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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/466-h.zip b/466-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a93fb0a --- /dev/null +++ b/466-h.zip diff --git a/466-h/466-h.htm b/466-h/466-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..988586e --- /dev/null +++ b/466-h/466-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10502 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!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" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Gaming Table, Vol. I by Andrew Steinmetz + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims, by +Andrew Steinmetz + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims + Volume I (of II) + +Author: Andrew Steinmetz + +Release Date: November 29, 2009 [EBook #466] +Last Updated: February 6, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAMING TABLE *** + + + + +Produced by Mike Lough, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE GAMING TABLE: + </h1> + <h2> + ITS VOTARIES AND VICTIMS, + </h2> + <h3> + In all Times and Countries, especially in England and in France. + </h3> + <h4> + IN TWO VOLUMES.—VOL. I. + </h4> + <h2> + By Andrew Steinmetz, Esq., + </h2> + <blockquote> + <p> + Of The Middle Temple, Barrister-At-Law; First-Class Extra Certificate + School Of Musketry, Hythe; Late Officer Instructor Musketry, The Queens + Own Light Infantry Militia. + </p> + <p> + Author Of 'The History Of The Jesuits,' 'Japan And Her People,' 'The + Romance Of Duelling,' &C., &C. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> 'The sharp, the blackleg, and the knowing one,<br /> Livery or + lace, the self-same circle, run; <br /> The same the passion, end and means + the same—<br /> Dick and his Lordship differ but in name.' <br /> + <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p> + TO HIS GRACE + </p> + <p> + The Duke of Wellington, K.G. THIS WORK IS DEDICATED, WITH PERMISSION, BY + HIS GRACE'S MOST DEVOTED SERVANT + </p> + <p> + THE AUTHOR. + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + PREFACE. + </h2> + <p> + To the readers of the present generation much of this book will, + doubtless, seem incredible. Still it is a book of facts—a section of + our social history, which is, I think, worth writing, and deserving of + meditation. + </p> + <p> + Forty or fifty years ago—that is, within the memory of many a living + man—gambling was 'the rage' in England, especially in the + metropolis. Streets now meaningless and dull—such as Osendon Street, + and streets and squares now inhabited by the most respectable in the land—for + instance, St James's Square, THEN opened doors to countless votaries of + the fickle and capricious goddess of Fortune; in the rooms of which many a + nobleman, many a gentleman, many an officer of the Army and Navy, + clergymen, tradesmen, clerks, and apprentices, were 'cleaned out'—ruined, + and driven to self-murder, or to crimes that led to the gallows. 'I have + myself,' says a writer of the time, 'seen hanging in chains a man whom a + short time before I saw at a Hazard table!' + </p> + <p> + History, as it is commonly written, does not sufficiently take cognizance + of the social pursuits and practices that sap the vitality of a nation; + and yet these are the leading influences in its destiny—making it + what it is and will be, at least through many generations, by example and + the inexorable laws that preside over what is called 'hereditary + transmission.' + </p> + <p> + Have not the gambling propensities of our forefathers influenced the + present generation?.... + </p> + <p> + No doubt gambling, in the sense treated of in this book, has ceased in + England. If there be here and there a Roulette or Rouge et Noir table in + operation, its existence is now known only to a few 'sworn-brethren;' if + gambling at cards 'prevails' in certain quarters, it is 'kept quiet.' The + vice is not barefaced. It slinks and skulks away into corners and holes, + like a poisoned rat. Therefore, public morality has triumphed, or, to use + the card-phrase, 'trumped' over this dreadful abuse; and the law has done + its duty, or has reason to expect congratulation for its success, in + 'putting down' gaming houses. + </p> + <p> + But we gamble still. The gambling on the Turf (now the most uncertain of + all 'games of chance') was, lately, something that rang through and + startled the entire nation. We gamble in the funds. We gamble in endless + companies (limited)—all resulting from the same passion of our + nature, which led to the gambling of former times with cards, with dice, + at Piquet, Basset, Faro, Hazard, E O, <i>Roulette</i>, and <i>Rouge et + Noir</i>. At a recent memorable trial, the Lord Chief Justice of England + exclaimed—'There can be no doubt—any one who looks around him + cannot fail to perceive—that a spirit of speculation and gambling + has taken hold of the minds of large classes of the population. Men who + were wont to be satisfied with moderate gain and safe investments seem now + to be animated by a spirit of greed after gain, which makes them ready to + embark their fortunes, however hardly gained, in the vain hope of + realizing immense returns by premiums upon shares, and of making more than + safe and reasonable gains. We see that continually.' In fact, we may not + be a jot better morally than our forefathers. But that is no reason why we + should not frown over the story of their horrid sins, and, 'having a good + conscience,' think what sad dogs they were in their generation—knowing, + as we do, that none of us at the present day lose <i>FIFTY OR A HUNDRED + THOUSAND POUNDS</i> at play, at a sitting, in one single night—as + was certainly no very uncommon 'event' in those palmy days of gaming; and + that we could not—as was done in 1820—produce a list of <i>FIVE + HUNDRED</i> names (in London alone) of noblemen, gentlemen, officers of + the Army and Navy, and clergymen, who were veteran or indefatigable + gamesters, besides 'clerks, grocers, horse-dealers, linen-drapers, + silk-mercers, masons, builders, timber-merchants, booksellers, &c., + &c., and men of the very lowest walks of life,' who frequented the + numerous gaming houses throughout the metropolis—to their ruin and + that of their families more or less (as deploringly lamented by Captain + Gronow), and not a few of them, no doubt, finding themselves in that + position in which they could exclaim, at <i>OUR</i> remonstrance, as + feelingly as did King Richard— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + 'Slave! I have set my life upon a <i>CAST</i>, + And I will stand the <i>HAZARD OF THE DIE!</i>' + +</pre> + <p> + Nor is gaming as yet extinct among us. Every now and then a batch of + youngsters is brought before the magistrates charged with vulgar 'tossing' + in the streets; and every now and then we hear of some victim of genteel + gambling, as recently—in the month of February, 1868—when 'a + young member of the aristocracy lost L10,000 at Whist.' + </p> + <p> + Nay, at the commencement of the present year there appeared in a daily + paper the following startling announcement to the editor:— + </p> + <p> + 'Sir,—Allow me, through the columns of your paper, to call the + attention of the parents and friends of the young officers in the + Channel-fleet to the great extent gambling is carried on at Lisbon. Since + the fleet has been there another gambling house has been opened, and is + filled every evening with young officers, many of whom are under 18 years + of age. On the 1st of January it is computed that upwards of L800 was lost + by officers of the fleet in the gambling houses, and if the fleet is to + stay there three months there will soon be a great number of the officers + involved in debt. I will relate one incident that came under my personal + notice. A young midshipman, who had lately joined the Channel fleet from + the Bristol, drew a half-year's pay in December, besides his quarterly + allowance, and I met him on shore the next evening without money enough to + pay a boat to go off to his ship, having lost all at a gambling house. + </p> + <p> + Hoping that this may be of some use in stopping the gambling among the + younger officers, I remain, yours respectfully, AN OFFICER.'(1) + </p> + <p> + (1) Standard, Jan. 12, 1870. + </p> + <p> + In conclusion, I have contemplated the passion of gaming in all its + bearings, as will be evident from the range of subjects indicated by the + table of contents and index. I have ransacked (and sacked) hundreds of + volumes for entertaining, amusing, curious, or instructive matter. + </p> + <p> + Without deprecating criticism on my labours, perhaps I may state that + these researches have probably terminated my career as an author. + Immediately after the completion of this work I was afflicted with a + degree of blindness rendering it impossible for me to read any print + whatever, and compelling me to write only by dictation. + </p> + <p> + ANDREW STEINMETZ. <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <p> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE. </a><br /><br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> + <b>THE GAMING TABLE.</b> </a><br /> + </p> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE UNIVERSAL PASSION OF GAMING; OR, GAMING ALL THE WORLD OVER + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. </a> + </td> + <td> + GAMBLING AMONG THE ANCIENT HINDOOS.—A HINDOO LEGEND AND ITS + MODERN + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. </a> + </td> + <td> + GAMBLING AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, PERSIANS, AND GREEKS + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a> + </td> + <td> + GAMING AMONG THE ANCIENT ROMAN EMPERORS + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. </a> + </td> + <td> + GAMBLING IN FRANCE IN ALL TIMES + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF MODERN GAMING IN ENGLAND + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. </a> + </td> + <td> + GAMBLING IN BRIGHTON IN 1817 + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. </a> + </td> + <td> + GAMBLING AT THE GERMAN BATHING-PLACES.—— + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. </a> + </td> + <td> + GAMBLING IN THE UNITED STATES + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. </a> + </td> + <td> + LADY GAMESTRESSES + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI. </a> + </td> + <td> + GAMBLING POETS, SAVANTS, PHILOSOPHERS, WITS, AND STATESMEN + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII. </a> + </td> + <td> + REMARKABLE GAMESTERS——MONSIEUR CHEVALIER + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE LOTTERIES AND THEIR BEWILDERMENTS + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE LAWS AGAINST GAMING IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + THE GAMING TABLE. + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. THE UNIVERSAL PASSION OF GAMING; OR, GAMING ALL THE WORLD OVER. + </h2> + <p> + A very apt allegory has been imagined as the origin of Gaming. It is said + that the Goddess of Fortune, once sporting near the shady pool of Olympus, + was met by the gay and captivating God of War, who soon allured her to his + arms. They were united; but the matrimony was not holy, and the result of + the union was a misfeatured child named Gaming. From the moment of her + birth this wayward thing could only be pleased by cards, dice, or + counters. + </p> + <p> + She was not without fascinations, and many were her admirers. As she grew + up she was courted by all the gay and extravagant of both sexes, for she + was of neither sex, and yet combining the attractions of each. At length, + however, being mostly beset by men of the sword, she formed an unnatural + union with one of them, and gave birth to twins—one called DUELLING, + and the other a grim and hideous monster named SUICIDE. These became their + mother's darlings, nursed by her with constant care and tenderness, and + her perpetual companions. + </p> + <p> + The Goddess Fortune ever had an eye on her promising daughter—Gaming; + and endowed her with splendid residences, in the most conspicuous streets, + near the palaces of kings. They were magnificently designed and elegantly + furnished. Lamps, always burning at the portals, were a sign and a + perpetual invitation unto all to enter; and, like the gates of the + Inferno, they were ever open to daily and nightly visitants; but, unlike + the latter, they permitted <i>EXIT</i> to all who entered—some + exulting with golden spoil,—others with their hands in empty + pockets,—some led by her half-witted son Duelling,—others + escorted by her malignant monster Suicide, and his mate, the demon + Despair. + </p> + <p> + 'Religion, morals, virtue, all give way, And conscience dies, the + prostitute of play. Eternity ne'er steals one thought between, Till + suicide completes the fatal scene.' + </p> + <p> + Such is the <i>ALLEGORY</i>;(2) and it may serve well enough to represent + the thing in accordance with the usages of civilized or modern life; but + Gaming is a <i>UNIVERSAL</i> thing—the characteristic of the human + biped all the world over. + </p> + <p> + (2) It appeared originally, I think, in the Harleian Miscellany. I have + taken the liberty to re-touch it here and there, with the view to + improvement. + </p> + <p> + The determination of events by 'lot' was a practice frequently resorted to + by the Israelites; as, by lot it was determined which of the goats should + be offered by Aaron; by lot the land of Canaan was divided; by lot Saul + was marked out for the Hebrew kingdom; by lot Jonah was discovered to be + the cause of the storm. It was considered an appeal to Heaven to determine + the points, and was thought not to depend on blind chance, or that + imaginary being called Fortune, who, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + '——With malicious joy, + Promotes, degrades, delights in strife, + And makes a <i>LOTTERY</i> of life.' +</pre> + <p> + The Hindoo Code—a promulgation of very high antiquity—denounces + gambling, which proves that there were desperate gamesters among the + Hindoos in the earliest times. Men gamed, too, it would appear, after the + example set them by the gods, who had gamesters among them. The priests of + Egypt assured Herodotus that one of their kings visited alive the lower + regions called infernal, and that he there joined a gaming party, at which + he both lost and won.(3) Plutarch tells a pretty Egyptian story to the + effect, that Mercury having fallen in love with Rhea, or the Earth, and + wishing to do her a favour, gambled with the Moon, and won from her every + seventieth part of the time she illumined the horizon—all which + parts he united together, making up <i>FIVE DAYS</i>, and added them to + the Earth's year, which had previously consisted of only 360 days.(4) + </p> + <p> + (3) Herod. 1. ii. + </p> + <p> + (4) Plutarch, <i>De Isid. et Osirid.</i> + </p> + <p> + But not only did the gods play among themselves on Olympus, but they + gambled with mortals. According to Plutarch, the priest of the temple of + Hercules amused himself with playing at dice with the god, the stake or + conditions being that if he won he should obtain some signal favour, but + if he lost he would procure a beautiful courtesan for Hercules.(5) + </p> + <p> + (5) <i>In Vita Romuli</i>. + </p> + <p> + By the numerous nations of the East dice, and that pugnacious little bird + the cock, have been and are the chief instruments employed to produce a + sensation—to agitate their minds and to ruin their fortunes. The + Chinese have in all times, we suppose, had cards—hence the absurdity + of the notion that they were 'invented' for the amusement of Charles VI. + of France, in his 'lucid intervals,' as is constantly asserted in every + collection of historic facts. The Chinese invented cards, as they invented + almost everything else that administers to our social and domestic + comfort.(6) + </p> + <p> + (6) Observations on Cards, by Mr Gough, in Archaeologia, vol. viii. 1787. + </p> + <p> + The Asiatic gambler is desperate. When all other property is played away, + he scruples not to stake his wife, his child, on the cast of a die or on + the courage of the martial bird before mentioned. Nay more, if still + unsuccessful, the last venture he makes is that of his limbs—his + personal liberty—his life—which he hazards on the caprice of + chance, and agrees to be at the mercy, or to become the slave, of his + fortunate antagonist. + </p> + <p> + The Malayan, however, does not always tamely submit to this last stroke of + fortune. When reduced to a state of desperation by repeated ill-luck, he + loosens a certain lock of hair on his head, which, when flowing down, is a + sign of war and destruction. He swallows opium or some intoxicating + liquor, till he works himself up into a fit of frenzy, and begins to bite + and kill everything that comes in his way; whereupon, as the aforesaid + lock of hair is seen flowing, it is lawful to fire at and destroy him as + quickly as possible—he being considered no better than a mad dog. A + very rational conclusion. + </p> + <p> + Of course the Chinese are most eager gamesters, or they would not have + been capable of inventing those dear, precious killers of time—cards, + the EVENING solace of so many a household in the most respectable and + 'proper' walks of life. Indeed, they play night and day—until they + have lost all they are worth, and then they usually go—and hang + themselves. + </p> + <p> + If we turn our course northward, and penetrate the regions of ice + perpetual, we find that the driven snow cannot effectually quench the + flames of gambling. They glow amid the regions of the frozen pole. The + Greenlanders gamble with a board, which has a finger-piece upon it, + turning round on an axle; and the person to whom the finger points on the + stopping of the board, which is whirled round, 'sweeps' all the 'stakes' + that have been deposited. + </p> + <p> + If we descend thence into the Western hemisphere, we find that the passion + for gambling forms a distinguishing feature in the character of all the + rude natives of the American continent. Just as in the East, these savages + will lose their aims (on which subsistence depends), their apparel, and at + length their personal liberty, on games of chance. There is one thing, + however, which must be recorded to their credit—and to our shame. + When they have lost their 'all,' they do not follow the example of our + refined gamesters. They neither murmur nor repine. Not a fretful word + escapes them. They bear the frowns of fortune with a philosophic + composure.(7) + </p> + <p> + (7) Carver, <i>Travels</i>. + </p> + <p> + If we cross the Atlantic and land on the African shore, we find that the + 'everlasting Negro' is a gambler—using shells as dice—and + following the practice of his 'betters' in every way. He stakes not only + his 'fortune,' but also his children and liberty, which he cares very + little about, everywhere, until we incite him to do so—as, of + course, we ought to do, for every motive 'human and divine.' + </p> + <p> + There is no doubt, then, that this propensity is part and parcel of 'the + unsophisticated savage.' Let us turn to the eminently civilized races of + antiquity—the men whose example we have more or less followed in + every possible matter, sociality, politics, religion—they were all + gamblers, more or less. Take the grand prototypes of Britons, the Romans + of old. That gamesters they were! And how gambling recruited the ranks of + the desperadoes who gave them insurrectionary trouble! Catiline's 'army of + scoundrels,' for instance. 'Every man dishonoured by dissipation,' says + Sallust, 'who by his follies or losses at the gaming table had consumed + the inheritance of his fathers, and all those who were sufferers by such + misery, were the friends of this perverse man.' Horace, Juvenal, Persius, + Cicero, and other writers, attest the fact of Roman gambling most + eloquently, most indignantly. + </p> + <p> + The Romans had 'lotteries,' or games of chance, and some of their prizes + were of great value, as a good estate and slaves, or rich vases; others of + little value, as vases of common earth, but of this more in the sequel. + </p> + <p> + Among the Gothic kings who, in the fulness of time and accomplishments, + 'succeeded' to that empire, we read of a Theodoric, 'a wise and valiant + prince,' who was 'great lover of dice;' his solicitude in play was only + for victory; and his companions knew how to seize the moment of his + success, as consummate courtiers, to put forward their petitions and to + make their requests. 'When I have a petition to prefer,' says one of them, + 'I am easily beaten in the game that I may win my cause.'(8) What a clever + contrivance! But scarcely equal to that of the <i>GREAT</i> (in + politeness) Lord Chesterfield, who, to gain a vote for a parliamentary + friend, actually submitted to be <i>BLED!</i> It appears that the voter + was deemed very difficult, but Chesterfield found out that the man was a + doctor, who was a perfect Sangrado, recommending bleeding for every + ailment. He went to him, as in consultation, agreed with the man's + arguments, and at once bared his arm for the operation. On the point of + departure his lordship 'edged' in the question about the vote for his + friend, which was, of course, gushingly promised and given. + </p> + <p> + (8) Sed ego aliquid obsecraturus facile vincor; et mihi tabula perit ut + causa salvetur.—Sidonius Apollinaris, <i>Epist</i>. + </p> + <p> + Although there may not be much Gothic blood among us, it is quite certain + that there is plenty of German mixture in our nation—taking the term + in its very wide and comprehensive ethnology. Now, Tacitus describes the + ancient stout and valiant Germans as 'making gaming with a die a very + serious occupation of their sober hours.' Like the 'everlasting Negro,' + they, too, made their last throw for personal liberty, the loser going + into voluntary slavery, and the winner selling such slaves as soon as + possible to strangers, in order not to have to blush for such a victory! + If the 'nigger' could blush, he might certainly do so for the white man in + such a conjuncture. + </p> + <p> + At Naples and other places in Italy, at least in former times, the boatmen + used thus to stake their liberty for a certain number of years. According + to Hyde,(9) the Indians stake their fingers and cut them off themselves to + pay the debt of honour. Englishmen have cut off their ears, both as a + 'security' for a gambling loan, and as a stake; others have staked their + lives by hanging, in like manner! Instances will be given in the sequel. + </p> + <p> + (9) De Ludis Orient. + </p> + <p> + But leaving these savages and the semi-savages of the very olden time, let + us turn to those nearer to our times, with just as much religious truth + and principle among them as among ourselves. + </p> + <p> + The warmth with which 'dice-playing' is condemned in the writings of the + <i>Fathers</i>, the venerable expounders of Christianity, as well as by + 'edicts' and 'canons' of the Church, is unquestionably a sufficient proof + of its general and excessive prevalence throughout the nations of Europe. + When cards were introduced, in the fourteenth century, they only added + fuel to the infernal flame of gambling; and it soon became as necessary to + restrain their use as it had been that of dice. The two held a joint + empire of ruin and desolation over their devoted victims. A king of France + set the ruinous example—Henry IV., the roue, the libertine, the + duellist, the gambler,—and yet (historically) the <i>Bon Henri</i>, + the 'good king,' who wished to order things so that every Frenchman might + have a <i>pot-au-feu</i>, or dish of flesh savoury, every Sunday for + dinner. The money that Henry IV. lost at play would have covered great + public expenses. + </p> + <p> + There can be no doubt that the spirit of gaming went on acquiring new + strength and development throughout every subsequent reign in France; and + we shall see that under the Empire the thing was a great national + institution, and made to put a great deal of money as 'revenue' into the + hands of Fouche. + </p> + <p> + But the Spaniards have always been, of all nations, the most addicted to + gambling. A traveller says:—'I have wandered through all parts of + Spain, and though in many places I have scarcely been able to procure a + glass of wine, or a bit of bread, or any of the first conveniences of + life, yet I never went through a village so mean and out of the way, in + which I could not have purchased a pack of cards.' This was in the middle + of the seventeenth century, but I have no doubt it is true at the present + moment. + </p> + <p> + If we can believe Voltaire, the Spaniards were formerly very generous in + their gaming. 'The grandees of Spain,' he says, 'had a generous + ostentation; this was to divide the money won at play among all the + bystanders, of whatever condition. + </p> + <p> + Montrefor relates that when the Duke of Lerma, the Spanish minister, + entertained Gaston, brother of Louis XIII., with all his retinue in the + Netherlands, he displayed a magnificence of an extraordinary kind. The + prime minister, with whom Gaston spent several days, used to put two + thousand louis d'ors on a large gaming-table after dinner. With this money + Gaston's attendants and even the prince himself sat down to play. It is + probable, however, that Voltaire extended a single instance or two into a + general habit or custom. That writer always preferred to deal with the + splendid and the marvellous rather than with plain matter of fact. + </p> + <p> + There can be little doubt that the Spaniards pursued gaming in the vulgar + fashion, just as other people. At any rate the following anecdote gives us + no very favourable idea of Spanish generosity to strangers in the matter + of gambling in modern times; and the worst of it is the suitableness of + its application to more capitals than one among the kingdoms of Europe. + 'After the bull-feast I was invited to pass the evening at the hotel of a + lady, who had a public card-assembly.... This vile method of subsisting on + the folly of mankind is confined in Spain to the nobility. None but women + of quality are permitted to hold banks, and there are many whose + faro-banks bring them in a clear income of a thousand guineas a year. The + lady to whom I was introduced is an old countess, who has lived nearly + thirty years on the profits of the card-tables in her house. They are + frequented every day, and though both natives and foreigners are duped of + large sums by her, and her cabinet-junto, yet it is the greatest house of + resort in all Madrid. She goes to court, visits people of the first + fashion, and is received with as much respect and veneration as if she + exercised the most sacred functions of a divine profession. Many widows of + great men keep gaming-houses and live splendidly on the vices of mankind. + If you be not disposed to play, be either a sharper or a dupe, you cannot + be admitted a second time to their assemblies. I was no sooner presented + to the lady than she offered me cards; and on my excusing myself, because + I really could not play, she made a very wry face, turned from me, and + said to another lady in my hearing, that she wondered how any foreigner + could have the impertinence to come to her house for no other purpose than + to make an apology for not playing. My Spanish conductor, unfortunately + for himself, had not the same apology. He played and lost his money—two + circumstances which constantly follow in these houses. While my friend was + thus playing <i>THE FOOL</i>, I attentively watched the countenance and + motions of the lady of the house. Her anxiety, address, and assiduity were + equal to that of some skilful shopkeeper, who has a certain attraction to + engage all to buy, and diligence to take care that none shall escape the + net. I found out all her privy-counsellors, by her arrangement of her + parties at the different tables; and whenever she showed an extraordinary + eagerness to fix one particular person with a stranger, the game was + always decided the same way, and her good friend was sure to win the + money. + </p> + <p> + 'In short, it is hardly possible to see good company at Madrid unless you + resolve to leave a purse of gold at the card-assemblies of their + nobility.'(10) + </p> + <p> + (10) 'Observations in a Tour through Spain.' + </p> + <p> + We are assured that this state of things is by no means 'obsolete' in + Spain, even at the present time. At the time in question, however, the + beginning of the present century, there was no European nation among which + gaming did not constitute one of its polite and fashionable amusements—with + the exception of the <i>Turks</i>, who, to the shame of Christians, + strictly obeyed the precepts of Mahomet, and scrupulously avoided the + 'gambling itch' of our nature. + </p> + <p> + In England gambling prevailed during the reign of Henry VIII.; indeed, it + seems that the king was himself a gamester of the most unscrupulous sort; + and there is ample evidence that the practice flourished during the reign + of Elizabeth, James I., and subsequently, especially in the times of + Charles II. Writing on the day when James II. was proclaimed king, Evelyn + says, 'I can never forget the inexpressible luxury and profaneness, gaming + and all dissoluteness, and as it were total forgetfulness of God (it being + Sunday evening) which this day se'nnight I was witness of, the king + sitting and toying with his concubines, Portsmouth, Cleaveland, and + Mazarine, &c., a French boy singing love-songs, in that glorious + gallery, whilst about twenty of the great courtiers and other dissolute + persons were at Basset round a large table; a bank of at least L2000 in + gold before them, upon which two gentlemen who were with me made + reflections with astonishment. Six days after all was in the dust!' + </p> + <p> + The following curious observations on the gaming in vogue during the year + 1668 are from the Harleian Miscellany: + </p> + <p> + 'One propounded this question, "Whether men in ships at sea were to be + accounted amongst the living or the dead—because there were but few + inches betwixt them and drowning?" The same query may be made of + gamesters, though their estates be never so considerable—whether + they are to be esteemed rich or poor, since there are but a few casts at + dice betwixt a person of fortune (in that circumstance) and a beggar. + </p> + <p> + 'Betwixt twelve and one of the clock a good dinner is prepared by way of + ordinary, and some gentlemen of civility and condition oftentimes eat + there, and play a while for recreation after dinner, both moderately and + most commonly without deserving reproof. Towards night, when ravenous + beasts usually seek their prey, there come in shoals of hectors, + trepanners, gilts, pads, biters, prigs, divers, lifters, kidnappers, + vouchers, mill kens, piemen, decoys, shop-lifters, foilers, bulkers, + droppers, gamblers, donnakers, crossbiters, &c., under the general + appellation of "rooks;" and in this particular it serves as a nursery for + Tyburn, for every year some of this gang march thither. + </p> + <p> + 'Would you imagine it to be true—that a grave gentleman, well + stricken in years, insomuch as he cannot see the pips of the dice, is so + infatuated with this witchery as to play here with others' eyes,—of + whom this quibble was raised, "Mr Such a one plays at dice by the ear." + Another gentleman, stark blind, I have seen play at Hazard, and surely + that must be by the ear too. + </p> + <p> + 'Late at night, when the company grows thin, and your eyes dim with + watching, false dice are often put upon the ignorant, or they are + otherwise cozened, with topping or slurring, &;c.; and, if you be not + vigilant, 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> + 'There are yet some genteeler and more subtle rooks, whom you shall not + distinguish by their outward demeanour from persons of condition; and who + will sit by a whole evening, and observe who wins; and then, if the winner + be "bubbleable," they will insinuate themselves into his acquaintance, and + civilly invite him to drink a glass of wine,—wheedle him into play, + and win all his money, either by false dice, as high fulhams,(11) low + fulhams, or by palming, topping, &c. Note by the way, that when they + have you at the tavern and think you a sure "bubble," they will many times + purposely lose some small sum to you the first time, to engage you more + freely to <i>BLEED</i> (as they call it) at the second meeting, to which + they will be sure to invite you. + </p> + <p> + (11) It appears that false dice were originally made at <i>Fulham;</i> + hence so called, high and low fulhams; the high ones were the numbers 4, + 5, 6. + </p> + <p> + 'A gentleman whom ill-fortune had hurried into passion, took a box and + dice to a side-table, and then fell to throwing by himself; at length he + swears with an emphasis, "D—e, now I throw for nothin;, I can win a + thousand pounds; but when I lay for money I lose my all." + </p> + <p> + 'If the house find you free to box, and a constant caster, you shall be + treated below with suppers at night, and caudle in the morning, and have + the honour to be styled, "a lover of the house," whilst your money lasts, + which certainly will not be long. + </p> + <p> + 'Most gamesters begin at small games, and by degrees, if their money or + estates hold out, they rise to great sums; some have played first all + their money, then their rings, coach and horses, even their wearing + clothes and <i>perukes;</i> and then, such a farm; and at last, perhaps a + lordship. + </p> + <p> + 'You may read in our histories, 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 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.(12) + </p> + <p> + (12) The clochier in Paul's Churchyard—a bell-house, four square, + builded of stone, with four bells; these were called <i>Jesus</i> Bells. + The same had a great spire of timber, covered with lead, with the image of + St Paul on the top, but was pulled down by Sir Miles Partridge, Kt, in the + reign of Henry VIII. The common speech then was that he did set L100 upon + a cast at dice against it, and so won the said clochier and bells of the + king. And then causing the bells to be broken as they hung, the rest was + pulled down, and broken also. This man was afterwards executed on Tower + Hill, for matters concerning the Duke of Somerset, in the year 1551, the + 5th of Edward VI.—Stowe, B. iii. 148. + </p> + <p> + 'Sir Arthur Smithhouse 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 + <i>box-keeper</i>. + </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 <i>rara avis</i>, for if you once + "break bulk," as they phrase it, you are in again for all. Sir Humphry + Foster had lost the greatest part of his estate, and then playing, as it + is said, <i>FOR A DEAD HORSE</i>, did, by happy fortune, recover it again; + then gave over, and wisely too.'(13) + </p> + <p> + (13) Harleian Misc. ii. 108. + </p> + <p> + The sequel will show the increase of gambling in our country during the + subsequent reigns, up to a recent period. + </p> + <p> + Thus, then, the passion of gaming is, and has ever been, universal. It is + said that two Frenchmen could not exist even in a desert without <i>QUARRELLING;</i> + and it is quite certain that no two human beings can be anywhere without + ere long offering to 'bet' upon something. Indolence and want of + employment—'vacuity,' as Dr Johnson would call it—is the cause + of the passion. It arises from a want of habitual employment in some + material and regular line of conduct. Your very innocent card-parties at + home—merely to kill <i>TIME</i> (what a murder!) explains all the + apparent mystery! Something must be substituted to call forth the natural + activity of the mind; and this is in no way more effectually accomplished, + in all indolent pursuits, than by those <i>EMOTIONS AND AGITATIONS</i> + which gambling produces. + </p> + <p> + Such is the source of the thing in our <i>NATURE;</i> but then comes the + furious hankering after wealth—the desire to have it without <i>WORKING</i> + for it—which is the wish of so many of us; and <i>THIS</i> is the + source of that hideous gambling which has produced the contemptible + characters and criminal acts which are the burthen of this volume. + </p> + <p> + We love play because it satisfies our avarice,—that is to say, our + desire of having more; it flatters our vanity by the idea of preference + that fortune gives us, and of the attention that others pay to our + success; it satisfies our curiosity, giving us a spectacle; in short, it + gives us the different pleasures of surprise. + </p> + <p> + Certain it is that the passion for gambling easily gets deeply rooted, and + that it cannot be easily eradicated. The most exquisite melody, if + compared with the music of dice, is then but discord; and the finest + prospect in nature only a miserable blank when put in competition with the + attractions of the 'honours' at a rubber of Whist. + </p> + <p> + Wealth is the general centre of inclination. Whatever is the ultimate + design, the immediate care is to be rich. No desire can be formed which + riches do not assist to gratify. They may be considered as the elementary + principles of pleasure, which may be combined with endless diversity. + There are nearer ways to profit than up the steeps of labour. The prospect + of gaining speedily what is ardently desired, has so far prevailed upon + the passions of mankind, that the peace of life is destroyed by a general + and incessant struggle for riches. It is observed of gold by an old + epigrammatist, that to have is to be in fear; and to want it is to be in + sorrow. There is no condition which is not disquieted either with the care + of gaining or keeping money. + </p> + <p> + No nation has exceeded ours in the pursuit of gaming. In former times—and + yet not more than 30 or 40 years ago—the passion for play was + predominant among the highest classes. + </p> + <p> + Genius and abilities of the highest order became its votaries; and the + very framers of the laws against gambling were the first to fall under the + temptation of their breach! The spirit of gambling pervaded every inferior + order of society. The gentleman was a slave to its indulgence; the + merchant and the mechanic were the dupes of its imaginary prospects; it + engrossed the citizen and occupied the rustic. Town and country became a + prey to its despotism. There was scarcely an obscure village to be found + wherein this bewitching basilisk did not exercise its powers of + fascination and destruction. + </p> + <p> + Gaming in England became rather a science than an amusement of social + intercourse. The 'doctrine of chances' was studied with an assiduity that + would have done honour to better subjects; and calculations were made on + arithmetical and geometrical principles, to determine the degrees of + probability attendant on games of mixed skill and chance, or even on the + fortuitous throws of dice. Of course, in spite of all calculations, there + were miserable failures—frightful losses. The polite gamester, like + the savage, did not scruple to hazard the dearest interests of his family, + or to bring his wife and children to poverty, misery, and ruin. He could + not give these over in liquidation of a gambling debt; indeed, nobody + would, probably, have them at a gift; and yet there were instances in + which the honour of a wife was the stake of the infernal game!.... Well + might the Emperor Justinian exclaim,—'Can we call <i>PLAY</i> that + which causes crime?'(14) + </p> + <p> + (14) Quis enim ludos appellet eos, ex quibus crimina oriuntur?—<i>De + Concept. Digest</i>. II. lib. iv. Sec. 9. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. GAMBLING AMONG THE ANCIENT HINDOOS.—A HINDOO LEGEND AND + ITS MODERN + </h2> + <p> + PARALLEL. + </p> + <p> + The recent great contribution to the history of India, published by Mr + Wheeler,(15) gives a complete insight into this interesting topic; and + this passage of the ancient Sanskrit epic forms one of the most wonderful + and thrilling scenes in that most acceptable publication. + </p> + <p> + (15) The History of India from the Earliest Ages. By J. Talboys Wheeler. + Vol. I.—The Vedic Period and the Maha Bharata. + </p> + <p> + As Mr Wheeler observes, the specialties of Hindoo gambling are worthy of + some attention. The passion for play, which has ever been the vice of + warriors in times of peace, becomes a madness amidst the lassitude of a + tropical climate; and more than one Hindoo legend has been preserved of + Rajas playing together for days, until the wretched loser has been + deprived of everything he possessed and reduced to the condition of an + exile or a slave. + </p> + <p> + But gambling amongst the Hindoos does not appear to have been altogether + dependent upon chance. The ancient Hindoo dice, known by the name of + coupun, are almost precisely similar to the modern dice, being thrown out + of a box; but the practice of loading is plainly alluded to, and some + skill seems to have been occasionally exercised in the rattling of the + dice-box. In the more modern game, known by the name of pasha, the dice + are not cubic, but oblong; and they are thrown from the hand either direct + upon the ground, or against a post or board, which will break the fall, + and render the result more a matter of chance. + </p> + <p> + The great gambling match of the Hindoo epic was the result of a conspiracy + to ruin Yudhishthira, a successful warrior, the representative of a mighty + family—the Pandavas, who were incessantly pursued by the envy of the + Kauravas, their rivals. The fortunes of the Pandavas were at the height of + human prosperity; and at this point the universal conception of an + avenging Nemesis that humbles the proud and casts down the mighty, finds + full expression in the Hindoo epic. The grandeur of the Pandavas excited + the jealousy of Duryodhana, and revived the old feud between the Kauravas + and the former. Duryodhana plotted with his brother Duhsasana and his + uncle Sakuni, how they might dispossess the Pandavas of their + newly-acquired territory; and at length they determined to invite their + kinsmen to a gambling match, and seek by underhand means to deprive + Yudhishthira of his Raj, or kingdom.(16) + </p> + <p> + (16) The old Sanskrit words <i>Raj</i>, 'kingdom,' and Raja, 'king,' are + evidently the origin of the Latin <i>reg-num, reg-o, rex, regula</i>, + 'rule,' &c, reproduced in the words of that ancient language, and + continued in the derivative vernaculars of modern names—<i>re, rey, + roy, roi, regal, royal, rule</i>, &c. &c. + </p> + <p> + It appears from the poem that Yudhishthira was invited to a game at + coupun; and the legend of the great gambling match, which took place at + Hastinapur, is related as follows: + </p> + <p> + 'And it came to pass that Duryodhana was very jealous of the <i>Rajasuya</i> + or triumph that his cousin Yudhishthira had performed, and he desired in + his heart to destroy the Pandavas, and gain possession of their Raj. Now + Sakuni was the brother of Gandhari, who was the mother of the Kauravas; + and he was very skilful in throwing dice, and in playing with dice that + were loaded; insomuch that whenever he played he always won the game. So + Duryodhana plotted with his uncle, that Yudhishthira should be invited to + a match at gambling, and that Sakuni should challenge him to a game, and + win all his wealth and lands. + </p> + <p> + 'After this the wicked Duryodhana proposed to his father the Maharaja, + that they should have a great gambling match at Hastinapur, and that + Yudhishthira and his brethren should be invited to the festival. And the + Maharaja was glad in his heart that his sons should be friendly with the + sons of his deceased brother, Pandu; and he sent his younger brother, + Vidura, to the city of Indra-prastha to invite the Pandavas to the game. + And Vidura went his way to the city of the Pandavas, and was received by + them with every sign of attention and respect. And Yudhishthira inquired + whether his kinsfolk and friends at Hastinapur were all well in health, + and Vidura replied, "They are all well." Then Vidura said to the Pandavas:—"Your + uncle, the Maharaja, is about to give a great feast, and he has sent me to + invite you and your mother, and your joint wife, to come to his city, and + there will be a great match at dice-playing." When Yudhishthira heard + these words he was troubled in mind, for he knew that gaming was a + frequent cause of strife, and that he was in no way skilful in throwing + the dice; and he likewise knew that Sakuni was dwelling at Hastinapur, and + that he was a famous gambler. But Yudhishthira remembered that the + invitation of the Maharaja was equal to the command of a father, and that + no true Kshatriya could refuse a challenge either to war or play. So + Yudhishthira accepted the invitation, and gave commandment that on the + appointed day his brethren, and their mother, and their joint wife should + accompany him to the city of Hastinapur. + </p> + <p> + 'When the day arrived for the departure of the Pandavas they took their + mother Kunti, and their joint wife Draupadi, and journeyed from + Indra-prastha to the city of Hastinapur. And when they entered the city + they first paid a visit of respect to the Maharaja, and they found him + sitting amongst his Chieftains; and the ancient Bhishma, and the preceptor + Drona, and Karna, who was the friend of Duryodhana, and many others, were + sitting there also. + </p> + <p> + 'And when the Pandavas had done reverence to the Maharaja, and + respectfully saluted all present, they paid a visit to their aunt + Gandhari, and did her reverence likewise. + </p> + <p> + 'And after they had done this, their mother and joint wife entered the + presence of Gandhari, and respectfully saluted her; and the wives of the + Kauravas came in and were made known to Kunti and Draupadi. And the wives + of the Kauravas were much surprised when they beheld the beauty and fine + raiment of Draupadi; and they were very jealous of their kinswoman. And + when all their visits had been paid, the Pandavas retired with their wife + and mother to the quarters which had been prepared for them, and when it + was evening they received the visits of all their friends who were + dwelling at Hastinapur. + </p> + <p> + 'Now, on the morrow the gambling match was to be played; so when the + morning had come, the Pandavas bathed and dressed, and left Draupadi in + the lodging which had been prepared for her, and went their way to the + palace. And the Pandavas again paid their respects to their uncle the + Maharaja, and were then conducted to the pavilion where the play was to + be; and Duryodhana went with them, together with all his brethren, and all + the chieftains of the royal house. And when the assembly had all taken + their seats, Sakuni said to Yudhishthira:—"The ground here has all + been prepared, and the dice are all ready: Come now, I pray you, and play + a game." But Yudhishthira was disinclined, and replied:—"I will not + play excepting upon fair terms; but if you will pledge yourself to throw + without artifice or deceit, I will accept your challenge." Sakuni said,—"If + you are so fearful of losing, you had better not play at all." At these + words Yudhishthira was wroth, and replied:—"I have no fear either in + play or war; but let me know with whom I am to play, and who is to pay me + if I win." So Duryodhana came forward and said:—"I am the man with + whom you are to play, and I shall lay any stakes against your stakes; but + my uncle Sakuni will throw the dice for me." Then Yudhishthira said,—"What + manner of game is this, where one man throws and another lays the stakes?" + Nevertheless he accepted the challenge, and he and Sakuni began to play. + </p> + <p> + 'At this point in the narrative it may be desirable to pause, and + endeavour to obtain a picture of the scene. The so-called pavilion was + probably a temporary booth constructed of bamboos and interlaced with + basket-work; and very likely it was decorated with flowers and leaves + after the Hindoo fashion, and hung with fruits, such as cocoa-nuts, + mangoes, plantains, and maize. The Chieftains present seem to have sat + upon the ground, and watched the game. The stakes may have been pieces of + gold or silver, or cattle, or lands; although, according to the legendary + account which follows, they included articles of a far more extravagant + and imaginative character. With these passing remarks, the tradition of + the memorable game may be resumed as follows:— + </p> + <p> + 'So Yudhishthira and Sakuni sat down to play, and whatever Yudhishthira + laid as stakes, Duryodhana laid something of equal value; but Yudhishthira + lost every game. He first lost a very beautiful pearl; next a thousand + bags, each containing a thousand pieces of gold; next a piece of gold so + pure that it was as soft as wax; next a chariot set with jewels and hung + all round with golden bells; next a thousand war elephants with golden + howdahs set with diamonds; next a lakh of slaves all dressed in good + garments; next a lakh of beautiful slave girls, adorned from head to foot + with golden ornaments; next all the remainder of his goods; next all his + cattle; and then the whole of his Raj, excepting only the lands which had + been granted to the Brahmans.(17) + </p> + <p> + (17)'A lakh is a hundred thousand, and a crore is a hundred lakhs, or ten + millions. The Hindoo term might therefore have been converted into English + numerals, only that it does not seem certain that the bards meant + precisely a hundred thousand slaves, but only a very large number. The + exceptional clause in favour of the Brahmans is very significant. When the + little settlement at Indra-prastha had been swelled by the imagination of + the later bards into an extensive Raj, the thought may have entered the + minds of the Brahmanical compilers that in losing the Raj, the Brahmans + might have lost those free lands, known as inams or jagheers, which are + frequently granted by pious Rajas for the subsistence of Brahmans. Hence + the insertion of the clause.' + </p> + <p> + 'Now when Yudhishthira had lost his Raj, the Chieftains present in the + pavilion were of opinion that he should cease to play, but he would not + listen to their words, but persisted in the game. And he staked all the + jewels belonging to his brothers, and he lost them; and he staked his two + younger brothers, one after the other, and he lost them; and he then + staked Arjuna, and Bhima, and finally himself; and he lost every game. + Then Sakuni said to him:—"You have done a bad act, Yudhishthira, in + gaming away yourself and becoming a slave. But now, stake your wife, + Draupadi, and if you win the game you will again be free." And + Yudhishthira answered and said:—"I will stake Draupadi!" And all + assembled were greatly troubled and thought evil of Yudhishthira; and his + uncle Vidura put his hand to his head and fainted away, whilst Bhishma and + Drona turned deadly pale, and many of the company were very sorrowful; but + Duryodhana and his brother Duhsasana, and some others of the Kauravas, + were glad in their hearts, and plainly manifested their joy. Then Sakuni + threw the dice, and won Draupadi for Duryodhana. + </p> + <p> + 'Then all in that assembly were in great consternation, and the Chieftains + gazed upon one another without speaking a word. And Duryodhana said to his + uncle Vidura:—"Go now and bring Draupadi hither, and bid her sweep + the rooms." But Vidura cried out against him with a loud voice, and said:—"What + wickedness is this? Will you order a woman who is of noble birth, and the + wife of your own kinsman, to become a household slave? How can you vex + your brethren thus? But Draupadi has not become your slave; for + Yudhishthira lost himself before he staked his wife, and having first + become a slave, he could no longer have power to stake Draupadi." Vidura + then turned to the assembly and said:—"Take no heed to the words of + Duryodhana, for he has lost his senses this day." Duryodhana then said:—"A + curse be upon this Vidura, who will do nothing that I desire him." + </p> + <p> + 'After this Duryodhana called one of his servants, and desired him to go + to the lodgings of the Pandavas, and bring Draupadi into the pavilion. And + the man departed out, and went to the lodgings of the Pandavas, and + entered the presence of Draupadi, and said to her:—"Raja + Yudhishthira has played you away, and you have become the slave of Raja + Duryodhana: So come now and do your duty like his other slave girls." And + Draupadi was astonished at these words, and exceedingly wroth, and she + replied:—"Whose slave was I that I could be gambled away? And who is + such a senseless fool as to gamble away his own wife?" The servant said:—"Raja + Yudhishthira has lost himself, and his four brothers, and you also, to + Raja Duryodhana, and you cannot make any objection: Arise, therefore, and + go to the house of the Raja!" + </p> + <p> + 'Then Draupadi cried out:—"Go you now and inquire whether Raja + Yudhishthira lost me first or himself first; for if he played away himself + first, he could not stake me." So the man returned to the assembly, and + put the question to Yudhishthira; but Yudhishthira hung down his head with + shame, and answered not a word. + </p> + <p> + 'Then Duryodhana was filled with wrath, and he cried out to his servant:—"What + waste of words is this? Go you and bring Draupadi hither, that if she has + aught to say, she may say it in the presence of us all." And the man + essayed to go, but he beheld the wrathful countenance of Bhima and he was + sore afraid, and he refused to go, and remained where he was. Then + Duryodhana sent his brother Duhsasana; and Duhsasana went his way to the + lodgings of Draupadi and said:—"Raja Yudhishthira has lost you in + play to Raja Duryodhana, and he has sent for you: So arise now, and wait + upon him according to his commands; and if you have anything to say, you + can say it in the presence of the assembly." Draupadi replied:—"The + death of the Kauravas is not far distant, since they can do such deeds as + these." And she rose up in great trepidation and set out, but when she + came near to the palace of the Maharaja, she turned aside from the + pavilion where the Chieftains were assembled, and ran away with all speed + towards the apartments of the women. And Duhsasana hastened after her, and + seized her by her hair, which was very dark and long, and dragged her by + main force into the pavilion before all the Chieftains. + </p> + <p> + 'And she cried out:—"Take your hands from off me!" But Duhsasana + heeded not her words, and said:—"You are now a slave girl, and slave + girls cannot complain of being touched by the hands of men." + </p> + <p> + 'When the Chieftains thus beheld Draupadi, they hung down their heads from + shame; and Draupadi called upon the elders amongst them, such as Bhishma + and Drona, to acquaint her whether or no Raja Yudhishthira had gamed away + himself before he had staked her; but they likewise held down their heads + and answered not a word. + </p> + <p> + 'Then she cast her eye upon the Pandavas, and her glance was like the + stabbing of a thousand daggers, but they moved not hand or foot to help + her; for when Bhima would have stepped forward to deliver her from the + hands of Duhsasana, Yudhishthira commanded him to forbear, and both he and + the younger Pandavas were obliged to obey the command of their elder + brother. + </p> + <p> + 'And when Duhsasana saw that Draupadi looked towards the Pandavas, he took + her by the hand, and drew her another way, saying:—"Why, O slave, + are you turning your eyes about you?" And when Karna and Sakuni heard + Duhsasana calling her a slave, they cried out:—"Well said! well + said!" + </p> + <p> + 'Then Draupadi wept very bitterly, and appealed to all the assembly, + saying:—"All of you have wives and children of your own, and will + you permit me to be treated thus? I ask you one question, and I pray you + to answer it." Duhsasana then broke in and spoke foul language to her, and + used her rudely, so that her veil came off in his hands. And Bhima could + restrain his wrath no longer, and spoke vehemently to Yudhishthira; and + Arjuna reproved him for his anger against his elder brother, but Bhima + answered:—"I will thrust my hands into the fire before these + wretches shall treat my wife in this manner before my eyes." + </p> + <p> + 'Then Duryodhana said to Draupadi:—"Come now, I pray you, and sit + upon my thigh!" And Bhima gnashed his teeth, and cried out with a loud + voice:—"Hear my vow this day! If for this deed I do not break the + thigh of Duryodhana, and drink the blood of Duhsasana, I am not the son of + Kunti!" + </p> + <p> + 'Meanwhile the Chieftain Vidura had left the assembly, and told the blind + Maharaja Dhritarashtra all that had taken place that day; and the Maharaja + ordered his servants to lead him into the pavilion where all the + Chieftains were gathered together. And all present were silent when they + saw the Maharaja, and the Maharaja said to Draupadi:—"O daughter, my + sons have done evil to you this day: But go now, you and your husbands, to + your own Raj, and remember not what has occurred, and let the memory of + this day be blotted out for ever." So the Pandavas made haste with their + wife Draupadi, and departed out of the city of Hastinapur. + </p> + <p> + 'Then Duryodhana was exceedingly wroth, and he said to his father, "O + Maharaja, is it not a saying that when your enemy hath fallen down, he + should be annihilated without a war? And now that we had thrown the + Pandavas to the earth, and had taken possession of all their wealth, you + have restored them all their strength, and permitted them to depart with + anger in their hearts; and now they will prepare to make war that they may + revenge themselves upon us for all that has been done, and they will + return within a short while and slay us all: Give us leave then, I pray + you, to play another game with these Pandavas, and let the side which + loses go into exile for twelve years; for thus and thus only can a war be + prevented between ourselves and the Pandavas." And the Maharaja granted + the request of his son, and messengers were sent to bring back the + brethren; and the Pandavas obeyed the commands of their uncle, and + returned to his presence; and it was agreed upon that Yudhishthira should + play one game more with Sakuni, and that if Yudhishthira won the Kauravas + were to go into exile, and that if Sakuni won, the Pandavas were to go + into exile; and the exile was to be for twelve years, and one year more; + and during that thirteenth year those who were in exile were to dwell in + any city they pleased, but to keep themselves so concealed that the others + should never discover them; and if the others did discover them before the + thirteenth year was over, then those who were in exile were to continue so + for another thirteen years. So they sat down again to play, and Sakuni had + a set of cheating dice as before, and with them he won the game. + </p> + <p> + 'When Duhsasana saw that Sakuni had won the game, he danced about for joy; + and he cried out:—"Now is established the Raj of Duryodhana." But + Bhima said, "Be not elated with joy, but remember my words: The day will + come when I will drink your blood, or I am not the son of Kunti." And the + Pandavas, seeing that they had lost, threw off their garments and put on + deer-skins, and prepared to depart into the forest with their wife and + mother, and their priest Dhaumya; but Vidura said to Yudhishthira:—"Your + mother is old and unfitted to travel, so leave her under my care;" and the + Pandavas did so. And the brethren went out from the assembly hanging down + their heads with shame, and covering their faces with their garments; but + Bhima threw out his long arms and looked at the Kauravas furiously, and + Draupadi spread her long black hair over her face and wept bitterly. And + Draupadi vowed a vow, saying:— + </p> + <p> + '"My hair shall remain dishevelled from this day, until Bhima shall have + slain Duhsasana and drank his blood; and then he shall tie up my hair + again whilst his hands are dripping with the blood of Duhsasana."' + </p> + <p> + Such was the great gambling match at Hastinapur in the heroic age of + India. It appears there can be little doubt of the truth of the incident, + although the verisimilitude would have been more complete without the + perpetual winning of the cheat Sakuni—which would be calculated to + arouse the suspicion of Yudhishthira, and which could scarcely be indulged + in by a professional cheat, mindful of the suspicion it would excite. + </p> + <p> + Throughout the narrative, however, there is a truthfulness to human + nature, and a truthfulness to that particular phase of human nature which + is pre-eminently manifested by a high-minded race in its primitive stage + of civilization. + </p> + <p> + To our modern minds the main interest of the story begins from the moment + that Draupadi was lost; but it must be remembered that among that ancient + people, where women were chiefly prized on sensual grounds, such stakes + were evidently recognized. + </p> + <p> + The conduct of Draupadi herself on the occasion shows that she was by no + means unfamiliar with the idea: she protested—not on the ground of + sentiment or matrimonial obligation—but solely on what may be called + a technical point of law, namely, 'Had Yudhishthira become a slave before + he staked his wife upon the last game?' For, of course, having ceased to + be a freeman, he had no right to stake her liberty. + </p> + <p> + The concluding scene of the drama forms an impressive figure in the mind + of the Hindoo. The terrible figure of Draupadi, as she dishevels her long + black hair, is the very impersonation of revenge; and a Hindoo audience + never fails to shudder at her fearful vow—that the straggling + tresses shall never again be tied up until the day when Bhima shall have + fulfilled his vow, and shall then bind them up whilst his fingers are + still dripping with the blood of Duhsasana. + </p> + <p> + The avenging battle subsequently ensued. Bhima struck down Duhsasana with + a terrible blow of his mace, saying,—'This day I fulfil my vow + against the man who insulted Draupadi!' Then setting his foot on the + breast of Duhsasana, he drew his sword, and cut off the head of his enemy; + and holding his two hands to catch the blood, he drank it off, crying out, + 'Ho! ho! Never did I taste anything in this world so sweet as this blood.' + </p> + <p> + This staking of wives by gamblers is a curious subject. The practice may + be said to have been universal, having furnished cases among civilized as + well as barbarous nations. Of course the Negroes of Africa stake their + wives and children; according to Schouten, a Chinese staked his wife and + children, and lost them; Paschasius Justus states that a Venetian staked + his wife; and not a hundred years ago certain debauchees at Paris played + at dice for the possession of a celebrated courtesan. But this is an old + thing. Hegesilochus, and other rulers of Rhodes, were accustomed to play + at dice for the honour of the most distinguished ladies of that island—the + agreement being that the party who lost had to bring to the arms of the + winner the lady designated by lot to that indignity.(18) + </p> + <p> + (18) Athen. lib. XI. cap. xii. + </p> + <p> + There are traditions of such stakes having been laid and lost by husbands + in <i>England;</i> and a remarkable case of the kind will be found related + in Ainsworth's 'Old Saint Paul's,' as having occurred during the Plague of + London, in the year 1665. There can be little doubt that it is founded on + fact; and the conduct of the English wife, curiously enough, bears a + striking resemblance to that of Draupadi in the Indian narrative. + </p> + <p> + A Captain Disbrowe of the king's body-guard lost a large sum of money to a + notorious debauchee, a gambler and bully, named Sir Paul Parravicin. The + latter had made an offensive allusion to the wife of Captain Disbrowe, + after winning his money; and then, picking up the dice-box, and spreading + a large heap of gold on the table, he said to the officer who anxiously + watched his movements:—'I mentioned your wife, Captain Disbrowe, not + with any intention of giving you offence, but to show you that, although + you have lost your money, you have still a valuable stake left.' + </p> + <p> + 'I do not understand you, Sir Paul,' returned Disbrowe, with a look of + indignant surprise. + </p> + <p> + 'To be plain, then,' replied Parravicin, 'I have won from you two hundred + pounds—all you possess. You are a ruined man, and as such, will run + any hazard to retrieve your losses. I give you a last chance. I will stake + all my winnings—nay, double the amount—against your wife. You + have a key of the house you inhabit, by which you admit yourself at all + hours; so at least I am informed. If I win, that key shall be mine. I will + take my chance of the rest. Do you understand me now?' + </p> + <p> + 'I do,' replied the young man, with concentrated fury. 'I understand that + you are a villain. You have robbed me of my money, and would rob me of my + honour.' + </p> + <p> + 'These are harsh words, sir,' replied the knight calmly; 'but let them + pass. We will play first, and fight afterwards. But you refuse my + challenge?' + </p> + <p> + 'It is false!' replied Disbrowe, fiercely, 'I accept it.' And producing a + key, he threw it on the table. 'My life is, in truth, set on the die,' he + added, with a desperate look; 'for if I lose, I will not survive my + shame.' + </p> + <p> + 'You will not forget our terms,' observed Parravicin. 'I am to be your + representative to-night. You can return home to-morrow.' + </p> + <p> + 'Throw, sir,—throw,' cried the young man, fiercely. + </p> + <p> + 'Pardon me,' replied the knight; 'the first cast is with you. A single + main decides it.' + </p> + <p> + 'Be it so,' returned Disbrowe, seizing the bow. And as he shook the dice + with a frenzied air, the bystanders drew near the table to watch the + result. + </p> + <p> + 'Twelve!' cried Disbrowe, as he removed the box. 'My honour is saved! My + fortune retrieved—Huzza!' + </p> + <p> + 'Not so fast,' returned Parravicin, shaking the box in his turn. 'You were + a little hasty,' he added, uncovering the dice. 'I am twelve too. We must + throw again.' + </p> + <p> + 'This is to decide,' cried the young officer, rattling the dice,—'Six!' + </p> + <p> + Parravicin smiled, took the box, and threw <i>TEN</i>. + </p> + <p> + 'Perdition!' ejaculated Disbrowe, striking his brow with his clenched + hand. 'What devil tempted me to my undoing?... My wife trusted to this + profligate!... Horror! It must not be!' + </p> + <p> + 'It is too late to retract,' replied Parravicin, taking up the key, and + turning with a triumphant look to his friends. + </p> + <p> + Disbrowe noticed the smile, and, stung beyond endurance, drew his sword, + and called to the knight to defend himself. In an instant passes were + exchanged. But the conflict was brief. Fortune, as before, declared + herself in favour of Parravicin. He disarmed his assailant, who rushed out + of the room, uttering the wildest ejaculations of rage and despair. + </p> + <p> + * * * * * * The winner of the key proceeded at once to use. He gained + admittance to the captain's house, and found his way to the chamber of his + wife, who was then in bed. At first mistaken for her husband Parravicin + heard words of tender reproach for his lateness; and then, declaring + himself, he belied her husband, stating that he was false to her, and had + surrendered her to him. + </p> + <p> + At this announcement Mrs Disbrowe uttered a loud scream, and fell back in + the bed. Parravicin waited for a moment; but not hearing her move, brought + the lamp to see what was the matter. She had fainted, and was lying across + the pillow, with her night-dress partly open, so as to expose her neck and + shoulders. The knight was at first ravished with her beauty; but his + countenance suddenly fell, and an expression of horror and alarm took + possession of it. He appeared rooted to the spot, and instead of + attempting to render her any assistance, remained with his gaze fixed upon + her neck. Rousing himself at length, he rushed out of the room, hurried + down-stairs, and without pausing for a moment, threw open the street door. + As he issued from it his throat was forcibly griped, and the point of a + sword was placed at his breast. + </p> + <p> + It was the desperate husband, who was waiting to avenge his wife's honour. + </p> + <p> + 'You are in my power, villain,' cried Disbrowe, 'and shall not escape my + vengeance.' + </p> + <p> + 'You are already avenged,' replied Parravicin, shaking off his assailant—'<i>YOUR + WIFE HAS THE PLAGUE</i>.' + </p> + <p> + The profligate had been scared away by the sight of the 'plague spot' on + the neck of the unfortunate lady. + </p> + <p> + The husband entered and found his way to his wife's chamber. Instantaneous + explanations ensued. 'He told me you were false—that you loved + another—and had abandoned me,' exclaimed the frantic wife. + </p> + <p> + 'He lied!' shouted Disbrowe, in a voice of uncontrollable fury. 'It is + true that, in a moment of frenzy, I was tempted to set you—yes, <i>YOU</i>, + Margaret—against all I had lost at play, and was compelled to yield + up the key of my house to the winner. But I have never been faithless to + you—never.' + </p> + <p> + 'Faithless or not,' replied his wife bitterly, 'it is plain you value me + less than play, or you would not have acted thus.' + </p> + <p> + 'Reproach me not, Margaret,' replied Disbrowe. 'I would give worlds to + undo what I have done.' + </p> + <p> + 'Who shall guard me against the recurrence of such conduct?' said Mrs + Disbrowe, coldly. 'But you have not yet informed me how I was saved!' + </p> + <p> + Disbrowe averted his head. + </p> + <p> + 'What mean you?' she cried, seizing his arm. 'What has happened? Do not + keep me in suspense? Were you my preserver?' + </p> + <p> + 'Your preserver was the plague,' rejoined Disbrowe, mournfully. + </p> + <p> + The unfortunate lady then, for the first time, perceived that she was + attacked by the pestilence, and a long and dreadful pause ensued, broken + only by exclamations of anguish from both. + </p> + <p> + 'Disbrowe!' cried Margaret at length, raising herself in bed, 'you have + deeply, irrecoverably injured me. But promise me one thing.' + </p> + <p> + 'I swear to do whatever you may desire,' he replied. + </p> + <p> + 'I know not, after what I have heard, whether you have courage for the + deed,' she continued. 'But I would have you kill this man.' + </p> + <p> + 'I will do it,' replied Disbrowe. + </p> + <p> + 'Nothing but his blood can wipe out the wrong he has done me,' she + rejoined. 'Challenge him to a duel—a mortal duel. If he survives, by + my soul, I will give myself to him.' + </p> + <p> + 'Margaret!' exclaimed Disbrowe. + </p> + <p> + 'I swear it,' she rejoined,' and you know my passionate nature too well to + doubt I will keep my word.' + </p> + <p> + 'But you have the plague!' + </p> + <p> + 'What does that matter? I may recover.' + </p> + <p> + 'Not so,' muttered Disbrowe. 'If I fall, I will take care you do not + recover.... I will fight him to-morrow,' he added aloud. + </p> + <p> + About noon on the following day Disbrowe proceeded to the Smyrna + Coffee-house, where, as he expected, he found Parravicin and his + companions. The knight instantly advanced towards him, and laying aside + for the moment his reckless air, inquired, with a look of commiseration, + after his wife. + </p> + <p> + 'She is better,' replied Disbrowe, fiercely. 'I am come to settle accounts + with you.' + </p> + <p> + 'I thought they were settled long ago,' returned Parravicin, instantly + resuming his wonted manner. 'But I am glad to find you consider the debt + unpaid.' + </p> + <p> + Disbrowe lifted the cane he held in his hand, and struck the knight with + it forcibly on the shoulder. 'Be that my answer,' he said. + </p> + <p> + 'I will have your life first, and your wife afterwards,' replied + Parravicin fiercely. + </p> + <p> + 'You shall have her if you slay me, but not otherwise,' retorted Disbrowe. + 'It must be a mortal duel.' + </p> + <p> + 'It must,' replied Parravicin. 'I will not spare you this time. I shall + instantly proceed to the west side of Hyde Park, beneath the trees. I + shall expect you there. On my return I shall call on your wife.' + </p> + <p> + 'I pray you do so, sir,' replied Disbrowe, disdainfully. + </p> + <p> + Both then quitted the Coffee-house, Parravicin attended by his companions, + and Disbrowe accompanied by a military friend, whom he accidentally + encountered. Each party taking a coach, they soon reached the ground, a + retired spot completely screened from observation by trees. The + preliminaries were soon arranged, for neither would admit of delay. The + conflict then commenced with great fury on both sides; but Parravicin, in + spite of his passion, observed far more caution than his antagonist; and + taking advantage of an unguarded movement, occasioned by the other's + impetuosity, passed his sword through his body. Disbrowe fell. + </p> + <p> + 'You are again successful,' he groaned, 'but save my wife—save her!' + </p> + <p> + 'What mean you?' cried Parravicin, leaning over him, as he wiped his + sword. + </p> + <p> + But Disbrowe could make no answer. His utterance was choked by a sudden + effusion of blood on the lungs, and he instantly expired. + </p> + <p> + Leaving the body in care of the second, Parravicin and his friends + returned to the coach, his friends congratulating him on the issue of the + conflict; but the knight looked grave, and pondered upon the words of the + dying man. After a time, however, he recovered his spirits, and dined with + his friends at the Smyrna; but they observed that he drank more deeply + than usual. His excesses did not, however, prevent him from playing with + his usual skill, and he won a large sum from one of his companions at + Hazard. + </p> + <p> + Flushed with success, and heated with wine, he walked up to Disbrowe's + residence about an hour after midnight. As he approached the house, he + observed a strangely-shaped cart at the door, and, halting for a moment, + saw a body, wrapped in a shroud, brought out. Could it be Mrs Disbrowe? + Rushing forward to one of the assistants in black cloaks, he asked whom he + was about to inter. + </p> + <p> + 'It is a Mrs Disbrowe,' replied the coffin-maker. 'She died of grief, + because her husband was killed this morning in a duel; but as she had the + plague, it must be put down to that. We are not particular in such + matters, and shall bury her and her husband together; and as there is no + money left to pay for coffins, they must go to the grave without them.' + </p> + <p> + And as the body of his victim also was brought forth, Parravicin fell + against the wall in a state of stupefaction. At this moment, Solomon + Eagle, the weird plague-prophet, with his burning brazier on his head, + suddenly turned the corner of the street, and, stationing himself before + the dead-cart, cried in a voice of thunder—'Woe to the libertine! + Woe to the homicide! for he shall perish in everlasting fire! Woe! woe!' + </p> + <p> + Such is this English legend, as related by Ainsworth, but which I have + condensed into its main elements. I think it bids fair to equal in + interest that of the Hindoo epic; and if it be not true in every + particular, so much the better for the sake of human nature. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. GAMBLING AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, PERSIANS, AND GREEKS. + </h2> + <p> + Concerning the ancient Egyptians we have no particular facts to detail in + the matter of gambling; but it is sufficient to determine the existence of + any special vice in a nation to find that there are severe laws + prohibiting and punishing its practice. Now, this testimony not only + exists, but the penalty is of the utmost severity, from which may be + inferred both the horror conceived of the practice by the rulers of the + Egyptians, and the strong propensity which required that severity to + suppress or hold it in check. In Egypt, 'every man was easily admitted to + the accusation of a gamester or dice-player; and if the person was + convicted, he was sent to work in the quarries.'(19) Gambling was, + therefore, prevalent in Egypt in the earliest times. + </p> + <p> + (19) Taylor, <i>Ductor Dubitantium</i>, B. iv. c. 1. + </p> + <p> + That gaming with dice was a usual and fashionable species of diversion at + the Persian court in the times of the younger Cyrus (about 400 years + before the Christian era), to go no higher, is evident from the anecdote + related by some historians of those days concerning Queen Parysatis, the + mother of Cyrus, who used all her art and skill in gambling to satiate her + revenge, and to accomplish her bloodthirsty projects against the murderers + of her favourite son. She played for the life or death of an unfortunate + slave, who had only executed the commands of his master. The anecdote is + as follows, as related by Plutarch, in the Life of Artaxerxes. + </p> + <p> + 'There only remained for the final execution of Queen Parysatis's + projects, and fully to satiate her vengeance, the punishment of the king's + slave Mesabetes, who by his master's order had cut off the head and hand + of the young Cyrus, who was beloved by Parysatis (their common mother) + above Artaxerses, his elder brother and the reigning monarch. But as there + was nothing to take hold of in his conduct, the queen laid this snare for + him. She was a woman of good address, had abundance of wit, and <i>EXCELLED + AT PLAYING A CERTAIN GAME WITH DICE</i>. She had been apparently + reconciled to the king after the death of Cyrus, and was present at all + his parties of pleasure and gambling. One day, seeing the king totally + unemployed, she proposed playing with him for a thousand <i>darics</i> + (about L500), to which he readily consented. She suffered him to win, and + paid down the money. But, affecting regret and vexation, she pressed him + to begin again, and to play with her—<i>FOR A SLAVE</i>. The king, + who suspected nothing, complied, and the stipulation was that the winner + was to choose the slave. + </p> + <p> + 'The queen was now all attention to the game, and made use of her utmost + skill and address, which as easily procured her victory, as her studied + neglect before had caused her defeat. She won—and chose Mesabetes—the + slayer of her son—who, being delivered into her hands, was put to + the most cruel tortures and to death by her command. + </p> + <p> + 'When the king would have interfered, she only replied with a smile of + contempt—"Surely you must be a great loser, to be so much out of + temper for giving up a decrepit old slave, when I, who lost a thousand + good <i>darics</i>, and paid them down on the spot, do not say a word, and + am satisfied."' + </p> + <p> + Thus early were dice made subservient to the purposes of cruelty and + murder. The modern Persians, being Mohammedans, are restrained from the + open practice of gambling. Yet evasions are contrived in favour of games + in the tables, which, as they are only liable to chance on the 'throw of + the dice,' but totally dependent on the 'skill' in 'the management of the + game,' cannot (they argue) be meant to be prohibited by their prophet any + more than chess, which is universally allowed to his followers; and, + moreover, to evade the difficulty of being forbidden to play for money, + they make an alms of their winnings, distributing them to the poor. This + may be done by the more scrupulous; but no doubt there are numbers whose + consciences do not prevent the disposal of their gambling profits nearer + home. All excess of gaming, however, is absolutely prohibited in Persia; + and any place wherein it is much exercised is called 'a habitation of + corrupted carcases or carrion house.'(20) + </p> + <p> + (20) Hyde, <i>De Ludis Oriental</i>. + </p> + <p> + In ancient Greece gambling prevailed to a vast extent. Of this there can + be no doubt whatever; and it is equally certain that it had an influence, + together with other modes of dissipation and corruption, towards + subjugating its civil liberties to the power of Macedon. + </p> + <p> + So shamelessly were the Athenians addicted to this vice, that they forgot + all public spirit in their continued habits of gaming, and entered into + convivial associations, or formed 'clubs,' for the purposes of dicing, at + the very time when Philip of Macedon was making one grand 'throw' for + their liberties at the Battle of Chaeronea. + </p> + <p> + This politic monarch well knew the power of depravity in enervating and + enslaving the human mind; he therefore encouraged profusion, dissipation, + and gambling, as being sure of meeting with little opposition from those + who possessed such characters, in his projects of ambition—as + Demosthenes declared in one of his orations.(21) Indeed, gambling had + arrived at such a height in Greece, that Aristotle scruples not to rank + gamblers 'with thieves and plunderers, who for the sake of gain do not + scruple to despoil their best friends;'(22) and his pupil Alexander set a + fine upon some of his courtiers because he did not perceive they made a + sport or pastime of dice, but seemed to be employed as in a most serious + business.(23) + </p> + <p> + (21) First Olynthia. See also Athenaeus, lib. vi. 260. + </p> + <p> + (22) Ethic. Ad Nicomachum, lib. iv. + </p> + <p> + (23) Plutarch, <i>in Reg. et Imp. Apothegm</i> + </p> + <p> + The Greeks gambled not only with dice, and at their equivalent for <i>Cross + and Pile</i>, but also at cock-fighting, as will appear in the sequel. + </p> + <p> + From a remark made by the Athenian orator Callistratus, it is evident that + desperate gambling was in vogue; he says that the games in which the + losers go on doubling their stakes resemble ever-recurring wars, which + terminate only with the extinction of the combatants.(24) + </p> + <p> + (24) Xenophon, <i>Hist. Graec</i>. lib. VI. c. iii. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. GAMING AMONG THE ANCIENT ROMAN EMPERORS. + </h2> + <p> + In spite of the laws enacted against gaming, the court of the Emperor + Augustus was greatly addicted to that vice, and gave it additional + stimulus among the nation. Although, however, he was passionately fond of + gambling, and made light of the imputation on his character,(25) it + appears that in frequenting the gambling table he had other motives + besides mere cupidity. Writing to his daughter he said, 'I send you a sum + with which I should have gratified my companions, if they had wished to + play at dice or <i>odds and evens</i>.' On another occasion he wrote to + Tiberius:—'If I had exacted my winnings during the festival of + Minerva; if I had not lavished my money on all sides; instead of losing + twenty thousand sestercii (about L1000), I should have gained one hundred + and fifty thousand (L7500). I prefer it thus, however; for my bounty + should win me immense glory.'(26) + </p> + <p> + (25) Aleae rumorem nullo modo expavit. Suet. in Vita Augusti. + </p> + <p> + (26) Sed hoc malo: benignitas enim mea me ad coelestem gloriam efferet. <i>Ubi + supra</i>. + </p> + <p> + This gambling propensity subjected Augustus to the lash of popular + epigrams; among the rest, the following: + </p> + <p> + Postquam bis classe victus naves perdidit, Aliquando ut vincat, ludit + assidud aleam. + </p> + <p> + 'He lost at sea; was beaten twice, And tries to win at least with dice.' + </p> + <p> + But although a satirist by profession, the sleek courtier Horace spared + the emperor's vice, contenting himself with only declaring that play was + forbidden.(27) The two following verses of his, usually applied to the + effects of gaming, really refer only to <i>RAILLERY.</i> + </p> + <p> + (27) Carm. lib. III. Od. xxiv. + </p> + <p> + Ludus enim genuit trepidum certamen et iram; Ira truces inimicitias et + funebre bellum.(28) + </p> + <p> + (28) Epist. lib. I. xix. + </p> + <p> + He, however, has recorded the curious fact of an old Roman gambler, who + was always attended by a slave, to pick up his dice for him and put them + in the box.(29) Doubtless, Horace would have lashed the vice of gambling + had it not been the 'habitual sin' of his courtly patrons. + </p> + <p> + (29) Lib. II. Sat. vii. v. 15. + </p> + <p> + It seems that Augustus not only gambled to excess, but that he gloried in + the character of a gamester. Of himself he says, 'Between meals we played + like old crones both yesterday and today.'(30) + </p> + <p> + (30) Inter coenam lusimus (gr gerontikws) et heri et hodie. + </p> + <p> + When he had no regular players near him, he would play with children at + dice, at nuts, or bones. It has been suggested that this emperor gave in + to the indulgence of gambling in order to stifle his remorse. If his + object in encouraging this vice was to make people forget his + proscriptions and to create a diversion in his favour, the artifice may be + considered equal to any of the political ruses of this astute ruler, whose + false virtues were for a long time vaunted only through ignorance, or in + order to flatter his imitators. + </p> + <p> + The passion of gambling was transmitted, with the empire, to the family of + the Caesars. At the gaming table Caligula stooped even to falsehood and + perjury. It was whilst gambling that he conceived his most diabolical + projects; when the game was against him he would quit the table abruptly, + and then, monster as he was, satiated with rapine, would roam about his + palace venting his displeasure. + </p> + <p> + One day, in such a humour, he caught a glimpse of two Roman knights; he + had them arrested and confiscated their property. Then returning to the + gaming table, he exultingly exclaimed that he had never made a better + throw!(31) On another occasion, after having condemned to death several + Gauls of great opulence, he immediately went back to his gambling + companions and said:—'I pity you when I see you lose a few + sestertii, whilst, with a stroke of the pen, I have just won six hundred + millions.'(32) + </p> + <p> + (31) Exultans rediit, gloriansque se nunquam prosperiore alea usum. Suet. + in <i>Vita Calig</i>. + </p> + <p> + (32) Thirty millions of pounds sterling. The sestertius was worth 1<i>s</i>. + 3 3/4<i>d</i>. + </p> + <p> + The Emperor Claudius played like an imbecile, and Nero like a madman. The + former would send for the persons whom he had executed the day before, to + play with him; and the latter, lavishing the treasures of the public + exchequer, would stake four hundred thousand sestertii (L20,000) on a + single throw of the dice. + </p> + <p> + Claudius played at dice on his journeys, having the interior of his + carriage so arranged as to prevent the motion from interfering with the + game. + </p> + <p> + From that period the title of courtier and gambler became synonymous. + Gaming was the means of securing preferment; it was by gambling that + Vitellius opened to himself so grand a career; gaming made him + indispensable to Claudius.(33) + </p> + <p> + (33) Claudio per aleae studium familiaris. Suet.in Vita Vitelli. + </p> + <p> + Seneca, in his Play on the death of Claudius, represents him as in the + lower regions condemned to pick up dice for ever, putting them into a box + without a bottom!(34) + </p> + <p> + (34) Nam quotiens missurus erat resonante fritillo, Utraque subducto + fugiebat tessera fundo. <i>Lusus de Morte Claud. Caesar</i>. + </p> + <p> + Caligula was reproached for having played at dice on the day of his + sister's funeral; and Domitian was blamed for gaming from morning to + night, and without excepting the festivals of the Roman calendar; but it + seems ridiculous to note such improprieties in comparison with their + habitual and atrocious crimes. + </p> + <p> + The terrible and inexorable satirist Juvenal was the contemporary of + Domitian and ten other emperors; and the following is his description of + the vice in the gaming days of Rome: + </p> + <p> + 'When was the madness of games of chance more furious? Now-a-days, not + content with carrying his purse to the gaming table, the gamester conveys + his iron chest to the play-room. It is there that, as soon as the gaming + instruments are distributed, you witness the most terrible contests. Is it + not mere madness to lose one hundred thousand sestertii and refuse a + garment to a slave perishing with cold?'(35) + </p> + <p> + (35) Sat. I. 87. + </p> + <p> + It seems that the Romans played for ready money, and had not invented that + multitude of signs by the aid of which, without being retarded by the + weight of gold and silver, modern gamblers can ruin themselves secretly + and without display. + </p> + <p> + The rage for gambling spread over the Roman provinces, and among barbarous + nations who had never been so much addicted to the vice as after they had + the misfortune to mingle with the Romans. + </p> + <p> + The evil continued to increase, stimulated by imperial example. The day on + which Didius Julianus was proclaimed Emperor, he walked over the dead and + bloody body of Pertinax, and began to play at dice in the next room.(36) + </p> + <p> + (36) Dion Cass. <i>Hist. Rom</i>. l. lxxiii. + </p> + <p> + At the end of the fourth century, the following state of things at Rome is + described by Gibbon, quoting from Ammianus Marcellinus: + </p> + <p> + 'Another method of introduction into the houses and society of the + "great," is derived from the profession of gaming; or, as it is more + politely styled, of play. The confederates are united by a strict and + indissoluble bond of friendship, or rather of conspiracy; a superior + degree of skill in the "tessarian" art, is a sure road to wealth and + reputation. A master of that sublime science who, in a supper or assembly, + is placed below a magistrate, displays in his countenance the surprise and + indignation which Cato might be supposed to feel when he was refused the + praetorship by the votes of a capricious people.'(37) + </p> + <p> + (37) Amm. Marcellin. lib. XIV. c. vi. + </p> + <p> + Finally, at the epoch when Constantine abandoned Rome never to return, + every inhabitant of that city, down to the populace, was addicted to + gambling. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. GAMBLING IN FRANCE IN ALL TIMES. + </h2> + <p> + CHARLES VI. and CHARLES VII.—The early French annals record the + deeds of haughty and idle lords, whose chief occupations were tormenting + their vassals, drinking, fighting, and gaming; for most of them were + desperate gamblers, setting at defiance all the laws enacted against the + practice, and outraging all the decencies of society. The brother of Saint + Louis played at dice in spite of the repeated prohibitions of that + virtuous prince. Even the great Duguesclin gamed away all his property in + prison.(38) The Duc de Touraine, brother of Charles VI., 'set to work + eagerly to win the king's money,' says Froissart; and transported with joy + one day at having won five thousand livres, his first cry was—<i>Monseigneur, + faites-moi payer</i>, 'Please to pay, Sire.' + </p> + <p> + (38) Hist. de Dugueselin, par Menard. + </p> + <p> + Gaming went on in the camp, and even in the presence of the enemy. + Generals, after having ruined their own fortunes, compromised the safety + of the country. Among the rest, Philibert de Chalon, Prince d'Orange, who + was in command at the siege of Florence, under the Emperor Charles the + Fifth, gambled away the money which had been confided to him for the pay + of the soldiers, and was compelled, after a struggle of eleven months, to + capitulate with those whom he might have forced to surrender.(39) + </p> + <p> + (39) Paul. Jov. <i>Hist</i>. lib. xxix. + </p> + <p> + In the reign of Charles VI. we read of an Hotel de Nesle which was famous + for terrible gaming catastrophes. More than one of its frequenters lost + their lives there, and some their honour, dearer than life. This hotel was + not accessible to everybody, like more modern gaming <i>salons</i>, called + <i>Gesvres</i> and <i>Soissons;</i> its gate was open only to the + nobility, or the most opulent gentlemen of the day. + </p> + <p> + There exists an old poem which describes the doings at this celebrated + Hotel de Nesle.(40) The author, after describing the convulsions of the + players and recording their blasphemies, says:— + </p> + <p> + (40) The title of this curious old poem is as follows:—'C'est le dit + du Gieu des Dez fait par Eustace, et la maniere et contenance des Joueurs + qui etoient a Neele, ou etoient Messeigneurs de Berry, de Bourgogne, et + plusieurs autres.' + </p> + <p> + Que maints Gentils-hommes tres haulx Y ont perdu armes et chevaux, Argent, + honour, et Seignourie, Dont c'etoit horrible folie. + </p> + <p> + 'How many very eminent gentlemen have there lost their arms and horses, + their money and lordship—a horrible folly.' + </p> + <p> + In another part of the poem he says:— + </p> + <p> + Li jeune enfant deviennent Rufien, Joueurs de Dez, gourmands et plains + d'yvresse, Hautains de cuer, et ne leur chant en rien D'onneur, &c. + </p> + <p> + 'There young men become ruffians, dice-players, gluttons, and drunkards, + haughty of heart, and bereft of honour.' + </p> + <p> + Still it seems that gaming had not then confounded all conditions, as at a + later period. It is evident, from the history and memoirs of the times, + that the people were more given to games of skill and exercise than games + of chance. Before the introduction of the arquebus and gunpowder, they + applied themselves to the practice of archery, and in all times they + played at quoits, ninepins, bowls, and other similar games of skill.(41) + </p> + <p> + (41) Sauval, <i>Antiquites de Paris</i>, ii. + </p> + <p> + The invention of cards brought about some change in the mode of amusement. + The various games of this kind, however, cost more time than money; but + still the thing attracted the attention of the magistrates and the clergy. + An Augustinian friar, in the reign of Charles VII., effected a wonderful + reformation in the matter by his preaching. At his voice the people lit + fires in several quarters of the city, and eagerly flung into them their + cards and billiard-balls.(42) + </p> + <p> + (42) Pasquier, <i>Recherche des Recherches</i>. + </p> + <p> + With the exception of a few transient follies, nothing like a rage for + gambling can be detected at that period among the lower ranks and the + middle classes. The vice, however, continued to prevail without abatement + in the palaces of kings and the mansions of the great. + </p> + <p> + It is impossible not to remark, in the history of nations, that delicacy + and good faith decline in proportion to the spread of gambling. However + select may be the society of gamesters, it is seldom that it is exempt + from all baseness. We have seen a proof of the practice of cheating among + the Hindoos. It existed also among the Romans, as proved by the 'cogged' + or loaded dice dug up at Herculaneum. The fact is that cheating is a + natural, if not a necessary, incident of gambling. It may be inferred from + a passage in the old French poet before quoted, that cheats, during the + reign of Charles VI., were punished with 'bonnetting,'(43) but no instance + of the kind is on record; on the contrary, it is certain that many of the + French kings patronized and applauded well-known cheats at the gaming + table. + </p> + <p> + (43) Se votre ami qui bien vous sert En jouant vous changeoit les Dez, + Auroit-il pas <i>Chapeau de vert</i>. + </p> + <p> + LOUIS XI.—Brantome says that Louis XI., who seems not to have had a + special secretary, being one day desirous of getting something written, + perceived an ecclesiastic who had an inkstand hanging at his side; and the + latter having opened it at the king's request, a set of dice fell out. + 'What kind of <i>SUGAR-PLUMS</i> are these?' asked his Majesty. 'Sire,' + replied the priest, 'they are a remedy for the Plague.' 'Well said,' + exclaimed the king, 'you are a fine <i>Paillard</i> (a word he often + used); '<i>YOU ARE THE MAN FOR ME</i>,' and took him into his service; for + this king was fond of bon-mots and sharp wits, and did not even object to + thieves, provided they were original and provocative of humour, as the + following very funny anecdote will show. 'A certain French baron who had + lost everything at play, even to his clothes, happening to be in the + king's chamber, quietly laid hands on a small clock, ornamented with + massive gold, and concealed it in his sleeve. Very soon after, whilst he + was among the troop of lords and gentlemen, the clock began to strike the + hour. We can well imagine the consternation of the baron at this + contretemps. Of course he blushed red-hot, and tightened his arm to try + and stifle the implacable sound of detection manifest—the <i>flagrans + delictum</i>—still the clock went on striking the long hour, so that + at each stroke the bystanders looked at each other from head to foot in + utter bewilderment. + </p> + <p> + 'The king, who, as it chanced, had detected the theft, burst out laughing, + not only at the astonishment of the gentlemen present, who were at a loss + to account for the sound, but also at the originality of the stunning + event. At length Monsieur le Baron, by his own blushes half-convicted of + larceny, fell on his knees before the king, humbly saying:—"Sire, + the pricks of gaming are so powerful that they have driven me to commit a + dishonest action, for which I beg your mercy." And as he was going on in + this strain, the king cut short his words, exclaiming:—"The <i>PASTIME</i> + which you have contrived for us so far surpasses the injury you have done + me that the clock is yours: I give it you with all my heart."'(44) + </p> + <p> + (44) Duverdier, <i>Diverses Lecons</i>. + </p> + <p> + HENRY III.—In the latter part of the sixteenth century Paris was + inundated with brigands of every description. A band of Italian gamesters, + having been informed by their correspondents that Henry III. had + established card-rooms and dice-rooms in the Louvre, got admission at + court, and won thirty thousand crowns from the king.(45) + </p> + <p> + (45) Journal de Henri III. + </p> + <p> + If all the kings of France had imitated the disinterestedness of Henry + III., the vice of gaming would not have made such progress as became + everywhere evident. + </p> + <p> + Brantome gives a very high idea of this king's generosity, whilst he + lashes his contemporaries. Henry III. played at tennis and was very fond + of the game—not, however, through cupidity or avarice, for he + distributed all his winnings among his companions. When he lost he paid + the wager, nay, he even paid the losses of all engaged in the game. The + bets were not higher than two, three, or four hundred crowns—never, + as subsequently, four thousand, six thousand, or twelve thousand—when, + however, payment was not as readily made, but rather frequently compounded + for.(46) + </p> + <p> + (46) Henry III. was also passionately fond of the childish toy <i>Bilboquet</i>, + or 'Cup and Ball,' which he used to play even whilst walking in the + street. Journal de Henri III., i. + </p> + <p> + There was, indeed, at that time a French captain named La Roue, who played + high stakes, up to six thousand crowns, which was then deemed exorbitant. + This intrepid gamester proposed a bet of twenty thousand crowns against + one of Andrew Doria's war-galleys. + </p> + <p> + Doria took the bet, but he immediately declared it off, in apprehension of + the ridiculous position in which he would be placed if he lost, saying,—'I + don't wish that this young adventurer, who has nothing worth naming to + lose, should win my galley to go and triumph in France over my fortune and + my honour.' + </p> + <p> + Soon, however, high stakes became in vogue, and to such an extent that the + natural son of the Duc de Bellegarde was enabled to pay, out of his + winnings, the large sum of fifty thousand crowns to get himself + legitimated. Curiously enough, it is said that the greater part of this + sum had been won in England.(47) + </p> + <p> + (47) Amelot de la Houss. <i>Mem. Hist</i>. iii. + </p> + <p> + HENRY IV.—Henry IV. early evinced his passion for gaming. When very + young and stinted in fortune, he contrived the means of satisfying this + growing propensity. When in want of money he used to send a promissory + note, written and signed by himself, to his friends, requesting them to + return the note or cash it—an expedient which could not but succeed, + as every man was only too glad to have the prince's note of hand.(48) + </p> + <p> + (48) Mem. de Nevers. ii. + </p> + <p> + There can be no doubt that the example of Henry IV. was, in the matter of + gaming, as in other vices, most pernicious. 'Henry IV.,' says Perefixe, + 'was not a skilful player, but greedy of gain, timid in high stakes, and + ill-tempered when he lost.' He adds rather naively, 'This great king was + not without spots any more than the sun.'(49) + </p> + <p> + (49) Hist. de Henri le Grand. + </p> + <p> + Under him gambling became the rage. Many distinguished families were + utterly ruined by it. The Duc de Biron lost in a single year more than + five hundred thousand crowns (about L250,000). 'My son Constant,' says + D'Aubigne, 'lost twenty times more than he was worth; so that, finding + himself without resources, he abjured his religion.' + </p> + <p> + It was at the court of Henry IV. that was invented the method of speedy + ruin by means of written vouchers for loss and gain—which simplified + the thing in all subsequent times. It was then also that certain Italian + masters of the gaming art displayed their talents, their suppleness, and + dexterity. One of them, named Pimentello, having, in the presence of the + Duc de Sully, appealed to the honour which he enjoyed in having often + played with Henry IV., the duke exclaimed,—'By heavens! So you are + the Italian blood-sucker who is every day winning the king's money! You + have fallen into the wrong box, for I neither like nor wish to have + anything to do with such fellows.' Pimentello got warm. 'Go about your + business,' said Sully, giving him a shove; 'your infernal gibberish will + not alter my resolve. Go!'(50) + </p> + <p> + (50) Mem. de Sully. + </p> + <p> + The French nation, for a long time agitated by civil war, settled down at + last in peace and abundance—the fruits of which prosperity are often + poisoned. They were so by the gambling propensity of the people at large, + now first manifested. The warrior, the lawyer, the artisan, in a word, + almost all professions and trades, were carried away by the fury of + gaming. Magistrates sold for a price the permission to gamble—in the + face of the enacted laws against the practice. + </p> + <p> + We can scarcely form an idea of the extent of the gaming at this period. + Bassompierre declares, in his Memoirs, that he won more than five hundred + thousand livres (L25,000) in the course of a year. 'I won them,' he says, + 'although I was led away by a thousand follies of youth; and my friend + Pimentello won more than two hundred thousand crowns (L100,000). Evidently + this Pimentello might well be called a <i>blood-sucker</i> by Sully.(51) + He is even said to have got all the dice-sellers in Paris to substitute + loaded dice instead of fair ones, in order to aid his operations. + </p> + <p> + (51) In the original, however, the word is piffre, (vulgo) 'greedy-guts.' + </p> + <p> + Nothing more forcibly shows the danger of consorting with such bad + characters than the calumny circulated respecting the connection between + Henry IV. and this infamous Italian:—it was said that Henry was well + aware of Pimentello's manoeuvres, and that he encouraged them with the + view of impoverishing his courtiers, hoping thereby to render them more + submissive! Nero himself would have blushed at such a connivance. + Doubtless the calumny was as false as it was stupid. + </p> + <p> + The winnings of the courtier Bassompierre were enormous. He won at the Duc + d'Epernon's sufficient to pay his debts, to dress magnificently, to + purchase all sorts of extravagant finery, a sword ornamented with diamonds—'and + after all these expenses,' he says, 'I had still five or six thousand + crowns (two to three thousand pounds) left, <i>TO KILL TIME WITH</i>, pour + tuer le temps.' + </p> + <p> + On another occasion, and at a more advanced age, he won one hundred + thousand crowns (L50,000) at a single sitting, from M. De Guise, + Joinville, and the Marechal d'Ancre. + </p> + <p> + In reading his Memoirs we are apt to get indignant at the fellow's + successes; but at last we are tempted to laugh at his misery. He died so + poor that he did not leave enough to pay the twentieth part of his debts! + Such, doubtless, is the end of most gamblers. + </p> + <p> + But to return to Henry IV., the great gambling exemplar of the nation. The + account given of him at the gaming table is most afflicting, when we + remember his royal greatness, his sublime qualities. His only object was + to <i>WIN</i>, and those who played with him were thus always placed in a + dreadful dilemma—either to lose their money or offend the king by + beating him! The Duke of Savoy once played with him, and in order to suit + his humour, dissimulated his game—thus sacrificing or giving up + forty thousand pistoles (about L28,000). + </p> + <p> + When the king lost he was most exacting for his 'revanche,' or revenge, as + it is termed at play. After winning considerably from the king, on one + occasion, Bassompierre, under the pretext of his official engagements, + furtively decamped: the king immediately sent after him; he was stopped, + brought back, and allowed to depart only after giving the 'revanche' to + his Majesty. This 'good Henri,' who was incapable of the least + dissimulation either in good or in evil, often betrayed a degree of + cupidity which made his minister, Sully, ashamed of him;—in order to + pay his gaming debts, the king one day deducted seventy-two thousand + livres from the proceeds of a confiscation on which he had no claim + whatever. + </p> + <p> + On another occasion he was wonderfully struck with some gold-pieces which + Bassompierre brought to Fontainebleau, called <i>Portugalloises</i>. He + could not rest without having them. Play was necessary to win them, but + the king was also anxious to be in time for a hunt. In order to conciliate + the two passions, he ordered a gaming party at the Palace, left a + representative of his game during his absence, and returned sooner than + usual, to try and win the so much coveted <i>Portugalloises</i>. + </p> + <p> + Even love—if that name can be applied to the grovelling passion of + Henry IV., intensely violent as it was—could not, with its sensuous + enticements, drag the king from the gaming table or stifle his despicable + covetousness. On one occasion, whilst at play, it was whispered to him + that a certain princess whom he loved was likely to fall into other arms:—'Take + care of my money,' said he to Bassompierre, 'and keep up the game whilst I + am absent on particular business.' + </p> + <p> + During this reign gamesters were in high favour, as may well be imagined. + One of them received an honour never conceded even to princes and dukes. + 'The latter,' says Amelot de la Houssaie, 'did not enter the court-yard of + the royal mansions in a carriage before the year 1607, and they are + indebted for the privilege to the first Duc d'Epernon, the favourite of + the late king, Henry III., who being wont to go every day to play with the + queen, Marie de Medicis, took it into his head to have his carriage driven + into the court-yard of the Louvre, and had himself carried bodily by his + footmen into the very chamber of the queen—under the pretext of + being dreadfully tormented with the gout, so as not to be able to stand on + his legs.'(52) + </p> + <p> + (52) Mem. Hist. iii. + </p> + <p> + It is said, however, that Henry IV. was finally cured of gambling. <i>Credat + Judaeus!