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| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-27 18:27:44 -0800 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-02-27 18:27:44 -0800 |
| commit | 91082142246c16acb77d9143be79fcf393177aff (patch) | |
| tree | 942d5dab3256cbefe6f19324d92f51a176a8792d /48223-h | |
| parent | 5e71769938ff117b5af33e4f534820ad9842c015 (diff) | |
Add 48223 from ibiblio
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| -rw-r--r-- | 48223-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 24822 bytes | |||
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diff --git a/48223-h/48223-h.htm b/48223-h/48223-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7afea91 --- /dev/null +++ b/48223-h/48223-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12807 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The History of Gambling in England , by John Ashton. + </title> + <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> + <style type="text/css"> + +body {margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%;} + +div.limit {max-width: 35em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto;} + +div.sum {page-break-before: always; + page-break-after: always;} + +div.break {page-break-before: always;} + +.vh {visibility: hidden;} + +.ln1 {position: absolute; + text-align: right; + top: auto; + margin-left: -2em;} + +.bord {border: solid 2px; 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+ font-size: 90%; + text-align: left; + margin-bottom: 0em; + padding-left: 4em; + text-indent: 0em;} + +.ppn6 {margin-top: 0em; + font-size: 90%; + text-align: left; + margin-bottom: 0em; + padding-left: 6em; + text-indent: 0em;} + +.ppn10 {margin-top: 0em; + font-size: 90%; + text-align: left; + margin-bottom: 0em; + padding-left: 10em; + text-indent: 0em;} + +.pps6 {margin-top: 0em; + font-size: 90%; + text-align: left; + margin-bottom: 0em; + padding-left: 6em; + text-indent: -0.25em;} + +.ppi6 {margin-top: 0em; + font-size: 90%; + text-align: left; + margin-bottom: 0em; + padding-left: 6em; + text-indent: 2em;} + +.ppn8 {margin-top: 0em; + font-size: 90%; + text-align: left; + margin-bottom: 0em; + padding-left: 8em; + text-indent: 0em;} + +.pdr {margin-top: 0em; + text-align: left; + margin-bottom: 0em; + padding-left: 6em; + text-indent: -6em;} + +.pbq {margin-top: 0.2em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: 0; + text-indent: 1.2em; + font-size: 90%; + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 5%;} + +.pr4 {margin-top: 0em; + padding-right: 4em; + text-align: right; + margin-bottom: 0em; + text-indent: 0em;} + +.pfn4 {margin-top: 1em; + font-size: 90%; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: 0; + text-indent: 0em; + margin-left: 4em; + margin-right: 1em;} + +.ptn {margin-top: 0.3em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: 0; + text-indent: -1em; + margin-left: 2%;} + +.ptb {margin-top: 0em; + text-align: center; + margin-bottom: 0; + text-indent: 0em; + letter-spacing: 1.5em;} + +.ptb2 {margin-top: 0em; + text-align: center; + margin-bottom: 0; + text-indent: 0em; + letter-spacing: 2.5em;} + +.p1 {margin-top: 1em;} +.p2 {margin-top: 2em;} +.p4 {margin-top: 4em;} + +.small {font-size: 75%;} +.reduct {font-size: 90%;} +.lmid {font-size: 110%;} +.mid {font-size: 125%;} +.large {font-size: 150%;} +.xlarge {font-size: 200%;} + +hr {width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: 33.5%; + margin-right: 33.5%; + clear: both;} + +hr.chap {width: 65%; + margin-left: 17.5%; + margin-right: 17.5%;} + +table {margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto;} + + .tdr {text-align: right;} + .tdc {text-align: center;} + + .tdchap {text-align: center; + padding-top: 1em; + font-size: 125%;} + + .tdtoc {text-align: justify; + padding-left: 2em; + text-indent: -2em; + vertical-align: top;} + + .tdrl {text-align: right; + vertical-align: bottom;} + +#toc {width: 95%; + line-height: 1em; + margin-top: 1em;} + +#t01, #t02 + {width: 40%; + line-height: 1em; + margin-top: 1em;} + +#t03, #t04, #t05 + {width: 60%; + line-height: 1em; + margin-top: 1em;} + +.pagenum { /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 94%; + color: gray; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + text-indent: 0em; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.beg {font-variant: small-caps; + font-size: 130%;} + +.figright {margin: auto; + text-align: right; + padding-right: 4em;} + +.footnotes {border: dashed 2px; + padding: 15px;} + +.label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal;} + +.transnote {background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + font-size:smaller; + padding:0.5em; + margin-bottom:5em; + font-family:sans-serif, serif; } + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 48223 ***</div> + +<div class="limit"> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> + +<h1>THE HISTORY OF<br /> +GAMBLING IN<br /> +ENGLAND</h1> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="pc4 reduct"><i>All Rights Reserved</i></p> + +<div class="xlarge p4"> +<p class="pi4"><span class="smcap">The</span> HISTORY</p> +<p class="pi6"><span class="smcap">of</span> GAMBLING</p> +<p class="pi8"><span class="smcap">in</span> ENGLAND</p> +</div> + +<p class="p4 mid">BY</p> +<p class="p1 large">JOHN ASHTON</p> +<p class="p4 reduct"><span class="smcap">author of “Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne,”</span></p> +<p class="pi4 reduct"><span class="smcap">“A History of English Lotteries,” etc.</span></p> + +<div class="figright"> + <img src="images/logo.jpg" width="200" height="308" + alt="" + title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="pc4 mid">LONDON<br /> +<span class="mid">DUCKWORTH & CO.</span><br /> +3 HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C.<br /> +1898</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a><br /><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> + +<div class="sum"> + +<h2 class="p4">CONTENTS</h2> + +<table id="toc" summary="cont"> + + <tr> + <td> </td> + <td class="tdrl"><span class="small">PAGE</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">INTRODUCTORY</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Difference between Gaming and Gambling—Universality and Antiquity of +Gambling—Isis and Osiris—Games and Dice of the Egyptians—China +and India—The Jews—Among the Greeks and Romans—Among +Mahometans—Early Dicing—Dicing in England in the +Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries—In the Seventeenth Century—Celebrated +Gamblers—Bourchier—Swiss Anecdote—Dicing in +the Eighteenth Century</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER I</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Latimer and Cards—Discourse between a Preacher and a Professor—The +Perpetual Almanack, or Soldier’s Prayer Book—Origin of Playing +Cards—Earliest Notice—Royal Card Playing</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_28">28</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER II</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Legislation as to Cards—Boy and sheep—Names of old games at Cards—Gambling +<i>temp.</i> Charles II.—Description of a gaming-house, 1669—Play +at Christmas—The Groom Porter—Royal gambling discontinued +by George III.—Gambling in church</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER III</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Gambling early Eighteenth Century—Mrs Centlivre—E. Ward—Steele—Pope—Details +of a gaming-house—Grub Street Journal on Gambling—Legislation +on gambling—Peeresses as gaming-house keepers—A +child played for at cards—Raids on gaming-houses—Fielding</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_51">51</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER IV</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Gambling at Bath—Beau Nash—Anecdotes of him—A lady gambler—Horace +Walpole’s gossip about gambling—Awful story about +Richard Parsons—Gambling anecdotes—C. J. Fox</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_64">64</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER V<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">The Gambling ladies—Ladies Archer, Buckinghamshire, Mrs Concannon, +&c.—Private Faro Banks—Card-money—Gaming House end of +Eighteenth Century—Anecdotes—The profits of Gaming Houses—C. +J. Fox and Sir John Lade—Col. Hanger on gambling</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER VI</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">The Gambling Clubs—White’s, Cocoa Tree, Almack’s—A few gamblers +described—Stories of high play—White’s and its frequenters—Brookes’ +and its players—Captain Gronow and his reminiscences +of gambling—Gambling by the English at Paris—The Duke of +Wellington—Ball Hughes—Scrope Davies—Raggett of White’s</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER VII</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Hanging, the penalty for losing—Suicide—Officer cashiered—Reminiscences +of an exiled gambler—Description of the principal gaming-houses +at the West End in 1817</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER VIII</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Crockford’s Club—His Life—His new Club-house—Epigrams thereon—Ude +and the Magistrate—Description of Club-house—Anecdotes of +Crockford’s</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER IX</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Hells in the Quadrant, 1833—Smith <i>v.</i> Bond—Police powers—“Confessions +of a Croupier”</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_133">133</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER X</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Select Committee on Gaming, 1844—Evidence</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER XI</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Wagers and Betting—Samson—Greek and Roman betting—In the Seventeenth +Century—“Lusty Packington”—The rise of betting in the +Eighteenth Century—Walpole’s story of White’s—Betting in the +House of Commons—Story by Voltaire—Anecdotes of betting—Law +suit concerning the Chevalier d’Eon</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_150">150</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER XII<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Gluttonous Wager—Walk to Constantinople and back—Sir John Lade and +Lord Cholmondeley—Other Wagers—Betting on Napoleon—Bet on +a Coat—Lord Brougham—Brunel and Stephenson—Captain Barclay—Story +by Mr Ross—The Earl of March’s Coach—Selby’s drive +to Brighton—White’s betting book</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_163">163</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER XIII</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Horse Racing—Early mention—Thirteenth Century—Racing for bells—Racing +in Hyde Park—Newmarket—Oliver Cromwell and Running +horses—Charles II.—James II.—Anne—Her fondness for racing—Sporting +in her reign—Epsom—Tregonwell Frampton—The three +Georges—A duel—Turf anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_173">173</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER XIV</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Match between Mrs Thornton and Mr Flint—Its sequel—Daniel Dawson +poisons horses—Origin of Bookmaking—Turf frauds—The +“Ludlow” scandal—The “Plenipo” fraud—Reports of Select +Committee on Gaming, 1844</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER XV</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Gambling on Race Courses—E.O. tables—Description of Race Courses—Evidence +before the Committee—Description of the betting-rooms +at Doncaster in 1846—Beginning of tipsters and betting-rooms</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_199">199</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER XVI</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Betting Houses—Their suppression in 1853—Bookmakers and their Clients—Defaulters—Dwyer’s +swindle—Value of Stakes</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_211">211</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER XVII</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">The Lottery—Its etymology and origin—The first in England—Succeeding +ones—Prince Rupert’s jewels—Penny lottery—Suppression and +revival—Rage for them in Queen Anne’s reign—Lotteries for public +purposes—Leheup’s fraud</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_222">222</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER XVIII</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Blue coat boys tampered with—The two trials—Insuring tickets—Curious +Lotteries—Lever Museum and Pigot diamond Lotteries—Little goes—Stories +of winning numbers—Decline of Lotteries—The last—Its +epitaph—Modern lotteries</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_231">231</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER XIX<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Promotors and Projectors—Government loans—Commencement of Bank +of England—Character of a Stock Jobber—Jonathan’s—Hoax +<i>temp.</i> Anne—South Sea Bubble—Poems thereon</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER XX</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">First mention of the Stock Exchange—Attempt at hoax—Daniel’s fraud—Berenger’s +fraud—Bubbles of 1825—The Railway Mania—30th +Nov. 1845 at the Board of Trade—The fever at its height—The +Marquis of Clanricarde pricks the bubble</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_254">254</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER XXI</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">The Comic side of the Railway Mania—“Jeames’s Diary,” &c.—Universal +Speculation, as shown by Parliamentary Return—Rise of Discount—Collapse—Shareholders +not forthcoming—Widespread Ruin—George +Hudson</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_266">266</a></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdchap">CHAPTER XXII</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdtoc">Permissible gambling—Early Marine Assurance—Oldest and old Policies—Lloyd’s—Curious +Insurances—Marine Assurance Companies—Fire +Insurance—Its origin and early Companies—Life Insurance—Early +Companies—Curious story of Life Insurance</td> + <td class="tdrl"><a href="#Page_275">275</a></td> + </tr> + +</table> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">INTRODUCTORY</h2> + +<p class="pch">Difference between Gaming and Gambling—Universality and Antiquity of Gambling—Isis +and Osiris—Games and Dice of the Egyptians—China and +India—The Jews—Among the Greeks and Romans—Among Mahometans—Early +Dicing—Dicing in England in the 13th and 14th Centuries—In +the 17th Century—Celebrated Gamblers—Bourchier—Swiss Anecdote—Dicing +in the 18th Century.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">Gaming</span> is derived from the Saxon word <i>Gamen</i>, meaning +<i>joy</i>, <i>pleasure</i>, <i>sports</i>, or <i>gaming</i>—and is so interpreted by +Bailey, in his Dictionary of 1736; whilst Johnson gives +Gamble—<i>to play extravagantly for money</i>, and this distinction +is to be borne in mind in the perusal of this book; +although the older term was in use until the invention of +the later—as we see in Cotton’s <i>Compleat Gamester</i> (1674), +in which he gives the following excellent definition of the +word:—“<i>Gaming</i> is an enchanting <i>witchery</i>, gotten between +<i>Idleness</i> and <i>Avarice</i>: an itching disease, that makes +some scratch the head, whilst others, as if they were bitten +by a <i>Tarantula</i>, are laughing themselves to death; or, +lastly, it is a paralytical distemper, which, seizing the +arm, the man cannot chuse but shake his elbow. It hath +this ill property above all other Vices, that it renders a man +incapable of prosecuting any serious action, and makes +him always unsatisfied with his own condition; he is either +lifted up to the top of mad joy with success, or plung’d to +the bottom of despair by misfortune, always in extreams, +always in a storm; this minute the Gamester’s countenance +is so serene and calm, that one would think nothing could +disturb it, and the next minute, so stormy and tempestuous +that it threatens destruction to itself and others; and, as he +is transported with joy when he wins, so, losing, is he tost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> +upon the billows of a high swelling passion, till he hath lost +sight, both of sense and reason.”</p> + +<p><i>Gambling</i>, as distinguished from <i>Gaming</i>, or playing, I +take to mean an indulgence in those games, or exercises, in +which <i>chance</i> assumes a more important character; and my +object is to draw attention to the fact, that the <i>money motive</i> +increases, as chance predominates over skill. It is taken up +as a quicker road to wealth than by pursuing honest industry, +and everyone engaged in it, be it dabbling on the Stock +Exchange, Betting on Horse Racing, or otherwise, hopes to +win, for it is clear that if he knew he should lose, no fool +would embark in it. The direct appropriation of other +people’s property to one’s own use, is, undoubtedly, the more +simple, but it has the disadvantage of being both vulgar and +dangerous; so we either appropriate our neighbour’s goods, +or he does ours, by gambling with him, for it is certain that +if one gains, the other loses. The winner is not reverenced, +and the loser is not pitied. But it is a disease that is most +contagious, and if a man is known to have made a lucky <i>coup</i>, +say, on the Stock Exchange, hundreds rush in to follow his example, +as they would were a successful gold field discovered—the +warning of those that perish by the way is unheeded.</p> + +<p>Of the universality of gambling there is no doubt, and it +seems to be inherent in human nature. We can understand +its being introduced from one nation to another—but, unless +it developed naturally, how can we account for aboriginals, +like the natives of New England, who had never had intercourse +with foreign folk, but whom Governor Winslow<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +describes as being advanced gamblers. “It happened that +two of their men fell out, as they were in game (for they +use gaming as much as anywhere; and will play away all, +even the skin from their backs; yea, and for their wives’ +skins also, although they may be many miles distant from +them, as myself have seen), and, growing to great heat, the +one killed the other.”<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> + +<p>The antiquity of gambling is incontestable, and can be +authentically proved, both by Egyptian paintings, and by +finding the materials in tombs of undoubted genuineness; +and it is even attributed to the gods themselves, as we read +in Plutarch’s Ἰσιδος και Ὀσιριδος “Now the story of Isis and +Osiris, its most insignificant and superfluous parts omitted, +is thus briefly narrated:—Rhea, they say, having accompanied +with Saturn by stealth, was discovered by the Sun, +who, hereupon, denounced a curse upon her, <i>that she should +not be delivered in any month or year</i>. Mercury, however, +being likewise in love with the same goddess, in recompense +for the favours which he had received from her, <i>plays at +tables</i> with the Moon, and wins from her the seventieth +part of each of her illuminations; these several parts, +making, in the whole, five new days, he afterwards joined +together, and added to the three hundred and sixty, of +which the year formerly consisted: which days are even +yet called by the Egyptians, the <i>Epact</i>, or <i>Superadded</i>, and +observed by them as the birth days of their Gods.”</p> + +<p>But to descend from the sublimity of mythology to +prosaic fact, we know that the Egyptians played at the +game of <i>Tau</i>, or Game of Robbers, afterwards the <i>Ludus +Latrunculorum</i> of the Romans, at that of <i>Hab em hau</i>, or +<i>The Game of the Bowl</i>, and at <i>Senat</i>, or <i>Draughts</i>. Of this +latter game we have ocular demonstration in the upper +Egyptian gallery of the British Museum, where, in a case +containing the throne, &c., of Queen Hatasu (<span class="smcap">b.c.</span> 1600) +are her draught board, and twenty pieces, ten of light-coloured +wood, nine of dark wood, and one of ivory—all +having a lion’s head. These were all, probably, games of +skill; but in the same case is an ivory Astragal, the earliest +known form of dice, which could have been of no use +except for gambling. The Astragal, which is familiarly +known to us as a “knuckle bone,” or “huckle bone,” is still +used by anatomists, as the name of a bone in the hind leg +of cloven footed animals which articulates with the tibia, +and helps to form the ankle joint. The bones used in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> +gambling were, generally, those of sheep; but the Astragals +of the antelope were much prized on account of their superior +elegance. They also had regular dice, numbered like ours, +which have been found at Thebes and elsewhere; and, +although there are none in our national museum, there +are some in that of Berlin; but these are not considered +to be of great antiquity. The Egyptians also played at +the game of <i>Atep</i>, which is exactly like the favourite Italian +game of Mora, or guessing at the number of fingers extended. +Over a picture of two Egyptians playing at this +gambling game is written, “Let it be said”: or, as we +might say, “Guess,” or “How Many?” Sometimes they +played the game back to back, and then a third person had +to act as referee.</p> + +<p>The Chinese and Indian games of skill, such as Chess, +are of great antiquity; but, perhaps, the oldest game is that +of <i>Enclosing</i>, called <i>Wei-ki</i> in Chinese, and <i>Go</i> in Japanese. +It is said to have been invented by the Emperor Yao, +2300 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>, but the earliest record of the game is in 300 +<span class="smcap">b.c.</span> It is a game like <i>Krieg spiel</i>, a game of war. There +are not only typical representatives of the various arms, but +the armies themselves, some 200 men on each side; they +form encampments, and furnish them with defences; and +they slay, not merely a single man, as in other games, but, +frequently, hosts of men. There is no record of its being a +gambling game, but the modern Chinese is an inveterate +gambler.</p> + +<p>As far as we know, the ancient Jews did not gamble +except by drawing, or casting lots; and as we find no +word against it in the inspired writings, and, as even one of +the apostles was chosen by lot (Acts i. 26), it must be +assumed that this form of gambling meets with the Divine +approval. We are not told how the lots were <i>drawn</i>; but +the <i>casting</i> of lots pre-supposes the use of dice, and this +seems to have been practised from very early times, for we +find in Lev. xvi. 8, that “Aaron shall cast lots upon the +two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +scape goat.” And the promised land was expressly and +divinely ordained to be divided by an appeal to chance. +Num. xxvi. 52 and 55, 56, “And the Lord spake unto +Moses, saying.... Notwithstanding the land shall be +divided by lot: according to the names of the tribes of +their fathers they shall inherit. According to the lot shall +the possession thereof be divided between many and few.” +The reader can find very many more references to the use of +the “lot” in any Concordance of the Bible. But in their +later days, as at the present time, the Jews did gamble, as +Disney<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> tells us when writing on Gaming amongst the +Jews.</p> + +<p>“Though they had no written law for it, Gamesters were +<i>excluded from the Magistracy</i>, incapable of being chosen into +the greater or lesser Sanhedrim; nor could they be admitted +as <i>Witnesses</i> in any Court of Justice, till they were +perfectly reformed. Some of their reasons for excluding +such from the Magistracy were, that their gaming gave +sufficient presumption of their <i>Avarice</i>, and, besides, was +an employment <i>no way conducing to the public good</i>: a +covetous man, and one who is not wise and public spirited, +being very unfit for offices of so much trust and power, as +well as dignity. The presumption of <i>Avarice</i> was the +cause, also (and a very good one), of not admitting <i>the +evidence</i> of such a man. And that other notion they had, +that the gain arising from play was a <i>sort of Rapine</i>, is +as just a ground for the <i>Infamy</i> which stained his character, +and subjected him to these incapacities.</p> + +<p>“This last consideration, that money won by gaming was +looked upon as got by <i>Theft</i>, makes it reasonable to conclude +that such money was to be <i>restored</i>, and that the +winning gamester was <i>punished</i> as for <i>Theft</i>: which was +not, by their law, a capital crime; but answered for, in +smaller cases (and, probably, in this, among the rest), by +<i>double Restitution</i>: Exod. xxii. 9.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> + +<p>“But the partiality of that people is evident, in extending +the notion of Theft, only to <i>Gaming amongst themselves</i>; +<i>i.e.</i>, native Jews and proselytes of righteousness; for, if a +Jew played, and won of a Gentile, it was no Theft in him: +but it was forbidden to him on another account, as Gaming +is an application of mind entirely useless to human society. +For, say the Talmudists, ‘Tho’ he that games with a +Gentile does not offend against the prohibition of Theft, +he violates that <i>de rebus inanibus non incumbendo</i>: it does +not become a man, at any time of his life, to make anything +his business which does not relate to the study of +wisdom or the public good.’ Now, as this was only a +prohibition of their doctors, perhaps the law, or usage in +such cases might take place, that the offender was to be +scourged.”</p> + +<p>Among the Greeks and Romans the first gambling implement +was the ἀστραγαλος, or (Lat.) <i>Talus</i>, before spoken of. +In the course of time the sides were numbered, and, afterwards, +they were made of ivory, onyx, &c., specimens of +which may be seen in the Etruscan Saloon of the British +Museum, Case N. In the Terra Cotta room is a charming +group of two girls playing with Astragals, and in the Third +Vase room, on Stand I., is a vase, or drinking vessel, in the +shape of an Astragal (E. 804). Subsequently the Tessera, +or cubical die, similar to that now used, came into vogue +(samples of which may be seen in Case N. in the Etruscan +Saloon), and they were made of ivory, bone, porcelain, and +stone. Loaded dice have been found in Pompeii. They +also had other games among the Romans, such as <i>Par et +Impar</i> (odd or even), in which almonds, beans, or anything +else, were held in the hand, and guessed at—and the modern +Italian game of Mora was also in vogue.</p> + +<p>But gambling was looked down upon in Rome, and the +term <i>aleator</i>, or gambler, was one of reproach—and many +were the edicts against it: utterly useless, of course, but it +was allowed during the Saturnalia. Money lost at play +could not be legally recovered by the winner, and money<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> + +paid by the loser might by him be recovered from the person +who had won and received the same.</p> + +<p>The excavations at Pompeii and other places in modern +times have revealed things not known in writings; and, +treating of the subject of gambling, we are much indebted +to Sig. Rodolfo Lanciani, Professor of Archæology in the +University of Rome. Among other things, he tells us how, +in the spring of 1876, during the construction of the Via +Volturno, near the Prætorian Camp, a Roman tavern was +discovered, containing besides many hundred amphoræ, the +“sign” of the establishment engraved on a marble slab.</p> + +<table id="t01" summary="t01"> + + <tr> + <td>ABEMVS </td> + <td>INCENA</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>PVLLVM </td> + <td>PISCEM</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>PERNAM </td> + <td>PAONEM</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td colspan="2" class="tdc" style="text-indent: -2em;">BENA TORES </td> + </tr> + +</table> + +<p class="p1">The meaning of this sign is double: it tells the customers +that a good supper was always ready within, and that the +gaming tables were always open to gamblers. The sign, in +fact, is a <i>tabula lusoria</i> in itself, as shown by the characteristic +arrangement of the thirty-six letters in three lines, +and six groups of six letters each. Orthography has been +freely sacrificed to this arrangement (<i>abemus</i> standing for +<i>habemus</i>, <i>cena</i> for <i>cenam</i>). The last word of the fourth +line shows that the men who patronised the establishment +were the <i>Venatores immunes</i>, a special troop of Prætorians, +into whose custody the <i>vivarium</i> of wild beasts and the +<i>amphitheatrum castrense</i> were given.</p> + +<p>He also tells us that so intense was the love of the Roman +for games of hazard, that wherever he had excavated the +pavement of a portico, of a basilica, of a bath, or any flat +surface accessible to the public, he always found gaming +tables engraved or scratched on the marble or stone slabs for +the amusement of idle men, always ready to cheat each other +out of their money.</p> + +<p>The evidence of this fact is to be found in the Forum, in +the Basilica Julia, in the corridors of the Coliseum, on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +steps of the temple of Venus at Rome, in the square of the +front of the portico of the Twelve Gods, and even in the +House of the Vestals, after its secularisation in 393. Gaming +tables are especially abundant in barracks, such as those of +the seventh battalion of <i>vigiles</i>, near by St Critogono, and +of the police at Ostia and Porto, and of the Roman encampment +near Guise, in the Department of the Aisne. Sometimes +when the camp was moved from place to place, or else +from Italy to the frontiers of the empire, the men would not +hesitate to carry the heavy tables with their luggage. Two, +of pure Roman make, have been discovered at Rusicade, in +Numidia, and at Ain-Kebira, in Mauritania. Naturally enough +they could not be wanting in the Prætorian camp and in the +taverns patronised by its turbulent garrison, where the time +was spent in revelling and gambling, and in riots ending in +fights and bloodshed. To these scenes of violence the wording +of the tables often refers; such as</p> + +<table id="t02" summary="t02"> + + <tr> + <td>LEVATE </td> + <td>LVDERE</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>NESCIS </td> + <td>DALVSO</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>RILOCV </td> + <td>RECEDE</td> + </tr> + +</table> + +<p class="p1">“Get up! You know nothing about the game; make +room for better players!” Two paintings were discovered, +in Nov. 1876, in a tavern at Pompeii, in one of which are +seen two players seated on stools opposite each other, and +holding on their knees the gaming table, upon which are +arranged, in various lines, several <i>latrunculi</i><a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> of various +colours, yellow, black and white. The man on the left +shakes a yellow dice box, and exclaims, “<i>Exsi</i>” (I am +out). The other points to the dice, and says, “<i>Non tria, +duas est</i>” (Not three points, but two). In the next picture +the same individuals have sprung to their feet, and show +fight. The younger says, “Not two, but three; I have +the game!” Whereupon, the other man, after flinging at +him the grossest insult, repeats his assertion, “Ego fui.” +The altercation ends with the appearance of the tavernkeeper,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +who pushes both men into the street, and exclaims, +“Itis foris rix satis” (Go out of my shop if you want to +fight).</p> + +<p>During Sig. Lanciani’s lifetime, a hundred, or more, tables +have been found in Rome, and they belong to six different +games of hazard; in some of them the mere chance of dice-throwing +was coupled with a certain amount of skill in +moving the men. Their outline is always the same: there +are three horizontal lines at an equal distance, each line +containing twelve signs—thirty-six in all. The signs vary +in almost every table; there are circles, squares, vertical +bars, leaves, letters, monograms, crosses, crescents and immodest +symbols: the majority of these tables (sixty-five) +contain words arranged so as to make a full sentence with +the thirty-six letters. These sentences speak of the fortune, +and good, or bad, luck of the game, of the skill and pluck of +the players, of the favour, or hostility, of bystanders and +betting men. Sometimes they invite you to try the seduction +of gambling, sometimes they warn of the risks incurred.</p> + +<p>Children were initiated into the seductions of gambling +by playing “nuts,” a pastime cherished also by elder people. +In the spring of 1878 a life-size statuette of a boy playing +at nuts was discovered in the cemetery of the Agro Verano, +near St Lorenzo fuori le mura. The statuette, cut in Pentelic +marble, represents the young gambler leaning forward, +as if he had thrown, or was about to throw, the nut; and his +countenance shows anxiety and uncertainty as to the success +of his trial.</p> + +<p>The game could be played in several ways. One, still +popular among Italian boys, was to make a pyramidal +“castle” with four nuts, three at the base and one on the +top, and then to try and knock it down with the fifth +nut thrown from a certain distance. Another way was +to design a triangle on the floor with chalk, subdividing +it into several compartments by means of lines parallel to +the base; the winnings were regulated according to the +compartment in which the nut fell and remained. Italian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +boys are still very fond of this game, which they call +<i>Campana</i>, because the figure drawn on the floor is in the +shape of a bell: it is played with coppers. There was a +third game at nuts, in which the players placed their stakes +in a vase with a large opening. The one who succeeded +first in throwing his missile inside the jar would gain its +contents.</p> + +<p>They also tossed “head or tail,” betting on which side +a piece of money, thrown up in the air, would come down. +The Greeks used for this game a shell, black on one side, +white on the other, and called it “Night or day.” The +Romans used a copper “<i>as</i>” with the head of Janus on one +side, and the prow of a galley on the other, and they called +their game <i>Capita aut navim</i> (head or ship).</p> + +<p>Mahomet discountenanced gambling, as we find in the +Koran (Sale’s translation, Lon. 1734), p. 25. “They will +ask thee concerning wine and lots. Answer: In both there +is great sin, and also some things of use unto men; but +their sinfulness is greater than their use.” Sale has explanatory +footnotes. He says “Lots. The original word, +<i>al Meiser</i>, properly signifies a particular game performed +with arrows, and much in use with the pagan Arabs. But +by Lots we are here to understand all games whatsoever, +which are subject to chance or hazard, as dice, cards, &c.” +And, again, on p. 94. “O true believers, surely wine, and +lots, and images, and divining arrows are an abomination +of the work of Satan; therefore avoid them, that ye may +prosper.”</p> + +<p><i>À propos</i> of this denunciation of gambling in the Koran, is +the following highly interesting letter of Emmanuel Deutsch, +in the <i>Athenæum</i> of Sep. 28, 1867:—</p> + +<p>“It may interest the writer of the note on κυβεια (Eph. iv. +14), (the only word for ‘gambling’ used in the Bible) in your +recent ‘Weekly Gossip,’ to learn that this word was in very +common use among Paul’s kith and kin for ‘cube,’ ‘dice,’ +‘dicery,’ and occurs frequently in the Talmud and Midrash. +As Aristotle couples a dice player (κυβευτης) with a ‘bath<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +robber’ (λωποδυτης), and with a ‘thief’ (ληστης—a word no +less frequently used in the Talmud); so the Mishnah +declares unfit either as judge or witness ‘a κυβεια-player, +a usurer, a pigeon-flyer (betting man), a vender of illegal +(seventh year) produce, and a slave.’ A mitigating clause—proposed +by one of the weightiest legal authorities, to the +effect that the gambler and his kin should only be disqualified +‘if they have but that one profession’—is distinctly +negatived by the majority, and the rule remains absolute. +The classical word for the gambler, or dice player, appears +aramaized in the same sources into something like <i>kubiustis</i>, +as the following curious instances may show. When the +Angel, after having wrestled with Jacob all night, asks him +to let him go, ‘for the dawn hath risen,’ Jacob is made to +reply to him, ‘Art thou a thief, or a <i>kubiustis</i>, that thou art +afraid of the day?’ To which the Angel replies, ‘No, I am +not; but it is my turn to-day, and for the first time, to sing +the Angelic Hymn of Praise in Heaven: let me go.’”</p> + +<p>In another Talmudical passage, an early Biblical critic is +discussing certain arithmetical difficulties in the Pentateuch. +Thus, he finds the number of the Levites (in Numbers) to +differ, when summed up from the single items, from that given +in the total. Worse than that, he finds that all the gold and +silver contributed to the sanctuary is not accounted for; and, +clinching his argument, he cries, “Is then your Master, +Moses, a thief or a <i>kubiustis</i>?” The critic is then informed +of a certain difference between “sacred” and other coins, +and he further gets a lesson in the matter of Levites and +First-born, which silences him. Again, the Talmud decides +that if a man have bought a slave who turns out to be a +thief or a <i>kubiustis</i>—which has been erroneously explained +to mean a “man-stealer”—he has no redress. He must +keep him, as he bought him, or send him away, for he +bought him with all his vices.</p> + +<p>No wonder dice-playing was tantamount to a crime in +those declining days. There was, notwithstanding the +severe laws against it, hardly a more common and more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +ruinous pastime—a pastime in which Cicero himself, who +places a gambler on a par with an adulterer, did not disdain +to indulge in his old days, claiming it as a privilege of +“Age.” Augustus was a passionate dice-player. Nero +played the points—for they also played it by points—at +400,000 sesterces. Caligula, after a long spell of ill-luck, +in which he had lost all his money, rushed into the streets, +had two innocent Roman knights seized, and ordered their +goods to be confiscated. Whereupon he returned to his +game, remarking that this had been the luckiest throw he +had had for a long time. Claudius had his carriages +arranged for dicing convenience, and wrote a work on the +subject. Nor was it all fair play with those ancients. +Aristotle already knows of a way by which the dice can be +made to fall as the player wishes them; and even the cunningly +constructed, turret-shaped dice cup did not prevent +occasional “mendings” of luck. The Berlin Museum contains +one “charged” die, and another with a double four. +The great affection for this game is seen, among other +things, by the common proverbs taken from it, and the no +less than sixty-four names given to the different throws, +taken from kings, heroes, gods, hetairæ, animals, and the +rest. But the word was also used in a mathematical sense. +In a cosmogonical discussion of the Midrash, the earth is +likened to a “cubus.”</p> + +<p>The use of dice in England is of great antiquity, dating +from the advent of the Saxons and the Danes and Romans; +indeed, all the northern nations were passionately addicted +to gambling. Tacitus (<i>de Moribus Germ.</i>) tells us that the +ancient Germans would not only hazard all their wealth, but +even stake their liberty upon the throw of the dice; “and +he who loses submits to servitude, though younger and +stronger than his antagonist, and patiently permits himself +to be bound, and sold in the market; and this <i>madness</i> they +dignify by the name of <i>honour</i>.”</p> + +<p>In early English times we get occasional glimpses of +gambling with dice. Ordericus Vitalis (1075-1143) tells<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +us that “the clergymen and bishops are fond of dice-playing”—and +John of Salisbury (1110-1182) calls it “the +damnable art of dice-playing.” In 1190 a curious edict +was promulgated, which shows how generally gambling prevailed +even among the lower classes at that period. This +edict was established for the regulation of the Christian +army under the command of Richard the First of England +and Philip of France during the Crusade. It prohibits any +person in the army, beneath the degree of knight, from playing +at any sort of game for money: knights and clergymen +might play for money, but none of them were permitted to +lose more than twenty shillings in one whole day and night, +under a penalty of one hundred shillings, to be paid to the +archbishops in the army. The two monarchs had the privilege +of playing for what they pleased, but their attendants +were restricted to the sum of twenty shillings, and, if they +exceeded, they were to be whipped naked through the army +for three days. The decrees established by the Council held +at Worcester in the twenty-fourth year of Henry III. prohibited +the clergy from playing at <i>dice</i> or <i>chess</i>, but neither +the one nor the other of these games are mentioned in the +succeeding statutes before the twelfth year of Richard II., +when <i>diceing</i> is particularised and expressly forbidden.</p> + +<p>The letter books of the Corporation of the City of London, +during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, give us several +examples of diceing. “4 Ed. II., <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 1311. Elmer de +Multone was attached, for that he was indicted in the Ward +of Chepe for being a common night walker; and, in the day, +is wont to entice strangers and persons unknown, to a tavern, +and there deceive them by using false dice. And, also, for +that he was indicted in Tower Ward, for being a bruiser +and night walker, against the peace; as, also, for being a +common <i>rorere</i>.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> And, also, for that he was indicted in the +Ward of Crepelgate for playing at dice, and for that he is +wont to entice men into a tavern, and to make them play at +dice there against their will. He appeared, and, being asked<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +how he would acquit himself thereof, he said that he was not +guilty, and put himself upon the country as to the same. +And the jury came, by Adam Trugge and others, on the +panel; and they said, upon their oath, that he is guilty of +all the trespasses aforesaid. Therefore he was committed to +prison,” &c.</p> + +<p>The next is from a Proclamation made for the safe +keeping of the City. 8 Ed., III. <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 1334. “Also, we do +forbid, on the same pain of imprisonment, that any man +shall go about, at this Feast of Christmas, with companions +disguised with false faces,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> or in any other manner, to the +houses of the good folks of the City, for playing at dice +there; but let each one keep himself quiet and at his ease +within his own house.”</p> + +<p>“50 Ed. III., <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 1376. Nicholas Prestone, tailor, and +John Outlawe, were attached to make answer to John atte +Hille, and William, his brother, in a plea of deceit and +falsehood; for that the same John Outlawe, at divers times +between the Feast of Our Lord’s Nativity, in the 49th +year, &c., and the First Sunday in Lent, then next ensuing, +came to the said John atte Hille and William, and asked if +they wished to gain some money at tables or at chequers, +commonly called ‘<i>quek</i>’; to which they said ‘Yes’; whereupon +the same John Outlawe said they must follow him, +and he would show them the place, and a man there, from +whom they could easily win; and further said that he would +be partner with them, to win or to lose.</p> + +<p>“And they followed him to the house of the said Nicholas +in Friday Street, and there they found the said Nicholas with +a pair of tables, on the outside of which was painted a chequer +board, that is called a ‘<i>quek</i>.’ And the said Nicholas +asked them if they would play at tables for money; whereupon +the said complainants, knowing of no deceit, or ill-intent, +being urged and encouraged thereto by the same +John Outlawe, played with him at tables and lost a sum of +money, owing to false dice.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p> + +<p>“And the said John then left them to play alone; and, after +that, they still continued to lose. The said tables were then +turned, and the complainants played with the defendant +Nicholas at ‘<i>quek</i>’ until they had lost at the games of +tables and <i>quek</i> 39s. 2d. After which the complainants, +wondering at their continued losing, examined the board +at which they had been playing and found it to be false +and deceptive; seeing that in three quarters of the board +all the black points were so depressed that all the white +points in the same quarters were higher than the black +points in the same; and, on the fourth quarter of the +board, all the white points were so depressed that all the +black points in that quarter were higher than the white. +They inspected and examined also the dice with which they +had first played at tables, and found them to be false and +defective. And, because they would play no longer, the +said Nicholas and John Outlawe stripped John atte Hille of +of a cloak, 16 shillings in value, which they still retained.”</p> + +<p>They were found guilty and sentenced to return the +money lost and the cloak, or its value, and “Afterwards, +on the prosecution of Ralph Strode, Common Serjeant of +the said City, by another jury, they were found guilty of +the fraud and deception so imputed to them. Therefore it +was awarded that they should have the punishment of the +pillory, to stand thereon for one hour in the day, and that +the said false chequer board should be burnt beneath them, +the Sheriff causing the reason for their punishment to be proclaimed. +And, after that, they were to be taken back to +the Prison of Newgate, there to remain until the Mayor and +Aldermen should give orders for their release.”</p> + +<p>And so dicing went on, unimpaired in popularity, in spite +of legal fulminations, until Elizabeth’s time, when we probably +hear more of it, owing to the greater dissemination +of literature in that reign. In 1551 there was a famous +murder, in which Mr Arden of Feversham was killed whilst +playing a game of tables with one Mosbie, the paramour of +his wife, who had made Mosbie a present of a pair of <i>silver<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> +dice</i> to reconcile a disagreement that had subsisted between +them. Shakespeare mentions dice and dicing thirteen times +in seven plays, and in Jonson, and the early dramatists, there +are many allusions to this species of gambling.</p> + +<p>In the British Museum is a little MS. book<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> called +“New Passages and Jests,” which were collected by Sir +Nicholas L’Estrange of Hunstanton, Bart., who died in +1669, and in one of the anecdotes we get an insight into +cheating at dice. “Sir William Herbert, playing at dice +with another gentleman, there arose some questions about a +cast. Sir William’s antagonist declared it was a four and a +five; he as positively insisted that it was a five and a six: +the other then swore with a bitter imprecation that it was as +he said. Sir William then replied, ‘Thou art a perjured +knave; for, give me a sixpence, and if there be a four upon +the dice, I will return you a thousand pounds’; at which +the other was presently abashed, for, indeed, the dice were +false, and of a <i>high cut</i>, without a four.”</p> + +<p>Charles Cotton, in his <i>Compleat Gamester</i>, gives us a vivid +account of dicing, as it then was, at an ordinary, after dark.</p> + +<p>“The day being shut in, you may properly compare this +place to those Countries which lye far in the North, where +it is as clear at midnight as at noonday.... This is +the time (when ravenous beasts usually seek their prey) +when in comes shoals of <i>Huffs</i>, <i>Hectors</i>, <i>Setters</i>, <i>Gilts</i>, <i>Pads</i>, +<i>Biters</i>, <i>Divers</i>, <i>Lifters</i>, <i>Filers</i>, <i>Budgies</i>, <i>Droppers</i>, <i>Crossbyters</i>, +&c., and these may all pass under the general and common +appellation of <i>Rooks</i>.... Some of these <i>Rooks</i> will be very +importunate to borrow money of you without any intention +to pay you; or to go with you seven to twelve, half a crown, +or more, whereby, without a very great chance (ten to one, or +more), he is sure to win. If you are sensible hereof, and +refuse his proposition, they will take it so ill, that, if you +have not an especiall care, they will pick your pocket, nim +your gold or silver buttons off your Cloak or Coat, or, it +may be, draw your silver-hilted sword out of your belt,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +without discovery, especially if you are eager upon your +Cast, which is done thus: the silver buttons are strung, or +run upon Cats guts fastened at the upper and nether ends; +now, by ripping both ends very ingeniously, give it the +gentle pull, and so rub off with the buttons; and, if your +Cloak be loose, ‘tis ten to one they have it.</p> + +<p>“But that which will provoke (in my opinion) any man’s +rage to a just satisfaction, is their throwing many times at +a good Sum with a <i>dry fist</i>; (as they call it) that is, if they +nick you, ‘tis theirs; if they lose, they owe you so much, +with many other quillets: some I have known so abominably +impudent, that they would snatch up the Stakes, and, thereupon, +instantly draw, saying, if you will have your money, +you must fight for it; for he is a Gentleman, and will not +want: however, if you will be patient, he will pay you +another time; if you are so tame as to take this, go no more +to the Ordinary; for then the whole Gang will be ever and +anon watching an opportunity to make a <i>Mouth</i> of you in +the like nature. If you nick them, ‘tis odds, if they wait +not your coming out at night and beat you: I could produce +you an hundred examples of this kind, but they will rarely +adventure on the attempt, unless they are backt with some +<i>Bully-Huffs</i> and <i>Bully-Rocks</i>, with others, whose fortunes +are as desperate as their own. We need no other testimony +to confirm the danger of associating with these Anthropophagi, +or Man-Eaters, than Lincolns Inn Fields, whilst +<i>Speering’s</i> Ordinary was kept in Bell Yard, and that you do +not want a pair of Witnesses for the proof thereof, take in, +also, Covent Garden.</p> + +<p>“Neither is it the House itself to be exempted; every +night, almost, some one or other, who, either heated with +Wine, or made cholerick with the loss of his Money, raises +a quarrel, swords are drawn, box and candlesticks thrown +at one another’s heads. Tables overthrown, and all the +House in such a Garboyl, that it is the perfect type of Hell. +Happy is the man now that can make the frame of a Table +or Chimney corner his Sanctuary; and, if any are so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +fortunate as to get to the Stair head, they will rather +hazard the breaking of their own necks, than have their +souls pushed out of their bodies in the dark by they know +not whom.</p> + +<p>“I once observed one of the <i>Desperadoes</i> of the Town, +(being half drunk) to press a Gentleman very much to +lend him a crown: the Gentleman refus’d him several +times, yet, still, the Borrower persisted; and, holding his +head too near the <i>Caster’s</i> elbow, it chanced to hit his nose: +the other, thinking it to be affront enough to be denied the +loan of Money, without this slight touch of the nose, drew, +and, stepping back, (unawares to the Gentleman) made a +full pass at him, intending to have run him through the +body; but his drunkenness misguided his hand, so that he +ran him only through the arm: this put the house into so +great a confusion and fright, that some fled, thinking the +Gentleman slain. This wicked Miscreant thought not this +sufficient; but, tripping up his heels, pinn’d him, as he +thought to the floor: and after this, takes the Gentleman’s +silver sword, leaving his in the wound, and, with a <i>Grand Jury</i> +of <i>Dammees</i>, bid all stand off, if they lov’d their lives, and, so, +went clear off with sword and liberty, but was, notwithstanding, +(the Gentleman recovering) compel’d to make what satisfaction +he was capable of making, beside a long imprisonment; +and was not long abroad, before he was apprehended for +Burglary committed, condemned, and justly executed.</p> + +<p>“But, to proceed on as to play: late at night, when the +company grows thin, and your eyes dim with watching, +false Dice are frequently put upon the ignorant, or they are +otherwise cheated by <i>Topping</i>, <i>Slurring</i>, <i>Stabbing</i>, &c., and, +if you be not vigilant and careful, the box-keeper shall +score you up double, or treble Boxes; and, though you have +lost your money, dun you as severely for it, as if it were +the justest debt in the world.</p> + +<p>“The more subtile and genteeler sort of <i>Rooks</i>, you shall +not distinguish, by their outward demeanour, from persons of +condition; these will sit by, a whole evening, and observe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +who wins; if the winner be <i>bubbleable</i>, they will insinuate +themselves into his company, by applauding his success, +advising him to leave off while he is well: and, lastly, by +civilly inviting him to drink a glass of wine, where, having +well warm’d themselves to make him more than half +drunk, they wheadle him in to play: to which, if he condescend, +he shall quickly have no money left him in his +pocket, unless, perchance, a Crown the Rooking winner lent +him, in courtesie, to bear his charges homewards.</p> + +<p>“This they do by false Dice, as <i>High Fullams</i>, 4. 5. 6. +<i>Low Fullams</i>, 1. 2. 3. By <i>Bristle</i> Dice, which are fitted for +their purpose by sticking a Hog’s bristle, so in the corners, +or otherwise in the Dice, that they shall run high, or low, as +they please. This bristle must be strong and short, by +which means, the bristle bending, it will not lie on that side, +but will be tript over; and this is the newest way of making +a high, or low <i>Fullam</i>. The old ways are by drilling them, +and loading them with quicksilver; but that cheat may be +easily discovered by their weight, or holding two corners +between your forefinger and thumb; if, holding them so, +gently between your fingers, they turn, you may conclude +them false: or, you may try their falsehood otherwise, by +breaking, or splitting them. Others have made them by +filing and rounding; but all these ways fall short of the Art +of those who make them; some whereof are so admirably +skilful in making a Bale of Dice to run what you would +have them, that your Gamesters think they can never give +enough for their purchase, if they prove right. They are +sold in many places about the Town; price current, (by the +help of a friend) eight shillings; whereas an ordinary Bale +is sold for sixpence: for my part, I shall tell you plainly, I +would have those Bales of false Dice to be sold at the price +of the ears of such destructive knaves that made them.</p> + +<p>“Another way the Rook hath to cheat, is first by <i>Palming</i>, +that is, he puts one Dye into the Box, and keeps the +other in the hollow of his little finger; which, noting what +is uppermost when he takes him up, the same shall be when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +he throws the other Dye, which runs doubtfully, any cast. +Observe this—that the bottom and top of all Dice are <i>Seven</i>, +so that if it be four above, it must be a 3 at bottom; so 5 +and 2, 6 and 1. Secondly, by <i>Topping</i>, and that is when +they take up both Dice, and seem to put them in the Box; +and, shaking the Box, you would think them both there, by +reason of the rattling occasioned with the screwing of the +Box; whereas, one of them is at the top of the box, between +his two forefingers, or secur’d by thrusting a forefinger into +the Box. Thirdly, by <i>Slurring</i>: that is, by taking up your +Dice as you will have them advantageously lie in your hand, +placing the one a top the other, not caring if the uppermost +run a Millstone, (as they used to say) if the undermost run +without turning, and, therefore, a smooth table is altogether +requisite for this purpose: on a rugged rough board, it is a +hard matter to be done, whereas, on a smooth table (the +best are rub’d over with Bee’s Wax to fill up all chinks and +crevices) it is usual for some to slur a Dye two yards, or +more, without turning. Fourthly—by <i>Knapping</i>: that is, +when you strike a Dye dead, that it shall not stir. This is +best done within the Tables; where, note, there is no securing +but of one Dye, although there are some, who boast of +securing both. I have seen some so dexterous at Knapping, +that they have done it through the handle of a quart-pot, +or, over a Candle and Candlestick: but that which I most +admired, was throwing the same, less than Ames Ace, with +two Dice, upon a Groat held in the left hand, on the one side +of the handle, a foot distance, and the Dice thrown with the +right hand on the other.</p> + +<p>“Lastly—by <i>Stabbing</i>—that is, having a Smooth Box, +and small in the bottom, you drop in both your Dice in such +manner as you would have them sticking therein, by reason +of its narrowness, the Dice lying upon one another; so that, +turning up the Box, the Dice never tumble; if a smooth +Box, if true, but little; by which means you have bottoms +according to the tops you put in; for example—if you put +in your Dice so that two fives or two fours lie a top, you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> +have, in the bottom, turned up two twos, or two treys; so, +if Six and Ace a top, a Six and an Ace at bottom.”</p> + +<p>At this time were played several games requiring tables +and dice, such as <i>Irish</i>; <i>Backgammon</i>; <i>Tick-tack</i>; <i>Doublets</i>; +<i>Sice-Ace</i> and <i>Catch-Dolt</i>; whilst the games requiring no +special tables were <i>In and In</i>; <i>Passage</i> and <i>Hazard</i>, which +latter was the game most usually played, and of which +Cotton remarks “Certainly, Hazard is the most bewitching +game that is played on the Dice; for when a man begins to +play, he knows not when to leave off; and, having once +accustomed himself to play at Hazard, he hardly, ever after, +minds anything else.”</p> + +<p>Ned Ward<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> (1663-1714), of course, mentions gamblers +and gambling, but his experiences are of low Coffee Houses +and Alsatia: and, presumably most of the Gambling Houses +were of that type, for Thomas Brown<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> (1663-1704) speaks +of them as follows. “In some places they call Gaming +Houses <i>Academies</i>; but I know not why they should inherit +that honourable name, since there is nothing to be learn’d +there, unless it be <i>Sleight of Hand</i>, which is sometimes at +the Expence of all our Money, to get that of other Men’s by +Fraud and Cunning. The Persons that meet are generally +Men of an <i>Infamous</i> character, and are in various Shapes, +Habits, and Employments. Sometimes they are Squires of +the <i>Pad</i>, and now and then borrow a little Money upon the +<i>King’s High Way</i>, to recruit their losses at the <i>Gaming +House</i>; and, when a Hue and Cry is out to apprehend them, +they are as safe in one of these Houses as a <i>Priest</i> at the +<i>Altar</i>, and practise the old trade of <i>Cross-biting Cullies</i>, +assisting the frail <i>Square Die</i> with high and low <i>Fullams</i>, +and other napping tricks, in comparison of whom the +common Bulkers and Pickpockets, are a very honest society. +How unaccountable is this way to <i>Beggary</i>, that when a man +has but a little money, or knows not where in the world to +compass any more, unless by hazarding his neck for’t, will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> +try an experiment to leave himself none at all: or, he that +has money of his own should play the fool, and try whether +it shall not be another man’s. Was ever anything so nonsensically +pleasant?</p> + +<p>“One idle day I ventured into one of these <i>Gaming +Houses</i>, where I found an <i>Oglio of Rakes</i> of several Humours +and Conditions met together. Some of them had never a +Penny left them to bless their Heads with. One that had +play’d away even his Shirt and Cravat, and all his Clothes +but his Breeches, stood shivering in a Corner of the Room, +and another comforting him, and saying, <i>Damme</i> Jack, +whoever thought to see thee in a State of Innocency: cheer +up, Nakedness is the best Receipt in the World against a +Fever; and then fell a Ranting as if Hell had broke loose +that very Moment.... I told my friend, instead of +<i>Academies</i> these places should be called <i>Cheating Houses</i>: +Whereupon a Bully of the <i>Blade</i> came strutting up to my +very Nose, in such a Fury, that I would willingly have given +half the Teeth in my Head for a Composition, crying out, +Split my Wind Pipe, Sir, you are a Fool, and don’t understand +<i>Trap</i>, the whole World’s a Cheat.”</p> + +<p>In the reigns of Charles II., James II., William III., +and Queen Anne were many notorious gamblers, such as +Count Konigsmarck, St Evremont, Beau Fielding, Col. +Macartney, who was Lord Mohun’s second in his celebrated +duel with the Duke of Hamilton, and the Marquis de +Guiscard, who stabbed Harley, Earl of Oxford. There is a +little book by Theophilus Lucas,<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> which gives a more or less +accurate life of notorious gamblers of those days; amongst +them there is a notice of Col. Panton, of whom Lucas says: +“There was no Game but what he was an absolute Artist at, +either upon the Square, or foul Play: as at <i>English Ruff +and Honours</i>, <i>Whist</i>, <i>French Ruff</i>, <i>Gleek</i>, <i>L’Ombre</i>, <i>Lanterloo</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +<i>Bankafalet</i>, <i>Beast</i>, <i>Basset</i>, <i>Brag</i>, <i>Piquet</i>: he was very +dextrous also at <i>Verquere</i>, <i>Tick-tack</i>, <i>Grand Trick-track</i>, +<i>Irish</i> and <i>Back-Gammon</i>; which are all Games play’d +within Tables; and he was not Ignorant of <i>Inn and Inn</i>, +<i>Passage</i> and <i>Draughts</i>, which are Games play’d without the +Tables. Moreover, he had great skill at <i>Billiards</i> and +<i>Chess</i>; but, above all, his chief game was at <i>Hazard</i>, at +which he got the most Money; for, in one Night, at this +Play, he won as many thousand pounds as purchased him +an Estate of above £1500 <i>per Annum</i>, insomuch as he built +a whole Street near <i>Leicester-fields</i>, which, after his own +name, he called <i>Panton Street</i>. After this good Fortune, he +had such an Aversion against all manner of Games, that he +would never handle Cards nor Dice again, but liv’d very +handsomely on his Winnings to his dying Day, which was in +the year 1681.”</p> + +<p>Perhaps the most amusing of Lucas’s <i>Lives</i> is that of +Richard Bourchier—about whom I extract the following +anecdotes. “Fortune not favouring Mr <i>Bourchier</i> always +alike, he was reduced to such a very low Ebb, that, before +he was Four-and-twenty, he was obliged to be a Footman to +the Right Honourable the Earl of <i>Mulgrave</i>, now Duke of +<i>Buckingham</i>; in this Nobleman’s Service he wore a Livery +above a year and a half, when, by his genteel Carriage and +Mien, marrying one Mrs <i>Elizabeth</i> Gossinn, a Lace Woman’s +Grand Daughter, in <i>Exeter Change</i> in the <i>Strand</i>, with whom +he had about 150 Pounds; it being then the solemn +Festival of <i>Christmas</i>, in the Twelve Days whereof, great +Raffling was then wont to be kept in the <i>Temple</i>, he carried +his Wife’s Portion thither to improve it, but was so unsuccessful +as to lose every Farthing. This ill Luck made Mr +<i>Bourchier</i> Stark Mad; but, borrowing 20 Pounds of a +Friend, he went to the <i>Temple</i> again, but had first bought a +Twopenny Cord to hang himself, in case he lost that too: +but the Dice turning on his side, and having won his own +Money back again, and as much more to it, of one particular +Gentleman who was now fretting and fuming in as bad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> +manner as <i>Bourchier</i> was before, he very courteously pull’d +the cord out of his pocket, and giving it to the Loser, said, +<i>Having now, Sir, no occasion for this Implement myself, it is +at your Service with all my Heart</i>: Which bantering expression +made the Gentleman look very sour upon the Winner, +who carried off his booty whilst he was well.”</p> + +<p>He grew prosperous, and got into high society, as bookmakers +and others now do at Horse Races; for we find that +“being at the <i>Groom Porter’s</i>, he flung one Main with the +Earl of <i>Mulgrave</i> for £500, which he won; and his +Honour, looking wistly at him, quoth he: <i>I believe I should +know you. Yes</i>, (replied the winner), <i>your Lordship must +have some knowledge of me, for my Name is</i> Dick Bourchier, +<i>who was once your Footman</i>. Whereupon, his Lordship, +supposing that he was not in a Capacity of paying 500 +pounds in case he had lost, cry’d out, <i>A Bite, A Bite</i>. But +the <i>Groom Porter</i> assuring his Honour that Mr <i>Bourchier</i> was +able to have paid 1000 pounds, provided his Lordship had +won such a sum, he paid him what he plaid for, without any +farther Scruple.”</p> + +<p>But he was not content to gamble with mere Earls, he +flew at higher game. “By the favour of some of his own +Nation, he was soon admitted to the presence of <i>Lewis le +grand</i>, as a Gamster: he not only won 15,000 Pistoles of +the King, but the Nobility also tasted of the same Fortune; +for he won 10,000 Pistoles of the Duke of <i>Orleans</i>; almost +as much of the Duke <i>D’Espernon</i>, besides many of his jewels, +and a prodigious large piece of Ambergreese, valued at +20,000 crowns, as being the greatest piece that ever was +seen in <i>Europe</i>, and which was afterwards laid up by the +Republick of <i>Venice</i> in their treasury, to whom it was sold +for a great Rarity.... Once, Mr <i>Bourchier</i> going over to +<i>Flanders</i>, with a great Train of Servants, set off in such a +fine Equipage, that they drew the Eyes of all upon them +wherever they went, to admire the Splendor and Gaiety of +their Master, whom they took for no less than a Nobleman +of the first Rank. In this Pomp, making his Tour at King<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +<i>William’s</i> Tent, he happened into Play with that great +Monarch, and won of him above £2500. The Duke of +<i>Bavaria</i> being also there, he then took up the cudgels, and +losing £15,000, the Loss put him into a great Chafe, and +doubting some foul Play was put upon him, because Luck +went so much against him, quoth Mr <i>Bourchier</i>—<i>Sir, if +you have any suspicion of any sinister trick put upon your +Highness, if you please, I’ll give you a Chance for all your +Money at once, tossing up at Cross and Pile,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> and you shall +have the advantage of throwing up the Guinea yourself</i>. +The Elector admir’d at his bold Challenge, which, nevertheless, +accepting, he tost up for £15,000, and lost the +Money upon Reputation, with which <i>Bourchier</i> was very well +satisfied, as not doubting in the least; and so, taking his +leave of the King and those Noblemen that were with him, +he departed. Then the Elector of <i>Bavaria</i>, enquiring of +his Majesty, who that Person was, that could run the Hazard +of playing for so much Money at a Time, he told him it was +a subject of his in <i>England</i>, that though he had no real +estate of his own, yet was he able to play with any Sovereign +Prince in <i>Germany</i>. Shortly after, <i>Bourchier</i> returning into +England, he bought a most rich Coach and curious Sett of +six Horses to it, which cost him above £3000, for a present +to the Elector of <i>Bavaria</i>, who had not yet paid him anything +of the £30,000 which he had won of him. Notice +hereof being sent to his Highness, the generous action incited +him to send over his Gentleman of Horse, into <i>England</i>, to +take care of this present, which he received kindly at +<i>Bourchier’s</i> Hands, to whom he return’d Bills of Exchange +also, drawn upon several eminent merchants in <i>London</i>, for +paying what money he had lost with him at play.”</p> + +<p>Bourchier became very rich by gambling, and purchased +an estate near Pershore in Worcestershire, where he was +buried—but he died in London in 1702, aged 45.</p> + +<p>Lucas tells a story about gamblers, which, although it +has no reference to England, is too good to leave out.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p> + +<p>“But, for a farther unquestionable Testimony of the Mischiefs +that often arise from Gaming, this is a very remarkable, but +dreadful Passage, which I am now going to recite. Near +<i>Bellizona</i>, in <i>Switzerland</i>, Three Men were playing at Dice +on the <i>Sabbath Day</i>; and one of ‘em, call’d <i>Ulrick Schrœteus</i>, +having lost his Money, and, at last, expecting a good Cast, +broke out into a most blasphemous Speech, threatening, +<i>That, if Fortune deceiv’d him then, he would thrust his Dagger +into the very body of God, as far as he could</i>. The cast miscarrying, +the Villain drew his Dagger, and threw it against +Heaven with all his Strength; when, behold, the Dagger +vanish’d, and several Drops of Blood fell upon the table in +the midst of them: and the Devil immediately came and +carry’d away the blasphemous Wretch, with such a Noise and +Stink, that the whole City was amaz’d at it. The others, +half distracted with Fear, strove to wipe out the Drops of +Blood that were upon the Table, but the more they rubb’d +‘em, the more plainly they appear’d. The Rumour hereof +flying to the City, multitudes of People flock’d to the Place, +where they found the Gamesters washing the Board; whom +they bound in Chains, and carried towards the Prison; but, +as they were upon the way, one of ‘em was suddenly struck +dead, with such a Number of Lice crawling out of him, as +was wonderful and loathsome to behold: And the Third was +immediately put to Death by the Citizens, to avert the Divine +Indignation and Vengence, which seem’d to hang over their +heads. The Table was preserv’d in the Place, and kept as a +Monument of the Judgments of God on Blasphemers and +Sabbath-breakers; and to show the mischiefs and inconveniences +that often attend Gaming.”</p> + +<p>Loaded Dice continued to be used—for on 18th April +1740 were committed to Newgate, on the oaths of seven +gentlemen of distinction, Thomas Lyell, Lawrence Sydney, +and John Roberts, for cheating and defrauding with false and +loaded dice, those particular gentlemen, at the Masquerade, +to the value of about £400, and other gentlemen not present +at the examination of about £4000 more; and out of about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +nine pairs of dice which were cut asunder, only one single +dice was found unloaded. For this, Lyell and Sidney stood +in the Pillory, near the Opera House, on 2nd June 1742, +two years after the offence was committed.</p> + +<p>And two days afterwards, a cause was tried in the Court +of King’s Bench, on an indictment against a gentleman for +winning the sum of £500 at hazard about seven years before; +and, after a long trial, the jury found him guilty, the penalty +being £2500.</p> + +<p>To show the prevalence of dicing, it may be mentioned +that when the floors of the Middle Temple Hall were taken +up somewhere about 1764, among other things were found +nearly one hundred pairs of dice which had fallen through +the chinks of the flooring. They were about one-third smaller +than those now in use. And Malcolm<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> says: “However unpleasant +the yells of barrow women with their commodities +are at present, no other mischief arises from them than the +obstruction of the ways. It was far otherwise before 1716 +when they generally carried Dice with them, and children +were enticed to throw for fruit and nuts, or, indeed, any +persons of a more advanced age. However, in the year just +mentioned, the Lord Mayor issued an order to apprehend +all retailers so offending, which speedily put an end to street +gaming; though I am sorry to observe that some miscreants +now (1808) carry little wheels marked with numbers, which, +being turned, govern the chance by the figure a hand in the +centre points to when stopped.” When I was young the +itinerent vendors of sweets had a “dolly,” which was a rude +representation of a man, hollowed spirally; a marble was +dropped in at its head, and coming out at its toes, spun +round a board until it finally subsided into one of the numerous +numbered hollows it contained. When that was made +illegal, a numbered teetotum was used, and now childhood +is beguiled with the promise of a threepenny piece, or other +prize, to be found in packets of sweets.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER I</h2> + +<p class="pch">Latimer and Cards—Discourse between a Preacher and a Professor—The Perpetual +Almanack, or Soldier’s Prayer Book—Origin of Playing Cards—Earliest +Notice—Royal Card Playing.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">Before</span> going into the history, &c., of playing cards, it may +be as well to note the serious application that was made of +them by some persons: and first, we will glance at the two +sermons of Latimer’s on cards, which he delivered in St +Edward’s Church, Cambridge, on the Sunday before +Christmas Day 1529. In these sermons he used the card +playing of the season for illustrations of spiritual truth. +By having recourse to a series of similes, drawn from the +rules of Primero and Trump, he illustrated his subject in a +manner that for some weeks after caused his pithy sentences +to be recalled at well nigh every social gathering; and his +Card Sermons became the talk both of Town and University. +The novelty of his method of treatment made it a complete +success; and it was felt throughout the University that +his shafts had told with more than ordinary effect. But, of +course, these sermons being preached in pre-Reformation +days, were considered somewhat heretical, and Buckenham, +the Prior of the Dominicans at Cambridge, tried to answer +Latimer in the same view. As Latimer derived his illustrations +from Cards, so did Buckenham from Dice, and he +instructed his hearers how they might confound Lutheranism +by throwing quatre and cinque: the quatre being the “four +doctors” of the Church, and the cinque being five passages +from the New Testament selected by the preacher.</p> + +<p>Says Latimer in the first of these sermons: “Now then, +what is Christ’s rule? Christ’s rule consisteth in many +things, as in the Commandments, and the Works of Mercy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +and so forth. And for because I cannot declare Christ’s +rule unto you at one time, as it ought to be done, I will +apply myself according to your custom at this time of +Christmas. I will, as I said, declare unto you Christ’s rule, +but that shall be in Christ’s Cards. And, whereas you are +wont to celebrate Christmas by playing at Cards, I intend, +by God’s grace to deal unto you Christ’s Cards, wherein you +shall perceive Christ’s rule. The game that we will play at +shall be called The Triumph, which, if it be well played at, he +that dealeth shall win; the players shall likewise win; and +the standers and lookers on shall do the same; insomuch +that no man that is willing to play at this Triumph with +these Cards, but they shall be all winners, and no losers.”</p> + +<p>Next, is a curious little Black Letter tract, by James +Balmford published in 1593.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> It is a dialogue between a +Professor and a Preacher.</p> + +<p>“<i>Professor.</i> Sir, howsoever I am perswaded by that which +I reade in the common places of <i>Peter Martyr, par. 2, pag. +525, b.</i> that Dice condemned both by the Civill lawes (and by +the Fathers), are therefore unlawfull, because they depend +upon chance; yet not satisfied with that which he writeth +of Table playing, <i>pag. 516, b.</i> I would crave your opinion +concerning playing at Tables and Cards.</p> + +<p><i>Preacher.</i> Saving the judgement of so excellent a Divine, +so Farre as I can learne out of God’s word, Cardes and Tables +seeme to mee no more lawfull, (though less offensive) than +Dice. For Table playing is no whit the more lawfull, because +<i>Plato</i> compares the life of man thereunto, than a theefe is the +more justifiable, because Christ compareth his second coming +to burglarie in the night (Mat. xxiv. 43, 44). Againe, if +Dice be wholly evill, because they wholly depend upon chance, +then Tables and Cardes must needes be somewhat evill, because +they somewhat depend upon chance. Therefore, consider +well this reason, which condemneth the one as well +as the other: Lots are not to be used in sport; but games<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +consisting in chance, as Dice, Cardes, Tables, are Lots; +therefore not to be used in sport.</p> + +<p><i>Professor.</i> For my better instruction, prove that Lots are +not to be used in sport.</p> + +<p><i>Preacher.</i> Consider with regard these three things: First, +that we reade not in the Scriptures that Lots were used, but +only in serious matters, both by the Jewes and Gentiles. +Secondly, that a Lot, in the nature thereof doth as necessarily +suppose the special providence and determining presence of +God, as an oth in the nature thereof doth suppose the testifying +presence of God. Yea, so that, as in an oth, so in a lot, +prayer is expressed, or to bee understoode (I Sam. xiv. 41). +Thirdly, that the proper end of a Lot, as of an oth (Heb. +vi. 16) is to end a controversie: and, therefore, for your +better instruction, examine these reasons. Whatsoever +directly, or of itselfe, or in a speciall manner, tendeth to the +advancing of the name of God, is to be used religiously, and +not to be used in sport, as we are not to pray or sweare in +sport: but the use of Lots, directly of itselfe, and in a speciall +manner, tendeth to the advancing of the name of God, in +attributing to His speciall Providence in the whole and +immediate disposing of the Lot, and expecting the event +(Pro. xvi. 33; Acts i. 24, 26). Therefore the use of Lots +is not to be in sport. Againe, we are not to tempte the +Almightie by a vaine desire of manifestation of his power +and speciall providence (Psal. lxxviii. 18, 19; Esa. vii. 12; +Matth. iv. 6, 7). But, by using Lots in sport, we tempt the +Almighty, vainly desiring the manifestation of his speciall +providence in his immediate disposing. Lastly, whatsoever +God hath sanctified to a proper end, is not to be perverted +to a worse (Matth. xxi. 12, 13). But God hath sanctified +Lots to a proper end, namely to end controversies +(Num. xxvi. 55; Pro. xviii. 18), therefore man is not +to pervert them to a worse, namely to play, and, by playing, +to get away another man’s money, which, without +controversie, is his owne. For the common saying is, +<i>Sine lucro friget lusus</i>, no gaining, cold gaming.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>Professor.