on of the order, cudgeling was the punishment; for a second
offense, the victim was sewn in a leather bag and thrown into the
Bosporus. Strangely enough, while he suppressed the coffee houses, he
permitted the taverns, that sold wine forbidden by the _Koran_, to
remain open. Perhaps he found the latter produced a less dangerous kind
of mental stimulation than that produced by coffee. Coffee, says Virey,
was too intellectual a drink for the fierce and senseless administration
of the pashas.

Even in those days it was not possible to make people good by law.
Paraphrasing the copy-book, suppressed desires will arise, though all
the world o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes. An unjust law was no more
enforceable in those centuries than it is in the twentieth century. Men
are humans first, although they may become brutish when bereft of
reason. But coffee does not steal away their reason; rather, it sharpens
their reasoning faculties. As Galland has truly said: "Coffee joins men,
born for society, in a more perfect union; protestations are more
sincere in being made at a time when the mind is not clouded with fumes
and vapors, and therefore not easily forgotten, which too frequently
happens when made over a bottle."

[Illustration: CHARACTERISTIC SCENE IN A TURKISH COFFEE HOUSE OF THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY]

Despite the severe penalties staring them in the face, violations of the
law were plentiful among the people of Constantinople. Venders of the
beverage appeared in the market-places with "large copper vessels with
fire under them; and those who had a mind to drink were invited to step
into any neighboring shop where every one was welcome on such an
account."

Later, Kuprili, having assured himself that the coffee houses were no
longer a menace to his policies, permitted the free use of the beverage
that he had previously forbidden.

_Coffee and Coffee Houses in Persia_

Some writers claim for Persia the discovery of the coffee drink; but
there is no evidence to support the claim. There are, however,
sufficient facts to justify a belief that here, as in Ethiopia, coffee
has been known from time immemorial--which is a very convenient phrase.
At an early date the coffee house became an established institution in
the chief towns. The Persians appear to have used far more intelligence
than the Turks in handling the political phase of the coffee-house
question, and so it never became necessary to order them suppressed in
Per