INTRODUCTION INTO EUROPE. 1 5 



It was discussed from every point of view, medical, 

 moral, physical and political, at one time threatening to 

 become a causus belli between the sexes. The " Women's 

 petition against coffee " and the " Men's answer " to the 

 same have become a matter of history. Among the men 

 also the new beverage had its opponents, as in 1657 the 

 " Rainbow Coffee-house " kept by James Farr in Queen's 

 Temple was reputed and persecuted by them as " a great 

 nuisance, and a prej udice to the neighborhood," and as such 

 was suppressed,^but reopened in a short time afterwards. 

 In 1675 Charles II. for political reasons attempted to sup- 

 press the coffee-houses by a royal proclamation, classing 

 all of them as " Seminaries Of sedition," and in which 

 it was stated that " they were the resort of disaffected 

 persons who devised and spread abroad divers false, 

 malicious and scandalous reports to the defamation of 

 His Majesty's Government, the disturbance of the peace 

 and quiet of the nation." This proclamation caused so 

 much excitement throughout the city that it had to be 

 rescinded in a few days on a petition from the tea and 

 coffee dealers. On the opinion of legal officials being 

 taken as to the legality of that step, an oracular deliver- 

 ance was given to the effect " that the retailing of coffee 

 ^might be an innocent trade, but as it was used to nourish 

 sedition, spread lies and scandalize great men, it might 

 also prove a common nuisance." Cromwell ordered them 

 closed again during the Protectorate for somewhat 

 similar reasons, but having become necessary to the 

 people they could not be put down for any length of 

 time. But in England also, as in the other countries, 

 the most effective check on the increase of the consump- 

 tion of coffee was found to be a heavy tax, which, while 

 restricting honest trade, opened up a channel for exten- 

 sive smuggling operations. 