</i> God hath sanctified Psalmes to the praise of his +name, and bread and wine to represent the bodie and bloud +of our crucified Saviour, which be holie ends; and the children +of God may sing Psalmes to make themselves merie in the +Lord, and feede upon bread and wine, not only from necessitie, +but to cheere themselves; why, then, may not God’s +children recreate themselves by lotterie, notwithstanding God +hath sanctified the same to end a controversie?</p> + +<p><i>Preacher.</i> Because we finde not in the Scriptures any +dispensation for recreation by lotterie, as we do for godlie +mirth by singing (Jam. v. 13), and for religious and sober +cheering ourselves by eating and drinking (Deut. viii. 9, 10). +And, therefore, (it being withall considered that the ends you +speake of, be not proper, though holy) it followeth, that God +who only disposeth the Lot touching the event, and is, +therefore, a principall actor, is not to bee set on worke by +lotterie in any case, but when hee dispenseth with us, or +gives us leave so to doe. But dispensation for recreation +by lotterie cannot be shewed.</p> + +<p><i>Professor.</i> Lots may be used for profit in a matter of +right (Num. xxvi. 55), why not, for pleasure?</p> + +<p><i>Preacher.</i> Then othes may be used for pleasure, for they +may for profit, in a matter of truth (Exod. xxii. 8, 11). +But, indeede, lots, (as othes) are not to be used for profit or +pleasure, but only to end a controversie.</p> + +<p><i>Professor.</i> The wit is exercised by Tables and Cards, therefore +they be no lots.</p> + +<p><i>Preacher.</i> Yet Lotterie is used by casting Dice, and by +shufling and cutting, before the wit is exercised. But how +doth this follow? Because Cards and Tables bee not naked +Lots, consisting only in chance (as Dice) they are, therefore, +no lots at all. Although (being used without cogging, or +packing) they consist principally in chance, from whence +they are to receive denomination. In which respect, a Lot +is called in Latin, <i>Sors</i>, that is, chance or hazard. And +<i>Lyra</i> upon Pro. xvi. saith, To use Lots, is, by a variable +event of some sensible thing, to determine some doubtfull<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +or uncertaine matter, as to draw cuts, or to cast Dice. But, +whether you will call Cards and Tables, Lots, or no, you play +with chance, or use Lotterie. Then, consider whether exercise +of wit doth sanctifie playing with lotterie, or playing with +lotterie make such exercising of wit a sinne (Hag. ii. 13, 14). +For as calling God to witness by vaine swearing, is a sinne, +(2 Cor. i. 13) so making God an umpire, by playing with +lotterie, must needs be a sinne; yea, such a sin as maketh +the offender (in some respects) more blame worthie. For +there bee moe occasions of swearing than of lotterie. +Secondly, vaine othes most commonly slip out unawares, +whereas lots cannot be used but with deliberation. Thirdly, +swearing is to satisfie other, whereas this kind of lotterie is +altogether to fulfil our own lusts. Therefore, take heede, +that you be not guiltie of perverting the ordinance of the +Lord, of taking the name of God in vaine, and of tempting +the Almightie, by a gamesome putting off things to hazard, +and making play of lotterie, except you thinke that God +hath no government in vaine actions, or hath dispensed with +such lewd games.</p> + +<p><i>Professor.</i> In shooting, there is a chance, by a sudden blast, +yet shooting is no lotterie.</p> + +<p><i>Preacher.</i> It is true; for chance commeth by accident, +and not of the nature of the game, to be used.</p> + +<p><i>Professor.</i> Lots are secret, and the whole disposing of +them is of God (Pro. xvi. 33); but it is otherwise in tables +and Cards.</p> + +<p><i>Preacher.</i> Lots are cast into the lap by man, and that +openly, lest conveiance should be suspected; but the disposing +of the chance is secret, that it may be chance indeed, +and wholly of God, who directeth all things (Prov. xvi. 13, +9, 33). So in Tables, man by faire casting Dice truly made, +and in Cards, by shuffling and cutting, doth openly dispose +the Dice and Cards so, as whereby a variable event may +follow; but it is only and immediately of God that the +Dice bee so cast, and the Cards so shuffled and cut, as that +this or that game followeth, except there be cogging and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +packing. So that, in faire play, man’s wit is not exercised +in disposing the chance, but in making the best of it, being +past.</p> + +<p><i>Professor.</i> The end of our play is recreation, and not +to make God an umpire; but recreation (no doubt) is +lawfull.</p> + +<p><i>Preacher.</i> It may be the souldiers had no such end when +they cast lots for Christ his coate (Mat. xxvii. 25), but +this should be your end when you use lotterie, as the end +of an oth should be, to call God to witnesse. Therefore, as +swearing, so lotterie, without due respect, is sinne. Againe, +howsoever recreation be your pretended end, yet, remember +that wee must not doe evill that good may come of it +(Rom. iii. 8). And that therefore we are to recreate ourselves +by lawfull recreations. Then see how Cardes and +Tables be lawfull.</p> + +<p><i>Professor.</i> If they be not abused by swearing or brawling, +playing for too long time, or too much money.</p> + +<p><i>Preacher.</i> Though I am perswaded that it is not lawfull +to play for any money, considering that thankes cannot be +given in faith for that which is so gotten (Deut. xxiii. 18, +Esa. lxi. 8) Gamesters worke not with their hands the +thing that is good, to be free from stealing (Ephe. iv. 28), +and the loser hath not answerable benefit for his money so +lost (Gen. xxix. 15) contrary to that equitie which Aristotle, +by the light of nature hath taught long since; yet I +grant, if Cards and Tables, so used as you speak, be lesse +sinfull, but how they bee lawfull I see not yet.</p> + +<p><i>Professor.</i> Good men, and well learned, use them.</p> + +<p><i>Preacher.</i> We must live by precept, not by examples, +except they be undoubtedly good. Therefore, examine +whether they bee good and well learned in doing so, or no. +For every man may erre (Ro. iii. 4).</p> + +<p><i>Professor.</i> It is not good to be too just, or too wise +(Eccl. vii. 18).</p> + +<p><i>Preacher.</i> It is not good to be too wise, or too foolish, +in despising the word of God (Prov. i. 22) and not regarding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +the weaknesse of other (Rom. xiv. 21). Let us therefore +beware that we love not pleasure more than godlinesse +(2 Tim. iii. 4).”</p> + +<p>The following broadside, which was bought in the streets, +about 1850, is a copy of one which appeared in the newspapers +about the year 1744, when it was entitled “Cards +Spiritualized.” The name of the soldier is there stated to +be one Richard Middleton, who attended divine service, at +a church in Glasgow, with the rest of the regiment.</p> + +<h3>“<span class="smcap">The Perpetual Almanack,</span> or <span class="smcap">Soldier’s Prayer +Book.</span></h3> + +<p class="pn1">giving an Account of Richard Lane, a Private belonging to +the 47th Regiment of Foot, who was taken before the +Mayor of the Town for Playing at Cards during Divine +Service.</p> + +<p>The Sergeant commanded the Soldiers at Church, and +when the Parson had read the prayers, he took his text. +Those who had a Bible, took it out, but the Soldier had +neither Bible nor Common Prayer Book, but, pulling out a +Pack of Cards he spread them before him. He, first, looked +at one card, and then at another: the Sergeant of the +Company saw him, and said, ‘Richard, put up the Cards, +this is not the place for them.’ ‘Never mind that,’ said +Richard. When the service was over, the Constable took +Richard prisoner, and brought him before the Mayor. +‘Well,’ says the Mayor, ‘what have you brought that +Soldier here for?’ ‘For playing Cards in church.’ ‘Well, +Soldier, what have you to say for yourself?’ ‘Much, I +hope, Sir.’ ‘Very good; if not, I will punish you more +than ever man was punished.’ ‘I have been,’ said the +Soldier, ‘about six weeks on the march. I have had but +little to subsist on. I have neither Bible, nor Prayer Book—I +have nothing but a Pack of Cards, and I hope to satisfy +your Worship of the purity of my intentions.’ ‘Very good,’<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +said the Mayor. Then, spreading the cards before the +Mayor, he began with the Ace.</p> + +<p>‘When I see the Ace, it reminds me that there is only +one God.</p> + +<p>When I see the Deuce, it reminds me of the Father and +the Son.</p> + +<p>When I see the Tray, it reminds me of Father, Son and +Holy Ghost.</p> + +<p>When I see the Four, it reminds me of the four Evangelists +that preached, viz., Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.</p> + +<p>When I see the Five, it reminds me of the Five Wise +Virgins that trimmed their lamps. There were ten, but +five were wise, and five foolish, who were shut out.</p> + +<p>When I see the Six, it reminds me that in Six days the +Lord made Heaven and Earth.</p> + +<p>When I see the Seven, it reminds me that on the seventh +day God rested from the works which he had made, and +hallowed it.</p> + +<p>When I see the Eight, it reminds me of the eight righteous +persons that were saved when God drowned the world, +viz., Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives.</p> + +<p>When I see the Nine, it reminds me of the nine lepers +that were cleansed by our Saviour. There were ten, but +nine never returned God thanks.</p> + +<p>When I see the Ten, it reminds me of the Ten Commandments, +which God handed down to Moses, on a table +of stone.</p> + +<p>When I see the King, it reminds me of the Great King +of Heaven, which is God Almighty.</p> + +<p>When I see the Queen, it reminds me of the Queen of +Sheba, who went to hear the wisdom of Solomon; for she +was as wise a woman as he was a man. She brought with +her fifty boys and fifty girls, all dressed in boy’s apparel +for King Solomon to tell which were boys, and which were +girls. King Solomon sent for water for them to wash +themselves; the girls washed to the elbows, and the boys +only to the wrist, so King Solomon told by that.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> + +<p>‘Well,’ said the Mayor, ‘you have given a description of +all the Cards in the pack, except one.’ ‘Which is that?’ +said the Soldier. ‘The Knave,’ said the Mayor. ‘I will +give your honour a description of that, too, if you will not +be angry.’ ‘I will not,’ said the Mayor, ‘if you will not +term me to be the Knave.’ ‘Well,’ said the Soldier, ‘the +greatest knave I know, is the constable that brought me +here.’ ‘I do not know,’ said the Mayor, ‘whether he is the +greatest knave, but I know he is the greatest fool.’</p> + +<p>‘When I count how many spots there are in a pack of +cards, I find 365, as many days as there are in a year.<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> + +<p>When I count the number of cards in a pack, I find there +are 52, as many weeks as there are in a year.</p> + +<p>When I count the tricks at Cards, I find 13, as many +months as there are in a year. So you see, Sir, the Pack of +Cards serves for a Bible, Almanack, and Common Prayer +Book to me.’</p> + +<p>The Mayor called for some bread and beef for the Soldier, +gave him some money, and told him to go about his business, +saying that he was the cleverest man he ever heard in his +life.”</p> + +<p>The origin of Playing Cards is involved in mystery, +although the Chinese claim to have invented them, saying +that the Tien-Tsze, pae, or dotted cards, now in use, were +invented in the reign of Leun-ho, <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 1120, for the amusement +of his wives; and that they were in common use in +the reign of Kaow-Tsung, who ascended the throne <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 1131. +The generally received opinion is that they are of Oriental +extraction, and that they were brought into Europe by the +gipsies, and were first used in Spain. How, or when they +were introduced into England, is not known. In Anstis’s +<i>History of the Order of the Garter</i>, vol. i., p. 307, is to be +found the earliest mention of Cards, if, indeed, the Four +Kings there mentioned are connected with Cards. The +date would be 1278.</p> + +<p>“This Enquiry touching the Title of Kings, calls to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +remembrance the Plays forbidden the Clergy, denominated +<i>Ludos de Rege et Regina</i>, which might be <i>Cards</i>, <i>Chesse</i>, or +the Game since used even to this Age at <i>Christmas</i>, called +<i>Questions and Commands</i>, and also that Edward I. plaid <i>ad +quatuor Reges</i> (Wardrobe Rolls, 6 Ed. <span class="smcap">I</span>, <i>Waltero Storton ad +opus Regis ad ludendum ad Quatuor Reges</i> viii. s. v. d.) which +the Collector guesses might be the Game of Cards, wherein +are Kings of the four Suits; for he conceives this Play of +some Antiquity, because the term <i>Knave</i>, representing a +Youth, is given to the next Card in Consequence to the +King and Queen, and is as it were the Son of them, for, in +this Sense this Word, Knave, was heretofore used; thus +<i>Chaucer</i> saith, That <i>Alla</i>, King of <i>Northumberland</i> begot a +Knave Child.”</p> + +<p>The Hon. Daines Barrington, in a paper read by him to +the Society of Antiquaries, Feb. 23, 1786, after quoting +Anstis, went on to say that “Edward the First (when +Prince of Wales) served nearly five years in Syria, and, +therefore, whilst military operations were suspended, must, +naturally, have wished for some sedentary amusements. +Now the Asiatics scarcely ever change their customs; +and, as they play at Cards (though, in many respects, +different from ours), it is not improbable that Edward +might have been taught the game, <i>ad quatuor reges</i>, whilst +he continued so long in this part of the globe.</p> + +<p>“If, however, this article in the Wardrobe account is not +allowed to allude to <i>playing cards</i>, the next writer who +mentions the more early introduction of them is P. Menestrier, +who, from such another article in the Privy purse +expences of the Kings of France, says they were provided +for Charles VI. by his limner, after that King was deprived +of his senses in 1392. The entry is the following: ‘Donné +a Jacquemin Gringonneur, Peintre, pour <i>trois jeux</i> de Cartes, +a or et a diverses couleurs, de plusieurs devises, pour porter +vers le dit Seigneur Roi pour son abatement, cinquante six +sols Parisis.’”</p> + +<p>Still supposing the game of “Four Kings” to have been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +a game at cards, it seems strange that Chaucer, who was +born fifty years afterwards, should not have made some +mention of Cards as a pastime, for, in his <i>Franklin’s Tale</i>, he +only mentions that “They dancen; and they play at ches +and tables.” The first authentic date we have of playing +Cards in England, shows that they had long been in use in +1463, and were manufactured here, for, by an Act of Parliament +(3 Edward IV. cap. 4), the <i>importation</i> of playing cards +was forbidden.</p> + +<p>We get an early notice of cards <i>temp</i> Richard III. in +the Paston letters<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> from Margery Paston to John Paston, +24 Dec. 1484.</p> + +<p class="pc1">“<i>To my ryght worschipful husband John Paston.</i></p> + +<p class="pn1">Ryght worschipful husbond, I recomaund me onto you. +Plese it you to wete that I sent your eldest sunne to +my Lady Morlee to have Knolage wat sports wer husyd +in her hows in Kyrstemesse next folloyng after the decysse +of my lord, her husbond; and sche seyd that ther wer non +dysgysyngs, ner harpyng, ner syngyn, ner non lowd dysports, +but playing at the tabyllys and schesse and cards. +Sweche dysports sche gave her folkys leve to play and non +odyr.”</p> + +<p>Royalty was occasionally given to gambling, and we find +among the private disbursements of Edward the Second +such entries as:</p> + +<p>“Item. paid to the King himself, to play at cross and +pile, by the hands of Richard de Meremoth, the receiver of +the Treasury, Twelve pence.</p> + +<p>Item. paid there to Henry, the King’s barber, for money +which he lent to the King, to play at cross and pile, Five +shillings.</p> + +<p>Item. paid there to Peres Barnard, usher of the King’s +chamber, money which he lent to the King, and which he +lost at cross and pile, to Monsieur Robert Wattewylle, Eight +pence.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> + +<p>Item. paid to the King himself, to play at cross and pile, +by Peres Barnard, two shillings, which the said Peres won +of him.”</p> + +<p>Also Royalty was fond of playing at cards, which, indeed, +were popular from the highest to the lowest; and we find +that James IV. of Scotland surprised his future bride, +Margaret, sister to Henry VIII., when he paid her his first +visit, playing at cards.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> “The Kynge came privily to the +said castell (of Newbattle) and entred within the chammer +with a small company, where he founde the quene playing +at the cardes.” And in the Privy purse expenses of Elizabeth +of York, queen to Henry VII., we find, under date of +1502: “Item. to the Quenes grace upon the Feest of St +Stephen for hure disporte at cardes this Christmas C.s. (100 +shillings).” Whilst to show their popularity in this reign, it +was enacted in 1494 (11 Hen. VII. c. 2), that no artificer +labourer, or servant, shall play at any unlawful game (cards +included) but in Christmas.</p> + +<p>Shakespeare makes Henry VIII. play at Cards, for in his +play of that name (Act v. sc. i.) there occurs, “And left +him at Primero with the Duke of Suffolk”; whilst, in the +<i>Merry Wives of Windsor</i> (Act iv. sc. 5), Falstaff says, “I +never prosper’d since I forswore myself at Primero.” Stow +tells us how, in Elizabeth’s time, “from All Hallows eve to +the following Candlemas day, there was, among other sports, +playing at Cards for counters, nails, and points, in every +house, more for pastime than for gain.” When Mary was +Princess, in her Privy Purse expenses there are numerous +entries of money given her wherewith to play at cards.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER II</h2> + +<p class="pch">Legislation as to Cards—Boy and sheep—Names of old games at Cards—Gambling<br /> +<i>temp.</i> Charles II.—Description of a gaming-house, 1669—Play at Christmas—The<br /> +Groom Porter—Royal gambling discontinued by George III.—Gambling<br /> +in church.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">Legislation</span> about Cards was thought necessary in Henry +VIII.’s time, for we see in 33 Hen. VIII., cap. 9, sec. xvi.: +“Be it also enacted by the authority aforesaid. That no +manner of artificer, or craftsman of any handicraft or occupation, +husbandman, apprentice, labourer, servant at husbandry, +journeyman, or servant of artificer, mariners, fishermen, +watermen, or any serving man, shall from the said +feast of the Nativity of <i>St John Baptist</i>, play at the tables, +tennis, dice, cards, bowls, clash, coyting, logating, or any +unlawful game, out of <i>Christmas</i>, under the pain of xx s. to +be forfeit for every time,” &c.—an edict which was somewhat +modified by sec. xxii., which provided “In what cases +servants may play at dice, cards, tables, bowls, or tennis.”</p> + +<p>This interference with the amusements of the people did +not lead to good results, as Holinshed tells us (1526): “In +the moneth of Maie was a proclamation made against all +unlawfull games, according to the statute made in this +behalfe, and commissions awarded to every shire for the +execution of the same; so that, in all places, tables, dice, +cards, and bouls were taken and burnt. Wherfore the +people murmured against the cardinall, saieing: that he +grudged at everie man’s plesure, saving his owne. But this +proclamation small time indured. For, when yong men +were forbidden bouls and such other games, some fell to +drinking, some to feretting of other men’s conies, some to +stealing of deere in parks and other unthriftinesse.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> + +<p>With the exception of the grumbles of the Elizabethan +puritans, such as Stubbes and others, we hear very little of +card playing. Taylor, the “Water Poet,” in his <i>Wit and +Mirth</i> gives a little story anent it, and mentions a game now +forgotten. “An unhappy boy that kept his father’s sheepe +in the country, did use to carry a paire<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> of Cards in his +pocket, and, meeting with boyes as good as himselfe, would +fall to cards at the Cambrian game of whip-her-ginny, or +English One and Thirty; at which sport, hee would some +dayes lose a sheepe or two: for which, if his father corrected +him, hee (in revenge), would drive the sheepe home at night +over a narrow bridge, where some of them falling besides the +bridge, were drowned in the swift brooke. The old man, +being wearied with his ungracious dealing, complained to a +Justice, thinking to affright him from doing any more the +like. In briefe, before the Justice the youth was brought, +where, (using small reverence and lesse manners), the Justice +said to him: Sirrah, you are a notable villaine, you play at +Cards, and lose your father’s sheepe at One and Thirty. +The Boy replied that it was a lye. A lye, quoth the Justice, +you saucy knave, dost thou give me the lye? No, qd +the boy, I gave thee not the lye, but you told me the lye, +for I never lost sheepe at One and Thirty; for, when my +game was one and thirty, I alwayes woune. Indeed, said +the Justice, thou saist true, but I have another accusation +against thee, which is, that you drive your father’s sheepe +over a narrow bridge where some of them are oftentimes +drowned. That’s a lye, too, quoth the boy, for those that go +over the bridge are well enough, it is only those that fall +beside which are drowned: Whereto the Justice said to the +boy’s father, Old man, why hast thou brought in two false +accusations against thy soune, for he never lost sheepe at +one and thirty, nor were there any drowned that went over +the bridge.”</p> + +<p>In <i>Taylor’s Motto</i> the same author names many other +games at cards which were then in vogue:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> + +<p class="ppq2 p1">“The Prodigall’s estate, like to a flux,<br /> +The Mercer, Draper, and the Silk-man sucks;<br /> +The Taylor, Millainer, Dogs, Drabs and Dice,<br /> +They trip, or Passage, or the Most at thrice;<br /> +At Irish, Tick tacke, Doublets, Draughts, or Chesse<br /> +He flings his money free with carelessnesse:<br /> +At Novum, Mumchance, mischance (chuse ye which),<br /> +At One and Thirty, or at Poore and Rich,<br /> +Ruffe, Flam, Trump, Noddy, Whisk, Hole, Sant, New Cut,<br /> +Unto the keeping of foure Knaves, he’l put<br /> +His whole estate at Loadum, or at Gleeke,<br /> +At Tickle me quickly, he’s a merry Greeke,<br /> +At Primefisto, Post and Payre, Primero,<br /> +Maw, Whip-her-ginny, he’s a lib’rall Hero:<br /> +At My sow pigg’d; and (Reader, never doubt ye,<br /> +He’s skill’d in all games except), Looke about ye.<br /> +Bowles, Shove groate, Tennis, no game comes amiss,<br /> +His purse a purse for anybody is.”</p> + +<p class="p1">Naturally, under the Puritans, card playing was anathema, +and we hear nothing about it, if we except the political satire +by Henry Nevile, which was published in 1659, the year +after Cromwell’s death. It is entitled “Shuffling, Cutting, +and Dealing in a Game at Picquet: Being acted from the +Year 1653 to 1658 by O. P. [Oliver, Protector] and others, +with great applause. <i>Tempora mutantur et nos.</i>” It is well +worth reading, but it is too long for reproduction here.</p> + +<p>But, as soon as the King enjoyed his own again, +dicing and card playing were rampant, as Pepys tells us. +“<i>7 Feb. 1661.</i> Among others Mr Creed and Captain +Ferrers tell me the stories of my Lord Duke of Buckingham’s +and my Lord’s falling out at Havre de Grace, at +Cards; they two and my Lord St Albans playing. The +Duke did, to my Lord’s dishonour, often say that he did, in +his conscience, know the contrary to what he then said, about +the difference at Cards; and so did take up the money that +he should have lost to my Lord, which, my Lord resenting, +said nothing then, but that he doubted not but there were +ways enough to get his money of him. So they parted that +night; and my Lord sent Sir R. Stayner, the next morning, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +the Duke, to know whether he did remember what he said +last night, and whether he would owne it with his sword +and a second; which he said he would, and so both sides +agreed. But my Lord St Albans, and the Queen, and +Ambassador Montagu did waylay them at their lodgings +till the difference was made up, to my Lord’s honour; who +hath got great reputation thereby.”</p> + +<p>“<i>17 Feb. 1667.</i> This evening, going to the Queene’s +side,<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> to see the ladies, I did find the Queene, the Duchesse +of York, and another or two, at cards, with a room full of +great ladies and men, which I was amazed at to see on a +Sunday, having not believed it; but, contrarily, flatly denied +the same, a little while since, to my cousin Roger Pepys.”</p> + +<p>“<i>1 Jan. 1668.</i> By and by I met with Mr Brisband; +and having it in my mind this Christmas to do what I +never can remember that I did, go to see the gaming at +the Groome-Porter’s, I, having, in my coming from the +playhouse, stepped into the two Temple halls, and there +saw the dirty prentices and idle people playing, wherein I +was mistaken in thinking to have seen gentlemen of quality +playing there, as I think it was when I was a little child, +that one of my father’s servants, John Bassum, I think, +carried me in his arms thither, where, after staying an hour, +they began to play at about eight at night; where, to see +how differently one man took his losing from another, one +cursing and swearing, and another only muttering and +grumbling to himself, a third without any apparent discontent +at all: to see how the dice will run good luck in +one hand for half an hour together, and on another have no +good luck at all: to see how easily here, where they play +nothing but guinnys, a £100 is won or lost: to see two or +three gentlemen come in there drunk, and, putting their +stock of gold together, one 22 pieces, the second 4, and the +third 5 pieces; and these two play one with another, and +forget how much each of them brought, but he that brought +the 22 thinks that he brought no more than the rest: to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +see the different humours of gamesters to change their luck, +when it is bad, to shift their places, to alter their manner of +throwing, and that with great industry, as if there was anything +in it: to see how some old gamesters, that have no +money now to spend as formerly, do come and sit and look +on, and, among others, Sir Lewes Dives,<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> who was here, +and hath been a great gamester in his time: to hear their +cursing and damning to no purpose, as one man being to +throw a seven, if he could; and, failing to do it after a +great many throws, cried he would be damned if ever he +flung seven more while he lived, his despair of throwing it +being so great, while others did it, as their luck served, +almost every throw: to see how persons of the best quality +do here sit down, and play with people of any, though +meaner; and to see how people in ordinary clothes shall +come hither and play away 100, or 2, or 300 guinnys, +without any kind of difficulty; and, lastly, to see the +formality of the groome-porter, who is their judge of all +disputes in play, and all quarrels that may arise therein, +and how his under officers are there to observe true play +at each table and to give new dice, is a consideration I +never could have thought had been in the world had I +not seen it. And mighty glad I am that I did see it, and, +it may be, will find another evening before Christmas be +over, to see it again, when I may stay later, for their heat +of play begins not till about eleven or twelve o’clock; +which did give me another pretty observation of a man +that did win mighty fast when I was there. I think he won +£100 at single pieces in a little time. While all the rest +envied him his good fortune, he cursed it, saying, it come so +early upon me, for this fortune, two hours hence, would be +worth something to me, but then I shall have no such luck. +This kind of prophane, mad entertainment they give themselves. +And so, I, having enough for once, refusing to +venture, though Brisband pressed me hard, and tempted +me with saying that no man was ever known to lose the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +first time, the devil being too cunning to discourage a +gamester, and he offered, also, to lend me 10 pieces to +venture; but I did refuse, and so went away.”</p> + +<p>We get a good account of the Gaming-house of this +period in “The Nicker Nicked; or, the Cheats of Gaming +Discovered” (1669), but as it closely resembles Cotton’s +account of an Ordinary, I only give a portion of it.</p> + +<p>“If what has been said, will not make you detest this +abominable kind of life; will the almost certain loss of your +money do it? I will undertake to demonstrate that it is ten +to one you shall be a loser at the year’s end, with constant +play upon the square. If, then, twenty persons bring two +hundred pounds a piece, which makes four thousand pounds, +and resolve to play, for example, three or four hours a day +for a year; I will wager the box shall have fifteen hundred +pounds of the money, and that eighteen out of the twenty +persons shall be losers.</p> + +<p>“I have seen (in a lower instance) three persons sit down +at Twelvepenny In and In, and each draw forty shillings +a piece; and, in little more than two hours, the box has +had three pounds of the money; and all the three gamesters +have been losers, and laughed at for their indiscretion.</p> + +<p>“At an Ordinary, you shall scarce have a night pass without +a quarrel, and you must either tamely put up with an +affront, or else be engaged in a duel next morning, upon +some trifling insignificant occasion, pretended to be a point +of honour.</p> + +<p>“Most gamesters begin at small game; and, by degrees, if +their money, or estates, hold out, they rise to great sums; +some have played, first of all, their money, then their rings, +coach and horses, even their wearing clothes and perukes; +and then, such a farm; and, at last, perhaps, a lordship. +You may read, in our histories,<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> how Sir Miles Partridge +played at Dice with King Henry the Eighth for Jesus Bells, +so called, which were the greatest in England, and hung in +a tower of St Paul’s Church; and won them; whereby he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +brought them to ring in his pocket; but the ropes, afterwards, +catched about his neck, for, in Edward the Sixth’s +days, he was hanged for some criminal offences.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a></p> + +<p>“Consider how many people have been ruined by play. +Sir Arthur Smithouse is yet fresh in memory: he had a fair +estate, which in a few years he so lost at play that he died +in great want and penury. Since that Mr Ba——, who was +a Clerk in the Six Clerks Office, and well cliented, fell to +play, and won, by extraordinary fortune, two thousand pieces +in ready gold: was not content with that; played on; lost +all he had won, and almost all his own estate; sold his place +in the office; and, at last marched off to a foreign plantation +to begin a new world with the sweat of his brow. For that +is commonly the destiny of a decayed gamester, either to +go to some foreign plantation, or to be preferred to the +dignity of a box-keeper.</p> + +<p>“It is not denied, but most gamesters have, at one time or +other, a considerable run of winning, but, (such is the infatuation +of play) I could never hear of a man that gave over, a +winner, (I mean to give over so as never to play again;) I +am sure it is a <i>rara avis</i>: for if you once ‘break bulk,’ as +they phrase it, you are in again for all. Sir Humphrey +Foster had lost the greatest part of his estate, and then +(playing, it is said, for a dead horse,) did, by happy fortune, +recover it again, then gave over, and wisely too.</p> + +<p>“If a man has a competent estate of his own, and plays +whether himself or another man shall have it, it is extreme +folly; if his estate be small, then to hazard the loss even of +that and reduce himself to absolute beggary is direct madness. +Besides, it has been generally observed, that the loss +of one hundred pounds shall do you more prejudice in disquieting +your mind than the gain of two hundred pounds +shall do you good, were you sure to keep it.”</p> + +<p>The “Groom Porter” has been more than once mentioned +in these pages. He was formerly an officer of the Lord +Steward’s department of the Royal Household. When the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +office was first appointed is unknown, but Henry Fitzalan, +Earl of Arundel, Lord Chamberlain to Henry VIII. from +1526 to 1530, compiled a book containing the duties of the +officers, in which is set forth “the roome and service belonging +to a groome porter to do.” His business was to see the +King’s lodgings furnished with tables, chairs, stools, firing, +rushes for strewing the floors, to provide cards, dice, &c., and +to decide disputes arising at dice, cards, bowling, &c. The +Groom Porter’s is referred to as a place of excessive play in +the seventeenth year of the reign of Henry VIII. (1526), +when it was directed that the privy chamber shall be “kept +honestly,” and that it “be not used by frequent and intemperate +play, as the Groom Porter’s house.”</p> + +<p>Play at Court was lawful, and encouraged, from Christmas +to Epiphany, and this was the Groom Porter’s legitimate +time. When the King felt disposed, and it was his pleasure +to play, it was the etiquette and custom to announce to the +company, that “His Majesty was out”; on which intimation +all Court ceremony and restraint were set aside, and the +sport commenced; and when the Royal Gamester had either +lost, or won, to his heart’s content, notice of the Royal pleasure +to discontinue the game was, with like formality, announced +by intimation that “His Majesty was at home,” whereupon +play forthwith ceased, and the etiquette and ceremony of +the palace was resumed.</p> + +<p>The fact of the Christmas gambling is noted in Jonson’s +<i>Alchemist</i>—</p> + +<p class="ppq8 p1">“He will win you,</p> +<p class="ppn4">By irresistible luck, within this fortnight<br /> +Enough to buy a barony. This will set him<br /> +Upmost at the Groom Porter’s all the Christmas.”</p> + +<p class="p1">We saw that Pepys visited the Groom Porter’s at Christmas, +so also did Evelyn.</p> + +<p>“<i>6 Jan. 1662.</i> This evening, according to custom, his +Majesty opened the revels of that night, by throwing the +dice himself in the privy chamber, where was a table set on +purpose, and lost his £100. (The year before he won<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +£1500.) The ladies, also, played very deep. I came away +when the Duke of Ormond had won about £1000, and left +them still at passage, cards, &c. At other tables, both there +and at the Groom Porter’s, observing the wicked folly and +monstrous excess of passion amongst some losers: sorry am +I that such a wretched custom as play to that excess should +be countenanced in a Court, which ought to be an example +of virtue to the rest of the kingdom.”</p> + +<p>“<i>8 Jan. 1668.</i> I saw deep and prodigious gaming at +the Groom Porter’s, vast heaps of gold squandered away in a +vain and profuse manner. This I looked on as a horrid vice, +and unsuitable to a Christian Court.”</p> + +<p>In the reign of James II. the Groom Porter’s was still an +institution, and so it was in William III.’s time, for we read +in <i>The Flying Post</i>, No. 573, Jan. 10-13, 1699. “Friday +last, being Twelf-day, the King, according to custom, plaid +at the Groom Porter’s; where, we hear, Esqre. Frampton<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> was +the greatest gainer.”</p> + +<p>In Queen Anne’s time he was still in evidence, as we find +in the <i>London Gazette</i>, December 6-10, 1705. “Whereas Her +Majesty, by her Letters Patent to Thomas Archer, Esqre., constituting +him Her Groom Porter, hath given full power to +him and such Deputies as he shall appoint to supervise, +regulate and authorize (by and under the Rules, Conditions, +and Restrictions by the Law prescribed,) all manner of Gaming +within this Kingdom. And, whereas, several of Her Majesty’s +Subjects, keeping Plays or Games in their Houses, have +been lately abused, and had Moneys extorted from them +by several ill disposed Persons, contrary to Law. These +are, therefore, to give Notice, That no Person whatsoever, +not producing his Authority from the said Groom Porter, +under Seal of his Office, hath any Power to act anything +under the said Patent. And, to the end that all such Persons +offending as aforesaid, may be proceeded against according +to Law, it is hereby desired, that Notice be given of all such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +Abuses to the said Groom Porter, or his Deputies, at his Office, +at Mr Stephenson’s, a Scrivener’s House, over against Old +Man’s Coffee House, near Whitehall.”</p> + +<p>We get a glimpse of the Groom Porters of this reign in +Mrs Centlivre’s play of <i>The Busy Body</i>:</p> + +<p>“<i>Sir Geo. Airy.</i> Oh, I honour Men of the Sword; and I +presume this Gentleman is lately come from Spain or Portugal—by +his Scars.</p> + +<p>“<i>Marplot.</i> No, really, Sir George, mine sprung from civil +Fury: Happening last night into the Groom porter’s—I had +a strong inclination to go ten Guineas with a sort of a—sort +of a—kind of a Milk Sop, as I thought: a Pox of the Dice, +he flung out, and my Pockets being empty, as Charles knows +they sometimes are, he prov’d a Surly North Briton, and +broke my face for my deficiency.”</p> + +<p>Both George I. and George the Second played at the Groom +Porter’s at Christmas. In the first number of the <i>Gentleman’s +Magazine</i>, we read how George II. and his Queen spent +their Epiphany. “Wednesday, Jan. 5, 1731. This being +Twelfth Day ... their Majesties, the Prince of Wales, and +the three eldest Princesses, preceded by the Heralds, &c., +went to the Chapel Royal, and heard divine Service. The +King and Prince made the Offerings at the Altar, of Gold, +Frankincense and Myrrh, according to Custom. At night, +their Majesties &c. play’d at <i>Hazard</i>, for the benefit of the +Groom Porter, and ‘twas said the King won 600 Guineas, +and the Queen 360, Princess Amelia 20, Princess Caroline +10, the Earl of Portmore and the Duke of Grafton, several +thousands.” And we have a similar record in <i>the Grub +Street Journal</i> under date of 7 Jan., 1736. The Office of +Groom Porter was abolished during the reign of George III. +probably in 1772, for in the <i>Annual Register</i> for that year, +under date 6 Jan., it says: “Their Majesties not being +accustomed to play at Hazard, ordered a handsome gratuity +to the Groom Porter; and orders were given, that, for the +future, there be no card playing amongst the servants.”</p> + +<p>Card playing was justifiable, and legal, at Christmas.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> +An ordinance for governing the household of the Duke of +Clarence, in the reign of Edward IV., forbade all games +at dice, cards, or other hazard for money <i>except during +the twelve days at Christmas</i>. And, again, in the reign of +Henry VII., an Act was passed against unlawful games, which +expressly forbids artificers, labourers, servants, or apprentices +to play at any such, <i>except at Christmas</i>: and, at some of +the Colleges, Cards are introduced into the Combination +Rooms, during the twelve days of Christmas, but never +appear there during the remainder of the year.</p> + +<p>Kirchmayer<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> gives a curious custom of gambling in +church on Christmas day:</p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“Then comes the day wherein the Lorde</p> +<p class="ppn8">did bring his birth to passe;</p> +<p class="ppn6">Whereas at midnight up they rise,</p> +<p class="ppn8">and every man to Masse.</p> +<p class="ppn6">The time so holy counted is,</p> +<p class="ppn8">that divers earnestly</p> +<p class="ppn6">Do think the waters all to wine</p> +<p class="ppn8">are changed sodainly;</p> +<p class="ppn6">In that same house that Christ himselfe</p> +<p class="ppn8">was borne, and came to light,</p> +<p class="ppn6">And unto water streight againe</p> +<p class="ppn8">transformde and altred quight.</p> +<p class="ppn6">There are beside that mindfully</p> +<p class="ppn8">the money still do watch</p> +<p class="ppn6">That first to aultar commes, which then</p> +<p class="ppn8">they privily do snatch.</p> +<p class="ppn6">The priestes, least others should it have,</p> +<p class="ppn8">take oft the same away,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Whereby they thinke, throughout the yeare</p> +<p class="ppn8">to have good luck in play,</p> +<p class="ppn6">And not to lose: then straight at game</p> +<p class="ppn8">till daylight they do strive,</p> +<p class="ppn6">To make some pleasant proofe how well</p> +<p class="ppn8">their hallowed pence will thrive.</p> +<p class="ppn6">Three Masses every priest doth sing</p> +<p class="ppn8">upon that solemne day,</p> +<p class="ppn6">With offerings unto every one,</p> +<p class="ppn8">that so the more may play.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER III</h2> + +<p class="pch">Gambling, early 18th Century—Mrs Centlivre—E. Ward—Steele—Pope—Details +of a gaming-house—Grub St. Journal on Gambling—Legislation on gambling—Peeresses +as gaming-house keepers—A child played for at cards—Raids +on gaming-houses—Fielding.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">But</span> to return to the Chronology of Gambling. From the +Restoration of Charles II. to the time of Anne, gambling +was common; but in the reign of this latter monarch, it +either reached a much higher pitch, or else, in that Augustan +Age of Literature, we hear more about it. Any way, we +only know what we read about it. In the epilogue to Mrs +Centlivre’s play of <i>the Gamester</i>, published in 1705, the +audience is thus addressed:</p> + +<p class="ppq4 p1">“You Roaring Boys, who know the Midnight Cares<br /> +Of Rattling Tatts,<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> ye Sons of Hopes and Fears;<br /> +Who Labour hard to bring your Ruin on,<br /> +And diligently toil to be undone;<br /> +You’re Fortune’s sporting Footballs at the best,<br /> +Few are his Joys, and small the Gamester’s Rest:<br /> +Suppose then, Fortune only rules the Dice,<br /> +And on the Square you Play; yet, who that’s Wise<br /> +Wou’d to the Credit of a Faithless Main<br /> +Trust his good Dad’s hard-gotten hoarded Gain?<br /> +But, then, such Vultures round a Table wait,<br /> +And, hovering, watch the Bubble’s sickly State;<br /> +The young fond Gambler, covetous of more,<br /> +Like <i>Esop’s</i> Dog, loses his certain Store.<br /> +Then the Spung squeez’d by all, grows dry,—And, now,<br /> +Compleatly Wretched, turns a Sharper too;<br /> +These Fools, for want of Bubbles, too, play Fair,<br /> +And lose to one another on the Square.</p> + +<p class="ptb">·······</p> + +<p class="ppn4">This Itch for Play, has, likewise, fatal been,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>And more than <i>Cupid</i>, drawn the Ladies in,<br /> +A Thousand Guineas for <i>Basset</i> prevails,<br /> +A Bait when Cash runs low, that seldom fails;<br /> +And, when the Fair One can’t the Debt defray,<br /> +In Sterling Coin, does Sterling Beauty pay.”</p> + +<p class="p1">Ward, in a Satire called <i>Adam and Eve stript of their +furbelows</i>, published in 1705, has an Article on the +Gambling lady of the period, entitled, <i>Bad Luck to him +that has her; Or, The Gaming Lady</i>, of which the following +is a portion:</p> + +<p>“When an unfortunate Night has happen’d to empty +her Cabinet ... her Jewels are carry’d privately into +<i>Lumbard Street</i>, and Fortune is to be tempted the next +Night with another Sum borrow’d of my Lady’s Goldsmith +at the Extortion of a Pawnbroker; and, if that fails, then she +sells off her Wardrobe, to the great Grief of her Maids; +stretches her Credit amongst those she deals with, pawns +her Honour to her Intimates, or makes her Waiting-Woman +dive into the Bottom of her Trunk, and lug out her green +Net Purse, full of old <i>Jacobus’s</i>, which she has got in her +Time by her Servitude, in Hopes to recover her Losses by a +Turn of Fortune, that she may conceal her bad Luck from the +Knowledge of her Husband: But she is generally such a +Bubble to some Smock fac’d Gamester, who can win her +Money first, carry off the Loser in a Hackney Coach, and +kiss her into a good humour before he parts with her, that +she is generally driven to the last Extremity, and then forc’d +to confess all to her forgiving Spouse, who, either thro’ his +fond Affection, natural Generosity, or Danger of Scandal, +supplies her with Money to redeem her Moveables, buy her +new Apparel, and to pay her Debts upon Honour, that her +Ladyship may be <i>in Statu quo</i>; in which Condition she +never long continues, but repeats the same Game over and +over, to the End of the Chapter: For she is so strangely +infatuated with the Itch of Card Playing, that she makes the +Devil’s Books her very <i>Practice of Piety</i>; and, were she at +her Parish Church, in the Height of her Devotion, should +any Body, in the Interim, but stand at the Church Door, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +hold up the <i>Knave of Clubs</i>, she would take it to be a +Challenge at <i>Lanctre Loo</i>; and, starting from her Prayers, +would follow her beloved <i>Pam</i>, as a deluded Traveller does +an <i>Ignis fatuus</i>.”</p> + +<p>No. 120 of <i>the Guardian</i> (July 29, 1713), by Steele, is +devoted to female Gambling as it was in the time of Queen +Anne, and the following is a portion of it:</p> + +<p>“Their <i>Passions</i> suffer no less by this Practice than +their Understandings and Imaginations. What Hope and +Fear, Joy and Anger, Sorrow and Discontent break out all at +once in a fair Assembly upon So noble an Occasion as that +of turning up a Card? Who can consider without a Secret +Indignation that all those Affections of the Mind which +should be consecrated to their Children, Husbands and +Parents, are thus vilely prostituted and thrown away upon +a Hand at Loo. For my own part, I cannot but be grieved +when I see a fine Woman fretting and bleeding inwardly +from such trivial Motives; when I behold the Face of an +Angel agitated and discomposed by the Heart of a +Fury.</p> + +<p>“Our Minds are of such a Make, that they, naturally, +give themselves up to every Diversion to which they are +much accustomed, and we always find that Play, when +followed with Assiduity, engrosses the whole Woman, She +quickly grows uneasie in her own Family, takes but little +Pleasure in all the domestick, innocent, Endearments of +Life, and grows more fond of <i>Pamm</i> than of her Husband. +My friend <i>Theophrastus</i>, the best of Husbands and of +Fathers, has often complained to me, with Tears in his +Eyes, of the late Hours he is forced to keep, if he would +enjoy his Wife’s Conversation. When she returns to me +with Joy in her Face, it does not arise, says he, from the +Sight of her Husband, but from the good Luck she has had +at Cards. On the contrary, says he, if she has been a Loser, +I am doubly a Sufferer by it. She comes home out of +humour, is angry with every Body, displeased with all I can +do, or say, and, in Reality, for no other Reason but because<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +she has been throwing away my Estate. What charming +Bedfellows and Companions for Life, are Men likely to +meet with, that chuse their Wives out of such Women of +Vogue and Fashion? What a Race of Worthies, what +Patriots, what Heroes, must we expect from Mothers of this +Make?</p> + +<p>“I come, in the next Place, to consider all the ill Consequences +which Gaming has on the <i>Bodies</i> of our Female +Adventurers. It is so ordered that almost everything which +corrupts the Soul, decays the Body. The Beauties of the +Face and Mind are generally destroyed by the same means. +This Consideration should have a particular Weight with the +Female World, who were designed to please the Eye, and +attract the Regards of the other half of the Species. Now, +there is nothing that wears out a fine Face like the Vigils of +the Card Table, and those cutting Passions which naturally +attend them. Hollow Eyes, haggard Looks, and pale Complexions, +are the natural Indications of a Female Gamester. +Her Morning Sleeps are not able to repair her Midnight +Watchings. I have known a Woman carried off half dead +from <i>Bassette</i>, and have, many a time grieved to see a Person +of Quality gliding by me, in her Chair, at two a Clock +in the Morning, and looking like a Spectre amidst a flare +of Flambeaux. In short, I never knew a thorough paced +Female Gamester hold her Beauty two Winters together.</p> + +<p>“But there is still another Case in which the Body is more +endangered than in the former. All Play Debts must be +paid in Specie, or by an Equivalent. The Man who plays +beyond his Income, pawns his Estate; the Woman must +find out something else to Mortgage when her Pin Money +is gone. The Husband has his Lands to dispose of, the +Wife, her Person.”</p> + +<p>Almost all writers of the time note and deplore the +gambling propensity of Ladies: and Pope, in his <i>Rape of +the Lock</i> (Canto III.), gives us a picture of a gambling lady, +and a graphic description of the game of <i>Ombre</i>, which was +played in the afternoon:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span></p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“Meanwhile declining from the Noon of Day,<br /> +The Sun obliquely shoots his burning Ray;<br /> +The hungry Judges soon the Sentence sign,<br /> +And Wretches hang, that Jury-men may Dine;<br /> +The Merchant from th’ <i>Exchange</i> returns in Peace,<br /> +And the long Labours of the <i>Toilette</i> cease—</p> +<p class="ppi6"><i>Belinda</i> now, whom Thirst of Fame invites,<br /> +Burns to encounter two adventrous Knights,<br /> +At <i>Ombre</i> singly to decide their Doom;<br /> +And swells her Breast with Conquests yet to come.<br /> +Strait the three Bands prepare in Arms to join,<br /> +Each Band the number of the Sacred Nine.<br /> +Soon as she spreads her Hand, th’ Aerial Guard<br /> +Descend, and sit on each important Card:<br /> +First, <i>Ariel</i> perch’d upon a <i>Matadore</i>,<br /> +Then each, according to the Rank they bore;<br /> +For <i>Sylphs</i>, yet mindful of their ancient Race,<br /> +Are, as when Women, wondrous fond of Place.</p> +<p class="ppi6">Behold, four <i>Kings</i> in Majesty rever’d,<br /> +With hoary Whiskers and a forky Beard;<br /> +And four fair <i>Queens</i> whose hands sustain a Flow’r,<br /> +Th’ expressive Emblem of their softer Pow’r;<br /> +Four <i>Knaves</i> in Garbs succinct, a trusty Band,<br /> +Caps on their heads, and Halberds in their hand;<br /> +And Particolour’d Troops, a shining Train,<br /> +Draw forth to Combat on the Velvet Plain.</p> +<p class="ppi6">The skilful Nymph reviews her Force with Care,<br /> +<i>Let Spades be Trumps</i>, she said, and Trumps they were.<br /> +Now move to War her Sable <i>Matadores</i>,<br /> +In Show, like Leaders of the swarthy <i>Moors</i>.<br /> +<i>Spadillo</i> first, unconquerable Lord!<br /> +Led off two captive Trumps, and swept the Board.<br /> +As many more <i>Manillio</i> forc’d to yield,<br /> +And march’d a Victor from the verdant Field.<br /> +Him <i>Basto</i> follow’d, but his Fate, more hard,<br /> +Gain’d but one Trump and one Plebeian Card.<br /> +With his broad Sabre, next, a Chief in Years,<br /> +The hoary Majesty of <i>Spades</i> appears;<br /> +Puts forth one manly Leg, to sight reveal’d;<br /> +The rest, his many-colour’d Robe conceal’d.<br /> +The Rebel-<i>Knave</i>, that dares his Prince engage,<br /> +Proves the just Victim of his Royal Rage.<br /> +Ev’n mighty <i>Pam</i>, that Kings and Queens o’erthrew,<br /> +And mow’d down Armies in the Fights of <i>Loo</i>,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>Sad Chance of War! now, destitute of Aid,<br /> +Falls undistinguish’d by the Victor Spade!</p> +<p class="ppi6">Thus far, both Armies to <i>Belinda</i> yield;<br /> +Now, to the <i>Baron</i> Fate inclines the Field.<br /> +His warlike <i>Amazon</i> her Host invades,<br /> +Th’ Imperial Consort of the Crown of <i>Spades</i>.<br /> +The <i>Club’s</i> black Tyrant first her Victim dy’d,<br /> +Spite of his haughty Mien, and barb’rous Pride:<br /> +What boots the Regal Circle on his Head,<br /> +His Giant Limbs in State unwieldy spread?<br /> +That, long behind, he trails his pompous Robe,<br /> +And, of all Monarchs, only grasps the Globe.</p> +<p class="ppi6">The <i>Baron</i>, now his <i>Diamonds</i> pours apace;<br /> +Th’ embroider’d <i>King</i> who shows but half his Face,<br /> +And his refulgent <i>Queen</i>, with Pow’rs combin’d,<br /> +Of broken Troops an easie Conquest find.<br /> +<i>Clubs</i>, <i>Diamonds</i>, <i>Hearts</i>, in wild Disorder seen,<br /> +With Throngs promiscuous strow the level Green.<br /> +Thus, when dispers’d, a routed Army runs,<br /> +Of <i>Asia’s</i> Troops, and <i>Africk’s</i> Sable Sons;<br /> +With like Confusion different Nations fly,<br /> +In various Habits, and of various Dye,<br /> +The pierc’d Battalions dis-united fall<br /> +In Heaps on Heaps; one Fate o’erwhelms them all.</p> +<p class="ppi6">The <i>Knave</i> of <i>Diamonds</i> now exerts his Arts,<br /> +And wins (oh, shameful Chance!) the <i>Queen</i> of <i>Hearts</i>.<br /> +At this, the Blood the Virgin’s Cheek forsook,<br /> +A livid Paleness spreads o’er all her Look;<br /> +She sees, and trembles at th’ approaching Ill,<br /> +Just in the Jaws of Ruin, and <i>Codille</i>.<br /> +And now, (as oft in some distemper’d State)<br /> +On one nice <i>Trick</i> depends the gen’ral Fate,<br /> +An <i>Ace</i> of <i>Hearts</i> steps forth; The <i>King</i>, unseen,<br /> +Lurk’d in her Hand, and mourn’d his captive <i>Queen</i>.<br /> +He springs to Vengeance with an eager Pace,<br /> +And falls like Thunder on the prostrate <i>Ace</i>.<br /> +The Nymph exulting, fills with Shouts the Sky,<br /> +The Walls, the Woods, and long Canals reply.”</p> + +<p class="p1">Things did not improve in the next reign, for Malcolm tells +us, that gaming was dreadfully prevalent in 1718, which might +be demonstrated by the effect of one night’s search by the Leet +Jury of Westminster, who presented no less than thirty-five +houses to the Justices for prosecution. And in the reign of +George II. we have numerous notices of gambling: and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> +first number of the <i>Gentleman’s Magazine</i> in 1731 gives for +the information of its readers the following list of officers +established in the most notorious gaming houses:—</p> + +<p>“1. A <i>Commissioner</i>, always a Proprietor, who looks in of +a Night, and the Week’s Accompt is audited by him, and +two others of the Proprietors.—2. A <i>Director</i>, who superintends +the Room.—3. An <i>Operator</i>, who deals the Cards at +a cheating Game, called <i>Faro</i>.—4. Two <i>Crowpees</i>,<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> who watch +the Cards, and gather the Money for the Bank.—5. Two +<i>Puffs</i>, who have Money given them to decoy others to play.—6. +A <i>Clerk</i>, who is a Check upon the Puffs, to see that +they sink none of the Money that is given them to play +with.—7. A <i>Squib</i>, is a Puff of a lower Rank, who serves at +half Salary, while he is learning to deal.—8. A <i>Flasher</i>, to +swear how often the Bank has been stript.—9. A <i>Dunner</i>, +who goes about to recover Money lost at Play.—10. A +<i>Waiter</i>, to fill out Wine, snuff Candles, and attend in the +Gaming Room.—11. An <i>Attorney</i>, a <i>Newgate</i> Solicitor.—12. +A <i>Captain</i>, who is to fight a Gentleman that is peevish +at losing his money.—13. An <i>Usher</i>, who lights Gentlemen +up and down Stairs, and gives the Word to the Porter.—14. +A <i>Porter</i>, who is, generally, a Soldier of the Foot Guards.—15. +An <i>Orderly Man</i>, who walks up and down the outside +of the Door, to give Notice to the Porter, and alarm the +House, at the Approach of the Constables.—16. A <i>Runner</i>, +who is to get Intelligence of the Justices meeting.—17. +<i>Linkboys</i>, <i>Coachmen</i>, <i>Chairmen</i>, <i>Drawers</i>, <i>or others</i>, +who bring the first Intelligence of the Justices Meetings, +or, of the Constables being out, at Half a Guinea Reward.—18. +<i>Common Bail Affidavit Men</i>, <i>Ruffians</i>, <i>Bravoes</i>, +<i>Assassins</i>, cum multis aliis.”</p> + +<p>We have read before (p. 49) of the King’s gambling at +the Groom Porter’s on 5 Jan. 1731, but, to show the fairness +and equality of the law, I will give the very next paragraph: +“At Night (5 Jan.) Mr <i>Sharpless</i>, High Constable +of <i>Holborn</i> Division, with several of his petty Constables,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> +searched a notorious Gaming House behind <i>Gray’s Inn +Walks</i>, by Vertue of a Warrant from the Right Hon. Lord +<i>Delawar</i>, and eleven other of his Majesty’s Justices of the +Peace for the County of <i>Middlesex</i>; but the Gamesters, +having previous Notice, they all fled, except the Master +of the House, who was apprehended, and bound in a Recognizance +of £200 penalty, pursuant to the old Statute of +33 Hen. VIII.”</p> + +<p>The <i>Grub Street Journal</i> of 28 Dec. 1733, gives a +practical hint how to utilise Gambling: “Dear <i>Bavy</i>.—As +Gaming is becoming fashionable, and the Increase of the +Poor a general Complaint, I propose to have a Poor’s Box +fix’d up in some convenient Place in every House, which +may contain all Money that shall be won at Cards, or any +other Games; and that a proper Person be appointed in +every Parish to keep the Key, and to collect Weekly from +each House what has been dropt into the Box, in order +to distribute it among the poor, every <i>Sunday</i>. A Friend of +mine, being obliged to play pretty high in a Family, where +he visited, had, generally, Luck on his Side. In some time, +the Master of the Family became extreamly embarrass’d in +the World. My Friend, being acquainted with it, and touch’d +with so moving a Circumstance, went home, and, opening a +Drawer where he had deposited the Winnings brought from +his House, repaid him; thereby, he retrieved his Credit, and +whereby the whole Family was saved from Ruin.—Yours +&c., <span class="smcap">Jeremy Hint</span>.”</p> + +<p>Another letter in the same Journal, 2 Sept. 1736, shows +how the canker of gambling was surely eating into the +very heart of the nation. It is <i>à propos</i> of private Gaming +Houses. “I beg leave, through your Means, to make a few +Remarks upon the great Encrease of a Vice, which, if not +timely prevented, will end in the Ruin of the young and +unwary of both Sexes; I mean, Play in private Houses, and +more particularly that artful and cheating <i>Game</i> of <i>Quadrille</i>. +It is the constant business of the <i>Puffs</i> who belong to the +Gaming Societies, to make a general Acquaintance, and, by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +a Volubility of Tongue, to commend Company and Conversation: +to advise young People, or those who have but lately +come to Town, to improve themselves in the <i>Beau Monde</i>. +The young and unwary, thro’ their Inexperience, greedily +swallow this Advice, and deliver themselves up to the Conduct +of these Harpies who swarm in every Corner, where +Visiting is in Fashion: by whom they are introduced into +these polite Families, and taught to lose their Money and +Reputation in a genteel Manner. These Societies consist +mostly of two or three insignificant old Maids, the same +number of gay Widows; a batter’d old Beau or two, who, +in King William’s time, were the Pink of the Mode: The +Master of the House, some decay’d Person of a good +Family, made use of merely as a Cypher to carry on the +Business, by having the Honour to be marry’d to the Lady, +who, to oblige her Friends and People of good Fashion only, +suffers her House to be made use of for these Purposes. +In these places it is that young Ladies of moderate Fortunes +are drawn in, to the infallible Ruin of their Reputations; +and when, by false Cards, Slipping, Signs, and Crimp, they +are stript of their last Guinea, their wretched companions +will not know them. Any one acquainted with the West +End of the Town cannot but have observed all this with +Regret, if they have Honour and Compassion in them. Nor +need I mention the West End only. I believe all Points of +the Compass are infected, and it were to be wished a Remedy +could be found out to prevent it.”</p> + +<p>An attempt to remedy this state of things was made, +in 1739, by passing “an Act for the more efficient preventing +of excessive and deceitful gaming” (12 Geo. II. c. +28), which provided that the Person that keeps a house, or +other place, to game in, forfeits £200, half to the prosecutor, +and half to the poor of the parish, except at Bath, where the +half goes to poor in the Hospital. Lotteries, Sales, Shares +in Houses to be determined by Lottery, Raffle, &c., are +under this Act, the Lands, Houses, &c. forfeited. All +persons gaming in the places aforesaid, or adventurers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +in Lotteries, on conviction forfeit £50. The games forbidden +are Ace of Hearts, Faro, Basset and Hazard, except +in Royal Palaces. Justices of Peace refusing to act and +convict on this Act forfeit £10.</p> + +<p>But this Act did not go far enough, and it was amended +by the 18 Geo. II. c. 34. The Journals of the House of +Lords have a curious story to tell about this Act.</p> + +<p>“<i>Dies Lunæ</i>, <i>29 Aprilis 1745</i>. The House (according +to Order) was adjourned during Pleasure, and put into +Committee upon the Bill intituled ‘An Act to amend, +explain, and make more effectual, the Laws in being, to +prevent excessive and deceitful Gaming: and to restrain +and prevent the excessive Increase of Horse Races.’</p> + +<p>After some time the House was resumed.</p> + +<p>And the Earl of Warwick reported from the said Committee +that they had gone through the Bill, and made some +Amendments thereto; which he would be ready to report, +when the House will please to receive the same.</p> + +<p>Ordered. That the Report be received to-morrow.</p> + +<p>The House being informed ‘That Mr Burdus, Chairman +of the Quarter Sessions for the City and Liberty of Westminster, +Sir Thomas de Veil, and Mr Lane, Chairman of +the Quarter Sessions for the County of Middlesex, were at +the door.’</p> + +<p>They were called in, and, at the Bar, severally gave an +account that claims of privilege of Peerage were made, and +insisted on, by the Ladies Mordington and Casselis, in order +to intimidate the peace officers from doing their duty in +suppressing the public gaming houses kept by the said +Ladies.</p> + +<p>And the said Burdus thereupon delivered in an instrument +in writing, under the hand of the said Lady Mordington, +containing the claim she made of privilege for her +officers and servants employed by her in the said gaming +house.</p> + +<p>And then they were directed to withdraw.</p> + +<p>And the said Instrument was read, as follows:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> + +<p>‘I, Dame Mary, Baroness of Mordington, do hold a +house in the Great Piazza, Covent Garden, for and as an +Assembly, where all persons of credit are at liberty to +frequent and play at such diversions as are used at other +Assemblys. And I have hired Joseph Dewberry, William +Horsely, Ham Cropper, and George Sanders, as my servants, +or managers, (under me) thereof. I have given them +orders to direct the management of the other inferior +servants, (namely) John Bright, Richard Davis, John Hill, +John Vandenvoren, as box-keepers. Gilbert Richardson, +housekeeper, John Chaplain, regulator, William Stanley and +Henry Huggins, servants that wait on the Company at the +said Assembly, William Penny and Joseph Penny, as porters +thereof. And all the above mentioned persons I claim +as my domestick servants, and demand all those privileges +that belong to me, as a Peeress of Great Britain, appertaining +to my said Assembly. <span class="smcap">M. Mordington.</span> Dated +8 Jan. 1745.’</p> + +<p>Resolved and declared that no Person is entitled to +Privilege of Peerage against any prosecution, or proceeding, +for keeping any public or common gaming house, or any +house, room, or place for playing at any game, or games +prohibited by any law now in force.”</p> + +<p>These ladies had already been presented by the Grand +Jury for the County of Middlesex on 10 May 1744, +together with the proprietors of the avenues leading to +and from the several Playhouses in Covent Garden and +Drury Lane, the proprietors of Sadler’s Wells, and the proprietors +of New Wells in Goodman’s Fields, The London +Spaw, Clerkenwell, and Halden’s New Theatre, in May +Fair.</p> + +<p>One of the most curious anecdotes of gambling, about +this date, is the following<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a>:—“1735. Oct. A child of +James and Elizabeth Leesh of Chester le street, was played +for at cards, at the sign of the Salmon, one game, four<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +shillings against the child, by Henry and John Trotter, +Robert Thomson and Thomas Ellison, which was won by +the latter, and delivered to them accordingly.”</p> + +<p>The law was occasionally put in motion, as we find. +“<i>Gent. Mag.</i>, Oct. 31, 1750. About 9 o’clock at night, a +party of soldiers and constables, with proper warrants, enter’d +a notorious gaming house, behind the <i>Hoop</i> tavern in the +<i>Strand</i>, and seiz’d 36 gamblers, and carry’d them to the +vestry room at <i>St Martin’s</i>, where the justices were sitting +for that purpose; 21 of them, next morning, for want of +bail, were committed to the <i>Gatehouse</i>, and the others bound +in a recognizance of £80, to answer at the next Sessions; +the fine gaming tables, which cost £200, were chopt to +pieces, and a great part burnt.”</p> + +<p>“Feb. 1, 1751. Justice <i>Fielding</i> having received information +of a rendezvous of gamesters in the <i>Strand</i>, procured a +strong party of guards, who seized 45 at the table, which they +broke to pieces, and carry’d the gamesters before the justice, +who committed 39 of them to the <i>Gatehouse</i> and admitted +the other 6 to bail. There were three tables broken to +pieces, which cost near £60 apiece; under each of them +were observed two iron rollers, and two private springs, +which those who were in the secret could touch, and stop +the turning whenever they had any youngsters to deal with, +and, so, cheated them of their money.”</p> + +<p>“Ap. 17, 1751. <i>Thomas Lediard</i>, Esq., attended by a +constable and a party of guards, went this night to the +Long Room, in James St., Westminster, where there was a +Masquerade, in order to suppress the notorious practice of +gaming, for which such assemblies are calculated. The +whole was conducted without opposition, or mischief. +Seventeen were committed to the gatehouse, some were +discharged, and others gave sufficient bail, never to play at +any unlawful game, or resort to any gaming house. Numbers +escaped over the Park wall, and other places, notwithstanding +the vigilance of the magistrate and his assistants. +The gaming tables were broke to pieces.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> + +<p>We have many instances of the industry and vigilance +of the London magistrates, especially Fielding, who, in +1756, wrote a warning to the public,<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> entitled “The artifices +and stratagems of the profligate and wicked part of the +inhabitants of this great metropolis, in order to defraud and +impose upon the weak and unwary, being multiplied to an +incredible degree, <i>Mr Fielding</i> has taken the pains to lay +before the public a detail of such of them as have fallen +under his own immediate observation as a Magistrate: in +the recital of which he has mark’d the progress of deceit +from the lowest pickpocket to the most accomplish’d +gambler. That none may be in ignorance of the snares +that are continually laid for them, this history of Gambling +is inserted.” And in <i>Ferdinand Count Fathom</i>, by Smollett, +Fielding’s contemporary and brother novelist, we have a full +description of a professional gambler’s life.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<p class="pch">Gambling at Bath—Beau Nash—Anecdotes of him—A lady gambler—Horace +Walpole’s gossip about gambling—Awful story about Richard Parsons—Gambling +anecdotes—C. J. Fox.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">Nor</span> was it only in London that this gambling fever existed: +it equally polluted the quieter resorts of men, and at fashionable +watering places, like Bath, it was rampant, as Oliver +Goldsmith writes in his life of Beau Nash, of whom he tells +several anecdotes connected with play. “When he first +figured at <i>Bath</i>, there were few laws against this destructive +amusement. The gaming table was the constant resource +of despair and indigence, and the frequent ruin of opulent +fortunes. Wherever people of fashion came, needy adventurers +were generally found in waiting. With such Bath +swarmed, and, among this class, Mr Nash was certainly to +be numbered in the beginning; only, with this difference, +that he wanted the corrupt heart, too commonly attending +a life of expedients; for he was generous, humane, and +honourable, even though, by profession, a gambler.”</p> + +<p>A thousand instances might be given of his integrity, even +in this infamous profession, where his generosity often impelled +him to act in contradiction to his interest. Wherever +he found a novice in the hands of a sharper, he generally +forewarned him of the danger; whenever he found any +inclined to play, yet ignorant of the game, he would offer +his services, and play for them. I remember an instance to +this effect, though too nearly concerned in the affair to publish +the gentleman’s name of whom it is related.</p> + +<p>In the year 1725, there came to Bath a giddy youth, who +had just resigned his fellowship at Oxford. He brought his +whole fortune with him there; it was but a trifle, however,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> +he was resolved to venture it all. Good fortune seemed +kinder than could be expected. Without the smallest skill +in play, he won a sum sufficient to make any unambitious +man happy. His desire of gain increasing with his gains, +in the October following he was <i>at all</i>, and added four +thousand pounds to his former capital. Mr Nash, one night, +after losing a considerable sum to this undeserving son of +fortune, invited him to supper. Sir, cried this honest, though +veteran gamester, perhaps you may imagine I have invited +you, in order to have my revenge at home; but, sir, I scorn +such an inhospitable action. I desired the favour of your +company to give you some advice, which, you will pardon +me, sir, you seem to stand in need of. You are now high +in spirits, and drawn away by a torrent of success. But, +there will come a time, when you will repent having left the +calm of a college life for the turbulent profession of a +gamester. Ill runs will come, as certain as day and night +succeed each other. Be therefore advised; remain content +with your present gains; for, be persuaded that, had you the +Bank of England, with your present ignorance of gaming, it +would vanish like a fairy dream. You are a stranger to me; +but, to convince you of the part I take in your welfare, I’ll +give you fifty guineas, to forfeit twenty, every time you lose +two hundred at one sitting. The young gentleman refused +his offer, and was at last undone!</p> + +<p>“The late Duke of B. being chagrined at losing a considerable +sum, pressed Mr Nash to tie him up for the future +from playing deep. Accordingly, the beau gave his grace +an hundred guineas, to forfeit ten thousand, whenever he lost +a sum, to the same amount, at play at one sitting. The +duke loved play to distraction; and, soon after, at hazard, +lost eight thousand guineas, and was going to throw for +three thousand more, when Nash, catching hold of the dice +box, entreated his grace to reflect upon the penalty if he lost. +The duke, for that time, desisted; but so strong was the furor +of play upon him that, soon after losing a considerable sum +at Newmarket, he was contented to pay the penalty.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span></p> + +<p>“When the late Earl of T—— d was a youth, he was passionately +fond of play, and never better pleased than with +having Mr Nash for his antagonist. Nash saw, with concern, +his lordship’s foible, and undertook to cure him, though +by a very disagreeable remedy. Conscious of his own +superior skill, he determined to engage him in single play +for a very considerable sum. His lordship, in proportion as +he lost his game, lost his temper, too; and, as he approached +the gulph, seemed still more eager for ruin. He lost his +estate; some writings were put into the winner’s possession: +his very equipage deposited as a last stake, and he lost that +also. But, when our generous gamester had found his lordship +sufficiently punished for his temerity, he returned all, +only stipulating that he should be paid five thousand pounds +whenever he should think proper to make the demand. +However, he never made any such demand during his lordship’s +life; but, some time after his decease, Mr Nash’s +affairs being in the wane, he demanded the money of his +lordship’s heirs, who honourably paid it without any +hesitation.”</p> + +<p>There is a sad story told of a lady gambler at Bath, which +must have occurred about this time, say 1750 or thereabouts. +Miss Frances Braddock, daughter of a distinguished officer, +Maj.-Gen. Braddock, was the admiration of the circle in which +she moved. Her person was elegant, her face beautiful, and +her mind accomplished. Unhappily for her, she spent a +season at Bath, where she was courted by the fashionables +there present, for her taste was admirable and her wit +brilliant. Her father, at his death, bequeathed twelve +thousand pounds between her and her sister (a large +amount in those days), besides a considerable sum to her +brother, Maj.-Gen. Braddock, who was, in the American +War, surrounded by Indians, and mortally wounded, +dying 13th July 1755. Four years after her father’s +death, her sister died, by which her fortune was doubled—but, +alas! in the course of one short month, she lost +the whole; gambled away at cards.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span></p> + +<p>It soon became known that she was penniless, and her +sensitive spirit being unable to brook the real and fictitious +condolences, she robed herself in maiden white, and, tying a +gold and silver girdle together, she hanged herself therewith, +dying at the early age of twenty-three years.</p> + +<p>Gossiping Horace Walpole gives us many anecdotes of +gambling in his time, scattered among his letters to Sir +Horace Mann, &c. In one of them (Dec. 26, 1748), he +tells a story of Sir William Burdett, of whom he says; +“in short, to give you his character at once, there is a wager +entered in the bet book at White’s (a MS. of which I may, +one day or other, give you an account), that the first baronet +that will be hanged, is this Sir William Burdett.”</p> + +<p>The Baronet casually met Lord Castledurrow (afterwards +Viscount Ashbrook), and Captain (afterwards Lord) Rodney, +“a young seaman, who has made a fortune by very gallant +behaviour during the war,” and he asked them to +dinner.</p> + +<p>“When they came, he presented them to a lady, dressed +foreign, as a princess of the house of Brandenburg: she had +a toad eater, and there was another man, who gave himself +for a count. After dinner, Sir William looked at his watch, +and said ‘J—— s! it is not so late as I thought, by an hour; +Princess, will your Highness say how we shall divert ourselves +till it is time to go to the play! ‘Oh!’ said she, ‘for +my part, you know I abominate everything but Pharaoh.’ +‘I am very sorry, Madam,’ replied he, very gravely, ‘but I +don’t know whom your Highness will get to tally to you; +you know I am ruined by dealing.’ ‘Oh!’ says she, ‘the +Count will deal to us.’ ‘I would, with all my soul,’ said +the Count, ‘but I protest I have no money about me.’ She +insisted: at last the Count said, ‘Since your Highness +commands us peremptorily, I believe Sir William has four +or five hundred pounds of mine, that I am to pay away in +the city to-morrow; if he will be so good as to step to his +bureau for that sum, I will make a bank of it.’ Mr Rodney +owns he was a little astonished at seeing the Count shuffle<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> +with the faces of the cards upwards; but, concluding that +Sir William Burdett, at whose house he was, was a relation, +or particular friend of Lord Castledurrow, he was unwilling +to affront my lord. In short, my lord and he lost about a +hundred and fifty apiece, and it was settled that they should +meet for payment, the next morning, at Ranelagh. In the +meantime, Lord C. had the curiosity to inquire a little into +the character of his new friend, the Baronet; and being <i>au +fait</i>, he went up to him at Ranelagh, and apostrophised him; +‘Sir William, here is the sum I think I lost last night; since +that, I have heard that you are a professed pickpocket, and, +therefore, desire to have no farther acquaintance with you.’ +Sir William bowed, took the money and no notice; but, as +they were going away, he followed Lord Castledurrow, and +said, ‘Good God! my lord, my equipage is not come; will +you be so good as to set me down at Buckingham Gate?’ +and, without waiting for an answer, whipped into the chariot, +and came to town with him. If you don’t admire the coolness +of this impudence, I shall wonder.”</p> + +<p>“<i>10 Jan. 1750.</i> To make up for my long silence, and +to make up a long letter, I will string another story, which I +have just heard, to this. General Wade was at a low gaming +house, and had a very fine snuff-box, which, on a sudden, he +missed. Everybody denied having taken it: he insisted on +searching the company. He did: there remained only one +man, who had stood behind him, but refused to be searched, +unless the General would go into another room, alone, with +him. There the man told him, that he was born a gentleman, +was reduced, and lived by what little bets he could pick +up there, and by fragments which the waiters sometimes gave +him. ‘At this moment I have half a fowl in my pocket; I +was afraid of being exposed; here it is! Now, Sir, you may +search me.’ Wade was so struck, that he gave the man a +hundred pounds; and, immediately, the genius of generosity, +whose province is almost a sinecure, was very glad of the +opportunity of making him find his own snuff-box, or another +very like it, in his own pocket again.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span></p> + +<p>“<i>19 Dec. 1750.</i> Poor Lord Lempster is more Cerberus<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> +than ever; (you remember his <i>bon mot</i> that proved such a +blunder;) he has lost twelve thousand pounds at hazard, to +an ensign of the guards.”