justice, found satisfaction
in the governor's subsequent fate. He was exposed as "an extortioner and
a public robber," and "tortured to death," his brother killing himself
to avoid the same fate. The two Persian physicians who had played so
mean a part in the first coffee persecution, likewise came to an unhappy
end. Being discredited in Mecca they fled to Cairo, where, in an
unguarded moment, having cursed the person of Selim I, emperor of the
Turks, who had conquered Egypt, they were executed by his order.

Coffee, being thus re-established at Mecca, met with no opposition until
1524, when, because of renewed disorders, the kadi of the town closed
the coffee houses, but did not seek to interfere with coffee drinking at
home and in private. His successor, however, re-licensed them; and,
continuing on their good behavior since then, they have not been
disturbed.

In 1542 a ripple was caused by an order issued by Soliman the Great,
forbidding the use of coffee; but no one took it seriously, especially
as it soon became known that the order had been obtained "by surprise"
and at the desire of only one of the court ladies "a little too nice in
this point."

One of the most interesting facts in the history of the coffee drink is
that wherever it has been introduced it has spelled revolution. It has
been the world's most radical drink in that its function has always been
to make people think. And when the people began to think, they became
dangerous to tyrants and to foes of liberty of thought and action.
Sometimes the people became intoxicated with their new found ideas; and,
mistaking liberty for license, they ran amok, and called down upon their
heads persecutions and many petty intolerances. So history repeated
itself in Cairo, twenty-three years after the first Mecca persecution.

_Coffee's Second Religious Persecution_

Selim I, after conquering Egypt, had brought coffee to Constantinople in
1517. The drink continued its progress through Syria, and was received
in Damascus (about 1530), and in Aleppo (about 1532), without
opposition. Several coffee houses of Damascus attained wide fame, among
them the Cafe of the Roses, and the Cafe of the Gate of Salvation.

Its increasing popularity and, perhaps, the realization that the
continued spread of the beverage might lessen the demand for his
services, caused a physician of Cairo to propound (about 1523) to his
fellows this question:

What is your opinion con