Chapter I: HAVE collected many authorities, to corroborate what I have advanced;

that, as my opinions have prejudices to contend with, they may not, however, be objectionable on the ground of singularity, and be considered as supported by no other testimony than my own.

IN treating of the salutary advantages, which the public will derive, individually, from the general use of Coffee, it is impossible not to reflect also on the political benefits which will accrue to the Parent State, by increasing its cultivation in her Colonies.

TO the Colonists themselves the object is very extensive; and surely the prosperity of so important a part of the empire, as our West Indian Islands, demands the most liberal attention on the part of the nation.

FROM the produce of our Plantations, that “magnificent property,” as Mons. NECKER terms the French Colonies, “which only the superficial and ignorant affect to undervalue,” this country receives great additions to her revenue, and a total supply of one of the most useful articles (perhaps now a necessary) of life. Yet, from the calamities lately inflicted on some of them by the hand of Providence, and the accumulated burthens which the public necessities have laid on them all, many of the Planters are involved in ruin; and those who escape must owe their deliverance to the bravest struggles of industrious virtue.

THE population of White Inhabitants, which is the great security of the Islands, consists chiefly of those who cultivate the inferior Staple Commodities, among which, Coffee is now the principal; and this population has always been proportionable to the increase or decrease of those Staples. Indigo may be instanced as an example: When Indigo was encouraged in Jamaica, before that impolitic duty was laid on it, which exterminated the cultivation of it in our Colonies, and gave it to the French, there were considerably more White Inhabitants in that Island than there are at present, though the Island now produces five times the quantity of Sugar and Rum it did at that time.

THE cultivation of Coffee requiring but little capital, is an inducement for people of small fortunes to settle in the Islands. It is a creditable refuge for the industrious man, who has been unfortunate in Trade, and to those whose larger schemes in life have failed.--It is an easy employment; the labour light, and many parts of it performed by children. The situations and soil where it is carried on must be dry, and of course healthy, to be advantageous. Coffee Plantations, in particular, may be considered as a Nursery of useful Inhabitants for the Colonies.

THE soil best suited for Coffee is happily such as can be spared from every other purpose. Large tracts of poor land, which would otherwise lie waste and useless, may be rendered as profitable as the best, without the mortality and casualties attendant on severe labour in hot climates.

THE numerous little families which live on Coffee Plantations, and are dispersed in small settlements, in the interior parts of the Islands, occasion the mountainous and woody lands to be cleared and opened; and to be intersected with roads and easy communications.

THUS the residents live in safety, and all sorts of property acquire a proportionate value and security. The retreats of fugitive negroes are laid open; plunder and depredation prevented; and conspiracies for rebellion are deprived of their hiding-places.--And thus the credit of the planter, and security of the merchant, stand on a firm basis:--those commotions being prevented, which have so often disturbed the tranquillity of the Islands, and occasioned the ruin of many individuals abroad and at home, to the great defalcation of that immense revenue, which these Islands pay to the Mother-Country[2].

[2] The duties and excises, upon a computation for the year 1781,
amount to about £. 1,344,312 sterling, annually, on the produce of
_Jamaica_ only.

BESIDES, the importance of a numerous body of men, to form an occasional militia, is evident, to any person acquainted with the Colonies, who must know how little fatigue and exposure to the sun is sufficient to destroy an unseasoned stranger.

INHABITANTS are always ready in case of sudden emergency; and being acquainted with local circumstances, and inured to the climate, can perform services, which uninformed, raw, European troops cannot do; and, were interest and attachment less operative considerations, Colonial Inhabitants may be depended on;--many instances of which were exhibited in the events of last war.

THE firmness displayed by the militia of Jamaica, during the different periods of Martial Law at that time, when left almost to defend themselves, ought ever to be remembered to their honour. While many of the troops that were raised here with so much difficulty, and sent thither and maintained at so much cost, were perishing in hospitals, the Island militia underwent the severest fatigues, with the greatest alacrity; chiefly at their own, and, let me add, very heavy expence, I was then Surgeon-General of the Island, and had the care of the militia, and likewise the camps of the regulars, and witnessed the facts I relate.

THE truth is, that Sugar Plantations, though they are great sources of wealth to their proprietors, as well as to government, do not employ a sufficient number of white people for their internal security, against the insurrections of the negroes. The manufacture is simple, and the labour wholly carried on by slaves; and though the Deficiency Law of Jamaica directs, that one white person shall be employed for every thirty slaves, under a penalty of thirty pounds per annum for every deficiency,--yet, this law is often defeated, or the fine submitted to; as white servants are expensive, and a less number than that proportion is sufficient for the purpose of making Sugar.

THE cultivation of inferior Staple Commodities is therefore necessary to the very existence of the Sugar Colonies; and I am persuaded will prove to them more beneficial in many respects, than at present is generally imagined.--Here, then, is an open and grateful field for Colonial Patriotism; in which the _Amor Patriæ_ will neither find opposition from envy, nor disappointment from ingratitude.--Here is the occasion to demonstrate the love of country, and to perpetuate a benefit to mankind, which will never be forgotten; and if those who, from character and situation are entitled to attention, will come forward, and point out to the Public the impositions it has suffered from misrepresentations, and that the interests of the Sugar Colonies are no other than the best interests of this Country, there will never be wanting sufficient good sense in the Nation, to understand, that a subject of the realm, exerting his industry at four thousand miles distance, may be employed as beneficially to the State, as the manufacturer at home, who lives by him; and is as much deserving the protection of it, as the Country ’Squire, who leaves his fox-hounds, to give a silent vote or two during the winter, and retires the remainder of the year to his _Sabine Fields_ in sloth and ignorance.