</i> But the anecdote is as follows. The king lost an immense sum + at play, and requested Sully to let him have the money to pay it. The + latter demurred, so that the king had to send to him several times. At + last, however, Sully took him the money, and spread it out before him on + the table, exclaiming—'There's the sum.' Henry fixed his eyes on the + vast amount. It is said to have been enough to purchase Amiens from the + Spaniards, who then held it. The king thereupon exclaimed:—'I am + corrected. I will never again lose my money at gaming.' + </p> + <p> + During this reign Paris swarmed with gamesters. Then for the first time + were established <i>Academies de Jeu</i>, 'Gaming Academies,' for thus + were termed the gaming houses to which all classes of society beneath the + nobility and gentility, down to the lowest, rushed in crowds and + incessantly. Not a day passed without the ruin of somebody. The son of a + merchant, who possessed twenty thousand crowns, lost sixty thousand. It + seemed, says a contemporary, that a thousand pistoles at that time were + valued less than a <i>sou</i> in the time of Francis I. + </p> + <p> + The result of this state of things was incalculable social affliction. + Usury and law-suits completed the ruin of gamblers. + </p> + <p> + The profits of the keepers of gaming houses must have been enormous, to + judge from the rents they paid. A house in the Faubourg Saint-Germain was + secured at the rental of about L70 for a fortnight, for the purpose of + gambling during the time of the fair. Small rooms and even closets were + hired at the rate of many pistoles or half-sovereigns per hour; to get + paid, however, generally entailed a fight or a law-suit. + </p> + <p> + All this took place in the very teeth of the most stringent laws enacted + against gaming and gamesters. The fact was, that among the magistrates + some closed their eyes, and others held out their hands to receive the + bribe of their connivance. + </p> + <p> + LOUIS XIII.—At the commencement of the reign of Louis XIII. the laws + against gaming were revived, and severer penalties were enacted. + Forty-seven gaming houses at Paris, which had been licensed, and from + which several magistrates drew a perquisite of a pistole or half a + sovereign a day, were shut up and suppressed. + </p> + <p> + These stringent measures checked the gambling of the 'people,' but not + that of 'the great,' who went on merrily as before. + </p> + <p> + Of course they 'kept the thing quiet'—gambled in secret—but + more desperately than ever. The Marechal d'Ancre commonly staked twenty + thousand pistoles (L10,000). + </p> + <p> + Louis XIII. was not a gambler, and so, during this reign, the court did + not set so bad an example. The king was averse to all games of chance. He + only liked chess, but perhaps rather too much, to judge from the fact + that, in order to enable him to play chess on his journeys, a chessboard + was fitted in his carriage, the pieces being furnished with pins at the + bottom so as not to be deranged or knocked down by the motion. The reader + will remember that, as already stated, a similar gaming accommodation was + provided for the Roman Emperor Claudius. + </p> + <p> + The cup and ball of Henry III. and the chessboard of Louis XIII. are + merely ridiculous. We must excuse well-intentioned monarchs when they only + indulge themselves with frivolous and childish trifles. It is something to + be thankful for if we have not to apply to them the adage—Quic-quid + delirant reges plectuntur Achivi—'When kings go mad their people get + their blows.' + </p> + <p> + LOUIS XIV.—The reign of Louis XIV. was a great development in every + point of view, gaming included. + </p> + <p> + The revolutions effected in the government and in public morals by + Cardinal Richelieu, who played a game still more serious than those we are + considering, had very considerably checked the latter; but these resumed + their vigour, with interest, under another Cardinal, profoundly imbued + with the Italian spirit—the celebrated Mazarin. This minister, + independently of his particular taste that way, knew how to ally gaming + with his political designs. By means of gaming he contrived to protract + the minority of the king under whom he governed the nation. + </p> + <p> + 'Mazarin,' says St Pierre, 'introduced gaming at the court of Louis XIV. + in the year 1648. He induced the king and the queen regent to play; and + preference was given to games of chance. The year 1648 was the era of + card-playing at court. Cardinal Mazarin played deep and with finesse, and + easily drew in the king and queen to countenance this new entertainment, + so that every one who had any expectation at court learned to play at + cards. Soon after the humour changed, and games of chance came into vogue—to + the ruin of many considerable families: this was likewise very destructive + to health, for besides the various violent passions it excited, whole + nights were spent at this execrable amusement. The worst of all was that + card-playing, which the court had taken from the army, soon spread from + the court into the city, and from the city pervaded the country towns. + </p> + <p> + 'Before this there was something done for improving conversation; every + one was ambitious of qualifying himself for it by reading ancient and + modern books; memory and reflection were much more exercised. But on the + introduction of gaming men likewise left of tennis, billiards, and other + games of skill, and consequently became weaker and more sickly, more + ignorant, less polished, and more dissipated. + </p> + <p> + 'The women, who till then had commanded respect, accustomed men to treat + them familiarly, by spending the whole night with them at play. They were + often under the necessity of borrowing either to play, or to pay their + losings; and how very ductile and complying they were to those of whom + they had to borrow was well known.' + </p> + <p> + From that time gamesters swarmed all over France; they multiplied rapidly + in every profession, even among the magistracy. The Cardinal de Retz tells + us, in his Memoirs, that in 1650 the oldest magistrate in the parliament + of Bordeaus, and one who passed for the wisest, was not ashamed to stake + all his property one night at play, and that too, he adds, without risking + his reputation—so general was the fury of gambling. It became very + soon mixed up with the most momentous circumstances of life and affairs of + the gravest importance. The States-general, or parliamentary assemblies, + consisted altogether of gamblers. 'It is a game,' says Madame de Sevigne, + 'it is an entertainment, a liberty-hall day and night, attracting all the + world. I never before beheld the States-general of Bretagne. The + States-general are decidedly a very fine thing.' + </p> + <p> + The same delightful correspondent relates that one of her amusements when + she went to the court was to admire Dangeau at the card-table; and the + following is the account of a gaming party at which she was present:— + </p> + <p> + '29th July, 1676. + </p> + <p> + 'I went on Saturday with Villars to Versailles. I need not tell you of the + queen's toilette, the mass, the dinner—you know it all; but at three + o'clock the king rose from table, and he, the queen, Monsieur, Madame, + Mademoiselle, all the princes and princesses, Madame de Montespan, all her + suite, all the courtiers, all the ladies, in short, what we call the court + of France, were assembled in that beautiful apartment which you know. It + is divinely furnished, everything is magnificent; one does not know what + it is to be too hot; we walk about here and there, and are not incommoded + anywhere:—at last a table of reversi(53) gives a form to the crowd, + and a place to every one. <i>THE KING IS NEXT TO MADAME DE MONTESPAN</i>, + who deals; the Duke of Orleans, the queen, and Madame de Soubise; Dangeau + and Co.; Langee and Co.; a thousand louis are poured out on the cloth—there + are no other counters. I saw Dangeau play!—what fools we all are + compared to him—he minds nothing but his business, and wins when + every one else loses: he neglects nothing, takes advantage of everything, + is never absent; in a word, his skill defies fortune, and accordingly + 200,000 francs in ten days, 100,000 crowns in a fortnight, all go to his + receipt book. + </p> + <p> + (53) A kind of game long since out of fashion, and now almost forgotten; + it seems to have been a compound of Loo and Commerce—the <i>Quinola</i> + or <i>Pam</i> was the knave of hearts. + </p> + <p> + 'He was so good as to say I was a partner in his play, by which I got a + very convenient and agreeable place. I saluted the king in the way you + taught me, which he returned as if I had been young and handsome—I + received a thousand compliments—you know what it is to have a word + from everybody! This agreeable confusion without confusion lasts from + three o'clock till six. If a courtier arrives, the king retires for a + moment to read his letters, and returns immediately. There is always some + music going on, which has a very good effect; the king listens to the + music and chats to the ladies about him. At last, at six o'clock, they + stop playing—they have no trouble in settling their reckonings—there + are no counters—the lowest pools are five, six, seven hundred louis, + the great ones a thousand, or twelve hundred; they put in five each at + first, that makes one hundred, and the dealer puts in ten more—then + they give four louis each to whoever has Quinola—some pass, others + play, but when you play without winning the pool, you must put in sixteen + to teach you how to play rashly: they talk all together, and for ever, and + of everything. "How many hearts?" "Two!" "I have three!" "I have one!" "I + have four!" "He has only three!" and Dangeau, delighted with all this + prattle, turns up the trump, makes his calculations, sees whom he has + against him, in short—in short, I was glad to see such an excess of + skill. He it is who really knows "le dessous des cartes." + </p> + <p> + 'At ten o'clock they get into their carriages: <i>THE KING, MADAME DE + MONTESPAN</i>, the Duke of Orleans, and Madame de Thianges, and the good + Hendicourt on the dickey, that is as if one were in the upper gallery. You + know how these calashes are made. + </p> + <p> + 'The queen was in another with the princesses; and then everybody else, + grouped as they liked. Then they go on the water in gondolas, with music; + they return at ten; the play is ready, it is over; twelve strikes, supper + is brought in, and so passes Saturday.' + </p> + <p> + This lively picture of such frightful gambling, of the adulterous triumph + of Madame de Montespan, and of the humiliating part to which the queen was + condemned, will induce our readers to concur with Madame de Sevigne, who, + amused as she had been by the scene she has described, calls it + nevertheless, with her usual pure taste and good judgment, <i>l'iniqua + corte</i>, 'the iniquitous court.' + </p> + <p> + Indeed, Madame de Sevigne had ample reason to denounce this source of her + domestic misery. Writing to her son and daughter, she says:—'You + lose all you play for. You have paid five or six thousand francs for your + amusement, and to be abused by fortune.' + </p> + <p> + If she had at first been fascinated by the spectacle which she so + glowingly describes, the interest of her children soon opened her eyes to + the yawning gulf at the brink of the flowery surface. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes she explains herself plainly:—'You believe that everybody + plays as honestly as yourself? Call to mind what took place lately at the + Hotel de la Vieuville. Do you remember that <i>ROBBERY?</i>' + </p> + <p> + The favour of that court, so much coveted, seemed to her to be purchased + at too high a price if it was to be gained by ruinous complaisances. She + trembled every time her son left her to go to Versailles. She says:—'He + tells me he is going to play with his young master;(54) I shudder at the + thought. Four hundred pistoles are very easily lost: <i>ce n'est rien pour + Admete et c'est beaucoup pour lui</i>.(55) If Dangeau is in the game he + will win all the pools: he is an eagle. Then will come to pass, my + daughter, all that God may vouchsafe—<i>il en arivera, ma fille, + tout ce qu'il plaira a Dieu</i>.' + </p> + <p> + (54) The Dauphin. + </p> + <p> + (55) 'It is nothing for Admetus, but 'tis much for him.' + </p> + <p> + And again, 'The game of <i>Hoca</i> is prohibited at Paris <i>UNDER THE + PENALTY OF DEATH</i>, and yet it is played at court. Five thousand + pistoles before dinner is nothing. That game is a regular cut-throat.' + </p> + <p> + Hoca was prodigiously unfavourable to the players; the latter had only + twenty-eight chances against thirty. In the seventeenth century this game + caused such disorder at Rome that the Pope prohibited it and expelled the + bankers. + </p> + <p> + The Italians whom Mazarin brought into France obtained from the king + permission to set up <i>Hoca</i> tables in Paris. The parliament launched + two edicts against them, and threatened to punish them severely. The + king's edicts were equally severe. Every of offender was to be fined 1000 + livres, and the person in whose house Faro, Basset, or any such game was + suffered, incurred the penalty of 6000 livres for each offence. The + persons who played were to be imprisoned. Gaming was forbidden the French + cavalry under the penalty of death, and every commanding officer who + should presume to set up a Hazard table was to be cashiered, and all + concerned to be rigorously imprisoned. These penalties might show great + horror of gaming, but they were too severe to be steadily inflicted, and + therefore failed to repress the crime against which they were directed. + The severer the law the less the likelihood of its application, and + consequently its power of repression. + </p> + <p> + Madame de Sevigne had beheld the gamesters only in the presence of their + master the king, or in the circles which were regulated with inviolable + propriety; but what would she have said if she could have seen the + gamblers at the secret suppers and in the country-houses of the + Superintendent Fouquet, where twenty 'qualified' players, such as the + Marshals de Richelieu, de Clairembaut, &c., assembled together, with a + dash of bad company, to play for lands, houses, jewels, even for + point-lace and neckties? There she would have seen something more than + gold staked, since the players debased themselves so low as to circumvent + certain opulent dupes, who were the first invited. To leave one hundred + pistoles, ostensibly for 'the cards,' but really as the perquisite of the + master of the lordly house; to recoup him when he lost; and, when they had + to deal with some unimportant but wealthy individual, to undo him + completely, compelling him to sign his ruin on the gaming table—such + was the conduct which rendered a man <i>recherche</i>, and secured the + title of a fine player! + </p> + <p> + It was precisely thus that the famous (or infamous) Gourville, + successively valet-de-chambre to the Duc de la Rochefoucault, hanged in + effigy at Paris, king's envoy in Germany, and afterwards proposed to + replace Colbert—it was thus precisely, I say, that Gourville secured + favour, 'consideration,' fortune; for he declares, in his Memoirs, that + his gains in a few years amounted to more than a million. And fortune + seems to have cherished and blessed him throughout his detestable career. + After having made his fortune, he retired to write the scandalous Memoirs + from which I have been quoting, and died out of debt!(56) + </p> + <p> + (56) Mem. de Gourville, i. + </p> + <p> + France became too narrow a theatre for the chevaliers d'industrie and all + who were a prey to the fury of gambling. The Count de Grammont, a very + suspicious player, turned his talents to account in England, Italy, and + Spain. + </p> + <p> + This same Count de Grammont figured well at court on one occasion when + Louis XIV. seemed inclined to cheat or otherwise play unfairly. Playing at + backgammon, and having a doubtful throw, a dispute arose, and the + surrounding courtiers remained silent. The Count de Grammont happening to + come in, the king desired him to decide it. He instantly answered—'Sire, + your Majesty is in the wrong.' 'How,' said the king, 'can you decide + before you know the question?' 'Because,' replied the count, 'had there + been any doubt, all these gentlemen would have given it in favour of your + Majesty.' The plain inference is that this (at the time) great world's + idol and Voltaire's god, was 'up to a little cheating.' It was, however, + as much to the king's credit that he submitted to the decision, as it was + to that of the courtier who gave him such a lesson. + </p> + <p> + The magnanimity of Louis XIV. was still more strikingly shown on another + gambling occasion. Very high play was going on at the cardinal's, and the + Chevalier de Rohan lost a vast sum to the king. The agreement was to pay + only in <i>louis d'ors;</i> and the chevalier, after counting out seven or + eight hundred, proposed to continue the payment in Spanish pistoles. 'You + promised me <i>louis d'ors</i>, and not pistoles,' said the king. 'Since + your Majesty refuses them,' replied the chevalier, 'I don't want them + either;' and thereupon he flung them out of the window. The king got + angry, and complained to Mazarin, who replied:—'The Chevalier de + Rohan has played the king, and you the Chevalier de Rohan.' The king + acquiesced.(57) + </p> + <p> + (57) Mem. et Reflex., &e., par M. L. M. L. F. (the Marquis de la + Fare). + </p> + <p> + As before stated, the court of the Roman Emperor Augustus, in spite of the + many laws enacted against gambling, diffused the frenzy through Rome; in + like manner the court of Louis XIV., almost in the same circumstances, + infected Paris and the entire kingdom with the vice. + </p> + <p> + There is this difference between the French monarch and the Roman emperor, + that the latter did not teach his successors to play against the people, + whereas Louis, after having denounced gaming, and become almost disgusted + with it, finished with established lotteries. High play was always the + etiquette at court, but the sittings became less frequent and were + abridged. 'The king,' says Madame de Sevigne, 'has not given over playing, + but the sittings are not so long.' + </p> + <p> + LOUIS XV.—At the death of Louis XIV. three-fourths of the nation + thought of nothing but gambling. Gambling, indeed, became itself an object + of speculation, in consequence of the establishment and development of + lotteries—the first having been designed to celebrate the + restoration of peace and the marriage of Louis XIV. + </p> + <p> + The nation seemed all mad with the excitement of play. During the minority + of Louis XV. a foreign gamester, the celebrated Scotchman, John Law, + having become Controller-General of France, undertook to restore the + finances of the nation by making every man a player or gamester. He + propounded a <i>SYSTEM;</i> he established a bank, which nearly upset the + state; and seduced even those who had escaped the epidemic of games of + chance. He was finally expelled like a foul fog; but they ought to have + hanged him as a deliberate corrupter. And yet this is the man of whom + Voltaire wrote as follows: 'We are far from evincing the gratitude which + is due to John Law.(58) Voltaire's praise was always as suspicious as his + blame. Just let us consider the tendency of John Law's 'system.' However + general may be the fury of gambling, <i>EVERYBODY</i> does not gamble; + certain professions impose a certain restraint, and their members would + blush to resort to games the turpitude of which would subject them to + unanimous condemnation. But only change the <i>NAMES</i> of these games—only + change their <i>FORM</i>, and let the bait be presented under the sanction + of the legislature: then, although the <i>THING</i> be not less vicious, + nor less repugnant to true principle, then we witness the gambling ardour + of savages, such as we have described it, manifesting itself with more + risk, and communicated to the entire nation—the ministers of the + altar, the magistracy, the members of every profession, fathers, mothers + of families, without distinction of rank, means, or duties.... Let this + short generalization be well pondered, and the conclusion must be reached + that this Scotch adventurer, John Law, was guilty of the crime of treason + against humanity. + </p> + <p> + (57) Nous sommes loin de la reconnoissance qui est due a Jean Law. Mel. de + Litt., d'Hist., &c. ii. + </p> + <p> + John Law, whom the French called <i>Jean Lass</i>, opened a gulf into + which half the nation eagerly poured its money. Fortunes were made in a + few days—in a few <i>HOURS</i>. Many were enriched by merely lending + their signatures. A sudden and horrible revolution amazed the entire + people—like the bursting of a bomb-shell or an incendiary explosion. + Six hundred thousand of the best families, who had taken <i>PAPER</i> on + the faith of the government, lost, together with their fortunes, their + offices and appointments, and were almost annihilated. Some of the + stock-jobbers escaped; others were compelled to disgorge their gains—although + they stoutly and, it must be admitted, consistently appealed to the + sanction of the court. + </p> + <p> + Oddly enough, whilst the government made all France play at this John Law + game—the most seductive and voracious that ever existed—some + thirty or forty persons were imprisoned for having broken the laws enacted + against games of chance! + </p> + <p> + It may be somewhat consolatory to know that the author of so much calamity + did not long enjoy his share of the infernal success—the partition + of a people's ruin. After extorting so many millions, this famous gambler + was reduced to the necessity of selling his last diamond in order to raise + money to gamble on. + </p> + <p> + This great catastrophe, the commotion of which was felt even in Holland + and in England, was the last sigh of true honour among the French. Probity + received a blow. Public morality was abashed. More gaming houses than ever + were opened, and then it was that they received the name of <i>Enfers</i>, + or 'Hells,' by which they were designated in England. 'The greater number + of those who go to the watering-places,' writes a contemporary, 'under the + pretext of health, only go after gamesters. In the States-general it is + less the interest of the people than the attraction of terrible gambling, + that brings together a portion of the nobility. The nature of the play may + be inferred from the name of the place at which it takes place in one of + the provinces—namely, <i>Enfer</i>. This salon, so appropriately + called, was in the Hotel of the king's commissioners in Bretagne. I have + been told that a gentleman, to the great disgust of the noblemen present, + and even of the bankers, actually offered to stake his sword. + </p> + <p> + 'This name of <i>Enfers</i> has been given to several gaming houses, some + them situated in the interior of Paris, others in the environs. + </p> + <p> + 'People no longer blush, as did Caligula, at gambling on their return from + the funeral of their relatives or friends. A gamester, returning from the + burial of his brother, where he had exhibited the signs of profound grief, + played and won a considerable sum of money. "How do you feel now?" he was + asked. "A little better," he replied, "this consoles me." + </p> + <p> + 'All is excitement whilst I write. Without mentioning the base deeds that + have been committed, I have counted four suicides and a great crime. + </p> + <p> + 'Besides the licensed gaming houses, new ones are furtively established in + the privileged mansions of the ambassadors and representatives of foreign + courts. Certain chevaliers d'industrie recently proposed to a gentleman of + quality, who had just been appointed plenipotentiary, to hire an hotel for + him, and to pay the expenses, on condition that he would give up to them + an apartment and permit them to have valets wearing his livery! This base + proposal was rejected with contempt, because the Baron de —— + is one of the most honourable and enlightened men of the age. + </p> + <p> + 'The most difficult bargains are often amicably settled by a game. I have + seen persons gaming whilst taking a walk and whilst travelling in their + carriages. People game at the doors of the theatres; of course they gamble + for the price of the ticket. In every possible manner, and in every + situation, the true gamester strives to turn every instant to profit. + </p> + <p> + 'If I relate what I have seen in the matter of play during sleep, it will + be difficult to understand me. A gamester, exhausted by fatigue, could not + give up playing because he was a loser; so he requested his adversary to + play for him with his left hand, whilst he dozed off and slept! Strange to + say, the left hand of his adversary incessantly won, whilst he snored to + the sound of the dice! + </p> + <p> + 'I have just read in a newspaper,(59) that two Englishmen, who left their + country to fight a duel in a foreign land, nevertheless played at the + highest stakes on the voyage; and having arrived on the field, one of them + laid a wager that he would kill his adversary. It is stated that the + spectators of the affair looked upon it as a gaming transaction. + </p> + <p> + (59) Journal de Politique, Dec. 15, 1776. + </p> + <p> + 'In speaking of this affair I was told of a German, who, being compelled + to fight a duel on account of a quarrel at the gaming table, allowed his + adversary to fire at him. He was missed. + </p> + <p> + He said to his opponent, "I never miss. I bet you a hundred ducats that I + break your right or left arm, just as you please." The bet was taken, and + he won. + </p> + <p> + 'I have found cards and dice in many places where people were in want of + bread. I have seen the merchant and the artisan staking gold by handfuls. + A small farmer has just gamed away his harvest, valued at 3000 + francs.'(60) + </p> + <p> + (60) Dusaulx, <i>De la Passion du Jeu</i>, 1779. + </p> + <p> + Gaming houses in Paris were first licensed in 1775, by the lieutenant of + police, Sartines, who, to diminish the odium of such establishments, + decreed that the profit resulting from them should be applied to the + foundation of hospitals. Their number soon amounted to twelve; and women + were allowed to resort to them two days in the week. Besides the licensed + establishments, several illegal ones were tolerated, and especially styled + <i>enfers</i>, or 'hells.' + </p> + <p> + Gaming having been found prolific in misfortunes and crimes, was + prohibited in 1778; but it was still practised at the court and in the + hotels of ambassadors, where police-officers could not enter. By degrees + the public establishments resumed their wonted activity, and extended + their pernicious effects. The numerous suicides and bankruptcies which + they occasioned attracted the attention of the <i>Parlement</i>, who drew + up regulations for their observance, and threatened those who violated + them with the pillory and whipping. The licensed houses, as well as those + recognized, however, still continued their former practices, and breaches + of the regulations were merely visited with trivial punishment. + </p> + <p> + At length, the passion for play prevailing in the societies established in + the Palais Royal, under the title of <i>clubs</i> or <i>salons</i>, a + police ordinance was issued in 1785, prohibiting them from gaming. In + 1786, fresh disorder having arisen in the unlicensed establishments, + additional prohibiting measures were enforced. During the Revolution the + gaming-houses were frequently prosecuted, and licenses withheld; but + notwithstanding the rigour of the laws and the vigilance of the police, + they still contrived to exist. + </p> + <p> + LOUIS XVI. TILL THE PRESENT TIME.—In the general corruption of + morals, which rose to its height during the reign of Louis XVI., gambling + kept pace with, if it did not outstrip, every other licentiousness of that + dismal epoch.(61) Indeed, the universal excitement of the nation naturally + tended to develope every desperate passion of our nature; and that the + revolutionary troubles and agitation of the empire helped to increase the + gambling propensity of the French, is evident from the magnitude of the + results on record. + </p> + <p> + (61) It will be seen in the sequel that gambling was vastly increased in + England by the French 'emigres' who sought refuge among us, bringing with + them all their vices, unchastened by misfortune. + </p> + <p> + Fouche, the minister of police, derived an income of L128,000 a year for + licensing or 'privileging' gaming houses, to which cards of address were + regularly furnished. + </p> + <p> + Besides what the 'farmers' of the gaming houses paid to Fouche, they were + compelled to hire and pay 120,000 persons, employed in those houses as <i>croupiers</i> + or attendants at the gaming table, from half-a-crown to half-a-guinea a + day; and all these 120,000 persons were <i>SPIES OF FOUCHE!</i> A very + clever idea no doubt it was, thus to draw a revenue from the proceeds of a + vice, and use the institution for the purposes of government; but, + perhaps, as Rousseau remarks, 'it is a great error in domestic as well as + civil economy to wish to combat one vice by another, or to form between + them a sort of equilibrium, as if that which saps the foundations of order + can ever serve to establish it.'(62) A minister of the Emperor Theodosius + II., in the year 431, the virtuous Florentius, in order to teach his + master that it was wrong to make the vices contribute to the State, + because such a procedure authorizes them, gave to the public treasury one + of his lands the revenue of which equalled the product of the annual tax + levied on prostitution.(63) + </p> + <p> + (62) Nouv. Heloise, t. iv. + </p> + <p> + (63) Novel. Theodos. 18. + </p> + <p> + After the restoration of the Bourbons, it became quite evident that play + in the Empire had been quite as Napoleonic in its vigour and dimensions as + any other 'idea' of the epoch. + </p> + <p> + The following detail of the public gaming tables of Paris was published in + a number of the <i>Bibliotheque Historique</i>, 1818, under the title of + 'Budget of Public Games.' + </p> + <p> + STATE OF THE ANNUAL EXPENSES OF THE GAMES OF PARIS. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + These 20 Tables are divided into nine houses, four of which are + situated in the Palais Royal. +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + To serve the seven tables of <i>Trente-et-un</i>, there are:—francs + 28 Dealers, at 550 fr. a month, making . . . . 15,400 + 28 Croupiers, at 380. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,640 + 42 Assistants, at 200. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,400 + + SERVICE FOR THE NINE ROULETTES AND ONE PASSE-DIX. + + 80 Dealers, at 275 fr. a month . . . . . . . . 22,000 + 60 Assistants, at 150. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,000 + + SERVICE OF THE CRAPS, BIRIBI, AND HAZARD, + 12 Dealers, at 300 fr. a month. . . . . . . . . 3,600 + 12 Inspectors, at 120 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,440 + 10 Aids, at 100. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,000 + 6 Chefs de Partie at the principal houses, at + 700 fr. a month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,200 + + 3 Chefs de Partie for the Roulettes, at + 500 fr. a month. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,500 + 20 Secret Inspectors, at 200 fr. a month. . . . . .4,000 + 1 Inspector-General, at . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,000 + 130 Waiters, at 75 fr. a month. . . . . . . . . . .9,750 + Cards a month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,500 + Beer and refreshments, a month. . . . . . . . . . .3,000 + Lights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5,500 + Refreshment for the grand saloon, including two + dinners every week, per month . . . . . . . . . 12,000 + Total expense of each month . . . .113,930 + ————- + Multiplied by twelve, is. . . . . . . . . . . .1,367,160 + Rent of 10 Houses, per annum. . . . . . . . . . .130,000 + Expense of Offices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,000 + ————- + Total per annum. . . . . . . . . 1,547,160 + If the `privilege' or license is . . . . . . . 6,000,000 + If a bonus of a million is given for six years, the + sixth part, or one year, will be . . . . . . . 166,666 + + ————- + Total expenditure . . . . . . . .7,713,826 + The profits are estimated at, per month,. . . . .800,000 + ————- + Which yield, per annum, . . . . . . . . . . . .9,600,000 + Deducting the expenditure . . . . . . . . . . .7,713,826 + ————- + The annual profits are. . . . . . . . . . . fr.1,886,174 + ————- + Thus giving the annual profit at L7860 sterling. + + We omit the profits resulting from the watering-places, + amounting to fr. 200,000. +</pre> + <p> + One of the new conditions imposed on the Paris gaming houses is the + exclusion of females. + </p> + <p> + Thus, at Paris, the Palais Royal, Frascati, and numerous other places, + presented gaming houses, whither millions of wretches crowded in search of + fortune, but, for the most part, to find only ruin or even death by + suicide or duelling, so often resulting from quarrels at the gaming table. + </p> + <p> + This state of things was, however, altered in the year 1836, at the + proposition of M. B. Delessert, and all the gaming houses were ordered to + be closed from the 1st of January, 1838, so that the present gambling in + France is on the same footing as gambling in England,—utterly + prohibited, but carried on in secret. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF MODERN GAMING IN ENGLAND. + </h2> + <p> + It seems that the rise of modern gaming in England may be dated from the + year 1777 or 1778. + </p> + <p> + Before this time gaming appears never to have assumed an alarming aspect. + The methodical system of partnership, enabling men to embark large capital + in gambling establishments, was unknown; though from that period this + system became the special characteristic of the pursuit among all classes + of the community. + </p> + <p> + The development of the evil was a subject of great concern to thoughtful + men, and one of these, in the year 1784, put forth a pamphlet, which seems + to give 'the very age and body of the time, his form and pressure.'(64) + </p> + <p> + (64) The pamphlet (in the Library of the British Museum) is entitled:—'Hints + for a Reform, particularly of the Gaming Clubs. By a Member of Parliament. + 1784.' + </p> + <p> + 'About thirty years ago,' says this writer, 'there was but one club in the + metropolis. It was regulated and respectable. There were few of the + members who betted high. Such stakes at present would be reckoned very low + indeed. There were then assemblies once a week in most of the great + houses. An agreeable society met at seven o'clock; they played for crowns + or half-crowns; and reached their own houses about eleven. + </p> + <p> + 'There was but one lady who gamed deeply, and she was viewed in the light + of a phenomenon. Were she now to be asked her real opinion of those + friends who were her former <i>PLAY</i>-fellows, there can be no doubt but + that they rank very low in her esteem. + </p> + <p> + 'In the present era of vice and dissipation, how many females attend the + card-tables! What is the consequence? The effects are too clearly to be + traced to the frequent <i>DIVORCES</i> which have lately disgraced our + country, and they are too visible in the shameful conduct of many ladies + of fashion, since gambling became their chief amusement. + </p> + <p> + 'There is now no society. The routs begin at midnight. They are painful + and troublesome to the lady who receives company, and they are absolutely + a nuisance to those who are honoured with a card of invitation. It is in + vain to attempt conversation. The social pleasures are entirely banished, + and those who have any relish for them, or who are fond of early hours, + are necessarily excluded. Such are the companies of modern times, and + modern people of fashion. Those who are not invited fly to the <i>Gaming + Clubs</i>— + </p> + <p> + "To kill their idle hours and cure <i>ennui!</i>" + </p> + <p> + 'To give an account of the present encumbered situation of many families, + whose property was once large and ample, would fill a volume. Whence + spring the difficulties which every succeeding day increases? From the <i>GAMBLING + CLUBS</i>. Why are they continually hunted by their creditors? The reply + is—the <i>GAMBLING CLUBS</i>. Why are they obliged continually to + rack their invention in order to save appearances? The answer still is—the + <i>GAMBLING CLUBS!</i> + </p> + <p> + 'The father frequently ruins his children; and sons, and even grandsons, + long before the succession opens to them, are involved so deeply that + during their future lives their circumstances are rendered narrow; and + they have rank or family honours, without being able to support them. + </p> + <p> + 'How many infamous villains have amassed immense estates, by taking + advantage of unfortunate young men, who have been first seduced and then + ruined by the Gambling Clubs! + </p> + <p> + 'It is well known that the old members of those gambling societies exert + every nerve to enlist young men of fortune; and if we take a view of the + principal estates on this island, we shall find many infamous <i>CHRISTIAN</i> + brokers who are now living luxuriously and in splendour on the wrecks of + such unhappy victims. + </p> + <p> + 'At present, when a boy has learned a little from his father's example, he + is sent to school, to be <i>INITIATED</i>. In the course of a few years he + acquires a profound knowledge of the science of gambling, and before he + leaves the University he is perfectly fitted for a member of the <i>GAMING + CLUBS</i>, into which he is elected before he takes his seat in either + House of Parliament. There is no necessity for his being of age, as the + sooner he is ballotted for, the more advantageous his admission will prove + to the <i>OLD</i> members. + </p> + <p> + 'Scarcely is the hopeful youth enrolled among these <i>HONOURABLE</i> + associates, than he is introduced to Jews, to annuity-brokers, and to the + long train of money-lenders. They take care to answer his pecuniary calls, + and the greater part of the night and morning is consumed at the <i>CLUB</i>. + To his creditors and tradesmen, instead of paying his bills, he offers a + <i>BOND</i> or <i>ANNUITY</i>. He rises just time enough to ride to + Kensington Gardens; returns to dress; dines late; and then attends the + party of gamblers, as he had done the night before, unless he allows + himself to be detained for a few moments by the newspaper, or some + political publication. + </p> + <p> + 'Such do we find the present fashionable style of life, from "his Grace" + to the "Ensign" in the Guards. Will this mode of education rear up heroes, + to lead forth our armies, or to conduct our fleets to victory? Review the + conduct of your generals abroad, and of your statesmen at home, during the + late unfortunate war, and these questions are answered.(65) + </p> + <p> + (65) Of course this is an allusion to the American War of Independence and + the political events at home, from 1774 to 1784. + </p> + <p> + 'At present, tradesmen must themselves be gamblers before they give credit + to a member of these clubs; but if a reform succeeds they will be placed + in a state of security. At present they must make <i>REGULAR</i> families + pay an enormous price for their goods, to enable them to run the risk of + never receiving a single shilling from their gambling customers.' + </p> + <p> + Such is the picture of the times in question, drawn by a contemporary; and + it may be said that private reckless and unscrupulous political + machinations were the springs and fountains of all the calamities that + subsequently overflowed, as it were, the 'opening of the seals' of doom + upon the nation. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding the purity of morals enjoined by the court of George III., + the early part of his reign presents a picture of dissolute manners as + well as of furious party spirit. The most fashionable of our ladies of + rank were immersed in play, or devoted to politics: the same spirit + carried them into both. The Sabbath was disregarded, spent often in cards, + or desecrated by the meetings of partisans of both factions; moral duties + were neglected and decorum outraged. The fact was, that a minor court had + become the centre of all the bad passions and reprehensible pursuits in + vogue. Carlton House, in Pall Mall, which even the oldest of us can barely + remember, with its elegant open screen, the pillars in front, its low + exterior, its many small rooms, its decorations in vulgar taste, and, to + crown the whole, its associations of a corrupting revelry,—Carlton + House was, in the days of good King George, almost as great a scandal to + the country as Whitehall in the time of improper King Charles II.(66) The + influence which the example of a young prince, of manners eminently + popular, produced upon the young nobility of the realm was most disastrous + in every way and ruinous to public morality. + </p> + <p> + (66) Wharton, 'The Queens of Society.' Mem. of <i>Georgiana, Duchess of + Devonshire.</i> + </p> + <p> + After that period, the vast license given to those abominable engines of + fraud, the E.O. tables,(67) and the great length of time which elapsed + before they met with any check from the police, afforded a number of + dissolute and abandoned characters an opportunity of acquiring property. + This they afterwards increased in the low gaming houses, and by following + up the same system at Newmarket and the other fashionable places of + resort, and finally by means of the lottery, that mode of insensate + gambling; till at length they acquired a sum of money nothing short of <i>ONE + MILLION STERLING</i>. + </p> + <p> + (67) So called from the letters E and O, the turning up of which decided + the bet. They were otherwise called <i>Roulette</i> and <i>Roly Poly</i>, + from the balls used in them. They seem to have been introduced in England + about the year 1739. The first was set up at Tunbridge and proved + extremely profitable to the proprietors. + </p> + <p> + This enormous wealth was then used as an efficient capital in carrying on + various illegal establishments, particularly gaming houses, the expenses + of a first-rate house being L7000 per annum, which were again employed as + the means of increasing these ill-gotten riches. + </p> + <p> + The system was progressive but steady in its development. Several of these + conspicuous members of the world of fashion, rolling in their gaudy + carriages and associating with men of high rank and influence, might be + found on the registers of the Old Bailey, or had been formerly occupied in + turning, with their own hands, E.O. tables in the public streets. + </p> + <p> + The following <i>Queries</i>, which are extracted from the <i>Morning Post</i> + of July the 5th, 1797, throw considerable light upon this curious subject, + and show how seriously the matter was regarded when so public a + denunciation was deemed necessary and ventured upon:— + </p> + <p> + 'Is Mr Ogden (now 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</i> belt," "<i>HUSTLING</i> + in the hat," &c., among the lowest class of rustics, at the inferior + booths of the fair? + </p> + <p> + 'Is D-k-y B—n who now has his snug farm, the same person who, some + years since, <i>DROVE A 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> + '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 entre</i> in the + metropolis, by his superiority at <i>Billiards</i> (with Captain 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, the <i>bones</i>, the <i>box</i>, and the <i>Cockpit?</i>' + </p> + <p> + Capital was not the only qualification for admission into the Confederacy + of Gambling. Some of the members were taken into partnership on account of + their dexterity in 'securing' dice or 'dealing' cards. One is said to have + been actually a sharer in every 'Hell' at the West-End of the Town, + because he was feared as much as he was detested by the firms, who had + reason to know that he would 'peach' if not kept quiet. Informers against + the illegal and iniquitous associations were arrested and imprisoned upon + writs, obtained by perjury—to deter others from similar attacks; + witnesses were suborned; officers of justice bribed; ruffians and + bludgeon-men employed, where gratuities failed; personal violence and even + assassination threatened to all who dared to expose the crying evil—among + others, to Stockdale, the well-known publisher of the day, in Piccadilly. + </p> + <p> + Then came upon the nation the muddy flood of French emigrants, poured + forth by the Great Revolution—a set of men, speaking generally, + whose vices contaminated the very atmosphere. + </p> + <p> + Before the advent of these worthies the number of gambling houses in the + metropolis, exclusive of those so long established by subscription, was + not more than half-a-dozen; but by the year 1820 they had increased to + nearly fifty. Besides <i>Faro</i> and <i>Hazard</i>, the foreign games of + <i>Macao, Roulette, Rouge et Noir</i>, &c., were introduced, and there + was a graduated accommodation for all ranks, from the Peer of the Realm to + the Highwayman, the Burglar, and the Pick et. + </p> + <p> + At one of the watering-places, in 1803, a baronet lost L20,000 at play, + and a bond for L7000. This will scarcely surprise us when we consider that + at the time above five hundred notorious characters supported themselves + in the metropolis by this species of robbery, and in the summer spread + themselves through the watering-places for their professional operations. + Some of them kept bankers, and were possessed of considerable property in + the funds and in land, and went their <i>circuits</i> as regularly as the + judges. Most excellent judges they were, too, of the condition of a + 'pigeon.' + </p> + <p> + In a great commercial city where, from the extent of its trade, + manufacture, and revenue, there must be an immense circulation of + property, the danger is not to be conceived of the allurements which were + thus held out to young men in business having the command of money, as + well as the clerks of merchants, bankers, and others. In fact, too many of + this class proved, at the bar of justice, the consequence of their resort + to these complicated scenes of vice, idleness, extravagance, misfortune, + and crime. Among innumerable instances are the following:—In 1796, a + shopman to a grocer in the city was seduced into a gaming party, where he + first lost all his own money, and ultimately what his master had intrusted + him with. He hanged himself in his bed-room a few hours afterwards. + </p> + <p> + In the same year, Lord Kenyon in summing up a case of the kind said:—'It + was extremely to be lamented that the vice of gambling had descended to + the very lowest orders of the people. It was prevalent among the highest + ranks of society, who had set the example to their inferiors, and who, it + seemed, were too great for the law. I wish they could be punished. If any + prosecutions are fairly brought before me, and the parties are justly + convicted, whatever may be their rank or station in the country—though + they should be the first ladies in the land—they shall certainly + exhibit themselves in the pillory.' + </p> + <p> + In 1820, James Lloyd, one of the harpies who practised on the credulity of + the lower orders by keeping a <i>Little Go</i>, or illegal lottery, was + brought up for the twentieth time, to answer for that offence. This man + was a methodist preacher, and assembled his neighbours together at his + dwelling on a Saturday to preach the gospel to them, and the remainder of + the week he was to be found, with an equally numerous party, instructing + them in the ruinous vice of gambling. The charge was clearly proved, and + the prisoner was sentenced to three months' imprisonment with hard labour. + </p> + <p> + In the same year numbers of young persons robbed their masters to play at + a certain establishment called Morley's Gambling House, in the City, and + were ruined there. Some were brought to justice at the Old Bailey; others, + in the madness caused by their losses, destroyed themselves; and some + escaped to other countries, by their own activity, or through the + influence of their friends. + </p> + <p> + A traveller of the coachmakers, Messrs Houlditch of Long Acre, embezzled + or applied to his own use considerable sums of money belonging to them. It + appeared in evidence that the prisoner was sent by his employers to the + Continent to take orders for carriages; he was allowed a handsome salary, + and was furnished with carriages for sale. The money he received for them + he was to send to his employers, after deducting his expenses; but instead + of so doing, he gambled nearly the whole of it away. The following letter + to his master was put in by way of explanation of his career:—'Sir,—The + errors into which I have fallen have made me so hate myself that I have + adopted the horrible resolution of destroying myself. I am sensible of the + crime I commit against God, my family, and society, but have not courage + to live dishonoured. The generous confidence you placed in me I have + basely violated; I have robbed you, and though not to enrich myself, the + consciousness of it destroys me. Bankruptcy, poverty, beggary, and want I + could bear—conscious integrity would support me: but the ill-fated + acquaintance I formed led me to those earthly hells—gambling houses; + and then commenced my villainies and deceptions to you. My losses were not + large at first; and the stories that were told me of gain made me hope + they would soon be recovered. At this period I received the order to go to + Vienna, and on settling at the hotel I found my debts treble what I had + expected. I was in consequence compelled to leave the two carriages as a + guarantee for part of the debt, which I had not in my power to discharge. + I had hoped such success at Vienna as would enable me to state all to you; + but disappointment blasted every hope, and despair, on my return to Paris, + began to generate the fatal resolution which, at the moment you read this, + will have matured itself to consummation. I feel that my reputation is + blasted; no way left of re-imbursing the money wasted, your confidence in + me totally destroyed, and nothing left to me but to see my wife and + children, and die. Affection for them holds me in existence a little + longer. The gaming table again presented itself to my imagination as the + only possible means of extricating myself. Count Montoni's 3000 francs, + which I received before you came to Paris, furnished me with the means—my + death speaks the result! After robbery so base as mine, I fear it will be + of no use for me to solicit your kindness for my wretched wife and forlorn + family. Oh, Sir, if you have pity on them and treat them kindly, and do + not leave them to perish in a foreign land, the consciousness of the act + will cheer you in your last moments, and God will reward you and yours for + it tenfold. Their sensibilities will not cause them to need human aid. + Thus I shall be threefold the murderer. I thank you for the kindness you + have rendered me; and I assure your brother that he has, in this dreadful + moment, my ardent wishes for his welfare here and hereafter. I have so + contrived it that you will see a person at the Prince's tomorrow, who will + interpret for you. In mentioning my fate to him, you will not much serve + your own interest by blackening my character and memory. I subjoin the + reward of my villainies and the correct balance of the account. Count + Edmond's regular bills I have not received; his valet will give you them; + the others are in a pocket-book, which will be found on my corpse + somewhere in the wood of Boulogne. + </p> + <p> + 'Signed, W. KINSBY.' + </p> + <p> + It appears, however, that the gentleman changed his mind and did not + commit suicide, but surrendered at the Insolvent Debtor's Court to be + dealt with according to law, which was a much wiser resolution. + </p> + <p> + To the games of Faro, Hazard, Macao, Doodle-do, and Rouge et Noir, more + even than to horse-racing, many tradesmen, once possessing good fortunes + and great business, owed their destruction. Thousands upon thousands have + been ruined in the vicinity of St James's. It was not confined to youths + of fortune only, but the decent and respectable tradesman, as well as the + dashing clerk of the merchant and banker, was ingulfed in its vortes. + </p> + <p> + The proprietors of gaming houses were also concerned in fraudulent + insurances, and employed a number of clerks while the lotteries were + drawing, who conducted the business without risk, in counting-houses, + where no insurances were taken, but to which books were carried, as well + as from the different offices in every part of the town, as from the <i>Morocco-men</i>, + who went from door to door taking insurances and enticing the poor and + middling ranks to adventure. + </p> + <p> + It was gambling, and not the burdens of the long war, nor the revulsion + from war to peace, that made so many bankruptcies in the few years + succeeding the Battle of Waterloo. It was the plunderers at gaming tables + that filled the gazettes and made the gaols overflow with so many victims. + </p> + <p> + A foreigner has advanced an opinion as to the source of the gambling + propensity of Englishmen. 'The English,' says M. Dunne,(68) 'the most + speculative nation on earth, calculate even upon future contingences. + Nowhere else is the adventurous rage for stock-jobbing carried on to so + great an extent. The fury of gambling, so common in England, is + undoubtedly a daughter of this speculative genius. The <i>Greeks</i> of + Great Britain are, however, much inferior to those of France in cunning + and industry. A certain Frenchman who assumed in London the title and + manners of a baron, has been known to surpass all the most dexterous + rogues of the three kingdoms in the art of robbing. His aide-de-camp was a + kind of German captain, or rather <i>chevalier d'industrie</i>, a person + who had acted the double character of a French spy and an English officer + at the same time. Their tactics being at length discovered, the baron was + obliged to quit the country; and he is said to have afterwards entered the + monastery of La Trappe,' where doubtless, in the severe and gloomy + religious practices of that terrible penitentiary, he atoned for his past + enormities. + </p> + <p> + (68) 'Refexions sur l'Homme.' + </p> + <p> + 'Till near the commencement of the present century the favourite game was + Faro, and as it was a decided advantage to hold the Bank, masters and + mistresses, less scrupulous than Wilberforce, frequently volunteered to + fleece and amuse the company. But scandal having made busy with the names + of some of them, it became usual to hire a professed gamester at five or + ten guineas a night, to set up a table for the evening, just as any + operatic professional might now-a-days be hired for a concert, or a + band-master for a ball. + </p> + <p> + 'Faro gradually dropped out of fashion; Macao took its place; Hazard was + never wanting; and Whist began to be played for stakes which would have + satisfied Fox himself, who, though it was calculated that he might have + netted four or five thousand a year by games of skill, complained that + they afforded no excitement. + </p> + <p> + 'Wattier's Club, in Piccadilly, was the resort of the Macao players. It + was kept by an old <i>maitre d'hotel</i> of George IV., a character in his + way, who took a just pride in the cookery and wines of his establishment. + </p> + <p> + 'All the brilliant stars of fashion (and fashion was power then) + frequented Wattier's, with Beau Brummell for their sun. 'Poor Brummell, + dead, in misery and idiotcy, at Caen! and I remember him in all his glory, + cutting his jokes after the opera, at White's, in a black velvet + great-coat, and a cocked hat on his well-powdered head. + </p> + <p> + 'Nearly the same turn of reflection is suggested as we run over the names + of his associates. Almost all of them were ruined—three out of four + irretrievably. Indeed, it was the forced expatriation of its supporters + that caused the club to be broken up. + </p> + <p> + 'During the same period (from 1810 to 1815 or thereabouts) there was a + great deal of high play at White's and Brookes', particularly at Whist. At + Brookes' figured some remarkable characters—as Tippoo Smith, by + common consent the best Whist-player of his day; and an old gentleman + nicknamed Neptune, from his having once flung himself into the sea in a + fit of despair at being, as he thought, ruined. He was fished out in time, + found he was not ruined, and played on during the remainder of his life. + </p> + <p> + 'The most distinguished player at White's was the nobleman who was + presented at the Salons in Paris as Le Wellington des Joueurs (Lord + Rivers); and he richly merited the name, if skill, temper, and the most + daring courage are titles to it. The greatest genius, however, is not + infallible. He once lost three thousand four hundred pounds at Whist by + not remembering that the seven of hearts was in! He played at Hazard for + the highest stakes that any one could be got to play for with him, and at + one time was supposed to have won nearly a hundred thousand pounds; but <i>IT + ALL WENT</i>, along with a great deal more, at Crockford's. + </p> + <p> + 'There was also a great deal of play at Graham's, the Union, the Cocoa + Tree, and other clubs of the second order in point of fashion. Here large + sums were hazarded with equal rashness, and remarkable characters started + up. Among the most conspicuous was the late Colonel Aubrey, who literally + passed his life at play. He did nothing else, morning, noon, and night; + and it was computed that he had paid more than sixty thousand pounds for + card-money. He was a very fine player at all games, and a shrewd, clever + man. He had been twice to India and made two fortunes. It was said that he + lost the first on his way home, transferred himself from one ship to + another without landing, went back, and made the second. His life was a + continual alternation between poverty and wealth; and he used to say, the + greatest pleasure in life is winning at cards—the next greatest, + losing! + </p> + <p> + 'For several years deep play went on at all these clubs, fluctuating both + as to amount and locality, till by degrees it began to flag. It had got to + a low ebb when Mr Crockford came to London and established the celebrated + club which bore his name. + </p> + <p> + 'Some good was certainly produced by the system. In the first place, + private gambling (between gentleman and gentleman), with its degrading + incidents, is at an end. In the second place, this very circumstance + brings the worst part of the practice within the reach of the law. Public + gambling, which only existed by and through what were popularly termed <i>hells</i>, + might be easily suppressed. There were, in 1844, more than twenty of these + establishments in Pall Mall, Piccadilly, and St James's, called into + existence by Crockford's success.'(69) + </p> + <p> + (69) Private MS. (Edinburgh Review, vol. LXXX). + </p> + <p> + Whilst such was the state of things among the aristocracy and those who + were able to consort with them, it seems that the lower orders were + pursuing 'private gambling,' in their 'ungenteel' fashion, to a very sad + extent. In 1834 a writer in the 'Quarterly' speaks as follows:— + </p> + <p> + 'Doncaster, Epsom, Ascot, and 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.'(70) + </p> + <p> + (70) Quarterly Review, vol. LII. + </p> + <p> + I fear that something similar may be suggested at the present day, as to + the same notorious localities. + </p> + <p> + Mr Sala, writing some years ago on gambling in England, said:— + </p> + <p> + 'The passion for gambling is, I believe, innate; but there is, happily, a + very small percentage of the population who are born with a propensity for + high play. We are speculative and eagerly commercial; but it is rare to + discover among us that inveterate love for gambling, as gambling, which + you may find among the Italians, the South American Spaniards, the + Russians, and the Poles. Moro, Baccara, Tchuka—these are games at + which continental peasants will wager and lose their little fields, their + standing crops, their harvest in embryo, their very wives even. The + Americans surpass us in the ardour of their propitiation of the gambling + goddess, and on board the Mississippi steamboats, an enchanting game, + called <i>Poker</i>, is played with a delirium of excitement, whose + intensity can only be imagined by realizing that famous bout at "catch him + who can," which took place at the horticultural <i>fete</i> immortalized + by Mr Samuel Foote, comedian, at which was present the great <i>Panjandrum</i> + himself, with the little round button at top, the festivities continuing + till the gunpowder ran out at the heels of the company's boots. + </p> + <p> + 'When I was a boy, not so very long—say twenty years—since, + the West-end of London swarmed with illicit gambling houses, known by a + name I will not offend your ears by repeating. + </p> + <p> + On every race-course there was a public gambling booth and an abundance of + thimble-riggers' stalls. These, I am happy to state, exist no longer; and + the fools who are always ready to be plucked, can only, in gambling, fall + victims to the commonest and coarsest of swindlers; skittle sharps, + beer-house rogues and sharpers, and knaves who travel to entrap the unwary + in railway carriages with loaded dice, marked cards, and little squares of + green baize for tables, and against whom the authorities of the railway + companies very properly warn their passengers. A notorious gambling house + in St James's Street—Crockford's,—where it may be said, + without exaggeration, that millions of pounds sterling have been diced + away by the fools of fashion, is now one of the most sumptuous and best + conducted dining establishments in London—the "Wellington." The + semipatrician Hades that were to be found in the purlieus of St James's, + such as the "Cocoa Tree," the "Berkeley," and the "stick-shop," at the + corner of Albemarle Street—a whole Pandemonium of rosewood and + plate-glass dens—never recovered from a razzia made on them + simultaneously one night by the police, who were organized on a plan of + military tactics, and under the command of Inspector Beresford; and at a + concerted signal assailed the portals of the infamous places with + sledge-hammers. At the time to which I refer, in Paris, the Palais Royal, + and the environs of the Boulevards des Italiens, abounded with magnificent + gambling rooms similar to those still in existence in Hombourg, which were + regularly licensed by the police, and farmed under the municipality of the + Ville de Paris; a handsome per-centage of the iniquitous profits being + paid towards the charitable institutions of the French metropolis. There + are very many notabilities of the French Imperial Court, who were then <i>fermiers + des jeux</i>, or gambling house contractors; and only a year or two since + Doctor Louis Veron, ex-dealer in quack medicines, ex-manager of the Grand + Opera, and ex-proprietor of the "Constitutionnel" newspaper, offered an + enormous royalty to Government for the privilege of establishing a + gambling house in Paris. But the Emperor Napoleon—all ex-member of + Crockford's as he is—sensibly declined the tempting bait. A + similarly "generous" offer was made last year to the Belgian Government by + a joint-stock company who wanted to establish public gaming tables at the + watering-places of Ostend, and who offered to establish an hospital from + their profits; but King Leopold, the astute proprietor of Claremont, was + as prudent as his Imperial cousin of France, and refused to soil his hands + with cogged dice. + </p> + <p> + The lease of the Paris authorized gaming houses expired in 1836-7; and the + municipality, albeit loath to lose the fat annual revenue, was induced by + governmental pressure not to renew it; and it is asserted that from that + moment the number of annual suicides in Paris very sensibly decreased. "It + is not generally known," as the penny-a-liners say, "that the Rev. Caleb + Colton, a clergyman of the Church of England, and the author of "Lacon," a + book replete with aphoristic wisdom, blew his brains out in the forest of + St Germains, after ruinous losses at Frascati's, at the corner of the Rue + Richelieu and the Boulevards, one of the most noted of the <i>Maisons des + Jeux</i>, and which was afterwards turned into a <i>restaurant</i>, and is + now a shawl-shop.(71) Just before the revolution of 1848, nearly all the + watering-places in the Prusso-Rhenane provinces, and in Bavaria, and + Hesse, Nassau, and Baden, contained Kursaals, where gambling was openly + carried on. These existed at Aix-la-Chapelle, Baden-Baden, Wiesbaden, Ems, + Kissengen, and at Spa, close to the Prussian frontier, in Belgium. It is + due to the fierce democrats who revolted against the monarchs of the + defunct Holy Alliance, to say that they utterly swept away the + gambling-tables in Rhenish-Prussia, and in the Grand Duchy of Baden. Herr + Hecker, of the red republican tendencies, and the astounding wide-awake + hat, particularly distinguished himself in the latter place by his + iconoclastic animosity to <i>Roulette</i> and <i>Rouge et Noir</i>. When + dynastic "order" was restored the Rhine gaming tables were re-established. + The Prussian Government, much to its honour, has since shut up the + gambling houses at that resort for decayed nobility and ruined livers, + Aix-la-Chapelle. A motion was made in the Federal Diet, sitting at + Frankfort, to constrain the smaller governments, in the interest of the + Germanic good name generally, to close their <i>tripots</i>, and in some + measure the Federal authorities succeeded. The only existing continental + gaming houses authorized by government are now the two Badens, Spa (of + which the lease is nearly expired, and will not be renewed), Monaco + (capital of the ridiculous little Italian principality, of which the + suzerain is a scion of the house of "Grimaldi"), Malmoe, in Sweden, too + remote to do much harm, and HOMBOURG. This last still flourishes greatly, + and I am afraid is likely to flourish, though happily in isolation; for, + as I have before remarked, the "concession" or privilege of the place has + been guaranteed for a long period of years to come by the expectant + dynasty of Hesse-Darmstadt. "<i>C'est fait</i>," "It is all settled," said + the host of the Hotel de France to me, rubbing his hands exultingly when I + mentioned the matter. But, <i>Quis custodiet custodes?</i> Hesse-Darmstadt + has guaranteed the "administration of Hesse-Hombourg, but who is to + guarantee Hesse-Darmstadt? A battalion of French infantry would, it seems + to me, make short work of H. D., lease guarantees, Federal contingent, and + all. I must mention, in conclusion, that within a very few years we had, + if we have not still, a licensed gaming house in our exquisitely moral + British dominions. This was in that remarkably "tight little island" at + the mouth of the Elbe, Heligoland, which we so queerly possess—Puffendorf, + Grotius, and Vattel, or any other writers on the <i>Jus gentium</i>, would + be puzzled to tell why, or by what right. I was at Hamburg in the autumn + of 1856, crossed over to Heligoland one day on a pleasure trip, and lost + some money there, at a miniature <i>Roulette</i> table, much frequented by + joyous Israelites from the mainland, and English "soldier officers" in + mufti. I did not lose much of my temper, however, for the odd, quaint + little place pleased me. Not so another Roman citizen, or English + travelling gent., who losing, perhaps, seven-and-sixpence, wrote a furious + letter to the "Times," complaining of such horrors existing under the + British flag, desecration of the English name, and so forth. Next week the + lieutenant-governor, by "order," put an end to <i>Roulette</i> at + Heligoland; but play on a diminutive scale has since, I have been given to + understand, recommenced there without molestation. + </p> + <p> + (71) Mr Sala is here in error. Colton was a prosperous gambler throughout, + and committed suicide to avoid a surgical operation. A notice of the Rev. + C. Colton will be found in the sequel. + </p> + <p> + 'We gamble in England at the Stock Exchange, we gamble on horse-races all + the year round; but there is something more than the mere eventuality of a + chance that prompts us to the <i>enjeu;</i> there is mixed up with our + eagerness for the stakes the most varied elements of business and + pleasure; cash-books, ledgers, divident-warrants, indignation meetings of + Venezuelan bond-holders, coupons, cases of champagne, satin-skinned horses + with plaited manes, grand stands, pretty faces, bright flags, lobster + salads, cold lamb, fortune-telling gipsies, barouches-and-four, and "our + Aunt Sally." High play is still rife in some aristocratic clubs; there are + prosperous gentlemen who wear clean linen every day, and whose names are + still in the Army List, who make their five or six hundred a year by + Whist-playing, and have nothing else to live upon; in East-end + coffee-shops, sallow-faced Jew boys, itinerant Sclavonic jewellers, and + brawny German sugar-bakers, with sticky hands, may be found glozing and + wrangling over their beloved cards and dominoes, and screaming with + excitement at the loss of a few pence. There are yet some occult nooks and + corners, nestling in unsavoury localities, on passing which the policeman, + even in broad daylight, cannot refrain from turning his head a little + backwards—as though some bedevilments must necessarily be taking + place directly he has passed—where, in musty back parlours, by + furtive lamplight, with doors barred, bolted, and sheeted with iron, some + wretched, cheating gambling goes on at unholy hours. Chicken-hazard is + scotched, not killed; but a poor, weazened, etiolated biped is that once + game-bird now. And there is Doncaster, every year—Doncaster, with + its subscription-rooms under authority, winked at by a pious corporation, + patronized by nobles and gentlemen supporters of the turf, and who are + good enough, sometimes, to make laws for us plebeians in the Houses of + Lords and Commons. There is Doncaster, with policemen to keep order, and + admit none but "respectable" people—subscribers, who fear Heaven and + honour the Queen. Are you aware, my Lord Chief-Justice, are you aware, Mr + Attorney, Mr Solicitor-General, have you the slightest notion, ye + Inspectors of Police, that in the teeth of the law, and under its very + eyes, a shameless gaming-house exists in moral Yorkshire, throughout every + Doncaster St Leger race-week? Of course you haven't; never dreamed of such + a thing—never could, never would. Hie you, then, and prosecute this + wretched gang of betting-touts, congregating at the corner of Bride Lane, + Fleet Street; quick, lodge informations against this publican who has + suffered card-playing to take place, raffles, or St Leger sweeps to be + held in his house. "You have seen a farmer's dog bark at a beggar, and the + creature run from the cur. There thou might'st behold the great image of + authority: a dog's obeyed in office." You have—very well. Take crazy + King Lear's words as a text for a sermon against legislative + inconsistencies, and come back with me to Hombourg Kursaal.' + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. GAMBLING IN BRIGHTON IN 1817. + </h2> + <p> + The subject of English gambling may be illustrated by a series of events + which happened at Brighton in 1817, when an inquiry respecting the gaming + carried on at the libraries led to many important disclosures. + </p> + <p> + It appears that a warrant was granted on the oath of a Mr William Clarke, + against William Wright and James Ford, charged with feloniously stealing + L100. But the prosecutor did not appear in court to prove the charge. It + was quite evident, therefore, that the law had been abused in the + transaction, and the magistrate, Sergeant Runnington, directed warrants to + be issued for the immediate appearance of the prosecutor and Timothy + O'Mara, as an evidence; but they absconded, and the learned Sergeant + discharged the prisoners. + </p> + <p> + The matter then took a different turn. The same William Wright, before + charged with 'stealing' the L100, was now examined as a witness to give + evidence upon an examination against Charles Walker, of the Marine + Library, for keeping an unlawful Gaming House. + </p> + <p> + This witness stated that he was engaged, about five weeks before, to act + as <i>punter</i> or player (that is, in this case, a sham player or decoy) + to a table called <i>Noir, rouge, tout le deux</i> (evidently a name + invented to evade the statute, if possible), by William Clarke, the + prosecutor, before-mentioned; that the table was first carried to the back + room of Donaldson's Library, where it continued for three or four days, + when Donaldson discharged it from his premises. + </p> + <p> + He said he soon got into the confidence of Clarke, who put him up to the + secrets of playing. The firm consisted of O'Mara, Pollett, Morley, and + Clarke. There was not much playing at Donaldson's. Afterwards the table + was removed into Broad Street, but the landlady quickly sent it away. It + was then carried to a room over Walker's Library, where a rent was paid of + twelve guineas per week, showing plainly the profits of the speculation. + </p> + <p> + Several gentlemen used to frequent the table, among whom was one who lost + L125. + </p> + <p> + Clarke asked the witness if he thought the person who lost his money was + rich? And being answered in the affirmative, it was proposed that he, + William Wright, should invite the gentleman to dinner, to let him have + what wine he liked, and to spare no expense to get him drunk. + </p> + <p> + The gentleman was induced to play again, and endeavour to recover his + money. As he had nothing but large bills, to a considerable amount, he was + prevailed on to go to London, in company with the witness, who was to take + care and bring him back. One of the firm, Pollett, wrote a letter of + recommendation to a Mr Young, to get the bills discounted at his broker's. + They returned to Brighton, and the witness apprized the firm of his + arrival. They wanted him to come that evening, but the witness <i>TOLD THE + GENTLEMAN OF HIS SUSPICIONS</i>—that during their absence a <i>FALSE + TABLE</i> had been substituted. + </p> + <p> + The witness, however, returned to his employers that evening, when the + firm advanced him L100, and Ford, another punter of the sort, L100, to + back with the gentleman as a blind—so that when the signal was given + to put upon black or red, they were to put their stakes—by which + means the gentleman would follow; and they calculated upon fleecing him of + five or six thousand pounds in the course of an hour. According to his own + account, the witness told the gentleman of this trick; and the following + morning the latter went with him, to know if this nefarious dealing has + been truly represented. + </p> + <p> + On entering the library they met Walker, who wished them better success, + but trembled visibly. At the door leading into the room porters were + stationed; and, as soon as they entered, Walker ordered it to be bolted, + for the sake of privacy; but as soon as the gentleman ascended the dark + staircase, he became alarmed at the appearance of men in the room, and + returned to the porter, and, by a timely excuse, was allowed to pass. + </p> + <p> + At this table Clarke generally dealt, and O'Mara played. It was for not + restoring the L100 to the firm that the charge of felony was laid against + the witness—after the escape of the gentleman; but an offer of L100 + was made to him, after his imprisonment, if he would not give his evidence + of the above facts and transactions. + </p> + <p> + The evidence of the other witness, Ford, confirmed all the material facts + of the former, and the gentleman himself, the intended victim, + substantiated the evidence of Wright—as to putting him in possession + of their nefarious designs. + </p> + <p> + When the gentleman found that he had been cheated of the L125, he went to + Walker to demand back his money. Walker, in the utmost confusion, went + into the room, and returned with a proposal to allow L100. This he + declined to take, and immediately laid the information before Mr Sergeant + Runnington. + </p> + <p> + The learned Sergeant forcibly recapitulated the evidence, and declared + that in the whole course of his professional duties he had never heard + such a disclosure of profligacy and villainy, combined with every species + of wickedness. In a strain of pointed animadversion he declared it to be + an imperative duty,—however much his private feelings might be + wounded in seeing a reputable tradesman of the town convicted of such + nefarious pursuits,—to order warrants to be issued against all + parties concerned as rogues and vagrants. + </p> + <p> + At the next hearing of the case the court was crowded to excess; and the + mass of evidence deposed before the magistrates threw such a light on the + system of gambling, that they summarily put a stop to the Cobourg and Loo + tables at the various public establishments. + </p> + <p> + At the first examination, the 'gentleman' before mentioned, a Mr + Mackenzie, said he had played <i>Rouge et Noir</i> at Walker's, and had + lost L125. He saw O'Mara there, but he appeared as a player, not a banker; + the only reason for considering him as one of the proprietors of the + table, arose from the information of the witnesses Wright and Ford. + </p> + <p> + On this evidence, Mr Sergeant Runnington called on O'Mara and Walker for + their defence, observing that, according to the statements before him, + there appeared sufficient ground for considering O'Mara as a rogue and + vagabond; and for subjecting Mr Walker to penalties for keeping a house or + room wherein he permitted unlawful games to be played. O'Mara affirmed + that the whole testimony of Wright and Ford with respect to him was false; + that he had been nine years a resident housekeeper in Brighton, and was + known by, and had rendered essential services to, many respectable + individuals who lived in the town, and to many noble persons who were + occasional visitors. He seemed deeply penetrated by the intimation that he + could be whipped, or otherwise treated as a vagabond; and said, that if + time were allowed him to collect evidence, and obtain legal assistance, he + could disprove the charge, or at least invalidate the evidence of the two + accusers. + </p> + <p> + In consequence of these representations, the case was adjourned to another + day, when, so much was the expectation excited by the rumour of the + affair, that at the opening of the court the hall was crowded almost to + suffocation, and all the avenues were completely beset. + </p> + <p> + O'Mara appeared, with his counsel, the celebrated Mr Adolphus—the + Ballantyne of his day—of Old Bailey renown and forensic prowess. + </p> + <p> + Mr Sergeant Runnington very obligingly stated to Mr Adolphus the previous + proceeding, directed the depositions to be laid before him, and allowed + him time to peruse them. Mr Adolphus having gone through the document, + requested that the witnesses might be brought into court, that he might + cross-question them separately; which being ordered, Wright was first put + forward—the man who had received the L100, enlightened the Mr + Mackenzie, and who was charged with feloniously stealing the above amount. + </p> + <p> + After the usual questions, very immaterial in the present case, but + answered, the witness went on to say that, O'Mara called at his lodgings + and said, if he (Wright) could not persuade Mr Mackenzie to come from + London, he was not to leave him, but write to him (O'Mara), and he would + go to town, and win all his money. He had, on a former occasion, told the + witness, that he could win all Mackenzie's money at child's play—that + he could toss up and win ninety times out of one hundred; he had told both + him and Ford, that if they met with any gentleman who did not like the + game of <i>Rouge et Noir</i>, and would bring them to his house, he was + always provided with cards, dice, and backgammon tables, to win their + money from them. + </p> + <p> + The learned counsel then cross-questioned the witness as to various + matters, in the usual way, but tending, of course, to damage him by the + answers which the questions necessitated—a horrible, but, perhaps, + necessary ordeal perpetuated in our law-procedure. In these answers there + was something like prevarication; so that the magistrate, Mr Sergeant + Runnington, asked the witness at the close of the examination, whether he + had any previous acquaintance with the gentlemen who had engaged him at + half-a-crown a game, and then so candily communicated to him all their + schemes? He said, none whatever. 'But,' said the Sergeant, 'you were in + the daily habit of playing at this public table for the purpose of + deceiving the persons who might come there?' The witness answered—'I + was.' + </p> + <p> + The witness Ford fared no better in the cross-examination, and Mr Sergeant + Runnington, at its close, asked him the same question that he had + addressed to Wright, respecting his playing at the table, and received the + same answer. + </p> + <p> + Mr Mackenzie did not appear, and there was no further evidence. Mr + Adolphus said that if he were called upon to make any defence for his + client upon a charge so supported, he was ready to do it; but, as he must + make many observations, not only on the facts, but on the <i>LAW</i>, he + was anxious if possible to avoid doing so, as he did not wish to say too + much about the law respecting gaming before so large and mixed an + audience.(72) + </p> + <p> + (72) See Chapter XI. for the views of Mr Adolphus here alluded to. + </p> + <p> + Two witnesses were called, who gave evidence which was damaging to the + character of Ford, stating that he told them he was in a conspiracy + against O'Mara and some other moneyed men, from whom they should get three + or four hundred pounds, and if witness would conceal from O'Mara his + (Ford's) real name, he should have his share of the money, and might go + with him and Wright to Brussels. + </p> + <p> + After hearing these witnesses, Mr Sergeant Runnington, without calling on + Mr Adolphus for any further defence of his client, pronounced the judgment + of the Bench. + </p> + <p> + He reviewed the transaction from its commencement, and stated the + impression, to the disadvantage of O'Mara, which the tale originally told + by the two witnesses was calculated to make. But, on hearing the + cross-examination of those witnesses, and seeing no evidence against the + defendant but from sources so impure and corrupt—recollecting the + severe penalties of the Vagrant Acts, and sitting there not merely as a + judge, but also exercising the functions of a jury, he could not bring + himself to convict on such evidence. The witnesses, impure as they were, + were <i>NOT SUPPORTED BY MR MACKENZIE IN ANY PARTICULAR</i>, except the + fact of his losing money, at a time when O'Mara did not appear as a + proprietor of the table, but as a player like himself. O'Mara must + therefore be discharged; but the two witnesses would not be so fortunate. + From their own mouths it appeared that they had been using subtle craft to + deceive and impose upon his Majesty's subjects, by playing or betting at + unlawful games, and had no legal or visible means of gaining a livelihood; + the court, therefore, adjudged them to be rogues and vagabonds, and + committed them, in execution, to the gaol at Lewes, there to remain till + the next Quarter Sessions, and then to be further dealt with according to + law. A short private conference followed between the magistrates and Mr + Adolphus, the result of which was that Mr Walker was not proceeded + against, but entered into a recognizance not to permit any kind of gaming + to be carried on in his house. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. GAMBLING AT THE GERMAN BATHING-PLACES.—— + </h2> + <h3> + BADEN AND ITS CONVERSATION HOUSE. + </h3> + <p> + Baden-Baden in the season is full of the most exciting contrasts—gay + restaurants and brilliant saloons, gaming-tables, promenades, and theatres + crammed with beauty and rank, in the midst of lovely natural scenery, and + under the shade of the pine-clad heights of the Hercynian or Black Forest—the + scene of so many weird tales of old Germany—as for instance of the + charming <i>Undine</i> of De la Mothe Fouque. + </p> + <p> + But among the seducing attractions of Baden-Baden, and of all German + bathing-places, the Rouge-et-noir and Roulette-table hold a melancholy + pre-eminence,—being at once a shameful source of revenue to the + prince,—a rallying point for the gay, the beautiful, the + professional blackleg, the incognito duke or king,—and a vortex in + which the student, the merchant, and the subaltern officer are, in the + course of the season, often hopelessly and irrevocably ingulfed. + Remembering the gaming excitement of the primitive Germans, we can + scarcely be surprised to find that the descendants of these northern races + poison the pure stream of pleasure by the introduction of this hateful + occupation. It is, however, rather remarkable that all foreign visitors, + whether Dutch, Flemish, Swede, Italian, or even English, of whatever age + or disposition or sex, 'catch the frenzy' during the (falsely so-called) + <i>Kurzeit</i>, that is, <i>Cure-season</i>, at Baden, Ems, and Ais. + </p> + <p> + Princes and their subjects, fathers and sons, and even, horrible to say, + mothers and daughters, are hanging, side by side, for half the night over + the green table; and, with trembling hands and anxious eyes, watching + their chance-cards, or thrusting francs and Napoleons with their rakes to + the red or the black cloth. + </p> + <p> + No spot in the whole world draws together a more distinguished society + than may be met at Baden; its attractions are felt and acknowledged by + every country in Europe. Many of the <i>elite</i> of each nation may + yearly be found there during the months of summer, and, as a natural + consequence, many of the worst and vilest follow them, in the hope of + pillage. + </p> + <p> + Says Mrs Trollope:—'I doubt if anything less than the evidence of + the senses can enable any one fully to credit and comprehend the spectacle + that a gaming-table offers. I saw women distinguished by rank, elegant in + person, modest, and even reserved in manner, sitting at the Rouge-et-noir + table with their rateaux, or rakes, and marking-cards in their hands;—the + former to push forth their bets, and draw in their winnings, the latter to + prick down the events of the game. I saw such at different hours through + the whole of Sunday. To name these is impossible; but I grieve to say that + two English women were among them.' + </p> + <p> + The Conversationshaus, where the gambling takes place, is let out by the + Government of Baden to a company of speculators, who pay, for the + exclusive privilege of keeping the tables, L11,000 annually, and agree to + spend in addition 250,000 florins (L25,000) on the walks and buildings, + making altogether about L36,000. Some idea may be formed from this of the + vast sums of money which must be yearly lost by the dupes who frequent it. + The whole is under the direction of M. Benazet, who formerly farmed the + gambling houses of Paris. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'On trouve ici le jeu, les livres, la musique, + Les cigarres, l'amour, les orangers, + Le monde tantot gai, tantot melancholique, + Les glaces, la danse, et les cochers; + De la biere, de bons diners, + A cote d'arbre une boutique, + Et la vue de hauts rochers. + Ma foi!' + + + 'We find here gambling, books, and music, + Cigars, love-making, orange-trees; + People or gay or melancholic, + Ices, dancing, and coachmen, if you please; + Beer, and good dinners; besides these, + Shops where they sell not <i>on tic;</i> + And towering rocks one ever sees.' +</pre> + <p> + 'How shall I describe,' says Mr Whitelocke, 'to my readers in language + sufficiently graphic, one of the resorts the most celebrated in Europe; a + place, if not competing with Crockford's in gorgeous magnificence and + display, at least surpassing it in renown, and known over a wider sphere? + The metropolitan pump-room of Europe, conducted on the principle of + gratuitous admittance to all bearing the semblance of gentility and + conducting themselves with propriety, opens its Janus doors to all the + world with the most laudable hospitality and with a perfect indifference + to exclusiveness, requiring only the hat to be taken off upon entering, + and rejecting only short jackets, cigar, pipe, and meerschaum. A room of + this description, a temple dedicated to fashion, fortune, and flirtation, + requires a pen more current, a voice more eloquent, than mine to trace, + condense, vivify, and depict. Taking everything, therefore, for granted, + let us suppose a vast saloon of regular proportions, rather longer than + broad, at either end garnished by a balcony; beneath, doors to the right + and left, and opposite to the main entrance, conduct to other apartments, + dedicated to different purposes. On entering the eye is at once dazzled by + the blaze of lights from chandeliers of magnificent dimensions, of lamps, + lustres, and sconces. The ceiling and borders set off into compartments, + showered over with arabesques, the gilded pillars, the moving mass of + promenaders, the endless labyrinth of human beings assembled from every + region in Europe, the costly dresses, repeated by a host of mirrors, all + this combined, which the eye conveys to the brain at a single glance, + utterly fails in description. As with the eye, so it is with the ear; at + every step a new language falls upon it, and every tongue with different + intonation, for the high and the low, the prince, peer, vassal, and + tradesman, the proud beauty, the decrepit crone, some fresh budding into + the world, some standing near the grave, the gentle and the stern, the + sombre and the gay, in short, every possible antithesis that the eye, ear, + heart can perceive, hear, or respond to, or that the mind itself can + imagine, is here to be met with in two minutes. And yet all this is no + Babel; for all, though concentrated, is admirably void of confusion; and + evil or strong passions, if they do exist, are religiously suppressed—a + necessary consequence, indeed, where there can be no sympathy, and where + contempt and ridicule would be the sole reciprocity. In case, however, any + such display should take place, a gendarme keeps constant watch at the + door, appointed by government, it is true, but resembling our Bow-street + officers in more respects than one. + </p> + <p> + 'Now that we have taken a survey of the brilliant and moving throng, let + us approach the stationary crowd to the left hand, and see what it is that + so fascinates and rivets their attention. They are looking upon a long + table covered with green cloth, in the centre of which is a large polished + wooden basin with a moveable rim, and around it are small compartments, + numbered to a certain extent, namely 38, alternately red and black in + irregular order, numbered from one to 36, a nought or zero in a red, and a + double zero upon the black, making up the 38, and each capable of holding + a marble. The moveable rim is set in motion by the hand, and as it + revolves horizontally from east to west round its axis, the marble is + caused by a jerk of the finger and thumb to fly off in a contrary + movement. The public therefore conclude that no calculation can foretell + where the marble will fall, and I believe they are right, inasmuch as the + bank plays a certain and sure game, however deep, runs no risk of loss, + and consequently has no necessity for superfluously cheating or deluding + the public. It also plays double, that is, on both sides of the wheel of + fortune at once. + </p> + <p> + 'When the whirling of both rim and marble cease, the latter falls, either + simultaneously or after some coy uncertainty, into one of the + compartments, and the number and colour, &c., are immediately + proclaimed, the stakes deposited are dexterously raked up by the croupier, + or increased by payment from the bank, according as the colour wins or + loses. Now, the two sides or tables are merely duplicates of one another, + and each of them is divided something like a chess-board into three + columns of squares, which amount to 36; the numbers advance arithmetically + from right to left, and consequently there are 12 lines down, so as to + complete the rectangle; as one, therefore, stands at the head, four stands + immediately under it, and so on. At the bottom lie three squares, with the + French marks 12 p—12 m—12 d, that is, first, middle, third + dozen. The three large meadows on either side are for red and black, pair + and odd, miss and pass—which last signify the division of the + numbers into the first and second half, from 1 to 18, and from 19 to 36, + inclusive. If a number be staked upon and wins, the stake is increased to + six times its amount, and so on, always less as the stake is placed in + different positions, which may be effected in the following ways—by + placing the piece of gold or silver on the line (<i>a cheval</i>, as it is + called), partly on one and partly on its neighbour, two numbers are + represented, and should one win, the piece is augmented to eighteen times + the sum; three numbers are signified upon the stroke at the end or + beginning of the numbers that go across; six, by placing the coin on the + border of a perpendicular and a horizontal line between two strokes; four, + where the lines cross within; twelve numbers are signified in a two-fold + manner, either upon the column where the figures follow in the order of + one, four, seven, and so on, or on the side-fields mentioned above; these + receive the stake trebled; and those who stake solely upon the colour, the + two halves, or equal and odd, have their stake doubled when they win. Now, + the two zeros, that is, the simple and compound, stand apart and may be + separately staked upon; should either turn up, the stake is increased in a + far larger proportion. + </p> + <p> + 'To render the game equal, without counting in the zeros and other + trifles, the winner ought to receive the square of 36, instead of 36. + </p> + <p> + 'It is a melancholy amusement to any rational being not infatuated by the + blind rage of gold, to witness the incredible excitement so repeatedly + made to take the bank by storm, sometimes by surprise, anon by stealth, + and not rarely by digging a mine, laying intrenchments and opening a fire + of field-pieces, heavy ordnance, and flying artillery; but the fortress, + proud and conscious of its superior strength, built on a rock of adamant, + laughs at the fiery attacks of its foes, nay, itself invites the storm. + </p> + <p> + 'For those classes of mankind who possess a little more prudence, the game + called <i>Trente-et-un</i>, and <i>Quarante</i>, or <i>Rouge et Noir</i> + are substituted. + </p> + <p> + 'The lord of the temple or establishment pays, I believe, to government a + yearly sum of 35,000 florins (about L3000) for permission to keep up the + establishment. He has gone to immense expense in decorating the building; + he pays a crowd of croupiers at different salaries, and officers of his + own, who superintend and direct matters; he lights up the building, and he + presides over the festivities of the town—in short, he is the patron + of it all. With all this liberality he himself derives an enormous + revenue, an income as sure and determined as that of my Lord Mayor + himself.'(73) + </p> + <p> + (73) City of the Fountains, or Baden-Baden. By R. H. Whitelocke. + Carlsruhe, 1840. + </p> + <p> + The Baden season begins in May; the official opening takes place towards + the close of the spring quarter, and then the fashionable world begins to + arrive at the rendezvous. + </p> + <p> + It cannot be denied that everything is right well regulated, and apart + from the terrible dangers of gambling, the place does very great credit to + the authorities who thrive on the nefarious traffic. Perfect order and + decency of deportment, with all the necessary civilities of life, are + rigorously insisted on, and summary expulsion is the consequence of any + intolerable conduct. If it so happens that any person becomes obnoxious in + any way, whatever may be his or her rank, the first intimation will be—'Sir, + you are not in your place here;' or, 'Madame, the air of Baden does not + suit you.' If these words are disregarded, there follows a summary order—'You + must leave Baden this very day, and cross the frontiers of the Grand Duchy + within twenty-four hours.' + </p> + <p> + Mr Sala, in his novel 'Make your Game,'(74) has given a spirited + description of the gambling scenes at Baden. + </p> + <p> + (74) Originally published in the 'Welcome Guest.' + </p> + <p> + Whilst I write there is exhibited at the Egyptian Hall, London, Dore's + magnificent picture of the <i>Tapis Vert</i>, or Life in Baden-Baden, of + which the following is an accurate description:— + </p> + <p> + 'The <i>Tapis Vert</i> is a moral, and at the same time an exceedingly + clever, satire. It is illustrative of the life, manners, and predilections + and pursuits of a class of society left hereafter to enjoy the manifold + attractions of fashionable watering-places, without the scourge that for + so many years held its immoral and degrading sway in their sumptuous + halls. + </p> + <p> + 'In one of these splendid salons the fashionable crowd is eagerly pressing + round an oblong table covered with green cloth (<i>le tapis vert</i>), + upon which piles of gold and bank-notes tell the tale of "<i>noir perd et + la couleur gagne</i>," and vice versa. The principal group, upon which + Dore has thrown one of his powerful effects of light, is lifelike, and + several of the actors are at once recognized. Both croupiers are + well-known characters. There is much life and movement in the silent + scene, in which thousands of pounds change hands in a few seconds. To the + left of the croupier (dealer), who turns up the winning card, sits a + finely-dressed woman, who cares for little else but gold. There is a + remarkable expression of eagerness and curiosity upon the countenance of + the lady who comes next, and who endeavours, with the assistance of her + eye-glass, to find out the state of affairs. The gentleman next to her is + an inveterate <i>blase</i>. The countenance of the old man reckoning up + needs no description. Near by stands a lady with a red feather in her hat, + and whose lace shawl alone is worth several hundred pounds—for Dore + made it. The two female figures to the left are splendidly painted. The + one who causes the other croupier to turn round seems somewhat + extravagantly dressed; but these costumes have been frequently worn within + the last two years both at Baden and Hombourg. The old lady at the end of + the table, to the left, is a well-known habituee at both places. The + bustling and shuffling eagerness of the figures in the background is + exceedingly well rendered. + </p> + <p> + 'As a whole, the <i>Tapis Vert</i> is a very fine illustration of real + life, as met with in most of the leading German watering-places.'(75) + </p> + <p> + (75) 'Illustrated Times.' + </p> + <p> + 'At the present moment,' says another authority, writing more than a year + ago, 'there are three very bold female gamblers at Baden. One is the + Russian Princess ——, who plays several hours every day at <i>Rouge + et Noir</i>, and sometimes makes what in our money would be many hundreds, + and at others goes empty away. She wins calmly enough, but when luck is + against her looks anxious. The second is the wife of an Italian + ex-minister, who is well known both as an authoress and politician. She + patronizes <i>Roulette</i>, and at every turn of the wheel her money + passes on the board. She is a good gambler—smirking when she wins, + and smirking when she loses. She dresses as splendidly as any of the dames + of Paris. The other night she excited a flutter among the ladies assembled + in the salons of the "Conversation" by appearing in a robe flaming red + with an exaggerated train which dragged its slow length along the floor. + But the greatest of the feminine players is the Leonie Leblanc. When she + is at the <i>Rouge et Noir</i> table a larger crowd than usual is + collected to witness her operation. The stake she generally risks is 6000 + francs (L240), which is the maximum allowed. Her chance is changing: a few + days back she won L4000 in one sitting; some days later she lost about + L2000, and was then reduced to the, for her, indignity of playing for + paltry sums—L20 or thereabouts.' + </p> + <p> + Among the more recent chronicles, the <i>Figaro</i> gives the following + account of the close of the campaign of a gaming hero, M. Edgar de la + Charme, who, for a number of days together, never left the gaming-room + without carrying off the sum of 24,000 francs. + </p> + <p> + 'The day before yesterday, M. de la Charme, reflecting that there must be + an end even to the greatest run of luck, locked his portmanteau, paid his + bill, and took the road to the railway station, accompanied by some of his + friends. On reaching the wicket he found it closed; there were still + three-quarters of an hour to pass before the departure of the train. "I + will go and play my parting game," he exclaimed, and, turning to the + coachman, bade him drive to the Kursaal. His friends surrounded him, and + held him back; he should not go, he would lose all his winnings. But he + was resolute, and soon reached the Casino, where his travelling dress + caused a stir of satisfaction among the croupiers. He sat down at the <i>Trente-et-quarante</i>, + broke the bank in 20 minutes, got into his cab again, and seeing the + inspector of the tables walking to and fro under the arcades, he said to + him, in a tone of exquisite politeness, "I could not think of going away + without leaving you my P.P.C."' + </p> + <p> + SPA. + </p> + <p> + 'The gambling houses of Spa are in the Redoute, where <i>Rouge et Noir</i> + and <i>Roulette</i> are carried on nearly from morning to night. + </p> + <p> + The profits of these establishments exceed L40,000 a year. In former times + they belonged to the Bishop of Liege, who was a partner in the concern, + and derived a considerable revenue from his share of the ill-gotten gains + of the manager of the establishment, and no gambling tables could be set + up without his permission.'(76) + </p> + <p> + (76) Murray's Handbook for Travellers on the Continent. + </p> + <p> + 'The gambling in Spa is in a lower style than elsewhere. The croupiers + seem to be always on the look-out for cheating. You never see here a pile + of gold or bank notes on the table, as at Hombourg or Wiesbaden, with the + player saying, "Cinquante louis aux billet," "Cent-vingt louis a la + masse," and the winnings scrupulously paid, or the losings raked carefully + away from the heap. They do not allow that at Spa; there is an order + against it on the wall. They could not trust the people that play, I + suppose, and it is doubtful if the people could trust the croupiers. The + ball spins more slowly at <i>Roulette</i>—the cards are dealt more + gingerly at <i>Trente-et-quarante</i> here than elsewhere. Nothing must be + done quickly, lest somebody on one side or other should try to do somebody + else. Altogether Spa is not a pleasant place to play in, and as, moreover, + the odds are as great against you as at Ems, it is better to stick to the + promenade <i>de sept heures</i> and the ball-room, and leave the two + tables alone. Outside it is cheery and full of life. The Queen of the + Belgians is here, the Duke of Aumale, and other nice people. The breeze + from the hills is always delicious; the Promenade Meyerbeer as refreshing + on a hot day as a draught of iced water. But the denizens, male and + female, of the <i>salons de jeu</i> are often obnoxious, and one wishes + that the old Baden law could be enforced against some of the gentler sex. + </p> + <p> + 'By way of warning to any of your readers who propose to visit the tables + this summer, will you let me tell a little anecdote, from personal + experience, of one of these places—which one I had perhaps better + not say. I took a place at the Roulette table, and had not staked more + than once or twice, when two handsomely dressed ladies placed themselves + one on either side of me, and commenced playing with the smallest coins + allowed, wedging me in rather unpleasantly close between them. At my third + or fourth stake I won on both the colour and a number, and my neighbour on + the right quietly swept up my coins from the colour the instant they were + paid. I remonstrated, and she very politely argued the point, ending by + restoring my money. But during our discussion my far larger stake, paid in + the mean while, on the winning number, had disappeared into the pocket of + my neighbour on the left, who was not so polite, and was very indignant at + my suggestion that the stake was mine. An appeal to the croupier only + produced a shrug of the shoulders and regret that he had not seen who + staked the money, an offer to stop the play, and a suggestion that I + should find it very difficult to prove it was my stake. The "plant" + between the two women was evident. The whole thing was a + systematically-planned robbery, and very possibly the croupier was a + confederate. I detected the two women in communication, and I told them + that I should change my place to the other side of the table where I would + trouble them not to come. They took the hint very mildly, and could afford + to do so, for they had got my money. The affair was very neatly managed, + and would succeed in nearly every case, especially if the croupier is, as + is most probable, always on the side of the ladies.' + </p> + <p> + HOMBOURG. + </p> + <p> + 'In 1842 Hombourg was an obscure village, consisting of the castle of the + Landgraf, and of a few hundred houses which in the course of ages had + clustered around it. Few would have known of its existence except from the + fact of its being the capital of the smallest of European countries. Its + inhabitants lived poor and contented—the world forgetting, by the + world forgot. It boasted only of one inn—the "Aigle"—which in + summer was frequented by a few German families, who came to live cheaply + and to drink the waters of a neighbouring mineral spring. That same year + two French brothers of the name of Blanc arrived at Frankfort. They were + men of a speculative turn, and a recent and somewhat daring speculation in + France, connected with the old semaphore telegraph, had rendered it + necessary for them to withdraw for a time from their native land. Their + stock-in-trade consisted in a Roulette wheel, a few thousand francs, and + an old and skilful croupier of Frascati, who knew a great deal about the + properties of cards. The authorities of the town of Frankfort, being dull + traders, declined to allow them to initiate their townsmen into the + mysteries of cards and Roulette, so hearing that there were some strangers + living at Hombourg, they put themselves into an old diligence, and the + same evening disembarked at the "Aigle." The next day the elder brother + called upon the prime minister, an ancient gentleman, who, with a couple + of clerks, for some L60 a year governed the Landgrafate of Hombourg to his + own and the general satisfaction. After a private interview with this + statesman the elder Blanc returned poorer in money, but with a permission + in his pocket to put up his Roulette wheel in one of the rooms of the inn. + In a few months the money of the innocent water-drinkers passed from their + pockets into those of the brothers Blanc. The ancient man of Frascati + turned the wheel, and no matter on what number the water-drinkers risked + their money, that number did not turn up. At the close of the summer + season a second visit was made to the prime minister, and the Blancs + returned to Frankfort with an exclusive concession to establish games of + hazard within the wide spreading dominions of the Landgraf. For this they + had agreed to build a kursaal, to lay out a public garden, and to pay into + the national exchequer 40,000 florins (a florin is worth one shilling and + eight-pence) per annum. Having obtained this concession, the next step was + to found a company. Frankfort abounds in Hebrew speculators, who are not + particular how they make money, and as the speculation appeared a good + one, the money was soon forthcoming. It was decided that the nominal + capital was to be 400,000 florins, divided into shares of 100 florins + each. Half the shares were subscribed for by the Hebrew financialists, and + the other half was credited to the Blancs as the price of their + concession. During the winter a small kursaal was built and a small garden + planted; the mineral well was deepened, and flaming advertisements + appeared in all the German newspapers announcing to the world that the + famous waters of Hombourg were able to cure every disease to which flesh + is heir, and that to enable visitors to while away their evenings + agreeably a salon had been opened, in which they would have an opportunity + to win fabulous sums by risking their money either at the game of <i>Trente + et Quarante</i> or at <i>Roulette</i>. From these small beginnings arose + the "company" whose career has been so notorious. It has enjoyed + uninterrupted good fortune. During the twenty-six years that have elapsed + since its foundation, a vast palace dedicated to gambling has been built, + the village has become a town, well paved, and lighted with gas; the + neighbouring hills are covered with villas; about eighty acres have been + laid out in pleasure-grounds; roads have been made in all directions + through the surrounding woods; the visitors are numbered by tens of + thousands; there are above twenty hotels and many hundred excellent + lodging-houses.'