The Old Pretender, or, as he is styled in the local records, 'Jacques Stuart III., roy d'Angleterre,' arrived at Epernay in September 1712, and was presented with 'twenty-four bottles of the best;' whilst the Marquis de Puisieux, who accompanied him, was satisfied with nothing less than a 'carteau,' or quarter-cask. And when the latter announced his intention of paying a visit in the autumn of 1719 to Maître Adam Bertin du Rocheret, conseiller du roy and ex-president of the Grenier-à-sel at Epernay, a resolution was passed to offer him wine on his arrival, and to send 'a hundred _flasks_ of the best' to his château of Sillery. The use of the word 'flaçons' clearly implies that the discoveries of Dom Perignon were being acted upon at Epernay, and that the gift in question was one of sparkling wine. [Illustration: JAMES EDWARD FRANCIS STUART, THE OLD PRETENDER.] In June 1722 the Sieurs Quatresous and Chertemps, despatched to congratulate the marquis's nephew and successor, Louis Philogène Brulart, on his appointment to the governorship of the town and his marriage with Mademoiselle de Souvré, granddaughter of Louvois, took with them a similar offering. At the coronation of Louis XV., in October, deputies were sent to compliment the Prince de Turenne, representative of his father the Duc de Bouillon, seigneur d'Epernay, and to present him with 'game, trout, and other fish,' and 'a basket of a hundred flasks of the best.' In August 1725 the bourgeois were drawn up under arms, and four dozen bottles were got ready, on the passage through the town of the Duke of Orleans, son of the late Regent, on his way to espouse, as the King's proxy, Marie Leczinska. This was, however, a sad year for the wine-growers, for ten months of incessant rain, beginning in April, not only ruined the at first promising crop entirely, but caused floods which wrought some havoc. The terrible hail-storm of 1730, which devastated the vineyards of Reims, fortunately spared those of Epernay; but a frost in October 1740 destroyed the vintage, and led to a dearness of provisions which pressed even on the most well-to-do.[444]