Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1892-07-30
Especial Paris Letter.l

1t has been aphorlSt1cally stated that
the history of the French cafe is the
history of the French nation. And
there is a good deal of truth in it.
Michelet, too, the famous historian,
says that with the general use of coffee
began new era in French literature,
manners, politics and glory. If what
Mollschott, the German naturalist, says
as true, and the liquid extract of the
coffee bean affects above all the inn
:agipation. it can well be believed that
coffee has had great influence on so
volatile and eXcitable u race as the mod
ern Gauls. And certain it is that in no
city of the world the cafe has played so
important a part in molding public
opinion as in Paris.
The most famous, and at the same
time the oldest of Partisan cafes, the
Cafe Procope, has recently been closed.
vt was over two hundred years old.
This means a great deal when it is re-
membered that the first cup of coffee
drank on French soil was the one pre-
pared by NJ. de Mervillc in Marseilles,
on bis return from trip on the Lee
vante in 1914. And it was not until
1867 that coffee was first brought to
Paris by another oriental traveller, NJ.
Thevenot. The fragrant cup, however,
did not become the fashion till several
years later, when the ambassador of the
sultan, Mohammed w., had it served
to the French court ladies who did him
the honor of visiting him.
1t was in 1859 when Francesca Proco-
pio Culteli, an enterprising Italian,
s~,nanoI tho f,-ct fa in, oil nj
pointed house, opposite the Comedie
Francaise. This man had belonged for
some time to the household of the
Turkish ambassador, and there, too, he
had thoroughly learned TO prepare good
coffee. His enterprise was crowned
with success from the first. All the
beeux esprits of the Paris of those days
frequented the Cafe Procope, drawn
there partly by the convenient location
and partly by the excellent coffee and
the fruit ices-vhich the italian first in
troduced from his Sicilian house in
Paris. After the performance at the
'Comedie Franchise his place became the
rendezvous of all the elegance and brain
of Paris. And for n hundred years, un-
til the outbreak of the French revolu-
tion, it remained thus. There, even in
our days, was shown the leather
cfanteuil of Piron, the cup of Fonte-
nelles, the portrait of Glairon, and the
- small marble table where Voltaire used
to sit and sip his Mocha. In yon corner
- Jean Jacques Rousseau was in the habit
. of jottiug down notes for his Social
Contract" while Marmontel and Diderot
discussed religion and politics, d'Alem-
bert and Baron Holbach chatted
together, and the leading actors and
actresses, operatic. composers and sing
.,ars talked animatedly.
During the consulate literally ap-
pointed reading-room was added to the
attractions of the Cafe Procope, and
this fact reestablished the literary char
acter of the place for two generations.
IL was not until after Napoleon III. had
executed his bold coup d'etat that the
cafe began to mix in politics. 1t was
anti-imperial, and for years it was the
regular meeting place for "Novelle
~Gaule," and Gambetta made many a
fiery, impetuous speech before hetero-
geneous audience. Finally, after 1871,
the cafe went to sleep, and now it has
ceased to exist.
Another cafe that was once local
celebrity was that kept by Widow Lau-