say, to be levied not upon the imported commodity, but upon the liquor made and sold, till the Revolution. At this time the beverage was only just beginning to be known in England. Pepys, in his Diary, under date of September 25th, 1661, records, "I sent for a cup of tea (a Chinese drink), of which I had never drank before." The poet Waller has some lines on the birthday of Queen Catherine, which he entitles, "Of Tea commended by her Majesty;" and from which it should seem that her example had brought the new drink into fashionable use, if, indeed, the poet is not to be understood as, (by a courtly compliment not strictly true) attributing to her majesty, who came over here in 1662, the introduction of it for the first time into the country:—
"The best of queens and best of herbs we owe
To that bold nation, which the way did show
To the fair region where the sun does rise,
Whose rich productions we so justly prize.
The muse's friend, Tea, does our fancy aid;
Repress those vapours which the head invade;
And keeps that palace of the soul serene,
Fit on her birthday to salute the queen."
For some time after this, however, the quantity of tea brought to Europe continued to be very small. In 1664 the East India Company could only procure two pounds and two ounces, which cost them forty shillings a pound, when they wanted to make a present of some rarities to the king; and in 1666 they had to pay fifty shillings a pound for twenty-two pounds and three-quarters, which they in like manner presented to his majesty. Their own first importation was in 1669, when they received two canisters containing 143½ pounds from Bantam, which they did not sell, but partly gave away in presents, partly used in the House for the refreshment of the committees. After this, however, they gradually increased their importations, though still making their purchases generally at second-hand in Madras and Surat, having only once gone for the article to the port of Amoy in China, till, in the year 1678, they brought home 4713 pounds; a
