[Cover illustration]

[Illustration of Boswell and Johnson at the Mitre]

THE LITTLE TEA BOOK

COMPILED BYARTHUR GRAY

_Compiler of Over the Black Coffee_

ILLUSTRATED BY GEORGE W. HOOD

[Illustration of tea kettle]

NEW YORK

THE BAKER & TAYLOR COMPANY33-37 EAST 17TH ST. , UNION SQ. NORTH

COPYRIGHT, 1903, BYTHE BAKER & TAYLOR COMPANY

_Published, October, 1903_

The Crow Press, N. H. 

 Thou soft, thou sober, sage, and venerable liquid! Thou innocent pretence for bringing the wicked of both sexes together in the morning! Thou female tongue-running, smile-soothing, heart-opening, wink-tipping cordial to whose glorious insipidity I owe the happiest moments of my life. --COLLEY CIBBER. 

_INTRODUCING THE LITTLE TEA BOOK_

After all, tea is _the_ drink! Domestically and socially it is thebeverage of the world. There may be those who will come forwardwith _their_ figures to prove that other fruits of the soil--agriculturally and commercially--are more important. Perhapsthey are right when quoting statistics. But what other productcan compare with tea in the high regard in which it has alwaysbeen held by writers whose standing in literature, and recognizedgood taste in other walks, cannot be questioned?

A glance through this book will show that the spirit of the teabeverage is one of peace, comfort, and refinement. As thesequalities are all associated with the ways of women, it is to them, therefore--the real rulers of the world--that tea owes its prestigeand vogue. 

Further peeps through these pages prove this to be true; fornearly all the allusions and references to the beverage, by malewriters, reveal the womanly influence that tea imparts. But thisis not all. The side-lights of history, customs, manners, andmodes of living which tea plays in the life of all nations will befound entertaining and instructive. Linked with the finefeminine atmosphere which pervades the drinking of the beverageeverywhere, a leaf which can combine so much deserves, at least, a little human hearing for its long list of virtues; for itspeaceful walks, talks, tales, tattle, frills, and fancies whichgo to make up this tribute to "the cup that cheers but notinebriates. "

_THE ORIGIN OF TEA_

Darma, third son of Koyuwo, King of India, a religions highpriest from Siaka (the author of that Eastern paganism about athousand years before the Christian era), coming to China, toteach the way of happiness, lived a most austere life, passing hisdays in continual mortification, and retiring by night tosolitudes, in which he fed only upon the leaves of trees andother vegetable productions. After several years passed in thismanner, in fasting and watching, it happened that, contrary tohis vows, the pious Darma fell asleep! When he awoke, he wasso much enraged at himself, that, to prevent the offence to hisvows for the future, he got rid of his eyelids and placed them onthe ground. On the following day, returning to his accustomeddevotions, he beheld, with amazement, springing up from hiseyelids, two small shrubs of an unusual appearance, such as hehad never before seen, and of whose qualities he was, of course, entirely ignorant. The saint, however, not being wholly devoidof curiosity--or, perhaps, being unusually hungry--was promptedto eat of the leaves, and immediately felt within him a wonderfulelevation of mind, and a vehement desire of divine contemplation, with which he acquainted his disciples, who were eager tofollow the example of their instructor, and they readilyreceived into common use the fragrant plant which has beenthe theme of so many poetical and literary pens in succeeding ages. 

[Illustration of Dr. Johnson's chair]

 _TEA_

 By FRANCIS SALTUS SALTUS

 From what enchanted Eden came thy leaves That hide such subtle spirits of perfume? Did eyes preadamite first see the bloom, Luscious nepenthe of the soul that grieves?

 By thee the tired and torpid mind conceives Fairer than roses brightening life's gloom, Thy protean charm can every form assume And turn December nights to April eves. 

 Thy amber-tinted drops bring back to me Fantastic shapes of great Mongolian towers, Emblazoned banners, and the booming gong; I hear the sound of feast and revelry, And smell, far sweeter than the sweetest flowers, The kiosks of Pekin, fragrant of Oolong!

_LITTLE CUPS OF CHINESE AND JAPANESE TEA_

Although the legend credits the pious East Indian with thediscovery of tea, there is no evidence extant that India is reallythe birthplace of the plant. 

Since India has no record of date, or facts, on stone or tablet, orever handed down a single incident of song or story--apart fromthe legend--as to the origin of tea, one is loath to accept theclaim--if claim they assert--of a people who are not abovepractising the "black art" at every turn of their fancy. 

Certain it is that China, first in many things, knew tea as soon asany nation of the world. The early Chinese were not only moreprogressive than other peoples, but linked with their progresswere important researches, and invaluable discoveries, whichthe civilized world has long ago recognized. Then, why not addtea to the list?

At any rate, it is easy to believe that the Chinese were first inthe tea fields, and that undoubtedly the plant was a native ofboth China and Japan when it was slumbering on the slopes ofIndia, unpicked, unsteeped, undrunk, unhonored, and unsung. 

A celebrated Buddhist, St. Dengyo Daishai, is credited withhaving introduced tea into Japan from China as early as thefourth century. It is likely that he was the first to teach theJapanese the use of the herb, for it had long been a favoritebeverage in the mountains of the Celestial Kingdom. The plant, however, is found in so many parts of Japan that there can belittle doubt but what it is indigenous there as well. 

The word TEA is of Chinese origin, being derived from theAmoy and Swatow reading, "Tay, " of the same character, whichexpresses both the ancient name of tea, "T'su, " and the moremodern one, "Cha. " Japanese tea, "Chiya"--pronounced Châ. 

Tea was not known in China before the Tang dynasty, 618-906A. D. An infusion of some kind of leaf, however, was used asearly as the Chow dynasty, 1122-255 B. C. , as we learn from theUrh-ya, a glossary of terms used in ancient history and poetry. This work, which is classified by subjects, has been assigned asthe beginning of the Chow dynasty, but belongs more properlyto the era of Confucius, K'ung Kai, 551-479 B. C. 

Although known in Japan for more than a thousand years, teaonly gradually became the national beverage as late as thefourteenth century. 

In the first half of the eighth century, 729 A. D. , there was arecord made of a religious festival, at which the forty-fifthMikado---"Sublime Gate"--Shommei Tenno, entertained the Buddhistpriests with tea, a hitherto unknown beverage from Corea, which country was for many years the high-road of Chineseculture to Japan. 

After the ninth century, 823 A. D. , and for four centuriesthereafter, tea fell into disuse, and almost oblivion, among theJapanese. The nobility, and Buddhist priests, however, continuedto drink it as a luxury. 

During the reign of the eighty-third Emperor, 1199-1210 A. D. , the cultivation of tea was permanently established in Japan. In1200, the bonze, Yei-Sei, brought tea seeds from China, whichhe planted on the mountains in one of the most northern provinces. Yei-Sei is also credited with introducing the Chinese customof ceremonious tea-drinking. At any rate, he presented teaseeds to Mei-ki, the abbot of the monastery of To-gano (towhom the use of tea had been recommended for its stimulatingproperties), and instructed him in the mystery of its cultivation, treatment, and preparation. Mei-ki, who laid out plantationsnear Uzi, was successful as a pupil, and even now the tea-growersof that neighborhood pay tribute to his memory by annuallyoffering at his shrine the first gathered tea-leaves. 

After that period, the use of tea became more and more infashion, the monks and their kindred having discovered itsproperty of keeping them awake during long vigils and nocturnalprayers. 

Prom this time on the development and progress of the plant areinterwoven with the histories and customs of these countries. 

 _ON TEA_

 The following short poem by Edmund Waller is believed to be the first one written in praise of the "cup that does not inebriate":

 Venus her myrtle, Phoebus has her bays; Tea both excels, which she vouchsafes to praise. The best of Queens, and best of herbs, we owe To that bold nation, which the way did show To the fair region where the sun doth rise, Whose rich productions we so justly prize. The Muse's friend, tea does our fancy aid, Repress those vapors which the head invade, And keep the palace of the soul serene, Tit on her birthday to salute the Queen. 

