IV 



is now, I trust, soothing the pain of its last 

 hours,*) was of opinion that children, both 

 old and young, might be protected by my 

 experience, against one abundant class of 

 the many frauds with which the metropolis 

 abounds. No man needs much arQ;ument 

 to satisfy his vanity that he is wiser than 

 his neighbours, and consequently may pub- 

 lish for the benefit of mankind : if nature 

 has made us gregarious animals, the tame- 

 ness of social pleasures tempts every cox- 

 comb to single himself from the herd, and 

 the press supplies a ready opportunity for 

 gratifying the wish. Hence, as 1 pretend 

 to no greater modesty than usually falls to 

 the lot of an attorney, my first 150 pages 

 were set up within a month ; to take their 

 chance of immortality or dusty shelves ! 

 It occurred to me, about this period of 



* Soon after the f rst edition was published, Mr. S. Bagster, 

 .Tun. died. It is with difficulty that I restrain myself from dwelling 

 on the Christian cheerfulness of his end, in perfect keeping with 

 his life ; but the subject is too serious for a work like this, and 

 I forbear. -C. E. 



