Retailers had to take out a licence to sell wine; and of course there were customs duties. Luttrell says, Dec. 4, 1703: 'Yesterday the Commons, in a Committee upon the Supply, resolved, nemine contradicente, that 1_s._ per gallon be laid upon all Wines over and above the present Customs, to be paid by the retailer;' but, afterwards, he writes, Jan. 15, 1704, that the Commons rejected the bill for 1_s._ per gallon upon wines. On March 20, 1706, the Queen gave her royal assent to an Act 'for a further duty on low Wines'; and, in 1713, French wines paid a duty of 4_s._ 6_d._ per gallon! _The_ wine merchants of the time were an enterprising firm named Brooke & Hellier (mentioned in the _Spectator_ more than once), who had several branch establishments in various parts of London, even brought wine by road from Bristol, and one year paid as much as 25,000_l._ customs duties; but they came to grief in 1712, and dissolved partnership. Brooke afterwards set up in business by himself. There was Batavian arrack for those that liked it, usquebaugh (both green and golden), and brandy--especially Nants brandy--beloved of the poor in penny drams. Not but what there were other brandies--Gaudarella, Viana or Fial (? Fayal), Strasburg, Spanish, and even our familiar old friend _British_ brandy. The average retail price of 'right Nants' seems to have been about 12_s._ per gallon, but Spanish could be got 2_s._ 6_d._ per gallon cheaper. In 1713 the customs duty on brandy was 6_s._ 8_d._ per gallon; freight and leakage came to 2_s._ 6_d._; so that it did not leave much profit after paying for the brandy. There were liqueurs and cordials; and they must have been very diversified, for the name of the 'Still room' was not then an empty sound; and scandal just whispered that it was sometimes possible that the dear creatures tasted their own manufactures. Are we to believe the following sketch? 'It would make a Man smile to behold her Figure in a front Box, where her twinkling Eyes, by her Afternoon's Drams of Ratifee and cold Tea, sparkle more than her Pendants.... Her Closet is always as well stor'd with Juleps, Restoratives, and Strong Waters, as an Apothecary's Shop, or a Distiller's Laboratory; and is herself so notable a Housewife in the Art of preparing them that she has a larger Collection of Chemical Receipts than a Dutch Mountebank.... As soon as she rises, she must have a Salutary Dram to keep her Stomach from the Cholick; a Whet before she eats, to procure Appetite; after eating, a plentiful Dose for Concoction; and to be sure a Bottle of Brandy under her Bed side for fear of fainting in the Night.'[277] [Footnote 277: _Adam and Eve Stript of their Furbelows._]