how the custom could be more general than it at present is. It is impossible to go into a coffee-house in the morning, even at an early hour, if a few guests are assembled, without being offended with the fumes of tobacco; and near exchange hours, or after dinner, the suffocating vapours which arise from twenty or thirty smokers are intolerable to persons whose lungs are not habituated to such a fumigation. All Dutchmen of the lower classes of society, and not a few in the higher walks of life, carry in their pockets the whole apparatus which is necessary for smoking: — a box of enormous size, which frequently contains half a pound of tobacco; a pipe of clay or ivory, according to the fancy or wealth of the possessor; if the latter, instruments to clean it: a pricker to remove obstructions from the tube of the pipe; a cover of brass wire for the bowl, to prevent the ashes or sparks of the tobacco from flying out; and sometimes a tinder-box, or bottle of phosphorus, to procure fire, in case none is at hand.
The excuse of the Dutch for their slavish
