Snuff and Snuff-takers 271 



and strengthening the sight. Samuel Major pro- 

 claimed his ' Imperial Snuff' a remedy for all dis- 

 orders of body and mind. Repudiating the report of 

 his death, he declared that even when he died his 

 snuff would, live after him, for its power 'of keeping 

 the world in sprightly life and health.' Out of regard 

 for the poor, he sold it at the low price of sixpence 

 per box at the Punch House on Ludgate Hill, or 

 Sam's Coffee House near the Custom House, 



' The honest men ' whose passion Moli^re declared 

 snuff to be include many of the highest fame. 

 Moli^re himself said : ' In spite of Aristotle and all 

 philosophy, there's nothing equal to snuff. It is the 

 craving of upright men, and he who lives without 

 snuff is not worthy of life. It not only rejoices and 

 purifies the brains of men, but it also instructs their 

 souls unto righteousness, and by taking snuff we 

 acquire virtue.' 



The beaux and wits who frequented Wills' Coffee 

 House in Bow Street were raised to the seventh 

 heaven if Dryden did them so much honour as to 

 offer them his box. Pope sneered at snuff, but took 

 it himself; his wit is essentially that of the pungent 

 dust. Swift also primed himself with snuff, making 

 his own by grating tobacco and mixing it with a 

 small quantity of ready-made Spanish snuff. In the 

 ' Sentimental Journey ' Sterne has depicted how one 

 pinch of snuff makes two strangers kin. Addison, 

 Bolingbroke, and Congreve derived pleasure from its 

 stimulus. 



Dr. Johnson was always in a snuffy condition, his 

 habit of keeping his supply in his waistcoat-pocket 



