THE tropics' best GIFT. 223 



feature. It lias also indirectly been an aid to liberty and freedom 

 of speech, for when it attracted men together they naturally dis- 

 cussed events, and free discussion is the parent of liberty. As 

 stated elsewhere, its use in Moslem countries met with strong op- 

 position from both the civil and religious authorities ; and in Eng- 

 lish history we find that, in 1675, Charles II. attempted to suppress 

 the then new institution of coffee-houses by a royal proclamation 

 in which it was stated that they were the resort of disaffected per- 

 sons, " who devised and spread abroad divers false, malicious, and. 

 scandalous reports, to the defamation of His Majesty's government 

 and to the disturbance of the peace and quiet of the nation." On 

 the opinion of legal persons being taken as to the legality of this 

 step, an oracular deliverance was given to the effect that " the re- 

 tailing of coffee might be an innocent trade, but, as it was used to 

 nourish sedition, spread lies, and scandalize great men, it might 

 also be a common nuisance." 



That coffee promotes sociability among men cannot be doubted 

 any more than that its twin sister, the fragrant leaf of China and 

 Japan, promotes sociability among women, and in the above 

 official announcement of the advisers of Charles II. the ladies 

 have an argument which they can throw in the teeth of the sterner 

 sex, if any be so unkind as to intimate that tea-parties are the 

 source of much scandal and gossip. 



The active stimulating element is the same in both coffee and 

 tea ; in the former it is known as caffeine, while in the latter it has 

 been designated theine. As explained elsewhere, they are chemi- 

 cally identical, and their effect upon the nervous system, when 

 taken in equal quantities, is precisely similar. Considering its 

 importance from an economic and therapeutic standpoint, this 

 substance does not seem to have received from scientific men the 

 attention which it deserves. This subtle principle embodied in 

 Arabia's fragrant berry has outlived prejudice, has triumphed over 

 opposition ; religious and political bigotry, aided by military force, 

 has failed to suppress it ; and may we not claim that it has fairly 

 won the first place in the world's social and domestic economy, and 

 that it is truly the tropics' best gift ? 