(77) + </p> + <p> + (77) Correspondent of <i>Daily News.</i> + </p> + <p> + 'Let those who are disposed to risk their money inquire what is the + character of the managers, and be on their guard. The expenses of such an + enormous and splendid establishment amount to L10,000, and the shares have + for some years paid a handsome dividend—the whole of which must be + paid out of the pockets of travellers and visitors.'(78) + </p> + <p> + (78) Murray, <i>ubi supra</i>. + </p> + <p> + Mr Sala in his interesting work, already quoted, furnishes the completest + account of Hombourg, its Kursaal, and gambling, which I have condensed as + follows:— + </p> + <p> + 'In Hombourg the Kursaal is everything, and the town nothing. The + extortionate hotel-keepers, the "snub-nosed rogues of counter and till," + who overcharge you in the shops, make their egregious profits from the + Kursaal. The major part of the Landgrave's revenue is derived from the + Kursaal; he draws L5000 a year from it. He and his house are sold to the + Kursaal; and the Board of Directors of the Kursaal are the real sovereigns + and land-graves of Hesse Hombourg. They have metamorphosed a miserable + mid-German townlet into a city of palaces. Their stuccoed and frescoed + palace is five hundred times handsomer than the mouldy old Schloss, built + by William with the silver leg. They have planted the gardens; they have + imported the orange-trees; they have laid out the park, and enclosed the + hunting-grounds; they board, lodge, wash, and tax the inhabitants; and I + may say, without the slightest attempt at punning, that the citizens are + all <i>Kursed</i>. + </p> + <p> + 'In the Kursaal is the ball or concert-room, at either end of which is a + gallery, supported by pillars of composition marble. The floors are + inlaid, and immense mirrors in sumptuous frames hang on the walls. Vice + can see her own image all over the establishment. The ceiling is superbly + decorated with bas-reliefs in <i>carton-pierre</i>, like those in Mr + Barry's new Covent Garden Theatre; and fresco paintings, executed by + Viotti, of Milan, and Conti, of Munich; whilst the whole is lighted up by + enormous and gorgeous chandeliers. The apartment to the right is called + the <i>Salle Japanese</i>, and is used as a dining-room for a monster <i>table + d'hote</i>, held twice a day, and served by the famous Chevet of Paris. + </p> + <p> + 'There is a huge Cafe Olympique, for smoking and imbibing purposes, + private cabinets for parties, the monster saloon, and two smaller ones, + where <i>FROM ELEVEN IN THE FORENOON TO ELEVEN AT NIGHT, SUNDAYS NOT + EXCEPTED, ALL THE YEAR ROUND</i>, and year after year—(the + "administration" have yet a "<i>jouissance</i>" of eighty-five years to + run out, guaranteed by the incoming dynasty of Hesse Darmstadt), knaves + and fools, from almost every corner of the world, gamble at the ingenious + and amusing games of <i>Roulette</i>, and <i>Rouge et Noir</i>, otherwise + <i>Trente et Quarante</i>. + </p> + <p> + 'There is one table covered with green baize, tightly stretched as on a + billiard-field. In the midst of the table there is a circular pit, coved + inwards, but not bottomless, and containing the Roulette wheel, a + revolving disc, turning with an accurate momentum on a brass pillar, and + divided at its outer edge into thirty-seven narrow and shallow pigeon-hole + compartments, coloured alternately red and black, and numbered—not + consecutively—up to thirty-six. The last is a blank, and stands for + <i>Zero</i>, number <i>Nothing</i>. Round the upper edge, too, run a + series of little brass hoops, or bridges, to cause the ball to hop and + skip, and not at once into the nearest compartment. This is the regimen of + Roulette. The banker sits before the wheel,—a croupier, or payer-out + of winnings to and raker in of losses from the players, on either side. + Crying in a voice calmly sonorous, "<i>Faites le Jeu, Messieurs</i>,"—"Make + your game, gentlemen!" the banker gives the wheel a dexterous twirl, and + ere it has made one revolution, casts into its Maelstrom of black and red + an ivory ball. The interval between this and the ball finding a home is + one of breathless anxiety. Stakes are eagerly laid; but at a certain + period of the revolution the banker calls out—"<i>Le Jeu est fait. + Rien ne va plus</i>,"—and after that intimation it is useless to lay + down money. Then the banker, in the same calm and impassable voice, + declares the result. It may run thus:—"<i>Vingt-neuf, Noir, Impair, + et Passe," "Twenty-nine, Black, Odd, and Pass the Rubicon</i>" (No. 18); + or, "<i>Huit, Rouge, Pair, et Manque</i>," "Eight, Red, Even, and <i>NOT</i> + Pass the Rubicon." + </p> + <p> + 'Now, on either side of the wheel, and extending to the extremity of the + table, run, in duplicate, the schedule of <i>mises</i> or stakes. The + green baize first offers just thirty-six square compartments, marked out + by yellow threads woven in the fabric itself, and bearing thirty-six + consecutive numbers. If you place a florin (one and eight-pence)—and + no lower stake is permitted—or ten florins, or a Napoleon, or an + English five-pound note, or any sum of money not exceeding the maximum, + whose multiple is the highest stake which the bank, if it loses, can be + made to pay, in the midst of compartment 29, and if the banker, in that + calm voice of his, has declared that 29 has become the resting place of + the ball, the croupier will push towards you with his rake exactly + thirty-three times the amount of your stake, whatever it might have been. + You must bear in mind, however, that the bank's loss on a single stake is + limited to eight thousand francs. Moreover, if you have placed another sum + of money in the compartment inscribed, in legible yellow colours, "<i>Impair</i>," + or Odd, you will receive the equivalent to your stake—twenty-nine + being an odd number. If you have placed a coin on <i>Passe</i>, you will + also receive this additional equivalent to your stake, twenty-nine being + "Past the Rubicon," or middle of the table of numbers—18. Again, if + you have ventured your money in a compartment bearing for device a lozenge + in outline, which represents black, and twenty-nine being a black number, + you will again pocket a double stake, that is, one in addition to your + original venture. More, and more still,—if you have risked money on + the columns—that is, betted on the number turning up corresponding + with some number in one of the columns of the tabular schedule, and have + selected the right column—you have your own stake and two others;—if + you have betted on either of these three eventualities, <i>douze premier, + douze milieu</i>, or <i>douze dernier</i>, otherwise "first dozen," + "middle dozen," or "last dozen," as one to twelve, thirteen to + twenty-four, twenty-five to thirty-six, all inclusive, and have chanced to + select <i>douze dernier</i>, the division in which No. 29 occurs, you also + obtain a treble stake, namely, your own and two more which the bank pays + you, your florin or your five-pound note—benign fact!—metamorphosed + into three. But, woe to the wight who should have ventured on the number + "eight," on the red colour (compartment with a crimson lozenge), on + "even," and on "not past the Rubicon;" for twenty-nine does not comply + with any one of these conditions. He loses, and his money is coolly swept + away from him by the croupier's rake. With reference to the last chances I + enumerated in the last paragraph, I should mention that the number <i>EIGHT</i> + would lie in the second column—there being three columns,—and + in the first dozen numbers. + </p> + <p> + 'There are more chances, or rather subdivisions of chances, to entice the + player to back the "numbers;" for these the stations of the ball are as + capricious as womankind; and it is, of course, extremely rare that a + player will fix upon the particular number that happens to turn up. But he + may place a piece of money <i>a cheval</i>, or astride, on the line which + divides two numbers, in which case (either of the numbers turning up) he + receives sixteen times his stake. He may place it on the cross lines that + divide four numbers, and, if either of the four wins, he will receive + eight times the amount of his stake. A word as to <i>Zero</i>. Zero is + designated by the compartment close to the wheel's diameter, and zero, or + blank, will turn up, on an average, about once in seventy times. If you + have placed money in zero, and the ball seeks that haven, you will receive + thirty-three times your stake.' + </p> + <p> + The twin or elder brother of <i>Roulette</i>, played at Hombourg, <i>Rouge + et Noir</i>, or <i>Trente et Quarante</i>, is thus described by Mr Sala:— + </p> + <p> + 'There is the ordinary green-cloth covered table, with its brilliant + down-coming lights. In the centre sits the banker, gold and silver in + piles and <i>rouleaux</i>, and bank-notes before him. On either hand, the + croupier, as before, now wielding the rakes and plying them to bring in + the money, now balancing them, now shouldering them, as soldiers do their + muskets, half-pay officers their canes, and dandies their silk umbrellas. + The banker's cards are, as throughout all the Rhenish gaming-places, of + French design; the same that were invented, or, at least, first used in + Europe, for crazy Charles the Simple. These cards are placed on an + inclined plane of marble, called a <i>talon</i>. + </p> + <p> + 'The dealer first takes six packs of cards, shuffles them, and distributes + them in various parcels to the various punters or players round the table, + to shuffle and mix. He then finally shuffles them, and takes and places + the end cards into various parts of the three hundred and twelve cards, + until he meets with a <i>court card</i>, which he must place upright at + the end. This done, he presents the pack to one of the players to cut, who + places the pictured card where the <i>dealer</i> separates the pack, and + that part of the pack beyond the pictured card he places at the end + nearest him, leaving the pictured card at the bottom of the pack. + </p> + <p> + 'The dealer then takes a certain number of cards, about as many as would + form a pack, and, looking at the first card, to know its colour, puts it + on the table with its face downwards. He then takes two cards, one red and + the other black, and sets them back to back. These cards are turned, and + displayed conspicuously, as often as the colour varies, for the + information of the company. + </p> + <p> + 'The gamblers having staked their money on either of the colours, the + dealer asks, "<i>Votre jeu est-il fait?</i>" "Is your game made?" or, "<i>Votre + jeu est-il piet?</i>" "Is your game ready?" or, "<i>Le jeu est pret, + Messieurs</i>," "The game is ready, gentlemen." He then deals the first + card with its face upwards, saying "<i>Noir;</i>" and continues dealing + until the cards turned exceed thirty points or pips in number, which + number he must mention, as "<i>Trente-et-un</i>," or "<i>Trente-six</i>," + as the case may be. + </p> + <p> + 'As the aces reckon but for one, no card after thirty can make up forty; + the dealer, therefore, does not declare the <i>tens</i> after <i>thirty-one</i>, + or upwards, but merely the units, as one, two, three; if the number of + points dealt for <i>Noir</i> are thirty-five he says "<i>Cinq</i>." + </p> + <p> + 'Another parcel is then dealt for <i>rouge</i>, or <i>red</i>, and with + equal deliberation and solemnity; and if the players stake beyond the + colour that comes to <i>thirty-one</i> or nearest to it, he wins, which + happy eventuality is announced by the dealer crying—"<i>Rouge gagne</i>," + "Red wins," or "<i>Rouge perd</i>," "Red loses." These two parcels, one + for each colour, make a <i>coup</i>. The same number of parcels being + dealt for each colour, the dealer says, "<i>Apres</i>," "After." This is a + "doublet," called in the amiable French tongue, "<i>un refait</i>," by + which neither party wins, unless both colours come to <i>thirty-one</i>, + which the dealer announces by saying, "<i>Un refait Trente-et-un</i>," and + he wins half the stakes posted on both colours. He, however, does not take + the money, but removes it to the middle line, and the players may change + the <i>venue</i> of their stakes if they please. This is called the first + "prison," or <i>la premiere prison</i>, and, if they win their next event, + they draw the entire stake. In case of another "<i>refait</i>," the money + is removed into the third line, which is called the second prison. So you + see that there are wheels within wheels, and Lord Chancellor King's + dictum, that walls can be built higher, but there should be no prison + within a prison, is sometimes reversed. + </p> + <p> + When this happens the dealer wins all. + </p> + <p> + 'The cards are sometimes cut for which colour shall be dealt first; but, + in general, the first parcel is for <i>black</i>, and the second for <i>red</i>. + The odds against a "<i>refait</i>" turning up are usually reckoned as 63 + to 1. The bankers, however, acknowledge that they expect it twice in three + deals, and there are generally from twenty-nine to thirty-two coups in + each deal. The odds in favour of winning several times are about the same + as in the game of Pharaon, and are as delusive. 'He who goes to Hombourg + and expects to see any melodramatic manifestation of rage, disappointment, + and despair in the losing players, reckons without his host. Winners or + losers seldom speak above a whisper; and the only sound that is heard + above the suppressed buzz of conversation, the muffled jingle of the money + on the green cloth, the "sweep" of the croupiers' rakes, and the ticking + of the very ornate French clocks on the mantel-pieces, is the impassibly + metallic voice of the banker, as he proclaims his "<i>Rouge perd</i>," or + "<i>Couleur gagne</i>." People are too genteel at Hombourg-von-der-Hohe to + scream, to yell, to fall into fainting fits, or go into convulsions, + because they have lost four or five thousand francs or so in a single + coup. + </p> + <p> + 'I have heard of one gentleman, indeed, who, after a ruinous loss, put a + pistol to his head, and discharging it, spattered his brains over the + Roulette wheel. It was said that the banker, looking up calmly, called out—'<i>Triple + Zero,' 'Treble Nothing</i>,'—a case as yet unheard of in the tactics + of Roulette, but signifying annihilation,—and that, a cloth being + thrown over the ensanguined wheel, the bank of that particular table was + declared to be closed for the day. Very probably the whole story is but a + newspaper <i>canard</i>, devised by the proprietors of some rival gaming + establishment, who would have been delighted to see the fashionable + Hombourg under a cloud. + </p> + <p> + 'When people want to commit suicide at Hombourg, they do it genteelly; + early in the morning, or late at night, in the solitude of their own + apartments at the hotels. It would be reckoned a gross breach of good + manners to scandalize the refined and liberal administration of the + Kursaal by undisguised <i>felo-de-se</i>. The devil on two <i>croupes</i> + at Hombourg is the very genteelest of demons imaginable. He ties his tail + up with cherry-coloured ribbon, and conceals his cloven foot in a + patent-leather boot. All this gentility and varnish, and elegant veneering + of the sulphurous pit, takes away from him, if it does not wholly + extinguish, the honour and loathing for a common gaming-house, with which + the mind of a wellured English youth has been sedulously imbued by his + parents and guardians. He has very probably witnessed the performance of + the "Gamester" at the theatre, and been a spectator of the remorseful + agonies of Mr Beverly, the virtuous sorrows of Mrs B., and the dark + villanies of Messieurs Dawson and Bates. + </p> + <p> + 'The first visit of the British youth to the Kursaal is usually paid with + fear and trembling. He is with difficulty persuaded to enter the accursed + place. When introduced to the saloons—delusively called <i>de + conversation</i>, he begins by staring fixedly at the chandeliers, the + ormolu clocks, and the rich draperies, and resolutely averts his eyes from + the serried ranks of punters or players, and the Pactolus, whose sands are + circulating on the green cloth on the table. Then he thinks there is no + very great harm in looking on, and so peeps over the shoulder of a + moustached gamester, who perhaps whispers to him in the interval between + two coups, that if a man will only play carefully, and be content with + moderate gains, he may win sufficient—taking the good days and the + evil days in a lump—to keep him in a decent kind of affluence all + the year round. Indeed, I once knew a croupier—we used to call him + Napoleon, from the way he took snuff from his waistcoat pocket, who was in + the way of expressing a grave conviction that it was possible to make a + capital living at Roulette, so long as you stuck to the colours, and + avoided the Scylla of the numbers and the Charybdis of the Zero. By + degrees, then, the shyness of the neophyte wears off. Perhaps in the + course of his descent of Avernus, a revulsion of feeling takes place, and, + horror-struck and ashamed, he rushes out of the Kursaal, determined to + enter its portals no more. Then he temporizes; remembers that there is a + capital reading-room, provided with all the newspapers and periodicals of + civilized Europe, attached to the Kursaalian premises. There can be no + harm, he thinks, in glancing over "Galignani" or the "Charivari," although + under the same roof as the abhorred <i>Trente et Quarante;</i> but, alas! + he finds <i>Galignani</i> engaged by an acrid old lady of morose + countenance, who has lost all her money by lunch-time, and is determined + to "take it out in reading," and the <i>Charivari</i> slightly clenched in + one hand by the deaf old gentleman with the dingy ribbon of the Legion of + Honour, and the curly brown wig pushed up over one ear, who always goes to + sleep on the soft and luxurious velvet couches of the Kursaal + reading-room, from eleven till three, every day, Sundays not excepted. The + disappointed student of home or foreign news wanders back to one of the + apartments where play is going, on. In fact, he does not know what to do + with himself until table-d'hote time. You know what the moral bard, Dr + Watts says:— + </p> + <p> + "Satan finds some mischief still, For idle hands to do." + </p> + <p> + The unfledged gamester watches the play more narrowly. A stout lady in a + maroon velvet mantle, and a man with a bald head, a black patch on his + occiput, and gold spectacles, obligingly makes way for him. He finds + himself pressed against the very edge of the table. Perhaps a chair—one + of those delightfully comfortable Kursaal chairs—is vacant. He is + tired with doing nothing, and sinks into the emolliently-cushioned <i>fauteuil</i>. + He fancies that he has caught the eye of the banker, or one of the + gentlemen of the <i>croupe</i>, and that they are meekly inviting him to + try his luck. "Well, there can't be much harm in risking a florin," he + murmurs. He stakes his silver-piece on a number or a colour. He wins, we + will say, twice or thrice. Perhaps he quadruples his stake, nay, + perchance, hits on the lucky number. It turns up, and he receives + thirty-five times the amount of his <i>mise</i>. Thenceforth it is all + over with that ingenuous British youth. The Demon of Play has him for his + own, and he may go on playing and playing until he has lost every florin + of his own, or as many of those belonging to other people as he can beg or + borrow. Far more fortunate for him would it be in the long run, if he met + in the outset with a good swinging loss. The burnt child <i>DOES</i> dread + the fire as a rule; but there is this capricious, almost preternatural, + feature of the physiology of gaming, that the young and inexperienced + generally win in the first instance. They are drawn on and on, and in and + in. They begin to lose, and continue to lose, and by the time they have + cut their wise teeth they have neither sou nor silver to make their + dearly-bought wisdom available. + </p> + <p> + 'At least one-half of the company may be assumed to be arrant rascals—rascals + male and rascals female—<i>chevaliers d'industrie</i>, the + offscourings of all the shut-up gambling-houses in Europe, demireps and <i>lorettes</i>, + single and married women innumerable.' + </p> + <p> + In the course of the three visits he has paid to Hombourg, Mr Sala has + observed that 'nine-tenths of the English visitors to the Kursaal, play;' + and he does not hesitate to say that the moths who flutter round the + garish lamps at the Kursaal Van der Hohe, and its kindred Hades, almost + invariably singe their wings; and that the chaseer at <i>Roulette</i> and + <i>Rouge</i>, generally turn out edged tools, with which those incautious + enough to play with them are apt to cut their fingers, sometimes very + dangerously. + </p> + <p> + The season of 1869 in Hombourg is thus depicted in a high class newspaper. + </p> + <p> + 'Never within the memory of the oldest inhabitant (who in this instance + must undoubtedly be that veteran player Countess Kisselef) has the town + witnessed such an influx of tourists of every class and description. + Hotels and lodging-houses are filled to overflowing. Every day imprudent + travellers who have neglected the precaution of securing rooms before + their arrival return disconsolately to Frankfort to await the vacation of + some apartment which a condescending landlord has promised them after much + negotiation for the week after next. The morning promenade is a wonderful + sight; such a host of bilious faces, such an endless variety of eccentric + costumes, such a Babel of tongues, among which the shrill twang of our + fair American cousins is peculiarly prominent, could be found in no other + place in the civilized world. A moralist would assuredly find here + abundant food for reflection on the wonderful powers of self-deception + possessed by mankind. We all get up at most inconvenient hours, swallow a + certain quantity of a most nauseous fluid, and then, having sacrificed so + much to appearances, soothe our consciences with the unfounded belief that + a love of early rising and salt water was our real reason for coming here, + and that the gambling tables had nothing whatever to do with it. Perhaps, + in some few instances, this view may be the correct one; some few + invalids, say one in a hundred, may have sought Hombourg solely in the + interest of an impaired digestion, but I fear that such cases are few and + far between; and, as a friend afflicted with a mania for misquotation + remarked to me the other day, even "those who come to drink remain to + play." + </p> + <p> + 'Certainly the demon of Rouge et Noir has never held more undisputed sway + in Hombourg than in the present season; never have the tables groaned + under such a load of notes and rouleaux. It would seem as if the gamblers, + having only two or more years left in which to complete their ruin, were + hurrying on with redoubled speed to that desirable consummation, and where + a stake of 12,000 francs is allowed on a single coup the pace can be made + very rapid indeed. High play is so common that unless you are lucky enough + to win or rich enough to lose a hundred thousand francs at least, you need + not hope to excite either envy or commiseration. One persevering + Muscovite, who has been punting steadily for six weeks, has actually + succeeded in getting rid of a million of florins. As yet there have been + no suicides to record, owing probably to the precautionary measures + adopted by a paternal Administration. As soon as a gambler is known to be + utterly cleared out he at once receives a visit from one of M. Blanc's + officials, who offers him a small sum on condition he will leave the town + forthwith; which viaticum, however, for fear of accidents, is only handed + to him when fairly seated in the train that bears him away, to blow out + his brains, should he feel so inclined, elsewhere. One of the most + unpleasant facts connected with the gambling is the ardour displayed by + many ladies in this very unfeminine pursuit: last night out of twenty-five + persons seated at the Roulette table I counted no fewer than fifteen + ladies, including an American lady with her two daughters! + </p> + <p> + 'The King of Prussia has arrived, and, with due deference to the official + editors who have described in glowing paragraphs the popular + demonstrations in his honour, I am bound to assert that he was received + with very modified tokens of delight. There was not even a repetition of + the triumphal arch of last year; those funereal black and white flags, + whose sole aspect is enough to repress any exuberance of rejoicing, were + certainly flapping against the hotel windows and the official flagstaffs, + but little else testified to the joy of the Hombourgers at beholding their + Sovereign. They manage these things better in France. Any French <i>prefet</i> + would give the German authorities a few useful hints concerning the cheap + and speedy manufacture of loyal enthusiasm. The foreigners, however, seem + determined to atone amply for any lack of proper feeling on the part of + the townspeople. They crowd round his Majesty as soon as he appears in the + rooms or gardens, and mob the poor old gentleman with a vigour which taxes + all the energies of his aides-de-camp to save their Royal master from + death by suffocation. Need I add that our old friend the irrepressible + "'Arry" is ever foremost in these gentlemanlike demonstrations? + </p> + <p> + 'Of course the town swarms with well-known English faces; indeed, the + Peers and M.P.s here at present would form a very respectable party in the + two Houses. We are especially well off for dukes; the <i>Fremdenliste</i> + notifies the presence of no fewer than five of those exalted personages. A + far less respectable class of London society is also, I am sorry to say, + strongly represented: I allude to those gentlemen of the light-fingered + persuasion whom the outer world rudely designate as pickpockets. This + morning two gorgeously arrayed members of the fraternity were marched down + to the station by the police, each being decorated with a pair of bright + steel handcuffs; seventeen of them were arrested last week in Frankfort at + one fell swoop, and at the tables the row of lookers-on who always + surround the players consists in about equal proportions of these gentry + and their natural enemies—the detectives. Their booty since the + beginning of the season must be reckoned by thousands. Mustapha Fazyl + Pasha had his pocket picked of a purse containing L600, and a Russian lady + was lately robbed of a splendid diamond brooch valued at 75,000 + francs.(79) + </p> + <p> + (79) Pall Mall Gazette, Aug. 1869. + </p> + <p> + But the days of the Kursaal are numbered, and the glories or infamies of + Hombourg are doomed. + </p> + <p> + 'The fiat has gone forth. In five years(80) from this time the "game will + be made" no longer—the great gambling establishment of Hombourg will + be a thing of the past. The town will be obliged to contend on equal terms + with other watering-places for its share of the wool on the backs of + summer excursionists. + </p> + <p> + (80) In 1872. + </p> + <p> + 'As most of the townspeople are shareholders in this thriving concern, and + as all of them gain either directly or indirectly by the play, it was + amusing to watch the anxiety of these worthies during the war between + Austria and Prussia. Patriotism they had none; they cared neither for + Austrian nor Prussian, for a great Germany nor for a small Germany. The + "company" was their god and their country. All that concerned them was to + know whether the play was likely to be suppressed. When they were annexed + to Prussia, at first they could not believe that Count Bismarck, whatever + he might do with kings, would venture to interfere with the "bank." It was + to them a divine institution—something far superior to dynasties and + kingdoms.... + </p> + <p> + 'For a year the Hombourgers were allowed to suppose that their "peculiar + institution" was indeed superior to fate, to public opinion, and to + Prussia; but at the commencement of the present year they were rudely + awakened from their dreams of security. The sword that had been hanging + over them fell. The directors of the company were ordered to appear before + the governor of the town, and they were told that they and all belonging + to them were to cease to exist in 1872, and that the following arrangement + was to be made respecting the plunder gained until that date. The + shareholders were to receive 10 per cent. on their money; 5000 shares were + to be paid off at par each year, and if this did not absorb all the + profits, the surplus was to go towards a fund for keeping up the gardens + after the play had ceased. By this means, as there are now 36,000 shares, + 25,000 will be paid off at par, and the remaining 11,000 will be + represented by the buildings and the land belonging to the company, which + it will be at liberty to sell to the highest bidder. Since this decree has + been promulgated the Hombourgers are in despair. The croupiers and the + clerks, the Jews who lend money at high interest, the Christians who let + lodgings, all the rogues and swindlers who one way or another make a + living out of the play, fill the air with their complaints. + </p> + <p> + 'Although no doubt individuals will suffer by the suppression of public + play here, it is by no means certain that the town itself will not be a + gainer by it. Holiday seekers must go somewhere. The air of Hombourg is + excellent; the waters are invigorating; the town is well situated and easy + of access by rail; living is comparatively cheap—a room may be had + for about 18<i>s</i>. a week, an excellent dinner for 2<i>s</i>.; + breakfast costs less than a shilling. Hombourg is now a fixed fact, and if + the townspeople take heart and grapple with the new state of things—if + they buy up the Kursaal, and throw open its salons to visitors; if they + keep up the opera, the cricket club, and the shooting; if they have good + music, and balls and concerts for those who like them, there is no reason + why they should not attract as many visitors to their town as they do + now.'(81) + </p> + <p> + (81) Correspondent of <i>Daily News.</i> + </p> + <p> + AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. + </p> + <p> + The gaming at Aix-la-Chapelle is equally desperate and destructive. 'A + Russian officer of my acquaintance,' says a writer in the Annual Register + for 1818, 'was subject, like many of his countrymen whom I have known, to + the infatuation of play to a most ridiculous excess. His distrust of + himself under the assailments which he anticipated at a place like + Aix-la-Chapelle, had induced him to take the prudent precaution of paying + in advance at his hotel for his board and lodging, and at the + bathing-house for his baths, for the time he intended to stay. The + remaining contents of his purse he thought fairly his own; and he went of + course to the table all the gayer for the license he had taken of his + conscience. On fortune showing him a few favours, he came to me in high + spirits, with a purse full of Napoleons, and a resolute determination to + keep them by venturing no more; but a gamester can no more be stationary + than the tide of a river, and on the evening he was put out of suspense by + having not a Napoleon left, and nothing to console but congratulation on + his foresight, and the excellent supper which was the fruit of it.' + </p> + <p> + Towards the end of the last century Aix-la-Chapelle was a great rendezvous + of gamblers. The chief banker there paid a thousand louis per annum for + his license. A little Italian adventurer once went to the place with only + a few louis in his pocket, and played crown stakes at Hazard. Fortune + smiled on him; he increased his stakes progressively; in twenty-four hours + won about L4000. On the following day he stripped the bank entirely, + pocketing nearly L10,000. He continued to play for some days, till he was + at last reduced to a single louis! He now obtained from a friend the loan + of L30, and once more resumed his station at the gaming table, which he + once more quitted with L10,000 in his pocket, and resolved to leave it for + ever. The arguments of one of the bankers, however, who followed him to + his inn, soon prevailed over his resolution, and on his return to the + gaming table he was stripped of his last farthing. He went to his + lodgings, sold his clothes, and by that means again appeared at his old + haunt, for the half-crown stakes, by which he honourably repaid his loan + of L30. His end was unknown to the relater of the anecdote, but 'ten to + one,' it was ruin. + </p> + <p> + At the same place, in the year 1793, the heir-apparent of an Irish Marquis + lost at various times nearly L20,000 at a billiard table, partly owing to + his antagonist being an excellent calculator, as well as a superior + player. + </p> + <p> + A French emigrant at Aix-la-Chapelle, who carried a basket of tarts, + liqueurs, &c., for regaling the gamesters, put down twenty-five louis + at <i>Rouge et Noir</i>. He lost. He then put down fifteen, and lost + again; at the third turn he staked ten; but while the cards were being + shuffled, seeming to recollect himself, he felt all his pockets, and at + length found two large French crowns, and a small one, which he also + ventured. The deal was determined at the ninth card; and the poor wretch, + who had lost his all, dashed down his basket, started from his seat, + overturning two chairs as he forced the circle, tore off his hair, and + with horrid blasphemies, burst the folding doors, and rushing out like a + madman, was seen no more. + </p> + <p> + Another emigrant arrived here penniless, but meeting a friend, obtained + the loan of a few crowns, nearly his all. With these he went to the rooms, + put down his stake, and won. He then successively doubled his stakes till + he closed the evening with a hundred louis in his pocket. He went to his + friend, and with mutual congratulations they resolved to venture no more, + and calculated how long their gains would support them from absolute want, + and thus seemed to strengthen their wise resolution. + </p> + <p> + The next night, however, the lucky gambler returned to the room—but + only to be a spectator, as he firmly said. Alas! his resolution failed + him, and he quitted the tables indebted to a charitable bystander for a + livre or two, to pay for his petty refreshments. + </p> + <p> + It is said that the annual profit to the bankers was 120,000 florins, or + L14,000. + </p> + <p> + 'The very name of Aix-la-Chapelle,' says a traveller, 'makes one think (at + least, makes me think) of cards and dice,—sharks and pigeons. It has + a "professional odour" upon it, which is certainly not that of sanctity. I + entered the Redoute with my head full of sham barons, German Catalinas, + and the thousand-and-one popular tales of renowned knights of the green + cloth,—their seducing confederates, and infatuated dupes. + </p> + <p> + 'The rooms are well distributed; the saloons handsome. A sparkling of + ladies, apparently (and really, as I understood) of the best water, the <i>elite</i>, + in short, of Aix-la-Chapelle, were lounging on sofas placed round the + principal saloon, or fluttering about amidst a crowd of men, who filled up + the centre of the room, or thronged round the tables that were ranged on + one side of it. + </p> + <p> + 'The players continued their occupation in death-like silence, undisturbed + by the buzz or the gaze of the lookers-on; not a sound was heard but the + rattle of the heaped-up money, as it was passed from one side of the table + to the other; nor was the smallest anxiety or emotion visible on any + countenance. + </p> + <p> + 'The scene was unpleasing, though to me curious from its novelty. + </p> + <p> + Ladies are admitted to play, but there were none occupied this morning. I + was glad of it; indeed, though English travellers are accused of carrying + about with them a portable code of morality, which dissolves or stiffens + like a soap-cake as circumstances may affect its consistency, yet I + sincerely believe that there are few amongst us who would not feel shocked + at seeing one of the gentler sex in so unwomanly a position.'(82) + </p> + <p> + (82) Reminiscences of the Rhine, &c. Anon. + </p> + <p> + WIESBADEN. + </p> + <p> + The gambling here in 1868 has been described in a very vivid manner. + </p> + <p> + 'Since the enforcement of the Prussian Sunday observance regulations, + Monday has become the great day of the week for the banks of the German + gambling establishments. Anxious to make up for lost time, the regular + contributors to the company's dividends flock early on Monday forenoon to + the play-rooms in order to secure good places at the tables, which, by the + appointed hour for commencing operations (eleven o'clock), are closely + hedged round by persons of both sexes, eagerly waiting for the first deal + of the cards or the initial twist of the brass wheel, that they may try + another fall with Fortune. Before each seated player are arranged precious + little piles of gold and silver, a card printed in black and red, and a + long pin, wherewith to prick out a system of infallible gain. The + croupiers take their seats and unpack the strong box; rouleaux—long + metal sausages composed of double and single florins,—wooden bowls + brimming over with gold Frederics and Napoleons, bank notes of all sizes + and colours, are arranged upon the black leather compartment, ruled over + by the company's officers; half-a-dozen packs of new cards are stripped of + their paper cases, and swiftly shuffled together; and when all these + preliminaries, watched with breathless anxiety by the surrounding + speculators, have been gravely and carefully executed, the chief croupier + looks round him—a signal for the prompt investment of capital on all + parts of the table—chucks out a handful of cards from the mass + packed together convenient to his hand—ejaculates the formula, + "Faites le jeu!" and, after half a minute's pause, during which he + delicately moistens the ball of his dealing thumb, exclaims "Le jeu est + fait, rien ne va plus," and proceeds to interpret the decrees of fate + according to the approved fashion of Trente et Quarante. A similar scene + is taking place at the Roulette table—a goodly crop of florins, with + here and there a speck of gold shining amongst the silver harvest, is + being sown over the field of the cloth of green, soon to be reaped by the + croupier's sickle, and the pith ball is being dropped into the revolving + basin that is partitioned off into so many tiny black and red niches. For + the next twelve hours the processes in question are carried on swiftly and + steadily, without variation or loss of time; relays of croupiers are laid + on, who unobtrusively slip into the places of their fellows when the hours + arrive for relieving guard; the game is never stopped for more than a + couple of minutes at a time, viz., when the cards run out and have to be + re-shuffled. This brief interruption is commonly considered to portend a + break in the particular vein which the game may have happened to assume + during the deal—say a run upon black or red, an alternation of coups + (in threes or fours) upon either colour, two reds and a black, or <i>vice + versa</i>, all equally frequent eccentricities of the cards; and the + heavier players often change their seats, or leave the table altogether + for an hour or so at such a conjuncture. Curiously enough, excepting at + the very commencement of the day's play, the <i>habitues</i> of the Trente + et Quarante tables appear to entertain a strong antipathy to the first + deal or two after the cards have been "re-made." I have been told by one + or two masters of the craft that they have a fancy to see how matters are + likely to go before they strike in, as if it were possible to deduce the + future of the game from its past! That it is possible appears to be an + article of faith with the old stagers, and, indeed, every now and then odd + coincidences occur which tend to confirm them in their creed. I witnessed + an occurrence which was either attributable (as I believe) to sheer + chance, or (as its hero earnestly assured me) to instinct. A fair and + frail Magyar was punting on numbers with immense pluck and uniform ill + fortune. Behind her stood a Viennese gentleman of my acquaintance, who + enjoys a certain renown amongst his friends for the faculty of prophecy, + which, however, he seldom exercises for his own benefit. Observing that + she hesitated about staking her double florin, he advised her to set it on + the number 3. Round went the wheel, and in twenty seconds the ball tumbled + into compartment 3 sure enough. At the next turn she asked his advice, and + was told to try number 24. No sooner said than done, and 24 came up in due + course, whereby Mdlle L. C. won 140 odd gulden in two coups, the amount + risked by her being exactly four florins. Like a wise girl, she walked off + with her booty, and played no more that day at Roulette. A few minutes + later I saw an Englishman go through the performance of losing four + thousand francs by experimentalizing on single numbers. Twenty times + running did he set ten louis-d'ors on a number (varying the number at each + stake), and not one of his selection proved successful. At the "Thirty and + Forty" I saw an eminent diplomatist win sixty thousand francs with + scarcely an intermission of failure; he played all over the table, pushing + his rouleaux backwards and forwards, from black to red, without any + appearance of system that I could detect, and the cards seemed to follow + his inspiration. It was a great battle; as usual, three or four smaller + fish followed in his wake, till they lost courage and set against him, + much to their discomfiture and the advantage of the bank; but from first + to last—that is, till the cards ran out, and he left the table—he + was steadily victorious. In the evening he went in again for another heavy + bout, at which I chanced to be present; but fortune had forsaken him; and + he not only lost his morning's winnings, but eight thousand francs to + boot. I do not remember to have ever seen the tables so crowded—outside + it was thundering, lightening, and raining as if the world were coming to + an end, and the whole floating population of Wiesbaden was driven into the + Kursaal by the weather. A roaring time of it had the bank; when play was + over, about which time the rain ceased, hundreds of hot and thirsty + gamblers streamed out of the reeking rooms to the glazed-in terrace, and + the next hour, always the pleasantest of the twenty-four here and in + Hombourg—at Ems people go straight from the tables to bed,—was + devoted to animated chat and unlimited sherry-cobbler; all the "events" of + the day were passed in review, experiences exchanged, and confessions + made. Nobody had won; I could not hear of a single great success—the + bank had had it all its own way, and most of the "lions," worsted in the + fray, had evidently made up their minds to "drown it in the bowl." The + Russian detachment—a very strong one this year—was especially + hard hit; Spain and Italy were both unusually low-spirited; and there was + an extra solemnity about the British Isles that told its own sad tale. + Englishmen, when they have lost more than they can afford, generally take + it out of themselves in surly, brooding self-reproach. Frenchmen give vent + to their disgust and annoyance by abusing the game and its myrmidons. You + may hear them, loud and savage, on the terrace, "Ah! le salle jeu! comment + peut-on se laisser eplucher par des brigands de la sorte! Tripot, infame, + va! je te donne ma malediction!" Italians, again, endeavour to conceal + their discomfiture under a flow of feverish gaiety. Germans utter one or + two "Gotts donnerwetterhimmelsapperment!" light up their cigars, drink a + dozen or so "hocks," and subside into their usual state of ponderous + cheerfulness. Russians betray no emotion whatever over their calamities, + save, perhaps, that they smoke those famous little 'Laferme' cigarettes a + trifle faster and more nervously than at other times; but they are + excellent winners and magnificent losers, only to be surpassed in either + respect by their old enemy the Turk, who is <i>facile princeps</i> in the + art of hiding his feelings from the outer world. + </p> + <p> + 'The great mass of visitors at Wiesbaden this season, as at Hombourg, + belong to the middle and lower middle classes, leavened by a very few + celebrities and persons of genuine distinction. There are a dozen or two + eminent men here, not to be seen in the play-rooms, who are taking the + waters—Lord Clarendon, Baron Rothschild, Prince Souvarof, and a few + more—but the general run of guests is by no means remarkable for + birth, wealth, or respectability; and we are shockingly off for ladies. As + a set-off against this deficiency, it would seem that all the aged, + broken-down courtesans of Paris, Vienna, and Berlin have agreed to make + Wiesbaden their autumn rendezvous. Arrayed in all the colours of the + rainbow, painted up to the roots of their dyed hair, shamelessly <i>decolletees</i>, + prodigal of "free" talk and unseemly gesture, these ghastly creatures, + hideous caricatures of youth and beauty, flaunt about the play-rooms and + gardens, levying black-mail upon those who are imprudent enough to engage + them in "chaff" or badinage, and desperately endeavouring to hook + themselves on to the wealthier and younger members of the male community. + They poison the air round them with sickly perfumes; they assume titles, + and speak of one another as "cette chere comtesse;" their walk is + something between a prance and a wriggle; they prowl about the terrace + whilst the music is playing, seeking whom they may devour, or rather whom + they may inveigle into paying for their devouring: and, <i>bon Dieu!</i> + how they do gorge themselves with food and drink when some silly lad or + aged roue allows himself to be bullied or wheedled into paying their scot! + Their name is legion; and they constitute the very worst feature of a + place which, naturally a Paradise, is turned into a seventh hell by the + uncontrolled rioting of human passions. They have no friends—no + "protectors;" they are dependent upon accident for a meal or a piece of + gold to throw away at the tables; they are plague-spots upon the face of + society; they are, as a rule, crassly ignorant and horribly cynical; and + yet there are many men here who are proud of their acquaintance, always + ready to entertain them in the most expensive manner, and who speak of + them as if they were the only desirable companions in the world! + </p> + <p> + 'Amongst our notabilities of the eccentric sort, not the least singular in + her behaviour is the Countess C——o, an aged patrician of + immense fortune, who is as constant to Wiesbaden as old Madame de K——f + is to Hombourg on the Heights. Like the last-named lady, she is daily + wheeled to her place in the Black and Red temple, and plays away for eight + or nine hours with wonderful spirit and perseverance. She has with her a + <i>suite</i> of eight domestics; and when she wins (which is not often), + on returning to her hotel at night, she presents each member of her + retinue with—twopence! "not," as she naively avows, "from a feeling + of generosity, but to propitiate Fortune." When she loses, none of them, + save the man who wheels her home, get anything but hard words from her; + and he, happy fellow, receives a donation of six kreutzers. She does not + curse the croupiers loudly for her bad luck, like her contemporary, the + once lovely Russian Ambassadress; but, being very far advanced in years, + and of a tender disposition, sheds tears over her misfortunes, resting her + chin on the edge of the table. An edifying sight is this venerable dame, + bearing an exalted title, as she mopes and mouths over her varying luck, + missing her stake twice out of three times, when she fain would push it + with her rake into some particular section of the table! She is very + intimate with one or two antediluvian diplomatists and warriors, who are + here striving to bolster themselves up for another year with the waters, + and may be heard crowing out lamentations over her fatal passion for play, + interspersed with bits of moss-grown scandal, disinterred from the social + ruins of an age long past: Radetzky, Wratislaw (le beau sabreur), the two + Schwarzenbergs (he of Leipsic, and the former Prime Minister), Paul + Eszterhazy, Wrangel, and Blucher were friends of her youth; judging from + her appearance, one would not be surprised to hear that she had received a + "poulet" from Baron Trenck, or played whist with Maria Theresa. She has + outlived all human friendships or affections, and exists only for the + chink of the gold as it jingles on the gaming table. I cannot help + fancying that her last words will be "Rien ne va plus!" She is a great and + convincing moral, if one but interpret her rightly.'(83) + </p> + <p> + (83) Daily Telegraph, Aug. 15, 1868. + </p> + <p> + The doom of the German gaming houses seems to be settled. They will all be + closed in 1872, as appears by the following announcement:— + </p> + <p> + 'The Prussian government, not having been able to obtain from the lessees + of the gaming tables at Wiesbaden, Ems, and Hombourg their consent to + their cancelling of their contracts, has resolved to terminate their + privileges by a legislative measure. It has presented a bill to the + Chamber of Deputies at Berlin, fixing the year 1872 as the limit to the + existence of these establishments, and even authorizing the government to + suppress them at an earlier period by a royal ordinance. No indemnity is + to be allowed to the persons holding concessions.'—<i>Feb</i>. 23, + 1868. + </p> + <p> + A London newspaper defends this measure in a very successful manner. + </p> + <p> + 'Prussia has declared her purpose to eradicate from the territories + subject to her increased sway, and from others recognizing her influence, + the disgrace of the <i>Rouge et Noir</i> and the Roulette table as public + institutions. Her reasoning is to the effect that they bring scandal upon + Germany; that they associate with the names of its favourite + watering-places the appellation of "hells;" that they attract swindlers + and adventurers of every degree; and that they have for many a year past + been held up to the opprobrium of Europe. For why should this practice be + a lawful practice of Germany and of no other country in Europe? Why not in + France, in Spain, in Italy, in the Northern States, in Great Britain + itself? Let us not give to this last proposition more importance than it + is worth. The German watering-places are places of leisure, of trifling, + of <i>ennui</i>. That is why, originally, they were selected as + encampments by the tribes which fatten upon hazards. But there was another + reason: they brought in welcome revenues to needy princes. Even now, in + view of the contemplated expurgation, Monaco is named, with Geneva, as + successor to the perishing glories of Hombourg, Wiesbaden, and the great + Baden itself. That is to say, the gamblers, or, rather, the professionals + who live upon the gambling propensities of others, having received from + Prussia and her friends notice to quit, are in search of new lodgings. + </p> + <p> + 'The question is, they being determined, and the accommodation being not + less certainly ready for them than the sea is for the tribute of a river, + will the reform designed be a really progressive step in the civilization + of Europe? Prussia says—decidedly so; because it will demolish an + infamous privilege. She affirms that an institution which might have been + excusable under a landgrave, with a few thousand acres of territory, is + inconsistent with the dignity and, to quote continental phraseology, the + mission of a first-class state. Here again the reasoning is + incontrovertible. Of one other thing, moreover, we may feel perfectly + sure, that Prussia having determined to suppress these centres and sources + of corruption, they will gradually disappear from Europe. Concede to them + a temporary breathing-time at Monaco; the time left for even a nominally + independent existence to Monaco is short: imagine that they find a fresh + outlet at Geneva; Prussia will have represented the public opinion of the + age, against which not even the Republicanism of Switzerland can long make + a successful stand. Upon the whole, history can never blame Prussia for + such a use either of her conquests or her influence. Say what you will, + gambling is an indulgence blushed over in England; abroad, practised as a + little luxury in dissipation, it may be pardoned as venial; habitually, + however, it is a leprosy. And as it is by habitual gamblers that these + haunts are made to flourish, this alone should reconcile the world of + tourists to a deprivation which for them must be slight; while to the + class they imitate, without equalling, it will be the prohibition of an + abominable habit.'(84) + </p> + <p> + (84) Extracts from a 'leader' in the Standard of Sept. 4, 1869. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. GAMBLING IN THE UNITED STATES. + </h2> + <p> + It is not surprising that a people so intensely speculative, excitable, + and eager as the Americans, should be desperately addicted to gambling. + Indeed, the spirit of gambling has incessantly pervaded all their + operations, political, commercial, and social.(85) It is but one of the + manifestations of that thorough license arrogated to itself by the nation, + finding its true expression in the American maxim recorded by Mr Hepworth + Dixon, so coarsely worded, but so significant,—'Every man has a + right to do what he <i>DAMNED</i> pleases.'(86) + </p> + <p> + (85) In the American correspondence of the Morning Advertiser, Feb. 6, + 1868, the writer says:—'It was only yesterday (Jan. 24) that an + eminent American merchant of this city (New York) said, in referring to + the state of affairs—"we are socially, politically, and commercially + demoralized."' + </p> + <p> + (86) 'Spiritual Wives.'—A work the extraordinary disclosures of + which tend to show that a similar spirit, destined, perhaps, to bring + about the greatest social changes, is gaining ground elsewhere than in + America. + </p> + <p> + Although laws similar to those of England are enacted in America against + gambling, it may be said to exist everywhere, but, of course, to the + greatest extent in the vicinity of the fashionable quarters of the large + cities. In New York there is scarcely a street without its gambling house—'private,' + of course, but well known to those who indulge in the vice. The ordinary + public game is Faro. + </p> + <p> + High and low, rich and poor, are perfectly suited in their requirements; + whilst at some places the stakes are unlimited, at others they must not + exceed one dollar, and a player may wager as low as five cents, or + twopence-halfpenny. These are for the accommodation of the very poorest + workmen, discharged soldiers, broken-down gamblers, and street-boys. + </p> + <p> + 'I think,' says a recent writer,(87) 'of all the street-boys in the world, + those of New York are the most precocious. I have seen a shoe-black, about + three feet high, walk up to the table or 'Bank,' as it is generally + called, and stake his money (five cents) with the air of a young + spendthrift to whom "money is no object."' + </p> + <p> + (87) 'St James's Magazine,' Sept., 1867. + </p> + <p> + The chief gambling houses of New York were established by men who are + American celebrities, and among these the most prominent have been Pat + Hern and John Morrissey. + </p> + <p> + PAT HERN. + </p> + <p> + Some years ago this celebrated Irishman kept up a splendid establishment + in Broadway, near Hauston Street. At that time his house was the centre of + attraction towards which 'all the world' gravitated, and did the thing + right grandly—combining the Apicius with the Beau Nash or Brummell. + He was profusely lavish with his wines and exuberant in his suppers; and + it was generally said that the game in action there, <i>Faro</i>, was + played in all fairness. Pat Hern was a man of jovial disposition and + genial wit, and would have adorned a better position. During the + trout-fishing season he used to visit a well-known place called Islip in + Long Island, much frequented by gentlemen devoted to angling and fond of + good living. + </p> + <p> + At Islip the equally renowned Oby Snedecker kept the tavern which was the + resort of Pat Hern and his companions. It had attached to it a stream and + lake to which the gentlemen who had the privilege of the house were + admitted. Mrs Obadiah Snedecker, the buxom wife of 'mine host,' was famous + for the exquisite way in which she cooked veal cutlets. There were two + niggers in the establishment, named Steve and Dick, who accompanied the + gentlemen in their angling excursions, amusing them with their stolidity + and the enormous quantity of gin they could imbibe without being more than + normally fuddled. + </p> + <p> + After fishing, the gentlemen used to take to gambling at the usual French + games; but here Pat Hern appeared not in the character of gambler, but as + a private gentleman. He was always well received by the visitors, and + caused them many a hearty laugh with his overflowing humour. He died about + nine years ago, I think tolerably well off. + </p> + <p> + JOHN MORRISSEY. + </p> + <p> + John Morrissey was originally a prize-fighter,—having fought with + Heenan and also with Yankee Sullivan, and lived by teaching the young + Americans the noble art of self-defence. He afterwards set up a 'Bar,' or + public-house, and over this he established a small Faro bank, which he + enlarged and improved by degrees until it became well known, and was very + much frequented by the gamblers of New York. He is now, I believe, a + member of Congress for that city, and immensely wealthy. Not content with + his successful gambling operations in New York, he has opened a splendid + establishment at the fashionable summer resort of Saratoga, consisting of + an immense hotel, ballrooms, and gambling-rooms, and is said to have a + profit of two millions of dollars (about L400,000) during the season.(88) + He is mentioned as one of those who pay the most income tax. + </p> + <p> + (88) <i>Ubi supra</i>. + </p> + <p> + Morrissey's gambling house is in Union Square, and is said to be + magnificently furnished and distinguished by the most princely + hospitality. At all hours of the day or night tables are laid out with + every description of refreshment, to which all who visit the place are + welcome. + </p> + <p> + This is a remarkable feature in the American system. At all 'Bars,' or + public-houses, you find provided, free of charge, supplies of cheese, + biscuits, &c., and sometimes even some savoury soup—which are + often resorted to by those unfortunates who are 'clean broke' or 'used + up,' with little else to assuage the pangs of hunger but the everlasting + quid of tobacco, furiously 'chawed.' Another generous feature of the + American system is that the bar-man does not measure out to you, after our + stingy fashion, what drink you may require, but hands you the tumbler and + bottle to help yourself, unless in the case of made drinks, such as + 'mint-juleps,' &c. However, you must drink your liquor at a gulp, + after the Yankee fashion; for if you take a sip and turn your back to the + counter, your glass will disappear—as it is not customary to have + glasses standing about. Morrissey's wines are very good, and always + supplied in abundance. + </p> + <p> + Almost every game of chance is played at this establishment, and the + stakes are very high and unlimited. The visitors are the wealthy and wild + young men of New York, and occasionally a Southern-looking man who, + perhaps, has saved some of his property, being still the same professional + gambler; for it may be affirmed that all the Southern planters were + addicted to gambling. + </p> + <p> + 'The same flocks of well-dressed and fashionable-looking men of all ages + pass in and out all through the day and night; tens of thousands of + dollars are lost and won; the "click" of the markers never ceases; all + speak in a low tone; everything has a serious, quiet appearance. The + dealers seem to know every one, and nod familiarly to all who approach + their tables. John Morrissey is occasionally to be seen, walking through + the rooms, apparently a disinterested spectator. He is a short, thick-set + man, of about 40 years, dark complexion, and wears a long beard, dresses + in a slovenly manner, and walks with a swagger. Now and then he approaches + the table; makes a few bets, and is then lost in the crowd.'(89) + </p> + <p> + (89) <i>Ubi supra</i>. + </p> + <p> + OTHER GAMING-HOUSES. + </p> + <p> + The same writer furnishes other very interesting facts. + </p> + <p> + 'After the opera-house and theatres are closed, Morrissey's gambling house + becomes very full; in fact, the best time to see it to advantage is about + two or three o'clock in the morning. + </p> + <p> + 'A little below the New York Hotel, and on the opposite side of Broadway, + there is a gambling house, not quite so "respectable" as the one I have + been describing; here the stakes are not below a dollar, and not more than + twenty-five; there are no refreshments gratis, and the rooms are not so + well furnished. The men to be seen gaming in this house differ but very + little in appearance from those in Union Square, but there seems to be + less discipline amongst them, and more noise and confusion. It is a rare + thing to see an intoxicated man in a gambling house; the door-keepers are + very particular as to whom they admit, and any disturbance which might + call for the interference of the police would be ruinous to their + business. The police are undoubtedly aware of everything going on in these + houses, and do not interfere as long as everything goes on quietly. + </p> + <p> + 'Now and then a clerk spends his employer's money, and if it is discovered + where he lost it then a <i>RAID</i> is made by the police in force, the + tables and all the gaming paraphernalia are carried off, and the + proprietors heavily fined. + </p> + <p> + 'I witnessed a case of this: a young man in the employment of a commission + merchant appropriated a large sum of his employer's money, and lost it at + Faro. He was arrested, and confessed what he had done with it. The police + at once proceeded to the house where the Faro bank was kept, and the + scene, when it was known that the police were below, beggars description. + The tables were upset, and notes and markers were flying about in all + directions. Men, sprawling and scrambling on the floor, fought with one + another for whatever they could seize; then the police entered and cleared + the house, having arrested the owners of the bank. This was in one of the + lowest gaming houses, where "skin" games (cheating games) are practised. + </p> + <p> + 'In the gambling house in Broadway, near the New York Hotel, I have often + noticed a young man, apparently of some 18 or 20 years of age, fashionably + dressed, and of prepossessing appearance. On some days he would play very + high, and seemed to have most remarkable luck; but he always played with + the air of an old gamester, seeming careless as to whether he won or lost. + One night he lost so heavily that he attracted the notice of all the + players; every stake of his was swept away; and he still played on until + his last dollar was lost; then he quietly walked out, whistling a popular + Yankee air. He was there next day <i>MINUS</i> his great-coat and watch + and chain—he lost again, went out and returned in his shirt sleeves, + having pawned his coat, studs, and everything he could with decency divest + himself of. He lost everything; and when I next saw him he was selling + newspapers in front of the post-office! + </p> + <p> + 'The mania for gambling is a most singular one. I have known a man to win + a thousand dollars in a few hours, and yet he would not spend a dollar to + get a dinner, but when he felt hungry he went to a baker's shop and bought + a loaf of bread, and that same night lost all his money at Roulette. + </p> + <p> + 'There is another house on the corner of Centre and Grand Streets, open + during night and day. The stakes here are the same as in the one in + Broadway, and the people who play are very much the same—in fact, + the same faces are constantly to be met with in all the gambling houses, + from the highest to the lowest. When a gambler has but small capital, he + will go to a small house, where small stakes are admissible. I saw a man + win 50 or 60 dollars at this place, and then hand in his checks (markers) + to be cashed. The dealer handed him the money, and said—"Now you go + off, straight away to Union Square, and pay away all you have won from + here to John Morrissey. This is the way with all of them; they never come + here until they are dead broke, and have only a dirty dollar or so to + risk." There was some truth in what he said, but notwithstanding he + managed to keep the bank going on. There is a great temptation to a man + who has won a sum of money at a small gambling house to go to a higher + one, as he may then, at a single stake, win as much as he could possibly + win if he had a run of luck in a dozen stakes at the smaller bank. + </p> + <p> + 'In No. 102, in the Bowery, there is one of the lowest of the gaming + houses I have seen in the Empire city. The proprietor is an Irishman; he + employs three men as dealers, and they relieve one another every four + hours during the day and night. The stakes here are of the lowest, and the + people to be seen here of the roughest to be found in the city. The game + is Faro, as elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + 'In this place I met an old friend with whom I had served in the army of + Northern Virginia, under General Lee, in his Virginia campaign of 1865. He + told me he had been in New York since the end of the war, and lived a very + uncertain sort of life. Whatever money he could earn he spent at the + gaming table. Sometimes he had a run of luck, and whilst it lasted he + dressed well, and stopped at the most expensive hotels. One night he would + sleep at the Astor House; and perhaps the next night he would not be able + to pay for his bed, and would stay all night in the parks. Strange to say, + hundreds live in this way, which is vulgarly called "scratching" in New + York. I afterwards saw my friend driving an omnibus; and when I could + speak to him, I found that he was still attending the banks with every + cent he earned! + </p> + <p> + 'It is amusing to watch the proprietor of this place at the Bowery; he has + a joke for every one he sees. "Hallo, old sport!" he cries, "come and try + your luck—you look lucky this evening; and if you make a good run + you may sport a gold watch and chain, and a velvet vest, like myself." + Then to another, "Young clear-the-way, you look down at the mouth + to-night! Come along and have a turn—and never mind your supper + tonight." In this way the days and nights are passed in those gambling + houses.' + </p> + <p> + There is also in New York an association for the prevention of gambling. + The society employs detectives to visit the gambling saloons, and procure + evidence for the suppression of the establishments. + </p> + <p> + It is the business of these agents also to ascertain the names and + occupations of those who frequent the gambling rooms, and a list of the + persons thus detected is sent periodically to the subscribers to the + society, that they may know who are the persons wasting their money, or + perhaps the money of their employers, in gambling. Many large houses of + business subscribe. + </p> + <p> + In the month of August the society's agents detected among the gamblers 68 + clerks of mercantile houses, and in the previous six months reported 623 + cases. It is stated that there are in New York and Brooklyn 1017 policy + and lottery offices, and 163 Faro banks, and that their net annual gains + are not less than 36,000,000 dollars. + </p> + <p> + AMERICAN GAMBLERS. + </p> + <p> + At American gambling houses 'it is very easy,' says the same writer, 'to + distinguish the professional from the ordinary gambler. The latter has a + nervous expression about the mouth, and an intense gaze upon the cards, + and altogether a very serious nervous appearance; while the professional + plays in a very quiet manner, and seems to care but little how the game + goes; and his desire to appear as if the game was new to him is almost + certain to expose him to those who know the manoeuvre. + </p> + <p> + 'Previous to the struggle for independence in the South, there were many + hundreds of gamblers scattered through the Southern towns, and the + Mississippi steam-boats used to abound with them. In the South, a gambler + was regarded as outside the pale of society, and classed with the + slave-trader, who was looked upon with loathing by the very same men who + traded with him; such was the inconsistency of public opinion. + </p> + <p> + 'The American gambler differs from his European brethren in many respects. + He is very frequently, in education, appearance, and manner, a gentleman, + and if his private history were known, it would be found that he was of + good birth, and was at one time possessed of considerable fortune; but + having lost all at the gambling table, he gradually came down to the level + of those who proved his ruin, and having no profession nor means of + livelihood left to him, he adopted their mode of life. + </p> + <p> + 'On one occasion I met a brother of a Southern General (very famous in the + late war and still a wealthy man) who, at one time, was one of the richest + planters in the State of Louisiana, and is now acting as an agent for a + set of gamblers to their gaming houses. After losing everything he had, he + became a croupier to a gambling house in New Orleans, and afterwards plied + his trade on the Mississippi for some years; then he went into Mexico, and + finally to New York, where he opened a house on his own account. + </p> + <p> + 'During the war he speculated in "greenbacks," and lost all his ill-gotten + gains, and had to descend to his present position.'(90) + </p> + <p> + (90) <i>Ubi supra</i>. + </p> + <p> + AMERICAN GAMES:—DRAW POKER, OR BLUFF. + </p> + <p> + Draw Poker, or Bluff, is a favourite game with the Americans. It is played + by any number of persons, from four to seven; four, five, or six players + are preferred; seven are only engaged where a party of friends consists of + that number, and all require to be equally amused. + </p> + <p> + The deal is usually determined by fixing on a card, and dealing round, + face upwards, until such card appears. The dealer then places in the pool + an <i>Ante</i>, or certain agreed-upon sum, and proceeds to deal to each + person five cards. The player next to the dealer, before looking at his + cards, has the option of staking a certain sum. This is called the + 'blind,' and makes him the elder hand, or last player; and when his turn + comes round he can, by giving up his first stake, withdraw from the game, + or, if he pleases, by making good any sum staked by a previous player, + raise the stakes to any sum he pleases, provided, of course, that no limit + has been fixed before sitting down. The privilege of raising or doubling + on the <i>blind</i> may be exercised by any one round the table, provided + he has not looked at his cards. If no intervening player has met the + original <i>blind</i>, that is, staked double the sum, this must be done + by all who wish to play, and, of course, must be made good by the last + player. Each person then looks at his cards, and decides on his plan of + action. It should be understood that every one, except the <i>blind</i>, + may look at his cards in his turn before deciding if he will meet the <i>blind</i>. + Before speaking of the manner of drawing it will be better to give the + relative value of the hands, which will much simplify the matter, and make + it more easily understood. Thus: four aces are the best cards that can be + held; four kings next, and so on, down to four twos; four cards of the + same value beating anything except four of a higher denomination. + </p> + <p> + The next best hand is called a <i>full</i>, and is made up thus:—three + aces and a pair of sixes; three nines and pair of twos; in fact, any three + cards of the same value and a pair constitute a full hand, and can only be + beaten by a full hand of a higher denomination or fours. The next hand + that takes precedence is a <i>flush</i>, or five cards of one colour; + after this comes <i>threes</i>, vis., three cards all of the same value, + say, three aces, kings, queens, and so on, downwards (the two remaining, + being odd ones, are of no value). The next is a sequence, as five + following cards, for instance, nine, eight, seven, six, five; it is not + necessary they should all be of one colour, as this, of course, would + constitute a <i>flush</i>. Next come two pairs, say, two knaves and two + fives; and, last of all, is a single pair of cards. Having explained the + value of the hands, let us show how you endeavour to get them. The bets + having been made, and the <i>blind</i> made good or abandoned, or given + up, the dealer proceeds to ask each player in his turn how many cards he + wants; and here begins the first study of the game—<i>TO KNOW WHAT + TO THROW AWAY</i> in order to get in others to make the hand better if + possible. Your hand may, of course, be so utterly bad as to make it + necessary to throw away the whole five and draw five new ones; this is not + very likely, as few players will put a stake in the pool unless, on + looking first at his cards, he has seen something, say a pair, to start + with. We will suppose he has this, and, of course, he throws away three + cards, and draws three in place of them. To describe the proper way to + fill up a hand is impossible; we can but give an instance here and there + to show the varying interest which attaches to the game;—thus, you + may have threes in the original hand dealt; some players will throw away + the two odd cards and draw two more, to try and make the hand fours, or, + at least, a full; while a player knowing that his is not a very good hand, + will endeavour to <i>DECEIVE</i> the rest by standing out, that is, not + taking any fresh cards; of course all round the table make remarks as to + what he can possibly have. + </p> + <p> + It is usually taken to be a sequence, as this requires no drawing, if + originally dealt. The same remark applies to a <i>flush;</i> two pairs or + four to a flush, of course, require one card to make them into good hands, + a player being only entitled to draw once; and the hands being made good, + the real and exciting part of the game begins. Each one endeavours to keep + his real position a secret from his neighbours. Some put on a look of calm + indifference, and try to seem self-possessed; some will grin and talk all + sorts of nonsense; some will utter sly bits of <i>badinage;</i> while + others will study intently their cards, or gaze at the ceiling—all + which is done merely to distract attention, or to conceal the feelings, as + the chance of success or failure be for or against; and then begins the + betting or gambling part of the game. The player next the <i>blind</i> is + the first to declare his bet; in which, of course, he is entirely governed + by circumstances. Some, being the first to bet, and having a very good + card indeed, will 'bet small,' in hopes that some one else will see it, + and 'go better,' that is, bet more, so that when it comes round to his + turn again he may see all previous bets, and bet as much higher as he + thinks proper; for it must be borne in mind that a player's first bet does + not preclude him from coming in again if his first bet has been raised + upon by any player round the table in his turn; but if once the original + bet goes round and comes to the <i>blind</i>, or last player, without any + one going better, the game is closed, and it becomes a <i>show of hands</i>, + to see who takes the pool and all the bets. This does not often happen, as + there is usually some one round the table to raise it; but my informant + has seen it occur, and has been highly amused at watching the countenance + of the expectant <i>small better</i> at having to show a fine hand for a + mere trifle. Some players will, in order to conceal their method of play, + occasionally throw their cards among the waste ones and abandon their + stakes; this is not often done; but it sometimes happens where the stakes + have been small, or the player has been <i>trying a bluff</i>, and has + found some one whom he could not <i>bluff off</i>. The foregoing is a + concise account of the game, as played in America, where it is of + universal interest, and exercises great fascination. It is often played by + parties of friends who meet regularly for the purpose, and instances can + be found where fortunes have been lost in a night. + </p> + <p> + The game of Pokers differs from the one just described, in so far that the + players receive only the original five cards dealt without drawing fresh + ones, and must either play or refuse on them. In this game, as there are + more cards, as many as ten persons can play. + </p> + <p> + LANSQUENET.(91) + </p> + <p> + Lansquenet is much played by the Americans, and is one of the most + exciting games in vogue. + </p> + <p> + The dealer or banker stakes a certain sum, and this must be met by the + nearest to the dealer first, and so on. When the stake is met, the dealer + turns up two cards, one to the right,—the latter for himself, the + former for the table or the players. He then keeps on turning up the cards + until either of the cards is matched, which constitutes the winning,—as, + for instance, suppose the five of diamonds is his card, then should the + five of any other suit turn up, he wins. If he loses, then the next player + on the left becomes banker and proceeds in the same way. + </p> + <p> + (91) This name is derived from the German '<i>landsknecht</i>' ('valet of + the fief'), applied to a mercenary soldier. + </p> + <p> + When the dealer's card turns up, he may take the stake and pass the bank; + or he may allow the stake to remain, whereat of course it becomes doubled + if met. He can continue thus as long as the cards turn up in his favour—having + the option at any moment of giving up the bank and retiring for that time. + If he does that, the player to whom he passes the bank has the option of + continuing it at the same amount at which it was left. The pool may be + made up by contributions of all the players in certain proportions. The + terms used respecting the standing of the stake are, 'I'll see' (<i>a moi + le tout)</i> and <i>Je tiens</i>. When <i>jumelle</i> (twins), or the + turning up of similar cards on both sides, occurs, then the dealer takes + half the stake. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes there is a run of several consecutive winnings; but on one + occasion, on board one of the Cunard steamers, a banker at the game turned + up in his own favour I think no less than eighteen times. The original + stake was only six-pence; but had each stake been met as won, the final + doubling would have amounted to the immense sum of L3,236 16<i>s</i>.! + This will appear by the following scheme:— + </p> + <p> + L s. d. L s. d. 1st turn up 0 0 6 10th turn up 12 16 0 2nd,, 0 1 0 11th,, + 25 12 0 3rd,, 0 2 0 12th,, 51 4 0 4th,, 0 4 0 13th,, 102 8 0 5th,, 0 8 0 + 14th,, 204 16 0 6th,, 0 16 0 15th,, 409 12 0 7th,, 1 12 0 16th,, 819 4 0 + 8th,, 3 4 0 17th,, 1,618 8 0 9th,, 6 8 0 18th,, 3,236 16 0 + </p> + <p> + In fair play, as this is represented to have been, such a long sequence of + matches must be considered very remarkable, although six or seven is not + unfrequent. + </p> + <p> + Unfortunately, however, there is a very easy means by which card sharpers + manage the thing to perfection. They prepare beforehand a series of a + dozen cards arranged as follows:— + </p> + <p> + 1st Queen 6th Nine 2nd Queen 7th Nine 3rd Ten 8th Ace 4th Seven 9th Eight + 5th Ten 10th Ace + </p> + <p> + Series thus arranged are placed in side pockets outside the waistcoat, + just under the left breast. When the sharper becomes banker he leans + negligently over the table, and in this position his fingers are as close + as possible to the prepared cards, termed <i>portees</i>. At the proper + moment he seizes the cards and places them on the pack. The trick is + rendered very easy by the fact that the card-sharper has his coat buttoned + at the top, so that the lower part of it lies open and permits the + introduction of the hand, which is completely masked. + </p> + <p> + Some sharpers are skilful enough to take up some of the matches already + dealt, which they place in their <i>costieres</i>, or side-pockets above + described, in readiness for their next operation; others keep them + skilfully hidden in their hand, to lay them, at the convenient moment, + upon the pack of cards. By this means, the pack is not augmented.(92) + </p> + <p> + (92) Robert Houdin, 'Les Tricheries des Grecs devoilees.' + </p> + <p> + In France the stakes commence at 5 francs; and it may be easily imagined + how soon vast sums of money may change hands if the players are determined + and reckless. + </p> + <p> + EUCHRE. + </p> + <p> + This is also a game much played in the States. I suppose it is a Yankee + invention, named by one of their learned professors, from the Greek (gr + euceis) (eucheir), meaning 'well in the hand' or 'strong'—a very + appropriate designation of the game, which is as follows:— + </p> + <p> + In this game all the cards are excluded up to the sixes,—seven being + the lowest in the Euchre pack. Five cards are dealt out, after the usual + shuffling and cutting, with a turn-up, or trump. The dealer has the + privilege of discarding one of his cards and taking up the trump—not + showing, however, the one he discards. The Knave is the best card in the + game—a peculiar Yankee 'notion.' The Knave of trumps is called the + Right Bower, and the other Knave of the <i>same colour</i> is the Left + Bower. Hence it appears that the nautical propensity of this great people + is therein represented—'bower' being in fact a sheet anchor. If both + are held, it is evident that the <i>point</i> of the deal is decided—since + it results from taking three tricks out of the five; for, of course, the + trump card appropriated by the dealer will, most probably, secure a trick, + and the two Knaves must necessarily make two. The game may be five or + seven points, as agreed upon. Euchre is rapid and decisive, and, + therefore, eminently American. + </p> + <p> + FLY LOO. + </p> + <p> + Some of the games played by the Americans are peculiar to themselves. For + instance, vast sums of money change hands over Fly Loo, or the attraction + existing between lumps of sugar and adventurous flies! This game is not + without its excitement. The gamblers sit round a table, each with a lump + of sugar before him, and the player upon whose lump a fly first perches + carries off the pool—which is sometimes enormous. + </p> + <p> + They tell an anecdote of a 'cute Yankee, who won invariably and immensely + at the game. There seemed to be a sort of magical or mesmeric attraction + for the flies to his lump. At length it was ascertained that he touched + the lump with his finger, after having smeared it with something that + naturally and irresistibly attracts flies whenever they can get at it. I + am told that this game is also played in England; if so, the parties must + insist upon fresh lumps of sugar, and prevent all touching. + </p> + <p> + The reader will probably ask—what next will gamblers think of + betting on? But I can tell of a still more curious source of gambling + infatuation. In the <i>Oxford Magazine</i>,(93) is the following + statement:— + </p> + <p> + (93) Vol. V. + </p> + <p> + 'A few days ago, as some sprigs of nobility were dining together at a + tavern, they took the following conceit into their heads after dinner. One + of them observing a maggot come from a filbert, which seemed to be + uncommonly large, attempted to get it from his companion, who, not + choosing to let it go, was immediately offered five guineas for it, which + was accepted. He then proposed to run it against any other two maggots + that could be produced at table. Matches were accordingly made, and these + poor reptiles were the means of L500 being won and lost in a few minutes!' + </p> + <p> + THE CRIMES OF AMERICAN GAMBLERS. + </p> + <p> + Suicides, duels, and murders have frequently resulted from gambling here + as elsewhere. Many of the duels in dark rooms originate in disputes at the + gaming table. The combatants rush from play to an upper or adjoining room, + and settle their difference with revolver-shots, often fatal to both. + </p> + <p> + One of these was a serio-comic affair which is perhaps worth relating. Two + players had a gambling dispute, and resolved to settle it in a dark room + with pistols. The door was locked and one of them fired, but missed. On + this the other exclaimed—'Now, you rascal, I'll finish you at my + leisure.' He then began to search for his opponent. Three or four times he + walked stealthily round the room—but all in vain—he could not + find his man; he listened; he could not hear him breathe. What had become + of him? 'Oh!' at length he exclaimed—'Now I've got you, you —— + sneak—here goes!' 'Hold! Hold!' cried a voice from the chimney, + 'Don't fire! I'll pay you anything.—Do take away that —— + pistol.' In effect his adversary held the muzzle of his pistol close to + the seat of honour as the fellow stood stuffed up the chimney! + </p> + <p> + 'You'll pay, will you?' said the former; 'Very well—800 dollars—is + 't a bargain?' + </p> + <p> + 'Yes, yes!' gasped the voice in the chimney. + </p> + <p> + 'Very well,' rejoined the tormentor, 'but just wait a bit; I must have a + voucher. I'll just cut off the bottom of your breeches by way of voucher.' + So saying he pulled out his knife and suited the action to the words. + </p> + <p> + 'Now get down,' he said, 'and out with the money;' which was paid, when + the above-named voucher was returned to the chimney-groper. + </p> + <p> + The town of Vicksburg, on the Mississippi, was formerly notorious as the + rendezvous of all sorts of desperadoes. It was a city of men; you saw no + women, except at night; and never any children. Vicksburg was a sink of + iniquity; and there gambling raged with unrestricted fury. It was always + after touching at Vicksburg that the Mississippi boats became the + well-known scene of gambling—some of the Vicksburghers invariably + getting on board to ply their profession. + </p> + <p> + On one occasion, one of these came on board, and soon induced some of the + passengers to proceed to the upper promenade-deck for gambling. Soon the + stakes increased and a heap of gold was on the table, when a dispute + arose, in the midst of which one of the players placed his hand on the + stake. Thereupon the Vicksburg gambler drew his knife and plunged it into + the hand of the former, with a terrible imprecation. + </p> + <p> + Throughout the Southern States, as before observed, gambling prevailed to + a very great extent, and its results were often deplorable. + </p> + <p> + A planter went to a gambling house, accompanied by one of his negroes, + whom he left at the door to wait his return. Whilst the master was + gambling the slave did the same with another whom he found at the door. + Meanwhile a Mexican came up and stood by looking at the game of the + negroes. By-and-by one of them accused the other of cheating, which was + denied, when the Mexican interposed and told the negro that he saw him + cheat. The latter told the Mexican that he lied—whereupon the + Mexican stabbed him to the heart, killing him on the spot. + </p> + <p> + Soon the negro's master came out, and on being informed of the affair, + turned to the Mexican, saying—'Now, sir, we must settle the matter + between us—my negro's quarrel is mine.' 'Agreed,' said the Mexican; + they entered the house, proceeded to a dark room, fired at each other, and + both were killed. + </p> + <p> + About six and twenty years ago there lived in New York a well-to-do + merchant, of the name of Osborne, who had an only son, who was a partner + in the concern. The young man fell in love with the daughter of a Southern + planter, then on a visit at New York, to whom he engaged himself to be + married, with the perfect consent of all parties concerned. + </p> + <p> + On the return of the planter and his daughter, young Osborne accompanied + them to Mobile. On the very night of their arrival, the planter proposed + to his intended son-in-law to visit the gaming table. They went; Osborne + was unlucky; and after some hours' play lost an immense amount to the + father of his sweetheart. He gave bills, drawn on his house, in payment of + the debt of honour. + </p> + <p> + On the following morning the planter referred to the subject, hinting that + Osborne must be ruined. + </p> + <p> + 'Indeed, I am!' said the young man; 'but the possession of your daughter + will console me for the calamity, which, I doubt not, I shall be able to + make up for by industry and exertion.' + </p> + <p> + 'The possession of <i>MY</i> daughter?' exclaimed the planter; 'do you + think I would marry my daughter to a beggar? No, no, sir, the affair is + ended between you—and I insist upon its being utterly broken off.' + Such was the action of the heartless gambler, rendered callous to all + sentiments of real honour by his debasing pursuit. + </p> + <p> + Young Osborne was equal to the occasion. Summoning all his powers to + manfully bear this additional shock of fate, he calmly replied:— + </p> + <p> + 'So be it, sir, as you wish it. Depend upon it, however, that my bills + will be duly honoured'—and so saying he bowed and departed, without + even wishing to take leave of his betrothed. + </p> + <p> + On returning to New York Osborne immediately disclosed the transaction to + his father, who, in spite of the utter ruin which impended, and the + brutality of the cause of the ruin, resolved to meet the bills when due, + and maintain the honour of his son—whatever might be the + consequences to himself. + </p> + <p> + The bills were paid; the concern was broken up; old Mr Osborne soon died + broken-hearted; and young Osborne went as clerk to some house of business + in Wall Street. + </p> + <p> + A year or so passed away, and one day a lady presented herself at the old + house of Osborne—now no longer theirs—inquiring for young + Osborne. She was directed to his new place of business; being no other + than his betrothed, who loved him as passionately as ever, and to whom her + father had accounted for the non-fulfilment of the engagement in a very + unsatisfactory manner. Of course Osborne could not fail to be delighted at + this proof of her devotedness; the meeting was most affectionate on both + sides; and, with the view of coming to a decision respecting their future + proceedings, they adjourned to an hotel in the vicinity. Here, whilst + seated at a table and in earnest conversation, the young lady's father + rushed in, and instantly shot down Osborne, who expired at his feet. With + a frantic shriek the poor girl fell on the body of her betrothed, and + finding a poniard or a knife concealed in his breast, she seized it, + instantly plunged it into her heart, and was soon a corpse beside her + lover. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. LADY GAMESTRESSES. + </h2> + <p> + The passions of the two sexes are similar in the main; the distinctions + between them result less from nature than from education. Often we meet + with women, especially the literary sort, who seem veritable men, if not + so, as the lawyers say, 'to all intents and purposes;' and often we meet + with men, especially town-dandies, who can only be compared to very + ordinary women. + </p> + <p> + Almost all the ancients had the bad taste to speak ill of women; among the + rest even that delightful old Father 'of the golden mouth,' St + Chrysostom.(94) So that, evidently, Dr Johnson's fierce dictum cannot + apply universally—'Only scoundrels speak ill of women.' + </p> + <p> + (94) Hom. II. + </p> + <p> + Seneca took the part of women, exclaiming:—'By no means believe that + their souls are inferior to ours, or that they are less endowed with the + virtues. As for honour, it is equally great and energetic among them.' + </p> + <p> + A foreign lady was surprised at beholding the equality established between + the men and women at Sparta; whereupon the wife of Leonidas, the King of + Sparta, said to her:—'Do you not know that it is we who bring forth + the men? It is not the fathers, but the mothers, that effectually form the + heart.' + </p> + <p> + Napoleon seems to have formed what may be called a professional estimate + of women. When the demonstrative Madame de Stael asked him—evidently + expecting him to pay her a compliment—'Whom do you think the + greatest woman dead or alive?' Napoleon replied, 'Her, Madame, <i>WHO HAS + BORNE MOST SONS</i>.' Nettled by this sarcastic reply, she returned to the + charge, observing, 'It is said you are not friendly to the sex.' Napoleon + was her match again; 'Madame,' he exclaimed, 'I am passionately fond of my + wife;' and off he walked. Assuredly it would not mend matters in this + world (or the next) if all men were Napoleons and all women de Staels. + </p> + <p> + If we consider the question in other points of view, have there been, + proportionally, fewer celebrated women than illustrious men? fewer great + queens than truly great kings? Compare, on all sides, the means and the + circumstances; count the reigns, and decide. + </p> + <p> + The fact is that this question has been argued only by tyrannical or very + silly men, who found it difficult to get rid of the absurd prejudices + which retain the finest half of human nature in slavery, and condemn it to + obscurity under the pretext that it is essentially corrupted. Towards the + end of the 15th century a certain demented writer attempted to prove that + women do not even deserve the title of reasonable creatures, which in the + original sounds oddly enough, namely, <i>probare nititur mulieres non + homines esse</i>. Another, a very learned Jesuit, endeavoured to + demonstrate that women have no souls! Some say that women surpass us in + wickedness; others, that they are both worse and better than men. + </p> + <p> + That morbid wretch, Alexander Pope, said, 'Every woman is at heart a + rake;' and a recent writer in the <i>Times</i> puts more venom in the + dictum by saying, 'Every woman is (or likes) at heart a rake.' Both these + opinions may be set down as mere claptrap, witty, but vile. + </p> + <p> + But a truce to such insults against those who beautify the earth; <i>THEIR</i> + vices cannot excuse ours. It is we who have depraved them by associating + them with excesses which are repugnant to their delicacy. The contagion, + however, has not affected all of them. Among our 'plebeians,' and even + among nobility, many women remind us of the modesty and courage of those + ancient republican matrons, who, so to speak, founded, the manners and + morals of their country; and among all classes of the community there are + thousands who inspire their husbands with generous impulses in the battle + of life, either by cheering words of comfort, or by that mute eloquence of + duties well fulfilled, which nothing can resist if we are worthy of the + name of men. How many a gambler has been reformed by the tender appeals of + a good and devoted wife. 'Venerable women!' one of them exclaims, 'in + whatever rank Heaven has placed you, receive my homage.' The gentleness of + your souls smooths down the roughness of ours and checks its violence. + Without your virtues what would we be? Without YOU, my dear wife, what + would have become of me? You beheld the beginning and the end of the + gaming fury in me, which I now detest; and it is not to me, but to you + alone, that the victory must be ascribed.'(95) + </p> + <p> + (95) Dusaulx, <i>De la Passion du Jeu</i>. + </p> + <p> + A very pretty anecdote is told of such a wife and a gaming husband. + </p> + <p> + In order to simplify the signs of loss and gain, so as not to be + overburdened with the weight of gold and silver, the French players used + to carry the representation of their fortunes in small boxes, more or less + elegant. A lady (who else could have thought of such a device?), trembling + for the fate of her husband, made him a present of one of these dread + boxes. This little master-piece of conjugal and maternal affection + represented a wife in the attitude of supplication, and weeping children, + seeming to say to their father—<i>THINK OF US!</i>.... + </p> + <p> + It is, therefore, only with the view of avenging good and honourable + women, that I now proceed to speak of those who have disgraced their sex. + </p> + <p> + I have already described a remarkable gamestress—the Persian Queen + Parysatis.(96) + </p> + <p> + (96) Chapter III. + </p> + <p> + There were no gamestresses among the Greeks; and the Roman women were + always too much occupied with their domestic affairs to find time for + play. What will our modern ladies think, when I state that the Emperor + Augustus scarcely wore a garment which had not been woven by his wife, his + sister, or grand-daughters.(97) + </p> + <p> + (97) Veste non temere alia quam domestica usus est, ab uxore et filia + nepotibusque confecta. Suet. in Vita Augusti. + </p> + <p> + Although deeply corrupted under Nero and the sovereigns that resembled + him, the Roman women never gambled among themselves except during the + celebration of the festival of the Bona Dea. This ceremonial, so often + profaned with licentiousness, was not attended by desperate gambling. The + most depraved women abstained from it, even when that mania was at its + height, not only around the Capitol, but even in the remainder of the + Empire. + </p> + <p> + Contemporary authors, who have not spared the Roman ladies, never + reproached them with this vice, which, in modern times, has been + desperately practised by women who in licentiousness vied with Messalina. + </p> + <p> + In France, women who wished to gamble were, at first, obliged to keep the + thing secret; for if it became known they lost caste. In the reign of + Louis XIV., and still more in that of Louis XV., they became bolder, and + the wives of the great engaged in the deepest play in their mansions; but + still a gamestress was always denounced with horror. 'Such women,' says La + Bruyiere, 'make us chaste; they have nothing of the sex but its garments.' + </p> + <p> + By the end of the 18th century, gamestresses became so numerous that they + excited no surprise, especially among the higher classes; and the majority + of them were notorious for unfair play or downright cheating. A stranger + once betted on the game of a lady at a gaming-table, who claimed a stake + although on a losing card. Out of consideration for the distinguished + trickstress, the banker wished to pay the stranger as well; but the latter + with a blush, exclaimed—'Possibly madame won, but as for myself, I + am quite sure that I lost.' + </p> + <p> + But if women cheated at play, they also frequently lost; and were often + reduced to beggary, or to what is far viler, to sacrifice, not only their + own honour, but that of their daughters. + </p> + <p> + Gaming sometimes led to other crimes. The Countess of Schwiechelt, a young + and beautiful lady from Hanover, was much given to gambling, and lost + 50,000 livres at Paris. In order to repair this great loss, she planned + and executed the robbery of a fine coronet of emeralds, the property of + Madame Demidoff. She had made herself acquainted with the place where it + was kept, and at a ball given by its owner the Hanoverian lady contrived + to purloin it. Her youth and rank in life induced many persons to solicit + her pardon; but Buonaparte left her to the punishment to which she was + condemned. This occurred in 1804. + </p> + <p> + In England, too, the practice of gambling was fraught with the worst + consequences to the finest feelings and best qualities of the sex. The + chief danger is very plainly hinted at in the comedy of <i>The Provoked + Husband</i>. + </p> + <p> + <i>Lord Townley</i>.—'Tis not your ill hours that always distract + me, but, as often, the ill company that occasions those hours. + </p> + <p> + <i>Lady Townley</i>.—Sure I don't understand you now, my lord. What + ill company do I keep? + </p> + <p> + <i>Lord Townley</i>.—Why, at best, women that lose their money, and + men that win it; <i>or, perhaps, men that are voluntary bubbles at one + game, in hopes a lady will give them fair play at another.</i> + </p> + <p> + 'The facts,' says Mr Massey,(98) 'confirm the theory. Walpole's Letters + and Mr Jesse's volumes on George Selwyn and his Contemporaries, teem with + allusions to proved or understood cases of matrimonial infidelity; and the + manner in which notorious irregularities were brazened out, shows that the + offenders did not always encounter the universal reprobation of society. + </p> + <p> + (98) History of England, ii. + </p> + <p> + 'Whist was not much in vogue until a later period, and was far too + abstruse and slow to suit the depraved taste which required unadulterated + stimulants.' + </p> + <p> + The ordinary stakes at these mixed assemblies would, at the present day, + be considered high, even at the clubs where a rubber is still allowed. + </p> + <p> + 'The consequences of such gaming were often still more lamentable than + those which usually attended such practices. It would happen that a lady + lost more than she could venture to confess to her husband or father. Her + creditor was probably a fine gentleman, or she became indebted to some + rich admirer for the means of discharging her liabilities. In either + event, the result may be guessed. In the one case, the debt of honour was + liquidated on the old principle of the law-merchant, according to which + there was but one alternative to payment in purse. In the other, there was + likewise but one mode in which the acknowledgment of obligation by a fine + woman would be acceptable to a man of the world.' + </p> + <p> + 'The pernicious consequences of gambling to the nation at large,' says + another writer, 'would have been intolerable enough had they been confined + to the stronger sex; but, unfortunately, the women of the day were equally + carried away by this criminal infatuation. The disgusting influence of + this sordid vice was so disastrous to female minds, that they lost their + fairest distinction and privileges, together with the blushing honours of + modesty. Their high gaming was necessarily accompanied with great losses. + If all their resources, regular and irregular, honest and fraudulent, were + dissipated, still, <i>GAME-DEBTS MUST BE PAID!</i> The cunning winner was + no stranger to the necessities of the case. He hinted at <i>commutations</i>—which + were not to be refused. + </p> + <p> + "So tender these,—if debts crowd fast upon her, She'll pawn her <i>VIRTUE</i> + to preserve her <i>HONOUR!</i>" + </p> + <p> + Thus, the last invaluable jewel of female possession was unavoidably + resigned. That was indeed the forest of all evils, but an evil to which + every deep gamestress was inevitably exposed.' + </p> + <p> + Hogarth strikingly illustrated this phase of womanhood in England, in his + small picture painted for the Earl of Charlemont, and entitled '<i>Picquet, + or Virtue in Danger</i>.' It shows a young lady, who, during a <i>tete-a-tete</i>, + had just lost all her money to a handsome officer of her own age. He is + represented in the act of returning her a handful of bank-bills, with the + hope of exchanging them for another acquisition and more delicate plunder. + On the chimney-piece are a watch-case and a figure of Time, over it this + motto—<i>Nunc</i>, 'Now!' Hogarth has caught his heroine during this + moment of hesitation—this struggle with herself—and has + expressed her feelings with uncommon success. + </p> + <p> + But, indeed, the thing was perfectly understood. In the <i>Guardian</i> + (No. 120) we read:—'All play-debts must be paid in specie or by + equivalent. The "man" that 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. Now + when the female body is once dipped, if the creditor be very importunate, + I leave my reader to consider the consequences.'