1880 Facts about Port and Madeira by Henry Vizetelly

The Return Journey—Regoa—Baixo Cargo.

105.

the grape to give it colour; and as the persons who used the prescription found the wine increase in price and the English merchants still complaining of want of strength, colour, and maturity in the article supplied,the recipe was propagated till the wine became a mere confusion of mixtures." Two years afterwards, in 1756, when the annual exports had fallenfrom an average of more than 20,000 pipes down to 12,000,. the imperious Marquis de Pombal,in accordance with the erro neous economic notions of the time, of which he was the fanatic exj^onent,established an Agricultural and Commercial Company for the Wines of the Douro, with the intention of repaiiing the existing state of things,and above all of preserving the pm-ity of the wines in question. This Company was invested with the most arbitrary privileges. In the words of its statutes its objects wei'e"to uphold with the reputation of the wmes the culture of the vineyards, and to foster at the same time the trade in the- former,establishing a regular price for the advantage alike of" those who produce and who trade in them,avoiding on the one- hand those high prices which,rendering sales impossible, ruin the stocks, and on the other such low prices as prevent the growers from expending the necessary sum on the cultivation of their vineyards." The staff of the Company comprised a presi dent,twelve deputies, six cormcillors, a secretary, a judge con servator, a fiscal judge,a notary, and a constable, together with a posse of clerks, stewards, overseers, commissioners, bailiffs,, tasters, and the like. The highest and the lowest arrogated to themselves unusual powers,and the deputies constituted a true oligarchy. To this day their quintas in the Alto Douro are dis tinguishable by the magnificence of the mansions and the j)on- derous escutcheons proudly displayed over their principal door-, ways. TheCompanyhad the monopolysecured tothem ofthewine trade of the Douro with England and Brazil, the distillation- and the sale of brandy in the northern districts ofPortugal,and the exclusive supply ofthe taverns and wine-shops of Oporto and itsenvirons—a privilege whichled to some serious riots,and to as many as six-and-twenty individuals perishing upon the scaffold..