</p> + +<p>“<i>23 Feb. 1755.</i> The great event is the catastrophe of +Sir John Bland, who has <i>flirted</i> away his whole fortune at +hazard. He, t’other night, exceeded what was lost by the +late Duke of Bedford, having, at one period of the night, +(though he recovered the greatest part of it) lost two and +thirty thousand pounds. The citizens put on their double +channeled pumps, and trudge to St James’s Street, in +expectation of seeing judgments executed on White’s—angels +with flaming swords, and devils flying away with +dice boxes, like the prints in Sadeler’s Hermits.<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> Sir +John lost this immense sum to a Captain Scott,<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> who, +at present, has nothing but a few debts and his commission.”</p> + +<p>“<i>20 Ap. 1756.</i> I shall send you, soon, the fruits of my +last party to Strawberry; Dick Edgecumbe, George Selwyn, +and Williams were with me; we composed a coat of arms +for the two clubs at White’s, which is actually engraving +from a very pretty painting of Edgecumbe,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> whom Mr Chute, +as Strawberry King at Arms, has appointed our chief herald +painter; here is the blazon:—</p> + +<p>Vert (for card table), between three parolis proper, on a +chevron table (for hazard table), two rouleaus in saltire, between +two dice proper; in a canton, sable, a white ball (for +election), argent.</p> + +<p>Supporters, An old Knave of <i>Clubs</i> on the dexter, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +young Knave on the sinister side; both accoutred +proper.</p> + +<p>Crest, Issuing out of an earl’s coronet (Lord Darlington) +an arm shaking a dice box, all proper.</p> + +<p>Motto (alluding to the crest), <i>Cogit amor nummi</i>. The +arms encircled by a claret bottle ticket, by way of Order.”</p> + +<p>“<i>14 May 1761.</i> Jemmy Lumley, last week, had a party +of whist at his own house; the combatants, Lucy Southwell, +that curtseys like a bear, Mrs Prijeau, and a Mrs Mackenzie. +They played from six in the evening till twelve the next +day; Jemmy never winning one rubber, and rising a loser +of two thousand pounds. How it happened, I know not, +nor why his suspicions arrived so late, but he fancied himself +cheated, and refused to pay. However, <i>the bear</i> had no +share in his evil surmises: on the contrary, a day or two +afterwards, he promised a dinner at Hampstead to Lucy and +her virtuous sister. As he went to the rendezvous, his chaise +was stopped by somebody, who advised him not to proceed. +Yet, no whit daunted, he advanced. In the garden, he +found the gentle conqueress, Mrs Mackenzie, who accosted +him in the most friendly manner. After a few compliments, +she asked him if he did not intend to pay her. ‘No, indeed +I shan’t, I shan’t; your servant, your servant.’ ‘Shan’t you,’ +said the fair virago; and, taking a horsewhip from beneath +her hoop, she fell upon him with as much vehemence as the +Empress Queen would upon the King of Prussia, if she could +catch him alone in the garden at Hampstead. Jemmy cried +out Murder; his servants rushed in, rescued him from the +jaws of the lioness, and carried him off in his chaise to town. +The Southwells, who were already arrived, and descended, +on the noise of the fray, finding nobody to pay for the +dinner, and fearing they must, set out for London without +it.”</p> + +<p>“<i>3 Dec. 1761.</i> If you are acquainted with my Lady +Barrymore, pray tell her that, in less than two hours, t’other +night, the Duke of Cumberland lost four hundred and fifty +pounds at Loo; Miss Pelham won three hundred, and I, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +rest. However, in general, Loo is extremely gone to decay: +I am to play at Princess Emily’s to-morrow, for the first time +this winter; and it is with difficulty that she has made a +party.”</p> + +<p>“<i>2 Feb. 1770.</i> The gaming at Almack’s, which has taken +the <i>pas</i> of White’s, is worthy of the decline of our Empire, or +Commonwealth, which you please. The young men of the +age lose five, ten, fifteen thousands pounds in an evening +there. Lord Stavordale, not one and twenty, lost eleven +thousand there, last Tuesday, but recovered it by one great +hand at hazard: he swore a great oath,—‘Now, if I had +been playing <i>deep</i>, I might have won millions.’ His cousin, +Charles Fox, shines equally there, and in the House of +Commons.”</p> + +<p>“<i>18 Aug. 1776.</i> To-day I have heard the shocking +news of Mr Damer’s death, who shot himself yesterday, at +three o’clock in the morning, at a tavern in Covent Garden. +My first alarm was for Mr Conway; not knowing what +effect such a horrid surprise would have on him, scarce recovered +from an attack himself; happily, it proves his nerves +were not affected, for I have had a very calm letter from +him on the occasion. Mr Charles Fox, with infinite good +nature, met Mrs Damer coming to town, and stopped her to +prepare her for the dismal event. It is almost impossible to +refrain from bursting into commonplace reflections on this +occasion; but, can the walls of Almack’s help moralizing, +when £5000 a year, in present, and £22,000 in reversion, +are not sufficient for happiness, and cannot check a pistol!”</p> + +<p>“<i>19 Jan. 1777.</i> Lord Dillon told me this morning +that Lord Besborough and he, playing at quinze t’other +night with Miss Pelham, and, happening to laugh, she flew +in a passion and said, ‘It was terrible to play with <i>boys</i>!’ +And our two ages together, said Lord Dillon, make up +above a hundred and forty.”</p> + +<p>“<i>6 Feb. 1780.</i> Within this week there has been a cast +at hazard at the Cocoa Tree, the difference of which +amounted to a hundred and four score thousand pounds.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +Mr O’Birne, an Irish gamester, had won one hundred thousand +pounds of a young Mr Harvey, of Chigwell, just started +from a midshipman<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> into an estate, by his elder brother’s +death. O’Birne said, ‘You never can pay me.’ ‘I can,’ +said the youth; my estate will sell for the debt.’ ‘No,’ said +O., ‘I will win ten thousand—you shall throw for the odd +ninety.’ They did, and Harvey won.”</p> + +<p>“<i>29 Jan. 1791.</i> Pray delight in the following story: +Caroline Vernon, <i>fille d’honneur</i>, lost, t’other night, two +hundred pounds at faro, and bade Martindale mark it up. +He said he would rather have a draft on her banker. ‘Oh! +willingly’; and she gave him one. Next morning, he +hurried to Drummond’s, lest all her money should be drawn +out. ‘Sir,’ said the clerk, ‘would you receive the contents +immediately?’ ‘Assuredly.’ ‘Why, sir, have you read the +note?’ Martindale took it; it was, ‘Pay the bearer two +hundred blows, well applied.’ The nymph tells the story +herself; and, yet, I think, the clerk had the more humour of +the two.”</p> + +<p>There can be no doubt but that in the last half of the +eighteenth century, gambling for large sums was very rife. +We have evidence of it on all hands.</p> + +<p>“<i>Ann. Reg.</i>, <i>8 Feb. 1766</i>. We are informed that a lady, +at the West end of the town, lost, one night, at a sitting, +3000 guineas at Loo.”</p> + +<p><i>Par parenthèse</i>, the same volume has (p. 191) the following +horrible story: “<i>A circumstantial and authentic account +of the miserable case of Richard Parsons, as transmitted in a +letter from William Dallaway, Esq., High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, +to his friend in London</i>.</p> + +<p>“On the 20th of February last, Richard Parsons, and three +more men met at a private house at Chalford, in order to +play at cards, about six o’clock in the evening. They played +at loo till about eleven or twelve that night, when they +changed their game to whist: after a few deals, a dispute<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> +arose about the state of the game. Parsons affirmed, with +oaths, that they were six, which the others denied, upon +which he wished ‘that he might never enter the kingdom of +heaven, that his flesh might rot upon his bones, if they were +not six in the game.’ These wishes were several times repeated, +both then and afterwards. Upon this, the candle +was put out by one James Young, a stander by, who says he +was shocked with the oaths and expressions he heard; and +that he put out the candle with a design to put an end to +the game.</p> + +<p>“Presently, upon this, they adjourned to another house, and +there began a fresh game, when Parsons and his partner had +great success. Then they played at loo again till four in the +morning. During this second playing, Parson complained to +one Rolles, his partner, of a bad pain in his leg, which, from +that time, increased. There was an appearance of a swelling, +and, afterwards, the colour changing to that of a mortified +state. On the following Sunday, he rode to Minchin Hampton, +to get the advice of Mr Pegler, the surgeon in that +town, who attended him from the Thursday after February +27. Notwithstanding all the applications that were made, +the mortification increased, and showed itself in different +parts of the body. On Monday, March 3, at the request of +some of his female relations, the clergyman of Bisley attended +him, and administered the sacrament, without any +knowledge of what had happened before, and which he continued +a stranger to, till he saw the account in the <i>Gloucester +Journal</i>. Parsons appeared to be extremely ignorant of +religion, having been accustomed to swear, to drink (though +he was not in liquor when he uttered the above execrable +wish), to game, and to profane the Sabbath, though he was +only in his nineteenth year. After he had received the +Sacrament, he appeared to have some sense of the ordinance; +for he said, ‘Now I must never sin again; he hoped +God would forgive him, having been wicked not above six +years, and that, whatsoever should happen, he would not +play at cards again.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> + +<p>“After this, he was in great agony, chiefly delirious, spoke +of his companions by name, and seemed as if his imagination +was engaged at cards. He started, had distracted looks and +gestures, and, in a dreadful fit of shaking and trembling, +died on Tuesday morning, the 4th of March last: and was +buried the next day at the parish church of Bisley. His +eyes were open when he died, and could not be closed by the +common methods; so that they remained open when he +was put into the coffin. From this circumstance arose a +report, that he <i>wished his eyes might never close</i>; but this +was a mistake; for, from the most creditable witnesses, I +am fully convinced that no such wish was uttered; and the +fact is, that he did close his eyes after he was taken with the +mortification, and either dozed or slept several times.</p> + +<p>“When the body came to be laid out, it appeared all over +discoloured, or spotted; and it might be said, in the most +literal sense, that his flesh rotted on his bones before he +died.”</p> + +<p>But this is a digression. Among the deaths recorded in +the <i>Gents’ Magazine</i> for 1776, is “Ap. 30. William G——, +Esq.: who, having been left £18,000, a few months before, +by his father, lost it all by gaming, in less than a month; +in the Rules of the King’s Bench.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Oct. 25, 1777.</i> At the Sessions for the County of +Norfolk, a tradesman of Norwich, for cheating at cards, +was fined £20, and sentenced to suffer six months’ +imprisonment in the castle, without bail or main prize; +and, in case the said fine was not paid at the expiration of +the term, then to stand on the pillory, one hour, with his +ears nailed to the same.”</p> + +<p>The gamblers of those days were giants in their way, +there were George Selwyn, Lord Carlisle, Stephen Fox, +who, on one occasion was fleeced most unmercifully at a +West-end gambling house. He went into it with £13,000, +and left without a farthing. His younger brother, Charles +James, was a notorious gambler, and, if the following anecdote +is true, not over honourable. He ranked among the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +admirers of Mrs Crewe. A gentleman lost a considerable +sum to this lady at play, and, being obliged to leave town +suddenly, gave Mr Fox the money to pay her, begging him +to apologise to the lady for his not having paid the debt of +honour in person. Fox, unfortunately, lost every shilling of +it before morning. Mrs Crewe often met the supposed +debtor afterwards, and, surprised that he never noticed the +circumstance, at length, delicately hinted the matter to him. +“Bless me,” said he, “I paid the money to Mr Fox three +months ago.” “Oh! did you, Sir?” said Mrs Crewe, good-naturedly, +“then probably he paid me, and I forgot it.”</p> + +<p>Steinmetz<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> (vol. i., p. 323) says: “Fox’s best friends are +said to have been half-ruined in annuities given by them as +securities for him to the Jews. £500,000 a year of such +annuities of Fox and his ‘society’ were advertised to be sold +at one time. Walpole wondered what Fox would do when +he had sold the estates of his friends. Walpole further notes +that, in the debate on the Thirty-nine Articles, Feb. 6, +1772, Fox did not shine; nor could it be wondered at. +He had sat up playing at hazard, at Almack’s, from Tuesday +evening, the 4th, till five in the afternoon of Wednesday, +the 5th. An hour before, he had recovered £12,000 that +he had lost; and by dinner, which was at five o’clock, he +had ended, losing £11,000! On the Thursday, he spoke in +the above debate; went to dinner at half-past eleven, at +night; from thence to White’s, where he drank till seven the +next morning; thence to Almack’s, where he won £6000; +and, between three and four in the afternoon, he set out for +Newmarket. His brother Stephen lost £11,000 two nights +after, and Charles £10,000 more on the 13th, so that in +three nights the two brothers—the eldest not <i>twenty-five</i> +years of age—lost £32,000!”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER V</h2> + +<p class="pch">The Gambling ladies—Ladies Archer, Buckinghamshire, Mrs Concannon, &c.—Private +Faro Banks—Card-money—Gaming House end of Eighteenth +Century—Anecdotes—The profits of Gaming Houses—C. J. Fox and Sir +John Lade—Col. Hanger on gambling.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">We</span> have previously read how ladies of position kept +gambling houses, and pleaded their privilege to do so; +they, however, had to bow to the law. In the latter part +of the eighteenth century many ladies opened their houses, +the best known, probably, being Lady Buckinghamshire and +Lady Archer. The former is said to have slept with a +blunderbuss and a pair of pistols by her bedside, to protect +her Faro bank; and the latter was notorious for her “make +up,” as we may see by the two following notices in the +<i>Morning Post</i>.</p> + +<p>“<i>Jan. 5, 1789.</i> The Lady Archer, whose death was announced +in this paper of Saturday, is not the celebrated +character whose <i>cosmetic powers</i> have long been held in +public estimation.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Jan. 8, 1789.</i> It is said that the dealers in <i>Carmine +and dead white</i>, as well as the <i>perfumers</i> in general, have it +in contemplation to present an Address to Lady Archer, in +gratitude for her not having <span class="smcap">DIED</span> according to a late +alarming report.”</p> + +<p>We get portraits of these two ladies in a satirical print by +Gillray (31st March 1792), which is entitled “Modern Hospitality, +or a Friendly Party in High Life,” where they are +shewn keeping a Faro bank; and as these fair ones were +then somewhat <i>passées</i>, the picture has the following:—“To +those earthly Divinities who charmed twenty years ago, this +Honourable method of banishing mortifying reflections is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +dedicated. O, Woman! Woman! everlasting is your power +over us, for in youth you charm away our hearts, and, in +your after years, you charm away our purses!” The players +are easily recognised. Lady Archer, who sits on the extreme +left, has won largely; rouleaux of gold and bank notes are +before her, and, on her right hand, are two heaps of loose +gold: and the painted old gambler smiles as she shows her +cards, saying, “The Knave wins all!” Her next-door +neighbour, the Prince of Wales, who has staked and lost his +last piece, lifts his hands and eyes in astonishment at the +luck. Lady Buckinghamshire has doubled her stake, playing +on two cards, and is, evidently, annoyed at her loss, while +poor, black-muzzled Fox laments the loss of his last three +pieces.</p> + +<p>Gillray portrayed these two ladies on several occasions. +There are two pictures of St James’s and St Giles’s, and in +“Dividing the Spoil, St James’s, 1796,” we see Lady Archer +and Lady Buckinghamshire quarrelling over gold, bank +notes, a sword, and an order. One other lady, probably +Lady Mount Edgecumbe, is scrutinising a bill, whilst a +fourth, with a pile of gold and notes before her, looks on +smilingly.</p> + +<p>Another print (16th May 1796) is called “Faro’s Daughters, +or the Kenyonian Blow Up to Gamblers.” Here we see +Lady Archer and Mrs Concannon placed together in the +pillory, where they are mutually upbraiding each other. The +<i>motif</i> for this picture was a speech of Lord Kenyon’s, who, at +a trial to recover £15, won at gaming on Sunday, at a public-house, +commented very severely on the hold the vice of gaming +had on all classes of society, from the highest to the +lowest. The former, he said, set the example to the latter, +and, he added, “They think they are too great for the law; +I wish they could be punished”—and then continued, “If +any prosecutions of this kind are fairly brought before me, +and the parties are justly convicted, whatever be their rank +or station in the country, though they be the first ladies in +the land, they shall certainly exhibit themselves in the pillory.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> + +<p>They were getting somewhat too notorious. In spite of +Lady Buckinghamshire’s precautions of blunderbuss and +pistols, her croupier, Martindale, announced, on 30th Jan. +1797, that the box containing the cash of the Faro bank +had unaccountably disappeared. All eyes were turned +towards her ladyship. Mrs Concannon said she once lost a +gold snuff-box from the table when she went to speak to +Lord C. Another lady said she lost her purse there +the previous winter, and a story was told that a certain lady +had taken <i>by mistake</i> a cloak which did not belong to her at +a rout given by the late Countess of Guildford. Unfortunately, +a discovery was made, and when the servant knocked +at the door to demand it, some very valuable lace with which +it was trimmed had been taken off. Some surmised that +the lady who stole the cloak might also have stolen the Faro +bank.</p> + +<p>Townsend and his meddlesome police would poke their +noses into the business, and, although they did not recover +the Faro bank, something did come out of their interference, +as we read in the <i>Times</i> of 13th March 1797. “<span class="smcap">Public +Office, Marlborough Street.</span>—<span class="smcap">Faro Banks.</span>—On +Saturday came on to be heard informations against Lady +Buckinghamshire, Lady Elizabeth Luttrell, Mrs Sturt, and +Mr Concannon, for having, on the night of the 30th of last +January, played at <i>Faro</i>, at Lady Buckinghamshire’s house, +in St James’s Square, and Mr Martindale was charged with +being the proprietor of the table.</p> + +<p>“The evidence went to prove that the defendants had +gaming parties at their different houses in rotation; and, +that when they met at Lady B.’s, the witnesses used to wait +upon them in the gambling room, and that they played at +<i>E. O.</i>, <i>Rouge et Noir</i>, &c., from about eleven or twelve till +three or four o’clock in the morning. After hearing counsel +the Magistrates convicted <i>Henry Martindale</i> in the penalty +of £200, and <i>each of the ladies</i> in £50. The information +against Mr Concannon was quashed, on account of his being +summoned by a wrong Christian name.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> + +<p>Gillray improved this occasion, giving us “Discipline à la +Kenyon,” and drew Lady Buckinghamshire tied to the tail +of a cart, on which is a placard, “<span class="smcap">Faro’s Daughters +Beware</span>”: the Lord Chief Justice is depicted as administering +a sound flogging both with birch and cat-o’-nine-tails +to the delinquent lady, whilst Lady Luttrell and Mrs Sturt +stand in the pillory guarded by a stalwart constable.</p> + +<p>These ladies do not seem to have survived the century, +for the <i>Morning Post</i> of Jan. 12, 1800, says: “Society has +reason to rejoice in the complete downfall of the Faro +Dames, who were so long the disgrace of human nature. +Their <i>die</i> is cast, and their <i>odd tricks</i> avail no longer. The +<i>game</i> is up, and very few of them have <i>cut</i> with <i>honours</i>.” +Mrs Concannon still kept on, but not in London, as is seen +by the following paragraph. <i>Morning Herald</i>, 18th Dec. +1802: “The visitors to Mrs Concannon’s <i>petits soupers</i> at +<i>Paris</i>, are not attracted by <i>billets</i> previously circulated, but +by <i>cards</i>, afterwards <i>dealt out</i> in an elegant and scientific +manner; not to mince the matter, they are the rendezvous +of <i>deep play</i>: and the only questionable point about the +matter is, whether the <i>Irish</i> or the <i>French</i> will prove victors +at the close of so desperate a winter’s campaign.”</p> + +<p>The following extracts from <i>The Times</i> tell us much +about the fashionable professional lady gamblers:—</p> + +<p>“<i>Feb. 5, 1793.</i> Mrs Sturt’s house in St James Square +was opened yesterday evening, for the first time this season, +for public play. The visitors were numerous.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Feb. 6, 1793.</i> Some of the <i>Faro ladies</i> have opened +their play-houses, and announced the <i>Road to Ruin</i> until +further notice. The <i>Gamesters</i> was publicly rehearsed in St +James Square on Monday night.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Feb. 10, 1793.</i> The profits of <span class="smcap">Faro</span> are become so +considerably reduced that most of the Banks now lose +almost every evening, after defraying the expenses of the +house, which are very considerable. Those <i>public spirited</i> +Ladies who give such frequent routs, do so at a certain gain: +for the sum of <span class="smcap">Twenty-five</span> guineas is regularly advanced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> +by the bank holders towards the night’s expenses. The +<i>punters</i> at Mrs <span class="smcap">Hobart’s</span> and Mrs <span class="smcap">Sturt’s</span> Faro banks +have dropped off considerably; and those who continue are +got so <i>knowing</i> that heavy complaints are made that they +bring no grist to the mill. There have not been above +eight punters at Mrs <span class="smcap">Sturt’s</span> bank any night this season. +The <i>pigeons</i> are all flown, and the punters are nothing better +than hawks.”</p> + +<p>“<i>14 Mar. 1793.</i> The <span class="smcap">Banking</span> <i>Ladies</i> in St James +Square do not see themselves much obliged to the <i>Abbé de +St Farre</i>, and his brother, for introducing so many noble +Emigrants to their houses. These people come with their +crown pieces and half guineas, and absolutely form a circle +round the Faro tables, to the total exclusion of our English +Lords and Ladies, who can scarcely get one <i>punt</i> during the +whole evening.”</p> + +<p>“<i>2 May 1793.</i> A <i>Banking</i> Lady, in St James Square, +is about to commence a prosecution, because it is said, that +there was much <i>filching</i> at her <span class="smcap">Faro</span> table. The house was +quite in an uproar, on Tuesday night, in consequence of a +paragraph that appeared in a Morning Paper of the preceding +day. The Lady <i>vows</i> she will call in the aid of an +<i>Attorney</i> to <i>support her reputation</i>: and observes, that the +<i>credit</i> of her house will suffer, if such reports are permitted +to go unpunished. The <i>Faro Ladies</i> are, in the sporting +phrase, almost <i>done up</i>. Jewels, trinkets, watches, laces, &c., +are often at the pawnbrokers, and scarcely anything is left +to raise money upon except their <i>pads</i>.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> If justice is to be +<i>hoodwinked</i>, and <i>gambling</i> and <i>sharking</i> permitted, why not +make it an article of revenue, as in foreign countries, and lay +a heavy tax on it.”</p> + +<p>“<i>2 Apr. 1794.</i> Lord <span class="smcap">Hampden’s</span> <i>Faro Bank</i> is broken +up for the present season. Lady Buckinghamshire, Mrs +Sturt and Mrs Concannon alternately divide the <i>Beau monde</i> +at their respective houses. Instead of having two different +hot suppers at <i>one</i> and <i>three</i> in the morning, the <i>Faro<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +Banks</i> will now scarcely afford bread and cheese and +porter.</p> + +<p>“One of the Faro Banks in St James Square lost £7000 +last year by bad debts. A young son of Levi is a considerable +debtor to one of them; but not finding it convenient to +pay what is not recoverable by law, he no longer appears in +those fashionable circles.”</p> + +<p>“<i>4 Ap. 1794.</i> It is impossible to conceive a more +complete system of fraud and dishonour than is practised +every night at the <i>Faro banks</i>. Though every table has +four croupiers, yet the Bank holders find that double that +number are necessary to watch all the little tricks and artifices +of some of the <i>fashionable punters</i>. But Mrs G—— +beats all her associates in the art of doubling, or cocking +a card.”</p> + +<p>“<i>25 June 1794.</i> The Faro Banks being no longer a +profitable game, certain Ladies in St James Square have +substituted another instead of it, called <i>Roulet</i>: but it is, in +fact, only the old game of E.O. under a different title.”</p> + +<p>“<i>30 Dec. 1795.</i> It is to the credit of the rising generation +of females, that they have unanimously quitted those +infamous meetings, called Private Pharoes, where some of +their shameless Mammas, and the faded reputations of the +present age, still expose their vices, and cheat the boys who +have not been long enough in the army to wear out their +first cockades.”</p> + +<p>“<i>17 Dec. 1794.</i> It is said to be the intention of some +of the leading circles in the fashionable world, to abolish the +tax of <i>Card money</i>,<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> as an imposition upon hospitality. This +would prove the return of good sense, inasmuch as it tends +to substantiate the truth—that when one person invites +another to partake of the conviviality of his house, he should +not lay an impost upon him, even more exorbitant than that +which he would pay, were he to attend a Tavern Club.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +When a friend is invited, it is an insult to friendship, to +make him pay for his entertainment.”</p> + +<p>“<i>22 March 1796.</i> The <i>tabbies</i> at Bath are in a state +of insurrection, in consequence of an example set by Lady +Elcho, who neither visits, nor receives Company that <i>pay for</i> +Cards: the laudable reformation is adopted so generally, +that many of the <i>Dowagers</i>, who have so long fed upon +<i>Card money</i>, are turning their thoughts to some more +creditable means of earning their livelihood.”</p> + +<p>“<i>24 March 1796.</i> We hope the Ladies in London, +who stand upon a nice point of honour, will follow the +example of the Bath Ladies, and exclude the odious, and +pitiful, custom of taking card money at their houses. It is +a meanness, which no persons who pretend to the honour of +keeping good company, ought to allow. We are afraid that +many a party is formed, rather to derive benefit from the +card tables, than for the sake of hospitality.”</p> + +<p>This custom died hard, for I find in the <i>Morning Herald</i>, +15th Dec. 1802: “In a pleasant village near the Metropolis, +noted for its constant ‘tea and turn-out’ parties, the extortion +of <i>Card Money</i> had, lately, risen to such a pitch, that it +was no unusual thing for the <i>Lady</i> of the House, upon the +breaking up of a table, to immediately examine the sub. +cargo of the candlestick, and, previous to the departure of +her guests, proclaim aloud the lamentable defalcation of a +pitiful shilling, which they might, perchance, have forgot +to <i>contribute</i>. We are happy to find that some of the most +respectable people in the place have resolved to discountenance +and abolish this <i>shabby genteel</i> custom, which has +too long prevailed; a shameful degradation of everything +like English hospitality.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Times</i>, <i>2 Nov. 1797</i>. At some of our first Boarding +Schools, the fair pupils are now taught to play whist and +casino. Amongst their <i>winning</i> ways, this may not be the +least agreeable to Papa and Mamma.</p> + +<p>“It is calculated that a clever child, by its Cards, and its +novels, may pay for its own education.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> + +<p>“At a boarding school in the neighbourhood of Moorfields, +the mistress complains that she is unable to teach her +scholars either Whist, or Pharo.”</p> + +<p>“<i>22 Dec. 1797.</i> So completely has gambling got the +better of dancing, that at a private Ball, last week, a gentleman +asking a young lady, from Bath, to dance the next two +dances, she very ingenuously replied, ‘Yes, if you will play +two rubbers at Casino.’”</p> + +<p>Enough has been written to give us a good insight into +female gambling. I will now continue with that of the +men, and first let us have a description of a gaming house +from the <i>Times</i> of 14th Feb. 1793.</p> + +<p>“The number of new gaming houses, established at the +West-end of the town, is, indeed, a mattter of very serious +evil: but they are not likely to decrease while examples of +the same nature are held forth in the higher circles of life. +It is needless to point out any one of these houses in particular: +it is sufficient for us to expose the tricks that are +practised at many of them to swindle the unsuspecting +young men of fortune, who are entrapped into these whirlpools +of destruction. The first thing necessary is, to give +the guests a good dinner and plenty of wine, which most of +these houses do, gratis. When they are sufficiently intoxicated, +and having lost all the money about them, their +acceptance is obtained to Bills of Exchange to a considerable +amount, which are frequently paid, to avoid the disagreeable +circumstance of a public exposition in a Court of +Justice, which is always threatened, though the gamesters +well know that no such measure durst be adopted by them.</p> + +<p>“Should any reluctance, or hesitation, be shewn by the +injured party, to accept these Bills, he is shewn into a long +room, with a target at the end of it, and several pistols lying +about, where he is given to understand that these sharpers +practice a considerable time of the day in shooting at a +mark, and have arrived at such perfection in this exercise, +that they can shoot a pistol ball, within an inch of the +mark, from the common distance taken by duellists. A<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> +hint is then dropped, that further hesitation will render +the use of the pistols necessary, and will again be the +case, should he ever divulge what he has seen, and +heard.</p> + +<p>“If further particulars, or proofs, are wanting, they may be +known, on application to certain <i>Military characters</i>, who +have already made some noise in the world.”</p> + +<p>Nor was it only public play—gambling was universal. +Michael Kelly, the vocalist, does not seem to think it anything +very extraordinary, when he tells the following story:—</p> + +<p>“While at Margate, Mr and Mrs Crouch, and myself, were +staying at the Hotel, kept by a man whose manners were as +free and easy as any I have ever met with. He was proverbial +for his <i>nonchalance</i>, and a perfect master of the art +of making out a bill. One day, Johnstone dined with us, +and we drank our usual quantum of wine. In the course of +the evening, our bashful host, who, amongst other good +qualities, was a notorious gambler, forced upon us some +Pink Champagne, which he wished us to give our opinions +of. My friend Jack Johnstone, who never was an enemy to +the juice of the grape, took such copious draughts of the +sparkling beverage, that his eyes began to twinkle, and his +speech became somewhat of the thickest: my honest host, +on perceiving this, thinking, I suppose, to amuse him, entered +our room with a backgammon table and dice, and asked +Johnstone if he would like to play a game. Johnstone, at +that time, was considered fond of play, of which circumstance +mine host was perfectly aware. Mrs Crouch and I earnestly +entreated Jack to go to bed, but we could not prevail upon +him to do so; he whispered me, saying, ‘You shall see how +I will serve the fellow for his impudence’ and to it they +went. The end of the business was, that before they parted, +Johnstone won nearly two hundred pounds, and I retired to +bed, delighted to see the biter bit.”</p> + +<p>Of another Kelly, or rather O’Kelly (the Colonel who was +owner of the famous race horse, Eclipse), Harcourt<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> tells some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +stories, and, indeed the book is a mine of anecdotes, some of +which I reproduce:—</p> + +<p>“Dennis O’Kelly was much attached to Ascot, where +his horses occupied him by day, and the hazard table by +night.</p> + +<p>“Here it was, that repeatedly turning over a <span class="smcap">Quire of +Bank Notes</span>, a gentleman asked him ‘what he was in want +of?’ when he replied, ‘he was looking for <i>a little one</i>.’ The +enquirer said ‘he could accommodate him, and desired to +know for what sum?’ When he answered ‘<span class="smcap">A Fifty</span>, or +something of <i>that sort</i>, just to set the <i>Caster</i>.’ At this time +it was supposed he had seven or eight thousand pounds in +notes in his hand, but no one for less than a <i>hundred</i>. He +always threw with great success; and, when he held the +box, was seldom known to refuse throwing for <i>any sum</i> +that the company chose to set him; and, when ‘out,’ was +always as liberal in <i>setting the Caster</i>, and preventing stagnation +of <i>trade at the table</i>, which, from the great property +always about him, it was his good fortune very often to +deprive of the last <i>floating guinea</i>, when the <i>box</i>, of course, +became <i>dormant</i> for want of a single adventurer.</p> + +<p>“It was his usual custom to carry a great number of <i>bank +notes</i> in his waistcoat pocket, twisted up together with the +greatest indifference. When, in his attendance upon a +hazard table at Windsor, during the races, being a <i>standing +better</i>, and every chair full, a person’s hand was observed, by +those on the opposite side of the table, just in the act of +drawing two notes out of his pocket. The alarm was given, +and the hand, from the person behind, was <i>instantaneously</i> +withdrawn, and the notes left more than half out of the +pocket. The company became clamorous for the offender +being taken before a magistrate, and many attempted to +secure him for the purpose; the Captain very <i>philosophically</i> +seizing him by the collar, kicked him down stairs, and +exultingly exclaimed, ‘’twas a <i>sufficient punishment</i> to be +deprived of the pleasure of keeping company with <i>jontlemon</i>.’</p> + +<p>“A bet for a large sum was once proposed to Col. O’Kelly,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +at a race, and accepted. The proposer asked the Colonel +where lay his estates to answer for the amount if he lost? +‘My estates! by <i>Jasus</i>.’ cried O’Kelly. ‘Oh, if that’s what +you <i>mane</i>, I’ve a map of them here.’ Then, opening his +pocket book, he exhibited bank notes to ten times the sum +in question, and, ultimately, added the enquirer’s contribution +to them.”</p> + +<p>“<i>An advertisement copied from the Courier, 5 Mar. 1794.</i> +As Faro is the most fashionable circular game in the <i>haut +ton</i>, in exclusion of melancholy Whist, and to prevent a +company being cantoned into separate parties, a gentleman, +of unexceptionable character, will, on invitation, do himself +the honour to attend the rout of any lady, nobleman, or +gentleman, with a Faro Bank and Fund, adequate to the +style of play, from 500 to 2000 guineas. Address G. A. +by letter, to be left at Mr Harding’s, Piccadilly, nearly +opposite Bond Street.—<i>N.B.</i> This advertisement will not +appear again.”</p> + +<p>“On <i>Sunday</i> night, towards the end of December 1795. +Gen. Tarleton lost £800 at Mrs Concannon’s; Mr Hankey, +£300. The Prince was to have been there, but sent a late +excuse. Mr Boone of the Guards; Mr Derby, son of the +late Admiral, and Mr Dashwood, frequently rise winners or +losers of £5000 nightly. Lord Cholmondeley, Thompson +& Co. were Faro Bankers at Brookes’s, till which there was +no Faro Bank of <i>male</i> celebrity, except at the Cocoa Tree.”</p> + +<p>“Henry Weston, who was hanged for forgery, was nephew +to the late Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser.</p> + +<p>“Having an unlimited control of the whole large property +of his employer, Mr Cowan, during his absence from town +he was tempted, first to gamble in the funds, where, being +unfortunate, he went next to a Gaming House in Pall Mall, +and lost a very large sum, and, at length, gamed away +nearly all his master’s property. This, he hoped to patch +up by forgery of Gen. Tonyn’s name, by which he obtained +from the Bank of England above £10,000. Even this only +lasted two nights; and, procuring a woman to personate the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +General’s sister, he obtained another large supply, and went +off. He was soon taken, and cut his throat on his return; +but not effectually. He was convicted at the Old Bailey on +the 18th March 1796, and suffered on the 6th July, aged +only twenty-three years.</p> + +<p>“He sent Lord Kenyon a list of a number of professional +gamblers, and, among them, was a person of very high rank. +Weston, at different times, lost above £46,000 at play; +and, at a house in Pall Mall, where he lost a considerable +part of it, three young officers also lost no less than +£35,000.</p> + +<p>“It was stated, some time since, in the Court of King’s +Bench, that the dinners given by gambling houses in and +about Oxendon Street, amounted to £15,000 per annum!”</p> + +<p>“The following facts were disclosed on a motion in the +Court of King’s Bench, 24 Nov. 1797. Joseph Atkinson +and Mary, his wife, had, for many years, kept a Gaming +House, No. 15, under the Piazza, Covent Garden. They, +daily, gave magnificent play dinners; cards of invitation +for which were sent to the clerks of merchants, bankers and +brokers in the city. Atkinson used to say he liked citizens, +whom he called <i>flats</i>, better than any one else, for, when +they had dined, they played freely; and, after they had lost +all their money, they had credit to borrow more. When he +had <i>cleaned them out</i>, when <i>the Pigeons were completely +plucked</i>, they were sent to some of their solvent friends. +After dinner, play was introduced, and, till dinner time the +next day, the different games at cards, dice and E.O. were +continually going on.</p> + +<p>“Theophilus Bellasis had long been an infamous character, +well known at Bow Street, where he had been charged with +breaking into the counting-house of Sir James Sanderson, +Bart. Bellasis was sometimes clerk, and sometimes client, +to John Shepherd, an attorney of that Court; and at other +times, Shepherd was the prosecutor of those who kept +Gaming Houses, and Bellasis attorney. Sir William Addington +was so well aware that these two men commenced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +prosecutions solely for the purpose of <i>hush money</i> that he +refused to act. Atkinson at one time gave them £100, at +another £80; and, in this way, they had amassed an immense +sum, and undertook, for a specific amount, to defend keepers +of Gaming Houses against all prosecutions!</p> + +<p>“Mr Garrow, on a former occasion, charged Atkinson with +using <i>dispatches</i>, that is, <i>loaded dice</i>, which in, five minutes, +would dispatch £500 out of the pocket of any young man +when intoxicated with champagne.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Jan. 26, 1798.</i> A notice came on in the King’s Bench, +Cornet William Moore, 3rd Dragoon Guards, <i>v.</i> Captain +Hankey. The former had won off the latter, at play, +£14,000, for which Hankey had given his bond; but a +Court of Inquiry having declared that Moore had cheated +him out of it, he made his application to set aside the +bond.”</p> + +<p>It will be remembered that in that famous prosecution, +in 1797, of Lady Buckinghamshire and her friends, their +manager, Henry Martindale, was fined £200. Next year +he was bankrupt, and we read that “The debts proved +under Mr Martindale’s commission amounted to £328,000, +besides Debts of Honour, which were struck off to the +amount of £150,000.”</p> + +<p>“His failure is said to be owing to misplaced confidence +in a subordinate, who robbed him of thousands. The first +suspicion was occasioned by his purchasing an estate of +£500 a year, but other purchases followed to a considerable +extent, and it was soon discovered that the Faro Bank had +been robbed, sometimes of two thousand guineas a week!</p> + +<p>“On the 14th of April 1798, other arrears to a large +amount were submitted to and rejected by the Commissioners, +who declared a first dividend of one shilling and fivepence +in the pound.”</p> + +<p>“The Right Honourable Charles James Fox had an old +gambling debt to pay to Sir John Lade. Finding himself +in cash after a lucky run at Faro, he sent a complimentary +card to the knight, desiring to discharge the claim. Sir<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +John no sooner saw the money than he called for pen and +ink, and began to figure. ‘What now,’ cried Fox. ‘Only +calculating the interest,’ replied the other. ‘Are you so,’ +coolly rejoined Charles, and pocketed the cash.’ I thought +it was a debt of honour. As you seem to consider it a +trading debt, and as I make it an invariable rule to pay my Jew +creditors last, you must wait a little longer for your money.’”</p> + +<p>Before leaving the eighteenth century, let us hear what +Col. Hanger<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> (4th Lord Coleraine) says of private gambling +in his time, and undoubtedly he mixed in the very highest +society. “If a gentleman in these days has but a few +guineas in his purse, and will walk directly up to the Faro +table, he will be the most welcome guest in the house; it is +not necessary for him to speak, or even bow, to a single lady +in the room, unless some unfortunate woman at the gaming-table +ask him politely for the loan of a few guineas; then +his answer need be but short—‘No, Dolly, no; can’t’; for +this ever will be received as wit, though the unfortunate +lady’s bosom may be heaving, not from the tenderer passions, +but with grief and despair at having lost the last farthing.</p> + +<p>“When I first came into the world (1751?) there was no +such thing as a Faro table admitted into the house of a +woman of fashion; in those days they had too much pride +to receive tribute<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> from the proprietor of such a machine. +In former times there was no such thing as gaming at a +private house, although there was more deep play at the +clubs at that time than ever was before, or has been since. +It is lamentable to see lovely woman destroying her health +and beauty at six o’clock in the morning at a gaming-table. +Can any woman expect to give to her husband a vigorous +and healthy offspring, whose mind, night after night, is thus +distracted, and whose body is relaxed by anxiety and the +fatigue of late hours? It is impossible.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<p class="pch">The Gambling Clubs—White’s, Cocoa Tree, Almack’s—A few gamblers +described—Stories of high play—White’s and its frequenters—Brookes’ +and its players—Captain Gronow and his reminiscences of gambling—Gambling +by the English at Paris—The Duke of Wellington—Ball +Hughes—Scrope Davies—Raggett of White’s.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">Hanger</span> speaks of gambling at the clubs, but in his time +there were very few of them, and the oldest of all was +“White’s” in St James Street. Originally a Chocolate +House, established in 1698, it was the rendezvous for the +Tories in London. It was destroyed by fire on 28th April, +1733, a fact which is immortalised by Hogarth in his sixth +picture of the <i>Rake’s Progress</i>. The earliest record of it, as +a Club, that remains, is a book of rules and list of members +of the old Club at White’s, dated 30th October 1736. In +1755 it removed to the east side of St James Street to No. +38, and there it still remains. In 1797, according to the +rules of the Club, “Every Member who plays at Chess, +Draughts, or Backgammon, do pay One Shilling each time of +playing by daylight, and half-a-crown each by candlelight.” +We have had many references to the gambling that took +place at White’s, and when betting is discussed, the Club’s +famous betting-book will be duly noticed. It is now one of +the most aristocratic clubs in London.</p> + +<p>The Cocoa Tree Club, which was, probably, made into a +Club before 1746, and was somewhat lower down St James +Street than White’s, was the Whig Club, but it does not +seem to have been so much used for gambling as its elder +<i>confrère</i>.</p> + +<p>Almack’s Club was essentially for gambling, and was +founded in 1764 by twenty-seven noblemen and gentlemen. +Among its original rules are the following:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> + +<p>“21. No gaming in the eating room, except tossing up +for reckonings, on penalty of paying the whole bill of the +members present.</p> + +<p>“40. That every person playing at the new guinea table +do keep fifty guineas before him.</p> + +<p>“41. That every person playing at the twenty guinea table +do not keep less than twenty guineas before him.”</p> + +<p>Here is an extract from the Club books which shows +the style of play. “Mr Thynne having won only 12,000 +guineas during the last two months, retired in disgust. March +21, 1772.”</p> + +<p>The Club subsequently became Goosetree’s, and after him +was taken by a wine merchant and money lender named +Brookes, and Brookes’s it is to this day, at 60 St James +Street, to which locality it moved from Pall Mall in October +1778.</p> + +<p>These, with Arthur’s, were all the clubs for the nobility +and gentry, until the Regency, when clubs multiplied. +There were any amount of gambling houses, but they +were public—but, of course, a club was strictly confined to +its members.</p> + +<p>So gambling went on merrily among all classes, as we may +see by the following notices from the <i>Morning Post</i>:</p> + +<p>“<i>5 July 1797.</i> Is Mr Ogden (now called the Newmarket +Oracle), the same person who, five-and-twenty years +since, was an annual pedestrian to Ascot, covered with dust, +amusing himself with <i>pricking in the belt</i>, <i>hustling in the hat</i>, +&c., amongst the lowest class of rustics, at the inferior +booths of the fair?</p> + +<p>“Is D—k—y B—— w, who has now his snug farm, the +same person who, some years since, <i>drove post chaise</i> for +T—— y of Bagshot, could neither read nor write, and was introduced +to <i>the family</i> only by his pre-eminence at cribbage?</p> + +<p>“Is Mr Twycross (with his phaeton), the same person who, +some years since, became a bankrupt in Tavistock Street, +immediately commenced the Man of Fashion at Bath, kept +running horses, &c., <i>secundum artem</i>?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Is Mr Phillips (who has now his town and country house, +in the most fashionable style,) the same who was, originally, +a linen draper and bankrupt at Salisbury, and who made his +first <i>family entré</i> in the metropolis, by his superiority at +<i>Billiards</i> (with Capt. Wallace, Orrell, &c.) at Cropley’s in +Bow Street?</p> + +<p>“Was poor carbuncled P—— e (so many years the favourite +decoy duck of <i>the family</i>) the very barber of Oxford who, in +the midst of the operation upon a gentleman’s face, laid down +his razor, swearing that he would never shave another man +so long as he lived, and immediately became the hero of the +Card Table, <i>the bones</i>, <i>the box</i>, and the <i>cock-pit</i>?”</p> + +<p>“<i>5 April 1805.</i> The sum lately lost at play by a lady +of high rank is variously stated. Some say it does not +amount to more than £200,000, while others assert that it +is little short of £700,000. Her Lord is very unhappy on +the occasion, and is still undecided with respect to the best +mode to be adopted in the unfortunate predicament.”</p> + +<p>“<i>30 June 1806.</i> The Marquis of H—— d is said to +have been so successful at play, this season, as to have +cleared £60,000. The Earl of B—— e has won upwards +of £50,000, clear of all deductions. A Right Reverend is +stated to be amongst those who are <i>minus</i> on this occasion.”</p> + +<p>“<i>8 July 1806.</i> A certain Noble Marquis, who has been +very fortunate, this season, in his gaming speculations, had +a run of ill-luck last week. At one sitting his Lordship was +<i>minus</i> no less a sum than <i>thirteen thousand pounds</i>!”</p> + +<p>“<i>15 July 1806.</i> The noble Marquis, who has been so +great a gainer this season, at <i>hazard</i>, never plays with anyone, +from a <span class="smcap">Prince</span>, to a <i>Commoner</i>, without having the +stakes <i>first</i> laid on the table. His lordship was always +considered as a <i>sure card</i>, but, now, his fame is established, +from the circumstance of his having cleared £35,000, after +deducting all his losses for the last six months.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Morning Herald, 16 June 1804.</i> A noble Lord, lately +high in office, and who manifests a strong inclination to +be re-instated in his political power, lost, at the <span class="smcap">Union</span>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> +a night or two back, 4000 guineas before twelve o’clock; +but, continuing to play, his luck took a turn, and he rose a +winner of a 1000 before five the next morning.”</p> + +<p>I have, also, two newspaper cuttings, but know not +whence they came. “<i>Mar. 28, 1811.</i> The brother of a +Noble Marquis is said to have lately won, at <i>hazard</i>, upwards +of £30,000, all in one night!” “<i>April 3, 1811.</i> +A young gentleman of family and fortune lost £7000, on +Sunday Morning, at a gaming house in the neighbourhood +of Pall Mall.”</p> + +<p>This brings us to the time when, owing to the mental +affliction of George III., the Prince of Wales became +Regent, and during his reign, both as Regent and King, +gambling throve; and I propose to quote somewhat from +Captain Gronow, whose chatty Reminiscences are about the +best of those times. But before doing so I must tell the +following anecdote which relates to that General Scott whom +Gronow mentions.</p> + +<p>Lord C—— had a most unfortunate propensity to +gamble; and, in one night, he lost £33,000 to General +Scott. Mortified at his ill-fortune he paid the money and +wished to keep the circumstance secret; it was, however, +whispered about. His lordship, to divert his chagrin, went, +a few nights afterwards, to a Masquerade at Carlisle House, +Soho, and he found all the company running after three +Irish young ladies of the name of G—— e, in the character +of the three witches in <i>Macbeth</i>. These ladies were so well +acquainted with everything that was going on in the great +world that they kept the room in a continual roar of laughter +by the brilliancy of their wit, and the happiness of its +application to some people of rank who were present. +They knew Lord C—— and they knew of his loss, though +he did not know them. He walked up to them, and, in a +solemn tone of voice, thus addressed them:—</p> + +<p class="ppi6 p1">“Ye black and midnight hags,—what do ye do?<br /> +Live ye? or are ye aught that man may question?<br /> +Quickly unclasp to me the book of fate,<br /> +And tell if good, or ill, my steps await.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p> + +<p class="ppi6"><i>First Witch.</i> “All hail, C——e! all hail to thee!<br /> +Once annual lord of thousands thirty-three!”</p> +<p class="ppi6"><i>Second Witch.</i> “All hail, C——e! all hail to thee!<br /> +All hail! though poor thou soon shalt be!”</p> +<p class="ppi6"><i>Hecate.</i> “C——e, all hail! thy evil star<br /> +Sheds baleful influence—Oh, beware!<br /> +Beware that Thane! Beware that Scott!<br /> +Or, poverty shall be thy lot!<br /> +He’ll drain thy youth as dry as hay—<br /> +Hither, Sisters, haste away!”</p> + +<p class="p1">At the concluding words, whirling a watchman’s rattle, +which she held in her hand, the dome echoed with the +sound; the astonished peer shrunk into himself with terror—retired—vowed +never to lose more than a hundred pounds +at a sitting; abided by the determination, and retrieved his +fortune. +<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> +“The politics of White’s Club were, then, decidedly +Tory. It was here that play was carried on to an extent +which made many ravages in large fortunes, the traces of +which have not disappeared at the present day. General +Scott, the father-in-law of George Canning and the Duke of +Portland, was known to have won, at White’s, £200,000; +thanks to his notorious sobriety and knowledge of the game +of whist. The General possessed a great advantage over his +companions by avoiding those indulgences at the table, +which used to muddle other men’s brains. He confined +himself to dining off something like a boiled chicken, with +toast and water; by such a regimen he came to the whist +table with a clear head, and possessing, as he did, a remarkable +memory, with great coolness and judgment, he was +able, honestly, to win the enormous sum of £200,000.</p> + +<p>“At Brooke’s, for nearly half a century, the play was of a +more gambling character than at White’s. Faro and Macao +were indulged in to an extent which enabled a man to win, +or to lose, a considerable fortune in one night. It was here +that Charles James Fox, Selwyn, Lord Carlisle, Lord Robert +Spencer, General Fitzpatrick, and other great Whigs, won,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +and lost, hundreds of thousands; frequently remaining at +the table for many hours without rising.</p> + +<p>“On one occasion, Lord Robert Spencer contrived to lose +the last shilling of his considerable fortune, given to him by +his brother, the Duke of Marlborough: General Fitzpatrick, +being much in the same condition, they agreed to raise a +sum of money, in order that they might keep a Faro bank. +The members of the club made no objection, and, ere long, +they carried out their design. As is generally the case, the +bank was a winner, and Lord Robert bagged, as his share of +the profits, £100,000. He retired, strange to say, from the +fœtid atmosphere of play, with the money in his pocket, and +never again gambled. George Harley Drummond, of the +famous banking house, Charing Cross, only played once, in +his whole life, at White’s Club, at whist, on which occasion +he lost £20,000 to Brummell. This event caused him to +retire from the banking house, of which he was a partner.</p> + +<p>“Lord Carlisle was one of the most remarkable victims +amongst the players at Brooke’s, and Charles Fox, his +friend, was not more fortunate, being, subsequently, always +in pecuniary difficulties. Many a time, after a long night of +hard play, the loser found himself at the Israelitish establishment +of Howard and Gibbs, then the fashionable and patronized +money-lenders. These gentlemen never failed to make +hard terms with the borrower, although ample security was, +invariably, demanded.</p> + +<p>“The Guard’s Club was established for the three regiments +of Foot Guards, and was conducted upon a military +system. Billiards and low whist were the only games indulged +in. The dinner was, perhaps, better than at most +clubs, and considerably cheaper. Arthur’s and Graham’s +were less aristocratic than those I have mentioned; it +was, at the latter, that a most painful circumstance took +place. A nobleman, of the highest position and influence +in society, was detected in cheating at cards, and, after a +trial, which did not terminate in his favour, he died of a +broken heart.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Upon one occasion, some gentlemen, of both White’s +and Brooke’s, had the honour to dine with the Prince +Regent, and, during the conversation, the Prince inquired +what sort of dinners they got at their clubs; upon which, +Sir Thomas Stepney, one of the guests, observed that their +dinners were always the same, ‘the eternal joints, or beefsteaks, +the boiled fowl with oyster sauce, and an apple tart—this +is what we have, sir, and very monotonous fare it is.’ +The Prince, without further remark, rang the bell for his +cook, Wattier, and, in the presence of those who dined at +the Royal table, asked him whether he would take a house +and organize a dinner club. Wattier assented, and named +Madison, the Prince’s page, manager, and Labourie, from +the Royal kitchen, as the cook. The club flourished only a +few years, owing to the high play that was carried on there. +The Duke of York patronized it, and was a member. The +dinners were exquisite; the best Parisian cooks could not +beat Labourie. The favourite game played there was +Macao. Upon one occasion Jack Bouverie, brother of Lady +Heytesbury, was losing large sums, and became very irritable; +Raikes, with bad taste, laughed at Bouverie, and +attempted to amuse us with some of his stale jokes; upon +which Bouverie threw his play bowl, with the few counters +it contained, at Raikes’ head: unfortunately, it struck him, +and made the City dandy angry, but no serious results +followed this open insult.”</p> + +<p>Captain Gronow gives a personal story of his own gambling. +After Napoleon’s escape from Elba, he had the offer +of an appointment on the staff of General Picton, but his +funds were somewhat low. “So I set about thinking how +I should manage to get my outfit, in order to appear at +Brussels in a manner worthy of the <i>aide-de-camp</i> of the +great general. As my funds were at a low ebb, I went +to Cox and Greenwood’s, those staunch friends of the hard +up soldier. Sailors may talk of the ‘little cherub that sits +up aloft,’ but commend me for liberality, kindness, and +generosity to my old friends in Craig’s Court. I there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +obtained £200, which I took with me to a gambling house +in St James’ Square, where I managed, by some wonderful +accident, to win £600; and, having thus obtained the sinews +of war, I made numerous purchases, amongst others, two +first-rate horses at Tattersall’s for a high figure.”</p> + +<p>He gives several instances of the English love for gambling, +as exemplified at Paris, after its occupation by the +Allies.</p> + +<p>“Fox, the secretary of the embassy, was an excellent +man, but odd, indolent, and careless in the extreme; he +was seldom seen in the daytime, unless it was either at the +embassy, in a state of <i>negligée</i>, or in bed. At night, he used +to go to the Salon des Etrangers; and, if he possessed a +Napoleon, it was sure to be thrown away at hazard, or <i>rouge +et noir</i>. On one occasion, however, fortune favoured him in +a most extraordinary manner. The late Henry Baring having +recommended him to take the dice box, Fox replied, +‘I will do so for the last time, for all my money is thrown +away upon this infernal table.’ Fox staked all he had in his +pockets; he threw in <i>eleven</i> times, breaking the bank, and +taking home for his share 60,000 francs. After this, several +days passed without any tidings being heard of him; but, +upon calling at the embassy to get my passport <i>viséd</i>, I +went into his room, and saw it filled with Cashmere shawls, +silk, Chantilly veils, bonnets, gloves, shoes, and other articles +of ladies’ dress. On my asking the purpose of all this +millinery, Fox replied, ‘Why, my dear Gronow, it was the +only means to prevent those rascals at the Salon winning +back my money.’</p> + +<p>“The play which took place in these saloons was, +frequently, of the most reckless character; large fortunes +were often lost, the losers disappearing, never more to be +heard of. Amongst the English <i>habitués</i> were the Hon. +George T——, the late Henry Baring, Lord Thanet, Tom +Sowerby, Cuthbert, Mr Steer, Henry Broadwood, and Bob +Arnold.</p> + +<p>“The late Henry Baring was more fortunate at hazard than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +his countrymen, but his love of gambling was the cause of +his being excluded from the banking establishment. Col. +Sowerby, of the Guards, was one of the most inveterate +players in Paris: and, as is frequently the case with a fair +player, a considerable loser. But, perhaps, the most incurable +gamester amongst the English, was Lord Thanet, whose +income was not less than £50,000 a year, every farthing of +which he lost at play. Cuthbert dissipated the whole of his +fortune in the like manner. In fact, I do not remember any +instance where those who spent their time in this den did +not lose all they possessed....</p> + +<p>“Amongst others who visited the Salon des Etrangers were +Sir Francis Vincent, Gooch, Green, Ball Hughes, and many +others whose names I no longer remember. As at Crockford’s, +a magnificent supper was provided every night, for all +who thought proper to avail themselves of it. The games +principally played were <i>rouge et noir</i> and hazard; the former +producing an immense profit; for, not only were the whole +of the expenses of this costly establishment defrayed by the +winnings of the bank, but a very large sum was paid annually +to the municipality of Paris. I recollect a young Irishman, +Mr Gough, losing a large fortune at this <i>tapis vert</i>. After +returning home about two <span class="smcap">A.M.</span> he sat down and wrote a +letter, giving reasons why he was about to commit suicide: +these, it is needless to say, were simply his gambling reverses. +A pistol shot through the brain terminated his existence. +Sir Francis Vincent—a man of old family and considerable +fortune—was another victim of this French hell, who +contrived to get rid of his magnificent property, and then +disappeared from society.”</p> + +<p>“Soon after Lord Granville’s appointment [as British +Ambassador] a strange occurrence took place at one of the +public gambling houses. A colonel, on half-pay, in the +British service, having lost every farthing he possessed, +determined to destroy himself, together with all who were +instrumental to his ruin. Accordingly, he placed a canister +full of fulminating powder under the table, and set it on fire:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +it blew up, but, fortunately, no one was hurt. The police +arrested the colonel, and placed him in prison; he was, +however, through the humane interposition of our ambassador, +sent out of France as a madman.”</p> + +<p>The Duke of Wellington<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> had, in his early career, lost a +considerable sum of money at play, and had been on the +point of selling his commission in Dublin, with the view of +relieving himself from some debts of honour which he had +incurred.</p> + +<p>“At a dinner party at Mr Greenwood’s, of that excellent +firm, Cox & Greenwood, I met Sir Harry Calvert, then +Adjutant-General, who accompanied the Duke of York, as +one of his staff, in his disastrous campaign in Holland; and +he told us the following anecdote:—Lord Camden, the +Viceroy, had been applied to by Lord Mornington, the +brother of Captain Wesley (so the name was then spelt), +for a Commissionership of Customs, or anything else in the +gift of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, as it was the intention +of the Captain to sell his commission to pay his debts. +Lord Camden, in an interview with Captain Wesley, inquired +whether he left the army in disgust, or what motive +induced him to relinquish a service in which he was well +qualified to distinguish himself. Captain Wesley explained +everything that had occurred, upon which the Lord Lieutenant +expressed a wish to be of service to him. ‘What +can I do for you? Point out any plan by which you can +be extricated from your present difficulties.’ The answer +was, ‘I have no alternative but to sell my commission; for I +am poor, and unable to pay off my debts of honour.’ +‘Remain in the army,’ said Lord Camden, ‘and I will +assist you in paying off your liabilities.’ ‘I should like to +study my profession at Angers,’ replied the young soldier, +‘for the French are the great masters of the art of war.’ +Lord Camden assented to the proposition, supplied him +with the means of living in France, and paid his debts....</p> + +<p>“The lesson the Duke of Wellington had learnt at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +gambling table, as a young man, was deeply impressed +upon him; he, afterwards, never touched a card; and so +firmly did he set his face against gambling, that, in Paris, +none of his staff, from Lord Fitzroy Somerset down to +Freemantle, was ever to be seen either at Frascati’s, or the +Salon des Etrangers.”</p> + +<p>Ball Hughes was a dandy of the Regency, and from his +fortune he was nick-named “the golden Ball”; of him +Gronow says: “His fortune had dwindled down to a fourth +of its original amount, for he was, perhaps, the greatest +gambler of his day. His love of play was such, that, at +one period of his life, he would rather play at pitch and +toss than be without his favourite excitement. He told +me that, at one time, he had lost considerable sums at +battledore and shuttlecock. On one occasion, immediately +after dinner, he and the eccentric Lord Petersham commenced +playing with these toys, and continued hard at +work during the whole of the night; next morning, he was +found by his valet lying on the ground fast asleep, but +ready for any other species of speculation.”</p> + +<p>Of another dandy, Scrope Davies, he says: “As was the +case with many of the foremost men of that day, the +greater number of his hours were passed at the gambling +table, where, for a length of time, he was eminently successful; +for he was a first-rate calculator. He seldom played +against individuals; he preferred going to the regular establishments. +But, on one occasion, he had, by a remarkable +run of good luck, completely ruined a young man, who had +just reached his majority, and come into the possession of a +considerable fortune. The poor youth sank down upon a +sofa, in abject misery, when he reflected that he was a +beggar; for he was on the point of marriage. Scrope +Davies, touched by his despair, entered into conversation +with him, and ended by giving him back the whole of his +losses, upon a solemn promise that he would never play +again. The only thing that Scrope retained of his winnings +was one of the little carriages of that day, called a <i>dormeuse</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +from its being fitted up with a bed, for he said, ‘When I +travel in it, I shall sleep the better for having acted rightly.’ +The youth kept his promise; but when his benefactor +wanted money, he forgot that he owed all he possessed to +Scrope’s generosity, and refused to assist him.</p> + +<p>“For a long time Scrope Davies was a lucky player; but +the time arrived when Fortune deserted her old favourite; +and, shortly after the Dandy dynasty was overthrown, he +found himself unable to mingle with the rich, the giddy, and +the gay. With the wreck of his fortune, and, indeed, with +little to live upon beyond the amount of his own Cambridge +fellowship, he sought repose in Paris, and there, indulging in +literary leisure, bade the world farewell.”</p> + +<p>“Raggett,<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> the well known club proprietor of White’s, +and the Roxburgh club in St James’s Square, was a notable +character in his way. He began life as a poor man, and +died extremely rich. It was his custom to wait upon the +members of these clubs whenever play was going on. Upon +one occasion, at the Roxburgh, the following gentlemen, +Hervey Combe, Tippoo Smith, Ward (the member for +London), and Sir John Malcolm, played for high stakes at +whist; they sat during that night, viz., Monday, the following +day and night, and only separated on Wednesday +morning at eleven o’clock; indeed, the party only broke up +then, owing to Hervey Combe being obliged to attend the +funeral of one of his partners who was buried on that day. +Hervey Combe, on looking over his card, found that he +was a winner of thirty thousand pounds from Sir John +Malcolm, and he jocularly said, ‘Well, Sir John, you shall +have your revenge whenever you like.’ Sir John replied, +‘Thank you; another sitting of the kind will oblige me to +return again to India.’ Hervey Combe, on settling with +Raggett, pulled out of his pocket, a handful of counters, +which amounted to several hundred pounds, over and above +the thirty thousand he had won of the baronet, and he gave +them to Raggett, saying, ‘I give them to you for sitting so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +long with us, and providing us with all required.’ Raggett +was overjoyed, and, in mentioning what had occurred to one +of his friends, a few days afterwards, he added, ‘I make it a +rule never to allow any of my servants to be present when +gentlemen play at my clubs, for it is my invariable custom +to sweep the carpet after the gambling is over, and I, +generally, find on the floor a few counters, which pays me +for the trouble of sitting up. By this means I have made a +decent fortune.’”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<p class="pch">Hanging, the penalty for losing—Suicide—Officer cashiered—Reminiscences of an +exiled gambler—Description of the principal gaming-houses at the West +End in 1817.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">The</span> <i>Annual Register</i> about this time supplies us with +several gambling anecdotes, the following being almost +incredible:—<i>15th April 1812.</i>—“On Wednesday evening +an extraordinary investigation took place at Bow Street. +Croker, the officer, was passing along the Hampstead road, +when he observed, at a short distance before him, two men +on a wall, and, directly after, saw the tallest of them, a stout +man, about six feet high, hanging by his neck, from a lamp +post attached to the wall, being that instant tied up and +turned off by the short man. This unexpected and extraordinary +sight astonished the officer; he made up to the +spot with all speed; and, just after he arrived there, the tall +man, who had been hanged, fell to the ground, the handkerchief, +with which he had been suspended, having given way. +Croker produced his staff, said he was an officer, and demanded +to know of the other man the cause of such conduct. +In the meantime, the man who had been hanged recovered, +got up, and, on Croker’s interfering, gave him a violent blow +on the nose, which nearly knocked him backwards. The +short man was endeavouring to make off; however, the +officer procured assistance, and both were brought to the +office, when the account they gave was that they worked on +canals. They had been together on Wednesday afternoon, +tossed up for money, and afterwards for their clothes; the +tall man, who was hanged, won the other’s jacket, trousers, +and shoes; they then tossed up which should hang the +other, and the short one won the toss. They got upon the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +wall, the one to submit, and the other to hang him on the +lamp iron. They both agreed in this statement. The tall +one, who had been hanged, said, if he had won the toss, he +would have hanged the other. He said he then felt the +effects of his hanging in his neck, and his eyes were so much +swelled that he saw double. The magistrates expressed +their horror and disgust, and ordered the man who had been +hanged to find bail for the violent and unjustifiable assault +on the officer, and the short one for hanging the other. Not +having bail, they were committed to Bridewell for trial.”</p> + +<p><i>7th Feb. 1816.</i>—“Yesterday, a gentleman, the head in +a firm of a first-rate concern in the City, put a period to his +existence by blowing out his brains. He had gone to the +masquerade at the Argyll Rooms a few nights since, and +accompanied a female home in a coach with two men, +friends of the woman. When they got to her residence, the +two men proposed to the gentleman to play for a dozen of +champagne to treat the lady with, which the gentleman +declined. They, however, after a great deal of persuasion, +prevailed on him to play for small sums, and, according to +the usual tricks of gamblers, allowed him to win at first, till +they began to play for double, when, there is no doubt, the +fellows produced loaded dice, and the gentleman lost to the +amount of £1800, which brought him to his reflection and +senses. He then invented an excuse for not paying that +sum, by saying he was under an agreement with his partner +not to draw for a larger amount than £300 for his private +account, and gave them a draft for that amount, promising +the remainder at a future day. This promise, however, he +did not attend to, not feeling himself bound by such a +villainous transaction. But the robbers found out who he +was, and his residence, and had the audacity to go yesterday +morning, armed with bludgeons, and attack him publicly on +his own premises, in the presence of those employed there, +demanding payment of their nefarious debt of <i>honour</i>, and +threatening him, if he did not pay, that he should fight. +This exposure had such an effect upon his feelings, that he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +made an excuse to retire, when he destroyed himself by +blowing out his brains with a pistol. This rash act is additionally +to be lamented, as it prevents the bringing to condign +punishment the plundering villains who were the cause +of it, there being no evidence to convict them.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Horse Guards, 18th Nov. 1816.</i>—At a general Court-martial +held at Cambray, in France, on the 23rd September +1816, and continued by adjournments to the 26th of the +same month, Lieutenant the Honourable Augustus Stanhope, +of the 12th regiment of Light Dragoons, was arraigned +on the undermentioned charge, viz.:—</p> + +<p>“For behaving in a scandalous, infamous manner, such as +is unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman, +in conspiring, with a certain other person, to draw in and +seduce Lord Beauchamp to game and play with them, for +the purposes of gain and advantage; and that, in pursuance +of such conspiracy, he, Lieutenant Stanhope (having engaged +Lord Beauchamp to come to his quarters in Paris, on Sunday, +the 17th day of March 1816, upon an invitation to +dine with him), did, in company and concert of such other +person, draw in, seduce, and prevail upon Lord Beauchamp +to play with them at a certain game of chance with cards, +for very high stakes, whereby, on an account kept by them, +Lieut. Stanhope, and the said other person, or one of them, +of the losses and gains in the course of the play, he, Lieut. +Stanhope, claimed to have won from Lord Beauchamp the +sum of £8000 and upwards, and the said other person +claimed to have won off Lord Beauchamp the further sum +of £7000 and upwards.</p> + +<p>“That, in further pursuance of the said concert and conspiracy, +he, Lord Beauchamp, at the same time and place, +was required by Lieut. Stanhope to write and sign two promissory +notes, or engagements, to pay at the expiration of +three years the said several sums of money so claimed to +have been won off him, Lord Beauchamp, by Lieut. Stanhope +and the said other person respectively.</p> + +<p>“That he, Lord Beauchamp, was, at that time, about sixteen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> +years of age, ignorant of, and unused to play, and affected +by the wine he had been prevailed upon to take by the +parties.”</p> + +<p>Lieut. Stanhope was found guilty and dismissed from the +army.</p> + +<p>The <i>Annual Register</i> also gives numerous cases of duels +arising from gambling, but they are, comparatively, uninteresting, +and are all of the same type, paltry quarrels over +the gaming-table.</p> + +<p>We have a metrical description of gambling about this +time supposed to have been written by a gambler who had +to retire to France, and I here give a portion of it.<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“Ah me! what sad pangs ev’ry fibre now feels,<br /> +When I view the success of my exquisite <i>deals</i>,<br /> +My <i>cutting</i> and <i>shuffling</i>, perform’d with such ease:<br /> +(And their talent is rare who can <i>cut</i> when they please).<br /> +Ev’ry bet at Macao was decidedly mine;<br /> +For, faithful to me, was the snug winning Nine;<br /> +And the dice-box, alike, against Squire or Lord,<br /> +Brought whatever I pleased on the fortunate board.<br /> +Yet exil’d, in spite of success, to this land;<br /> +I have made of my gains but a very <i>bad hand</i>,<br /> +For here, gallant Greeks! my sad fortune deplore,<br /> +No <i>pigeon</i> takes wing to the Gallican shore;<br /> +And the nation, composed of sly slippery elves,<br /> +Admits of no <i>plucking</i>, except by themselves;<br /> +Whilst Bourbon the pious, to vermin-like rats,<br /> +Grants Licences special, for <i>doing the flats</i>.</p> +<p class="ppi6">Ye haunts of St James’s! ye Cyprian fair!<br /> +How sweet your amusements! how <i>winning</i> your air!<br /> +Long, long have I served you, and valued you well,<br /> +From the Regent’s proud palace, to Bennet Street <i>hell</i>,<br /> +Where nobles and simples alike take their swing,<br /> +With th’ intention of being <i>at all in the ring</i>.<br /> +Their eyes are attracted with rouleaus of gold,<br /> +Or with thousands in paper, so neat in the fold:<br /> +Impatient they view them, and seize them elate,<br /> +And, when pocketing most, they most swallow the bait.<br /> +There’s N—g—nt’s proud lord, who, to angle for pelf,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>Will soon find the secret of diddling himself;<br /> +There’s H—rb—rt, who, lately, as knowing ones tell,<br /> +Won a tight seven hundred at house in Pall Mall;<br /> +Captain D—v—s, who, now, is a chick of the game,<br /> +But, although in <i>high feather</i>, the odds will soon tame;<br /> +And the Marquis of Bl—ndf—rd, who <i>touch’d ‘em up rare</i>,<br /> +For a thousand in Bennet Street (all on the square),<br /> +Where a service of plate gives a <i>shine</i> to the job,<br /> +The whole made of crowns from young gentlemen’s fob.<br /> +There’s Ll—yd and C—m—ck, who’d a martinette be;<br /> +For none <i>drills</i> a guinea more ably than he—<br /> +So his adjutant told him (a pretty good wipe,<br /> +Which the Colonel accepted and put in his pipe).