Tea, Its Mystery and History

Tea, Its Mystery and History

Before Tea found its way to England, it had been brought to Holland, thanks to the treaty made by the Dutch with the Japanese. If the Dutchman, as a rule, did not forego his favourite lager and schnapps to take to Tea so readily as did the English, nevertheless, there were not wanting upholders of the new beverage in the land of dykes, ducks, and Dutchmen, as somebody construed Voltaires famous cancana, canards, canaille. The first to advocate the wonderful leaf was Cornelius Bontekoe, principal physician to the Elector of Brandenburgh, a Professor in the University of Leyden, and a man of more than ordinary28 eminence. In a treatise on Tea, Coffee, and Chocolate, published in 1679, he strongly pronounces in favour of the first-named drink, and denies the possibility of its being hurtful to health, even if taken in such an inordinate quantity as one or two hundred cups a day, a statement as extravagant as it is impracticable. The introduction of Tea into England is by some presumed to date from the year of our Lord 1652. If such be authentic, the quantity of the leaf imported during the Commonwealth must have been extremely limited, probably not exceeding a few pounds, such as Blake and sea-dogs of his order discovered in the cabins of ships they had captured from the Dutch. Equally questionable is the statement of other authorities, who give the year 1666 as that wherein the first importation of Tea took place. No doubt, many important events were commonly attributed to the year 1666, which the poet Dryden had essayed to render more remarkable still by his poem on the Annus Mirabilis. Lords Arlington and Orrery are credited with having first rendered the drinking of Tea fashionable. Six years previous to the remarkable year just noticed, Pepys records in his Diary: I sent for29 a cup of Tea, a Chinese drink, of which I had never drunk before. So that it is evident the rare beverage was then coming into use. Shortly afterwards a measure passed the legislature, enacting that an impost of eightpence per gallon should be paid on all Tea prepared and sold in coffee-houses. A singular handbill was issued by Thomas Garway, the founder of Garraways somewhat famous coffee-house, in Exchange (subsequently Exchange-alley). This announcement was by chance discovered some years since in a volume of pamphlets in the Kings Library, British Museum, where it may still be inspected. Albeit the document bears no date, but there is ample internal evidence to prove that it had been printed about the year 1660. It purposes to be An exact description of the growth, quality, and virtues of the leaf Tea, by Thomas Garway, in Exchange-alley, near the Royal Exchange, in London, Tobacconist and Seller and Retailer of Tea and Coffee. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 59170
Author: Day, Samuel Phillips
Release Date: Mar 31, 2019
Format: eBook
Language: English