And yet, notwithstanding the deplorable condition of the lowest ranks of our population, and the great social and political influence of those who are enriching themselves at their expense, the author does not hesitate to repeat his conviction that, whilst in some of the neighbouring countries intemperance is said to be increasing, it is in England descending lower and lower in the scale of society. And there is every reason to hope that the spread of education and the means which are being employed to counteract the evil are already operating to check its growth, and that they will before long raise the moral and social status of our country to a level with her commercial, intellectual, and political standing amongst the nations. CHAPTER XIII. SWEDEN AND ITS LICENSING SYSTEM. It was not our object, in entering upon this inquiry, to deal with the drinking habits of every nation, nor even of every race of mankind, but rather to select those countries and peoples whose history presented features of special interest bearing upon our subject. Thus we considered, in some detail, the customs of those ancient races in which the subsequent drinking habits of the world appear to have originated. We dwelt upon the social life of ancient Rome, an empire whose fall was attributable mainly to the effeminacy, self-indulgence, and tyranny of its patrician element, and the abject servility and ignorance of its plebeian population. We have somewhat carefully noticed the changes in the social history of Germany, a country in which a system of national education, the love of music, and the use of innocuous beverages have all tended to convert a whole people from intemperance to sobriety; and we have devoted considerable space to the consideration of the drinking life, if we may so call it, of our own country. There are two other existing nations whose condition at the present time calls for special notice—the Swedes and the people of the United States of America.