The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-09-21
TAKING SNUFF.
"A CUSTOM ONCE GENERAL NOW
DYING OUT.
Distinguished People Who Were Adj
dictcd to Snuf-Taking-A Sena-
torinl SnuT-Box-A Dandy's
Stock of SnunS.

aid scribe, 'though we keep snuff on
hand and have a fair custom for it. Our
co!orcd sisters buy it quite generally for
rubbing, and there arc a good many
white women in Chicago who are vota.
rics of that habit. The principal snuff
takers are cd or elderly people, who
: stick to the habits and fashions Of their
youth. Some Of onr young swclls carry
u snuff-box and take a pinch by way Of
humorous bravado, but snuff taking as a
fashion has long since passed away"
Time was when it was n universal Gus.
| tom. Washington INDUCED his fine
Roman nose with the ti,illating pleasure.
Hamilton, who carried his nose in the
air, as the French say, took snuff, and
his rival, Burr, could give a pinch or
take 4 pinch with a grace which was
peculiarly his own. jefferson snuffcd
enormously. as his waistcoat and shirt
front showed. DR.. Johnson and Fredcr.
lex the Great were alike in one thing:
they could not bear a snuf.b Ok, but car
rlcd the article loose in the capacious
pockets of their w%aistcoats, thence car
rylns it in great palmfuls to their noses.
Henry Clay was noted for the grace
with which he could take u pinch of
snuff. Once, in the midst of an argu-
ment before the Supreme Court of the
United States, he noticed one of the
Judges producing his snutf-box. Step
ping up to the bench he took a pinch
from the open box, and, after enjoying it
moment, said: II perceive your Honor
sticks to the Scotch" then rcsumed his
argument. Choate once said, as reported
in Parkcr's "reminiscences. that he had
seen Clay in the middle of q speech in
the Senate completely fabbergasted for
want Of a pinch of snuff. He further
added that it,was the only stimulus he
ever knew him to use. 1t is moro of a
fancy than a fashion now in the United
States Senate, but a number of our grave
and reverend seigniors occasionally take
a pinch, and it is well known there is n !
Eicc-Prcsidcntial snuff-box, free for all.
Napoleon was a p%rodigious snuff-takcr, !
so was Wellington. In fact, the habit
mas been confined to no country or class.
High and low have partakcn habitually Of
the fragrant pinch. Pope and Swift, Ad-
Olson, Bolingbrokc and Congrevc were
all among its devotces, and SO were their
footmen and kitchen maids. In Ireland !
it was called smutchin, and so far did Pat
carry his love of it that it was the Gus
tom, when n wake was on, to put a plate
full of snuff upon the body Of the dead
man or woman, from which tach guest
was expected to take a pinch upon being
introduced to the corpse. An old Scotch
lady, of snuff-loving habits, provided in
her will that instead of flowers her
body should be covered with the best
Scotch snuff. Six men, the greatest
snuff-takers in the parish, were to carry
her to the grave. She selected a half
dozen old maids to walk in procession,
and they were to be supplied with boxes
of snuff wherewith to refresh themselves
on the road. The threshold of the house
where she died was to be strewn with
bushels of snuff, and with every
legacy she bcqucathcd also one pound of
the grand cordial of nature.
Ecau Brummell and the Prince Regent
pridcd themselves ON their snuff boxes,
and upon the graceful manner with which
they could open the box with the left
only. One of the dandies of the
time boosted Of 4 stock Of snuffs worth
1000, while his collection of boxes was
something wonderful different box
Tor every day in the year. The ingenu-
ity Of maker and artist was taxed in de-
vising new forms and designs for snuff
boxes, and at one time there was a craze
collecting them, just as in our times
collect old china, vases, and Or
chids. At fashionable dinner parties
after the removal of the cloth there was
often a good deal of snuff gossip, and
snuf-boXes were handed around, and
pinchcs were interchanged.
At the coronation Of George w. tho
gifts were s~nu(f-boxes, and
were given away to the value of .eS, 900,
or $40, 600. From the time of Queen
Anne down to times quite recent the
masculine nose had no monopoly of thu
piquant powder. No one could be a fine
lady without a snuff-box.
She that with pure tobacco will not prime
Her nose can be no lady OF the time,
wrote ono of the wits. Snuff was a SOY.
remedy for fashionable feminine