Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/291

Rh upper classes had indulged freely in drink, and Ministers had thought it no shame to appear drunk in the very presence of the Queen. But it was not till the year 1724 that the passion for gin-drinking affected the populace. It spread with the violence of an epidemic, until it grew into a national vice that the enlightened age of Victoria failed to eradicate. While some two million gallons were distilled in 1714, over five millions were distilled in 1735. Retailers gloried in the announcement that their customers could be made drunk for a penny, dead drunk for twopence, and could have straw on which to lie and recover free. One can hardly wonder at the increase of crime, the growth of pauperism, and the appearance of new diseases.

The enormous consumption of port wine by the upper classes, which had steadily increased since about 1700, had also increased the sufferings of our forefathers, who were already predisposed to attacks of gout, but port was an expensive luxury and untouched by the poorer classes.

We are told that "thieves and robbers are now become more desperate and savage than they had ever appeared since mankind was civilised." Certainly smuggling was the fashion of the day,