.... + </p> + <p> + A lady was married when very young to a noble lord, the honour and + ornament of his country, who hoped to preserve her from the contagion of + the times by his own example, and, to say the truth, she had every good + quality that could recommend her to the bosom of a man of discernment and + worth. But, alas! how frail and short are the joys of mortals! One + unfortunate hour ruined his darling visionary scheme of happiness: she was + introduced to an infamous woman, was drawn into play, liked it, and, as + the unavoidable consequence, she was ruined,—having lost more in one + night than would have maintained a hundred useful families for a + twelvemonth; and, dismal to tell, she felt compelled to sacrifice her + virtue to the wretch who had won her money, in order to recover the loss! + From this moment she might well exclaim— + </p> + <p> + 'Farewell the tranquil mind! farewell content!' + </p> + <p> + The affectionate wife, the agreeable companion, the indulgent mistress, + were now no more. In vain she flattered herself that the injury she had + done her husband would for ever remain one of those secrets which can only + be disclosed at the last day. Vengeance pursued her steps, she was lost; + the villain to whom she had sacrificed herself boasted of the favours he + had received. The fatal report was conveyed to her injured husband. He + refused to believe what he thought impossible, but honour obliged him to + call the boaster to the field. The wretch received the challenge with much + more contentment than concern; as he had resolution enough to murder any + man whom he had injured, so he was certain, if he had the good fortune to + conquer his antagonist, he should be looked upon as the head of all modern + bucks and bloods—esteemed by the men as a brave fellow, and admired + by the ladies as a fine gentleman and an agreeable rake. The meeting took + place—the profligate gambler not content with declaring, actually + exulted in his guilt. But his triumph was of short date—a bullet + through the head settled his account with this world. + </p> + <p> + The husband, after a long conflict in his bosom, between justice and + mercy, tenderness and rage, resolved—on what is very seldom + practised by an English husband—to pardon his wife, conceal her + crime, and preserve her, if possible, from utter destruction. But the + gates of mercy were opened in vain—the offender refused to receive + forgiveness because she had offended. The lust of gambling had absorbed + all her other desires. She gave herself up entirely to the infamous + pursuit and its concomitants, whilst her husband sank by a quick decay, + and died the victim of grief and anguish.(99) + </p> + <p> + (99) Doings in London. + </p> + <p> + Of other English gamestresses, however, nothing but the ordinary success + or inconveniences of gambling are recorded. In the year 1776, a lady at + the West End lost one night, at a sitting, 3000 guineas at Loo.(100) + Again, a lady having won a rubber of 20 guineas from a city merchant, the + latter pulled out his pocket-book, and tendered L21 in bank notes. The + fair gamestress, with a disdainful toss of the head, observed—'In + the great houses which I frequent, sir, we always use gold.' 'That may be, + madam,' said the gentleman, 'but, in the <i>LITTLE</i> houses which I + frequent, we always use paper.' + </p> + <p> + (100) Annual Register. + </p> + <p> + Goldsmith mentions an old lady in the country who, having been given over + by her physician, played with the curate of the parish to pass the time + away. Having won all his money, she next proposed playing for the funeral + charges to which she would be liable. Unfortunately, the lady expired just + as she had taken up the game! + </p> + <p> + A lady who was desperately fond of play was confessing herself. The priest + represented, among other arguments against gaming, the great loss of time + it occasioned. 'Ah!' said the lady, 'that is what vexes me—so much + time lost in shuffling the cards!' + </p> + <p> + The celebrated Mrs Crewe seems to have been fond of gaming. Charles James + Fox ranked among her admirers. A gentleman lost a considerable sum to this + lady at play; and being obliged to leave town suddenly, he gave Fox the + money to pay her, begging him to apologize 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, you did, sir?' said Mrs Crewe + good-naturedly, 'then probably he paid me and I forgot it.' + </p> + <p> + This famous Mrs Crewe was the wife of Mr Crewe, who was created, in 1806, + Lord Crewe. She was as remarkable for her accomplishments and her worth as + for her beauty; nevertheless she permitted the admiration of the + profligate Fox, who was in the rank of her admirers, and she was a + gamestress, as were most of the grand ladies in those days. The lines Fox + wrote on her were not exaggerated. They began thus:— + </p> + <p> + 'Where the loveliest expression to features is join'd, By Nature's most + delicate pencil design'd; Where blushes unhidden, and smiles without art, + Speak the softness and feeling that dwell in the heart, Where in manners + enchanting no blemish we trace, But the soul keeps the promise we had from + the face; Sure philosophy, reason, and coldness must prove Defences + unequal to shield us from love.' + </p> + <p> + 'Nearly eight years after the famous election at Westminster, when she + personally canvassed for Fox, Mrs Crewe was still in perfection, with a + son one-and-twenty, who looked like her brother. The form of her face was + exquisitely lovely, her complexion radiant. "I know not," Miss Burney + writes, "any female in her first youth who could bear the comparison. She + <i>uglifies</i> every one near her." + </p> + <p> + 'This charming partisan of Fox had been active in his cause; and her + originality of character, her good-humour, her recklessness of + consequences, made her a capital canvasser.'(101) + </p> + <p> + (101) Wharton, <i>The Queens of Society.</i> + </p> + <p> + THE GAMBLING BARROW-WOMEN. + </p> + <p> + In 1776 the barrow-women of London used generally to carry dice with them, + and children were induced to throw for fruit and nuts. + </p> + <p> + However, the pernicious consequences of the practice beginning to be felt, + the Lord Mayor issued an order to apprehend all such offenders, which + speedily put an end to such street-gambling. At the present day a sort of + roulette is used for the same purpose by the itinerant caterers to the + sweetmeat and fruit-loving little ones. + </p> + <p> + GAMESTRESSES AT BADEN-BADEN. + </p> + <p> + Mrs Trollope has described two specimens of the modern gamestresses at the + German watering-places, one of whom seems to have specially attracted her + notice:— + </p> + <p> + 'There was one of this set,' she says, 'whom I watched, day after day, + during the whole period of our stay, with more interest than, I believe, + was reasonable; for had I studied any other as attentively I might have + found less to lament. + </p> + <p> + 'She was young—certainly not more than twenty-five—and, though + not regularly nor brilliantly handsome, most singularly winning both in + person and demeanour. Her dress was elegant, but peculiarly plain and + simple,—a close white silk bonnet and gauze veil; a quiet-coloured + silk gown, with less of flourish and frill, by half, than any other + person; a delicate little hand which, when ungloved, displayed some + handsome rings; a jewelled watch, of peculiar splendour; and a countenance + expressive of anxious thoughtfulness—must be remembered by many who + were at Baden in August, 1833. They must remember, too, that, enter the + rooms when they would, morning, noon, or night, still they found her + nearly at the same place at the <i>Rouge et Noir</i> table. + </p> + <p> + 'Her husband, who had as unquestionably the air of a gentleman as she had + of a lady, though not always close to her, was never very distant. He did + not play himself, and I fancied, as he hovered near her, that his + countenance expressed anxiety. But he returned her sweet smile, with which + she always met his eye, with an answering smile; and I saw not the + slightest indication that he wished to withdraw her from the table. + </p> + <p> + 'There was an expression in the upper part of her face that my blundering + science would have construed into something very foreign to the propensity + she showed; but there she sat, hour after hour, day after day, not even + allowing the blessed sabbath, that gives rest to all, to bring it to her;—there + she sat, constantly throwing down handfuls of five-franc pieces, and + sometimes drawing them back again, till her young face grew rigid from + weariness, and all the lustre of her eye faded into a glare of vexed + inanity. Alas! alas! is that fair woman a mother? God forbid! + </p> + <p> + 'Another figure at the gaming table, which daily drew our attention, was a + pale, anxious old woman, who seemed no longer to have strength to conceal + her eager agitation under the air of callous indifference, which all + practised players endeavour to assume. She trembled, till her shaking hand + could hardly grasp the instrument with which she pushed or withdrew her + pieces; the dew of agony stood upon her wrinkled brow; yet, hour after + hour, and day after day, she too sat in the enchanted chair. I never saw + age and station in a position so utterly beyond the pale of respect. I was + assured she was a person of rank; and my informant added, but I trust she + was mistaken, that she was an <i>ENGLISH</i> woman.'(102) + </p> + <p> + (102) Belgium and Western Germany, in 1833. + </p> + <p> + GAMING HOUSES KEPT BY LADIES. + </p> + <p> + There is no doubt that during the last half of the last century many + titled ladies not only gambled, but kept gaming houses. There is even + evidence that one of them actually appealed to the House of Lords for + protection against the intrusion of the peace officers into her + establishment in Covent Garden, on the plea of her Peerage! All this is + proved by a curious record found in the Journals of the House of Lords, by + the editor of the <i>Athenaeum</i>. It is as follows:— + </p> + <p> + 'Die Lunae, 29 Aprilis, 1745.—<i>Gaming</i>. A Bill for preventing + the excessive and deceitful use of it having been brought from the + Commons, and proceeded on so far as to be agreed to in a Committee of the + whole House with amendments,—information was given to the House 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; 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. 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 her said gaming house. And + then they were directed to withdraw. And the said instrument was read as + follows:—"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. M. MORDINGTON. + Dated 8th Jan., 1744." + </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> + That such practice continued in vogue is evident from the police + proceedings subsequently taken against + </p> + <p> + THE FAMOUS LADY BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. + </p> + <p> + This notorious gamestress of St James's Square, at the close of the last + century, actually slept with a blunderbuss and a pair of pistols at her + side, to protect her Faro bank. + </p> + <p> + On the 11th of March, 1797, her Ladyship, together with Lady E. Lutterell + and a Mrs Sturt, were convicted at the Marlborough Street Police-court, in + the penalty of L50, for playing at the game of Faro; and Henry Martindale + was convicted in the sum of L200, for keeping the Faro table at Lady + Buckinghamshire's. The witnesses had been servants of her Ladyship, + recently discharged on account of a late extraordinary loss of 500 guineas + from her Ladyship's house, belonging to the Faro bank.(103) + </p> + <p> + (103) The case is reported in the Times of March 13th, 1797. One cannot + help being struck with the appearance of the Times newspaper at that + period—70 years ago. It was printed on one small sheet, about equal + to a single page of the present issue, and contained four pages, two of + which were advertisements, while the others gave only a short summary of + news—no leader at all. + </p> + <p> + In the same year, the croupier at the Countess of Buckinghamshire's one + night announced the unaccountable disappearance of the cash-box of the + Faro bank. All eyes were turned towards her Ladyship. Mrs Concannon said + she once lost a gold snuff-box from the table, while she went to speak to + Lord C—. Another lady said she lost her purse there last 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 Countess of ——. + Unfortunately a discovery of the cloak was made, and when the servant + knocked at the door to demand it, some very valuable lace which it was + trimmed with had been taken off. Some surmised that the lady who stole the + cloak might also have stolen the Faro bank cash-box. + </p> + <p> + Soon after, the same Martindale, who had kept the Faro bank at Lady + Buckinghamshire's, became a bankrupt, and his debts amounted to L328,000, + besides 'debts of honour,' which were struck off to the amount of + L150,000. His failure is said to have been owing to misplaced confidence + in a subordinate, who robbed him of thousands. The first suspicion was + occasioned by his purchasing an estate of L500 a year; but other purchases + followed to a considerable extent; and it was soon discovered that the + Faro bank had been robbed sometimes of 2000 guineas a week! On the 14th of + April, 1798, other arrears, to a large amount, were submitted to, and + rejected by, the Commissioners in Bankruptcy, who declared a first + dividend of one shilling and five-pence in the pound.(104) + </p> + <p> + (104) Seymour Harcourt, <i>Gaming Calendar.</i> + </p> + <p> + This chapter cannot be better concluded than with quoting the <i>Epilogue</i> + of 'The Oxonian in Town,' 1767, humorously painting some of the mischiefs + of gambling, and expressly addressed to the ladies:— + </p> + <p> + 'Lo! next, to my prophetic eye there starts A beauteous gamestress in the + Queen of Hearts. The cards are dealt, the fatal pool is lost, And all her + golden hopes for ever cross'd. Yet still this card-devoted fair I view—Whate'er + her luck, to "<i>honour</i>" ever true. So tender there,—if debts + crowd fast upon her, She'll pawn her "virtue" to preserve her "honour." + Thrice happy were my art, could I foretell, Cards would be soon abjured by + every belle! Yet, I pronounce, who cherish still the vice, And the pale + vigils keep of cards and dice—'Twill in their charms sad havoc make, + ye fair! Which "rouge" in vain shall labour to repair. Beauties will grow + mere hags, toasts wither'd jades, Frightful and ugly as—the <i>QUEEN + OF SPADES</i>.' + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. GAMBLING POETS, SAVANTS, PHILOSOPHERS, WITS, AND STATESMEN. + </h2> + <p> + Perhaps the stern moralist who may have turned over these pages has + frowned at the facts of the preceding chapter. If so, I know not what he + will do at those which I am about to record. + </p> + <p> + If it may be said that gamesters must be madmen, or rogues, how has it + come to pass that men of genius, talent, and virtue withal, have been + gamesters? + </p> + <p> + Men of genius, 'gifted men,' as they are called, are much to be pitied. + One of them has said—'Oh! if my pillow could reveal my sufferings + last night!' His was true grief—for it had no witness.(105) The + endowments of this nature of ours are so strangely mixed—the events + of our lives are so unexpectedly ruled, that one might almost prefer to + have been fashioned after those imaginary beings who act so <i>CONSISTENTLY</i> + in the nursery tales and other figments. Most men seem to have a double + soul; and in your men of genius—your celebrities—the battle + between the two seems like the tremendous conflict so grandly (and + horribly) described by Milton. Who loved his country more than Cato? Who + cared more for his country's honour? And yet Cato was not only unable to + resist the soft impeachments of alcohol— + </p> + <p> + Narratur et prisci Catonis Saepe mero caluisse virtus— + </p> + <p> + but he was also a dice-player, a gambler.(106) + </p> + <p> + (105) Ille dolet vere qui sine teste dolet. Martial, lib. I. + </p> + <p> + (106) Plutarch, <i>Cato.</i> + </p> + <p> + Julius Caesar did not drink; but what a profligate he was! And I have no + doubt that he was a gambler: it is certain that he got rid of millions + nobody knew how. + </p> + <p> + I believe, however, that the following is an undeniable fact. You may find + suspicious gamesters in every rank of life, but among men of genius you + will generally, if not always, find only victims resigned to the caprices + of fortune. The professions which imply the greatest enthusiasm naturally + furnish the greater number of gamesters. Thus, perhaps, we may name ten + poet-gamesters to one savant or philosopher who deserved the title or + infamy. + </p> + <p> + Coquillart, a poet of the 15th century, famous for his satirical verses + against women, died of grief after having ruined himself by gaming. The + great painter Guido—and a painter is certainly a poet—was + another example. By nature gentle and honourable, he might have been the + most fortunate of men if the demon of gambling had not poisoned his + existence, the end of which was truly wretched. + </p> + <p> + Rotrou, the acknowledged master of Corneille, hurried his poetical + effusions in order to raise money for gambling. This man of genius was but + a spoilt child in the matter of play. He once received two or three + hundred <i>louis</i>, and mistrusting himself, went and hid them under + some vine-branches, in order not to gamble all away at once. Vain + precaution! On the following night his bag was empty. + </p> + <p> + The poet Voiture was the delight of his contemporaries, conspicuous as he + was for the most exquisite polish and inexhaustible wit; but he was also + one of the most desperate gamesters of his time. Like Rotrou, he + mistrusted his folly, and sometimes refrained. 'I have discovered,' he + once wrote to a friend, 'as well as Aristotle, that there is no beatitude + in play; and in fact I have given over gambling; it is now seven months + since I played—which is very important news, and which I forgot to + tell you.' He would have died rich had he always refrained. His relapses + were terrible; one night he lost fifteen hundred pistoles (about L750). + </p> + <p> + The list of foreign poets ruined by gambling might be extended; whilst, on + the other hand, it is impossible, I believe, to quote a single instance of + the kind among the poets of England,—perhaps because very few of + them had anything to lose. The reader will probably remember Dr Johnson's + exclamation on hearing of the large debt left unpaid by poor Goldsmith at + his death—'Was ever poet so trusted before!'... + </p> + <p> + The great philosophers Montaigne and Descartes, seduced at an early age by + the allurements of gambling, managed at length to overcome the evil, + presenting examples of reformation—which proves that this mania is + not absolutely incurable. Descartes became a gamester in his seventeenth + year; but it is said that the combinations of cards, or the doctrine of + probabilities, interested him more than his winnings.(107) + </p> + <p> + (107) Hist. des Philos. Modernes: <i>Descartes</i>. + </p> + <p> + The celebrated Cardan, one of the most universal and most eccentric + geniuses of his age, declares in his autobiography, that the rage for + gambling long entailed upon him the loss of reputation and fortune, and + that it retarded his progress in the sciences. 'Nothing,' says he, 'could + justify me, unless it was that my love of gaming was less than my horror + of privation.' A very bad excuse, indeed; but Cardan reformed and ceased + to be a gambler. + </p> + <p> + Three of the greatest geniuses of England—Lords Halifax, Anglesey, + and Shaftesbury—were gamblers; and Locke tells a very funny story + about one of their gambling bouts. This philosopher, who neglected + nothing, however eccentric, that had any relation to the working of the + human understanding, happened to be present while my Lords Halifax, + Anglesey, and Shaftesbury were playing, and had the patience to write + down, word for word, all their discordant utterances during the phases of + the game; the result being a dialogue of speakers who only used + exclamations—all talking in chorus, but more to themselves than to + each other. Lord Anglesey observing Locke's occupation, asked him what he + was writing. 'My Lord,' replied Locke, 'I am anxious not to lose anything + you utter.' This irony made them all blush, and put an end to the game. + </p> + <p> + M. Sallo, Counsellor to the Parliament of Paris, died, says Vigneul de + Marville, of a disease to which the children of the Muses are rarely + subject, and for which we find no remedy in Hippocrates and Galen;—he + died of a lingering disease after having lost 100,000 crowns at the gaming + table—all he possessed. + </p> + <p> + By way of diversion to his cankering grief, he started the well-known <i>Journal + des Savans</i>, but lived to write only 13 sheets of it, for he was + wounded to the death.(108) + </p> + <p> + (108) Melanges, d'Hist. et de Litt. i. + </p> + <p> + The physician Paschasius Justus was a deplorable instance of an + incorrigible gambler. This otherwise most excellent and learned man having + passed three-fourths of his life in a continual struggle with vice, at + length resolved to cure himself of the disease by occupying his mind with + a work which might be useful to his contemporaries and posterity.(109) He + began his book, but still he gamed; he finished it, but the evil was still + in him. 'I have lost everything but God!' he exclaimed. He prayed for + delivery from his soul's disease;(110) but his prayer was not heard; he + died like any gambler—more wretched than reformed. + </p> + <p> + (109) 'De Alea, sive de curanda in pecuniam cupiditate,' pub. in 1560. + </p> + <p> + (110) Illum animi morbum, ut Deus tolleret, serio et frequenter optavit. + </p> + <p> + M. Dusaulx, author of a work on Gaming, exclaims therein—'I have + gambled like you, Paschasius, perhaps with greater fury. Like you I write + against gaming. Can I say that I am stronger than you, in more critical + circumstances?'(111) + </p> + <p> + (111) La Passion du Jeu. + </p> + <p> + What, then, is that mania which can be overcome neither by the love of + glory nor the study of wisdom! + </p> + <p> + The literary men of Greece and Rome rarely played any games but those of + skill, such as tennis, backgammon, and chess; and even in these it was + considered 'indecent' to appear too skilful. Cicero stigmatizes two of his + contemporaries for taking too great a delight in such games, on account of + their skill in playing them.(112) + </p> + <p> + (112) Ast alii, quia praeclare faciunt, vehementius quam causa postulat + delectantur, ut Titius pila, Brulla talis. De Orat. lib. iii. + </p> + <p> + Quinctilian advised his pupils to avoid all sterile amusements, which, he + said, were only the resource of the ignorant. + </p> + <p> + In after-times men of merit, such as John Huss and Cardinal Cajetan, + bewailed both the time lost in the most innocent games, and the disastrous + passions which are thereby excited. Montaigne calls chess a stupid and + childish game. 'I hate and shun it,' he says, 'because it occupies one too + seriously; I am ashamed of giving it the attention which would be + sufficient for some useful purpose.' King James I., the British Solomon, + forbade chess to his son, in the famous book of royal instruction which he + wrote for him. + </p> + <p> + As to the plea of 'filling up time,' Addison has made some very pertinent + observations:—'Whether any kind of gaming has ever thus much to say + for itself, I shall not determine; but I think it is very wonderful to see + persons of the best sense passing away a dozen hours together in shuffling + and dividing a pack of cards, with no other conversation but what is made + up of a few game-phrases, and no other ideas but those of black or red + spots ranged together in different figures. Would not a man laugh to hear + any one of his species complaining that life is short?' + </p> + <p> + Men of intellect may rest assured that whether they win or lose at play, + it will always be at the cost of their genius; the soul cannot support two + passions together. The passion of play, although fatigued, is never + satiated, and therefore it always leaves behind protracted agitation. The + famous Roman lawyer Scaevola suffered from playing at backgammon; his head + was always affected by it, especially when he lost the game, in fact, it + seemed to craze him. One day he returned expressly from the country merely + to try and convince his opponent in a game which he had lost, that if he + had played otherwise he would have won! It seems that on his journey home + he mentally went through the game again, detected his mistake, and could + not rest until he went back and got his adversary to admit the fact—for + the sake of his <i>amour propre</i>.(113) + </p> + <p> + (113) Quinctil., <i>Instit. Orat</i>. lib. XI. cap. ii. + </p> + <p> + 'It is rare,' says Rousseau, 'that thinkers take much delight in play, + which suspends the habit of thinking or diverts it upon sterile + combinations; and so one of the benefits—perhaps the only benefit + conferred by the taste for the sciences, is that it somewhat deadens that + sordid passion of play.' + </p> + <p> + Unfortunately such was not the result among the literary and scientific + men, in France or England, during the last quarter of the last century. + Many of them bitterly lamented that they ever played, and yet played on,—going + through all the grades and degradations appointed for his votaries by the + inexorable demon of gambling. + </p> + <p> + BEAU NASH. + </p> + <p> + Nature had by no means formed Nash for <i>beau</i>. His person was clumsy, + large, and awkward; his features were harsh, strong, and peculiarly + irregular; yet even with these disadvantages he made love, became an + universal admirer of the sex, and was in his turn universally admired. The + fact is, he was possessed of, at least, some requisites of a 'lover.' He + had assiduity, flattery, fine clothes—and as much wit as the ladies + he addressed. Accordingly he used to say—'Wit, flattery, and fine + clothes are enough to debauch a nunnery!' This is certainly a fouler + calumny of women than Pope's + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'Every woman is at heart a rake.' +</pre> + <p> + Beau Nash was a barrister, and had been a remarkable, a distinguished one + in his day—although not at the bar. He had the honour to organize + and direct the last grand 'revel and pageant' before a king, in the Hall + of the Middle Temple, of which he was a member. + </p> + <p> + It had long been customary for the Inns of Court to entertain our monarchs + upon their accession to the crown with a revel and pageant, and the last + was exhibited in honour of King William, when Nash was chosen to conduct + the whole with proper decorum. He was then a very young man, but succeeded + so well in giving satisfaction, that the king offered to give him the + honour of knighthood, which, however, Nash declined, saying:—'Please + your Majesty, if you intend to make me a knight, I wish it may be one of + your poor knights of Windsor; and then I shall have a fortune at least + able to support my title.' + </p> + <p> + In the Middle Temple he managed to rise 'to the very summit of second-rate + luxury,' and seems to have succeeded in becoming a fashionable <i>recherche</i>, + being always one of those who were called good company—a professed + dandy among the elegants. + </p> + <p> + No wonder, then, that we subsequently find him Master of the Ceremonies at + Bath, then the theatre of summer amusements for all people of fashion. It + was here that he took to gambling, and was at first classed among the + needy adventurers who went to that place; there was, however, the great + difference between him and them, that his heart was not corrupt; and + though by profession a gamester, he was generous, humane, and honourable. + </p> + <p> + When he gave in his accounts to the Masters of the Temple, among other + items he charged was one—'For making one man happy, L10.' Being + questioned about the meaning of so strange an item, he frankly declared + that, happening to overhear a poor man declare to his wife and large + family of children that L10 would make him happy, he could not avoid + trying the experiment. He added, that, if they did not choose to acquiesce + in his charge, he was ready to refund the money. The Masters, struck with + such an uncommon instance of good nature, publicly thanked him for his + benevolence, and desired that the sum might be doubled as a proof of their + satisfaction. + </p> + <p> + 'His laws were so strictly enforced that he was styled "King of Bath:" no + rank would protect the offender, nor dignity of station condone a breach + of the laws. Nash desired the Duchess of Queensberry, who appeared at a + dress ball in an apron of point-lace, said to be worth 500 guineas, to + take it off, which she did, at the same time desiring his acceptance of + it; and when the Princess Amelia requested to have one dance more after 11 + o'clock, Nash replied that the laws of Bath, like those of Lycurgus, were + unalterable. Gaming ran high at Bath, and frequently led to disputes and + resort to the sword, then generally worn by well-dressed men. Swords were, + therefore, prohibited by Nash in the public rooms; still they were worn in + the streets, when Nash, in consequence of a duel fought by torchlight, by + two notorious gamesters, made the law absolute, "That no swords should, on + any account, be worn in Bath."'(114) + </p> + <p> + (114) The Book of Days, Feb. 3. + </p> + <p> + About the year 1739 the gamblers, in order to evade the laws against + gaming, set up E O tables; and as these proved very profitable to the + proprietors at Tunbridge, Nash determined to introduce them at Bath, + having been assured by the lawyers that no law existed against them. He + therefore set up an E O table, and the speculation flourished for a short + time; but the legislature interfered in 1745, and inflicted severe + penalties on the keepers of such tables. This was the ruin of Nash's + gambling speculation; and for the remaining sixteen years of his life he + depended solely on the precarious products of the gaming table. He died at + Bath, in 1761, in greatly reduced circumstances, being represented as + 'poor, old, and peevish, yet still incapable of turning from his former + manner of life.' + </p> + <p> + 'He was buried in the Abbey Church with great ceremony: a solemn hymn was + sung by the charity-school children, three clergymen preceded the coffin, + the pall was supported by aldermen, and the Masters of the Assembly-Rooms + followed as chief mourners; while the streets were filled and the + housetops covered with spectators, anxious to witness the respect paid to + the venerable founder of the prosperity of the city of Bath.'(115) + </p> + <p> + (115) The Book of Days, Feb. 3. + </p> + <p> + The following are the chief anecdotes told of Beau Nash. + </p> + <p> + A giddy youth, who had resigned his fellowship at Oxford, brought his + fortune to Bath, and, without the smallest skill, won a considerable sum; + and following it up, in the next October added four thousand pounds to his + former capital. Nash one night invited him to supper, and offered to give + him fifty guineas to forfeit twenty every time he lost two hundred at one + sitting. The young man refused, and was at last undone. + </p> + <p> + The Duke of B—— loved play to distraction. One night, + chagrined at a heavy loss, he pressed Nash to tie him up from deep play in + future. The beau accordingly gave his Grace one hundred guineas on + condition to receive ten thousand whenever he lost that amount at one + sitting. The duke soon lost eight thousand at Hazard, and was going to + throw for three thousand more, when Nash caught the dice-box, and + entreated the peer to reflect on the penalty if he lost. The duke desisted + for that time; but ere long, losing considerably at Newmarket, he + willingly paid the penalty. + </p> + <p> + When the Earl of T—— was a youth he was passionately fond of + play. Nash undertook to cure him. Conscious of his superior skill, he + engaged the earl in single play. His lordship lost his estate, equipage, + everything! Our generous gamester returned all, only stipulating for the + payment of L5000 whenever he might think proper to demand it. Some time + after his lordship's death, Nash's affairs being on the wane, he demanded + it of his heirs, <i>WHO PAID IT WITHOUT HESITATION</i>. + </p> + <p> + Nash one day complained of his ill luck to the Earl of Chesterfield, + adding that he had lost L500 the last night. The earl replied, 'I don't + wonder at your <i>LOSING</i> money, Nash, but all the world is surprised + where you get it to lose.' + </p> + <p> + 'The Corporation of Bath so highly respected Nash, that the Chamber voted + a marble statue of him, which was erected in the Pump-room, between the + busts of Newton and Pope; this gave rise to a stinging epigram by Lord + Chesterfield, concluding with these lines: + </p> + <p> + "The <i>STATUE</i> placed these busts between Gives satire all its + strength; <i>WISDOM</i> and <i>WIT</i> are little seen, But <i>FOLLY</i> + at full length."'(116) + </p> + <p> + (116) The Book of Days, Feb. 3. + </p> + <p> + THE EARL OF CHESTERFIELD. + </p> + <p> + Walpole tells us that the celebrated Earl of Chesterfield <i>LIVED</i> at + White's Club, gaming, and uttering witticisms among the boys of quality; + 'yet he says to his son, that a member of a gaming club should be a cheat, + or he will soon be a beggar;' an inconsistency which reminds one of old + Fuller's saw—'A father that whipt his son for swearing, and swore + himself whilst he whipt him, did more harm by his example than good by his + correction.' + </p> + <p> + GEORGE SELWYN. + </p> + <p> + The character of Selwyn,' says Mr Jesse, 'was in many respects a + remarkable one. With brilliant wit, a quick perception of the ridiculous, + and a thorough knowledge of the world and human nature, he united + classical knowledge and a taste for the fine arts. To these qualities may + be added others of a very contradictory nature. With a thorough enjoyment + of the pleasures of society, an imperturbable good-humour, a kind heart, + and a passionate fondness for children, he united a morbid interest in the + details of human suffering, and, more especially, a taste for witnessing + criminal executions. Not only was he a constant frequenter of such scenes + of horror, but all the details of crime, the private history of the + criminal, his demeanour at his trial, in the dungeon, and on the scaffold, + and the state of his feelings in the hour of death and degradation, were + to Selwyn matters of the deepest and most extraordinary interest. Even the + most frightful particulars relating to suicide and murder, the + investigation of the disfigured corpse, the sight of an acquaintance lying + in his shroud, seem to have afforded him a painful and unaccountable + pleasure. When the first Lord Holland was on his death-bed he was told + that Selwyn, who had lived on terms of the closest intimacy with him, had + called to inquire after his health. "The next time Mr Selwyn calls," he + said, "show him up; if I am alive I shall be delighted to see him, and if + I am dead he will be glad to see me." When some ladies bantered him on his + want of feeling in attending to see the terrible Lord Lovat's head cut off—"Why," + he said, "I made amends by going to the undertaker's to see it sewed on + again." And yet this was the same individual who delighted in the first + words and in the sunny looks of childhood; whose friendship seems to have + partaken of all the softness of female affection; and whose heart was + never hardened against the wretched and depressed. Such was the "original" + George Selwyn.' + </p> + <p> + This celebrated conversational wit was a devoted frequenter of the gaming + table. Writing to Selwyn, in 1765, Lord Holland said:—'All that I + can collect from what you say on the subject of money is, that fortune has + been a little favourable lately; or may be, the last night only. Till you + leave off play entirely you must be—in earnest, and without irony—<i>en + verite le serviteur tres-humble des evenements</i>, "in truth, the very + humble servant of events."' + </p> + <p> + His friend the Lord Carlisle, although himself a great gambler, also gave + him good advice. 'I hope you have left off Hazard,' he wrote to Selwyn; + 'if you are still so foolish, and will play, the best thing I can wish you + is, that you may win and never throw crabs.(117) You do not put it in the + power of chance to make you them, as we all know; and till the ninth miss + is born I shall not be convinced to the contrary.' + </p> + <p> + (117) That is, aces, or ace and deuce, twelve, or seven. With false dice, + as will appear in the sequel, it was impossible to throw any of these + numbers, and as the caster always called the main, he was sure to win, as + he could call an impossible number: those who were in the secret of course + always took the odds. + </p> + <p> + Again:—'As you have played I am happy to hear you have won; but by + this time there may be a <i>triste revers de succes</i>.' + </p> + <p> + Selwyn had taken to gaming before his father's death—probably from + his first introduction to the clubs. His stakes were high, though not + extravagantly so, compared with the sums hazarded by his contemporaries. + In 1765 he lost L1000 to Mr Shafto, who applied for it in the language of + an 'embarrassed tradesman.' + </p> + <p> + 'July 1, 1765. + </p> + <p> + 'DEAR SIR,—I have this moment received the favour of your letter. I + intended to have gone out of town on Thursday, but as you shall not + receive your money before the end of this week, I must postpone my journey + till Sunday. A month would have made no difference to me, had I not had + others to pay before I leave town, and must pay; therefore must beg that + you will leave the whole before this week is out, at White's, as it is to + be paid away to others to whom I have lost, and do not choose to leave + town till that is done. Be sure you could not wish an indulgence I should + not be happy to grant, if it my power.' + </p> + <p> + Nor was this the only dun of the kind that Selwyn had 'to put up with' on + account of the gaming table. He received the following from Edward, Earl + of Derby.(118) + </p> + <p> + (118) Edward, twelfth Earl of Derby, was born September 12, 1752, and died + October 21, 1834. He married first, Elizabeth, daughter of James, sixth + Duke of Hamilton, who died in 1799, and secondly, the celebrated actress, + Miss Farren, who died April 23, 1829. + </p> + <p> + <i>The Earl of Derby to George Selwyn</i>. + </p> + <p> + 'Nothing could equal what I feel at troubling you with this disagreeable + note; but having lost a very monstrous sum of money last night, I find + myself under the necessity of entreating your goodness to excuse the + liberty I am taking of applying to you for assistance. If it is not very + inconvenient to you, I should be glad of the money you owe me. If it is, I + must pay what I can, and desire Brookes to trust me for the remainder. I + repeat again my apologies, to which I shall beg leave to add how very + sincerely I have the honour to be, my dear sir, + </p> + <p> + 'Your most obedient humble servant, 'DEBBY. + </p> + <p> + This is the very model of a dun, and proves how handsomely such ugly + things can be done when one has to deal with a noble instead of a plebeian + creditor. + </p> + <p> + But Selwyn had not only to endure such indignities, but also to inflict + them, as appears by the following letter to him from the Honourable + General Fitzpatrick, in answer to a dun, which, we are assured, was + 'gentle and moderate.' + </p> + <p> + 'I am very sorry to hear the night ended so ill; but to give you some idea + of the utter impossibility of my being useful on the occasion, I will + inform you of the state of my affairs. I won L400 last night, which was + immediately appropriated by Mr <i>Martindale</i>, to whom I still owe + L300, and I am in Brookes' book for thrice that sum. Add to all this, that + at Christmas I expect an inundation of clamorous creditors, who, unless I + somehow or other scrape together some money to satisfy them, will + overwhelm me entirely. What can be done? If I could coin my heart, or drop + my blood into drachms, I would do it, though by this time I should + probably have neither heart nor blood left. I am afraid you will find + Stephen in the same state of insolvency. Adieu! I am obliged to you for + the gentleness and moderation of your dun, considering how long I have + been your debtor. + </p> + <p> + 'Yours most sincerely, 'R. F.'(119) + </p> + <p> + (119) Apud <i>Selwyn and his Contemporaries</i> by Jesse. + </p> + <p> + Selwyn is said to have been a loser on the whole, and often pillaged. + Latterly he appears to have got the better of his propensity for play, if + we may judge from the following wise sentiment:—'It was too great a + consumer,' he said, 'of four things—time, health, fortune, and + thinking.' But a writer in the <i>Edinburgh Review</i> seems to doubt + Selwyn's reformation; for his initiation of Wilberforce occurred in 1782, + when he was 63; and previously, in 1776, he underwent the process of + dunning from Lord Derby, before-mentioned, and in 1779 from Mr Crawford + ('Fish Crawford,' as he was called), each of whom, like Mr Shafto, 'had a + sum to make up'—in the infernal style so horridly provoking, even + when we are able and willing to pay. However, as Selwyn died comparatively + rich, it may be presumed that his fortune suffered to no great extent by + his indulgence in the vice of gaming. + </p> + <p> + The following are some of George Selwyn's jokes relating to gambling:— + </p> + <p> + One night, at White's, observing the Postmaster-General, Sir Everard + Fawkener, losing a large sum of money at Piquet, Selwyn, pointing to the + successful player, remarked—'See now, he is robbing the <i>MAIL!</i>' + </p> + <p> + On another occasion, in 1756, observing Mr Ponsonby, the Speaker of the + Irish House of Commons, tossing about bank-bills at a Hazard table at + Newmarket—'Look,' he said, 'how easily the Speaker passes the + money-bills!' + </p> + <p> + A few months afterwards (when the public journals were daily containing an + account of some fresh town which had conferred the freedom of its + corporation in a gold box on Mr Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chatham, and the + Right Honourable Henry Bilson Legge, his fellow-patriot and colleague), + Selwyn, who neither admired their politics nor respected their principles, + proposed to the old and new club at Arthur's, that he should be deputed to + present to them the freedom of each club in a <i>dice-box</i>. + </p> + <p> + On one of the waiters at Arthur's club having been committed to prison for + a felony—'What a horrid idea,' said Selwyn, 'he will give of us to + the people in Newgate!' + </p> + <p> + When the affairs of Charles Fox were in a more than usually embarrassed + state, chiefly through his gambling, his friends raised a subscription + among themselves for his relief. One of them remarking that it would + require some delicacy in breaking the matter to him, and adding that 'he + wondered how Fox would take it.' 'Take it?' interrupted Selwyn, 'why, <i>QUARTERLY</i>, + to be sure.'(120) + </p> + <p> + (120) Jesse, <i>George Selwyn and his Contemporaries.</i> + </p> + <p> + LORD CARLISLE. + </p> + <p> + This eminent statesman was regarded by his contemporaries as an able, an + influential, and occasionally a powerful speaker. + </p> + <p> + Though married to a lady for whom in his letters he ever expresses the + warmest feelings of admiration and esteem; and surrounded by a young and + increasing family, who were evidently the objects of his deepest + affection, Lord Carlisle, nevertheless, at times appears to have been + unable to extricate himself from the dangerous enticements to play to + which he was exposed. His fatal passion for play—the source of + adventitious excitement at night, and of deep distress in the morning—seems + to have led to frequent and inconvenient losses, and eventually to have + plunged him into comparative distress. + </p> + <p> + 'In recording these failings of a man of otherwise strong sense, of a high + sense of honour, and of kindly affections, we have said the worst that can + be adduced to his disadvantage. Attached, indeed, as Lord Carlisle may + have been to the pleasures of society, and unfortunate as may have been + his passion for the gaming table, it is difficult to peruse those passages + in his letters in which he deeply reproaches himself for yielding to the + fatal fascination of play, and accuses himself of having diminished the + inheritance of his children, without a feeling of commiseration for the + sensations of a man of strong sense and deep feeling, while reflecting on + his moral degradation. It is sufficient, however, to observe of Lord + Carlisle, that the deep sense which he entertained of his own folly; the + almost maddening moments to which he refers in his letters of + self-condemnation and bitter regret; and subsequently his noble victory + over the siren enticements of pleasure, and his thorough emancipation from + the trammels of a domineering passion, make adequate amends for his + previous unhappy career.'(121) + </p> + <p> + (121) Jesse, <i>George Selwyn and his Contemporaries</i>, ii. + </p> + <p> + Brave conquerors, for so ye are, Who war against your own affections, And + the huge army of the world's desires. + </p> + <p> + Lady Sarah Bunbury, writing to George Selwyn, in 1767, says:—'If you + are now at Paris with poor C. (evidently Carlisle), who I dare say is now + swearing at the French people, give my compliments to him. I call him poor + C. because I hope he is only miserable at having been such a <i>PIGEON</i> + to Colonel Scott. I never can pity him for losing at play, and I think of + it as little as I can, because I cannot bear to be obliged to abate the + least of the good opinion I have always had of him.' + </p> + <p> + Oddly enough the writer had no better account to give of her own husband; + she says, in the letter:—'Sir Charles games from morning till night, + but he has never yet lost L100 in one day.'(122) + </p> + <p> + (122) This Lady Sarah Bunbury was the wife of Sir Charles Bunbury, after + having had a chance of being Queen of England, as the wife of George III., + who was passionately in love with her, and would have married her had it + not been for the constitutional opposition of his privy council. This + charming and beautiful woman died in 1826, at the age of 82. She was + probably the last surviving great-granddaughter of Charles II.—Jesse, + <i>Ubi supra</i>. + </p> + <p> + About the year 1776 Lord Carlisle wrote the following letter to George + Selwyn:— + </p> + <p> + 'MY DEAR GEORGE, 'I have undone myself, and it is to no purpose to conceal + from you my abominable madness and folly, though perhaps the particulars + may not be known to the rest of the world. I never lost so much in five + times as I have done to-night, and am in debt to the house for the whole. + You may be sure I do not tell you this with an idea that you can be of the + least assistance to me; it is a great deal more than your abilities are + equal to. Let me see you—though I shall be ashamed to look at you + after your goodness to me.' + </p> + <p> + This letter is endorsed by George Selwyn—'After the loss of + L10,000.' He tells Selwyn of a set which, at one point of the game, stood + to win L50,000. + </p> + <p> + 'Lord Byron, it is almost needless to remark, was nearly related to Lord + Carlisle. The mother of Lord Carlisle was sister to John, fourth Lord + Byron, the grandfather of the poet; Lord Carlisle and Lord Byron were + consequently first cousins once removed. Had they happened to have been + contemporaries, it would be difficult to form an idea of two individuals + who, alike from tastes, feelings, and habits of life, were more likely to + form a lasting and suitable intimacy. Both were men of high rank; both + united an intimate knowledge of society and the world with the ardent + temperament of a poet; and both in youth mingled a love of frolic and + pleasure with a graver taste for literary pursuits.' + </p> + <p> + CHARLES JAMES FOX. + </p> + <p> + In the midst of the infatuated votaries of the gaming god in England, + towers the mighty intellectual giant Charles James Fox. Nature had + fashioned him to be equally an object of admiration and love. In addition + to powerful eloquence, he was distinguished by the refinement of his taste + in all matters connected with literature and art; he was deeply read in + history; had some claims to be regarded as a poet; and possessed a + thorough knowledge of the classical authors of antiquity, a knowledge of + which he so often and so happily availed himself in his seat in the House + of Commons. To these qualities was added a good-humour which was seldom + ruffled,—a peculiar fascination of manner and address,—the + most delightful powers of conversation,—a heart perfectly free from + vindictiveness, ostentation, and deceit,—a strong sense of justice,—a + thorough detestation of tyranny and oppression,—and an almost + feminine tenderness of feeling for the sufferings of others. + Unfortunately, however, his great talents and delightful qualities in + private life rendered his defects the more glaring and lamentable; indeed, + it is difficult to think or speak with common patience of those injurious + practices and habits—that abandonment to self-gratification, and + that criminal waste of the most transcendent abilities which exhausted in + social conviviality and the gaming table what were formed to confer + blessings on mankind. + </p> + <p> + So much for the character of Fox, as I have gathered from Mr Jesse;(123) + and I continue the extremely interesting subject by quoting from that + delightful book, 'The Queens of Society.'(124) 'With a father who had made + an enormous fortune, with little principle, out of a public office—for + Lord Holland owed the bulk of his wealth to his appointment of paymaster + to the forces,—and who spoiled him, in his boyhood, Charles James + Fox had begun life <i>AS A FOP OF THE FIRST WATER</i>, and squandered + L50,000 in debt before he became of age. Afterwards he indulged recklessly + and extravagantly in every course of licentiousness which the profligate + society of the day opened to him. At Brookes' and the Thatched House Fox + ate and drank to excess, threw thousands upon the Faro table, mingled with + blacklegs, and made himself notorious for his shameless vices. Newmarket + supplied another excitement. His back room was so incessantly filled with + Jew money-lenders that he called it his Jerusalem Chamber. It was + impossible that such a life should not destroy every principle of honour; + and there is nothing improbable in the story that he appropriated to + himself money which belonged to his dear friend Mrs Crewe, as before + related. + </p> + <p> + (123) George Selwyn and his Contemporaries, ii. + </p> + <p> + (124) By Grace and Philip Wharton. + </p> + <p> + 'Of his talents, which were certainly great, he made an affected display. + Of his learning he was proud—but rather as adding lustre to his + celebrity for universal tastes. He was not at all ashamed, but rather + gloried in being able to describe himself as a fool, as he does in his + verses to Mrs Crewe:— + </p> + <p> + "Is't reason? No; that my whole life will belie; For, who so at variance + as reason and I? Is't ambition that fills up each chink in my heart, Nor + allows any softer sensation a part? Oh! no; for in this all the world must + agree, <i>ONE FOLLY WAS NEVER SUFFICIENT FOR ME</i>." + </p> + <p> + 'Sensual and self-indulgent—with a grossness that is even patent on + his very portrait (and bust), Fox had nevertheless a manner which + enchanted the sex, and he was the only politician of the day who + thoroughly enlisted the personal sympathies of women of mind and + character, as well as of those who might be captivated by his profusion. + When he visited Paris in later days, even Madame Recamier, noted for her + refinement, and of whom he himself said, with his usual coarse ideas of + the sphere of woman, that "she was the only woman who united the + attractions of pleasure to those of modesty," delighted to be seen with + him! At the time of which we are speaking the most celebrated beauties of + England were his most ardent supporters. + </p> + <p> + 'The election of 1784, in which he stood and was returned for Westminster, + was one of the most famous of the old riotous political + demonstrations..... Loving <i>hazard</i> of all kinds for its own sake, + Fox had made party hostility a new sphere of gambling, had adopted the + character of a demagogue, and at a time when the whole of Europe was + undergoing, a great revolution in principles, was welcomed gladly as "The + Man of the People." In the beginning, of the year he had been convicted of + bribery, but in spite of this his popularity increased.... The election + for Westminster, in which Fox was opposed by Sir Cecil Wray, was the most + tempestuous of all. There were 20,000 votes to be polled, and the opposing + parties resorted to any means of intimidation, or violence, or persuasion + which political enthusiasm could suggest. On the eighth day the poll was + against the popular member, and he called upon his friends to make a great + effort on his behalf. It was then that the "ladies' canvass" began. Lady + Duncannon, the Duchess of Devonshire, Mrs Crewe, and Mrs Damer dressed + themselves in blue and buff—the colours of the American + Independents, which Fox had adopted and wore in the House of Commons—and + set out to visit the purlieus of Westminster. Here, in their enthusiasm, + they shook the dirty hands of honest workmen, expressed the greatest + interest in their wives and families, and even, as in the case of the + Duchess of Devonshire and the butcher, submitted their fair cheeks to be + kissed by the possessors of votes! At the butcher's shop, the owner, in + his apron and sleeves, stoutly refused his vote, except on one condition—"Would + her Grace give him a kiss?" The request was granted; and the vote thus + purchased went to swell the majority which finally secured the return of + "The Man of the People." + </p> + <p> + 'The colouring of political friends, which concealed his vices, or rather + which gave them a false hue, has long since faded away. We now know Fox as + he <i>WAS</i>. In the latest journals of Horace Walpole his inveterate + gambling, his open profligacy, his utter want of honour, is disclosed by + one of his own opinion. Corrupted ere yet he had left his home, whilst in + age a boy, there is, however, the comfort of reflecting that he outlived + his vices which seem to have "cropped out" by his ancestral connection in + the female line with the reprobate Charles II., whom he was thought to + resemble in features. Fox, afterwards, with a green apron tied round his + waist, pruning and nailing up his fruit trees at St Ann's Hill, or amusing + himself innocently with a few friends, is a pleasing object to remember, + even whilst his early career occurs forcibly to the mind.' + </p> + <p> + Peace, then, to the shade of Charles James Fox! The three last public acts + which he performed were worthy of the man, and should suffice to prove + that, in spite of his terrible failings, he was most useful in his + generation. By one, he laboured to repair the outrages of war—to + obtain a breathing time for our allies; and, by an extension of our + commerce, to afford, if necessary, to his country all the advantages of a + renovated contest, without the danger of drying up our resources. By + another, he attempted to remove all legal disabilities arising out of + religion—to unite more closely <i>THE INTERESTS OF IRELAND WITH + THOSE OF ENGLAND;</i> and thus, by an extension of common rights, and a + participation of common benefits, wisely to render that which has always + been considered the weakest and most troublesome portion of our empire, at + least a useful and valuable part of England's greatness among the nations. + Queen Elizabeth's Minister, Lord Burleigh, in the presence of the 'Irish + difficulty' in his day, wished Ireland at the bottom of the sea, and + doubtless many at the present time wish the same; but Fox endeavoured to + grapple with it manfully and honestly, and it was not his fault that he + did not settle it. The vices of Fox were those of the age in which he + lived; had he been reserved for the present epoch, what a different + biography should we have to write of him! What a helmsman he might be at + the present time, when the ship of Old England is at sea and in peril! + </p> + <p> + It appears from a letter addressed by Lord Carlisle to Lady Holland (Fox's + mother) in 1773, that he had become security for Fox to the amount of + fifteen or sixteen thousand pounds; and a letter to Selwyn in 1777, puts + the ruinous character of their gaming transactions in the strongest light. + Lord Ilchester (Fox's cousin) had lost thirteen thousand pounds at one + sitting to Lord Carlisle, who offered to take three thousand pounds down. + Nothing was paid. But ten years afterwards, when Lord Carlisle pressed for + his money, he complained that an attempt was made to construe the offer + into a <i>remission</i> of the ten thousand pounds:—'The only way, + in honour, that Lord Ilchester could have accepted my offer, would have + been by taking some steps to pay the L3000. I remained in a state of + uncertainty, I think, for nearly three years; but his taking no notice of + it during that time, convinced me that he had no intention of availing + himself of it. Charles Fox was also at a much earlier period clear that he + never meant to accept it. There is also great injustice in the behaviour + of the family in passing by the instantaneous payment of, I believe, five + thousand pounds, to Charles, won at the same sitting, without any + observations. <i>At one period of the play I remember there was a balance + in favour of one of these gentlemen (but which I protest I do not + remember) of about fifty thousand</i>.' + </p> + <p> + At the time in question Fox was hardly eighteen. The following letter from + Lord Carlisle, written in 1771, contains highly interesting information + respecting the youthful habits and already vast intellectual pre-eminence + of this memorable statesman:—'It gives me great pain to hear that + Charles begins to be unreasonably impatient at losing. I fear it is the + prologue to much fretfulness of temper, for disappointment in raising + money, and any serious reflections upon his situation, will (in spite of + his affected spirits and dissipation) occasion him many disagreeable + moments.' Lord Carlisle's fears proved groundless in this respect. As + before stated, Fox was always remarkable for his sweetness of temper, + which remained with him to the last; but it is most painful to think how + much mankind has lost through his recklessness. + </p> + <p> + Gibbon writes to Lord Sheffield in 1773, 'You know Lord Holland is paying + Charles Fox's debts. They amount to L140,000.'(125) + </p> + <p> + (125) Timbs, <i>Club Life in London</i>. + </p> + <p> + His love of play was desperate. A few evenings before he moved the repeal + of the Marriage Act, in February, 1772, he had been at Brompton on two + errands,—one to consult Justice Fielding on the penal laws, the + other to borrow L10,000, which he brought to town at the hazard of being + robbed. He played admirably both at Whist and Piquet,—with such + skill, indeed, that by the general admission of Brookes' Club, he might + have made four thousand pounds a-year, as they calculated, at these games, + if he could have confined himself to them. But his misfortune arose from + playing games of chance, particularly at Faro. + </p> + <p> + After eating and drinking plentifully, he would sit down at the Faro + table, and invariably rose a loser. Once, indeed, and once only, he won + about eight thousand pounds in the course of a single evening. Part of the + money he paid to his creditors, and the remainder he lost almost + immediately. + </p> + <p> + Before he attained his thirtieth year he had completely dissipated + everything that he could either command or could procure by the most + ruinous expedients. He had even undergone, at times, many of the severest + privations incidental to the vicissitudes that attend a gamester's + progress; frequently wanting money to defray the common daily wants of the + most pressing nature. Topham Beauclerc, who lived much in Fox's society, + declared that no man could form an idea of the extremities to which he had + been driven to raise money, often losing his last guinea at the Faro + table. The very sedan-chairmen, whom he was unable to pay, used to dun him + for arrears. In 1781, he might be considered as an extinct volcano,—for + the pecuniary aliment that had fed the flame was long consumed. Yet he + even then occupied a house or lodgings in St James's Street, close to + Brookes', where he passed almost every hour which was not devoted to the + House of Commons. Brookes' was then the rallying point or rendezvous of + the Opposition, where Faro, Whist, and supper prolonged the night, the + principal members of the minority in both Houses met, in order to compare + their information, or to concert and mature their parliamentary measures. + Great sums were then borrowed of Jews at exorbitant premiums. + </p> + <p> + His brother Stephen was enormously fat; George Selwyn said he was in the + right to deal with Shylocks, as he could give them pounds of flesh. + </p> + <p> + Walpole, in 1781, walking up St James's Street, saw a cart at Fox's door, + with copper and an old chest of drawers, loading. His success at Faro had + awakened a host of creditors; but, unless his bank had swelled to the size + of the Bank of England, it could not have yielded a half-penny apiece for + each. Epsom too had been unpropitious; and one creditor had actually + seized and carried off Fox's goods, which did not seem worth removing. + Yet, shortly after this, whom should Walpole find sauntering by his own + door but Fox, who came up and talked to him at the coach window, on the + Marriage Bill, with as much <i>sang-froid</i> as if he knew nothing of + what had happened. Doubtless this indifference was to be attributed quite + as much to the callousness of the reckless gambler as to anything that + might be called 'philosophy.' + </p> + <p> + It seems clear that the ruling passion of Fox was partly owing to the lax + training of his father, who, by his lavish allowances, not only fostered + his propensity to play, but had also been accustomed to give him, when a + mere boy, money to amuse himself at the gaming table. According to + Chesterfield, the first Lord Holland 'had no fixed principles in religion + or morality,' and he censures him to his son for being 'too unwary in + ridiculing and exposing them.' He gave full swing to Charles in his youth. + 'Let nothing be done,' said his lordship, 'to break his spirit, the world + will do that for him.' At his death, in 1774, he left him L154,000 to pay + his debts; it was all 'bespoke,' and Fox soon became as deeply pledged as + before.(126) + </p> + <p> + (126) Timbs, ubi supra. There is a mistake in the anecdote respecting + Fox's duel with Mr Adam (not Adams), as related by Mr Timbs in his amusing + book of the Clubs. The challenge was in consequence of some words uttered + by Fox in parliament, and not on account of some remark on Government + powder, to which Fox wittily alluded, after the duel, saying—'Egad, + Adam, you would have killed me if it had not been Government powder.' See + Gilchrist, Ordeals, Millingen, Hist. of Duelling, ii., and Steinmetz, + Romance of Duelling, ii. + </p> + <p> + The following are authentic anecdotes of Fox, as a gambler. + </p> + <p> + Fox had a gambling debt to pay to Sir John Slade. Finding himself in cash, + after a lucky run at Faro, he sent a complimentary card to the knight, + desiring to discharge the claim. Sir 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 James, and pocketed the cash, adding—'I thought it + was a <i>debt of honour</i>. 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> + Fox once played cards with Fitzpatrick at Brookes' from ten o'clock at + night till near six o'clock the next morning—a waiter standing by to + tell them 'whose deal it was'—they being too sleepy to know. + </p> + <p> + On another occasion he won about L8000; and one of his bond-creditors, who + soon heard of his good luck, presented himself and asked for payment. + 'Impossible, sir,' replied Fox; 'I must first discharge my debts of + honour.' The bond-creditor remonstrated, and finding Fox inflexible, tore + the bond to pieces and flung it into the fire, exclaiming—'Now, sir, + your debt to me is a <i>debt of honour</i>.' Struck by the creditor's + witty rejoinder, Fox instantly paid the money.(127) + </p> + <p> + (127) The above is the version of this anecdote which I remember as being + current in my young days. Mr Timbs and others before him relate the + anecdote as follows:—'On another occasion he won about L8000; and + one of his bond-creditors, who soon heard of his good luck, presented + himself and asked for payment.' + </p> + <p> + 'Impossible, sir,' replied Fox 'I must first discharge my debts of + honour.' The bond-creditor remonstrated. 'Well, sir, give me your bond.' + It was delivered to Fox, who tore it in pieces and threw it into the fire. + 'Now, sir,' said Fox, 'my debt to you is a debt of honour;' and + immediately paid him. + </p> + <p> + Now, it is evident that Fox could not destroy the document without + rendering himself still more 'liable' in point of law. I submit that the + version in the text is the true one, conforming with the legal requirement + of the case and influencing the debtor by the originality of the + performance of the creditor. + </p> + <p> + Amidst the wildest excesses of youth, even while the perpetual victim of + his passion for play, Fox eagerly cultivated his taste for letters, + especially the Greek and Roman historians and poets; and he found + resources in their works under the most severe depressions occasioned by + ill-successes at the gaming table. One morning, after Fox had passed the + whole night in company with Topham Beauclerc at Faro, the two friends were + about to separate. + </p> + <p> + Fox had lost throughout the night, and was in a frame of mind approaching + to desperation. Beauclerc's anxiety for the consequences which might ensue + led him to be early at Fox's lodgings; and on arriving he inquired, not + without apprehension, whether he had risen. The servant replied that Mr + Fox was in the drawing-room, when Beauclerc walked up-stairs and + cautiously opened the door, expecting to behold a frantic gamester + stretched on the floor, bewailing his losses, or plunged in moody despair; + but he was astonished to find him reading a Greek Herodotus. + </p> + <p> + On perceiving his friend's surprise, Fox exclaimed, 'What would you have + me do? I have lost my last shilling.' + </p> + <p> + Upon other occasions, after staking and losing all that he could raise at + Faro, instead of exclaiming against fortune, or manifesting the agitation + natural under such circumstances, he would lay his head on the table and + retain his place, but, exhausted by mental and bodily fatigue, almost + immediately fall into a profound sleep. + </p> + <p> + Fox's best friends are said to have been half ruined in annuities given by + them as securities for him to the Jews. L500,000 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, + February 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 L12,000 that he had lost; and by dinner, which was at five + o'clock, he had ended losing L11,000! On the Thursday he spoke in the + above debate, went to dinner at past eleven at night; from thence to + White's, where he drank till seven the next morning; thence to Almack's, + where he won L6000; and between three and four in the afternoon he set out + for Newmarket. His brother Stephen lost L11,000 two nights after, and + Charles L10,000 more on the 13th; so that in three nights the two brothers—the + eldest not <i>twenty-five</i> years of age—lost L32,000!(128) + </p> + <p> + (128) Timbs, <i>ubi supra.</i> + </p> + <p> + On one occasion Stephen Fox was dreadfully fleeced at a gaming house at + the West End. He entered it with L13,000, and left without a farthing. + </p> + <p> + Assuredly these Foxes were misnamed. <i>Pigeons</i>—dupes of + sharpers at play—would have been a more appropriate cognomen. + </p> + <p> + WILBERFORCE AND PITT. + </p> + <p> + These eminent statesmen were gamesters at one period of their lives. When + Wilberforce came to London in 1780, after his return to Parliament, his + great success signalized his entry into public life, and he was at once + elected a member of the leading clubs—Miles' and Evans', Brookes', + Boodle's, White's, and Goosetree's. The latter was Wilberforce's usual + resort, where his friendship with Pitt—who played with + characteristic and intense eagerness, and whom he had slightly known at + Cambridge—greatly increased. He once lost L100 at the Faro table. + </p> + <p> + 'We played a good deal at Goosetree's,' he states, and I well remember the + intense earnestness which Pitt displayed when joining in these games of + chance. He perceived their increasing fascination, and soon after + abandoned them for ever.' + </p> + <p> + Wilberforce's own case is thus recorded by his biographers, on the + authority of his private Journal:—'We can have no play to-night,' + complained some of the party at the club, 'for St Andrew is not here to + keep bank.' 'Wilberforce,' said Mr Bankes, who never joined himself, 'if + you will keep it I will give you a guinea.' The playful challenge was + accepted, but as the game grew deep he rose the winner of L600. Much of + this was lost by those who were only heirs to fortunes, and therefore + could not meet such a call without inconvenience. The pain he felt at + their annoyance cured him of a taste which seemed but too likely to become + predominant. + </p> + <p> + Goosetree's being then almost exclusively composed of incipient orators + and embryo statesmen, the call for a gambling table there may be regarded + as a decisive proof of the universal prevalence of the vice. + </p> + <p> + 'The first time I was at Brookes',' says Wilberforce, 'scarcely knowing + any one, I joined, from mere shyness, in play at the Faro tables, where + George Selwyn kept bank. A friend, who knew my inexperience, and regarded + me as a victim decked out for sacrifice, called to me—"What, + Wilberforce, is that you?" Selwyn quite resented the interference, and, + turning to him, said in his most expressive tone, "Oh, sir, don't + interrupt Mr Wilberforce, he could not be better employed." + </p> + <p> + Again: 'The very first time I went to Boodle's I won twenty-five guineas + of the Duke of Norfolk. I belonged at this time to five clubs—Miles' + and Evans', Brookes', Boodle's, White's, and Goosetree's.' + </p> + <p> + SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. + </p> + <p> + Sir Philip Francis, the eminent politician and supposed author of the + celebrated 'Letters of Junius,' was a gambler, and the convivial companion + of Fox. During the short administration of that statesman he was made a + Knight of the Bath. One evening, Roger Wilbraham came up to the Whist + table, at Brookes', where Sir Philip, who for the first time wore the + ribbon of the Order, was engaged in a rubber, and thus accosted him. + Laying hold of the ribbon, and examining it for some time, he said:—'So, + this is the way they have rewarded you at last; they have given you a + little bit of red ribbon for your services, Sir Philip, have they? A + pretty bit of red ribbon to hang about your neck; and that satisfies you, + does it? Now, I wonder what I shall have. What do you think they will give + me, Sir Philip?' The newly-made knight, who had twenty-five guineas + depending on the rubber, and who was not very well pleased at the + interruption, suddenly turned round, and looking at him fiercely, + exclaimed, 'A halter, and be,' &c. + </p> + <p> + THE REV. CALEB C. COLTON. + </p> + <p> + Unquestionably this reverend gentleman was one of the most lucky of + gamesters—having died in full possession of the gifts vouchsafed to + him by the goddess of fortune. + </p> + <p> + He was educated at Eton, graduated at King's College, Cambridge, as + Bachelor of Arts in 1801, and Master of Arts in 1804, and obtained a + fellowship, having also a curacy at Tiverton, held conjointly. Some six + years after he appeared in print as a denouncer of a 'ghost story,' and in + 1812, as the author of 'Hypocrisy,' a satirical poem, and 'Napoleon,' a + poem. In 1818 he was presented by his college to the vicarage of Kew with + Petersham, in Surrey. Two years after he established a literary reputation—lasting + to the present time—by the publication of a volume of aphorisms or + maxims, under the title of 'LACON; or, Many Things in Few Words.' This + work is very far from original, being founded mainly on Lord Bacon's + celebrated Essays, and Burdon's 'Materials for Thinking,' La Bruyiere, and + De la Rochefoucault; still it is highly creditable to the abilities of the + writer. It has passed through several editions; and even at the present + time its only rival is, 'The Guesses at Truth,' although we have numerous + collections of apothegmatic extracts from authors, a class of works which + is not without its fascination, if readers are inclined to <i>THINK.</i>(129) + </p> + <p> + (129) The first work I published was of this kind, and entitled, 'Gems of + Genius; or, Words of the Wise, with extracts from the Diary of a Young + Man,' in 1838. + </p> + <p> + Two years after he returned to his 'Napoleon,' which he republished, with + extensive additions, under the new title of 'The Conflagration of Moscow. + </p> + <p> + It would appear that Colton at this period gave in to the fashionable + gaming of the day; at any rate, he dabbled deeply in Spanish bonds, became + involved in pecuniary difficulties, and, without investigating his affairs + closely—which might have been easily arranged—he absconded. + </p> + <p> + He subsequently made appearance, in order to retain his living; but in + 1828 he lost it, a successor being appointed by his college. He then went + to the United States of America; what he did there is not on record; but + he subsequently returned to Europe, went to Paris, took up his abode in + the Palais Royal, and—devoted his talents to the mysteries of the + gaming table, by which he was so successful that in the course of a year + or two he won L25,000! + </p> + <p> + Oddly enough, one of his 'maxims' in his Lacon runs as follows: 'The + gamester, if he die a martyr to his profession, is doubly ruined. He adds + his soul to every other loss, and, by the act of suicide, renounces earth, + to forfeit heaven.' + </p> + <p> + It has been suggested that this was writing his own epitaph, and it would + appear so from the notices of the man in most of the biographies; but + nothing could be further from the fact. Caleb Colton managed to <i>KEEP</i> + his gambling fortune, and what is more, devoted it to a worthy purpose. + Part of his wealth he employed in forming a picture-gallery; and he + printed at Paris, for private distribution, an ode on the death of Lord + Byron. He certainly committed suicide, but the act was not the gamester's + martyrdom. He was afflicted by a disease which necessitated some painful + surgical operation, and rather than submit to it, he blew out his brains, + at the house of a friend, at Fontainebleau, in 1832.(130) + </p> + <p> + (130) Gent. Mag. New Month. Mag. Gorton's Gen. Biograph. Dict. + </p> + <p> + BEAU BRUMMELL. + </p> + <p> + This singular man was an inveterate gambler, and for some time very + 'lucky;' but the reaction came at last; the stakes were too high, and the + purses of his companions too long for him to stand against any continued + run of bad luck; indeed, the play at Wattier's, which was very deep, + eventually ruined the club, as well as Brummell and several other members + of it; a certain baronet now living, according to Captain Jesse, is + asserted to have lost ten thousand pounds there at <i>Ecarte</i> at one + sitting.(131) + </p> + <p> + (131) Life of Beau Brummell. + </p> + <p> + The season of 1814 saw Brummell a winner, and a loser likewise—and + this time he lost not only his winnings, but 'an unfortunate ten thousand + pounds,' which, when relating the circumstance to a friend many years + afterwards, he said was all that remained at his banker's. One night—the + fifth of a most relentless run of ill-luck—his friend Pemberton + Mills heard him exclaim that he had lost every shilling, and only wished + some one would bind him never to play again:—'I will,' said Mills; + and taking out a ten-pound note he offered it to Brummell on condition + that he should forfeit a thousand if he played at White's within a month + from that evening. The Beau took it, and for a few days discontinued + coming to the club; but about a fortnight after Mills, happening to go in, + saw him hard at work. Of course the thousand pounds was forfeited; but his + friend, instead of claiming it, merely went up to him and, touching him + gently on the shoulder, said—'Well, Brummell, you may at least give + me back the ten pounds you had the other night.' + </p> + <p> + Among the members who indulged in high play at Brookes' Club was Alderman + Combe, the brewer, who is said to have made as much money in this way as + he did by brewing. One evening whilst he filled the office of Lord Mayor, + he was busy at a full Hazard table at Brookes', where the wit and the + dice-box circulated together with great glee, and where Beau Brummell was + one of the party. 'Come, Mash-tub,' said Brummell, who was the <i>caster</i>, + 'what do you <i>set?</i>' 'Twenty-five guineas,' answered the Alderman. + 'Well, then,' returned the Beau, 'have at the mare's pony' (a gaming term + for 25 guineas). He continued to throw until he drove home the brewer's + twelve ponies running; and then getting up, and making him a low bow, + whilst pocketing the cash, he said—'Thank you, Alderman; for the + future I shall never drink any porter but yours.' 'I wish, sir,' replied + the brewer, 'that every other blackguard in London would tell me the + same.'(132) + </p> + <p> + (132) Jesse, <i>ubi supra</i>. + </p> + <p> + The following occurrence must have caused a 'sensation' to poor Brummell. + </p> + <p> + Among the members of Wattier's Club was Bligh, a notorious madman, of whom + Mr Raikes relates:—'One evening at the Macao table, when the play + was very deep, Brummell, having lost a considerable stake, affected, in + his farcical way, a very tragic air, and cried out—"Waiter, bring me + a flat candlestick and a pistol." Upon which Bligh, who was sitting + opposite to him, calmly produced two loaded pistols from his coat pocket, + which he placed on the table, and said, "Mr Brummell, if you are really + desirous to put a period to your existence, I am extremely happy to offer + you the means without troubling the waiter." The effect upon those present + may easily be imagined, at finding themselves in the company of a known + madman who had loaded weapons about him.' + </p> + <p> + Brummell was at last completely beggared, though for some time he + continued to hold on by the help of funds raised on the mutual security of + himself and his friends, some of whom were not in a much more flourishing + condition than himself; their names, however, and still more, their + expectations, lent a charm to their bills, in the eyes of the usurers, and + money was procured, of course at ruinous interest. It is said that some + unpleasant circumstances, connected with the division of one of these + loans, occasioned the Beau's expatriation, and that a personal altercation + took place between Brummell and a certain Mr M—, when that gentleman + accused him of taking the lion's share. + </p> + <p> + He died in utter poverty, and an idiot, at Caen, in the year 1840, aged 62 + years. Brummell had a very odd way of accounting for the sad change which + took place in his affairs. He said that up to a particular period of his + life everything prospered with him, and that he attributed good luck to + the possession of a certain silver sixpence with a hole in it, which + somebody had given him years before, with an injunction to take good care + of it, as everything would go well with him so long as he did, and the + reverse if he happened to lose it. The promised prosperity attended him + for many years, whilst he held the sixpence fast; but having at length, in + an evil hour, unfortunately given it by mistake to a hackney-coachman, a + complete reverse of his previous good fortune ensued, till actual ruin + overtook him at last, and obliged him to expatriate himself. 'On my asking + him,' says the narrator, 'why he did not advertise and offer a reward for + the lost treasure; he said, "I did, and twenty people came with sixpences + having holes in them to obtain the promised reward, but mine was not + amongst them!" And you never afterwards,' said I, 'ascertained what became + of it? "Oh yes," he replied, "no doubt that rascal Rothschild, or some of + his set, got hold of it."' Whatever poor Brummell's supernatural + tendencies may have generally been, he had unquestionably a superstitious + veneration for his lost sixpence. + </p> + <p> + TOM DUNCOMBE. + </p> + <p> + Tom Duncombe graduated and took honours among the greatest gamblers of the + day. Like Fox, he was heir to a good fortune—ten or twelve thousand + a year—the whole of which he managed to anticipate before he was + thirty. 'Tom Duncombe ran Charles Fox close. When Mr Duncombe, sen., of + Copgrove, caused his prodigal son's debts to be estimated with a view to + their settlement, they were found to exceed L135,000;(133) and the hopeful + heir went on adding to them till all possibility of extrication was at an + end. But he spent his money (or other people's money), so long as he had + any, like a gentleman; his heart was open like his hand; he was generous, + cordial, high-spirited; and his expectations—till they were known to + be discounted to the uttermost farthing—kept up his credit, improved + his social position, and gained friends. "Society" (says his son) "opened + its arms to the possessor of a good name and the inheritor of a good + estate. Paterfamiliases and Materfamiliases rivalled each other in + endeavouring to make things pleasant in their households for his + particular delectation, especially if they had grown-up daughters; + hospitable hosts invited him to dinner, fashionable matrons to balls; + political leaders sought to secure him as a partisan; <i>DEBUTANTES</i> of + the season endeavoured to attract him as an admirer; <i>TRADESMEN THRONGED + TO HIS DOORSTEPS FOR HIS CUSTOM</i>, and his table was daily covered with + written applications for his patronage." <i>Noblesse oblige;</i> and so + does fashion. The aspirant had confessedly a hard time of it. "He must be + seen at Tattersall's as well as at Almack's; be more frequent in + attendance in the green-room of the theatre than at a <i>levee</i> in the + palace; show as much readiness to enter into a pigeon-match at Battersea + Red House, as into a flirtation in May Fair; distinguish himself in the + hunting-field as much as at the dinner-table; and make as effective an + appearance in the park as in the senate; in short, he must be everything—not + by turns, but all at once—sportsman, exquisite, gourmand, rake, + senator, and at least a dozen other variations of the man of fashion,—his + changes of character being often quicker than those attempted by certain + actors who nightly undertake the performance of an entire <i>dramatis + personae</i>."' + </p> + <p> + (133) It will be remembered that when Fox's debts were in like manner + estimated they amounted to L140,000: the coincidence is curious. See ante. + </p> + <p> + Tommy Duncombe was not only indefatigable at Crockford's, but at every + other rendezvous of the votaries of fortune; a skilful player withal, and + not unfrequently a winner beyond expectation. One night at Crockford's he + astonished the house by carrying off sixteen hundred pounds. He frequently + played at cards with Count D'Orsay, from whom, it is said, he invariably + managed to win—the Count persisting in playing with his pleasant + companion, although warned by others that he would never be a match for + 'Honest Tommy Duncombe.' + </p> + <p> + Tom Duncombe died poor, but, says his son, 'rich in the memory of those + who esteemed him, as Honest Tom Duncombe.' + </p> + <p> + Perhaps the best thing the son could have done was to leave his father's + memory at rest in the estimation of 'those who esteemed him;' but having + dragged his name once more, and prominently, before a censorious world, he + can scarcely resent the following estimate of Tom Duncombe, by a + well-informed reviewer in the <i>Times</i>. Alluding to the concluding + summary of the father's character and doings, this keen writer passes a + sentence which is worth preserving:— + </p> + <p> + 'Much of this would do for a patriot and philanthropist of the highest + class—for a Pym, a Hampden, or a Wilberforce; or, we could fancy, a + son of Andrew Marvell, vowing over his grave "to endeavour to imitate the + virtues and emulate the self-sacrificing patriotism of so estimable a + parent, and so good a man." But we can hardly fancy, we cannot leave, a + son of Duncombe in such a frame of mind. We cannot say to <i>HIM</i>— + </p> + <p> + Macte nova virtute, puer; sic itur ad astra. "In virtue renewed go on; + thus to the skies we go." + </p> + <p> + We are unfeignedly reluctant to check a filial effusion, or to tell + disagreeable truths; but there are occasions when a sense of public duty + imperatively requires them to be told. + </p> + <p> + 'Why did this exemplary parent die poor? When did he abandon the + allurements of a patrician circle? He died poor because he wasted a fine + fortune. If he abandoned a patrician circle, it was because he was tired + of it, or thought he could make a better thing of democracy. If he + conquered his passions, it was, like St Evremond—by indulging them. + </p> + <p> + '"Honest Tom Duncombe!" We never heard him so designated before except in + pleasantry. "As honest as any man living, that is an old man, and not + honester than I." We cannot go further than Verges; it is a stretch of + charity to go so far when we call to mind the magnificent reversion and + the French jobs. A ruined spendthrift, although he may have many good + qualities, can never, strictly speaking, be termed honest. It is absurd to + say of him that he is nobody's enemy but his own—with family, + friends, and tradespeople paying the penalty for his self-indulgence. He + must be satisfied to be called honourable—to be charged with no + transgression of the law of honour; which Paley defines as "a system of + rules constructed by people of fashion, and calculated to facilitate their + intercourse with one another, <i>AND FOR NO OTHER PURPOSE</i>." + </p> + <p> + 'There was one quality of honesty, however, which "honest Tom Duncombe" + did possess. He was not a hypocrite. He was not devoid of right feeling. + He had plenty of good sense; and it would have given him a sickening pang + on his death-bed to think that his frailties were to be perpetuated by his + descendants; that he was to be pointed out as a shining star to guide, + instead of a beacon-fire to warn. "No," he would have said, if he could + have anticipated this most ill-chosen, however well-intentioned, tribute, + "spare me this terrible irony. Do not provoke the inevitable retort. Say + of me, if you must say anything, that I was not a bad man, though an + erring one; that I was kindly disposed towards my fellow-creatures; that I + did some good in my generation, and was able and willing to do more, but + that I heedlessly wasted time, money, health, intellect, personal gifts, + social advantages and opportunities; that my career was a failure, and my + whole scheme of life a melancholy mistake."'(134) + </p> + <p> + (134) <i>Times</i>, Jan. 7, 1868. + </p> + <p> + This is a terrible rejoinder to a son endeavouring to raise a monument to + his beloved and respected parent. But, if we will rake up rottenness from + the grave—rottenness in which we are interested—we must take + our chance whether we shall find a Hamlet who will say, 'Alas! poor + Yorick!' and say <i>NO MORE</i> than the musing Dane upon the occasion. + </p> + <p> + WAS THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON A GAMESTER? + </p> + <p> + A few years after the battle of Waterloo there appeared a French work + entitled '<i>L'Academie des Jeux</i>, par Philidor,' which was soon + translated into English, and here published under the title of 'Rouge et + Noir; or, the Academies.' It was a denunciation of gambling in all its + varieties, and was, no doubt, well-intentioned. There was, however, in the + publication the following astounding statement:— + </p> + <p> + 'Not long ago the carriage of the heir-apparent to the T***** of England, + in going to his B****'s levee, was arrested for debt in the open street. + That great captain, who gained, if not laurels, an immense treasure, on + the plains of Wa****oo, besides that fortune transmitted to him by the + English people, was impoverished in a few months by this ignoble passion.' + </p> + <p> + There can be no doubt that the alleged gambling of the great warrior and + statesman was the public scandal of the day, as appears by the duke's own + letters on the subject, published in the last volume of his <i>Dispatches</i>. + Even the eminent counsel, Mr Adolphus, thought proper to allude to the + report in one of his speeches at the bar. This called forth the following + letter from the duke to Mr Adolphus:— + </p> + <p> + '17 Sept., 1823. 'The Duke of Wellington presents his compliments to Mr + Adolphus, and encloses him the "Morning Chronicle" of Friday, the 12th + instant, to which the duke's attention has just been called, in which Mr + Adolphus will observe that he is stated to have represented the duke as a + person <i>KNOWN SOMETIMES TO PLAY AT HAZARD, WHO MIGHT BE COMMITTED AS A + ROGUE AND VAGABOND</i>. + </p> + <p> + 'The duke concludes that this paper contains a correct statement of what + Mr Adolphus said upon the occasion, and he assures Mr Adolphus that he + would not trouble him upon the subject if circumstances did not exist + which rendered this communication desirable. + </p> + <p> + 'Some years have elapsed since the public have been informed, <i>FROM THE + VERY BEST AUTHORITY</i>, that the duke had totally ruined himself at play; + and Mr Adolphus was present upon one occasion when a witness swore that he + had heard the duke was constantly obliged to sell the offices in the + Ordnance himself, instead of allowing them to be sold by others!! The duke + has suffered some inconvenience from this report in a variety of ways, and + he is anxious that at least it should not be repeated by a gentleman of + such celebrity and authority as Mr Adolphus. + </p> + <p> + 'He therefore assures Mr Adolphus that in the whole course of his life he + never won or lost L20 at any game, and that he never played at Hazard, or + any game of chance, in any public place or club, nor been for some years + at all at any such place. + </p> + <p> + 'From these circumstances, Mr Adolphus will see that there is no ground + for making use of the duke's name as an example of a person <i>KNOWN + SOMETIMES TO PLAY AT HAZARD, WHO MIGHT BE COMMITTED AS A ROGUE AND + VAGABOND</i>.' + </p> + <p> + <i>Mr Adolphus to Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington</i>. + </p> + <p> + 'Percy Street, 21st Sept., 1823. + </p> + <p> + 'Mr Adolphus has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of a note from his + Grace the Duke of Wellington, and would have done so yesterday, but was + detained in court till a late hour in the evening. Mr Adolphus is + extremely sorry that any expression used by him should have occasioned a + moment's uneasiness to the Duke of Wellington. Mr Adolphus cannot deny + that the report in the "Chronicle" is accurate, so far as it recites his + mere words; but the scope of his argument, and the intended sense of his + expression, was, that if the Vagrant Act were to receive the extensive + construction contended for, the most illustrious subject of the realm + might be degraded to the condition of the most abject and worthless, for + an act in itself indifferent—and which, until the times had assumed + a character of affected rigour, was considered rather as a proof of good + society than as an offence against good order. Mr Adolphus is, however, + perfectly sensible that his illustration in his Grace's person was in all + respects improper, and, considering the matters to which his Grace has + adverted, peculiarly unfortunate Mr Adolphus feels with regret that any + public expression of his sentiments on this subject in the newspapers + would not abate, but much increase, the evil. Should an opportunity ever + present itself of doing it naturally and without affectation, Mr Adolphus + would most readily explain, in speaking at the bar, the error he had + committed; but it is very unlikely that there should exist an occasion of + which he can avail himself with a due regard to delicacy. Mr Adolphus + relies, however, on the Duke of Wellington's exalted mind for credit to + his assurance that he never meant to treat his name but with the respect + due to his Grace's exalted rank and infinitely higher renown.' + </p> + <p> + <i>To Mr Adolphus</i>. + </p> + <p> + 'Woolford, 23rd Sept., 1823. + </p> + <p> + 'The Duke of Wellington presents his compliments to Mr Adolphus, and + assures Mr Adolphus that he is convinced that Mr Adolphus never intended + to reflect injuriously upon him. If the duke had believed that Mr Adolphus + could have entertained such an intention he would not have addressed him. + The duke troubles Mr Adolphus again upon this subject, as, in consequence + of the editor of the "Morning Chronicle" having thought proper to advert + to this subject in a paragraph published on the 18th instant, the duke has + referred the paper of that date and that of the 12th to the Attorney and + Solicitor-general, his counsel, to consider whether the editor ought not + to be prosecuted. + </p> + <p> + 'The duke requests, therefore, that Mr Adolphus will not notice the + subject in the way he proposes until the gentlemen above mentioned will + have decided upon the advice which they will give the duke.'(135) + </p> + <p> + (135) 'Dispatches,' vol. ii. part i. + </p> + <p> + The result was, however, that the matter was allowed to drop, as the duke + was advised by his counsel that the paragraph in the "Morning Chronicle," + though vile, was not actionable. The positive declaration of the duke, + 'that in the whole course of his life he never won or lost L20 at any + game, and that he never played at Hazard, or any game of chance, in any + public place or club, nor been for some years at all at any such place,' + should set the matter at rest. Certainly the duke was afterwards an + original member of Crockford's Club, founded in 1827, but, unlike Blucher, + who repeatedly lost everything at play, 'The Great Captain,' as Mr Timbs + puts it, 'was never known to play deep at any game but war or + politics.'(136) + </p> + <p> + (136) Club Life in London. + </p> + <p> + This remarkable deference to private character and public opinion, on the + part of the Duke of Wellington, is in wonderful contrast with the easy + morality of the Old Bailey advocate, Mr Adolphus, who did not hesitate to + declare gambling 'an act in itself indifferent—and which, until the + times had assumed a character of <i>AFFECTED</i> rigour, was considered + rather as a proof of good society than as an offence against good order.' + This averment of so distinguished a man may, perhaps, mitigate the horror + we now feel of the gambling propensities of our ancestors; and it is a + proof of some sort of advancement in morals, or good taste, to know that + no modern advocate would dare to utter such a sentiment. + </p> + <p> + Other great names have been associated with gambling; thus Mr T. H. + Duncombe says, speaking of Crockford's soon after its foundation:—'Sir + St Vincent Cotton (Lord Combermere), Lord Fitzroy Somerset (Raglan), the + Marquis of Anglesey, Sir Hussey Vivian, Wilson Croker, <i>Disraeli</i>, + Horace Twiss, Copley, George Anson, and George Payne <i>WERE PRETTY SURE + OF BEING PRESENT</i>, many of them playing high.' + </p> + <p> + Respecting this statement the <i>Times'</i>(137) reviewer observes:—'We + do not know what the Chancellor of the Exchequer will say to this. Mr + Wilson Croker (who affected great strictness) would have fainted away. But + the authority of a writer who does not know Sir St Vincent Cotton (the + ex-driver of the Brighton coach) from Sir <i>Stapleton</i> Cotton (the + Peninsular hero) will go for little in such matters; and as for Copley, + Lord Lyndhurst (just then promoted from the Rolls to the Woolsack), why + not say at once that he attended the nocturnal sittings at Crockford's in + his robes.' + </p> + <p> + (137) Jan. 7, 1868. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. REMARKABLE GAMESTERS. ——MONSIEUR CHEVALIER. + </h2> + <p> + Monsieur CHevalier, Captain of the Grenadiers in the first regiment of + Foot Guards, in the time of Charles II. of England, was a native of + Normandy. In his younger days he was page to the Duchess of Orleans; but + growing too big for that service, he came to England to seek his fortune, + and by some good luck and favour became an ensign in the first regiment of + Foot Guards. His pay, however, being insufficient to maintain him, he felt + compelled to become a gamester, or rather to resort to a practice in which + doubtless he had been early initiated at the Court of France; and he + managed so well that he was soon enabled to keep up an equipage much above + his station. + </p> + <p> + Among the 'bubbles' who had the misfortune to fall into Chevalier's hands, + was a certain nobleman, who lost a larger sum to him than he could + conveniently pay down, and asked for time, to which Chevalier assented, + and in terms so courteous and obliging that the former, a fortnight after, + in order to let him see that he remembered his civility, came one morning + and told Chevalier that he had a company of Foot to dispose of, and if it + was worth his while, it should be at his service. Nothing could be more + acceptable to Chevalier, who at once closed for the bargain, and got his + commission signed the same day. Besides the fact that it was a time of + peace, Chevalier knew well that the military title of Captain was a very + good cloak to shelter under. + </p> + <p> + He knew that a man of no employment or any visible income, who appears and + lives like a gentleman, and makes gaming his constant business, is always + suspected of not playing for diversion only; and, in short, of knowing and + practising more than he should do. + </p> + <p> + Chevalier once won 20 guineas from mad Ogle, the Life-guardsman, who, + understanding that the former had bit him, called him to account, + demanding either his money back, or satisfaction in the field. Chevalier, + having always courage enough to maintain what he did, chose the latter. + Ogle fought him in Hyde Park, and wounded him through the sword arm, and + got back his money. After this they were always good friends, playing + several comical tricks, one of which is as follows, strikingly + illustrating the manners of the times. + </p> + <p> + Chevalier and Ogle meeting one day in Fleet Street jostled for the wall, + which they strove to take of each other, whereupon words arising between + them, they drew swords, and pushed very hard at one another; but were + prevented, by the great crowd which gathered about them, from doing any + mischief. Ogle, seeming still to resent the affront, cried to Chevalier, + 'If you are a gentleman, pray follow me.' The French hero accepted the + challenge; so going together up Bell Yard and through Lincoln's Inn, with + some hundreds of the mob at their heels, as soon as the seeming + adversaries were got into Lincoln's Inn Fields, they both fell a running + as fast as they could, with their swords drawn, up towards Lord Powis's + house, which was then building, and leaped into a saw-pit. The rabble + presently ran after them, to part them again, and feared mischief would be + done before they could get up to them, but when they arrived at the + saw-pit, they saw Chevalier at one side of it and Ogle at the other, + sitting together as lovingly as if they had never fallen out at all. And + then the mob was so incensed at this trick put upon them, that had not + some gentlemen accidentally come by, they would have knocked them both on + the head with brickbats. + </p> + <p> + Chevalier had an excellent knack at cogging a die, and such command in the + throwing, that, chalking a circle on a table, with its circumference no + bigger than a shilling, he would, at above the distance of one foot, throw + a die exactly into it, which should be either ace, deuce, trey, or what he + pleased. + </p> + <p> + Aubrey de Vere, Earl of Oxford, was a great gambler of the time, and often + practised dice-throwing in his shirt during the morning until he fancied + himself in luck, when he would proceed to try his fortune with Chevalier; + but the dexterity of the latter always convinced the earl that no + certainty lies on the good success which may be fancied as likely to + result from play in jest. Chevalier won a great deal of money from that + peer, 'who lost most of his estate at gaming before he died, and which + ought to be a warning to all noblemen.' + </p> + <p> + Chevalier was a skilful sharper, and thoroughly up in the art and mystery + of loading dice with quicksilver; but having been sometimes detected in + his sharping tricks, he was obliged 'to look on the point of the sword, + with which being often wounded, latterly he declined fighting, if there + were any way of escape.' Having once 'choused,' or cheated, a Mr + Levingstone, page of honour to King James II., out of 50 guineas, the + latter gave the captain a challenge to fight him next day behind Montague + House—a locality long used for the purpose of duelling. Chevalier + seemingly accepted the challenge, and next morning, Levingstone going to + Chevalier's lodging, whom he found in bed, put him in mind of what he was + come about. Chevalier, with the greatest air of courage imaginable, rose, + and having dressed himself, said to Levingstone—'Me must beg de + favour of you to stay a few minutes, sir, while I step into my closet + dere, for as me be going about one desperate piece of work, it is very + requisite for me to say a small prayer or two.' Accordingly Mr Levingstone + consented to wait whilst Chevalier retired to his closet to pray; but + hearing the conclusion of his prayer to end with these words—'Me + verily believe spilling man's blood is one ver' great sin, wherefore I + hope all de saints will interced vid de Virgin for my once killing + Monsieur de Blotieres at Rochelle,—my killing Chevalier de Cominge + at Brest,—killing Major de Tierceville at Lyons,—killing + Lieutenant du Marche Falliere at Paris, with half a dozen other men in + France; so, being also sure of killing him I'm now going to fight, me hope + his forcing me to shed his blood will not be laid to my charge;'—quoth + Levingstone to himself—'And are you then so sure of me? But I'll + engage you shan't—for if you are such a devil at killing men, you + shall go and fight yourself and be ——.' Whereupon he made what + haste he could away, and shortly Chevalier coming out of the closet and + finding Levingstone not in the room, was very glad of his absence.' + </p> + <p> + Some time after, Chevalier was called to account by another gentleman. + They met at the appointed hour in Chelsea Fields, when Chevalier said to + his adversary—'Pray, sir, for what do we fight?' The gentleman + replied—'For honour and reputation.' Thereupon Chevalier pulling a + halter out of his pocket, and throwing it between him and his antagonist, + exclaimed—'Begar, sir, we only fight for dis one piece of rope—so + e'en <i>WIN IT AND WEAR IT</i>.' The effect of this jest was so great on + his adversary that swords were put up, and they went home together good + friends. + </p> + <p> + Chevalier continued his sharping courses for about fourteen years, running + a reckless race, 'sometimes with much money, sometimes with little, but + always as lavish in spending as he was covetous in getting it; until at + last King James ascending the throne, the Duke of Monmouth raised a + rebellion in the West of England, where, in a skirmish between the + Royalists and Rebels, he was shot in the back, and the wound thought to be + given by one of his own men, to whom he had always been a most cruel, + harsh officer, whilst a captain of the Grenadiers of the Foot Guards. He + was sensible himself how he came by this misfortune; for when he was + carried to his tent mortally wounded, and the Duke of Albemarle came to + visit him, he said to his Grace—'Dis was none of my foe dat shot me + in the back.' 'He was none of your friend that shot you,' the duke + replied. + </p> + <p> + So dying within a few hours after, he was interred in a field near Philip + Norton Lane, as the old chronicler says—'much <i>UN</i>lamented by + all who knew him.'(138) + </p> + <p> + (138) Lucas, <i>Memoirs of Gamesters and Sharpers</i>. + </p> + <p> + JOHN HIGDEN. + </p> + <p> + This gambler, who flourished towards the end of the 17th century, was + descended from a very good family in the West of England. In his younger + days he was a member of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, but + his inclinations being incompatible with close study of the law, he soon + quitted the inns of court and went into the army. He obtained not only a + commission in the first regiment of Boot Guards, but a commission of the + peace for the county of Middlesex, in which he continued for three or four + years as Justice Higden. He was very great at dice; and one night he and + another of his fraternity going to a gaming house, Higden drew a chair and + sat down, but as often as the box came to him he passed it, and remained + only as a spectator; but at last one of the players said to him pertly, + 'Sir, if you won't play, what do you sit there for?' Upon which Higden + snatched up the dice-box and said, 'Set me what you will and I'll throw at + it.' One of the gentlemen set him two guineas, which he won, and then set + him four, which he 'nicked' also. The rest of the gentlemen took the part + of the loser, and set to Higden, who, by some art and some good luck, won + 120 guineas; and presently, after throwing out, rose from the table and + went to his companion by the fireside, who asked him how he durst be so + audacious as to play, knowing he had not a shilling in his pocket? One of + the losers overhearing what was said, exclaimed, 'How's that—you had + no money when you began to play?' 'That's no matter,' replied Higden, 'I + have enough <i>NOW;</i> and if you had won of me, you must have been + contented to have kicked, buffeted, or pumped me, and you would have done + it as long as you liked. Besides, sir, I am a soldier, and have often + faced the mouths of thundering cannons for <i>EIGHT SHILLINGS A DAY</i>, + and do you think I would not hazard the tossing of a blanket for the money + I have won to-night?' + </p> + <p> + 'All the parties wondered at his confidence, but he laughed heartily at + their folly and his good fortune, and so marched off with a light heart + and a heavy purse.' Afterwards, 'to make himself as miserable as he could, + he turned poet, went to Ireland, published a play or two, and shortly + after he died very poor, in 1703.'(139) + </p> + <p> + (139) <i>ubi supra.