, 1874-01-03
MAYFLOWER TEA-P0TS.
Did the Pilgrims Partake OF the Cup
that EAcerk1

Did the Pilgrims Partake OF the Cup
that Chcers3
From ths Hetr I'nrk Journal n Commerce.
L correspondent OF the Hartford Courant Qn
whom We recognize one OF our most distln-
guished antiquarian scholars) treats Of 9 sub
jcct to which We have alluded not long since.
To his remarks, which ara historically conclu~
siye, might be added tho evidence OF knowl-
edge OF ceramic art which, applied to these
various tea-pots and other articles, shows them
have seen Mayaower specimens, so-called, which
were made ct porcelain, invented in the
eighteenth century The writer in tho Couro,s&
says: ,.... ...
81 Within the last two or three years, our at
tentiou has been called to at least 1aIf dozen,
tea-pots that came over in the Maydower. Each
had satisfactory pedigree, and all were-ago
cousidered-in remarkable preservation. There
may be a hundred OF so Of these Mayhower tea
pots cherished as heirlooms by descendants of
the pilgrims How many OF them, We wonder:
will figure at New England tee parties to-day:
And how many Doctors Dryasdust will feel it
their duty to point out in tue local papers to-
morrow or next day tina fact that the Mayaowor
passengers hnd no ted to drink THAT the cups
that cheer but not inebriate' were not resorted
to in New England till seventy-tive years or
more after the Maydowe1 discharged her cargo
in the 1eighborhood of Plymouth Rock We
are tempted to get the better Of these captious
critics BY noting the nnuehropism in advance.
"Holmes. in his American Annals, states. on
the authority Of President Stiles, that tea
began to be used in New England about 1920 !;
but this is few-probably ten-yeara too late.
Wn have before us, in the Boston Ne1cs Letter
for april so, 1716, Capt. Arthur Sayage's ad-
vertisement of tho best sort Of Bohea Tea, ;
House, near II. Colman's church. Boston,
and Green Teas were offered for sails in 171S.
Superior Bohea but not the best-sold in
17l9 for 81 8s per pound (about $3.50. We
may infer from the price how common were tea
pots in Boston families with moderate incomes
Of , hundred years dfler the May1ower came
over.
Tea was not IN habisual accompaniment Of
the evening or morning meal before l750- Even
in London 1t WAS unknown till about 1850, and
WAS rare luxury till lG75. OF later. In 16i1, an
English writer quotes foreign travellers sta.a-
ment that tho Chinese drink the strained liquor,
lot, of an herb called Cha, which WAS the name
the Portuguese had borrowed from Japan for ten:
About 1860. one Thomaa GayIaway opened a 1ea
shop in London, and in his handbill adver-
tisement he mentioned the TACT that the Chinese
herb had been sod at from E6 to fl0 pound
aud, in respect of its scarceness and dearness,
it hath only been used as regalia in high treat
ments and entertainments, and presents thereof
made to Princes aud grandees, till tue year 1851
Old Pepys the diarist,-always on thelook out for
the novel and curious, records his first tea
drinking in 1860. Il did send Ito Ga1away .
shop, probably for cup Of Tee, China drink,
OF which I had never drunk before Several
years afterwards, he found his wife actually
making tea at home, and learned on inquiry that
it Was to be used as medicine, for '::ir. Pell-
ing, the potticary, tells her that it is good for
her colds.
':And so-the passengers in the Mayfower
never hnving seen, and probably never having
heard Of that strange herb CHA, or Iee-we do
not see why 80 many Of them took the trouble
of providing themselves with tea-pots-unless 81
prototypes aad symbols OF what was to come in
l773. Ihea there was tea-making in Boston BY
the quantity-and the best Bohea WAS disposed
of Tor less than Il 18s. per pound I'VE hear
from Boston Gays the Courant OF Dec. 21-
that last Thursday evening. between $40 and
400 boxes Of celebrated East India tea, by come
accident! which happened IN All attempt to get
it or shore, fell overGoard-that the boxes burst
open and the tea was swallowed up in the vast
apyss'
:. In 1875, after the battle OF Lexington, and
when Gage WAS shut up in Boston, an English
writer in An Ode to tho Earl Of Dartmouth.
gave bit Of advice to the ministry:
''The stubborn Yankees let alone;
They hurl defiance at the Throne,
Aud MI your schemes unsettle;
70 mark your Act with more disgrace,
They fling their tea-pots in your face,
nd .rif h fhe Eetft