SIR NICHOLAS LAWS was the first person who planted Coffee in Jamaica;--but dying three years afterwards, in 1731, he had not the happiness to see the cultivation of it make any considerable progress.

IN 1732, several of the Planters and Merchants, belonging to the Island, became patrons of the undertaking; and convinced that, under proper encouragement, it might be of importance to the Island, and that Coffee might become a flourishing staple article of produce, they subscribed the sum of 220l. 10s. towards defraying the charges of soliciting an act of parliament for lowering the inland duty, upon the importation of Coffee from Jamaica into Great Britain; which at that time was 10l. sterling per cwt.

The circumstance being but little known at present, and considering what obligation the Island is under to their exertions, I am happy in having an opportunity of inserting their names, as a proper tribute to the memory of those benefactors to the Colony, and friends to the Nation.

~LONDON~, _Anno 1732_.

A List of the persons who subscribed and paid into the hands of
Mr. _Roger Drake and Co._ the several sums undermentioned, towards
defraying the charges of an application, for an Act of Parliament, to
encourage the planting of _Coffee_ in the Island of _Jamaica_.

£. _s._
John Ascough, Esq; 10 10
Thomas Beckford, Esq; 10 10
James Dawkins, Esq; 10 10
Henry Dawkins, Esq; 10 10
Mess. Drake, Pennant, and Long; 21 0
Thomas Fish, Esq; 10 10
Mr. James Fitter; 5 5
Cope Freeman, Esq; 10 10
John Gibbon, Esq; 10 10
Mr. John Gregory; 5 5
Capt. Joseph Hiscox; 10 10
Mr. Henry Lang, and Co. 5 5
James Lawes, Esq; 10 10
John Lewis, Esq; 10 10
Mrs. Susannah Lowe; 10 10
Samuel Long, Esq; 10 10
Charles Long, Esq; 10 10
Mess. Mayleigh and Gale; 10 10
Valent. Mumbee, Esq; 10 10
Favele Peeke, Esq; 10 10
---- ---- 10 10
Capt. George Wane; 5 5
--------
£.220 10

IN the same year, and in consequence of this solicitation, the _Act 5th Geo._ II. was passed, entitled, “An Act for encouraging the growth of Coffee in the Plantations in _America_.”--The preamble recites, that the soil and climate of Jamaica are particularly adapted for the growth of this commodity; and the act itself reduces the inland duty upon British Plantation Coffee, imported into Great Britain, from two shillings to eighteen pence per pound:--And here it stood for many years, producing a revenue of about 10,000l. per annum. A few years ago, on the representation of the West Indian Planters, _Lord John Cavendish_, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, consented to the very important reduction of one shilling more; thereby furnishing a most useful lesson to all future financiers,--_the present duty of six pence per pound actually producing nearly three times the sum that was received when the duty was eighteen pence_: so true is the doctrine, that heavy taxation defeats its own purpose.

IT has been computed, that one acre of land will contain 1100 Coffee plants, which will produce berries in eighteen months from the sowing of the seed. The trees will continue bearing for seven or eight years.--Each tree, after the first bearing, may produce, at a medium, one and an half or two pounds weight, one with another; and six or eight servants can manage ten or twelve acres, besides cultivating provisions for themselves. Upon this ground of calculation, it is apparent, that one acre of land, supposing the weather not unfavourable, may yield annually from 1700 lb. to 2200 lb. weight, which, when brought to market, may sell for 9l. 15s. to 12l. 15s. sterling _net_. This, it is true, is but a small profit; for it is little more than five farthings per pound, whereas the _duty alone is six pence per pound_. If the duty was equalized to that upon Sugar, the medium profits per acre would be about 40l. per annum. At present, the _net_ profits upon this article, and upon Sugar in Jamaica, are nearly equal per acre; that is, 10l. or 12l. sterling.

IN the year 1752, the export of Coffee from Jamaica was rated at 60,000 pounds weight. In 1775, it was 440,000 pounds.--Under the present duty of six pence per pound, there is reason to expect, that the exports may rather increase than diminish. But it is not likely to become a subject of very extensive culture in our West Indian Islands, until even this duty is lowered, or at least while _foreign_ Coffee is permitted to enter into completion with it at the British market. Though the Planters of Jamaica, after a multitude of experiments, and the most laudable exertions, have discovered the art of cultivating, picking, and curing the berries, so as to make their Coffee equal to the growth of Arabia; some samples have been produced from that Island, before the cultivation was so well understood as it is at present, which were pronounced, by the London dealers, even superior to the best brought from the East.

“TWO of the samples were equal to the best Mocha Coffee, and two more of them superior to any Coffee to be had at the grocers shops in London, unless you will pay the price of _picked_ Coffee for it, which is two shillings per pound more than for that which they call the best Coffee. All the rest of the samples were far from bad Coffee, and very little inferior, if at all, to what the grocers call _best_ Coffee[3].”

[3] Mr. _Stephen Fuller_’s Letter to the Committee of Correspondence in
Jamaica, dated, London, 28th July, 1783.

WHAT revolutions may change the nature of our commerce, were it possible to foresee, it is not in my province to examine; but the Legislature of England, as well as those of her Colonies, have had a wise example before them, in the conduct of France, by her promoting and protecting the growth of every thing, that could supply the place of articles which Europe purchases in the East Indies. _Piementa_, or _Pimento_ (_Myrtus Arborea Aromatica foliis laurinis_), or All-spice, as it is commonly called, from having a flavour composed, as it were, of cloves, cinnamon, juniper berries, nutmegs, and pepper, is the peculiar spice of Jamaica[4]: and it equals in virtues, and is more applicable to the general purposes of life, and luxury too, than any spice that is brought from the East. The various uses into which _Pimento_ is converted in Europe, are but little known to those who raise it. One secret, at least, I am able to divulge to them, which is, that its essential oil, coloured with _Alkanet Root_, to give it the appearance of age, is sold all over Europe for the oil of cloves[5].