 Waller was born in 1605, and died in 1687, aged eighty-two. 

_SOME ENGLISH TEA HISTORY_

Tea was brought into Europe by the DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY, in 1610. It was at least forty, and perhaps forty-seven, years later that England woke up to the fascinations of thenew drink. Dr. Johnson puts it at even a later date, for heclaims that tea was first introduced into England by LordsArlington and Ossory, in 1666, and really made its debut intosociety when the wives of these noblemen gave it its vogue. 

If Dr. Johnson's statement is intended to mean that nothing isanything until the red seal of the select says, "Thus shall it be, "he is right in the year he has selected. If, on the other hand, theDoctor had in mind society at large, he is "mixed in his dates, "or leaves, for tea was drawn and drunk in London nine yearsbefore that date. 

Garway, the founder of Garraway's coffee house, claimed thehonor of being first to offer tea in leaf and drink for public sale, in 1657. It is pretty safe to fix the entrance of tea into Europeeven a few years ahead of his announcement, for merchants inthose days did not advertise their wares in advance. 

However, this date is about the beginning of TEA TIME, for inthe _Mercurius Politicius_ of September, 1658, appeared thefollowing advertisement:

 That excellent and by all Physitians approved China drink, called by the Chineans, Tcha, by other nations, Tay, or Tea, is sold at the Sultana's Head, a Copphee House, in Sweetings Rents, by the Royal Exchange, London. 

Like all new things, when they have fastened on to the public'sfavor, tea was on everybody's lips and in everybody's mouth. Itwas lauded to the skies, and was supposed to be good for all theills of the flesh. It would cure colds and consumption, clear thesight, remove lassitude, purify the liver, improve digestion, create appetite, strengthen the memory, and cure fever and ague. 

One panegyrist says, while never putting the patient in mind ofhis disease, it cheers the heart, without disordering the head;strengthens the feet of the old, and settles the heads of theyoung; cools the brain of the hard drinker, and warms that of thesober student; relieves the sick, and makes the healthy better. Epicures drink it for want of an appetite; _bon vivants_, toremove the effects of a surfeit of wine; gluttons, as a remedy forindigestion; politicians, for the vertigo; doctors, for drowsiness;prudes, for the vapors; wits, for the spleen; and beaux toimprove their complexions; summing up, by declaring tea to bea treat for the frugal, a regale for the luxurious, a successfulagent for the man of business, and a bracer for the idle. 

Poets and verse-makers joined the chorus in praise of tea, inGreek and Latin. One poet pictures Hebe pouring the delightfulcup for the goddesses, who, finding it made their beautybrighter and their wit more brilliant, drank so deeply as todisgust Jupiter, who had forgotten that he, himself, "Drank tea that happy morn, When wise Minerva of his brain was born. "

Laureant Tate, who wrote a poem on tea in two cantos, described a family jar among the fair deities, because eachdesired to become the special patroness of the ethereal drinkdestined to triumph over wine. Another versifier exalts it at theexpense of its would-be rival, coffee:

 "In vain would coffee boast an equal good, The crystal stream transcends the flowing mud, Tea, even the ills from coffee spring repairs, Disclaims its vices and its virtues shares. "

Another despairing enthusiast exclaims:

 "Hail, goddess of the vegetable, hail! To sing thy worth, all words, all numbers, fail!"

The new beverage did not have the field all to itself, however, for, while it was generally admitted that

 Tea was fixed, and come to stay. It could not drive good meat and drink away. 

Lovers of the old and conservative customs of the table werenot anxious to try the novelty. Others shied at it; some flirtedwith it, in tiny teaspoonfuls; others openly defied and attacked it. Among the latter were a number of robust versifiers andphysicians. 

 "'Twas better for each British virgin, When on roast beef, strong beer and sturgeon, Joyous to breakfast they sat round, Nor were ashamed to eat a pound. "

The fleshly school of doctors were only too happy to disagreewith their brethren respecting the merits and demerits of thenew-fangled drink; and it is hard to say which were most bitter, the friends or the foes of tea. 

Maria Theresa's physician, Count Belchigen, attributed thediscovery of a number of new diseases to the debility born ofdaily tea-drinking. Dr. Paulli denied that it had either taste orfragrance, owing its reputation entirely to the peculiar vesselsand water used by the Chinese, so that it was folly to partake ofit, unless tea-drinkers could supply themselves with pure waterfrom the Vassie and the fragrant tea-pots of Gnihing. Thissagacious sophist and dogmatizer also discovered that, amongother evils, tea-drinking deprived its devotees of the power ofexpectoration, and entailed sterility; wherefore he hopedEuropeans would thereafter keep to their natural beverages--wine and ale--and reject coffee, chocolate, and tea, which wereall equally bad for them. 

In spite of the array of old-fashioned doctors, wits, and lovers ofthe pipe and bottle, who opposed evil effects, sneered at thefinely bred men of England being turned into women, andgrumbled at the stingy custom of calling for dish-water afterdinner, the custom of tea-drinking continued to grow. By 1689the sale of the leaf had increased sufficiently to make it politicto reduce the duty on it from eight pence on the decoction tofive shillings a pound on the leaf. The value of tea at this timemay be estimated from a customhouse report of the sale of aquantity of divers sorts and qualities, the worst being equal tothat "used in coffee-houses for making single tea, " which, beingdisposed of by "inch of candle, " fetched an average of twelveshillings a pound. 

During the next three years the consumption of tea was greatlyincreased; but very little seems to have been known about it bythose who drank it--if we may judge from the enlightenmentreceived from a pamphlet, given gratis, "up one flight of stairs, at the sign of the Anodyne Necklace, without Temple Bar. " All ittells us about tea is that it is the leaf of a little shoot growingplentifully in the East Indies; that Bohea--called by the French"Bean Tea"--is best of a morning with bread and butter, beingof a more nourishing nature than the green which may be usedwhen a meal is not wanted. Three or four cups at a sitting areenough; and a little milk or cream renders the beverage smootherand more powerful in blunting the acid humors of the stomach. 

The satirists believed that tea had a contrary effect upon the acidhumors of the mind, making the tea-table the arena for thedisplay of the feminine capacity for backbiting and scandal. Listen to Swift describe a lady enjoying her evening cups of tea:

 "Surrounded with the noisy clans Of prudes, coquettes and harridans. Now voices over voices rise, While each to be the loudest vies; They contradict, affirm, dispute, No single tongue one moment mute; All mad to speak, and none to hearken, They set the very lapdog barking; Their chattering makes a louder din Than fish-wives o'er a cup of gin; Far less the rabble roar and rail When drunk with sour election ale. "

Even gentle Gay associated soft tea with the temper of womenwhen he pictures Doris and Melanthe abusing all their bosomfriends, while--

 "Through all the room From flowery tea exhales a fragrant fume. "

But not all the women were tea-drinkers in those days. Therewas Madam Drake, the proprietress of one of the three privatecarriages Manchester could boast. Few men were as courageousas she in declaring against the tea-table when they were butinvited guests. Madam Drake did not hesitate to make it knownwhen she paid an afternoon's visit that she expected to beoffered her customary solace--a tankard of ale and a pipe oftobacco. 

Another female opponent of tea was the _Female Spectator_, which declared the use of the fluid to be not only expensive, butpernicious; the utter destruction of all economy, the bane ofgood housewifery, and the source of all idleness. Tradesmenespecially suffered from the habit. They could not serve theircustomers because their apprentices were absent during thebusiest hours of the day drumming up gossips for their mistresses'tea-tables. 

This same censor says that the most temperate find themselvesobliged to drink wine freely after tea, or supplement their Boheawith rum and brandy, the bottle and glass becoming as necessaryto the tea-table as the slop-basin. 