</i> + </p> + <p> + MONSIEUR GERMAIN. + </p> + <p> + This gambler was of low birth, his parents keeping an ordinary in Holland, + where he was born, as stated by the old chronicler, 'in the happy + Revolution of 1688.' + </p> + <p> + His career is remarkable on account of his connection with Lady Mary + Mordaunt, wife of 'the Duke of Norfolk, who, proving her guilty of + adultery, was divorced from her. She then lived publicly with Germain.' + </p> + <p> + This Germain was the first to introduce what was called the <i>Spanish + Whist</i>, stated to be 'a mere bite, performed after this manner:—Having + a pack of cards, the four treys are privately laid on the top of them, + under them an ace, and next to that a deuce; then, letting your adversary + cut the cards, you do not pack them, but deal all of them that are cut + off, one at a time, between you; then, taking up the other parcel of + cards, you deal more cards, giving yourself two treys and a deuce, and to + the other persons two treys and an ace, when, laying the remainder of the + cards down—wherein are allowed no trumps, but only the highest cards + win—so they are but of the same suit, whilst you are playing, giving + your antagonist all you can, as though it is not in your power to prevent + him. You seem to fret, and cry you have good <i>put-cards;</i> he, having + two treys and an ace, will be apt to lay a wager with you that you cannot + have better than he; then you binding the wager, he soon sees his mistake. + But in this trick you must observe to put the other three deuces under + yours when you deal.' + </p> + <p> + It seems that this Monsieur Germain is not only remarkable for the above + precious addition to human knowledge, but also on account of his + expertness at the game of <i>Ombre</i>, celebrated and so elegantly + described by Pope in his 'Rape of the Lock.' + </p> + <p> + He appears to have lived with the Duchess of Norfolk ever after the + divorce; and he died a little after Lady Mary, in 1712, aged 46 + years.(140) + </p> + <p> + (140) <i>ubi supra</i>. + </p> + <p> + TOM HUGHES. + </p> + <p> + This Irishman was born in Dublin, and was the son of a respectable + tradesman. Falling into dissipated company, he soon left the city to try + his fortune in London, where he played very deep and very successfully. + </p> + <p> + He threw away his gains as fast as he made them, chiefly among the frail + sisterhood, at a notorious house in those days, in the Piazza, Covent + Garden. He frequented Carlisle House in Soho Square, and was a proprietor + of E O tables kept by a Dr Graham in Pall Mall. + </p> + <p> + He had a rencontre, in consequence of a dispute at play, and was wounded. + The meeting took place under the Piazza, and his antagonist's sword struck + a rib, which counteracted its dangerous effect. + </p> + <p> + Soon afterwards he won L3000 from a young man just of age, who made over + to him a landed estate for the amount, and he was shortly after admitted a + member of the Jockey Club. + </p> + <p> + His fortune now changed, and falling into the hands of Old Pope, the + money-lender, he was not long before he had to transfer his estate to him. + </p> + <p> + After many ups and downs he became an inmate of the spunging-house of the + infamous Scoldwell, who was afterwards transported. He actually used his + prison as a gaming house, to which his infatuated friends resorted; but + his means failed, his friends cooled, and he was removed 'over the water,' + from which he was only released by the Insolvent Act, with a broken + constitution. Arrest soon restored him to his old habitation, a lock-up + house, where he died so poor, a victim to grief, misery, and disease, that + he did not leave enough to pay for a coffin, which was procured by his + quondam friend, Mr Thornton, at whose cost he was buried. Perhaps more + than half a million of money had 'passed through his hands.' + </p> + <p> + ANDREWS, THE GREAT BILLIARD-PLAYER. + </p> + <p> + Andrews was reckoned so theoretically and practically perfect at the game + of Billiards that he had no equal except Abraham Carter, who kept the + tables at the corner of the Piazza, Russell Street, Covent Garden. + </p> + <p> + He one night won of Colonel W——e about a thousand pounds; and + the Colonel appointed to meet him next day to transact for stock + accordingly. Going in a hackney-coach to the Bank of England for this + purpose, they tossed up who should pay for the coach. Andrews lost—and + positively on this small beginning he was excited to continue betting, + until he lost the whole sum he had won the night before! When the coachman + stopped he was ordered to drive them back again, as they had no occasion + to get out! + </p> + <p> + Thus, in a few years, Hazard and other games of chance stripped him of his + immense winnings at Billiards, and he had nothing left but a small + annuity, fortunately for him so settled that he could not dispose of it—though + he made every effort to do so! + </p> + <p> + He afterwards retired in the county of Kent, and was heard to declare that + he never knew contentment when wallowing in riches; but that since he was + compelled to live on a scanty pittance, he was one of the happiest men in + the world. + </p> + <p> + WHIG MIDDLETON. + </p> + <p> + Whig Middleton was a tall, handsome, fashionable man, with an adequate + fortune. He one night had a run of ill-luck at Arthur's, and lost about a + thousand guineas. Lord Montford, in the gaming phrase, asked him what he + would do or what he would not do, to get home? 'My lord,' said he, + 'prescribe your own terms.' + </p> + <p> + 'Then,' resumed Lord Montford, 'dress directly opposite to the fashion for + ten years. Will you agree to it?' Middleton said that he would, and kept + his word. Nay, he died nine years afterwards so unfashionably that he did + not owe a tradesman a farthing—left some playing debts unliquidated, + and his coat and wig were of the cut of Queen Anne's reign. + </p> + <p> + Lord Montford is said to have died in a very different but quite + fashionable manner. + </p> + <p> + CAPTAIN CAMPBELL. + </p> + <p> + Captain Campbell, of the Guards, was a natural son of the Duke of ——. + He lost a thousand guineas to a Shark, which he could not pay. Being + questioned by the duke one day at dinner as to the cause of his dejection, + he reluctantly confessed the fact. 'Sir,' said his Grace, 'you do not owe + a farthing to the blackguard. My steward settled with him this morning for + <i>TEN</i> guineas, and he was glad to take them, only saying—"I was + damned far North, and it was well it was no worse."' + </p> + <p> + WROTHESLY, DUKE OF BEDFORD. + </p> + <p> + Wrothesly, Duke of Bedford, was the subject of a conspiracy at Bath, + formed by several first-rate sharpers, among whom were the manager of a + theatre, and Beau Nash, master of the ceremonies. After being plundered of + above L70,000 at Hazard, his Grace rose in a passion, put the dice in his + pocket, and intimated his resolution to inspect them. He then retired into + another room, and, flinging himself upon a sofa, fell asleep. + </p> + <p> + The winners, to escape disgrace, and obtain their money, cast lots who + should pick his pockets of the loaded dice, and introduce fair ones in + their place. The lot fell on the manager of the theatre, who performed his + part without discovery. The duke inspected the dice when he awoke, and + finding them correct, renewed his party, and lost L30,000 more. + </p> + <p> + The conspirators had received L5000, but disagreed on its division, and + Beau Nash, thinking himself ill-used, divulged the fact to his Grace, who + saved thereby the remainder of the money. He made Nash a handsome present, + and ever after gave him his countenance, supposing that the secret had + been divulged through pure friendship. + </p> + <p> + THE DUKE OF NORFOLK. + </p> + <p> + A similar anecdote is told of another gamester. 'The late Duke of + Norfolk,' says the author of 'Rouge et Noir,' writing in 1823, 'in one + evening lost the sum of L70,000 in a gaming house on the right side of St + James's Street: suspecting foul play, he put the dice in his pocket, and, + as was his custom when up late, took a bed in the house. The blacklegs + were all dismayed, till one of the worthies, who is believed to have been + a principal in poisoning the horses at Newmarket, for which Dan Dawson was + hanged, offered for L5000 to go to the duke's room with a brace of pistols + and a pair of dice, and, if the duke was awake, to shoot him, if asleep to + change the dice! Fortunately for the gang, the duke "snored," as the agent + stated, "like a pig;" the dice were changed. His Grace had them broken in + the morning, when, finding them good, he paid the money, and left off + gambling.'(141) + </p> + <p> + (141) Rouge et Noir; the Academicians of 1823. + </p> + <p> + GENERAL OGLE: A BOLD STROKE. + </p> + <p> + A few weeks before General Ogle was to sail for India, he constantly + attended Paine's, in Charles Street, St James's Square. One evening there + were before him two wooden bowls full of gold, which held L1500 guineas + each, and L4000 in rouleaus, which he had won. + </p> + <p> + When the box came to him, he shook the dice and with great coolness and + pleasantry said—'Come, I'll either win or lose seven thousand upon + this hand. Will any gentleman set on the whole? <i>SEVEN</i> is the main.' + Then rattling the dice once more, cast the box from him and quitted it, + the dice remaining uncovered. + </p> + <p> + Although the General did not think this too large a sum for one man to + risk at a single throw, the rest of the gentlemen did, and for some time + the bold gamester remained unset. + </p> + <p> + He then said—'Well, gentlemen, will you make it up amongst you?' + </p> + <p> + One set him 500 guineas, another 500. 'Come,' said he, 'whilst you are + making up the money I'll tell you a story.' Here he began—but + perceiving that he was at last completely set for the cast, stopt short—laid + his hand on the box, saying—'I believe I am completely set, + gentlemen?' 'Yes, sir, and Seven is the main,' was the reply. The General + threw out, and lost! Seven thousand guineas! + </p> + <p> + Then with astonishing coolness he took up his snuff-box and smiling + exclaimed—'Now, gentlemen, if you please, I'll finish my story.' + </p> + <p> + HORACE WALPOLE. + </p> + <p> + There can be no doubt that Horace Walpole was an inveterate gambler, + although he managed to keep always afloat and merrily sailing—for he + says himself:—'A good lady last year was delighted at my becoming + peer, and said—"I hope you will get an Act of Parliament for putting + down Faro." As if I could make Acts of Parliament! and could I, it would + be very consistent too in me, who for some years played more at Faro than + anybody.'(142) + </p> + <p> + (142) Letters, IX. + </p> + <p> + THE EARL OF MARCH. + </p> + <p> + This extraordinary and still famous personage, better known as the Duke of + Queensberry, was the 'observed of all observers' almost from his boyhood + to extreme old age. His passions were for women and the turf; and the + sensual devotedness with which he pursued the one, and the eccentricity + which he displayed in the enjoyment of both, added to the observation + which he attracted from his position as a man of high rank and princely + fortune, rendered him an object of unceasing curiosity. He was deeply + versed in the mysteries of the turf, and in all practical and theoretical + knowledge connected with the race-course was acknowledged to be the most + accomplished adept of his own time. He seems also to have been a skilful + gamester and player of billiards. Writing to George Selwyn from Paris in + 1763, he says:—'I won the first day about L2000, of which I brought + off about L1500. All things are exaggerated, I am supposed to have won at + least twice as much.' In 1765 he is said to have won two thousand louis of + a German at billiards. Writing to Selwyn, Gilly Williams says of him: 'I + did not know he was more an adept at that game than you are at any other, + but I think you are both said to be losers on the whole, at least Betty + says that her letters mention you as pillaged.' + </p> + <p> + Among the numerous occasions on which the name of the Duke of Queensberry + came before the public in connection with sporting matters, may be + mentioned the circumstance of the following curious trial, which took + place before Lord Mansfield in the Court of King's Bench, in 1771. The + Duke of Queensberry, then Lord March, was the plaintiff, and a Mr Pigot + the defendant. The object of this trial was to recover the sum of five + hundred guineas, being the amount of a wager laid by the duke With Mr + Pigot—whether Sir William Codrington or <i>OLD</i> Mr Pigot should + die first. It had singularly happened that Mr Pigot died suddenly the <i>SAME + MORNING</i>, of the gout in his head, but before either of the parties + interested in the result of the wager could by any possibility have been + made acquainted with the fact. In the contemporary accounts of the trial, + the Duke of Queensberry is mentioned as having been accommodated with a + seat on the bench; while Lord Ossory, and several other noblemen, were + examined on the merits of the case. By the counsel for the defendant it + was argued that (as in the case of a horse dying before the day on which + he was to be run) the wager was invalid and annulled. Lord Mansfield, + however, was of a different opinion; and after a brief charge from that + great lawyer, the jury brought in a verdict for the plaintiff for five + hundred guineas, and he sentenced the defendant to defray the costs of the + suit.(143) + </p> + <p> + (143) Jesse, George Selwyn and his Contemporaries, vol. i. p. 194. + </p> + <p> + This prince of debauchees seems to have surpassed every model of the kind, + ancient or modern. In his prime he reproduced in his own drawing-room the + scene of Paris and the Goddesses, exactly as we see it in classic + pictures, three of the most beautiful women of London representing the + divinities as they appeared to Paris on Mount Ida, while he himself, + dressed as the Dardan shepherd holding a <i>GILDED</i> apple (it should + have been really golden) in his hand, conferred the prize on her whom he + deemed the fairest. In his decrepit old age it was his custom, in fine + sunny weather, to seat himself in his balcony in Piccadilly, where his + figure was familiar to every person who was in the habit of passing + through that great thoroughfare. Here (his emaciated figure rendered the + more conspicuous from his custom of holding a parasol over his head) he + was in the habit of watching every attractive female form, and ogling + every pretty face that met his eye. He is said, indeed, to have kept a + pony and a servant in constant readiness, in order to follow and ascertain + the residence of any fair girl whose attractions particularly caught his + fancy! At this period the old man was deaf with one ear, blind with one + eye, nearly toothless, and labouring under multiplied infirmities. But the + hideous propensities of his prime still pursued him when all enjoyment was + impossible. Can there be a greater penalty for unbridled licentiousness? + </p> + <p> + MR LUMSDEN. + </p> + <p> + Mr Lumsden, whose inveterate love of gambling eventually caused his ruin, + was to be seen every day at Frascati's, the celebrated gambling house kept + by Mme Dunan, where some of the most celebrated women of the <i>demi-monde</i> + usually congregated. He was a martyr to the gout, and his hands and + knuckles were a mass of chalk-stones. He stuck to the <i>Rouge et Noir</i> + table until everybody had left; and while playing would take from his + pocket a small slate, upon which he would rub his chalk-stones until blood + flowed. 'Having on one occasion been placed near him at the <i>Rouge et + Noir</i> table, I ventured,' says Captain Gronow, 'to expostulate with him + for rubbing his knuckles against his slate. He coolly answered, "I feel + relieved when I see the blood ooze out."' + </p> + <p> + Mr Lumsden was remarkable for his courtly manners; but his absence of mind + was astonishing, for he would frequently ask his neighbour <i>WHERE HE WAS</i>! + Crowds of men and women would congregate behind his chair, to look at 'the + mad Englishman,' as he was called; and his eccentricities used to amuse + even the croupiers. After losing a large fortune at this den of iniquity, + Mr Lumsden encountered every evil of poverty, and died in a wretched + lodging in the Rue St Marc.(144) + </p> + <p> + (144) Gronow, <i>Last Recollections.</i> + </p> + <p> + GENERAL SCOTT, THE HONEST WINNER OF L200,000. + </p> + <p> + General Scott, the father-in-law of George Canning and the Duke of + Portland, was known to have won at White's L200,000, 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 of + judgment, he was able honestly to win the enormous sum of L200,000. + </p> + <p> + RICHARD BENNET. + </p> + <p> + Richard Bennet had gone through every walk of a blackleg, from being a + billiard sharper at a table in Bell Alley until he became a keeper or + partner in all the 'hells' in St James's. In each stage of his journey he + had contrived to have so much the better of his competitors, that he was + enabled to live well, to bring up and educate a large legitimate family, + and to gratify all his passions and sensuality. But besides all this, he + accumulated an ample fortune, which this inveterate gamester did actually + possess when the terriers of justice overtook and hunted him into the + custody of the Marshal of the Court of Queen's Bench. Here he was + sentenced to be imprisoned a certain time, on distinct indictments, for + keeping different gaming houses, and was ordered to be kept in custody + until he had also paid fines to the amount, we believe, of L4000. Bennet, + however, after undergoing the imprisonment, managed to get himself + discharged without paying the fines. + </p> + <p> + DENNIS O'KELLY. + </p> + <p> + Dennis O'Kelly was the Napoleon of the turf and the gaming table. Ascot + was his elysium. His horses occupied him by day and the Hazard table by + night. At the latter one night he was seen repeatedly turning over a <i>QUIRE + OF BANK NOTES</i>, and a gentleman asked him what he was looking for, when + he replied, 'I am looking for a <i>LITTLE ONE</i>.' The inquirer said he + could accommodate him, and desired to know for what sum. Dennis O'Kelly + answered, 'I want a FIFTY, or something of <i>THAT SORT</i>, just to set + the <i>CASTER</i>. At this moment it was supposed he had seven or eight <i>THOUSAND</i> + pounds in notes in his hand, but not one for less than a <i>HUNDRED!</i> + </p> + <p> + Dennis O'Kelly always threw with great success; and when he held the box + he was seldom known to refuse throwing for <i>ANY SUM</i> that the company + chose to set him. He was always liberal in <i>SETTING THE CASTER</i>, and + preventing a stagnation of trade at the <i>TABLE</i>, which, from the + great property always about him, it was his good fortune very frequently + to deprive of its last floating guinea, when the box of course became + dormant for want of a single adventurer. + </p> + <p> + It was his custom to carry a great number of bank notes in his waistcoat + pocket, twisted up together, with the greatest indifference; and on one + occasion, in his attendance at a Hazard table at Windsor, during the + races, being a <i>STANDING</i> better 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 instantly withdrawn, and the notes left + sticking out. The company became clamorous for taking the offender before + a magistrate, and many attempted to secure him for the purpose; but + Captain Dennis O'Kelly very philosophically seized 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>JONTLEMEN</i>.' + </p> + <p> + A bet for a large sum was once proposed to this 'Admirable Crichton' of + the turf and the gaming table, and accepted. The proposer asked O'Kelly + where lay his <i>ESTATES</i> to answer for the amount if he lost?' 'My + estates!' cried O'Kelly. 'Oh, if that's what you <i>MANE</i>, I've a <i>MAP</i> + of them here'—and opening his pocket-book he exhibited bank notes to + <i>TEN TIMES</i> the sum in question, and ultimately added the <i>INQUIRER'S</i> + contribution to them. + </p> + <p> + Such was the wonderful son of Erin, 'Captain' or 'Colonel' Dennis O'Kelly. + One would like to know what ultimately became of him. + </p> + <p> + DICK ENGLAND. + </p> + <p> + Jack Tether, Bob W—r, Tom H—ll, Captain O'Kelly, and others, + spent with Dick England a great part of the plunder of poor Clutterbuck, a + clerk of the Bank of England, who not only lost his all, but robbed the + Bank of an immense sum to pay his 'debts of honour.' + </p> + <p> + A Mr B—, a Yorkshire gentleman, proposed to his brother-in-law, who + was with him, to put down ten pounds each and try their luck at the 'Hell' + kept by 'the Clerks of the Minster,' in the Minster Yard, next the Church. + It was the race-week. There were about thirteen Greeks there, Dick England + at their head. Mr B— put down L10. England then called 'Seven the + main—if seven or eleven is thrown next, the Caster wins.' Of course + Dick intended to win; but he blundered in his operation; he <i>LANDED</i> + at six and the other did not answer his hopes. Yet, with matchless + effrontery, he swore he had called <i>SIX</i> and not seven; and as it was + referred to the majority of the goodly company, thirteen <i>HONEST + GENTLEMEN</i> gave it in Dick England's favour, and with him divided the + spoil. + </p> + <p> + A Mr D—, a gentleman of considerable landed property in the North, + proposed passing a few days at Scarborough. Dick England saw his carriage + enter the town, and contrived to get into his company and go with him to + the rooms. When the assembly was over, he prevailed on Mr D— to sup + with him. After supper Mr D— was completely intoxicated, and every + effort to make him play was tried in vain. + </p> + <p> + This was, of course, very provoking; but still something must be done, and + a very clever scheme they hit upon to try and 'do' this 'young man from + the country.' Dick England and two of his associates played for five + minutes, and then each of them marked a card as follows:—'D— + owes me one hundred guineas,' 'D— owes me eighty guineas;' but Dick + marked <i>HIS</i> card—'I owe D—thirty guineas.' + </p> + <p> + The next day, Mr D— met Dick England on the cliff and apologized for + his excess the night before, hoping he had given no offence 'when drunk + and incapable.' Having satisfied the gentleman on this point, Dick England + presented him with a thirty-guinea note, which, in spite of contradiction, + remonstrance, and denial of any play having taken place, he forced on Mr D— + as his <i>FAIR WINNING</i>—adding that he had paid hundreds to + gentlemen in liquor, who knew nothing of it till he had produced the + account. Of course Mr D— could not help congratulating himself at + having fallen in with a perfect gentleman, as well as consoling himself + for any head-ache or other inconvenience resulting from his night's + potation. They parted with gushing civilities between them. + </p> + <p> + Soon afterwards, however, two other gentlemen came up to Mr D—, whom + the latter had some vague recollection of having seen the evening before, + in company with Dick England; and at length, from what the two gentlemen + said, he had no doubt of the fact, and thought it a fit opportunity to + make a due acknowledgment of the gentlemanly conduct of their friend, who + had paid him a bet which he had no remembrance of having made. + </p> + <p> + No mood could be better for the purpose of the meeting; so the two + gentlemen not only approved of the conduct of Dick, and descanted on the + propriety of paying drunken men what they won, but also declared that no + <i>GENTLEMAN</i> would refuse to pay a debt of honour won from him when + drunk; and at once begged leave to 'remind' Mr D— that he had lost + to them 180 guineas! In vain the astounded Mr D— denied all + knowledge of the transaction; the gentlemen affected to be highly + indignant, and talked loudly of injured honour. Besides, had he not + received 30 guineas from their friend? So he assented, and appointed the + next morning to settle the matter. + </p> + <p> + Fortunately for Mr D—, however, some intelligent friends of his + arrived in the mean time, and having heard his statement about the whole + affair, they 'smelt a rat,' and determined to ferret it out. They examined + the waiter—previously handing him over five guineas—and this + man declared the truth that Mr D— did not play at all—in fact, + that he was in such a condition that there could not be any real play. + Dick England was therefore 'blown' on this occasion. Mr D— returned + him his thirty guineas, and paid five guineas for his share of the supper; + and well he might, considering that it very nearly cost him 150 guineas—that + is, having to receive 30 guineas and to pay 180 guineas to the Greeks—profit + and loss with a vengeance. + </p> + <p> + Being thus 'blown' at Scarborough, Dick England and his associates + decamped on the following morning. + </p> + <p> + He next formed a connection with a lieutenant on half pay, nephew to an + Irish earl. With this lieutenant he went to Spa, and realized something + considerable; but not without suspicion—for a few dice were missed. + </p> + <p> + Dick England returned to London, where he shortly disagreed with the + lieutenant. The latter joined the worthy before described, Captain + O'Kelly, who was also at enmity with Dick England; and the latter took an + opportunity of knocking their heads together in a public coffee-room, and + thrashing them both till they took shelter under the tables. Dick had the + strength of an ox, the ferocity of a bull-dog, and 'the cunning of the + serpent,' although what the latter is no naturalist has ever yet + discovered or explained. + </p> + <p> + The lieutenant determined on revenge for the thrashing. He had joined his + regiment, and he 'peached' against his former friend, disclosing to the + officers the circumstance of the dice at Spa, before mentioned; and, of + course, upset all the designs of Dick England and his associates. This + enraged all the blacklegs; a combination was formed against the + lieutenant; and he was shot through the head by 'a brother officer,' who + belonged to the confraternity. + </p> + <p> + The son of an earl lost forty thousand pounds in play to Dick England; and + shot himself at Stacie's Hotel in consequence—the very night before + his honourable father sent his steward to pay the 'debt of honour' in full—though + aware that his son had been cheated out of it. + </p> + <p> + But the most extraordinary 'pass' of Dick England's career is still to be + related—not without points in it which make it difficult to believe, + in spite of the evidence, that it is the same 'party' who was concerned in + it. Here it is. + </p> + <p> + In the <i>Gentleman's Magazine</i>, in Gilchrist's Collection of British + Duels, in Dr Millingen's reproduction of the latter, the following account + occurs:— + </p> + <p> + 'Mr Richard England was put to the bar at the Old Bailey, charged with the + "wilful murder" of Mr Rowlls, brewer, of Kingston, in a duel at + Cranford-bridge, June 18, 1784. + </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 the duel was fought. They went into the garden + and endeavoured to prevent the duel; several other persons were collected + in the garden. 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, the Marquis of Hertford, Sir Whitbread, jun., + Colonel 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 summoned up the evidence; after which the jury retired + for about three quarters of an hour, when they returned a verdict of + "manslaughter." + </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 twelve months.' + </p> + <p> + This trial took place in the year 1796, and the facts in evidence give a + strange picture of the times. A duel actually fought in the garden of an + inn, a noble lord close by in a bower therein, and his lady certainly + within <i>HEARING</i> of the shots, and doubtless a spectator of the + bloody spectacle. But this is not the point,—the incomprehensible + point,—to which I have alluded—which is, how Lord Derby and + the other gentlemen of the highest standing could come forward to speak to + the character of <i>DICK ENGLAND</i>, if he was the same man who killed + the unfortunate brewer of Kingston? + </p> + <p> + Here is <i>ANOTHER</i> account of the matter, which warrants the doubt, + although it is fearfully circumstantial, as to the certain identity:— + </p> + <p> + 'Mr William Peter le Rowles, of Kingston, brewer, was habitually fond of + play. On one occasion he was induced—when in a state of intoxication—to + play with Dick England, who claimed, in consequence, winnings to the + amount of two hundred guineas. Mr le Rowles utterly denied the debt, and + was in consequence pursued by England until he was compelled to a duel, in + which Mr le Rowles fell. Lord Dartrey, afterwards Lord Cremorne, was + present at Ascot Heath races on the fatal occasion, which happened in + 1784; and his evidence before the coroner's inquest produced a verdict of + wilful murder against Dick England, who fled at the time, but returned + twelve years afterwards, was tried, and found guilty of manslaughter only. + He was imprisoned for twelve months. England was strongly suspected of + highway robberies; particularly on one occasion, when his associate, F—, + was shot dead by Col. P— on his return from the Curragh races to the + town of Naas. The Marquis of Hertford, Lords Derby and Cremorne, Colonels + Bishopp and Wollaston, and Messrs Whitbread, Breton, &c., were + evidences in the trial.'(145) + </p> + <p> + (145) <i>The Gaming Calendar</i>, by Seymour Harcourt. + </p> + <p> + It may seem strange that such a man as Dick England could procure such + distinguished 'witnesses to character.' The thing is easily explained, + however. They knew the man only as a turf companion. We can come to no + other conclusion,—remembering other instances of the kind. For + example, the case of Palmer, convicted for the poisoning of Cooke. Had + Palmer been on his trial merely for fighting a fatal duel; there can be no + doubt that several noblemen would have come forward to give him a good + character. I was present at his trial, and saw him <i>BOW TO ONE, AT + LEAST, OF OUR MOST DISTINGUISHED NOBLEMEN</i> when the latter took his + seat near the judge, at the trial. There was a <i>TURF ACQUAINTANCESHIP</i> + between them, and, of course, all 'acquaintanceship' may be presumed upon, + if we lay ourselves open to the degradation. + </p> + <p> + The following is a curious case in point. A gentleman of the highest + standing and greatest respectability was accosted by a stranger to whom he + said—'Sir, you have the advantage of me.' 'Oh!' rejoined the former, + 'don't you remember when we used to meet at certain parties at Bath many + years ago?' 'Well, sir,' exclaimed the gentleman, 'you may speak to me + should you ever again meet me at certain parties at Bath, but nowhere + else.' + </p> + <p> + MAJOR BAGGS. + </p> + <p> + This famous gamester died in 1792, by a cold caught in 'a round-house,' or + place of detention, to which he had been taken by Justice Hyde, from a + gaming table. + </p> + <p> + When too ill to rise out of his chair, he would be carried in that chair + to the Hazard table. + </p> + <p> + He was supposed to have been the utter ruin of above forty persons at + play. He fought eleven duels. + </p> + <p> + THE DUC DE MIREFOIX. + </p> + <p> + The Duc de Mirefois was ambassador at the British Court, and was extremely + fond of chess. A reverend gentleman being nearly his equal, they + frequently played together. At that time the clergyman kept a petty + day-school in a small village, and had a living of not more than twenty + pounds a-year. The French nobleman made uncommon interest with a noble + duke, through whose favour he obtained for his reverend protege a living + of about L600 per annum—an odd way of obtaining the 'cure of souls!' + </p> + <p> + A RECLAIMED GAMBLER'S ACCOUNT OF HIS CAREER. + </p> + <p> + 'Some years since I was lieutenant in a regiment, which the alarm and + policy of administration occasioned to be quartered in the vicinity of the + metropolis, where I was for the first time. A young nobleman of very + distinguished family undertook to be my conductor. Alas! to what scenes + did he introduce me! To places of debauchery and dens of destruction. I + need not detail particulars. From the lures of the courtesan we went to an + adjoining gaming room. Though I thought my knowledge of cards superior to + those I saw play that night, I touched no card nor dice. From this my + conductor, a brother officer, and myself adjourned to Pall Mall. We + returned to our lodgings about six o'clock in the morning. + </p> + <p> + 'I could think of nothing but Faro's magic centre, and longed for the next + evening, when I determined to enter that path which has led so many to + infamy, beggary, and suicide. I began cautiously, and for some time had + reason to be satisfied with my success. It enabled me to live expensively. + I made golden calculations of my future fortune as I improved in skill. My + manuals were treatises on gaming and chances, and no man understood this + doctrine better than I did. I, however, did not calculate the disparity of + resisting powers—my purse with <i>FIFTY</i> guineas, and the Faro + bank with a hundred thousand. It was ruin only which opened my eyes to + this truism at last. + </p> + <p> + 'Good meats, good cooking, and good wines, given gratis and plenteously, + at these houses, drew many to them at first, for the sake of the society. + Among them I one evening chanced to see a clerical prig, who was incumbent + of a parish adjoining that in which my mother lived. I was intoxicated + with wine and pleasure, when I, on this occasion, entered a haunt of ruin + and enterprising avarice in Pall Mall. I played high and lost in + proportion. + </p> + <p> + 'The spirit of adventure was now growing on me every day. I was sometimes + very successful. Yet my health was impaired, and my temper soured by the + alternation of good and bad fortune, and my pity or contempt for those + with whom I associated. From the nobleman, whose acres were nightly + melting in the dice box, there were adventurers even to the <i>UNFLEDGED + APPRENTICE</i>, who came with the pillage of his unsuspecting master's + till, to swell the guilty bank of Dame N— and Co. Were the + Commissioners of Bankruptcy to know how many citizens are prepared for + them at those houses, they would be bound to thank them. + </p> + <p> + 'Many a score of guineas have I won of tradesmen, who seemed only to turn + an honest penny in Leadenhall Street, Aldgate, Birchin Lane, Cornhill, + Cheapside, Holborn, the Borough, and other eastern spots of industry; but + I fleeced them only for the benefit of the Faro bank, which is sure, + finally, to absorb the gain of all. Some of the croupiers would call their + gold <i>GIFTS OF THE WISE MEN OF THE EAST;</i> others termed their guineas + <i>COCKNEY COUNTERS!</i> + </p> + <p> + 'One night I had such a run of luck in the Hazard room, which was rather + thinly attended, that I won everything, and with my load of treasure + collected from the East and West, nay, probably, some of it from <i>Finchley + Common</i> and <i>Hounslow Heath</i>, I went, in the flush of success, to + attack the Faro bank. + </p> + <p> + 'It was my determination, however, if fortune favoured me through the + night, never to tempt her more. For some hours I proceeded in the torture + of suspense, alternately agitated by hope and fear—but by five + o'clock in the morning I attained a state of certainty similar to that of + a wretch ushered into the regions of the damned. I had lost L3500 guineas, + which I had brought with me from the Hazard table, together with L2000 + which the bank advanced me on my credit. There they stopped; and, with an + apathy peculiar to themselves, listened to a torrent of puerile abuse + which I vented against them in my despair. + </p> + <p> + 'Two days and two nights I shut myself up, to indulge in the most racking + reflections. I was ruined beyond repair, and I had, on the third morning, + worked myself up to resort for relief to a loaded pistol. I rang for my + servant to bring me some gunpowder, and was debating with myself whether + to direct its force to my brain or my heart, when he entered with a + letter. It was from Harriet ——. She had heard of my + misfortunes, and urged me with the soul and pen of a heroine, to fly the + destructive habits of the town, and to wait for nine months, when her + minority would expire, and she would come into the uncontrolled possession + of L1700. With that small sum she hoped my expenses, talents, and domestic + comfort, under her housewifery, would create a state of happiness and + independence which millions could not procure in the mad career which I + had pursued. + </p> + <p> + 'This was the voice of a guardian angel in the moment of despair. In her + next, at my request, she informed me that the channel of her early and + minute information was the clerical prig, her neighbour and admirer, who + was related to one of the croupiers at ——, and had from him a + regular detail of my proceedings. + </p> + <p> + 'Soothed by the magic influence of my virtuous Harriet, instead of calling + the croupier to account, I wrote to the proprietors of the bank, stating + my ruined condition, and my readiness to sell my commission and pay them + what I could. These gentlemen have friends in every department. They + completed the transfer of my lieutenancy in two days, and then, in their + superabundant humanity, offered me the place of croupier in an inferior + house which they kept near Hanover Square. This offer I declined; and + after having paid my tradesman's bill, I left London with only eleven + guineas in my pocket. I married the best of women, my preserver, and have + ever since lived in real comfort and happiness, on an income less than one + hundred pounds a year.' + </p> + <p> + A SURPRISE. + </p> + <p> + A stranger plainly dressed took his seat at a Faro table, when the bank + was richer than usual. After some little routine play, he challenged the + bank, and tossed his pocket-book to the banker that he might be satisfied + of his responsibility. It was found to contain bills to an immense amount; + and on the banker showing reluctance to accept the challenge, the stranger + sternly demanded compliance with the laws of the game. The card soon + turned up which decided the ruin of the banker. 'Heaven!' exclaimed an old + infirm Austrian officer, who had sat next to the stranger—'the + twentieth part of your gains would make me the happiest man in the + universe!' The stranger briskly answered—'You shall have it, then;' + and quitted the room. A servant speedily returned, and presented the + officer with the twentieth part of the bank, adding—'My master + requires no answer, sir,' and went out. The successful stranger was soon + recognized to be the great King of Prussia in disguise. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII. THE LOTTERIES AND THEIR BEWILDERMENTS. + </h2> + <p> + If we are to believe Pere Menestrier, the institution of Lotteries is to + be found in the Bible, in the words—'The <i>LOT</i> causeth + contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty,' Prov. xviii. 18. Be + that as it may, it is certain that lotteries were in use among the ancient + Romans, taking place during the <i>Saturnalia</i>, or festivities in + honour of the god Saturn, when those who took part in them received a + numbered ticket, which entitled the bearer to a prize. During the reign of + Augustus the thing became a means of gratifying the cupidity of his + courtiers; and Nero used it as the method of distributing his gifts to the + people,—granting as many as a thousand tickets a day, some of them + entitling the bearers to slaves, ships, houses, and lands. Domitian + compelled the senators and knights to participate in the lotteries, in + order to debase them; and Heliogabalus, in his fantastic festivities, + distributed tickets which entitled the bearers to camels, flies, and other + odd things suggested by his madness. In all this, however, the distinctive + character of modern lotteries was totally absent: the tickets were always + gratuitous; so that if the people did not win anything, they never lost. + </p> + <p> + In the Middle Ages the same practice prevailed at the banquets of feudal + princes, who apportioned their presents economically, and without the fear + of exciting jealousy among the recipients, by granting lottery tickets + indiscriminately to their friends. The practice afterwards descended to + the merchants; and in Italy, during the 16th century, it became a + favourite mode of disposing of their wares. + </p> + <p> + The application of lotteries by paid tickets to the service of the state + is said to have originated at Florence, under the name of 'Lotto,' in + 1530; others say at Genoa, under the following circumstances:—It had + long been customary in the latter city to choose annually, by ballot, five + members of the Senate (composed of 90 persons) in order to form a + particular council. Some persons took this opportunity of laying bets that + the lot would fall on such or such senators. The government, seeing with + what eagerness the people interested themselves in these bets, conceived + the idea of establishing a lottery on the same principle, which was + attended with such great success, that all the cities of Italy wished to + participate in it, and sent large sums of money to Genoa for that purpose. + </p> + <p> + To increase the revenues of the Church, the Pope also was induced to + establish a lottery at Rome; the inhabitants of which place became so fond + of this species of gambling, that they often deprived themselves and their + families of the necessaries of life, that they might have money to lay out + in this speculation. + </p> + <p> + The French borrowed the idea from the Italians. In the year 1520, under + Francis I., lotteries were permitted by edict under the name of <i>Blanques</i>, + from the Italian <i>bianca carta</i>, 'white tickets,'— because all + the losing tickets were considered <i>BLANKS;</i>—hence the + introduction of the word into common talk, with a similar meaning. From + the year 1539 the state derived a revenue from the lotteries, although + from 1563 to 1609 the French parliament repeatedly endeavoured to suppress + them as social evils. At the marriage of Louis XIV. a lottery was + organized to distribute the royal presents to the people—after the + fashion of the Roman emperor. Lotteries were multiplied during this reign + and that of Louis XV. In 1776 the Royal Lottery of France was established. + This was abolished in 1793, re-established at the commencement of the + Republic; but finally all lotteries were prohibited by law in 1836,—excepting + 'for benevolent purposes.' One of the most remarkable of these lotteries + 'for benevolent purposes' was the 'Lottery of the Gold Lingots,' + authorized in 1849, to favour emigration to California. In this lottery + the grand prize was a lingot of gold valued at about L1700. + </p> + <p> + The old French lottery consisted of 90 numbers, that is, from No. 1 to No. + 90, and the drawing was five numbers at a time. Five wheels were + established at Paris, Lyons, Strasbourg, Bordeaus, and Lille. A drawing + took place every ten days at each city. The exit of a single number was + called <i>extrait</i>, and it won 15 times the amount deposited, and 70 + times if the number was determined; the exit of two numbers was called the + <i>ambe</i>, winning 270 times the deposit, and 5100 times if the number + was determined;—the exit of three numbers was called the <i>terne</i>, + winning 5500 times; the <i>quaterne</i>, or exit of four numbers, won + 75,000 times the deposit. In all this, however, the chances were greatly + in favour of the state banker;—in the <i>extrait</i> the chances + were 18 to 15 in his favour, vastly increasing, of course, in the + remainder; thus in the <i>ambe</i> it was 1602 against 270; and so on. + </p> + <p> + The first English lottery mentioned in history was drawn in the year 1569. + It consisted of 400,000 lots, at 10<i>s</i>. each lot. The prizes were + plate; and the profits were to go towards repairing the havens or ports of + this kingdom. It was drawn at the west door of St Paul's Cathedral. The + drawing began on the 10th of January, 1569, and continued incessantly, <i>DAY + AND NIGHT</i>, till the 6th of May following.(146) Another lottery was + held at the same place in 1612, King James having permitted it in favour + of 'the plantation of English colonies in Virginia.' One Thomas Sharplys, + a tailor of London, won the chief prize, which was '4000 crowns in fair + plate.' + </p> + <p> + (146) The printed scheme of this lottery is still in the possession of the + Antiquarian Society of London. + </p> + <p> + In 1680, a lottery was granted to supply London with water. At the end of + the 17th century, the government being in want of money to carry on the + war, resorted to a lottery, and L1,200,000 was set apart or <i>NAMED</i> + for the purpose. The tickets were all disposed of in less than six months, + friends and enemies joining in the speculation. It was a great success; + and when right-minded people murmured at the impropriety of the thing, + they were told to hold their tongues, and assured that this lottery was + the very queen of lotteries, and that it had just taken Namur!(147) + </p> + <p> + (147) This town was captured in 1695, by William III. + </p> + <p> + At the same time the Dutch gave in to the infatuation with the utmost + enthusiasm; lotteries were established all over Holland; and learned + professors and ministers of the gospel spoke of nothing else but the + lottery to their pupils and hearers. + </p> + <p> + From this time forward the spirit of gambling increased so rapidly and + grew so strong in England, that in the reign of Queen Anne private + lotteries had to be suppressed as public nuisances. + </p> + <p> + The first <i>parliamentary</i> lottery was instituted in 1709, and from + this period till 1824 the passing of a lottery bill was in the programme + of every session. Up to the close of the 18th century the prizes were + generally paid in the form of terminable, and sometimes of perpetual, + annuities. Loans were also raised by granting a bonus of lottery tickets + to all who subscribed a certain amount. + </p> + <p> + This gambling of annuities, despite the restrictions of an act passed in + 1793, soon led to an appalling amount of vice and misery; and in 1808, a + committee of the House of Commons urged the suppression of this ruinous + mode of filling the national exchequer. The last public lottery in Great + Britain was drawn in October, 1826. + </p> + <p> + The lotteries exerted a most baneful influence on trade, by relaxing the + sinews of industry and fostering the destructive spirit of gaming among + all orders of men. Nor was that all. The stream of this evil was immensely + swelled and polluted, in open defiance of the law, by a set of artful and + designing men, who were ever on the watch to allure and draw in the + ignorant and unwary by the various modes and artifices of '<i>insurance</i>,' + which were all most flagrant and gross impositions on the public, as well + as a direct violation of the law. One of the most common and notorious of + these schemes was the insuring of numbers for the next day's drawing, at a + <i>premium</i> which (if legal) was much greater than adequate to the + risk. Thus, in 1778, when the just premium of the lottery was only 7<i>s</i>. + 6<i>d</i>., the office-keepers charged 9<i>s</i>., which was a certain + gain of nearly 30 per cent.; and they aggravated the fraud as the drawing + advanced. + </p> + <p> + On the sixteenth day of drawing the just premium was not quite 20<i>s</i>., + whereas the office-keepers charged L1 4<i>s</i>. 6<i>d</i>., which clearly + shows the great disadvantage that every person laboured under who was + imprudent enough to be concerned in the insurance of numbers.(148) + </p> + <p> + (148) Public Ledger, Dec. 3, 1778. + </p> + <p> + In every country where lotteries were in operation numbers were ruined at + the close of each drawing, and of these not a few sought an oblivion of + their folly ill self-murder—by the rope, the razor, or the river. + </p> + <p> + A more than usual number of adventurers were said to have been ruined in + the lottery of 1788, owing to the several prizes continuing long in the + wheel (which gave occasion to much gambling), and also to the desperate + state of certain branches of trade, caused by numerous and important + bankruptcies. The suicides increased in proportion. Among them one person + made herself remarkable by a thoughtful provision to prevent + disappointment. A woman, who had scraped everything together to put into + the lottery, and who found herself ruined at its close, fixed a rope to a + beam of sufficient strength; but lest there should be any accidental + failure in the beam or rope, she placed a large tub of water underneath, + that she might drop into it; and near her also were two razors on a table + ready to be used, if hanging or drowning should prove ineffectual. + </p> + <p> + A writer of the time gives the following account of the excitement that + prevailed during the drawing of the lottery:—'Indeed, whoever wishes + to know what are the "blessings" of a lottery, should often visit + Guildhall during the time of its drawing,—when he will see thousands + of workmen, servants, clerks, apprentices, passing and repassing, with + looks full of suspense and anxiety, and who are stealing at least from + their master's time, if they have not many of them also robbed him of his + property, in order to enable them to become adventurers. In the next + place, at the end of the drawing, let our observer direct his steps to the + shops of the pawnbrokers, and view, as he may, the stock, furniture, and + clothes of many hundred poor families, servants, and others, who have been + ruined by the lottery. If he wish for further satisfaction, let him attend + at the next Old Bailey Sessions, and hear the death-warrant of many a + luckless gambler in lotteries, who has been guilty of subsequent theft and + forgery; or if he seek more proof, let him attend to the numerous and + horrid scenes of self-murder, which are known to accompany the closing of + the wheels of fortune each year:(149) and then let him determine on "the + wisdom and policy" of lotteries in a commercial city.' + </p> + <p> + (149) A case is mentioned of two servants who, having lost their all in + lotteries, robbed their master; and in order to prevent being seized and + hanged in public, murdered themselves in private. + </p> + <p> + The capital prizes were so large that they excited the eagerness of hope; + but the sum secured by the government was small when compared with the + infinite mischief it occasioned. On opening the budget of 1788, the + minister observed in the House of Commons, 'that the bargain he had this + year for the lottery was so very good for the public, that it would + produce a gain of L270,000, from which he would deduct L12,000 for the + expenses of drawing, &c., and then there would remain a net produce of + L258,000.' This result, therefore, was deemed extraordinary; but what was + that to the extraordinary mischief done to the community by the + authorization of excessive gambling! + </p> + <p> + Some curious facts are on record relating to the lotteries. + </p> + <p> + Until the year 1800 the drawing of the lottery (which usually consisted of + 60,000 tickets for England alone) occupied forty-two days in succession; + it was, therefore, about forty-two to one against any particular number + being drawn the first day; if it remained in the wheel, it was forty-one + to one against its being drawn on the second, &;c.; the adventurer, + therefore, who could for eight-pence insure the return of a guinea, if a + given number came up the first day, would naturally be led, if he failed, + to a small increase of the deposit according to the decrease of the chance + against him, until his number was drawn, or the person who took the + insurance money would take it no longer. + </p> + <p> + In the inquiry respecting the mendicity of London, in 1815, Mr Wakefield + declared his opinion that the lottery was a cause of mendicity; and + related an instance—the case of an industrious man who applied to + the Committee of Spitalfields Soup Society for relief; and when, on being + asked his profession, said he was a '<i>Translator</i>'—which, when + <i>TRANSLATED</i>, signifies, it seems, the art of converting old boots + and shoes into wearable ones; 'but the lottery is about to draw, and,' + says he, 'I have no sale for boots or shoes during the time that the + lottery draws'—the money of his customers being spent in the + purchase of tickets, or the payment of 'insurances.' The 'translator' may + have been mistaken as to the cause of his trade falling off; but there can + be no doubt that the system of the lottery-drawing was a very infatuating + mode of gambling, as the passion was kept alive from day to day; and + though, perhaps, it did not create mendicity, yet it mainly contributed, + with the gin-shops, night-cellars, obscure gambling houses, and places of + amusement, to fill the <i>PAWNBROKERS</i>' shops, and diminish the profits + of the worthy 'translator of old shoes.'(150) + </p> + <p> + (150) This term is still in use. I recently asked one of the craft if he + called himself a translator. 'Yes, sir, not of languages, but old boots + and shoes,' was the reply. + </p> + <p> + This reasoning, however, is very uncertain. + </p> + <p> + The sixteenth of a lottery ticket, which is the smallest share that can be + purchased, has not for many years been sold under thirty shillings, a sum + much too large for a person who buys old shoes 'translated,' and even for + the 'translator' himself, to advance; we may therefore safely conclude + that the purchase of tickets is not the mode of gambling by which + Crispin's customers are brought to distress. + </p> + <p> + A great number of foreign lotteries still exist in vigorous operation. + Some are supported by the state, and others are only authorized; most of + them are flourishing. In Germany, especially, lotteries are abundant; + immense properties are disposed of by this method. The 'bank' gains, of + course, enormously; and, also of course, a great deal of trickery and + swindling, or something like it, is perpetrated. + </p> + <p> + Foreign lottery tickets are now and then illegally offered in England. A + few years ago there appeared an advertisement in the papers, offering a + considerable income for the payment of one or two pounds. Upon inquiry it + was found to be the agency of a foreign lottery! These tempting offers of + advertising speculators are a cruel addition to the miseries of + misfortune. + </p> + <p> + The Hamburg lottery seems to afford the most favourable representation of + the system—as such—because in it all the money raised by the + sale of tickets is redistributed in the drawing of the lots, with the + exception of 10 per cent. deducted in expenses and otherwise; but nothing + can compensate for the pernicious effects of the spirit of gambling which + is fostered by lotteries, however fairly conducted. They are an + unmitigated evil. + </p> + <p> + In the United States lotteries were established by Congress in 1776, but, + save in the Southern States, heavy penalties are now imposed on persons + attempting to establish them. + </p> + <p> + I need scarcely say that lotteries, whether foreign or British, are + utterly forbidden by law, excepting those of Art Unions. The operations of + these associations were indeed suspended in 1811; but in the following + year an act indemnified those who embarked in them for losses which they + had incurred by the arrest of their proceedings; and since that time they + have been <i>TOLERATED</i> under the eye of the law without any express + statute being framed for their exemption. It is thought, however, that + they tend to keep up the spirit of gambling, and therefore ought not to be + allowed even on the specious plea of favouring 'art.' + </p> + <p> + <i>PRIVATE</i> lotteries are now illegal at Common Law in Great Britain + and Ireland; and penalties are also incurred by the advertisers of <i>FOREIGN</i> + lotteries. Some years ago it became common in Scotland to dispose of + merchandise by means of lotteries; but this is specially condemned in the + statute 42 Geo. III. c. 119. An evasion of the law has been attempted by + affixing a prize to every ticket, so as to make the transaction resemble a + legal sale; but this has been punished as a fraud, even where it could be + proved that the prize equalled in value the price of the ticket. The + decision rested upon the plea that in such a transaction there was no + definite sale of a specific article. Even the lotteries; for Twelfth + Cakes, &c., are illegal, and render their conductors liable to the + penalties of the law. Decisive action has been taken on this law, and the + usual Christmas lotteries have been this year (1870) rigorously prohibited + throughout the country. It is impossible to doubt the soundness of the + policy that strives to check the spirit of gambling among the people; but + still there may be some truth in the following remarks which appeared on + the subject, in a leading journal:— + </p> + <p> + 'We hear that the police have received directions to caution the promoters + of lotteries for the distribution of game, wine, spirits, and other + articles of this description, that these schemes are illegal, and that the + offenders will be prosecuted. These attempts to enforce rigidly the + provisions of the 10 and 11 William III., c. 17, 42 George III., c. 119, + and to check the spirit of speculation which pervades so many classes in + this country may possibly be successful, but as a mere question of + morality there can be no doubt that Derby lotteries, and, in fact, all + speculations on the turf or Stock Exchange, are open to quite as much + animadversion as the Christmas lotteries for a little pig or an aged + goose, which it appears are to be suppressed in future. Is it not also + questionable policy to enforce every law merely because it is a law, + unless its breach is productive of serious evil to the community? If every + old Act of Parliament is rummaged out and brought to bear upon us, we fear + we shall find ourselves in rather an uncomfortable position. + </p> + <p> + We cannot say whether or not the harm produced by these humble lotteries + is sufficient to render their forcible suppression a matter of necessity. + They certainly do produce an amount of indigestion which of itself must be + no small penalty to pay for those whose misfortune it is to win the + luxuries raffled for, but we never yet heard of any one being ruined by + raffling for a pig or goose; and if our Government is going to be paternal + and look after our pocket-money, we hope it will also be maternal and take + some little interest in our health. The sanitary laws require putting into + operation quite as much as the laws against public-house lotteries and + skittles.' + </p> + <p> + No 'extenuating circumstances,' however, can be admitted respecting the + notorious racing lotteries, in spite of the small figure of the tickets; + nay this rather aggravates the danger, being a temptation to the + thoughtless multitude. One of these lotteries, called the Deptford Spec., + was not long ago suppressed by the strong arm of the law; but others still + exist under different names. In one of these the law is thought to be + evaded by the sale of a number of photographs; in another, a chance of + winning on a horse is secured by the purchase of certain numbers of a + newspaper struggling into existence; but the following is, perhaps, the + drollest phase of the evasion as yet attempted: + </p> + <p> + 'Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding <i>count the number of + the beast</i>.'—Rev., chap. xiii. + </p> + <p> + 'NICKOLAS REX.—"LUCKY" BANQUETS. + </p> + <p> + 'HIS SATANIC MAJESTY purposes holding a series of Banquets, Levees, and + DRAWING ROOMS at Pandemonium during the ensuing autumn, to each of which + about 10,000 of his faithful disciples will be invited. H. S. M. will, at + those drawing-rooms and receptions, <i>NUMBER</i> a lot of beasts, and + distribute a series of REWARDS, varying in value from L100 to 10<i>s</i>. + of her Britannic Majesty's money. + </p> + <p> + 'Tickets One Shilling each, application for which must be made <i>BY + LETTER</i> to His S. Majesty's Chamberlain, &c. &c. The LAST <i>DRAWING-ROOM</i> + of this season will be held a few days before the Feast of the CROYDON + STEEPLECHASES, &c. &c. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV. THE LAWS AGAINST GAMING IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES. + </h2> + <h3> + 1. ANCIENT ROME. + </h3> + <p> + In ancient Rome all games of chance, with the exception of five which had + relation to bodily vigour, were absolutely prohibited in public or + private. The loser could not be sued for moneys lost, and could recover + what he might have paid, such right being secured to his heirs against the + heirs of the winner, even after the lapse of 30 years' prescription. + During 50 years after the loss, should the loser or his heirs neglect + their action, it was open to any one that chose to prosecute, and chiefly + to the municipal authorities, the sum recovered to be expended in that + case for public purposes. No surety for the payment of money for gambling + purposes was bound. The betting on lawful games was restricted to a + certain amount, beyond which the loser could recover moneys paid, and + could not be sued for the amount. A person in whose house gambling had + taken place, if struck or injured, or if robbed on the occasion thereof, + was denied redress; but offences of gamblers among themselves were + punishable. Blows or injuries might be inflicted on the gambling house + keeper at any time and anywhere without being penal as against any person; + but theft was not exempted from punishment, unless committed at the time + of gambling—and not by a gambler. Children and freedmen could + recover their losses as against their parents and patrons. + </p> + <p> + Cicero, in his second Philippic, speaks of a criminal process (<i>publicum + judicium</i>) then in force against gamblers. + </p> + <p> + The laws of ancient Rome were, therefore, very stringent on this subject, + although, there can be no doubt, without much effect. + </p> + <p> + 2. FRANCE. + </p> + <p> + At the time of the French Revolution warlike games alone conferred the + right of action, restricted, however, in cases of excessive losses; games + of strength and skill generally were lawful, but were considered as not + giving any right of action; games of mere chance were prohibited, but + minors alone were allowed to recover moneys lost. + </p> + <p> + By the present law of France no judicial action is allowed for gambling + debts and wagers, except in the case of such games as depend upon bodily + skill and effort, foot, horse, and chariot races, and others of the like + nature: the claim may be rejected if the court considers it excessive; but + moneys paid can never be recovered unless on the ground of fraud. The + keepers of gaming houses, their managers or agents, are punishable with + fine (100 to 6000 francs) and imprisonment (two to six months), and may be + deprived of most of their civil rights. + </p> + <p> + 3. PRUSSIA. + </p> + <p> + By the Prussian Code all games of chance, except when licensed by the + state, are prohibited. Gaming debts are not the subjects of action; but + moneys paid cannot be sued for by losers. Wagers give a right of action + when the stakes consist of cash in the hands of a third person; they are + void if the winner had a knowledge of the event, and concealed it. Moneys + lent for gambling or betting purposes, or to pay gambling or betting + debts, cannot be sued for. Gaming house keepers and gamblers are + punishable with fine; professed gamblers with imprisonment. Occasional + cheating at play obliges to compensation; professed swindlers at play are + punishable as for theft, and banished afterwards. Moneys won from a + drunken man, if to a considerable amount, must be returned, and a fine + paid of equal value. + </p> + <p> + 4. AUSTRIA. + </p> + <p> + In Austria no right of action is given either to the winner or the loser. + All games of chance are prohibited except when licensed by the state. + Cheating at play is punished with imprisonment, according to the amount of + fraudulent gain. Playing at unlawful games, or allowing such to take place + in one's house, subjects the party to a heavy fine, or in default, to + imprisonment. + </p> + <p> + 5. ITALY. + </p> + <p> + The provisions of the Sardinian Civil Code are similar to those of the + French, giving an action for moneys won at games of strength or skill—when + not excessive in amount; but not allowing the recovery of moneys lost, + except on the ground of fraud or <i>MINORITY</i>, a provision taken from + the <i>OLD</i> French law. + </p> + <p> + 6. BAVARIA. + </p> + <p> + By the Bavarian Code games of skill, and of mixed skill and chance, are + not forbidden. The loser cannot refuse to pay, nor can he recover his + losses, provided the sport be honestly conducted, and the stakes not + excessive, having regard to the rank, character, and fortune of the + parties. In cases of fraudulent and excessive gaming, and in all games of + mere chance, the winner cannot claim his winnings, but must repay the + loser on demand. In the two latter cases (apparently) both winner and + loser are liable to a fine, equal in amount,—for the first time of + conviction, to one-third of the stakes; for the second time, to + two-thirds; and for the third time, to the whole: in certain cases the + bank is to be confiscated. Hotel and coffee-house keepers, &c., who + allow gambling on their premises, are punished for the first offence by a + fine of 50 florins; for the second, with one of 100 florins; for the + third, with the loss of the license. The punishment of private persons for + the like offence is left to the discretion of the judge. <i>UNLAWFUL</i> + games may be <i>LEGALIZED</i> by authority; but in such case, fraud or + gross excess disables the winner from claiming moneys won, renders him + liable to repayment, and subjects him to arbitrary punishment. <i>IMMORAL</i> + wagers are void; and <i>EXCESSIVE</i> wagers are to be reduced in amount. + Betting on indifferent things is not prohibited, nor even as to a known + and certain thing—when there is no deception. No wager is void on + account of mere disparity of odds. Professed gamblers, who also cheat at + play, and their accomplices, and the setters-up and collectors of + fictitious lotteries, are subject to imprisonment, with hard labour, for a + term of from four to eight years. + </p> + <p> + Although, therefore, cheating gamblers are liable to punishment in + Bavaria, it is evident that gambling is there tolerated to the utmost + extent required by the votaries of Fortune. + </p> + <p> + 7. SPAIN. + </p> + <p> + Wagers appear to be lawful in Spain, when not in themselves fraudulent, or + relating to anything illegal or immoral. + </p> + <p> + 8. ENGLAND. + </p> + <p> + In England some of the forms of gambling or gaming have been absolutely + forbidden under heavy penalties, whilst others have been tolerated, but at + the same time discouraged; and the reasons for the prohibition were not + always directed against the impropriety or iniquity of the practice in + itself;—thus it was alleged in an Act passed in 1541, that for the + sake of the games the people neglected to practise <i>ARCHERY</i>, through + which England had become great—'to the terrible dread and fear of + all strange nations.' + </p> + <p> + The first of the strictly-called Gaming Acts is one of Charles II.'s + reign, which was intended to check the habit of gambling so prevalent + then, as before stated. By this Act it was ordered that, if any one shall + play at any pastime or game, by gaming or betting with those who game, and + shall lose more than one hundred pounds on credit, he shall not be bound + to pay, and any contract to do so shall be void. In consequence of this + Act losers of a less amount—whether less wealthy or less profligate—and + the whole of the poorer classes, remained unprotected from the cheating of + sharpers, for it must be presumed that nobody has a right to refuse to pay + a fair gambling debt, since he would evidently be glad to receive his + winnings. No doubt much misery followed through the contrivances of + sharpers; still it was a salutary warning to gamesters of the poorer + classes—whilst in the higher ranks the 'honour' of play was equally + stringent, and, I may add, in many cases ruinous. By the recital of the + Act it is evident that the object was to check and put down gaming as a + business profession, 'to gain a living;' and therefore it specially + mulcted the class out of which 'adventurers' in this line usually arise. + </p> + <p> + The Act of Queen Anne, by its sweeping character, shows that gaming had + become very virulent, for by it not only were all securities for money + lost at gaming void, but money actually paid, if more than L10, might be + recovered in an action at law; not only might this be done, within three + months, by the loser himself, but by any one else—together with + treble the value—half for himself, and half for the poor of the + parish. Persons winning, by fraudulent means, L10 and upwards at any game + were condemned by this Act to pay five times the amount or value of the + thing won, and, moreover, they were to 'be deemed infamous, and suffer + such corporal punishment as in cases of wilful perjury.' The Act went + further:—if persons were suspected of getting their living by + gaming, they might be summoned before a magistrate, required to show that + the greater portion of their income did not depend upon gaming, and to + find sureties for their good behaviour during twelve months, or be + committed to gaol. + </p> + <p> + There were, besides, two curious provisions;—any one assaulting or + challenging another to a duel on account of disputes over gaming, should + forfeit all his goods and be imprisoned for two years; secondly, the royal + palaces of St James's and Whitehall were exempted from the operation of + this statute, so long as the sovereign was actually resident within them—which + last clause probably showed that the entire Draconian enactment was but a + farce. It is quite certain that it was inoperative, and that it did no + more than express the conscience of the legislature—in deference to + <i>PRINCIPLE</i>, 'which nobody could deny.' + </p> + <p> + After the lapse of many years—the evil being on the increase—the + legislature stirred again during the reign of George II., and passed + several Acts against gaming. The games of Faro, Basset, Hazard, &c., + in fact, all games with dice, were proscribed under a penalty of L200 + against the provider of the game, and L50 a time for the players. Roulette + or Roly Poly, termed in the Act 'a certain pernicious game,' was + interdicted, under the penalty of five times the value of the thing or sum + lost at it. + </p> + <p> + Thus stood the statute law against gaming down to the year 1845, when, in + consequence of the report of the select committee which sat on the + subject, a new enactment was promulgated, which is in force at the present + time. + </p> + <p> + It was admitted that the laws in force against gaming were 'of no avail to + prevent the mischiefs which may happen therefrom;' and the lawgivers + enacted a comprehensive measure on the subject. Much of the old law—for + instance, the prohibition of games which interfered with the practice of + <i>ARCHERY</i>—was repealed; also the Acts of Charles II., of Queen + Anne, and a part of that of George II.—Gaming houses, in which a + bank is kept by one or more of the players, or in which the chances of + play are not alike favourable to the players—being declared + unlawful, as of old. Billiards, bagatelle, or 'any game of the kind' + (open, of course, to legal discussion), may be played in private houses, + or in licensed houses; but still, in the case of licensed houses of public + resort, the police may enter at any time to see that the law is complied + with. 'Licensed for Billiards' must be legibly printed on some conspicuous + place near the door and outside a licensed house. Billiards and like games + may not be played in public rooms after one, and before eight, o'clock in + the morning of any day, nor on Sundays, Christmas Day, Good Friday, nor on + any public fast or thanksgiving. Publicans whose houses are licensed for + billiards must not allow persons to play at any time when public-houses + are not allowed to be open. + </p> + <p> + 'In order to constitute the house a common gaming house, it is not + necessary to prove that any person found playing at any game was playing + for any money, wager, or stake. The police may enter the house on the + report of a superintendent, and the authority of a commissioner, without + the necessity of an allegation of two householders; and if any cards, + dice, balls, counters, tables, or other instruments of gaming be found in + the house, or about the person of any of those who shall be found therein, + such discovery shall be evidence against the establishment until the + contrary be made to appear. Those who shall appear as witnesses, moreover, + are protected from the consequences of having been engaged in unlawful + gaming.'(151) + </p> + <p> + (151) Chambers's Cyclopaedia, Art. Gambling. + </p> + <p> + The penalty of cheating at any game is liability to penal servitude for + three years—the delinquent being proceeded against as one who + obtains money under false pretences. Wagers and bets are not recoverable + by law, whether from the loser or from the wager-holder; and money paid + for bets may be recovered in an action 'for money received to the + defendant's use.' All betting houses are gaming houses within the meaning + of the Act, and the proprietors and managers of them are punishable + accordingly. + </p> + <p> + The existing law on the gaming of horse-racing is as follows. Bets on + horse-races are illegal; and therefore are not recoverable by law. In + order to prevent the nuisance which betting houses, disguised under other + names, occasioned, a law was passed in 1853, forbidding the maintenance of + any house, room, or other place, for betting; and by the new Metropolitan + Traffic Regulation Act, now in force, any three persons found betting in + the street may be fined five pounds each 'for obstructing the + thoroughfare'—a very odd reason, certainly, since it is the <i>BETTING</i> + that we wish to prevent, as we will not permit it to be carried on in any + house, &c. These <i>LEGAL</i> reasons are too often sadly out of + place. Any constable, however, may, without a warrant, arrest anybody he + may see in the act of betting in the street. + </p> + <p> + The laws relating to horse-racing have undergone curious revisions and + interpretations. 'The law of George II.'s reign, declaring horse-racing to + be good, as tending to promote the breed of fine horses, exempted + horse-races from the list of unlawful games, provided that the sum of + money run for or the value of the prize should be fifty pounds and + upwards, that certain weights only might be used, and that no owner should + run more than one horse for the same prize, under pain of forfeiting all + horses except the first. Newmarket, and Black Hambledon in Yorkshire, are + the only places licensed for races in this Act, which, however, was also + construed to legalize any race at any place whatever, so long as the + stakes were worth fifty pounds and upwards, and the weights were of the + regulated standard. An Act passed five years afterwards removed the + restrictions as to the weights, and declared that any one anywhere might + start a horse-race with any weights, so long as the stakes were fifty + pounds or more. The provision for the forfeiture of all horses but one + belonging to one owner and running in the same race was overlooked or + forgotten, and owners with perfect impunity ran their horses, as many as + they pleased, in the same race. In 1839, however, informations were laid + against certain owners, whose horses were claimed as forfeits; and then + everybody woke up to the fact that this curious clause of the Act of + George II. was still unrepealed. The Legislature interfered in behalf of + the defendants, and passed an Act, repealing in their eagerness not merely + the penal clauses of the Act, but the Act itself, so far as it related to + horse-racing. Now, it was supposed that upon the Act of the thirteenth of + George II. depended the whole legality of horse-racing, that the Act of + the eighteenth of George II. was merely explanatory of that statute, + which, being repealed, brought the practice again within the old law, + according to which it was illegal. By a judgment of the Court of Common + Pleas it was decided, however, that the words of the eighteenth of George + II. were large enough to legalize all races anywhere for fifty pounds and + upwards, and that the Act was not merely an explanatory one. Upon this + basis rests the existing law on the subject of horse-racing. Bets, + however, as before stated, on horse-races are still as illegal as they are + on any of the forbidden games—that is to say, they are outside the + law; the law will not lend its assistance to recover them.'(152) + </p> + <p> + (152) <i>Ubi Supra</i>. + </p> + <p> + The extent to which gambling has been carried on in the street by boys was + shown by the following summary laid before the Committee of the House of + Commons on Gaming, in 1844:— + </p> + <p> + Boys apprehended for gaming in the streets— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Convicted. Discharged. + 1841.... 305.... 68.... 237 + 1842.... 245.... 66.... 179 + 1813.... 329.... 114.... 185 + —— —— —— + 879 278 601 +</pre> + <p> + Only recently has any effectual check been put to this pernicious + practice. It is however enacted by the New Gaming Act, that—'Every + person playing or betting by way of wagering or gaming in any street, + road, highway, or other open and public place to which the public have or + are permitted to have access, at or with any table or instrument of + gaming, or any coin, card, token, or other article used as an instrument + of gaming or means of such wagering or gaming, at any game or pretended + game of chance, shall be deemed a rogue and vagabond within the true + intent and meaning of the recited Act, and as such may be punished under + the provision of that Act.' + </p> + <p> + On this provision a daily paper justly remarks:—'A statute very much + needed has come into force. Persons playing or betting in the streets with + coins or cards are now made amenable to the 5th George IV., c. 83, and may + be committed to gaol as rogues and vagabonds. The statutes already in + force against such rogues and vagabonds subject them, we believe, not only + to imprisonment with hard labour, but also to corporal punishment. In any + case the New Act should, if stringently administered, speedily put a stop + to the too common and quite intolerable nuisance of young men and boys + sprawling about the pavement, or in corners of the wharves by the + waterside, and playing at "pitch-and-toss," "shove-halfpenny," "Tommy + Dodd," "coddams," and other games of chance. Who has not seen that + terrible etching in Hogarth's "Industry and Idleness," where the idle + apprentice, instead of going devoutly to church and singing out of the + same hymn-book with his master's pretty daughter, is gambling on a + tombstone with a knot of dissolute boys? A watchful beadle has espied the + youthful gamesters, and is preparing to administer a sounding thwack with + a cane on the shoulders of Thomas Idle. But the race of London beadles is + now well-nigh extinct; and the few that remain dare not use their switches + on the small vagabonds, for fear of being summoned for assault. It is to + be hoped that the police will be instructed to put the Act sharply in + force against the pitch-and-toss players; and, in passing, we might + express a wish that they would also suppress the ragged urchins who turn + "cart-wheels" in the mud, and the half-naked girls who haunt the vicinity + of railway stations and steamboat piers, pestering passengers to buy + cigar-lights.' + </p> + <p> + END OF VOL. I. <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and +Victims, by Andrew Steinmetz + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAMING TABLE *** + +***** This file should be named 466-h.htm or 466-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/6/466/ + +Produced by Mike Lough, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims + Volume I (of II) + +Author: Andrew Steinmetz + +Release Date: March, 1996 [Etext #466] +Posting Date: November 29, 2009 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAMING TABLE *** + + + + +Produced by Mike Lough + + + + + +THE GAMING TABLE: + +ITS VOTARIES AND VICTIMS, + + +In all Times and Countries, especially in England and in France. + + +IN TWO VOLUMES.--VOL. I. + + +By Andrew Steinmetz, Esq., + + +Of The Middle Temple, Barrister-At-Law; First-Class Extra Certificate +School Of Musketry, Hythe; Late Officer Instructor Musketry, The Queens +Own Light Infantry Militia. + + +Author Of 'The History Of The Jesuits,' 'Japan And Her People,' 'The +Romance Of Duelling,' &C., &C. + + + +'The sharp, the blackleg, and the knowing one, Livery or lace, +the self-same circle, run; The same the passion, end and means the +same--Dick and his Lordship differ but in name.' + + +TO HIS GRACE + +The Duke of Wellington, K.G. THIS WORK IS DEDICATED, WITH PERMISSION, BY +HIS GRACE'S MOST DEVOTED SERVANT + +THE AUTHOR. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +To the readers of the present generation much of this book will, +doubtless, seem incredible. Still it is a book of facts--a section of +our social history, which is, I think, worth writing, and deserving of +meditation. + +Forty or fifty years ago--that is, within the memory of many a living +man--gambling was 'the rage' in England, especially in the metropolis. +Streets now meaningless and dull--such as Osendon Street, and streets +and squares now inhabited by the most respectable in the land--for +instance, St James's Square, THEN opened doors to countless votaries of +the fickle and capricious goddess of Fortune; in the rooms of which +many a nobleman, many a gentleman, many an officer of the Army and +Navy, clergymen, tradesmen, clerks, and apprentices, were 'cleaned +out'--ruined, and driven to self-murder, or to crimes that led to the +gallows. 'I have myself,' says a writer of the time, 'seen hanging in +chains a man whom a short time before I saw at a Hazard table!' + +History, as it is commonly written, does not sufficiently take +cognizance of the social pursuits and practices that sap the vitality +of a nation; and yet these are the leading influences in its +destiny--making it what it is and will be, at least through many +generations, by example and the inexorable laws that preside over what +is called 'hereditary transmission.' + +Have not the gambling propensities of our forefathers influenced the +present generation?.... + +No doubt gambling, in the sense treated of in this book, has ceased in +England. If there be here and there a Roulette or Rouge et Noir table in +operation, its existence is now known only to a few 'sworn-brethren;' +if gambling at cards 'prevails' in certain quarters, it is 'kept quiet.' +The vice is not barefaced. It slinks and skulks away into corners and +holes, like a poisoned rat. Therefore, public morality has triumphed, +or, to use the card-phrase, 'trumped' over this dreadful abuse; and the +law has done its duty, or has reason to expect congratulation for its +success, in 'putting down' gaming houses. + +But we gamble still. The gambling on the Turf (now the most uncertain +of all 'games of chance') was, lately, something that rang through and +startled the entire nation. We gamble in the funds. We gamble in endless +companies (limited)--all resulting from the same passion of our nature, +which led to the gambling of former times with cards, with dice, at +Piquet, Basset, Faro, Hazard, E O, _Roulette_, and _Rouge et Noir_. At +a recent memorable trial, the Lord Chief Justice of England +exclaimed--'There can be no doubt--any one who looks around him cannot +fail to perceive--that a spirit of speculation and gambling has taken +hold of the minds of large classes of the population. Men who were wont +to be satisfied with moderate gain and safe investments seem now to +be animated by a spirit of greed after gain, which makes them ready +to embark their fortunes, however hardly gained, in the vain hope of +realizing immense returns by premiums upon shares, and of making more +than safe and reasonable gains. We see that continually.' In fact, we +may not be a jot better morally than our forefathers. But that is no +reason why we should not frown over the story of their horrid sins, +and, 'having a good conscience,' think what sad dogs they were in their +generation--knowing, as we do, that none of us at the present day lose +_FIFTY OR A HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS_ at play, at a sitting, in one +single night--as was certainly no very uncommon 'event' in those palmy +days of gaming; and that we could not--as was done in 1820--produce a +list of _FIVE HUNDRED_ names (in London alone) of noblemen, gentlemen, +officers of the Army and Navy, and clergymen, who were veteran or +indefatigable gamesters, besides 'clerks, grocers, horse-dealers, +linen-drapers, silk-mercers, masons, builders, timber-merchants, +booksellers, &c., &c., and men of the very lowest walks of life,' who +frequented the numerous gaming houses throughout the metropolis--to +their ruin and that of their families more or less (as deploringly +lamented by Captain Gronow), and not a few of them, no doubt, finding +themselves in that position in which they could exclaim, at _OUR_ +remonstrance, as feelingly as did King Richard-- + +'Slave! I have set my life upon a _CAST_, And I will stand the _HAZARD +OF THE DIE!_' + + +Nor is gaming as yet extinct among us. Every now and then a batch +of youngsters is brought before the magistrates charged with vulgar +'tossing' in the streets; and every now and then we hear of some victim +of genteel gambling, as recently--in the month of February, 1868--when +'a young member of the aristocracy lost L10,000 at Whist.' + +Nay, at the commencement of the present year there appeared in a daily +paper the following startling announcement to the editor:-- + + +'Sir,--Allow me, through the columns of your paper, to call the +attention of the parents and friends of the young officers in the +Channel-fleet to the great extent gambling is carried on at Lisbon. +Since the fleet has been there another gambling house has been opened, +and is filled every evening with young officers, many of whom are under +18 years of age. On the 1st of January it is computed that upwards of +L800 was lost by officers of the fleet in the gambling houses, and +if the fleet is to stay there three months there will soon be a great +number of the officers involved in debt. I will relate one incident that +came under my personal notice. A young midshipman, who had lately joined +the Channel fleet from the Bristol, drew a half-year's pay in December, +besides his quarterly allowance, and I met him on shore the next evening +without money enough to pay a boat to go off to his ship, having lost +all at a gambling house. + +Hoping that this may be of some use in stopping the gambling among the +younger officers, I remain, yours respectfully, AN OFFICER.'(1) + + +(1) Standard, Jan. 12, 1870. + + +In conclusion, I have contemplated the passion of gaming in all its +bearings, as will be evident from the range of subjects indicated by the +table of contents and index. I have ransacked (and sacked) hundreds of +volumes for entertaining, amusing, curious, or instructive matter. + +Without deprecating criticism on my labours, perhaps I may state that +these researches have probably terminated my career as an author. +Immediately after the completion of this work I was afflicted with a +degree of blindness rendering it impossible for me to read any print +whatever, and compelling me to write only by dictation. + +ANDREW STEINMETZ. + + + +CONTENTS OF VOL. I. + + +CHAP. + +I THE UNIVERSAL PASSION OF GAMING; OR, GAMING ALL THE WORLD OVER + +II GAMBLING AMONG THE ANCIENT HINDOOS--A HINDOO LEGEND AND ITS MODERN +PARALLEL + +III GAMBLING AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, PERSIANS AND GREEKS + +IV GAMING AMONG THE ANCIENT ROMAN EMPERORS + +V GAMBLING IN FRANCE IN ALL TIMES + +VI THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF MODERN GAMING IN ENGLAND + +VII GAMBLING IN BRIGHTON IN 1817 + +VIII GAMBLING AT THE GERMAN BATHING-PLACES + +IX GAMBLING IN THE UNITED STATES + +X LADY GAMESTRESSES + +XI GAMBLING POETS, SAVANTS, PHILOSOPHERS, WITS, AND STATESMEN + +XII REMARKABLE GAMESTERS + +XIII THE LOTTERIES AND THEIR BEWILDERMENTS + +XIV THE LAWS AGAINST GAMING IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES + + + + +THE GAMING TABLE. + + + +CHAPTER I. THE UNIVERSAL PASSION OF GAMING; OR, GAMING ALL THE WORLD OVER. + +A very apt allegory has been imagined as the origin of Gaming. It is +said that the Goddess of Fortune, once sporting near the shady pool of +Olympus, was met by the gay and captivating God of War, who soon allured +her to his arms. They were united; but the matrimony was not holy, and +the result of the union was a misfeatured child named Gaming. From the +moment of her birth this wayward thing could only be pleased by cards, +dice, or counters. + +She was not without fascinations, and many were her admirers. As she +grew up she was courted by all the gay and extravagant of both sexes, +for she was of neither sex, and yet combining the attractions of each. +At length, however, being mostly beset by men of the sword, she formed +an unnatural union with one of them, and gave birth to twins--one called +DUELLING, and the other a grim and hideous monster named SUICIDE. These +became their mother's darlings, nursed by her with constant care and +tenderness, and her perpetual companions. + +The Goddess Fortune ever had an eye on her promising daughter--Gaming; +and endowed her with splendid residences, in the most conspicuous +streets, near the palaces of kings. They were magnificently designed and +elegantly furnished. Lamps, always burning at the portals, were a sign +and a perpetual invitation unto all to enter; and, like the gates of the +Inferno, they were ever open to daily and nightly visitants; but, unlike +the latter, they permitted _EXIT_ to all who entered--some exulting with +golden spoil,--others with their hands in empty pockets,--some led by +her half-witted son Duelling,--others escorted by her malignant monster +Suicide, and his mate, the demon Despair. + +'Religion, morals, virtue, all give way, And conscience dies, the +prostitute of play. Eternity ne'er steals one thought between, Till +suicide completes the fatal scene.' + + +Such is the _ALLEGORY_;(2) and it may serve well enough to represent +the thing in accordance with the usages of civilized or modern life; but +Gaming is a _UNIVERSAL_ thing--the characteristic of the human biped all +the world over. + + +(2) It appeared originally, I think, in the Harleian Miscellany. I +have taken the liberty to re-touch it here and there, with the view to +improvement. + + +The determination of events by 'lot' was a practice frequently resorted +to by the Israelites; as, by lot it was determined which of the goats +should be offered by Aaron; by lot the land of Canaan was divided; +by lot Saul was marked out for the Hebrew kingdom; by lot Jonah was +discovered to be the cause of the storm. It was considered an appeal to +Heaven to determine the points, and was thought not to depend on blind +chance, or that imaginary being called Fortune, who, + + '----With malicious joy, + Promotes, degrades, delights in strife, + And makes a _LOTTERY_ of life.' + + +The Hindoo Code--a promulgation of very high antiquity--denounces +gambling, which proves that there were desperate gamesters among the +Hindoos in the earliest times. Men gamed, too, it would appear, after +the example set them by the gods, who had gamesters among them. The +priests of Egypt assured Herodotus that one of their kings visited alive +the lower regions called infernal, and that he there joined a gaming +party, at which he both lost and won.(3) Plutarch tells a pretty +Egyptian story to the effect, that Mercury having fallen in love with +Rhea, or the Earth, and wishing to do her a favour, gambled with the +Moon, and won from her every seventieth part of the time she illumined +the horizon--all which parts he united together, making up _FIVE DAYS_, +and added them to the Earth's year, which had previously consisted of +only 360 days.(4) + + +(3) Herod. 1. ii. + +(4) Plutarch, _De Isid. et Osirid._ + + +But not only did the gods play among themselves on Olympus, but they +gambled with mortals. According to Plutarch, the priest of the temple of +Hercules amused himself with playing at dice with the god, the stake or +conditions being that if he won he should obtain some signal favour, but +if he lost he would procure a beautiful courtesan for Hercules.(5) + + +(5) _In Vita Romuli_. + + +By the numerous nations of the East dice, and that pugnacious little +bird the cock, have been and are the chief instruments employed to +produce a sensation--to agitate their minds and to ruin their fortunes. +The Chinese have in all times, we suppose, had cards--hence the +absurdity of the notion that they were 'invented' for the amusement +of Charles VI. of France, in his 'lucid intervals,' as is constantly +asserted in every collection of historic facts. The Chinese invented +cards, as they invented almost everything else that administers to our +social and domestic comfort.(6) + + +(6) Observations on Cards, by Mr Gough, in Archaeologia, vol. viii. +1787. + + +The Asiatic gambler is desperate. When all other property is played +away, he scruples not to stake his wife, his child, on the cast of a +die or on the courage of the martial bird before mentioned. Nay more, if +still unsuccessful, the last venture he makes is that of his limbs--his +personal liberty--his life--which he hazards on the caprice of chance, +and agrees to be at the mercy, or to become the slave, of his fortunate +antagonist. + +The Malayan, however, does not always tamely submit to this last stroke +of fortune. When reduced to a state of desperation by repeated ill-luck, +he loosens a certain lock of hair on his head, which, when flowing down, +is a sign of war and destruction. He swallows opium or some intoxicating +liquor, till he works himself up into a fit of frenzy, and begins +to bite and kill everything that comes in his way; whereupon, as the +aforesaid lock of hair is seen flowing, it is lawful to fire at and +destroy him as quickly as possible--he being considered no better than a +mad dog. A very rational conclusion. + +Of course the Chinese are most eager gamesters, or they would not have +been capable of inventing those dear, precious killers of time--cards, +the EVENING solace of so many a household in the most respectable and +'proper' walks of life. Indeed, they play night and day--until they have +lost all they are worth, and then they usually go--and hang themselves. + +If we turn our course northward, and penetrate the regions of ice +perpetual, we find that the driven snow cannot effectually quench the +flames of gambling. They glow amid the regions of the frozen pole. The +Greenlanders gamble with a board, which has a finger-piece upon it, +turning round on an axle; and the person to whom the finger points on +the stopping of the board, which is whirled round, 'sweeps' all the +'stakes' that have been deposited. + +If we descend thence into the Western hemisphere, we find that the +passion for gambling forms a distinguishing feature in the character +of all the rude natives of the American continent. Just as in the East, +these savages will lose their aims (on which subsistence depends), their +apparel, and at length their personal liberty, on games of chance. There +is one thing, however, which must be recorded to their credit--and +to our shame. When they have lost their 'all,' they do not follow the +example of our refined gamesters. They neither murmur nor repine. Not +a fretful word escapes them. They bear the frowns of fortune with a +philosophic composure.(7) + + +(7) Carver, _Travels_. + + +If we cross the Atlantic and land on the African shore, we find that the +'everlasting Negro' is a gambler--using shells as dice--and following +the practice of his 'betters' in every way. He stakes not only his +'fortune,' but also his children and liberty, which he cares very little +about, everywhere, until we incite him to do so--as, of course, we ought +to do, for every motive 'human and divine.' + +There is no doubt, then, that this propensity is part and parcel of 'the +unsophisticated savage.' Let us turn to the eminently civilized races of +antiquity--the men whose example we have more or less followed in every +possible matter, sociality, politics, religion--they were all gamblers, +more or less. Take the grand prototypes of Britons, the Romans of old. +That gamesters they were! And how gambling recruited the ranks of the +desperadoes who gave them insurrectionary trouble! Catiline's 'army of +scoundrels,' for instance. 'Every man dishonoured by dissipation,' says +Sallust, 'who by his follies or losses at the gaming table had consumed +the inheritance of his fathers, and all those who were sufferers by +such misery, were the friends of this perverse man.' Horace, Juvenal, +Persius, Cicero, and other writers, attest the fact of Roman gambling +most eloquently, most indignantly. + +The Romans had 'lotteries,' or games of chance, and some of their prizes +were of great value, as a good estate and slaves, or rich vases; others +of little value, as vases of common earth, but of this more in the +sequel. + +Among the Gothic kings who, in the fulness of time and accomplishments, +'succeeded' to that empire, we read of a Theodoric, 'a wise and valiant +prince,' who was 'great lover of dice;' his solicitude in play was only +for victory; and his companions knew how to seize the moment of his +success, as consummate courtiers, to put forward their petitions and +to make their requests. 'When I have a petition to prefer,' says one of +them, 'I am easily beaten in the game that I may win my cause.'(8) What +a clever contrivance! But scarcely equal to that of the _GREAT_ (in +politeness) Lord Chesterfield, who, to gain a vote for a parliamentary +friend, actually submitted to be _BLED!_ It appears that the voter was +deemed very difficult, but Chesterfield found out that the man was a +doctor, who was a perfect Sangrado, recommending bleeding for every +ailment. He went to him, as in consultation, agreed with the man's +arguments, and at once bared his arm for the operation. On the point of +departure his lordship 'edged' in the question about the vote for his +friend, which was, of course, gushingly promised and given. + + +(8) Sed ego aliquid obsecraturus facile vincor; et mihi tabula perit ut +causa salvetur.--Sidonius Apollinaris, _Epist_. + + + +Although there may not be much Gothic blood among us, it is quite +certain that there is plenty of German mixture in our nation--taking +the term in its very wide and comprehensive ethnology. Now, Tacitus +describes the ancient stout and valiant Germans as 'making gaming with +a die a very serious occupation of their sober hours.' Like the +'everlasting Negro,' they, too, made their last throw for personal +liberty, the loser going into voluntary slavery, and the winner selling +such slaves as soon as possible to strangers, in order not to have +to blush for such a victory! If the 'nigger' could blush, he might +certainly do so for the white man in such a conjuncture. + +At Naples and other places in Italy, at least in former times, the +boatmen used thus to stake their liberty for a certain number of years. +According to Hyde,(9) the Indians stake their fingers and cut them off +themselves to pay the debt of honour. Englishmen have cut off their +ears, both as a 'security' for a gambling loan, and as a stake; others +have staked their lives by hanging, in like manner! Instances will be +given in the sequel. + + +(9) De Ludis Orient. + + +But leaving these savages and the semi-savages of the very olden time, +let us turn to those nearer to our times, with just as much religious +truth and principle among them as among ourselves. + +The warmth with which 'dice-playing' is condemned in the writings of +the _Fathers_, the venerable expounders of Christianity, as well as +by 'edicts' and 'canons' of the Church, is unquestionably a sufficient +proof of its general and excessive prevalence throughout the nations of +Europe. When cards were introduced, in the fourteenth century, they +only added fuel to the infernal flame of gambling; and it soon became +as necessary to restrain their use as it had been that of dice. The two +held a joint empire of ruin and desolation over their devoted victims. +A king of France set the ruinous example--Henry IV., the roue, the +libertine, the duellist, the gambler,--and yet (historically) the +_Bon Henri_, the 'good king,' who wished to order things so that every +Frenchman might have a _pot-au-feu_, or dish of flesh savoury, every +Sunday for dinner. The money that Henry IV. lost at play would have +covered great public expenses. + +There can be no doubt that the spirit of gaming went on acquiring new +strength and development throughout every subsequent reign in France; +and we shall see that under the Empire the thing was a great national +institution, and made to put a great deal of money as 'revenue' into the +hands of Fouche. + +But the Spaniards have always been, of all nations, the most addicted +to gambling. A traveller says:--'I have wandered through all parts of +Spain, and though in many places I have scarcely been able to procure +a glass of wine, or a bit of bread, or any of the first conveniences of +life, yet I never went through a village so mean and out of the way, +in which I could not have purchased a pack of cards.' This was in the +middle of the seventeenth century, but I have no doubt it is true at the +present moment. + +If we can believe Voltaire, the Spaniards were formerly very generous +in their gaming. 'The grandees of Spain,' he says, 'had a generous +ostentation; this was to divide the money won at play among all the +bystanders, of whatever condition. + +Montrefor relates that when the Duke of Lerma, the Spanish minister, +entertained Gaston, brother of Louis XIII., with all his retinue in the +Netherlands, he displayed a magnificence of an extraordinary kind. The +prime minister, with whom Gaston spent several days, used to put two +thousand louis d'ors on a large gaming-table after dinner. With this +money Gaston's attendants and even the prince himself sat down to play. +It is probable, however, that Voltaire extended a single instance or +two into a general habit or custom. That writer always preferred to deal +with the splendid and the marvellous rather than with plain matter of +fact. + +There can be little doubt that the Spaniards pursued gaming in the +vulgar fashion, just as other people. At any rate the following anecdote +gives us no very favourable idea of Spanish generosity to strangers +in the matter of gambling in modern times; and the worst of it is the +suitableness of its application to more capitals than one among the +kingdoms of Europe. 'After the bull-feast I was invited to pass the +evening at the hotel of a lady, who had a public card-assembly.... This +vile method of subsisting on the folly of mankind is confined in Spain +to the nobility. None but women of quality are permitted to hold banks, +and there are many whose faro-banks bring them in a clear income of a +thousand guineas a year. The lady to whom I was introduced is an old +countess, who has lived nearly thirty years on the profits of the +card-tables in her house. They are frequented every day, and though +both natives and foreigners are duped of large sums by her, and her +cabinet-junto, yet it is the greatest house of resort in all Madrid. She +goes to court, visits people of the first fashion, and is received +with as much respect and veneration as if she exercised the most +sacred functions of a divine profession. Many widows of great men keep +gaming-houses and live splendidly on the vices of mankind. If you be not +disposed to play, be either a sharper or a dupe, you cannot be admitted +a second time to their assemblies. I was no sooner presented to the lady +than she offered me cards; and on my excusing myself, because I really +could not play, she made a very wry face, turned from me, and said to +another lady in my hearing, that she wondered how any foreigner could +have the impertinence to come to her house for no other purpose than to +make an apology for not playing. My Spanish conductor, unfortunately +for himself, had not the same apology. He played and lost his money--two +circumstances which constantly follow in these houses. While my friend +was thus playing _THE FOOL_, I attentively watched the countenance and +motions of the lady of the house. Her anxiety, address, and assiduity +were equal to that of some skilful shopkeeper, who has a certain +attraction to engage all to buy, and diligence to take care that none +shall escape the net. I found out all her privy-counsellors, by her +arrangement of her parties at the different tables; and whenever she +showed an extraordinary eagerness to fix one particular person with a +stranger, the game was always decided the same way, and her good friend +was sure to win the money. + +'In short, it is hardly possible to see good company at Madrid unless +you resolve to leave a purse of gold at the card-assemblies of their +nobility.'