About the Book
Excerpt from The London Guide, and Stranger's Safeguard Against the Cheats, Swindlers, and Pickpockets That Around Within the Bills of Mortality: Forming a Picture of London; As Regrads Active Life, Collected From the Verbal Communication of William Perry, and Others, to Which Is Added, a Glossary of Cant Terms When a stranger first arrives in this overgrown city, and finds, upon alighting at the inn, that he has still some miles perhaps to go before he can see his friends, he is naturally anxious for advice how to reach them in safety, with his luggage. But, if this be the case with those who have got friends, what is the dread of such as have a home to seek, business to look after, or a place of service to obtain, without a friend to guide their steps, or a candid person to warn them of their danger to tell them of the precipices, pit falls, and moral turpitude, of a large proportion of the population of this great metropolis? To supply the place of a living friend, and in some cases to perform the necessary part of one, by directing the stranger in the choice of companions, and what characters he should avoid, I have compiled these sheets in which will be found all 1 know about the matter, and alli could learn out by fine-draw ing of others. In this work I have obtained the assistance of an author by profession, Who will new write it mostly all over. The gentleman will put all of it in order, fit to be read, and add a word or two, or a line or two, here and there, when I em out. This is but fair and proper, considering as I em not much used to the pen, I might make a pretty kettle of fish of it; so, I cares not, not I, says I to the gentleman as employs us both, 'its all one to me, though he should strike out every word; for, as for me, as I mean to out with it all, he may put it down in What lingo he likes. This is all I shall say of my own accord, seeing I am willing to make amends for my past life, by disclosing such secrets as never were made public before, not upon paper and I thought I would have a few words of my own put down in genuine, at the beginning, without any of Ins making or meddling. So, as I have promised and mean to leave off the calling, and live comfortable upon the profits of this here book, I have just but an end to it by grabbing three or four books from the gentleman, my employer, which I have now got under my great coat, as I mean to borrow a word or two, and a few hints as I go ou, as is usual in book-making. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