Although Jonas Hanway, the father of the umbrella, was successfulin keeping off water, he was not successful in keeping out tea. All he did accomplish in his essay on the subject was to callforth a reply from Dr. Johnson, who, strange to say, instead ofvigorously defending his favorite tipple, rather excuses it asan amiable weakness; confessing that tea is a barren superfluity, fit only to amuse the idle, relax the studious, and dilute themeals of those who cannot take exercise, and will not practiseabstinence. His chief argument in tea's favor is that it isdrunk in no great quantity even by those who use it most, and as it neither exhilarates the heart nor stimulates the palate, is, after all, but a nominal entertainment, serving as a pretencefor assembling people together, for interrupting business, diversifying idleness; admitting that, perhaps, while gratifyingthe taste, without nourishing the body, it is quite unsuited to thelower classes. 

It is a singular fact, too, that at that period there was no otherreally vigorous defender of the beverage. All the best of theother writers did was to praise its pleasing qualities, associations, and social attributes. 

Still, tea grew in popular favor, privately and publicly. Thecustom had now become so general that every wife looked uponthe tea-pot, cups, and caddy to be as much her right by marriageas the wedding-ring itself. Fine ladies enjoyed the crowdedpublic entertainments with tea below stairs and ventilatorsabove. Citizens, fortunate enough to have leaden roofs to theirhouses, took their tea and their ease thereon. On Sundays, finding the country lanes leading to Kensington, Hampstead, Highgate, Islington, and Stepney, "to be much pleasanter thanthe paths of the gospel, " the people flocked to those suburbanresorts with their wives and children, to take tea under the trees. In one of Coleman's plays, a Spitalfield's dame defines the acmeof elegance as:

 "Drinking tea on summer afternoons At Bagnigge Wells with china and gilt spoons. "

London was surrounded with tea-gardens, the most popularbeing Sadlier's Wells, Merlin's Cave, Cromwell Gardens, Jenny'sWhim, Cuper Gardens, London Spa, and the White Conduit House, where they used to take in fifty pounds on a Sunday afternoonfor sixpenny tea-tickets. 

One D'Archenholz was surprised by the elegance, beauty, andluxury of these resorts, where, Steele said, they swallowedgallons of the juice of tea, while their own dock leaves weretrodden under foot. 

The ending of the East India Company's monopoly of the trade, coupled with the fact that the legislature recognized that tea hadpassed out of the catalogue of luxuries into that of necessities, began a new era for the queen of drinks destined to reign overall other beverages. 

[Illustration of woman]

 _O TEA!_

 In the drama of the past Thou art featured in the cast; (O Tea!) And thou hast played thy part With never a change of heart, (O Tea!) For 'mid all the ding and dong Waits a welcome--soothing song, For fragrant Hyson and Oolong. . . . A song of peace, through all the years, Of fireside fancies, devoid of fears, Of mothers' talks and mothers' lays, Of grandmothers' comforts--quiet ways. Of gossip, perhaps--still and yet-- What of Johnson? Would we forget The pictured cup; those merry times, When round the board, with ready rhymes Waller, Dryden, and Addison--Young, Grave Pope to Gay, when Cowper sung? Sydney Smith, too; gentle Lamb brew, Tennyson, Dickens, Doctor Holmes knew. The cup that cheered, those sober souls, And tiny tea-trays, samovars, and bowls. . . . So here's a toast to the queen of plants, The queen of plants--Bohea! Good wife, ring for your maiden aunts, We'll all have cups of tea. --ARTHUR GRAY. 

 _TEA TERMS_

 JAPANESE

 Ori-mono-châ . . . Folded Tea Giy-ôku-ro-châ . . . Dew Drop Tea Usu-châ . . . Light Tea Koi-châ . . . Dark Tea Tô-bi-dashi-châ . . . Sifted Tea Ban-châ . . . Common Tea Yu-Shiyutsu-châ . . . Export Tea Neri-châ . . . Brick Tea Koku-châ . . . Black Tea Ko-châ . . . Tea Dust Broken Leaves Riyoku-châ . . . Green Tea

 CHINESE

 Bohea . . . "Happy Establishment" So called after two ranges of hills, Fu-Kien or Fo-Kien Congou . . . Labor Named so at Amoy from the labor in preparing it. Sou chong . . . Small Kind Hyson . . . Flourishing Spring Pe-koe . . . White Hair So called because only the youngest leaves are gathered, which still have the delicate down--white hair--on the surface. Pou-chong . . . Folded Tea So called at Canton after the manner of picking it. 

 Brick Tea--prepared in Central China from the commonest sorts of tea, by soaking the tea refuse, such as broken leaves, twigs, and dust, in boiling water and then pressing them into moulds. Used in Siberia and Mongolia, where it also serves as a medium of exchange. The Mongols place the bricks, when testing the quality, on the head, and try to pull downward over the eyes. They reject the brick as worthless if it breaks or bends. 

[Illustration of Japanese woman]

_TEA LEAVES_

BY JOHN ERNEST MCCANN

According to Henry Thomas Buckle, the author of "The Historyof Civilization in England, " who was the master of eighteenlanguages, and had a library of 22, 000 volumes, with an incomeof $75, 000 a year, at the age of twenty-nine, in 1850 (he died in1860, at the age of thirty-nine), tea making and drinking were, or are, what Wendell Phillips would call lost arts. He thoughtthat, when it came to brewing tea, the Chinese philosopherswere not living in his vicinity. He distinctly wrote that, until heshowed her how, no woman of his acquaintance could make adecent cup of tea. He insisted upon a warm cup, and even spoon, and saucer. Not that Mr. Buckle ever sipped tea from a saucer. Of course, he was right in insisting upon those above-mentionedthings, for tea-things, like a tea-party, should be in sympathywith the tea, not antagonistic to it. Still, not always; for, on onememorable occasion, in the little town of Boston, the greatesttea-party in history was anything but sympathetic. But let thatpass. 

Emperor Kien Lung wrote, 200 years or more ago, for the benefitof his children, just before he left the Flowery Kingdomfor a flowerier:

"Set a tea-pot over a slow fire; fill it with cold water; boil it longenough to turn a lobster red; pour it on the quantity of tea in aporcelain vessel; allow it to remain on the leaves until the vaporevaporates, then sip it slowly, and all your sorrows will followthe vapor. "

He says nothing about milk or sugar. But, to me, tea withoutsugar is poison, as it is with milk. I can drink one cup of tea, orcoffee, with sugar, but without milk, and feel no ill effects; butif I put milk in either tea or coffee, I am as sick as a defeatedcandidate for the Presidency. That little bit of fact is written as ahint to many who are ill without knowing why they are, afterdrinking tea, or coffee, with milk in it. I don't think that milkwas ever intended for coffee or tea. Why should it be? Who wasthe first to color tea and coffee with milk? It may have been amad prince, in the presence of his flatterers and imitators, to beodd; or just to see if his flatterers would adopt the act. 

The Russians sometimes put champagne in their tea; the Germans, beer; the Irish, whiskey; the New Yorker, ice cream; the English, oysters, or clams, if in season; the true Bostonian, rose leaves;and the Italian and Spaniard, onions and garlic. 

You all know one of the following lines, imperfectly. Scarcelyone in one hundred quotes them correctly. _I_ never havequoted them as written, off-hand--but lines run out of my headlike schoolboys out of school, "When the lessons and tasks are all ended, And school for the day is dismissed. "

Here are the lines:

 "Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast; Let fall the curtains; wheel the sofa round; And while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn Throws up a steamly column, and the cups That cheer, but not inebriate, wait on each, To let us welcome peaceful evening in. "

Isn't that a picture? Not one superfluous word in it! Who knowsits author, or when it was written, or can quote the line before orafter

 "the cups That cheer, but not inebriate"?

&&or in what poem the lines run down the ages? I tell you? Not I. Idon't believe in encouraging laziness. If I tell you, you will let itslip from your memory, like a panic-stricken eel through thefingers of a panic-stricken schoolboy; but if you hunt it up, itwill be riveted to your memory, like a ballet, and one neverforgets when, where, how, why, and from whom, he receivesthat. 

