The introduction of Tea into England is by some presumed to date from the year of our Lord 1652. If such be authentic, the quantity of the leaf imported during the Commonwealth must have been extremely limited, probably not exceeding a few pounds, such as Blake and “sea-dogs” of his order discovered in the cabins of ships they had captured from the Dutch. Equally questionable is the statement of other authorities, who give the year 1666 as that wherein the first importation of Tea took place. No doubt, many important events were commonly attributed to the year 1666, which the poet Dryden had essayed to render more remarkable still by his poem on the _Annus Mirabilis_. Lords Arlington and Orrery are credited with having first rendered the drinking of Tea fashionable. Six years previous to the remarkable year just noticed, Pepys records in his “Diary”: “I sent for a cup of Tea, a Chinese drink, of which I had never drunk before.” So that it is evident the rare beverage was then coming into use. Shortly afterwards a measure passed the legislature, enacting that an impost of eightpence per gallon should be paid on all Tea prepared and sold in coffee-houses. [Illustration: GATHERING THE SPRING CROP.--The leaves are plucked with great care, not more than one being plucked from the stalk at a time; notwithstanding this, an expert can gather 10 to 13 lbs. per day.] A singular handbill was issued by Thomas Garway, the founder of Garraway’s somewhat famous coffee-house, in Exchange (subsequently Exchange-alley). This announcement was by chance discovered some years since in a volume of pamphlets in the “King’s Library,” British Museum, where it may still be inspected. Albeit the document bears no date, but there is ample internal evidence to prove that it had been printed about the year 1660. It purposes to be “An exact description of the growth, quality, and virtues of the leaf Tea, by Thomas Garway, in Exchange-alley, near the Royal Exchange, in London, Tobacconist and Seller and Retailer of Tea and Coffee.” Subjoined is the quaint description given of the plant:--