all attempts of the reformers to suppress them.

The Caffe Pedrocchi in Padua was another of the early Italian coffee
houses that became famous. Antonio Pedrocchi (1776-1852) was a
lemonade-vender who, in the hope of attracting the gay youth, the
students of his time, bought an old house with the idea of converting
the ground floor into a series of attractive rooms. He put all his ready
money and all he could borrow into the venture, only to find there were
no cellars, indispensable for making ices and beverages on the premises,
and that the walls and floors were so old that they crumbled when
repairs were started.

He was in despair; but, nothing daunted, he decided to have a cellar
dug. What was his surprise to find the house was built over the vault
of an old church, and that the vault contained considerable treasure.
The lucky proprietor found himself free to continue his trade of
lemonade-vender and coffee-seller, or to live a life of ease. Being a
wise man, he adhered to his original plan; and soon his luxurious rooms
became the favorite rendezvous for the smart set of his day. In this
period lemonade and coffee frequently went together. The Caffe Pedrocchi
is considered one of the finest pieces of architecture erected in Italy
in the nineteenth century. It was begun in 1816, opened in 1831, and
completed in 1842.

Coffee houses were early established in other Italian cities,
particularly in Rome, Florence, and Genoa.

In 1764, _Il Caffe_, a purely philosophical and literary periodical,
made its appearance in Milan, being founded by Count Pietro Verri
(1728-97). Its chief editor was Cesare Beccaria. Its object was to
counteract the influence and superficiality of the Arcadians. It
acquired its title from the fact that Count Verri and his friends were
wont to meet at a coffee house in Milan kept by a Greek named Demetrio.
It lived only two years.

Other periodicals of the same name appeared at later periods.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER V

THE BEGINNINGS OF COFFEE IN FRANCE

_What French travelers did for coffee--The introduction of coffee
by P. de la Roque into Marseilles in 1644--The first commercial
importation of coffee from Egypt--The first French coffee
house--Failure of the attempt by physicians of Marseilles to
discredit coffee--Soliman Aga introduces coffee into
Paris--Cabarets a caffe--Celebrated works on coffee by French
writers_

We are indebted to th