What a pity that, in Shakespeare's time, there was no tea-table!What a delightful comedy he could, and would, have writtenaround it, placing the scene in his native Stratford! What acharming hostess at a tea-table his mother, Mary Arden (loveliestof womanly names), would have made! Any of the ladies of thedelightful "Cranford" wouldn't be a circumstance to a tea-tablescene in a Warwickshire comedy, with lovely Mary Arden Shakespeareas the protagonist, if the comedy were from the pen of herdelightful boy, Will. Had tea been known in Shakespeare's time, how much more closely he would have brought his sexes, underone roof, instead of sending the more animal of the two offto The Boar's Head and The Mermaid, leaving the ladies totheir own verbal devices. 

Shakespeare, being such a delicate, as well as virile, poet, would have taken to tea as naturally as a bee takes to a rose orhoneysuckle; for the very word "tea" suggests all that isfragrant, and clean, and spotless: linen, silver, china, toast, butter, a charming room with charming women, charmingly gowned, and peach and plum and apple trees, with the scent of roses, just beyond the open, half-curtained windows, looking downupon, or over, orchard or garden, as the May or June morningbreezes suggest eternal youth, as they fill the room withperfume, tenderness, love, optimism, and hope in immortality. Coffee suggests taverns, cafés, sailing vessels, yachts, boarding-houses-by-the-river-side, and pessimism. Tea suggestsoptimism. Coffee is a tonic; tea, a comfort. Coffee is prose; teais poetry. Whoever thinks of taking coffee into a sick-room?Who doesn't think of taking in the comforting cup of tea? Canthe most vivid imagination picture the angels (above the stars)drinking coffee? No. Yet, if I were to show them to you over theteacups, you would not be surprised or shocked. Would you?Not a bit of it. You would say:

"That's a very pretty picture. Pray, what are they talking about, or of whom are they talking?"

Why, of their loved ones below, and of the days of their comingabove the stars. They know when to look for us, and while thetime may seem long to us before the celestial reunion, to them itis short. They do not worry, as we do. We could not match theirbeautiful serenity if we tried, for they know the folly of wishingto break or change divine laws. 

What delightful scandals have been born at tea-tables--rose andlavender, and old point lace scandals: surely, no brutal scandalsor treasons, as in the tavern. Tea-table gossip surely neverseriously hurt a reputation. Well, name one. No? Well, think ofthe shattered reputations that have fallen around the bottle. Menare the worst gossips unhanged, not women. 

In 1652, tea sold for as high as £10 in the leaf. Pepys had hisfirst cup of tea in September, 1660. (See his Diary. ) The rarerecipe for making tea in those days was known only to the elect, and here it is:

"To a pint of tea, add the yolks of two fresh eggs; then beatthem up with as much fine sugar as is sufficient to sweeten thetea, and stir well together. The water must remain no longerupon the tea than while you can chant the Miserere psalm in aleisurely fashion. "

But I am not indorsing recipes of 250 odd years ago. The aboveis from the knowledge box of a Chinese priest, or a priest fromChina, called Père Couplet (don't print it Quatrain), in 1667. Hegave it to the Earl of Clarendon, and I extend it to you, if youwish to try it. 

John Milton knew the delights of tea. He drank coffee duringthe composition of "Paradise Lost, " and tea during the buildingof "Paradise Regained. "

Like all good things, animate and inanimate, tea did not becomepopular without a struggle. It, like the gradual oak, met withmany kinds of opposition, from the timid, the prejudiced, andthe selfish. All sorts of herbs were put upon the market to offsetits popularity; such as onions, sage, marjoram, the Arcticbramble, the sloe, goat-weed, Mexican goosefoot, speedwell, wild geranium, veronica, wormwood, juniper, saffron, carduusbenedictus, trefoil, wood-sorrel, pepper, mace, scurry grass, plantain, and betony. 

Sir Hans Sloane invented herb tea, and Captain Cook's companion, Dr. Solander, invented another tea, but it was no use--tea hadcome to stay, and a blessing it has been to the world, whenmoderately used. You don't want to become a tea drunkard, like Dr. Johnson, nor a coffee fiend, like Balzac. Be moderatein all things, and you are bound to be happy and live long. Moderation in eating, drinking, loving, hating, smoking, talking, acting, fighting, sleeping, walking, lending, borrowing, reading newspapers--in expressing opinions--even in bathingand praying--means long life and happiness. 

_WIT, WISDOM, AND HUMOR OF TEA_

Tea tempers the spirits and harmonizes the mind, dispelslassitude and relieves fatigue, awakens thought and preventsdrowsiness, lightens or refreshes the body, and clears theperceptive faculties. --CONFUCIUS. 

Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea?--howdid it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea. --SYDNEYSMITH. 

"Sammy, " whispered Mr. Weller, "if some o' these here peopledon't want tappin' to-morrow mornin', I ain't your father, andthat's wot it is. Why this here old lady next me is a drown-in'herself in tea. "

"Be quiet, can't you?" murmured Sam. 

"Sam, " whispered Mr. Weller, a moment afterward, in a tone ofdeep agitation, "mark my words, my boy; if that 'ere secretaryfeller keeps on for five minutes more, he'll blow himself up withtoast and water. "

"Well, let him if he likes, " replied Sam; "it ain't no bis'ness ofyourn. "

"If this here lasts much longer, Sammy, " said Mr. Weller, in thesame low voice, "I shall feel it my duty as a human bein' to riseand address the cheer. There's a young 'ooman on the next formbut two, as has drank nine breakfast cups and a half; and she's aswellin' wisibly before my wery eyes. "--_Pickwick Papers_. 

Books upon books have been published in relation to the evileffects of tea-drinking, but, for all that, no statistics are athand to show that their arguments have made teetotalers oftea-drinkers. One of the best things, however, said againsttea-drinking is distinctly in its favor to a certain extent. It isfrom one Dr. Paulli, who laments that "tea so dries the bodies ofthe Chinese that they can hardly spit. " This will find fewsympathizers among us. We suggest the quotation to some enterprisingtea-dealer to be used in a street-car advertisement. 

Of all methods of making tea, that hit upon by Heine's Italianlandlord was perhaps the most economical. Heine lodged in ahouse at Lucca, the first floor of which was occupied by anEnglish family. The latter complained of the cookery of Italy ingeneral, and their landlord's in particular. Heine declared thelandlord brewed the best tea ho had ever tasted in the country, and to convince his doubtful English friends, invited them totake tea with him and his brother. The invitation was accepted. Tea-time came, but no tea. When the poet's patience was exhausted, his brother went to the kitchen to expedite matters. There hefound his landlord, who, in blissful ignorance of what companythe Heines had invited, cried: "You can get no tea, for thefamily on the first floor have not taken tea this evening. "

The tea that had delighted Heine was made from the used leavesof the English party, who found and made their own tea, andthus afforded the landlord an opportunity of obtaining at oncepraise and profit by this Italian method of serving a pot of tea. --_Chambers's Journal_. 

[Illustration of two women]

 _FATE_

 Matrons who toss the cup, and see The grounds of Fate in grounds of tea. --_Churchill_. 

_TEA MAKING AND TAKING IN JAPAN AND CHINA_

The queen of teas in Japan is a fine straw-colored beverage, delicate and subtle in flavor, and as invigorating as a glass ofchampagne. It is real Japan tea, and seldom leaves its nativeheath for the reason that, while it is peculiarly adaptable to theJapanese constitution, it is too stimulating for the finely-tunedand over-sensitive Americans, who, by the way, are said to bethe largest customers for Japan teas of other grades in the world. 

This particular tea, which looks as harmless as our own importationsof the leaf, is a very insidious beverage, as an American ladysoon found out after taking some of it late at night. She declared, after drinking a small cup before retiring, she did not closeher eyes in sleep for a week. We do not know the name of the brandof tea, and are glad of it; for we live in a section where thewomen are especially curious. 

But the drink of the people at large in Japan is green tea, although powdered tea is also used, but reserved for specialfunctions and ceremonial occasions. Tea, over there, is notmade by infusing the leaves with boiling water, as is the casewith us; but the boiling water is first carefully cooled in anothervessel to 176 degrees Fahrenheit. The leaves are also renewedfor every infusion. It would be crime against his AugustMajesty, the Palate, to use the same leaves more than once--inJapan. The preparation of good tea is regarded by the Japs as theheight of social art, and for that reason it is an importantelement in the domestic, diplomatic, political, and general lifeof the country. 

