=215. Dependence of Portugal on England.=—“In 1754 Portugal scarcely produced anything towards her own support. Two thirds of her physical necessities were supplied by England. England had become mistress of the entire commerce of Portugal, and all the trade of the country was carried on by her agents. The English came to Lisbon to monopolize even the commerce of Brazil. The entire cargo of the vessels that were sent thither, and consequently the riches that were returned in exchange, belonged to them. Nothing was Portuguese but the name.” Reviewing the list of exports to Brazil we find, in fact, that they were wares which Portugal was herself unable to produce, and which were supplied by England: woolens, hats, stockings, gloves, metals, linens, etc. England had taken advantage of her economic and political weakness to make a mere dependency of her, imposing treaty obligations which gave the English producers every advantage in her markets, and which reduced her to a state of pitiable subjection. The great Portuguese statesman, Pombal, who made the statements quoted at the beginning of this section, attempted to reanimate industry, and succeeded to a slight extent in throwing off the English supremacy. At the close of the eighteenth century, however, Portugal had still only one strong national industry, the production of wine (port, so called from its place of shipment, Oporto) for the dinner tables of the English upper classes; and in spite of the efforts of Portuguese statesmen even the wine trade was controlled by English merchants. QUESTIONS AND TOPICS 1. What are the chief exports of Spain at present? [Commercial geography or Statesman’s Year-Book.] 2. Write a report on beggary and vagrancy in Spain after 1500. [Moses, in Journal Pol. Econ.; Prescott or Motley.] 3. Write a report on the results (especially the economic results) of one of the following: (_a_) The Inquisition. (_b_) Expulsion of the Jews. (_c_) Expulsion of the Moriscoes. [See the various books by H. C. Lea.] 4. Verify the statements concerning the character of Spanish government in sect. 200. [Prescott or Motley.] 5. With reference to sect. 201, what is regarded as a reasonable rate of taxation in the U. S. now? [See a manual of Civics, that by John Fiske, for instance.] 6. Write a report on the decline of Spain in productive power as the result of bad government. [Moses in Jour. Pol. Econ., Jones in No. Amer. Review.] 7. In what parts of the world is Spanish still the common language? 8. Write a report on the beginnings of Spanish colonial policy. [Bourne, chap. 14.] 9. Write a report on the Spanish system of fleets. [Bourne, chap. 19; Roscher.] 10. Was there any good reason for the sailing of ships in fleets? [See in Oxley the chapter describing the exploits of Drake and other freebooters.] 11. Write a report on the great Spanish fairs in America. [Bourne, pp 291-293; Roscher.]