The coffee-houses, thus begun, multiplied rapidly. The new drink, which did not intoxicate, became popular; the coffee-houses were places where men could sit and talk without getting drunk; it was a cheap amusement, and, in a time of great political agitation and excitement, the coffee-house became a power of immense influence. For this reason the Government became alarmed, and, in 1675, endeavoured to suppress the new institution. The attempt was a failure. The coffee-houses were already the favourite meeting-places of men of all professions and of all opinions. In the graver places where physicians, divines, and responsible merchants met, the conversation was serious over coffee and tobacco. In other coffee-houses the company were diverted with songs, music, and even tumbling. Some of the coffee-houses offered the attraction of a museum of curiosities, probably things brought from the East by sailors. I have before me one of the earliest tracts on the subject of coffee. It is a doggerel poem dated 1665, called “The Character of a Coffee-House.” How is one to know a coffee house? By the signs:— “And if you see the great Morat With Shash on’s head instead of hat, Or any _Sultan_ in his dress, Or picture of a _Sultaness_, Or _John’s_ admired curl’d pate, Or th’ great _Mogul_ in’s Chair of State, Or _Constantine_ the _Grecian_, Who fourteen years was th’ only man That made _Coffee_ for th’ great _Bashaw_, Although the man he never saw, Or if you see a _Coffee_-cup Filled from a Turkish pot, hung up Within the clouds, and round it _Pipes_, _Wax candles_, _Stoppers_, these are types And certain signs (with many more Would be too long to write them ’ore), Which plainly do Spectators tell That in that house they _Coffee_ sell. Some wiser than the rest (no doubt), Say they can by the smell find’t out; In at a door (say they), but thrust Your Nose, and if you scent _burnt Crust_, Be sure there’s _Coffee_ sold that’s good, For so by most ’tis understood.” What are the benefits conferred by coffee? The coffee-man tells you:— “But if you ask, what good does Coffee? He’ll answer, Sir, don’t think I scoff yee, If I affirm there’s no disease Men have that drink it but find ease. Look, there’s a man who takes the steam In at his Nose, has an extreme