When they sally forth to “fleece the natives,” who would think of questioning the abilities of such renowned opticians, armed with testimonials, credentials, and certificates! so recommended by the newspapers, and patronized by such eminent practitioners?!!
The fair trader would defend himself at the same time that he unmasked imposture, and protected his customers, if, when his neighbourhood is infested by such mountebanks, he advertised the simple truth. He would assuredly find
“That those base slaves, ’ere yet the fight be done, pack up.”
A few extracts from the advertisements I have inserted in the London and provincial journals may be useful as specimens.
“Spectacle swindlers are now practising deceptions upon the public to an unparalleled extent! They are principally wandering tribes of licensed hawkers, who change their names, or shift their residences, as occasion requires; copy the language of honest men, and puff off, as their own inventions, the very articles, which, without a shade of difference, have been regularly made and sold for above two hundred years. To accomplish their designs of fleecing the public, they resort to the most pompous and extravagant eulogiums on the peculiar virtues of their ‘Saxon Crystals!’ ‘Patent Preservers!’ ‘Tinted Amber!’ and ‘Light Refractors!’ ridiculous terms, which they have invented, and which, embellished with a long list of distinguished names, are calculated to entrap, and impose upon the uninitiated.
“Spectacle wearers, beware! those tricksters, with all their lofty pretensions, are ignorant quacks. Their charges for the trash they foist upon you, are beyond all precedent, enormous!
“The flagrant impositions daily practised on Spectacle wearers, by hawkers and ignorant pretenders, imperatively demand exposure. The boasting charlatans are certainly indebted to the silence of practical opticians for their successful career, since persons requiring optical aid eagerly listen to whoever promises most. To those who have been victimized not another word is necessary to direct their choice, but experience calls on all who need optical remedies to profit by advice, and procure such important scientific instruments only of the known working optician or his resident agent, and thereby insure every advantage—better quality, lower charges, a liberal trial, and an exchange if not approved of.”
“The patronage such individuals quote has never been bestowed, or has been surreptitiously obtained. Mr. C. has documents from celebrated oculists stating this fact most unequivocally, and authorizing him to give publicity thereto. He has the gratification of knowing that his efforts to expose such fraudulent delusions, to defend the fair trader, and to protect the public, have been properly appreciated by the reflecting and intelligent, who perceive the impropriety of countenancing persons who resort to falsehood, misrepresentation, and dishonest artifices; and allow the superior claim of the respectable resident shopkeeper, whose charges are fair, whose desire and interest it obviously must be to supply the article which will suit and to make any exchange or alteration if required.
“Beware of the tricksters who blazon forth their pretended discoveries, in terms which, however absurd and ridiculous, nevertheless catch the attention; and combined with an array of great names, unbounded assurance, and various manœuvring devices, enable them to foist their worthless wares upon purchasers at the most exorbitant prices.