Tea is the beverage--the masterpiece--of every meal, even if itbe nothing but boiled rice. Every artisan and laborer, going towork, carries with him his rice-box of lacquered wood, a kettle, a tea-caddy, a tea-pot, a cup, and his chop-sticks. Milk andsugar are generally eschewed. The Japs and the Chinese neverindulge in either of these ingredients in tea; the use of which, they claim, spoils the delicate aroma. 

From the highest court circles down to the lowliest and poorestof the Emperor's subjects, it is the custom in both Japan andChina to offer tea to every visitor upon his arrival. Not to dothis would be an unpardonable breach of national manners. Even in the shops, the customer is regaled with a soothing cupbefore the goods are displayed to him. This does not, however, impose any obligation on the prospective purchaser, but it is, nevertheless, a good stimulant to part with his money. Thisappears to be a very ancient tradition in China and Japan--soancient that it is continued by the powers that be in Paradise andHades, according to a translation called "Strange Stories fromMy Small Library, " a classical Chinese work published in 1679. 

The old domestic etiquette of Japan never intrusted to a servantthe making of tea for a guest. It was made by the master of thehouse himself; the custom probably growing out of the innatepoliteness and courtesy of a people who believe that an honoredvisitor is entitled to the best entertainment possible to give him. 

As soon as a guest is seated upon his mat, a small tray is setbefore the master of the house. Upon this tray is a tiny tea-potwith a handle at right angles to the spout. Other parts of thisoutfit include a highly artistic tea-kettle filled with hot water, and a requisite number of small cups, set in metal or bambootrays. These trays are used for handing the cups around, but theguest is not expected to take one. The cups being withouthandles, and not easy to hold, the visitor must therefore becareful lest he let one slip through his untutored fingers. 

The tea-pot is drenched with hot water before the tea is put in;then more hot water is poured over the leaves, and soon pouredoff into the cups. This is repeated several times, but the hotwater is never allowed to stand on the grounds over a minute. 

The Japanese all adhere to the general household custom of thecountry in keeping the necessary tea apparatus in readiness. Inthe living-room of every house is contained a brazier with livecoals, a kettle to boil water, a tray with tea-pot, cups, and atea-caddy. 

Their neighbors, the Chinese, are just as alert; for no matterwhat hour of the day it may be, they always keep a kettle ofboiling water over the hot coals, ready to make and serve thebeverage at a moment's notice. No visitor is allowed to leavewithout being offered a cup of their tea, and they themselves areglad to share in their own hospitality. 

The Chinese use boiling water, and pour it upon the dry tea ineach cup. Among the better social element is used a cup shapedlike a small bowl, with a saucer a little less in diameter than thetop of the bowl. This saucer also serves another purpose, and isoften used for a cover when the tea is making. After the boilingwater is poured upon the tea, it is covered for a couple ofminutes, until the leaves have separated and fallen to the bottomof the cup. This process renders the tea clear, delightfullyfragrant, and appetizing. 

A variety of other cups are also used; the most prominent beingwithout handles, one or two sizes larger than the Japanese. Theyare made of the finest china, set in silver trays beautifullywrought, ornate in treatment and design. 

A complete tea outfit is a part of the outfitting of every_Ju-bako_--"picnic-box"--with which every Jap is provided when ona journey, making an excursion, or attending a picnic. TheJapanese are very much given to these out-of-door affairs, which they call _Hanami_--"Looking at the flowers. " No wonderthey are fond of these pleasures, for it is a land of lovelylandscapes and heaven-sent airs, completely in harmony withthe poetic and artistic natures of this splendid people. 

Tea-houses--_Châ ya_--which take the place of our cafes andbar rooms, but which, nevertheless, serve a far higher socialpurpose, are everywhere in evidence, on the high-roads andby-roads, tucked away in templed groves and public resorts ofevery nature. 

Among the Japanese are a number of ceremonial, social, andliterary tea-parties which reflect their courtly and chivalrousspirit, and keep alive the traditions of the people more, perhaps, than any other of their functions. 

The most important of these tea-parties are exclusively forgentlemen, and their forms and ceremonies rank among themost refined usages of polite society. The customs of thesegatherings are so peculiarly characteristic of the Japanese thatfew foreign observers have an opportunity of attending them. These are the tea-parties of a semi-literary or aesthetic character, and the ceremonious _Châ-no-ya_. In the first prevails the easyand unaffected tone of the well-bred gentleman. In the other areobserved the strictest rules of etiquette both in speech andbehavior. But the former entertainment is by far the mostinteresting. The Japanese love and taste for fine scenery isshown in the settings and surroundings. To this picturesqueoutlook, recitals of romance and impromptu poetry add intellectualcharm to the tea-party. 

For these occasions the host selects a tea-house located inwell-laid-out grounds and commanding a fine view. In this he laysmats equal to the number of guests. By sliding the partition andremoving the front wall the place is transformed into an openhall overlooking the landscape. The room is filled with choiceflowers, and the art treasures of the host, which at other timesare stored away in the fire-proof vault--"go down"--of hisprivate residence, contribute artistic beauty and decoration tothe scene. Folding screens and hanging pictures painted bycelebrated artists, costly lacquer-ware, bronze, china, and otherheirlooms are tastefully distributed about the room. 

Stories told at these tea-parties are called by the Japanese namesof _Châ-banashi_, meaning tea-stories, or _Hiti-Kuchá_--"onemouth stories, " short stories told at one sitting. At timesprofessional story-tellers are employed. Of these there are twokinds: Story-Tellers and "Cross-Road Tradition Narrators, " bothof whom since olden times have been the faithful custodiansand disseminators of native folk-lore and tales. 

These professionals are divided into a number of classes, themost important being the _Hanashi-Ka_, members of a celebratedcompany under a well-known manager, who unites them intotroops of never less than five or more than seven in number. Such companies are often advertised weeks before their arrivalin a place by hoisting flags or streamers with the names ofthe performers thereon. Their programme consists of war-stories, traditions, and recitals with musical accompaniment. Duringthe intermission, feats of legerdemain or wrestling fill inthe time and give variety to the entertainment. 

These are the leading professional performers. The other classes, while not held in as high regard by the select, nevertheless havea definite place in Japanese amusement circles. One of the latteris the _Tsuji-kô-shâku-ji_. This word-swallower does notbelong to any company, but is a "free-lance" entertainer. A sortof "has been, " he does not, however, rest on his past laurels, butcontinues to perform whenever he can obtain an audience--onthe highways, to passers-by, in public resorts and thoroughfares. 

Although the Chinese are not so neat in their public habits asthe Japs, still their tea-houses and similar resorts are just asnumerous and popular as they are in the neighboring country. Perhaps the most interesting caterers in China, however, are thecoolies, who sell hot water in the rural districts. These itinerantshave an ingenious way of announcing their coming by a whistlingkettle. This vessel contains a compartment for fire with afunnel going through the top. A coin with a hole is placedso that when the water is boiling a regular steam-whistleis heard. 

Plentiful as tea is in China, however, the poor people there donot consume as good a quality of the leaf as the same class inour own country. 

Especially is this the case in the northern part of China, wheremost of the inhabitants just live, and that is all. There they areobliged to use the last pickings of tea, commonly known as"brick tea, " which is very poor and coarse in quality. It ispressed into bricks about eight by twelve inches in size, andwhenever a quantity of it is needed a piece is knocked off andpulverized in a kettle of boiling water. Other ingredients, consisting of suit, milk, butter, a little pepper, and vinegar, areadded, and this combination constitutes the entire meal of thefamily. 

