enumerate the kings, soldiers,
lawyers, poets and actors who had sought from and found in
the snuff-box comfort and inspiration. Prominent among the
rulers of the earth who have acknowledged the pleasing
influence of snuff is Frederick the Great. His snuff-box was
the pocket of the long waistcoats of that period, in which
he kept large quantities loose--a dirty habit, which
Napoleon, who was a great plagiarist, adopted. It would be
easy to draw out a famous list of literary names attached to
snuff, beginning with Dryden, who was particular enough to
manufacture his own mixture, and selfish enough to preserve
the secret of its excellence, with a view, probably, of
enhancing the value of the pinch from his box, for which the
beaux and wits at Will's intrigued.

"In the pulpit, at the bar, and on the stage, snuff has been
equally valuable in adding to the persuasive eloquence and
talent of its patrons. By the female portion of human-kind
it was at one time pretty generally taken, nor was it
uncommon for young and even pretty women to offer and accept
a pinch in public. After the gentle sex had to a great
extent given up the habit, some strong minded females were
to be found who retained it. Mrs. Siddons, when she came off
the stage after dying hard, as Desdemona, or harrowing the
hearts of her audience by her representation of Jane Shore,
could composedly ask those around for a pinch of the
precious restorative. When we consider the beneficial
influence which snuff has exerted over mankind generally, we
cannot help regretting that its virtues were not sooner
known.

"For we put forth the proposition seriously, that its effect
upon the world has been to render it more humane and
even-tempered, and that had the western hemisphere
discovered the tobacco plant earlier, historians would have
had more pleasant events to chronicle. For instance, it is
not impossible--nay, most probable--that the fate of Rome,
discussed by the Triumvirate over their snuff-boxes, would
have been different. Is it likely that, under the humanizing
influence of mutual pinches, Antony would have asked for, or
Augustus resigned, the head of Cicero to his bloodthirsty
colleague; or that the other details of the conscription
which deluged the streets of