Sketches By Boz

Gin-drinking is a great vice in England, but wretchedness and dirt are a greater;and until you improve the homes of the poor, or persuade a half-famished wretch not to seek relief in the temporary oblivion of his own misery, with the pittance which, divided among his family, would furnish a morsel of bread for each, gin-shops will increase in number and splendour.

-Charles Dickens