The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-23
NOTABLE TEA TOPERS.
Men Who Drank the stimuli ting Brew to
Exoess-Consequcnc OF Habit.
From the London Globe.


From the London Globe.
The most hardened tea drinker may admit
that tea drinking can be. and often ls. over
done, and yet the best known tea topers
do not appear to have suffered In conse-
ouence Of their excessive indulgence In tho
cheering cup.
De Quincy was a notable tea topper. In
his picture Of winter evening In his cottage
among the Cumberland hills he mentions
the tea equipage on a table beside the fire.
and behind the table fair tea maker. whose
duty It was to all an almost endless procession
Of cups De Quincy declares that he drank
tea from o clock at night to In the morn
Ing and claims the infusion a. the favorite
beverage OF the intellectual
Another tea topper was Hazlitt. the essay
who was not only very fond OF the beverage.
but seems to have drunk II Of extraordinary
streng 9Th. We are told on excellent authority
that he used two ounces for his breakfast
and two for his tea, with cream: and that for
this tea--tho finest soochong-hc paid at
first fourteen shlllings and afterward twelve
shllllngs per pound Perhaps this extrava-
eanct and excessive consumption Of tea
may account for some Of the essayist's quar-
relsomeness.
Cowper as We all know. appreciated to
tho full the charm Of the fragrant leaf but
there Ia hardly auff1clent evidence to show
that he was guilty OF undue indulgence.
The most famous tea topper was OF course.
Dr. johnson, whose feats with the cup which
Mrs. Thrale filed 30 assiduously arc too we'll
known to need charging upon. His record
appears to have been twenty-five cups.
which he drank at a sitting. but In mitigation
Of Judgment 1t should be remembered that
In all probability the cups were much smaller
than the teacups In use at the present time.
Still. johnson told Miss Reynolds in playful
verse:
Thou oanst not make tho tea 80 fast
As can gulp Il down.
And he described himself as a hardened
and shameless tea drinker. who has for many
years diluted his meals with only the infusion
OF this fascinating plant; whose kettle has
scarcely time to cool: who with tea amuses
the evening, with tea solaces the midnight
and with tea welcomes the morning" It Ia
an amazing confession. but we are bound
to remember that this Incorporate tea bibber
lived to the age OF rs.
Johnson's record was eQualed by Bishop
Gilbert Burnet. the author Of the well known
History OF My Own Times. who Ia reported
to have disposed Of twenty-five cups In a
morning Another man Of letters OF a very
different type, Nathaniel Hawthorne, who
might have eaualed the doctor. curbed his
tea drinking propensities early. When he was
u
OF Waiting at house where the hostess made
excellent tea, and one evening when the wish
tors cup was passed to be refllled she said.
Now, Mr.. Hawthorne. i am going to play
Mrs. Thrale to your johnson. know you
arc q slave to my tea" The young man
made no reply. but ne had no inclination to
play the role assigned to him. and for f,ve
years from that night Hawthorne did not
taste q cup Ct tea-a protest which seems
a excessive IN Its WY as the inclination
which his hoatass had attributed to him,
There have been other heroes Of the tea
pot not lev. Hartley Coerid8e may Iairly
claim n place among the tea topers. Some
one 10 said to have asked him once how many
cups he usually drank and to have received
the scornful reply: "Cupsl I don't count
by cups Icount by potsi- Then there have
been others whom II would be hardly fair to
rank as tea topers. but who have shown marked
devotion to the teapot. In recent days Mr..
Gladstone and Dean Stanley would appear In
this class, but indeed any list OF enthusiastic
lovers In recent times Of what waller called
the best OF herbs" would be Of most inor-
dlnate length.