Tea in China and Japan is the stand-by of every meal--thenever-failing and ever-ready refreshment. Besides being thecourteous offering to the visitor, it serves a high purpose in thehome life of these peoples; uniting the family and friends intheir domestic life and pleasures at all times and seasons. Athome round the brazier and the lamp in winter evenings, atpicnic parties and excursions to the shady glen during the fineseason, tea is the social connecting medium, the intellectualstimulant and the universal drink of these far-and-away peoples. 

[Illustration of Japanese garden]

_TEA-DRINKING IN OTHER LANDS_

While tea-drinking outside of Japan and China is not attendedwith any "high-days and holidays, " still there are countrieswhere it is just as important element of the daily life of itspeople as it is in the Land of the Rising Sun. 

Among the Burmese a newly-married couple, to insure a happylife, exchange a mixture of tea-leaves steeped in oil. 

In Bokhara, every man carries a small bag of tea about with him. When he is thirsty he hands a certain quantity over to thebooth-keeper, who makes the beverage for him. The Bokhariot, who isa confirmed tea-slave, finds it just as hard to pass a tea-boothwithout indulging in the herb as our own inebriates do to go bya corner cafe. His breakfast beverage is _Schitschaj_--tea inwhich bread is soaked and flavored with milk, cream, or muttonfat. During the daytime he drinks green tea with cakes of flourand mutton suet. It is considered a gross breach of manners tocool the hot tea by blowing the breath. This is overcome bysupporting the right elbow in the left hand and giving an easy, graceful, circular movement to the cup. The time it takes foreach kind of tea to draw is calculated to a second. When the canis emptied it is passed around among the company for eachtea-drinker to take up as many leaves as can be held between thethumb and finger; the leaves being considered a special dainty. 

An English traveller once journeying through Asiatic Russiawas obliged to claim the hospitality of a family of BuratskyArabs. At mealtime the mistress of the tent placed a large kettleon the fire, wiped it carefully with a horse's tail, filled it withwater, threw in some coarse tea and a little salt. When this wasnearly boiled she stirred the mixture with a brass ladle until theliquor became very brown, when she poured it into anothervessel. Cleaning the kettle as before, the woman set it again onthe fire to fry a paste of meal and fresh butter. Upon this shepoured the tea and some thick cream, stirred it, and after a timethe whole. Was taken off the fire and set aside to cool. Half-pintmugs were handed around and the tea ladled into them: theresult, a pasty tea forming meat and drink, satisfying bothhunger and thirst. 

M. Vámbéry says: "The picture of a newly encamped caravan inthe summer months, on the steppes of Central Asia, is a trulyinteresting one. While the camels in the distance, but still insight, graze greedily, or crush the juicy thistles, the travellers, even to the poorest among them, sit with their tea-cups in theirhands and eagerly sip the costly beverage. It is nothing morethan a greenish warm water, innocent of sugar, and oftendecidedly turbid; still, human art has discovered no food, invented no nectar, which is so grateful, so refreshing, in thedesert as this unpretending drink. I have still a vivid recollectionof its wonderful effects. As I sipped the first drops, a soft firefilled my veins, a fire which enlivened without intoxicating. Thelater draughts affected both heart and head; the eye becamepeculiarly bright and began to glow. In such moments I felt anindescribable rapture and sense of comfort. My companionssunk in sleep; I could keep myself awake and dream with openeyes!"

Tea is the national drink of Russia, and as indispensable aningredient of the table there as bread or meat. It is taken at allhours of the day and night, and in all the griefs of the Russianhe flies to tea and vodka for mental refuge and consolation. Teais drunk out of tumblers in Russia. In the homes of the wealthythese tumblers are held in silver holders like the sockets thathold our soda-water glasses. These holders are decorated, ofcourse, with the Russian idea of art. 

In every Russian town tea-houses flourish. In these publicresorts a large glass of tea with plenty of sugar in it is served atwhat would cost, in our money, about two cents. Tea withlemon is so general that milk with the drink, over there, isconsidered a fad. 

The Russians seem to like beverages that bite--set the teeth onedge, as it were. 

The poor in Russia take a lump of sugar in their mouths and letthe tea trickle through it. Travelling tea-peddlers, equipped withkettles wrapped up in towels to preserve the heat, and a row ofglasses in leather pockets, furnish a glass of hot tea at any hourof the day or night. 

The Russian samovar--from the Greek "to boil itself"--is agraceful dome-topped brass urn with a cylinder two or threeinches in diameter passing through it from top to bottom. Thecylinder is filled with live coals, and keeps the water boiling hot. The Russian tea-pots are porcelain or earthen. Hot water to heatthe pot is first put in and then poured out; dry tea is then put in, boiling water poured over it; after which the pot is placed on topof the samovar. 

We all know about tea-drinking in England. It is not a verypicturesque or interesting occasion, at best. To the traditionalEnglishman's mind it means simply a quiet evening at home, attended by the papers, and serious conversations in which thehead of the house deals out political and domestic wisdom untilten o'clock. During the day, tea-taking begins with breakfastand rounds up on the fashionable thoroughfares in the afternoon. Here one may see the Britishers at their best and worst. Theseplaces are called "tea-shops, " and in them one may acquire thelatest hand-shake, the freshest tea and gossip, see the newestmodes and millinery, meet and greet the whirl of the world. Aninteresting study of types, in contrasts and conditions of society, worth the price of a whole chest of choice tea. 

We are pretty prosaic tea-drinkers in America. Is it becausethere is not enough "touch and go" about the drink, or that weare too busy to settle down to the quiet, comfort, and thoughtfultea-ways of our contemporaries? Wait until a few things aresettled; when our kitchen queens do not leave us in the "gray ofthe morning, " and all of our daughters have obtained diplomasin the art and science of gastronomy. 

However made or taken, tea at best or worst is a glorious drink. As a stimulant for the tired traveller and weary worker it isunique in its restful, retiring, soothing, and caressing qualities. 

 _THE TEA-TABLE_

 Tho' all unknown to Greek and Roman song, The paler hyson and the dark souchong, Tho' black nor green the warbled praises share Of knightly troubadour or gay trouvère, Yet deem not thou, an alien quite to numbers, That friend to prattle and that foe to slumbers, Which Kian-Long, imperial poet, praised So high that, cent per cent, its price was raised; Which Pope himself would sometimes condescend To place commodious at a couplet's end; Which the sweet Bard of Olney did not spurn, Who loved the music of the "hissing urn. " . . . For the dear comforts of domestic tea Are sung too well to stand in need of me By Cowper and the Bard of Rimini; Besides, I hold it as a special grace When such a theme is old and commonplace. The cheering lustre of the new-stirr'd fire, The mother's summons to the dozing sire, The whispers audible that oft intrude On the forced silence of the younger brood, The seniors' converse, seldom over new, Where quiet dwells and strange events are few, The blooming daughter's ever-ready smile, So full of meaning and so void of guile. And all the little mighty things that cheer The closing day from quiet year to year, I leave to those whom benignant fate Or merit destines to the wedded state. . . . 'Tis woman still that makes or mars the man. And so it is, the creature can beguile The fairest faces of the readiest smile. The third who comes the hyson to inhale, If not a man, at least appears a male. . . . Last of the rout, and dogg'd with public cares, The politician stumbles up the stairs; Whose dusky soul nor beauty can illume, Nor wine dispel his patriotic gloom. In restless ire from guest to guest he goes, And names us all among our country's foes; Swears 'tis a shame that we should drink our tea, 'Till wrongs are righted and the nation free, That priests and poets are a venal race, Who preach for patronage and rhyme for place; Declares that boys and girls should not be cooing. When England's hope is bankruptcy and ruin; That wiser 'twere the coming wrath to fly, And that old women should make haste to die. 

 Condensed from a poem published in _Fraser's Magazine_, January, 1857, and ascribed to Hartley Coleridge. 

_LADIES, LITERATURE, AND TEA_

In spite of the fact that coffee is just as important a beverage astea, tea has been sipped more in literature. 