<br /> +There’s a certain rum baronet every one knows,<br /> +Who, on Saturday nights to the <i>two sevens</i> goes;<br /> +With J—— and Cl——, Billy W—— and two more,<br /> +So drunk that they keep merry hell in a roar;<br /> +Long D—b—n, thin C—rt—r, a son of a gun,<br /> +Bill B——, the Doctor, that figure of fun:<br /> +They have all won a little, and now <i>are in force</i>,<br /> +But they’ll find that it soon will return to its source:<br /> +The knowing ones watch them, and give them their fill,<br /> +And they’ll soon be reduced to discounting their bill.</p> + +<p class="ptb">········</p> + +<p class="ppn6">In fine, ev’ry object of popular fame,<br /> +Old hens, youthful chickens and cocks of the game,<br /> +Though distant, I ever shall keep you in view;<br /> +For all my enjoyments were centred in you.<br /> +To A. B.’s and Bailiff’s I waft a sad tear;<br /> +For I know they have found me a friend that was <i>dear</i>;<br /> +And the Bill-doers, too, who have fleeced Johnny Raw,<br /> +And, lastly, the Jem’men who <i>follow</i> the law.<br /> +To the tradesmen who tick, a remembrance most kind,<br /> +I thus send, and assure them that Fortune is blind.<br /> +This truth is a sad one; I’ve learn’d it too late;<br /> +But ‘twill serve those, who now may take heed from my fate:<br /> +For the purses of others, ‘tis pretty well known,<br /> +I look’d too, but ne’er had an <i>eye</i> to my own;<br /> +For which my Annuitants sternly refuse<br /> +My freedom, and, thereby have <i>narrowed my views</i>.</p> +<p class="ppi6">Time was, when so splendid, so gay, debonair,<br /> +I’ve had of these vermin a brace at my chair,<br /> +The slaves of my chamber, the shades at my doors,<br /> +Subservient, and bowing obedience by scores;<br /> +For, <i>soit dit en passant</i>, when ruin’d’s a rake,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>The greater’s the plunder his liv’rymen make:<br /> +Then, the produce of filching, to noble in need,<br /> +Is lent out on annuity, mortgage, or deed:<br /> +So, the Peer, or the Commoner going to rack,<br /> +May sit with his Creditor stuck at his back,<br /> +Unconscious, howe’er, of so monstrous a bore,<br /> +The effects of a C—rp—w, a S—dl—y, or M—re,<br /> +Who the <i>parties</i> procure, ‘mongst such miscreant trash;<br /> +For nothing’s degrading in touching the cash—<br /> +A pound is the same, both in value and weight,<br /> +Though it came from the basest, or first in the State.<br /> +I grieve, whilst I think of the years which have flown,<br /> +Of the thousands I’ve squandered, the pleasures I’ve known,<br /> +Of the many occasions, which fortune has cast<br /> +In my way to be rich, which I slighted as fast—<br /> +How oft’, independent I might have retired<br /> +With enough to live happy—nay, more than required:<br /> +But Greeks are like Cyprians, and Fate has decreed<br /> +That they both should spend fortunes, and perish in need;<br /> +That their treasures, with dreams of enchantment, should pass,<br /> +And leave them no solace, except from the—glass;<br /> +That, at length, youth and beauty, good luck, and foul play,<br /> +Should all thrive a season—then vanish away.”</p> + +<p class="p1">This pamphlet, which has a companion called “The +Pigeons,” gives a very curious list of the most fashionable +gaming houses in existence in 1817.</p> + +<p>“Of <i>hells</i> in general, it may be said that they are <i>infernally</i> +productive, since Mr T—l—r finds that the banking +business is nothing compared to these money mills, and since +so many fortunes have been made from them. Who would +think that a man could <i>rise</i> from one of these <i>lower regions</i> +to a seat in Parliament? or that high military rank could be +purchased by ‘The Colour’s red’—‘Gentlemen, make your +game!’</p> + +<p>Major-General R—— w, M.P., thus got his high promotion +and his seat in the British Senate; for his papa was +<i>n’importe</i>; but, progressively (and in a very odd way too), +he got a little money, which, placing in a hell of which he +was proprietor, he soon purchased an estate, and bought his +son on in the army. Many other instances, too tedious to +mention, have occurred of fortune thus made.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span></p> + +<p>By a house of fashionable resort being called a club-house, +the proprietors are enabled to exclude <i>wolves in +sheep’s clothing</i>, <i>i.e.</i> spies and informers; for, by taking a +mere trifle for a subscription, you get a knowledge of the +subscriber, whether a <i>good man and true, or not</i>; and, being +entered in a book—before he can <i>turn over a new leaf</i>, he +may be <i>turned to</i> good account.</p> + +<p>Where the houses are not really, or apparently, club-houses, +large sums are often paid to police officers, as well +as to more imposing informers, who contrive to introduce +themselves. Bob Holloway pretty well knew this, as he +was, literally, in the pay of all of them, of which more may +be said in time and place. Hush money varies according +to the magnitude of the concern, from £250 to £1000 per +annum.</p> + +<p class="pc1">————————</p> + +<p class="pc1 large"><span class="smcap">No.</span> 77 ST JAMES’S STREET.</p> + +<p class="pc1 mid"><span class="smcap">Nick-named the Two Sevens.</span></p> + +<p class="pc1 lmid"><i>Firm: Messrs T. C. C. T.</i></p> + +<p class="p1">Here is a <i>rouge et noir</i> table; the best possible treatment +may be depended upon, as well as great civility and +great circumspection in not lending money but to well-known +people. The <i>firm</i> attends very constantly, and a +certain lawyer watches most attentively the transactions of +the house. The bank won’t set you above £50; this is the +common plan; and it gives a decided advantage to the bank, +as the loser has less chance of bringing himself back than +if play was unlimited, as in France. Upon the whole, the +French first-rate gaming-houses beat our hells hollow, and +they are carried on upon a much more extensive, handsome, +and attractive plan: but 77 has that</p> + +<p class="ppn8 p1">‘Within which far surpasseth show.’—<i>Hamlet.</i></p> + +<p class="p1">They are scurvy about refreshments here, and very apt to +grumble if a customer have a run of luck. On the other +hand, however, a Prussian Officer, not very long ago, made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +a devil of a row about losing a very large sum, but all in +vain.</p> + +<p>Cerberus, who waits at the door, has a particularly watchful +eye and a rare nose for a police officer. Mistakes, however, +have occurred.</p> + +<p>The produce of this bank (which Paddy B—— calls the +Devil’s Exchequer, whence you get neither principal nor +interest), furnishes carriages, town and country houses, and +all the luxuries of life: and may, perhaps, one day send a +Member to Parliament or a General to the field, like Mrs +R—— w’s concern; no house can have a better chance, as no +house is better situated for the purpose. We would, however, +advise the dealer to be less slovenly and liable to mistake +than he is. The house is now shut up.</p> + +<p class="pc1">————</p> + +<p class="p1">Opposite this house is a hazard table, which never opens +until midnight, and is attended by the ultra royalists and +officers of all the regiments of guards, horse and foot, besides +decided amateurs.</p> + +<p class="pc1">————</p> + +<p class="pc1 large">BENNET STREET, ST JAMES’S.</p> + +<p class="pc1 mid"><span class="smcap">Corner house—Red Baize Door</span>—<i>called</i> <span class="smcap">a Club +House.</span></p> + +<p class="pc1 lmid"><i>Firm: Messrs Fielder, Miller and Carlos. Formerly Fielder, +Roubel, Miller and Co.</i></p> + +<p class="p1">This is what is called a topping house, where high rank +and title resort. We mentioned in the poem the luck of a +certain Duke’s son there; and, of late, there has been a +lucky run in favour of the frequenters of the bank—but +<i>lauda finem</i>. Its crisis has arrived.</p> + +<p>The noble Marquess, on the night that he lost the money +at No. 40 which was closed against him, went full charged +with the Tuscan grape, and attacked poor Fielder, <i>vi et +pugnis</i>, and, at length, was necessitated to leave this house +also.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> + +<p>Here, all things are in a very high style, served on plate, +et cetera. It is supposed that the <i>customer’s specie</i> is melted +down to furnish this luxury, which is reversing the ordinary +plan: it is, commonly, the family plate which is melted by +the gamester into specie; but here it is the current coin +which is molten and shaped into salvers, waiters, &c. This +is, however, all in the way of business; for we have heard of +parson’s wives having silk gowns made out of burial scarves, +and we know a presbyterian minister who has converted +mourning rings into a splendid piece of plate. Therefore, +why should not these conveyancers of property, convey a +portion into their wives and mistress’s pockets, or <i>ridicules</i>, +and transform guineas into gold snuff boxes; or crowns, &c., +into a service of plate?</p> + +<p>The receipts of these houses are immense: We know +the wife of a proprietor of a hell, not an hundred miles from +St James’s Palace, who was so majestic in her deportment, +and so magnificent in her attire, that she gained the name of +<i>Proserpine</i>.</p> + +<p>The neighbourhood of Bennet Street is very convenient: +if a pigeon be refused admittance on the score of not being +known, and receive the <i>stale answer</i>—‘Sir, this house is only +open to the gentlemen of the Club,’ he has only to <i>go down</i> +St James’s Street into the Square or to Pall Mall, and he +will find accommodation all the way: the descent is <i>easy</i> +even to the most intoxicated dandy or guardsman, who will +experience the truth of the ‘<i>facilis descensus Averni</i>.’</p> + +<p class="pc1">————</p> + +<p class="pc1 large"><span class="smcap">No.</span> 10 ST JAMES’S SQUARE.</p> + +<p class="pc1 mid"><span class="smcap">A</span> <i>low</i> <span class="smcap">House, Humourously Called</span> <i>the Pigeon hole</i>.</p> + +<p class="pc1 lmid"><i>Firm: Abbot Watson, Davies, Fearlove, Leach, and +Holdsworth.</i></p> + +<p class="p1">This snug little <i>trap</i> is doing remarkably well. <i>Fama +volat</i>, that it has netted thirty thousand within twelve +months. Whether the exact sum, in so very small a time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +be true or not, we cannot pretend to say; but we know that +a great deal of work is done there, and it is said to have +divided twenty-seven thousand in the half-year ending +Midsummer 1817.</p> + +<p>A certain little doctor is a great friend (we do not say a +decoy) to the house, and, of course, a great favourite. There +are many links to this chain; and a good bill would be done +there, or an I.O.U. taken from <i>gem’men</i> of respectability.</p> + +<p>There is a <i>littleness</i> about the concern, both outside and +inside; and your topping Greeks prefer a larger scale of +establishment. The firm, notwithstanding, goes on slow and +sure; and there is no saying what they may realise with +time, brisk trade and good customers, although great complaints +are made of emigrations to France, the Insolvent Act, +the want of <i>honour</i> in the young men of the present day, +and, <i>especially, of our disclosures of their mysteries</i>. The north +country dialect is here spoken in perfection.</p> + +<p>One of the firm is <i>Abbot</i>, of a religious establishment of a +somewhat different kind. It is a <i>nunnery</i>, to which confessors +are, of course, admitted at the usual hours, on the +terms, to use a sporting phrase, of play, or pay. This Abbot +is said to be worth nearly a hundred thousand pounds. +‘Two strings to my bow’ is his suitable motto, for he has +a wife and family also.</p> + +<p>He is more <i>parsimonious</i> than abstemious, as befits the +order of which he is the worthy principal, and of which we +shall furnish a ludicrous instance. He once had particular +occasion for a sovereign. Now, how could he save his +money? He was extricated by a most delightful thought, +and he, accordingly, sat down to play against his own firm +for <i>one pound</i>. Oh! what a slippery jade is Fortune! +Luck was against him, and he rose <span class="smcap">IN DEBT</span> to the bank, +little short of £500. His junior partners, however, most +liberally (it is said) took the entire case into their serious +consideration, and <span class="smcap">FORGAVE HIM THE DEBT</span>! What other +house can produce an instance of such splendid munificence?—Lieut. +N—— g, R.N., has lately extracted from the house<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +above £2000. They would almost as soon see the devil as +the lieutenant, for Fortune has never deserted him hitherto:—but, +even this, like a fire to insurance offices, or a large +prize in a lottery, is not without its good effects! It is, +after all, baiting with sprats to catch salmon. We are +happy to find that this officer has been so prudent as to +retire on his good luck!</p> + +<p>To Mr Holdsworth, quitting a neighbouring hell under +more respectable circumstances, pocketing a trifle of what is +so easily gained, can, he thinks, be no very great harm. +However, it now became absolutely necessary that he should +do business on his own account, when circumstances utterly +prevented his doing it on the account of others. Papa Leach +advanced the needful, and he is, as we see, one of this firm.</p> + +<p>Perhaps Mr Watson may have some recollection, however +imperfect, of Messrs Crook and Co., of York Street, +Covent Garden, his old masters. We may, probably, at a +future opportunity, assist the elucidation of some occurrences +in that quarter. We believe that Mr Crook never speaks of +him with any particular respect! It was here that Mr +L—— p D—— s lately won nearly £5000 of Crockford, +Kelly, Lavisne, &c. It is a great chance if they have not +obtained their revenge ere this.</p> + +<p>A singular escape was recently sustained here by Major +A—— y. He is not only a man of mettle, but of <i>metal</i>; +in plain English, he has money, and was allowed partial +success, <i>pour encourager les autres</i>. We only <i>suppose</i> that +arrangements were made for his next appearance. All were +silent and ready. The anxious moment arrived, St James’s +clock struck nine,—the customary signal to begin,—yet he +had not arrived: therefore, it was thought advisable to +commence operations. The company loudly expressed +impatience and offence at waiting for anyone. The house +conceded, and lo! the cards were dealt—when, to the +astonishment and dismay of the company, there were <i>fifteen +trente et un et après</i>, in one deal! wonderful! mysterious +chance! The Major entered at this critical moment, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> +took out his well-stored pocket-book; but, when he learnt +what had happened, and saw his narrow escape, he coolly +returned it to his pocket, saying, as he retired, ‘I will never +enter a house where such a <i>chance</i> has happened!!’ We +need not be surprised at the sum which <span class="smcap">THIS</span> firm is said to +have cleared.</p> + +<p>They affect to carry their heads high, and to despise +common menaces, saying, that <span class="smcap">THEY</span> have the countenance +of the Hon. Messrs——, sons of a high and most esteemed +legal character.</p> + +<p class="pc1">————</p> + +<p class="pc1 large">MRS LEACH’S, <span class="smcap">No.</span> 6 KING STREET, ST JAMES’S.</p> + +<p>Is a particularly snug and quiet shop, and the name of +the proprietor is singularly appropriate. This concern is +suspended.</p> + +<p class="pc1">————</p> + +<p class="pc1 large">THE ELDER DAVIS, <span class="smcap">No.</span> 10 KING STREET, +ST JAMES’S.</p> + +<p>Is but a small affair, recently opened. It gets on +swimmingly.</p> + +<p class="pc1">————</p> + +<p class="pc1 large"><span class="smcap">No.</span> 40 PALL MALL.</p> + +<p class="pc1 lmid"><i>Firm: Messrs Roubel, Fuller and Hewetson. Formerly +Roubel, Fielder, Miller and Co.</i></p> + +<p class="p1"><i>Parlez moi de cela!</i> a Frenchman would say directly on +entering this establishment. It is more <i>à la Française</i>, and, +of course, more of a gambling house than any of the others. +The firm are good judges of these matters, and <i>do things</i> in +very good form.</p> + +<p>There is great variety; and the addresses of some lovely +frail ones may be had. This is an equal advantage to +Greek and Pigeon—<i>Tros Tyrius ve</i>. Besides the ‘sprightly +dance they so dearly love,’ dull Sunday don’t stand in their +way as in other places. Here, also, they have borrowed +from the Continental manners.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> + +<p>This concern is a thriving one, although a prodigious +hoax was practised on them the year before last, when +thieves, in the characters of police officers, led on by an +‘alien’ disguised in the habiliments of officers of the foot +guards, introduced themselves, and carried off all the cash, +to the great discomfiture of the party, and to the alarm of +the respectable visitors there assembled. Colonel N—— g +went off like a shot; many forgot to <i>take their change</i>; and +some young bloods were thought to have taken more than +their change: it was a most delicious scamper. The Argus-eyed +attendants have been more vigilant ever since; and a +dark-looking man in a greatcoat, or other suspicious habit, +is very much watched.</p> + +<p>We felicitate the town on this establishment: it is the +most attractive to the Greeks, and the most expeditive to +the pigeon who wishes to be soon <i>done</i>; for what will not +women, play, and good cheer effect? Here, if a man escape +one way, he must be sure to fall another; and, it may be +observed, that the adventurous youth may tell his tale in a +small compass—</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">‘Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare Charybdim.’</p> + +<p class="p1">We hear that something of a schism exists among the +proprietors of this house. It is too <i>good</i> a thing, however, +to break up. While on this subject, we would ask Mr +Miller, whether he and George Shade, the printer, did not +bamboozle—— and—— and—— and—— out of a +round sum, on the suppression of a certain pamphlet?</p> + +<p>The Lisle Street, Panton Street, and Covent Garden <i>hells</i> +are <i>below</i> notice, compared to those foregoing ones, so near +the Court, and enjoying such <i>deserved</i> celebrity.</p> + +<p class="pc1">————</p> + +<p class="pc1 large">71 PALL MALL.</p> + +<p class="pc1 lmid"><i>Firm: Taylor, Phillips, Lowe and Fielder.</i></p> + +<p class="p1">The ex-banker of Southwark, we apprehend, finds his +connection with Mr Phillips more lucrative than that with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> +Sir M. B——. Much might have been said on this establishment, +but we have our reasons for not entering into +details at present. Mr Phillips has been abroad, and, consequently, +gives himself the airs of a travelled man, sets up +for an <i>homme d’esprit</i>, fancies himself clever, and thinks he +may be <span class="smcap">MIS</span><i>taken</i> for a gentleman.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">‘Oh! formose puer, nimium te crede colori!’</p> + +<p class="p1">We have not done with you. We remember Sir John +Lade. Of Captain Lowe, we can only say, that he deserves +a better fate.</p> + +<p class="pc1">————</p> + +<p class="pc1 large">SUNDAY HOUSES.</p> + +<p class="p1">Our moral readers may start at the designation of this +department; yet common sense will tell them that, as the +Sunday Houses are but few, their profits must be the +greater. Don’t tell me about religion, morality, decorum, +etc. Those who hear <i>gentlemen</i> express themselves in these +sinks of corruption, will at once discover that they are men +of the world, who can adapt their conversation to their +hearers. First under this head is</p> + +<p class="pc1">————</p> + +<p class="pc1 large">77 JERMYN STREET.</p> + +<p class="pc1 lmid"><i>George Smith, George Pope and Co.</i></p> + +<p class="p1">The scenes which nightly occur at this house, beggar all +description. It is a hazard table, where the chances are +little in favour of the uninitiated player. The first proprietor +is low in stature as in breeding, a corpulent, self-sufficient, +strutting, coxcombical, irreligious prig. Mr P. +is a respectable, decent, modest personage enough in his +way. He is humble, and is forced to succumb to the other, +who is the monied partner. Many tradesmen, broken, +breaking, or in the <i>right way</i>, honour this house with their +presence. This house, not being large enough for its trade, +the proprietors have opened another in St James’s Street.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> + +<p class="pc1">————</p> + +<p class="pc1 large">OLDFIELD, BENNET AND CO.,</p> + +<p class="pc1 lmid"><i>27 Bury Street.</i></p> + +<p class="p1">Mr Oldfield is not a well-proportioned man. He has +red hair, and soon betrays his dunghill origin. He is a +pragmatical, bloated, officious, flippant coxcomb, with the +<i>tout-ensemble</i> of a waiter.</p> + +<p>At the Sunday houses, Mr Kelly, proprietor of the public +rooms at Cheltenham, which are not sufficient for him, is +a steady hand, and, being a stout stentor of an Hibernian, +keeps all his comrades in great awe. He, like Lord Y——, +frequently plays by deputy; but that is only for small sums. +However, like the bear in the boat of Gay—</p> + +<p class="pps6 p1">‘—— He thought there might be picking<br /> +Even in the breast bone of a chicken.’</p> + +<p class="p1">Bennet of Jermyn Street is tall and robust, with black +hair and eyes, and a rather blue beard; and, as for Crockford, +‘Do you know me? Excellent well! You’re a +fishmonger.’”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<p class="pch">Crockford’s Club—His Life—His new Club-house—Epigrams thereon—Ude +and the Magistrate—Description of Club-house—Anecdotes of +Crockford’s.</p> + +<p class="pn"><i>À propos</i> of Crockford, or Crockey, as he was familiarly called, +his was perhaps the most celebrated gambling house in London, +and deserves especial mention. It was on the site now +occupied by the Devonshire Club, No. 50 St James’s Street.</p> + +<p>William Crockford was born in 1775, his father being a +fishmonger in a small way of business, having a shop adjoining +Temple Bar, which was pulled down in 1846. His +father dying when he was young, the business was carried +on, first by his mother, and afterwards by himself, but he +soon took to betting and gambling, became a proficient +at cards, and was more particularly skilled in the games +of whist, piquet and cribbage; he frequented the better +kind of sporting houses in the neighbourhood of St James’s +market, where the latter game, more especially, was much +played, and for large sums, by opulent tradesmen and others. +He made some money at gambling, became connected with +a gaming house in King Street, St James’s, and then he +turned his attention to horse racing; frequenting Tattersalls +as a bookmaker, and becoming the owner of race horses. +He had a splendid mansion and grounds at Newmarket, +where he trained his stud, and at one time owned the celebrated +horse Sultan, the sire of Bay Middleton, who won +the Derby in 1836. But the roguery at Newmarket was +too much even for him, and he sold his racing stud, and +confined himself to his London businesses. About this time +he is metrically described in a little pamphlet called “Leggiana,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> +which described the <i>Legs</i> who used to frequent The +Sun tavern in Jermyn Street.</p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“Seated within the box, to window nearest,<br /> +See <i>Crocky</i>, richest, cunningest, and queerest<br /> +Of all the motley group that here assemble<br /> +To sport their blunt, chaff, blackguard and dissemble;<br /> +Who live (as slang has termed it) on the mace,<br /> +Tho’ <i>Crocky’s</i> heavy pull is, now, <i>deuce ace</i>.<br /> +His wine, or grog, as may be, placed before him,<br /> +And looking stupid as his mother bore him,<br /> +For <i>Crock</i>, tho’ skilful in his betting duty,<br /> +Is not, ‘twill be allowed, the greatest beauty;<br /> +Nor does his <i>mug</i> (we mean no disrespect)<br /> +Exhibit outward sign of intellect;<br /> +In other words, old <i>Crocky’s</i> chubby face<br /> +Bespeaks not inward store of mental grace;<br /> +Besides, each night, he’s drunk as any lord,<br /> +And clips his mother English every word.<br /> +His head, howe’er, tho’ thick to chance beholders,<br /> +Is screw’d right well upon his brawny shoulders;<br /> +He’s quick as thought, and ripe at calculation,<br /> +Malgrè the drink’s most potent visitation.<br /> +His pencil, list, and betting book on table,<br /> +His wits at work, as hard as he is able,<br /> +His odds matur’d, at scarce a moment’s pains,<br /> +Out pops the offspring of his ready brains,<br /> +In some enormous, captivating wager,<br /> +‘Gainst one horse winning <i>Derby</i>, <i>Oaks</i> and <i>Leger</i>.<br /> +The bait is tak’n by some astonished wight,<br /> +Who chuckles, thinking it a glorious bite,<br /> +Nor takes the pains the figures o’er to run,<br /> +And see, by calculation, that <i>he’s done</i>;<br /> +While <i>Crocky</i> books it, cash, <i>for certain, won</i>.<br /> +And why, forsooth, is <i>Crocky</i> to be blamed<br /> +More than those legs who’re <i>honourable</i> named,<br /> +Whose inclination is plain sense to jockey,<br /> +But who lack brains to <i>work the pull</i> like <i>Crocky</i>?<br /> +Who, by the way, gives vast accommodation,<br /> +Nor bothers any one by litigation.<br /> +And, if a bet you’d have, you’ve nought to do,<br /> +But give it <i>Crock</i>, and, with it, <i>sovereigns two</i>;<br /> +You’ll quickly, if you win it, touch the treasure,<br /> +For <i>Crock</i> (unlike some legs) dubs up with pleasure.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span></p> + +<p class="p1">Crockford was indicted on several occasions, and by +different persons, for his share in the nuisance of the public +gaming-house in King Street; but his policy always led him +to a settlement of the matter with the prosecutor, in preference +to the risk of imprisonment and the treadmill.</p> + +<p>On one occasion an indictment was preferred, and a true +bill found against him and others, for keeping the before-mentioned +house; and it was not without difficulty and +delay, creative of direful alarm, that the matter could be +arranged so as to prevent the parties being brought to trial.</p> + +<p>The prosecutor was a person known as Baron d’A——, +who formerly held a commission in the German Legion. +This gentleman had been desperate, and, of course, unfortunate +in his speculation at <i>rouge et noir</i>; and, at last, lost not +only his pay, but the proceeds of the sale of his commission. +Thus reduced, he became equally desperate in determination, +and occasionally made demands and levied contributions +from the parties who had won from him, but, compliance +with such demands becoming less frequent and less willing, +he resorted to the process of indictment, and made Crockford +one of the objects of his attack. On the true bill being +found, Crockford put in the necessary bail; between the +period of which and the day appointed for trial, communication +was opened with the baron, with a view to amicable +settlement and non-appearance of the prosecutor on the day +of trial; but in the negotiation Crockford’s party relied too +much on the poverty and distress of the baron, believing +that the griping hand of necessity would oblige him to +accept any offered sum to relieve his wants. Under such +belief an inconsiderable amount was tendered, but refused. +The baron had, fortunately for him, met with a shrewd +adviser, who persuaded him to hold out against any overtures +short of a handsome consideration; and he did so, +notwithstanding the fact that a considerable advance had +been made on the original sum offered to him.</p> + +<p>The eve of trial approached, and Crockford’s alarm was +great. At length came the eventful day of his appearance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +at Clerkenwell Sessions. What was to be done? Incarceration +and hard labour stared him in the face, and with +them all the evil consequences connected with his absence +from his newly established club.</p> + +<p>In this dilemma he sought the advice and active service +of Guy, his principal acting man in St James’s Street. This +man accompanied Crockford to the scene of trial, and, discovering +the baron in the precinct of the Court, contrived +to get into friendly conversation with him, a scheme which +led to some judicious hints on the impolicy of his longer +holding out against the liberal offer which he (Guy) had now +the authority to make from Crockford. Fortunately for the +latter the indictment was low down in the list of the day’s +business, and this gave opportunity to Guy to proceed more +leisurely in his designs. He prevailed on the baron to +accompany him to a tavern in the neighbourhood, and there, +under the influence of copious draughts of wine, an arrangement +was ultimately effected. The proposal, once entertained +by the baron, was not left to the chance of change, +nor was the baron permitted to consult with his adviser in +the matter; time was precious, the cause was approaching +its hearing, and at this crisis Guy called a coach, took from +his pocket a tempting sum, hurried the baron into the +vehicle, gave him the money, and never left him until he +had seen him on board a vessel bound for a foreign country.</p> + +<p>At the commencement of the season 1821-22, luck went +against Crockford’s gaming establishment, and night after +night their capital decreased, so that, at last, it was with +difficulty they could supply the funds requisite for the night’s +bank. One night, their last £5000 was scraped together, +and they were all on wires; for an hour after play had commenced +£3000 had flown away. Crockford could stand it +no longer; he left the house, meditating whether he should +hang or drown himself: but scarcely was his back turned +than the run of luck changed, and, within two hours, the bank +had not only recovered their night’s loss, but a good round +sum besides. For the remainder of the season Fortune was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +in their favour, and, at its close, the proprietors had netted +over £200,000.</p> + +<p>Crockford began building his new club house in St +James’s Street in 1827, and workmen were engaged on it +day and night. A huge ice house was dug which so affected +the Guard’s club house, which adjoined the northern end of +Crockford’s premises, that one entire side of it fell with a +crash, leaving the entire interior completely exposed to the +public gaze. There are two <i>bon mots</i> on the subject, preserved.</p> + +<p class="ppsq6 p1">“‘What can the workmen be about?<br /> +Do, Crockford, let the secret out,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Why thus our houses fall.</p> +<p class="ppn6">Quoth he, ‘Since folks are out of town,<br /> +I find it better to pull down,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Than have no <i>pull at all</i>.’”</p> + +<p class="ppq4 p1">“See, passenger, at Crockford’s high behest,<br /> +<i>Red coats</i> by <i>black legs</i> ousted from their nest;<br /> +The arts of peace o’ermatching reckless war,<br /> +And gallant <i>rouge</i> outdone by wily <i>noir</i>.”</p> + +<p class="p1">The Club was opened in the latter part of 1827 with a +great flourish of trumpets, and cards to view, which were +eagerly sought after by the <i>élite</i>. <i>The Times</i> of 1st Jan. +1828 gives an account of the royal displeasure at this Club, +which comes extremely <i>à propos</i> from the unsullied lips of +George IV. “<span class="smcap">Crockford’s Hell.</span> The establishment of +the Pandemonium in St James’s, under the entire superintendence +of the fishmonger and his unblushing patronizers, +lately called forth the opinion of the highest personage in +the kingdom, who expressed himself in a manner which +reflected the utmost credit on his head and heart. A +Nobleman of some standing at Court, in answer to a question +from his royal master, denied, in the most unequivocal +way, having become a subscriber to this splendid temple of +vice. The monarch evinced his satisfaction at the intelligence, +and, in his usual nervous style, denounced such +infamous receptacles for plunder, as not only a disgrace to +the country at large, but the age in which we live.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p> + +<p>The number of members belonging to the Club was from +1000 to 1200, exclusive of the privilege, or right of entrée +permitted to ambassadors and foreigners of distinction +during their diplomatic sojourn, or temporary visit, to this +country, and the Duke of Wellington, although he did not +gamble, was one of the earliest members. The annual subscription +was twenty-five pounds, and, for this, the members +had the most luxurious club of its time, with wines and +viands at a very low rate, although the latter were presided +over by the celebrated <i>chef</i>, Ude, to whom Crockford paid a +salary of £1200! The <i>Annual Register</i>, for 1834, tells a +very amusing story of Ude in connection with Crockford’s +Club.</p> + +<p>“On July 25 M. Eustache Ude, the celebrated French +cook, appeared at Bow Street on a summons at the suit of +the Marquess of Queensberry, for unlawfully disposing of +certain birds called ‘red game,’ between the 19th of March +and the 1st of August, contrary to the provisions of the +Game Laws.</p> + +<p>“Sir Roger Griesley deposed that he was a member of +Crockford’s Club House, and one of the managing committee +of that establishment. The defendant was cook there, and, +on the 19th of June, witness dined at the Club house, and +saw grouse served in the room, but did not partake of it.</p> + +<p>“<i>M. Ude</i>: Vell, my dear Sare Rojer, vat is all dis to me? +Certainement you must know dat I don’t know vat de devil +goes up into de dining room. How de devil can I tell +veder black game, or vite game, or red game go up to de +dining room? Dere is plenty of game always go on in de +house, but dat is nothing to me. My only business is to +cook for de palates of dose who like de game.</p> + +<p><i>Sir Roger Griesley</i>: I really don’t know what, in common +justice, M. Ude can have to do in this matter. He is the +cook of the establishment, certainly, but he only prepares +what is ordered. The Committee order the things, and he +provides according to that order.</p> + +<p>“<i>M. Ude</i>: Tank you, my dear Sare Rojer. I knew you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +vould get me out of de scrape vot de noble marquis has got +me into dis time.</p> + +<p>“<i>Charles, Marquess of Queensberry, sworn</i>: I was a +member of the Committee at Crockford’s, but am not now. +I was at Crockford’s on the 19th, and dined, and grouse was +served at the table.</p> + +<p>“<i>M. Ude</i>: But, my noble friend (great laughter), as I said +to my friend Sare Rojer, I know noting at all about vot +vent into de room. I never sawed it at all. De orders are +given to me. I send my people to de butcher, and to de +poulterer, and to de fishmonger, and de tings are brought, and +I command dem to be cooked, and dey are cooked, and dat +is all I know about it.</p> + +<p>“<i>Sir F. Roe</i>: Whether you know it, or not, the Act of +Parliament makes you liable.</p> + +<p>“<i>M. Ude</i>: Upon my honour dat is very hard. Ven I +got de summons I remonstrated vid my Lord Alvanley, and +he say, ‘Oh, never mind, Ude, say dey vere pigeons, instead +of grouse.’ ‘Ah, my lord,’ say I, ‘I can not do better dan +dem pigeons, because dat bird is so common in dis house.’ +(Loud Laughter).</p> + +<p>“<i>Sir F. Roe</i>, who appeared greatly to enjoy the scene, said +he must, upon the oaths of the noble marquess and Sir +Roger Griesley, convict the defendant; but he should, certainly, +put the lowest penalty, namely 5s.</p> + +<p>“<i>M. Ude</i>: Vel, I shall pay de money, but it is dam hard. +Ve have always game in our house, and de poor devil of a +cook have to pay de penalty for it. (Great laughter).”</p> + +<p>The following is a contemporary description of this +palatial establishment.</p> + +<p>“On entering from the street, a magnificent vestibule and +staircase break upon the view; to the right and left of the +hall are reading and dining rooms. The staircase is of a +sinuous form, sustained in its landing by four columns of the +Doric order, above which are a series of examples of the +Ionic order, forming a quadrangle with apertures to the chief +apartments. Above the pillars is a covered ceiling, perforated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> +with luminous panels of stained glass, from which +springs a dome of surpassing beauty: from the dome +depends a lantern containing a magnificent chandelier.</p> + +<p>“<i>The State Drawing Room</i> next attracts attention, a most +noble apartment, baffling perfect description of its beauty, +but decorated in the most florid style of Louis Quatorze. +The room presents a series of panels containing subjects, in +the style of Watteau, from the pencil of Mr Martin, a relative +of the celebrated historical painter of that name: +these panels are alternated with splendid mirrors. A chandelier +of exquisite workmanship hangs from the centre of +the ceiling, and three large tables, beautifully carved and +gilded, and covered with rich blue and crimson velvet, are +placed in different parts of the room. The upholstery and +decorative adjuncts are imitative of the gorgeous taste of +George the Fourth. Royalty can scarcely be conceived to +vie with the style and consummate splendour of this magnificent +chamber.</p> + +<p>“<i>The lofty and capacious Dining Room</i>, supported by +marble pillars, and furnished in the most substantial and +aristocratic style of comfort, is equal to any arrangement of +the kind in the most lordly mansions.</p> + +<p>“<i>The Drawing Room</i> is allowed to be one of the most +elegant apartments in the kingdom.</p> + +<p>“<i>The Sanctum Sanctorum</i>, or <i>Play Room</i>, is comparatively +small, but handsomely furnished. In the centre of the +apartment stands the <i>all attractive Hazard Table</i>, innocent +and unpretending enough in its form and appearance, but +fatally mischievous and destructive in its conjunctive influence +with box and dice. On this table, it may, with truth, +be asserted that the greater portion, if not the whole of +Crockford’s immense wealth was achieved; and for this +piece of plain, unassuming mahogany, he had, doubtless, a +more profound veneration than for the most costly piece +of furniture that ever graced a palace. This bench of business +is large, and of oval shape, well stuffed, and covered +with fine green cloth, marked with yellow lines, denoting the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +different departments of speculation. Round these compartments +are double lines, similarly marked, for the odds, or +proportions, between what is technically known as the <i>main</i> +and <i>chance</i>. In the centre, on each side, are indented positions +for the croupiers, or persons engaged at the table in +calling the main and chance, regulating the stakes, and paying +and receiving money, as the events decisive of gain and +loss occur. Over the table is suspended a three light lamp, +conveniently shaded, so as to show its full luminous power +on the cloth, and, at the same time, to protect the eyes of +the croupiers from the light’s too strong effect. At another +part of the room is fixed a writing table, or desk, where the +Pluto of the place was wont to preside, to mete out loans on +draft or other security, and to answer all demands by successful +players. Chairs of easy make, dice boxes, bowls for +holding counters representing sums from £1 to £200, with +small hand rakes used by players to draw their counters +from any inconvenient distance on the table, may be said to +complete the furniture, machinery, and implements of this +<i>great workshop</i>.”</p> + +<p>It is said that during the first two seasons Crockford must +have netted about £300,000, but his expenses were heavy, +the item of dice alone (at about a guinea a pair) was £2000 +per annum; three new pairs being provided for the opening +play each night, and very often as many more called for by +players, or put down by Crockford himself with a view to +change a player’s luck.</p> + +<p>Crockford was bound by his agreement with his committee +to put down a bank, or capital, of £5000, nightly, +<i>during the sitting of Parliament</i>, and he was not permitted +to terminate the play until a stated hour, as long as any of +that £5000 remained.</p> + +<p>He died at his mansion in Carlton House Terrace, on +25 May 1844, aged 69. He died a very wealthy man, +although he experienced very heavy losses in sundry speculations. +A contemporary says of him:</p> + +<p>“The entire property amassed by Mr Crockford must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +have been immense, regard being had to the fact that, +exclusively of a sum of money, amounting to nearly half a +million sterling, bequeathed to his widow, he is confidently +reported to have distributed amongst his children, about +two years ago, a sum nearly equalling, if not exceeding that +amount: a circumstance not at all improbable in a man +of foresight, like Mr Crockford, and one which will fully +account, as well for the bequest of the whole bulk of his +remaining fortune to his widow, as for such bequest being +absolute, and free from all condition. In estimating the +wealth acquired by Mr Crockford through the medium and +success of his French hazard bank (for this was the never-failing +source of gain), there must be taken into account the +heavy and extravagant expenditure of the establishment +in St James’s Street; his own expensive, though by no +means foolishly extravagant, mode of living; the maintenance +and education of a very numerous family, the advances +of money from time to time, made to fit them out +and further their prospects in life; the expense of a racing +stud; a considerable outlay in suppressing various indictments +preferred against him for his former proprietorship in +King Street, and the heavy losses more recently sustained +by other venture and speculation. It may be fairly calculated +that the certain profits of the hazard table must +have embraced millions! and some idea may be formed of +the extent of evil to others consequent on such an accumulation +of capital extracted from their means.”</p> + +<p>Captain Gronow<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> gives us a very graphic description of +this club, drawn from the life, for he was a member +thereof.</p> + +<p>“I have alluded, in my first volume, to the high play +which took place at White’s and Brookes’s in the olden +time, and at Wattier’s in the days of Brummel and the +dandies. Charles Fox, George Selwyn, Lord Carlisle, Fitzpatrick, +Horace Walpole, the Duke of Queensberry, and +others, lost whole fortunes at faro, macao and hazard;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> +almost the only winners, indeed, of that generation were +General Scott, father-in-law of Canning, the Duke of Portland, +and Lord Robert Spencer; Lord Robert, indeed, +bought the beautiful estate of Woolbidding, in Sussex, with +the proceeds of his gains by keeping the bank at Brookes’s.</p> + +<p>“But in the reign of George IV. a new star rose upon the +horizon in the person of Mr William Crockford; and the +old-fashioned game of faro, macao and lansquenet gave +place to the all-devouring thirst for the game of hazard. +Crockey, when still a young man, had relinquished the +peaceful trade of a fishmonger for a share in a “hell,” +where, with his partner Gye, he managed to win, after +a sitting of twenty-four hours, the enormous sum of one +hundred thousand pounds from Lords Thanet and Granville, +Mr Ball Hughes, and two other gentlemen whose +names I do not now remember. With this capital added +to his former gains, he built the well known palace in St +James’s Street, where a club was established, and play +organised, on a scale of magnificence and liberality hitherto +unknown in Europe.</p> + +<p>“One may safely say, without exaggeration, that Crockford +won the whole of the ready money of the then existing +generation. As is often the case at Lord’s cricket ground, +the great match of the gentlemen of England against the +professional players was won by the latter. It was a very +hollow thing, and in a very few years twelve hundred +thousand pounds were swept away by the fortunate fishmonger. +He did not, however, die worth more than a +sixth part of this vast sum; the difference being swallowed +up in various unlucky speculations.</p> + +<p>“No one can describe the splendour and excitement of +the early days of Crockey. A supper of the most exquisite +kind, prepared by the famous Ude, and accompanied by +the best wines in the world, together with every luxury of +the season, was furnished gratis. The members of the club +included all the celebrities of England, from the Duke of +Wellington, to the youngest Ensign of the Guards; and, at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span> +the gay and festive board, which was constantly replenished +from midnight to early dawn, the most brilliant sallies of +wit, the most agreeable conversation, the most interesting +anecdotes, interspersed with grave political discussions and +acute logical reasoning on every conceivable subject, proceeded +from the soldiers, scholars, statesmen, poets and men +of pleasure, who, when the ‘house was up,’ and balls and +parties at an end, delighted to finish their evening with a +little supper, and a good deal of hazard at old Crockey’s. +The tone of the club was most excellent. A most gentlemanlike +feeling prevailed, and none of the rudeness, familiarity +and ill breeding which disgrace some of the minor +clubs of the present day, would have been tolerated for a +moment.</p> + +<p>“Though not many years have elapsed since the time of +which I write, the supper table had a very different appearance +from what it would present, did the club now exist. +Beards were completely unknown, and the rare mustachios +were only worn by officers of the Household Brigade, or +hussar regiments. Stiff white neckcloths, blue coats and +brass buttons, rather short waisted white waistcoats, and +tremendously embroidered shirt fronts, with gorgeous studs +of great value, were considered the right thing. A late +deservedly popular Colonel in the Guards used to give Storr +& Mortimer £25 a year, to furnish him with a new set of +studs every Saturday night during the London season.</p> + +<p>“The great foreign diplomatists, Prince Talleyrand, Count +Pozzo di Borgo, General Alava, the Duke of Palmella, Prince +Esterhazy, the French, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, and +Austrian ambassadors, and all persons of distinction and +eminence who arrived in England, belonged to Crockford’s +as a matter of course; but many rued the day when they +became members of that fascinating but dangerous <i>coterie</i>. +The great Duke himself, always rather a friend of the +dandies, did not disdain to appear now and then at this +charming club; whilst the late Lord Raglan, Lord Anglesey, +Sir Hussey Vivian, and many more of our Peninsula and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> +Waterloo heroes, were constant visitors. The two great +novelists of the day, who have since become great statesmen, +Disraeli and Bulwer Lytton, displayed at that brilliant +supper-table, the one his sable, the other his auburn curls; +there Horace Twiss made proof of an appetite, and Edward +Montague of a thirst, which astonished all beholders; whilst +the bitter jests of Sir Joseph Copley, Colonel Armstrong, and +John Wilson Croker, and the brilliant wit of Alvanley, were +the delight of all present, and their <i>bon mots</i> were the next +day retailed all over England.</p> + +<p>“In the play-room might be heard the clear ringing voice +of that agreeable reprobate, Tom Duncombe, as he cheerfully +called ‘Seven,’ and the powerful hand of the vigorous Sefton +in throwing for a ten. There might be noted the scientific +dribbling of a four by ‘King’ Allen, the tremendous backing +of nines and fives by Ball Hughes and Auriol, the +enormous stakes played for by Lords Lichfield and Chesterfield, +George Payne, Sir St Vincent Cotton, D’Orsay, and +George Anson, and, above all, the gentlemanly bearing and +calm and unmoved demeanour, under losses or gains, of all +the men of that generation.</p> + +<p>“The old fishmonger himself, seated snug and sly at his +desk in the corner of the room, watchful as the dragon that +guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides, would only +give credit to good and approved signatures. Who that +ever entered that dangerous little room can ever forget the +large green table, with the croupiers, Page, Darking, and +Bacon, with their suave manners, sleek appearance, stiff +white neck cloths, and the almost miraculous quickness and +dexterity with which they swept away the money of the +unfortunate punters when the fatal cry of ‘Deuce ace,’ +‘Aces,’ or ‘Sixes out,’ was heard in answer to the caster’s +bold cry of ‘Seven,’ or ‘Nine,’ or ‘Five’s the main.’</p> + +<p>“<i>O noctes cœnæque deûm!</i> but the brightest medal has its +reverse, and after all the wit and gaiety and excitement of +the night, how disagreeable the waking up, and how very +unpleasant the sight of the little card, with its numerous<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +figures marked down on the debtor side in the fine bold +hand of Mr Page. Alas, poor Crockey’s! shorn of its +former glory, has become a sort of refuge for the destitute, +a cheap dining-house.<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> How are the mighty fallen! Irish +buckeens, spring captains, ‘welchers’ from Newmarket, +and suspicious looking foreigners, may be seen swaggering +after dinner through the marble halls, and up that gorgeous +staircase where once the chivalry of England loved to congregate; +and those who remember Crockford’s in all its +glory, cast, as they pass, a look of unavailing regret at its +dingy walls, with many a sigh to the memory of the pleasant +days they passed there, and the gay companions and noble +gentlemen who have long since gone to their last home.”</p> + +<p>One more story about Crockford’s, told by Sir George +Chetwynd,<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> and I have done with this subject. Speaking +of Mr George Payne, he says: “Many were the stories he +told of his early life, of his hunting, of the enormous sum he +lost on the Leger before he came of age, of his never seeing +daylight for a whole week in one winter, owing to being +challenged by a friend to play a certain number of games at +écarté, which resulted in their playing every night for six days +till seven o’clock in the morning. Of course it was dark then +at that season, and he used not to get up till 3.30 to 4 +o’clock. He was fond of describing Crockford’s when the +conversation turned on hazard or cards, and used to speak +of the lavish way in which the old fishmonger supplied his +guests (or victims) with the finest hot-house peaches, grapes, +and every conceivable delicacy that could be obtained for +money, and all this gratis. A number of men who did not +care to play at hazard, used purposely to lose a hundred or +two a year at the tables, to have the pleasure of dining and +supping with their friends, who all flocked to the magnificent +rooms, which, at night, presented the appearance of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +luxurious club. Mr Payne used to narrate that, after +dinner, he would sometimes stroll round there early, and, +finding hardly anyone there except Crockford at his desk, +used to sit down and play a game of backgammon with him, +both being fine players.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<p class="pch">Hells in the Quadrant, 1833—Smith <i>v.</i> Bond—Police powers—“Confessions of +a Croupier.”</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">The</span> West End of London literally swarmed with gambling +houses, for the most part of a very different description from +Crockford’s, as may be seen by the two following quotations +from <i>The Times</i>, Jan. 24, 1833:—</p> + +<p class="pc1 mid">“<span class="smcap">The Hells in the Quadrant.</span></p> + +<p class="p1">“Those seats of vice (the gaming-houses) which for some +time past have existed in the Quadrant, appear to be done +up, as, since Saturday, not one of them has been opened. +Since the five persons have been apprehended, the visitors +have been extremely scarce; nor was their confidence restored, +even by the proprietors having the chain up at the +street door, coupled with a fellow’s being employed at each +of the hells, to patrol before the different establishments, +for the purpose of giving the requisite information as to who +sought admission into those dens of destruction. Although +a very active search has been made for the purpose of +ascertaining what has become of Daly, the clerk of the +Athenæum Club-house, who left that establishment on the +8th instant, no trace had been found of him—one of the +many lamentable cases of loss of character and ruin which +overtake those who suffer themselves to be lured into those +houses. Daly, who enjoyed the confidence of the whole of +the members, was suddenly missed on the above day. On +looking over his papers, a diary was found, from which it +appeared that he had lost large sums of money at No. 60, +and, as it has since been ascertained he was there on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +previous day, it is supposed that he lost twenty-four £5 +notes, at play, which belonged to his employers. Upon this +discovery being made, some gentlemen of the Athenæum +waited on the parish officers, to ascertain whether they +could not put a stop to the gaming-houses. It was, however, +found that it could not be done unless some person +would come forward and identify those at play; a relation +of Daly accordingly went to the house and supplied the +necessary proof. It was at this establishment, a few months +since, the foreigners who had been fleeced made an attempt +to rob the bank; and, shortly after that, placards were +posted on the walls in the neighbourhood of the Quadrant, +cautioning persons from going into any of the hells, as +drugged wine was invariably given to those who were going +to play.”</p> + +<p>May 9th: “Three prisoners, out of six, answered to the +indictment of keeping and maintaining a common gaming-house, +and pleaded guilty. The prosecuting counsel, Mr +Clarkson, said that the house in question was situate No. 4 +Regent’s Circus, six doors from the house which was lately +prosecuted. He should have been able to prove that on +February the 7th, 9th, 12th, and 14th last, the games of +<i>rouge et noir</i> and <i>roulette</i> were played for sums varying from +one sovereign to one shilling. He should also have proved +that on some one, or on all those occasions, the defendants +acted in the capacities of doorkeeper, banker, and waiter. +He (Mr Clarkson) was informed by the officers of St James’s +parish, that, at the last Sessions there were twenty-seven +houses of this description situate therein, and out of that +number only two had been closed in the interval, but three +new ones had been opened, so that the number had been +increased rather than otherwise.</p> + +<p>“Mr Phillips, for the defence, said that those houses had +nothing to do with the present case. He would advise the +parish officers to go to Crockford’s, not far distant from the +house in question, where they would find lords and peers of +the realm at play.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span></p> + +<p>“The bench sentenced two of the prisoners to three +months’, and one to fourteen days’ imprisonment, in the +House of Correction, whilst the bail of one who did not +appear was estreated.”</p> + +<p>Of the hells in London in 1833, we get a very fair +notion in a long article in <i>Fraser’s Magazine</i> for August of +that year, from which I take the following small portion:—</p> + +<p>“On an average, during the last twenty years, about +thirty hells have been regularly open in London for the +accommodation of the lowest and most vile set of hazard +players. The game of hazard is the principal one played +at the low houses, and is, like the characters who play it, +the most desperate and ruinous of all games. The wretched +men who follow this play are partial to it, because it gives a +chance, from a run of good luck, to become speedily possessed +of all the money on the table: no man who plays +hazard ever despairs of making his fortune at some time. +Such is the nature of this destructive game, that I can now +point out several men, whom you see daily, who were in +rags and wretchedness on Monday, and, before the termination +of the week, they ride in a newly-purchased Stanhope +of their own, having several thousand pounds in their possession. +The few instances of such successes which, unfortunately, +occur, are generally well-known, and, consequently, +encourage the hopes of others, who nightly attend these +places, sacrificing all considerations of life to the carrying (if +it only be a few shillings) their all, every twenty-four hours, +to stake in this great lottery, under the delusive hope of +catching Dame Fortune, at some time, in a merry mood. +Thousands annually fall, in health, fame, and fortune, by +this maddening infatuation, whilst not one in a thousand +finds an oasis in the desert.</p> + +<p>“The inferior houses of play are always situated in +obscure courts, or other places of retirement, and, most +frequently, are kept shut up during the day as well as at +night, as if unoccupied, or some appearance of trade is +carried on as a blind. A back room is selected for all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> +operations, if one can be procured sufficiently capacious for +the accommodation of forty or fifty persons at one time. +In the centre of the room is fixed a substantial circular +table, immoveable to any power of pressure against it by +the company who go to play; a circle of inlaid white holly +wood is formed in the middle of the table of about four feet +diameter, and a lamp is suspended immediately over this +ring. A man, designated the Groom Porter, is mounted on +a stool, with a stick in his hand, having a transverse piece +of wood affixed to its end, which is used by him to rake in +the dice after having been thrown out of the box by the +caster (the person who throws the dice).</p> + +<p>“The avowed profits of keeping a table of this kind is the +receipt of a piece for each <i>box hand</i>,—that is, when a player +wins three times successively, he pays a certain sum to the +table, and there is an aperture in the table made to receive +these contributions. At the minor establishments, the price +of a <i>box hand</i> varies from a shilling to half-a-crown, according +to the terms on which the house is known to have been +originally opened. If there is much play, these payments +produce ample profits to the keeper of the house; but their +remuneration for running the risk of keeping an unlawful +table of play, is plunder.</p> + +<p>“At all these houses, as at the higher ones, there is always +a set of men who are dependent on the keepers of the house, +who hang about the table like sharks for prey, waiting for +those who stay late, or are inebriated, and come in towards +morning to play when there are but few lookers on; unfair +means are then resorted to with impunity, and all share the +plunder. About eleven o’clock, when all honest and regular +persons are preparing for rest, the play commences, the adventurers +being seated around the table: one takes the box +and dice, putting what he is disposed to play for into the +ring marked on the table; as soon as it is covered with a +like sum, or set, as it is termed, by another person, the +player calls a main, and at the same moment throws the dice; +if the number called comes up, the caster wins; but if any<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> +other main comes uppermost on the dice the thrower takes +that chance for his own, and his adversary has the one he +called; the throwing then continues, during which bets are +made by others on the event until it is decided. If the +caster throws deuce ace, or aces, when he first calls a main, +it is said to be crabbed, and he loses; but if he throws the +number named he is said to have nicked it, and thereby +wins it. Also, if he should call six or eight, and throws the +double sixes he wins; or, if seven be the number called, and +eleven is thrown, it is a nick, because those chances are nicks +to these mains; which regulation is necessary to the equalisation +of all the chances of this game when calling a main. +The odds against any number being thrown against another +varies from two to one to six to five, and, consequently, +keeps all the table engaged in betting. All bets are staked, +and the noise occasioned by proposing and accepting wagers +is most uproarious and deafening among the low players, +each having one eye on the black spots marked on the dice +as they land from the box, and the other on the stakes, +ready to snatch it if successful. To prevent the noise being +heard in the streets, shutters, closely fitted to the window +frames, are affixed, which are padded and covered with green +baize: there is, invariably, an inner door placed in the passage, +having an aperture in it, through which all who enter +the door from the street may be viewed; this precaution +answers two purposes, it deadens the sound of noisy +voices at the table and prevents surprise by the officers of +justice.</p> + +<p>“The generality of the minor gambling houses are kept by +prize-fighters and other desperate characters, who bully and +hector the more timid out of their money by deciding that +bets have been lost, when, in fact, they have been won. +Bread, cheese and beer are supplied to the players, and a +glass of gin is handed, when called for, gratis. To these +places thieves resort, and such other loose characters as are +lost to every feeling of honesty and shame: a table of this +nature in full operation is a terrific sight; all the bad passions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> +appertaining to the vicious propensities of mankind are +portrayed on the countenances of the players.</p> + +<p>“An assembly of the most horrible demons could not exhibit +a more appalling effect; recklessness and desperation +overshadow every noble trait which should enlighten the +countenance of a human being. Many, in their desperation, +strip themselves, on the spot, of their clothes, either to stake +against money or to pledge to the table keeper for a trifle to +renew their play: and many instances occur of men going +home half naked, having lost their all.</p> + +<p>“They assemble in parties of from forty to fifty persons, +who probably bring, on an average, each night, from one to +twenty shillings to play with. As the money is lost the +players depart, if they cannot borrow or beg more; and this +goes on sometimes in the winter season, for fourteen to sixteen +hours in succession; so that from 100 to 140 persons +may be calculated to visit one gambling table in the course +of a night; and it not unfrequently happens that, ultimately, +all the money brought to the table gets into the hands +of one or two of the most fortunate adventurers, save that +which is paid to the table for box hands; whilst the losers +separate only to devise plans by which a few more shillings +may be procured for the next night’s play. Every man so +engaged is destined either to become, by success, a more +finished and mischievous gambler, or to appear at the bar of +the Old Bailey, where, indeed, most of them may be said to +have figured already.</p> + +<p>“The successful players, by degrees, improve their external +appearance, and obtain admission into houses of higher play, +where 2s. 6d. or 3s. 4d. is demanded for the box hands. At +these places silver counters are used, representing the aliquot +parts of a pound; these are called <i>pieces</i>, one of which is a +box hand. If success attends them in the first step of +advancement, they next become initiated into Crown houses, +and associate with gamblers of respectable exterior; where, +if they show talents, they either become confederates in +forming schemes of plunder, and in aiding establishments<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> +to carry on their concerns in defiance of the law, or fall back +to their old station of playing <i>chicken hazard</i>, as the small +play is designated.”</p> + +<p>And so things went on for ten years longer, until the +scandal was too grievous to be borne, and a Select Committee +sat in Parliament, in 1844, on the subject of gaming. +This was principally brought about by the revelations in the +case of <i>Smith</i> v. <i>Bond</i>, which was tried before Lord Abinger +and a special jury at the Middlesex Sittings after Michaelmas +Term, 1842. It was a common gaming-house case +brought under the statute of Anne (9th, c. 14), which was +enacted to repress excessive gaming.</p> + +<p>The parish of St George’s, Hanover Square, swarmed with +hells, and the efforts of the parish officers had hitherto been +unable to put them down. The play at such houses was +notoriously unfair, and the keepers had thriven in proportion +to the number and wealth of the victims they had been able +to fleece. It was therefore resolved to bring an action under +this statute, which not only prohibits excessive gaming, but +enables the loser of above £10 at a sitting, to recover treble +the amount of his losses; or, if he does not choose to take +this course himself, any informer is enabled to sue for and +obtain the penalty, one half of which is to benefit the poor +of the parish in which the offence was committed, and the +other half is to go to the person bringing the action.</p> + +<p>In the case tried before Lord Abinger, the gaming-house +went by the name of the Minor St James’s Club-house; but +there was not the least pretence for calling it a club; anybody +went there to play with hardly the formality of a first +introduction. The keepers did a thriving trade, at French +Hazard chiefly, and it was proved by the plaintiff, who had +been one of the coterie who kept the table, that Mr Bredell had +lost £200, Mr Fitzroy Stanhope £50, the Marquis of Conyngham +£500 on each of two separate occasions, Lord Cantalupe +£400, and other noblemen and gentlemen various sums.</p> + +<p>An ingenious plea was put in by counsel on behalf of +Bond, the keeper of the so-called club, that the sums in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +question were paid by cheques, and as a cheque is not held +to be a payment in law until cashed, and as the banks at +which the cheques were payable were not in the parish of +St George’s, Hanover Square, the offence was not completed +in that parish, and the plaintiff could not recover. The +Chief Baron overruled the objection, and under his direction +the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff for £3508, being +treble the amount actually proved to have been lost, thus +teaching a very useful lesson to the keepers of gaming-houses +generally. Had Lords Conyngham and Cantalupe +and Mr Stanhope come forward as witnesses, and certified +to their losses on the two occasions mentioned, additional +penalties would have accrued to the amount of £5820.</p> + +<p>The Act of 1822 (3 Geo. IV., c. 114) was still in force, +by which a gaming-house keeper might be imprisoned with +hard labour, and the Police Act of 1839 (2 and 3 Vic., c. +47, § 48) provided that “it shall be lawful for the Commissioners, +by Order in Writing, to authorize the Superintendent +to enter any such House, or Room, with such Constables +as shall be directed by the Commissioners to accompany +him, and, if necessary, to use Force for the Purpose of effecting +such Entry, whether by breaking open Doors, or otherwise, +and to take into Custody all Persons who shall be +found therein, and to seize and destroy all Tables and +Instruments of gaming found in such House, or Premises; +and, also, to seize all Monies and Securities for Money found +therein, and the Owner, or Keeper of the said Gaming-House, +or other person having the Care and Management +thereof; and, also, every Banker, Croupier, and other Person +who shall act in any manner in conducting the said +Gaming-House, shall be liable to a Penalty of not more than +One Hundred Pounds; or, in the discretion of the Magistrate +before whom he shall be convicted of the Offence, may be +committed to the House of Correction, with or without hard +Labour, for a Time not more than Six Calendar Months; +and, upon Conviction of any such Offender, all the Monies +and Securities for Monies, which shall have been seized, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +aforesaid, shall be paid to the said Receiver, to be, by him, +applied towards defraying the Charge of the Police of the +Metropolis; and every Person found in such Premises, +without lawful Excuse, shall be liable to a Penalty of not +more than Five Pounds.”</p> + +<p>But all this legislation was of no use; the gaming-tables +continued to flourish until after the Report of the Select +Committee. What they were like at that time may best be +learnt by the following extract from an article in <i>Bentley’s +Magazine</i> for June 1844, entitled “A Fashionable Gaming-house, +Confessions of a Croupier.”</p> + +<p>“The—— gaming-house,—— Street, some years ago, +was kept by three well-known individuals. After passing +through two lobbies you entered the play-room, which +formed a <i>coup d’œil</i> of no ordinary attraction. It was a +large room, richly carpeted. Two rich and massive +chandeliers, suspended from the ceiling, showed the dazzling +gilt and colour of the empanelled walls; from which, at +alternate distances, extended elegant mirror branches with +lights. The chimney piece was furnished with a plate of +glass, which reached the ceiling, the sides were concealed by +falling drapery of crimson and gold, and supported by two +gilt full-length figures bearing lights. At the opposite end +were placed two <i>beaufets</i>, furnished with costly plate, glass, +etc. In the middle was fixed the hazard table, of a long +oval form, having an adumbrated lamp hanging over the +centre. On the right stood the <i>rouge et noir</i> and <i>roulette</i> +tables, idly placed, ‘to make up a show.’ Not so that on +the left, for, there, stood the supper table. This was laid +out with viands worthy the contemplation of an epicure, on +whitest damask, in costly china, and in forms delicate and +<i>recherché</i>. Everything which might court the most fastidious +taste was there spread in luxuriant profusion; game, poultry, +ham, tongue, not forgetting the substantial sirloin; lobster +salads, oysters, <i>en outre les petites misères</i>; confectionery +and preserves; creams, jellies, and pine apples. Silver +candelabra lighted each end of this long and well supplied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +table, while the middle was reserved for the display of one +of still greater magnificence, said to have been designed and +executed for his Royal Highness, the late Duke of——. +It was composed of a large figure of Hercules contending +with the Hydra with seven heads. This gorgeous piece of +plate supported seven wax lights. Iolaus (who assisted +Hercules) was, also, represented, bearing the lighted brand +wherewith to staunch the blood, lest another head should +spring from the wound.”</p> + +<p>This is much; but when to this is added—</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">‘Something, still, which prompts the eternal sigh!’</p> + +<p class="pn1"><span class="smcap">One Thousand Sovereigns!</span> a shining golden heap! +and <span class="smcap">Ten Thousand Pounds</span> in notes! the reader may +imagine the scene which every evening met the eye. Yes! +every evening, into a silver vase, which stood on the hazard +table, were emptied ten bags, each containing one hundred +sovereigns!</p> + +<p>On some evenings, there would, perhaps, be no play, and +insufferably tedious would have been the hours from eleven +till three but for the relief offered by some tragi-comic +incident. The London season was about to open; the +Newmarket Spring Meeting had just closed, and Tattersall’s, +consequently, exhibited a slight gathering. The members +of Crockford’s, as yet, presented a meagre attendance; the +Opera Bills announced attractive novelties, and the minor +theatres promised their many marvels. In fact, the busy, +bustling hive of human interests was on the move. The +dormant began to stir, the watchful to speculate; the beauty +to take her promenade in the yet pale sunshine; the invalid +to snatch his walk at the meridian hour; the gambler to +devise his means of expense, and the banker-hell-keeper how +to frustrate them.</p> + +<p>It was one evening, about this period, that a party entered +to try the fortune of an hour. The result of the evening’s +play was against the bank. One of the visitors won five +hundred pounds, which, for a whim, he took away in gold.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +He tied the sovereigns up in a white pocket handkerchief, +threw them over his shoulder, and, in that manner, walked +up St James’s Street. From that night, the same party continued +to visit us; and, with occasional droppers in of ex-colonels, +majors, captains, etc., we, generally, made up a +table. What! enter again, after having won five hundred +pounds! ‘Oh! infatuated man,’ I hear the reader exclaim. +Yes! for of all things unfathomable and absorbing, there is +nothing so unfathomably deep as the desires of the human +heart, when stimulated by the excitement of speculation.</p> + +<p>For some weeks the play had been constant, and, as the +season advanced, the company increased, and the money +began to return to the bank. Sometimes play began late, +perhaps not till after one.</p> + +<p>Among our very constant visitors was a gallant captain. +He came early, and was good to lose a hundred pounds, and +satisfied to win fifty. His entrance was always met by a +ready welcome.</p> + +<p>‘Here comes the gallant captain! How are you, captain?’</p> + +<p>‘Hearty, thank ye!’ he replied. ‘I say, how was it that +my cheque was not paid this morning?’</p> + +<p>‘Not paid! you’re joking, captain!’</p> + +<p>‘Joking!’ replied the captain. ‘No, I’ll be d—d if +it is a joke.’</p> + +<p>The captain, on the previous evening, having won, had +put up his counters and wished for a fifty pound note.</p> + +<p>‘Certainly,’ said one of the triumvirs, looking into the +box. ‘A fifty, did you say, captain? I am sorry to say +I have not got a fifty. Make it a hundred, captain. You +will soon do it if you put it down a little spicy.’</p> + +<p>‘No,’ rejoined the captain, ‘I don’t want to play any +more, for I must leave town early to-morrow morning.’</p> + +<p>‘Well; but what is to be done?’ said the manager. +Then, calling to his partner, he inquired if he had a fifty +pound note for Captain——.</p> + +<p>‘No, I have not; but I will write a cheque for him; that +will be all the same.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span></p> + +<p>Away went the captain, as light hearted as a cricket, to +sleep away the few remaining hours that intervened before +another day wakes us all to our divers duties. Who has +not noticed the punctuality of the banker’s clerks wending +their way to their daily toil. Not quite so early as these, +yet not much later, did the captain doff his night gear; +then made his appearance at the banker’s, nothing doubting. +He presents ‘the bit o’ writin’’ ‘Two twenties and ten in +gold.’ The clerk puts forward his attenuated fingers, examines +it: a pause ensues. How can it be? The date is +right, and the autograph is genuine; but there is no order +to pay it.</p> + +<p>‘No order to pay it?’ echoed the captain, much +annoyed.</p> + +<p>Between ourselves, the private mark was wanting: which +was, perhaps, a pin hole, or not a pin hole.</p> + +<p>On the evening I have referred to, he received counters +for this cheque, and was, already, deep in the game, when +the <i>chef</i> made his appearance. The above <i>ruse</i> was frequently +resorted to.</p> + +<p>It is customary to lend money to parties on cheque, or +otherwise, if the applicants are considered safe. One of the +visitors, who was passionately addicted to play and the turf, +having lost his ready money, borrowed three hundred pounds +in counters, and, having lost these also, gave a cheque for +the amount; but with this condition, that it should not be +sent in to his banker’s in the country for some few days. +No sooner, however, was his back turned than an <i>employé</i> +was instructed to start off very early the following morning +to get the cheque cashed; the date, which was left open, +being first clapped in. The cheque was paid; and two or +three nights afterwards the young gentleman came for an +explanation of the circumstance, and to remonstrate. The +poor <i>employé</i>, as usual, was made the scapegoat, and was +roundly abused for his stupidity in not understanding that +he was particularly ordered not to present it till further +notice.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was the practice, also, to present post-dated cheques, +which had been refused payment, and even to sue on them. +Sometimes, after an evening’s play, a gentleman would find +himself the winner of a couple of hundred pounds, when, all +but folding up the notes, and preparing to go, he would find, +to his mortification, a small account against him, of, perhaps, +seventy or eighty pounds. ‘Eighty pounds! impossible! +there must be some mistake.’ Expostulation was vain. +‘It is down in the book. It is perfectly correct, you may +rest assured. I pledge you my honour of this.’</p> + +<p>Sometimes it happened that a gentleman would borrow +one hundred pounds, of course in counters, on a cheque or +a short bill. Perhaps he might win thirty or forty pounds, +in which case, the one hundred pounds in counters would +be taken from him and his cheque returned, and he would +be left to do his best with the small capital remaining to +him, with the privilege of renewing the transaction, should +he lose it. Counters, so borrowed, were not allowed to be +lent to a friend.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, it may seem not a bad ‘hedge,’ technically +speaking, to have the opportunity of borrowing hundred +after hundred, as some people would do, till a hand came +off. I have known persons to come in without a penny, +and declare the Caster, in or out, ten pounds, and losing the +bet, would ask for a hundred pounds, would receive it and +lose it, and receive in the same way to the amount of six or +seven hundred pounds, and then would declare that they +would not pay one farthing unless accommodated with +another hundred. I have known a man of high rank lose +to the amount of fourteen hundred pounds, on account, +which, under the circumstances, his lordship had more sense +than to pay. But, for the bold style, I will quote a city +wine merchant. Having lost his cash, he requested a +hundred pounds, which he received; he then asked for +another, which he also received. He demanded another! +After a few words, and a reference to a friend then at the +table, this, too, was given to him, and a cheque for £300<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> +was received for the advance made. It so happened that +the third hundred was lost also. He, then, peremptorily +demanded more, and, upon being refused, he requested to +see the cheque, disputing the amount, which being handed +to him, he immediately tore it to pieces, and left the room.