When he honoured me with a
visit, at my country lodgings, he came on foot, and as the waters were
out, I asked him how he _got at me_, so dry footed? He had walked upon
the wall, he said; a wall not above nine inches thick, and of a
considerable length!
And here let me observe that a Frenchman eats his _soup_ and _bouille_
at twelve o'clock, drinks only _with_, not _after_ his dinner, and then
mixes water with his _genuine_ wine; he lives in a fine climate, where
there is not as with us, for six weeks together, easterly winds, which
stop the pores, and obstruct perspiration. A Frenchman eats a great
deal, it is true, but it is not all _hard meat_, and they never sit and
drink after dinner or supper is over.--An Englishman, on the contrary,
drinks much stronger, and a variety of fermented liquors, and often much
worse, and sits _at it_ many hours after dinner, and always after
supper. How then can he expect such health, such spirits, and to enjoy a
long life, free from pain, as most Frenchmen do; When the negro servants
in the West-Indies find their masters call _after_ dinner for a bowl of
punch extraordinary they whisper them, (if company are present) and ask,
"_whether they drink for drunk_, or _drink for dry_?" A Frenchman never
drinks for _drunk_.
Pages:
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84