(10) + + +(10) 'Observations in a Tour through Spain.' + + +We are assured that this state of things is by no means 'obsolete' in +Spain, even at the present time. At the time in question, however, the +beginning of the present century, there was no European nation among +which gaming did not constitute one of its polite and fashionable +amusements--with the exception of the _Turks_, who, to the shame of +Christians, strictly obeyed the precepts of Mahomet, and scrupulously +avoided the 'gambling itch' of our nature. + +In England gambling prevailed during the reign of Henry VIII.; indeed, +it seems that the king was himself a gamester of the most unscrupulous +sort; and there is ample evidence that the practice flourished during +the reign of Elizabeth, James I., and subsequently, especially in the +times of Charles II. Writing on the day when James II. was proclaimed +king, Evelyn says, 'I can never forget the inexpressible luxury +and profaneness, gaming and all dissoluteness, and as it were total +forgetfulness of God (it being Sunday evening) which this day se'nnight +I was witness of, the king sitting and toying with his concubines, +Portsmouth, Cleaveland, and Mazarine, &c., a French boy singing +love-songs, in that glorious gallery, whilst about twenty of the great +courtiers and other dissolute persons were at Basset round a large +table; a bank of at least L2000 in gold before them, upon which two +gentlemen who were with me made reflections with astonishment. Six days +after all was in the dust!' + +The following curious observations on the gaming in vogue during the +year 1668 are from the Harleian Miscellany: + +'One propounded this question, "Whether men in ships at sea were to be +accounted amongst the living or the dead--because there were but +few inches betwixt them and drowning?" The same query may be made of +gamesters, though their estates be never so considerable--whether they +are to be esteemed rich or poor, since there are but a few casts at dice +betwixt a person of fortune (in that circumstance) and a beggar. + +'Betwixt twelve and one of the clock a good dinner is prepared by way +of ordinary, and some gentlemen of civility and condition oftentimes eat +there, and play a while for recreation after dinner, both moderately and +most commonly without deserving reproof. Towards night, when ravenous +beasts usually seek their prey, there come in shoals of hectors, +trepanners, gilts, pads, biters, prigs, divers, lifters, kidnappers, +vouchers, mill kens, piemen, decoys, shop-lifters, foilers, bulkers, +droppers, gamblers, donnakers, crossbiters, &c., under the general +appellation of "rooks;" and in this particular it serves as a nursery +for Tyburn, for every year some of this gang march thither. + +'Would you imagine it to be true--that a grave gentleman, well stricken +in years, insomuch as he cannot see the pips of the dice, is so +infatuated with this witchery as to play here with others' eyes,--of +whom this quibble was raised, "Mr Such a one plays at dice by the ear." +Another gentleman, stark blind, I have seen play at Hazard, and surely +that must be by the ear too. + +'Late at night, when the company grows thin, and your eyes dim with +watching, false dice are often put upon the ignorant, or they are +otherwise cozened, with topping or slurring, &;c.; and, if you be not +vigilant, 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. + +'There are yet some genteeler and more subtle rooks, whom you shall not +distinguish by their outward demeanour from persons of condition; and +who will sit by a whole evening, and observe who wins; and then, if +the winner be "bubbleable," they will insinuate themselves into his +acquaintance, and civilly invite him to drink a glass of wine,--wheedle +him into play, and win all his money, either by false dice, as high +fulhams,(11) low fulhams, or by palming, topping, &c. Note by the way, +that when they have you at the tavern and think you a sure "bubble," +they will many times purposely lose some small sum to you the first +time, to engage you more freely to _BLEED_ (as they call it) at the +second meeting, to which they will be sure to invite you. + + +(11) It appears that false dice were originally made at _Fulham;_ hence +so called, high and low fulhams; the high ones were the numbers 4, 5, 6. + + +'A gentleman whom ill-fortune had hurried into passion, took a box and +dice to a side-table, and then fell to throwing by himself; at length +he swears with an emphasis, "D--e, now I throw for nothin;, I can win a +thousand pounds; but when I lay for money I lose my all." + +'If the house find you free to box, and a constant caster, you shall be +treated below with suppers at night, and caudle in the morning, and +have the honour to be styled, "a lover of the house," whilst your money +lasts, which certainly will not be long. + +'Most gamesters begin at small games, and by degrees, if their money or +estates hold out, they rise to great sums; some have played first 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, 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 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.(12) + + +(12) The clochier in Paul's Churchyard--a bell-house, four square, +builded of stone, with four bells; these were called _Jesus_ Bells. The +same had a great spire of timber, covered with lead, with the image of +St Paul on the top, but was pulled down by Sir Miles Partridge, Kt, in +the reign of Henry VIII. The common speech then was that he did set L100 +upon a cast at dice against it, and so won the said clochier and bells +of the king. And then causing the bells to be broken as they hung, the +rest was pulled down, and broken also. This man was afterwards executed +on Tower Hill, for matters concerning the Duke of Somerset, in the year +1551, the 5th of Edward VI.--Stowe, B. iii. 148. + + +'Sir Arthur Smithhouse 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_. + +'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 _rara avis_, for if you once +"break bulk," as they phrase it, you are in again for all. Sir Humphry +Foster had lost the greatest part of his estate, and then playing, as +it is said, _FOR A DEAD HORSE_, did, by happy fortune, recover it again; +then gave over, and wisely too.'(13) + + +(13) Harleian Misc. ii. 108. + +The sequel will show the increase of gambling in our country during the +subsequent reigns, up to a recent period. + +Thus, then, the passion of gaming is, and has ever been, universal. +It is said that two Frenchmen could not exist even in a desert without +_QUARRELLING;_ and it is quite certain that no two human beings can be +anywhere without ere long offering to 'bet' upon something. Indolence +and want of employment--'vacuity,' as Dr Johnson would call it--is the +cause of the passion. It arises from a want of habitual employment +in some material and regular line of conduct. Your very innocent +card-parties at home--merely to kill _TIME_ (what a murder!) explains +all the apparent mystery! Something must be substituted to call forth +the natural activity of the mind; and this is in no way more effectually +accomplished, in all indolent pursuits, than by those _EMOTIONS AND +AGITATIONS_ which gambling produces. + +Such is the source of the thing in our _NATURE;_ but then comes the +furious hankering after wealth--the desire to have it without _WORKING_ +for it--which is the wish of so many of us; and _THIS_ is the source of +that hideous gambling which has produced the contemptible characters and +criminal acts which are the burthen of this volume. + +We love play because it satisfies our avarice,--that is to say, our +desire of having more; it flatters our vanity by the idea of preference +that fortune gives us, and of the attention that others pay to our +success; it satisfies our curiosity, giving us a spectacle; in short, it +gives us the different pleasures of surprise. + +Certain it is that the passion for gambling easily gets deeply rooted, +and that it cannot be easily eradicated. The most exquisite melody, if +compared with the music of dice, is then but discord; and the finest +prospect in nature only a miserable blank when put in competition with +the attractions of the 'honours' at a rubber of Whist. + +Wealth is the general centre of inclination. Whatever is the ultimate +design, the immediate care is to be rich. No desire can be formed +which riches do not assist to gratify. They may be considered as the +elementary principles of pleasure, which may be combined with endless +diversity. There are nearer ways to profit than up the steeps of labour. +The prospect of gaining speedily what is ardently desired, has so +far prevailed upon the passions of mankind, that the peace of life is +destroyed by a general and incessant struggle for riches. It is observed +of gold by an old epigrammatist, that to have is to be in fear; and +to want it is to be in sorrow. There is no condition which is not +disquieted either with the care of gaining or keeping money. + +No nation has exceeded ours in the pursuit of gaming. In former +times--and yet not more than 30 or 40 years ago--the passion for play +was predominant among the highest classes. + +Genius and abilities of the highest order became its votaries; and the +very framers of the laws against gambling were the first to fall under +the temptation of their breach! The spirit of gambling pervaded every +inferior order of society. The gentleman was a slave to its indulgence; +the merchant and the mechanic were the dupes of its imaginary prospects; +it engrossed the citizen and occupied the rustic. Town and country +became a prey to its despotism. There was scarcely an obscure village to +be found wherein this bewitching basilisk did not exercise its powers of +fascination and destruction. + +Gaming in England became rather a science than an amusement of social +intercourse. The 'doctrine of chances' was studied with an assiduity +that would have done honour to better subjects; and calculations were +made on arithmetical and geometrical principles, to determine the +degrees of probability attendant on games of mixed skill and chance, +or even on the fortuitous throws of dice. Of course, in spite of all +calculations, there were miserable failures--frightful losses. The +polite gamester, like the savage, did not scruple to hazard the dearest +interests of his family, or to bring his wife and children to poverty, +misery, and ruin. He could not give these over in liquidation of a +gambling debt; indeed, nobody would, probably, have them at a gift; and +yet there were instances in which the honour of a wife was the stake of +the infernal game!.... Well might the Emperor Justinian exclaim,--'Can +we call _PLAY_ that which causes crime?'(14) + + +(14) Quis enim ludos appellet eos, ex quibus crimina oriuntur?--_De +Concept. Digest_. II. lib. iv. Sec. 9. + + + +CHAPTER II. GAMBLING AMONG THE ANCIENT HINDOOS.--A HINDOO LEGEND AND ITS MODERN +PARALLEL. + +The recent great contribution to the history of India, published by Mr +Wheeler,(15) gives a complete insight into this interesting topic; +and this passage of the ancient Sanskrit epic forms one of the most +wonderful and thrilling scenes in that most acceptable publication. + + +(15) The History of India from the Earliest Ages. By J. Talboys Wheeler. +Vol. I.--The Vedic Period and the Maha Bharata. + + +As Mr Wheeler observes, the specialties of Hindoo gambling are worthy +of some attention. The passion for play, which has ever been the vice of +warriors in times of peace, becomes a madness amidst the lassitude of a +tropical climate; and more than one Hindoo legend has been preserved +of Rajas playing together for days, until the wretched loser has been +deprived of everything he possessed and reduced to the condition of an +exile or a slave. + +But gambling amongst the Hindoos does not appear to have been altogether +dependent upon chance. The ancient Hindoo dice, known by the name of +coupun, are almost precisely similar to the modern dice, being thrown +out of a box; but the practice of loading is plainly alluded to, and +some skill seems to have been occasionally exercised in the rattling of +the dice-box. In the more modern game, known by the name of pasha, the +dice are not cubic, but oblong; and they are thrown from the hand either +direct upon the ground, or against a post or board, which will break the +fall, and render the result more a matter of chance. + +The great gambling match of the Hindoo epic was the result of +a conspiracy to ruin Yudhishthira, a successful warrior, the +representative of a mighty family--the Pandavas, who were incessantly +pursued by the envy of the Kauravas, their rivals. The fortunes of the +Pandavas were at the height of human prosperity; and at this point the +universal conception of an avenging Nemesis that humbles the proud and +casts down the mighty, finds full expression in the Hindoo epic. The +grandeur of the Pandavas excited the jealousy of Duryodhana, and revived +the old feud between the Kauravas and the former. Duryodhana plotted +with his brother Duhsasana and his uncle Sakuni, how they might +dispossess the Pandavas of their newly-acquired territory; and at length +they determined to invite their kinsmen to a gambling match, and seek by +underhand means to deprive Yudhishthira of his Raj, or kingdom.(16) + + +(16) The old Sanskrit words _Raj_, 'kingdom,' and Raja, 'king,' are +evidently the origin of the Latin _reg-num, reg-o, rex, regula_, 'rule,' +&c, reproduced in the words of that ancient language, and continued in +the derivative vernaculars of modern names--_re, rey, roy, roi, regal, +royal, rule_, &c. &c. + + +It appears from the poem that Yudhishthira was invited to a game at +coupun; and the legend of the great gambling match, which took place at +Hastinapur, is related as follows: + +'And it came to pass that Duryodhana was very jealous of the _Rajasuya_ +or triumph that his cousin Yudhishthira had performed, and he desired in +his heart to destroy the Pandavas, and gain possession of their Raj. Now +Sakuni was the brother of Gandhari, who was the mother of the Kauravas; +and he was very skilful in throwing dice, and in playing with dice that +were loaded; insomuch that whenever he played he always won the game. So +Duryodhana plotted with his uncle, that Yudhishthira should be invited +to a match at gambling, and that Sakuni should challenge him to a game, +and win all his wealth and lands. + +'After this the wicked Duryodhana proposed to his father the Maharaja, +that they should have a great gambling match at Hastinapur, and that +Yudhishthira and his brethren should be invited to the festival. And the +Maharaja was glad in his heart that his sons should be friendly with the +sons of his deceased brother, Pandu; and he sent his younger brother, +Vidura, to the city of Indra-prastha to invite the Pandavas to the game. +And Vidura went his way to the city of the Pandavas, and was received by +them with every sign of attention and respect. And Yudhishthira inquired +whether his kinsfolk and friends at Hastinapur were all well in health, +and Vidura replied, "They are all well." Then Vidura said to the +Pandavas:--"Your uncle, the Maharaja, is about to give a great feast, +and he has sent me to invite you and your mother, and your joint wife, +to come to his city, and there will be a great match at dice-playing." +When Yudhishthira heard these words he was troubled in mind, for he knew +that gaming was a frequent cause of strife, and that he was in no way +skilful in throwing the dice; and he likewise knew that Sakuni +was dwelling at Hastinapur, and that he was a famous gambler. But +Yudhishthira remembered that the invitation of the Maharaja was equal +to the command of a father, and that no true Kshatriya could refuse +a challenge either to war or play. So Yudhishthira accepted the +invitation, and gave commandment that on the appointed day his brethren, +and their mother, and their joint wife should accompany him to the city +of Hastinapur. + +'When the day arrived for the departure of the Pandavas they took +their mother Kunti, and their joint wife Draupadi, and journeyed from +Indra-prastha to the city of Hastinapur. And when they entered the city +they first paid a visit of respect to the Maharaja, and they found +him sitting amongst his Chieftains; and the ancient Bhishma, and the +preceptor Drona, and Karna, who was the friend of Duryodhana, and many +others, were sitting there also. + +'And when the Pandavas had done reverence to the Maharaja, and +respectfully saluted all present, they paid a visit to their aunt +Gandhari, and did her reverence likewise. + +'And after they had done this, their mother and joint wife entered the +presence of Gandhari, and respectfully saluted her; and the wives of +the Kauravas came in and were made known to Kunti and Draupadi. And the +wives of the Kauravas were much surprised when they beheld the beauty +and fine raiment of Draupadi; and they were very jealous of their +kinswoman. And when all their visits had been paid, the Pandavas retired +with their wife and mother to the quarters which had been prepared for +them, and when it was evening they received the visits of all their +friends who were dwelling at Hastinapur. + +'Now, on the morrow the gambling match was to be played; so when the +morning had come, the Pandavas bathed and dressed, and left Draupadi in +the lodging which had been prepared for her, and went their way to the +palace. And the Pandavas again paid their respects to their uncle the +Maharaja, and were then conducted to the pavilion where the play was to +be; and Duryodhana went with them, together with all his brethren, and +all the chieftains of the royal house. And when the assembly had all +taken their seats, Sakuni said to Yudhishthira:--"The ground here has +all been prepared, and the dice are all ready: Come now, I pray you, and +play a game." But Yudhishthira was disinclined, and replied:--"I will +not play excepting upon fair terms; but if you will pledge yourself to +throw without artifice or deceit, I will accept your challenge." Sakuni +said,--"If you are so fearful of losing, you had better not play at +all." At these words Yudhishthira was wroth, and replied:--"I have no +fear either in play or war; but let me know with whom I am to play, and +who is to pay me if I win." So Duryodhana came forward and said:--"I am +the man with whom you are to play, and I shall lay any stakes against +your stakes; but my uncle Sakuni will throw the dice for me." Then +Yudhishthira said,--"What manner of game is this, where one man throws +and another lays the stakes?" Nevertheless he accepted the challenge, +and he and Sakuni began to play. + +'At this point in the narrative it may be desirable to pause, and +endeavour to obtain a picture of the scene. The so-called pavilion was +probably a temporary booth constructed of bamboos and interlaced with +basket-work; and very likely it was decorated with flowers and leaves +after the Hindoo fashion, and hung with fruits, such as cocoa-nuts, +mangoes, plantains, and maize. The Chieftains present seem to have sat +upon the ground, and watched the game. The stakes may have been pieces +of gold or silver, or cattle, or lands; although, according to the +legendary account which follows, they included articles of a far more +extravagant and imaginative character. With these passing remarks, the +tradition of the memorable game may be resumed as follows:-- + +'So Yudhishthira and Sakuni sat down to play, and whatever Yudhishthira +laid as stakes, Duryodhana laid something of equal value; but +Yudhishthira lost every game. He first lost a very beautiful pearl; next +a thousand bags, each containing a thousand pieces of gold; next a piece +of gold so pure that it was as soft as wax; next a chariot set with +jewels and hung all round with golden bells; next a thousand war +elephants with golden howdahs set with diamonds; next a lakh of slaves +all dressed in good garments; next a lakh of beautiful slave girls, +adorned from head to foot with golden ornaments; next all the remainder +of his goods; next all his cattle; and then the whole of his Raj, +excepting only the lands which had been granted to the Brahmans.(17) + + +(17)'A lakh is a hundred thousand, and a crore is a hundred lakhs, or +ten millions. The Hindoo term might therefore have been converted into +English numerals, only that it does not seem certain that the bards +meant precisely a hundred thousand slaves, but only a very large number. +The exceptional clause in favour of the Brahmans is very significant. +When the little settlement at Indra-prastha had been swelled by the +imagination of the later bards into an extensive Raj, the thought may +have entered the minds of the Brahmanical compilers that in losing the +Raj, the Brahmans might have lost those free lands, known as inams +or jagheers, which are frequently granted by pious Rajas for the +subsistence of Brahmans. Hence the insertion of the clause.' + + +'Now when Yudhishthira had lost his Raj, the Chieftains present in the +pavilion were of opinion that he should cease to play, but he would not +listen to their words, but persisted in the game. And he staked all the +jewels belonging to his brothers, and he lost them; and he staked his +two younger brothers, one after the other, and he lost them; and he then +staked Arjuna, and Bhima, and finally himself; and he lost every game. +Then Sakuni said to him:--"You have done a bad act, Yudhishthira, in +gaming away yourself and becoming a slave. But now, stake your +wife, Draupadi, and if you win the game you will again be free." And +Yudhishthira answered and said:--"I will stake Draupadi!" And all +assembled were greatly troubled and thought evil of Yudhishthira; and +his uncle Vidura put his hand to his head and fainted away, whilst +Bhishma and Drona turned deadly pale, and many of the company were very +sorrowful; but Duryodhana and his brother Duhsasana, and some others of +the Kauravas, were glad in their hearts, and plainly manifested their +joy. Then Sakuni threw the dice, and won Draupadi for Duryodhana. + +'Then all in that assembly were in great consternation, and the +Chieftains gazed upon one another without speaking a word. And +Duryodhana said to his uncle Vidura:--"Go now and bring Draupadi hither, +and bid her sweep the rooms." But Vidura cried out against him with a +loud voice, and said:--"What wickedness is this? Will you order a woman +who is of noble birth, and the wife of your own kinsman, to become a +household slave? How can you vex your brethren thus? But Draupadi has +not become your slave; for Yudhishthira lost himself before he staked +his wife, and having first become a slave, he could no longer have power +to stake Draupadi." Vidura then turned to the assembly and said:--"Take +no heed to the words of Duryodhana, for he has lost his senses this +day." Duryodhana then said:--"A curse be upon this Vidura, who will do +nothing that I desire him." + +'After this Duryodhana called one of his servants, and desired him to go +to the lodgings of the Pandavas, and bring Draupadi into the pavilion. +And the man departed out, and went to the lodgings of the Pandavas, and +entered the presence of Draupadi, and said to her:--"Raja Yudhishthira +has played you away, and you have become the slave of Raja Duryodhana: +So come now and do your duty like his other slave girls." And +Draupadi was astonished at these words, and exceedingly wroth, and she +replied:--"Whose slave was I that I could be gambled away? And who +is such a senseless fool as to gamble away his own wife?" The servant +said:--"Raja Yudhishthira has lost himself, and his four brothers, and +you also, to Raja Duryodhana, and you cannot make any objection: Arise, +therefore, and go to the house of the Raja!" + +'Then Draupadi cried out:--"Go you now and inquire whether Raja +Yudhishthira lost me first or himself first; for if he played away +himself first, he could not stake me." So the man returned to the +assembly, and put the question to Yudhishthira; but Yudhishthira hung +down his head with shame, and answered not a word. + +'Then Duryodhana was filled with wrath, and he cried out to his +servant:--"What waste of words is this? Go you and bring Draupadi +hither, that if she has aught to say, she may say it in the presence +of us all." And the man essayed to go, but he beheld the wrathful +countenance of Bhima and he was sore afraid, and he refused to go, and +remained where he was. Then Duryodhana sent his brother Duhsasana; and +Duhsasana went his way to the lodgings of Draupadi and said:--"Raja +Yudhishthira has lost you in play to Raja Duryodhana, and he has sent +for you: So arise now, and wait upon him according to his commands; +and if you have anything to say, you can say it in the presence of the +assembly." Draupadi replied:--"The death of the Kauravas is not far +distant, since they can do such deeds as these." And she rose up in +great trepidation and set out, but when she came near to the palace of +the Maharaja, she turned aside from the pavilion where the Chieftains +were assembled, and ran away with all speed towards the apartments of +the women. And Duhsasana hastened after her, and seized her by her hair, +which was very dark and long, and dragged her by main force into the +pavilion before all the Chieftains. + +'And she cried out:--"Take your hands from off me!" But Duhsasana heeded +not her words, and said:--"You are now a slave girl, and slave girls +cannot complain of being touched by the hands of men." + +'When the Chieftains thus beheld Draupadi, they hung down their heads +from shame; and Draupadi called upon the elders amongst them, such as +Bhishma and Drona, to acquaint her whether or no Raja Yudhishthira had +gamed away himself before he had staked her; but they likewise held down +their heads and answered not a word. + +'Then she cast her eye upon the Pandavas, and her glance was like the +stabbing of a thousand daggers, but they moved not hand or foot to help +her; for when Bhima would have stepped forward to deliver her from the +hands of Duhsasana, Yudhishthira commanded him to forbear, and both he +and the younger Pandavas were obliged to obey the command of their elder +brother. + +'And when Duhsasana saw that Draupadi looked towards the Pandavas, he +took her by the hand, and drew her another way, saying:--"Why, O slave, +are you turning your eyes about you?" And when Karna and Sakuni heard +Duhsasana calling her a slave, they cried out:--"Well said! well said!" + +'Then Draupadi wept very bitterly, and appealed to all the assembly, +saying:--"All of you have wives and children of your own, and will you +permit me to be treated thus? I ask you one question, and I pray you to +answer it." Duhsasana then broke in and spoke foul language to her, and +used her rudely, so that her veil came off in his hands. And Bhima could +restrain his wrath no longer, and spoke vehemently to Yudhishthira; and +Arjuna reproved him for his anger against his elder brother, but Bhima +answered:--"I will thrust my hands into the fire before these wretches +shall treat my wife in this manner before my eyes." + +'Then Duryodhana said to Draupadi:--"Come now, I pray you, and sit +upon my thigh!" And Bhima gnashed his teeth, and cried out with a loud +voice:--"Hear my vow this day! If for this deed I do not break the thigh +of Duryodhana, and drink the blood of Duhsasana, I am not the son of +Kunti!" + +'Meanwhile the Chieftain Vidura had left the assembly, and told the +blind Maharaja Dhritarashtra all that had taken place that day; and the +Maharaja ordered his servants to lead him into the pavilion where all +the Chieftains were gathered together. And all present were silent when +they saw the Maharaja, and the Maharaja said to Draupadi:--"O daughter, +my sons have done evil to you this day: But go now, you and your +husbands, to your own Raj, and remember not what has occurred, and let +the memory of this day be blotted out for ever." So the Pandavas +made haste with their wife Draupadi, and departed out of the city of +Hastinapur. + +'Then Duryodhana was exceedingly wroth, and he said to his father, "O +Maharaja, is it not a saying that when your enemy hath fallen down, +he should be annihilated without a war? And now that we had thrown the +Pandavas to the earth, and had taken possession of all their wealth, you +have restored them all their strength, and permitted them to depart with +anger in their hearts; and now they will prepare to make war that they +may revenge themselves upon us for all that has been done, and they will +return within a short while and slay us all: Give us leave then, I pray +you, to play another game with these Pandavas, and let the side which +loses go into exile for twelve years; for thus and thus only can a +war be prevented between ourselves and the Pandavas." And the Maharaja +granted the request of his son, and messengers were sent to bring back +the brethren; and the Pandavas obeyed the commands of their uncle, +and returned to his presence; and it was agreed upon that Yudhishthira +should play one game more with Sakuni, and that if Yudhishthira won the +Kauravas were to go into exile, and that if Sakuni won, the Pandavas +were to go into exile; and the exile was to be for twelve years, and one +year more; and during that thirteenth year those who were in exile were +to dwell in any city they pleased, but to keep themselves so concealed +that the others should never discover them; and if the others did +discover them before the thirteenth year was over, then those who were +in exile were to continue so for another thirteen years. So they sat +down again to play, and Sakuni had a set of cheating dice as before, and +with them he won the game. + +'When Duhsasana saw that Sakuni had won the game, he danced about for +joy; and he cried out:--"Now is established the Raj of Duryodhana." But +Bhima said, "Be not elated with joy, but remember my words: The day will +come when I will drink your blood, or I am not the son of Kunti." And +the Pandavas, seeing that they had lost, threw off their garments and +put on deer-skins, and prepared to depart into the forest with +their wife and mother, and their priest Dhaumya; but Vidura said to +Yudhishthira:--"Your mother is old and unfitted to travel, so leave her +under my care;" and the Pandavas did so. And the brethren went out from +the assembly hanging down their heads with shame, and covering their +faces with their garments; but Bhima threw out his long arms and looked +at the Kauravas furiously, and Draupadi spread her long black hair over +her face and wept bitterly. And Draupadi vowed a vow, saying:-- + +'"My hair shall remain dishevelled from this day, until Bhima shall +have slain Duhsasana and drank his blood; and then he shall tie up my +hair again whilst his hands are dripping with the blood of Duhsasana."' + +Such was the great gambling match at Hastinapur in the heroic age +of India. It appears there can be little doubt of the truth of the +incident, although the verisimilitude would have been more complete +without the perpetual winning of the cheat Sakuni--which would be +calculated to arouse the suspicion of Yudhishthira, and which could +scarcely be indulged in by a professional cheat, mindful of the +suspicion it would excite. + +Throughout the narrative, however, there is a truthfulness to human +nature, and a truthfulness to that particular phase of human nature +which is pre-eminently manifested by a high-minded race in its primitive +stage of civilization. + +To our modern minds the main interest of the story begins from the +moment that Draupadi was lost; but it must be remembered that among that +ancient people, where women were chiefly prized on sensual grounds, such +stakes were evidently recognized. + +The conduct of Draupadi herself on the occasion shows that she was by +no means unfamiliar with the idea: she protested--not on the ground of +sentiment or matrimonial obligation--but solely on what may be called a +technical point of law, namely, 'Had Yudhishthira become a slave before +he staked his wife upon the last game?' For, of course, having ceased to +be a freeman, he had no right to stake her liberty. + +The concluding scene of the drama forms an impressive figure in the mind +of the Hindoo. The terrible figure of Draupadi, as she dishevels her +long black hair, is the very impersonation of revenge; and a Hindoo +audience never fails to shudder at her fearful vow--that the straggling +tresses shall never again be tied up until the day when Bhima shall have +fulfilled his vow, and shall then bind them up whilst his fingers are +still dripping with the blood of Duhsasana. + +The avenging battle subsequently ensued. Bhima struck down Duhsasana +with a terrible blow of his mace, saying,--'This day I fulfil my vow +against the man who insulted Draupadi!' Then setting his foot on the +breast of Duhsasana, he drew his sword, and cut off the head of his +enemy; and holding his two hands to catch the blood, he drank it off, +crying out, 'Ho! ho! Never did I taste anything in this world so sweet +as this blood.' + +This staking of wives by gamblers is a curious subject. The practice may +be said to have been universal, having furnished cases among civilized +as well as barbarous nations. Of course the Negroes of Africa stake +their wives and children; according to Schouten, a Chinese staked +his wife and children, and lost them; Paschasius Justus states that a +Venetian staked his wife; and not a hundred years ago certain debauchees +at Paris played at dice for the possession of a celebrated courtesan. +But this is an old thing. Hegesilochus, and other rulers of Rhodes, +were accustomed to play at dice for the honour of the most distinguished +ladies of that island--the agreement being that the party who lost had +to bring to the arms of the winner the lady designated by lot to that +indignity.(18) + + +(18) Athen. lib. XI. cap. xii. + + +There are traditions of such stakes having been laid and lost by +husbands in _England;_ and a remarkable case of the kind will be found +related in Ainsworth's 'Old Saint Paul's,' as having occurred during the +Plague of London, in the year 1665. There can be little doubt that it is +founded on fact; and the conduct of the English wife, curiously +enough, bears a striking resemblance to that of Draupadi in the Indian +narrative. + +A Captain Disbrowe of the king's body-guard lost a large sum of money to +a notorious debauchee, a gambler and bully, named Sir Paul Parravicin. +The latter had made an offensive allusion to the wife of Captain +Disbrowe, after winning his money; and then, picking up the dice-box, +and spreading a large heap of gold on the table, he said to the officer +who anxiously watched his movements:--'I mentioned your wife, Captain +Disbrowe, not with any intention of giving you offence, but to show you +that, although you have lost your money, you have still a valuable stake +left.' + +'I do not understand you, Sir Paul,' returned Disbrowe, with a look of +indignant surprise. + +'To be plain, then,' replied Parravicin, 'I have won from you two +hundred pounds--all you possess. You are a ruined man, and as such, will +run any hazard to retrieve your losses. I give you a last chance. I will +stake all my winnings--nay, double the amount--against your wife. You +have a key of the house you inhabit, by which you admit yourself at all +hours; so at least I am informed. If I win, that key shall be mine. I +will take my chance of the rest. Do you understand me now?' + +'I do,' replied the young man, with concentrated fury. 'I understand +that you are a villain. You have robbed me of my money, and would rob me +of my honour.' + +'These are harsh words, sir,' replied the knight calmly; 'but let +them pass. We will play first, and fight afterwards. But you refuse my +challenge?' + +'It is false!' replied Disbrowe, fiercely, 'I accept it.' And producing +a key, he threw it on the table. 'My life is, in truth, set on the die,' +he added, with a desperate look; 'for if I lose, I will not survive my +shame.' + +'You will not forget our terms,' observed Parravicin. 'I am to be your +representative to-night. You can return home to-morrow.' + +'Throw, sir,--throw,' cried the young man, fiercely. + +'Pardon me,' replied the knight; 'the first cast is with you. A single +main decides it.' + +'Be it so,' returned Disbrowe, seizing the bow. And as he shook the dice +with a frenzied air, the bystanders drew near the table to watch the +result. + +'Twelve!' cried Disbrowe, as he removed the box. 'My honour is saved! My +fortune retrieved--Huzza!' + +'Not so fast,' returned Parravicin, shaking the box in his turn. 'You +were a little hasty,' he added, uncovering the dice. 'I am twelve too. +We must throw again.' + +'This is to decide,' cried the young officer, rattling the dice,--'Six!' + +Parravicin smiled, took the box, and threw _TEN_. + +'Perdition!' ejaculated Disbrowe, striking his brow with his clenched +hand. 'What devil tempted me to my undoing?... My wife trusted to this +profligate!... Horror! It must not be!' + +'It is too late to retract,' replied Parravicin, taking up the key, and +turning with a triumphant look to his friends. + +Disbrowe noticed the smile, and, stung beyond endurance, drew his sword, +and called to the knight to defend himself. In an instant passes were +exchanged. But the conflict was brief. Fortune, as before, declared +herself in favour of Parravicin. He disarmed his assailant, who rushed +out of the room, uttering the wildest ejaculations of rage and despair. + + +* * * * * * The winner of the key proceeded at once to use. He gained +admittance to the captain's house, and found his way to the chamber +of his wife, who was then in bed. At first mistaken for her husband +Parravicin heard words of tender reproach for his lateness; and then, +declaring himself, he belied her husband, stating that he was false to +her, and had surrendered her to him. + +At this announcement Mrs Disbrowe uttered a loud scream, and fell back +in the bed. Parravicin waited for a moment; but not hearing her move, +brought the lamp to see what was the matter. She had fainted, and was +lying across the pillow, with her night-dress partly open, so as to +expose her neck and shoulders. The knight was at first ravished with her +beauty; but his countenance suddenly fell, and an expression of horror +and alarm took possession of it. He appeared rooted to the spot, and +instead of attempting to render her any assistance, remained with his +gaze fixed upon her neck. Rousing himself at length, he rushed out of +the room, hurried down-stairs, and without pausing for a moment, threw +open the street door. As he issued from it his throat was forcibly +griped, and the point of a sword was placed at his breast. + +It was the desperate husband, who was waiting to avenge his wife's +honour. + +'You are in my power, villain,' cried Disbrowe, 'and shall not escape my +vengeance.' + +'You are already avenged,' replied Parravicin, shaking off his +assailant--'_YOUR WIFE HAS THE PLAGUE_.' + +The profligate had been scared away by the sight of the 'plague spot' on +the neck of the unfortunate lady. + +The husband entered and found his way to his wife's chamber. +Instantaneous explanations ensued. 'He told me you were false--that you +loved another--and had abandoned me,' exclaimed the frantic wife. + +'He lied!' shouted Disbrowe, in a voice of uncontrollable fury. 'It is +true that, in a moment of frenzy, I was tempted to set you--yes, _YOU_, +Margaret--against all I had lost at play, and was compelled to yield up +the key of my house to the winner. But I have never been faithless to +you--never.' + +'Faithless or not,' replied his wife bitterly, 'it is plain you value me +less than play, or you would not have acted thus.' + +'Reproach me not, Margaret,' replied Disbrowe. 'I would give worlds to +undo what I have done.' + +'Who shall guard me against the recurrence of such conduct?' said Mrs +Disbrowe, coldly. 'But you have not yet informed me how I was saved!' + +Disbrowe averted his head. + +'What mean you?' she cried, seizing his arm. 'What has happened? Do not +keep me in suspense? Were you my preserver?' + +'Your preserver was the plague,' rejoined Disbrowe, mournfully. + +The unfortunate lady then, for the first time, perceived that she was +attacked by the pestilence, and a long and dreadful pause ensued, broken +only by exclamations of anguish from both. + +'Disbrowe!' cried Margaret at length, raising herself in bed, 'you have +deeply, irrecoverably injured me. But promise me one thing.' + +'I swear to do whatever you may desire,' he replied. + +'I know not, after what I have heard, whether you have courage for the +deed,' she continued. 'But I would have you kill this man.' + +'I will do it,' replied Disbrowe. + +'Nothing but his blood can wipe out the wrong he has done me,' she +rejoined. 'Challenge him to a duel--a mortal duel. If he survives, by my +soul, I will give myself to him.' + +'Margaret!' exclaimed Disbrowe. + +'I swear it,' she rejoined,' and you know my passionate nature too well +to doubt I will keep my word.' + +'But you have the plague!' + +'What does that matter? I may recover.' + +'Not so,' muttered Disbrowe. 'If I fall, I will take care you do not +recover.... I will fight him to-morrow,' he added aloud. + +About noon on the following day Disbrowe proceeded to the Smyrna +Coffee-house, where, as he expected, he found Parravicin and his +companions. The knight instantly advanced towards him, and laying aside +for the moment his reckless air, inquired, with a look of commiseration, +after his wife. + +'She is better,' replied Disbrowe, fiercely. 'I am come to settle +accounts with you.' + +'I thought they were settled long ago,' returned Parravicin, instantly +resuming his wonted manner. 'But I am glad to find you consider the debt +unpaid.' + +Disbrowe lifted the cane he held in his hand, and struck the knight with +it forcibly on the shoulder. 'Be that my answer,' he said. + +'I will have your life first, and your wife afterwards,' replied +Parravicin fiercely. + +'You shall have her if you slay me, but not otherwise,' retorted +Disbrowe. 'It must be a mortal duel.' + +'It must,' replied Parravicin. 'I will not spare you this time. I shall +instantly proceed to the west side of Hyde Park, beneath the trees. I +shall expect you there. On my return I shall call on your wife.' + +'I pray you do so, sir,' replied Disbrowe, disdainfully. + +Both then quitted the Coffee-house, Parravicin attended by his +companions, and Disbrowe accompanied by a military friend, whom he +accidentally encountered. Each party taking a coach, they soon reached +the ground, a retired spot completely screened from observation by +trees. The preliminaries were soon arranged, for neither would admit of +delay. The conflict then commenced with great fury on both sides; but +Parravicin, in spite of his passion, observed far more caution than his +antagonist; and taking advantage of an unguarded movement, occasioned +by the other's impetuosity, passed his sword through his body. Disbrowe +fell. + +'You are again successful,' he groaned, 'but save my wife--save her!' + +'What mean you?' cried Parravicin, leaning over him, as he wiped his +sword. + +But Disbrowe could make no answer. His utterance was choked by a sudden +effusion of blood on the lungs, and he instantly expired. + +Leaving the body in care of the second, Parravicin and his friends +returned to the coach, his friends congratulating him on the issue of +the conflict; but the knight looked grave, and pondered upon the words +of the dying man. After a time, however, he recovered his spirits, and +dined with his friends at the Smyrna; but they observed that he drank +more deeply than usual. His excesses did not, however, prevent him from +playing with his usual skill, and he won a large sum from one of his +companions at Hazard. + +Flushed with success, and heated with wine, he walked up to Disbrowe's +residence about an hour after midnight. As he approached the house, he +observed a strangely-shaped cart at the door, and, halting for a moment, +saw a body, wrapped in a shroud, brought out. Could it be Mrs Disbrowe? +Rushing forward to one of the assistants in black cloaks, he asked whom +he was about to inter. + +'It is a Mrs Disbrowe,' replied the coffin-maker. 'She died of grief, +because her husband was killed this morning in a duel; but as she had +the plague, it must be put down to that. We are not particular in such +matters, and shall bury her and her husband together; and as there is no +money left to pay for coffins, they must go to the grave without them.' + +And as the body of his victim also was brought forth, Parravicin fell +against the wall in a state of stupefaction. At this moment, Solomon +Eagle, the weird plague-prophet, with his burning brazier on his head, +suddenly turned the corner of the street, and, stationing himself before +the dead-cart, cried in a voice of thunder--'Woe to the libertine! Woe +to the homicide! for he shall perish in everlasting fire! Woe! woe!' + +Such is this English legend, as related by Ainsworth, but which I have +condensed into its main elements. I think it bids fair to equal in +interest that of the Hindoo epic; and if it be not true in every +particular, so much the better for the sake of human nature. + + + +CHAPTER III. GAMBLING AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, PERSIANS, AND GREEKS. + +Concerning the ancient Egyptians we have no particular facts to detail +in the matter of gambling; but it is sufficient to determine the +existence of any special vice in a nation to find that there are severe +laws prohibiting and punishing its practice. Now, this testimony not +only exists, but the penalty is of the utmost severity, from which may +be inferred both the horror conceived of the practice by the rulers of +the Egyptians, and the strong propensity which required that severity to +suppress or hold it in check. In Egypt, 'every man was easily admitted +to the accusation of a gamester or dice-player; and if the person was +convicted, he was sent to work in the quarries.'(19) Gambling was, +therefore, prevalent in Egypt in the earliest times. + + +(19) Taylor, _Ductor Dubitantium_, B. iv. c. 1. + + +That gaming with dice was a usual and fashionable species of diversion +at the Persian court in the times of the younger Cyrus (about 400 years +before the Christian era), to go no higher, is evident from the anecdote +related by some historians of those days concerning Queen Parysatis, the +mother of Cyrus, who used all her art and skill in gambling to satiate +her revenge, and to accomplish her bloodthirsty projects against the +murderers of her favourite son. She played for the life or death of an +unfortunate slave, who had only executed the commands of his master. +The anecdote is as follows, as related by Plutarch, in the Life of +Artaxerxes. + +'There only remained for the final execution of Queen Parysatis's +projects, and fully to satiate her vengeance, the punishment of the +king's slave Mesabetes, who by his master's order had cut off the head +and hand of the young Cyrus, who was beloved by Parysatis (their common +mother) above Artaxerses, his elder brother and the reigning monarch. +But as there was nothing to take hold of in his conduct, the queen laid +this snare for him. She was a woman of good address, had abundance of +wit, and _EXCELLED AT PLAYING A CERTAIN GAME WITH DICE_. She had been +apparently reconciled to the king after the death of Cyrus, and was +present at all his parties of pleasure and gambling. One day, seeing the +king totally unemployed, she proposed playing with him for a thousand +_darics_ (about L500), to which he readily consented. She suffered him +to win, and paid down the money. But, affecting regret and vexation, +she pressed him to begin again, and to play with her--_FOR A SLAVE_. The +king, who suspected nothing, complied, and the stipulation was that the +winner was to choose the slave. + +'The queen was now all attention to the game, and made use of her utmost +skill and address, which as easily procured her victory, as her studied +neglect before had caused her defeat. She won--and chose Mesabetes--the +slayer of her son--who, being delivered into her hands, was put to the +most cruel tortures and to death by her command. + +'When the king would have interfered, she only replied with a smile of +contempt--"Surely you must be a great loser, to be so much out of temper +for giving up a decrepit old slave, when I, who lost a thousand good +_darics_, and paid them down on the spot, do not say a word, and am +satisfied."' + +Thus early were dice made subservient to the purposes of cruelty and +murder. The modern Persians, being Mohammedans, are restrained from the +open practice of gambling. Yet evasions are contrived in favour of games +in the tables, which, as they are only liable to chance on the 'throw +of the dice,' but totally dependent on the 'skill' in 'the management +of the game,' cannot (they argue) be meant to be prohibited by their +prophet any more than chess, which is universally allowed to his +followers; and, moreover, to evade the difficulty of being forbidden to +play for money, they make an alms of their winnings, distributing them +to the poor. This may be done by the more scrupulous; but no doubt +there are numbers whose consciences do not prevent the disposal of +their gambling profits nearer home. All excess of gaming, however, +is absolutely prohibited in Persia; and any place wherein it is much +exercised is called 'a habitation of corrupted carcases or carrion +house.'(20) + + +(20) Hyde, _De Ludis Oriental_. + + +In ancient Greece gambling prevailed to a vast extent. Of this there +can be no doubt whatever; and it is equally certain that it had an +influence, together with other modes of dissipation and corruption, +towards subjugating its civil liberties to the power of Macedon. + +So shamelessly were the Athenians addicted to this vice, that they +forgot all public spirit in their continued habits of gaming, and +entered into convivial associations, or formed 'clubs,' for the purposes +of dicing, at the very time when Philip of Macedon was making one grand +'throw' for their liberties at the Battle of Chaeronea. + +This politic monarch well knew the power of depravity in enervating +and enslaving the human mind; he therefore encouraged profusion, +dissipation, and gambling, as being sure of meeting with little +opposition from those who possessed such characters, in his projects of +ambition--as Demosthenes declared in one of his orations.(21) Indeed, +gambling had arrived at such a height in Greece, that Aristotle scruples +not to rank gamblers 'with thieves and plunderers, who for the sake of +gain do not scruple to despoil their best friends;'(22) and his pupil +Alexander set a fine upon some of his courtiers because he did not +perceive they made a sport or pastime of dice, but seemed to be employed +as in a most serious business.(23) + + +(21) First Olynthia. See also Athenaeus, lib. vi. 260. + +(22) Ethic. Ad Nicomachum, lib. iv. + +(23) Plutarch, _in Reg. et Imp. Apothegm_ + + +The Greeks gambled not only with dice, and at their equivalent for +_Cross and Pile_, but also at cock-fighting, as will appear in the +sequel. + +From a remark made by the Athenian orator Callistratus, it is evident +that desperate gambling was in vogue; he says that the games in which +the losers go on doubling their stakes resemble ever-recurring wars, +which terminate only with the extinction of the combatants.(24) + + +(24) Xenophon, _Hist. Graec_. lib. VI. c. iii. + + + +CHAPTER IV. GAMING AMONG THE ANCIENT ROMAN EMPERORS. + +In spite of the laws enacted against gaming, the court of the Emperor +Augustus was greatly addicted to that vice, and gave it additional +stimulus among the nation. Although, however, he was passionately fond +of gambling, and made light of the imputation on his character,(25) +it appears that in frequenting the gambling table he had other motives +besides mere cupidity. Writing to his daughter he said, 'I send you a +sum with which I should have gratified my companions, if they had wished +to play at dice or _odds and evens_.' On another occasion he wrote to +Tiberius:--'If I had exacted my winnings during the festival of Minerva; +if I had not lavished my money on all sides; instead of losing twenty +thousand sestercii (about L1000), I should have gained one hundred and +fifty thousand (L7500). I prefer it thus, however; for my bounty should +win me immense glory.'(26) + + +(25) Aleae rumorem nullo modo expavit. Suet. in Vita Augusti. + +(26) Sed hoc malo: benignitas enim mea me ad coelestem gloriam efferet. +_Ubi supra_. + + +This gambling propensity subjected Augustus to the lash of popular +epigrams; among the rest, the following: + +Postquam bis classe victus naves perdidit, Aliquando ut vincat, ludit +assidud aleam. + +'He lost at sea; was beaten twice, And tries to win at least with dice.' + + +But although a satirist by profession, the sleek courtier Horace spared +the emperor's vice, contenting himself with only declaring that play was +forbidden.(27) The two following verses of his, usually applied to the +effects of gaming, really refer only to _RAILLERY._ + + +(27) Carm. lib. III. Od. xxiv. + + +Ludus enim genuit trepidum certamen et iram; Ira truces inimicitias et +funebre bellum.(28) + + +(28) Epist. lib. I. xix. + + +He, however, has recorded the curious fact of an old Roman gambler, who +was always attended by a slave, to pick up his dice for him and put them +in the box.(29) Doubtless, Horace would have lashed the vice of gambling +had it not been the 'habitual sin' of his courtly patrons. + + +(29) Lib. II. Sat. vii. v. 15. + + +It seems that Augustus not only gambled to excess, but that he gloried +in the character of a gamester. Of himself he says, 'Between meals we +played like old crones both yesterday and today.'(30) + + +(30) Inter coenam lusimus (gr gerontikws) et heri et hodie. + + +When he had no regular players near him, he would play with children at +dice, at nuts, or bones. It has been suggested that this emperor gave +in to the indulgence of gambling in order to stifle his remorse. If +his object in encouraging this vice was to make people forget his +proscriptions and to create a diversion in his favour, the artifice may +be considered equal to any of the political ruses of this astute ruler, +whose false virtues were for a long time vaunted only through ignorance, +or in order to flatter his imitators. + +The passion of gambling was transmitted, with the empire, to the family +of the Caesars. At the gaming table Caligula stooped even to falsehood +and perjury. It was whilst gambling that he conceived his most +diabolical projects; when the game was against him he would quit the +table abruptly, and then, monster as he was, satiated with rapine, would +roam about his palace venting his displeasure. + +One day, in such a humour, he caught a glimpse of two Roman knights; he +had them arrested and confiscated their property. Then returning to the +gaming table, he exultingly exclaimed that he had never made a better +throw!(31) On another occasion, after having condemned to death several +Gauls of great opulence, he immediately went back to his gambling +companions and said:--'I pity you when I see you lose a few sestertii, +whilst, with a stroke of the pen, I have just won six hundred +millions.'(32) + + +(31) Exultans rediit, gloriansque se nunquam prosperiore alea usum. +Suet. in _Vita Calig_. + +(32) Thirty millions of pounds sterling. The sestertius was worth 1_s_. +3 3/4_d_. + + +The Emperor Claudius played like an imbecile, and Nero like a madman. +The former would send for the persons whom he had executed the day +before, to play with him; and the latter, lavishing the treasures of the +public exchequer, would stake four hundred thousand sestertii (L20,000) +on a single throw of the dice. + +Claudius played at dice on his journeys, having the interior of his +carriage so arranged as to prevent the motion from interfering with the +game. + +From that period the title of courtier and gambler became synonymous. +Gaming was the means of securing preferment; it was by gambling +that Vitellius opened to himself so grand a career; gaming made him +indispensable to Claudius.(33) + + +(33) Claudio per aleae studium familiaris. Suet.in Vita Vitelli. + + +Seneca, in his Play on the death of Claudius, represents him as in the +lower regions condemned to pick up dice for ever, putting them into a +box without a bottom!(34) + + +(34) Nam quotiens missurus erat resonante fritillo, Utraque subducto +fugiebat tessera fundo. _Lusus de Morte Claud. Caesar_. + + +Caligula was reproached for having played at dice on the day of his +sister's funeral; and Domitian was blamed for gaming from morning to +night, and without excepting the festivals of the Roman calendar; but +it seems ridiculous to note such improprieties in comparison with their +habitual and atrocious crimes. + +The terrible and inexorable satirist Juvenal was the contemporary of +Domitian and ten other emperors; and the following is his description of +the vice in the gaming days of Rome: + +'When was the madness of games of chance more furious? Now-a-days, +not content with carrying his purse to the gaming table, the gamester +conveys his iron chest to the play-room. It is there that, as soon as +the gaming instruments are distributed, you witness the most terrible +contests. Is it not mere madness to lose one hundred thousand sestertii +and refuse a garment to a slave perishing with cold?'(35) + + +(35) Sat. I. 87. + + +It seems that the Romans played for ready money, and had not invented +that multitude of signs by the aid of which, without being retarded +by the weight of gold and silver, modern gamblers can ruin themselves +secretly and without display. + +The rage for gambling spread over the Roman provinces, and among +barbarous nations who had never been so much addicted to the vice as +after they had the misfortune to mingle with the Romans. + +The evil continued to increase, stimulated by imperial example. The day +on which Didius Julianus was proclaimed Emperor, he walked over the +dead and bloody body of Pertinax, and began to play at dice in the next +room.(36) + + +(36) Dion Cass. _Hist. Rom_. l. lxxiii. + + +At the end of the fourth century, the following state of things at Rome +is described by Gibbon, quoting from Ammianus Marcellinus: + +'Another method of introduction into the houses and society of the +"great," is derived from the profession of gaming; or, as it is more +politely styled, of play. The confederates are united by a strict and +indissoluble bond of friendship, or rather of conspiracy; a superior +degree of skill in the "tessarian" art, is a sure road to wealth +and reputation. A master of that sublime science who, in a supper or +assembly, is placed below a magistrate, displays in his countenance the +surprise and indignation which Cato might be supposed to feel when he +was refused the praetorship by the votes of a capricious people.'(37) + + +(37) Amm. Marcellin. lib. XIV. c. vi. + + +Finally, at the epoch when Constantine abandoned Rome never to return, +every inhabitant of that city, down to the populace, was addicted to +gambling. + + + +CHAPTER V. GAMBLING IN FRANCE IN ALL TIMES. + +CHARLES VI. and CHARLES VII.--The early French annals record the deeds +of haughty and idle lords, whose chief occupations were tormenting their +vassals, drinking, fighting, and gaming; for most of them were desperate +gamblers, setting at defiance all the laws enacted against the practice, +and outraging all the decencies of society. The brother of Saint Louis +played at dice in spite of the repeated prohibitions of that virtuous +prince. Even the great Duguesclin gamed away all his property in +prison.(38) The Duc de Touraine, brother of Charles VI., 'set to work +eagerly to win the king's money,' says Froissart; and transported +with joy one day at having won five thousand livres, his first cry +was--_Monseigneur, faites-moi payer_, 'Please to pay, Sire.' + + +(38) Hist. de Dugueselin, par Menard. + + +Gaming went on in the camp, and even in the presence of the enemy. +Generals, after having ruined their own fortunes, compromised the safety +of the country. Among the rest, Philibert de Chalon, Prince d'Orange, +who was in command at the siege of Florence, under the Emperor Charles +the Fifth, gambled away the money which had been confided to him for +the pay of the soldiers, and was compelled, after a struggle of +eleven months, to capitulate with those whom he might have forced to +surrender.(39) + + +(39) Paul. Jov. _Hist_. lib. xxix. + + +In the reign of Charles VI. we read of an Hotel de Nesle which +was famous for terrible gaming catastrophes. More than one of its +frequenters lost their lives there, and some their honour, dearer than +life. This hotel was not accessible to everybody, like more modern +gaming _salons_, called _Gesvres_ and _Soissons;_ its gate was open only +to the nobility, or the most opulent gentlemen of the day. + +There exists an old poem which describes the doings at this celebrated +Hotel de Nesle.(40) The author, after describing the convulsions of the +players and recording their blasphemies, says:-- + + +(40) The title of this curious old poem is as follows:--'C'est le dit du +Gieu des Dez fait par Eustace, et la maniere et contenance des Joueurs +qui etoient a Neele, ou etoient Messeigneurs de Berry, de Bourgogne, et +plusieurs autres.' + +Que maints Gentils-hommes tres haulx Y ont perdu armes et chevaux, +Argent, honour, et Seignourie, Dont c'etoit horrible folie. + + +'How many very eminent gentlemen have there lost their arms and horses, +their money and lordship--a horrible folly.' + +In another part of the poem he says:-- + +Li jeune enfant deviennent Rufien, Joueurs de Dez, gourmands et plains +d'yvresse, Hautains de cuer, et ne leur chant en rien D'onneur, &c. + + +'There young men become ruffians, dice-players, gluttons, and drunkards, +haughty of heart, and bereft of honour.' + +Still it seems that gaming had not then confounded all conditions, as +at a later period. It is evident, from the history and memoirs of the +times, that the people were more given to games of skill and exercise +than games of chance. Before the introduction of the arquebus and +gunpowder, they applied themselves to the practice of archery, and in +all times they played at quoits, ninepins, bowls, and other similar +games of skill.(41) + + +(41) Sauval, _Antiquites de Paris_, ii. + + +The invention of cards brought about some change in the mode of +amusement. The various games of this kind, however, cost more time than +money; but still the thing attracted the attention of the magistrates +and the clergy. An Augustinian friar, in the reign of Charles VII., +effected a wonderful reformation in the matter by his preaching. At his +voice the people lit fires in several quarters of the city, and eagerly +flung into them their cards and billiard-balls.(42) + + +(42) Pasquier, _Recherche des Recherches_. + + +With the exception of a few transient follies, nothing like a rage for +gambling can be detected at that period among the lower ranks and +the middle classes. The vice, however, continued to prevail without +abatement in the palaces of kings and the mansions of the great. + +It is impossible not to remark, in the history of nations, that delicacy +and good faith decline in proportion to the spread of gambling. However +select may be the society of gamesters, it is seldom that it is exempt +from all baseness. We have seen a proof of the practice of cheating +among the Hindoos. It existed also among the Romans, as proved by the +'cogged' or loaded dice dug up at Herculaneum. The fact is that cheating +is a natural, if not a necessary, incident of gambling. It may be +inferred from a passage in the old French poet before quoted, +that cheats, during the reign of Charles VI., were punished with +'bonnetting,'(43) but no instance of the kind is on record; on the +contrary, it is certain that many of the French kings patronized and +applauded well-known cheats at the gaming table. + + +(43) Se votre ami qui bien vous sert En jouant vous changeoit les Dez, +Auroit-il pas _Chapeau de vert_. + + +LOUIS XI.--Brantome says that Louis XI., who seems not to have had a +special secretary, being one day desirous of getting something written, +perceived an ecclesiastic who had an inkstand hanging at his side; and +the latter having opened it at the king's request, a set of dice fell +out. 'What kind of _SUGAR-PLUMS_ are these?' asked his Majesty. 'Sire,' +replied the priest, 'they are a remedy for the Plague.' 'Well said,' +exclaimed the king, 'you are a fine _Paillard_ (a word he often used); +'_YOU ARE THE MAN FOR ME_,' and took him into his service; for this king +was fond of bon-mots and sharp wits, and did not even object to thieves, +provided they were original and provocative of humour, as the following +very funny anecdote will show. 'A certain French baron who had lost +everything at play, even to his clothes, happening to be in the king's +chamber, quietly laid hands on a small clock, ornamented with massive +gold, and concealed it in his sleeve. Very soon after, whilst he was +among the troop of lords and gentlemen, the clock began to strike +the hour. We can well imagine the consternation of the baron at this +contretemps. Of course he blushed red-hot, and tightened his arm to try +and stifle the implacable sound of detection manifest--the _flagrans +delictum_--still the clock went on striking the long hour, so that at +each stroke the bystanders looked at each other from head to foot in +utter bewilderment. + +'The king, who, as it chanced, had detected the theft, burst out +laughing, not only at the astonishment of the gentlemen present, who +were at a loss to account for the sound, but also at the originality +of the stunning event. At length Monsieur le Baron, by his own blushes +half-convicted of larceny, fell on his knees before the king, humbly +saying:--"Sire, the pricks of gaming are so powerful that they have +driven me to commit a dishonest action, for which I beg your mercy." +And as he was going on in this strain, the king cut short his words, +exclaiming:--"The _PASTIME_ which you have contrived for us so far +surpasses the injury you have done me that the clock is yours: I give it +you with all my heart."'(44) + + +(44) Duverdier, _Diverses Lecons_. + + +HENRY III.--In the latter part of the sixteenth century Paris was +inundated with brigands of every description. A band of Italian +gamesters, having been informed by their correspondents that Henry III. +had established card-rooms and dice-rooms in the Louvre, got admission +at court, and won thirty thousand crowns from the king.(45) + + +(45) Journal de Henri III. + + +If all the kings of France had imitated the disinterestedness of Henry +III., the vice of gaming would not have made such progress as became +everywhere evident. + +Brantome gives a very high idea of this king's generosity, whilst he +lashes his contemporaries. Henry III. played at tennis and was very +fond of the game--not, however, through cupidity or avarice, for he +distributed all his winnings among his companions. When he lost he paid +the wager, nay, he even paid the losses of all engaged in the game. The +bets were not higher than two, three, or four hundred crowns--never, +as subsequently, four thousand, six thousand, or twelve thousand--when, +however, payment was not as readily made, but rather frequently +compounded for.(46) + + +(46) Henry III. was also passionately fond of the childish toy +_Bilboquet_, or 'Cup and Ball,' which he used to play even whilst +walking in the street. Journal de Henri III., i. + + +There was, indeed, at that time a French captain named La Roue, who +played high stakes, up to six thousand crowns, which was then deemed +exorbitant. This intrepid gamester proposed a bet of twenty thousand +crowns against one of Andrew Doria's war-galleys. + +Doria took the bet, but he immediately declared it off, in apprehension +of the ridiculous position in which he would be placed if he lost, +saying,--'I don't wish that this young adventurer, who has nothing worth +naming to lose, should win my galley to go and triumph in France over my +fortune and my honour.' + +Soon, however, high stakes became in vogue, and to such an extent that +the natural son of the Duc de Bellegarde was enabled to pay, out of +his winnings, the large sum of fifty thousand crowns to get himself +legitimated. Curiously enough, it is said that the greater part of this +sum had been won in England.(47) + + +(47) Amelot de la Houss. _Mem. Hist_. iii. + + +HENRY IV.--Henry IV. early evinced his passion for gaming. When very +young and stinted in fortune, he contrived the means of satisfying this +growing propensity. When in want of money he used to send a promissory +note, written and signed by himself, to his friends, requesting them to +return the note or cash it--an expedient which could not but succeed, as +every man was only too glad to have the prince's note of hand.(48) + + +(48) Mem. de Nevers. ii. + + +There can be no doubt that the example of Henry IV. was, in the matter +of gaming, as in other vices, most pernicious. 'Henry IV.,' says +Perefixe, 'was not a skilful player, but greedy of gain, timid in high +stakes, and ill-tempered when he lost.' He adds rather naively, 'This +great king was not without spots any more than the sun.'(49) + + +(49) Hist. de Henri le Grand. + + +Under him gambling became the rage. Many distinguished families were +utterly ruined by it. The Duc de Biron lost in a single year more than +five hundred thousand crowns (about L250,000). 'My son Constant,' says +D'Aubigne, 'lost twenty times more than he was worth; so that, finding +himself without resources, he abjured his religion.' + +It was at the court of Henry IV. that was invented the method of speedy +ruin by means of written vouchers for loss and gain--which simplified +the thing in all subsequent times. It was then also that certain Italian +masters of the gaming art displayed their talents, their suppleness, and +dexterity. One of them, named Pimentello, having, in the presence of the +Duc de Sully, appealed to the honour which he enjoyed in having often +played with Henry IV., the duke exclaimed,--'By heavens! So you are the +Italian blood-sucker who is every day winning the king's money! You have +fallen into the wrong box, for I neither like nor wish to have anything +to do with such fellows.' Pimentello got warm. 'Go about your business,' +said Sully, giving him a shove; 'your infernal gibberish will not alter +my resolve. Go!'(50) + + +(50) Mem. de Sully. + + +The French nation, for a long time agitated by civil war, settled down +at last in peace and abundance--the fruits of which prosperity are +often poisoned. They were so by the gambling propensity of the people at +large, now first manifested. The warrior, the lawyer, the artisan, in a +word, almost all professions and trades, were carried away by the fury +of gaming. Magistrates sold for a price the permission to gamble--in the +face of the enacted laws against the practice. + +We can scarcely form an idea of the extent of the gaming at this period. +Bassompierre declares, in his Memoirs, that he won more than five +hundred thousand livres (L25,000) in the course of a year. 'I won them,' +he says, 'although I was led away by a thousand follies of youth; and my +friend Pimentello won more than two hundred thousand crowns (L100,000). +Evidently this Pimentello might well be called a _blood-sucker_ by +Sully.(51) He is even said to have got all the dice-sellers in Paris +to substitute loaded dice instead of fair ones, in order to aid his +operations. + + +(51) In the original, however, the word is piffre, (vulgo) +'greedy-guts.' + + +Nothing more forcibly shows the danger of consorting with such bad +characters than the calumny circulated respecting the connection between +Henry IV. and this infamous Italian:--it was said that Henry was well +aware of Pimentello's manoeuvres, and that he encouraged them with the +view of impoverishing his courtiers, hoping thereby to render them +more submissive! Nero himself would have blushed at such a connivance. +Doubtless the calumny was as false as it was stupid. + +The winnings of the courtier Bassompierre were enormous. He won at the +Duc d'Epernon's sufficient to pay his debts, to dress magnificently, +to purchase all sorts of extravagant finery, a sword ornamented with +diamonds--'and after all these expenses,' he says, 'I had still five or +six thousand crowns (two to three thousand pounds) left, _TO KILL TIME +WITH_, pour tuer le temps.' + +On another occasion, and at a more advanced age, he won one hundred +thousand crowns (L50,000) at a single sitting, from M. De Guise, +Joinville, and the Marechal d'Ancre. + +In reading his Memoirs we are apt to get indignant at the fellow's +successes; but at last we are tempted to laugh at his misery. He died +so poor that he did not leave enough to pay the twentieth part of his +debts! Such, doubtless, is the end of most gamblers. + +But to return to Henry IV., the great gambling exemplar of the nation. +The account given of him at the gaming table is most afflicting, when we +remember his royal greatness, his sublime qualities. His only object +was to _WIN_, and those who played with him were thus always placed in +a dreadful dilemma--either to lose their money or offend the king by +beating him! The Duke of Savoy once played with him, and in order to +suit his humour, dissimulated his game--thus sacrificing or giving up +forty thousand pistoles (about L28,000). + +When the king lost he was most exacting for his 'revanche,' or revenge, +as it is termed at play. After winning considerably from the king, +on one occasion, Bassompierre, under the pretext of his official +engagements, furtively decamped: the king immediately sent after him; he +was stopped, brought back, and allowed to depart only after giving the +'revanche' to his Majesty. This 'good Henri,' who was incapable of the +least dissimulation either in good or in evil, often betrayed a degree +of cupidity which made his minister, Sully, ashamed of him;--in order +to pay his gaming debts, the king one day deducted seventy-two thousand +livres from the proceeds of a confiscation on which he had no claim +whatever. + +On another occasion he was wonderfully struck with some gold-pieces +which Bassompierre brought to Fontainebleau, called _Portugalloises_. He +could not rest without having them. Play was necessary to win them, +but the king was also anxious to be in time for a hunt. In order to +conciliate the two passions, he ordered a gaming party at the Palace, +left a representative of his game during his absence, and returned +sooner than usual, to try and win the so much coveted _Portugalloises_. + +Even love--if that name can be applied to the grovelling passion of +Henry IV., intensely violent as it was--could not, with its sensuous +enticements, drag the king from the gaming table or stifle his +despicable covetousness. On one occasion, whilst at play, it was +whispered to him that a certain princess whom he loved was likely to +fall into other arms:--'Take care of my money,' said he to Bassompierre, +'and keep up the game whilst I am absent on particular business.' + +During this reign gamesters were in high favour, as may well be +imagined. One of them received an honour never conceded even to princes +and dukes. 'The latter,' says Amelot de la Houssaie, 'did not enter the +court-yard of the royal mansions in a carriage before the year 1607, +and they are indebted for the privilege to the first Duc d'Epernon, the +favourite of the late king, Henry III., who being wont to go every day +to play with the queen, Marie de Medicis, took it into his head to have +his carriage driven into the court-yard of the Louvre, and had himself +carried bodily by his footmen into the very chamber of the queen--under +the pretext of being dreadfully tormented with the gout, so as not to be +able to stand on his legs.'(52) + + +(52) Mem. Hist. iii. + + +It is said, however, that Henry IV. was finally cured of gambling. +_Credat Judaeus!_ But the anecdote is as follows. The king lost an +immense sum at play, and requested Sully to let him have the money to +pay it. The latter demurred, so that the king had to send to him several +times. At last, however, Sully took him the money, and spread it out +before him on the table, exclaiming--'There's the sum.' Henry fixed +his eyes on the vast amount. It is said to have been enough to purchase +Amiens from the Spaniards, who then held it. The king thereupon +exclaimed:--'I am corrected. I will never again lose my money at +gaming.' + +During this reign Paris swarmed with gamesters. Then for the first time +were established _Academies de Jeu_, 'Gaming Academies,' for thus were +termed the gaming houses to which all classes of society beneath +the nobility and gentility, down to the lowest, rushed in crowds and +incessantly. Not a day passed without the ruin of somebody. The son of a +merchant, who possessed twenty thousand crowns, lost sixty thousand. It +seemed, says a contemporary, that a thousand pistoles at that time were +valued less than a _sou_ in the time of Francis I. + +The result of this state of things was incalculable social affliction. +Usury and law-suits completed the ruin of gamblers. + +The profits of the keepers of gaming houses must have been enormous, to +judge from the rents they paid. A house in the Faubourg Saint-Germain +was secured at the rental of about L70 for a fortnight, for the purpose +of gambling during the time of the fair. Small rooms and even closets +were hired at the rate of many pistoles or half-sovereigns per hour; to +get paid, however, generally entailed a fight or a law-suit. + +All this took place in the very teeth of the most stringent laws enacted +against gaming and gamesters. The fact was, that among the magistrates +some closed their eyes, and others held out their hands to receive the +bribe of their connivance. + +LOUIS XIII.--At the commencement of the reign of Louis XIII. the +laws against gaming were revived, and severer penalties were enacted. +Forty-seven gaming houses at Paris, which had been licensed, and from +which several magistrates drew a perquisite of a pistole or half a +sovereign a day, were shut up and suppressed. + +These stringent measures checked the gambling of the 'people,' but not +that of 'the great,' who went on merrily as before. + +Of course they 'kept the thing quiet'--gambled in secret--but more +desperately than ever. The Marechal d'Ancre commonly staked twenty +thousand pistoles (L10,000). + +Louis XIII. was not a gambler, and so, during this reign, the court did +not set so bad an example. The king was averse to all games of chance. +He only liked chess, but perhaps rather too much, to judge from the fact +that, in order to enable him to play chess on his journeys, a chessboard +was fitted in his carriage, the pieces being furnished with pins at +the bottom so as not to be deranged or knocked down by the motion. +The reader will remember that, as already stated, a similar gaming +accommodation was provided for the Roman Emperor Claudius. + +The cup and ball of Henry III. and the chessboard of Louis XIII. are +merely ridiculous. We must excuse well-intentioned monarchs when they +only indulge themselves with frivolous and childish trifles. It is +something to be thankful for if we have not to apply to them the +adage--Quic-quid delirant reges plectuntur Achivi--'When kings go mad +their people get their blows.' + +LOUIS XIV.--The reign of Louis XIV. was a great development in every +point of view, gaming included. + +The revolutions effected in the government and in public morals by +Cardinal Richelieu, who played a game still more serious than those we +are considering, had very considerably checked the latter; but these +resumed their vigour, with interest, under another Cardinal, profoundly +imbued with the Italian spirit--the celebrated Mazarin. This minister, +independently of his particular taste that way, knew how to ally gaming +with his political designs. By means of gaming he contrived to protract +the minority of the king under whom he governed the nation. + +'Mazarin,' says St Pierre, 'introduced gaming at the court of Louis XIV. +in the year 1648. He induced the king and the queen regent to play; and +preference was given to games of chance. The year 1648 was the era of +card-playing at court. Cardinal Mazarin played deep and with finesse, +and easily drew in the king and queen to countenance this new +entertainment, so that every one who had any expectation at court +learned to play at cards. Soon after the humour changed, and games of +chance came into vogue--to the ruin of many considerable families: this +was likewise very destructive to health, for besides the various +violent passions it excited, whole nights were spent at this execrable +amusement. The worst of all was that card-playing, which the court had +taken from the army, soon spread from the court into the city, and from +the city pervaded the country towns. + +'Before this there was something done for improving conversation; every +one was ambitious of qualifying himself for it by reading ancient and +modern books; memory and reflection were much more exercised. But on the +introduction of gaming men likewise left of tennis, billiards, and other +games of skill, and consequently became weaker and more sickly, more +ignorant, less polished, and more dissipated. + +'The women, who till then had commanded respect, accustomed men to treat +them familiarly, by spending the whole night with them at play. They +were often under the necessity of borrowing either to play, or to pay +their losings; and how very ductile and complying they were to those of +whom they had to borrow was well known.' + +From that time gamesters swarmed all over France; they multiplied +rapidly in every profession, even among the magistracy. The Cardinal de +Retz tells us, in his Memoirs, that in 1650 the oldest magistrate in +the parliament of Bordeaus, and one who passed for the wisest, was not +ashamed to stake all his property one night at play, and that too, +he adds, without risking his reputation--so general was the fury +of gambling. It became very soon mixed up with the most momentous +circumstances of life and affairs of the gravest importance. The +States-general, or parliamentary assemblies, consisted altogether +of gamblers. 'It is a game,' says Madame de Sevigne, 'it is an +entertainment, a liberty-hall day and night, attracting all the world. +I never before beheld the States-general of Bretagne. The States-general +are decidedly a very fine thing.' + +The same delightful correspondent relates that one of her amusements +when she went to the court was to admire Dangeau at the card-table; +and the following is the account of a gaming party at which she was +present:-- + +'29th July, 1676. + +'I went on Saturday with Villars to Versailles. I need not tell you +of the queen's toilette, the mass, the dinner--you know it all; but at +three o'clock the king rose from table, and he, the queen, Monsieur, +Madame, Mademoiselle, all the princes and princesses, Madame de +Montespan, all her suite, all the courtiers, all the ladies, in short, +what we call the court of France, were assembled in that beautiful +apartment which you know. It is divinely furnished, everything is +magnificent; one does not know what it is to be too hot; we walk about +here and there, and are not incommoded anywhere:--at last a table of +reversi(53) gives a form to the crowd, and a place to every one. _THE +KING IS NEXT TO MADAME DE MONTESPAN_, who deals; the Duke of Orleans, +the queen, and Madame de Soubise; Dangeau and Co.; Langee and Co.; a +thousand louis are poured out on the cloth--there are no other counters. +I saw Dangeau play!--what fools we all are compared to him--he minds +nothing but his business, and wins when every one else loses: he +neglects nothing, takes advantage of everything, is never absent; in a +word, his skill defies fortune, and accordingly 200,000 francs in ten +days, 100,000 crowns in a fortnight, all go to his receipt book. + + +(53) A kind of game long since out of fashion, and now almost forgotten; +it seems to have been a compound of Loo and Commerce--the _Quinola_ or +_Pam_ was the knave of hearts. + +'He was so good as to say I was a partner in his play, by which I got a +very convenient and agreeable place. I saluted the king in the way you +taught me, which he returned as if I had been young and handsome--I +received a thousand compliments--you know what it is to have a word from +everybody! This agreeable confusion without confusion lasts from three +o'clock till six. If a courtier arrives, the king retires for a moment +to read his letters, and returns immediately. There is always some music +going on, which has a very good effect; the king listens to the music +and chats to the ladies about him. At last, at six o'clock, they stop +playing--they have no trouble in settling their reckonings--there are no +counters--the lowest pools are five, six, seven hundred louis, the great +ones a thousand, or twelve hundred; they put in five each at first, that +makes one hundred, and the dealer puts in ten more--then they give four +louis each to whoever has Quinola--some pass, others play, but when you +play without winning the pool, you must put in sixteen to teach you how +to play rashly: they talk all together, and for ever, and of everything. +"How many hearts?" "Two!" "I have three!" "I have one!" "I have four!" +"He has only three!" and Dangeau, delighted with all this prattle, turns +up the trump, makes his calculations, sees whom he has against him, in +short--in short, I was glad to see such an excess of skill. He it is who +really knows "le dessous des cartes." + +'At ten o'clock they get into their carriages: _THE KING, MADAME DE +MONTESPAN_, the Duke of Orleans, and Madame de Thianges, and the good +Hendicourt on the dickey, that is as if one were in the upper gallery. +You know how these calashes are made. + +'The queen was in another with the princesses; and then everybody else, +grouped as they liked. Then they go on the water in gondolas, with +music; they return at ten; the play is ready, it is over; twelve +strikes, supper is brought in, and so passes Saturday.' + +This lively picture of such frightful gambling, of the adulterous +triumph of Madame de Montespan, and of the humiliating part to which the +queen was condemned, will induce our readers to concur with Madame de +Sevigne, who, amused as she had been by the scene she has described, +calls it nevertheless, with her usual pure taste and good judgment, +_l'iniqua corte_, 'the iniquitous court.' + +Indeed, Madame de Sevigne had ample reason to denounce this source of +her domestic misery. Writing to her son and daughter, she says:--'You +lose all you play for. You have paid five or six thousand francs for +your amusement, and to be abused by fortune.' + +If she had at first been fascinated by the spectacle which she so +glowingly describes, the interest of her children soon opened her eyes +to the yawning gulf at the brink of the flowery surface. + +Sometimes she explains herself plainly:--'You believe that everybody +plays as honestly as yourself? Call to mind what took place lately at +the Hotel de la Vieuville. Do you remember that _ROBBERY?_' + +The favour of that court, so much coveted, seemed to her to be purchased +at too high a price if it was to be gained by ruinous complaisances. She +trembled every time her son left her to go to Versailles. She says:--'He +tells me he is going to play with his young master;(54) I shudder at the +thought. Four hundred pistoles are very easily lost: _ce n'est rien pour +Admete et c'est beaucoup pour lui_.(55) If Dangeau is in the game he +will win all the pools: he is an eagle. Then will come to pass, my +daughter, all that God may vouchsafe--_il en arivera, ma fille, tout ce +qu'il plaira a Dieu_.' + + +(54) The Dauphin. + +(55) 'It is nothing for Admetus, but 'tis much for him.' + + +And again, 'The game of _Hoca_ is prohibited at Paris _UNDER THE PENALTY +OF DEATH_, and yet it is played at court. Five thousand pistoles before +dinner is nothing. That game is a regular cut-throat.' + +Hoca was prodigiously unfavourable to the players; the latter had only +twenty-eight chances against thirty. In the seventeenth century this +game caused such disorder at Rome that the Pope prohibited it and +expelled the bankers. + +The Italians whom Mazarin brought into France obtained from the king +permission to set up _Hoca_ tables in Paris. The parliament launched two +edicts against them, and threatened to punish them severely. The king's +edicts were equally severe. Every of offender was to be fined 1000 +livres, and the person in whose house Faro, Basset, or any such game +was suffered, incurred the penalty of 6000 livres for each offence. +The persons who played were to be imprisoned. Gaming was forbidden the +French cavalry under the penalty of death, and every commanding officer +who should presume to set up a Hazard table was to be cashiered, and all +concerned to be rigorously imprisoned. These penalties might show great +horror of gaming, but they were too severe to be steadily inflicted, and +therefore failed to repress the crime against which they were directed. +The severer the law the less the likelihood of its application, and +consequently its power of repression. + +Madame de Sevigne had beheld the gamesters only in the presence of their +master the king, or in the circles which were regulated with inviolable +propriety; but what would she have said if she could have seen the +gamblers at the secret suppers and in the country-houses of the +Superintendent Fouquet, where twenty 'qualified' players, such as the +Marshals de Richelieu, de Clairembaut, &c., assembled together, with +a dash of bad company, to play for lands, houses, jewels, even for +point-lace and neckties? There she would have seen something more +than gold staked, since the players debased themselves so low as to +circumvent certain opulent dupes, who were the first invited. To leave +one hundred pistoles, ostensibly for 'the cards,' but really as the +perquisite of the master of the lordly house; to recoup him when he +lost; and, when they had to deal with some unimportant but wealthy +individual, to undo him completely, compelling him to sign his ruin on +the gaming table--such was the conduct which rendered a man _recherche_, +and secured the title of a fine player! + +It was precisely thus that the famous (or infamous) Gourville, +successively valet-de-chambre to the Duc de la Rochefoucault, hanged +in effigy at Paris, king's envoy in Germany, and afterwards proposed to +replace Colbert--it was thus precisely, I say, that Gourville secured +favour, 'consideration,' fortune; for he declares, in his Memoirs, that +his gains in a few years amounted to more than a million. And fortune +seems to have cherished and blessed him throughout his detestable +career. After having made his fortune, he retired to write the +scandalous Memoirs from which I have been quoting, and died out of +debt!(56) + + +(56) Mem. de Gourville, i. + + +France became too narrow a theatre for the chevaliers d'industrie and +all who were a prey to the fury of gambling. The Count de Grammont, a +very suspicious player, turned his talents to account in England, Italy, +and Spain. + +This same Count de Grammont figured well at court on one occasion when +Louis XIV. seemed inclined to cheat or otherwise play unfairly. Playing +at backgammon, and having a doubtful throw, a dispute arose, and the +surrounding courtiers remained silent. The Count de Grammont +happening to come in, the king desired him to decide it. He instantly +answered--'Sire, your Majesty is in the wrong.' 'How,' said the king, +'can you decide before you know the question?' 'Because,' replied the +count, 'had there been any doubt, all these gentlemen would have given +it in favour of your Majesty.' The plain inference is that this (at +the time) great world's idol and Voltaire's god, was 'up to a little +cheating.' It was, however, as much to the king's credit that he +submitted to the decision, as it was to that of the courtier who gave +him such a lesson. + +The magnanimity of Louis XIV. was still more strikingly shown on another +gambling occasion. Very high play was going on at the cardinal's, and +the Chevalier de Rohan lost a vast sum to the king. The agreement was to +pay only in _louis d'ors;_ and the chevalier, after counting out seven +or eight hundred, proposed to continue the payment in Spanish pistoles. +'You promised me _louis d'ors_, and not pistoles,' said the king. 'Since +your Majesty refuses them,' replied the chevalier, 'I don't want them +either;' and thereupon he flung them out of the window. The king got +angry, and complained to Mazarin, who replied:--'The Chevalier de +Rohan has played the king, and you the Chevalier de Rohan.' The king +acquiesced.(57) + + +(57) Mem. et Reflex., &e., par M. L. M. L. F. (the Marquis de la Fare). + + +As before stated, the court of the Roman Emperor Augustus, in spite +of the many laws enacted against gambling, diffused the frenzy through +Rome; in like manner the court of Louis XIV., almost in the same +circumstances, infected Paris and the entire kingdom with the vice. + +There is this difference between the French monarch and the Roman +emperor, that the latter did not teach his successors to play against +the people, whereas Louis, after having denounced gaming, and become +almost disgusted with it, finished with established lotteries. High play +was always the etiquette at court, but the sittings became less frequent +and were abridged. 'The king,' says Madame de Sevigne, 'has not given +over playing, but the sittings are not so long.' + +LOUIS XV.--At the death of Louis XIV. three-fourths of the nation +thought of nothing but gambling. Gambling, indeed, became itself +an object of speculation, in consequence of the establishment and +development of lotteries--the first having been designed to celebrate +the restoration of peace and the marriage of Louis XIV. + +The nation seemed all mad with the excitement of play. During the +minority of Louis XV. a foreign gamester, the celebrated Scotchman, John +Law, having become Controller-General of France, undertook to restore +the finances of the nation by making every man a player or gamester. +He propounded a _SYSTEM;_ he established a bank, which nearly upset the +state; and seduced even those who had escaped the epidemic of games of +chance. He was finally expelled like a foul fog; but they ought to have +hanged him as a deliberate corrupter. And yet this is the man of whom +Voltaire wrote as follows: 'We are far from evincing the gratitude which +is due to John Law.(58) Voltaire's praise was always as suspicious as +his blame. Just let us consider the tendency of John Law's 'system.' +However general may be the fury of gambling, _EVERYBODY_ does not +gamble; certain professions impose a certain restraint, and their +members would blush to resort to games the turpitude of which would +subject them to unanimous condemnation. But only change the _NAMES_ of +these games--only change their _FORM_, and let the bait be presented +under the sanction of the legislature: then, although the _THING_ be not +less vicious, nor less repugnant to true principle, then we witness the +gambling ardour of savages, such as we have described it, manifesting +itself with more risk, and communicated to the entire nation--the +ministers of the altar, the magistracy, the members of every profession, +fathers, mothers of families, without distinction of rank, means, or +duties.... Let this short generalization be well pondered, and the +conclusion must be reached that this Scotch adventurer, John Law, was +guilty of the crime of treason against humanity. + + +(57) Nous sommes loin de la reconnoissance qui est due a Jean Law. Mel. +de Litt., d'Hist., &c. ii. + + +John Law, whom the French called _Jean Lass_, opened a gulf into which +half the nation eagerly poured its money. Fortunes were made in a few +days--in a few _HOURS_. Many were enriched by merely lending their +signatures. A sudden and horrible revolution amazed the entire +people--like the bursting of a bomb-shell or an incendiary explosion. +Six hundred thousand of the best families, who had taken _PAPER_ on +the faith of the government, lost, together with their fortunes, their +offices and appointments, and were almost annihilated. Some of +the stock-jobbers escaped; others were compelled to disgorge their +gains--although they stoutly and, it must be admitted, consistently +appealed to the sanction of the court. + +Oddly enough, whilst the government made all France play at this John +Law game--the most seductive and voracious that ever existed--some +thirty or forty persons were imprisoned for having broken the laws +enacted against games of chance! + +It may be somewhat consolatory to know that the author of so much +calamity did not long enjoy his share of the infernal success--the +partition of a people's ruin. After extorting so many millions, this +famous gambler was reduced to the necessity of selling his last diamond +in order to raise money to gamble on. + +This great catastrophe, the commotion of which was felt even in Holland +and in England, was the last sigh of true honour among the French. +Probity received a blow. Public morality was abashed. More gaming houses +than ever were opened, and then it was that they received the name of +_Enfers_, or 'Hells,' by which they were designated in England. 'The +greater number of those who go to the watering-places,' writes a +contemporary, 'under the pretext of health, only go after gamesters. +In the States-general it is less the interest of the people than the +attraction of terrible gambling, that brings together a portion of the +nobility. The nature of the play may be inferred from the name of the +place at which it takes place in one of the provinces--namely, _Enfer_. +This salon, so appropriately called, was in the Hotel of the king's +commissioners in Bretagne. I have been told that a gentleman, to the +great disgust of the noblemen present, and even of the bankers, actually +offered to stake his sword. + +'This name of _Enfers_ has been given to several gaming houses, some +them situated in the interior of Paris, others in the environs. + +'People no longer blush, as did Caligula, at gambling on their return +from the funeral of their relatives or friends. A gamester, returning +from the burial of his brother, where he had exhibited the signs of +profound grief, played and won a considerable sum of money. "How do you +feel now?" he was asked. "A little better," he replied, "this consoles +me." + +'All is excitement whilst I write. Without mentioning the base deeds +that have been committed, I have counted four suicides and a great +crime. + +'Besides the licensed gaming houses, new ones are furtively established +in the privileged mansions of the ambassadors and representatives of +foreign courts. Certain chevaliers d'industrie recently proposed to a +gentleman of quality, who had just been appointed plenipotentiary, to +hire an hotel for him, and to pay the expenses, on condition that +he would give up to them an apartment and permit them to have valets +wearing his livery! This base proposal was rejected with contempt, +because the Baron de ---- is one of the most honourable and enlightened +men of the age. + +'The most difficult bargains are often amicably settled by a game. I +have seen persons gaming whilst taking a walk and whilst travelling in +their carriages. People game at the doors of the theatres; of course +they gamble for the price of the ticket. In every possible manner, and +in every situation, the true gamester strives to turn every instant to +profit. + +'If I relate what I have seen in the matter of play during sleep, it +will be difficult to understand me. A gamester, exhausted by fatigue, +could not give up playing because he was a loser; so he requested his +adversary to play for him with his left hand, whilst he dozed off and +slept! Strange to say, the left hand of his adversary incessantly won, +whilst he snored to the sound of the dice! + +'I have just read in a newspaper,(59) that two Englishmen, who left +their country to fight a duel in a foreign land, nevertheless played at +the highest stakes on the voyage; and having arrived on the field, one +of them laid a wager that he would kill his adversary. It is stated that +the spectators of the affair looked upon it as a gaming transaction. + + +(59) Journal de Politique, Dec. 15, 1776. + + +'In speaking of this affair I was told of a German, who, being compelled +to fight a duel on account of a quarrel at the gaming table, allowed his +adversary to fire at him. He was missed. + +He said to his opponent, "I never miss. I bet you a hundred ducats that +I break your right or left arm, just as you please." The bet was taken, +and he won. + +'I have found cards and dice in many places where people were in want +of bread. I have seen the merchant and the artisan staking gold by +handfuls. A small farmer has just gamed away his harvest, valued at 3000 +francs.'(60) + + +(60) Dusaulx, _De la Passion du Jeu_, 1779. + + +Gaming houses in Paris were first licensed in 1775, by the lieutenant +of police, Sartines, who, to diminish the odium of such establishments, +decreed that the profit resulting from them should be applied to the +foundation of hospitals. Their number soon amounted to twelve; and +women were allowed to resort to them two days in the week. Besides +the licensed establishments, several illegal ones were tolerated, and +especially styled _enfers_, or 'hells.' + +Gaming having been found prolific in misfortunes and crimes, was +prohibited in 1778; but it was still practised at the court and in the +hotels of ambassadors, where police-officers could not enter. By degrees +the public establishments resumed their wonted activity, and extended +their pernicious effects. The numerous suicides and bankruptcies which +they occasioned attracted the attention of the _Parlement_, who drew up +regulations for their observance, and threatened those who violated them +with the pillory and whipping. The licensed houses, as well as those +recognized, however, still continued their former practices, and +breaches of the regulations were merely visited with trivial punishment. + +At length, the passion for play prevailing in the societies established +in the Palais Royal, under the title of _clubs_ or _salons_, a police +ordinance was issued in 1785, prohibiting them from gaming. In +1786, fresh disorder having arisen in the unlicensed establishments, +additional prohibiting measures were enforced. During the Revolution +the gaming-houses were frequently prosecuted, and licenses withheld; but +notwithstanding the rigour of the laws and the vigilance of the police, +they still contrived to exist. + +LOUIS XVI. TILL THE PRESENT TIME.--In the general corruption of morals, +which rose to its height during the reign of Louis XVI., gambling kept +pace with, if it did not outstrip, every other licentiousness of +that dismal epoch.(61) Indeed, the universal excitement of the nation +naturally tended to develope every desperate passion of our nature; and +that the revolutionary troubles and agitation of the empire helped to +increase the gambling propensity of the French, is evident from the +magnitude of the results on record. + + +(61) It will be seen in the sequel that gambling was vastly increased +in England by the French 'emigres' who sought refuge among us, bringing +with them all their vices, unchastened by misfortune. + + +Fouche, the minister of police, derived an income of L128,000 a year for +licensing or 'privileging' gaming houses, to which cards of address were +regularly furnished. + +Besides what the 'farmers' of the gaming houses paid to Fouche, they +were compelled to hire and pay 120,000 persons, employed in those houses +as _croupiers_ or attendants at the gaming table, from half-a-crown +to half-a-guinea a day; and all these 120,000 persons were _SPIES OF +FOUCHE!_ A very clever idea no doubt it was, thus to draw a revenue +from the proceeds of a vice, and use the institution for the purposes of +government; but, perhaps, as Rousseau remarks, 'it is a great error in +domestic as well as civil economy to wish to combat one vice by another, +or to form between them a sort of equilibrium, as if that which saps the +foundations of order can ever serve to establish it.'(62) A minister of +the Emperor Theodosius II., in the year 431, the virtuous Florentius, in +order to teach his master that it was wrong to make the vices contribute +to the State, because such a procedure authorizes them, gave to the +public treasury one of his lands the revenue of which equalled the +product of the annual tax levied on prostitution.(63) + + +(62) Nouv. Heloise, t. iv. + +(63) Novel. Theodos. 18. + + +After the restoration of the Bourbons, it became quite evident that play +in the Empire had been quite as Napoleonic in its vigour and dimensions +as any other 'idea' of the epoch. + +The following detail of the public gaming tables of Paris was published +in a number of the _Bibliotheque Historique_, 1818, under the title of +'Budget of Public Games.' + + +STATE OF THE ANNUAL EXPENSES OF THE GAMES OF PARIS. + + + These 20 Tables are divided into nine houses, four of which are + situated in the Palais Royal. + + + To serve the seven tables of _Trente-et-un_, there are:--francs + 28 Dealers, at 550 fr. a month, making . . . . 15,400 + 28 Croupiers, at 380. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,640 + 42 Assistants, at 200. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,400 + + SERVICE FOR THE NINE ROULETTES AND ONE PASSE-DIX. + + 80 Dealers, at 275 fr. a month . . . . . . . . 22,000 + 60 Assistants, at 150. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,000 + + SERVICE OF THE CRAPS, BIRIBI, AND HAZARD, + 12 Dealers, at 300 fr. a month. . . . . . . . . 3,600 + 12 Inspectors, at 120 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,440 + 10 Aids, at 100. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,000 + 6 Chefs de Partie at the principal houses, at + 700 fr. a month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,200 + + 3 Chefs de Partie for the Roulettes, at + 500 fr. a month. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,500 + 20 Secret Inspectors, at 200 fr. a month. . . . . .4,000 + 1 Inspector-General, at . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,000 + 130 Waiters, at 75 fr. a month. . . . . . . . . . .9,750 + Cards a month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,500 + Beer and refreshments, a month. . . . . . . . . . .3,000 + Lights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5,500 + Refreshment for the grand saloon, including two + dinners every week, per month . . . . . . . . . 12,000 + Total expense of each month . . . .113,930 + --------- + Multiplied by twelve, is. . . . . . . . . . . .1,367,160 + Rent of 10 Houses, per annum. . . . . . . . . . .130,000 + Expense of Offices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,000 + --------- + Total per annum. . . . . . . . . 1,547,160 + If the `privilege' or license is . . . . . . . 6,000,000 + If a bonus of a million is given for six years, the + sixth part, or one year, will be . . . . . . . 166,666 + + --------- + Total expenditure . . . . . . . .7,713,826 + The profits are estimated at, per month,. . . . .800,000 + --------- + Which yield, per annum, . . . . . . . . . . . .9,600,000 + Deducting the expenditure . . . . . . . . . . .7,713,826 + --------- + The annual profits are. . . . . . . . . . . fr.1,886,174 + --------- + Thus giving the annual profit at L7860 sterling. + + We omit the profits resulting from the watering-places, + amounting to fr. 200,000. + + +One of the new conditions imposed on the Paris gaming houses is the +exclusion of females. + +Thus, at Paris, the Palais Royal, Frascati, and numerous other places, +presented gaming houses, whither millions of wretches crowded in search +of fortune, but, for the most part, to find only ruin or even death +by suicide or duelling, so often resulting from quarrels at the gaming +table. + +This state of things was, however, altered in the year 1836, at the +proposition of M. B. Delessert, and all the gaming houses were ordered +to be closed from the 1st of January, 1838, so that the present gambling +in France is on the same footing as gambling in England,--utterly +prohibited, but carried on in secret. + + + +CHAPTER VI. THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF MODERN GAMING IN ENGLAND. + +It seems that the rise of modern gaming in England may be dated from the +year 1777 or 1778. + +Before this time gaming appears never to have assumed an alarming +aspect. The methodical system of partnership, enabling men to embark +large capital in gambling establishments, was unknown; though from that +period this system became the special characteristic of the pursuit +among all classes of the community. + +The development of the evil was a subject of great concern to thoughtful +men, and one of these, in the year 1784, put forth a pamphlet, +which seems to give 'the very age and body of the time, his form and +pressure.'(64) + + +(64) The pamphlet (in the Library of the British Museum) is +entitled:--'Hints for a Reform, particularly of the Gaming Clubs. By a +Member of Parliament. 1784.' + +'About thirty years ago,' says this writer, 'there was but one club in +the metropolis. It was regulated and respectable. There were few of the +members who betted high. Such stakes at present would be reckoned very +low indeed. There were then assemblies once a week in most of the great +houses. An agreeable society met at seven o'clock; they played for +crowns or half-crowns; and reached their own houses about eleven. + +'There was but one lady who gamed deeply, and she was viewed in the +light of a phenomenon. Were she now to be asked her real opinion of +those friends who were her former _PLAY_-fellows, there can be no doubt +but that they rank very low in her esteem. + +'In the present era of vice and dissipation, how many females attend the +card-tables! What is the consequence? The effects are too clearly to +be traced to the frequent _DIVORCES_ which have lately disgraced our +country, and they are too visible in the shameful conduct of many ladies +of fashion, since gambling became their chief amusement. + +'There is now no society. The routs begin at midnight. They are +painful and troublesome to the lady who receives company, and they +are absolutely a nuisance to those who are honoured with a card of +invitation. It is in vain to attempt conversation. The social pleasures +are entirely banished, and those who have any relish for them, or +who are fond of early hours, are necessarily excluded. Such are the +companies of modern times, and modern people of fashion. Those who are +not invited fly to the _Gaming Clubs_-- + +"To kill their idle hours and cure _ennui!