FIRST CAFE TN PARIS. 105 



d'Aussy thinks was calculated to turn the heads of the 

 French ladies. Soliman's Coffee was talked about on 

 all sides; ever\-one wished to taste it. At that time it 

 was still ver\- difficult to obtain Coffee beans, one pound 

 costing about fort\' dollars. In the ^-ear 10/2 an Armenian 

 called Pascal opened on the Quale de TEcole, the first 

 "Cafe" in Paris -- so called from the beverage sold 

 there. It was a "Boutique" in oriental st^•le, and did 

 not flourish because it was not sufficienth' grand for the 

 fine folk who alone drank Coffee at that time. This 

 was recognised b\' the Florentine f-'rocope. who was a 

 favourite in Paris because he had introduced ice-cream. 

 Tie started a Cafe opposite the old Comedie Francaise, 

 where he provided, besides Coffee, Tea, Cocoa, Ices 

 and various licjueurs. The establishment was, morco\'er, 

 tastefully decorated and before long proved a great 

 success, "^rhere were soon numerous imitators, and in 

 16/6 Paris possessed a vast number of Coffee-houses, 

 whose inlluence proved ver\- beneficial as it reduced 

 drunkenness. That which Louis XI\^, "ce Roi si decent", 

 as Le Grand d'Aussy expresses it, was unable to bring 

 about by severe punishment, the Florentine Procope 

 accomplished. But Coffee was considered to be not 

 entireh' uninjurious, and the Marcjuise de Sevigne con- 

 sequenth' advises her daughter, in a letter dated 16(S0, 

 to add a little milk to it, "pour en temperer le danger". 

 In England Coffee is first mentioned by Baco of Verulam 

 as earh' as 1624. The first Coffee-house in London was 

 started in 1652 by an Armenian named Pasqua, the ser- 

 vant of a Turkish doctor. Berlin followed much later, 



