248 The Soverane Herbe 



nothing in his pockets except gold and his cherished 

 cigar ; the former was useless to the wounded man — 

 but his cigar ? He lit it, and placed it between the 

 soldier's teeth. 'You should have seen the poor 

 fellow's grateful smile. I never enjoyed a cigar so 

 much as that one which I did not smoke.' Of all 

 the touches of nature which make the whole world 

 kin, tobacco is the most potent. When entering 

 Paris with the German troops, Bismarck noted a 

 group of Frenchmen scowling at him. Riding up to 

 them, he asked for a match to light his cigar ; it was 

 readily given, and with it vanished their malignity. 



Moltke refreshed himself with snuff. Gambetta's 

 cigar is historic. Mazzini, the Italian patriot, had 

 an experience similar to that of Bismarck, but more 

 exciting. He was warned that his assassination had 

 been planned, but took no steps to defend himself. 

 One day the conspirators entered his room and found 

 him smoking. 



'Take a cigar, gentlemen,' he said, and began to 

 chat genially. * You do not proceed to business,' he 

 said, noting their discomfiture at this reception. ' I 

 believe your intention is to kill me.' 



The would-be assassins, overcome with this cool- 

 ness and geniality — and the cigars — sought his for- 

 giveness and retreated. 



Mr. Gladstone never smoked pipe, cigar, or 

 cigarette. One of his pet aversions was the intro- 

 duction of smoking after dinner, and he used to recall 

 a saying of Lord Castlereagh, a leader in fashionable 

 society fifty years ago, that no man ought to enter 

 the society of ladies until four hours after smoking. 