</p> + +<p class="ptb2 p1">······</p> + +<p class="p1">It may be thought that a gentleman who has lost above +a thousand pounds in a gaming-house may have the right +of <i>entrée</i> by prescription. Nothing is more unlike the fact. +From the height of his prosperity to its declension, every +occultation in his course is noted with the nicest observation; +for instance, playing for lower stakes, a more febrile +excitement when losing, occasionally borrowing of a friend, +a cheque not punctually paid; and, finally, a small sum +borrowed of the bank, to enable him to take up a bill under +a very pressing emergency. These are the little circumstances +which lead to his ultimate exclusion. On some fine +evening during the ensuing season, he calls, thinking to be +admitted as heretofore; but he is stopped at the first door +with the ready excuse, that ‘there is nothing doing.’ On +the next call, he is told ‘there is no play going on.’</p> + +<p>‘No play? So you said the last time I called; and I +have since understood from a friend that there was play. +Let me in; I want to see the manager.’</p> + +<p>‘He is not in, sir.’</p> + +<p>‘Oh, very well, I shall take some other opportunity of +seeing him.’</p> + +<p>When he does see the <i>chef</i>, the latter expresses most +sincere regret at the occurrence, and makes a most specious +promise to have the interdict removed. Thus assured, who +is now to oppose his entrance? Not the porter, surely! +Yes; the very same person still insists that the great man +is not within; that he knows nothing about the explanation +given, and, therefore, cannot admit him. Thus repulsed, the +applicant murmurs a threat about not paying, and thus ends +the matter.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER X</h2> + +<p class="pch">Select Committee on Gaming, 1844—Evidence.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">Such,</span> then, was gambling, when the Select Committee on +gaming sat in 1844, and Mr (afterwards Sir) Richard +Mayne, in his evidence, shows the craftiness of the gaming-house +keepers, and the difficulties of the police in obtaining +a conviction. He says:—</p> + +<p>“Superintendent Baker was the Superintendent who +entered all those houses. With the permission of the +Committee, I will read his report, in which he states the +difficulties he has met with: ‘I beg, most respectfully, +to lay before the Commissioners a few observations for +their consideration, being extremely anxious that something +more should be done respecting the gaming-houses, +to put them down, which are the cause of so many young +men’s ruin, and, at the same time, show to the Commissioners +the difficulties I have to contend with, before an entry can +be effected; from the reluctance of the housekeepers to +make the required affidavits, from not wishing to have their +names brought forward in such matters; also, from the +great difficulty in gaining an entrance to a gaming-house, +from their extreme caution and watchfulness, besides the +strength of their doors and fastenings, which gives them +ample time to remove any implement of gaming from the +premises: their vigilance is such that it is impossible to +obtain an entry for the purpose of seeing play, unless +treachery is used with some of the players, which is attended +by danger and great expense. On the slightest alarm, the +cloths, which are thrown loose over a common table, &c., +are, in one moment, removed, and secreted about the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> +persons of the keepers, &c.; and, as the present law stands, +the police are not empowered to search them at all: there +are no complaints from the housekeepers respecting the +gaming-houses, and, in every instance of putting them down, +the police have been obliged almost to compel them to go +to the police court to swear to the necessary affidavits; +such has been their reluctance. As the present law stands, +before I can enter a gaming-house with safety, I am obliged +to go through the following forms: 1st, to make such inquiry +as to leave no doubt that gaming is carried on in a house; +2nd, to make a report of the circumstance to the Commissioners; +3rd, to show the said report to the housekeepers +residing in the parish and neighbourhood where the house is +situated, and the offence carried on, for them to make the +necessary affidavits; 4th, to prepare affidavits for the housekeepers +to sign, in the presence of the magistrates; 5th, to +make a report of the same to the Commissioners when sworn +to; 6th, to make out the Commissioners’ warrant for me and +the police under my command to enter; 7th, to endeavour, +if possible, to get an officer in disguise into the gaming-house +to witness play being carried on, previous to my entry, which +is the most difficult task to encounter, as no one is admitted +unless brought there by a Bonnet or a play-man, as a +pigeon or freshman, commonly known as Punters or Flats. +Since my entry into No. 34 St James’s Street, kept by +Isaiah Smart, whose son was killed by a fall from the roof +in endeavouring to escape from the police, there is no doubt +the gamblers have exercised the greatest ingenuity in their +power in order to entrap me into a false entry on their +premises by lighting up the rooms as if play was going +on; employing persons to watch, both outside and in, to +give the alarm on the appearance of any of the police +passing; so that, if I was tempted to make an entry without +taking the precaution of having an officer inside to prove +gaming, there is not the least doubt but that they would +instantly catch at the opportunity of bringing an action +against me for trespass, &c., and thereby effect my ruin. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> +have received information that such is the case in the event +of my making one false step, and which I have every reason +to believe is true.’”</p> + +<p>Crockford was examined, but the Committee got very +little out of that old fox, except the fact that he had given +up all active connection with the establishment in St James’s +Street for over four years.</p> + +<p>Mr Mayne was recalled on the 9th May 1844, and gave +evidence that, two nights previously, an entry was made into +all houses, known to be gaming-houses in town, seventeen in +number, with the result of a fine haul of men, money, and +gaming implements.</p> + +<p>The outcome of the Select Committees of both Houses of +Parliament was the passing, on 8th August 1845, of 8-9 Vic., +c. 109, “An Act to amend the Law against Games and +Wagers”—and for many years afterwards professional +gaming-houses in London were a tradition of the past. +Now, however, they abound, thanks to the laxity of the law +with regard to so-called clubs.</p> + +<p class="p2">Here, then, ends the account of this phase of gambling, +as it has been thought inexpedient to give any modern +instances of play at so-called Clubs, or Card-sharping.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<p class="pch">Wagers and Betting—Samson—Greek and Roman betting—In the 17th Century—“Lusty +Packington”—The rise of betting in the 18th Century—Walpole’s +story of White’s—Betting in the House of Commons—Story by Voltaire—Anecdotes +of betting—Law suit concerning the Chevalier d’Eon.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">Betting,</span> or rather, that peculiar form of wager which consists +in a material pledge in corroboration of controverted +assertions, is of very ancient date, and we meet with it in one +of the early books of the Bible, see Judges xiv. where in vv. +12, 13, Samson makes a distinct bet—owns he has lost in +v. 18, and pays his bet, v. 19.</p> + +<p>“12. And Samson said unto them, I will now put a riddle +unto you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven +days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty +sheets and thirty changes of garments.</p> + +<p>“13. But, if ye cannot declare it me, then shall you give +me thirty sheets and thirty changes of garments. And they +said unto him, put forth thy riddle that we may hear it.</p> + +<p>“14. And he said unto them, out of the eater came forth +meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And +they could not, in three days, expound the riddle.</p> + +<p>“15. And it came to pass, on the seventh day, that they +said unto Samson’s wife, Entice thy husband, that he may +declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s +house with fire: have ye called us to take that we have? is +it not so?</p> + +<p>“16. And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou +dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a +riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it +me. And he said unto her, I have not told it my father, +nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> + +<p>“17. And she wept before him the seven days, while the +feast lasted; and it came to pass, on the seventh day, that +he told her, because she lay sore upon him: and she told +the riddle to the children of her people.</p> + +<p>“18. And the men of the city said unto him, on the +seventh day, before the sun went down, what is sweeter than +honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said +unto them, if ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not +found out my riddle.</p> + +<p>“19. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he +went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and +took their spoil, and gave changes of raiment unto them +which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, +and he went up to his father’s house.</p> + +<p>“20. But Samson’s wife was given to his companion, +whom he had used as his friend.”</p> + +<p>Now, in this very ancient story, we find embodied as much +roguery and crime as in any modern turf episode. Samson +bet without any means of paying, if he lost: he lost, and +was a defaulter. But, to pay this “debt of honour,” he had +recourse to wholesale murder and robbery—to satisfy men, +who to his own knowledge, had (to use a modern expression) +“tampered with the stable.”</p> + +<p>The early Greeks betted, as we find in Homer’s <i>Iliad</i>, +b. xxiii. 485-7 where Idomeneus offers a bet to the lesser +Ajax to back his own opinion:</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">Δεῦρό νυν ή τρίποδος περιδώμεθον, ἠὲ λέβετος̓<br /> +Ἳστορα δ̓ Ἀτρείδην Ἀγαμέμνονα θείομεν ὕμφω.<br /> +Ὀππότεραι πρόθ̓ ἵπποἰ ἵνα γνοίης ὰποτίνων.</p> + +<p class="ppn10 p1">“Now, come on!</p> +<p class="ppn4">A wager stake we, of tripod, or of caldron;<br /> +And make we both Atreidès Agamemnon<br /> +Judge, whether foremost are those mares: and so<br /> +Learn shalt thou, to thy cost!”</p> + +<p class="p1">In Homer’s <i>Odyssey</i>, xxiii. 78, Eurycleia wagers her life +to Penelope that Ulysses has returned: Aristophanes in his +<i>Equites</i>, 791; <i>Acharnes</i>, 772, 1115; and <i>Nebulæ</i>, 644, gives<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +examples of wagers; and, in the eighth idyll of Theocritus, +Daphins proposes a bet to Menalcas about a singing match.</p> + +<p>Among the Romans, Virgil tells us of a wager in his +third <i>Eclogue</i> of the <i>Bucolics</i>, 28-50, between Menalcas and +Damœtas, which is virtually the same as that of Theocritus, +and Valerius Maximus tells us how a triumph was awarded +by the senate to Lutatius, the Consul, who had defeated the +Carthaginian fleet. The prætor Valerius, having also been +present in the action, asserted that the victory was his, and +that a triumph was due to him also. The question came +before the judge; but not until Valerius had first, in support +of his assertion, deposited a stake, against which Lutatius +deposited another. But in classical time they seem to have +known little about odds.</p> + +<p>The word wager is an English word—and was spelt in +Middle English, <i>Wageoure</i>, or <i>Wajour</i>, as in <i>The Babee’s +Book</i>.</p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“No <i>waiour</i> non with hym thou lay,<br /> +Ne at the dyce with hym to play.”</p> + +<p class="p1">It was in early use, for we have the <i>Wager of Battel</i>, +which was a practical bet between two men as to the justice +of their cause. This ordeal was in force until 1819, when it +was done away with by 59 Geo. III., c. 46.</p> + +<p>In Shakespeare’s time betting was common, and the practice +of giving and taking odds was well known, as we may +see in <i>Hamlet</i>, Act v. s. 2, where Osrick, speaking to Hamlet, +says, “The King, sir, hath wagered with him six Barbary +horses; against which he hath imponed, as I take it, six +French Rapiers and poniards, with their assigns, as girdles, +hangers and so.” In <i>Cymbeline</i>, Act i. s. 5, we have a bet, +which is so serious that it has to be recorded. Iachimo +says, “I dare thereupon pawn the moiety of my estate to +your ring, which, in my opinion, o’ervalues it something,” +and, ultimately, ten thousand crowns are laid against the +ring, and Iachimo says, “I will fetch my gold, and have +our two wagers recorded.”</p> + +<p>By the way, there was an epitaph on Combe, the usurer,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> +which has been attributed to Shakespeare, which intimates +the laying of odds.</p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“Ten in the hundred lies here ingraved;<br /> +‘Tis a hundred to ten, his soul is not sav’d.”</p> + +<p class="p1">It is recorded of Sir John Packington, called “Lusty +Packington” (Queen Elizabeth called him “her Temperance”), +that he entered into articles to swim against three +noblemen for £3000 from Westminster Bridge to Greenwich; +but the queen, by her special command, prevented +the bet being carried out.</p> + +<p>Howell in his <i>Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ</i> says: “If one would try +a petty conclusion how much smoke there is in a pound of +Tobacco, the ashes will tell him: for, let a pound be exactly +weighed, and the ashes kept charily and weighed afterwards, +what wants of a pound weight in the ashes, cannot be denied +to have been smoke which evaporated into air. I have +been told that Sir Walter Rawleigh won a wager of Queen +Elizabeth upon this nicety.”</p> + +<p>Men betted, but their wagers are not recorded until the +eighteenth century, and one of the earliest of these is told in +<i>Malcolm’s Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London +during the eighteenth century</i>. “Mrs Crackenthorpe, the +Female Tatler of 1709, tells us ‘that four worthy Senators +lately threw their hats into a river, laid a crown each whose +hat should first swim to the mill, and ran hallooing after +them; and he that won the prize, was in a greater rapture +than if he had carried the most dangerous point in +Parliament.’”</p> + +<p>“There was an established Cock pit in Prescot Street, +Goodman’s Fields, 1712: there the Gentlemen of the East +entertained themselves, while the Nobles and others of the +West were entertained by the edifying exhibition of the +agility of their running footmen. His Grace of Grafton +declared <i>his</i> man was unrivalled in speed; and the Lord +Cholmondeley betted him that <i>his</i> excelled even the unrivalled; +accordingly, the ground was prepared for a two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span> +mile heat, in Hyde Park; the race was run, <i>and one of the +parties was victor</i>, but <i>which</i>, my informant does not say.”</p> + +<p>“I have frequently observed, in the course of my researches, +the strange methods and customs peculiar to +gaming, horse racing, dice and wagers; the latter are generally +governed by whim and extreme folly. We have already +noticed Noblemen running their Coaches and Footmen. In +1729, a Poulterer of Leadenhall Market betted £50, he +would walk 202 times round the area of Upper Moorfields +in 27 hours, and, accordingly, proceeded at the rate of five +miles an hour on the <i>amusing pursuit</i>, to the infinite improvement +of his business, and great edification of hundreds +of spectators. Wagers are now a favourite custom with too +many of the Londoners; they very frequently, however, +originate over the bottle, or the porter pot.”</p> + +<p>“To characterise the follies of the day, it will be necessary +to add to the account of the <i>walking</i> man, another, of a +<i>hopping man</i>, who engaged to hop 500 yards, in 50 hops, in +St James’s Park, which he performed in 46. This important +event occurred in December 1731.”</p> + +<p>In No. 145 of the <i>Spectator</i> (16th Aug. 1711) is a letter +about the prevalence of laying wagers. “Among other +things which your own experience must suggest to you, +it will be very obliging if you please to take notice of +wagerers.</p> + +<p class="ptb2 p1">·······</p> + +<p class="p1">“Not long ago, I was relating that I had read such a +passage in Tacitus; up starts my young gentleman, in a +full company, and, pulling out his purse, offered to lay me +ten guineas, to be staked, immediately, in that gentleman’s +hands, pointing to one smoking at another table, that I was +utterly mistaken. I was dumb for want of ten guineas; he +went on unmercifully to triumph over my ignorance how to +take him up, and told the whole room he had read Tacitus +twenty times over, and such a remarkable incident as that, +could not escape him. He has, at this time, three considerable +wagers depending between him and some of his companions,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +who are rich enough to hold an argument with him. +He has five guineas upon questions in geography, two that +the Isle of Wight is a peninsula, and three guineas to one, +that the world is round. We have a gentleman comes to +our coffee house, who deals mightily in antique scandal; +my disputant has laid him twenty pieces upon a point of +history.”</p> + +<p>It was in the early part of the eighteenth century that +betting was made a part of professional gambling, as we +read in Smollett’s <i>Adventures of Ferdinand, Count Fathom</i>. +On his return to England “he perceived that gaming was +now managed in such a manner, as rendered skill and dexterity +of no advantage; for the spirit of play having overspread +the land, like a pestilence, raged to such a degree of +madness and desperation, that the unhappy people who were +infected, laid aside all thoughts of amusement, economy, or +caution, and risqued their fortunes upon issues equally extravagant, +childish and absurd.</p> + +<p>“The whole mystery of the art was reduced to the simple +exercise of tossing up a guinea, and the lust of laying +wagers, which they indulged to a surprising pitch of ridiculous +intemperance. In one corner of the room might +be heard a pair of lordlings running their grandmothers +against each other, that is, betting sums on the longest liver; +in another, the success of the wager depended upon the sex +of the landlady’s next child: one of the waiters happening +to drop down in an apoplectic fit, a certain noble peer exclaimed, +‘Dead, for a thousand pounds.’ The challenge was +immediately accepted; and when the master of the house +sent for a surgeon to attempt the cure, the nobleman, who set +the price upon the patient’s head, insisted upon his being +left to the efforts of nature alone, otherwise the wager should +be void: nay, when the landlord harped upon the loss he +should sustain by the death of a trusty servant, his lordship +obviated the objection, by desiring that the fellow might be +charged in the bill.”</p> + +<p>Horace Walpole in a letter to Sir H. Mann (1 Sep.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +1750) tells a similar tale. “They have put in the papers +a good story made on White’s; a man dropped down dead +at the door, was carried in; the club immediately made +bets whether he was dead or not, and when they were going +to bleed him, the wagerers for his death interposed, and +said it would affect the fairness of the bet.” But there is +no such bet mentioned in White’s betting book.</p> + +<p>They even betted in the House of Commons. In the +course of a debate Mr Pulteney charged Sir Robert Walpole +with misquoting Horace; the prime minister replied by +offering to bet that he had not done so, and the wager was +accepted. The clerk of the House was called upon to +decide the question, and declared Pulteney right; upon +which Sir Robert threw a guinea across the House, to be +picked up by his opponent, with the remark that it was the +first public money he had touched for a long time.</p> + +<p>Brookes’ betting book has C. J. Fox’s name frequently. +In 1744 he bet Lord Northington that he would be called +to the Bar within four years time. In 1755, he received +one guinea from Lord Bolingbroke, upon condition of paying +him a thousand pounds when the debts of the country +amounted to a hundred and seventy-one millions; an event +Fox lived to see come to pass.</p> + +<p>In the <i>Connoisseur</i> of 9th May 1754 is an article on the +prevalence of wagers. It says: “Tho’ most of our follies are +imported from France, this had its rise and progress entirely +in England. In the last illness of Louis XIV. Lord Stair +laid a wager on his death; and we may guess what the +French thought of it, from the manner in which Voltaire +mentions it, in his <i>Siècle de Louis XIV</i>. ‘Le roi fut attaqué +vers le milieu du mois d’Août. Le Comte de Stair, ambassadeur +d’Angleterre <i>paria, selon le génie de sa nation</i>, +que le roi ne passeroit pas le mois de Septembre.’ ‘The +King,’ says he, ‘was taken ill about the middle of August; +when Lord Stair, the Ambassador from England, <i>betted +according to the custom of his nation</i>, that the king would +not live beyond September.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> + +<p>I am in some pain lest this custom should get among +the ladies. They are, at present, very deep in cards and +dice; and while my lord is gaining abroad, her ladyship +has her rout at home. I am inclined to suspect that our +women of fashion will, also, learn to divert themselves with +this polite practice of laying wagers. A birthday suit, the +age of a beauty, who invented a particular fashion, or who +were supposed to be together at the last masquerade, would, +frequently give occasion for bets. This would, also, afford +them a new method for the ready propagation of scandal, +as the truth of several stories which are continually flitting +about the town, would, naturally, be brought to the same +test. Should they proceed further, to stake the lives of their +acquaintances against each other, they would, doubtless, +bet with the same fearless spirit, as they are known to do +at <i>brag</i>; one husband would, perhaps, be pitted against +another, or a woman of the town against a maid of +honour. In a word, if this once becomes fashionable among +the ladies, we shall soon see the time, when an allowance +for bet money will be stipulated in the marriage +articles.</p> + +<p>As the vices and follies of persons of distinction are very +apt to spread, I am much afraid lest this branch of gaming +should descend to the common people. Indeed, it seems +already to have got among them. We have frequent +accounts of tradesmen riding, walking, eating and drinking +for a wager. The contested election in the City has occasioned +several extraordinary bets. I know a butcher in +Leadenhall Market, who laid an ox to a shin of beef on the +success of Sir John Barnard against the field; and have +been told of a publican in Thames Street, who ventured a +hogshead of entire beer on the candidate who serves him +with beer.”</p> + +<p>Walpole tells one or two stories about betting in the +course of his chatty letters. “Dec. 19, 1750. There has +been a droll cause in Westminster Hall: a man laid another +a wager that he produced a person who should weigh as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> +much again as the Duke.<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> When they had betted, they +recollected not knowing how to desire the Duke to step +into a scale. They agreed to establish his weight at twenty +stone, which, however, is supposed to be two more than he +weighs. One Bright,<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> was then produced, who is since +dead, and who, actually, weighed forty-two stone and a half. +As soon as he was dead, the person who had lost, objected +that he had been weighed in his clothes, and though it was +impossible that his clothes could weigh above two stone, +they went to law. There were the Duke’s twenty stone +bawled over a thousand times; but the righteous law +decided against the man who had won!”</p> + +<p>“10th July 1774. One of them has committed a +murder, and intends to repeat it. He betted £1500 that +a man could live twelve hours under water; hired a desperate +fellow, sunk him in a ship, by way of experiment, +and both ship and man have not appeared since. Another +man and ship are to be tried for their lives, instead of Mr +Blake, the assassin.”</p> + +<p>On 30 June 1765 a wager of 1000 guineas was decided +between two noblemen, one of whom had constructed a +machine which was to work a boat at the rate of 25 miles +an hour: a canal was prepared near the banks of the +Thames, on which to try it, but the tackle breaking, the bet +was lost.</p> + +<p>28 Feb. 1770. A bet was laid by a noble earl that he +would procure a man to ride to Edinburgh from London, +and back, in less time than another noble earl could make a +million of scores, or distinct dots, in the most expeditious +manner that he could contrive.</p> + +<p>On 12th June 1771 was tried before Lord Mansfield and +a special jury, in the Court of King’s Bench, a cause wherein +Lord March was plaintiff, and Mr Pigot, defendant. The +action was brought to recover the sum of 500 guineas for a +wager which Lord March had laid with Mr Pigot, whether<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> +Sir William Codrington or old Mr Pigot would die first. Mr +Pigot happened to die suddenly from gout in his head on +the morning previous to the laying of the wager, and the +younger Mr Pigot thought, from this circumstance, that it +was no bet. The defendant’s counsel said, that if you make +a bet for two horses to run, and one of them should die +before the race came off, there could be no bet; and he +hoped that the jury would find for his client. After a +short charge from the judge, the jury brought in a verdict +for the plaintiff of 500 guineas, and full costs of suit.</p> + +<p>On 1st July 1777 a case came before the Lord Chief-Justice +Mansfield, which is one of the most extraordinary +that ever was tried in a Court of Justice, respecting the sex +of the Chevalier d’Eon, formerly ambassador to England +from the Court of France.</p> + +<p>The action was brought by Mr Hayes, surgeon, against +one Jacques, a broker and underwriter, for the recovery of +£700, the said Jacques having, about six years previously, +received premiums of fifteen guineas per cent., for every +one of which he stood engaged to return <i>one hundred +guineas</i>, whenever it should be proved that the Chevalier +d’Eon was, actually, a woman.</p> + +<p>Mr Buller opened the case as counsel for Mr Hayes. +He stated the fairness of the transaction, and the justifiable +nature of the demand, as Mr Hayes, the plaintiff, thought +himself now to be in possession of that proof which would +determine the sex of the Chevalier d’Eon, and, for ever, +render the case indisputable.</p> + +<p>In proof of the fact, M. de Goux, a surgeon, was the first +witness called, and gave his testimony to the following effect: +That he had been acquainted with the Chevalier d’Eon from +the time when the Duc de Nivernois resided in England in +quality of ambassador from the Court of France. That to +his certain knowledge, the person called the Chevalier d’Eon +was a woman.</p> + +<p>Being closely interrogated by the counsel for the defendant, +as to the mode of his acquiring such a degree of certainty<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +relative to the sex of the party, M. de Goux gave this account +of the matter: That, about five years ago, he was called in +by the Chevalier d’Eon, to lend his professional aid, as she, +at that time, laboured under a disorder which rendered an +examination of the afflicted part absolutely necessary. That +this examination led, of course, to that discovery of the sex +of which M. de Goux was now enabled to give such +testimony.</p> + +<p>The second witness called on the part of the plaintiff +was M. de Morande. He swore that, so long ago as +the 3rd of July 1774, the Chevalier d’Eon made a free +disclosure of her sex to the witness. That she had even +proceeded so far as to display her bosom on the occasion. +That, in consequence of this disclosure of sex, she, the +Chevalier d’Eon, had exhibited the contents of her female +wardrobe, which consisted of sacques, petticoats, and other +habiliments calculated for feminine use. That, on the said +3rd day of July 1774, the witness paid a morning visit to +the Chevalier d’Eon, and, finding her in bed, accosted her +in a style of gallantry respecting her sex. That, so far from +being offended with this freedom, the said Chevalier desired +the witness to approach nearer to her bed, and then permitted +him to have manual proof of her being, in very truth, +a woman.</p> + +<p>Mr Mansfield, on the part of the defendant, pleaded that +this was one of those gambling, indecent and unnecessary +cases, that ought never to be permitted to come into a Court +of Justice; that, besides the inutility and indecency of the +case, the plaintiff had taken advantage of his client, being in +possession of intelligence that enabled him to lay with +greater certainty, although with such great odds on his +side; that the plaintiff, at the time of laying the wager, +knew that the Court of France treated with the Chevalier, +as a woman, to grant her a pension; and that the French +Court must have had some strong circumstances to imbibe +that idea; therefore, he hoped the jury would reprobate +such wagers. The defendant’s counsel did not attempt to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> +contradict the plaintiff’s’ evidence, by proving the masculine +gender.</p> + +<p>Lord Mansfield expressed his abhorrence of the whole +transaction, and the more so, for their bringing it into a +Court of Justice, when it might have been settled elsewhere; +wishing it had been in his power, in concurrence +with the jury, to have made both parties lose; but, as the +law had not expressly prohibited it, and the wager was +laid, the question before them was, who had won? His +Lordship remarked that the indecency of the proceeding +arose more from the unnecessary questions asked, than from +the case itself; that the witnesses had declared they perfectly +knew the Chevalier d’Eon to be a woman; if she is +not a woman, they are certainly perjured: there was, therefore, +no need of inquiring how, or by what methods they +knew it, which was all the indecency.</p> + +<p>As to the fraud suggested, of the plaintiff’s knowing +more than the defendant, he seemed to think there was no +foundation for it. His Lordship then recited a wager +entered into by two gentlemen, in his own presence, about +the dimensions of the Venus de Medicis, for £100. One of +the gentlemen said, “I will not deceive you; I tell you +fairly, I have been there, and measured it myself.” “Well,” +says the other, “and do you think I should be such a fool, +as to lay if I had not measured it?... I will lay for +all that.”</p> + +<p>His Lordship then went on to state to the jury, that this +Chevalier had publicly appeared as a man, had been employed +by the Court of France, as a man, as a military man, in a +civil office, and as a Minister of State here, and in Russia; +there was all the presumption against the plaintiff, and the +<i>onus probandi</i> lay upon him, which might never been come +at; for it appeared, the only proposition of a discovery of +sex that had been made to the Chevalier, by some gentlemen +on an excursion, had been resented by d’Eon, who had +instantly quitted their company on that account: it might, +therefore, never have been in his power to have proved his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> +wager, but for some accidental quarrels between d’Eon and +some of her countrymen. His Lordship was, therefore, of +opinion that the jury should find a verdict for the plaintiff.</p> + +<p>The jury, without hesitation, gave a verdict for the +plaintiff, £700, and 40s. Yet, when d’Eon died, in London, +in 1810, <i>it was proved, without a shadow of a doubt, that he +was a man</i>.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<p class="pch">Gluttonous Wager—Walk to Constantinople and back—Sir John Lade and Lord +Cholmondeley—Other Wagers—Betting on Napoleon—Bet on a Coat—Lord +Brougham—Brunel and Stephenson—Captain Barclay—Story by +Mr Ross—The Earl of March’s Coach—Selby’s drive to Brighton—White’s +betting book.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">A different</span> kind of wager is recorded in <i>The World</i>, of +4th May 1787. “At the Wheel, at Hackington Fen, on +Wednesday sen’night, a fen farmer laid a wager he could +eat <i>two dozen</i> of penny mutton pies, and drink a gallon of +ale in half an hour, which he performed <i>with ease</i>, in half +the time, and said he had but a <i>scanty</i> supper and wished +for something more; in less than half an hour after, he ate +a threepenny loaf and a pound of cheese, and still swore he +was hungry. The landlord, unwilling to starve his <i>delicate +guest</i>, set before him a leg of pork, which his voracious +appetite gormandized with great composure. He thanked +the landlord for his civility, and said, ‘I hate to go to bed +with an empty stomach.’”</p> + +<p>In the <i>Annual Register</i> we read, September 1788. “A +young Irish gentleman, for a very considerable wager, set +out on Monday the 22nd instant, to walk to Constantinople +and back again in one year. It is said that the young +gentleman has £20,000 depending on the performance of +this exploit. 1st June 1789, Mr Whaley arrived about this +time in Dublin from his journey to the Holy Land, considerably +within the limited time of twelve months. The +above wager, however whimsical, is not without a precedent. +Some years ago, a baronet of some fortune, in the north, +laid a considerable wager that he would go to Lapland, +bring home two females of that country and two reindeer in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span> +a given time. He performed his journey, and effected his +purpose in every respect. The Lapland women lived with +him for about a year, but, having a wish to go back to their +own country, the baronet very generously furnished them +with means and money.”</p> + +<p>In Trinity Term, 1790, was argued in the Court of +King’s Bench, whether all wagers, by the 14th George III., +were not void, as gaming contracts, and being contrary to +the policy of the law? Lord Kenyon and Justices Ashurst +and Grose were of opinion, that the law had not declared +all wagers illegal, however desirable such a law might be. +Wagers that led to a breach of the peace, to immorality, the +injury of a third person, or that had a libellous tendency, +were void; but some wagers, between indifferent people, +were, certainly legal, both by the common law, and by +statute. Mr Justice Buller differed from the rest of the +Court.</p> + +<p><i>Times</i>, October 2, 1795. “A curious circumstance occurred +here (Brighton) yesterday. Sir <span class="smcap">John Lade</span>, for a +trifling wager, undertook to carry Lord <span class="smcap">Cholmondeley</span>, on +<i>his back</i>, from opposite the Pavilion, twice round the Steine. +Several ladies attended to be spectators of this extraordinary +feat of the dwarf carrying the giant. When his Lordship +declared himself ready, Sir John desired him to <i>strip</i>. +‘Strip!’ exclaimed the other, ‘why, surely, you promised +to carry me in my clothes!’ ‘By no means,’ replied the +Baronet, I engaged to carry <i>you</i>, but not an inch of clothes. +So, therefore, my Lord, make ready, and let us not <i>disappoint</i> +the ladies.’ After much laughable altercation, it +was, at length, decided that Sir <span class="smcap">John</span> had won his wager, +the Peer declining to exhibit <i>in puris naturalibus</i>.”</p> + +<p><i>Times</i>, September 11, 1797. “A <i>Mr Marston</i>, of the +Borough, has laid a bet of 2000 guineas, that he will, in +the course of the ensuing week, go into one of the great +wheels of the water works at London Bridge, while it is +in its swiftest motion with an ebb tide, stay there five +minutes, and come out again with safety, though not without<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +accident, in a different part from that in which he went +in: and, afterwards, walk one mile within an hour, on +condition that the lower bucket of the wheel is two feet +from the river bottom.”</p> + +<p>A wager was made, in 1806, in the Castle Yard, York, +between Thomas Hodgson and Samuel Whitehead, as +to which should succeed in assuming the most singular +character. Umpires were selected, whose duty it was to +decide upon the comparative absurdity of the costumes in +which the two men appeared. On the appointed day, +Hodgson came before the umpires, decorated with bank +notes of various value on his coat and waistcoat, a row of +five guinea notes, and a long netted purse of gold round his +hat, whilst a piece of paper, bearing the words “John Bull,” +was attached to his back. Whitehead was dressed like a +woman on one side; one half of his face was painted, and +he wore a silk stocking and a slipper on one leg. The +other half of his face was blacked, to resemble a negro: on +the corresponding side of his body he wore a gaudy, long-tailed, +linen coat; and his leg was cased in half a pair of +leather breeches, with a boot and spur. One would fancy +that Whitehead must have presented the most singular +appearance, by far, but the umpires thought differently, +and awarded the stakes to Hodgson.</p> + +<p>In the early part of this century sporting men were +fond of betting on the duration of the lives of celebrities. +Napoleon I. was specially the subject of these wagers. +It is related that, at a dinner party in 1809, Sir Mark +Sykes offered to pay any one who would give him a +hundred guineas down, a guinea a day, so long as Napoleon +lived. The offer was taken by a clergyman present; and, +for three years, Sir Mark Skyes paid him three hundred and +sixty-five guineas per annum. He, then, thought he had +thrown away enough money, and disputed further payment. +The recipient, who was not at all disposed to lose his +comfortable annuity, brought an action, which, after lengthy +litigation, was decided in favour of the baronet.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> + +<p>A gentleman made a bet of 1000 guineas that he would +have a coat made in the course of a single day, from the +first process of shearing the sheep to its completion by the +tailor. The wager was decided at Newbury on the 25th of +June 1811, by Mr John Coxeter of Greenham Mills, near +that town. At five o’clock that morning, Sir John Throckmorton, +Bart., presented two Southdown wether sheep to +Mr Coxeter. Accordingly, the sheep were shorn, the wool +spun, the yarn spooled, warped, loomed and wove, the cloth +burred, milled, rowed, dyed, dried, sheared and pressed, and +put into the hands of the tailors by four o’clock that afternoon; +and, at twenty minutes past six, the coat entirely +finished, was presented by Mr Coxeter to Sir John Throckmorton, +who appeared, wearing it, before an assemblage of +upwards of 5000 spectators, who rent the air with their +acclamations.</p> + +<p>The religious impostor, Johanna Southcott, was the subject +of at least one wager, for, concerning that, an action was +brought on a bet that she would be delivered of a son, on or +before 1st Nov. 1814. As she was a single woman it was +held that no action could be sustained, as the wager involved +the perpetration of an immorality.</p> + +<p>I cannot give chapter and verse for the next two anecdotes, +but they are generally accepted as true. The first is +about Lord Brougham, who, in his college days, went one +autumn to Dumfries in order to make one at the Caledonian +Hunt meeting. According to the then custom, everybody +dined at a <i>table d’hôte</i>, and, after dinner, betting set in. +Brougham offered to bet the whole company that none of +them would write down the manner in which he meant to +go to the races next day. Those who accepted his challenge +wrote down their conjectures and Brougham wrote down +his intention of travelling in a sedan chair, a mode of conveyance +no one had hit upon. To the races he went, an +immense crowd seeing him safely chaired to the course. +The bet was then renewed, as to the manner of his return +to Dumfries, the acceptors taxing their wits to imagine the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> +most improbable methods of travelling. Brougham had +calculated upon this, and won the double event by returning +in a post chaise and pair.</p> + +<p>The other is a story of Brunel and Stephenson. They were +travelling together in a railway carriage, Stephenson being +wrapped in a dark plaid, on the exact disposition of the folds of +which he rather plumed himself. “You are looking at my +plaid,” said he to Brunel; “I’ll bet you ten pounds you cannot +put it on, properly, the first time.” “I’ll bet ten pounds +against the plaid,” said Brunel. “If I put it on right when +we get out at the next station the plaid is mine; if I miss +I pay you ten pounds.” “Done,” said Stephenson. Brunel +sat silent until the train stopped; then, stepping on the platform, +he asked for the plaid, which was slowly unwound by its +owner and handed over: not to be handed back again, for +Brunel wound it round his own shoulders as if he had always +worn it. He had never tried it before, but, when challenged, +did not like to be beaten, and, at once, set to work to study +the folds of the plaid. “I got the thing pretty clear in my +head before we reached the station, and when I saw him get +out of it I knew I was right, so I put it on at once.”</p> + +<p>Wagers about walking and running are very numerous, +still a few might be mentioned, beginning with Foster +Powell, who, on 29th Nov. 1773, commenced a journey +from London to York and back in six days. He walked +from London to Stamford, 88 miles, on the first day; to +Doncaster, 72 miles, on the second; to York, 37 miles, and +22 miles back to Ferrybridge on the third; to Grantham, +65 miles, on the fourth; to Eaton, 54 miles, on the fifth; +and the final spin of 56 miles on the sixth—making a total +of 394 miles between Monday morning and Saturday night, +and winning a wager of one hundred guineas.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards a reputed centenarian, and, admittedly, a +<i>very</i> aged man, undertook to walk 10 miles on the Hammersmith +Road in 2 hours and 30 minutes, for a wager of ten +guineas, and he accomplished his task in 2 hours 23 minutes.</p> + +<p>Captain Barclay, a famous pedestrian, in the early part of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +the present century, began his exploits at the early age of +fifteen by walking six miles in an hour, fair toe and heel. +His next feat was to walk from Ury, in Kincardineshire, to +Boroughbridge, in Yorkshire, about 300 miles, in five very +hot days. He hazarded the large sum of 5000 guineas, +that he would walk 90 miles in 20 hours 30 minutes, and +he accomplished this arduous task in 19 hours 22 minutes. +But his greatest pedestrian feat was performed in July 1809, +and is thus described in the <i>Annual Register</i>:</p> + +<p>“July 13. <i>Captain Barclay.</i> This gentleman, on Wednesday, +completed his arduous pedestrian undertaking to +walk a thousand miles in a thousand successive hours, at the +rate of a mile in each and every hour. He had until four +o’clock <span class="smcap">P.M.</span> to finish his task, but he performed his last mile +in the quarter of an hour after three, with perfect ease and +great spirit, amidst an immense concourse of spectators. +For the last two days he appeared in higher spirits, and +performed his mile with more ease, and in shorter time, +than he had done for some days past. With the change of +the weather he had thrown off his loose greatcoat, which he +wore during the rainy period, and, on Wednesday, performed +in a flannel jacket. He also put on shoes remarkably +thicker than any which he had used in any previous part of +his performance. When asked how he meant to act after +he had finished his feat, he said he should, that night, take +a good sound sleep, but that he must have himself awaked +twice, or thrice, in the night to avoid the danger of a too +sudden transition from almost constant exertion, to a state +of long repose.</p> + +<p>“One hundred to one, and, indeed, any odds, were offered +on Wednesday morning; but so strong was the confidence +in his success that no bets could be obtained. The multitude +of people who resorted to the scene of action, in the +course of the concluding days, was unprecedented. Not a +bed could be procured, on Tuesday night, at Newmarket, +Cambridge, or any of the towns and villages in the vicinity, +and every horse, and every species of vehicle was engaged.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Captain Barclay had £16,000 depending upon his undertaking. +The aggregate of the bets is supposed to amount +to £100,000.”</p> + +<p>In those days there were sportsmen like Osbaldeston and +Ross, who were ready for any wager. Let the latter tell a +little story.</p> + +<p>“A large party were assembled at Black Hall, in Kincardineshire, +time, the end of July, or beginning of August. +We had all been shooting snipe and flapper-ducks, in a large +morass on the estate called Lumphannon. We had been +wading amongst bulrushes, up to our middles, for seven or +eight hours, and had had a capital dinner. After the ladies +had gone to the drawing room, I fell asleep; and, about +nine o’clock, was awakened by the late Sir Andrew Keith +Hay, who said, ‘Ross, old fellow! I want you to jump up, +and go as my umpire with Lord Kennedy, to Inverness. I +have made a bet of twenty-five hundred pounds a side, that +I get there, on foot, before him!’ Nothing came amiss to +the men of that day. My answer was, ‘All right, I’m +ready’; and off we started, there and then, in morning +costume, with thin shoes and silk stockings on our feet. We +went straight across the mountains, and it was a longish walk. +I called to my servant to follow with my walking shoes and +worsted stockings, and Lord Kennedy did the same. They +overtook us after we had gone seven or eight miles. Fancy +my disgust! My idiot bought me, certainly, worsted +stockings, but, instead of shoes, a pair of tight Wellington +boots! The sole of one boot vanished twenty-five miles +from Inverness, and I had, now, to finish the walk barefooted. +We walked all night, next day, and the next night—raining +in torrents all the way. We crossed the Grampians, +making a perfectly straight line, and got to Inverness at one +<span class="smcap">P.M.</span> We never saw, or heard, anything of Sir A. L. Hay, +(he went by the coach road, viâ Huntly and Elgin, thirty-six +miles further than we, but a good road) who appeared at ten +<span class="smcap">A.M.</span> much cast down at finding he had been beaten.”</p> + +<p>There have been divers wagers about coaching, and also<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +about horses, which have nothing to do with horse racing, +and a few may be chronicled here.</p> + +<p>On 29th August 1750, at seven in the morning, was +decided, at Newmarket, a remarkable wager for 1000 +guineas, laid by Count Taaf against the Earl of March and +Lord Eglinton, who were to provide a four wheeled carriage, +with a man in it, to be drawn by four horses at a speed of +19 miles an hour; which was performed in 53 min. 27 sec. +It was rather an imposing affair. A groom, dressed in +crimson velvet, rode before to clear the way: the boy who +sat in the vehicle was dressed in a white satin jacket, black +velvet cap, and red silk stockings, whilst the four postillions +were clothed in blue satin waistcoats, buckskin breeches, with +white silk stockings, and black velvet caps. The carriage is +thus described: “The pole was small, but lapp’d with fine +wire; the perch had a plate underneath, two cords went on +each side, from the back carriage to the fore carriage, +fastened to springs. The harness was of thin leather, +covered with silk; the seat for the man to sit on, was of +leather straps, and covered with velvet; the boxes of the +wheels were brass, and had tins of oil to drop slowly for an +hour: the breechings for the horses were of whale bone; the +bars were small wood, strengthened with steel springs, as were +most parts of the carriage; but all so light that a man could +carry the whole, with the harness; being but 2 cwt. and a +half.” Two or three other carriages had been made previously, +but had been disapproved of, and several horses had +been killed in trials—costing between £600 and £700.</p> + +<p>In April and finishing on 3rd May 1758, at Newmarket, +Miss Pond, daughter of Mr Pond, the compiler and publisher +of the <i>Racing Calendar</i>, bearing his name, laid a wager of +200 guineas that she could ride 1000 miles in a 1000 hours, +and finished her match in a little more than two-thirds of +the time. At the conclusion, the country people strewed +flowers in her path. It has been said that this feat was performed +on <i>one horse</i>.</p> + +<p>In the beginning of June 1800, a naval officer undertook,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> +for a wager, to ride a blind horse round Sheerness racecourse +without guiding the reins with his hands; this he +performed to the no small amusement of the spectators, by +cutting the reins asunder, and fastening the several parts to +his feet in his stirrups.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the best known match of modern times was one +made at the Ascot meeting of 1888, of £1000 to £500 that +a coach could not be driven to Brighton and back in eight +hours. James Selby, a professional whip, started from the +White Horse Cellar, Piccadilly, punctually at 10 <span class="smcap">A.M.</span> on +July 13, and arrived at Brighton, at the Old Ship, at 1.56 +<span class="smcap">P.M.</span> The coach was turned round and the return journey +instantly started; White Horse Cellar being reached at +5.50 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span>: thus winning the match by ten minutes. Selby +died at the end of the year.</p> + +<p>The betting book of White’s Club, dates from the year +1743—the older book and all the other records of the Club +having been destroyed in the fire of 1743. The following +are some of the wagers therein recorded. The early ones +are principally pitting lives against one another.</p> + +<p><i>Feb. y<sup>e</sup> 3, 1743/4.</i> Lord Montford betts Mr Wardour +twenty Guineas on each, that Mr Shephard outlives Sir Hans +Sloan, the Dutchess Dowager of Marlborough, and Duke of +Somerset.—Voide.</p> + +<p>Mr J<sup>no</sup> Jeffreys betts Mr Stephen Jansen Fifty Guineas, +that thirteen Members of Parliament don’t Die from the first +of Jan<sup>y</sup> 1744/5 to the first of Jan<sup>y</sup> 1745/6 exclusive of +what may be killed in battle.</p> + +<p>Ld Leicester betts Lord Montfort One Hundred Guineas +that Six or more Peers of the British Parliament, including +Catholics, Minors, Bishops, and Sixteen Scotch Lords, shall +Die between the 2 of Decem<sup>r</sup> 1744, and the First of +Decem<sup>r</sup> 1745 inclusive.</p> + +<p><i>16 July 1746.</i> Mr Heath wagers Mr Fanshawe five +guineas that the eldest son of the Pretender is dead, on, or +before this day. To be returned if the Pretender was dead.—pd. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>Nov<sup>r</sup> 28.</p> + +<p><i>Oct<sup>r</sup> 20th 1746.</i> Mr Heath gave Col. Perry Twenty +Pounds, for which Col. Perry is to pay Mr Heath one +hundred pounds if ever he loses more than one hundred +pounds in any four and twenty hours.</p> + +<p><i>Nov<sup>r</sup> y<sup>e</sup> 14, 1746.</i> Mr Fox betts Mr John Jeffreys five +guineas on Number Two against Number One in the present +Lottery.</p> + +<p>Lord Montfort wagers S<sup>r</sup> Wm. Stanhope 20 guineas +that Lady Mary Coke has a child beford Ly Kildare, and +20 guineas more that L<sup>y</sup> Mary Coke has a child before +L<sup>y</sup> Fawkener.</p> + +<p><i>January the 14th, 1747/8.</i> Mr Fanshawe wagers Lord +Dalkeith one guinea, that his peruke is better than his Lordship’s, +to be judged of by the majority of members the next +time they both shall meet.</p> + +<p>These are fair specimens, and, after this date, the bets +begin to be political and personal, and devoid of interest.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<p class="pch">Horse Racing—Early mention—Thirteenth Century—Racing for bells—Racing in +Hyde Park—Newmarket—Oliver Cromwell and Running horses—Charles +II.—James II.—Anne—Her fondness for racing—Sporting in her reign—Epsom—Tregonwell +Frampton—The three Georges—A duel—Turf anecdotes +of the Eighteenth Century.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">But</span> this style of betting is harmless compared to that curse +of the England of our time, betting upon horse racing, which +can be compared to nothing but a social cancer, eating into +the very vitals of the nation; and it is especially a pity that +so noble an animal as the horse should be made the unconscious +medium of such a degrading passion as gambling—still, +the fact exists, and horse racing from its commencement +must be treated in a history of gambling in England.</p> + +<p>Horses must have been introduced into this country at a +very early age, for, when Cæsar invaded Britain, he was +opposed by vast numbers of horsemen, and many centuries +had not elapsed before there was competition, as to speed, +among the animals. William of Malmesbury tells us that +running horses were sent from France by Stugh, the founder +of the house of Capet, as a present to King Athelstan. We +never hear of any races being run, and Fitzstephen, who was +secretary to Sir Thomas à Becket, and lived in the reign of +Henry II., scarcely describes what we should term a horse +race. Speaking of a certain Smoothfield, outside London +(Smithfield), he says:</p> + +<p>“There, every Friday, unless it be one of the more solemn +festivals, is a noted show of well bred horses for sale. The +earls, barons and knights, who are, at the time resident in +the City, as well as most of the Citizens, flock thither, either +to look on, or buy. It is pleasant to see the nags, with their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +sleek and shining coats, smoothly ambling along, raising and +setting down, alternatively, as it were, their feet on either +side: in one part are horses better adapted to esquires; +these, whose pace is rougher, but yet expeditious, lift up and +set down, as it were, the two opposite fore and hind feet +together: in another, the young blood colts not yet accustomed +to the bridle. In a third, are the horses for burden, +strong and stout limbed; and, in a fourth, the more valuable +chargers, of an elegant shape and noble height, with nimbly +moving ears, erect necks, and plump haunches. In the +movement of these, the purchasers observe, first, their easy +pace, and, then, their gallop, which is when their fore feet +are raised from the ground, and set down together, and the +hind ones in like manner alternately. When a race is to be +run by such horses as these, and, perhaps, by others, which, +in like manner, according to their breed, are strong for +carriage and vigorous for the course, the people raise a +shout, and order the common horses to be withdrawn to +another part of the field. The jockeys, who are boys expert +in the management of horses, which they regulate by means +of curb bridles, sometimes by threes, and sometimes by twos, +according as the match is made, prepare themselves for the +Contest. Their chief aim is to prevent a competitor getting +before them. The horses, too, after their manner, are eager +for the race; their limbs tremble, and, impatient of delay, +they cannot stand still; upon the signal being given, they +stretch out their limbs, hurry over the course, and are borne +along with unremitting speed. The riders, inspired with the +love of praise, and the hope of victory, clap spurs to their +flying horses, lashing them with their whips, and inciting +them with their shouts.”</p> + +<p>In a metrical romance of the thirteenth century, “Syr +Beuys of Hampton,” printed by W. Copland in 1550, there +is mention of a race</p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“In somer in whitsontyde<br /> +whan knights most on horsbacke ride<br /> +a cours let they make on a daye<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>Stedes and palfraye for to assaye<br /> +whiche horse that best may ren<br /> +thre myles the cours was then<br /> +who that might ryd should<br /> +have £ LI. of redy golde.”</p> + +<p class="p1">Edward III. bought some running horses at £13, 6s. 8d. +each; and in the ninth year of his reign the King of Navarre +made him a present of two running horses. Still, very little +is heard of race horses until the time of Elizabeth and James +I. Bishop Hall, of Exeter and Norwich, in one of his Satires, +writes:</p> + +<p class="ppn10 p1">“Dost thou prize</p> +<p class="ppn4">Thy brute beasts’ worth by their dam’s qualities?<br /> +Say’st thou, this colt shall prove a swift-paced steed,<br /> +Only because a jennet did him breed?<br /> +Or say’st thou, this same horse shall win the prize,<br /> +Because his dam was swiftest Trunchifice,<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a><br /> +Or Runcevall his syre; himself a galloway?<br /> +While, like a tireling jade, he lags half way.”</p> + +<p class="p1">In 1599, private matches by gentlemen, who were their +own riders, were very common, and, in the reign of James I., +public races were established at various places, where the +discipline and mode of preparing the horses for running, etc., +were much the same as they are now. The most celebrated +races of that time were called the “Bell Courses,” the prize +of the winner being a bell—hence the saying of “to bear the +bell”; and a tradition of it still remains in the couplet with +which children’s races are started.</p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“Bell horses! Bell horses! what time of day?<br /> +One o’clock, two o’clock, three, and away!”</p> + +<p class="p1">Perhaps the oldest record that we have of these silver +bells is those of Paisley, which date from 1620, or 1608, as +on that date there is an entry in the town books showing +the purchase of a silver bell. The silver bells are now run +for, but there are 100 guineas attached to them. Silver<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> +bells were also run for in this reign, at Gatherly, in Yorkshire, +Croydon, Chester, and Theobalds, the King’s hunting +lodge. Mr J. C. Whyte, in his <i>History of the British Turf</i>, +says that in Harl. MS. 2150, fol. 235, is an account of a +ceremony performed with the race for a bell at Chester, in +the presence of the Mayor, at the Cross, in the Rodhi, or +Roody, an open place near the City. I have examined the +MS. but cannot find the passage, so extract from his work +the following:</p> + +<p>“A silver bell, valued at about three shillings and sixpence, +placed on the point of a lance, shall be given to +him, who shall run the best and furthest on horseback before +them on Shrove Tuesday. These bells went by the name +of St George’s bells, and the younger Randel Holme tells us +that, in the last year of this reign (1624) John Brereton, +innkeeper, Mayor of Chester, first caused the horses entered +for this race, then called St George’s Race, to start from the +point beyond the new Tower, and appointed them to run +five times round the Roody; and, he continues, he, who won +the last course, or trayne, received the bell, of a good value, +£8 or £10, and to have it for ever, which moneyes were +collected of the citizens for that purpose. By the use of the +term, for ever, it would appear that the bell had been used, +formerly, as a mark of temporary distinction only, by the +successful horsemen, and, afterwards, returned to the Corporation.”</p> + +<p>On fol. 354 of this MS. we find “What y<sup>e</sup> companys +gave toward S. George’s Rase for the contynuance of a bell +or cup.” To this there is no date, but it amounted to +£36, 8s. 4d. The 3s. 6d. silver bell was substituted for a +wooden ball, which used to be raced for, as a prize, in the +31st year of King Henry VIII.</p> + +<p>We see how simple, and for what small prizes they ran in +the early days of horse racing in England—it is sad to record +that betting, almost immediately, attended the popularity of +the sport. This we see in Shirley’s play of <i>Hide Parke</i>, +acted at Drury Lane in 1637.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></p> + +<p class="pc1">“<i>Confused noyse of betting within, after that a shoute.</i></p> + +<p><i>Mistress Caroll.</i> They are started.</p> + +<p class="pc"><i>Enter Bonvile, Rider, Bonavent, Tryer, Fairefield.</i></p> + +<p class="pn"><i>Rider.</i> Twenty pounds to fifteene.<br /> +<i>Lord Bonvile.</i> ‘Tis done we’e.<br /> +<i>Fairefield.</i> Forty pounds to thirty.<br /> +<i>Lord Bonvile.</i> Done, done. Ile take all oddes.<br /> +<i>Tryer.</i> My Lord, I hold as much.<br /> +<i>Lord Bonvile.</i> Not so.<br /> +<i>Tryer.</i> Forty pounds to twenty.<br /> +<i>Lord Bonvile.</i> Done, done.<br /> +<i>Mistress Bonavent.</i> You ha lost all, my Lord, and it were a Million.<br /> +<i>Lord Bonvile.</i> In your imagination, who can helpe it?<br /> +<i>Mistress Bonavent.</i> <i>Venture</i> hath the start and keepes it.<br /> +<i>Lord Bonvile.</i> Gentlemen, you have a fine time to triumph,<br /> +<span class="vh">–—————</span>‘Tis not your oddes that makes you win.<br /> +<span class="vh">–——————</span><i>Within.</i> Venture! Venture!</p> +<p class="pr4">[<i>Exeunt Men.</i></p> +<p class="pdr"><i>Julietta.</i> Shall we venture nothing o’ th’ horses?<br /> +What oddes against my Lord?</p> +<p class="pdr"><i>Mistress Caroll.</i> Silke stockings.</p> +<p class="pdr"><i>Julietta.</i> To a paire of perfum’d gloves I take it.</p> +<p class="pdr"><i>Mistress Caroll.</i> Done!</p> +<p class="pdr"><i>Mistress Bonavent.</i> And I as much.</p> +<p class="pdr"><i>Julietta.</i> Done with you both.</p> +<p class="pdr"><i>Mistress Caroll.</i> Ile have ‘em Spanish sent.</p> +<p class="pdr"><i>Julietta.</i> The Stockings shal be Scarlet: if you choose<br /> +Your sent, Ile choose my colour.</p> +<p class="pdr"><i>Mistress Caroll.</i> ‘Tis done; if <i>Venture</i><br /> +Knew but my lay, it would halfe breake his necke now,<br /> +And crying a <i>Jockey</i> hay.</p> +<p class="pr4">[<i>A shoute within.</i></p> +<p class="pdr"><i>Julietta.</i> Is the wind in that coast? harke the noyse.<br /> +Is <i>Jockey</i> now?</p> +<p class="pdr"><i>Mistress Caroll.</i> ‘Tis but a paire of gloves.</p> +<p class="pr4">[<i>Enter my Lord.</i></p> +<p class="pdr"><i>Julietta.</i> Still it holds.<br /> +How ha you sped, my Lord?</p> +<p class="pdr"><i>Lord Bonvile.</i> Won! won! I knew by instinct,<br /> +The mare would put some tricke upon him.</p> +<p class="pdr"><i>Mistress Bonavent.</i> Then we ha lost; but, good my Lord, the circumstance.</p> +<p class="pdr"><i>Lord Bonvile.</i> Great <i>John</i> at all adventure, and grave <i>Jockey</i><br /> +Mounted their severall Mares, I sha’ not tell<br /> +The story out for laughing, ha! ha! ha!<br /> +But this in briefe, <i>Jockey</i> was left behind,<br /> +The pitty and the scorne of all the oddes,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>Plaid ‘bout my eares like Cannon, but lesse dangerous.<br /> +I tooke all, still; the acclamation was<br /> +For <i>Venture</i>, whose disdainefull Mare threw durt<br /> +In my old <i>Jockey’s</i> face, all hopes forsaking us;<br /> +Two hundred pieces desperate, and two thousand<br /> +Oathes sent after them; upon the suddaine,<br /> +When we expected no such tricke, we saw<br /> +My rider, that was domineering ripe,<br /> +Vault ore his Mare into a tender slough.<br /> +Where he was much beholding to one shoulder,<br /> +For saving of his necke, his beast recovered,<br /> +And he, by this time, somewhat mortified,<br /> +Besides mortified, hath left the triumph<br /> +To his Olympick Adversary, who shall<br /> +Ride hither in full pompe on his <i>Bucephalus</i>,<br /> +With his victorious bagpipe.”</p> + +<p class="p1">Newmarket, hitherto, a royal hunting place, was made +into a race course in 1640, and we get a peep of what it +was like in an old ballad (said to be of about this time) +called “Newmarket,” published by D’Urfey, in his <i>Pills to +purge Melancholy</i>.</p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“Let cullies that lose at a race,<br /> +Go venture at hazard to win,<br /> +Or he, that is bubbl’d at dice,<br /> +Recover at cocking again.<br /> +Let jades that are foundered, be brought;<br /> +Let jockeys play crimp to make sport;<br /> +Another makes racing a trade,<br /> +And dreams of his projects to come,<br /> +And many a crimp match has made<br /> +By bubbing<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> another man’s groom.”</p> + +<p class="p1">Oliver Cromwell kept “running horses,” but there is no +mention of his having used them in racing: It is more +probable that he bred from them. With the Restoration, +horse racing was revived, and was much encouraged by +Charles II. who appointed races for his own amusement +at Datchet Mead, when he resided at Windsor. Newmarket, +however, became the principal locality for this sport, and the +round course was made in 1666. The King attended the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +races in person, established a house for his own accommodation, +and kept and entered horses in his own name. Instead +of bells, he gave a silver bowl or cup, value 100 guineas, on +which prize the exploits and pedigree of the successful horse +were generally engraved.</p> + +<p>The times of James II. were too troubled for him to +amuse himself with horse racing, and William III. had no +leisure for the sport, although he added to the plates, and +founded an academy for riding, but, under Anne, the turf +was again under royal patronage.</p> + +<p>The Queen was fond of racing, and gave £100 gold cups +to be raced for; nay, more, she not only kept race horses, +but ran them in her own name. Her six year old grey +gelding Pepper, ran for her gold cup, at York (over Clifton +and Rawcliffe Ing’s), on July 28, 1712. Over the same +course, and for the same stake, on Aug. 3, 1714, ran her +grey horse Mustard, which in 1714 was entered to run in +Whitsun Week, at Guildford, in Surrey, for the £50 plate; +and, sad to tell, her brown horse Star, ran at York, for a +plate value £14, and won it, on July 30, 1714, the very +day on which the Queen was struck with apoplexy, expiring +the next day.</p> + +<p>She paid a visit to Newmarket, in April 1705, going to +Cambridge once or twice during her stay. Narcissus Luttrell +tells us: “Aprill 26, 1705. The queen has ordered +her house at Newmarket to be rebuilt, and gave a thousand +pounds towards paving the town; and bought a running +horse of Mr Holloway, which cost a 1000 guineas, and +gave it to the Prince.” Prince George of Denmark shared +his royal consort’s love of horse racing, and gave, at least, +two gold plates to be raced for, worth 100 guineas each. +This seems to have been a very horsey year for the Queen, +for Luttrell tells us that “the queen has appointed horse +races to be at Datchet, after her return from Winchester to +Windsor.”</p> + +<p>A few racing mems of this time will illustrate to what an +extent the passion for the turf was carried. 1702: “They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +write from Newmarket, That the Lord Godolphin’s and +Mr Harvy’s Horses ran for £3000. His Lordship won: +As, also, the Earl of Argile, and the Duke of Devonshire’s; +the latter’s Horse won, by which Mr Pheasant got +a considerable sum.” 1703: “The great horse race at +Newmarket, run for 1000 guineas between the Lord Treasurer +and the Duke of Argyle, was won by the latter.” +Perhaps the earliest Sporting Paper is “News from <i>Newmarket</i>, +or, An Account of the Horses Match’d to Run +there in <i>March</i>, <i>April</i>, and May, 1704. The Weight, +Miles, Wagers and Forfeits. Printed for <i>John Nutt</i> near +Stationer’s Hall, price 2d.” 1707: “Last Monday was +a horse race at Newmarket, between Lord Granby’s Grantham, +and Mr Young’s Blundel, for £3000—the latter +won.” On April 10, 1708, at Newmarket, the Duke of +Bedford’s bay horse (9 stone) had a match with Mr Minchall’s +bay colt (8-1/2 stone) for 1000 guineas, but there is no +record of which won. These were the highest stakes mentioned +during the reign: they were, generally, for 200 or +300 guineas.</p> + +<p>The first mention I can find of Epsom Races, is in this +reign, and is in the <i>London Gazette</i>, April and May 26/3, +1703, when three small plates were to be run for, of £30, +£10 and £5 value. On May 25, 1704, there was only +one to be competed for, and that for £20. They had very +early “Epsom Spring Meetings”; for, in the <i>Daily Courant</i>, +Feb. 15, 1709, it says: “On Epsom Downes, in Surrey, on +the first Monday after the Frost, a plate of £20 will be run +for,” &c. Races on these downs have been held continuously +since 1730.</p> + +<p>The most famous sporting man of his time was Tregonwell +Frampton, Esq. of Moreton, Dorsetshire, “The +Father of the Turf,” who was keeper of her Majesty’s +running horses at Newmarket—a post which he had filled +in the time of William III., and which he continued to hold +under Georges I. and II. He is described as being “the +oldest, and as they say, the cunningest jockey in England:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> +one day he lost 1000 guineas, the next he won 2000, and +so, alternately. He made as light of throwing away £500 or +£1000, at a time, as other men do of their pocket money, +and was perfectly calm, cheerful and unconcerned when he +lost a thousand pounds, as when he won it.”</p> + +<p>George I. is said to have been at Newmarket in 1716, +1717, and 1718, but neither he nor his successor cared for +horse racing, although they still kept “running horses.” +George III. used to attend Ascot Races, and his uncle the +“butcher,” Duke of Cumberland, was a great patron of the +turf, and was the breeder of the celebrated horse Eclipse. +As Walpole says of him, 29th Dec. 1763: “The beginning +of October, one is certain that everybody will be at Newmarket, +and the Duke of Cumberland will lose, and Shafto<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> +win, two or three thousand pounds.” It was about this +time that the betting ring started, and roguery was not +uncommon, as we may see by the following:</p> + +<p>At the Kingston Lent Assizes, 1767, a case was tried +between an unnamed gentleman, as plaintiff, and Mr Wm. +Courtney, defendant; the action was upon a wager of 100 +guineas, which was reduced to writing, that plaintiff procured +three horses that should go ninety miles in three hours, +which defendant laid he did not. The plaintiff proved his +case very well; but, it appearing to the court and jury that +it was an unfair bet, the jury gave a verdict for the +defendant. It seems that the way in which the plaintiff performed +his undertaking, was by starting all the three horses +together, so that they had but thirty miles apiece to run in +the three hours, which, of course, was easily done.</p> + +<p>In chronological order comes a story of a duel in which +the notorious black leg, Dick England, was concerned.</p> + +<p>“Mr Richard England was put to the Bar, at the Old +Bailey (1796) charged with the ‘wilful murder’ of Mr +Rowlls, brewer, of Kingston, in a duel at Crauford Bridge, +June 18, 1784.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Lord Derby, the first witness, gave evidence that he was +present at Ascot races. When in the stand upon the race +course, he heard Mr England cautioning the gentlemen +present not to bet with the deceased, as he neither paid +what he lost, nor what he borrowed. On which Mr Rowlls +went up to him, called him rascal, or scoundrel, and offered +to strike him; when Mr England bid him stand off, or he +would be obliged to knock him down; saying, at the +same time—‘We have interrupted the company sufficiently +here, and, if you have anything further to say to me, +you know where I am to be found.’ A further altercation +ensued; but his Lordship, being at the other end +of the stand, did not distinctly hear it, and, then, the parties +retired.</p> + +<p>“Lord Dartrey, afterwards Lord Cremorne, and his lady, +with a gentleman, were at the inn at the time when the duel +was fought. They went into the garden, and endeavoured +to prevent the duel; Mr Rowlls desired his Lordship and +others not to interfere; and, on a second attempt of his +Lordship to make peace, Mr Rowlls said, if they did not +retire, he must, though reluctantly, call them impertinent. +Mr England, at the same time, stepped forward, and took off +his hat; he said—‘Gentlemen, I have been cruelly treated; +I have been injured in my honour and character; let reparation +be made, and I am ready to have done this moment.’ +Lady Dartrey retired. His Lordship stood in the bower of +the garden until he saw Mr Rowlls fall. One, or two, witnesses +were called, who proved nothing material. A paper, +containing the prisoner’s defence, being read, <i>the Earl of +Derby</i>, <i>the Marquis of Hertford</i>, <i>Mr Whitbread, jun.</i>, <i>Col. +Bishopp, and other gentlemen</i>, were called to his character. +They all spoke of him as a man of <i>decent, gentlemanly +deportment</i>, who, instead of seeking quarrels, was studious +to avoid them. He had been friendly to Englishmen while +abroad, and had rendered some service to the military at the +siege of Newport.</p> + +<p>“Mr Justice Rooke summed up the evidence; after which,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> +the jury retired for about three-quarters of an hour, when +they returned a verdict of <i>Manslaughter</i>.</p> + +<p>“The prisoner, having fled from the laws of his country +for twelve years, the Court was disposed to show no lenity. +He was, therefore, sentenced to pay a fine of one shilling, +and be imprisoned in Newgate for twelve months.”</p> + +<p>We have a terrible instance in a man, otherwise amiable +in all relations of life, of the infatuation for the Turf. Lord +Foley, who died July 2, 1793, entered upon the Turf with +an estate of £18,000 a year, and £100,000 ready money. +He left it with a ruined constitution, an incumbered estate, +and not a shilling of ready money!</p> + +<p>Here are three paragraphs from the <i>Times</i> about this date +relative to racing:</p> + +<p><i>17th April 1794.</i> “Poor <i>Newmarket</i> is completely done +up! The Spring meeting boasts so few bets in the calendar +of gambling, that the chance will not pay post chaise hire to +the black legs. Thus falls the destructive sport of the Turf—and, +as that is the case, it would do honour to his Majesty +to change the <i>Kings Plates</i> into rewards for the <i>improvement +of Agriculture</i>.” This suggestion has been carried out +in the present reign.</p> + +<p><i>25th May 1795.</i> “The Duke of Queensberry was a +principal loser at Epsom Races. The noble Duke had his +vis-a-vis, and six horses, driving about the course, with two +very pretty <i>emigrées</i> in it. The Duke was in his cabriolet. +The Duke of Bedford, Lords Egremont and Derby were, +also, on the course. Several carriages were broken to pieces; +and one Lady had her arm broken.</p> + +<p>“There was much private business done in the <i>swindling +way</i> at the last Epsom Races. One black legged fellow +cleared near a thousand pounds by the old trick of an E.O. +Table. Another had a <i>faro table</i>, and was on the eve of +<i>doing business</i>, when he was detected with a <i>palmed card</i>: +almost the whole of what may be justly styled the ‘vagabond +gamblers’ of London were present.</p> + +<p>“Mr Bowes, half brother of the Earl of Strathmore, was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> +robbed of a gold watch, and a purse containing 30 guineas, +at Epsom races, on Thursday last. Many other persons +shared a similar fate, both on the same evening, and Friday. +Upwards of 30 carriages were robbed, coming from the +races.”</p> + +<p><i>8th Sep. 1797.</i> “Never, since <i>racing</i> was patronised by +the <i>Merry Monarch</i>, has the Turf been so much on the +decline as at this period. His Grace of Bedford is the only +person who retains a considerable stud. Lord Grosvenor +has disposed of nearly the whole of his, with the reserve of +two, or three, capital horses, and some few brood mares.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<p class="pch">Match between Mrs Thornton and Mr Flint—Its sequel—Daniel Dawson poisons +horses—Origin of Bookmaking—Turf frauds—The “Ludlow” scandal—The +“Plenipo” fraud—Reports of Select Committee on Gaming, 1844.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">The</span> singular contest which took place between Mrs Thornton<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> +and Mr Flint in 1804 was the talk of its time. An +intimacy existed between the families of Col. Thornton and +Mr Flint, the two ladies being sisters. In the course of one +of their rides in Thornville Park, the lady of Colonel Thornton +and Mr Flint were conversing on the qualities of their +respective horses; the difference of opinion was great, and +the horses were occasionally put at full speed for the purpose +of ascertaining the point in question; old Vingarillo, +on whom the lady rode, distancing his antagonist every time. +Which so discomforted Mr Flint, that he was induced to +challenge the lady to ride on a future day. The challenge +was readily accepted, and it was agreed that the race should +take place on the last day of the York August meeting +1804. This curious match was announced in the following +manner:—</p> + +<p>“A match for 500 gs., and 1000 gs. bye—four miles—between +Colonel Thornton’s Vingarillo and Mr Flint’s br. h. +Thornville by Volunteer—Mrs Thornton to ride her weight +against Mr Flint’s.”</p> + +<p>On Sunday, August the 25th, this race took place, and +the following description of it appeared in the <i>York +Herald</i>:—</p> + +<p>“Never did we witness such an assemblage of people as +were drawn together on the above occasion—100,000, at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> +least. Nearly ten times the number appeared on Knavesmire +than did on the day when Bay Malton ran, or when +Eclipse went over the course, leaving the two best horses of +the day a mile and a half behind. Indeed, expectation was +raised to the highest pitch, from the novelty of the match. +Thousands from every part of the surrounding country +thronged to the ground. In order to keep the course as +clear as possible, several additional people were employed; +and, much to the credit of the 6th Light Dragoons, a party +of them, also, were on the ground on horseback, for the purpose, +and which, unquestionably, was the cause of many +lives being saved.</p> + +<p>“About four o’clock, Mrs Thornton appeared on the +ground, full of spirit, her horse led by Colonel Thornton, +and followed by two gentlemen; afterwards appeared Mr +Flint. They started a little past four o’clock. The lady +took the lead for upwards of three miles, in most capital +style: her horse, however, had much the shorter stroke of +the two. When within a mile of being home, Mr Flint +pushed forward, and got the lead, which he kept. Mrs +Thornton used every exertion; but, finding it impossible to +win the race, she drew up, in a sportsmanlike style, when +within about two distances.