CHAPTER III. 

 THE HISTORY OF COFFEE. 



COFFEE has a romantic history. Its con- 

 sumption was persecuted by the various 

 religious sects, which appears incredible. It is 

 more than 1,000 years ago since this plant was 

 introduced into Arabia from Abyssinia. In the 

 former territory the Mohammedans used it 

 during their long religious services to prevent 

 them from falling to sleep, but when the priests 

 ascertained it they prohibited its use as an 

 inebriating beverage. Notwithstanding the 

 severe punishment that they inflicted on those 

 who used it, the consumption of coffee kept on 

 increasing. The same opposition was found 

 amongst the religious body in Constantinople, 

 and even with the heavy duties which the 

 Turkish Government imposed, the use of coffee 

 was becoming general in the 16th century, and 

 soon afterwards coffee houses were opened in 

 London. Charles the Second endeavoured to 

 abolish these houses, maintaining that they 

 were nests of traitors, nevertheless the business 

 kept on. 



It is said that more than three-quarter parts 

 of the world's coffee originates from one plant 



