THE HISTORY OF COFFEE. 19 



It was to this extraordinary demand for coffee that the adul 

 terations of the berry may be traced ; the adulterers made for 

 tunes by their combination of chiccory with it, but the well- 

 earned reputation of the French suffered by the admixture. 



At the &quot; Cafe Procope,&quot; the earliest of these establishments 

 in Paris, a curious incident, worth mentioning, occurred con 

 cerning a cup of coffee. As M. Saint Foix was one day seated 

 at his usual table in this cafe, an officer of the king s body-guard 

 entered, sat down, and ordered a cup of coffee, with milk and a 

 roll, adding, &quot; It will serve me for a dinner ! &quot; At this Saint 

 Foix remarked aloud, &quot; that a cup of coffee, with milk and a 

 roll, was a confoundedly poor dinner.&quot; The officer remonstrated. 

 Saint Foix reiterated his remark, adding, that nothing he could 

 say to the contrary would convince him that it was not a con 

 foundedly poor dinner. Thereupon a challenge was given 

 and accepted, and the \vhole company present adjourned as 

 spectators of a fight, which ended by Saint Foix receiving a 

 wound in the arm. &quot; That is all very well,&quot; said the wounded 

 combatant, &quot; but I call you to witness, gentlemen, that I am still 

 profoundly convinced that a cup of coffee, with milk and a roll, 

 is a confoundedly poor dinner ! &quot; At this moment the principals 

 were arrested and carried before the Duke de Noailles, in whose 

 presence St. Foix, without waiting to be questioned, said, &quot; Mon- 

 seigneur, I had not the slightest intention of offending the gal 

 lant officer, who, I doubt not, is an honorable man, but your 

 Excellency can never prevent my asserting that a cup of coffee, 

 with milk and a roll, is a confoundedly poor dinner.&quot; &quot; AVhy, 

 so it is,&quot; said the Duke. &quot; Then I am not in the wrong,&quot; per 

 sisted St. Foix, &quot; and a cup of coffee,&quot; at these words magis 

 trates, delinquents, and auditory burst into a roar of laughter, 

 and the antagonists became forthwith warm friends. The oldest 

 cafe in the Palais Royal is the celebrated &quot; Cafe de Foy,&quot; so 

 called from the name of its founder. Carl Yernet was one of 



