Chief seat of Slander, Ever there we see
Thick Scandal circulate with right Bohea.
There, source of black’ning Falsehood’s Mint of Lies,
Each Dame th’ Improvement of her Talent tries,
And at each Sip a Lady’s Honour dies;
Truth rare as Silence, or a Negro Swan,
Appears among those Daughters of the Fan.”
Peter Motteux, in the same reign (1712), wrote “A Poem in Praise of Tea;” but his theme may, after all, only have been taken to advertise his East India Warehouse in Leadenhall Street. He says:—
“From boist’rous Wine I fled to gentle Tea;
For, Calms compose us after Storms at Sea.