[4] From 12,000 to 15,000 bags of Pimento have been annually imported
into England from Jamaica: each bag contains about one hundred weight.
It pays a duty of about two pence per pound.

[5] The principal and prevailing flavour of Pimento is like that of
cloves: its oil exactly resembles the oil of that spice, and sinks as
that does in water. The oil resides chiefly, like that of cloves, in
the shell, or cortical part.

SIR HANS SLOANE, in the Phil. Trans. Abr. vol. II. p. 667. says, that “_Piementa_ may deservedly be counted the best and most temperate, mild, and innocent, of common spices, and fit to come into greater use, and gain more ground, than it yet hath, of the East India commodities of this kind; almost all of which it far surpasses, by promoting the digestion of meat, attenuating tough humours, moderately heating, strengthening the stomach, expelling wind, and doing those friendly offices to the bowels, we generally expect from spices.”

TO this inferiority of the dear-bought and far-fetched spices of the East, I can bear ample testimony;--and it ought further to be considered, that the spice in question, being the produce of one of our own Colonies, and growing there in the greatest abundance, can be afforded at a price that the poor of Great Britain may have all the comforts of its excellent properties; which I hope to have leisure to make sufficiently known to them hereafter.

THE encouraging every article which increases the intercourse with our Colonies, is increasing our commerce. The payment for all the staples of the West Indies is made in our manufactures; the sale of which must increase in proportion to the numbers that are employed in the cultivation of what is bartered for them. Our West Indian Islands, without draining us of specie or bullion, can supply us with many of those very articles for which we are drained in other parts of the world[6]. The quantity of shipping and seamen, necessarily employed in carrying supplies thither, and transporting their commodities back to Europe, must be very considerable. To these reflections it must also be added, that the political disadvantage of not encouraging our own Colonies is, that we must encourage those of other countries, which have long supplied our markets, to the detriment of our revenue, and the impoverishing our Colonies.

[6] The India Company pay for the Mocha Coffee in specie. The original
cost is about 7l. sterling per cwt.

HOW long our superiority in some branches of manufacture may continue to be the source of wealth they are at present, is uncertain; but by improving the produce of our own soil, and encouraging the consumption at home, of such commodities as give employment to our own subjects abroad, England will enrich her Colonies, and draw proportionate advantages; secure their attachment, and establish a population there, indispensable for the protection of those possessions, which are productive of the most valuable and permanent commerce of the empire.

LONDON, _Pall Mall_;
30 January, 1792.

A

TREATISE, &c.

IT is a generally received opinion, that the human frame is not less influenced by diet than by climate; that its dispositions and characteristics owe their originality as much to food, as those diseases, evidently do, which are the legitimate and indisputable issue of it.

IF the preceding position be just, there cannot surely be a subject more interesting to man, than the pursuit of that knowledge which may instruct him to avoid what is hurtful to health, to select for his use such things as tend to raise the value of his condition, and to carry the enjoyments of life to their utmost improvement.

WITH this idea, I submit to the public some observations which have occurred to me, on the dietetic and medicinal properties and effects of COFFEE.

IN England, the use of this berry hitherto has been principally confined to the occasional luxury of individuals; as such, it is scarcely an object of public concern; but government, prudently considering that this produce of our own West Indian Islands is raised by our own countrymen, and paid for in our manufactures, has lately reduced the duty on the importation of Plantation Coffee; which has brought it within the reach of almost every description of people[7]: and as it is not liable to any pernicious process in curing, and is incapable of adulteration, the use of it will probably become greatly extended;--as in other countries, it may diffuse itself among the mass of the people, and make a considerable ingredient in their daily sustenance.

[7] Good Plantation Coffee, roasted, may now be bought in London for
two shillings and six pence per pound. In Paris the best Martinico
Coffee, roasted, may be bought for one shilling and four pence per
pound.

THE plant, the berries, and the beverage made from them, commonly pass under the same name. The Arabians, indeed, distinguish the trees and the berries by the name _Buun_, _Bunna_, _Buna_, and _Ban_.

THE beverage, of which we speak in particular, is called by the Egyptians _El-cave_; by the Persians _Cahwa_, and _Coho_; by the Turks _Chaube_, and _Cahveh_; by the Arabians _Cachua_, _Caoua_, and _Cahouah_; from whence originate _Caphé_, _Café_, _Coffi_, _Coffee_, and _Coffea_, appellations by which it is universally known in Europe.

THESE names, from the original Arabic, acquire the pronunciation they receive, by changing the _u_ into _f_, in the word _Cahouah_; which, according to some writers, comes from a verb signifying to nauseate, or to have no appetite: and is one of the names which the Arabians give to wine, because it takes away the appetite, when drunk to excess.

THUS _Cahouah_ they suppose is derived from the Hebrew קיי, or קי, or קהי, which signify to have an aversion,or a dislike to a thing. But _Golius_, _Meninski_, and _Castel_, say, that _Cahouah_ signifies to give an appetite, _quod appetentiam cibi adducit_. In opposition to both these opinions, there are others who assert, that _Cahouah_ implies neither to give appetite, nor to take it away; and that it is not derived from the above words, importing to have, or to give distaste, but from קוי, which signifies to give vigour and force,--_corroborare_, _roborare_, _confirmare_; and that _Cahouah_ in Arabic means nothing more than to strengthen, and to give vigour.

