DISTINGUISHED SMOKERS. 149 



Robert Hall, when at Cambridge, acquired, the habit 

 of smoking from being in Parr's company ; and being 

 asked why he had commenced, answered " I am quali- 

 fying myself for the society of a Doctor of Divinity, 

 and this (holding up the pipe) is the test of my 

 admission." "When presented with Clarke's pamphlet 

 on The Use and Abuse of Smoking*' he said, "I can't 

 refute his arguments, and I can't give up smoking." 



The " learned in the law " as well as the dignitaries 

 of the Church have smoked.f Lords Eldon and Stowell, 

 and Lord Brougham in early life, indulged thus. The 

 late Duke of Sussex and the Duke of Devonshire gave 

 it aristocratic sanction, and George IV. royally patro- 

 nised it. Thus, from the throne to the cottage the pipe 

 has been a solace ; it has aided soldier and sailor in 

 bearing many a hard privation. Many would rather 

 go without their rations than their pipe, and endure 

 any hardship with it. Here is a modern instance from 

 the late Crimean war : — " A lady told me a story of a 



man, M , in her division, which shows how much 



some of them will venture for a smoke. He had just 

 had one of his toes taken off, under the influence of 

 chloroform. It bled profusely ; and the surgeon, after 

 binding it up, went away, giving her strict injunctions 

 not to allow him to move, and ordered him some 

 medicine, which he would send presently. She was 



* This was one of the most bitter attacks on the habit, and became the 

 text-book of the oppositionists. 



+ It is recorded that Bishop Fletcher (of London), died in 1596, "while 

 sitting in his chair taking tobacco." 



