbell, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. A Narrative of the Events of His Life (London, Macmillan, 1894), p. 122. 11. M. Lefebure, Samuel Taylor Coleridge: A Bondage of Opium (London, Victor Gollancz, 1974), P. 44, 199- 200,251; E. L. Griggs, `Samuel Taylor Coleridge and opium', Huntington Library Quarterly, 17 (1954), PP. 357-8. 12. J. Gillman, op. Cit., p. 245. 13. Anon., Advice to Opium Eaters (London, W. R. Goodluck, 1823), preface. 14. H. A. Page, Thomas De Quincey: His Life and Writings, with Unpublished Correspondence (London, John Hogg, 1877), pp. 271-2. 15. Baron de Tott, Memoires du Baron de Tott, sur les Turcs et les Tartares (Amsterdam, no publisher, 1784), pp. 158- 9. 16. M. Elwin, ed., Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, in Both theRevised and the Original Texts with its Sequels, Suspiria de Proftmdis and The English Mail Coach, by Thomas De Quincey (London, Macdonald, 1956), Introduction. 17. H. A. Page, op. Cit., Pp. 237-8. 18. `Confessions of an English Opium Eater', The British Review and London Critical journal, 20 (1822), PP, 474-88. 19. `Confessions of an English Opium Eater', Medical Intelligencer, 3 (1822), pp. 116-18. 20. 'Noctes Ambrosianae', Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, r4 (1823), PP. 485-6; À recent confession of an opiumeater', ibid., 8o (1856), pp. 629-36. 21. E. L. Griggs, op. Cit., pp. 36o and 364-78. 22. J. Cottle, Reminiscences of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey (London, Houlston and Stoneman, 1847), pp. 360-61; J. D. Campbell, op. Cit., p. 200. 23. J. Cottle, op. cit., pp. 348-9; Cottle's `wretched reminiscences' of Coleridge's opium eating were heavily criticized in the Quarterly Review, 59 (1839), PP. 1-33. 24. 'Coleridge and opium', British Medical Journal, 2 (1884), p. 1219, and ibid, r (1885), pp. 109, 210. file:///I|/drugtext/library/books/opiumpeople/opiatelitmidsociety.html[12-8-2010 16:57:06]
opiate use in literary and middle-class society 25. Òpium eating and opium smoking', Friend of China, 11 (189o), pp. 138-40; P.P. 1894, LXI: Minutes of Evidence of the Royal Commission on Opium, q. 16872. 26. This circle of opium users and addicts is described in M. Lefebure, op. cit. pp. 61-2, and in A. Hayter, op. Cit., pp. 27-8. 27. L. A. Marchand, Byron, a Biography (London, John Murray, 1957), vol. 2, p. 559; P. Quennell, ed., Byron, a Self- Portrait. Letters and Diaries, 1798-1824 (London, John Murray, 1950), vol. 2, p. 566. 28. T. L. Hood, ed., Letters of Robert Browning (London, John Murray, 1933), pp. 223-4; R. Holmes, Shelley, The Pursuit (London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1974), pp. III, 113, 115 and 391-2. 29. A. Hayter, op. cit., pp. 306-28. I am grateful to Robert Gittings for the information about Keats' suicide plans. 30. A. Hayter, op. Cit., p. 293. 31. W. Gerin, Branwell Bronte (London, Thomas Nelson, 1961), pp. 159, 289. 32. Quoted in P. Haining, ed., The Hashish Club (London, Peter Owen, 11975) pp. 66-8. 33. W. Collins, The Moonstone (London, 1868, Penguin edn 1966), p. 430. 34. G. Pickering, Creative Malady (London, Allen and Unwin, 1974), pp. 262-4; A. Hayter, Mrs Browning. A Poet's Work and Its Setting (London, Faber and Faber, 1962), pp. 58, 60-62, 67-8; A. Hayter, Opium, op. Cit., pp. 278-9. 35. W. Monk, ed., The Journals of Caroline Fox (London, Elek, 1972), p. 171; A. Hayter, A Sultry Month (London, Faber and Faber, 1965), p. 156; L. and E. Hanson, Necessary Evil: The Life of Jane Welsh Carlyle (London, Constable, 1952), PP. 388, 439 and 516. 36. J. Pollock, Wilberforce (London, Constable, 1977), P• 79. 37. S. G. Checkland, The Gladstones. A Family Biography 1764-1851 (Cambridge University Press, 1971) Pp. 290-91, 351 and 377-80; M. R. D. Foot and H. C. G. Matthew, eds., The Gladstone Diaries (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1974), vol. 3, p. 487. 38. C. Beaton and G. Buckland, The Magic Image (London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1975), P. 74. 39. Mrs A. Tweedie, ed., George Harley (London, Scientific Press, 1899), pp. 174-6. I am grateful to Mr L. M. Payne for drawing this reference to my attention. 40. H. Walpole, Selected Letters (London, Dent, 1926), p. III ; A. Calkins, Opium and the Opium Appetite (Philadelphia, J. Lippincott, 187 1), P• 139 41. G. Pickering, op. cit. 42. H. Davy, Fragmentary Remains, Literary and Scientific (London, John Churchill, 1858) PP. 42-3. 43. Duke of Wellington, Wellington and His Friends (London, Macmillan, 1965), pp. 69-70; R. W. Chapman, ed., ,lane Austen's Letters to her Sister Cassandra and Others (London, O.U.P., 1952), p. 26; V. Dickinson, ed., Miss Eden's Letters (London, Macmillan, 1919), p. 132. 44. J. Bryson and J. C. Troxell, eds., Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Jane Morris: Their Correspondence (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1976), pp.131-2. 45. D. I. Macht and N. L. Gessford, `The unfortunate drug experiences of Dante Gabriel Rossetti', Bulletin of the Institute for the History of Medicine, 6 (1938), PP. 34-61. 46. P. Brendon, Hawker of Morwenstow. Portrait of a Victorian Eccentric (London, Jonathan Cape, 1975), pp. 194-7, 200, 212, 224. next index | part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | tables | plates | appendix | bibliography file:///I|/drugtext/library/books/opiumpeople/opiatelitmidsociety.html[12-8-2010 16:57:06]
