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DRINKS.
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mentioned
his
scale
of
liquors
:
Claret
for
boys
—
port
for
men
—
brandy
for
heroes.
'Then,'
said
Mr.
Burke,
'
let
me
have
claret
;
I
love
to
be
a
boy
;
to
have
the
careless
gaiety of
boyish
days,'
Johnson
:
'
1
should
drink
claret
too,
if
it
would
give
me
that
;
but
it
does
not
;
it
neither
makes
boys
men,
nor
men
boys.
You'll
be
drowned
in
it
before
it
has
any
effect
upon
you.'
"
But
it
was
the
spirit
always
drunk
by
gentlemen
until
well
on
in
this
century,
as
we
see
by
Mr.
Pick-
wick,
whose
constant
resource
in
all
cases
of
difficulty,
was
a
glass
of
brandy.
Pale
brandy
was
not
so
much
drank
as
brown,
which
is
now
only
taken,
when
very
old,
as
a
liqueur,
although
a
brown
brandy
of
very
dubious
quality
is
to
be
met
with
in
some
country
public
houses.
Brandy,
like
every
other
spirit,
de-
velopes
its
ethers
with
age,
gets
mellower,
and
of
exquisite
flavour;
and
its
popularity
would
undoubtedly
be
revived
if
the
drinker
were
only
sure
he
could
get
such
brandy
as
the
many
starred
brands
of
Hennessy
and
Martell,
instead
of
that
awful
substitute
so
often
given
—
British
brandy,
made
of
raw
potato
spirit.
The
soil
of
the
Charente
slope
is
particularly
adapted
to
the
growth
of the
vine,
although,
as
in
all
vine-
growing
countries
some
districts,
and
even
small
patches
of
land,
produce
finer
wine
than
others.
The
grapes
are
white,
not
much
larger
than
good-
sized
currants,
and
the
vines
seldom
bear
fruit
until
four
or
five
years
from
their
planting,
and
are
most
vigorous
at
the
age
of
from
ten
to
thirty.
Many
bear
well
up
to
fifty
and
seventy,
and
some
are
fruitful
at
one
hundred
years
or
more.