IT is not impossible, notwithstanding these opinions so plausibly founded, but that this beverage might have its name from _Cufa_ or _Cafa_, a city in Arabia Felix.

THE Arabic _Ban_ (the Coffee berry) corresponds with our _Bean_, and is probably its etymon. Perhaps the Greek Βύνη, “Barley steeped in water,” Anglicè, _Malt_, may be traced from the Arabic _Buna_.

NUMEROUS and absurd have been the writers on _Coffee_. I have omitted to mention many; and of those I have not, I hope it will be understood, that I have introduced them to illustrate opinions rather than sanction them.

THE botanical description of the _Coffee Plant_ has been already given by several writers[8]; and as Sir Hans Sloane, in the Phil. Trans. N^o 208, p. 63., Dr. Browne, in his Natural History of Jamaica, and Mr. Ellis, in 1774, have added to the number, it is unnecessary here to say any thing on this part of the subject, or to treat of its cultivation; but I thought it might not be uninteresting in this Essay to include something of its history, which will shew it has been a topic of much disquisition, and no less remarkable for the universality with which it has been adopted by many regions of the East, than for the permanency, after various persecutions, with which it has been retained; notwithstanding the caprice of taste, the violence of tyranny, and the austerity of religion.

[8] _Bon. Alpin. De Plantis Ægypti_, cap. 16.

_Bon vel Ban Arbor. J. Bauhin_, 422.

_Euonymo similis Ægyptiaca, fructu baccis Lauri simili. C. Bauhin.
Pinax. Theat. Botanic._ 428.

_Bon vel Ban ex cujus fructu Ægypti potum Coava conficiunt. Pluken.
Phytog._ 272.

_Coffee frutex, ex cujus fructu fit potus. Raij Histor. Plant._ t. 2.
p. 1691.

_Jasminum Arabicum cujus fructus Coffy dicuntur. Boerhaav._ Ind. P. 2.
p. 217.

_Bon Arbor cum fructu suo Buna. Parkinson, Theatr. Botan._ 1622.

_Jassaminum Arabicum, Lauri folio, cujus semen apud nos Café dicitur.
Jussieu, Act. Gall._ 1713, p. 388. t. 7.

_Jasminum Arabicum, castaneæ folio, flore albo odoratissimo. Tilli
Catal. Plant. Hort. Pisan._ p. 87. t. 32.

_Coffea Arabica, floribus quinquesidis dispermis. Linn. Spec. Plant._
ed. 2. p. 245.

THE first European who mentions Coffee, is in general understood to be _Prosper Alpinus_, who went into Egypt in 1580, physician to a Venetian Consul, and remained there three years.

IN 1592 he published, in Venice, his History of the Plants of Egypt; wherein he gives an account of a tree, the seeds of which, called _Bon_, and _Ban_, were by decoction converted into a drink, much used by the Egyptians and Arabs. The great virtues of this liquor he also describes[9].

[9] De Plantis Ægypti, cap. 16.

BUT I must observe that, in the year 1591, _P. Alpinus_, immediately on his return, published his _Medicina Ægyptiorum_, in which he gave nearly the same account of the tree as in the preceding, which was a subsequent work; and here also he gave a very exact description of the mode, used in Egypt, of preparing the drink called _Chaoua_, from the seeds of this tree, called _Bon_, and also from their _capsules_. He is also particular as to the different qualities of these two liquors, and of the medicinal virtues of that, prepared from the seeds[10]. The account given in this work has been overlooked by almost every writer on Coffee. However, even with this correction of common error, I find _Leonhart Rauwolff_, a German physician, who had traveled into the East, has taken notice, though not in an accurate manner, of Coffee as early as 1573.

[10] De Medicina Ægyptiorum, Lib. IV. cap. 3.

HE says, at Aleppo, “They have a very pleasant drink, called _Chaube_, which is almost as black as ink. It is good for illness, chiefly that of the stomach. It is made of a fruit called _Bunnu_, which in bigness, shape, and colour, resembles a bay berry. It is surrounded with two thin shells; and, as I was informed, is brought from the Indies. These shells have within them two yellowish grains, in two distinct cells, and agree in their virtue, figure, appearance, and name, with the _Bunchum_ of _Avicenna_, and the _Bancha_ of _Rhasis_; therefore I shall consider them to be the same, until I am better informed by the learned.”

OF this opinion was _Faustus Naironus Bainesius_, who wrote the first treatise that was written expressly on Coffee. It was printed at Rome in 1671, and intituled, _De Saluberrima Potione Cahu, seu Cafe, nuncupata_.

VELSCHIUS, in his treatise _De Vena Medinensi_, in 1674, says, that the _Bunchum_ of the Arabians is not Coffee, but the _Narcaphthum_ of _Diascorides_.

IN this _Velschius_ is mistaken, and has no authority for the supposition, whether the _Bunchum_ of _Avicenna_ be Coffee or not.

THE Νάρκαφθον of _Diascorides_ is called by the Arabians _Nabach_; what it is, is uncertain; many are the conjectures; but _Dioscorides_ mentions its use only for external purposes. Lib. I. cap. 22.

AVICENNA’s words respecting _Bunchum_ are: “It is brought from _Yemen_; some say it is from the roots of _Amgailem_, which, when old (or _shaken_), falls down. The best sort is cream-coloured, and of a light grateful odour. The white and heavy (or _rank_), is not good. It is, according to some, hot and dry in the first degree; and to others, it is cold in the first degree. It strengthens the limbs, cleanses the skin, and dries up the watery humours; gives an agreeable odour to the body, prevents the hair from falling, and is good for the stomach.” Lib. II. Tract. 2. cap. 91.

