The Count could not tell, unless it were that the nation was dead
already in all that regarded the higher life of national existence,--
had become mummified, in fact,--and did not know it.
"Not at all!" replied Herr Kalm. "It is the constant use of the
life-giving infusion of tea that has saved China! Tea soothes the
nerves; it clears the blood, expels vapors from the brain, and
restores the fountain of life to pristine activity. Ergo, it
prolongs the existence of both men and nations, and has made China
the most antique nation in the world."
Herr Kalm was a devotee to the tea-cup; he drank it strong to excite
his flagging spirits, weak to quiet them down. He took Bohea with
his facts, and Hyson with his fancy, and mixed them to secure the
necessary afflatus to write his books of science and travel. Upon
Hyson he would have attempted the Iliad, upon Bohea he would
undertake to square the circle, discover perpetual motion, or reform
the German philosophy.
The professor was in a jovial mood, and gambolled away gracefully as
a Finland horse under a pack-saddle laden with the learning of a
dozen students of Abo, travelling home for the holidays.
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