into the room where they had dined, and where they found tea ready laid,
and the kettle speedily forthcoming. The bread and butter were
excellent; and the party did justice to them, as if they had not lately
dined. "I see you keep your tea in tin cases," said Vincent; "I am for
glass. Don't spare the tea, Mr. Reding; Oxford men do not commonly fail
on that head. Lord Bacon says the first and best juice of the grape,
like the primary, purest, and best comment on Scripture, is not pressed
and forced out, but consists of a natural exudation. This is the case in
Italy at this day; and they call the juice '_lagrima_.' So it is with
tea, and with coffee too. Put in a large quantity, pour on the water,
turn off the liquor; turn it off at once--don't let it stand; it becomes
poisonous. I am a great patron of tea; the poet truly says, 'It cheers,
but not inebriates.' It has sometimes a singular effect upon my nerves;
it makes me whistle--so people tell me; I am not conscious of it.
Sometimes, too, it has a dyspeptic effect. I find it does not do to take
it too hot; we English drink our liquors too hot. It is not a French
failing; no, indeed. In France, that is, in the country, you get nothing
for breakfast but acid wine and grapes; this is the other extreme, and
has before now affected me awfully. Yet acids, too, have a soothing
sedative effect upon one; lemonade especially. But nothing suits me so
well as tea. Carlton," he continued mysteriously, "do you know the late
Dr. Baillie's preventive of the flatulency which tea produces? Mr.
Sheffield, do you?" Both gave up. "Camomile flowers; a little camomile,
not a great deal; some people chew rhubarb, but a little camomile in the
tea is not perceptible. Don't make faces, Mr. Sheffield; a little, I
say; a little of everything is best--_ne quid nimis_. Avoid all
extremes. So it is with sugar. Mr. Reding, you are putting too much into
your tea. I lay down this rule: sugar should not be a substantive
ingredient in tea, but an adjective; that is, tea has a natural
roughness; sugar is only intended to remove that roughness; it has a
negative office; when it is more than this, it is too much. Well,
Carlton, it is time for me to be seeing after my horse. I fear he has
not had so pleasant an afternoon as I. I have enjoyed myself much in
your suburban villa. What a beautiful moon! but I have some very rough
ground to pass over. I daren't canter over the ruts with the gravel-pits
close before m