The general reader whose attention has not been specially
drawn to the subject which these volumes aim to illustrate,
the Condition of the People, might suspect that the Writer had
been tempted to some exaggeration in the scenes which he has
drawn and the impressions which he has wished to convey. He
thinks it therefore due to himself to state that he believes
there is not a trait in this work for which he has not the
authority of his own observation, or the authentic evidence
which has been received by Royal Commissions and Parliamentary
Committees. But while he hopes he has alleged nothing which
is not true, he has found the absolute necessity of
suppressing much that is genuine. For so little do we know of
the state of our own country that the air of improbability
that the whole truth would inevitably throw over these pages,
might deter many from their perusal.

Grosvenor-Gate,
May Day, 1845.




BOOK I


Book 1 Chapter 1



"I'll take the odds against Caravan."