The Roanoke times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1897-1977, 1897-10-16
THEY TOOK A PINCH.
THE DAYS WHEN SNUFF TAKING WAS
JUST THE THING.

There Is no habit affecting mankind
which has evoked more varied opinions
than that of snuff taking. Pope Urban's
Nominations against it, says the London
Standard, failed utterly. Tho Grand
Monarque had an uncomfortable aversion
90 IT, yeo 1t 1ourished in his court under
ehe patronage of his queen, and his name
IS selil associated with some of the most
"r1iselc OF snuffboxes. John Wesley de-
oiared 1t silly, nasty custom. Swift and
rope made it the subject of their gibes and
sneers; yet it llourishcd, and the habit
soiii permeatcs allclasses of society 1t has
not only had its devotees and its defenders
out also Its poets and It's epicures, if tho
word can BIO used in that sense.
Southcy described it as the "most limo.
cent OF sensuulities," and many old writ
ers dwell In IL fastidious manner on it's de-
lights The snuff itself should be- 'soft
ana silky to tho touch" The boxes in
which 1t should DO kept should DO made
with all tho art tho greatest artist could
postow;" with II joint SO flno 1t shuns the |
sharpest sight" graced with radiant gems,
anu even within the lid "tho painter plays !
his part, and with his pencil proves his
matchlcss art" Then there were different
schools of snuff taking. In old numbers
OF The Tatlcr will DO found advertisements
Offering to tcnch "tho ceremonies of the
snuffbox. These were very elaborate.
There were special rules for Offering snuff |
TO tho stranger, tho friend or to Il mistress |
according to tho degree of familiarity or
distance, with explanations proifcrod as to |
thc careless, the scornful, tho polite or tho
surly pinch, and the gestures proper to |
each of them.
Beau Brummcl and other exquistes |
prided themselves on the graceful way in |
the left hand only, but the whole history
OF snuff taking furnishes no moro extrava-
CANT instance of the foppcry of snuff tax |
ing thnn TINT of Lord Potershnm, who Is |
credited with having kept n special snuff |
box for oycry day in tho year and to have |
had stock of varied snuffs to the value |
of $4,000. Some OF his boxes, "for sum-
mer wear and winter use, - as the histo- |
rian quantity puts it, arc in the possession
of Lord Salisbury, who has "a very fine |
collection of historic boxes.
Next to Lord pctcrsham ranks Edward
Wortlcy Montague, who kept in uso
boxes enough for u hundred noscd Chi |
nesc idol" The ladies, too in tho days
OIL patches and powder, took snuff private !
~ and publicly. "By snuff assisted, ladies |
Killed the day and brcathcd their scandal
freely DER their tea" Even in church tho |
thoroughbred woman of fashion, wo read, |
pulled out her box in the midst of the
sermon, and, with we'll bred nudncity, |
offered 1t to her neighbors. " Tho snuff |
box was ms recognized an adjunct of tho |
toilet table rs the fun. 1t was Catherine
do Medicis who brought snuff taking into |
fashion among ladies in Franco, from
whence it spread to England, and 1t was |
Tor long timo known us lhcrbo do la |
roinc What did more than anything else |
to Kill tho habit among the fair sox was
the fact that, in the case of the dauphin-
ess of France, she was poisoned by
means of deadly compound mixed with |
her favorito Spanish snuff, contained in |
an elegant box giyon to her by the Duo dc |
Noailles. After TINT even mon were for a |
long time shy of taking pinch of snuff |
from stranger, as it was believed TINT |
tho Jesuits adopted this means of dispos |
ing of their enemies
Mention has been made of the ceremonv
of the snuffbox, and this forms one of the
most curious chapters In the history of |
snuff taking. man expressed his homage
in his way of rendering his box or his
hostility i'll the way in which he took the |
proifcred pinch AT one time to refuse
pinch of snuff was an objectionable |
breach of good manners. 1t was quito IL |
ceremonious business, and no bargain was
ever struck without an interchange of |
boxes. One judged Of u mans breeding |
by tho way in which ho took his snuff, |
but it WAS not always n sure test
One of the worst offenders in this way
was DIR. johnson, who "took his powder |
by tho painful" diving for it under tho
laps of his capacious waistcoat pockets |
and creating quite shower of snuff all |
around him. Napoleon also took his snuff |
in !iandfuls and kept it, rs DR.. Johnson
did, i'll his waistcoat pocket. Gibbon, tho |
historian, was profuso snuff takcr. and |
Frederick the Great was so fond of it TINT
he had big pockets made on purpose, so
that he could With as little trouble rs pos |
sible get for Immediate use tho largest
quantity he could wish. Those arc in
stances of tho yulgarities of snuff taking, |
rather than tho aesthetics but they servo !
to throw the latter into higher relief.
Tho coHrtliDess of snuff taking was in.
deed cultivated to so high point that no |
who received the pinch must be as pune |
tilious as no who offered it, Nothing
offended the aesthetic sense of the cultured |
snuff tnker more than to disturb tho con-
tents of the box with ones finger. In IL |
mixed gathering, when boxes woro sent
round tho table, such II one watched with |!
trepidation tho circulation of his box, lest
IL should Ire polluted by profanc touch.
a moment of excruciating agony came !
once to Beau Brummel. 1t was AZ Port |
man square, when, on the removal of tho |
cloth, the snuffboxes mado their appear
ance. Brummel's was particularly nd
Inired as it was handed round. At last it
reached gentleman, who, finding it diff
cult to open, applied dessert knife to the
lid. Brunmel had been on thorns, and at
last, unable to control himself longer i'd
dressed his host with characteristic quaint
ness, saying, "Will you DO good enough to
toll your friend that my snuffbox is not
an oysterP" Some people carried this re-
fined feeliDg SO far that they would never