Page 1 and 2: opium and the people OPIUM and the
Page 3 and 4: List of Plates List of Plates 1. Th
Page 5 and 6: preface Preface It is surprising th
Page 7 and 8: introduction Introduction The most
Page 9 and 10: introduction quantity of Indian hem
Page 11 and 12: introduction Opium was to be found
Page 13 and 14: introduction deviance was undoubted
Page 15 and 16: part one file:///I|/drugtext/librar
Page 17 and 18: The Import Trade Turkish opium was
Page 19 and 20: The Import Trade this level until,
Page 21 and 22: the cultivation of opium in britain
Page 23 and 24: the cultivation of opium in britain
Page 25 and 26: part two file:///I|/drugtext/librar
Page 27 and 28: open sale and popular use The opium
Page 29 and 30: open sale and popular use It is eas
Page 31 and 32: open sale and popular use pennywort
Page 33 and 34: open sale and popular use But home
Page 35 and 36: open sale and popular use 15. W. Ba
Page 37 and 38: opium in the fens Opium in the Fens
Page 39 and 40: opium in the fens was a well-known
Page 41 and 42: opium in the fens Actual expenditur
Page 43 and 44: opiate use in literary and middle-c
Page 45 and 46: opiate use in literary and middle-c
Page 47: opiate use in literary and middle-c
Page 51 and 52: opium in medical practice .6 Opium
Page 53 and 54: opium in medical practice useful in
Page 55 and 56: opium in medical practice opium in
Page 57 and 58: opium poisoning and the longevity d
Page 65 and 66: the adulteration of opium making va
Page 67 and 68: the adulteration of opium 6. A. Nor
Page 69 and 70: Opium and the Workers file:///I|/dr
Page 71 and 72: Opium and the Workers Yet professio
Page 73 and 74: Opium and the Workers not for medic
Page 75 and 76: Opium and the Workers reprinted Lon
Page 77 and 78: the 1868 pharmacy act file:///I|/dr
Page 79 and 80: the 1868 pharmacy act included in t
Page 81 and 82: the 1868 pharmacy act customers wer
Page 83 and 84: the patent medicine question The ex
Page 85 and 86: the patent medicine question prepar
Page 87 and 88: the patent medicine question Refere
Page 89 and 90: part 6 file:///I|/drugtext/library/
Page 91 and 92: Morphine and Its Hypodermic Use Mor
Page 93 and 94: Morphine and Its Hypodermic Use dea
Page 95 and 96: Morphine and Its Hypodermic Use gre
Page 97 and 98: Morphine and Its Hypodermic Use not
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Morphine and Its Hypodermic Use 45.
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the ideology of opium: opium eating
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part 7 file:///I|/drugtext/library/
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itain's opium harvest the anti-opiu
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the myth of the opium den in late v
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the other narcotics: cannabis and c
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Opium at the End of the Century dem
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Opium at the End of the Century fig
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changes of scene 18 Changes of Scen
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changes of scene pounds and dollars
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changes of scene The supplanting of
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changes of scene but in this instan
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changes of scene benign than the al
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changes of scene explicit and empha
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changes of scene during the ninetee
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changes of scene it is obvious that
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changes of scene 33. C. Suwanwela,
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Table 1 file:///I|/drugtext/library
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table 3 file:///I|/drugtext/library
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appendix: the nature and significan
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