THE _Ben_ of _Avicenna_ also has been supposed by some writers to be Coffee. _Prosper Alpinus_ was of this opinion. But this is certainly an error.

AVICENNA says of _Ben_, “The seed is larger than the cicer, inclining to whiteness, and has a soft unctuous pulp. It is hot in the third degree, and dry in the second. It is mundificative, particularly the pulp, and incites gross humours; with vinegar and water, it opens obstructions of the viscera. Externally, it is good for eruptions; in an emplaster, for all indurated abscesses, warts, &c.; with vinegar, for ulcerations, excoriations, scald head, &c. It is bad for the stomach, and causes nausea, and if taken with honey, excites vomiting and purging.” Lib. II. Tract. 2. cap. 82.

NOTWITHSTANDING _P. Alpinus’s_ two publications, it appears that Coffee could have been but little known in Italy, when his countryman _Pietro Della Valle_ was at Constantinople in 1615[11].

[11] “Hanno i Turchi un’ altra bevanda di color nero; e la state si
fà rinfrescativa, e l’inuerno al contrario, &c.--Ma senza queste
dilicature ancora, co’l solo e semplice _Cahue_, è pur grata al gusto,
e, come dicono, conferisce molto alla sanità; massimamente in aiutar la
degestione; corroborar lo stomaco, e reprimer le flussioni de’ catarri,
&c.--Quando io farò di ritorno ne porterò meco; e farò conoscere all’
Italia questo semplice, che infin’ ad hora forse le è nuovo.” Viaggi di
_P. D. Valle_, Lettera 3.

MONS. DU FOUR, who wrote on Coffee in 1685, says, the French knew nothing of it until 1645; and that it had not been used in France until about 1657. Mons. _Galland_ also says, that its use was not known in France until Mons. _Thevenot_ returned from his first voyage to the East in 1657, when he constantly drank it, and treated his friends with it, at his house in Paris.

MONS. LA ROQUE, who published his Journey into Arabia Felix in 1715, confesses, that _Thevenot_ was the first that taught the French the use of Coffee in 1657; but he contends, that his own father, having been with Mons. _De la Haye_, the French ambassador at Constantinople, and afterwards traveled in the Levant, did, when he returned to Marseilles in 1644, drink Coffee every day; and brought with him not only Coffee, but all the little implements used in Turkey in preparing it. He says also, that there was a public Coffee-house opened at Marseilles in 1671, which was looked on as a great curiosity in France.

HE says, Coffee had scarcely been seen in Paris before 1669; nor even heard of until that year, except in the house of _Thevenot_, and by the report of travellers.

IN this year, _Solyman Aga_, Ambassador from _Mahomet_ the IVth came to Paris; and it is to this embassy, _la Roque_, says, that the first use of Coffee in Paris is to be attributed.

THIS embassy, which had given the Parisians a general taste for Coffee, and the method of making it, gave them also the idea of public Coffee-houses; for, in 1672, one _Pascal_, an Armenian, sold it publicly at the _Foire St. Germain_; and afterwards, in the same year, opened a Coffee-house on the _Quai de l’Ecole_, which was the first public Coffee-house ever known in Paris.

COFFEE, however, was known in general to the English before it was to the French or Italians; and was used in England before it was in France or Italy.

THE _Journal des Scavans_, 28th January, 1675, observes, “_les Anglais ont connu le Café vingt ans plulôt que nous_:” and it appears, that these journalists were considerably within the time, as far as relates to its having been first noticed, by the travellers of the respective countries.

WILLIAM FINCH, an English merchant, employed in the service of the East-India Company in 1607, says, “That the people in the Island of _Socotora_ have, for their best entertainment, a China dish of _Coho_, a black bitterish drink, made of a berry like a bay berry, brought from _Mecca_, supped off hot; and it is reckoned good for the head and stomach[12].”

[12] Purchas, p. 419.

BUT I am not certain whether _Biddulph’s_ account of the use of Coffee in the East was not prior to _Finch’s_. In a letter from him at Aleppo, which must have been soon after the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, as he mentions that event as recent; he says, “The Turks have for their most common drink _Coffa_, which is a black kind of drink, made of a kind of pulse like peas, called _Coava_; which being ground in a mill, and boiled in water, they drink it as hot as they can suffer it, which they find to agree with them against their crudities, and feeding on herbs, and raw meat. It is more wholesome than toothsome, for it causeth a good concoction, and driveth away drowsiness[13].”

[13] Ibid. p. 1340. See also p. 1351, where it appears that _Biddulph_
was in the East in 1600.

IT is remarkable, that none of the travellers to the East, of any country, who have given the first accounts of Coffee, have ever mentioned the circumstance on which all its virtues depend,--its torrefaction.

HAVING shewn that the first Coffee-house in Paris was opened in 1672, I now observe, that the first Coffee-house in London was opened in 1652.

MR. DANIEL EDWARDS, a Turkey merchant, when he returned from Smyrna to London in 1652, brought over with him a servant, named _Pasqua Rossée_, a Ragusian Greek. This man used to prepare Coffee for him every morning, for his breakfast. The novelty of this new repast brought so many people to Mr. _Edwards’s_ house, that he lost all the fore-part of the day in entertaining and satisfying the curiosity of his visitors. Thus situated, he thought of an expedient to rid himself of the trouble, and to gratify his friends; which was, to suffer his servant to make and sell Coffee publicly. In consequence of which, _Pasqua_ opened an house in St. Michael’s Alley, Cornhill, which was the first Coffee-house in London[14].

