Excerpt from Poor Laws and Paupers Illustrated: I. The Parish; A Tale As any utility which may be contemplated from the following tale must be impaired by the sup position that the woes and vices it displays are the offspring of an uncontrolled imagination, I beg to state that all that is most melancholy in my story is strictly true. I have unquestionable authority in the Reports of the poor-law Com missioners, and the testimony of others who are occupied in the administration of parish affairs, for every parochial abuse and every pauper encroachment here exhibited; and I have taken no pains to select the worst instances of either that have come Within my knowledge. 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.