_" + +'To give an account of the present encumbered situation of many +families, whose property was once large and ample, would fill a volume. +Whence spring the difficulties which every succeeding day increases? +From the _GAMBLING CLUBS_. Why are they continually hunted by their +creditors? The reply is--the _GAMBLING CLUBS_. Why are they obliged +continually to rack their invention in order to save appearances? The +answer still is--the _GAMBLING CLUBS!_ + +'The father frequently ruins his children; and sons, and even grandsons, +long before the succession opens to them, are involved so deeply that +during their future lives their circumstances are rendered narrow; and +they have rank or family honours, without being able to support them. + +'How many infamous villains have amassed immense estates, by taking +advantage of unfortunate young men, who have been first seduced and then +ruined by the Gambling Clubs! + +'It is well known that the old members of those gambling societies exert +every nerve to enlist young men of fortune; and if we take a view of +the principal estates on this island, we shall find many infamous +_CHRISTIAN_ brokers who are now living luxuriously and in splendour on +the wrecks of such unhappy victims. + +'At present, when a boy has learned a little from his father's example, +he is sent to school, to be _INITIATED_. In the course of a few years he +acquires a profound knowledge of the science of gambling, and before he +leaves the University he is perfectly fitted for a member of the _GAMING +CLUBS_, into which he is elected before he takes his seat in either +House of Parliament. There is no necessity for his being of age, as the +sooner he is ballotted for, the more advantageous his admission will +prove to the _OLD_ members. + +'Scarcely is the hopeful youth enrolled among these _HONOURABLE_ +associates, than he is introduced to Jews, to annuity-brokers, and to +the long train of money-lenders. They take care to answer his pecuniary +calls, and the greater part of the night and morning is consumed at the +_CLUB_. To his creditors and tradesmen, instead of paying his bills, +he offers a _BOND_ or _ANNUITY_. He rises just time enough to ride to +Kensington Gardens; returns to dress; dines late; and then attends the +party of gamblers, as he had done the night before, unless he allows +himself to be detained for a few moments by the newspaper, or some +political publication. + +'Such do we find the present fashionable style of life, from "his Grace" +to the "Ensign" in the Guards. Will this mode of education rear up +heroes, to lead forth our armies, or to conduct our fleets to victory? +Review the conduct of your generals abroad, and of your statesmen +at home, during the late unfortunate war, and these questions are +answered.(65) + + +(65) Of course this is an allusion to the American War of Independence +and the political events at home, from 1774 to 1784. + + +'At present, tradesmen must themselves be gamblers before they give +credit to a member of these clubs; but if a reform succeeds they will +be placed in a state of security. At present they must make _REGULAR_ +families pay an enormous price for their goods, to enable them to +run the risk of never receiving a single shilling from their gambling +customers.' + +Such is the picture of the times in question, drawn by a contemporary; +and it may be said that private reckless and unscrupulous political +machinations were the springs and fountains of all the calamities that +subsequently overflowed, as it were, the 'opening of the seals' of doom +upon the nation. + +Notwithstanding the purity of morals enjoined by the court of George +III., the early part of his reign presents a picture of dissolute +manners as well as of furious party spirit. The most fashionable of our +ladies of rank were immersed in play, or devoted to politics: the same +spirit carried them into both. The Sabbath was disregarded, spent often +in cards, or desecrated by the meetings of partisans of both factions; +moral duties were neglected and decorum outraged. The fact was, that +a minor court had become the centre of all the bad passions and +reprehensible pursuits in vogue. Carlton House, in Pall Mall, which even +the oldest of us can barely remember, with its elegant open screen, +the pillars in front, its low exterior, its many small rooms, its +decorations in vulgar taste, and, to crown the whole, its associations +of a corrupting revelry,--Carlton House was, in the days of good King +George, almost as great a scandal to the country as Whitehall in the +time of improper King Charles II.(66) The influence which the example +of a young prince, of manners eminently popular, produced upon the young +nobility of the realm was most disastrous in every way and ruinous to +public morality. + + +(66) Wharton, 'The Queens of Society.' Mem. of _Georgiana, Duchess of +Devonshire._ + + +After that period, the vast license given to those abominable engines of +fraud, the E.O. tables,(67) and the great length of time which elapsed +before they met with any check from the police, afforded a number of +dissolute and abandoned characters an opportunity of acquiring property. +This they afterwards increased in the low gaming houses, and by +following up the same system at Newmarket and the other fashionable +places of resort, and finally by means of the lottery, that mode of +insensate gambling; till at length they acquired a sum of money nothing +short of _ONE MILLION STERLING_. + +(67) So called from the letters E and O, the turning up of which decided +the bet. They were otherwise called _Roulette_ and _Roly Poly_, from the +balls used in them. They seem to have been introduced in England about +the year 1739. The first was set up at Tunbridge and proved extremely +profitable to the proprietors. + + +This enormous wealth was then used as an efficient capital in carrying +on various illegal establishments, particularly gaming houses, the +expenses of a first-rate house being L7000 per annum, which were again +employed as the means of increasing these ill-gotten riches. + +The system was progressive but steady in its development. Several of +these conspicuous members of the world of fashion, rolling in their +gaudy carriages and associating with men of high rank and influence, +might be found on the registers of the Old Bailey, or had been formerly +occupied in turning, with their own hands, E.O. tables in the public +streets. + +The following _Queries_, which are extracted from the _Morning Post_ of +July the 5th, 1797, throw considerable light upon this curious subject, +and show how seriously the matter was regarded when so public a +denunciation was deemed necessary and ventured upon:-- + +'Is Mr Ogden (now the Newmarket oracle) the same person who, +five-and-twenty years since, was an annual pedestrian to Ascot, covered +with dust, amusing himself with "_PRICKING in the_ belt," "_HUSTLING_ in +the hat," &c., among the lowest class of rustics, at the inferior booths +of the fair? + +'Is D-k-y B--n who now has his snug farm, the same person who, some +years since, _DROVE A POST CHAISE_ for T--y, of Bagshot, could +neither read nor write, and was introduced to _THE FAMILY_ only by his +pre-eminence at cribbage? + +'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., _secundum artem?_ + +'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 _family entre_ in the +metropolis, by his superiority at _Billiards_ (with Captain Wallace, +Orrell, &c.) at Cropley's, in Bow Street? + +'Was poor carbuncled P--e (so many years the favourite decoy duck +of _THE FAMILY_) 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, the _bones_, the _box_, and the +_Cockpit?_' + +Capital was not the only qualification for admission into the +Confederacy of Gambling. Some of the members were taken into partnership +on account of their dexterity in 'securing' dice or 'dealing' cards. One +is said to have been actually a sharer in every 'Hell' at the West-End +of the Town, because he was feared as much as he was detested by the +firms, who had reason to know that he would 'peach' if not kept quiet. +Informers against the illegal and iniquitous associations were arrested +and imprisoned upon writs, obtained by perjury--to deter others from +similar attacks; witnesses were suborned; officers of justice bribed; +ruffians and bludgeon-men employed, where gratuities failed; personal +violence and even assassination threatened to all who dared to expose +the crying evil--among others, to Stockdale, the well-known publisher of +the day, in Piccadilly. + +Then came upon the nation the muddy flood of French emigrants, poured +forth by the Great Revolution--a set of men, speaking generally, whose +vices contaminated the very atmosphere. + +Before the advent of these worthies the number of gambling houses in the +metropolis, exclusive of those so long established by subscription, was +not more than half-a-dozen; but by the year 1820 they had increased to +nearly fifty. Besides _Faro_ and _Hazard_, the foreign games of +_Macao, Roulette, Rouge et Noir_, &c., were introduced, and there was a +graduated accommodation for all ranks, from the Peer of the Realm to the +Highwayman, the Burglar, and the Pick et. + +At one of the watering-places, in 1803, a baronet lost L20,000 at play, +and a bond for L7000. This will scarcely surprise us when we consider +that at the time above five hundred notorious characters supported +themselves in the metropolis by this species of robbery, and in +the summer spread themselves through the watering-places for their +professional operations. Some of them kept bankers, and were possessed +of considerable property in the funds and in land, and went their +_circuits_ as regularly as the judges. Most excellent judges they were, +too, of the condition of a 'pigeon.' + +In a great commercial city where, from the extent of its trade, +manufacture, and revenue, there must be an immense circulation of +property, the danger is not to be conceived of the allurements which +were thus held out to young men in business having the command of money, +as well as the clerks of merchants, bankers, and others. In fact, too +many of this class proved, at the bar of justice, the consequence +of their resort to these complicated scenes of vice, idleness, +extravagance, misfortune, and crime. Among innumerable instances are the +following:--In 1796, a shopman to a grocer in the city was seduced into +a gaming party, where he first lost all his own money, and ultimately +what his master had intrusted him with. He hanged himself in his +bed-room a few hours afterwards. + +In the same year, Lord Kenyon in summing up a case of the kind +said:--'It was extremely to be lamented that the vice of gambling had +descended to the very lowest orders of the people. It was prevalent +among the highest ranks of society, who had set the example to their +inferiors, and who, it seemed, were too great for the law. I wish they +could be punished. If any prosecutions are fairly brought before me, and +the parties are justly convicted, whatever may be their rank or station +in the country--though they should be the first ladies in the land--they +shall certainly exhibit themselves in the pillory.' + +In 1820, James Lloyd, one of the harpies who practised on the credulity +of the lower orders by keeping a _Little Go_, or illegal lottery, was +brought up for the twentieth time, to answer for that offence. This man +was a methodist preacher, and assembled his neighbours together at his +dwelling on a Saturday to preach the gospel to them, and the remainder +of the week he was to be found, with an equally numerous party, +instructing them in the ruinous vice of gambling. The charge was clearly +proved, and the prisoner was sentenced to three months' imprisonment +with hard labour. + +In the same year numbers of young persons robbed their masters to play +at a certain establishment called Morley's Gambling House, in the City, +and were ruined there. Some were brought to justice at the Old Bailey; +others, in the madness caused by their losses, destroyed themselves; and +some escaped to other countries, by their own activity, or through the +influence of their friends. + +A traveller of the coachmakers, Messrs Houlditch of Long Acre, embezzled +or applied to his own use considerable sums of money belonging to them. +It appeared in evidence that the prisoner was sent by his employers to +the Continent to take orders for carriages; he was allowed a handsome +salary, and was furnished with carriages for sale. The money he received +for them he was to send to his employers, after deducting his expenses; +but instead of so doing, he gambled nearly the whole of it away. The +following letter to his master was put in by way of explanation of his +career:--'Sir,--The errors into which I have fallen have made me so hate +myself that I have adopted the horrible resolution of destroying myself. +I am sensible of the crime I commit against God, my family, and society, +but have not courage to live dishonoured. The generous confidence you +placed in me I have basely violated; I have robbed you, and though +not to enrich myself, the consciousness of it destroys me. Bankruptcy, +poverty, beggary, and want I could bear--conscious integrity would +support me: but the ill-fated acquaintance I formed led me to those +earthly hells--gambling houses; and then commenced my villainies and +deceptions to you. My losses were not large at first; and the stories +that were told me of gain made me hope they would soon be recovered. At +this period I received the order to go to Vienna, and on settling at the +hotel I found my debts treble what I had expected. I was in consequence +compelled to leave the two carriages as a guarantee for part of the +debt, which I had not in my power to discharge. I had hoped such success +at Vienna as would enable me to state all to you; but disappointment +blasted every hope, and despair, on my return to Paris, began to +generate the fatal resolution which, at the moment you read this, +will have matured itself to consummation. I feel that my reputation is +blasted; no way left of re-imbursing the money wasted, your confidence +in me totally destroyed, and nothing left to me but to see my wife and +children, and die. Affection for them holds me in existence a little +longer. The gaming table again presented itself to my imagination as the +only possible means of extricating myself. Count Montoni's 3000 francs, +which I received before you came to Paris, furnished me with the +means--my death speaks the result! After robbery so base as mine, I fear +it will be of no use for me to solicit your kindness for my wretched +wife and forlorn family. Oh, Sir, if you have pity on them and treat +them kindly, and do not leave them to perish in a foreign land, the +consciousness of the act will cheer you in your last moments, and God +will reward you and yours for it tenfold. Their sensibilities will not +cause them to need human aid. Thus I shall be threefold the murderer. +I thank you for the kindness you have rendered me; and I assure your +brother that he has, in this dreadful moment, my ardent wishes for his +welfare here and hereafter. I have so contrived it that you will see +a person at the Prince's tomorrow, who will interpret for you. In +mentioning my fate to him, you will not much serve your own interest +by blackening my character and memory. I subjoin the reward of my +villainies and the correct balance of the account. Count Edmond's +regular bills I have not received; his valet will give you them; the +others are in a pocket-book, which will be found on my corpse somewhere +in the wood of Boulogne. + +'Signed, W. KINSBY.' + + +It appears, however, that the gentleman changed his mind and did not +commit suicide, but surrendered at the Insolvent Debtor's Court to be +dealt with according to law, which was a much wiser resolution. + +To the games of Faro, Hazard, Macao, Doodle-do, and Rouge et Noir, more +even than to horse-racing, many tradesmen, once possessing good fortunes +and great business, owed their destruction. Thousands upon thousands +have been ruined in the vicinity of St James's. It was not confined to +youths of fortune only, but the decent and respectable tradesman, as +well as the dashing clerk of the merchant and banker, was ingulfed in +its vortes. + +The proprietors of gaming houses were also concerned in fraudulent +insurances, and employed a number of clerks while the lotteries were +drawing, who conducted the business without risk, in counting-houses, +where no insurances were taken, but to which books were carried, as well +as from the different offices in every part of the town, as from the +_Morocco-men_, who went from door to door taking insurances and enticing +the poor and middling ranks to adventure. + +It was gambling, and not the burdens of the long war, nor the revulsion +from war to peace, that made so many bankruptcies in the few years +succeeding the Battle of Waterloo. It was the plunderers at gaming +tables that filled the gazettes and made the gaols overflow with so many +victims. + +A foreigner has advanced an opinion as to the source of the gambling +propensity of Englishmen. 'The English,' says M. Dunne,(68) 'the most +speculative nation on earth, calculate even upon future contingences. +Nowhere else is the adventurous rage for stock-jobbing carried on to +so great an extent. The fury of gambling, so common in England, is +undoubtedly a daughter of this speculative genius. The _Greeks_ of Great +Britain are, however, much inferior to those of France in cunning +and industry. A certain Frenchman who assumed in London the title and +manners of a baron, has been known to surpass all the most dexterous +rogues of the three kingdoms in the art of robbing. His aide-de-camp was +a kind of German captain, or rather _chevalier d'industrie_, a person +who had acted the double character of a French spy and an English +officer at the same time. Their tactics being at length discovered, the +baron was obliged to quit the country; and he is said to have afterwards +entered the monastery of La Trappe,' where doubtless, in the severe and +gloomy religious practices of that terrible penitentiary, he atoned for +his past enormities. + + +(68) 'Refexions sur l'Homme.' + + +'Till near the commencement of the present century the favourite game +was Faro, and as it was a decided advantage to hold the Bank, masters +and mistresses, less scrupulous than Wilberforce, frequently volunteered +to fleece and amuse the company. But scandal having made busy with the +names of some of them, it became usual to hire a professed gamester at +five or ten guineas a night, to set up a table for the evening, just as +any operatic professional might now-a-days be hired for a concert, or a +band-master for a ball. + +'Faro gradually dropped out of fashion; Macao took its place; Hazard was +never wanting; and Whist began to be played for stakes which would have +satisfied Fox himself, who, though it was calculated that he might have +netted four or five thousand a year by games of skill, complained that +they afforded no excitement. + +'Wattier's Club, in Piccadilly, was the resort of the Macao players. It +was kept by an old _maitre d'hotel_ of George IV., a character in +his way, who took a just pride in the cookery and wines of his +establishment. + +'All the brilliant stars of fashion (and fashion was power then) +frequented Wattier's, with Beau Brummell for their sun. 'Poor Brummell, +dead, in misery and idiotcy, at Caen! and I remember him in all his +glory, cutting his jokes after the opera, at White's, in a black velvet +great-coat, and a cocked hat on his well-powdered head. + +'Nearly the same turn of reflection is suggested as we run over the +names of his associates. Almost all of them were ruined--three out +of four irretrievably. Indeed, it was the forced expatriation of its +supporters that caused the club to be broken up. + +'During the same period (from 1810 to 1815 or thereabouts) there was a +great deal of high play at White's and Brookes', particularly at Whist. +At Brookes' figured some remarkable characters--as Tippoo Smith, by +common consent the best Whist-player of his day; and an old gentleman +nicknamed Neptune, from his having once flung himself into the sea in +a fit of despair at being, as he thought, ruined. He was fished out in +time, found he was not ruined, and played on during the remainder of his +life. + +'The most distinguished player at White's was the nobleman who was +presented at the Salons in Paris as Le Wellington des Joueurs (Lord +Rivers); and he richly merited the name, if skill, temper, and the most +daring courage are titles to it. The greatest genius, however, is not +infallible. He once lost three thousand four hundred pounds at Whist by +not remembering that the seven of hearts was in! He played at Hazard for +the highest stakes that any one could be got to play for with him, and +at one time was supposed to have won nearly a hundred thousand pounds; +but _IT ALL WENT_, along with a great deal more, at Crockford's. + +'There was also a great deal of play at Graham's, the Union, the Cocoa +Tree, and other clubs of the second order in point of fashion. Here +large sums were hazarded with equal rashness, and remarkable characters +started up. Among the most conspicuous was the late Colonel Aubrey, who +literally passed his life at play. He did nothing else, morning, noon, +and night; and it was computed that he had paid more than sixty thousand +pounds for card-money. He was a very fine player at all games, and a +shrewd, clever man. He had been twice to India and made two fortunes. +It was said that he lost the first on his way home, transferred himself +from one ship to another without landing, went back, and made the +second. His life was a continual alternation between poverty and +wealth; and he used to say, the greatest pleasure in life is winning at +cards--the next greatest, losing! + +'For several years deep play went on at all these clubs, fluctuating +both as to amount and locality, till by degrees it began to flag. It had +got to a low ebb when Mr Crockford came to London and established the +celebrated club which bore his name. + +'Some good was certainly produced by the system. In the first place, +private gambling (between gentleman and gentleman), with its degrading +incidents, is at an end. In the second place, this very circumstance +brings the worst part of the practice within the reach of the law. +Public gambling, which only existed by and through what were popularly +termed _hells_, might be easily suppressed. There were, in 1844, more +than twenty of these establishments in Pall Mall, Piccadilly, and St +James's, called into existence by Crockford's success.'(69) + + +(69) Private MS. (Edinburgh Review, vol. LXXX). + + +Whilst such was the state of things among the aristocracy and those +who were able to consort with them, it seems that the lower orders were +pursuing 'private gambling,' in their 'ungenteel' fashion, to a very sad +extent. In 1834 a writer in the 'Quarterly' speaks as follows:-- + +'Doncaster, Epsom, Ascot, and 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.'(70) + + +(70) Quarterly Review, vol. LII. + + +I fear that something similar may be suggested at the present day, as to +the same notorious localities. + +Mr Sala, writing some years ago on gambling in England, said:-- + +'The passion for gambling is, I believe, innate; but there is, happily, +a very small percentage of the population who are born with a propensity +for high play. We are speculative and eagerly commercial; but it is rare +to discover among us that inveterate love for gambling, as gambling, +which you may find among the Italians, the South American Spaniards, the +Russians, and the Poles. Moro, Baccara, Tchuka--these are games at which +continental peasants will wager and lose their little fields, their +standing crops, their harvest in embryo, their very wives even. The +Americans surpass us in the ardour of their propitiation of the gambling +goddess, and on board the Mississippi steamboats, an enchanting game, +called _Poker_, is played with a delirium of excitement, whose intensity +can only be imagined by realizing that famous bout at "catch him who +can," which took place at the horticultural _fete_ immortalized by Mr +Samuel Foote, comedian, at which was present the great _Panjandrum_ +himself, with the little round button at top, the festivities continuing +till the gunpowder ran out at the heels of the company's boots. + +'When I was a boy, not so very long--say twenty years--since, the +West-end of London swarmed with illicit gambling houses, known by a name +I will not offend your ears by repeating. + +On every race-course there was a public gambling booth and an abundance +of thimble-riggers' stalls. These, I am happy to state, exist no longer; +and the fools who are always ready to be plucked, can only, in gambling, +fall victims to the commonest and coarsest of swindlers; skittle sharps, +beer-house rogues and sharpers, and knaves who travel to entrap the +unwary in railway carriages with loaded dice, marked cards, and little +squares of green baize for tables, and against whom the authorities of +the railway companies very properly warn their passengers. A notorious +gambling house in St James's Street--Crockford's,--where it may be said, +without exaggeration, that millions of pounds sterling have been diced +away by the fools of fashion, is now one of the most sumptuous and +best conducted dining establishments in London--the "Wellington." The +semipatrician Hades that were to be found in the purlieus of St James's, +such as the "Cocoa Tree," the "Berkeley," and the "stick-shop," at +the corner of Albemarle Street--a whole Pandemonium of rosewood +and plate-glass dens--never recovered from a razzia made on them +simultaneously one night by the police, who were organized on a plan of +military tactics, and under the command of Inspector Beresford; and at +a concerted signal assailed the portals of the infamous places with +sledge-hammers. At the time to which I refer, in Paris, the Palais +Royal, and the environs of the Boulevards des Italiens, abounded with +magnificent gambling rooms similar to those still in existence in +Hombourg, which were regularly licensed by the police, and farmed under +the municipality of the Ville de Paris; a handsome per-centage of the +iniquitous profits being paid towards the charitable institutions of +the French metropolis. There are very many notabilities of the French +Imperial Court, who were then _fermiers des jeux_, or gambling house +contractors; and only a year or two since Doctor Louis Veron, ex-dealer +in quack medicines, ex-manager of the Grand Opera, and ex-proprietor +of the "Constitutionnel" newspaper, offered an enormous royalty to +Government for the privilege of establishing a gambling house in +Paris. But the Emperor Napoleon--all ex-member of Crockford's as he +is--sensibly declined the tempting bait. A similarly "generous" offer +was made last year to the Belgian Government by a joint-stock company +who wanted to establish public gaming tables at the watering-places of +Ostend, and who offered to establish an hospital from their profits; but +King Leopold, the astute proprietor of Claremont, was as prudent as his +Imperial cousin of France, and refused to soil his hands with cogged +dice. + +The lease of the Paris authorized gaming houses expired in 1836-7; +and the municipality, albeit loath to lose the fat annual revenue, was +induced by governmental pressure not to renew it; and it is asserted +that from that moment the number of annual suicides in Paris very +sensibly decreased. "It is not generally known," as the penny-a-liners +say, "that the Rev. Caleb Colton, a clergyman of the Church of England, +and the author of "Lacon," a book replete with aphoristic wisdom, blew +his brains out in the forest of St Germains, after ruinous losses at +Frascati's, at the corner of the Rue Richelieu and the Boulevards, one +of the most noted of the _Maisons des Jeux_, and which was afterwards +turned into a _restaurant_, and is now a shawl-shop.(71) Just before the +revolution of 1848, nearly all the watering-places in the Prusso-Rhenane +provinces, and in Bavaria, and Hesse, Nassau, and Baden, contained +Kursaals, where gambling was openly carried on. These existed at +Aix-la-Chapelle, Baden-Baden, Wiesbaden, Ems, Kissengen, and at Spa, +close to the Prussian frontier, in Belgium. It is due to the fierce +democrats who revolted against the monarchs of the defunct Holy +Alliance, to say that they utterly swept away the gambling-tables in +Rhenish-Prussia, and in the Grand Duchy of Baden. Herr Hecker, of +the red republican tendencies, and the astounding wide-awake hat, +particularly distinguished himself in the latter place by his +iconoclastic animosity to _Roulette_ and _Rouge et Noir_. When dynastic +"order" was restored the Rhine gaming tables were re-established. The +Prussian Government, much to its honour, has since shut up the +gambling houses at that resort for decayed nobility and ruined livers, +Aix-la-Chapelle. A motion was made in the Federal Diet, sitting at +Frankfort, to constrain the smaller governments, in the interest of +the Germanic good name generally, to close their _tripots_, and in some +measure the Federal authorities succeeded. The only existing continental +gaming houses authorized by government are now the two Badens, Spa (of +which the lease is nearly expired, and will not be renewed), Monaco +(capital of the ridiculous little Italian principality, of which the +suzerain is a scion of the house of "Grimaldi"), Malmoe, in Sweden, +too remote to do much harm, and HOMBOURG. This last still flourishes +greatly, and I am afraid is likely to flourish, though happily in +isolation; for, as I have before remarked, the "concession" or privilege +of the place has been guaranteed for a long period of years to come by +the expectant dynasty of Hesse-Darmstadt. "_C'est fait_," "It is all +settled," said the host of the Hotel de France to me, rubbing his hands +exultingly when I mentioned the matter. But, _Quis custodiet custodes?_ +Hesse-Darmstadt has guaranteed the "administration of Hesse-Hombourg, +but who is to guarantee Hesse-Darmstadt? A battalion of French infantry +would, it seems to me, make short work of H. D., lease guarantees, +Federal contingent, and all. I must mention, in conclusion, that within +a very few years we had, if we have not still, a licensed gaming house +in our exquisitely moral British dominions. This was in that remarkably +"tight little island" at the mouth of the Elbe, Heligoland, which we so +queerly possess--Puffendorf, Grotius, and Vattel, or any other writers +on the _Jus gentium_, would be puzzled to tell why, or by what right. I +was at Hamburg in the autumn of 1856, crossed over to Heligoland one day +on a pleasure trip, and lost some money there, at a miniature _Roulette_ +table, much frequented by joyous Israelites from the mainland, and +English "soldier officers" in mufti. I did not lose much of my temper, +however, for the odd, quaint little place pleased me. Not so another +Roman citizen, or English travelling gent., who losing, perhaps, +seven-and-sixpence, wrote a furious letter to the "Times," complaining +of such horrors existing under the British flag, desecration of the +English name, and so forth. Next week the lieutenant-governor, +by "order," put an end to _Roulette_ at Heligoland; but play on a +diminutive scale has since, I have been given to understand, recommenced +there without molestation. + + +(71) Mr Sala is here in error. Colton was a prosperous gambler +throughout, and committed suicide to avoid a surgical operation. A +notice of the Rev. C. Colton will be found in the sequel. + + +'We gamble in England at the Stock Exchange, we gamble on horse-races +all the year round; but there is something more than the mere +eventuality of a chance that prompts us to the _enjeu;_ there is +mixed up with our eagerness for the stakes the most varied elements +of business and pleasure; cash-books, ledgers, divident-warrants, +indignation meetings of Venezuelan bond-holders, coupons, cases of +champagne, satin-skinned horses with plaited manes, grand stands, pretty +faces, bright flags, lobster salads, cold lamb, fortune-telling gipsies, +barouches-and-four, and "our Aunt Sally." High play is still rife in +some aristocratic clubs; there are prosperous gentlemen who wear clean +linen every day, and whose names are still in the Army List, who make +their five or six hundred a year by Whist-playing, and have nothing else +to live upon; in East-end coffee-shops, sallow-faced Jew boys, itinerant +Sclavonic jewellers, and brawny German sugar-bakers, with sticky +hands, may be found glozing and wrangling over their beloved cards and +dominoes, and screaming with excitement at the loss of a few pence. +There are yet some occult nooks and corners, nestling in unsavoury +localities, on passing which the policeman, even in broad daylight, +cannot refrain from turning his head a little backwards--as though +some bedevilments must necessarily be taking place directly he has +passed--where, in musty back parlours, by furtive lamplight, with doors +barred, bolted, and sheeted with iron, some wretched, cheating gambling +goes on at unholy hours. Chicken-hazard is scotched, not killed; but a +poor, weazened, etiolated biped is that once game-bird now. And there +is Doncaster, every year--Doncaster, with its subscription-rooms under +authority, winked at by a pious corporation, patronized by nobles and +gentlemen supporters of the turf, and who are good enough, sometimes, to +make laws for us plebeians in the Houses of Lords and Commons. There +is Doncaster, with policemen to keep order, and admit none but +"respectable" people--subscribers, who fear Heaven and honour the Queen. +Are you aware, my Lord Chief-Justice, are you aware, Mr Attorney, Mr +Solicitor-General, have you the slightest notion, ye Inspectors of +Police, that in the teeth of the law, and under its very eyes, a +shameless gaming-house exists in moral Yorkshire, throughout every +Doncaster St Leger race-week? Of course you haven't; never dreamed of +such a thing--never could, never would. Hie you, then, and prosecute +this wretched gang of betting-touts, congregating at the corner of Bride +Lane, Fleet Street; quick, lodge informations against this publican who +has suffered card-playing to take place, raffles, or St Leger sweeps to +be held in his house. "You have seen a farmer's dog bark at a beggar, +and the creature run from the cur. There thou might'st behold the great +image of authority: a dog's obeyed in office." You have--very well. +Take crazy King Lear's words as a text for a sermon against legislative +inconsistencies, and come back with me to Hombourg Kursaal.' + + + +CHAPTER VII. GAMBLING IN BRIGHTON IN 1817. + +The subject of English gambling may be illustrated by a series of events +which happened at Brighton in 1817, when an inquiry respecting the +gaming carried on at the libraries led to many important disclosures. + +It appears that a warrant was granted on the oath of a Mr William +Clarke, against William Wright and James Ford, charged with feloniously +stealing L100. But the prosecutor did not appear in court to prove the +charge. It was quite evident, therefore, that the law had been abused +in the transaction, and the magistrate, Sergeant Runnington, directed +warrants to be issued for the immediate appearance of the prosecutor +and Timothy O'Mara, as an evidence; but they absconded, and the learned +Sergeant discharged the prisoners. + +The matter then took a different turn. The same William Wright, before +charged with 'stealing' the L100, was now examined as a witness to +give evidence upon an examination against Charles Walker, of the Marine +Library, for keeping an unlawful Gaming House. + +This witness stated that he was engaged, about five weeks before, to act +as _punter_ or player (that is, in this case, a sham player or decoy) to +a table called _Noir, rouge, tout le deux_ (evidently a name invented +to evade the statute, if possible), by William Clarke, the prosecutor, +before-mentioned; that the table was first carried to the back room of +Donaldson's Library, where it continued for three or four days, when +Donaldson discharged it from his premises. + +He said he soon got into the confidence of Clarke, who put him up to the +secrets of playing. The firm consisted of O'Mara, Pollett, Morley, and +Clarke. There was not much playing at Donaldson's. Afterwards the table +was removed into Broad Street, but the landlady quickly sent it away. It +was then carried to a room over Walker's Library, where a rent was +paid of twelve guineas per week, showing plainly the profits of the +speculation. + +Several gentlemen used to frequent the table, among whom was one who +lost L125. + +Clarke asked the witness if he thought the person who lost his money was +rich? And being answered in the affirmative, it was proposed that he, +William Wright, should invite the gentleman to dinner, to let him have +what wine he liked, and to spare no expense to get him drunk. + +The gentleman was induced to play again, and endeavour to recover his +money. As he had nothing but large bills, to a considerable amount, he +was prevailed on to go to London, in company with the witness, who +was to take care and bring him back. One of the firm, Pollett, wrote a +letter of recommendation to a Mr Young, to get the bills discounted at +his broker's. They returned to Brighton, and the witness apprized the +firm of his arrival. They wanted him to come that evening, but the +witness _TOLD THE GENTLEMAN OF HIS SUSPICIONS_--that during their +absence a _FALSE TABLE_ had been substituted. + +The witness, however, returned to his employers that evening, when the +firm advanced him L100, and Ford, another punter of the sort, L100, to +back with the gentleman as a blind--so that when the signal was given to +put upon black or red, they were to put their stakes--by which means the +gentleman would follow; and they calculated upon fleecing him of five +or six thousand pounds in the course of an hour. According to his own +account, the witness told the gentleman of this trick; and the following +morning the latter went with him, to know if this nefarious dealing has +been truly represented. + +On entering the library they met Walker, who wished them better success, +but trembled visibly. At the door leading into the room porters were +stationed; and, as soon as they entered, Walker ordered it to be bolted, +for the sake of privacy; but as soon as the gentleman ascended the dark +staircase, he became alarmed at the appearance of men in the room, and +returned to the porter, and, by a timely excuse, was allowed to pass. + +At this table Clarke generally dealt, and O'Mara played. It was for +not restoring the L100 to the firm that the charge of felony was laid +against the witness--after the escape of the gentleman; but an offer of +L100 was made to him, after his imprisonment, if he would not give his +evidence of the above facts and transactions. + +The evidence of the other witness, Ford, confirmed all the material +facts of the former, and the gentleman himself, the intended victim, +substantiated the evidence of Wright--as to putting him in possession of +their nefarious designs. + +When the gentleman found that he had been cheated of the L125, he went +to Walker to demand back his money. Walker, in the utmost confusion, +went into the room, and returned with a proposal to allow L100. This +he declined to take, and immediately laid the information before Mr +Sergeant Runnington. + +The learned Sergeant forcibly recapitulated the evidence, and declared +that in the whole course of his professional duties he had never heard +such a disclosure of profligacy and villainy, combined with every +species of wickedness. In a strain of pointed animadversion he declared +it to be an imperative duty,--however much his private feelings might +be wounded in seeing a reputable tradesman of the town convicted of such +nefarious pursuits,--to order warrants to be issued against all parties +concerned as rogues and vagrants. + +At the next hearing of the case the court was crowded to excess; and the +mass of evidence deposed before the magistrates threw such a light on +the system of gambling, that they summarily put a stop to the Cobourg +and Loo tables at the various public establishments. + +At the first examination, the 'gentleman' before mentioned, a Mr +Mackenzie, said he had played _Rouge et Noir_ at Walker's, and had lost +L125. He saw O'Mara there, but he appeared as a player, not a banker; +the only reason for considering him as one of the proprietors of the +table, arose from the information of the witnesses Wright and Ford. + +On this evidence, Mr Sergeant Runnington called on O'Mara and Walker for +their defence, observing that, according to the statements before him, +there appeared sufficient ground for considering O'Mara as a rogue and +vagabond; and for subjecting Mr Walker to penalties for keeping a +house or room wherein he permitted unlawful games to be played. O'Mara +affirmed that the whole testimony of Wright and Ford with respect to +him was false; that he had been nine years a resident housekeeper in +Brighton, and was known by, and had rendered essential services to, many +respectable individuals who lived in the town, and to many noble +persons who were occasional visitors. He seemed deeply penetrated by the +intimation that he could be whipped, or otherwise treated as a vagabond; +and said, that if time were allowed him to collect evidence, and obtain +legal assistance, he could disprove the charge, or at least invalidate +the evidence of the two accusers. + +In consequence of these representations, the case was adjourned to +another day, when, so much was the expectation excited by the rumour of +the affair, that at the opening of the court the hall was crowded almost +to suffocation, and all the avenues were completely beset. + +O'Mara appeared, with his counsel, the celebrated Mr Adolphus--the +Ballantyne of his day--of Old Bailey renown and forensic prowess. + +Mr Sergeant Runnington very obligingly stated to Mr Adolphus the +previous proceeding, directed the depositions to be laid before him, +and allowed him time to peruse them. Mr Adolphus having gone through the +document, requested that the witnesses might be brought into court, that +he might cross-question them separately; which being ordered, Wright was +first put forward--the man who had received the L100, enlightened the +Mr Mackenzie, and who was charged with feloniously stealing the above +amount. + +After the usual questions, very immaterial in the present case, but +answered, the witness went on to say that, O'Mara called at his lodgings +and said, if he (Wright) could not persuade Mr Mackenzie to come from +London, he was not to leave him, but write to him (O'Mara), and he would +go to town, and win all his money. He had, on a former occasion, +told the witness, that he could win all Mackenzie's money at child's +play--that he could toss up and win ninety times out of one hundred; he +had told both him and Ford, that if they met with any gentleman who did +not like the game of _Rouge et Noir_, and would bring them to his house, +he was always provided with cards, dice, and backgammon tables, to win +their money from them. + +The learned counsel then cross-questioned the witness as to various +matters, in the usual way, but tending, of course, to damage him by +the answers which the questions necessitated--a horrible, but, perhaps, +necessary ordeal perpetuated in our law-procedure. In these answers +there was something like prevarication; so that the magistrate, Mr +Sergeant Runnington, asked the witness at the close of the examination, +whether he had any previous acquaintance with the gentlemen who had +engaged him at half-a-crown a game, and then so candily communicated to +him all their schemes? He said, none whatever. 'But,' said the Sergeant, +'you were in the daily habit of playing at this public table for the +purpose of deceiving the persons who might come there?' The witness +answered--'I was.' + +The witness Ford fared no better in the cross-examination, and Mr +Sergeant Runnington, at its close, asked him the same question that +he had addressed to Wright, respecting his playing at the table, and +received the same answer. + +Mr Mackenzie did not appear, and there was no further evidence. Mr +Adolphus said that if he were called upon to make any defence for his +client upon a charge so supported, he was ready to do it; but, as he +must make many observations, not only on the facts, but on the _LAW_, he +was anxious if possible to avoid doing so, as he did not wish to say +too much about the law respecting gaming before so large and mixed an +audience.(72) + + +(72) See Chapter XI. for the views of Mr Adolphus here alluded to. + + +Two witnesses were called, who gave evidence which was damaging to the +character of Ford, stating that he told them he was in a conspiracy +against O'Mara and some other moneyed men, from whom they should get +three or four hundred pounds, and if witness would conceal from O'Mara +his (Ford's) real name, he should have his share of the money, and might +go with him and Wright to Brussels. + +After hearing these witnesses, Mr Sergeant Runnington, without calling +on Mr Adolphus for any further defence of his client, pronounced the +judgment of the Bench. + +He reviewed the transaction from its commencement, and stated the +impression, to the disadvantage of O'Mara, which the tale originally +told by the two witnesses was calculated to make. But, on hearing the +cross-examination of those witnesses, and seeing no evidence against +the defendant but from sources so impure and corrupt--recollecting the +severe penalties of the Vagrant Acts, and sitting there not merely as a +judge, but also exercising the functions of a jury, he could not bring +himself to convict on such evidence. The witnesses, impure as they were, +were _NOT SUPPORTED BY MR MACKENZIE IN ANY PARTICULAR_, except the +fact of his losing money, at a time when O'Mara did not appear as a +proprietor of the table, but as a player like himself. O'Mara must +therefore be discharged; but the two witnesses would not be so +fortunate. From their own mouths it appeared that they had been using +subtle craft to deceive and impose upon his Majesty's subjects, by +playing or betting at unlawful games, and had no legal or visible means +of gaining a livelihood; the court, therefore, adjudged them to be +rogues and vagabonds, and committed them, in execution, to the gaol at +Lewes, there to remain till the next Quarter Sessions, and then to be +further dealt with according to law. A short private conference followed +between the magistrates and Mr Adolphus, the result of which was that Mr +Walker was not proceeded against, but entered into a recognizance not to +permit any kind of gaming to be carried on in his house. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. GAMBLING AT THE GERMAN BATHING-PLACES.---- + +BADEN AND ITS CONVERSATION HOUSE. + +Baden-Baden in the season is full of the most exciting contrasts--gay +restaurants and brilliant saloons, gaming-tables, promenades, and +theatres crammed with beauty and rank, in the midst of lovely natural +scenery, and under the shade of the pine-clad heights of the Hercynian +or Black Forest--the scene of so many weird tales of old Germany--as for +instance of the charming _Undine_ of De la Mothe Fouque. + +But among the seducing attractions of Baden-Baden, and of all German +bathing-places, the Rouge-et-noir and Roulette-table hold a melancholy +pre-eminence,--being at once a shameful source of revenue to the +prince,--a rallying point for the gay, the beautiful, the professional +blackleg, the incognito duke or king,--and a vortex in which the +student, the merchant, and the subaltern officer are, in the course of +the season, often hopelessly and irrevocably ingulfed. Remembering the +gaming excitement of the primitive Germans, we can scarcely be surprised +to find that the descendants of these northern races poison the pure +stream of pleasure by the introduction of this hateful occupation. It +is, however, rather remarkable that all foreign visitors, whether Dutch, +Flemish, Swede, Italian, or even English, of whatever age or disposition +or sex, 'catch the frenzy' during the (falsely so-called) _Kurzeit_, +that is, _Cure-season_, at Baden, Ems, and Ais. + +Princes and their subjects, fathers and sons, and even, horrible to say, +mothers and daughters, are hanging, side by side, for half the night +over the green table; and, with trembling hands and anxious eyes, +watching their chance-cards, or thrusting francs and Napoleons with +their rakes to the red or the black cloth. + +No spot in the whole world draws together a more distinguished society +than may be met at Baden; its attractions are felt and acknowledged by +every country in Europe. Many of the _elite_ of each nation may +yearly be found there during the months of summer, and, as a natural +consequence, many of the worst and vilest follow them, in the hope of +pillage. + +Says Mrs Trollope:--'I doubt if anything less than the evidence of the +senses can enable any one fully to credit and comprehend the spectacle +that a gaming-table offers. I saw women distinguished by rank, +elegant in person, modest, and even reserved in manner, sitting at the +Rouge-et-noir table with their rateaux, or rakes, and marking-cards in +their hands;--the former to push forth their bets, and draw in their +winnings, the latter to prick down the events of the game. I saw such +at different hours through the whole of Sunday. To name these is +impossible; but I grieve to say that two English women were among them.' + +The Conversationshaus, where the gambling takes place, is let out by +the Government of Baden to a company of speculators, who pay, for the +exclusive privilege of keeping the tables, L11,000 annually, and +agree to spend in addition 250,000 florins (L25,000) on the walks and +buildings, making altogether about L36,000. Some idea may be formed from +this of the vast sums of money which must be yearly lost by the dupes +who frequent it. The whole is under the direction of M. Benazet, who +formerly farmed the gambling houses of Paris. + + 'On trouve ici le jeu, les livres, la musique, + Les cigarres, l'amour, les orangers, + Le monde tantot gai, tantot melancholique, + Les glaces, la danse, et les cochers; + De la biere, de bons diners, + A cote d'arbre une boutique, + Et la vue de hauts rochers. + Ma foi!' + + + 'We find here gambling, books, and music, + Cigars, love-making, orange-trees; + People or gay or melancholic, + Ices, dancing, and coachmen, if you please; + Beer, and good dinners; besides these, + Shops where they sell not _on tic;_ + And towering rocks one ever sees.' + + +'How shall I describe,' says Mr Whitelocke, 'to my readers in language +sufficiently graphic, one of the resorts the most celebrated in Europe; +a place, if not competing with Crockford's in gorgeous magnificence +and display, at least surpassing it in renown, and known over a wider +sphere? The metropolitan pump-room of Europe, conducted on the principle +of gratuitous admittance to all bearing the semblance of gentility and +conducting themselves with propriety, opens its Janus doors to all the +world with the most laudable hospitality and with a perfect indifference +to exclusiveness, requiring only the hat to be taken off upon entering, +and rejecting only short jackets, cigar, pipe, and meerschaum. A room +of this description, a temple dedicated to fashion, fortune, and +flirtation, requires a pen more current, a voice more eloquent, +than mine to trace, condense, vivify, and depict. Taking everything, +therefore, for granted, let us suppose a vast saloon of regular +proportions, rather longer than broad, at either end garnished by a +balcony; beneath, doors to the right and left, and opposite to the main +entrance, conduct to other apartments, dedicated to different purposes. +On entering the eye is at once dazzled by the blaze of lights from +chandeliers of magnificent dimensions, of lamps, lustres, and sconces. +The ceiling and borders set off into compartments, showered over with +arabesques, the gilded pillars, the moving mass of promenaders, the +endless labyrinth of human beings assembled from every region in Europe, +the costly dresses, repeated by a host of mirrors, all this combined, +which the eye conveys to the brain at a single glance, utterly fails in +description. As with the eye, so it is with the ear; at every step a new +language falls upon it, and every tongue with different intonation, for +the high and the low, the prince, peer, vassal, and tradesman, the proud +beauty, the decrepit crone, some fresh budding into the world, some +standing near the grave, the gentle and the stern, the sombre and the +gay, in short, every possible antithesis that the eye, ear, heart can +perceive, hear, or respond to, or that the mind itself can imagine, is +here to be met with in two minutes. And yet all this is no Babel; for +all, though concentrated, is admirably void of confusion; and evil +or strong passions, if they do exist, are religiously suppressed--a +necessary consequence, indeed, where there can be no sympathy, and where +contempt and ridicule would be the sole reciprocity. In case, however, +any such display should take place, a gendarme keeps constant watch +at the door, appointed by government, it is true, but resembling our +Bow-street officers in more respects than one. + +'Now that we have taken a survey of the brilliant and moving throng, let +us approach the stationary crowd to the left hand, and see what it is +that so fascinates and rivets their attention. They are looking upon a +long table covered with green cloth, in the centre of which is a large +polished wooden basin with a moveable rim, and around it are small +compartments, numbered to a certain extent, namely 38, alternately red +and black in irregular order, numbered from one to 36, a nought or zero +in a red, and a double zero upon the black, making up the 38, and each +capable of holding a marble. The moveable rim is set in motion by the +hand, and as it revolves horizontally from east to west round its axis, +the marble is caused by a jerk of the finger and thumb to fly off in a +contrary movement. The public therefore conclude that no calculation +can foretell where the marble will fall, and I believe they are right, +inasmuch as the bank plays a certain and sure game, however deep, runs +no risk of loss, and consequently has no necessity for superfluously +cheating or deluding the public. It also plays double, that is, on both +sides of the wheel of fortune at once. + +'When the whirling of both rim and marble cease, the latter falls, +either simultaneously or after some coy uncertainty, into one of +the compartments, and the number and colour, &c., are immediately +proclaimed, the stakes deposited are dexterously raked up by the +croupier, or increased by payment from the bank, according as the colour +wins or loses. Now, the two sides or tables are merely duplicates of one +another, and each of them is divided something like a chess-board +into three columns of squares, which amount to 36; the numbers advance +arithmetically from right to left, and consequently there are 12 lines +down, so as to complete the rectangle; as one, therefore, stands at the +head, four stands immediately under it, and so on. At the bottom lie +three squares, with the French marks 12 p--12 m--12 d, that is, first, +middle, third dozen. The three large meadows on either side are for red +and black, pair and odd, miss and pass--which last signify the division +of the numbers into the first and second half, from 1 to 18, and from +19 to 36, inclusive. If a number be staked upon and wins, the stake is +increased to six times its amount, and so on, always less as the stake +is placed in different positions, which may be effected in the following +ways--by placing the piece of gold or silver on the line (_a cheval_, +as it is called), partly on one and partly on its neighbour, two numbers +are represented, and should one win, the piece is augmented to eighteen +times the sum; three numbers are signified upon the stroke at the end or +beginning of the numbers that go across; six, by placing the coin on +the border of a perpendicular and a horizontal line between two strokes; +four, where the lines cross within; twelve numbers are signified in a +two-fold manner, either upon the column where the figures follow in the +order of one, four, seven, and so on, or on the side-fields mentioned +above; these receive the stake trebled; and those who stake solely upon +the colour, the two halves, or equal and odd, have their stake doubled +when they win. Now, the two zeros, that is, the simple and compound, +stand apart and may be separately staked upon; should either turn up, +the stake is increased in a far larger proportion. + +'To render the game equal, without counting in the zeros and other +trifles, the winner ought to receive the square of 36, instead of 36. + +'It is a melancholy amusement to any rational being not infatuated +by the blind rage of gold, to witness the incredible excitement so +repeatedly made to take the bank by storm, sometimes by surprise, anon +by stealth, and not rarely by digging a mine, laying intrenchments and +opening a fire of field-pieces, heavy ordnance, and flying artillery; +but the fortress, proud and conscious of its superior strength, built on +a rock of adamant, laughs at the fiery attacks of its foes, nay, itself +invites the storm. + +'For those classes of mankind who possess a little more prudence, the +game called _Trente-et-un_, and _Quarante_, or _Rouge et Noir_ are +substituted. + +'The lord of the temple or establishment pays, I believe, to government +a yearly sum of 35,000 florins (about L3000) for permission to keep +up the establishment. He has gone to immense expense in decorating +the building; he pays a crowd of croupiers at different salaries, and +officers of his own, who superintend and direct matters; he lights +up the building, and he presides over the festivities of the town--in +short, he is the patron of it all. With all this liberality he himself +derives an enormous revenue, an income as sure and determined as that of +my Lord Mayor himself.'(73) + + +(73) City of the Fountains, or Baden-Baden. By R. H. Whitelocke. +Carlsruhe, 1840. + + +The Baden season begins in May; the official opening takes place towards +the close of the spring quarter, and then the fashionable world begins +to arrive at the rendezvous. + +It cannot be denied that everything is right well regulated, and apart +from the terrible dangers of gambling, the place does very great credit +to the authorities who thrive on the nefarious traffic. Perfect order +and decency of deportment, with all the necessary civilities of life, +are rigorously insisted on, and summary expulsion is the consequence +of any intolerable conduct. If it so happens that any person becomes +obnoxious in any way, whatever may be his or her rank, the first +intimation will be--'Sir, you are not in your place here;' or, 'Madame, +the air of Baden does not suit you.' If these words are disregarded, +there follows a summary order--'You must leave Baden this very day, and +cross the frontiers of the Grand Duchy within twenty-four hours.' + +Mr Sala, in his novel 'Make your Game,'(74) has given a spirited +description of the gambling scenes at Baden. + + +(74) Originally published in the 'Welcome Guest.' + + +Whilst I write there is exhibited at the Egyptian Hall, London, Dore's +magnificent picture of the _Tapis Vert_, or Life in Baden-Baden, of +which the following is an accurate description:-- + +'The _Tapis Vert_ is a moral, and at the same time an exceedingly +clever, satire. It is illustrative of the life, manners, and +predilections and pursuits of a class of society left hereafter to enjoy +the manifold attractions of fashionable watering-places, without the +scourge that for so many years held its immoral and degrading sway in +their sumptuous halls. + +'In one of these splendid salons the fashionable crowd is eagerly +pressing round an oblong table covered with green cloth (_le tapis +vert_), upon which piles of gold and bank-notes tell the tale of "_noir +perd et la couleur gagne_," and vice versa. The principal group, upon +which Dore has thrown one of his powerful effects of light, is lifelike, +and several of the actors are at once recognized. Both croupiers are +well-known characters. There is much life and movement in the silent +scene, in which thousands of pounds change hands in a few seconds. To +the left of the croupier (dealer), who turns up the winning card, sits +a finely-dressed woman, who cares for little else but gold. There is a +remarkable expression of eagerness and curiosity upon the countenance of +the lady who comes next, and who endeavours, with the assistance of her +eye-glass, to find out the state of affairs. The gentleman next to her +is an inveterate _blase_. The countenance of the old man reckoning up +needs no description. Near by stands a lady with a red feather in her +hat, and whose lace shawl alone is worth several hundred pounds--for +Dore made it. The two female figures to the left are splendidly painted. +The one who causes the other croupier to turn round seems somewhat +extravagantly dressed; but these costumes have been frequently worn +within the last two years both at Baden and Hombourg. The old lady at +the end of the table, to the left, is a well-known habituee at both +places. The bustling and shuffling eagerness of the figures in the +background is exceedingly well rendered. + +'As a whole, the _Tapis Vert_ is a very fine illustration of real life, +as met with in most of the leading German watering-places.'(75) + + +(75) 'Illustrated Times.' + + +'At the present moment,' says another authority, writing more than a +year ago, 'there are three very bold female gamblers at Baden. One is +the Russian Princess ----, who plays several hours every day at _Rouge +et Noir_, and sometimes makes what in our money would be many hundreds, +and at others goes empty away. She wins calmly enough, but when luck +is against her looks anxious. The second is the wife of an Italian +ex-minister, who is well known both as an authoress and politician. She +patronizes _Roulette_, and at every turn of the wheel her money passes +on the board. She is a good gambler--smirking when she wins, and +smirking when she loses. She dresses as splendidly as any of the +dames of Paris. The other night she excited a flutter among the ladies +assembled in the salons of the "Conversation" by appearing in a robe +flaming red with an exaggerated train which dragged its slow length +along the floor. But the greatest of the feminine players is the Leonie +Leblanc. When she is at the _Rouge et Noir_ table a larger crowd than +usual is collected to witness her operation. The stake she generally +risks is 6000 francs (L240), which is the maximum allowed. Her chance is +changing: a few days back she won L4000 in one sitting; some days later +she lost about L2000, and was then reduced to the, for her, indignity of +playing for paltry sums--L20 or thereabouts.' + +Among the more recent chronicles, the _Figaro_ gives the following +account of the close of the campaign of a gaming hero, M. Edgar de la +Charme, who, for a number of days together, never left the gaming-room +without carrying off the sum of 24,000 francs. + +'The day before yesterday, M. de la Charme, reflecting that there must +be an end even to the greatest run of luck, locked his portmanteau, paid +his bill, and took the road to the railway station, accompanied by some +of his friends. On reaching the wicket he found it closed; there were +still three-quarters of an hour to pass before the departure of the +train. "I will go and play my parting game," he exclaimed, and, turning +to the coachman, bade him drive to the Kursaal. His friends surrounded +him, and held him back; he should not go, he would lose all his +winnings. But he was resolute, and soon reached the Casino, where his +travelling dress caused a stir of satisfaction among the croupiers. He +sat down at the _Trente-et-quarante_, broke the bank in 20 minutes, got +into his cab again, and seeing the inspector of the tables walking +to and fro under the arcades, he said to him, in a tone of exquisite +politeness, "I could not think of going away without leaving you my +P.P.C."' + + +SPA. + + +'The gambling houses of Spa are in the Redoute, where _Rouge et Noir_ +and _Roulette_ are carried on nearly from morning to night. + +The profits of these establishments exceed L40,000 a year. In former +times they belonged to the Bishop of Liege, who was a partner in the +concern, and derived a considerable revenue from his share of the +ill-gotten gains of the manager of the establishment, and no gambling +tables could be set up without his permission.'(76) + + +(76) Murray's Handbook for Travellers on the Continent. + + +'The gambling in Spa is in a lower style than elsewhere. The croupiers +seem to be always on the look-out for cheating. You never see here a +pile of gold or bank notes on the table, as at Hombourg or Wiesbaden, +with the player saying, "Cinquante louis aux billet," "Cent-vingt louis +a la masse," and the winnings scrupulously paid, or the losings raked +carefully away from the heap. They do not allow that at Spa; there is an +order against it on the wall. They could not trust the people that play, +I suppose, and it is doubtful if the people could trust the croupiers. +The ball spins more slowly at _Roulette_--the cards are dealt more +gingerly at _Trente-et-quarante_ here than elsewhere. Nothing must +be done quickly, lest somebody on one side or other should try to do +somebody else. Altogether Spa is not a pleasant place to play in, and +as, moreover, the odds are as great against you as at Ems, it is better +to stick to the promenade _de sept heures_ and the ball-room, and leave +the two tables alone. Outside it is cheery and full of life. The Queen +of the Belgians is here, the Duke of Aumale, and other nice people. The +breeze from the hills is always delicious; the Promenade Meyerbeer as +refreshing on a hot day as a draught of iced water. But the denizens, +male and female, of the _salons de jeu_ are often obnoxious, and one +wishes that the old Baden law could be enforced against some of the +gentler sex. + +'By way of warning to any of your readers who propose to visit the +tables this summer, will you let me tell a little anecdote, from +personal experience, of one of these places--which one I had perhaps +better not say. I took a place at the Roulette table, and had not staked +more than once or twice, when two handsomely dressed ladies placed +themselves one on either side of me, and commenced playing with the +smallest coins allowed, wedging me in rather unpleasantly close between +them. At my third or fourth stake I won on both the colour and a number, +and my neighbour on the right quietly swept up my coins from the colour +the instant they were paid. I remonstrated, and she very politely argued +the point, ending by restoring my money. But during our discussion my +far larger stake, paid in the mean while, on the winning number, had +disappeared into the pocket of my neighbour on the left, who was not so +polite, and was very indignant at my suggestion that the stake was mine. +An appeal to the croupier only produced a shrug of the shoulders and +regret that he had not seen who staked the money, an offer to stop the +play, and a suggestion that I should find it very difficult to prove it +was my stake. The "plant" between the two women was evident. The whole +thing was a systematically-planned robbery, and very possibly the +croupier was a confederate. I detected the two women in communication, +and I told them that I should change my place to the other side of the +table where I would trouble them not to come. They took the hint very +mildly, and could afford to do so, for they had got my money. The +affair was very neatly managed, and would succeed in nearly every case, +especially if the croupier is, as is most probable, always on the side +of the ladies.' + + +HOMBOURG. + + +'In 1842 Hombourg was an obscure village, consisting of the castle of +the Landgraf, and of a few hundred houses which in the course of ages +had clustered around it. Few would have known of its existence except +from the fact of its being the capital of the smallest of European +countries. Its inhabitants lived poor and contented--the world +forgetting, by the world forgot. It boasted only of one inn--the +"Aigle"--which in summer was frequented by a few German families, who +came to live cheaply and to drink the waters of a neighbouring mineral +spring. That same year two French brothers of the name of Blanc arrived +at Frankfort. They were men of a speculative turn, and a recent and +somewhat daring speculation in France, connected with the old semaphore +telegraph, had rendered it necessary for them to withdraw for a time +from their native land. Their stock-in-trade consisted in a Roulette +wheel, a few thousand francs, and an old and skilful croupier of +Frascati, who knew a great deal about the properties of cards. The +authorities of the town of Frankfort, being dull traders, declined to +allow them to initiate their townsmen into the mysteries of cards and +Roulette, so hearing that there were some strangers living at Hombourg, +they put themselves into an old diligence, and the same evening +disembarked at the "Aigle." The next day the elder brother called upon +the prime minister, an ancient gentleman, who, with a couple of clerks, +for some L60 a year governed the Landgrafate of Hombourg to his own and +the general satisfaction. After a private interview with this statesman +the elder Blanc returned poorer in money, but with a permission in his +pocket to put up his Roulette wheel in one of the rooms of the inn. In +a few months the money of the innocent water-drinkers passed from their +pockets into those of the brothers Blanc. The ancient man of Frascati +turned the wheel, and no matter on what number the water-drinkers risked +their money, that number did not turn up. At the close of the summer +season a second visit was made to the prime minister, and the Blancs +returned to Frankfort with an exclusive concession to establish games +of hazard within the wide spreading dominions of the Landgraf. For this +they had agreed to build a kursaal, to lay out a public garden, and to +pay into the national exchequer 40,000 florins (a florin is worth one +shilling and eight-pence) per annum. Having obtained this concession, +the next step was to found a company. Frankfort abounds in Hebrew +speculators, who are not particular how they make money, and as the +speculation appeared a good one, the money was soon forthcoming. It was +decided that the nominal capital was to be 400,000 florins, divided into +shares of 100 florins each. Half the shares were subscribed for by the +Hebrew financialists, and the other half was credited to the Blancs as +the price of their concession. During the winter a small kursaal was +built and a small garden planted; the mineral well was deepened, and +flaming advertisements appeared in all the German newspapers announcing +to the world that the famous waters of Hombourg were able to cure every +disease to which flesh is heir, and that to enable visitors to while +away their evenings agreeably a salon had been opened, in which they +would have an opportunity to win fabulous sums by risking their money +either at the game of _Trente et Quarante_ or at _Roulette_. From these +small beginnings arose the "company" whose career has been so notorious. +It has enjoyed uninterrupted good fortune. During the twenty-six years +that have elapsed since its foundation, a vast palace dedicated to +gambling has been built, the village has become a town, well paved, and +lighted with gas; the neighbouring hills are covered with villas; about +eighty acres have been laid out in pleasure-grounds; roads have been +made in all directions through the surrounding woods; the visitors are +numbered by tens of thousands; there are above twenty hotels and many +hundred excellent lodging-houses.'(77) + + +(77) Correspondent of _Daily News._ + + +'Let those who are disposed to risk their money inquire what is the +character of the managers, and be on their guard. The expenses of such +an enormous and splendid establishment amount to L10,000, and the shares +have for some years paid a handsome dividend--the whole of which must be +paid out of the pockets of travellers and visitors.'(78) + + +(78) Murray, _ubi supra_. + + +Mr Sala in his interesting work, already quoted, furnishes the +completest account of Hombourg, its Kursaal, and gambling, which I have +condensed as follows:-- + +'In Hombourg the Kursaal is everything, and the town nothing. The +extortionate hotel-keepers, the "snub-nosed rogues of counter and till," +who overcharge you in the shops, make their egregious profits from the +Kursaal. The major part of the Landgrave's revenue is derived from the +Kursaal; he draws L5000 a year from it. He and his house are sold to +the Kursaal; and the Board of Directors of the Kursaal are the real +sovereigns and land-graves of Hesse Hombourg. They have metamorphosed a +miserable mid-German townlet into a city of palaces. Their stuccoed +and frescoed palace is five hundred times handsomer than the mouldy old +Schloss, built by William with the silver leg. They have planted the +gardens; they have imported the orange-trees; they have laid out the +park, and enclosed the hunting-grounds; they board, lodge, wash, and +tax the inhabitants; and I may say, without the slightest attempt at +punning, that the citizens are all _Kursed_. + +'In the Kursaal is the ball or concert-room, at either end of which is +a gallery, supported by pillars of composition marble. The floors are +inlaid, and immense mirrors in sumptuous frames hang on the walls. +Vice can see her own image all over the establishment. The ceiling is +superbly decorated with bas-reliefs in _carton-pierre_, like those in +Mr Barry's new Covent Garden Theatre; and fresco paintings, executed by +Viotti, of Milan, and Conti, of Munich; whilst the whole is lighted +up by enormous and gorgeous chandeliers. The apartment to the right is +called the _Salle Japanese_, and is used as a dining-room for a monster +_table d'hote_, held twice a day, and served by the famous Chevet of +Paris. + +'There is a huge Cafe Olympique, for smoking and imbibing purposes, +private cabinets for parties, the monster saloon, and two smaller ones, +where _FROM ELEVEN IN THE FORENOON TO ELEVEN AT NIGHT, SUNDAYS +NOT EXCEPTED, ALL THE YEAR ROUND_, and year after year--(the +"administration" have yet a "_jouissance_" of eighty-five years to run +out, guaranteed by the incoming dynasty of Hesse Darmstadt), knaves and +fools, from almost every corner of the world, gamble at the ingenious +and amusing games of _Roulette_, and _Rouge et Noir_, otherwise _Trente +et Quarante_. + +'There is one table covered with green baize, tightly stretched as on a +billiard-field. In the midst of the table there is a circular pit, +coved inwards, but not bottomless, and containing the Roulette wheel, a +revolving disc, turning with an accurate momentum on a brass pillar, +and divided at its outer edge into thirty-seven narrow and shallow +pigeon-hole compartments, coloured alternately red and black, and +numbered--not consecutively--up to thirty-six. The last is a blank, and +stands for _Zero_, number _Nothing_. Round the upper edge, too, run a +series of little brass hoops, or bridges, to cause the ball to hop and +skip, and not at once into the nearest compartment. This is the regimen +of Roulette. The banker sits before the wheel,--a croupier, or payer-out +of winnings to and raker in of losses from the players, on either side. +Crying in a voice calmly sonorous, "_Faites le Jeu, Messieurs_,"--"Make +your game, gentlemen!" the banker gives the wheel a dexterous twirl, and +ere it has made one revolution, casts into its Maelstrom of black and +red an ivory ball. The interval between this and the ball finding a home +is one of breathless anxiety. Stakes are eagerly laid; but at a certain +period of the revolution the banker calls out--"_Le Jeu est fait. Rien +ne va plus_,"--and after that intimation it is useless to lay down +money. Then the banker, in the same calm and impassable voice, declares +the result. It may run thus:--"_Vingt-neuf, Noir, Impair, et Passe," +"Twenty-nine, Black, Odd, and Pass the Rubicon_" (No. 18); or, "_Huit, +Rouge, Pair, et Manque_," "Eight, Red, Even, and _NOT_ Pass the +Rubicon." + +'Now, on either side of the wheel, and extending to the extremity of the +table, run, in duplicate, the schedule of _mises_ or stakes. The green +baize first offers just thirty-six square compartments, marked out +by yellow threads woven in the fabric itself, and bearing thirty-six +consecutive numbers. If you place a florin (one and eight-pence)--and no +lower stake is permitted--or ten florins, or a Napoleon, or an English +five-pound note, or any sum of money not exceeding the maximum, whose +multiple is the highest stake which the bank, if it loses, can be made +to pay, in the midst of compartment 29, and if the banker, in that calm +voice of his, has declared that 29 has become the resting place of +the ball, the croupier will push towards you with his rake exactly +thirty-three times the amount of your stake, whatever it might have +been. You must bear in mind, however, that the bank's loss on a single +stake is limited to eight thousand francs. Moreover, if you have placed +another sum of money in the compartment inscribed, in legible yellow +colours, "_Impair_," or Odd, you will receive the equivalent to your +stake--twenty-nine being an odd number. If you have placed a coin on +_Passe_, you will also receive this additional equivalent to your +stake, twenty-nine being "Past the Rubicon," or middle of the table of +numbers--18. Again, if you have ventured your money in a compartment +bearing for device a lozenge in outline, which represents black, and +twenty-nine being a black number, you will again pocket a double stake, +that is, one in addition to your original venture. More, and more +still,--if you have risked money on the columns--that is, betted on the +number turning up corresponding with some number in one of the columns +of the tabular schedule, and have selected the right column--you have +your own stake and two others;--if you have betted on either of these +three eventualities, _douze premier, douze milieu_, or _douze dernier_, +otherwise "first dozen," "middle dozen," or "last dozen," as one +to twelve, thirteen to twenty-four, twenty-five to thirty-six, all +inclusive, and have chanced to select _douze dernier_, the division in +which No. 29 occurs, you also obtain a treble stake, namely, your own +and two more which the bank pays you, your florin or your five-pound +note--benign fact!--metamorphosed into three. But, woe to the wight +who should have ventured on the number "eight," on the red colour +(compartment with a crimson lozenge), on "even," and on "not past +the Rubicon;" for twenty-nine does not comply with any one of these +conditions. He loses, and his money is coolly swept away from him by the +croupier's rake. With reference to the last chances I enumerated in the +last paragraph, I should mention that the number _EIGHT_ would lie in +the second column--there being three columns,--and in the first dozen +numbers. + +'There are more chances, or rather subdivisions of chances, to entice +the player to back the "numbers;" for these the stations of the ball are +as capricious as womankind; and it is, of course, extremely rare that a +player will fix upon the particular number that happens to turn up. But +he may place a piece of money _a cheval_, or astride, on the line which +divides two numbers, in which case (either of the numbers turning up) +he receives sixteen times his stake. He may place it on the cross lines +that divide four numbers, and, if either of the four wins, he will +receive eight times the amount of his stake. A word as to _Zero_. Zero +is designated by the compartment close to the wheel's diameter, and +zero, or blank, will turn up, on an average, about once in seventy +times. If you have placed money in zero, and the ball seeks that haven, +you will receive thirty-three times your stake.' + +The twin or elder brother of _Roulette_, played at Hombourg, _Rouge et +Noir_, or _Trente et Quarante_, is thus described by Mr Sala:-- + +'There is the ordinary green-cloth covered table, with its brilliant +down-coming lights. In the centre sits the banker, gold and silver in +piles and _rouleaux_, and bank-notes before him. On either hand, the +croupier, as before, now wielding the rakes and plying them to bring +in the money, now balancing them, now shouldering them, as soldiers do +their muskets, half-pay officers their canes, and dandies their silk +umbrellas. The banker's cards are, as throughout all the Rhenish +gaming-places, of French design; the same that were invented, or, at +least, first used in Europe, for crazy Charles the Simple. These cards +are placed on an inclined plane of marble, called a _talon_. + +'The dealer first takes six packs of cards, shuffles them, and +distributes them in various parcels to the various punters or players +round the table, to shuffle and mix. He then finally shuffles them, and +takes and places the end cards into various parts of the three hundred +and twelve cards, until he meets with a _court card_, which he must +place upright at the end. This done, he presents the pack to one of +the players to cut, who places the pictured card where the _dealer_ +separates the pack, and that part of the pack beyond the pictured card +he places at the end nearest him, leaving the pictured card at the +bottom of the pack. + +'The dealer then takes a certain number of cards, about as many as would +form a pack, and, looking at the first card, to know its colour, puts it +on the table with its face downwards. He then takes two cards, one red +and the other black, and sets them back to back. These cards are turned, +and displayed conspicuously, as often as the colour varies, for the +information of the company. + +'The gamblers having staked their money on either of the colours, the +dealer asks, "_Votre jeu est-il fait?_" "Is your game made?" or, +"_Votre jeu est-il piet?_" "Is your game ready?" or, "_Le jeu est pret, +Messieurs_," "The game is ready, gentlemen." He then deals the first +card with its face upwards, saying "_Noir;_" and continues dealing until +the cards turned exceed thirty points or pips in number, which number +he must mention, as "_Trente-et-un_," or "_Trente-six_," as the case may +be. + +'As the aces reckon but for one, no card after thirty can make up forty; +the dealer, therefore, does not declare the _tens_ after _thirty-one_, +or upwards, but merely the units, as one, two, three; if the number of +points dealt for _Noir_ are thirty-five he says "_Cinq_." + +'Another parcel is then dealt for _rouge_, or _red_, and with equal +deliberation and solemnity; and if the players stake beyond the colour +that comes to _thirty-one_ or nearest to it, he wins, which happy +eventuality is announced by the dealer crying--"_Rouge gagne_," "Red +wins," or "_Rouge perd_," "Red loses." These two parcels, one for each +colour, make a _coup_. The same number of parcels being dealt for each +colour, the dealer says, "_Apres_," "After." This is a "doublet," called +in the amiable French tongue, "_un refait_," by which neither party +wins, unless both colours come to _thirty-one_, which the dealer +announces by saying, "_Un refait Trente-et-un_," and he wins half the +stakes posted on both colours. He, however, does not take the money, but +removes it to the middle line, and the players may change the _venue_ of +their stakes if they please. This is called the first "prison," or +_la premiere prison_, and, if they win their next event, they draw the +entire stake. In case of another "_refait_," the money is removed into +the third line, which is called the second prison. So you see that there +are wheels within wheels, and Lord Chancellor King's dictum, that walls +can be built higher, but there should be no prison within a prison, is +sometimes reversed. + +When this happens the dealer wins all. + +'The cards are sometimes cut for which colour shall be dealt first; but, +in general, the first parcel is for _black_, and the second for _red_. +The odds against a "_refait_" turning up are usually reckoned as 63 to +1. The bankers, however, acknowledge that they expect it twice in three +deals, and there are generally from twenty-nine to thirty-two coups in +each deal. The odds in favour of winning several times are about the +same as in the game of Pharaon, and are as delusive. 'He who goes to +Hombourg and expects to see any melodramatic manifestation of rage, +disappointment, and despair in the losing players, reckons without his +host. Winners or losers seldom speak above a whisper; and the only sound +that is heard above the suppressed buzz of conversation, the muffled +jingle of the money on the green cloth, the "sweep" of the croupiers' +rakes, and the ticking of the very ornate French clocks on the +mantel-pieces, is the impassibly metallic voice of the banker, as he +proclaims his "_Rouge perd_," or "_Couleur gagne_." People are too +genteel at Hombourg-von-der-Hohe to scream, to yell, to fall into +fainting fits, or go into convulsions, because they have lost four or +five thousand francs or so in a single coup. + +'I have heard of one gentleman, indeed, who, after a ruinous loss, put +a pistol to his head, and discharging it, spattered his brains over the +Roulette wheel. It was said that the banker, looking up calmly, called +out--'_Triple Zero,' 'Treble Nothing_,'--a case as yet unheard of in +the tactics of Roulette, but signifying annihilation,--and that, a cloth +being thrown over the ensanguined wheel, the bank of that particular +table was declared to be closed for the day. Very probably the whole +story is but a newspaper _canard_, devised by the proprietors of some +rival gaming establishment, who would have been delighted to see the +fashionable Hombourg under a cloud. + +'When people want to commit suicide at Hombourg, they do it genteelly; +early in the morning, or late at night, in the solitude of their own +apartments at the hotels. It would be reckoned a gross breach of good +manners to scandalize the refined and liberal administration of the +Kursaal by undisguised _felo-de-se_. The devil on two _croupes_ at +Hombourg is the very genteelest of demons imaginable. He ties his +tail up with cherry-coloured ribbon, and conceals his cloven foot in +a patent-leather boot. All this gentility and varnish, and elegant +veneering of the sulphurous pit, takes away from him, if it does not +wholly extinguish, the honour and loathing for a common gaming-house, +with which the mind of a wellured English youth has been sedulously +imbued by his parents and guardians. He has very probably witnessed the +performance of the "Gamester" at the theatre, and been a spectator of +the remorseful agonies of Mr Beverly, the virtuous sorrows of Mrs B., +and the dark villanies of Messieurs Dawson and Bates. + +'The first visit of the British youth to the Kursaal is usually paid +with fear and trembling. He is with difficulty persuaded to enter the +accursed place. When introduced to the saloons--delusively called _de +conversation_, he begins by staring fixedly at the chandeliers, the +ormolu clocks, and the rich draperies, and resolutely averts his eyes +from the serried ranks of punters or players, and the Pactolus, whose +sands are circulating on the green cloth on the table. Then he thinks +there is no very great harm in looking on, and so peeps over the +shoulder of a moustached gamester, who perhaps whispers to him in the +interval between two coups, that if a man will only play carefully, and +be content with moderate gains, he may win sufficient--taking the +good days and the evil days in a lump--to keep him in a decent kind of +affluence all the year round. Indeed, I once knew a croupier--we used to +call him Napoleon, from the way he took snuff from his waistcoat pocket, +who was in the way of expressing a grave conviction that it was possible +to make a capital living at Roulette, so long as you stuck to the +colours, and avoided the Scylla of the numbers and the Charybdis of the +Zero. By degrees, then, the shyness of the neophyte wears off. Perhaps +in the course of his descent of Avernus, a revulsion of feeling takes +place, and, horror-struck and ashamed, he rushes out of the Kursaal, +determined to enter its portals no more. Then he temporizes; remembers +that there is a capital reading-room, provided with all the newspapers +and periodicals of civilized Europe, attached to the Kursaalian +premises. There can be no harm, he thinks, in glancing over "Galignani" +or the "Charivari," although under the same roof as the abhorred _Trente +et Quarante;_ but, alas! he finds _Galignani_ engaged by an acrid old +lady of morose countenance, who has lost all her money by lunch-time, +and is determined to "take it out in reading," and the _Charivari_ +slightly clenched in one hand by the deaf old gentleman with the dingy +ribbon of the Legion of Honour, and the curly brown wig pushed up over +one ear, who always goes to sleep on the soft and luxurious velvet +couches of the Kursaal reading-room, from eleven till three, every day, +Sundays not excepted. The disappointed student of home or foreign news +wanders back to one of the apartments where play is going, on. In fact, +he does not know what to do with himself until table-d'hote time. You +know what the moral bard, Dr Watts says:-- + +"Satan finds some mischief still, For idle hands to do." + +The unfledged gamester watches the play more narrowly. A stout lady in +a maroon velvet mantle, and a man with a bald head, a black patch on +his occiput, and gold spectacles, obligingly makes way for him. He finds +himself pressed against the very edge of the table. Perhaps a chair--one +of those delightfully comfortable Kursaal chairs--is vacant. He is tired +with doing nothing, and sinks into the emolliently-cushioned _fauteuil_. +He fancies that he has caught the eye of the banker, or one of the +gentlemen of the _croupe_, and that they are meekly inviting him to +try his luck. "Well, there can't be much harm in risking a florin," he +murmurs. He stakes his silver-piece on a number or a colour. He wins, +we will say, twice or thrice. Perhaps he quadruples his stake, nay, +perchance, hits on the lucky number. It turns up, and he receives +thirty-five times the amount of his _mise_. Thenceforth it is all over +with that ingenuous British youth. The Demon of Play has him for his +own, and he may go on playing and playing until he has lost every florin +of his own, or as many of those belonging to other people as he can beg +or borrow. Far more fortunate for him would it be in the long run, if +he met in the outset with a good swinging loss. The burnt child +_DOES_ dread the fire as a rule; but there is this capricious, almost +preternatural, feature of the physiology of gaming, that the young and +inexperienced generally win in the first instance. They are drawn on and +on, and in and in. They begin to lose, and continue to lose, and by the +time they have cut their wise teeth they have neither sou nor silver to +make their dearly-bought wisdom available. + +'At least one-half of the company may be assumed to be arrant +rascals--rascals male and rascals female--_chevaliers d'industrie_, the +offscourings of all the shut-up gambling-houses in Europe, demireps and +_lorettes_, single and married women innumerable.' + +In the course of the three visits he has paid to Hombourg, Mr Sala +has observed that 'nine-tenths of the English visitors to the Kursaal, +play;' and he does not hesitate to say that the moths who flutter round +the garish lamps at the Kursaal Van der Hohe, and its kindred Hades, +almost invariably singe their wings; and that the chaseer at _Roulette_ +and _Rouge_, generally turn out edged tools, with which those incautious +enough to play with them are apt to cut their fingers, sometimes very +dangerously. + +The season of 1869 in Hombourg is thus depicted in a high class +newspaper. + +'Never within the memory of the oldest inhabitant (who in this instance +must undoubtedly be that veteran player Countess Kisselef) has the town +witnessed such an influx of tourists of every class and description. +Hotels and lodging-houses are filled to overflowing. Every day imprudent +travellers who have neglected the precaution of securing rooms before +their arrival return disconsolately to Frankfort to await the vacation +of some apartment which a condescending landlord has promised them after +much negotiation for the week after next. The morning promenade is a +wonderful sight; such a host of bilious faces, such an endless variety +of eccentric costumes, such a Babel of tongues, among which the shrill +twang of our fair American cousins is peculiarly prominent, could +be found in no other place in the civilized world. A moralist would +assuredly find here abundant food for reflection on the wonderful +powers of self-deception possessed by mankind. We all get up at most +inconvenient hours, swallow a certain quantity of a most nauseous +fluid, and then, having sacrificed so much to appearances, soothe our +consciences with the unfounded belief that a love of early rising and +salt water was our real reason for coming here, and that the gambling +tables had nothing whatever to do with it. Perhaps, in some few +instances, this view may be the correct one; some few invalids, say +one in a hundred, may have sought Hombourg solely in the interest of an +impaired digestion, but I fear that such cases are few and far between; +and, as a friend afflicted with a mania for misquotation remarked to me +the other day, even "those who come to drink remain to play." + +'Certainly the demon of Rouge et Noir has never held more undisputed +sway in Hombourg than in the present season; never have the tables +groaned under such a load of notes and rouleaux. It would seem as if the +gamblers, having only two or more years left in which to complete +their ruin, were hurrying on with redoubled speed to that desirable +consummation, and where a stake of 12,000 francs is allowed on a single +coup the pace can be made very rapid indeed. High play is so common +that unless you are lucky enough to win or rich enough to lose a hundred +thousand francs at least, you need not hope to excite either envy or +commiseration. One persevering Muscovite, who has been punting steadily +for six weeks, has actually succeeded in getting rid of a million of +florins. As yet there have been no suicides to record, owing probably to +the precautionary measures adopted by a paternal Administration. As soon +as a gambler is known to be utterly cleared out he at once receives a +visit from one of M. Blanc's officials, who offers him a small sum on +condition he will leave the town forthwith; which viaticum, however, for +fear of accidents, is only handed to him when fairly seated in the train +that bears him away, to blow out his brains, should he feel so inclined, +elsewhere. One of the most unpleasant facts connected with the gambling +is the ardour displayed by many ladies in this very unfeminine pursuit: +last night out of twenty-five persons seated at the Roulette table I +counted no fewer than fifteen ladies, including an American lady with +her two daughters! + +'The King of Prussia has arrived, and, with due deference to the +official editors who have described in glowing paragraphs the popular +demonstrations in his honour, I am bound to assert that he was received +with very modified tokens of delight. There was not even a repetition of +the triumphal arch of last year; those funereal black and white flags, +whose sole aspect is enough to repress any exuberance of rejoicing, +were certainly flapping against the hotel windows and the official +flagstaffs, but little else testified to the joy of the Hombourgers at +beholding their Sovereign. They manage these things better in France. +Any French _prefet_ would give the German authorities a few useful hints +concerning the cheap and speedy manufacture of loyal enthusiasm. The +foreigners, however, seem determined to atone amply for any lack of +proper feeling on the part of the townspeople. They crowd round his +Majesty as soon as he appears in the rooms or gardens, and mob the +poor old gentleman with a vigour which taxes all the energies of his +aides-de-camp to save their Royal master from death by suffocation. Need +I add that our old friend the irrepressible "'Arry" is ever foremost in +these gentlemanlike demonstrations? + +'Of course the town swarms with well-known English faces; indeed, the +Peers and M.P.s here at present would form a very respectable party in +the two Houses. We are especially well off for dukes; the _Fremdenliste_ +notifies the presence of no fewer than five of those exalted personages. +A far less respectable class of London society is also, I am sorry +to say, strongly represented: I allude to those gentlemen of the +light-fingered persuasion whom the outer world rudely designate +as pickpockets. This morning two gorgeously arrayed members of the +fraternity were marched down to the station by the police, each being +decorated with a pair of bright steel handcuffs; seventeen of them were +arrested last week in Frankfort at one fell swoop, and at the tables +the row of lookers-on who always surround the players consists in +about equal proportions of these gentry and their natural enemies--the +detectives. Their booty since the beginning of the season must be +reckoned by thousands. Mustapha Fazyl Pasha had his pocket picked of +a purse containing L600, and a Russian lady was lately robbed of a +splendid diamond brooch valued at 75,000 francs.(79) + + +(79) Pall Mall Gazette, Aug. 1869. + + +But the days of the Kursaal are numbered, and the glories or infamies of +Hombourg are doomed. + +'The fiat has gone forth. In five years(80) from this time the "game +will be made" no longer--the great gambling establishment of Hombourg +will be a thing of the past. The town will be obliged to contend on +equal terms with other watering-places for its share of the wool on the +backs of summer excursionists. + + +(80) In 1872. + + +'As most of the townspeople are shareholders in this thriving concern, +and as all of them gain either directly or indirectly by the play, +it was amusing to watch the anxiety of these worthies during the war +between Austria and Prussia. Patriotism they had none; they cared +neither for Austrian nor Prussian, for a great Germany nor for a +small Germany. The "company" was their god and their country. All that +concerned them was to know whether the play was likely to be suppressed. +When they were annexed to Prussia, at first they could not believe +that Count Bismarck, whatever he might do with kings, would +venture to interfere with the "bank." It was to them a divine +institution--something far superior to dynasties and kingdoms.... + +'For a year the Hombourgers were allowed to suppose that their "peculiar +institution" was indeed superior to fate, to public opinion, and to +Prussia; but at the commencement of the present year they were rudely +awakened from their dreams of security. The sword that had been hanging +over them fell. The directors of the company were ordered to appear +before the governor of the town, and they were told that they and all +belonging to them were to cease to exist in 1872, and that the following +arrangement was to be made respecting the plunder gained until that +date. The shareholders were to receive 10 per cent. on their money; 5000 +shares were to be paid off at par each year, and if this did not absorb +all the profits, the surplus was to go towards a fund for keeping up +the gardens after the play had ceased. By this means, as there are now +36,000 shares, 25,000 will be paid off at par, and the remaining 11,000 +will be represented by the buildings and the land belonging to the +company, which it will be at liberty to sell to the highest bidder. +Since this decree has been promulgated the Hombourgers are in despair. +The croupiers and the clerks, the Jews who lend money at high interest, +the Christians who let lodgings, all the rogues and swindlers who one +way or another make a living out of the play, fill the air with their +complaints. + +'Although no doubt individuals will suffer by the suppression of public +play here, it is by no means certain that the town itself will not be a +gainer by it. Holiday seekers must go somewhere. The air of Hombourg is +excellent; the waters are invigorating; the town is well situated and +easy of access by rail; living is comparatively cheap--a room may be had +for about 18_s_. a week, an excellent dinner for 2_s_.; breakfast +costs less than a shilling. Hombourg is now a fixed fact, and if the +townspeople take heart and grapple with the new state of things--if they +buy up the Kursaal, and throw open its salons to visitors; if they keep +up the opera, the cricket club, and the shooting; if they have good +music, and balls and concerts for those who like them, there is no +reason why they should not attract as many visitors to their town as +they do now.'(81) + + +(81) Correspondent of _Daily News._ + + +AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. + + +The gaming at Aix-la-Chapelle is equally desperate and destructive. +'A Russian officer of my acquaintance,' says a writer in the Annual +Register for 1818, 'was subject, like many of his countrymen whom I +have known, to the infatuation of play to a most ridiculous excess. +His distrust of himself under the assailments which he anticipated at +a place like Aix-la-Chapelle, had induced him to take the prudent +precaution of paying in advance at his hotel for his board and lodging, +and at the bathing-house for his baths, for the time he intended to +stay. The remaining contents of his purse he thought fairly his own; +and he went of course to the table all the gayer for the license he had +taken of his conscience. On fortune showing him a few favours, he came +to me in high spirits, with a purse full of Napoleons, and a resolute +determination to keep them by venturing no more; but a gamester can no +more be stationary than the tide of a river, and on the evening he +was put out of suspense by having not a Napoleon left, and nothing to +console but congratulation on his foresight, and the excellent supper +which was the fruit of it.' + +Towards the end of the last century Aix-la-Chapelle was a great +rendezvous of gamblers. The chief banker there paid a thousand louis +per annum for his license. A little Italian adventurer once went to the +place with only a few louis in his pocket, and played crown stakes at +Hazard. Fortune smiled on him; he increased his stakes progressively; in +twenty-four hours won about L4000. On the following day he stripped the +bank entirely, pocketing nearly L10,000. He continued to play for some +days, till he was at last reduced to a single louis! He now obtained +from a friend the loan of L30, and once more resumed his station at the +gaming table, which he once more quitted with L10,000 in his pocket, +and resolved to leave it for ever. The arguments of one of the +bankers, however, who followed him to his inn, soon prevailed over his +resolution, and on his return to the gaming table he was stripped of his +last farthing. He went to his lodgings, sold his clothes, and by that +means again appeared at his old haunt, for the half-crown stakes, by +which he honourably repaid his loan of L30. His end was unknown to the +relater of the anecdote, but 'ten to one,' it was ruin. + +At the same place, in the year 1793, the heir-apparent of an Irish +Marquis lost at various times nearly L20,000 at a billiard table, partly +owing to his antagonist being an excellent calculator, as well as a +superior player. + +A French emigrant at Aix-la-Chapelle, who carried a basket of tarts, +liqueurs, &c., for regaling the gamesters, put down twenty-five louis at +_Rouge et Noir_. He lost. He then put down fifteen, and lost again; at +the third turn he staked ten; but while the cards were being shuffled, +seeming to recollect himself, he felt all his pockets, and at length +found two large French crowns, and a small one, which he also ventured. +The deal was determined at the ninth card; and the poor wretch, who had +lost his all, dashed down his basket, started from his seat, overturning +two chairs as he forced the circle, tore off his hair, and with horrid +blasphemies, burst the folding doors, and rushing out like a madman, was +seen no more. + +Another emigrant arrived here penniless, but meeting a friend, obtained +the loan of a few crowns, nearly his all. With these he went to the +rooms, put down his stake, and won. He then successively doubled his +stakes till he closed the evening with a hundred louis in his pocket. +He went to his friend, and with mutual congratulations they resolved to +venture no more, and calculated how long their gains would support them +from absolute want, and thus seemed to strengthen their wise resolution. + +The next night, however, the lucky gambler returned to the room--but +only to be a spectator, as he firmly said. Alas! his resolution failed +him, and he quitted the tables indebted to a charitable bystander for a +livre or two, to pay for his petty refreshments. + +It is said that the annual profit to the bankers was 120,000 florins, or +L14,000. + +'The very name of Aix-la-Chapelle,' says a traveller, 'makes one think +(at least, makes me think) of cards and dice,--sharks and pigeons. +It has a "professional odour" upon it, which is certainly not that of +sanctity. I entered the Redoute with my head full of sham barons, German +Catalinas, and the thousand-and-one popular tales of renowned knights of +the green cloth,--their seducing confederates, and infatuated dupes. + +'The rooms are well distributed; the saloons handsome. A sparkling of +ladies, apparently (and really, as I understood) of the best water, the +_elite_, in short, of Aix-la-Chapelle, were lounging on sofas placed +round the principal saloon, or fluttering about amidst a crowd of men, +who filled up the centre of the room, or thronged round the tables that +were ranged on one side of it. + +'The players continued their occupation in death-like silence, +undisturbed by the buzz or the gaze of the lookers-on; not a sound was +heard but the rattle of the heaped-up money, as it was passed from one +side of the table to the other; nor was the smallest anxiety or emotion +visible on any countenance. + +'The scene was unpleasing, though to me curious from its novelty. + +Ladies are admitted to play, but there were none occupied this morning. +I was glad of it; indeed, though English travellers are accused of +carrying about with them a portable code of morality, which dissolves or +stiffens like a soap-cake as circumstances may affect its consistency, +yet I sincerely believe that there are few amongst us who would not +feel shocked at seeing one of the gentler sex in so unwomanly a +position.'