a
drive. It was of this carriage, plain and neat in its
design, with nothing on its panel but the initials 'J. G.'
that the witty Henry Erskine proposed the couplet--

'Who would have thought it
That noses had bought it?'

as an appropriate motto. In those days snuff was much more
extensively used than at present, and Mr. Gillespie was in
the habit of gratuitously filling the 'mulls' of many of the
Edinburgh characters of the last century. Colinton appears
to have been a great snuff-making centre. About thirty years
ago there were five snuff mills in operation in the parish,
the produce of which was sold in Edinburgh. Even now a
considerable quantity of snuff is made in the district,
chiefly by grinders to the trade."

Murray, alluding to the popularity of the custom in England during
the reign of the House of Brunswick, says:--

[Illustration: Fops taking snuff. (_From an old print_).]

"The reigns of the four Georges may be entitled the snuffing
period of English history. The practice became an appanage
of fashion before 1714, as it has continued after 1830, to
be the comfort of priests, literary men, highlanders,
tailors, factory hands, and old people of both sexes. George
IV. was a nasute judge of snuffs, and so enamoured of the
delectation, that in each of his palaces he kept a jar
chamber, containing a choice assortment of tobacco powder,
presided over by a critical superintendent. His favorite
stimulant in the morning was violet Strasburgh, the same
which had previously helped Queen Charlotte to 'kill the
day'--after dinner Carrotte--named from his _penchant_ for
it. King's Carrotte, Martinique, Etrenne, Old Paris, Bureau,
Cologne, Bordeaux, Havre, Princeza, Rouen, and Rappee, were
placed on the table, in as many rich and curious boxes."

Sterne, in his "Sentimental Journey," gives a pleasing description of
snuff-taking with the poor monk. He writes:

"The good old monk was within six paces of us, as the idea
of him crossed my mind; and was advancing towards us a
little out of the line, as if uncertain whether he should
break in upon us or no. He stoop'd, however, as soon as he
came up to us with a world of frankness; and having a horn
snuff-box in his hand, he presented it open to me.

"'You shall taste mine,' sa