Note 309 — Chapter XVIII · COFFEE-HOUSES AND TAVERNS.
Reading edition
The following note on the Smyrna Coffee House is the best description possible to give of it.[309] 'This is to give notice to all ingenious gentlemen in and about the cities of London and Westminster, who have a mind to be instructed in the noble Sciences of Music, Poetry, and Politics, that they repair to the Smyrna Coffee in Pall Mall, betwixt the hours of eight and ten at night, where they may be instructed gratis, with elaborate Essays by word of mouth on all, or any of the above mentioned Arts. The disciples are to prepare their bodies with three dishes of bohea, and purge their brains with two pinches of snuff. If any young student gives indication of parts, by listening attentively, or asking a pertinent question, one of the professors shall distinguish him by taking snuff out of his box in the presence of the whole audience—