With Philip the butler, 'Burgundy is the word,' and from the choicest vintages of his master's cellar he places on the table 'Claret, Burgundy, and Champaign; and a bottle of Tokay for the ladies;'[341] while Port is characterised by the Duke's servant as 'only fit for a dram.'[342] Mrs. Circuit presses the guests at a clandestinely-given repast to 'taste the Champagne;' and her husband, the Sergeant, is surprised on his return home to find that they have been so indulging: 'Delicate eating, in truth; and the wine [_Drinks_] Champagne, as I live! Must have t'other glass ... delicate white wine, indeed! I like it better every glass.'[343] Such is his comment. The effects of the wine are characterised in the following fashion by Garrick, when Sparkish, entering, according to the stage directions, 'fuddled,' declares that 'when a man has wit, and a great deal of it, Champaign gives it a double edge, and nothing can withstand it; 'tis a lighted match to gunpowder; the mine is sprung, and the poor devils are tossed heels uppermost in an instant.'[344] [Illustration: LORD MINIKIN.] We greet, too, what was perhaps the first appearance of a joke now grown venerable in its antiquity in a farce of Foote's, the scene of which is laid at Bath. He introduces us to a party of pseudo-invalids devoting their whole time and attention to conviviality, recruiting their debilitated stomachs with turtle and venison, and alternating Bath waters with the choicest vintages, so that the hero Racket is fain to observe to one of them, 'My dear Sir Kit, how often has Dr. Carawitchet told you that your rich food and Champaigne would produce nothing but poor health and real pain?'[345] And how many gentlemen in difficulties have not since followed the example set by Harry Dornton in the spunging-house, and ordered, as a consolation, 'a bottle of Champagne and two rummers'![346] Turning from fancy to fact, we find Sir Edward Barry furnishing some particulars respecting the Champagne wines consumed in England during the latter half of the last century.[347] He informs us at the outset that 'the wines of Champaign and Burgundy are made with more care than any other French wines; and the vaults in which the former are preserved are better than any other in France. These wines, from their finer texture and peculiar flavour, cannot be adulterated without the fraud being easily discovered, and are therefore generally imported pure, or by proper care may be certainly procured in that state.'