A CUP OF TEA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2201, 7 May 1896, Page 43

A CUP OF TEA.

< Which tea ? The* cup that awaits you when first you awake in the morning — hot, fragrant, sharing the- snowy apace of the tray cloth' with a tiny plate of biscuits or a slice of thin bread and butter 1 sTea, I think we shall' all give the place of honour to this early cup of tea. Do you remember to say "Good morning" to Maria as she stands beside your bed patiently waiting until you are quite awake I Did yon ever think to say to her, " I hope you have a cup of tea, Maria, when you make mine la the morning "1 No I Wall, do so. I've ao doubt she drinks it, ueing*acap without a saucer,, and drinkingit in hasty gulp* as she stands .beside the kitchen table. Most likely if you came in she would pour it down the sink and try tolook unconscious. But you may be sure it would seem "real nice "to her if you told her that you would like her to have it.

Which tea? "Why, far too much test, madam.. Yon women poison yourselves, rum your digestion, tan your skins, destroy your nerves with so much tea." That is what the. doctor. saya. But "speak him- fair," remind him with a charming smile that it is after all a. very innocent " pick-me-up," this cup of tea, and he will cool off his anmthema marenathaatid dwindleoff into instructions as to matters of detail. "-You don't! driek strong teaf"— No;' 7 — " Jtfos tea that ha* been- made a

darkly about " tha'orrors " — found rase and peace in the swirling, eddying waters of the' river 1

Which tea ? What of that cup of tea at 11 a.m. which is fast hecoming a recognised custom in well-to do houses ? An utter and Unnecessary luxury. If yon had been working bard in a faotory, over a sewing machine, out on - a weary canvass for a book that will not sell, or a patent skirt clip that no one wants to bny; if yon had been stooping over the wash tub (or scribbling all the morning for dear life, like "Emmeline"), perhaps you might feel as if you needed something; but even then a cap of good soup would do you far more good. Moreover, all these busy workers that I have enumerated are just the very people who must work patiently on till the dinner hour. It is the idle, the luxurious, and the MoUcde itnaginaire who " cannot get on without a cup of tea at 11" All fancy— fanoy turned into habit. Try breaking yourself of It, and yon will be furious to find yourself— the slave of a cup of tea I

Which tea ? Well, afternoon tea. Ah, now we can prance along gaily and give our hobby-horse the whip, and make him sidle and curvet, for we ace on fashionable ground.

\ This "afternoon tea," "five o'clock tea,* \ whichever you like to call it, is not only | world-wide — every custom of the English j must be world-wide because it is theirs— ; but aristocratic. What doea dear old [ Thackeray say :— "Let as be genteel, or die." 1 And so, as we serve our afternoon tea, we I pour out a libation to fashion and custom. I Yet all afternoon tea is not a joy. Let us ! not speak of the house where the tiny Cap of I eggshell china contains a half-cold decocj- tion which makes one thankful that, poor as the quality is, the quantity is correspondingly small ; let us not think of the hostess whose exquisite silver and costly appointments cannot compensate for the artificiality of her welcome; we will not resurrect memories of dead and gone : afternoon teas, when invitations were issued ! for just double the number of people the rooms I would possibly hold. " Because, you see,- my Soar, B4^s keep coming ana going ail febe

long time?" — "hum, hah Always eat something with it, biscuit or bit of bread and butter ? "— " Yes."—" Well, I don't know that it will do you so much harm. Still, you women drink far too much tea."

And this reminds me what useful beings doctors are — what a peg to hang excuses on, what a stalking horse for unmanageable opinions. I remember once doing a round of parochial visiting with a friend in the country. The last house on our list was a little roadside inn. A tall gaunt woman rose from a low seat on the verandah and came to meet tu. When we were ushered in, the contrast between the miserable interior and the pomp of the voluminous lac*,, curtains at the windows waa- so utter, that one felt a sneak for penetrating behind those emblems of fictitious luxury. There was a suspicious bruise on the woman's face, there was a tragic brooding depth in her solemn eyes, but her accent was racy enough, and her intentions most hospitable. "Ye'd take a glass of sherry wine wid me, ladiea 1 Ho? A drop of nice port, thin, and I'll lave yez a minute while- 1 gits it. No? Then I'll bring ye little dhrop of rale good brandy — three star. I don't offer ye no^ tay, for I know the doctors is all agin tay now. I used to be always dhrinklng tay meeself wan tim«, and me digester was just, ruined. So when I wint to Milbourne I wint to a good doother, and «c» he to me, 'Mrs* M'Gaughan,' Beg he, 'take no more tay,' he set, * but when you wants anything take a little dhrop of rale good brandy," «as he ; ' 'twill pat n»w life into you beyanfc that i miserable tay.' So I'm not going to offer ; yea tay, ladies."

Poor soul 1 Did any doctor ever give suchadvice ? Then who was to blame when the unfortunate woman, after weeks of awful hrokfn dreams — tbe neighbours whispered

time — or, if they dont, they ought to." Bat, alas I there are so many people who come and don't go ; dear, oomfortable old ladies, who compose themselves in a cosy coterie, and upon whom it never dawuß that those oomfortable seats are sorely needed for some* one else I That is how it was that you were wedged in the hall till your sleeves had every bit of style crushed out of them, while you tried to smile and look pleasant. That is how it came about -that you had a cup of tea spilt over the front of your new dress. But, no; we won't talk of those high and festive occasions when we assemble to pour out our libations to society. We all give them, because they are oheap ; we all bate th«m, beo&use —

Whioh tea, then 1 Well, those cosy 5 o'clock cups of tea amid the dainty snrroandiugs of home, when Jack and Charlie drop in on their way from the office. Their bicycles are under the trees by the gate; the firelight gleaming through the French windows on these ohilly autumn afternoons seems like* cheery welcome ; the girls in their dainty blouses and neat skirts pouring out the tea and banding cake. How charming it is ! The magazinesand journals lie about the room, and here are some new photographs that Dora has just. taken; a new song, aitd a still dearer old song, are ope.n on the piario. Thesa are the afternoon teas" we- like; J : thick— fresh young voices and gay laughter ringing out as 'the door opens, a longer hand clasp, <t( tender tone that rises unconsciously in the voice and makes one good-bye special and distinot from all others. ' Yes, be sure, that there are sweet memories, intuitions, tender associations, the half-unconscious beginnings of beautiful endings- to be found even in the annals of " a cap of tea."