We are oft to blame in this-- Tis too much proved--that with devotion's visage And pious actions we do Sugar o'er The devil himself. _Hamlet_, act iii, sc. 1 (46). (12) _Brabantio._ These sentences, to Sugar, or to gall, Being strong on both sides, are equivocal. _Othello_, act i, sc. 3 (216). (13) _Timon._ And never learn'd The icy precepts of respect, but follow'd The Sugar'd game before thee. _Timon of Athens_, act iv, sc. 3 (257). (14) _Pucelle._ By fair persuasion mix'd with Sugar'd words We will entice the Duke of Burgundy. _1st Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 3 (18). (15) _K. Henry._ Hide not thy poison with such Sugar'd words. _2nd Henry VI_, act iii, sc. 2 (45). (16) _Prince Henry._ One poor pennyworth of Sugar-candy, to make thee long-winded. _1st Henry IV_, act iii, sc. 3 (180). (17) Thy Sugar'd tongue to bitter Wormwood taste. _Lucrece_ (893). As a pure vegetable product, though manufactured, Sugar cannot be passed over in an account of the plants of Shakespeare; but it will not be necessary to say much about it. Yet the history of the migrations of the Sugar-plant is sufficiently interesting to call for a short notice. Its original home seems to have been in the East Indies, whence it was imported in very early times. It is probably the "sweet cane" of the Bible; and among classical writers it is named by Strabo, Lucan, Varro, Seneca, Dioscorides, and Pliny. The plant is said to have been introduced into Europe during the Crusades, and to have been cultivated in the Morea, Rhodes, Malta, Sicily, and Spain.[286:1] By the Spaniards it was taken first to Madeira and the Cape de Verd Islands, and, very soon after the discovery of America, to the West Indies. There it soon grew rapidly, and increased enormously, and became a chief article of commerce, so that though we now almost look upon it as entirely a New World plant, it is in fact but a stranger there, that has found a most congenial home. In 1468 the price of Sugar was sixpence a pound, equal to six shillings of our money,[287:1] but in Shakespeare's time it must have been very common,[287:2] or it could not so largely have worked its way into the common English language and proverbial expressions; and it must also have been very cheap, or it could not so entirely have superseded the use of honey, which in earlier times was the only sweetening material.