[14] On the spot, before the fire of 1666, where the Virginia
Coffee-house now stands. The first Coffee-house that was opened after
the fire was, what is now called _Garraway’s_.

IN 1660 (12 Car. II. cap. 24.) there was a duty of four pence per gallon laid on Coffee made and sold, to be paid by the maker; and in 1663 (15 Car. II. cap. 9. sect. 15.) all Coffee-houses were licensed at the general Quarter Sessions of the Peace for the County in which they were kept.

THE following account is descriptive of the commotions and prejudices which Coffee formerly had to contend with and conquer among the Mahometans. Besides the similitude it bears to the ludicrous notions, and contradictory opinions, concerning Coffee in later times, it may not be unentertaining to those who are accustomed to reflect, how great communities are often violently agitated by trifles; and that nations, under weak or oppressive governments, as well as individuals, may be seriously ridiculous, and equally subject to transitory delusion. It will appear also, that Coffee, which after many struggles triumphed over the scrutiny of physicians, had nearly sunk under the influence of the _Alcoran_; but that the contest between the _Alcoran_ and Coffee ended, as it were, in a coalition.

“KHAIR BEG, Governor of _Mecca_, by appointment of the _Sultan_ of Egypt, was unacquainted with Coffee, or of the manner of taking it. As he was going out of the Mosque one day, after evening prayer, he observed in a corner of it a company of people drinking Coffee, who were to spend the night there in prayer, and was much offended at it. He thought at first they had been drinking wine; nor was his surprize much diminished after they had explained to him the use and virtues of this liquor. On the contrary, after they had informed him how much it was in use in _Mecca_, and what merriment passed at the public places where it was sold, he was of opinion that Coffee was intoxicating, at least that it conduced to things forbidden by the law.

“FOR this reason, after having ordered these people to go out of the Mosque, with an injunction never to meet there for the future upon the like occasion, he next day convened a great assembly of Officers of Justice, and Doctors of Law, together with Priests, and the most eminent men of _Mecca_; to whom he communicated what he had observed the night before in the Mosque, and what he was informed happened frequently in the public Coffee-houses; adding, that he was resolved to remedy this abuse, upon which he was desirous first to know their opinions.

“THE Doctors agreed that the public Coffee-houses wanted regulation, as being contrary to the law of pure Mahometism; and declared, that, with respect to Coffee, it was necessary to examine whether it was hurtful either to body or mind; and concluded to take the advice of physicians.

“THE Governor called in two Persians who were brothers, the most celebrated physicians in _Mecca_: one of them even wrote against the use of Coffee, jealous, perhaps, (says our author) lest the use of it should spoil his practice; so they did not fail to declare, that Coffee was cold and dry, and prejudicial to health.

“A DOCTOR of the assembly replied, That BENGIAZLAH[15], an ancient Arabian physician of great authority, had said, that these berries were hot and dry, and consequently could not have the qualities just now ascribed to them.

[15] A celebrated physician of _Bagdat_. He died anno 1098.

“THE two Persian physicians replied, That BENGIAZLAH was a perfect stranger to the berries in question; and declared, that if Coffee was reckoned among things indifferent, and free for every body to make use of, yet it was apt to lead to things not allowed of; and the safest way for true Mussulmen would be, to hold it unlawful.

“THIS determination obtained all their suffrages; and several, either out of prejudice or false zeal, did not fail to affirm that Coffee had actually disturbed their brains. One of the assistants maintained, that it intoxicated like wine, which set all the assembly a laughing; because, in order to make a judgment of it, it was necessary to have drunk wine, which is forbidden by the Mahometan religion. He was asked whether he had ever drunk any wine? and he had the imprudence to answer in the affirmative; which confession condemned him to the bastinado, the punishment that is inflicted by the Mahometan law for this crime.

“COFFEE was, however, solemnly condemned at _Mecca_, as a thing forbidden by law, notwithstanding the _Mufti_ opposed the determination.

“The lovers of Coffee thought the sentence would not hold water, as the _Mufti_ did not sign it, and even determined to pay no regard to it in private. However, one of them was surprized in the fact, and was bastinadoed, and was afterwards led about the city on an ass.

“BUT this rigour was not of long duration; for the _Sultan_ of Egypt, far from approving of the indiscreet zeal of the Governor of _Mecca_, was surprized that he should dare to condemn a thing so much in favour at _Cairo_, the capital of his dominions, where there were Doctors of much greater authority than those of _Mecca_, and who had not found any thing in the use of Coffee contrary to the law.

“The _Sultan_ ordered him therefore to revoke his prohibition, and to employ his authority against the disorders only, if there were any, committed in the Coffee-houses; adding, that because _it was possible to abuse the very best things_, even the water of the fountain ZEMZEM[16], in the Temple of MECCA, so much esteemed by all Mussulmen, it was not for that reason necessary absolutely to forbid them.

[16] The Mahometans say this is the spring that God caused to issue
forth in the Desart for _Agar_ and her son _Ishmael_, when _Abraham_
sent them away.

“THE Governor was displaced, and the two physicians who bore a great part in the prohibition of Coffee, came to an unfortunate end.

“AFTER the re-establishment of Coffee at _Mecca_, it was prohibited again, and again re-established.