</p> + +<p>“At the commencement of the running, bets were 5 and +6 to 4 on the lady; in running the first three miles 7 to 4 +and 2 to 1 in her favour. Indeed, the oldest sportsman on +the stand thought she must have won. In running the last +mile the odds were in favour of Mr Flint. Never, surely, +did a woman ride in better style. It was difficult to say +whether her horsemanship, her dress, or her beauty, were +most admired—the <i>tout ensemble</i> was <i>unique</i>. Her dress +was a leopard-coloured body, with blue sleeves, the rest buff +and blue cap. Mr Flint rode in white. The race was run +in nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds.</p> + +<p>“Thus ended the most interesting race ever ran upon +Knavesmire. No words could express the disappointment +felt at the defeat of Mrs Thornton. The spirit she displayed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> +and the good humour with which she bore her loss, +greatly diminished the joy, even of the winners.”</p> + +<p>This exhibition of herself seems to have fired her ambition, +for we read in the <i>Morning Post</i>, Aug. 20, 1805:</p> + +<p>“Mrs Thornton is to ride 9 st. against Mr Bromford, who +is to ride 13 st. over the York Course, four miles; to run +the last race on Saturday in the next August meeting, for +four hogsheads of Coti Roti p.p. and 2000 guineas h. ft.; +and Mrs T. bets Mr B. 700 gs. to 600 gs. p.p.; the 2000 +gs. h. ft. provided it is declared to the Stewards four days +before starting, Mrs T. to have the choice of four horses.</p> + +<p>“Mr B. to ride Allegro, sister to Allegranti.</p> + +<p>“<i>N.B.</i>, Colonel T., or any gentleman he may name, to be +permitted to follow the lady over the course, to assist her in +case of any accident.”</p> + +<p>But, on the eventful 24th Aug., for some reason or other, +Mr Bromford declined the race, paid forfeit, and the lady +cantered over the course. Later in the day she really had +a race, which is thus described in the <i>Annual Register</i>:</p> + +<p>“Afterwards commenced a match, in which the above +lady was to ride two miles against Mr Buckle, the jockey, +well known at Newmarket, and other places of sport, as a +rider of the first celebrity. Mrs Thornton appeared dressed +for the contest in a purple cap and waistcoat, nankeen +coloured skirts, purple shoes and embroidered stockings; +she was in high health and spirits, and seemed eager for the +decision of the match. Mr Buckle was dressed in a blue +cap, with a blue bodied jacket, and white sleeves. Mrs +Thornton carried 9 st. 6 lb., Mr Buckle 13 st. 6 lbs. At +half-past three they started. Mrs Thornton took the lead, +which she kept for some time; Mr Buckle then put in trial +his jockeyship, and passed the lady, which he kept for only +a few lengths, when Mrs Thornton, by the most excellent +horsemanship, pushed forward, and came in, in a style far +superior to anything of the kind we ever witnessed, gaining +her race by half a neck; and, on her winning, she was hailed +with the most reiterated shouts of congratulation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span></p> + +<p>“A sad disturbance took place, in the stand, in the afternoon, +in consequence of a dispute between Mr Flint (who +rode against Mrs Thornton last year) and Colonel Thornton, +respecting £1000. Mr Flint had posted the Colonel on +Thursday, and the Colonel recriminated on Friday. This +day, Mr Flint came to the stand with a new horse whip, +which he applied to the Colonel’s shoulders with great +activity, in the presence of a crowd of ladies. All the +gentlemen in the place, indignant at this gross and violent +outrage, hissed and hooted him. He was arrested by order +of the Lord Mayor and several magistrates, who were present, +and given into custody of the City runners, until he +can find bail, himself in £1000, and two sureties in £500 +each. Colonel Thornton is also bound over to prosecute the +party for the assault.”</p> + +<p>The sequel to this story is told in the same Magazine, 5th +Feb. 1806. “In the Court of King’s Bench, an application +was made on behalf of Colonel Thornton, for leave to file a +criminal information against Mr Flint, for challenging him +to fight a duel, and horse-whipping him on the race ground +at York last summer, &c. The quarrel arose out of a bet of +1500 guineas which Mr Flint claims to have won of Colonel +Thornton by the race he rode against Mrs Thornton, whose +bets were adopted by her husband. Whereas Colonel +Thornton maintains that, of the bet alluded to, £1000 was +a mere nominal thing, intended to attract company to the +race, and that nothing more than 500 guineas were seriously +intended by the parties. After a full hearing of the whole +case, Lord Ellenborough was of opinion, that the case before +the Court was one in which their Lordships ought not to +interpose with its extraordinary power. On the contrary, +he conceived it would be degrading its process to interfere +in favour of such parties in such a cause. Colonel Thornton +had chosen to appeal to the Jockey Club, and should have +abided by their decision. He had, however, not found them +exactly fitting his notion of justice; and, therefore, for every +thing that had happened since, he must have recourse to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> +ordinary mode of obtaining redress, namely, by preferring a +Bill of Indictment at the Sessions of the County. The other +judges being of the same opinion, the rule was discharged.” +Flint afterwards became very poor, and was manager at a +horse bazaar at York, where he met with his end, according +to the Coroner’s jury’s verdict—“Died from taking too large +a dose of prussic acid as a medicine.”</p> + +<p>We now come to a piece of rascality on the turf, which +ended in a man being hanged. The first heard about it is +reported in the <i>Annual Register</i>, 6th May 1811. “An +occurrence has taken place at Newmarket, which is the subject +of general consternation and surprise among the frequenters +of the Turf. Several horses were entered for the +Claret Stakes, and, as usual, were taken out in the morning +for exercise. They all drank, as we understand, at one water +trough. Some time after they had been watered, six of +them were observed to stagger, and then to roll about in the +greatest agony. One is since dead. On examining the +watering trough, it was found that the water had been +poisoned. The horses were the property of Mr Sitwell, Sir +F. Standish, and Lord Kinnaird. Suspicion has attached +upon one of the jockies.”</p> + +<p><i>22nd July, 1812.</i> “Daniel Dawson was arraigned at the +Cambridge Assizes, on an indictment, with numerous counts, +viz., for poisoning a horse belonging to Mr Adams, of +Royston, Herts, and a blood mare belonging to Mr Northey, +at Newmarket, in 1809; and, also, for poisoning a horse +belonging to Sir F. Standish, and another belonging to +Lord Foley in 1811, at the same place. He was tried and +convicted on the first case only.</p> + +<p>“The principal witness was Cecil Bishop, an accomplice +with the prisoner. He had been, for some time, acquainted +with Dawson, and on application to him, had furnished him +with corrosive sublimate to sicken horses. He went on to +prove that Dawson and he had become progressively acquainted; +and, that, on the prisoner complaining that the +stuff was not strong enough, he prepared him a solution of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> +arsenic. Witness described this as not offensive in smell; +the prisoner having informed him that the horses had thrown +up their heads, and refused to partake of the water into +which the corrosive sublimate had been infused. The +prisoner complained that the stuff was not strong enough; +and, on being informed that if it was made strong it would +kill the horses, he replied that he did not mind that; the +Newmarket frequenters were rogues, and if he (meaning +witness) had a fortune to lose they would plunder him of it. +The prisoner afterwards informed witness he used the stuff, +which was then strong enough, as it had killed a hackney +and two brood mares.</p> + +<p>“Mrs Tillbrook, a housekeeper at Newmarket, where +the prisoner lodged, proved having found a bottle of liquid +concealed under Dawson’s bed, previous to the horses having +been poisoned; and that Dawson was out late on the +Saturday and Sunday evenings previous to that event, which +took place on the Monday. After Dawson had left the +house, she found the bottle, which she identified as having +contained the said liquid, and which a chemist proved to +have contained poison. Witness also proved that Dawson +had cautioned her that he had poison in the house for some +dogs, lest anyone should have the curiosity to taste it. +Other witnesses proved a chain of circumstances which left +no doubt of the prisoner’s guilt.</p> + +<p>“Mr King, for the prisoner, took a legal objection that no +criminal offence had been committed, and that the subject +was a matter of trespass. He contended that the indictment +must fail, as it was necessary to prove that the +prisoner had malice against the owner of the horse, to +impoverish him, and not against the animal. He also +contended that the object of the prisoner was to injure and +not to kill. The objections was overruled without reply, +and the prisoner was convicted.</p> + +<p>“The judge pronounced sentence of death on the prisoner, +and informed him, in strong language, he could not expect +mercy to be extended to him:” and the man was duly hanged.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p> + +<p>Another gruesome episode of the Turf was the suicide of +Mr Roger Brograve early in June 1813, owing to losses by +betting. He was the brother of Sir George Brograve, and +had been a captain in the 2nd Dragoons, and for some years +had betted heavily. Originally, he had a competent, if not +a splendid fortune, but, at the previous Newmarket meeting, +he had lost heavily, and he was known to have lost £10,000 +on the Derby. This he could not meet, and he shot himself. +Hundreds of similar cases might be given, but this +one must serve as an example. That large sums were +wagered and lost and won at this time we may learn from +the fact that in 1816 no less a sum than £300,000 is said +to have been paid and received at Tattersall’s in the betting +settlement on that year’s Epsom races.</p> + +<p>Of the origin of bookmaking, Mr Dixon (The Druid) has +written so well in <i>The Post and the Paddock</i>, that I cannot +do better than copy him <i>verbatim</i>:</p> + +<p>“Betting between one and the field was the fashion +which Turf speculation assumed in the days of powder and +periwigs, and Ogden (the only betting man who was ever +admitted to the Club at Newmarket), Davies, Holland, +Deavden, Kettle, Bickham, and Watts, ruled on the Turf +‘Change. With Jem Bland, Jerry Cloves, Myers (an ex-butler), +Richard (the Leicester Stockinger), Mat Milton, +Tommy Swan of Bedale (who never took or laid but one +bet on a Sunday), Highton, Holliday, Gully, Justice, Crockford, +Briscoe, Crutch Robinson, Ridsdale, Frank Richardson, +and Bob Steward, etc., the art of bookmaking arose, and, +henceforward, what had been more of a pastime among +owners, who would back their horses for a rattler when the +humour took them, and not shrink from having £5000 to +£6000 on a single match, degenerated into a science. All +the above, with the exception of two, have passed away, +like the Mastodons, never to return. Nature must have +broken the mould in which she formed the crafty Robinson, +as he leant on his crutch, with his back against the outer +wall of the Newmarket Betting Rooms, and, with his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> +knowing, quiet leer, and one hand in his pocket, offered +to ‘lay agin Plenipo.’</p> + +<p>“The two Blands, Joe and ‘Facetious Jemmy,’ were +equally odd hands. Epsom had fired up the latter’s desire +to come on to the turf, and he descended from his coachman’s +box at Hedley for that purpose, and sported his ‘noble +lord’ hat, white cords, deep bass voice, and vulgar dialect, +on it, for the first time, about 1812. He did not trouble it +much after he had ‘dropped his sugar’ on Shillelah, though +that <i>contretemps</i> did not completely knock him out of time. +His acute rough expressions, such as ‘<i>never coomed anigh</i>,’ +and so on, as well as his long nose, and white, flabby cheeks, +made him a man of mark, even before he got enough, by +laying all round, to set up a mansion in Piccadilly. Joe, his +brother, had, originally, been a post boy, and rose from +thence to be a stable keeper in Great Wardour Street; but, +the great hit of his life was his successful farming of turnpike +gates, at which he was supposed to have made about +£25,000. ‘Ludlow Bond’ was not so coarse in his style as +this <i>par nobile</i>, but ambitious and vain to the last degree. +It was the knowledge of this latter quality, on the part of +Ludlow’s real owners, ‘the Yorkshire Blacksmith & Co.,’ +which induced them to put him forward as the ostensible +owner of the horse, as no one would back a horse which was +known to be theirs. Bond liked the notoriety which this +nominal ownership conferred on him, and was, no doubt, a +mere puppet, without exactly knowing who pulled the +strings. Discreditable as the affair was, he always gloried +in it; in fact he was so determined not to let the memory +of it die out, that he christened a yearling which he bought +from the Duke of Grafton, ‘Ludlow Junior.’ At times he +appeared on the heath on a grey hack, and went by the nickname +of ‘<i>Death on the Pale Horse</i>’ and, shortly after the +Doncaster outburst, he came on in a handsome travelling +carriage, with two servants in livery in the rumble.</p> + +<p>“Mr Gully, although he did great execution at the Corner +in Andover’s year, may be styled a mere fancy bettor now,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> +and, as a judge of racing and the points of a horse combined, +he has scarcely a peer among his own, or the younger +generation of turfites. His fame at the Corner was at its +zenith a quarter of a century ago, when he was a betting +partner with Ridsdale. Rumour averred that they won +£35,000 on Margrave for the St Leger (1832), and £50,000 +on St Giles for the Derby; and it was in consequence of a +dispute as to the Margrave winnings, that the Siamese link +between them was so abruptly dissolved. Their joint books +also showed a balance of £80,000 if Red Rover could only +have brought Priam to grief for the Derby. There was a +joke too, soon after this time, that Mr Gully and his friend +Justice descended on to Cheltenham, and so completely +cleaned out the local ring there, that the two did not even +think it worth while stopping for the second race day. One +of the lesser lights was found wandering moodily about the +ring on that day, and remarked to a sympathiser that he was +‘looking for the few half crowns that Gully and Justice had +condescended to leave.’”</p> + +<p>In the second quarter of this century the Turf was getting +in a scandalous condition. A fair race was hardly known +for the St Leger, and, in 1827, Mameluke was got rid of by +a series of false starts. In 1832 was the Ludlow scandal, +just alluded to. This horse was the property of a man +named Beardsworth, who was such a rogue that no one +would bet on or against his horse, so it was apparently purchased +by Ephraim Bond, the keeper of a gambling house, +called the Athenæum Club, in St James’s Street. In reality +it was owned by four people, Beardsworth, Bond and his +brother, and a mysterious fourth party, whose name was not +divulged. Ludlow was beaten by Margrave, a horse owned +by Gully, the ex-prize fighter, who boldly accused Squire +Osbaldistone of being the unknown fourth owner of Ludlow. +The consequence was a duel, in which both combatants had +very narrow escapes; Gully especially, for his opponent’s +bullet went through his hat and ploughed a furrow in his +hair.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> + +<p>In 1834 Plenipotentiary, or as it was called for brevity, +Plenipo, the favourite for the St Leger, was undoubtedly +“nobbled,” either by his owner, Batson, or his trainer, George +Paine, either of which were capable of any dishonourable +conduct.</p> + +<p>There were, afterwards, many minor Turf scandals, but +they culminated in the Derby of 1844 which is known as +Running Rein’s Derby, which ran as a three-year-old, being +in reality four years. As this fraud was the subject of an +action, its story may be well told in the following synopsis of +the trial.</p> + +<p class="pc mid"><span class="smcap">In the Exchequer.</span></p> + +<p class="pc lmid"><i>July 1.</i></p> + +<p class="pc lmid"><i>Before Mr Baron Alderson.</i></p> + +<p class="pc lmid"><span class="smcap">Wood</span> <i>v.</i> <span class="smcap">Peel</span>.</p> + +<p class="p1">This action, which excited the most lively interest in the +<i>Sporting World</i>, arose out of the late Derby race at Epsom, +in which a horse belonging to the plaintiff, called Running +Rein, had come in first. It was alleged, however, that this +horse had not been truly described, that he was not of the age +which qualified him to run for the Derby, and that he ought +not, therefore, to be deemed the winner of the race. Colonel +Peel, the owner of Orlando, the second horse, had claimed +the stakes, on the ground that Running Rein was not the +horse represented; and Mr Wood, the owner of Running +Rein, brought this action against the Colonel.</p> + +<p>Mr Cockburn, who conducted the plaintiff’s case, gave the +pedigree of Running Rein, and his whole history. Among +other things, Mr Cockburn mentioned that, in October 1843, +Running Rein won a race at Newmarket; that he was objected +to on the score of age, but, eventually, the stewards +had decided in his favour. The horse was, originally, the +property of Mr Goodman; and, Mr Cockburn said, it was +because suspicion attached to some transactions of Goodman, +and because certain parties had betted heavily against Running +Rein, that opposition was raised against Mr Wood<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> +receiving the stakes. He made a severe attack on Lord +George Bentinck, who, he asserted, was the real party in the +cause. Witnesses for the plaintiff described the horse at various +periods of its career: it was of a bay colour, with black +legs, and a little white on the forehead; its heels were +cracked, and in 1842 it broke the skin on one leg, which +left a scar. George Hitchcock, a breaker of colts, employed +to break Running Rein in October 1842, was cross-examined +to this effect:</p> + +<p>“I know George Dockeray, the trainer. I never said to +him, ‘Damn it, this colt has been broken before; here is the +mark of the pad on his back.’ I showed him the mark, but +I never said those words, or any words to that effect. I +don’t know why I showed him the mark. It was not big +enough for the mark of a pad, and it was not the place for +the saddle to make it. I told Lord George Bentinck the +same. The mark of the pad never wears out. I recollect +being asked, in the presence of Mr Smith, what had I there? +and I recollect answering, a four years’ old. I have not the +slightest doubt of it. Mr Smith struck me for it. I did not +say afterwards that I had forgotten all about the horse whipping, +and that the marks of the pad had worn out. I never +said, either, that somebody had behaved very well to me.”</p> + +<p>At an early period of the examination of witnesses, Mr +Baron Alderson expressed a wish that he and the jury +should see the horse; and Mr Cockburn said he had no +objection. On the cross-examination of William Smith, a +training groom residing at Epsom, it came out that the horse +had been smuggled out of the way, that it might not be seen +by the defendant’s agents. The Judge, animadverting on +this, and on the evident perjury of the witness, said it would +be better that the horse should be seen by him and other +parties. The Solicitor-General, who appeared for the defendant, +was anxious that the horse should be seen by veterinary +surgeons. To which the other side objected, maintaining +that the mark of mouth, by which alone these surgeons +could judge of the age of a horse, was a fallible criterion.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p> + +<p>On the conclusion of the evidence for the plaintiff, the +Solicitor-General, in addressing the jury for the defence, +denounced the case as a gross and scandalous fraud on the +part of the plaintiff. The case of the defendant was, that +the horse was not Running Rein at all, but a colt by +Gladiator, out of a dam belonging originally to Sir Charles +Ibbotson; and that it had the name Running Rein imposed +upon it, being originally called Maccabeus, and having been +entered for certain stakes under that designation. But his +allegations were against Goodman, not against Mr Wood: +the former had entered into a conspiracy with other persons +to run horses above the proper age. The Gladiator colt had +been entered for races, under the name of Maccabeus, before +Goodman purchased him; and to run these races while the +colt was in training for the Derby, for which he was entered +as Running Rein, Goodman hired an Irish horse, which he +disguised as Maccabeus, though a year older than that horse. +The Gladiator colt, the <i>soi distant</i> Running Rein, when he +ran for the Derby in 1844, was four years old, the race +being for three-year-old horses. After hearing some evidence +in support of these statements, the case was adjourned +till the following day.</p> + +<p>The next day, when Mr Baron Alderson took his seat on +the Bench, a conversation ensued between Mr Cockburn and +the Judge, respecting the production of the horse. Mr +Cockburn asserted that it had been taken away without Mr +Wood’s knowledge, and thus it was out of his power to produce +it; he felt it would be vain to strive against the effect +which must be produced by the non-production of the horse, +after the remarks of the learned judge on that point. After +some more conversation, however, the case proceeded, and +two witnesses for the defence were examined, whose evidence +went to prove that Running Rein was, in fact, the Gladiator +colt. Mr George Odell, a horse dealer at Northampton, +said he could swear to that fact; the colt had two marks on +one leg.</p> + +<p>Mr Baron Alderson remarked—“Now, if we could see the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> +horse, that would prove the case. Who keeps him away? It +is quite childish to act in this manner.”</p> + +<p>Mr Cockburn now stated that Mr Wood was convinced +that he had been deceived, and gave up the case.</p> + +<p>Mr Baron Alderson then briefly addressed the jury with +much warmth, and in a most emphatic manner; directing +them to find a verdict for the defendant, observing:</p> + +<p>“Since the opening of the case, a most atrocious fraud +has been proved to have been practised; and I have seen, +with great regret, gentlemen associating themselves with +persons much below themselves in station. If gentlemen +would associate with gentlemen, and race with gentlemen, +we should have no such practises. But, if gentlemen will +condescend to race with blackguards, they must expect to +be cheated.”</p> + +<p>The jury found for the defendant, and the effect of their +verdict was that the Derby Stakes went to Orlando, and +that Crenoline should be considered the winner of the Two-Year-Old +Plate at Newmarket, run the previous year.</p> + +<p>This ought to have been sufficient roguery, one would +think, for one race, but it was not. A horse named Ratan +was so evidently “nobbled,” that two men connected with it, +Rogers and Braham, were warned off all the Jockey Club’s +premises.</p> + +<p>And yet another case. A horse named Leander ran in +this race, and so injured its leg that it was shot. Shortly +afterwards, it was suspected that it was four instead of three +years old, and on its being exhumed, <i>the lower jaw was +missing</i>. The resurrectionists, however, cut off the head, +and veterinary experts confirmed the previous suspicions. +For this, the owners, Messrs Lichtwald, were for ever disqualified +from racing. This case occupied much time before +the Select Committee of the House of Lords.</p> + +<p>The Select Committee on Gaming in the Commons in +1844 report that “Your Committee have some evidence to +show that frauds are, occasionally, committed in Horse racing, +and in Betting on the Turf; but they feel difficulty in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> +suggesting any remedy for this evil, more stringent, or more +likely to be effectual, than those already in existence.”</p> + +<p>The House of Lords reported in similar terms, but they +added: “The Committee have inquired into certain transactions +which have, lately, been brought before the Courts +of Law, arising from the fraudulent practices of Individuals +substituting other horses for those named in stakes which +are limited to horses of a certain age, and thus obtaining the +advantages arising from running, at even weights, Three-year-olds +against Two-year-olds, and Four-year-olds against +Three-year-olds. The success, however, which has attended +the prosecutions instituted for the Recovery of the Stakes +thus unjustly won, and the rules which the Committee are +led to believe will be, hereafter, strictly attended to, as to +the examination, by competent persons, of all horses which +may be objected to, render it unnecessary for them to make +any further comment upon this part of their inquiry.”</p> + +<p>But the Commons Committee reported on another subject, +the Gaming-houses in race towns, and the Gaming-booths +on the courses.</p> + +<p>“The suppression of Gaming-houses in race towns, and in +other places out of the Metropolitan Police District, is to be +effected under the common law, and under the enactment of +Statutes different from the Metropolitan Police Act. Much +laxity and neglect have, hitherto, prevailed in this respect; +and your Committee think that the attention of Magistrates +might, usefully, be directed to this matter. But, if it should +be found that the powers given by the existing law are +insufficient, your Committee would recommend that additional +powers should be conferred.</p> + +<p>“Your Committee have found that it is the practice on +some race courses to let out ground for the erection of +Gaming-booths, during the races, in order that the high +rents paid by the keepers of these booths may be added to +the fund from whence prizes to be run for are to be given; +and some of the witnesses examined have stated that certain +race meetings, which they have named, could not be kept +up, if this practice were to be discontinued.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<p class="pch">Gambling on Race Courses—E.O. tables—Description of Race Courses—Evidence +before the Committee—Description of the betting-rooms at Doncaster +in 1846—Beginning of tipsters and betting-rooms.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">This</span> system of gambling on race courses began the previous +century. In Canto I. of <i>The Gambler’s, A Poem</i>, Lon. +1777, we read:</p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“But, chief, we see a bricking, sharping sort,<br /> +<i>Span farthing</i>, <i>Hustle Cap</i>, their joy and sport;<br /> +The sport of infancy! ‘till riper age<br /> +Mature the man, and call him to the stage.<br /> +In each shoot forth the dawning seeds of vice,<br /> +The growing Jockey, or the man of Dice.<br /> +Some prick the Belt, self tutor’d, young in sin,<br /> +Anxious to take their wond’ring fellows in.<br /> +Here, a surrounding groupe of little Squires,<br /> +As chink the brazen belts, Chuck farthing fires:<br /> +While <i>Sçavoir-vivres</i> early signs betray<br /> +Of bold adventures, and the rage of play.<br /> +These, haply shall some future bard engage,<br /> +The hopeful <i>Kelly’s</i><a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> of the rising age.<br /> +But, when maturer years confirm the sin,<br /> +And opening minds suck the dear poison in,<br /> +Adieu, <i>Span farthing</i>! <i>Hustle Cap</i>, farewell!<br /> +With nobler passions, nobler views, they swell:<br /> +Dice, tennis, Cards, inferior sports succeed,<br /> +And the gay triumph of the High bred Steed.”</p> + +<p class="p1">Complaints of racecourse gambling began early in the +present century. In the <i>Gentleman’s Magazine</i> for 1801 +(p. 327) we read: “Mr Urban—As the quarter sessions +will take place in most parts of England in the course of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> +present month, I wish, through the medium of your extensively +circulated Magazine, to submit to the serious +consideration of the County Magistrates, the absolute +necessity for adopting some vigorous measures, in order to +check the career of those infamous swindlers, who are in +the constant habit of attending our fairs and races with +E.O. tables, &c. It is an alarming fact that there is +scarcely a fair, or a race, of the least celebrity, which is not +infested with these villains, many of whom clear £500 +annually by plundering the unsuspecting rustics, who attend +such places, of their property.”</p> + +<p>Goldsmith, in his life of Beau Nash, tells us that E.O. +was first set up at Tunbridge, in the reign of George I., +and was introduced into Bath by Nash: and, as the game +was a very popular one, I give the following description of +it, as found in Rice’s <i>History of the British Turf</i>:</p> + +<p>“The E.O. table was circular in form, and, though made +in various sizes, was, commonly, four feet in diameter. The +outside edge formed the counter, or <i>depôt</i>, on which the +stakes were placed, and was marked all round with the +letters E.O. from which the game took its name. The +interior of the table consisted of a stationary gallery, in +which the ball rolled, and an independent round table, +moving on an axis, by means of handles. The ball was +started in one direction, and this rotary table turned in the +other. This part was divided into forty compartments of +equal size, twenty of which were marked E. and twenty O. +The principle was pretty much as that of roulette without +a zero; but the ingenuity of the proprietors appears, at an +early date in the history of these tables, to have supplied +this defect. At first the game was played on the same +terms as hazard then was, viz., whoever won, or threw in +three times successively, paid, when gold was played for, +half a guinea to the proprietors of the table. This, however, +as might have been expected, was too simple and +unsophisticated a method of procedure to last. The game +was too fair; but, as it was very popular, it must be made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> +profitable to the man of business, who could not be expected +to travel from race meeting to race meeting all over the +country, for half guineas in cases of exceptional luck. +Accordingly, he became obliged to take all bets offered +either for E. or for O., and made two of his forty spaces +into ‘bar holes.’ The name sufficiently explains the utility +of the device to the keeper of the table. If the ball fell into +either of these ‘bar holes,’ he won all the bets on the +opposite letter, and did not pay to that on which it fell. +Unfair tables, having the compartments of one letter larger +than another, abounded; but there seems to have been little +necessity to cheat at the game, as, with a proportion of two +in forty, or five per cent., in his favour, the keeper should +have reaped a heavy harvest of profit from his venture. +The gentlemen who had played the game at the time +when the occasional half guinea was thought enough to +remunerate the proprietor, could hardly have liked the +innovation, regarding the five per cent. ‘pull’ against them +as ‘a circumstance which, in the long run, would infallibly +exhaust the <i>Exchequer</i>’ much more than the breeches +pockets of the young squires.</p> + +<p>The booths at Ascot Heath, and the taverns in Windsor, +were, at race time, great haunts for the keepers of the E.O. +tables, some of whom were respectable men in their calling, +and might be trusted to give twenty, or even more, shillings +for a guinea; but the majority, gambling for twopenny +pieces and sixpences, were little, if anything, better than +the thimble-rig and prick-the-garter gentry of that, or the +three-card practitioners of our own, time. Ascot, indeed, +was, then, a race meeting of the first importance, and the +week was a fair of the most attractive character to the +Berkshire landlords and their tenantry. The Oatlands +Stakes was transferred to Newmarket from Ascot, after a +memorable race, when a hundred thousand pounds changed +hands; and we read that the Turf was a barren and dreary +prospect—for the losers. ‘Horses are daily thrown out of +training, jockeys are going into mourning, grooms are becoming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> +E.O. merchants, and strappers are going on the +highway.’”</p> + +<p>In the <i>Quarterly Review</i> for 1834, a description is given +of gambling at races, as it then was. “Doncaster, Epsom, +Ascot, Warwick, and most of our numerous race grounds +and race towns are scenes of destructive and universal +gambling among the lower orders, which our absurdly lax +police never attempt to suppress; and yet, without the +slightest approach to an improperly harsh interference with +the pleasures of the people, the roulette and E.O. tables +which plunder the peasantry at these places, for the benefit +of travelling sharpers (certainly equally respectable with +some bipeds of prey who drive coroneted cabs near St +James’s), might be put down by any watchful magistrate.”</p> + +<p>The Commons Select Committee on Gaming in 1844 +tells us a great deal about the gambling at Doncaster, +during race meetings. A Mr Richard Baxter was the +witness, and he said:</p> + +<p>“The extent to which gambling has been carried on, +both upon the course, and in the town of Doncaster, has +varied at different periods. Twenty years ago, in 1824, +was my first acquaintance with the matter: I went, as a +stranger, to live in Doncaster, and I found that there were +40 or 50 houses, and men stationed at the doors, and passing +up and down the streets, not only, by word, inviting the +passers by to go into those houses, but putting into their +hands cards (one of which I have here)—</p> + +<div class="bord"> +<p class="pc mid"><span class="smcap">To Noblemen and Gentlemen.</span></p> + +<p class="pc large">ROULETTE.</p> + +<p class="pc lmid">Bank. £1000.</p> + +<p class="pc lmid"><i>At Mason’s (the Tailor), Scott Lane.</i></p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p> + +<p class="pn">—explanatory of the game that was going on there, and, +without any secrecy, or reserve, stating the name of the +party at whose house the game was carried on.</p> + +<p>“Being a stranger in the town, I went into almost all the +houses, and found them playing, in some with dice, and +in some with balls, at the different games, the names of +all of which I do not know: but gambling was going on to +this extent, and no check to it, whatever, was put by the +local authorities. At the same time, upon the race course, +the thimble men were in hundreds, with their tables, as well +as by the roadsides on every approach to Doncaster, playing, +and cheating the people out of their money, as fast as they +could induce them to play. As I was a stranger in the +place, I did not think it becoming in me, at that time, to +interfere; and, for two years following, I did no more than +speak upon the subject to the mayor and the magistrates, +and the gentlemen of the town, urging them to take some +means to repress this systematic gambling; but, in the year +1827, which was the third year, finding that the authorities +would take no notice of it, I laid an information against one +of the gambling houses, against Henry Oldfield, who is a +very noted character in gambling. I brought the owner of +the house, who is a very respectable tradesman in the town; +I brought the sister of the owner and his servants; I brought +the man who attended at the door, and invited people +publicly, ‘Roulette and Hazard going on upstairs’; I +brought a gentleman, a respectable surgeon of the town, +who had been in the room, and played there. Those parties +I brought before the magistrates, they were examined upon +oath. The owner of the house denied all knowledge of the +object for which the room was let; the gentleman, who had +been present, owned that he had played, but denied his +knowledge of the name of the game at which he played; +and, the result was, that the magistrates refused to convict. +No further step was taken in that year; but, in the following +year, without again speaking to the authorities, I represented +the matter to the neighbouring gentry, and the present Lord<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> +Fitzwilliam, Mr Beckett Denison, one of the Members for +the West Riding; Mr Childers, the Member for Malton; and, +perhaps, 20 or 30 other gentlemen, in the neighbourhood, +and in the town, joined in an association, professedly, to +repress gambling in the town. The rules of the association +were, that application should be made to the local authorities, +and such legal means taken, as could be made available +to induce the authorities to repress gambling. This was +most respectably supported and published. The consequence +was, that we had an <i>émeute</i> in the town: the inhabitants +assembled at a public meeting, a gentleman, who +is, now, one of the Borough Magistrates, was put into the +chair, and a regular set of speeches made against the Anti-Gambling +Association, and all parties concerned. I thought +it my duty to go to the meeting; and, of course, you may +suppose, was very warmly received. I told them, very +candidly and freely, my mind upon the subject. They +heard me for a certain length of time; but, finding the +chairman refused to let me go on, I left the meeting, and +had the honour of being pelted down the street on my way +home, as a recompense for the advice I had taken the liberty +of tendering them. The consequence of this <i>émeute</i> was, +that our association fell to pieces. I am sorry to say, that +the members who composed it did not choose, in the face of +the unpopularity which it occasioned, to take any further +step in it.</p> + +<p class="ptb2 p1">······</p> + +<p class="p1">“The extent of gambling in Doncaster for the last two or +three years has been from six to twelve of the lower gambling +houses and three of the higher gambling houses. The distinction +between the one class and the other consists in this: +that the lower gambling houses are kept by men who hire a +little front shop, open to the street, for the purpose of taking +mere passers-by; the higher gambling houses, many of them +houses of their own, which they have built in Doncaster, for +the purpose of gaming; a third class hire rooms of respectable +tradesmen in the town, and occupy them; and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> +popular opinion is, that there are clubs, and knots of gentlemen +attached to each of those houses, who regularly go and +play there. Oldfield, against whom the information was laid +in 1827, was the keeper of one of the higher gambling +houses, and I need scarcely state to the Committee that, +popular as gambling is in the town, very strong remarks are +made and a very strong feeling exists in the place, that, if +the lower gambling houses are suppressed, it is unfair to the +common people that the higher gambling houses should be +permitted to continue; and, when an information is laid +against the low gambling houses, it is always matter of +crimination; ‘Why did you not lay it against the gentlemen’s +houses? you are laying it against the houses of the poor +people, but you will not lay it against the houses of the +gentlemen.’ Another circumstance connected with the races +I may mention as a great public nuisance is, that the betting +room, which is a building erected simply for the purpose of +betting, is open on a Sunday, to the public, as on any other +day, and during the time of Divine service in the evening +more people, I am sorry to say, are assembled at the betting +rooms than at church; and there is a continual crowd filling +half the street in front of the betting rooms the whole of the +Sunday evening. A representation on the subject was made +to the Chief Magistrate at the time, and the only answer we +got to the representation to him was that he would communicate +with the parties and endeavour to have it closed: it +was closed during the morning and afternoon services, but it +was open to the public, as before, during the evening service, +and hundreds of those who are called gentlemen were +assembled there betting, and all the affairs of the races going +on quite as publicly as on any other evening of the week.</p> + +<p>“1024.—With regard to gambling on the race course, +whether by thimble-riggers, or by roulette, or any other +kind of gambling, whether in booths or not, are the Committee +to understand that that has of late years entirely +ceased to exist?—That has been suppressed.</p> + +<p>“1025.—By the interference of the police?—Yes.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span></p> + +<p>A Mr John Rushbridger, who had charge of the ground at +Goodwood, on which the races were held, was examined, and +he deposed that there were only two gambling booths on the +course, which paid £125 each for the privilege; whilst +refreshment booths were only charged 10s. or 15s. They +endeavoured, as far as possible, to keep thimble-riggers off +the course.</p> + +<p>The Clerk of the Course at Egham said there used to +be eighteen gambling booths on the course, but now there +were only fourteen, which produced a rental of £240; but a +portion of the grand stand was let for gambling purposes, +and that brought in a further sum. The thimble-rigmen +were allowed on the course, as far as the distance-post, and +formerly used to pay for the permission.</p> + +<p>A Timothy Barnard was examined, and said he speculated +in race courses. At Egham he paid the Lord of the Manor +£300 for the race course, and cleared £240 by the gambling +booths. He gave £600 for Epsom course, but could not +give £300 if he were deprived of the privilege of letting +gaming booths, because they were the mainstay of the other +booths, such as the publicans’ booths; many having their +liquors and wines of them, and therefore the publicans would +not give near as much for the ground, except for those booths. +They made the thimble-riggers pay 5s. or 10s. to be allowed +on the course; they were given a little ticket which they +were obliged to wear in their hats, or their tables would be +taken from them.</p> + +<p>In <i>Bentley’s Magazine</i> for 1846 we get a good account of +the working of the betting rooms at Doncaster. The subscription +was a guinea, and the number of subscribers was +from 1000 to 1200. “The rent paid by the proprietary for +the premises is said to be £500 per an.; but this is reduced +in its amount by the circumstance of the rooms being let off +for trading, or warehouse purposes, during ten months of the +year; and taking this reduction at the reasonable sum of +£150, it would leave £350 as the rent from the estimated +subscriptions of £1050, which would give a clear surplus of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> +£700 per an., which alone would be a large return of profit. +But other sources of income and annual return are open to +the proprietary, by the sale of wine, spirits, soda water, and +divers refreshments, which are in almost constant demand in +the great room throughout each evening, and partially so in +the day. The prices at which these articles are sold are by +no means so moderate as they might be, even to secure a +fair and liberal compensation for their outlay, and must, on +the most moderate calculation, yield £100 clear at least in +the week.</p> + +<p>“But the <i>El Dorado</i> or grand source of income and wealth +to the proprietors arises from the prolific revenue of the play +or gaming tables, of which there are usually six in constant +nightly operation during the racing week. The proprietors +of the Subscription Betting Rooms are not ostensibly connected +in the co-partnership of the banks, or in the business +of the tables, but they are nevertheless largely interested in +the successful issue of the week, as will be shown. In the +first instance it should be stated that the sum of £350 or +£400 is <i>paid down</i> to them by the party contracting for the +tables and for the privilege of putting down the banks. This +is all clear profit, paid in advance and without any contingency; +and in addition to this apparently large sum, so paid +for the mere privilege of finding capital, there is a stipulation +also on the part of the proprietors of the rooms that they +shall receive a considerable part or share of the whole clear +profits, or gains, of the week accruing from the tables, and +this without the risk of a single shilling by them under any +unlooked-for reverse of fortune.</p> + +<p class="ptb2 p1">······</p> + +<p class="p1">“The play tables at the Betting Rooms, are, as before +noted, six, or seven, in number, and of variety in the games +played thereat. The roulette tables attract the crowd, as +well as for the reason that the game opens to the player +many modes of proportionate risk, as that it affords him +opportunity to play smaller sums on any one event, than he +can at hazard. At the former game, the lowest stake is half<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> +a crown; at the latter, nothing less than the regal coin of a +sovereign is permitted. The pull, or percentage, of roulette +against the player, being, however, nearly five times that of +hazard, the small stakes played realise as large a result to +the bankers. It requires all the vigilance of a player to +guard his interests at this game; for, generally speaking, +there is much confusion in the distribution of money staked +by the many adventurers, on the numbers, and other points +of speculation attaching to the game; and dispute, not +infrequently, arises between two or three different claimants +for the produce of some fortunate, or winning result. These +contested claims often arise from inattention in the player +to the exact position of his money on the board, but are, +sometimes, occasioned by the attempt of some sharping +knave to possess himself of something which does not belong +to him. The officials at the table, too, are most dexterous +in their practical avocations,—more particularly so in the +principle of drawing the money from the losing points of +the game, immediately the winning number, &c., is called. +The rapidity with which this operation is performed, is most +remarkable, and gives immense additional advantage to the +bank; for, it very often happens that, in the general sweep, +the adroit croupiers rake off much more than they are +entitled to; while, on the other hand, they can never, under +any circumstances, be called upon to pay more than the +loss attaching to the event.”</p> + +<p>Doncaster is now, I believe, very much purified, but Sir +George Chetwynd describes the gambling that went on +there in 1869. “How changed is Doncaster now, from +what it was in those days! Then, after dinner, you would +go to the subscription rooms and back horses for the Cesarewitch +and Cambridgeshire at 100 to 1 to win large stakes, +and even small bookmakers thought nothing of starting +£20,000 books. After making their bets, people used to +go into an inner room where hazard was being played. Hour +after hour the game continued in full swing at a table crowded +with punters, with green, black, red and white ivory counters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> +before them denoting £10, £5, £25, and £1. There was an +impressive stillness in the room, only broken by the voice of +Mr F. Hall, one of the croupiers, who, rake in hand, gave +vent to such utterances as, ‘The Castor is backing in at +seven, gentlemen. I’ll take on the nick.’ Then came the +rattle of the dice, the bang on the table of the box, the +quick announcement of the point, and the raking in of the +counters on the losing columns, by the two croupiers, one of +whom looked like a respectable tradesman, or a magistrate’s +clerk. Behind the players stood the proprietor, a tall, handsome +man, with carefully trimmed white beard and moustache, +more like a general than the keeper of a hell; his countenance +immovable, except when it relaxed, as he replied courteously +to any one who addressed him.</p> + +<p>“He is dead, so is one of the croupiers, so are half the +players, old and young, whom I first saw at the table twenty +years ago, when, for the first time, I was initiated into the +mysteries of hazard, how to dash down a ten, or dribble a +four, as if, really, there was skill about a game which consists +in rattling two dice in a box, and winning, or losing by the +points they declare when rolled out on the table.”</p> + +<p>We have seen how disreputable the Turf had become in +1844. If anything, it became worse. A class of men +sprung up, called “tipsters,” men who pretended to have +exclusive and particular stable information which they were +willing to impart to their dupes, say (to quote the advertisement +of one of the fraternity), Single events, 3s. 6d. Derby +or Oaks, 5s. each: yearly subscription, 21s.; half yearly, +10s. 6d. That these men made a profitable business of it, +there can be no doubt, for the sporting papers were full of +their advertisements, some of them of great length: and, +then, also began that curse attending horse racing, the +betting shop—which afforded a fatal facility to all classes, +to gamble, and which led to crime, and its attendant +punishment.</p> + +<p>In 1852, these houses had become such a crying scandal, +that a public meeting was held on 18th June, at the Literary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> +and Scientific Institution in Aldersgate Street, over which +Sir Peter Laurie presided, to adopt measures for the suppression +of betting houses in the City of London, and a resolution +was moved, and carried unanimously, that a petition be +presented to Parliament for their suppression. In the same +year, at a meeting of the Aldermen at the Guildhall, the +foreman of the Inquest of Farringdon Ward Without, +handed in a presentment, which he said related to a subject +of great importance in the City of London; the gambling +and betting houses in the Ward, by which great mischief +was done. Facilities were given at these houses, of which +there were a great number in the Ward, for betting, from +sums of threepence, or fourpence upwards; and by these +means, many servants and boys, who certainly had no money +of their own to bet with, were induced to lay wagers that +too often led them into a career of crime.</p> + +<p><i>The Druid</i> says: “The great list era, and all its +attendant Ripe-for-a-jails, as <i>Punch</i> termed them, began +with Messrs Drummond and Greville, who ‘kept an +account at the Westminster Bank’ in 1847. Up to that +time ‘sweeps,’ where every subscriber drew a horse for +his ticket, had been amply sufficient to satisfy the popular +thirst for speculation on a Derby, or St Leger eve; and, +although, in one instance, we ascertained that our ticket +horse was a leader in a Shrewsbury coach, instead of being +‘prepared,’ it was satisfactory to know that there was, at +least, fair play. Stimulated by the example of D. and G., +the licensed victuallers took it up—and a nice mess they +made of it—till the licensing magistrates stepped sternly +in. From 1850 to the end of 1853, the listers were in their +glory; and, at one period, about four hundred betting houses +were open in London alone, of which, perhaps, ten were +solvent.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<p class="pch">Betting Houses—Their suppression in 1853—Bookmakers and their Clients—Defaulters—Dwyer’s +swindle—Value of Stakes.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">In</span> <i>Chambers’ Edinburgh Journal</i> of 24th July 1852, is +an excellent article on “<span class="smcap">Betting Houses</span>.” It says: +“‘Betting Shop’ is vulgar, and we dislike vulgarity. +‘Commission Office,’ ‘Racing Bank,’ ‘Mr Hopposite Green’s +Office,’ ‘Betting Office,’ are the styles of announcement +adopted by speculators, who open, what low people call, +Betting Shops. The chosen designation is, usually, painted +in gold letters on a chocolate coloured wire gauze blind, +impervious to the view. A betting office may display on its +small show board, two bronzed plaster horses, rampant, held +by two Ethiopian figures, nude; or it may prefer making a +show of cigars. Many offices have risen out of simple +cigar shops. When this is the case, the tobacco business +gives way, the slow trade and fast profession not running +well together. An official appearance is always considered +necessary. A partition, therefore, sufficiently high not to +be peered over, runs midway across the shop, surmounted +with a rail. By such means, visions are suggested to the +intelligent mind, of desks, and clerks. In the partition is +an enlarged <i>pigeon</i> hole—not far off, may be supposed to +lurk the hawk—through which are received shillings, half +crowns; in fact, any kind of coin or notes, no sum appearing +inadmissible. The office is papered with a warm crimson +paper to make it snug and comfortable, pleasant as a lounge, +and casting a genial glow upon the proceedings.</p> + +<p>“But the betting lists are the attraction—these are the +dice of the betting men; a section of one of the side walls<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> +within the office is devoted to them. They consist of long +slips of paper—each race having its own slip—on which are +stated the odds against the horses. Hasty and anxious are +the glances which the speculator casts upon betting lists; +there he sees which are the favourites, whether those he has +backed are advancing, or retrograding, and he endeavours to +discover, by signs and testimonies, by all kinds of movements +and dodges, the knowing one’s opinion. He will +drop fishing words to other gazers, will try to overhear +whispered remarks, will sidle towards any jockey-legged, or +ecurial-costumed individual, and aim more especially at +getting into the good graces of the betting office keeper, +who, when his business is slack, comes forth from behind the +partition, and from the duties of the pigeon hole, to stretch +his legs, and hold turf converse. The betting office keeper +is the speculator’s divinity.</p> + +<p class="ptb2 p1">······</p> + +<p>“There are various kinds of betting offices. Some are +speculative, May-fly offices, open to-day, and shut to-morrow—offices +that will bet any way, and against anything—that +will accommodate themselves to any odds—receive any sum +they can get, small or large; and, should a misfortune occur, +such as a wrong horse winning, forget to open next day. +These are but second rate offices. The money making, +prosperous betting office is quite a different thing. It is not +advisable for concerns which intend making thousands in a +few years, to pay the superintendents liberally, and to keep +well clothed touters—to conduct themselves, in short, like +speculative offices. They must not depend entirely upon +chance. Chance is very well for betting men, but will not +do for the respectable betting office keepers, who are the +stake holders.</p> + +<p>“The plan adopted is a very simple one, but ingenious in +its simplicity. The betting office takes a great dislike in its +own mind to a particular horse, the favourite of the betting +men. It makes bets against that horse, which amounts, in +the aggregate, to a fortune; and then it <i>buys</i> the object of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> +its frantic delight. This being effected, the horse, of course, +loses, and the office wins. How could it be otherwise? +Would you have a horse win against its owner’s interest? +The thing being settled, the office, in order to ascertain the +amount of its winnings, has only to deduct the price of the +horse from its aggregate bets, and arrange the remainder in +a line of, perhaps, five figures. Whereupon the betting men +grow seedier and more seedy: some of the more mercurial +go off in a fit of apoplectic amazement; some betake themselves +to Waterloo stairs on a moonless night; some proceed +to the diggings, some to St Luke’s, and some to the +dogs; some become so unsteady, that they sign the wrong +name to a draft, or enter the wrong house at night, or are +detected in a crowd with their hand in the wrong man’s +pocket. But, by degrees, everything comes right again. +The insane are shut up, the desperate transported, the dead +buried, the deserted families carted to the workhouse; and +the betting-office goes on as before.”</p> + +<p>The scandal, however, grew too grave to be ignored, and +the Government took the matter up. On July 11, 1853, +the Attorney-General rose in his place in the House of +Commons, and said, he would now beg to move for leave to +bring in a Bill for the suppression of betting houses, and, in +doing so, he considered it was not necessary for him to make +any lengthened statement on the subject, as the evils which +had arisen from the introduction of these establishments +were perfectly notorious, and acknowledged upon all hands. +The difficulty, however, which arose in legislating upon this +subject, was the disinclination which was felt against interfering +with that description of betting which had so long +existed at Tattersall’s and elsewhere, in connection with the +great national sport of horse racing. But these establishments +assumed a totally different aspect—a new form +of betting was introduced, which had been productive of +the greatest evils. The course, now, is to open a house, +and for the owner to hold himself forth as ready to bet with +all comers, contrary to the usage which had prevailed at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> +such places as Tattersall’s, where individuals betted with +each other, but no one there kept a gaming table, or, in +other words, held a bag against all comers. The object, +then, of this Bill, was to suppress these houses, without +interfering with that legitimate species of betting, to which +he had referred. It would prohibit the opening of houses, +or shops or booths, for the purpose of betting; and, inasmuch +as it appeared that the mischief of the existing vicious +system seemed to arise from the advancing of money, in the +first instance, with the expectation of receiving a larger sum +on the completion of a certain event, it was proposed to prohibit +the practice, by distinct legislative enactment. The +mischief arising from the existence of these betting shops +was perfectly notorious. Servants, apprentices, and workmen, +induced by the temptation of receiving a large sum for +a small one, took their few shillings to these places, and the +first effect of their losing, was to tempt them to go on spending +their money in the hope of retrieving their losses; and, for +this purpose, it not unfrequently happened that they were +driven into robbing their masters and employers. There +was not a prison, nor a house of correction in London, +which did not every day furnish abundant and conclusive +testimony of the vast number of youths who were led into +crime by the temptation of these establishments of which +there were from 100 to 150 in the metropolis alone, while +there were a considerable number in the large towns of the +provinces. He believed this bill would have the effect of +suppressing most of them; or, at all events, of preventing +the spread of an evil which was admitted on all hands. It +had been suggested that the more effectual course would be +the licensing of these houses; but, for his own part, he +believed that would be discreditable to the Government, and +would only tend to increase the mischief instead of preventing +it. He trusted and believed that the Bill which he now +sought to introduce would have the desired effect, and he +hoped the House would offer no objection to his bringing +it in.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span></p> + +<p>Leave was given, and the Bill was so in accord with the +feeling of the House, that it went through all its stages +without debate, and received the Royal Assent on 20th Aug. +1853, under the title of “An Act for the suppression of +Betting Houses,” 16 & 17 Victoria, cap. 119: it became +operative on 1st Dec. 1853. Its principal clause is Sec. iii., +which deals with the penalty on owner or occupier of Betting +House. “Any Person who, being the Owner, or Occupier +of any House, Office, Room, or other Place, or a Person +using the same, shall open, keep, or use the same for the +Purposes hereinbefore mentioned, or either of them; and +any Person, who, being the Owner, or Occupier, of any +House, Room, Office, or other Place, shall, knowingly, and +wilfully, permit the same to be opened, kept, or used by +any other Person for the purposes aforesaid, or either of +them; and any Person having the Care, or Management of, +or in any Manner assisting in conducting the business of +any House, Office, Room, or Place opened, kept, or used for +the Purposes aforesaid, or either of them, shall, on summary +Conviction thereof, before any Two Justices of the Peace, be +liable to forfeit and pay such Penalty, not exceeding One +Hundred Pounds, as shall be adjudged by such Justices, and +may be further adjudged by such Justices, to pay such Costs +attending such conviction, as to the said Justices shall seem +reasonable; and, on the Nonpayment of such Penalty and +Costs; or, in the first instance, if to the said Justices, it shall +seem fit, may be committed to the Common Gaol, or House +of Correction, with, or without, Hard Labour, for any Time +not exceeding Six Calendar Months.”</p> + +<p>The effect of this Act was to shut up, for the time, the +betting houses, but nobody can deny that there is as much +of this ready money betting now as ever there was, and there +is no difficulty in getting “a little bit on,” if one wants to, +without attending races and betting with the professional +bookmakers there to be found. Children can lay their +pennies and errand boys their sixpences, and, throughout +the length and breadth of the country, the curse of betting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> +permeates every rank, and, I am sorry to say, spares neither +sex.</p> + +<p>The police do something, in occasionally obtaining convictions, +and magistrates have strained the interpretation of +the word “Place” which occurs in the Act to its very limit—indeed +it has only lately (July 1897) been settled that the +betting ring at a race course is not a “Place” within the +meaning of the Act. A bookmaker, named Dunn, was +fined £1 for betting at Kempton Park race meeting. He +appealed, and the magistrate’s decision was reversed. The +judges inquired into what was the real intention of the Legislature. +This is sufficiently apparent from the preamble, +which states that “a certain kind of gaming has, of late, +sprung up, by the opening of places called betting houses,” +and we are justified in assuming that it was this “kind of +gaming,” and no other, which Parliament intended to suppress. +Furthermore, when once this fact is appreciated, the +use of the words “house, office, room, or other place” is no +longer misleading, because “place” means something <i>ejusdem +generis</i>, a “house, office, or room.” It was impossible to +maintain that an open race course, or an open enclosure upon +a race course, is a “place” of the same kind as a “house, +office, or room,” or that the people who use it for betting +claim to hold it against all the world, as they would in the +case of their own offices.</p> + +<p>As a rule, the higher class professional bookmakers are a +very respectable lot of men, and are scrupulously honest in +their dealings, which is more than can be said for some of +their clients, even titled ones. Such men as Davis, Steel, +and Fry dealt in vast sums, and no matter how hard hit, +never once failed to meet their losses; and some of them +have died rich. Gully is said to have left about a quarter of +a million behind him, Davis’s fortune at his death is variously +stated at £50,000 or £150,000, and Swindells died worth +£145,000.</p> + +<p>As to these men’s clients let Sir George Chetwynd tell a +tale. “I should like Fry, Steel, Emerson, Baylis, and others,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> +to publish their list of bad debts during the last few years. +People would be astonished at the amount owed to these +men, yet they rather condone the fact of being owed money, +by hardly ever applying the remedy of making the loser a +defaulter, and all sorts of people are going about to race +courses, now owing the Ring money, the creditors hoping, +some day, to recover a portion of it. The most disgraceful +part of it is, that some of these defaulters are owners of race +horses, gentlemen riders, and so forth. Personally, I have +no pity for book makers who do not post a man for owing +them money, after they have given him a reasonable time +for payment. If this were done, a healthier tone would be +given to betting; there would not be so much reckless +plunging as there is, and it would be far better for backers +and layers. I recollect once, on the day the Two Thousand +was run for, some years ago, I was standing talking to Henry +Steel, for whose judgment I have a great respect, and whom +I have always found most straightforward in all his dealings. +By his side was his trusty partner, Peech. All of a sudden, +I saw the latter make hurriedly off in a bee line through the +scattered crowd that thronged the bird cage, and, on asking +Steel what was up, he laughed, and said, ‘Oh, nothing, Sir +George, it’s only Bill after a bit of old’; meaning that he +had seen a man who had owed him money for some years, +and had gone to give him a gentle reminder of the fact.”</p> + +<p>My readers may not be aware of the awful punishment +that awaits defaulters, and I cannot do better than give that +knowledge in Mr Rice’s words.</p> + +<p>“What unfair play and loaded dice did at night, defaulting +bettors—‘welshers,’ as they are now called—practised +by day. The best legitimate Meetings, as well as the minor +country side ventures, were infested with the rogues. They +dressed well, wore frilled shirts and ‘flash’ rings, and were, +perhaps, better able to pay their way about than honest +men. The Chichester ‘extortioners,’ with their guinea bed +for a single night’s lodging, were unable to keep these gentry +away from the Ducal meeting; and the unmerciful dealings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> +of mine hosts at Doncaster, Windsor, Warwick, and Newmarket, +who enjoyed, in those days, an unenviable notoriety +for the extravagance of their charges, were, likewise, powerless +to clear their coffee rooms from the welshing community.</p> + +<p>“Measures were taken to reduce the evil. To begin with, +the Messrs Tattersall issued a code of new rules and regulations, +to be observed, in future, by all subscribers to the +betting room at the Corner. A subscription of two guineas +per annum was fixed. Gentlemen desirous of subscribing +were to give a week’s notice, in writing, to Messrs Tattersall +and Son, submitting references for their approval. Non-subscribers +might be admitted on payment of a guinea; +and, the room being under the sanction of the Jockey Club, +all the members were to be obedient to any suggestions +made by the Senate of the Turf, from time to time. Lastly, +special attention was called to the forty-first rule of the +Jockey Club, which enacted that any bettor adjudged to be +a defaulter by the Stewards, should not be permitted to go +on the Heath at Newmarket, and they should be excluded +from the betting rooms there, and at Tattersall’s.</p> + +<p>“This step in a right direction was followed, a few months +later, by the action of the Trustees of the Grand Stand at +Ascot, who gave notice that all defaulters in respect to +stakes, forfeits, or bets on horse racing, would be peremptorily +excluded during any Meeting on the Heath at Ascot; and, +if any one in default, did gain admission, on being pointed +out to the Noble Master of Her Majesty’s Buckhounds, or +to the Clerk of the Course, he would, if necessary, be expelled +by force, unless he were able to show that he had discharged +all his obligations.</p> + +<p>“At Goodwood, a similar active policy was pursued; no +person, being notoriously a defaulter upon bets on horse +racing, would be permitted to ‘assist’ at the Meeting. A +contumelious defaulter having obtained admission to the +Enclosure, he received peremptory orders to quit; and the +example set by the Stewards of Ascot and Goodwood was +promptly taken up by the better class of country Meetings;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> +and notices were posted, that if any person notoriously in +default, as to either forfeits, or bets, gained admittance, he +should be peremptorily expelled. At Doncaster, it was +requested that all parties who had claims for bets, would +not fail to notify the same to Mr Butterfield, Land Steward +to the Corporation, prior to the races, at his office, or at the +Grand Stand. Lord Eglinton, who had taken a prominent +part in the endeavour to stamp out this evil, wrote to the +Town Clerk: ‘It gives me much pleasure to find that the +Corporation of Doncaster have passed the Resolutions. +Defaulters have become so numerous, and so audacious in +their proceedings, that it is absolutely necessary that the +strongest measures should be adopted against them.’ The +Corporation of Doncaster, at their meeting, when his Lordship’s +letter was read, resolved, unanimously, that the Town +Clerk be requested, immediately, to confer with the proprietors +of the Betting Rooms, and that Lord Eglinton be +permitted to purify those rooms, as well as the Stand and +Enclosure.</p> + +<p>“But to the influence and exertions of Lord George +Bentinck, the ‘legitimates’ owed the clearance of the Turf +from the hordes of welshers and other non-payers that +infested it. This ‘pleasing reform of the Turf’ was +brought about by his active measures; and it was admitted, +that had he not persevered to the utmost, even his powerful +influence would have been blighted, and the host of rotten +sheep left to infect the sound constitution of the remaining +flock. But such was the effect of the sharp remedies employed, +that, for some time after, it was safe to make a bet +with any man whom you might meet in the Betting Ring +at respectable Race Meetings, so effectually was the Turf +ridded of the pests that had infested it.”</p> + +<p>Probably, the greatest defaulter of modern times was a +man named Dwyer, who kept a cigar shop in St Martin’s +Lane. He, generally, gave a point or two more than the +current odds at Tattersall’s, and, in 1851, he was doing, by +far, the largest business of any “list man” in London.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> +Owing to the promptitude and regularity of his payments, +he gained a high reputation for solvency, and not only +retained and increased his <i>clientèle</i> among the half-crown and +shilling public, but had attracted the custom even of men of +good standing in the ring. His humble patrons believed +him to be every whit as safe as “Leviathan” Davis, and their +confidence was largely shared by racing men of a higher +calibre.</p> + +<p>All went well till the Chester Meeting of 1851, the Cup +being, then, the greatest betting handicap in the Calendar; +so much so that, in that year it was calculated that upwards +of <i>a million sterling</i> changed hands over that one race. +Dwyer laid very heavily against the winner <i>Miss Nancy</i>. It +had always been his custom to pay up on the day after a +great race; and, consequently, at an early hour on Friday, +the first of May, crowds of the lucky backers of Nancy made +their way to the familiar cigar shop in St Martin’s Lane, to +receive their winnings in exchange for the tickets they held. +Conceive their consternation when they found the shutters +up, and the door closed, with other unmistakable signs that +the bank had suspended payment. The news spread fast, +and there was soon a mob of some thousands blocking up +all the approaches to the cigar shop.</p> + +<p>By and by it oozed out that a notice had been fastened +to the shutters to the effect that Mr Dwyer would meet +his friends and creditors that evening at the White Swan, +Chandos Street, in order to make arrangements for discharging +the claims against him. Of course, that hostelry +was immediately besieged by a clamorous crowd, but the +landlord assured them that he knew nothing of Dwyer or +his whereabouts—all he could tell them was that, late on +the previous evening, two gentlemen, who were perfect +strangers to him, had called and engaged his “long-room” +for a meeting of Mr Dwyer and his friends on the following +day. Meanwhile, the cigar shop had been broken into, and +the worst fears of the unfortunate victims were confirmed +when they found that every scrap of furniture that was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> +worth anything had been removed from the house during +the night. The excitement in London that evening was +tremendous—nothing else was talked of among sporting +men but Dwyer’s collapse, and it was afterwards found +that he had bolted with £25,000 of the public’s money. +The rogue was never found.</p> + +<p>The largest sum ever won by a horse was made by +<i>Donovan</i>, who, in his lifetime, carried off stakes to the value +of £55,354, 13s.; but the largest amount of “public money” +ever won without betting by an owner in a single season +is £73,858, 10s., won by the Duke of Portland in 1889; +whilst Lord Falmouth, who did not bet, won nearly £212,000 +in eleven years, from 1873 to 1883, and in 1884 he sold +his whole stud for at least £150,000. Count Lagrange +also won in stakes in five years, from 1876 to 1880, +£73,000.</p> + +<p>These sums, with the exception of the Duke of Portland’s +winnings, were made before the era of enormous stakes +had begun; and, according to a writer (<i>Rapier</i>) in the +<i>Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News</i> in 1892, 2559 +horses ran flat races for £486,556, which sum was won +by 947 competitors. These figures give us some insight +into the enormous interests involved in horse racing, entirely +leaving out the millions which must change hands +in betting.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<p class="pch">The Lottery—Its etymology and origin—The first in England—Succeeding ones—Prince +Rupert’s jewels—Penny Lottery. Suppression and revival—Rage +for them in Queen Anne’s reign—Lotteries for public purposes—Leheup’s +fraud.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">I have</span> written very fully on the Lottery in England,<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> but, +in this History of Gambling in this country, it is necessary +to go over the ground again, though, of course, at much +less length. Some claim that the Romans introduced the +lottery, in their <i>Apophoreta</i>, but these were simply presents +given to guests at their departure after a banquet, and sometimes +they were so disposed as to create great merriment. +The fourteenth book of Martial consists of an introductory +epigram and 222 distiches, each describing and designed +to accompany one of these presents which range from nuts +to works of art and slaves.</p> + +<p>So we may dismiss its Roman origin and examine into +the generally accepted (because never questioned) theory of +its Italian birth. That the Venetian and Genoese merchants +did sometimes use the <i>Lotto</i> as a means of getting rid of +their wares, is true—but the very name shows its northern +derivation, for the Latin word for a lot is <i>Sors</i>. The Anglo-Saxon +for “to cast lots” is Hleot-au. In Dutch it is Lot-en, +Loot-en, and in Swedish, Lotta. Indeed, the first +record I can find of any lottery is that of the widow of +Jan van Eyck, which took place at Bruges on 24th February +1446, the town archives recording a payment to her for +her lottery.</p> + +<p>The first <i>public</i> English lottery was projected in 1566,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> +but was not drawn until 1569. Only one authentic record +of this lottery is believed to be in existence, and it is carefully +preserved in the muniment room at Losely House, +Artington, Surrey.<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> It is printed in black letter, and is +five feet long by nineteen inches wide, so that I can only +give the preamble to it.</p> + +<p>“A verie rich Lotterie Generall, without any blancks, +contayning a number of good prices, as wel of redy money +as of plate, and certaine sorts of marchaundizes, having been +valued and priced by the comaundement of the Queene’s +most excellent majestie, by men expert and skilfull; and +the same Lotterie is erected by her majestie’s order, to the +intent that such commoditie as may chaunce to arise thereof, +after the charges borne, may be converted towardes the +reparation of the havens and strength of the Realme, and +towardes such other publique good workes. The number +of lots shall be foure hundreth thousand, and no more; and +every lot shall be the summe of tenne shillings sterling +onely, and no more.”</p> + +<p>And the bill, which was printed in 1567, winds up thus: +“The shewe of the prices and rewardes above mencioned +shall be set up to be seene in Cheapsyde in London, at the +signe of the Queene’s Majesties’ Arms, in the house of +M. Dericke, goldsmith, servant to the Queene’s most excellent +Majestie.”</p> + +<p>But people fought so shy of the scheme that the proclamation +had to be backed by the recommendation of the +Lord Mayor, and, this proving of no avail, the Queen issued +another on 3rd January 1586, postponing the drawing on +account of the slack subscription, and, this not succeeding, +the Earl of Leicester and Sir William Cecil, as Lords of the +Council, on July 12, 1558, sent a circular to all the +authorities in the Counties of Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Southampton, +and the Isle of Wight, begging them to do all in +their power to get subscribers.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span></p> + +<p>By the terms of the lottery, the subscribers were to be +anonymous, their subscriptions being accompanied by a +“devise or poesie.” Many of these remain in a little black +letter book at Losely, and I give two or three from various +shipping places.</p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“Yermouth haven, God send thee spede,<br /> +The Lord he knoweth thy great nede.”</p> + +<p class="ppq2 p1">“In good hope, poor East Greenwiche, God send us to remain,<br /> +And of some good lotte to have the gaine.”</p> + +<p class="ppq8 p1">“Draw Brightemston<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> a good lot,<br /> +Or else return them a turbot.”</p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“From Hastings we come,<br /> +God send us good speed;<br /> +Never a poor fisher town in England,<br /> +Of y<sup>e</sup> great lot hath more need.”</p> + +<p class="p1">At last, the Lottery was drawn, in 1569, as we learn +from Holinshed. “A great lotterie being holden at London, +in Poules Church Yard, at the west dore, was begun to be +drawne the eleventh of Januarie, and continued daie and +night till the sixt of Maie, wherein the said drawing was +fullie ended.”</p> + +<p>Stow, in his <i>Annales</i>, tells us of the next Lottery, 1585: +“A lotterie for marvellous rich and beautifull armor was +begunne to be drawne at London in <i>S. Paules</i> Churchyard, +at the great West gate (an house of timber and boord being +there erected for that purpose) on <i>S. Peter’s</i><a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> day, in the +morning, which lotterie continued in drawing day and night, +for the space of two or three dayes.”