TOBACCO LEAVES 



excellent, but too serious, Ford, the learned 

 Chapman, who finished (in more than one 

 way) Kit Marlowe's lovely poem, " Hero 

 and Leander," after Kit's death; Web- 

 ster, Fletcher, Heywood, Middleton, Essex, 

 Drake, Southampton, and the scores of 

 others who dropped in nights to the ban- 

 quets of humour and wars of wit; and 

 Shakespeare, the quiet, unobtrusive mas- 

 ter of them all, a little in the background, 

 taking it all in; for Shakespeare (like 

 Dickens) had no ambition to be a street, 

 club, or tavern wit, or a master of argu- 

 ment, except in his plays. He cared not 

 what opinions a man held, so long as he 

 held fast to the fact, you may be sure. 

 His favourite volume was Man, and every 

 one of its thousand and one leaves he had 

 read until they were in rags. 

 . Did Shakespeare smoke? History turns 

 away without replying. But such an inves- 

 tigator must have smoked; at least, tried 

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