INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 1 9 



' ' Venus her myrtle has Phoebus her bays ; 

 Tea both excels, which she vouchsafes to praise. 

 The best of Queens and best of herbs we owe 

 To that proud nation which the way did show." 



The earliest mention made of Tea by an Englishman 

 is that contained in a letter from a Mr. Wickham, agent 

 of the East India Company at Firando, Japan, and dated 

 June 27, 1615, to a Mr. Eaton, another officer of the 

 Company, resident at Macao, China, asking for " a pot 

 of the best Cha." How the commission was executed 

 does not appear, but in Mr. Eaton's subsequent account 

 of expenditures occurs this item, "Three silver por- 

 ringers to drink Tea in." The first person, however, 

 to advocate the use of Tea in Europe was Cornelius 

 Bottrekoe, a professor of the Leyden University, who, 

 in a treatise on " Tea, Coffee and Chocolate," published 

 in 1649, strongly pronounces in favor of the former, 

 denying the possibility of its being injurious even when 

 taken in immoderate quantities. 



Tea was evidently known in England previous to its 

 direct importation there, small quantities having been 

 brought from Holland as early as 1640, but used only 

 on rare occasions. The earliest mention made of it, 

 however, is that contained in a copy of the "Mercurius 

 Politicus" at present in the British Museum, and dated 

 September, 1658, in which attention is called to "that 

 excellent, and by all Physitians approved, China drink, 

 called by the Chineans Tcha, by other nations Tay, sold 

 at the Sultaness Head, a Cophee-house by the Royal 

 Exchange, London." The most famous house for Tea 

 at this early period, however, was Garway's, more pop- 

 ularly known for upwards of two centuries as " Garra- 

 way's," being swept away only a few years ago by the 

 march of improvement. Defoe refers to it as being " fre- 



