Second Thoughts are Best: Or a Further Improvement of a Late Scheme to Prevent Street Robberies

In the early eighteenth‑century bustle of London, a concerned writer addresses King George II with a vivid call for safer streets. He imagines lanterns and constant patrols turning the city’s night into a daylight promenade, where robbery would be “totally impracticable.” The proposal promises a more pleasant capital where citizens can wander after dark without fear.

The pamphlet reads like a passionate petition, explicitly challenging a recently published rival plan and railing against a press he deems more scandalous than instructive. With sharp sarcasm and earnest conviction, he urges Parliament to adopt his practical measures, framing them as a public‑good venture rather than a profit‑driven scheme. His language mixes sincere civic pride with a satirical jab at those who hide behind “mysteries” and secret societies.

Listeners will be drawn into the lively rhetoric of an 1729 reformer, whose blend of concrete suggestions and colourful invective offers a window onto the early modern debate over urban safety and the role of government. The work captures the spirit of a citizen‑advocate fighting for illumination—both of streets and ideas.