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A
TREATISE
CONCERNING THE
PROPERTIES AND EFFECTS
OF
COFFEE.
A
TREATISE
CONCERNING THE
PROPERTIES AND EFFECTS
OF
COFFEE.
THE FIFTH EDITION,
WITH CONSIDERABLE ADDITIONS.
By BENJAMIN MOSELEY M. D.
Physician to Chelsea Hospital, Member of the College
of Physicians of London, of the University of Leyden,
of the American Philosophical Society, &c. &c.;
Author of a Treatise on Tropical Diseases, Military
Operations, and the Climate of the West-Indies.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR J. SEWELL, NO. 32, CORNHILL.
M.DCC.XCII.
PREFACE.
THE reception which four editions of this Treatise have met with,
has made it necessary to publish a fifth; which I now present to the
reader, with such additions, as I hope will be acceptable and useful[1].
[1] The first Edition was published in the beginning of 1785.
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.