Produced by Bryan Ness, Linda Cantoni, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.) [Transcriber's Note: Archaic spellings have been retained; obvious typographical errors have been corrected. A table of contents has been added for the reader's convenience.] SINKS OF LONDON LAID OPEN: A _Pocket Companion for the Uninitiated,_ TO WHICH IS ADDED A MODERN FLASH DICTIONARY CONTAINING ALL THE CANT WORDS, SLANG TERMS, AND FLASH PHRASES NOW IN VOGUE, WITH A LIST OF THE SIXTY ORDERS OF PRIME COVES, _The whole Forming a True Picture of London Life, Cadging Made Easy, the He-She Man, Doings of the Modern Greeks, Snoozing Kens Depicted, the Common Lodging-house Gallants, Lessons to Lovers of Dice, the Gaming Table, etc._ EMBELLISHED WITH HUMOROUS ILLUSTRATIONS BY GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. London: PUBLISHED BY J. DUNCOMBE. 1848. [Illustration: [handwritten caption] Pub'd March 22d 1822 by G. Humphrey 27 St. James's St. London. G. Cruikshank fec't.] CONTENTS CHAPTER I. COMMON LODGING HOUSES, CADGERS, &c., &c. CHAPTER II. ST. GILES'S--THE CADGER'S HEAD-QUARTERS. CHAPTER III. THE CADGING HOUSE. CHAPTER IV. A BEGGAR'S REPAST. CHAPTER V. AN EVENING MEAL--A FEAST FOR AN ALDERMAN. CHAPTER VI. A QUIET SCENE. CHAPTER VII. A LITTLE LITERARY CONVERSATION. CHAPTER VIII. THE GAMING TABLE. CHAPTER IX. AN UNDER-DEPUTY. CHAPTER X. THE RETURN;--AND A LITTLE UNKNOWN. CHAPTER XI. THE LIFE OF LOW LIFE; OR THE GLORIOUS FINISH OF THE WEEK. CHAPTER XII. ONE NOISE SUBSTITUTED FOR ANOTHER.--THE CLAMOURS OF STRIFE EXCHANGED FOR THE SONGS OF PEACE. CHAPTER XIII. THE CLOSE OF THE NIGHT. FLASH DICTIONARY. THE SIXTY ORDERS OF PRIME COVES. THE Dens of London EXPOSED. CHAPTER I. COMMON LODGING HOUSES, CADGERS, &c., &c. These two subjects are, perhaps now the only ones remaining, in what is termed the "walks of life," of which a correct description has not yet been given. All the old topics, such as the beauties of the country, and the ancient stories of love and heroism, which have afforded so much employment to the pencil, the muse, and the worker-up of novels, have long been considered as the beaten track; and the relaters of fiction, at least those who lay claim to any thing like originality, have been fain to leave the romantic path, with its old castles and wondrous deeds, and so forth, and seek for heroes behind a counter, amidst the common-place details of business, and for scenes amongst the intricate windings of lanes and alleys. In short, novelty is the grand charm for this novel-writing age.