Tea is certainly as much of a social drink as coffee, and more ofa domestic, for the reason that the teacup hours are the familyhours. As these are the hours when the sexes are thrown together, and as most of the poetry and philosophy of tea-drinkingteem with female virtues, vanities, and whimsicalities, theinference is that, without women, tea would be nothing, andwithout tea, women would be stale, flat, and uninteresting. Withthem it is a polite, purring, soft, gentle, kind, sympathetic, delicious beverage. 

In support of this theory, notice what Pope, Gay, Crabbe, Cowper, Dryden, and others have written on the subject. 

 "The tea-cup times of hood and hoop, And when the patch was worn"

--wrote Tennyson of the early half of the seventeenth century. 

What a suggestive couplet, full of the foibles and follies of thetimes! A picture a la mode of the period when fair dames madetheir red cheeks cute with eccentric patches. Ornamented withhigh coiffures, powdered hair, robed in satin petticoats andsquare-cut bodices, they blossomed, according to the oldengravings, into most fetching figures. Even the beaux of theday affected feminine frills in their many-colored, bell-skirtedwaistcoats, lace ruffles, patches, and powdered queues. 

Dryden must have succumbed to the charms of women throughtea, when he wrote:

 "And thou, great Anna, whom three realms obey, Dost sometimes take counsel, and sometimes tay. "

From the great vogue which tea started grew a taste for china;the more peculiar and striking the design, the more valuable thetea-set. 

Pope in one of his satirical compositions praises the composureof a woman who is

 "Mistress of herself though china fall. "

Even that fine old bachelor, philosopher, and humorist, CharlesLamb, thought that the subject deserved an essay. 

In speaking of the ornaments on the tea-cup he says, in "OldChina":

"I like to see my old friends, whom distance cannot diminish, figuring up in the air (so they appear to our optics), yet on terrafirma still, for so we must in courtesy interpret that speck ofdeeper blue which the decorous artist, to prevent absurdity, hasmade to spring up beneath their sandals. I love the men withwomen's faces and the women, if possible, with still morewomanish expressions. 

"Here is a young and courtly Mandarin, handing tea to a ladyfrom a salver--two miles off. See how distance seems to set offrespect! And here the same lady, or another--for likeness isidentity on tea-cups--is stepping into a little fairy boat, mooredon the hither side of this calm garden river, with a dainty, mincing foot, which is in a right angle of incidence (as anglesgo in our world) that must infallibly land her in the midst of aflowery mead--a furlong off on the other side of the samestrange stream!"

The _Spectator_ and the _Tatter_ were also susceptible to thefemale influence that tea inspired. In both of these journals thereare frequent allusions to tea-parties and china. At thesegatherings, poets and dilletante literary gentlemen read theirverses and essays to the ladies, who criticised their merits. These "literary teas" became so contagious that a burning desirefor authorship took possession of the ladies, for among thosewho made their debut as authors about this time were FannyBurney, Mrs. Alphra Behn, Mrs. Manley, the Countess of Winchelsea, and a host of others. 

One of the readers of the _Spectator_ wrote as follows:

"_Mr. Spectator:_ Your paper is a part of my tea-equipage, andmy servant knows my humor so well that, calling for my breakfastthis morning (it being past my usual hour), she answered, the _Spectator_ was not come in, but that the tea-kettleboiled, and she expected it every minute. "

Crabbe, too, was a devotee of ladies, literature, and tea, for hewrote:

 "The gentle fair on nervous tea relies, Whilst gay good-nature sparkles in her eyes; And inoffensive scandal fluttering round, Too rough to tickle and too light to wound. "

What better proof do we want, therefore, that to women'sinfluence is due the cultivation and retention of the tea habit?Without tea, what would become of women, and without womenand tea, what would become of our domestic literary men andmatinee idols? They would not sit at home or in salons andwrite and act things. There would be no homes to sit in, nosalons or theatres to act in, and dramatic art would receive ablow from which it could not recover in a century, at least. 

[Illustration of woman and cat]

In the year 1700, J. Roberts, a London publisher, issued apamphlet of about fifty pages which was made up as follows:

 Poem upon Tea in Two Cantos . . . 34 pages Dedication of the poem . . . . . . 6 " Preface to the poem . . . . . . . 2 " Poem upon the poem . . . . . . . . 1 " Introduction to the poem . . . . . 4 " To the author upon the poem . . 1 " Postscript . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 " Tea-Table . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 "

The poem--_pièce de résistance_--which is by one Nahum Tate, who figures on the title-page as "Servant to His Majesty, " is anallegory; and although good in spots is too long and too dry toreproduce here. "The poem upon the poem, " "The Introduction, "and the "Tea-Table" verses will be found interesting andentertaining. 

 _ON OUR ENGLISH POETRY AND THIS POEM UPON TEA_

 See Spanish Curderon in Strength outdone: And see the Prize of Wit from Tasso won: See Corneil's Skill and Decency Refin'd; See Rapin's Art, and Molier's Fire Outshin'd; See Dryden's Lamp to our admiring View, Brought from the Tomb to shine and Blaze anew!

 The British Laurel by old Chaucer worn, Still Fresh and Gay, did Dryden's Brow Adorn; And that its Lustre may not fade on Thine, Wit, Fancy, Judgment, Taste, in thee combine. Thy pow'rful Genius thus, from Censure's Frown And Envy's Blast, in Flourishing Renown, Supports our British Muses Verdant Crown. Nor only takes a Trusty Laureat's Care, Lest Thou the Muses Garland might'st impair; But, more Enrich'd, the Chaplet to Bequeath, With Eastern Tea join'd to the Laurel-Wreath. --R. B. 

 _TO THE AUTHOR ON HIS POEM UPON TEA_

 Let Rustick Satyr, now no more Abuse, In rude Unskilful Strains, thy Tuneful Muse; No more let Envy lash thy true-bred Steed, Nor cross thy easy, just, and prudent Speed: Who dext'rously doth bear or loose the Rein, To climb each lofty Hill, or scour the Plain: With proper Weight and Force thy Courses run; Where still thy Pegasus has Wonders done, Come home with Strength, and thus the Prize has Won. But now takes Wing, and to the Skies aspires; While Vanquish'd Envy the bold Flight admires, And baffled Satyr to his Den retires. --T. W. 

 _THE INTRODUCTION_

 Fame Sound thy Trump, all Ranks of Mortals Call, To share a Prize that will enrich 'em All. You that with Sacred Oracles converse, And clearly wou'd Mysterious Truths rehearse; On soaring Wings of Contemplation rise, And fetch Discov'ries from above the Skies; Ethereal TEA your Notions will resine, Till you yourselves become almost Divine. 

 You statesmen, who in Storms the Publick Helm Wou'd Guide with Skill, and Save a sinking Realm, TEA, your Minerva, shall suggest such Sense, Such safe and sudden Turns of Thought dispense, That you, like her Ulysses, may Advise, And start Designs that shall the World surprise. 

 You Pleaders, who for Conquest at the Bar Contend as Fierce and Loud as Chiefs in War; Would you Amaze and Charm the list'ning Court? First to this Spring of Eloquence resort: Then boldly launch on Tully's flowing Seas, And grasp the Thunder of Demosthenes. 

 You Artists of the AEsculapian Tribe, Wou'd you, like AEsculapius's Self, Prescribe, Cure Maladies, and Maladies prevent? Receive this Plant, from your own Phoebus sent; Whence Life's nice Lamp in Temper is maintain'd, When Dim, Recruited, when too fierce, restrained. 

 You Curious Souls, who all our Thoughts apply, The hidden Works of Nature to descry; Why veering Winds with Vari'd Motion blow, Why Seas in settled Courses Ebb and Flow; Wou'd you these Secrets of her Empire know? Treat the Coy Nymph with this Celestial Dew, Like Ariadne she'll impart the Clue; Shall through her Winding Labyrinths convey, And Causes, iculking in their Cells, display. 

 You that to Isis's Bark or Cam retreat, Wou'd you prove worthy Sons of either Seat, And All in Learning's Commonwealth be Great? Infuse this Leaf, and your own Streams shall bring More Science than the fam'd Castalian Spring. 

