"Immense; that was the turning point of my life; the poor girl who perished was betrothed to her cousin, so you see she could not have rewarded me with her hand." "Lucky Baron!" "It is true fortune has not been unkind to me, but I believe some such accidents occur to everyone and that they make or mar the future." These striking narratives made a lasting impression on me, and first put into my head the thought that a collection of such dilemmas would not be uninteresting. Much experience of men and cities has forced me to the same conclusion as the Baron—viz., that at various periods of his life man holds his destiny, so to speak, in the hollow of his hand, and by his conduct at these critical moments his future prosperity or adversity is assured. The proofs of this theory are now before you. When my last witness has spoken I hope you—the jury—will at least admit that I have not been negligent in hunting up my evidence. [Pg 10] [Pg 10] CHAPTER II. THE CHRISTMAS WINE-HAMPER FRAUD. THE CHRISTMAS WINE-HAMPER FRAUD. Advertising pays— giving a Dinner with an object—obtaining the confidence of the public—an extraordinary bargain—a great swindle. The tricks of "the trade" in London never fail to amuse me. When a fraud is thoroughly exploded and no longer pays, it is dropped until it is forgotten, and then revived. Solomon was quite right in saying there was nothing new. Akin to the fashions, these combinations to deceive the ever-confiding public have their apogee, their decline and fall. Like the gourd, they spring up in a single night, and never fail to secure their victims. Am I not acting the part of a public benefactor in dealing with such matters? And will not some complaisant clergyman, of the Pennington stamp, think it his duty to draw attention to the benefits to be derived from reading them? Opprobrium will be heaped on me by a certain class for speaking the truth, but I am quite prepared to figure as a martyr. It is a melancholy fact, and I have no doubt about it, that if every one had, say £5,000 a year, crime would be banished from the land. But the millennium is not here yet, and we must take the world as we find it. It is the monetary difficulty which occasions men to whet their wits to get by fair means or foul a necessary supply of the circulating medium.
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