He was in despair; but, nothing daunted, he decided to have a cellar dug. What was his surprise to find the house was built over the vault of an old church, and that the vault contained considerable treasure. The lucky proprietor found himself free to continue his trade of lemonade-vender and coffee-seller, or to live a life of ease. Being a wise man, he adhered to his original plan; and soon his luxurious rooms became the favorite rendezvous for the smart set of his day. In this period lemonade and coffee frequently went together. The Caffe Pedrocchi is considered one of the finest pieces of architecture erected in Italy in the nineteenth century. It was begun in 1816, opened in 1831, and completed in 1842. Coffee houses were early established in other Italian cities, particularly in Rome, Florence, and Genoa. In 1764, _Il Caffe_, a purely philosophical and literary periodical, made its appearance in Milan, being founded by Count Pietro Verri (1728-97). Its chief editor was Cesare Beccaria. Its object was to counteract the influence and superficiality of the Arcadians. It acquired its title from the fact that Count Verri and his friends were wont to meet at a coffee house in Milan kept by a Greek named Demetrio. It lived only two years. Other periodicals of the same name appeared at later periods. [Illustration] CHAPTER V THE BEGINNINGS OF COFFEE IN FRANCE _What French travelers did for coffee--The introduction of coffee by P. de la Roque into Marseilles in 1644--The first commercial importation of coffee from Egypt--The first French coffee house--Failure of the attempt by physicians of Marseilles to discredit coffee--Soliman Aga introduces coffee into Paris--Cabarets a caffe--Celebrated works on coffee by French writers_ We are indebted to three great French travelers for much valuable knowledge about coffee; and these gallant gentlemen first fired the imagination of the French people in regard to the beverage that was destined to play so important a part in the French revolution. They are Tavernier (1605-89), Thevenot (1633-67), and Bernier (1625-88). Then there is Jean La Roque (1661-1745), who made a famous "Voyage to Arabia the Happy" (_Voyage de l'Arabie Heureuse_) in 1708-13 and to whose father, P. de la Roque, is due the honor of having brought the first coffee into France in 1644. Also, there is Antoine Galland (1646-1715), the French Orientalist, first translator of the _Arabian Nights_ and antiquary to the king, who, in 1699, published an analysis and translation from the Arabic of the Abd-al-Kadir manuscript (1587), giving the first authentic account of the origin of coffee. Probably the earliest reference to coffee in France is to be found in the simple statement that Onorio Belli (Bellus), the Italian botanist and author, in 1596 sent to Charles de l'Ecluse (1526-1609), a French physician, botanist and traveler, "seeds used by the Egyptians to make a liquid they call _cave_.[44]"