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and subsequently other persons of rank and influence, frequented the coffee houses to the desertion of the mosques. Hitherto coffee-houses were confined to the east, and it is not easy to determine exactly when their use was introduced into Europe. Pietro de la Valle, writing from Constantinople in 1615, say, that when he returns to Italy he will bring some cof- fee with him; whether he did or not can- not be ascertained; but in 1644, it was certainly introduced into Marseilles; in       1660, a considerable quantity was import- ed from Egypt into that city; and in 1671, a coffee house was opened in it. In 1657 Thevenot brought a small quantity to       Paris; its use however was confined to        those persons who had been in the Levant and their friends. Its general introduction and firm establishment in France, were: brought about in a manner truly charac- teristic of the inhabitants of that country. In 1669, an ambassador from the Porte arrived at Paris, who rendered himself very fashionable, as well as a great favourite, by his politeness, gallantry, and wit; per- sons of rank, especially ladies, visited him: to them he gave coffee; and thus a bitter and black beverage, which, prescribed by       a Frenchman, would have been rejected