But, although some wrote in praise of it, there was a class of people who
were opposed to its use, and one of them was the celebrated Jonas Hanway,
of umbrella fame. Possessed of a competence, he had nothing particular
to do, so he turned philanthrope. He took up the cause of the Marine
Society, he was a Governor of the Foundling Hospital, and he founded a
Magdalen Hospital, which is now at Streatham. These things, however,
did not fully occupy his time, and he scribbled _de omnibus rebis_:
among other things, about Tea, against which he had a great aversion. In
1757 he wrote “AN ESSAY ON TEA, considered as pernicious to _Health_,
obstructing _Industry_, and impoverishing the _Nation_; also an Account
of its _Growth_, and great _Consumption_ in these _Kingdoms_.”
Judged from our present standpoint, it was a farrago of rubbish and false
arguments, and he recommends “Herbs of our own growth in lieu of Tea.”
He gives a list of plants which he thinks useful for the purpose:—Ground
Ivy, plain, or with a few drops of lemon Balm, or lemon Balm alone, or
mixed with Sage, and Lavender flowers; Lavender itself; the fresh tops of
Thyme; Mint; the flowery tops of Rosemary, by themselves, or mixed with
Lavender; Penny royal and Lavender; Horehound; Trefoil flowers; Sorrel;
Angelica; Sage; Cowslips; and recommends a drink, which he occasionally
used himself, made of Ground Ivy and stick Liquorice.
[Illustration: A Tea Garden: _George Morland_.]
This roused the ire of no less a person than Dr. Samuel Johnson, who, as
“a hardened and shameless tea drinker; who has for many years diluted
his meals with only the infusion of this fascinating plant; whose kettle
has scarcely time to cool; who with tea amuses the evening, with tea
solaces the midnights, and with tea welcomes the morning,”[132] could
not sit still, and have his favourite beverage abused. So he wrote a
review of Hanway’s Essay, and demolished it. Johnson certainly was an
immoderate and enthusiastic tea drinker, and somewhat a tyrant over it,
as Mrs. Piozzi rather ruefully relates. “By this pathetic manner, which
no one ever possessed in so eminent a degree, he used to shock me from
quitting his company, till I hurt my own health not a little by sitting
up with him, when I was myself far from well; nor was it an easy matter
to oblige him even by compliance, for he always maintained that no one
forebore their own gratifications for the sake of pleasing another; and
if one _did_ sit up, it was, probably, to amuse one’s self. Some right,
however, he certainly had to say so, as he made his company exceedingly
entertaining, when he had once forced one, by his vehement lamentations
and piercing reproofs, not to leave the room, but to sit quietly, and
make tea for him, as I often did in London till four o’clock in the
morning.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account