V.

/Progress and Popularity of Sparkling Champagne./

Sparkling Champagne intoxicates the Regent d'Orléans and the _roués_ of the Palais Royal--It is drunk by Peter the Great at Reims--A horse trained on Champagne and biscuits--Decree of Louis XV. regarding the transport of Champagne--Wine for the _petits cabinets du Roi_--The _petits soupers_ and Champagne orgies of the royal household--A bibulous royal mistress--The Well-Beloved at Reims--Frederick the Great, George II., Stanislas Leczinski, and Marshal Saxe all drink Champagne--Voltaire sings the praises of the effervescing wine of Ay--The Commander Descartes and Lebatteux extol the charms of sparkling Champagne--Bertin du Rocheret and his balsamic molecules--The Bacchanalian poet Panard chants the inspiring effects of the vintages of the Marne--Marmontel is jointly inspired by Mademoiselle de Navarre and the wine of Avenay--The Abbé de l'Attaignant and his fair hostesses--Breakages of bottles in the manufacturers' cellars--Attempts to obviate them--The early sparkling wines merely _crémant_--_Saute bouchon_ and _demi-mousseux_--Prices of Champagne in the eighteenth century--Preference given to light acid wines for sparkling Champagne--Lingering relics of prejudice against _vin mousseux_--The secret addition of sugar--Originally the wine not cleared in bottle--Its transfer to other bottles necessary--Adoption of the present method of ridding the wine of its deposit--The vine-cultivators the last to profit by the popularity of sparkling Champagne--Marie Antoinette welcomed to Reims--Reception and coronation of Louis XVI. at Reims--'The crown, it hurts me!'--Oppressive dues and tithes of the _ancien régime_--The Fermiers Généraux and their hôtel at Reims--Champagne under the Revolution--Napoleon at Epernay--Champagne included in the equipment of his satraps--The Allies in the Champagne--Drunkenness and pillaging--Appreciation of Champagne by the invading troops--The beneficial results which followed--Universal popularity of Champagne--The wine a favourite with kings and potentates--Its traces to be met with everywhere 57