</p> + +<p>As far as I can learn, the next public lottery was that of +1612, and I quote once more from the <i>Annales</i>: “The +King’s maiestie in speciall favor for the present plantation +of English Colonies in <i>Virginia</i>, granted a liberall Lottery, +in which was contained five thousand pound in prizes +certayne, besides rewardes of casualtie, and began to be +drawne in a new built house at the West end of <i>Paul’s</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> +the 29th of June 1612. But, of which Lottery, for want +of filling uppe the number of lots, there were then taken out +and throwne away three score thousand blanckes, without +abating of any one prize; and by the twentith of July all +was drawne and finished. This Lottery was so plainely +carryed, and honestly performed, that it gave full satisfaction +to all persons. <i>Thomas Sharpliffe</i>, a Taylor, of London, had +the chiefe prize, <i>viz.</i> foure thousand Crownes in fayre plate, +which was sent to his house in very stately manner: during +the whole tyme of the drawing of this lottery there were +alwaies present diuers worshipfull Knights and Esquiers, +accompanied by sundry graue discreet Cittizens.”</p> + +<p>There were three lotteries granted for the supply of water +to the Metropolis, in 1627, 1631, and 1689, and a petition +to hold a lottery for the same purpose in 1637, but this, I +think, was not granted. There were many licences granted +for various schemes, and there was one, called the Royal +Oak lottery, for granting assistance to old Royalists, which +seems to have been a swindle. Indeed, this may be said to +have been the case with a good many of the Lotteries in +Charles II.’s time, till, when Prince Rupert died, and his +jewels were to be disposed of by lottery, the public would +not subscribe unless the King consented to see that all was +fair, as we see by the <i>London Gazette</i>, September 27—October +1, 1683:</p> + +<p>“These are to give Notice, that the Jewels of his late +Highness Prince <i>Rupert</i>, have been particularly valued and +appraised by Mr <i>Isaac Legouch</i>, Mr <i>Christopher Rosse</i>, and +Mr <i>Richard Beauvoir</i>, Jewellers, the whole amounting to +Twenty Thousand Pounds, and will be sold by way of +Lottery, each Lot to be Five Pounds. The biggest Prize +will be a great Pearl Necklace valued at £8000, and none +less than £100. A printed Particular of the said Appraisement, +with their Division into Lots, will be delivered <i>gratis</i> +by Mr <i>Francis Child</i>, Goldsmith, at Temple Bar, <i>London</i>, +into whose hands, such as are willing to be Adventurers, are +desired to pay their Money, on, or about, the first day of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> +<i>November</i> next. As soon as the whole sum is paid in, a +short day will be appointed (which ‘tis hoped will be before +<i>Christmas</i>) and notified in the <i>Gazette</i>, for the drawing +thereof, which will be done in his Majesty’s Presence, who +is pleased to declare, that he, himself, will see all the Prizes +put among the Blanks, and that the whole shall be managed +with all Equity and Fairness; nothing being intended but +the Sale of the said Jewels at a moderate Value.”</p> + +<p>In another <i>London Gazette</i> of Nov. 22/26, 1683, we are +told how this Lottery will be drawn, and, as it is rare to +have an English sovereign mixed up in such a speculation, I +transcribe it:</p> + +<p>“As soon as the Money is all come in, a day will be prefixed, +and published for the drawing thereof, as has been +formerly notified. In the morning of which day His Majesty +will be pleased, publickly, in the Banquetting House, to see +the Blanks told over, that they may not exceed their Number, +and to read the Papers (which shall be exactly the same size +as the Blanks) on which the Prizes are to be written; which, +being rolled up in his presence, His Majesty will mix amongst +the Blanks, as may, also, any of the Adventurers there +present that shall desire it. This being done, a Child, +appointed by His Majesty, or the Adventurers, shall, out +of the Mass of Lots so mixed, take out the number that +each Person adventures for, and put them into boxes (which +shall be provided for the purpose) on the covers whereof, +each Adventurer’s Name shall be written with the number +of Lots He or She adventures for; the Boxes to be filled in +succession as the Money was paid in. As soon as all the +lots are thus distributed, they shall be opened as fast as may +be, and the prizes then and there delivered to those that win +them; all which, ‘tis hoped, will be done and finished in one +day.”</p> + +<p>There was a Lottery, in which the subscription was a +penny, and the Capital prize was One Thousand Pounds, +drawn on 19th Oct. 1698, at the Dorset Garden Theatre, +near Salisbury Square, Fleet Street, but when William III.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span> +came to the throne, it was seen that the Lottery was a very +profitable thing, and the Government took it unto itself for +its own purposes. In 1694, £1,000,000 was raised by +Lottery, and in 1697, £1,400,000—but in 1699, by 10 +and 11 Will. III., c. 17, lotteries were suppressed, the preamble +to the Act stating, “That all such Lotteries, and all +other Lotteries, are common and publick nuisances, and that +all grants, patents, and licences for such Lotteries, or any +other Lotteries, are void and against Law.”</p> + +<p>It must have been about this time (for in 1698-9 three +expeditions sailed from Scotland to Darien) that Ward wrote +in <i>The London Spy</i> a description of the Lottery fever in +London:</p> + +<p>“The <i>Gazette</i> and <i>Post-Papers</i> lay by Neglected, and +nothing was Pur’d over in the <i>Coffee Houses</i>, but the <i>Ticket-Catalogues</i>; +No talking of the <i>Jubilee</i>, the want of Current +Trade with <i>France</i>, or the <i>Scotch</i> Settlement at <i>Darien</i>; +Nothing Buz’d about by the Purblind <i>Trumpeters</i> of <i>State +News</i>, but <i>Blank</i> and <i>Benefit</i>. <i>My Son had Five Pound in +such a Lottery, but got nothing; my Daughter</i>, says another, +<i>had but Five Shillings, and got the Twenty Pound Prize</i>. +People running up and down the Streets in Crowds and +Numbers, as if one end of the Town was on Fire, and the +other were running to help ‘em off with their Goods. One +Stream of <i>Coachmen</i>, <i>Footmen</i>, <i>Prentice Boys</i>, and <i>Servant +Wenches</i> flowing one way, with wonderful hopes of getting +an estate for three pence. <i>Knights</i>, <i>Esquires</i>, <i>Gentlemen</i> and +<i>Traders</i>, <i>Marry’d Ladies</i>, <i>Virgin Madams</i>, <i>Jilts</i>, etc.; moving +on <i>Foot</i>, in <i>Sedans</i>, <i>Chariots</i>, and <i>Coaches</i>, another way; +with a pleasing Expectancy of getting Six Hundred a +Year for a Crown.</p> + +<p>“Thus were all the <i>Fools</i> in Town so busily employed in +running up and down from one <i>Lottery</i>, or another, that it +was as much as <i>London</i> could do to Conjure together such +Numbers of <i>Knaves</i> as might Cheat ‘em fast enough of their +<i>Money</i>. The Unfortunate crying out, <i>A Cheat, a Cheat, a +Confounded Cheat, nothing of Fairness in’t</i>. The Fortunate,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> +in opposition to the other, crying, <i>’Tis all Fair, all Fair; the +Fairest Adventure that ever was drawn</i>. And thus, every +Body, according to their Success, Expressing variously their +Sentiments; tho’ the Losers, who may be said to be in the +Wrong of it, to venture their Money, yet, were they most +Right in their Conjectures of the Project, and the Gainers, +who were in the Right of it, to hazard their Money, because +they won, were most Wrong in their opinion of the matter. +For I have much ado to forbear believing that <i>Luck in a Bag</i> +is almost as Honest as <i>Fortune in a Wheel</i>, or any other of +the like Projects. Truly, says my Friend, I confess I cannot +conceive any extraordinary Opinion of the Fairness of any +<i>Lottery</i>, for I am apt to believe that whenever such a number +of <i>Fools</i> fall into a <i>Knave’s</i> hand, he will make the most of +‘em; and I think the <i>Parliament</i> could not have given the +<i>Nation</i> greater Assurances of their especial Regard to the +Welfare of the <i>Publick</i>, than by suppressing all <i>Lotteries</i>, +which only serve to Buoy up the mistaken Multitude with +Dreams of Golden Showers, to the Expence of that little +Money, which, with hard Labour they have Earn’d; and +often to the Neglect of their Business, which doubles the +Inconveniency. The <i>Gentry</i>, indeed, might make it their +Diversion, but the <i>Common People</i> make it a great part of +their Care and Business, hoping thereby to relieve a Necessitous +Life; instead of which, they plunge themselves further +into an Ocean of Difficulties. What if one Man in Ten +Thousand gets Five Hundred Pounds, what Benefit is that +to the rest, who have struggled hard for <i>Fool</i>’s Pence to make +up that Sum, which, perhaps, falls to one who stood not in +need of <i>Fortune</i>’s Favours.”</p> + +<p>But the State Lotteries began again in Queen Anne’s +reign, for an Act (8 Anne, c. 4) was passed in 1710 authorising +a loan of £1,500,000 by means of a lottery of 150,000 +tickets at £10 each. The money was to be sunk, and 9 per +cent. was allowed on it for 32 years, and the prizes were +annuities from one of £1000 to 14s. a year, which latter was +given as a consolation to every holder of a blank.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span></p> + +<p>Luttrell tells us how greedily they were taken up. “21st +Jan. 1710. Yesterday, books were opened at Mercer’s +Chapel for receiving subscriptions for the Lottery, and ‘tis +said, above a Million is already subscribed; so that, ‘tis believed, +‘twill be full by Monday 7 night.” And he also tells +us that “Mr Barnaby, who lately belonged to the 6 Clerk’s +Office, has got the £1000 per ann. ticket in the lottery.” +This lottery was drawn by blue coat boys from Christ’s +Hospital, and from this time, until 1824 (except from 1814 +to 1819), there was no year without a State Lottery.</p> + +<p>There were Lotteries for everything, and to show how +numerous they were take the advertisements in one paper, +taken hap-hazard. <i>The Tatler</i>, Sep. 14/16, 1710: “Mr +Stockton’s Sale of Jewels, Plate, &c., will be drawn on +Michaelmas Day.—The Lottery in Colson’s Court will be +drawn on the 21st inst.—The Sale of Goods to be seen at +Mrs Butler’s, &c., will certainly be drawn on Tuesday, the +19th inst.—Mrs Povy’s Sale of Goods is put off to Saturday, +23rd inst.—Mrs Symond’s Sale of Goods will begin on +Wednesday, the 20th of this instant.—Mrs Guthridge’s Sixpenny +Sale of Goods, &c., continues to be drawn every Day.”</p> + +<p>The prizes did not always fall to those who needed the +money, as Swift writes to Stella about a son of Lord Abercorn. +Aug. 29, 1711: “His second son has t’other day got +a prize in the Lottery of Four Thousand Pounds, besides +two small ones of two hundred pounds each; nay, the family +was so fortunate, that my Lord bestowing one ticket, which +is a hundred pounds, to one of his servants, who had been +his page, the young fellow got a prize, which has made it +another hundred.”</p> + +<p>In 1721 private Lotteries were prescribed, by the 36th +sec. of 8 Geo. I., c. 2, which imposed a penalty of £500 for +carrying on such lotteries, in addition to any penalties inflicted +by any former Acts; the offender being committed to prison +for one year, and thenceforward until such times as the £500 +should be fully paid and satisfied.</p> + +<p>The first Westminster bridge was partially built through<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> +the instrumentality of a lottery, the drawing of which began +on Dec. 8, 1740, at Stationers’ Hall; and by an Act of +Parliament (26 Geo. II., c. 22) passed in 1753, the nation +purchased for £20,000, the library and collection of Sir +Hans Sloane, and incorporated Sir Robert Cotton’s library +with it. Montague House was selected for their reception, +and a lottery to provide for its purchase was got up; the +subscription to which was £300,000 in tickets of £3 each. +The Managers and Trustees of this Lottery were The Archbishop +of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor, and the Speaker, +each of whom was to have £100 for his trouble.</p> + +<p>In connection with this lottery was a gross fraud, and on +19th April 1755, Peter Leheup, one of the receivers of the +Lottery was tried at the King’s bench and found guilty, 1st, +of receiving subscriptions before the day and hour advertised; +2nd, of permitting subscribers to use different names to +cover the maximum of 20 tickets allowed to each holder; +and 3rd, of disposing of the tickets which had been bespoke +and not claimed, or were double-charged, instead of returning +them to the managers. For these <i>laches</i> he was, on the +following 9th of May, fined £1000, which he immediately +paid into Court.</p> + +<p>In a lottery of 1767 a lady residing in Holborn was presented +with a ticket by her husband, and so anxious was she +for its success, that on the Sunday previous to the drawing, +the clergyman gave out that “the prayers of the congregation +are desired for the success of a person engaged in a +new undertaking.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<p class="pch">Blue coat boys tampered with—The two trials—Insuring tickets—Curious +Lotteries—Lever Museum and Pigot diamond lotteries—Little goes—Stories +of winning numbers—Decline of Lotteries—The last—Its epitaph—Modern +lotteries.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">Twice</span> in the year 1775 were the blue coat boys, who drew +the tickets from the lottery wheels, tampered with; and the +following accounts are taken from the <i>Annual Register</i> of +that year:</p> + +<p>“1 June. A man was carried before the Lord Mayor, for +attempting to bribe the two Blue Coat boys, who drew the +Museum<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> lottery, to conceal a ticket, and bring it to him, +promising he would, next day, let them have it again, when +one of them was, it seems, to convey it back privately to the +wheel, but without letting go his hold of it, and then produce +it as if newly drawn; the man’s intention being to +insure it in all the offices against being drawn that day. +But the boys were honest, gave notice of the intended +fraud, and pointed out the delinquent, who, however, was +discharged, as there is no law in being, to punish the +offence.”</p> + +<p>“5 Dec. By virtue of a warrant from Sir Charles Asgill, +was brought before the magistrate, at Guildhall, the clerk of +an eminent hop factor in Goodman’s Fields, upon suspicion +of being concerned with a person, not yet apprehended, in +defrauding a lottery office keeper, near the ‘Change, of a +large sum of money. This matter being undertaken by the +Commissioners of the Lottery, the Solicitor of the Treasury +appeared against the prisoner, and for him attended, as +Counsel, Mr Cox.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span></p> + +<p>“The first witness examined was the lottery office keeper, +he said, that about a fortnight ago, the prisoner insured No. +21,481 six times over for the subsequent day of drawing; +that the conversation he had with the prisoner at that time, +and the seeming positiveness there appeared in the latter, +that the ticket would come up, caused him to enquire at +other lottery offices, when he found the same number insured, +in the prisoner’s name, at all the principal offices +about the ‘Change; that the ticket was drawn the first hour +of drawing the subsequent day. This, with his former suspicion, +alarmed him, and he immediately went to Christ’s +Hospital, and saw the boy who drew the ticket; that he +interrogated him, whether he had clandestinely taken that +number out of the wheel, or whether he had been solicited +to do so, which the boy positively denied; that, observing +that he answered rather faintly, he importuned him to +divulge the truth, which, after some hesitation, produced +an acknowledgment of the fact.</p> + +<p>“The next witness was the Blue Coat boy. He said that, +about three weeks ago, the person who is not in custody, and +whom he had known before he went to the Hospital, took +him to a Coffee House, where they breakfasted together; +that he wanted to know of the witness, whether it was possible +to get a ticket out of the wheel; to which the latter +answered, No. That being, afterwards, solicited for the same +purpose, by him, to secrete a ticket, he, at length, promised +to do so; that, accordingly, he took two at one time out of +the wheel, gave one to the person who called it over, and +put the other in his pocket; that the person who induced +him to do it was then in the gallery, and nodded his head to +the witness to signify when was a proper time; that, after +the witness came out of the hall, he gave the ticket to the +person who sat in the gallery, and who was then waiting for +the witness in the Guildhall Yard; that the next time the +witness drew the lottery, the person before mentioned returned +him the ticket, which the witness put in the wheel, +and drew out the same day; that he did this three several<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> +times, and received from the person for whom he did it, +several half guineas; that he has heard the prisoner’s name +mentioned by him, but never heard the latter acknowledge +any connection between them in insurance; and, never before, +saw the prisoner.</p> + +<p>“The prisoner acknowledged he insured the ticket 79 +times for one day. The mother of the person who was +not apprehended, was next examined; she proved an acquaintance +between her son and the prisoner; but denied +any remembrance of ever hearing the latter mention anything +relating to insurance. The prisoner was discharged.</p> + +<p>“It is said that the person who absconded, got about +£400 by the above fraud; and would have got £3000, had +he been paid in all the offices where he insured.”</p> + +<p>But, that such a fraud should not be perpetrated again, the +Lords of the Treasury, on 12th Dec. 1775, issued an Order, +of which the following is an extract:</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">It is therefore ordered</span>, for preventing the like +wicked practices in future, that every boy, before he is +suffered to put his hand into either wheel, be brought by the +proclaimer to the managers on duty, for them to see <i>that the +bosoms and sleeves of his coat be closely buttoned, his pockets +sewed up, and his hands examined</i>; and that, during the time +of his being on duty, <i>he shall keep his left hand in his girdle +behind him, and his right hand open, with his fingers extended</i>: +and the proclaimer is not to suffer him, at any time, to leave +the wheel, without, first, being examined by the Manager +nearest him.”</p> + +<p>They also “requested of the Treasurer of Christ’s Hospital, +not to make known who are the twelve boys nominated for +drawing the lottery, till the morning before the drawing +begins; which said boys are all to attend every day, and +the two who are to go on duty at the wheels, are to be +taken promiscuously from amongst the whole number, by +either of the secretaries, without observing any regular course, +or order; so that no boy shall know when it will be his +turn to go to either wheel.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span></p> + +<p><i>À propos</i> of insuring lottery tickets, Horace Walpole +writes to the Countess of Ossory, 17th Dec. 1780: “As folks +in the country love to hear of <i>London fashions</i>, know, +Madam, that the reigning one amongst the <i>quality</i>, is to +go, after the opera, to the lottery offices, where their Ladyships +bet with the keepers. You choose any number you +please; if it does not come up next day, you pay five +guineas; if it does, receive forty, or in proportion to the age +of the <i>tirage</i>. The Duchess of Devonshire, in one day, won +nine hundred pounds. General Smith, as the luckiest of all +mites, is of the most select parties, and chooses the numeros.”</p> + +<p>On Jan. 6, 1777, two Jews were brought before the Lord +Mayor, charged with counterfeiting a lottery ticket; but, as +they brought plenty of false witnesses, they were acquitted. +But one, Daniel Denny, was not so lucky on Feb. 24, the +same year, for he was convicted of the same crime. The +<i>Annual Register</i> for this year says:</p> + +<p>“The following is a true state of the different methods of +getting money by lottery office keepers, and other ingenious +persons, who have struck out different plans of getting +money by the State Lottery of 1777.</p> + +<p>“First, His Majesty’s Royal Letters Patent for securing +the Property of the purchasers.</p> + +<p>“Secondly, A few office keepers who advertise ‘By +authority of Parliament’ to secure your property in shares +and chances.</p> + +<p>“Thirdly, Several schemes for shares and chances, only +entitling the purchasers to all prizes above twenty pounds.</p> + +<p>“Fourthly, A bait for those who can only afford to +venture a shilling.</p> + +<p>“Then come the ingenious sett of lottery merchants, viz. +Lottery magazine proprietors—Lottery tailors—Lottery stay +makers—Lottery glovers—Lottery hat makers—Lottery tea +merchants—Lottery snuff and tobacco merchants—Lottery +handkerchiefs—Lottery bakers—Lottery barbers (where a +man, for being shaved, and paying threepence, may stand a +chance of getting ten pounds)—Lottery shoe blacks—Lottery<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span> +eating houses; one in Wych Street, Temple-bar, +where, if you call for six penny worth of roast, or boiled +beef, you receive a note of hand, with a number, which, +should it turn out fortunate, may entitle the eater of the +beef to sixty guineas—Lottery oyster stalls, by which the +fortunate may get five guineas for three penny worth of +oysters. And, to complete this curious catalogue, an old +woman, who keeps a sausage stall in one of the little alleys +leading to Smithfield, wrote up, in chalk, <i>Lottery sausages</i>, +or, five shillings to be gained for a farthing relish.”</p> + +<p>In 1782 an Act was passed, whereby lottery office +keepers were to pay a licence of £50, under a penalty of +£100 if they did not do so.</p> + +<p>Sir Ashton Lever disposed of his Museum by lottery in +1758 by Act of Parliament, and another Act was procured +to dispose of, by lottery, a large diamond, the property of +the deceased Lord Pigot, valued at £30,000. This lottery +was drawn on Jan. 2, 1801, and the winner of the prize was +a young man, name unknown. It was, afterwards, sold at +Christie’s on May 10, 1802, for 9500 guineas. It was +again sold, and is said to have passed into the possession of +Messrs Rundell and Bridge, the Court jewellers, who are +reported to have sold it to an Egyptian Pasha for £30,000.</p> + +<p>But, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, a system +of private lotteries, called “little goes” had sprung up, and +they are thus described in the <i>Times</i> of 22nd July 1795:</p> + +<p>“Amongst the various species of Gaming that have ever +been practised, we think none exceeds the mischiefs, and +calamities that arise from the practice of private lotteries, +which, at present, are carrying on, in various parts of the +town, to very alarming extents, much to the discredit of +those whose province it is to suppress such nefarious practices, +as they cannot be ignorant of such transactions. ‘The +little go,’ which is the technical term for a private lottery, is +calculated only for the meridian of those understandings, +who are unused to calculate and discriminate between right +and wrong, and roguery and fair dealing; and, in this particular<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> +case, it is those who compose the lower order of +society, whom it so seriously affects, and, on whom, it is +chiefly designed to operate. No man of common sense can +suppose that the lottery wheels are fair and honest, or that +the proprietors act upon principles anything like honour, or +honesty; for, by the art, and contrivance, of the wheels, they +are so constructed, with secret springs, and the application +of gum, glue, &c., in the internal part of them, that they can +draw the numbers out, or keep them in, at pleasure, just +as it suits their purposes; so that the ensurer, robbed and +cajoled, by such unfair means, has not the most distant +chance of ever winning; the whole being a gross fraud, and +imposition, in the extreme. We understand the most +notorious of these standards of imposition, are situated in +Carnaby Market, Oxford Road, in the Borough, Islington, +Clerkenwell, and various other places, most of which are +under the very nose of Magistracy, in seeming security, +bidding defiance to law, and preying upon the vitals of the +poor and ignorant.</p> + +<p>“We hope the Magistrates of each jurisdiction, and those +who possess the same power, will perform their duty on +behalf of the poor, over whom they preside, and put a stop +to such a growing, and alarming evil, of such pernicious +and dangerous tendency; particularly as the proprietors +are well-known bad characters, consisting of needy beggars, +desperate swindlers, gamblers, sharpers, notorious thieves, +and common convicted felons; most of whose names stand +recorded in the Newgate Calendar for various offences of +different descriptions.”</p> + +<p><i>11th Aug. 1795.</i> “On Friday night last, in consequence +of searching warrants from the parochial magistrates of St +James’s Westminster, upwards of 30 persons were apprehended +at the house of one M’Call, No. 2 Francis Street, near +Golden Square, and in the house of J. Knight, King Street, +where the most destructive practices <i>to the poor</i> were carrying +on, that of <i>Private Lotteries</i> (called Little Goes). Two +wheels, with the tickets, were seized on the premises.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> +Upon examination of those persons, who proved to be the +poor deluded objects who had been there plundered, they +were reprimanded, and discharged.</p> + +<p>“The wives of many industrious mechanics, by attending +these nefarious houses, have not only been duped out of +their earnings (which ought to have been applied to the +providing bread for their families), but have even pawned +their beds, wedding rings, and almost every article they +were possessed of, for that purpose.”</p> + +<p>Here are two anecdotes of the winners of the great prize, +which was, usually, £20,000, from the <i>Times</i>:</p> + +<p><i>27th Dec. 1797.</i> “Dr B., a physician at <i>Lime</i> (Dorset), a +few days since, being under pecuniary embarrassment, and +his house surrounded by bailiffs, made his escape by a +window, into a neighbour’s house, from whence he fled to +London. The furniture was seized, and the sale actually +commenced, when it was stopped by a letter, stating that +the Doctor, upon his arrival in London, found himself the +proprietor of the £20,000 prize. We guarantee the truth +of this fact.”</p> + +<p><i>19th Mar. 1798.</i> “The £20,000 prize, drawn on Friday, +is divided amongst a number of poor persons: a female +servant in Brook Street, Holborn, had a sixteenth; a woman +who keeps a fruit stall in Gray’s Inn Lane, another; a +third is possessed by a servant of the Duke of Roxburghe; +a fourth by a Chelsea carrier of vegetables to Covent +Garden; one-eighth belongs to a poor family in Rutlandshire, +and the remainder is similarly divided.”</p> + +<p>In 1802, old Baron d’Aguilar, the Islington miser, was +requested, by a relation, to purchase a particular ticket, +No. 14,068; but it had been sold some few days previously. +The baron died on the 16th of March following, and the +number was the first drawn ticket on the 24th, and, as such, +entitled to £20,000. The baron’s representatives, under +these circumstance, published an advertisement, offering a +reward of £1000 to any person who might have found the +said ticket, and would deliver it up. Payment was stopped.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> +A wholesale linen draper in Cornhill (who had ordered his +broker to buy him ten tickets, which he deposited in a +chest), on copying the numbers for the purpose of examining +them, made a mistake in one figure, and called it +14,168 instead of 14,068, which was the £20,000 prize. +The lottery being finished, he sent his tickets to be examined +and marked. To his utter astonishment, he then +found the error in the number copied on his paper. On his +demanding payment at the lottery office, a <i>caveat</i> was +entered by old d’Aguilar’s executors; but, an explanation +taking place, the £20,000 was paid to the lucky linen +draper.</p> + +<p>Although these lotteries were a great source of revenue to +Government, and, consequently, relieved the taxpayer to the +amount of their profit, it began to dawn upon the public +that this legalised gambling was somewhat immoral; and, +in 1808, a Committee of the House of Commons was appointed, +to inquire how far the evil attending lotteries had +been remedied by the laws passed respecting the same; and, +in their Report, they said that “the foundation of the lottery +system is so radically vicious, that your Committee feel convinced +that under no system of regulations, which can be +devised, will it be possible for Parliament to adopt it as an +efficacious source of revenue, and, at the same time, divest it +of all the evils which it has, hitherto, proved so baneful a +source.”</p> + +<p>Yet they continued to be held; but, when the Lottery Act +of 1818 was passing through the House of Commons, Mr +Parnell protested against it, and, in the course of his speech, +suggested that the following epitaph should be inscribed on +the tomb of the Chancellor of the Exchequer: “Here lies +the Right Hon. Nicholas Vansittart, once Chancellor of the +Exchequer; the patron of Bible Societies, the builder of +Churches, a friend to the education of the poor, an encourager +of Savings’ banks, and—a supporter of Lotteries!”</p> + +<p>And, in 1819, when the lottery for that year was being +discussed, Mr Lyttleton moved:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span></p> + +<p>1. That by the establishment of State lotteries, a spirit of +gambling, injurious, in the highest degree, to the morals of +the people, is encouraged and provoked.</p> + +<p>2. That such a habit, manifestly weakening the habits of +industry, must diminish the permanent sources of the public +revenue.</p> + +<p>3. That the said lotteries have given rise to other systems +of gambling, which have been but partially repressed by +laws, whose provisions are extremely arbitrary, and their +enforcement liable to the greatest abuse.</p> + +<p>4. That this House, therefore, will no longer authorise +the establishment of State lotteries under any system of +regulations whatever.</p> + +<p>Needless to say, these resolutions were not passed, but +the Lottery was on its last legs, for, in the Lottery Act of +1823, provision was made for its discontinuance after the +drawing of the lottery sanctioned in that Act. Yet this was +not adhered to, and a “last lottery” was decreed to be drawn +in 1826. Its date was originally fixed for the 18th of July, +but the public did not subscribe readily, and it was postponed +until the 18th of October, and, on that day it was +drawn at Cooper’s Hall, Basinghall Street. Here is an +epitaph which was written on it:</p> + +<p class="pc1 reduct">In Memory of<br /> +<span class="smcap">The State of Lottery</span>,<br /> +the last of a long line<br /> +whose origin in England commenced<br /> +in the year 1569,<br /> +which, after a series of tedious complaints,<br /> +<i>Expired</i><br /> +on the<br /> +18th day of October 1826.<br /> +During a period of 257 years, the family<br /> +flourished under the powerful protection<br /> +of the<br /> +British Parliament;<br /> +the Minister of the day continuing to<br /> +give them his support for the improvement<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span>of the revenue.<br /> +As they increased, it was found that their<br /> +continuance corrupted the morals,<br /> +and encouraged a spirit<br /> +of Speculation and Gambling among the lower<br /> +classes of the people;<br /> +thousands of whom fell victims to their<br /> +insinuating and tempting allurements.<br /> +Many philanthropic individuals<br /> +in the Senate,<br /> +at various times, for a series of years,<br /> +pointed out their baneful influence,<br /> +without effect;<br /> +His Majesty’s Ministers<br /> +still affording them their countenance<br /> +and protection.<br /> +The British Parliament<br /> +being, at length, convinced of their<br /> +mischievous tendency,<br /> +His Majesty GEORGE IV.<br /> +on the 9th of July 1823,<br /> +pronounced sentence of condemnation<br /> +on the whole race;<br /> +from which time they were almost<br /> +<span class="smcap">Neglected by the British Public</span>.<br /> +Very great efforts were made by the<br /> +Partisans and friends of the family to<br /> +excite<br /> +the public feeling in favour of the last<br /> +of the race, in vain:<br /> +It continued to linger out the few<br /> +remaining<br /> +moments of its existence without attention,<br /> +or sympathy, and finally terminated<br /> +its career unregretted by any<br /> +virtuous mind.</p> + +<p class="p1">In 1836 an Act was passed “to prevent the advertising +of Foreign and illegal lotteries,” but circulars still come +from Hamburg and other places. In 1844 an Act was +passed “to indemnify persons connected with Art Unions, +and others, against certain penalties.” Still there were minor +lotteries and raffles, and the law was seldom set in force +against them, any more than it is now when applied to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> +charitable purposes; yet in 1860 one Louis Dethier, was +haled up at Bow Street for holding a lottery for £10,000 +worth of Twelfth Cakes, and was only let off on consenting +to stop it at once, and nowadays the lottery is practically +dead, except when some petty rogue is taken up for deluding +children with prize sweets.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<p class="pch">Promoters and Projectors—Government loans—Commencement of Bank of +England—Character of a Stock Jobber—Jonathan’s—Hoax <i>temp.</i> Anne—South +Sea Bubble—Poems thereon.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">We</span> are apt to think that company promoters and +commercial speculation are things of modern growth, +but <i>Projectors</i> and <i>Patentees</i> (company promoters and +monopolists) were common in the early seventeenth +century; and we find an excellent exposition of their +ways and commodities in a poetical broadside by John +Taylor, the Water poet, published in 1641. It is entitled +<i>The complaint of M. Tenter-hooke the</i> Proiector, <i>and Sir +Thomas Dodger, the</i> Patentee. Under the title is a wood-cut, +which represents a <i>Projector</i>, who has a pig’s head +and ass’s ears, screws for legs, and fish hooks for fingers, +bears a measure of coal, and a barrel of wine, on his legs +respectively, tobacco, pipes, dice, roll tobacco, playing cards, +and a bundle of hay slung to his body, papers of pins on +his right arm, and a measure for spirits on his left arm, a +barrel and a dredger on the skirts of his coat. With his +fish hook fingers, he drags bags of money. This is Tenter-hooke, +who is saying to his friend Sir Thomas Dodger, who +is represented as a very well dressed gentleman of the +period:</p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“I have brought money to fill your chest,<br /> +For which I am curst by most and least.”</p> + +<p class="pn1">To which Sir Thomas replies:</p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“Our many yeares scraping is lost at a clap,<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>All thou hast gotten by others’ mishap.”<br /> +<i>If any aske, what things these</i> Monsters <i>be<br /> +‘Tis a</i> Projector <i>and a</i> Patentee<br />: +<i>Such, as like Vermine o’re this Lande did crawle,<br /> +And grew so rich, they gain’d the Devill and all.</i></p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">Loe, I, that lately was a <i>Man</i> of Fashion,<br /> +The <i>Bug-beare</i> and the <i>Scarcrow</i> of this Nation,<br /> +Th’ admired mighty <i>Mounte-banke</i> of <i>Fame</i>,<br /> +The Juggling <i>Hocus Pocus</i> of good name;<br /> +The <i>Bull-begger</i> who did affright and feare,<br /> +And rake, and pull, teare, pill, pole, shave and sheare,<br /> +Now <i>Time</i> hath pluck’d the <i>Vizard</i> from my face,<br /> +I am the onely Image of disgrace.<br /> +My ugly shape I hid so cunningly,<br /> +(Close cover’d with the cloake of honesty),<br /> +That from the <i>East</i> to <i>West</i>, from <i>South</i> to <i>North</i>,<br /> +I was a man esteem’d of ex’lent worth.<br /> +And (Sweet Sir <i>Thomas Dodger</i>,) for your sake,<br /> +My studious time I spent, my sleepes I brake;<br /> +My braines I tost with many a strange vagary.<br /> +And, (like a Spaniell) did both fetch and carry<br /> +To you, such <i>Projects</i>, as I could invent,<br /> +Not thinking there would come a Parliament.<br /> +I was the great <i>Projector</i>, and from me,<br /> +Your Worship learn’d to be a <i>Patentee</i>;<br /> +I had the Art to cheat the Common-weale,<br /> +And you had tricks and slights to passe the Seale.<br /> +I took the paines, I travell’d, search’d and sought,<br /> +Which (by your power) were into Patents wrought.<br /> +What was I but your Journey man, I pray,<br /> +To bring youre worke to you, both night and day:<br /> +I found <i>Stuffe</i>, and you brought it so about,<br /> +You (like a skilfull <i>Taylor</i>) cut it out,<br /> +And fashion’d it, but now (to our displeasure)<br /> +You fail’d exceedingly in taking measure.<br /> +My legs were Screws, to raise thee high or low,<br /> +According as your power did <i>Ebbe</i> or <i>Flow</i>;<br /> +And at your will I was Screw’d up too high,<br /> +That tott’ring, I have broke my necke thereby.<br /> +For you, I made my <i>Fingers fish-hookes</i> still<br /> +To catch at all <i>Trades</i>, either good, or ill,<br /> +I car’d not much who lost, so we might get,<br /> +For all was <i>Fish</i> that came into the Net.<br /> +For you, (as in my Picture plaine appeares)<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>I put a <i>Swine’s face</i> on, an <i>Asses eares</i>,<br /> +The one to listen unto all I heard,<br /> +Wherein your Worship’s profit was prefer’d,<br /> +The other to tast all things, good or bad,<br /> +(As Hogs will doe) where profit may be had.<br /> +<i>Soape</i>, <i>Starch</i>, <i>Tobacco</i>, <i>Pipes</i>, <i>Pens</i>, <i>Butter</i>, <i>Haye</i>,<br /> +<i>Wine</i>, <i>Coales</i>, <i>Cards</i>, <i>Dice</i>, and all came in my way<br /> +I brought your Worship, every day and houre,<br /> +And hope to be defended by your power.</p> + +<p class="pc1 lmid">Sir <i>Thomas Dodgers’</i> Answer.</p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">Alas good <i>Tenter-hooke</i>, I tell thee plaine,<br /> +To seeke for helpe of me ‘tis but in vaine:<br /> +My <i>Patent</i>, which I stood upon of late,<br /> +Is like an <i>Almanacke</i> that’s out of <i>Date</i>.<br /> +‘T had force and vertue once, strange things to doe,<br /> +But, now, it wants both force and vertue too.<br /> +This was the turne of whirling <i>Fortune’s</i> wheele,<br /> +When we least dream’d we should her changing feele.<br /> +Then <i>Time</i>, and fortune, both with joynt consent,<br /> +Brought us to ruine by a Parliament;<br /> +I doe confesse thou broughtst me sweet conceits,<br /> +Which, now, I find, were but alluring baits,<br /> +And I, (too much an Asse) did lend mine eare<br /> +To credit all thou saydst, as well as heare.<br /> +Thou in the <i>Project</i> of the <i>Soape</i> didst toyle,<br /> +But ‘twas so slippery, and too full of oyle,<br /> +That people wondered how we held it fast<br /> +But now it is quite slipp’d from us at last.<br /> +The <i>Project</i> for the <i>Starch</i> thy wit found out,<br /> +Was stiffe a while, now, limber as a Clout,<br /> +The Pagan weed (<i>Tobacco</i>) was our hope,<br /> +In <i>Leafe</i>, <i>Pricke</i>, <i>Role</i>, <i>Ball</i>, <i>Pudding</i>, <i>Pipe</i>, or <i>Rope</i>.<br /> +<i>Brasseele</i>, <i>Varina</i>, <i>Meavis</i>, <i>Trinidado</i>,<br /> +Saint <i>Christophers</i>, <i>Virginia</i>, or <i>Barvado</i>;<br /> +<i>Bermudas</i>, <i>Providentia</i>, <i>Shallowcongo</i>,<br /> +And the most part of all the rest (<i>Mundungo</i><a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a>)<br /> +That Patent, with a whiffe, is spent and broke,<br /> +And all our hopes (in fumo) turn’d to smoake,<br /> +Thou framdst the <i>Butter</i> Patent in thy braines,<br /> +(A Rope and Butter take thee for thy paines).<br /> +I had forgot <i>Tobacco Pipes</i>, which are<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span>Now like to thou and I, but brittle ware.<br /> +<i>Dice</i> run against us, we at <i>Cards</i> are crost,<br /> +We both are turn’d up <i>Noddies</i>,<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> and all’s lost.<br /> +Thus from <i>Sice-sinke</i>, we’r sunke below <i>Dewce-ace</i>,<br /> +And both of us are Impes of blacke disgrace.<br /> +<i>Pins</i> pricke us, and <i>Wine</i> frets our very hearts,<br /> +That we have rais’d the price of <i>Pints</i> and <i>Quarts</i>.<br /> +Thou (in mine eares) thy lyes and tales didst foyst,<br /> +And mad’st me up the price of <i>Sea-coales</i> hoyst.<br /> +<i>Corne</i>, <i>Leather</i>, <i>Partrick</i>, <i>Pheasant</i>, <i>Rags</i>, <i>Gold-twist</i>,<br /> +Thou brought’st all to my <i>Mill</i>; what was’t we mist?<br /> +<i>Weights</i>, <i>Bon<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> lace</i>, <i>Mowstraps</i>, new, new, <i>Corporation</i>,<br /> +<i>Rattles</i>, <i>Seadans</i>,<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> of rare invented fashion.<br /> +<i>Silke</i>, <i>Tallow</i>, <i>Hobby-horses</i>, <i>Wood</i>, <i>Red herring</i>,<br /> +<i>Law</i>, <i>Conscience</i>, <i>Justice</i>, <i>Swearing</i>, and <i>For-swearing</i>.<br /> +All these thou broughtst to me, and still I thought<br /> +That every thing was good that profit brought,<br /> +But now all’s found to be ill gotten pelfe,<br /> +I’le shift for one, doe thou shift for thyselfe.</p> + +<p class="p1">The first loans to Government, in a regular form, took the +form of Tontines, so called from their inventor Lorenzo +Tonti. A Tontine is a loan raised on life annuities. A +number of persons subscribe the loan, and, in return, the +Government pay an annuity to every subscriber. At the +death of any annuitant, his annuity was divided among the +others, until the sole survivor enjoyed the whole income, and +at his death, the annuity lapsed. As an example, a Mr +Jennings, who died in 1798, aged 103—leaving behind him +a fortune of over two millions—was an original subscriber +for £100 in a Tontine: he was the last survivor, and his +income derived for his £100 was £3000 per annum. Our +National Debt began in 1689—by that, I mean that debt +that has never been repaid, and dealings in which, virtually +founded Stockbroking as a business. The Bank of England +started business on 1st Jan. 1695, and, from that time, we +may date the methodical dealing in Stocks and Shares. Of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> +course there were intermediaries between buyer and seller, +and these were termed “Stock brokers.” They first of all +did business at the Exchange, but as they increased in number +their presence there was not desirable, and they migrated +to ‘Change Alley, close by. These gentry are described in +a little book, published in 1703, called, <i>Mirth and Wisdom +in a miscellany of different characters</i>.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></p> + +<p class="pc1 lmid">“<i>A Stock Jobber</i></p> + +<p class="p1">“Is a Rational Animal, with a sensitive Understanding. +He rises and falls like the ebbing and flowing of the Sea; +and his paths are as unsearchable as hers are. He is one +of <i>Pharaoh’s</i> lean kine in the midst of plenty; and, to dream +of him is, almost, an Indication of approaching Famine. +He is ten times more changeable than the Weather; and +the living Insect from which the Grasshopper on the Royal +Bourse was drawn, never leap’d from one Place to another, +as he from one Number to another; sometimes a Hundred +and a half is too little for him; sometimes Half a hundred +is too much; and he falls seven times a Day, but not like +<i>David</i>, on his knees, to beg pardon for former Sins, but to +be made capable of sinning again. He came in with the +<i>Dutch</i>, and he had freed us from as great a Plague as they +were, had he been so kind as to have went out with them. +He lives on the Exchange, but his Dwelling cannot be said +to be the Place of his <i>Abode</i>, for he <i>abides</i> no where, he is so +unconstant and uncertain. Ask him what Religion he professes, +he cries, <i>He’ll sell you as cheap as any Body</i>; and +what Value such an Article of Faith is of, his Answer is, +<i>I’ll give you as much for a Debenture, as the best Chapman +thereabout shall</i>. He is fam’d for Injustice, yet he is a +Master of <i>Equity</i> in one particular to perfection, for he +cheats every Body alike, and is <i>Equal</i> in all his Undertakings. +The Den from which this Beast of Prey bolts out is +<i>Jonathan’s</i> Coffee House, or <i>Garraway’s</i>; and a Man that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> +goes into either, ought to be as circumspect as if in an +Enemy’s country. A Dish of tea there, may be as dear to +him as a good Purchase, and a Man that is over reach’d in +either, tho’ no Drunkard, may be said to have drank away +his Estate. He may be call’d a true Unbeliever, and out of +the Pale of the Church, for he has no Faith. Is a meer +<i>Tolandist</i> in secular Concerns, at the very minute that he is +ready to take up any Goods upon Trust that shall belong +to his Neighbour. <i>St Paul’s</i> Cathedral would be a Mansion-House +fit for a Deity indeed, in his Opinion, did but the +Merchants meet there; and he can give you no subtantialler +a Reason for liking <i>Salter’s Hall</i> better than the Church, +than because of its being a House of Traffick and Commerce, +and the Sale being often held there. He is the Child of +God in one Sense only, and that is by reason of his bearing +His Image, but the Devil in many, for he fights under his +Standard. To make an end of a Subject that is endless; +he has the Figure of a Man, but the Nature of a Beast; and +either triumphs over his Fellow Adventurers, as he eats the +Bread of other People’s Carefulness, and drinks the Tears of +Orphans or Widows, or being made himself Food for others, +grows, at last, constant to one place, which is the <i>Compter</i>, +and the fittest House for such an unaccountable Fellow to +make up his Accounts in.”</p> + +<p>Jonathan’s was, especially, the Coffee House which stock +jobbers frequented. Addison, in the first number of the +<i>Spectator</i>, says, “I sometimes pass for a Jew in the assembly +of Stock Jobbers at Jonathan’s”; and Mrs Centlivre has laid +one of the scenes in her <i>Bold Stroke for a Wife</i>, at Jonathan’s: +where, also, was subscribed the first foreign loan, in +1706.</p> + +<p>There was a Stock Exchange hoax in the reign of Queen +Anne. A man appeared, galloping from Kensington to the +City, ordering the turnpikes to be thrown open for him, and +shouting loudly that he bore the news of the Queen’s death. +This sad message flew far and wide, and dire was its effects +in the City. The funds fell at once, but Manasseh Lopez<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> +and the Jews bought all they could, and reaped the benefit +when the fraud was discovered. In 1715, too, a false report +that the Pretender had been taken, sent the Funds bounding +up, to the great profit of those who were in the secret of the +hoax.</p> + +<p>About this time the demon of gambling was rampant, +every one wanted to find a short road to wealth; naturally, +there were plenty of rogues to ease them of their money, +but the most colossal stroke of gambling was the South Sea +Bubble, the only parallel to which, in modern times, is the +Railway Mania, in 1846.</p> + +<p>The South Sea Company was started in 1711, to have +the monopoly of trade to the South Seas, or South Coast of +America, a region which was, even then, believed to be an +<i>El Dorado</i>. As a trading company it was not successful, +but, having a large capital, it dealt with finance. On 22nd +Jan. 1720, a proposal was laid before Parliament that the +Company should take upon themselves the National Debt, +of £30,981,712, 6s. 6-1/2d. at 5 per cent. per annum, secured +until 1727, when the whole was to be redeemable, if Parliament +so chose, and the interest to be reduced to 4 per cent., +and “That for the liberty of increasing their Capital Stock, +as aforesaid, the Company will give, and pay into his +Majesty’s Exchequer, for the purpose of the Public, and to +be applied for paying off the public debt provided for by +Parliament, before Christmas, 1716, the sum of three +millions and a half, by four equal quarterly payments, +whereof the first payment to be at Lady Day 1721.” On +April 7, the South Sea Company’s Bill received the Royal +Assent, the £100 shares being then about £300.</p> + +<p>On April 12, the directors opened their books for a +subscription of a Million, at the rate of £300 for every +£100 Capital, which was immediately taken up, twice over. +It was to be repaid in five instalments of £60. Up went +the shares with a bound; yet, to raise them still higher, the +Midsummer dividend was to be declared at 10 per cent., and +all subscriptions were to be entitled to the same. This plan<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> +answered so well, that another million was at once raised at +400 per cent.; and, in a few hours, a million and a half was +subscribed at that rate. The Stock went up higher and +higher, until, on the 2nd of June, it reached £890. Then, +so many wanted to sell, that, on the same afternoon, it +dropped to £640. The Company set their Agents to +work, and, when evening came, the Stock had been driven +up to £750, at about which price it continued until the +bank closed on the 22nd June.</p> + +<p>Very soon, a third Subscription was started, at the rate of +£1000 for every £100, to be paid in ten equal payments, +one in hand, the other nine, quarterly. The lists were so +full that the directors enlarged it to four millions Stock, +which, at that price amounted to £40,000,000. These last +subscriptions were, before the end of June, sold at about +£2000 premium; and, after the closing of the transfer +books, the original Stock rose to over £1000 per cent. At +the same time, the first subscriptions were at 560, and the +second at 610 per cent. advance.</p> + +<p>This set every one crazy, and innumerable “bubble,” or +cheating, companies were floated, or attempts made thereat. +Speculation became so rampant that, on June 11, the King +published a Proclamation declaring that all these unlawful +projects should be deemed as common nuisances, and prosecuted +as such, with the penalty of £500 for any broker +buying or selling any shares in them. Among these +companies was one “for carrying on an undertaking of +great advantage, but nobody to know what it is.” Another +was “for a wheel for perpetual motion, one million”; +and another “for the transmutation of quick silver into +a malleable fine metal.” Society was, for a brief time, +uprooted.</p> + +<p>The apogee of the Company had been reached: from this +time its downfall was rapid. The Stock fell, and fell. The +aid of the Bank of England was invoked, but it came too +late; goldsmiths and brokers began to abscond. On +December 12, the House of Commons ordered that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> +Directors of the South Sea Company should, forthwith, +lay before the House an account of all their proceedings; +and, on Jan. 4, 1721, a Secret Committee of the House was +ordered to report upon the Company. Then Knight, the +cashier of the Company, absconded; and a reward of £2000 +was offered for his apprehension. On Feb. 15, the Parliamentary +Committee made their first report—and a pretty +one it was—bribery all over the place, and especially among +the members of the Government. The bubble was pricked +and thousands were ruined. Certainly, the fortunes of those +directors, who had any, were seized for the benefit of the +swindled, and only a small percentage of their wealth was +allowed them for their subsistence. Finally, it was settled +that the £7,000,000 which the Company stood pledged to +pay over to the Government, should be remitted, and every +Shareholder should receive £33, 6s. 8d. on £100 Stock: all +else being irretrievably lost. Over the misery entailed on the +avaricious public who were gulled, it is best to draw a veil, +and use the episode as a warning.</p> + +<p>Swift wrote a poem 60 verses long, on <i>The South Sea +Project</i>, 1721, from which I extract the following:</p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“There is a gulf, where thousands fell,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Here all the bold adventurers came,</p> +<p class="ppn6">A narrow sound, though deep as Hell,—</p> +<p class="ppn8"><i>’Change Alley</i> is the dreadful name.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">Nine times a day it ebbs and flows,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Yet he that on the surface lies,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Without a pilot, seldom knows</p> +<p class="ppn8">The time it falls, or when ‘twill rise.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">Subscribers, here, by thousands float,</p> +<p class="ppn8">And jostle one another down;</p> +<p class="ppn6">Each paddling in his leaky boat,</p> +<p class="ppn8">And here they fish for gold, and drown.</p> + +<p class="ptb">·······</p> + +<p class="ppn6">Meantime, secure on Garraway cliffs,</p> +<p class="ppn8">A savage race, by shipwrecks fed,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Lie waiting for the foundered skiffs,</p> +<p class="ppn8">And strip the bodies of the dead.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p> + +<p class="p1">There were street ballads, of course, such as <i>The Hubble +Bubbles</i>, A Ballad, by Mr D’Urfey, and one which I give +<i>in extenso</i>. A <i>South-Sea</i> Ballad: or, Merry Remarks upon +<i>Exchange Alley</i> Bubbles. To a new tune, call’d <i>The Grand +Elixir</i>: or <i>The Philosopher’s Stone discovered</i>:</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">In <i>London</i> stands a famous Pile,</p> +<p class="ppn8">And near that Pile, an Alley,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Where Merry Crowds for Riches toil,</p> +<p class="ppn8">And Wisdom stoops to Folly:</p> +<p class="ppn6">Here, Sad and Joyful, High and Low,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Court Fortune for her Graces,</p> +<p class="ppn6">And, as she Smiles, or Frowns, they show</p> +<p class="ppn8">Their Gestures and Grimaces.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">Here Stars and Garters do appear,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Among our Lords, the Rabble,</p> +<p class="ppn6">To buy and sell, to see and hear,</p> +<p class="ppn8">The <i>Jews</i> and <i>Gentiles</i> squabble.</p> +<p class="ppn6">Here crafty Courtiers are too wise</p> +<p class="ppn8">For those who trust to Fortune,</p> +<p class="ppn6">They see the Cheat with clearer Eyes,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Who peep behind the Curtain.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">Our greatest Ladies hither come,</p> +<p class="ppn8">And ply in Chariots daily,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Oft pawn their Jewels for a Sum,</p> +<p class="ppn8">To venture’t in the Alley.</p> +<p class="ppn6">Young Harlots, too, from <i>Drury Lane</i>,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Approach the <i>’Change</i> in coaches,</p> +<p class="ppn6">To fool away the Gold they gain</p> +<p class="ppn8">By their obscene Debauches.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">Long Heads may thrive by sober Rules,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Because they think and drink not;</p> +<p class="ppn6">But Headlongs are our thriving Fools,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Who only drink and think not:</p> +<p class="ppn6">The lucky Rogues, like Spaniel Dogs,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Leap into <i>South Sea</i> Water,</p> +<p class="ppn6">And, there, they fish for golden Frogs,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Not caring what comes a’ter.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span></p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">‘Tis said that Alchimists of old,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Could turn a brazen kettle,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Or leaden Cistern into Gold,</p> +<p class="ppn8">That noble, tempting Mettle:</p> +<p class="ppn6">But, if it here may be allowed</p> +<p class="ppn8">To bring in great with small things</p> +<p class="ppn6">Our cunning <i>South Sea</i>, like a God,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Turns nothing into all things.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">What need have we of <i>Indian</i> Wealth,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Or Commerce with our Neighbours,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Our Constitution is in Health,</p> +<p class="ppn8">And Riches crown our Labours:</p> +<p class="ppn6">Our <i>South Sea</i> Ships have golden Shrouds</p> +<p class="ppn8">They bring us Wealth, ‘tis granted,</p> +<p class="ppn6">But lodge their Treasure in the clouds,</p> +<p class="ppn8">To hide it ‘till it’s wanted.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">O, <i>Britain</i>! bless thy present State,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Thou only happy Nation,</p> +<p class="ppn6">So oddly rich, so madly Great,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Since Bubbles came in Fashion:</p> +<p class="ppn6">Successful Rakes exert their Pride,</p> +<p class="ppn8">And count their airy Millions;</p> +<p class="ppn6">Whilst homely Drabs in Coaches ride,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Brought up to Town on Pillions.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">Few Men, who follow Reason’s Rules,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Grow Fat with <i>South Sea</i> Diet;</p> +<p class="ppn6">Young Rattles, and unthinking Fools,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Are those that flourish by it.</p> +<p class="ppn6">Old musty Jades, and pushing Blades,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Who’ve least Consideration,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Grow rich apace, whilst wiser Heads</p> +<p class="ppn8">Are struck with Admiration.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">A Race of Men, who, t’other Day</p> +<p class="ppn8">Lay crush’d beneath Disasters,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Are now, by Stock brought into Play,</p> +<p class="ppn8">And made our Lords and Masters:</p> +<p class="ppn6">But should our <i>South Sea Babel</i> fall,</p> +<p class="ppn8">What Numbers would be frowning,</p> +<p class="ppn6">The Losers, then, must ease their Gall</p> +<p class="ppn8">By Hanging, or by Drowning.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span></p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">Five Hundred Millions, Notes and Bonds,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Our Stocks are worth in Value,</p> +<p class="ppn6">But neither lye in Goods, or Lands,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Or Money, let me tell ye.</p> +<p class="ppn6">Yet, tho’ our Foreign Trade is lost,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Of mighty Wealth we vapour,</p> +<p class="ppn6">When all the Riches that we boast,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Consists in Scraps of Paper.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<p class="pch">First mention of the Stock Exchange—Attempt at hoax—Daniel’s fraud—Berenger’s +fraud—Bubbles of 1825—The Railway Mania—30th Nov. 1845 +at the Board of Trade—The fever at its height—The Marquis of Clanricarde +pricks the bubble.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">In</span> 1734 an Act was passed (7 Geo. II., c. 8) entitled +“An Act to prevent the infamous practice of Stock +jobbing,” which provided that no loss in bargains for +time should be recoverable in the Courts, and placed +such speculations outside the Law altogether. It was a +dead letter, but was in force till 1860, when it was repealed.</p> + +<p>The first mention of the Stock Exchange as such, is in +the <i>Daily Advertiser</i> of Thursday, July 15, 1773. “On +Tuesday, the Brokers and others at New Jonathan’s came +to a Resolution that, instead of its being called New +Jonathan’s, it is to be named the Stock Exchange, which +is to be painted over the door.” And here they abode +until, in 1801, the Stockbrokers laid the first stone of +a building of their own: having purchased Mendoza’s +boxing room, the Debating Forum of Capel Court, and +buildings contiguous to that site.</p> + +<p>On May 5, 1803, an attempt was made to hoax the +Stock Exchange, which was partially successful. On that +day, at half-past eight in the morning, a man, booted and +spurred, and having every appearance of having come off a +long journey, rushed up to the Mansion House, and inquired +for the Lord Mayor, saying he was a messenger from the +Foreign Office, and had a letter for his lordship. When he +was told he was not within, he said he would leave the letter, +and begged the servant to place it where the Lord Mayor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> +should get it the moment of his return; which duly happened. +The letter ran thus:</p> + +<p class="pr4 p1">“Downing Street, 8 <span class="smcap">A.M.</span></p> + +<p>“To the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor,—</p> + +<p class="pind8">“Lord Hawkesbury presents his compliments +to the Lord Mayor, and is happy to inform him that the +negotiations between this country and the French Republic +have been amicably adjusted.”</p> + +<p class="p1">Thinking it genuine, the Lord Mayor published it, and +wrote to Lord Hawkesbury, congratulating him; but the +forgery was soon exposed.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Consols opened at 69, and, before noon, were +over 70, only to fall, when the truth came out, to 63. Of +course, all transactions, that day, were made null and void. +Although £500 reward was offered, nothing was ever heard +of the perpetrators of this swindle.</p> + +<p>Under date of Aug. 20, 1806, the <i>Annual Register</i> says: +“A most atrocious fraud was committed on a number of +gentlemen at the Stock Exchange, it being the settling day, +by a foreign Jew, of the name of Joseph Elkin Daniels, who +has, for a long time, been a conspicuous character in the +Alley. Finding that, in consequence of the great fluctuation +of Omnium, he was not able to pay for all he had purchased +at an advanced price, he hit upon a scheme to pocket an +enormous sum of money, and with which he has decamped; +£31,000 Omnium was tendered to him in the course of +Thursday; in payment for which he gave drafts on his +bankers, amounting to £16,816, 5s., which were paid into +the respective bankers of those who had received them, to +clear in the afternoon. Having gained possession of the +Omnium, he sold it through the medium of a respectable +broker, received drafts for it, which he cleared immediately, +and set off with the produce. On his drafts being presented, +payment was refused, he having no effects at his bankers.”</p> + +<p>A hue and cry was raised after him, and he was soon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> +discovered in the Isle of Man, whence he could not be taken +without the Governor’s consent. This was obtained, but +there were so many similar rascals taking sanctuary in the +Island, that it was not deemed prudent to execute the warrant +in the daytime, and Daniels was arrested at night. +Great was the uproar in the morning when the rogues found +their companion had gone, and an indignation meeting was +held to protest against the violation of their rights. He was +brought before the Lord Mayor on 16th Sept., but, owing +to some technicalities, he was let go, although he had to +make his appearance at a Commission of Bankruptcy.</p> + +<p>In 1814 there was an attempted fraud on the Stock +Exchange, which was the most daring ever perpetrated. It +was executed by one Charles Random de Berenger, a French +refugee, and an officer in one of the foreign regiments. It +was alleged that, with him, were associated Lord Cochrane, +the Hon. Andrew Cochrane Johnstone, and several others. +It appears from the evidence on the trial, that, early in the +morning of the 21st of February, a gentleman, dressed in a +grey greatcoat over a scarlet uniform, on which was a star, +knocked at the door of the Ship Inn at Dover, and said that +he was the bearer of very important despatches from France. +This gentleman, all the witnesses swore, was Berenger.</p> + +<p>He sent a letter, signed R. Du Bourg, Lieut.-Colonel, and +Aide-de-Camp to Lord Cathcart, to Admiral Foley, the Port +Admiral at Dover, advising him that he had just arrived +from Calais with the news of a great victory obtained by the +Allies over Bonaparte, who was slain, in his flight, by the +Cossacks, and that the Allied Sovereigns were in Paris. +Berenger posted up to London, which he entered, having his +horses decked with laurels, in order to make a stir. It was +felt on the Stock Exchange. <i>Omnium</i>, which opened at +27-1/2 rose to 33; but, as the day wore on, and no confirmation +came of the news, they receded to 28-1/2. Business in +that Stock was done, that day, to the tune of half a million +of money. Lord Cochrane and others had, previously, given +instructions to sell Omniums for them, on the 21st of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> +February, to an enormous amount. One deposed that, on +that date, he sold—</p> + +<table id="t03" summary="t03"> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc">For</td> + <td>Lord Cochrane</td> + <td class="tdr">£139,000</td> + <td>Omnium</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc">”</td> + <td>Cochrane Johnstone</td> + <td class="tdr">120,000</td> + <td class="tdc">do.</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc">”</td> + <td class="tdc">do.</td> + <td class="tdr">100,000</td> + <td>Consols</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc">”</td> + <td>Mr Butt</td> + <td class="tdr">124,000</td> + <td>Omnium</td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td class="tdc">”</td> + <td class="tdc">do.</td> + <td class="tdr">168,000</td> + <td>Consols</td> + </tr> + +</table> + +<p class="pn1">And he further deposed that he always considered that any +business he did for Mr Butt was to be placed to Lord +Cochrane’s account.</p> + +<p>Another stockbroker sold for the same three gentlemen +£565,000 Omnium. Another had sold £80,000 on their +account, and yet another had had instructions to sell a very +large sum for the same parties, but had refused.</p> + +<p>In the end, Lord Cochrane and Mr Butt were condemned +to pay to the King a fine of a Thousand Pounds each, and +J. P. Holloway Five Hundred; and these three, together +with De Berenger, Sandon, and Lyte, were sentenced to +imprisonment in the Marshalsea for twelve calendar months. +Further, Lord Cochrane, De Berenger, and Butt were to +stand in the pillory for one hour, before the Royal Exchange, +once during their imprisonment. This latter part +of their punishment was, afterwards, remitted. Lord Cochrane’s +name was struck off the Navy List, he was expelled +from the House of Commons, his Arms were taken down +from his stall, as Knight of the Bath, his banner torn down, +and kicked ignominiously out of Henry VII.’s Chapel in +Westminster Abbey.</p> + +<p>By very many he was believed innocent, and, on his seat +for Westminster being declared vacant, he was enthusiastically +re-elected. He escaped from custody, was captured, +and had to serve his time. On June 20, 1815, he was told +his imprisonment was at an end, if he would pay the fine +imposed upon him; and, on July 3rd, he reluctantly did so, +with a £1000 bank note, on the back of which he wrote:—“My +health having suffered by long and close confinement,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> +and my oppressors having resolved to deprive me of property, +or life, I submit to robbery, to protect myself from +murder, in the hope that I shall live to bring the delinquents +to justice.”</p> + +<p>On the very day he was released, he took his seat again +in the House of Commons; and, in 1832, he received a +“free pardon,” was restored to the Navy List, gazetted a +rear-admiral, and presented at a Levée!</p> + +<p>The year 1825 was remarkable for the number of bubble +companies which were floated or not, and for the dreadful +commercial panic which ensued, during which over seventy +banks collapsed in London, or the country. Over +£11,000,000 were subscribed to foreign loans, and +£17,500,000 to different companies. In Parliament there +were presented 439 private bills for companies, and Acts +were passed for 288. Horace Smith sings of them thus:</p> + +<p class="ppq6 p1">“Early and late, where’er I rove,</p> +<p class="ppn6">In park or square, suburb or grove,</p> +<p class="ppn8">In civic lanes, or alleys,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Riches are hawked, while rivals rush</p> +<p class="ppn6">To pour into mine ear a gush</p> +<p class="ppn8">Of money making sallies.</p> + +<p class="pps6 p1">‘Haste instantly and buy,’ cries one,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Real del Monte shares, for none</p> +<p class="ppn8">Will yield a richer profit;</p> +<p class="ppn6">Another cries—‘No mining plan</p> +<p class="ppn6">Like ours, the Anglo-Mexican;</p> +<p class="ppn8">As for Del Monte, scoff it.’</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">This, grasps my button, and declares</p> +<p class="ppn6">There’s nothing like Columbian shares,</p> +<p class="ppn8">The capital a million;</p> +<p class="ppn6">That, cries, ‘La Plata’s sure to pay,’</p> +<p class="ppn6">Or bids me buy, without delay,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Hibernian or Brazilian.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">‘Scaped from the torments of the mine,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Rivals in gas, an endless line,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Arrest me as I travel;</p> +<p class="ppn6">Each sure my suffrage to receive,</p> +<p class="ppn6">If I will only give him leave</p> +<p class="ppn8">His project to unravel.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span></p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">By fire and life insurers next,</p> +<p class="ppn6">I’m intercepted, pestered, vexed,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Almost beyond endurance;</p> +<p class="ppn6">And, though the schemes appear unsound,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Their advocates are seldom found</p> +<p class="ppn8">Deficient in assurance.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">Last, I am worried Shares to buy,</p> +<p class="ppn6">In the Canadian Company,</p> +<p class="ppn8">The Milk Association;</p> +<p class="ppn6">The laundry men who wash by steam,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Railways, pearl fishing, or the scheme</p> +<p class="ppn8">For inland navigation.”</p> + +<p class="p1">In 1845 began the most wonderful era of gambling in +modern times, the Railway Mania, which rose to such a +height that it was noticed on Oct. 25. “During the past +week there were announced, in three newspapers, eighty-nine +new schemes, with a capital of £84,055,000; during the +month, there were 357 new schemes announced, with an +aggregate capital of £332,000,000.”</p> + +<p>On 17th Nov. <i>The Times</i> published a table of all the railway +companies registered up to the 31st October, numbering +1428, and involving an outlay of £701,243,208. “Take +away,” it said, “£140,000,000 for railways completed, or in +progress, exclude all the most extravagant schemes, and +divide the remainder by ten, can we add from our present +resources, even a tenth of the vast remainder? Can we +add £50,000,000 to the railway speculations we are already +irretrievably embarked in? We cannot, without the most +ruinous, universal and desperate confusion.”</p> + +<p>The <i>Annual Register</i> for 1845 gives a graphic account of +an incident in the Railway Mania. “An extraordinary scene +occurred at the office of the Railway Department of the +Board of Trade, on this day (Sunday, 30th Nov.), being the +last day on which the plans of the new projects could be +deposited with the Railway Board, in order to enable Bills +to authorise them, to be brought before Parliament, in compliance +with the Standing Orders.</p> + +<p>“Last year, the number of projects in respect of which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span> +plans were lodged with the Board of Trade, was 248: the +number, this year, is stated to be 815. The projectors of +the Scotch lines were mostly in advance, and had their plans +duly lodged on Saturday. The Irish projectors, too, and +the old established Companies, seeking powers to construct +branches, were among the more punctual. But, upwards of +600 plans remained to be deposited. Towards the last, the +utmost exertions were made to forward them. The efforts +of the lithographic draughtsmen and printers in London +were excessive; people remained at work night after night, +snatching a hasty repose for a couple of hours on lockers, +benches, or the floor. Some found it impossible to execute +their contracts; others did their work imperfectly. One of +the most eminent was compelled to bring over four hundred +lithographers from Belgium, and failed, nevertheless, with +this reinforcement, in completing some of his plans. Post +horses and express trains, to bring to town plans prepared +in the country, were sought in all parts. Horses were engaged +days before, and kept, by persons specially appointed, +under lock and key. Some railway companies exercised +their power of refusing express trains for rival projects, and +clerks were obliged to make sudden and embarrassing +changes of route, in order to travel by less hostile ways. A +large establishment of clerks were in attendance to register +the deposits; and this arrangement went on very well until +eleven o’clock, when the delivery grew so rapid, that the +clerks were quite unable to keep pace with the arrivals. +The entrance hall soon became inconveniently crowded, considerable +anxiety being expressed lest twelve o’clock should +arrive ere the requisite formalities should have been gone +through. This anxiety was allayed by the assurance that +admission into the hall before that hour would be sufficient +to warrant the reception of the documents. As the clock +struck twelve, the doors of the office were about to be closed, +when a gentleman, with the plans of one of the Surrey railways, +arrived, and, with the greatest difficulty, succeeded in +obtaining admission. A lull of a few minutes here occurred;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> +but, just before the expiration of the first quarter of an hour, +a post chaise, with reeking horses, drove up to the entrance, +in hot haste. In a moment, its occupants (three gentlemen) +alighted, and rushed down the passage, towards the office +door, each bearing a plan of Brobdingnagian dimensions. +On reaching the door, and finding it closed, the countenances +of all dropped; but one of them, more valorous than the +rest, and prompted by the bystanders, gave a loud pull at +the bell. It was answered by Inspector Otway, who informed +the ringer it was now too late, and that his plans +could not be received. The agents did not wait for the +conclusion of the unpleasant communication, but took +advantage of the doors being opened, and threw in their +papers, which broke the passage lamp in their fall. They +were thrown back into the street; and when the door was +again opened, again went in the plans, only to meet a +similar fate. In the whole, upwards of 600 plans were +duly deposited.”</p> + +<p>Mr Francis, in his “History of the English Railway,” says: +“The daily press was thoroughly deluged with advertisements; +double sheets did not supply space enough for +them; double doubles were resorted to, and, then, frequently, +insertions were delayed. It has been estimated +that the receipts of the leading journals averaged, at one +period, £12,000 and £14,000, a week, from this source. +The railway papers, on some occasions, contained advertisements +that must have netted from £700 to £800 on each +publication. The printer, the lithographer, and the stationer, +with the preparation of prospectuses, the execution of maps, +and the supply of other requisites, also made a considerable +harvest.</p> + +<p>“The leading engineers were, necessarily, at a great +premium. Mr Brunel was said to be connected with +fourteen lines, Mr Robert Stephenson with thirty-four, +Mr Locke with thirty-one, Mr Rastrick with seventeen, +and other engineers with one hundred and thirteen.</p> + +<p>“The novelist has appropriated this peculiar portion of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> +commercial history, and, describing it, says, gravely and +graphically: ‘A Colony of solicitors, engineers and seedy +accountants, settled in the purlieus of Threadneedle Street. +Every town and parish in the kingdom blazed out in zinc +plates over the doorways. From the cellar to the roof, +every fragment of a room held its committee. The darkest +cupboard on the stairs contained a secretary or a clerk. +Men who were never seen east of Temple Bar before, or +since, were, now, as familiar to the pavement of Moorgate +Street,<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> as the Stockbrokers: ladies of title, lords, members +of Parliament, and fashionable loungers thronged the noisy +passages, and were jostled by adventurers, by gamblers, rogues +and impostors.’</p> + +<p>“The advantages of competition were pointed out, with the +choicest phraseology. Lines which passed by barren districts, +and by waste heaths, the termini of which were in +uninhabitable places, reached a high premium. The shares +of one Company rose 2400 per cent. Everything was to +pay a large dividend; everything was to yield a large +profit. One railway was to cross the entire Principality +without a single curve.</p> + +<p>“The shares of another were issued; the company formed, +and the directors appointed, with only the terminal points +surveyed. In the Ely railway, not one person connected +with the country through which it was to pass, subscribed +the title-deed.</p> + +<p>“The engineers, who were examined in favour of particular +lines, promised all and everything, in their evidence. It was +humorously said, ‘they plunge through the bowels of +mountains; they undertake to drain lakes; they bridge +valleys with viaducts; their steepest gradients are gentle +undulations; their curves are lines of beauty; they interrupt +no traffic; they touch no prejudice.’