"Awhile, like thee, earth's masters burn,
And smoke and fume around,
And then like thee to ashes turn,
And mingle with the ground.
"Life's but a leaf adroitly rolled,
And time's the wasting breath,
That, late or early, we behold
Gives all to dusty death.
"From beggar's frieze to monarch's robe
One common doom is passed;
Sweet nature's work, the swelling globe,
Must all burn out at last.
"And what is he who smokes thee now?
A little moving heap,
That soon, like thee, to fate must bow,
With thee in dust must sleep.
"But though thy ashes downward go,
Thy essence rolls on high;
Thus, when my body must lie low,
My soul shall cleave the sky."
In Charles Butler's "Story of Count Bismarck's Life," a good anecdote is told of the Count and his last cigar:—
"'The value of a good cigar,' said Bismarck, as he proceeded to light an excellent Havana, 'is best understood when it is the last you possess, and there is no chance of getting another. At Königgrätz I had only one cigar left in my pocket, which I carefully guarded during the whole of the battle as a miser does his treasure. I did not feel justified in using it. I painted in glowing colors in my mind the happy hour when I should enjoy it after the victory. But I had miscalculated my chances.' 'And what was the cause of your miscalculation?' 'A poor dragoon. He lay helpless, with both arms crushed, murmuring for something to refresh him. I felt in my pockets and found I had only gold, and that would be of no use to him. But, stay, I had still my treasured cigar! I lighted this for him, and placed it between his 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.'"
In European cities juveniles offer the smoker, at every street corner, a "pipe" or a "cigar light." The following description, entitled "Light, Sir," is from an English journal, and contains much interesting information on the various modes of lighting pipes and cigars.
