THE VINE AND CIVILISATION. 33 
‘* The vine, then, is as inseparable from Christianity as from 
civilisation, and hence arose the zeal of the primitive Christians 
for the culture of the vine. 
THE VINES OF FRANCE, 
‘* France is the vineyard of the earth. Her fertile soit, 
gentle acclivities, clear sunny skies and fine summer tempera- 
ture, place her, in conjunction with science and experience, 
the foremost in the art of extracting the juice that gladdens 
the human heart. 
‘*The vines of France are grateful and beneficial to the 
palate and the stomach. They do not, by being too strong, 
carry disease into the ‘system at the moment of social enjoy- 
ment. They cheer and exhilarate, while they fascinate all but 
coarse palates with their delicate flavour. Some of the wines 
of France will keep for a very long term of years. Rousillon 
has been drank a century old and still found in high perfec- 
tion. The wines of Medoc and Burgundy are not so long 
lived, being more delicate in flavor, with less body. In France 
the slightest foreign taste would not be suffered in the better 
classes of wine. The national honour cannot be more scrupu- 
lously watched than the purity and perfect quality of the fruit 
of the vintage is regarded by the better class of vine-growers. 
The aroma, the perfume, the exquisite delicacy which distin- 
guish the best modern wines of France were, it is reasonable 
to believe, unknown two or three centuries ago. 
‘*Calculations of the French Statistical Society show that 
the quantity of vineyard land in France, in 1829, was 5,104,000 
acres, and that more than the one-thirtieth part of France, 
including waste lands, was cultivated in vineyards. Mons. 
Cavaleau estimated the value of the annual produce of the 
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