“THE _Sultan_ of Egypt consulted his Doctors of the Law at Cairo upon this point; who gave their opinions in writing, and proved by substantial reasons, the fallacy of the condemnation of Coffee, and the ignorance of those who passed it; which established the use of Coffee at _Cairo_, upon a much stronger footing than ever. But, in the end, this great city also met with much trouble upon the subject. For,--

“IN the year 1523, a scrupulous Doctor stated, that Coffee intoxicated the head, and was prejudicial to health: and he had suspicions that it was unlawful. But none of his brethren were of his opinion, because it was obvious that Coffee had not those bad qualities he ascribed to it; and therefore this gave no shock at all to a custom so universally received.

“BUT about ten years after, a preacher held forth so vehemently against the use of Coffee, as a thing prohibited by law, that the mob fell upon the Coffee-houses, broke the pots and dishes, and abused the company they found there.

“UPON this, there were two parties formed in the city; one of which maintained that Coffee was prohibited by law; the other, that it was not. But the Judge in Chief having convened an assembly of all the Doctors, to have their opinions, they unanimously declared, that the question had been already determined by their predecessors in favour of Coffee; that they were all of the same sentiment; and that there was nothing further necessary than only to restrain the extravagant heat of the zealots, and the indiscretion of ignorant preachers. The Judge who presided was of the same opinion; and immediately ordered all the assembly to be served with Coffee, and took some himself; an example which presently composed all controversies, and made Coffee more fashionable at Cairo than before[17].”

[17] An Arabian manuscript, N^o 944, by _Abdalcader_ of Medina. It is
in the great National Library at Paris; written about the year 1587.

THE commotions however which were then excited by this beverage, were not confined to Mecca and Cairo; for _Pichevili_, a Turkish historian, says:

“AT the time when the use of Coffee was most prevalent in _Constantinople_, the _Imams_ and officers of the Mosques made a great clamour, that they were deserted, whilst all the Coffee-houses were continually crowded. On which the Dervises and Priests made a furious attack on Coffee; not only affirming that it was unlawful, but that it was a much greater sin to go to a Coffee-house than to a Tavern.

“AFTER a great deal of noise and declamation, all the Priests united to obtain a solemn condemnation of this liquor; and maintained that Coffee roasted was a sort of coal; and that every thing which had the least relation to coal was forbidden by law. Upon this they drew up a question in form, and presented it to the _Mufti_, with a request that he would determine it according to the duty of his office. The _Mufti_, without giving himself the trouble of examining any difficulties, gave a verdict according to the wish of the Priests, and pronounced that Coffee was prohibited by the law of _Mahomet_.

“ALL the Coffee-houses in _Constantinople_ were immediately shut up, and the officers of the police ordered to prevent the drinking Coffee in any manner whatever.

“YET, notwithstanding the rigour that was employed in the execution of this order, they could never prevent the drinking Coffee in private: and _Amurath_ III. in whose time this prohibition took place, again permitted the use of it, in private houses, and it grew more and more into esteem. At last, the officers of the police, seeing there was no remedy, were content, for a certain sum, to permit it to be sold in private houses, shutting up the doors, or in the back shops.

“THERE wanted but little encouragement to re-establish by degrees the public Coffee-houses; and it happened that a new _Mufti_, less scrupulous, or more wise, than his predecessor, declared solemnly, that Coffee ought not to be looked upon as a coal; and that the liquor made from it was not prohibited by the law. After this declaration, the Zealots, Preachers, Doctors, and Lawyers, far from exclaiming against Coffee, took it themselves; and their example was universally followed by the whole Court and City.”

COFFEE, though a native of _Arabia Felix_, is said to have been converted into use in Africa and Persia, long before a beverage was made of it by the Arabians.

OF the first discovery of the properties of Coffee there is no authentic account, that has come to the knowledge of European enquirers. But as fiction in such cases generally supplies the place of facts, it is impossible that so important an article as this in question should be destitute of introductory anecdotes, on its first appearance in the world.

FAUSTUS NAIRO, a native of the Holy-land, before-mentioned, who was Oriental Linguist in the College at Rome, and some other romantic writers I have been under the necessity of reading, pretend, that the extraordinary virtues of Coffee-berries were discovered in nearly the following manner:

IN the nation of _Yemen_, a keeper of goats was one night much surprized that his herd would not go to sleep as usual, but jumped and frisked about as if they had been infatuated. The next morning he went to _Sciadli_, the Priest of the neighbouring Mosque, to intreat that he would inform him of the cause of this wonderful change in the animals. The priest desired the goatherd would conduct him to the pasture where they had fed on the preceding day. When he came there, he found the place covered with certain shrubs with berries on them, of which the goats had eaten. These shrubs and berries had always been considered among the wild and useless productions of the earth. The Priest, however, having satisfied himself that these berries had effected the alteration in the goats, gathered some, went home and boiled them in water, and drank of the liquor. When night came, he perceived he could not sleep, but began to dance and frisk about as the goats had done. He reported these circumstances to the neighbouring Priests, who all declared, that a liquor from these berries, properly prepared, would be an excellent thing to keep the Dervises awake, when their duty obliged them to pray after dinner. The experiment was tried, and continued with the utmost success; and was also attended with great advantage to their health. From the report of these Dervises, the use of Coffee soon spread through other Asiatic nations; and _Sciadli_ was ever after drunk as a toast, in a cup of Coffee, before any devotion was entered on, among all the religious of the East.

BUT, turning from this ludicrous tale to the Arabian manuscript before-mentioned, translated by Mons. _Galland_, we find, that about the middle of the fifteenth century, _Gemaleddin_, the _Mufti_ of Aden, a city in Arabia Felix, travelling into Persia, learnt the use of Coffee there, and on his return introduced it to his countrymen: who had no sooner adopted the drinking of this beverage, than they entirely neglected an herb which had been long in use among them, called _Cat_, of which they made an infusion, and drank it in the manner in which we now drink Tea.

