It Must Be Owned That All The Peasants Who
Have Wine For Their Ordinary Drink Are Of A Diminutive Size,
In
comparison of those who use milk, beer, or even water; and it is
a constant observation, that when there
Is a scarcity of wine,
the common people are always more healthy, than in those seasons
when it abounds. The longer I live, the more I am convinced that
wine, and all fermented liquors, are pernicious to the human
constitution; and that for the preservation of health, and
exhilaration of the spirits, there is no beverage comparable to
simple water. Between Luc and Toulon, the country is delightfully
parcelled out into inclosures. Here is plenty of rich pasturage
for black cattle, and a greater number of pure streams and
rivulets than I have observed in any other parts of France.
Toulon is a considerable place, even exclusive of the basin,
docks, and arsenal, which indeed are such as justify the remark
made by a stranger when he viewed them. "The king of France (said
he) is greater at Toulon than at Versailles." The quay, the
jetties, the docks, and magazines, are contrived and executed
with precision, order, solidity, and magnificence. I counted
fourteen ships of the line lying unrigged in the basin, besides
the Tonant of eighty guns, which was in dock repairing, and a new
frigate on the stocks. I was credibly informed that in the last
war, the king of France was so ill-served with cannon for his
navy, that in every action there was scarce a ship which had not
several pieces burst.
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