58 COFFEE. 



celebrated authors of the time, the military, etc. In fact, wine- 

 drinking was a national trait, and, besides the extreme cheapness 

 of wine, many Frenchmen were inclined to look with disdain 

 upon the new " drug." Even when coffee had come into general 

 use, says one author, some pig-headed old patriots, who had 

 sworn never to forsake the bottle, persisted in frequenting the 

 wine-shops out of a sheer spirit of nationality. It is also well 

 known that Louis XIV. did not like coffee, which is as much as 

 to say that the court did not, nor fashionable society. The ladies 

 of the " grand monde," with Madame de Sevigne at their head, 

 had declared themselves decidedly against coffee. " Racine and 

 coffee will pass," predicted the amiable letter-writer. But all 

 this opposition gradually fell ; even then, as we have seen, inde- 

 pendent spirits did not follow these prejudices. The next king, 

 Louis XV., to please his mistress, Madame du Barry, began to 

 take coffee ; immediately all the court went wild over the bever- 

 age, which already had hosts of fervent worshippers in the outside 

 public. 



At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the consumption 

 of coffee was probably general among the fashionable and upper 

 classes in England and on the Continent. With new sources of 

 supply in the following years, the use of the beverage extended 

 downward among the people generally. The Germans, who had 

 long been preceded in the practice by the !Netherlanders, began 

 drinking coffee during the seven years' war (1756-1T63). Several 

 of the smaller German states at this time, says a Dutch writer, 

 considered the use of coffee a very dangerous innovation, and proc- 

 lamations were issued prohibiting its use, with the view thereby to 

 prevent an outflow of money from the coimtry. These ridiculous 

 measures only stimulated the consumption, and, at the commence- 

 ment of the present centurj', coffee was known all over the west- 

 ern part of Europe, and considered one of the most important 

 staple articles. Nothing less than the hand of Napoleon clutching 

 Europe by the throat sufficed to check for a while the drinking of 

 coffee. The " Continental Blockade " and the enormous prices 

 consequent thereupon restricted coffee drinking for many years to 

 the wealthier classes on the Continent. But Napoleon fell, and a 

 few years later, after the readjustment of the supply and demand, 



