APPENDIX TO CHRONICLE. 343 



heai'J, during the present sittings, 

 that those who supposed they 

 were drinking coffee were deceiv- 

 ed, and were in fact drinking 

 neither more nor less than an in- 

 fusion of scorched peas and 

 beans. This they were told was 

 in itself harmless, and he believed, 

 at least, there was no mixture of 

 unwholesome ingredients. Not 

 so in the present case, for he 

 should prove that the most per- 

 nicious drugs had been used; and 

 it was clear that all ranks of 

 society, whether male or female, 

 were alike exposed to their effects. 

 The defendant, Mr. Palmer, was 

 a grocer, and had no doubt 

 reaped no small advantage from 

 his nefarious traffic. It would 

 appear that a regular manufactory 

 of this imitation tea, as it was 

 called, was established in Gold- 

 stone-street, and he should call a 

 witness who would go through 

 the whole history of the transac- 

 tion. The parties by whom the 

 manufactory was conducted, was 

 a person of the name of Proctor, 

 and another person named John 

 Malins, the son of William 

 Malins, carrying on business in a 

 place called Northumberland- 

 alley, Fenchurch-street, pro- 

 fessedly as a coffee-roaster. These 

 two persons engaged others to 

 furnish them with leaves, which, 

 after undergoing a certain pro- 

 cess that he would describe, 

 were sold to and drank by the 

 public as tea. The parties gather- 

 ing the leaves, which were of the 

 white and black thorn tree, were 

 paid at the rate of 2(/. per pound 

 for the produce of their labour. 

 These leaves, in order to be con- 

 verted into an article resembling 

 black tea, were first boiled, then 



baked upon an iron plate ; and, 

 when dry, rubbed with the hand, 

 in order to produce that curl 

 which the genuine tea had. This 

 was, in fact, the most wholesome 

 part of the operation ; for the 

 colour, which was yet to be given 

 to it, was produced by logwood ; 

 whether this was an injurious in- 

 gredient or not, he did not know, 

 but he believed few of his auditors 

 would willingly drink an infusion 

 of that dye. With regard to the 

 green tea, that was manufactured 

 in a manner more destructive to 

 the constitution of those by whom 

 it was drank. In this part of the 

 business it appeared that the 

 leaves, after having been pressed 

 and dried, were laid upon sheets 

 of copper, where they received 

 their colour from an article known 

 by the name of Dutch pink, 

 some of which (a powder of a 

 yellowish hue) he held in his 

 hand. One of the component 

 parts of this powder he under- 

 stood to be white lead ; but to 

 this he would not pledge himself. 

 The other article used in produc- 

 ing the appearance of the fine 

 green bloom which was observ- 

 able on the China tea, was, how- 

 ever, decidedly a dead poison I 

 He alluded to verdigrise, which, 

 it appeared, was added to the 

 Dutch pink in order to complete 

 the operation. (A feehng of 

 horror seemed here to pervade 

 the whole Court.) This was the 

 case which he had to bring before 

 them; and hence it would ap- 

 pear that at the moment they 

 were supposing they were drink- 

 ing a pleasant and nutritious 

 beverage, they were, in fact, in 

 all probability drmking only the 

 produce of the hedges round the 

 raetropolis,^ 



