6 UA-58907690-1
As
an
old
Wine
and
Spirit
Merchant
retired
from
business,
with
a
competency,
acquired
by
fair
trading,
no
feeling
of
pique,
as
to
the
in-
jury
caused
to
my
own
pursuits
by
the
system
I
feel
it
rny
duty
to
reprobate,
can
be
supposed
to
have
suggested
the
idea of
opening
the
eyes
of
the
public,
to
the
fraudulent
practises
it
con-
ceals;
or,
in
so
doing
1
,
to
influence
me
in
offering
any
other,
than
an
impartial
and
matter-of-fact
statement.
Having
a
few
leisure
moments
on
my
hands,
and
from
my
youth
having
1
been
accustomed
to
an
active
life,
I
was
induced,
in
order
to
occupy
my
leisure,
to
commence
this
treatise
*
for
the
in-
formation
of
my
own
circle
of
acquaintance;
nor
should
I
have
been
prevailed
on,
to
offer
it
to
the
notice
of
the
public,
but
for
a
late
trial
in
the
Court
of
Exchequer,
for
adulteration,
f
and
the
additional
incitement,
occasioned
by
a
conviction
of
the
influence
which
the
present
system
of
im-
position
(through
the
means
of
advertisements
and
printed
bills)
is
gaining
on
the
public
mind.
We
have
lately
witnessed
mining
and
other
wild
speculations,
by
which
the
pockets
of
hundreds
have
been
emptied,
and
their
estates
ruined.
We
*
Since
penning
the
chief
part
of
this
treatise,
I
have
ob-
served
some
clever
articles
on
the
same
subject
in
Nos.
516, 517,
518,
of
the
Literary
Gazette.
t
Attorney-General
versus
Oldfield,
to
which
I shall
have
oc-
casion
to
refer
when
I
arrive at
another
part
of
my
subject.