</p> + +<p>“Labour of all kinds increased in demand. The price of +iron rose from sixty-eight shillings to one hundred and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> +twenty per ton. Money remained abundant. Promoters +received their tens and twenties of thousands. Rumours of +sudden fortunes were very plentiful. Estates were purchased +by those who were content with their gains; and, to crown +the whole, a grave report was circulated, that Northumberland +House, with its princely remembrances, and palatial +grandeur, was to be bought by the South Western. Many +of the railways attained prices which staggered reasonable +men. The more worthless the article, the greater seemed +the struggle to obtain it. Premiums of £5 and £6 were +matters of course, even where there were four or five competitors +for the road. One Company, which contained a +clause to lease it at three and a half per cent., for 999 years, +rose to twenty premium, so mad were the many to speculate.</p> + +<p>“Every branch of commerce participated in the advantages +of an increased circulation. The chief articles of trade met +with large returns; profits were regular; and all luxuries +which suited an affluent community, procured an augmented +sale. Banking credit remained facile; interest still kept +low; money, speaking as they of the City speak, could be +had for next to nothing. It was advanced on everything +which bore a value, whether readily convertible, or not. +Bill brokers would only allow one and a half per cent. for +cash; and what is one and a half per cent. to men who +revelled in the thought of two hundred? The exchanges +remained remarkably steady. The employment of the +labourer on the new lines, of the operative in the factory, +of the skilled artisan in the workshop, of the clerk at the +desk, tended to add to the delusive feeling, and was one of +the forms in which, for a time, the population was benefited. +But, when the strength of the kingdom is wasted in gambling, +temporary, indeed, is the good compared with the +cost. Many, whose money was safely invested, sold at any +price, to enter the share market. Servants withdrew their +hoards from the savings banks. The tradesman crippled +his business. The legitimate love of money became a fierce +lust. The peer came from his club to his brokers; the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> +clergyman came from his pulpit to the mart; the country +gentleman forsook the calmness of his rural domain for the +feverish excitement of Threadneedle Street. Voluptuous +tastes were indulged in by those who were previously starving. +The new men vied with the old, in the luxurious +adornments of their houses. Everyone smiled with contentment; +every face wore a pleased expression. Some, +who, by virtue of their unabashed impudence, became provisional +committee men, supported the dignity of their +position, in a style which raised the mirth of many, and +moved the envy of more. Trustees, who had no money +of their own, or, who had lost it, used that which was confided +to them; brothers speculated with the money of sisters; +sons gambled with the money of their widowed mothers; +children risked their patrimony; and, it is no exaggeration +to say, that the funds of hundreds were surreptitiously +endangered by those in whose control they were placed.”</p> + +<p>The Marquis of Clanricarde, in a speech, spoke very boldly +as to the status, social and financial, of some of the subscribers +to Railway Companies. Said he: “One of the names +to the deed to which he was anxious to direct their attention, +was that of a gentleman, said to reside in Finsbury +Square, who had subscribed to the amount of £25,000: he +was informed no such person was known at that address. +There was, also, in the Contract deed, the name of an individual +who had figured in the Dublin and Galway Railway case, +who was down for £5000, and who was understood to be a +half-pay officer, in the receipt of £54 a-year, but, who appeared +as a subscriber in different railway schemes, to the amount +of £41,500. The address of another, whose name was down +for £12,200, was stated to be in Watling Street, but it +appeared he did not reside there. In the case of another +individual down for £12,500 a false address was found to +have been given. Another individual, whom he would not +name, was a curate in a parish in Kent; he might be +worth all the money for which he appeared responsible in +various railway schemes, but his name appeared for £25,000<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span> +in different projects, and stood for £10,000 in this line. +Another individual, who was down for £25,000, was represented +to be in poor circumstances. A clerk in a public +company was down for upwards of £50,000. There were +several more cases of the same kind, but he trusted that he +had stated enough to establish the necessity of referring the +matter to a committee. There were, also, two brothers, sons +of a charwoman, living in a garret, one of whom had signed +for £12,500, and the other for £25,000; these two brothers, +excellent persons, no doubt, but who were receiving about +a guinea and a half between them, were down for £37,000.”</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<p class="pch">The Comic side of the Railway Mania—“Jeames’s Diary,” &c.—Universal +Speculation as shown by Parliamentary Return—Rise of Discount—Collapse—Shareholders +not forthcoming—Widespread Ruin—George +Hudson.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">Not</span> particularly exaggerated is “Railroad Speculator” in +<i>Punch</i> (Vol. viii., p. 244):</p> + +<div class="pbq"> + +<p>“The night was stormy and dark, the town was shut up in sleep: Only +those were abroad who were out on the lark, Or those who’d no beds to +keep.</p> + +<p>I passed through the lonely street, The wind did sing and blow; I +could hear the policeman’s feet, Clapping to and fro.</p> + +<p>There stood a potato man, in the midst of all the wet; He stood with +his ‘tato can, in the lonely Haymarket.</p> + +<p>Two gents of dismal mien, and dank and greasy rags; came out of a +shop for gin, swaggering over the flags:</p> + +<p>Swaggering over the stones, these shabby bucks did walk; and I went +and followed those seedy ones, and listened to their talk.</p> + +<p>Was I sober or awake? Could I believe my ears? Those dismal beggars +spake of nothing but Railroad Shares.</p> + +<p>I wondered more and more: Says one, ‘Good friend of mine, how +many shares did you write for? In the Diddlesex Junction line?’</p> + +<p>‘I wrote for twenty,’ says Jim, ‘but they wouldn’t give me one’; His +comrade straight rebuked him, for the folly he had done.</p> + +<p>‘Oh Jim, you are unawares of the ways of this bad town: I always +write for five hundred shares, and <i>then</i> they put me down.’</p> + +<p>‘And yet you got no shares,’ says Jim, ‘for all your boast’: ‘I <i>would</i> +have wrote,’ says Jack, ‘but where was the penny to pay the post?’</p> + +<p>‘I lost, for I couldn’t pay that first instalment up; but here’s ‘taters +smoking hot—I say, Let’s stop, my boy, and sup.’</p> + +<p>And, at this simple feast, the while they did regale, I drew each ragged +capitalist, down on my left thumb nail.</p> + +<p>Their talk did me perplex, All night I tumbled and tost; and thought +of railroad specs, and how money was won and lost.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span></p> + +<p>‘Bless railroads everywhere,’ I said, ‘and the world’s advance; Bless +every railroad share in Italy, Ireland, France; for never a beggar need +now despair, and every rogue has a chance.’”</p></div> + +<p class="p1">But, should anyone wish to watch the progress of the +Railway Mania, I would recommend a perusal of <i>Punch</i>, +Vol. ix., in which appears, <i>inter alia</i>, <i>Jeames’s Diary</i>, by +Thackeray, afterwards published as <i>The Diary of C. Jeames +De la Pluche, Esq.</i> The idea was started on p. 59, under +the heading of—</p> + +<h3>A LUCKY SPECULATOR.</h3> + +<div class="pbq"> + +<p>Considerable sensation has been excited in the upper and lower circles +in the West End, by a startling piece of good fortune which has befallen +<span class="smcap">James Plush</span>, Esq., lately footman in a respected family in Berkeley +Square.</p> + +<p>One day, last week, Mr James waited upon his master, who is a +banker in the city; and, after a little blushing and hesitation, said he +had saved a little money in service, and was anxious to retire, and to +invest his savings to advantage.</p> + +<p>His master (we believe we may mention, without offending delicacy, +the well known name of Sir <span class="smcap">George Flimsy</span> of the firm of <span class="smcap">Flimsy</span>, +<span class="smcap">Diddler</span>, and <span class="smcap">Flash</span>,) smilingly asked Mr <span class="smcap">James</span>, what was the amount +of his savings, wondering considerably how—out of an income of thirty +guineas, the main part of which he spent in bouquets, silk stockings and +perfumery—Mr <span class="smcap">Plush</span> could have managed to lay by anything.</p> + +<p>Mr <span class="smcap">Plush</span>, with some hesitation, said he had been <i>speculating in +railroads</i>, and stated his winnings to have been thirty thousand pounds. +He had commenced his speculations with twenty, borrowed from a fellow +servant. He had dated his letters from the house in Berkeley Square, +and humbly begged pardon of his master, for not having instructed the +railway secretaries, who answered the applications, to apply at the +area bell.</p> + +<p>Sir <span class="smcap">George</span>, who was at breakfast, instantly rose, and shook Mr P. +by the hand; <span class="smcap">Lady Flimsy</span> begged him to be seated, and partake of the +breakfast which he had laid on the table; and has subsequently invited +him to her grand <i>dejeuner</i> at Richmond, where it was observed that Miss +<span class="smcap">Emily Flimsy</span>, her beautiful and accomplished seventh daughter, paid +the lucky gentleman <i>marked attention</i>.</p> + +<p>We hear it stated that Mr P. is of very ancient family (<span class="smcap">Hugo de la +Pluche</span> came over with the Conqueror); and the new Brougham which +he has started, bears the ancient coat of his race.</p> + +<p>He has taken apartments at the Albany, and is a director of thirty-three +railroads. He purposes to stand for Parliament at the next general<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> +election, on decidedly conservative principles, which have always been +the politics of his family.</p> + +<p>Report says, that, even in his humble capacity, Miss <span class="smcap">Emily Flimsy</span> +had remarked his high demeanour. Well, ‘none but the brave,’ say we, +‘deserve the fair.’—<i>Morning Paper.</i></p></div> + +<p class="p1">This announcement will explain the following lines, which +have been put into our box, with a West End post mark. +If, as we believe, they are written by the young woman from +whom the Millionaire borrowed the sum on which he raised +his fortune, what heart would not melt with sympathy at +her tale, and pity the sorrows which she expresses in such +artless language?</p> + +<p>If it be not too late: if wealth have not rendered its +possessor callous: if poor <span class="smcap">Maryanne</span> <i>be still alive</i>, we +trust Mr <span class="smcap">Plush</span> will do her justice.</p> + +<h3>JEAMES OF BUCKLEY SQUARE.</h3> + +<p class="pc1 lmid"><span class="smcap">A Heligy.</span></p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">Come, all ye gents vot cleans the plate,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Come, all ye ladies maids so fair—</p> +<p class="ppn6">Vile I a story vil relate</p> +<p class="ppn8">Of cruel <span class="smcap">Jeames</span> of Buckley Square.</p> +<p class="ppn6">A tighter lad, it is confest,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Never valked vith powder in his air,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Or vore a nosegay in his breast,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Than andsum <span class="smcap">Jeames</span> of Buckley Square.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">O Evns! it vas the best of sights,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Behind his Master’s coach and pair,</p> +<p class="ppn6">To see our <span class="smcap">Jeames</span> in red plush tights,</p> +<p class="ppn8">A driving hoff from Buckley Square.</p> +<p class="ppn6">He vel became his hagwiletts,</p> +<p class="ppn8">He cocked his at with <i>such</i> an hair;</p> +<p class="ppn6">His calves and viskers <i>vas</i> siech pets,</p> +<p class="ppn8">That hall loved <i>Jeames</i> of Buckley Square.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">He pleased the hup stairs folks as vell,</p> +<p class="ppn8">And o! I vithered vith despair,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Misses <i>vould</i> ring the parler bell,</p> +<p class="ppn8"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span>And call up <span class="smcap">Jeames</span> in Buckley Square.</p> +<p class="ppn6">Both beer and sperrits he abhord,</p> +<p class="ppn8">(Sperrits and beer I can’t a bear,)</p> +<p class="ppn6">You would have thought he vas a lord,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Down in our All in Buckley Square.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">Last year he visper’d, “Mary Hann,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Ven I’ve an ‘under’d pound to spare,</p> +<p class="ppn6">To take a public is my plan,</p> +<p class="ppn8">And leave this hojous Buckley Square.”</p> +<p class="ppn6">O how my gentle heart did bound,</p> +<p class="ppn8">To think that I his name should bear.</p> +<p class="ppn6">“Dear <span class="smcap">Jeames</span>,” says I, “I’ve twenty pound,”</p> +<p class="ppn8">And gev him them in Buckley Square.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">Our master vas a City Gent,</p> +<p class="ppn8">His name’s in railroads everywhere;</p> +<p class="ppn6">And lord, vot lots of letters vent</p> +<p class="ppn8">Betwigst his brokers, and Buckley Square.</p> +<p class="ppn6">My <span class="smcap">Jeames</span> it was the letters took,</p> +<p class="ppn8">And read ‘em all, (I think it’s fair),</p> +<p class="ppn6">And took a leaf from Master’s book,</p> +<p class="ppn8">As <i>hothers</i> do in Buckley Square.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">Encouraged with my twenty pound,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Of which poor <i>I</i> was unaware,</p> +<p class="ppn6">He wrote the Companies all round,</p> +<p class="ppn8">And signed hisself from Buckley Square.</p> +<p class="ppn6">And how <span class="smcap">John Porter</span> used to grin,</p> +<p class="ppn8">As day by day, share after share,</p> +<p class="ppn6">Came railway letters pouring in,</p> +<p class="ppn8"><span class="smcap">J. Plush</span>, Esquire, in Buckley Square.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">Our servants’ All was in a rage—</p> +<p class="ppn8">Scrip, stock, curves, gradients, bull and bear,</p> +<p class="ppn6">With butler, coachman, groom and page,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Vas all the talk in Buckley Square.</p> +<p class="ppn6">But O! imagine vat I felt</p> +<p class="ppn8">Last Vensdy veek as ever were;</p> +<p class="ppn6">I gits a letter, which I spelt</p> +<p class="ppn8">“Miss M. A. Hoggins, Buckley Square.”</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">He sent me back my money true—</p> +<p class="ppn8">He sent me back my lock of air,</p> +<p class="ppn6">And said, “My dear, I bid ajew</p> +<p class="ppn8"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>To Mary Hann and Buckley Square.</p> +<p class="ppn6">Think not to marry, foolish <span class="smcap">Hann</span>,</p> +<p class="ppn8">With people who your betters are;</p> +<p class="ppn6"><span class="smcap">James Plush</span> is now a gentleman,</p> +<p class="ppn8">And you—a cook in Buckley Square.</p> + +<p class="ppn6 p1">I’ve thirty thousand guineas won,</p> +<p class="ppn8">In six short months, by genus rare;</p> +<p class="ppn6">You little thought what <span class="smcap">Jeames</span> was on,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Poor <span class="smcap">Mary Hann</span>, in Buckley Square.</p> +<p class="ppn6">I’ve thirty thousand guineas net,</p> +<p class="ppn8">Powder and plush I scorn to vear;</p> +<p class="ppn6">And so, Miss <span class="smcap">Mary Hann</span>, forget</p> +<p class="ppn8">For hever <span class="smcap">Jeames</span>, of Buckley Square.”</p> + +<p class="p1">But, joking apart, there is no exaggeration in Jeames. +Look at a “Return to the Order of the Honourable the +House of Commons, dated 8th April 1845, for an Alphabetical +list of the Names, Description, and Place of Abode +of all Persons subscribing to the Amount of £2000 and +upwards to any Railway Subscription Contract deposited in +the Private Bill Office during the present Session of Parliament,” +and amongst the names will be found many of the +leading nobility, large manufacturing firms, names well +known in commerce and literature, mingled together in a +most heterogeneous manner. The same columns shew a +combination of peers and printers, vicars and vice-admirals, +spinsters and half-pay officers, M.P.’s and special pleaders, +professors and cotton spinners, gentlemen’s cooks and Q.C.’s, +attorney’s clerks and college scouts, waiters at Lloyd’s, +relieving officers and excisemen, barristers and butchers, +Catholic priests and coachmen, editors and engineers, dairymen +and dyers, braziers, bankers, beer sellers and butlers, +domestic servants, footmen and mail guards, and almost +every calling under the sun.</p> + +<p>These, it must be remembered, were subscribers for £2000 +and upwards; those who subscribed for less, were supposed +to be holders of £21,386,703, 6s. 4d. in Stock.</p> + +<p>The first blow given to this frightful gambling was on +Thursday, 16th Oct. 1845, when the Bank of England raised +its Discount, which had such a disastrous effect, that by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> +Saturday, people began to be alarmed, and, as Mr Francis +describes the situation, “Money was scarce, the price of +stock and scrip lowered; the confidence of the people was +broken, and a vision of a dark future on every face. Advertisements +were suddenly withdrawn from the papers; names +of note were seen no more as provisional committee men; +distrust followed the merchant to the mart, and the jobber +to the Exchange. The new schemes ceased to be regarded; +applications ceased to be forwarded; premiums were either +lowered, or ceased to exist. Bankers looked anxiously to +the accounts of their customers; bill brokers scrutinised +their securities; and every man was suspicious of his +neighbour.</p> + +<p>“But the distrust was not confined to projected lines. +Established Railways felt the shock, and were reduced in +value. Consols fell one and a half per cent.; Exchequer +Bills declined in price, and other markets sympathised. The +people had awoke from their dream, and trembled. It was +a national alarm.</p> + +<p>“Words are weak to express the fears and feelings which +prevailed. There was no village too remote to escape the +shock, and there was, probably, no house in town, some +occupant of which did not shrink from the morrow. The +Statesman started to find his new Bank Charter so sadly, +and so suddenly tried: the peer, who had so thoughtlessly +invested, saw ruin opening to his view. Men hurried with +bated breath to their brokers; the allottee was uneasy and +suspicious: the provisional committee man grew pale at his +fearful responsibility: directors ceased to boast their blushing +honours, and promoters saw their expected profits +evaporate. Shares, which, the previous week, were a +fortune, were, the next, a fatality to their owners. The +reputed shareholders were not found when they were +wanted: provisional committee men were not more easy +of access.</p> + +<p>“One Railway advertised the names and addresses of thirty—none +of whom were to be heard of at the residences<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> +ascribed to them. Letters were returned to the Post Office, +day after day. Nor is this to be wondered at, when it is +said that, on one projected line, only £60 was received for +deposits which should have yielded £700,000.</p> + +<p>“It was proved in the Committee of the House of Commons, +that one subscription list was formed of ‘lame ducks +of the Alley’; and that, in another, several of the Directors, +including the Chairman, had, also, altered their several +subscriptions to the amount of £100,000, the very evening +on which the list was deposited, and that five shillings a +man was given to any one who would sign for a certain +number of shares.</p> + +<p>“Nothing more decidedly marked the crisis which had +arrived, than the fact that every one hastened to disown +railways. Gentlemen who had been buried in prospectuses, +whose names and descriptions had been published under +every variation that could fascinate the public, who had +figured as committee men, and received the precious guineas +for their attendance, were eager to assure the world that +they were ignorant of this great transgression. Men, who, a +month before, had boasted of the large sums they had made +by scrip, sent advertisements to papers denying their responsibility, +or appealed to the Lord Mayor to protect their +characters. Members of Parliament who had remained +quiet under the infliction, while it was somewhat respectable, +fell back upon their privileges when they saw their +purses in danger. There is no doubt that an unauthorised use +of names was one feature of fraudulent Companies, and that, +amid a list of common names, it was thought a distinguished +one might pass unnoticed. The complaints, therefore, of +those who were thus unceremoniously treated were just; but +the great mass of denials emanated from persons who, +knowingly, encountered the risk, and meanly shrunk from +the danger.</p> + +<p>“It is the conviction of those who are best informed that +no other panic was ever so fatal to the middle class. It +reached every hearth, it saddened every heart in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> +metropolis. Entire families were ruined. There was +scarcely an important town in England, but what beheld +some wretched suicide. Daughters, delicately nurtured, +went out to seek their bread; sons were recalled from +academies; households were separated: homes were +desecrated by the emissaries of the law. There was a +disruption of every social tie. The debtor’s jails were +peopled with promoters; Whitecross Street was filled with +speculators; and the Queen’s bench was full to overflowing. +Men who had lived comfortably and independently, +found themselves suddenly responsible for sums they had +no means of paying. In some cases they yielded their all, +and began the world anew; in others, they left the country +for the continent, laughed at their creditors, and defied +pursuit. One gentleman was served with four hundred +writs: a peer, similarly pressed, when offered to be relieved +from all liabilities for £15,000, betook himself to his +yacht, and forgot, in the beauties of the Mediterranean, +the difficulties which had surrounded him. Another gentleman, +who, having nothing to lose, surrendered himself to +his creditors, was a director of more than twenty lines. A +third was Provisional Committee man to fifteen. A fourth, +who commenced life as a printer, who became an insolvent +in 1832, and a bankrupt in 1837, who had negotiated +partnerships, who had arranged embarrassed affairs, who +had collected debts, and turned his attention to anything, +did not disdain, also, to be a railway promoter, a railway +director, or to spell his name in a dozen different ways.”</p> + +<p>But a notice of the Railway Mania would be very incomplete +without mention of George Hudson, the Railway King. +He was born at Howsham, a village near York, in March +1800, was apprenticed to a draper in York, and subsequently +became principal in the business; thus, early in +life, becoming well off, besides having £30,000 left him by +a distant relative. In 1837 he was Lord Mayor of York, +and the same year was made Chairman of the York and +North Midland Railway, which was opened in 1839. In<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> +1841 he was elected Chairman of the Great North of +England Company, and, afterwards held the same position +in the Midland Railway Company. He speculated largely +in Railways; and in the Parliamentary return, already +alluded to (p. 270) his subscriptions appear as £319,835.</p> + +<p>He came to London, and inhabited the house at Albert +Gate, Knightsbridge (now the French Embassy) where he +entertained the Prince Consort, and the aristocracy generally. +He was elected M.P. for Sunderland in Aug. 1845, and +again served as Lord Mayor of York in 1846. The Railway +smash came, and year by year things went worse with +him, until, early in the year 1849 he had to resign his +chairmanship of the Eastern Counties (now Great Eastern), +Midland, York, Newcastle and Berwick, and the York and +North Midland Railway Companies. He went abroad, +where he lived for some time, and tried, unavailingly, to +retrieve his fortune. In July 1865 he was committed to +York Castle for Contempt of the Court of Exchequer, in +not paying a large debt, and was there incarcerated till the +following October.</p> + +<p>He fell so low, that in 1868 some friends took pity on +him and raised a subscription for him, thus obtaining £4800, +with which an annuity was purchased. He died in London, +14th Dec. 1871.</p> + +<p>In conclusion, as a place for gambling, the Stock Exchange +is of far greater extent than the Turf. The time bargains +and options, without which the business of the Exchange +would be very little, are gambling pure and simple, whilst +the numerous <i>bucket shops</i>, with their advertisements and +circulars, disseminate the unwholesome vice of gambling +throughout the length and breadth of the land, enabling +people to speculate without anyone being the wiser. It is +needless to say, that, as on the Turf, they are the losers.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span></p> + +<div class="break"> + +<h2 class="p4">CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<p class="pch">Permissible gambling—Early Marine Assurance—Oldest and old Policies—Lloyd’s—Curious +Insurances—Marine Assurance Companies—Fire Insurance—Its +origin and early Companies—Life Insurance—Early Companies—Curious +story of Life Insurance.</p> + +<p class="pn"><span class="beg">But,</span> paradoxical as it may appear, there is a class of gambling +which is not only considered harmless, but beneficial, +and even necessary—I mean Insurance. Theoretically, it is +gambling proper. You bet 2s. 6d. to £100 with your Fire +Insurance; you equally bet on a Marine Insurance for the +safe arrival of your ships or merchandise; and it is also +gambling when you insure your life. Yet a man would be +considered culpable, or at the very least, negligent and +indiscreet did he not insure.</p> + +<p>Of the different kinds of Insurance or Assurance, as it is +indifferently called, Marine Assurance is the oldest, so old, +that no one knows when the custom began, as we see by the +preamble of 43 Eliz., c. 12 (1601).</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">An Acte concerninge matters of Assurances, +amongste Marchantes.</span> <span class="smcap">Whereas</span> it ever hathe bene +the Policie of this Realme by all good meanes to comforte +and encourage the Merchante, therebie to advance and +increase the generall wealthe of the Realme, her Majesties +Customes and the strengthe of Shippinge, which Consideration +is now the more requisite, because Trade and Traffique +is not, at this presente, soe open as at other tymes it hathe +bene; and, <i>whereas it hathe bene tyme out of mynde</i> an usage +amongste Merchantes, both of this Realme and of forraine +Nacyons, when they make any greate adventure (speciallie +into remote partes) to give some consideracion of Money to +other persons (which commonlie are in noe small number)<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> +to have from them assurance made of their Goodes Merchandizes +Ships and Things adventured, or some parte thereof, +at such rates and in such sorte as the Parties assurers and +the Parties assured can agree, whiche course of dealinge is +commonly termed a Policie of Assurance; by meanes of +whiche Policies of Assurance it comethe to passe, upon the +losse or perishinge of any Shippe there followethe not the +undoinge of any Man, but the losse lightethe rather easilie +upon many, then heavilie upon fewe, and rather upon them +that adventure not, then those that doe adventure, whereby +all Merchantes, speciallie of the younger sorte, are allured +to venture more willinglie and more freelie: And whereas +heretofore suche Assurers have used to stand so justlie and +preciselie upon their credites, as fewe or no Controversies have +risen there upon, and if any have growen, the same have from +tyme to tyme bene ended and ordered by certaine grave and +discreete Merchantes appointed by the Lord Mayor of the +Citie of London, as Men by reason of their experience +fitteste to understande, and speedilie to decide those Causes; +untill of late yeeres that divers persons have withdrawen +themselves from that arbitrarie course, and have soughte to +drawe the parties assured to seeke their moneys of everie +severall Assurer, by Suites commenced in her Majesties +Courtes, to their great charges and delayes: <span class="smcap">For Remedie</span> +<i>wher of be it enacted</i>,” &c.<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a></p> + +<p>The Oldest Policy of Assurance I have been able to find +is mentioned in the 6th Report of the Royal Commission +on Historical MSS., where it is catalogued “1604. A +Charter partie, An Assurance of fish from Newfoundland.”<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> + +<p>Mr F. Martin, who wrote an exhaustive book on the +<i>History of Lloyd’s and Marine Insurance</i>, says: “The earliest +English policy of marine insurance, which we have been able +to discover, bears date 1613, and though not a document +issued actually by underwriters, but, to all appearances, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> +copy made for legal purposes, with some lawyer’s notes +attached, may be found historically interesting. The discovery +was—with others subsequently to be referred to—the +result of long and laborious researches among the, as +yet, only partly known literary treasures of the Bodleian +Library at Oxford. The original is among the Tanner +manuscripts, numbered 74, fo. 32, and the manuscript is +endorsed, ‘Mr Morris Abbott’s pollesye of Assurance dated +the 15 of ffebruary 1613, 11 Jacobi.’”</p> + +<p>A very old policy hangs, framed and glazed, on the wall +of the Committee Room at Lloyds, dated 20th Jan. 1680, +and it is for £1200—£200 on the ship and £1000 on the +goods. The ship was the <i>Golden Fleece</i>, the voyage from +Lisbon to Venice, and the premium was £4 per cent.!</p> + +<p>Underwriting marine risks was in private hands, and +although the underwriters had, some of them, offices of their +own, most of the business seems to have been done at Coffee +Houses, such as Hain’s, Garraway’s, or Good’s; and there +was also a central office at the Royal Exchange, as is shown +by several early advertisements, one of which is the following, +from the <i>City Mercury</i>, No. 255 (1680):</p> + +<p>“Whereas Mr Daniel Parrot caused a Politie to be made +Septemb. 28 last, on the <i>Charles of Plymouth</i>, from Newfoundland +to Cadiz, which is subscribed by several Insurers, +and the Politie lost, and a new Politie made: It is desired +that all persons that have subscribed the Politie would come +into the Insurance Office, and subscribe the new Politie, that +it may be known who the Insurers are; and if any one has +found the old Politie, they are desired to bring it to Mr Tho. +Astley, at the Insurance Office on the Royal Exchange, and +they shall be well rewarded.”</p> + +<p>The origin of the present Corporation of Lloyd’s was in +the Coffee House of Edward Lloyd, who, in 1688, lived in +the very busy commercial thoroughfare of Tower Street, as +appears from an advertisement in the <i>London Gazette</i> of +18/21 Feb. 1688, relating to a robbery. In 1691 or 1692 +he moved to a more central situation, at the Corner of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> +Abchurch Lane and Lombard Street, where, in the summer +of 1696, he started the famous <i>Lloyd’s News</i>, of which the +Bodleian Library has a complete set, with the exception of +the first seven numbers. It only reached seventy-six numbers, +when it was discontinued for the reason given in No. +138 of the <i>Protestant Mercury</i>, Feb. 24/26, 1696 (1697). +“Whereas, in <i>Lloyd’s News</i> of the 23rd instant, it was +inserted, That the House of Lords Received a Petition from +the Quakers, that they may be freed from all Offices, which +being groundless and a mistake, he was desired to rectifie it +in his next: But return’d for Answer, it was added by the +Printer, that he would Print no more at present.” And it +remained in abeyance till 1726, when it was resuscitated +under the title of <i>Lloyd’s List</i>, a name which it now bears.</p> + +<p>Lloyd’s Coffee House served its purpose to the Underwriters +for a time, but they found it inconvenient, and +wanted a place of their own, so they took rooms in Pope’s +Head Alley, which they called New Lloyd’s Coffee House, +whilst they were looking out for suitable permanent +premises. Here, towards the end of 1771, seventy-nine +Underwriters met, and each subscribed £100 towards building +a “New Lloyd’s.” After a considerable amount of house +hunting, it was reported by the Committee, on Nov. 24, +1773, “that after many fruitless researches to obtain a +Coffee House in Freeman’s Court and other places, they had +succeeded with the Mercer’s Company for a very roomy and +convenient place over the North West Side of the Royal +Exchange, at the rent of £180 per annum”: and this selection +being approved of, they moved into their new quarters +on 5th March 1774. There they have abode ever since, except +for a brief period when the Exchange was re-building +after its destruction by fire in 1838.</p> + +<p>The underwriters did not always confine themselves to +marine risks. Malcolm, writing in 1808, says: “The practice +of betting is tolerably prevalent at present, and by no +means confined to any particular class of the community. +In fact, I am afraid it might be traced very far back in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> +history of our Customs; but it will be sufficient, for the +information of the reader, that I present him with an article +from the <i>London Chronicle</i> of 1768, which, I think, will +remind him of some recent transactions in the City.</p> + +<p>“‘The introduction and amazing progress of illicit gaming +at Lloyd’s Coffee House is, among others, a powerful +and very melancholy proof of the degeneracy of the times. +It is astonishing that this practice was begun, and has been, +hitherto, carried on, by the matchless effrontery and impudence +of one man. It is equally so, that he has met with +so much encouragement from many of the principal underwriters, +who are, in every other respect, useful members of +society: and it is owing to the lenity of our laws, and want +of spirit in the present administration, that this pernicious +practice has not, hitherto, been suppressed. Though gaming +in any degree (except what is warranted by law) is perverting +the original and useful design of that Coffee House, it +may, in some measure, be excuseable to speculate on the +following subjects:</p> + +<p>Mr Wilkes being elected Member for London, which was +done from 5 to 50 guineas per cent.</p> + +<p>Ditto for Middlesex, from 20 to 70 guineas per cent.</p> + +<p>Alderman B—— d’s life for one year, now doing at 7 per +cent.</p> + +<p>On Sir J—— H—— being turned out in one year, now +doing at 20 guineas per cent.</p> + +<p>On John Wilkes’s life for one year, now doing at 5 per cent. +N.B.—Warranted to remain in prison during that period.</p> + +<p>On a declaration of war with France or Spain, in one +year, 8 guineas per cent.</p> + +<p>And many other innocent things of that kind.</p> + +<p>But, when policies come to be opened on two of the first +Peers in Britain losing their heads, within a year, at 10s. 6d. +per cent.; and on the dissolution of the present Parliament, +within one year, at 5 guineas per cent., which are now +actually doing, and underwrote chiefly by Scotsmen, at the +above Coffee House; it is surely high time for administration<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> +to interfere; and, by exerting the rigours of the laws +against the authors and encouragers of such insurances +(which must be done for some bad purpose), effectually put +a stop to it.’”</p> + +<p>In the secretary’s room at Lloyd’s hangs the following +policy:—“In consideration of three guineas for one hundred +pounds, and according to that rate for every greater or less +sum received of William Dorrington; we, who have hereunto +subscribed our names, do for ourselves, and our respective +heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, and not +one for the other or others of us; or for the heirs, executors, +administrators and assigns of the other or others of us, +assume, engage and promise that we respectively, or our +several and respective heirs, executors, administrators, and +assigns, shall and will pay, or cause to be paid, unto the +said William Dorrington the sum and sums of money which +we have hereunto respectively subscribed without any abatement +whatever.</p> + +<p>“<i>In case</i> Napoleon Bonaparte shall cease to exist, or be +taken prisoner on, or before, the 21st day of June 1813, +commencing from this day. London 21 May 1813.”</p> + +<p>Although originally intended for the Insurance of Marine +risks only, other policies can be taken out at Lloyd’s—such +as Fire; against Burglary—although this was also insured +against during the South Sea Mania, under the title of +“Insurance from housebreakers”; against any lady having +twins. <i>À propos</i> of this, there was an underwriter, some +years ago, at Lloyd’s, named Thornton—who was fond of +writing speculative risks, especially overdue ships, and who +died very wealthy. He had a bet with a fellow underwriter—that +he should pay him £1000 for every child the Queen +bore; but, if there should be twins, at any time, then Mr +Thornton was to be paid £20,000. Insuring that a race +horse shall run in a particular race; on interest under a +will; employer’s liability to workmen; accidents by tram-cars; +solvency of commercial firms; earthquakes; and during +the six months preceding the Queen’s Jubilee of 20th<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> +June 1897 a vast amount was underwritten, guaranteeing +the Queen’s life till that date—and also assuring that she +should pass through certain streets. But these policies are +not recognised by the Committee, and, should the underwriter +fail, they do not rank for dividend out of the caution +money held by the Corporation.</p> + +<p>Besides Lloyd’s Association, where each Member underwrites +the amount he chooses, there are Marine Insurance +Companies, which are of great utility for the large sums +they underwrite. These are not all English, there are many +foreign Marine Insurance Companies having Offices in +London, as may be seen by the following list, which is very +far from being complete:—Baden Marine, Bavarian Lloyd +Marine, Boston Marine, Canton Marine, German Marine, +Italia Marine of Genoa, Nippon Sea and Land, North +China, Rhenish Westphalian Lloyds, Switzerland Insurance, +Yangtze Insurance Association, &c., &c., &c. The first +English Marine Insurance Companies were the Royal Exchange +and the London, both established in 1720.</p> + +<p>Insurance against Fire began the year following the Great +Fire of London (1666), and the first Company for Assurance +against Fire was the Phœnix, established about 1682, +first at the Rainbow Coffee House, in Fleet Street, and, +afterwards, near the Royal Exchange. Their system was +to pay 30s. down, and insure £100 for seven years. The +second was The Friendly Society, in Palsgrave Court, without +Temple Bar, which was the first (in 1684) that insured +by mutual contribution, where you could insure £100 for +seven years by paying 6s. 8d. down and an annual subscription +of 1s. 4d. And, thirdly, The Amicable Contributors, +at Tom’s Coffee House in St Martin’s Lane +(commenced about 1695), where a payment of 12s. would +insure £100 for seven years, at the expiration of which time +10s. would be returned to the assured. This Society seems +to have changed its name to the Hand in Hand Fire Office, +who gave up their two establishments, at Tom’s Coffee +House, and the Crown Coffee House, behind the Exchange,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> +to more suitable premises in Angel Court, Snow Hill, and +notified the change in the <i>Gazette</i> of 1st Jan. 1714.</p> + +<p>This Insurance Company (The Amicable) is generally +considered to be the first institution for the Insurance of +Lives, although Life Annuities had been in practice for a +long time, but a writer in <i>Chambers’ Encyclopædia</i> (Vol. vi., +p. 175, ed. 1895) says that it did not begin life business +until 1836. The same writer continues: “The earliest +known Life Assurance Company was established in 1699, +and called the ‘Society of Assurance for Widows and +Orphans.’ This was what, now, would be called an <i>Assessment</i> +Company. It did not guarantee a definite sum +assured, in consideration of a fixed periodical premium; +but, by its constitution it was to consist, when full, of 2000 +members, who were to contribute 5s. each towards every +death that occurred amongst the members.</p> + +<p>“The earliest life assurance policy, of which particulars +have been preserved, was made on 15th June 1583, at the +‘Office of Insurance within the Royal Exchange,’ in London. +Full details of this Policy have been preserved, because it +gave rise to the first authentic disputed claim. The policy +was for £383, 6s. 8d., to be paid to Richard Martin, in the +event of William Gybbons dying within twelve months, and +the policy was underwritten by thirteen different persons +who guaranteed sums of from £25 to £50 each. The +premium was at the rate of 8 per cent. William Gybbons +died on the 28th May 1584, and the underwriters refused +to pay because he had survived twelve months of twenty-eight +days each. The Commissioners appointed to determine +such cases, held that the twelve months mentioned in +the policy meant one full year, and they ordered the underwriters +to pay. These appealed to the Court of Admiralty, +which had jurisdiction in such cases, and where, in 1587, +two judges upheld the decision of the Commissioners, so +that, eventually, the underwriters had to pay.”</p> + +<p>Mr Francis<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> tells us of the first known fraud in Life<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span> +Assurance. “About 1730, two persons resided in the then +obscure suburbs of St Giles’s, one of whom was a woman of +about twenty, the other, a man, whose age would have +allowed him to be the woman’s father, and who was, generally +understood to bear that relation. Their position +hovered on the debatable ground between poverty and +competence, or might even be characterised by the modern +term of shabby genteel. They interfered with no one, and +they encouraged no one to interfere with them. No specific +personal description is recorded of them, beyond the fact +that the man was tall and middle aged, bearing a semimilitary +aspect, and that the woman, though young and +attractive in person, was, apparently, haughty and frigid +in her manner. On a sudden, at night time, the latter +was taken very ill. The man sought the wife of his nearest +neighbour for assistance, informing her that his daughter +had been seized with sudden and great pain at the heart. +They returned together, and found her in the utmost +apparent agony, shrinking from the approach of all, and +dreading the slightest touch. The leech was sent for; but, +before he could arrive, she seemed insensible, and he only +entered the room in time to see her die. The father appeared +in great distress, the doctor felt her pulse, placed his hand +on her heart, shook his head, as he intimated all was over, +and went his way. The searchers came, for those birds of +ill-omen were, then, the ordinary haunters of the death-bed, +and the coffin, with its contents, was committed to the +ground. Almost immediately after this, the bereaved father +claimed from the underwriters some money which was insured +on his daughter’s life, left the locality, and the story was +forgotten.</p> + +<p>“Not very long after, the neighbourhood of Queen Square, +then a fashionable place, shook its head at the somewhat +unequivocal connection that existed between one of the +inmates of a house in that locality, and a lady who resided +with him. The gentleman wore moustaches, and though +not young, affected what was then known as the Macaroni<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span> +style. The Captain, for that was the almost indefinite title +he assumed, was a visitor to Ranelagh, was an <i>habitué</i> +of the Coffee Houses; and, being an apparently wealthy +person, riding good horses and keeping an attractive mistress, +he attained a certain position among the <i>mauvais sujets</i> of +the day. Like many others at that period, he was, or seemed +to be, a dabbler in the funds; was frequently seen at Lloyd’s +and in the Alley; lounged occasionally at Garraway’s; but +appeared, more particularly, to affect the company of those +who dealt in life assurances.</p> + +<p>“His house soon became a resort for the young and +thoughtless, being one of those pleasant places where the +past and the future were alike lost in the present: where +cards were introduced with the wine, and where, if the young +bloods of the day lost their money, they were repaid by a +glance of more than ordinary warmth from the goddess of +the place; and to which, if they won, they returned with +renewed zest. One thing was noticed, they never won from +the master of the house, and there is no doubt, a large portion +of the current expenses were met by the money gambled +away; but, whether it were fairly, or unfairly gained, is, +scarcely a doubtful question.</p> + +<p>“A stop was soon put to these amusements. The place +was too remote from the former locality, the appearance of +both characters was too much changed to be identified; or, +in these two might have been traced the strangers of that +obscure suburb, where, as daughter, the woman was supposed +to die; and, as father, the man had wept and raved over her +remains. And a similar scene was, once more, to be acted. +The lady was taken as suddenly ill as before; the same +spasms at the heart seemed to convulse her frame; and, +again, the man hung over her in apparent agony. Physicians +were sent for in haste; only one arrived in time to see her, +once more, imitate the appearance of death; whilst the +others, satisfied that life had fled, took their fees, ‘shook +solemnly their powdered wigs,’ and departed. This mystery, +for it is evident there was some conspiracy, or collusion, is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> +partially solved when it is said that many thousands were +claimed and received, by the gallant captain from various +underwriters, merchants and companies with whom he had +assured the life of the lady.</p> + +<p>“But the hero of this tradition was a consummate actor; +and, though his career is unknown for a long period after +this, yet it is highly probable that he carried out his +nefarious projects in schemes which are difficult to trace. +There is little doubt, however, that the <i>soi-disant</i> captain of +Queen Square was one and the same person who, as a +merchant, a few years later, appeared daily on the commercial +walks of Liverpool; where, deep in the mysteries +of corn and cotton, a constant attendant at church, a subscriber +to local charities, and a giver of good dinners, he +soon became much respected by those who dealt with him +in business, or visited him in social life. The hospitalities +of his house were gracefully dispensed by a lady who passed +as his niece; and, for a time, nothing seemed to disturb the +tenour of his way. At length it became whispered in the +world of commerce, that his speculations were not so successful +as usual; and a long series of misfortunes, as +asserted by him, gave a sanction to the whisper. It soon +became advisable for him to borrow money, and this he +could only do on the security of property belonging to his +niece. To do so, it was necessary to insure their lives for +about £2000. This was easy enough, as Liverpool, no less +than London, was ready to assure anything which promised +profit, and, as the affair was regular, no one hesitated. A +certain amount of secrecy was necessary for the sake of his +credit; and, availing himself of this, he assured on the life +of the niece £2000, with, at least, ten different merchants +and underwriters in London and elsewhere. The game was +once more in his own hands, and the same play was once +more acted. The lady was taken ill, the doctor was called +in, and found her suffering from convulsions. He administered +a specific, and retired. In the night he was again +hastily summoned, but arrived too late. The patient was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> +declared to be beyond his skill; and the next morning it +became known to all Liverpool that she had died suddenly. +A decorous grief was evinced by the chief mourner. There +was no haste made in forwarding the funeral; the lady lay +almost in state, so numerous were the friends who called to +see the last of her they had visited; the searchers did their +hideous office gently, for they were, perhaps, largely bribed: +the physician certified that she had died of a complaint he +could scarcely name, and the grave received the Coffin. +The merchant retained his position in Liverpool, and bore +himself with a decent dignity; made no immediate application +for the money; scarcely even alluded to the assurances +which were due, and, when they were named, exhibited an +appearance of almost indifference. He had, however, selected +his victims with skill. They were safe men, and, from them, +he duly received the money which was assured on the life of +his niece.</p> + +<p>“From this period he seemed to decline in health, +expressed a loathing for the place where he had once been +so happy; change of air was prescribed, and he left the +men whom he had deceived, chuckling at the success of his +infamous scheme.”</p> + +<p>Nowadays, everything insurable can be insured; you can +be compensated for accidents; if your plate glass windows +are broken, if hail spoils your crops, or if your cattle die; +the fidelity of your servants can be guaranteed: in fact, this +field of permissible gambling is fully covered—whilst betting +on horse racing rears its head unchecked, stock jobbers +thrive, bucket shops multiply, and so do their victims.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span></p> + +<p class="pc4 small"> +PRINTED BY<br /> +TURNBULL AND SPEARS,<br /> +EDINBURGH</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a><br /><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span></p> + +<div class="sum"> + +<p class="pr4 p4 large"><i>Messrs Duckworth & Co.’s<br /> +New Books.</i></p> + +<p class="pc2 mid">THE TATLER.</p> + +<p class="pch mid">Edited with Introduction and Notes by George A. Aitken, +Author of “The Life of Richard Steele,” etc. Four +volumes, small demy 8vo, with engraved frontispieces, +bound in buckram, dull gold top, 7s. 6d. per vol., not +sold separately.</p> + +<p class="pc lmid">(<i>See Special Prospectus.</i>)</p> + +<p class="pc1"><span class="smcap">Extract from the Editor’s Preface.</span></p> + +<p class="p1">“The original numbers of <i>The Tatler</i> were re-issued in two forms in +1710-11; one edition, in octavo, being published by subscription, while +the other, in duodecimo, was for the general public. The present +edition has been printed from a copy of the latter issue, which, as +recorded on the title-page, was ‘revised and corrected by the Author’; +but I have had by my side, for constant reference, a complete set +of the folio sheets, containing the ‘Lucubrations of Isaac Bickerstaff’ +in the form in which they were first presented to the world. Scrupulous +accuracy in the text has been aimed at, but the eccentricities of spelling—which +were the printer’s, not the author’s—have not been preserved, +and the punctuation has occasionally been corrected.</p> + +<p>“The first and the most valuable of the annotated editions of <i>The +Tatler</i> was published by John Nichols and others in 1786, with notes +by Bishop Percy, Dr John Calder, and Dr Pearce; and though these +notes are often irrelevant and out of date, they contain an immense +amount of information, and have been freely made use of by subsequent +editors. I have endeavoured to preserve what is of value in the older +editions, and to supplement it, as concisely as possible, by such further +information as appeared desirable. The eighteenth century diaries and +letters published of late years have in many cases enabled me to +throw light on passages which have hitherto been obscure, and sometimes +useful illustrations have been found in the contemporary newspapers +and periodicals.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span></p> + +<p class="pc4 mid"><i>HUTCHINSON, T.</i></p> + +<p class="pch mid">LYRICAL BALLADS BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH +AND S. T. COLERIDGE, 1798. +<span class="lmid">Edited with certain poems of 1798 and an Introduction +and Notes by Thomas Hutchinson, of Trinity College, +Dublin, Editor of the Clarendon Press “Wordsworth,” +etc. Fcap. 8vo, art vellum, gilt top. 3s. 6d. net.</span></p> + +<div class="reduct"> +<p class="p2">This edition reproduces the text, spelling, punctuation, etc., of 1798, and gives in an +Appendix Wordsworth’s <i>Peter Bell</i> (original text, now reprinted for the first time), and +Coleridge’s <i>Lewti</i>, <i>The Three Graves</i>, and <i>The Wanderings of Cain</i>. It also contains +reproductions in photogravure of the portraits of Wordsworth (by Hancock, 1798) and +of Coleridge (by Peter Vandyke, 1795), now in the National Portrait Gallery.</p> + +<p>The publishers have in preparation further carefully annotated editions of books in +English literature, to be produced in the same style as their edition of the “Lyrical +Ballads”—not too small for the shelf, and not too large to be carried about—further +announcements concerning which will be made in due course. It is not intended to +include in this series, as a rule, the oft-reprinted “classics,” of which there are already +sufficiently desirable issues.</p> + +<p><i>Athenæum</i> (4 col. review).—“Mr Hutchinson’s centenary edition of the Lyrical +Ballads is not a mere reprint, for it is enriched with a preface and notes which make it +a new book. The preface contains much that is suggestive in explaining the history +and elucidating the meaning of this famous little volume. Mr Hutchinson’s notes are +especially deserving of praise.”</p> + +<p><i>St James’s Gazette.</i>—“‘Lyrical Ballads’ was published September 1, 1798. By a +happy thought this centenary is in anticipation very fitly celebrated—without fuss or +futilities—by the publication of an admirable reprint of ‘Lyrical Ballads,’ with an +adequate ‘apparatus criticus’ by Mr T. Hutchinson, the well-known Wordsworthian +scholar, whose name makes recommendation superfluous. This is a book that no +library should be without—not the ‘gentleman’s library’ of Charles Lamb’s sarcasm, +but any library where literature is respected.”</p> + +<p><i>Notes and Queries.</i>—“The book is indeed a precious boon. Mr Hutchinson is in +his line one of the foremost of scholars, and his introduction is a commendable piece of +work. No less excellent are his notes, which are both readable and helpful. One cannot +do otherwise than rejoice in the possession of the original text, now faithfully +reproduced. A volume which is sure of a place in the library of every lover of +poetry.”</p> + +<p><i>Globe.</i>—“It is delightful to have them in the charming form given to them in the +present volume, for which Mr Hutchinson has written not only a very informing introduction, +but also some very luminous and useful notes. The book is one which every +lover and student of poetry must needs add to his collection.”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span></p> + +<p class="pc4 mid"><i>STEPHEN, H. L.</i></p> + +<p class="pch mid">STATE TRIALS: POLITICAL AND SOCIAL. +<span class="reduct">Selected and Edited by H. L. Stephen. 2 vols. +Uniform with “Lyrical Ballads.”</span></p> + +<p class="pc2 mid">ENGLISH PUBLIC SCHOOLS.</p> + +<p class="p2">A new series of books upon the English Public Schools. No series of such School +Histories exists, and the publishers believe that many boys, while at school and when +leaving it, may like to possess an authentic account of their school issued at a moderate +price. The series will, it is hoped, appeal also to old scholars, and to all interested in +the history of English education.</p> + +<p class="pc1 lmid">(<i>See Special Prospectus.</i>)</p> + + +<p class="pc4 mid"><i>CUST, LIONEL.</i></p> + +<p class="pc2 large">A HISTORY OF ETON COLLEGE, <span class="reduct">by Lionel +Cust, Director of the National Portrait Gallery.</span></p> + +<p class="pc4 mid"><i>LEACH, ARTHUR F.</i></p> + +<p class="pch mid">A HISTORY OF WINCHESTER COLLEGE, +<span class="reduct">by Arthur F. Leach, formerly Fellow of All Souls’, +Oxford, Assistant Charity Commissioner.</span></p> + + +<p class="pc4 mid"><i>ROUSE, W. H. D.</i></p> + +<p class="pch mid">A HISTORY OF RUGBY SCHOOL, <span class="reduct">by W. H. D. +Rouse, of Rugby, and sometime Fellow of Christ’s +College, Cambridge. Illustrated from photographs, +contemporary prints, etc. Pott 4to. 5s. net.</span></p> + +<p class="pc1 lmid">(<i>To be followed by others.</i>)</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span></p> + +<p class="pc4 large">MODERN PLAYS.</p> + +<p class="pc1 mid">Edited by R. Brimley Johnson and N. Erichsen.</p> + +<p class="p1">It is the aim of this series to represent, as widely as possible, the +activity of the modern drama—not confined to stage performance—in +England and throughout the continent of Europe. It so happens that, +though translations seem to be more in demand every day, the greater +number of the Continental dramatists are at present little known in this +country. Among them will be found predecessors and followers of +Ibsen or Maeterlinck; as well as others who reflect more independently +the genius of their own country.</p> + +<p><i>Love’s Comedy</i>, which marks a transition from the early romantic to +the later social plays, is the only important work of Ibsen’s not yet +translated into English. The name of Strindberg, whose position in +Sweden may be compared to that of Ibsen in Norway, will be almost +new to the English public. Villiers’ <i>La Révolte</i> is a striking forecast +of <i>The Doll’s House</i>. Verhaeren is already known here as one of the +foremost of Belgian writers, who, like Maeterlinck, uses the French +tongue; and Brieux is among the most attractive of the younger native +French dramatists. Ostrovsky’s <i>The Storm</i>, painting “The Dark +World,” is generally recognised as <i>the</i> characteristic Russian drama. +<i>The Convert</i>, by Stepniak, will be specially interesting as its author’s +only dramatic attempt.</p> + +<p>The work of translation has been entrusted to English writers specially +conversant with the literatures represented, who, in many cases, are +already associated in the public mind with the authors they are here +interpreting. Every play will be translated <i>in extenso</i>, and, if in verse, +as nearly as possible in the original metres. The volumes will contain +brief introductions, bibliographical and explanatory rather than critical, +and such annotations as may be necessary.</p> + +<p>The volumes will be printed in pott quarto, and they will cost, as a +rule, 2s. 6d. net. or 3s. 6d. net. each.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span></p> + +<p class="pc4">EARLY VOLUMES.</p> + +<p class="p2 large">HENRIK IBSEN</p> + +<p class="pi6">“Love’s Comedy” (<i>Kjærlighedens Komedie</i>).</p> + +<p class="p2 large">MAURICE MAETERLINCK</p> + +<table id="t04" summary="t04"> + + <tr> + <td colspan="3">“Intérieur.”—<span class="smcap">William Archer.</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>“La Mort de Tintagiles.”</td> + <td rowspan="2" style="font-size: 200%; width: 1em;">}</td> + <td rowspan="2">—<span class="smcap">Alfred Sutro.</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>“Alladine et Palomides.”</td> + </tr> + +</table> + +<p class="p2 large">VILLIERS DE L’ISLE ADAM</p> + +<table id="t05" summary="t05"> + + <tr> + <td>“La Révolte.”</td> + <td rowspan="2" style="font-size: 200%; width: 1em;">}</td> + <td rowspan="2">—<span class="smcap">Theresa Barclay.</span></td> + </tr> + + <tr> + <td>“L’Evasion.”</td> + </tr> + +</table> + +<p class="p1 large">SERGIUS STEPNIAK</p> +<p class="pi6">“The Convert.”—<span class="smcap">Constance Garnett.</span></p> + +<p class="p1 large">EMILE VERHAEREN</p> +<p class="pi6">“Les Aubes.”—<span class="smcap">Arthur Symons.</span></p> + +<p class="p1 large">AUGUST STRINDBERG</p> +<p class="pi6">“The Father” (<i>Fadren</i>).—<span class="smcap">N. Erichsen.</span></p> + +<p class="p1 large">OSTROVSKY</p> +<p class="pi6">“The Storm.”—<span class="smcap">Constance Garnett.</span></p> + +<p class="p1 large">BRIEUX</p> +<p class="pi6">“Les Bienfaiteurs.”—<span class="smcap">Lucas Malet.</span></p> + +<p class="p1 large">HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ</p> +<p class="pi6">“On a Single Card.”—<span class="smcap">E. L. Voynich.</span></p> + +<p class="p1">Arrangements are also in progress with representative dramatists of +Germany, Spain, Italy, and other countries. Further translations have +been promised by Dr <span class="smcap">Garnett</span>, Messrs <span class="smcap">Walter Leaf</span>, <span class="smcap">Justin Huntly +MacCarthy</span>, <span class="smcap">G. A. Greene</span>, &c.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span></p> + +<p class="pc4 large"><i>KNAPP, ARTHUR MAY.</i></p> + +<p class="pch mid">FEUDAL AND MODERN JAPAN, <span class="reduct">by Arthur May +Knapp. 2 vols., with 24 photogravure illustrations of +Japanese life, landscape and architecture. Small fcap. +8vo, ¼-bound, white cloth, blue sides, gilt top. 8s. net.</span></p> + +<div class="reduct"> +<p class="p2">The work of one who has frequently visited, and for a long time resided in Japan, +thus enjoying peculiar advantages for observation and comment.</p> + +<p>The scope of the book includes a study of the history, religion, language, art, life, +and habits of the Japanese.</p> + +<p>Though written in a thoroughly appreciative spirit, it avoids the indiscriminating +praise which has characterised so many works on Japan; and while covering ground +which has become somewhat familiar, it presents many fresh points of view, and furnishes +much information heretofore inaccessible to the ordinary reader.</p> +</div> + +<p class="pc4 large"><i>ROSSETTI, DANTE GABRIEL.</i></p> + +<p class="pch mid">THE BLESSED DAMOZEL, <span class="reduct">by Dante Gabriel +Rossetti. With an Introduction by Wm. Michael Rossetti, +a reproduction in Photogravure of D. G. Rossetti’s +crayon study for the head of the Blessed Damozel, and +decorative designs and cover by W. B. Macdougall. +Fcap. 4to, 1/4-bound, art vellum, gilt top. 5s. net. (<i>See +Special Prospectus.</i>)</span></p> + +<div class="reduct"> +<p class="p2">The poem given here is as it originally appeared in <i>The Germ</i>, and consequently the +version is one hitherto practically inaccessible. Mr W. M. Rossetti’s Introduction deals +fully with the history of its composition and the changes through which it subsequently +went.</p> + +<p><i>Illustrated London News.</i>—“A fine bit of decorative art and an excellent sample of +modern format. The frontispiece is very beautiful. Mr Macdougall’s designs are rich.”</p> + +<p><i>The Sketch.</i>—“It is really beautifully illustrated. The book is a veritable art +treasure.”</p> + +<p><i>Speaker.</i>—“This artistic and singularly interesting volume.”</p> + +<p><i>Birmingham Gazette.</i>—“Every page contains a broad framework of beautiful design, +in which the artist manifests his power in glorious sweeping lines and delicate tracery. +A treasure to be appreciated. The noble poem is nobly decked out in every respect.”</p> + +<p><i>Manchester Courier.</i>—“The decorative designs are at once original, harmonious and +beautiful. A work which will be welcomed alike for its high literary value, and for the +high artistic standard to which it attains.”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span></p> + +<p class="pc4 large"><i>HOUSMAN, CLEMENCE.</i></p> + +<p class="pch mid">THE UNKNOWN SEA. <span class="reduct">A Romance by Clemence +Housman, Author of “The Were Wolf.” Crown 8vo, +art vellum, gold top. 6s.</span></p> + +<div class="reduct"> +<p class="p2"><i>Literature.</i>—“On the conception of Christian the author may be congratulated. He +is ideal without sentimentality, and his sacrifice and death have the poignancy of +reality, symbol though he is of the world’s greatest idea.”</p> + +<p><i>Guardian.</i>—“Decidedly powerful and effective. Its author has certainly a spell by +which, like the ancient mariner, he can force people to listen to and accept his tale.”</p> + +<p><i>Pall Mall Gazette.</i>—“The story is a powerful one, stirring the imagination with +vague suggestions of mystery, and compelling interest throughout. For those who can +appreciate fine writing, moreover, the style itself will prove an added attraction, and +will not only sustain the reputation which Miss Housman has already made, but will +also enhance the lustre of the talented family of which she is a member.”</p> + +<p><i>St James’s Gazette.</i>—“The qualities that commend this book are its fitting impression +of the supernatural, its studied and generally successful use of words, and its +appreciation of the beauty of visible things. It achieves an absolute effect of beauty, +an effect of a kind extremely rare in English that is not verse. The book has beauty +and sense—not, thank Heaven, common sense!—in it, and is quite remote from the +common trash of the book market.”</p> + +<p><i>Nottingham Daily Guardian.</i>—“‘The Unknown Sea’ is not a popular novel; there +is too much really fine work in it for that, but hardly a page fails to indicate the +author’s delicate methods and robust individuality.”</p> +</div> + +<p class="pc4 large"><i>SINJOHN, JOHN.</i></p> + +<p class="pch mid">JOCELYN. <span class="reduct">A Monte Carlo Story by John Sinjohn, +Author of “From the Four Winds.” Crown 8vo, art +canvas. 6s.</span></p> + +<div class="reduct"> +<p class="p2"><i>Daily Mail.</i>—“The love, as love, is shown with such intensity that it sets the +reader’s heart athrob, and the Riviera setting is aglow with colour and life.”</p> + +<p><i>Outlook.</i>—“He has set it against a charmingly painted background of warm +Southern atmosphere and Mediterranean scenery, and he has drawn, in the persons of +the delightfully commonplace Mrs Travis and Nielson—the polished cosmopolitan and +professional gambler, with an unsuspected strain of tenderness beneath his impassive +exterior—two of the best comedy characters that we have encountered in recent fiction.”</p> + +<p><i>Manchester Courier.</i>—“A powerfully written story. The analysis of character is +good, and the depiction of life in the Riviera is excellent.”</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span></p> + +<p class="pc4 large"><i>BURROW, C. K.</i></p> + +<p class="pch mid">THE FIRE OF LIFE. <span class="reduct">A Novel by C. K. Burrow, +Author of “Asteck’s Madonna,” “The Way of the +Wind,” etc. Crown 8vo, cloth. 6s.</span></p> + +<div class="reduct"> +<p><i>St James’s Gazette.</i>—“A clever story. The smoothly-written little tale with its rather +ambitious title is a real pleasure to read, because it has a wholesome, manly tone about +it, and the characters do not appear to be bookmade but of real flesh and blood.”</p> + +<p><i>Saturday Review.</i>—“A good, careful, full-blooded novel of a kind that is not common +nowadays.”</p> + +<p><i>Outlook.</i>—“It has a point of view, a delicate sensitiveness, artistic restraint, subtlety +of perception, and a true literary style. Mr Burrow proves himself an artist with many +sides to his perception.”</p> + +<p><i>Literary World.</i>—“Had we passed it by unread ours would have been the loss. A +charming story based on somewhat conventional lines, but told with such verve and +freshness as render it really welcome. Mr Burrow has admirably succeeded in writing +a really interesting story, and, which is more uncommon, he has well individualised the +different persons of his drama. ‘The Fire of Life’ should figure in the list of novels to +be read of all those who like a good story, and like that good story well told.”</p> + +<p><i>Manchester Courier.</i>—“The whole book is full of ‘fire,’ full of ‘life,’ and full of +interest.”</p> + +<p><i>Nottingham Express.</i>—“The author’s style is clear and crisp, with a purity of +diction it would be difficult to surpass.”</p> +</div> + + +<p class="pc4 large"><i>PHILIPS, F. C.</i></p> + +<p class="pch mid">MEN, WOMEN AND THINGS, <span class="reduct">by F. C. Philips. +Author of “As in a Looking-Glass,” etc. Crown 8vo, +buckram cloth. 3s. 6d.</span></p> + +<div class="reduct"> +<p><i>Daily Mail.</i>—“There is hardly one of them which is not enjoyable. Mr Philips’s +manner is suggestive of the manner of Gyp. He is a capital chronicler of the surface +things of life.”</p> + +<p><i>Manchester Courier.</i>—“The author has deservedly secured favour as a writer of +smart stories. In the present volume of short sketches we have the usual vivid delineation +of character, clever dialogue, and at times good use of incident. The volume is +decidedly entertaining.”</p> + +<p><i>Country Life.</i>—“Everything that is written by the author of ‘As in a Looking-Glass’ +is clever. There is ingenuity as well as pathos in these stories.”</p> +</div></div> + +<div class="sum"> + +<h2 class="p4">FOOTNOTES:</h2> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a></span> +<i>Good News from New England....</i> <i>Written by</i> E. W. <i>Lon.</i> 1624.</p> + + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a></span> +See Longfellow’s <i>Hiawatha</i>, for Indian gambling.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a></span> +<i>A View of Ancient Laws against Immorality and Profaneness.</i> By John +Disney. Camb. 1729.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a></span> +Pieces used in playing the <i>ludus latrunculorum</i>, before alluded to.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a></span> +Riotous person.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a></span> +Masks.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a></span> +Harl. MSS., 6395.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a></span> +The London Spy.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a></span> +The Works of Mr Thomas Brown, edit. 1705.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a></span> +“Memoirs of the Lives, Intrigues, and Comical Adventures of the most +Famous Gamesters and Celebrated Sharpers in the Reigns of Charles II., James +II., William III., and Queen Anne,” by Theophilus Lucas, Esq. London, +1714. 8vo.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a></span> +The same as our Heads and Tails.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a></span> +Anecdotes of the “Manners and Customs of London during the 18th +Century,” by J. P. Malcolm. Lon. 1808. 4to.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a></span> +A Short and Plaine Dialogue concerning the unlawfulnes of playing at Cards, +or Tables, or any other Game consisting in Chance.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a></span> +I fail to see how this is made out.—J. A.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a></span> +Edit. 1875 (Gairdner), vol. iii., p. 314.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a></span> +Leland’s <i>Collectanea</i>, vol. iii., Appendix, p. 284.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a></span> +Pack.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a></span> +Her Majesty’s apartments at Whitehall Palace.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a></span> +Of Bromham, Bedfordshire.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a></span> +Strype’s Stow’s Survey, ed. 1720, Book iii., p. 148.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a></span> +For complicity with the Duke of Somerset.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a></span> +Probably Tregonwell Frampton, Keeper of the King’s running horses at Newmarket, +a position he held under William III., Anne, and George I. and II.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a></span> +The Popish Kingdome, or, Reigne of Antichrist, written in Latin Verse by +Thomas Naogeorgus, and Englished by Barnabe Googe, 1570.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a></span> +Cant term for false Dice.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a></span> +Croupiers.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a></span> +Local Records, &c., of Remarkable events. Compiled by John Sykes. Newcastle, +1824, p. 79.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a></span> +<i>Gent.’s Mag.</i>, V. xxvi. 564.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a></span> +When he was on his travels, and ran much in debt, his parents paid his debts; +some more came out afterwards; he wrote to his mother, that he could only compare +himself to Cerberus, who, when one head was cut off, had another spring up +in its room.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a></span> +Cannot be found in Solitudo, sive Vitæ Patrum Eremicolarum, &c. Johann & +Raphael Sadeler. 1594.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a></span> +Afterwards General Scott.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a></span> +This painting was bought at the Strawberry Hill Sale, by Arthur’s Club +House, for twenty-two shillings.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a></span> +Afterwards Admiral Sir Eliab Harvey, Knt., G.C.B., who fought at +Trafalgar.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a></span> +“The Gaming Table, &c.,” by A. Steinmetz. Lon. 1870.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a></span> +Ladies then wore their hair very high-combed over pads of horse hair.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a></span> +The guests paid a small sum each into a pool (generally the snuffer tray) for +every new pack of cards used, and this was popularly supposed to be a perquisite +of the servants.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a></span> +“The Gaming Calendar,” by Seymour Harcourt: Lon. 1820.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a></span> +Life, Adventures, and Opinions of Col. George Hanger, written by himself. +London, 1801.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a></span> +In some houses in this age the lady of the house is paid fifty guineas each +night by the proprietor of the Faro table.—G. H.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a></span> +Reminiscences, 1st Ser.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a></span> +Reminiscences, 3rd Ser.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a></span> +Reminiscences, 4th Ser</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a></span> +The Greeks—a poem, by Ελλην. Lon. 1817. 8vo.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a></span> +Reminiscences, 3 Ser.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a></span> +After Crockford’s death the club-house was sold. It was re-decorated in +1849, and opened as “The Military, Naval, and County Service Club,” but +this only lasted till 1851, when it was turned into a dining-house, called the +“Wellington.”</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a></span> +“Racing Reminiscences.” Lon. 1891.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a></span> +Cumberland.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a></span> +Edward Bright died at Malden in Essex, 10th Nov. 1750.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a></span> +Truncifer is a famous horse mentioned in the metrical romance of Sir Bevis +of Hampton.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a></span> +Bribing.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a></span> +Robert Shafto, Esq., of Whitworth, M.P. for Durham, well known on the +Turf.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a></span> +A Miss Alicia Meynell, daughter of a respectable watchmaker of Norwich, +aged 22—but not married to Col. Thornton.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a></span> +Capt. Kelly, owner of Eclipse.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a></span> +“A History of English Lotteries,” by John Ashton, London. 1893. 8vo.—<i>Leadenhall +Press.</i></p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a></span> +A catalogue of the MSS. in this room has been published in the Seventh +Report of the Historical MS. Commission.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a></span> +Brighton.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a></span> +June 29.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a></span> +Cox’s Museum. A collection of Automata, &c.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a></span> +Trashy Tobacco—from the Spanish <i>Mondóngo</i>, paunch, tripes, black pudding.</p> + + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a></span> +Fools: but there was also a game at Cards called Noddy, supposed to have +been the same as Cribbage.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a></span> +Bone lace.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a></span> +Sedan Chairs; said to have been introduced into England in 1581, and first +used in London in 1623.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a></span> +Also published in 1708 as <i>Hicklety Picklety</i>.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a></span> +From Moorgate Street 83 prospectuses, demanding £90,175,000, were sent +out. Gresham Street issued 20, requiring £17,580,000.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a></span> +Commissioners were appointed to hear and determine such cases.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a></span> +In the collection of MSS. belonging to Lord Leconfield, at Petworth House, +Sussex.</p> + +<p class="pfn4"><span class="ln1"><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a></span> +“Annals, Anecdotes, and Legends of Life Assurance.” John Francis. 1853: +Lon.</p> + +</div></div> + +<div class="sum"> +<div class="transnote p4"> +<p class="pc large">TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</p> + +<p class="ptn">—Obvious print and punctuation errors were corrected.</p> + +<p class="ptn">—The transcriber of this project created the book cover image using the title page of the original book. The image is placed in the public domain.</p> +</div></div> + +</div> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 48223 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/48223-h/images/cover.jpg b/48223-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1602049 --- /dev/null +++ b/48223-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/48223-h/images/logo.jpg b/48223-h/images/logo.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..27ab992 --- /dev/null +++ b/48223-h/images/logo.jpg |
