Excerpt from The Life and Times of Dick Whittington: An Historical Romance In presenting this romance to the public in a complete state, and taking leave of those of his readers who, during its periodical progress, have from month to month met its consecutive advances with a generous welcome, and (by pausing at the several stages of their existence to conjecture their ultimate disposition) become interested in the characters whom he has introduced to their notice, the Author begs leave to offer a few remarks, which, though not essential to its due comprehension, will illustrate the principle that dictated the conception, and the object that was sought by the conduct, of the story. The commercial pursuits that have raised London to the chief place among the cities of the world, and the peculiar qualities that render it the most eligible scat for the government of a mighty empire, arc not of a nature to invest it with that venerable repute to which its history and antiquity entitle it; and for this reason, instead of admiring the munificence of its merchant-princes, or associating them with the great events of the past, we have been wont to regard them as insensate pursuers of wealth, or, with still less of justice, established gluttons. Yet no city, perhaps, can put forth such stirring annals as those of London; nor can any, however respectable in point of rank and age, boast of worthier or more patriotic sons. 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.