This herb, called by the Arabians _Cat_, is, I believe, the same as our Tea; for it varies but little from the name which _Tea_ has always borne in the Eastern countries, being called by the Chinese _Cha_ and _The_; by the Japonnese and Indians, _Tchia_, _Tsia_, and _Cha_; and by the Persians _Tzai_ and _Cha_.

LEYL says, that _Cha_ is a Tartarian word; that the plant Tea, is indigenous in Tartary, and is there, and in all the Eastern nations, called _Cha_; and that the Chinese only, who live near the coast, and traffic with Europeans, call it _The_. It is also supposed to have been unknown in China, until the incursions of the Tartars.

IT is from the preceding epoch, distinguished by _Gemaleddin_ the _Mufti_, that any authentic account of the dietetic use of Coffee is derived. Enthusiasm indeed has carried some absurd admirers of this beverage so far into conjecture, as to trace marvellous stories of it back to the remotest ages; and to suppose it the _Jus Nigrum_ of the Lacedæmonians[18]; _Abigail’s_ cup to _David_, which saved her husband _Nabal’s_ life[19]; and the _Nepenthe_[20], which _Helen_ received from an Egyptian, and celebrated by _Homer_ as a soother of the mind, in the extremest state of anger, grief, and misfortune[21].

[18] _Muraltus._ _Herbert’s_ Travels. _Sandy’s_ Travels. _Blunt’s_
Voyage.

[19] _Paschius_, an obscure writer at Leipsic, 1700.

[20] _Pietro della Valle._

[21] “Φάρμακον, κακων ἐπίληθον ἁπάντων.” Odyss. Δ.

FROM Aden it spread its influence to Mecca, Cairo, Damascus, and Aleppo; and afterwards through all Arabia, and other parts of the Ottoman Empire, and arrived at Constantinople, from Syria, in the reign of _Solyman_ the Great, in the year 1554; introduced by two persons whose names were _Schems_ and _Hekin_; one came from Damascus, the other from Aleppo; each opened a public Coffee-house in that city; and about a century afterwards, as I have already observed, it was adopted at London and Paris.

THE virtues of this chearful liquor, like moral virtues under despotism, operated in Constantinople to its detriment;--by dispelling the torpitude brought on by their vicious excesses, and recruiting their spirits, sunk by depravity of their habits, it introduced a disposition among the Turks to exercise the understanding;--a crime in every government that tolerates nothing but silent obedience.

RYCAUT says, that during the war in Candia, in the minority of _Mahomet_ the IVth, when the Turkish affairs were in a critical situation, “the _Visir Kupruli_ suppressed the Coffee-houses, though he permitted the Taverns;” the former conducing to intellectual recreation, and some speculations on the affairs of state, which the _Visir_ thought would not bear examining. These were objections from which the latter, as tending only to idleness and debauchery, was free. This stupid edict appears to have had no other relative effect than to diminish the revenue; for Coffee throve under this political, as well as it did under the former religious, persecution.

HOWEVER ridiculous it may appear at this time, Coffee had the same folly to encounter soon after its introduction into England; and experienced the same treatment under _Charles_ the IId, that it met with in Turkey under an _Amurath_ and a _Mahomet_: for having been found an encourager of social meetings, Coffee-houses were shut up by proclamation, as seminaries of sedition[22].

[22] Anno 1675.

THIS famous proclamation was dated 29th of December, 1675, and asserted that, “Because in such houses, and by occasion of the meeting of disaffected persons in them, divers false, malicious, and scandalous reports were devised and spread abroad, to the defamation of his _Majesty’s governments_ and to the disturbance of the quiet and peace of the realm.”

THE opinion of the Judges was taken on this point, who in their great wisdom resolved, “That retailing of Coffee might be an innocent trade; but as it was used to nourish sedition, spread lies, and scandalize _great men_, it might also be a common nuisance.”

RAY observed, that the part of Arabia which produced Coffee in such abundance, might truly be styled happy[23]; from whence many millions of bushels of this valuable treasure were then annually exported to Turkey, Barbary, and Europe[24].--In Constantinople alone, the consumption is said to amount to more than what is expended for wine in Paris.

[23] The country of Yemen.

[24] The Abbé _Raynal_ says, that twelve millions five hundred and
fifty thousand pounds weight of Coffee is annually exported from
Arabia Felix; which, at 14 sols per pound, brings into that country
8,785,000 livres, 384,343l. 15s. sterling. The European Companies
purchase three millions five hundred thousand weight of this
commodity.

IT was long after Coffee had been an article of commerce, that Europeans were able to obtain, or cultivate, the plant; as the berry was exported dry, and unfit for propagation.

IT has been said, that a Frenchman, near _Dijon_ in France, was the first person who made the experiment with success, about the year 1670: the trees raised from the seeds he had sown produced berries, but they were tasteless and insipid; and served for no other purpose than curiosity.

ACCORDING to _Boerhaave’s_ account, a Dutch Governor was the first person who procured fresh berries from Mocha, and planted them in _Batavia_; and in the year 1690 sent a plant from thence to Amsterdam; which came to maturity, and produced those berries which have since furnished all that is now cultivated in the West Indies.

IN 1714 a plant, from the garden of Amsterdam, was sent by Mr. _Pancras_, a Burgomaster, and Director of the Botanic Garden, as a present to _Lewis_ the XIVth, which was placed in the garden at Marly.

In 1718 the Dutch began to cultivate Coffee in Surinam; in 1721 the French began to cultivate it at Cayenne; in 1727 at Martinico; and in 1728 the English began to cultivate it in Jamaica.