FEBRUARY 113 



hops. 1 People who study the subject have told me that almost 

 as much drunkenness is occasioned by the deleterious quality as 

 by the amount of drink consumed. At least, as it is difficult to 

 imagine a worse state of affairs than that which exists at present, 

 any reasonable remedy is worthy of consideration, even if it takes 

 the shape of free trade in beer or of State control of its manu- 

 facture and distribution. At this contemplative stage, however, 

 the matter is likely to rest, for the brewers have the British 

 public by the throat, and, while their money commands so vast 

 an influence, after the experience of the Liberals at the last 

 election, no Government is likely to enter on the crusade of forcing 

 them to loose their grip. 



I am very glad to hear from the Duke of Norfolk that it is he 

 who has purchased the King's Head, not that his Grace is con- 

 nected with brewing or desires to turn that ancient hostelry into 

 a tied house, but for quite another reason. At the back of the 

 King's Head, and standing in its grounds, are the ruins of Bungay 

 Castle, of which I have spoken in the first chapter of this book- 

 once the home of the Bigods, the predecessors of the Dukes of 

 Norfolk. These ruins a good many years ago were, I believe, 

 sold by the present Duke, who had never seen them, under some 

 misapprehension as to their nature and extent. After various 

 vicissitudes they were purchased by the Oddfellows for, I think, 



1 Since writing this passage I have been informed that a scheme of a similar 

 nature has been tried in Liverpool and failed. Even if this be so, it does not 

 follow that regulations which have proved unsuitable to the needs of a huge city 

 might not answer well in country towns and villages, where the circumstances 

 are totally different. 



(Owing to the publication of the above note in the course of the appearance 

 of this work in serial form I have received a considerable amount of corre- 

 spondence from magistrates and other gentlemen connected with Liverpool, 

 protesting that the famous licensing system was by no means a failure. 



I must say that a study of the pamphlets and letters that have been for- 

 warded to me leads me to much the same conclusion, and I think it a matter 

 for great regret that experiments of this character have not been given a fuller 

 and a fairer trial. April 1899. H. R. H.) 



I 