 Wou'd you, O Musick's Sons, your art Compleat, And all its ancient Miracles repeat, Rouse Rev'ling Monarchs into Martial Rage, And, when Inflam'd, with Softer Notes As swage; The tedious Hours of absent Love beguile, Charm Care asleep, and make Affliction smile? Carouse in Tea, that will your Souls inspire; Drink Phoebus's liquor and command his Lyre. 

 Sons of Appelles, wou'd you draw the Face And Shape of Venus, and with equal Grace In some Elysian Field the Figure place? Your Fancy, warm'd by TEA, with wish'd success, Shall Beauty's Queen in all her Charms express; With Nature's Rural Pride your Landscape fill The Shady Grotto, and the Sunny Hill, The Laughing Meadow, and the Talking Rill. 

 Sons of the Muses, would you Charm the Plains With Chearful Lays, or Sweet Condoling Strains; Or with a Sonnet make the Vallies ring, To Welcome home the Goddess of the Spring? Or wou'd you in sublimer Themes engage, And sing of Worthies who adorn the Age? Or, with Promethean Boldness, wou'd aspire To Catch a Spark of the Celestial Fire That Crowned the Royal Conquest, and could raise Juverne's Boyn above Scamander's Praise? Drink, drink Inspiring TEA, and boldly draw A Hercules, a Mars, or a NASSAU. 

 _THE TEA-TABLE_

 Hail, Queen of Plants, Pride of Elysian Bow'rs! How shall we speak thy complicated Pow'rs? Thou Won'drous Panacea to asswage The Calentures of Youths' fermenting rage, And Animate the freezing Veins of age. 

 To Bacchus when our Griefs repair for Ease, The Remedy proves worse than the Disease. Where Reason we must lose to keep the Round, And drinking others Health's, our own confound: Whilst TEA, our Sorrows to beguile, Sobriety and Mirth does reconcile: For to this Nectar we the Blessing owe, To grow more Wise, as we more Cheerful grow. 

 Whilst fancy does her brightest beams dispense, And decent Wit diverts without Offense. Then in Discourse of Nature's mystick Pow'rs And Noblest Themes, we pass the well spent Hours. Whilst all around the Virtues' Sacred Band, And list'ning Graces, pleas'd Attendants, stand. 

 Thus our Tea-Conversation we employ, Where with Delight, Instruction we enjoy; Quaffing, without the waste of Time or Wealth, The Sov'reign Drink of Pleasure and of Health. 

 _DR. JOHNSON'S AFFINITY_

 DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON drew his own portrait thus:

 "A hardened and shameless tea-drinker, who for twenty years diluted his meals with the infusion of this fascinating plant; whose kettle had scarcely time to cool; who with tea amused the evening, with tea solaced the midnight, and with tea welcomed the morning. "

_EARLIEST MENTION OF TEA_

According to a magazinist, the first mention of tea by anEnglishman is to be found in a letter from Mr. Wickham, anagent of the East India Company, written from Japan, on the27th of June, 1615, to Mr. Eaton, another officer of thecompany, a resident of Macao, asking him to send "a pot of thebest chaw. " In Mr. Eaton's accounts of expenditure occurs thisitem:

"Three silver porringiys to drink chaw in. "

_AUSTRALIAN TEA_

In the interior of Australia all the men drink tea. They drink itall day long, and in quantities and at a strength that would seemto be poisonous. On Sunday morning the tea-maker starts with aclean pot and a clean record. The pot is hung over the fire with asufficiency of water in it for the day's brew, and when this hasboiled he pours into it enough of the fragrant herb to produce adeep, coffee-colored liquid. 

On Monday, without removing yesterday's tea-leaves, he repeatsthe process; on Tuesday da capo and on Wednesday da capo, andso on through the week. Toward the close of it the greatpot is filled with an acrid mash of tea-leaves, out of whichthe liquor is squeezed by the pressure of a tin cup. 

By this time the tea is of the color of rusty iron, incredibly bitterand disagreeable to the uneducated palate. The native calls it"real good old post and rails, " the simile being obviously drawnfrom a stiff and dangerous jump, and regards it as having beenbrought to perfection. 

_FIVE-O'CLOCK TEA_

There is a fallacy among certain tea-fanciers that the origin offive-o'clock tea was due to hygienic demand. These students ofthe stomach contend that as a tonic and gentle stimulant, whennot taken with meat, it is not to be equalled. With meat or anybut light food it is considered harmful. Taken between luncheonand dinner it drives away fatigue and acts as a tonic. This isgood if true, but it is only a theory, after all. Our theory is thatfive o'clock in the afternoon is the ladies' leisure hour, and thatthe taking of tea at that time is an escape from _ennui_. 

_TEA IN LADIES' NOVELS_

What would women novelists do without tea in their books?The novelists of the rougher sex write of "over the coffee andcigars"; or, "around the gay and festive board"; or, "over abottle of old port"; or, "another bottle of dry and sparklingchampagne was cracked"; or, "and the succulent welsh rarebitswere washed down with royal mugs of musty ale"; or, "as thestorm grew fiercer, the captain ordered all hands to splice themain brace, " _i. E. _, to take a drink of rum; or, "as he gulpeddown the last drink of fiery whiskey, he reeled through thetavern door, and his swaying form drifted into the bleak, blacknight, as a roar of laughter drowned his repentant sobs. " But theladies of the novel confine themselves almost exclusively totea--rarely allowing their heroes and heroines to indulge in evencoffee, though they sometimes treat their heroes to wine; buttheir heroines rarely get anything from them but Oolong. 

[Illustration of Old Russian Samovar]

_SYDNEY SMITH_

One evening when Sidney Smith was drinking tea with Mrs. Austinthe servant entered the crowded room with a boiling tea-kettlein his hand. It seemed doubtful, nay, impossible, he shouldmake his way among the numerous gossips--but on the firstapproach of the steaming kettle the crowd receded on allsides, Mr. Smith among the rest, though carefully watching theprogress of the lad to the table. 

"I declare, " said he, addressing Mrs. Austin, "a man who wishesto make his way in life could do no better than go through theworld with a boiling tea-kettle in his hand. "--_Life of Rev. Sydney Smith_. 

_DR. JOHNSON AGAIN_

The good doctor evidently lived up to his reputation as atea-drinker at all times and places. Cumberland, the dramatist, in his memoirs gives a story illustrative of the doctor'stea-drinking powers: "I remember when Sir Joshua Reynolds, at myhome, reminded Dr. Johnson that he had drunk eleven cups of tea. 'Sir, ' he replied, 'I did not count your glasses of wine; whyshould you number my cups of tea?'"

At another time a certain Lady Macleod, after pouring outsixteen cups for him, ventured mildly to ask whether a basinwould not save him trouble and be more convenient. "I wonder, madam, " he replied, roughly, "why all ladies ask such questions?""It is to save yourself trouble, not me, " was the tactfulanswer of his hostess. 

 _A CUP OF TEA_

 _From St. Nicholas, December, 1899_. 

 Now Grietje from her window sees the leafless poplars lean Against a windy sunset sky with streaks of golden green; The still canal is touched with light from that wild, wintry sky, And, dark and gaunt, the windmill flings its bony arms on high. "It's growing late; it's growing cold; I'm all alone, " says she; "I'll put the little kettle on, to make a cup of tea!"

 Mild radiance from the porcelain stove reflects on shining tiles; The kettle beams, so red and bright that Grietje thinks it smiles; The kettle sings--so soft and low it seems as in a dream-- The song that's like a lullaby, the pleasant song of steam: "The summer's gone; the storks are flown; I'm always here, you see, To sing and sing, and shine, and shine, and make a cup of tea!"

 The blue delft plates and dishes gleam, all ranged upon the shelf; The tall Dutch clock tick-ticks away, just talking to itself; The brindled pussy cuddles down, and basks and blinks and purrs; And rosy, sleepy Grietje droops that snow-white cap of hers. "I do like winter after all; I'm very glad, " says she, "I put--my--little--kettle--on--to make--a cup--of--tea!" --HELEN GRAY CONE. 

[Illustration of landscape]