(82) + + +(82) Reminiscences of the Rhine, &c. Anon. + + +WIESBADEN. + + +The gambling here in 1868 has been described in a very vivid manner. + +'Since the enforcement of the Prussian Sunday observance regulations, +Monday has become the great day of the week for the banks of the German +gambling establishments. Anxious to make up for lost time, the regular +contributors to the company's dividends flock early on Monday forenoon +to the play-rooms in order to secure good places at the tables, which, +by the appointed hour for commencing operations (eleven o'clock), are +closely hedged round by persons of both sexes, eagerly waiting for the +first deal of the cards or the initial twist of the brass wheel, that +they may try another fall with Fortune. Before each seated player are +arranged precious little piles of gold and silver, a card printed +in black and red, and a long pin, wherewith to prick out a system of +infallible gain. The croupiers take their seats and unpack the strong +box; rouleaux--long metal sausages composed of double and single +florins,--wooden bowls brimming over with gold Frederics and Napoleons, +bank notes of all sizes and colours, are arranged upon the black leather +compartment, ruled over by the company's officers; half-a-dozen packs +of new cards are stripped of their paper cases, and swiftly shuffled +together; and when all these preliminaries, watched with breathless +anxiety by the surrounding speculators, have been gravely and carefully +executed, the chief croupier looks round him--a signal for the prompt +investment of capital on all parts of the table--chucks out a handful of +cards from the mass packed together convenient to his hand--ejaculates +the formula, "Faites le jeu!" and, after half a minute's pause, during +which he delicately moistens the ball of his dealing thumb, exclaims "Le +jeu est fait, rien ne va plus," and proceeds to interpret the decrees of +fate according to the approved fashion of Trente et Quarante. A similar +scene is taking place at the Roulette table--a goodly crop of florins, +with here and there a speck of gold shining amongst the silver harvest, +is being sown over the field of the cloth of green, soon to be reaped +by the croupier's sickle, and the pith ball is being dropped into the +revolving basin that is partitioned off into so many tiny black and red +niches. For the next twelve hours the processes in question are carried +on swiftly and steadily, without variation or loss of time; relays of +croupiers are laid on, who unobtrusively slip into the places of their +fellows when the hours arrive for relieving guard; the game is never +stopped for more than a couple of minutes at a time, viz., when the +cards run out and have to be re-shuffled. This brief interruption is +commonly considered to portend a break in the particular vein which the +game may have happened to assume during the deal--say a run upon black +or red, an alternation of coups (in threes or fours) upon either +colour, two reds and a black, or _vice versa_, all equally frequent +eccentricities of the cards; and the heavier players often change +their seats, or leave the table altogether for an hour or so at such a +conjuncture. Curiously enough, excepting at the very commencement of the +day's play, the _habitues_ of the Trente et Quarante tables appear to +entertain a strong antipathy to the first deal or two after the cards +have been "re-made." I have been told by one or two masters of the craft +that they have a fancy to see how matters are likely to go before they +strike in, as if it were possible to deduce the future of the game from +its past! That it is possible appears to be an article of faith with +the old stagers, and, indeed, every now and then odd coincidences occur +which tend to confirm them in their creed. I witnessed an occurrence +which was either attributable (as I believe) to sheer chance, or (as +its hero earnestly assured me) to instinct. A fair and frail Magyar was +punting on numbers with immense pluck and uniform ill fortune. Behind +her stood a Viennese gentleman of my acquaintance, who enjoys a certain +renown amongst his friends for the faculty of prophecy, which, however, +he seldom exercises for his own benefit. Observing that she hesitated +about staking her double florin, he advised her to set it on the number +3. Round went the wheel, and in twenty seconds the ball tumbled into +compartment 3 sure enough. At the next turn she asked his advice, and +was told to try number 24. No sooner said than done, and 24 came up in +due course, whereby Mdlle L. C. won 140 odd gulden in two coups, the +amount risked by her being exactly four florins. Like a wise girl, she +walked off with her booty, and played no more that day at Roulette. +A few minutes later I saw an Englishman go through the performance of +losing four thousand francs by experimentalizing on single numbers. +Twenty times running did he set ten louis-d'ors on a number (varying the +number at each stake), and not one of his selection proved successful. +At the "Thirty and Forty" I saw an eminent diplomatist win sixty +thousand francs with scarcely an intermission of failure; he played all +over the table, pushing his rouleaux backwards and forwards, from black +to red, without any appearance of system that I could detect, and the +cards seemed to follow his inspiration. It was a great battle; as usual, +three or four smaller fish followed in his wake, till they lost courage +and set against him, much to their discomfiture and the advantage of the +bank; but from first to last--that is, till the cards ran out, and he +left the table--he was steadily victorious. In the evening he went in +again for another heavy bout, at which I chanced to be present; but +fortune had forsaken him; and he not only lost his morning's winnings, +but eight thousand francs to boot. I do not remember to have ever +seen the tables so crowded--outside it was thundering, lightening, and +raining as if the world were coming to an end, and the whole floating +population of Wiesbaden was driven into the Kursaal by the weather. A +roaring time of it had the bank; when play was over, about which time +the rain ceased, hundreds of hot and thirsty gamblers streamed out of +the reeking rooms to the glazed-in terrace, and the next hour, always +the pleasantest of the twenty-four here and in Hombourg--at Ems people +go straight from the tables to bed,--was devoted to animated chat and +unlimited sherry-cobbler; all the "events" of the day were passed in +review, experiences exchanged, and confessions made. Nobody had won; I +could not hear of a single great success--the bank had had it all its +own way, and most of the "lions," worsted in the fray, had evidently +made up their minds to "drown it in the bowl." The Russian detachment--a +very strong one this year--was especially hard hit; Spain and Italy were +both unusually low-spirited; and there was an extra solemnity about the +British Isles that told its own sad tale. Englishmen, when they have +lost more than they can afford, generally take it out of themselves in +surly, brooding self-reproach. Frenchmen give vent to their disgust and +annoyance by abusing the game and its myrmidons. You may hear them, +loud and savage, on the terrace, "Ah! le salle jeu! comment peut-on se +laisser eplucher par des brigands de la sorte! Tripot, infame, va! je +te donne ma malediction!" Italians, again, endeavour to conceal their +discomfiture under a flow of feverish gaiety. Germans utter one or two +"Gotts donnerwetterhimmelsapperment!" light up their cigars, drink a +dozen or so "hocks," and subside into their usual state of ponderous +cheerfulness. Russians betray no emotion whatever over their calamities, +save, perhaps, that they smoke those famous little 'Laferme' cigarettes +a trifle faster and more nervously than at other times; but they are +excellent winners and magnificent losers, only to be surpassed in either +respect by their old enemy the Turk, who is _facile princeps_ in the art +of hiding his feelings from the outer world. + +'The great mass of visitors at Wiesbaden this season, as at Hombourg, +belong to the middle and lower middle classes, leavened by a very few +celebrities and persons of genuine distinction. There are a dozen or two +eminent men here, not to be seen in the play-rooms, who are taking the +waters--Lord Clarendon, Baron Rothschild, Prince Souvarof, and a few +more--but the general run of guests is by no means remarkable for birth, +wealth, or respectability; and we are shockingly off for ladies. As +a set-off against this deficiency, it would seem that all the aged, +broken-down courtesans of Paris, Vienna, and Berlin have agreed to make +Wiesbaden their autumn rendezvous. Arrayed in all the colours of +the rainbow, painted up to the roots of their dyed hair, shamelessly +_decolletees_, prodigal of "free" talk and unseemly gesture, these +ghastly creatures, hideous caricatures of youth and beauty, flaunt +about the play-rooms and gardens, levying black-mail upon those who are +imprudent enough to engage them in "chaff" or badinage, and desperately +endeavouring to hook themselves on to the wealthier and younger members +of the male community. They poison the air round them with sickly +perfumes; they assume titles, and speak of one another as "cette chere +comtesse;" their walk is something between a prance and a wriggle; they +prowl about the terrace whilst the music is playing, seeking whom they +may devour, or rather whom they may inveigle into paying for their +devouring: and, _bon Dieu!_ how they do gorge themselves with food and +drink when some silly lad or aged roue allows himself to be bullied +or wheedled into paying their scot! Their name is legion; and they +constitute the very worst feature of a place which, naturally a +Paradise, is turned into a seventh hell by the uncontrolled rioting +of human passions. They have no friends--no "protectors;" they are +dependent upon accident for a meal or a piece of gold to throw away at +the tables; they are plague-spots upon the face of society; they are, +as a rule, crassly ignorant and horribly cynical; and yet there are many +men here who are proud of their acquaintance, always ready to entertain +them in the most expensive manner, and who speak of them as if they were +the only desirable companions in the world! + +'Amongst our notabilities of the eccentric sort, not the least singular +in her behaviour is the Countess C----o, an aged patrician of immense +fortune, who is as constant to Wiesbaden as old Madame de K----f is to +Hombourg on the Heights. Like the last-named lady, she is daily wheeled +to her place in the Black and Red temple, and plays away for eight or +nine hours with wonderful spirit and perseverance. She has with her a +_suite_ of eight domestics; and when she wins (which is not often), on +returning to her hotel at night, she presents each member of her +retinue with--twopence! "not," as she naively avows, "from a feeling of +generosity, but to propitiate Fortune." When she loses, none of them, +save the man who wheels her home, get anything but hard words from her; +and he, happy fellow, receives a donation of six kreutzers. She does not +curse the croupiers loudly for her bad luck, like her contemporary, the +once lovely Russian Ambassadress; but, being very far advanced in years, +and of a tender disposition, sheds tears over her misfortunes, resting +her chin on the edge of the table. An edifying sight is this venerable +dame, bearing an exalted title, as she mopes and mouths over her varying +luck, missing her stake twice out of three times, when she fain would +push it with her rake into some particular section of the table! She is +very intimate with one or two antediluvian diplomatists and warriors, +who are here striving to bolster themselves up for another year with the +waters, and may be heard crowing out lamentations over her fatal passion +for play, interspersed with bits of moss-grown scandal, disinterred +from the social ruins of an age long past: Radetzky, Wratislaw (le beau +sabreur), the two Schwarzenbergs (he of Leipsic, and the former Prime +Minister), Paul Eszterhazy, Wrangel, and Blucher were friends of her +youth; judging from her appearance, one would not be surprised to hear +that she had received a "poulet" from Baron Trenck, or played whist with +Maria Theresa. She has outlived all human friendships or affections, and +exists only for the chink of the gold as it jingles on the gaming table. +I cannot help fancying that her last words will be "Rien ne va +plus!" She is a great and convincing moral, if one but interpret her +rightly.'(83) + + +(83) Daily Telegraph, Aug. 15, 1868. + + +The doom of the German gaming houses seems to be settled. They will all +be closed in 1872, as appears by the following announcement:-- + +'The Prussian government, not having been able to obtain from the +lessees of the gaming tables at Wiesbaden, Ems, and Hombourg their +consent to their cancelling of their contracts, has resolved to +terminate their privileges by a legislative measure. It has presented a +bill to the Chamber of Deputies at Berlin, fixing the year 1872 as the +limit to the existence of these establishments, and even authorizing the +government to suppress them at an earlier period by a royal +ordinance. No indemnity is to be allowed to the persons holding +concessions.'--_Feb_. 23, 1868. + +A London newspaper defends this measure in a very successful manner. + +'Prussia has declared her purpose to eradicate from the territories +subject to her increased sway, and from others recognizing her +influence, the disgrace of the _Rouge et Noir_ and the Roulette table +as public institutions. Her reasoning is to the effect that they +bring scandal upon Germany; that they associate with the names of its +favourite watering-places the appellation of "hells;" that they attract +swindlers and adventurers of every degree; and that they have for many a +year past been held up to the opprobrium of Europe. For why should this +practice be a lawful practice of Germany and of no other country in +Europe? Why not in France, in Spain, in Italy, in the Northern States, +in Great Britain itself? Let us not give to this last proposition more +importance than it is worth. The German watering-places are places of +leisure, of trifling, of _ennui_. That is why, originally, they were +selected as encampments by the tribes which fatten upon hazards. But +there was another reason: they brought in welcome revenues to needy +princes. Even now, in view of the contemplated expurgation, Monaco is +named, with Geneva, as successor to the perishing glories of Hombourg, +Wiesbaden, and the great Baden itself. That is to say, the gamblers, +or, rather, the professionals who live upon the gambling propensities of +others, having received from Prussia and her friends notice to quit, are +in search of new lodgings. + +'The question is, they being determined, and the accommodation being +not less certainly ready for them than the sea is for the tribute of +a river, will the reform designed be a really progressive step in the +civilization of Europe? Prussia says--decidedly so; because it will +demolish an infamous privilege. She affirms that an institution which +might have been excusable under a landgrave, with a few thousand acres +of territory, is inconsistent with the dignity and, to quote continental +phraseology, the mission of a first-class state. Here again the +reasoning is incontrovertible. Of one other thing, moreover, we may feel +perfectly sure, that Prussia having determined to suppress these centres +and sources of corruption, they will gradually disappear from Europe. +Concede to them a temporary breathing-time at Monaco; the time left for +even a nominally independent existence to Monaco is short: imagine that +they find a fresh outlet at Geneva; Prussia will have represented the +public opinion of the age, against which not even the Republicanism of +Switzerland can long make a successful stand. Upon the whole, history +can never blame Prussia for such a use either of her conquests or her +influence. Say what you will, gambling is an indulgence blushed over in +England; abroad, practised as a little luxury in dissipation, it may be +pardoned as venial; habitually, however, it is a leprosy. And as it is +by habitual gamblers that these haunts are made to flourish, this alone +should reconcile the world of tourists to a deprivation which for them +must be slight; while to the class they imitate, without equalling, it +will be the prohibition of an abominable habit.'(84) + + +(84) Extracts from a 'leader' in the Standard of Sept. 4, 1869. + + + +CHAPTER IX. GAMBLING IN THE UNITED STATES. + +It is not surprising that a people so intensely speculative, excitable, +and eager as the Americans, should be desperately addicted to gambling. +Indeed, the spirit of gambling has incessantly pervaded all their +operations, political, commercial, and social.(85) It is but one of +the manifestations of that thorough license arrogated to itself by the +nation, finding its true expression in the American maxim recorded by Mr +Hepworth Dixon, so coarsely worded, but so significant,--'Every man has +a right to do what he _DAMNED_ pleases.'(86) + + +(85) In the American correspondence of the Morning Advertiser, Feb. 6, +1868, the writer says:--'It was only yesterday (Jan. 24) that an eminent +American merchant of this city (New York) said, in referring to the +state of affairs--"we are socially, politically, and commercially +demoralized."' + + +(86) 'Spiritual Wives.'--A work the extraordinary disclosures of which +tend to show that a similar spirit, destined, perhaps, to bring about +the greatest social changes, is gaining ground elsewhere than in +America. + + +Although laws similar to those of England are enacted in America against +gambling, it may be said to exist everywhere, but, of course, to the +greatest extent in the vicinity of the fashionable quarters of the large +cities. In New York there is scarcely a street without its gambling +house--'private,' of course, but well known to those who indulge in the +vice. The ordinary public game is Faro. + +High and low, rich and poor, are perfectly suited in their requirements; +whilst at some places the stakes are unlimited, at others they must +not exceed one dollar, and a player may wager as low as five cents, or +twopence-halfpenny. These are for the accommodation of the very poorest +workmen, discharged soldiers, broken-down gamblers, and street-boys. + +'I think,' says a recent writer,(87) 'of all the street-boys in +the world, those of New York are the most precocious. I have seen a +shoe-black, about three feet high, walk up to the table or 'Bank,' as it +is generally called, and stake his money (five cents) with the air of a +young spendthrift to whom "money is no object."' + + +(87) 'St James's Magazine,' Sept., 1867. + + +The chief gambling houses of New York were established by men who are +American celebrities, and among these the most prominent have been Pat +Hern and John Morrissey. + + +PAT HERN. + + +Some years ago this celebrated Irishman kept up a splendid establishment +in Broadway, near Hauston Street. At that time his house was the centre +of attraction towards which 'all the world' gravitated, and did the +thing right grandly--combining the Apicius with the Beau Nash or +Brummell. He was profusely lavish with his wines and exuberant in +his suppers; and it was generally said that the game in action there, +_Faro_, was played in all fairness. Pat Hern was a man of jovial +disposition and genial wit, and would have adorned a better position. +During the trout-fishing season he used to visit a well-known place +called Islip in Long Island, much frequented by gentlemen devoted to +angling and fond of good living. + +At Islip the equally renowned Oby Snedecker kept the tavern which was +the resort of Pat Hern and his companions. It had attached to it a +stream and lake to which the gentlemen who had the privilege of the +house were admitted. Mrs Obadiah Snedecker, the buxom wife of 'mine +host,' was famous for the exquisite way in which she cooked veal +cutlets. There were two niggers in the establishment, named Steve and +Dick, who accompanied the gentlemen in their angling excursions, amusing +them with their stolidity and the enormous quantity of gin they could +imbibe without being more than normally fuddled. + +After fishing, the gentlemen used to take to gambling at the usual +French games; but here Pat Hern appeared not in the character of +gambler, but as a private gentleman. He was always well received by +the visitors, and caused them many a hearty laugh with his overflowing +humour. He died about nine years ago, I think tolerably well off. + + +JOHN MORRISSEY. + + +John Morrissey was originally a prize-fighter,--having fought with +Heenan and also with Yankee Sullivan, and lived by teaching the young +Americans the noble art of self-defence. He afterwards set up a 'Bar,' +or public-house, and over this he established a small Faro bank, which +he enlarged and improved by degrees until it became well known, and was +very much frequented by the gamblers of New York. He is now, I believe, +a member of Congress for that city, and immensely wealthy. Not content +with his successful gambling operations in New York, he has opened a +splendid establishment at the fashionable summer resort of Saratoga, +consisting of an immense hotel, ballrooms, and gambling-rooms, and is +said to have a profit of two millions of dollars (about L400,000) during +the season.(88) He is mentioned as one of those who pay the most income +tax. + + +(88) _Ubi supra_. + + +Morrissey's gambling house is in Union Square, and is said to be +magnificently furnished and distinguished by the most princely +hospitality. At all hours of the day or night tables are laid out with +every description of refreshment, to which all who visit the place are +welcome. + +This is a remarkable feature in the American system. At all 'Bars,' or +public-houses, you find provided, free of charge, supplies of cheese, +biscuits, &c., and sometimes even some savoury soup--which are often +resorted to by those unfortunates who are 'clean broke' or 'used up,' +with little else to assuage the pangs of hunger but the everlasting quid +of tobacco, furiously 'chawed.' Another generous feature of the American +system is that the bar-man does not measure out to you, after our stingy +fashion, what drink you may require, but hands you the tumbler and +bottle to help yourself, unless in the case of made drinks, such as +'mint-juleps,' &c. However, you must drink your liquor at a gulp, after +the Yankee fashion; for if you take a sip and turn your back to the +counter, your glass will disappear--as it is not customary to have +glasses standing about. Morrissey's wines are very good, and always +supplied in abundance. + +Almost every game of chance is played at this establishment, and the +stakes are very high and unlimited. The visitors are the wealthy and +wild young men of New York, and occasionally a Southern-looking man +who, perhaps, has saved some of his property, being still the same +professional gambler; for it may be affirmed that all the Southern +planters were addicted to gambling. + +'The same flocks of well-dressed and fashionable-looking men of all +ages pass in and out all through the day and night; tens of thousands of +dollars are lost and won; the "click" of the markers never ceases; all +speak in a low tone; everything has a serious, quiet appearance. The +dealers seem to know every one, and nod familiarly to all who approach +their tables. John Morrissey is occasionally to be seen, walking +through the rooms, apparently a disinterested spectator. He is a short, +thick-set man, of about 40 years, dark complexion, and wears a long +beard, dresses in a slovenly manner, and walks with a swagger. Now and +then he approaches the table; makes a few bets, and is then lost in the +crowd.'(89) + + +(89) _Ubi supra_. + + +OTHER GAMING-HOUSES. + + +The same writer furnishes other very interesting facts. + +'After the opera-house and theatres are closed, Morrissey's gambling +house becomes very full; in fact, the best time to see it to advantage +is about two or three o'clock in the morning. + +'A little below the New York Hotel, and on the opposite side of +Broadway, there is a gambling house, not quite so "respectable" as the +one I have been describing; here the stakes are not below a dollar, and +not more than twenty-five; there are no refreshments gratis, and the +rooms are not so well furnished. The men to be seen gaming in this house +differ but very little in appearance from those in Union Square, but +there seems to be less discipline amongst them, and more noise and +confusion. It is a rare thing to see an intoxicated man in a gambling +house; the door-keepers are very particular as to whom they admit, and +any disturbance which might call for the interference of the police +would be ruinous to their business. The police are undoubtedly aware +of everything going on in these houses, and do not interfere as long as +everything goes on quietly. + +'Now and then a clerk spends his employer's money, and if it is +discovered where he lost it then a _RAID_ is made by the police in +force, the tables and all the gaming paraphernalia are carried off, and +the proprietors heavily fined. + +'I witnessed a case of this: a young man in the employment of a +commission merchant appropriated a large sum of his employer's money, +and lost it at Faro. He was arrested, and confessed what he had done +with it. The police at once proceeded to the house where the Faro bank +was kept, and the scene, when it was known that the police were below, +beggars description. The tables were upset, and notes and markers were +flying about in all directions. Men, sprawling and scrambling on the +floor, fought with one another for whatever they could seize; then the +police entered and cleared the house, having arrested the owners of the +bank. This was in one of the lowest gaming houses, where "skin" games +(cheating games) are practised. + +'In the gambling house in Broadway, near the New York Hotel, I have +often noticed a young man, apparently of some 18 or 20 years of age, +fashionably dressed, and of prepossessing appearance. On some days he +would play very high, and seemed to have most remarkable luck; but he +always played with the air of an old gamester, seeming careless as to +whether he won or lost. One night he lost so heavily that he attracted +the notice of all the players; every stake of his was swept away; and he +still played on until his last dollar was lost; then he quietly walked +out, whistling a popular Yankee air. He was there next day _MINUS_ his +great-coat and watch and chain--he lost again, went out and returned +in his shirt sleeves, having pawned his coat, studs, and everything he +could with decency divest himself of. He lost everything; and when I +next saw him he was selling newspapers in front of the post-office! + +'The mania for gambling is a most singular one. I have known a man to +win a thousand dollars in a few hours, and yet he would not spend a +dollar to get a dinner, but when he felt hungry he went to a baker's +shop and bought a loaf of bread, and that same night lost all his money +at Roulette. + +'There is another house on the corner of Centre and Grand Streets, open +during night and day. The stakes here are the same as in the one in +Broadway, and the people who play are very much the same--in fact, the +same faces are constantly to be met with in all the gambling houses, +from the highest to the lowest. When a gambler has but small capital, he +will go to a small house, where small stakes are admissible. I saw a +man win 50 or 60 dollars at this place, and then hand in his checks +(markers) to be cashed. The dealer handed him the money, and said--"Now +you go off, straight away to Union Square, and pay away all you have +won from here to John Morrissey. This is the way with all of them; they +never come here until they are dead broke, and have only a dirty +dollar or so to risk." There was some truth in what he said, but +notwithstanding he managed to keep the bank going on. There is a great +temptation to a man who has won a sum of money at a small gambling house +to go to a higher one, as he may then, at a single stake, win as much as +he could possibly win if he had a run of luck in a dozen stakes at the +smaller bank. + +'In No. 102, in the Bowery, there is one of the lowest of the gaming +houses I have seen in the Empire city. The proprietor is an Irishman; +he employs three men as dealers, and they relieve one another every four +hours during the day and night. The stakes here are of the lowest, and +the people to be seen here of the roughest to be found in the city. The +game is Faro, as elsewhere. + +'In this place I met an old friend with whom I had served in the army of +Northern Virginia, under General Lee, in his Virginia campaign of 1865. +He told me he had been in New York since the end of the war, and lived +a very uncertain sort of life. Whatever money he could earn he spent at +the gaming table. Sometimes he had a run of luck, and whilst it lasted +he dressed well, and stopped at the most expensive hotels. One night he +would sleep at the Astor House; and perhaps the next night he would +not be able to pay for his bed, and would stay all night in the parks. +Strange to say, hundreds live in this way, which is vulgarly called +"scratching" in New York. I afterwards saw my friend driving an omnibus; +and when I could speak to him, I found that he was still attending the +banks with every cent he earned! + +'It is amusing to watch the proprietor of this place at the Bowery; he +has a joke for every one he sees. "Hallo, old sport!" he cries, "come +and try your luck--you look lucky this evening; and if you make a +good run you may sport a gold watch and chain, and a velvet vest, like +myself." Then to another, "Young clear-the-way, you look down at the +mouth to-night! Come along and have a turn--and never mind your supper +tonight." In this way the days and nights are passed in those gambling +houses.' + +There is also in New York an association for the prevention of gambling. +The society employs detectives to visit the gambling saloons, and +procure evidence for the suppression of the establishments. + +It is the business of these agents also to ascertain the names and +occupations of those who frequent the gambling rooms, and a list of the +persons thus detected is sent periodically to the subscribers to the +society, that they may know who are the persons wasting their money, or +perhaps the money of their employers, in gambling. Many large houses of +business subscribe. + +In the month of August the society's agents detected among the gamblers +68 clerks of mercantile houses, and in the previous six months reported +623 cases. It is stated that there are in New York and Brooklyn 1017 +policy and lottery offices, and 163 Faro banks, and that their net +annual gains are not less than 36,000,000 dollars. + + +AMERICAN GAMBLERS. + + +At American gambling houses 'it is very easy,' says the same writer, 'to +distinguish the professional from the ordinary gambler. The latter has a +nervous expression about the mouth, and an intense gaze upon the cards, +and altogether a very serious nervous appearance; while the professional +plays in a very quiet manner, and seems to care but little how the game +goes; and his desire to appear as if the game was new to him is almost +certain to expose him to those who know the manoeuvre. + +'Previous to the struggle for independence in the South, there were +many hundreds of gamblers scattered through the Southern towns, and +the Mississippi steam-boats used to abound with them. In the South, a +gambler was regarded as outside the pale of society, and classed with +the slave-trader, who was looked upon with loathing by the very same men +who traded with him; such was the inconsistency of public opinion. + +'The American gambler differs from his European brethren in many +respects. He is very frequently, in education, appearance, and manner, a +gentleman, and if his private history were known, it would be found +that he was of good birth, and was at one time possessed of considerable +fortune; but having lost all at the gambling table, he gradually came +down to the level of those who proved his ruin, and having no profession +nor means of livelihood left to him, he adopted their mode of life. + +'On one occasion I met a brother of a Southern General (very famous in +the late war and still a wealthy man) who, at one time, was one of the +richest planters in the State of Louisiana, and is now acting as +an agent for a set of gamblers to their gaming houses. After losing +everything he had, he became a croupier to a gambling house in New +Orleans, and afterwards plied his trade on the Mississippi for some +years; then he went into Mexico, and finally to New York, where he +opened a house on his own account. + +'During the war he speculated in "greenbacks," and lost all his +ill-gotten gains, and had to descend to his present position.'(90) + + +(90) _Ubi supra_. + + +AMERICAN GAMES:--DRAW POKER, OR BLUFF. + + +Draw Poker, or Bluff, is a favourite game with the Americans. It is +played by any number of persons, from four to seven; four, five, or six +players are preferred; seven are only engaged where a party of friends +consists of that number, and all require to be equally amused. + +The deal is usually determined by fixing on a card, and dealing round, +face upwards, until such card appears. The dealer then places in the +pool an _Ante_, or certain agreed-upon sum, and proceeds to deal to each +person five cards. The player next to the dealer, before looking at +his cards, has the option of staking a certain sum. This is called the +'blind,' and makes him the elder hand, or last player; and when his +turn comes round he can, by giving up his first stake, withdraw from +the game, or, if he pleases, by making good any sum staked by a previous +player, raise the stakes to any sum he pleases, provided, of course, +that no limit has been fixed before sitting down. The privilege of +raising or doubling on the _blind_ may be exercised by any one round the +table, provided he has not looked at his cards. If no intervening player +has met the original _blind_, that is, staked double the sum, this must +be done by all who wish to play, and, of course, must be made good by +the last player. Each person then looks at his cards, and decides on +his plan of action. It should be understood that every one, except the +_blind_, may look at his cards in his turn before deciding if he will +meet the _blind_. Before speaking of the manner of drawing it will be +better to give the relative value of the hands, which will much simplify +the matter, and make it more easily understood. Thus: four aces are the +best cards that can be held; four kings next, and so on, down to four +twos; four cards of the same value beating anything except four of a +higher denomination. + +The next best hand is called a _full_, and is made up thus:--three aces +and a pair of sixes; three nines and pair of twos; in fact, any three +cards of the same value and a pair constitute a full hand, and can only +be beaten by a full hand of a higher denomination or fours. The next +hand that takes precedence is a _flush_, or five cards of one colour; +after this comes _threes_, vis., three cards all of the same value, +say, three aces, kings, queens, and so on, downwards (the two remaining, +being odd ones, are of no value). The next is a sequence, as five +following cards, for instance, nine, eight, seven, six, five; it is not +necessary they should all be of one colour, as this, of course, would +constitute a _flush_. Next come two pairs, say, two knaves and two +fives; and, last of all, is a single pair of cards. Having explained the +value of the hands, let us show how you endeavour to get them. The bets +having been made, and the _blind_ made good or abandoned, or given up, +the dealer proceeds to ask each player in his turn how many cards he +wants; and here begins the first study of the game--_TO KNOW WHAT +TO THROW AWAY_ in order to get in others to make the hand better if +possible. Your hand may, of course, be so utterly bad as to make it +necessary to throw away the whole five and draw five new ones; this is +not very likely, as few players will put a stake in the pool unless, on +looking first at his cards, he has seen something, say a pair, to start +with. We will suppose he has this, and, of course, he throws away three +cards, and draws three in place of them. To describe the proper way to +fill up a hand is impossible; we can but give an instance here and there +to show the varying interest which attaches to the game;--thus, you may +have threes in the original hand dealt; some players will throw away the +two odd cards and draw two more, to try and make the hand fours, or, at +least, a full; while a player knowing that his is not a very good hand, +will endeavour to _DECEIVE_ the rest by standing out, that is, not +taking any fresh cards; of course all round the table make remarks as to +what he can possibly have. + +It is usually taken to be a sequence, as this requires no drawing, if +originally dealt. The same remark applies to a _flush;_ two pairs or +four to a flush, of course, require one card to make them into good +hands, a player being only entitled to draw once; and the hands being +made good, the real and exciting part of the game begins. Each one +endeavours to keep his real position a secret from his neighbours. Some +put on a look of calm indifference, and try to seem self-possessed; some +will grin and talk all sorts of nonsense; some will utter sly bits of +_badinage;_ while others will study intently their cards, or gaze at the +ceiling--all which is done merely to distract attention, or to conceal +the feelings, as the chance of success or failure be for or against; and +then begins the betting or gambling part of the game. The player next +the _blind_ is the first to declare his bet; in which, of course, he is +entirely governed by circumstances. Some, being the first to bet, and +having a very good card indeed, will 'bet small,' in hopes that some one +else will see it, and 'go better,' that is, bet more, so that when it +comes round to his turn again he may see all previous bets, and bet as +much higher as he thinks proper; for it must be borne in mind that a +player's first bet does not preclude him from coming in again if his +first bet has been raised upon by any player round the table in his +turn; but if once the original bet goes round and comes to the _blind_, +or last player, without any one going better, the game is closed, and it +becomes a _show of hands_, to see who takes the pool and all the bets. +This does not often happen, as there is usually some one round the table +to raise it; but my informant has seen it occur, and has been highly +amused at watching the countenance of the expectant _small better_ at +having to show a fine hand for a mere trifle. Some players will, in +order to conceal their method of play, occasionally throw their cards +among the waste ones and abandon their stakes; this is not often done; +but it sometimes happens where the stakes have been small, or the player +has been _trying a bluff_, and has found some one whom he could not +_bluff off_. The foregoing is a concise account of the game, as played +in America, where it is of universal interest, and exercises great +fascination. It is often played by parties of friends who meet regularly +for the purpose, and instances can be found where fortunes have been +lost in a night. + +The game of Pokers differs from the one just described, in so far that +the players receive only the original five cards dealt without drawing +fresh ones, and must either play or refuse on them. In this game, as +there are more cards, as many as ten persons can play. + + +LANSQUENET.(91) + + +Lansquenet is much played by the Americans, and is one of the most +exciting games in vogue. + +The dealer or banker stakes a certain sum, and this must be met by +the nearest to the dealer first, and so on. When the stake is met, the +dealer turns up two cards, one to the right,--the latter for himself, +the former for the table or the players. He then keeps on turning up +the cards until either of the cards is matched, which constitutes the +winning,--as, for instance, suppose the five of diamonds is his card, +then should the five of any other suit turn up, he wins. If he loses, +then the next player on the left becomes banker and proceeds in the same +way. + + +(91) This name is derived from the German '_landsknecht_' ('valet of the +fief'), applied to a mercenary soldier. + + +When the dealer's card turns up, he may take the stake and pass the +bank; or he may allow the stake to remain, whereat of course it becomes +doubled if met. He can continue thus as long as the cards turn up in +his favour--having the option at any moment of giving up the bank and +retiring for that time. If he does that, the player to whom he passes +the bank has the option of continuing it at the same amount at which it +was left. The pool may be made up by contributions of all the players in +certain proportions. The terms used respecting the standing of the +stake are, 'I'll see' (_a moi le tout)_ and _Je tiens_. When _jumelle_ +(twins), or the turning up of similar cards on both sides, occurs, then +the dealer takes half the stake. + +Sometimes there is a run of several consecutive winnings; but on one +occasion, on board one of the Cunard steamers, a banker at the game +turned up in his own favour I think no less than eighteen times. The +original stake was only six-pence; but had each stake been met as won, +the final doubling would have amounted to the immense sum of L3,236 +16_s_.! This will appear by the following scheme:-- + +L s. d. L s. d. 1st turn up 0 0 6 10th turn up 12 16 0 2nd,, 0 1 0 +11th,, 25 12 0 3rd,, 0 2 0 12th,, 51 4 0 4th,, 0 4 0 13th,, 102 8 0 +5th,, 0 8 0 14th,, 204 16 0 6th,, 0 16 0 15th,, 409 12 0 7th,, 1 12 0 +16th,, 819 4 0 8th,, 3 4 0 17th,, 1,618 8 0 9th,, 6 8 0 18th,, 3,236 16 +0 + + +In fair play, as this is represented to have been, such a long sequence +of matches must be considered very remarkable, although six or seven is +not unfrequent. + +Unfortunately, however, there is a very easy means by which card +sharpers manage the thing to perfection. They prepare beforehand a +series of a dozen cards arranged as follows:-- + +1st Queen 6th Nine 2nd Queen 7th Nine 3rd Ten 8th Ace 4th Seven 9th +Eight 5th Ten 10th Ace + +Series thus arranged are placed in side pockets outside the waistcoat, +just under the left breast. When the sharper becomes banker he leans +negligently over the table, and in this position his fingers are as +close as possible to the prepared cards, termed _portees_. At the proper +moment he seizes the cards and places them on the pack. The trick +is rendered very easy by the fact that the card-sharper has his coat +buttoned at the top, so that the lower part of it lies open and permits +the introduction of the hand, which is completely masked. + +Some sharpers are skilful enough to take up some of the matches already +dealt, which they place in their _costieres_, or side-pockets above +described, in readiness for their next operation; others keep them +skilfully hidden in their hand, to lay them, at the convenient moment, +upon the pack of cards. By this means, the pack is not augmented.(92) + + +(92) Robert Houdin, 'Les Tricheries des Grecs devoilees.' + + +In France the stakes commence at 5 francs; and it may be easily +imagined how soon vast sums of money may change hands if the players are +determined and reckless. + + +EUCHRE. + + +This is also a game much played in the States. I suppose it is a Yankee +invention, named by one of their learned professors, from the Greek +(gr euceis) (eucheir), meaning 'well in the hand' or 'strong'--a very +appropriate designation of the game, which is as follows:-- + +In this game all the cards are excluded up to the sixes,--seven being +the lowest in the Euchre pack. Five cards are dealt out, after the usual +shuffling and cutting, with a turn-up, or trump. The dealer has the +privilege of discarding one of his cards and taking up the trump--not +showing, however, the one he discards. The Knave is the best card in +the game--a peculiar Yankee 'notion.' The Knave of trumps is called the +Right Bower, and the other Knave of the _same colour_ is the Left Bower. +Hence it appears that the nautical propensity of this great people is +therein represented--'bower' being in fact a sheet anchor. If both are +held, it is evident that the _point_ of the deal is decided--since it +results from taking three tricks out of the five; for, of course, the +trump card appropriated by the dealer will, most probably, secure a +trick, and the two Knaves must necessarily make two. The game may be +five or seven points, as agreed upon. Euchre is rapid and decisive, and, +therefore, eminently American. + + +FLY LOO. + + +Some of the games played by the Americans are peculiar to themselves. +For instance, vast sums of money change hands over Fly Loo, or the +attraction existing between lumps of sugar and adventurous flies! This +game is not without its excitement. The gamblers sit round a table, each +with a lump of sugar before him, and the player upon whose lump a fly +first perches carries off the pool--which is sometimes enormous. + +They tell an anecdote of a 'cute Yankee, who won invariably and +immensely at the game. There seemed to be a sort of magical or mesmeric +attraction for the flies to his lump. At length it was ascertained +that he touched the lump with his finger, after having smeared it with +something that naturally and irresistibly attracts flies whenever they +can get at it. I am told that this game is also played in England; if +so, the parties must insist upon fresh lumps of sugar, and prevent all +touching. + +The reader will probably ask--what next will gamblers think of +betting on? But I can tell of a still more curious source of gambling +infatuation. In the _Oxford Magazine_,(93) is the following statement:-- + + +(93) Vol. V. + + +'A few days ago, as some sprigs of nobility were dining together at a +tavern, they took the following conceit into their heads after dinner. +One of them observing a maggot come from a filbert, which seemed to +be uncommonly large, attempted to get it from his companion, who, not +choosing to let it go, was immediately offered five guineas for it, +which was accepted. He then proposed to run it against any other two +maggots that could be produced at table. Matches were accordingly made, +and these poor reptiles were the means of L500 being won and lost in a +few minutes!' + + +THE CRIMES OF AMERICAN GAMBLERS. + + +Suicides, duels, and murders have frequently resulted from gambling here +as elsewhere. Many of the duels in dark rooms originate in disputes at +the gaming table. The combatants rush from play to an upper or adjoining +room, and settle their difference with revolver-shots, often fatal to +both. + +One of these was a serio-comic affair which is perhaps worth relating. +Two players had a gambling dispute, and resolved to settle it in a +dark room with pistols. The door was locked and one of them fired, but +missed. On this the other exclaimed--'Now, you rascal, I'll finish you +at my leisure.' He then began to search for his opponent. Three or four +times he walked stealthily round the room--but all in vain--he could +not find his man; he listened; he could not hear him breathe. What had +become of him? 'Oh!' at length he exclaimed--'Now I've got you, you ---- +sneak--here goes!' 'Hold! Hold!' cried a voice from the chimney, 'Don't +fire! I'll pay you anything.--Do take away that ---- pistol.' In effect +his adversary held the muzzle of his pistol close to the seat of honour +as the fellow stood stuffed up the chimney! + +'You'll pay, will you?' said the former; 'Very well--800 dollars--is 't +a bargain?' + +'Yes, yes!' gasped the voice in the chimney. + +'Very well,' rejoined the tormentor, 'but just wait a bit; I must have +a voucher. I'll just cut off the bottom of your breeches by way of +voucher.' So saying he pulled out his knife and suited the action to the +words. + +'Now get down,' he said, 'and out with the money;' which was paid, when +the above-named voucher was returned to the chimney-groper. + +The town of Vicksburg, on the Mississippi, was formerly notorious as the +rendezvous of all sorts of desperadoes. It was a city of men; you saw no +women, except at night; and never any children. Vicksburg was a sink of +iniquity; and there gambling raged with unrestricted fury. It was +always after touching at Vicksburg that the Mississippi boats became +the well-known scene of gambling--some of the Vicksburghers invariably +getting on board to ply their profession. + +On one occasion, one of these came on board, and soon induced some of +the passengers to proceed to the upper promenade-deck for gambling. Soon +the stakes increased and a heap of gold was on the table, when a dispute +arose, in the midst of which one of the players placed his hand on the +stake. Thereupon the Vicksburg gambler drew his knife and plunged it +into the hand of the former, with a terrible imprecation. + +Throughout the Southern States, as before observed, gambling prevailed +to a very great extent, and its results were often deplorable. + +A planter went to a gambling house, accompanied by one of his negroes, +whom he left at the door to wait his return. Whilst the master was +gambling the slave did the same with another whom he found at the door. +Meanwhile a Mexican came up and stood by looking at the game of the +negroes. By-and-by one of them accused the other of cheating, which was +denied, when the Mexican interposed and told the negro that he saw him +cheat. The latter told the Mexican that he lied--whereupon the Mexican +stabbed him to the heart, killing him on the spot. + +Soon the negro's master came out, and on being informed of the affair, +turned to the Mexican, saying--'Now, sir, we must settle the matter +between us--my negro's quarrel is mine.' 'Agreed,' said the Mexican; +they entered the house, proceeded to a dark room, fired at each other, +and both were killed. + +About six and twenty years ago there lived in New York a well-to-do +merchant, of the name of Osborne, who had an only son, who was a partner +in the concern. The young man fell in love with the daughter of a +Southern planter, then on a visit at New York, to whom he engaged +himself to be married, with the perfect consent of all parties +concerned. + +On the return of the planter and his daughter, young Osborne accompanied +them to Mobile. On the very night of their arrival, the planter proposed +to his intended son-in-law to visit the gaming table. They went; Osborne +was unlucky; and after some hours' play lost an immense amount to the +father of his sweetheart. He gave bills, drawn on his house, in payment +of the debt of honour. + +On the following morning the planter referred to the subject, hinting +that Osborne must be ruined. + +'Indeed, I am!' said the young man; 'but the possession of your daughter +will console me for the calamity, which, I doubt not, I shall be able to +make up for by industry and exertion.' + +'The possession of _MY_ daughter?' exclaimed the planter; 'do you think +I would marry my daughter to a beggar? No, no, sir, the affair is ended +between you--and I insist upon its being utterly broken off.' Such was +the action of the heartless gambler, rendered callous to all sentiments +of real honour by his debasing pursuit. + +Young Osborne was equal to the occasion. Summoning all his powers to +manfully bear this additional shock of fate, he calmly replied:-- + +'So be it, sir, as you wish it. Depend upon it, however, that my bills +will be duly honoured'--and so saying he bowed and departed, without +even wishing to take leave of his betrothed. + +On returning to New York Osborne immediately disclosed the transaction +to his father, who, in spite of the utter ruin which impended, and the +brutality of the cause of the ruin, resolved to meet the bills when due, +and maintain the honour of his son--whatever might be the consequences +to himself. + +The bills were paid; the concern was broken up; old Mr Osborne soon +died broken-hearted; and young Osborne went as clerk to some house of +business in Wall Street. + +A year or so passed away, and one day a lady presented herself at the +old house of Osborne--now no longer theirs--inquiring for young Osborne. +She was directed to his new place of business; being no other than his +betrothed, who loved him as passionately as ever, and to whom her +father had accounted for the non-fulfilment of the engagement in a very +unsatisfactory manner. Of course Osborne could not fail to be delighted +at this proof of her devotedness; the meeting was most affectionate on +both sides; and, with the view of coming to a decision respecting their +future proceedings, they adjourned to an hotel in the vicinity. Here, +whilst seated at a table and in earnest conversation, the young lady's +father rushed in, and instantly shot down Osborne, who expired at +his feet. With a frantic shriek the poor girl fell on the body of her +betrothed, and finding a poniard or a knife concealed in his breast, she +seized it, instantly plunged it into her heart, and was soon a corpse +beside her lover. + + + +CHAPTER X. LADY GAMESTRESSES. + +The passions of the two sexes are similar in the main; the distinctions +between them result less from nature than from education. Often we meet +with women, especially the literary sort, who seem veritable men, if not +so, as the lawyers say, 'to all intents and purposes;' and often we +meet with men, especially town-dandies, who can only be compared to very +ordinary women. + +Almost all the ancients had the bad taste to speak ill of women; among +the rest even that delightful old Father 'of the golden mouth,' St +Chrysostom.(94) So that, evidently, Dr Johnson's fierce dictum cannot +apply universally--'Only scoundrels speak ill of women.' + + +(94) Hom. II. + + +Seneca took the part of women, exclaiming:--'By no means believe that +their souls are inferior to ours, or that they are less endowed with the +virtues. As for honour, it is equally great and energetic among them.' + +A foreign lady was surprised at beholding the equality established +between the men and women at Sparta; whereupon the wife of Leonidas, the +King of Sparta, said to her:--'Do you not know that it is we who bring +forth the men? It is not the fathers, but the mothers, that effectually +form the heart.' + +Napoleon seems to have formed what may be called a professional estimate +of women. When the demonstrative Madame de Stael asked him--evidently +expecting him to pay her a compliment--'Whom do you think the greatest +woman dead or alive?' Napoleon replied, 'Her, Madame, _WHO HAS BORNE +MOST SONS_.' Nettled by this sarcastic reply, she returned to the +charge, observing, 'It is said you are not friendly to the sex.' +Napoleon was her match again; 'Madame,' he exclaimed, 'I am passionately +fond of my wife;' and off he walked. Assuredly it would not mend matters +in this world (or the next) if all men were Napoleons and all women de +Staels. + +If we consider the question in other points of view, have there been, +proportionally, fewer celebrated women than illustrious men? fewer great +queens than truly great kings? Compare, on all sides, the means and the +circumstances; count the reigns, and decide. + +The fact is that this question has been argued only by tyrannical +or very silly men, who found it difficult to get rid of the absurd +prejudices which retain the finest half of human nature in slavery, +and condemn it to obscurity under the pretext that it is essentially +corrupted. Towards the end of the 15th century a certain demented +writer attempted to prove that women do not even deserve the title of +reasonable creatures, which in the original sounds oddly enough, namely, +_probare nititur mulieres non homines esse_. Another, a very learned +Jesuit, endeavoured to demonstrate that women have no souls! Some say +that women surpass us in wickedness; others, that they are both worse +and better than men. + +That morbid wretch, Alexander Pope, said, 'Every woman is at heart a +rake;' and a recent writer in the _Times_ puts more venom in the dictum +by saying, 'Every woman is (or likes) at heart a rake.' Both these +opinions may be set down as mere claptrap, witty, but vile. + +But a truce to such insults against those who beautify the earth; +_THEIR_ vices cannot excuse ours. It is we who have depraved them by +associating them with excesses which are repugnant to their delicacy. +The contagion, however, has not affected all of them. Among our +'plebeians,' and even among nobility, many women remind us of the +modesty and courage of those ancient republican matrons, who, so to +speak, founded, the manners and morals of their country; and among all +classes of the community there are thousands who inspire their husbands +with generous impulses in the battle of life, either by cheering words +of comfort, or by that mute eloquence of duties well fulfilled, which +nothing can resist if we are worthy of the name of men. How many a +gambler has been reformed by the tender appeals of a good and devoted +wife. 'Venerable women!' one of them exclaims, 'in whatever rank Heaven +has placed you, receive my homage.' The gentleness of your souls smooths +down the roughness of ours and checks its violence. Without your virtues +what would we be? Without YOU, my dear wife, what would have become of +me? You beheld the beginning and the end of the gaming fury in me, which +I now detest; and it is not to me, but to you alone, that the victory +must be ascribed.'(95) + + +(95) Dusaulx, _De la Passion du Jeu_. + + +A very pretty anecdote is told of such a wife and a gaming husband. + +In order to simplify the signs of loss and gain, so as not to be +overburdened with the weight of gold and silver, the French players used +to carry the representation of their fortunes in small boxes, more or +less elegant. A lady (who else could have thought of such a device?), +trembling for the fate of her husband, made him a present of one of +these dread boxes. This little master-piece of conjugal and maternal +affection represented a wife in the attitude of supplication, and +weeping children, seeming to say to their father--_THINK OF US!_.... + +It is, therefore, only with the view of avenging good and honourable +women, that I now proceed to speak of those who have disgraced their +sex. + +I have already described a remarkable gamestress--the Persian Queen +Parysatis.(96) + + +(96) Chapter III. + + +There were no gamestresses among the Greeks; and the Roman women were +always too much occupied with their domestic affairs to find time for +play. What will our modern ladies think, when I state that the Emperor +Augustus scarcely wore a garment which had not been woven by his wife, +his sister, or grand-daughters.(97) + + +(97) Veste non temere alia quam domestica usus est, ab uxore et filia +nepotibusque confecta. Suet. in Vita Augusti. + + +Although deeply corrupted under Nero and the sovereigns that resembled +him, the Roman women never gambled among themselves except during the +celebration of the festival of the Bona Dea. This ceremonial, so often +profaned with licentiousness, was not attended by desperate gambling. +The most depraved women abstained from it, even when that mania was at +its height, not only around the Capitol, but even in the remainder of +the Empire. + +Contemporary authors, who have not spared the Roman ladies, never +reproached them with this vice, which, in modern times, has been +desperately practised by women who in licentiousness vied with +Messalina. + +In France, women who wished to gamble were, at first, obliged to keep +the thing secret; for if it became known they lost caste. In the reign +of Louis XIV., and still more in that of Louis XV., they became +bolder, and the wives of the great engaged in the deepest play in their +mansions; but still a gamestress was always denounced with horror. 'Such +women,' says La Bruyiere, 'make us chaste; they have nothing of the sex +but its garments.' + +By the end of the 18th century, gamestresses became so numerous that +they excited no surprise, especially among the higher classes; and the +majority of them were notorious for unfair play or downright cheating. +A stranger once betted on the game of a lady at a gaming-table, who +claimed a stake although on a losing card. Out of consideration for +the distinguished trickstress, the banker wished to pay the stranger as +well; but the latter with a blush, exclaimed--'Possibly madame won, but +as for myself, I am quite sure that I lost.' + +But if women cheated at play, they also frequently lost; and were often +reduced to beggary, or to what is far viler, to sacrifice, not only +their own honour, but that of their daughters. + +Gaming sometimes led to other crimes. The Countess of Schwiechelt, a +young and beautiful lady from Hanover, was much given to gambling, and +lost 50,000 livres at Paris. In order to repair this great loss, she +planned and executed the robbery of a fine coronet of emeralds, the +property of Madame Demidoff. She had made herself acquainted with the +place where it was kept, and at a ball given by its owner the Hanoverian +lady contrived to purloin it. Her youth and rank in life induced many +persons to solicit her pardon; but Buonaparte left her to the punishment +to which she was condemned. This occurred in 1804. + +In England, too, the practice of gambling was fraught with the worst +consequences to the finest feelings and best qualities of the sex. The +chief danger is very plainly hinted at in the comedy of _The Provoked +Husband_. + + +_Lord Townley_.--'Tis not your ill hours that always distract me, but, +as often, the ill company that occasions those hours. + +_Lady Townley_.--Sure I don't understand you now, my lord. What ill +company do I keep? + +_Lord Townley_.--Why, at best, women that lose their money, and men that +win it; _or, perhaps, men that are voluntary bubbles at one game, in +hopes a lady will give them fair play at another._ + + +'The facts,' says Mr Massey,(98) 'confirm the theory. Walpole's Letters +and Mr Jesse's volumes on George Selwyn and his Contemporaries, teem +with allusions to proved or understood cases of matrimonial infidelity; +and the manner in which notorious irregularities were brazened out, +shows that the offenders did not always encounter the universal +reprobation of society. + + +(98) History of England, ii. + + +'Whist was not much in vogue until a later period, and was far +too abstruse and slow to suit the depraved taste which required +unadulterated stimulants.' + +The ordinary stakes at these mixed assemblies would, at the present day, +be considered high, even at the clubs where a rubber is still allowed. + +'The consequences of such gaming were often still more lamentable than +those which usually attended such practices. It would happen that a lady +lost more than she could venture to confess to her husband or father. +Her creditor was probably a fine gentleman, or she became indebted +to some rich admirer for the means of discharging her liabilities. In +either event, the result may be guessed. In the one case, the debt +of honour was liquidated on the old principle of the law-merchant, +according to which there was but one alternative to payment in purse. In +the other, there was likewise but one mode in which the acknowledgment +of obligation by a fine woman would be acceptable to a man of the +world.' + +'The pernicious consequences of gambling to the nation at large,' +says another writer, 'would have been intolerable enough had they been +confined to the stronger sex; but, unfortunately, the women of the day +were equally carried away by this criminal infatuation. The disgusting +influence of this sordid vice was so disastrous to female minds, that +they lost their fairest distinction and privileges, together with +the blushing honours of modesty. Their high gaming was necessarily +accompanied with great losses. If all their resources, regular and +irregular, honest and fraudulent, were dissipated, still, _GAME-DEBTS +MUST BE PAID!_ The cunning winner was no stranger to the necessities of +the case. He hinted at _commutations_--which were not to be refused. + +"So tender these,--if debts crowd fast upon her, She'll pawn her +_VIRTUE_ to preserve her _HONOUR!_" + + +Thus, the last invaluable jewel of female possession was unavoidably +resigned. That was indeed the forest of all evils, but an evil to which +every deep gamestress was inevitably exposed.' + +Hogarth strikingly illustrated this phase of womanhood in England, +in his small picture painted for the Earl of Charlemont, and entitled +'_Picquet, or Virtue in Danger_.' It shows a young lady, who, during a +_tete-a-tete_, had just lost all her money to a handsome officer of +her own age. He is represented in the act of returning her a handful of +bank-bills, with the hope of exchanging them for another acquisition +and more delicate plunder. On the chimney-piece are a watch-case and a +figure of Time, over it this motto--_Nunc_, 'Now!' Hogarth has caught +his heroine during this moment of hesitation--this struggle with +herself--and has expressed her feelings with uncommon success. + +But, indeed, the thing was perfectly understood. In the _Guardian_ (No. +120) we read:--'All play-debts must be paid in specie or by equivalent. +The "man" that 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. Now when the +female body is once dipped, if the creditor be very importunate, I leave +my reader to consider the consequences.'.... + +A lady was married when very young to a noble lord, the honour and +ornament of his country, who hoped to preserve her from the contagion of +the times by his own example, and, to say the truth, she had every good +quality that could recommend her to the bosom of a man of discernment +and worth. But, alas! how frail and short are the joys of mortals! One +unfortunate hour ruined his darling visionary scheme of happiness: she +was introduced to an infamous woman, was drawn into play, liked it, and, +as the unavoidable consequence, she was ruined,--having lost more in +one night than would have maintained a hundred useful families for a +twelvemonth; and, dismal to tell, she felt compelled to sacrifice her +virtue to the wretch who had won her money, in order to recover the +loss! From this moment she might well exclaim-- + +'Farewell the tranquil mind! farewell content!' + +The affectionate wife, the agreeable companion, the indulgent mistress, +were now no more. In vain she flattered herself that the injury she had +done her husband would for ever remain one of those secrets which can +only be disclosed at the last day. Vengeance pursued her steps, she +was lost; the villain to whom she had sacrificed herself boasted of the +favours he had received. The fatal report was conveyed to her injured +husband. He refused to believe what he thought impossible, but honour +obliged him to call the boaster to the field. The wretch received the +challenge with much more contentment than concern; as he had resolution +enough to murder any man whom he had injured, so he was certain, if he +had the good fortune to conquer his antagonist, he should be looked upon +as the head of all modern bucks and bloods--esteemed by the men as +a brave fellow, and admired by the ladies as a fine gentleman and an +agreeable rake. The meeting took place--the profligate gambler not +content with declaring, actually exulted in his guilt. But his triumph +was of short date--a bullet through the head settled his account with +this world. + +The husband, after a long conflict in his bosom, between justice and +mercy, tenderness and rage, resolved--on what is very seldom practised +by an English husband--to pardon his wife, conceal her crime, and +preserve her, if possible, from utter destruction. But the gates of +mercy were opened in vain--the offender refused to receive forgiveness +because she had offended. The lust of gambling had absorbed all her +other desires. She gave herself up entirely to the infamous pursuit and +its concomitants, whilst her husband sank by a quick decay, and died the +victim of grief and anguish.(99) + + +(99) Doings in London. + + +Of other English gamestresses, however, nothing but the ordinary success +or inconveniences of gambling are recorded. In the year 1776, a lady +at the West End lost one night, at a sitting, 3000 guineas at Loo.(100) +Again, a lady having won a rubber of 20 guineas from a city merchant, +the latter pulled out his pocket-book, and tendered L21 in bank notes. +The fair gamestress, with a disdainful toss of the head, observed--'In +the great houses which I frequent, sir, we always use gold.' 'That may +be, madam,' said the gentleman, 'but, in the _LITTLE_ houses which I +frequent, we always use paper.' + + +(100) Annual Register. + + +Goldsmith mentions an old lady in the country who, having been given +over by her physician, played with the curate of the parish to pass the +time away. Having won all his money, she next proposed playing for the +funeral charges to which she would be liable. Unfortunately, the lady +expired just as she had taken up the game! + +A lady who was desperately fond of play was confessing herself. The +priest represented, among other arguments against gaming, the great loss +of time it occasioned. 'Ah!' said the lady, 'that is what vexes me--so +much time lost in shuffling the cards!' + +The celebrated Mrs Crewe seems to have been fond of gaming. Charles +James Fox ranked among her admirers. A gentleman lost a considerable sum +to this lady at play; and being obliged to leave town suddenly, he gave +Fox the money to pay her, begging him to apologize 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, you did, +sir?' said Mrs Crewe good-naturedly, 'then probably he paid me and I +forgot it.' + +This famous Mrs Crewe was the wife of Mr Crewe, who was created, in +1806, Lord Crewe. She was as remarkable for her accomplishments and her +worth as for her beauty; nevertheless she permitted the admiration of +the profligate Fox, who was in the rank of her admirers, and she was a +gamestress, as were most of the grand ladies in those days. The lines +Fox wrote on her were not exaggerated. They began thus:-- + +'Where the loveliest expression to features is join'd, By Nature's most +delicate pencil design'd; Where blushes unhidden, and smiles without +art, Speak the softness and feeling that dwell in the heart, Where in +manners enchanting no blemish we trace, But the soul keeps the promise +we had from the face; Sure philosophy, reason, and coldness must prove +Defences unequal to shield us from love.' + + +'Nearly eight years after the famous election at Westminster, when she +personally canvassed for Fox, Mrs Crewe was still in perfection, with +a son one-and-twenty, who looked like her brother. The form of her +face was exquisitely lovely, her complexion radiant. "I know not," +Miss Burney writes, "any female in her first youth who could bear the +comparison. She _uglifies_ every one near her." + +'This charming partisan of Fox had been active in his cause; and +her originality of character, her good-humour, her recklessness of +consequences, made her a capital canvasser.'(101) + + +(101) Wharton, _The Queens of Society._ + + +THE GAMBLING BARROW-WOMEN. + + +In 1776 the barrow-women of London used generally to carry dice with +them, and children were induced to throw for fruit and nuts. + +However, the pernicious consequences of the practice beginning to be +felt, the Lord Mayor issued an order to apprehend all such offenders, +which speedily put an end to such street-gambling. At the present day a +sort of roulette is used for the same purpose by the itinerant caterers +to the sweetmeat and fruit-loving little ones. + + +GAMESTRESSES AT BADEN-BADEN. + + +Mrs Trollope has described two specimens of the modern gamestresses +at the German watering-places, one of whom seems to have specially +attracted her notice:-- + +'There was one of this set,' she says, 'whom I watched, day after day, +during the whole period of our stay, with more interest than, I believe, +was reasonable; for had I studied any other as attentively I might have +found less to lament. + +'She was young--certainly not more than twenty-five--and, though not +regularly nor brilliantly handsome, most singularly winning both in +person and demeanour. Her dress was elegant, but peculiarly plain and +simple,--a close white silk bonnet and gauze veil; a quiet-coloured silk +gown, with less of flourish and frill, by half, than any other person; +a delicate little hand which, when ungloved, displayed some handsome +rings; a jewelled watch, of peculiar splendour; and a countenance +expressive of anxious thoughtfulness--must be remembered by many who +were at Baden in August, 1833. They must remember, too, that, enter the +rooms when they would, morning, noon, or night, still they found her +nearly at the same place at the _Rouge et Noir_ table. + +'Her husband, who had as unquestionably the air of a gentleman as she +had of a lady, though not always close to her, was never very distant. +He did not play himself, and I fancied, as he hovered near her, that +his countenance expressed anxiety. But he returned her sweet smile, with +which she always met his eye, with an answering smile; and I saw not the +slightest indication that he wished to withdraw her from the table. + +'There was an expression in the upper part of her face that my +blundering science would have construed into something very foreign to +the propensity she showed; but there she sat, hour after hour, day after +day, not even allowing the blessed sabbath, that gives rest to all, to +bring it to her;--there she sat, constantly throwing down handfuls of +five-franc pieces, and sometimes drawing them back again, till her young +face grew rigid from weariness, and all the lustre of her eye faded into +a glare of vexed inanity. Alas! alas! is that fair woman a mother? God +forbid! + +'Another figure at the gaming table, which daily drew our attention, +was a pale, anxious old woman, who seemed no longer to have strength to +conceal her eager agitation under the air of callous indifference, +which all practised players endeavour to assume. She trembled, till her +shaking hand could hardly grasp the instrument with which she pushed or +withdrew her pieces; the dew of agony stood upon her wrinkled brow; yet, +hour after hour, and day after day, she too sat in the enchanted chair. +I never saw age and station in a position so utterly beyond the pale of +respect. I was assured she was a person of rank; and my informant added, +but I trust she was mistaken, that she was an _ENGLISH_ woman.'(102) + + +(102) Belgium and Western Germany, in 1833. + + +GAMING HOUSES KEPT BY LADIES. + + +There is no doubt that during the last half of the last century many +titled ladies not only gambled, but kept gaming houses. There is even +evidence that one of them actually appealed to the House of Lords +for protection against the intrusion of the peace officers into her +establishment in Covent Garden, on the plea of her Peerage! All this is +proved by a curious record found in the Journals of the House of Lords, +by the editor of the _Athenaeum_. It is as follows:-- + +'Die Lunae, 29 Aprilis, 1745.--_Gaming_. A Bill for preventing the +excessive and deceitful use of it having been brought from the Commons, +and proceeded on so far as to be agreed to in a Committee of the whole +House with amendments,--information was given to the House 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; 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. 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 her said +gaming house. And then they were directed to withdraw. And the said +instrument was read as follows:--"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. M. MORDINGTON. Dated 8th Jan., +1744." + +'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.' + +That such practice continued in vogue is evident from the police +proceedings subsequently taken against + + +THE FAMOUS LADY BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. + + +This notorious gamestress of St James's Square, at the close of the last +century, actually slept with a blunderbuss and a pair of pistols at her +side, to protect her Faro bank. + +On the 11th of March, 1797, her Ladyship, together with Lady E. +Lutterell and a Mrs Sturt, were convicted at the Marlborough Street +Police-court, in the penalty of L50, for playing at the game of Faro; +and Henry Martindale was convicted in the sum of L200, for keeping the +Faro table at Lady Buckinghamshire's. The witnesses had been servants +of her Ladyship, recently discharged on account of a late extraordinary +loss of 500 guineas from her Ladyship's house, belonging to the Faro +bank.(103) + + +(103) The case is reported in the Times of March 13th, 1797. One cannot +help being struck with the appearance of the Times newspaper at that +period--70 years ago. It was printed on one small sheet, about equal +to a single page of the present issue, and contained four pages, two of +which were advertisements, while the others gave only a short summary of +news--no leader at all. + + +In the same year, the croupier at the Countess of Buckinghamshire's one +night announced the unaccountable disappearance of the cash-box of the +Faro bank. All eyes were turned towards her Ladyship. Mrs Concannon said +she once lost a gold snuff-box from the table, while she went to speak +to Lord C--. Another lady said she lost her purse there last winter. And +a story was told that a certain lady had taken, _BY MISTAKE_, a cloak +which did not belong to her, at a rout given by the Countess of ----. +Unfortunately a discovery of the cloak was made, and when the servant +knocked at the door to demand it, some very valuable lace which it was +trimmed with had been taken off. Some surmised that the lady who stole +the cloak might also have stolen the Faro bank cash-box. + +Soon after, the same Martindale, who had kept the Faro bank at Lady +Buckinghamshire's, became a bankrupt, and his debts amounted to +L328,000, besides 'debts of honour,' which were struck off to the +amount of L150,000. His failure is said to have been owing to misplaced +confidence in a subordinate, who robbed him of thousands. The first +suspicion was occasioned by his purchasing an estate of L500 a year; +but other purchases followed to a considerable extent; and it was soon +discovered that the Faro bank had been robbed sometimes of 2000 guineas +a week! On the 14th of April, 1798, other arrears, to a large amount, +were submitted to, and rejected by, the Commissioners in Bankruptcy, +who declared a first dividend of one shilling and five-pence in the +pound.(104) + + +(104) Seymour Harcourt, _Gaming Calendar._ + + +This chapter cannot be better concluded than with quoting the _Epilogue_ +of 'The Oxonian in Town,' 1767, humorously painting some of the +mischiefs of gambling, and expressly addressed to the ladies:-- + +'Lo! next, to my prophetic eye there starts A beauteous gamestress in +the Queen of Hearts. The cards are dealt, the fatal pool is lost, And +all her golden hopes for ever cross'd. Yet still this card-devoted fair +I view--Whate'er her luck, to "_honour_" ever true. So tender there,--if +debts crowd fast upon her, She'll pawn her "virtue" to preserve her +"honour." Thrice happy were my art, could I foretell, Cards would be +soon abjured by every belle! Yet, I pronounce, who cherish still the +vice, And the pale vigils keep of cards and dice--'Twill in their charms +sad havoc make, ye fair! Which "rouge" in vain shall labour to repair. +Beauties will grow mere hags, toasts wither'd jades, Frightful and ugly +as--the _QUEEN OF SPADES_.' + + + +CHAPTER XI. GAMBLING POETS, SAVANTS, PHILOSOPHERS, WITS, AND STATESMEN. + +Perhaps the stern moralist who may have turned over these pages has +frowned at the facts of the preceding chapter. If so, I know not what he +will do at those which I am about to record. + +If it may be said that gamesters must be madmen, or rogues, how has it +come to pass that men of genius, talent, and virtue withal, have been +gamesters? + +Men of genius, 'gifted men,' as they are called, are much to be pitied. +One of them has said--'Oh! if my pillow could reveal my sufferings last +night!' His was true grief--for it had no witness.(105) The endowments +of this nature of ours are so strangely mixed--the events of our lives +are so unexpectedly ruled, that one might almost prefer to have been +fashioned after those imaginary beings who act so _CONSISTENTLY_ in the +nursery tales and other figments. Most men seem to have a double soul; +and in your men of genius--your celebrities--the battle between the two +seems like the tremendous conflict so grandly (and horribly) described +by Milton. Who loved his country more than Cato? Who cared more for his +country's honour? And yet Cato was not only unable to resist the soft +impeachments of alcohol-- + +Narratur et prisci Catonis Saepe mero caluisse virtus-- + +but he was also a dice-player, a gambler.(106) + + +(105) Ille dolet vere qui sine teste dolet. Martial, lib. I. + +(106) Plutarch, _Cato._ + + +Julius Caesar did not drink; but what a profligate he was! And I have no +doubt that he was a gambler: it is certain that he got rid of millions +nobody knew how. + +I believe, however, that the following is an undeniable fact. You may +find suspicious gamesters in every rank of life, but among men of genius +you will generally, if not always, find only victims resigned to the +caprices of fortune. The professions which imply the greatest enthusiasm +naturally furnish the greater number of gamesters. Thus, perhaps, we may +name ten poet-gamesters to one savant or philosopher who deserved the +title or infamy. + +Coquillart, a poet of the 15th century, famous for his satirical verses +against women, died of grief after having ruined himself by gaming. +The great painter Guido--and a painter is certainly a poet--was another +example. By nature gentle and honourable, he might have been the +most fortunate of men if the demon of gambling had not poisoned his +existence, the end of which was truly wretched. + +Rotrou, the acknowledged master of Corneille, hurried his poetical +effusions in order to raise money for gambling. This man of genius was +but a spoilt child in the matter of play. He once received two or three +hundred _louis_, and mistrusting himself, went and hid them under some +vine-branches, in order not to gamble all away at once. Vain precaution! +On the following night his bag was empty. + +The poet Voiture was the delight of his contemporaries, conspicuous as +he was for the most exquisite polish and inexhaustible wit; but he was +also one of the most desperate gamesters of his time. Like Rotrou, he +mistrusted his folly, and sometimes refrained. 'I have discovered,' +he once wrote to a friend, 'as well as Aristotle, that there is no +beatitude in play; and in fact I have given over gambling; it is now +seven months since I played--which is very important news, and which I +forgot to tell you.' He would have died rich had he always refrained. +His relapses were terrible; one night he lost fifteen hundred pistoles +(about L750). + +The list of foreign poets ruined by gambling might be extended; whilst, +on the other hand, it is impossible, I believe, to quote a single +instance of the kind among the poets of England,--perhaps because very +few of them had anything to lose. The reader will probably remember Dr +Johnson's exclamation on hearing of the large debt left unpaid by poor +Goldsmith at his death--'Was ever poet so trusted before!'... + +The great philosophers Montaigne and Descartes, seduced at an early age +by the allurements of gambling, managed at length to overcome the evil, +presenting examples of reformation--which proves that this mania is not +absolutely incurable. Descartes became a gamester in his seventeenth +year; but it is said that the combinations of cards, or the doctrine of +probabilities, interested him more than his winnings.(107) + + +(107) Hist. des Philos. Modernes: _Descartes_. + + +The celebrated Cardan, one of the most universal and most eccentric +geniuses of his age, declares in his autobiography, that the rage for +gambling long entailed upon him the loss of reputation and fortune, +and that it retarded his progress in the sciences. 'Nothing,' says he, +'could justify me, unless it was that my love of gaming was less than my +horror of privation.' A very bad excuse, indeed; but Cardan reformed and +ceased to be a gambler. + +Three of the greatest geniuses of England--Lords Halifax, Anglesey, and +Shaftesbury--were gamblers; and Locke tells a very funny story about +one of their gambling bouts. This philosopher, who neglected nothing, +however eccentric, that had any relation to the working of the human +understanding, happened to be present while my Lords Halifax, Anglesey, +and Shaftesbury were playing, and had the patience to write down, word +for word, all their discordant utterances during the phases of the game; +the result being a dialogue of speakers who only used exclamations--all +talking in chorus, but more to themselves than to each other. Lord +Anglesey observing Locke's occupation, asked him what he was writing. +'My Lord,' replied Locke, 'I am anxious not to lose anything you utter.' +This irony made them all blush, and put an end to the game. + +M. Sallo, Counsellor to the Parliament of Paris, died, says Vigneul de +Marville, of a disease to which the children of the Muses are rarely +subject, and for which we find no remedy in Hippocrates and Galen;--he +died of a lingering disease after having lost 100,000 crowns at the +gaming table--all he possessed. + +By way of diversion to his cankering grief, he started the well-known +_Journal des Savans_, but lived to write only 13 sheets of it, for he +was wounded to the death.(108) + + +(108) Melanges, d'Hist. et de Litt. i. + + +The physician Paschasius Justus was a deplorable instance of an +incorrigible gambler. This otherwise most excellent and learned man +having passed three-fourths of his life in a continual struggle with +vice, at length resolved to cure himself of the disease by occupying +his mind with a work which might be useful to his contemporaries and +posterity.(109) He began his book, but still he gamed; he finished it, +but the evil was still in him. 'I have lost everything but God!' he +exclaimed. He prayed for delivery from his soul's disease;(110) but +his prayer was not heard; he died like any gambler--more wretched than +reformed. + +(109) 'De Alea, sive de curanda in pecuniam cupiditate,' pub. in 1560. + +(110) Illum animi morbum, ut Deus tolleret, serio et frequenter optavit. + + +M. Dusaulx, author of a work on Gaming, exclaims therein--'I have +gambled like you, Paschasius, perhaps with greater fury. Like you I +write against gaming. Can I say that I am stronger than you, in more +critical circumstances?'(111) + + +(111) La Passion du Jeu. + + +What, then, is that mania which can be overcome neither by the love of +glory nor the study of wisdom! + +The literary men of Greece and Rome rarely played any games but those of +skill, such as tennis, backgammon, and chess; and even in these it was +considered 'indecent' to appear too skilful. Cicero stigmatizes two +of his contemporaries for taking too great a delight in such games, on +account of their skill in playing them.(112) + + +(112) Ast alii, quia praeclare faciunt, vehementius quam causa postulat +delectantur, ut Titius pila, Brulla talis. De Orat. lib. iii. + + +Quinctilian advised his pupils to avoid all sterile amusements, which, +he said, were only the resource of the ignorant. + +In after-times men of merit, such as John Huss and Cardinal Cajetan, +bewailed both the time lost in the most innocent games, and the +disastrous passions which are thereby excited. Montaigne calls chess +a stupid and childish game. 'I hate and shun it,' he says, 'because +it occupies one too seriously; I am ashamed of giving it the attention +which would be sufficient for some useful purpose.' King James I., the +British Solomon, forbade chess to his son, in the famous book of royal +instruction which he wrote for him. + +As to the plea of 'filling up time,' Addison has made some very +pertinent observations:--'Whether any kind of gaming has ever thus +much to say for itself, I shall not determine; but I think it is very +wonderful to see persons of the best sense passing away a dozen hours +together in shuffling and dividing a pack of cards, with no other +conversation but what is made up of a few game-phrases, and no other +ideas but those of black or red spots ranged together in different +figures. Would not a man laugh to hear any one of his species +complaining that life is short?' + +Men of intellect may rest assured that whether they win or lose at play, +it will always be at the cost of their genius; the soul cannot support +two passions together. The passion of play, although fatigued, is never +satiated, and therefore it always leaves behind protracted agitation. +The famous Roman lawyer Scaevola suffered from playing at backgammon; +his head was always affected by it, especially when he lost the game, +in fact, it seemed to craze him. One day he returned expressly from the +country merely to try and convince his opponent in a game which he had +lost, that if he had played otherwise he would have won! It seems that +on his journey home he mentally went through the game again, detected +his mistake, and could not rest until he went back and got his adversary +to admit the fact--for the sake of his _amour propre_.(113) + + +(113) Quinctil., _Instit. Orat_. lib. XI. cap. ii. + + +'It is rare,' says Rousseau, 'that thinkers take much delight in +play, which suspends the habit of thinking or diverts it upon sterile +combinations; and so one of the benefits--perhaps the only benefit +conferred by the taste for the sciences, is that it somewhat deadens +that sordid passion of play.' + +Unfortunately such was not the result among the literary and scientific +men, in France or England, during the last quarter of the last century. +Many of them bitterly lamented that they ever played, and yet played +on,--going through all the grades and degradations appointed for his +votaries by the inexorable demon of gambling. + + +BEAU NASH. + + +Nature had by no means formed Nash for _beau_. His person was clumsy, +large, and awkward; his features were harsh, strong, and peculiarly +irregular; yet even with these disadvantages he made love, became an +universal admirer of the sex, and was in his turn universally admired. +The fact is, he was possessed of, at least, some requisites of a +'lover.' He had assiduity, flattery, fine clothes--and as much wit as +the ladies he addressed. Accordingly he used to say--'Wit, flattery, +and fine clothes are enough to debauch a nunnery!' This is certainly a +fouler calumny of women than Pope's + + 'Every woman is at heart a rake.' + + +Beau Nash was a barrister, and had been a remarkable, a distinguished +one in his day--although not at the bar. He had the honour to organize +and direct the last grand 'revel and pageant' before a king, in the Hall +of the Middle Temple, of which he was a member. + +It had long been customary for the Inns of Court to entertain our +monarchs upon their accession to the crown with a revel and pageant, and +the last was exhibited in honour of King William, when Nash was chosen +to conduct the whole with proper decorum. He was then a very young man, +but succeeded so well in giving satisfaction, that the king offered +to give him the honour of knighthood, which, however, Nash declined, +saying:--'Please your Majesty, if you intend to make me a knight, I wish +it may be one of your poor knights of Windsor; and then I shall have a +fortune at least able to support my title.' + +In the Middle Temple he managed to rise 'to the very summit of +second-rate luxury,' and seems to have succeeded in becoming a +fashionable _recherche_, being always one of those who were called good +company--a professed dandy among the elegants. + +No wonder, then, that we subsequently find him Master of the Ceremonies +at Bath, then the theatre of summer amusements for all people of +fashion. It was here that he took to gambling, and was at first classed +among the needy adventurers who went to that place; there was, however, +the great difference between him and them, that his heart was not +corrupt; and though by profession a gamester, he was generous, humane, +and honourable. + +When he gave in his accounts to the Masters of the Temple, among +other items he charged was one--'For making one man happy, L10.' Being +questioned about the meaning of so strange an item, he frankly declared +that, happening to overhear a poor man declare to his wife and large +family of children that L10 would make him happy, he could not avoid +trying the experiment. He added, that, if they did not choose to +acquiesce in his charge, he was ready to refund the money. The Masters, +struck with such an uncommon instance of good nature, publicly thanked +him for his benevolence, and desired that the sum might be doubled as a +proof of their satisfaction. + +'His laws were so strictly enforced that he was styled "King of Bath:" +no rank would protect the offender, nor dignity of station condone +a breach of the laws. Nash desired the Duchess of Queensberry, who +appeared at a dress ball in an apron of point-lace, said to be worth 500 +guineas, to take it off, which she did, at the same time desiring his +acceptance of it; and when the Princess Amelia requested to have one +dance more after 11 o'clock, Nash replied that the laws of Bath, like +those of Lycurgus, were unalterable. Gaming ran high at Bath, and +frequently led to disputes and resort to the sword, then generally worn +by well-dressed men. Swords were, therefore, prohibited by Nash in +the public rooms; still they were worn in the streets, when Nash, in +consequence of a duel fought by torchlight, by two notorious gamesters, +made the law absolute, "That no swords should, on any account, be worn +in Bath."'(114) + + +(114) The Book of Days, Feb. 3. + + +About the year 1739 the gamblers, in order to evade the laws against +gaming, set up E O tables; and as these proved very profitable to the +proprietors at Tunbridge, Nash determined to introduce them at Bath, +having been assured by the lawyers that no law existed against them. +He therefore set up an E O table, and the speculation flourished for a +short time; but the legislature interfered in 1745, and inflicted severe +penalties on the keepers of such tables. This was the ruin of Nash's +gambling speculation; and for the remaining sixteen years of his life he +depended solely on the precarious products of the gaming table. He died +at Bath, in 1761, in greatly reduced circumstances, being represented as +'poor, old, and peevish, yet still incapable of turning from his former +manner of life.' + +'He was buried in the Abbey Church with great ceremony: a solemn hymn +was sung by the charity-school children, three clergymen preceded the +coffin, the pall was supported by aldermen, and the Masters of the +Assembly-Rooms followed as chief mourners; while the streets were +filled and the housetops covered with spectators, anxious to witness the +respect paid to the venerable founder of the prosperity of the city of +Bath.'(115) + + +(115) The Book of Days, Feb. 3. + + +The following are the chief anecdotes told of Beau Nash. + +A giddy youth, who had resigned his fellowship at Oxford, brought his +fortune to Bath, and, without the smallest skill, won a considerable +sum; and following it up, in the next October added four thousand pounds +to his former capital. Nash one night invited him to supper, and offered +to give him fifty guineas to forfeit twenty every time he lost two +hundred at one sitting. The young man refused, and was at last undone. + +The Duke of B---- loved play to distraction. One night, chagrined at a +heavy loss, he pressed Nash to tie him up from deep play in future. +The beau accordingly gave his Grace one hundred guineas on condition to +receive ten thousand whenever he lost that amount at one sitting. The +duke soon lost eight thousand at Hazard, and was going to throw for +three thousand more, when Nash caught the dice-box, and entreated the +peer to reflect on the penalty if he lost. The duke desisted for that +time; but ere long, losing considerably at Newmarket, he willingly paid +the penalty. + +When the Earl of T---- was a youth he was passionately fond of play. +Nash undertook to cure him. Conscious of his superior skill, he engaged +the earl in single play. His lordship lost his estate, equipage, +everything! Our generous gamester returned all, only stipulating for the +payment of L5000 whenever he might think proper to demand it. Some +time after his lordship's death, Nash's affairs being on the wane, he +demanded it of his heirs, _WHO PAID IT WITHOUT HESITATION_. + +Nash one day complained of his ill luck to the Earl of Chesterfield, +adding that he had lost L500 the last night. The earl replied, 'I don't +wonder at your _LOSING_ money, Nash, but all the world is surprised +where you get it to lose.' + +'The Corporation of Bath so highly respected Nash, that the Chamber +voted a marble statue of him, which was erected in the Pump-room, +between the busts of Newton and Pope; this gave rise to a stinging +epigram by Lord Chesterfield, concluding with these lines: + +"The _STATUE_ placed these busts between Gives satire all its strength; +_WISDOM_ and _WIT_ are little seen, But _FOLLY_ at full length."'(116) + + +(116) The Book of Days, Feb. 3. + + +THE EARL OF CHESTERFIELD. + + +Walpole tells us that the celebrated Earl of Chesterfield _LIVED_ at +White's Club, gaming, and uttering witticisms among the boys of quality; +'yet he says to his son, that a member of a gaming club should be a +cheat, or he will soon be a beggar;' an inconsistency which reminds +one of old Fuller's saw--'A father that whipt his son for swearing, and +swore himself whilst he whipt him, did more harm by his example than +good by his correction.' + + +GEORGE SELWYN. + + +The character of Selwyn,' says Mr Jesse, 'was in many respects +a remarkable one. With brilliant wit, a quick perception of the +ridiculous, and a thorough knowledge of the world and human nature, +he united classical knowledge and a taste for the fine arts. To these +qualities may be added others of a very contradictory nature. With +a thorough enjoyment of the pleasures of society, an imperturbable +good-humour, a kind heart, and a passionate fondness for children, he +united a morbid interest in the details of human suffering, and, more +especially, a taste for witnessing criminal executions. Not only was he +a constant frequenter of such scenes of horror, but all the details of +crime, the private history of the criminal, his demeanour at his trial, +in the dungeon, and on the scaffold, and the state of his feelings in +the hour of death and degradation, were to Selwyn matters of the deepest +and most extraordinary interest. Even the most frightful particulars +relating to suicide and murder, the investigation of the disfigured +corpse, the sight of an acquaintance lying in his shroud, seem to have +afforded him a painful and unaccountable pleasure. When the first Lord +Holland was on his death-bed he was told that Selwyn, who had lived on +terms of the closest intimacy with him, had called to inquire after his +health. "The next time Mr Selwyn calls," he said, "show him up; if I am +alive I shall be delighted to see him, and if I am dead he will be glad +to see me." When some ladies bantered him on his want of feeling in +attending to see the terrible Lord Lovat's head cut off--"Why," he said, +"I made amends by going to the undertaker's to see it sewed on again." +And yet this was the same individual who delighted in the first words +and in the sunny looks of childhood; whose friendship seems to have +partaken of all the softness of female affection; and whose heart +was never hardened against the wretched and depressed. Such was the +"original" George Selwyn.' + +This celebrated conversational wit was a devoted frequenter of the +gaming table. Writing to Selwyn, in 1765, Lord Holland said:--'All that +I can collect from what you say on the subject of money is, that fortune +has been a little favourable lately; or may be, the last night only. +Till you leave off play entirely you must be--in earnest, and without +irony--_en verite le serviteur tres-humble des evenements_, "in truth, +the very humble servant of events."' + +His friend the Lord Carlisle, although himself a great gambler, also +gave him good advice. 'I hope you have left off Hazard,' he wrote to +Selwyn; 'if you are still so foolish, and will play, the best thing I +can wish you is, that you may win and never throw crabs.(117) You do not +put it in the power of chance to make you them, as we all know; and till +the ninth miss is born I shall not be convinced to the contrary.' + + +(117) That is, aces, or ace and deuce, twelve, or seven. With false +dice, as will appear in the sequel, it was impossible to throw any of +these numbers, and as the caster always called the main, he was sure to +win, as he could call an impossible number: those who were in the secret +of course always took the odds. + + +Again:--'As you have played I am happy to hear you have won; but by this +time there may be a _triste revers de succes_.' + +Selwyn had taken to gaming before his father's death--probably from +his first introduction to the clubs. His stakes were high, though not +extravagantly so, compared with the sums hazarded by his contemporaries. +In 1765 he lost L1000 to Mr Shafto, who applied for it in the language +of an 'embarrassed tradesman.' + +'July 1, 1765. + +'DEAR SIR,--I have this moment received the favour of your letter. I +intended to have gone out of town on Thursday, but as you shall not +receive your money before the end of this week, I must postpone my +journey till Sunday. A month would have made no difference to me, had I +not had others to pay before I leave town, and must pay; therefore must +beg that you will leave the whole before this week is out, at White's, +as it is to be paid away to others to whom I have lost, and do not +choose to leave town till that is done. Be sure you could not wish an +indulgence I should not be happy to grant, if it my power.' + +Nor was this the only dun of the kind that Selwyn had 'to put up with' +on account of the gaming table. He received the following from Edward, +Earl of Derby.(118) + + +(118) Edward, twelfth Earl of Derby, was born September 12, 1752, and +died October 21, 1834. He married first, Elizabeth, daughter of James, +sixth Duke of Hamilton, who died in 1799, and secondly, the celebrated +actress, Miss Farren, who died April 23, 1829. + + +_The Earl of Derby to George Selwyn_. + +'Nothing could equal what I feel at troubling you with this disagreeable +note; but having lost a very monstrous sum of money last night, I find +myself under the necessity of entreating your goodness to excuse the +liberty I am taking of applying to you for assistance. If it is not very +inconvenient to you, I should be glad of the money you owe me. If it is, +I must pay what I can, and desire Brookes to trust me for the remainder. +I repeat again my apologies, to which I shall beg leave to add how very +sincerely I have the honour to be, my dear sir, + +'Your most obedient humble servant, 'DEBBY. + +This is the very model of a dun, and proves how handsomely such ugly +things can be done when one has to deal with a noble instead of a +plebeian creditor. + +But Selwyn had not only to endure such indignities, but also to inflict +them, as appears by the following letter to him from the Honourable +General Fitzpatrick, in answer to a dun, which, we are assured, was +'gentle and moderate.' + + +'I am very sorry to hear the night ended so ill; but to give you some +idea of the utter impossibility of my being useful on the occasion, I +will inform you of the state of my affairs. I won L400 last night, which +was immediately appropriated by Mr _Martindale_, to whom I still owe +L300, and I am in Brookes' book for thrice that sum. Add to all this, +that at Christmas I expect an inundation of clamorous creditors, who, +unless I somehow or other scrape together some money to satisfy them, +will overwhelm me entirely. What can be done? If I could coin my heart, +or drop my blood into drachms, I would do it, though by this time I +should probably have neither heart nor blood left. I am afraid you will +find Stephen in the same state of insolvency. Adieu! I am obliged to you +for the gentleness and moderation of your dun, considering how long I +have been your debtor. + +'Yours most sincerely, 'R. F.'(119) + + +(119) Apud _Selwyn and his Contemporaries_ by Jesse. + + +Selwyn is said to have been a loser on the whole, and often pillaged. +Latterly he appears to have got the better of his propensity for play, +if we may judge from the following wise sentiment:--'It was too great +a consumer,' he said, 'of four things--time, health, fortune, and +thinking.' But a writer in the _Edinburgh Review_ seems to doubt +Selwyn's reformation; for his initiation of Wilberforce occurred in +1782, when he was 63; and previously, in 1776, he underwent the process +of dunning from Lord Derby, before-mentioned, and in 1779 from Mr +Crawford ('Fish Crawford,' as he was called), each of whom, like Mr +Shafto, 'had a sum to make up'--in the infernal style so horridly +provoking, even when we are able and willing to pay. However, as Selwyn +died comparatively rich, it may be presumed that his fortune suffered to +no great extent by his indulgence in the vice of gaming. + +The following are some of George Selwyn's jokes relating to gambling:-- + +One night, at White's, observing the Postmaster-General, Sir Everard +Fawkener, losing a large sum of money at Piquet, Selwyn, pointing to the +successful player, remarked--'See now, he is robbing the _MAIL!_' + +On another occasion, in 1756, observing Mr Ponsonby, the Speaker of the +Irish House of Commons, tossing about bank-bills at a Hazard table +at Newmarket--'Look,' he said, 'how easily the Speaker passes the +money-bills!' + +A few months afterwards (when the public journals were daily containing +an account of some fresh town which had conferred the freedom of its +corporation in a gold box on Mr Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chatham, +and the Right Honourable Henry Bilson Legge, his fellow-patriot and +colleague), Selwyn, who neither admired their politics nor respected +their principles, proposed to the old and new club at Arthur's, that +he should be deputed to present to them the freedom of each club in a +_dice-box_. + +On one of the waiters at Arthur's club having been committed to prison +for a felony--'What a horrid idea,' said Selwyn, 'he will give of us to +the people in Newgate!' + +When the affairs of Charles Fox were in a more than usually embarrassed +state, chiefly through his gambling, his friends raised a subscription +among themselves for his relief. One of them remarking that it would +require some delicacy in breaking the matter to him, and adding that 'he +wondered how Fox would take it.' 'Take it?' interrupted Selwyn, 'why, +_QUARTERLY_, to be sure.'(120) + + +(120) Jesse, _George Selwyn and his Contemporaries._ + + +LORD CARLISLE. + + +This eminent statesman was regarded by his contemporaries as an able, an +influential, and occasionally a powerful speaker. + +Though married to a lady for whom in his letters he ever expresses the +warmest feelings of admiration and esteem; and surrounded by a young +and increasing family, who were evidently the objects of his deepest +affection, Lord Carlisle, nevertheless, at times appears to have been +unable to extricate himself from the dangerous enticements to play +to which he was exposed. His fatal passion for play--the source +of adventitious excitement at night, and of deep distress in the +morning--seems to have led to frequent and inconvenient losses, and +eventually to have plunged him into comparative distress. + +'In recording these failings of a man of otherwise strong sense, of a +high sense of honour, and of kindly affections, we have said the worst +that can be adduced to his disadvantage. Attached, indeed, as Lord +Carlisle may have been to the pleasures of society, and unfortunate +as may have been his passion for the gaming table, it is difficult +to peruse those passages in his letters in which he deeply reproaches +himself for yielding to the fatal fascination of play, and accuses +himself of having diminished the inheritance of his children, without a +feeling of commiseration for the sensations of a man of strong sense +and deep feeling, while reflecting on his moral degradation. It is +sufficient, however, to observe of Lord Carlisle, that the deep sense +which he entertained of his own folly; the almost maddening moments to +which he refers in his letters of self-condemnation and bitter regret; +and subsequently his noble victory over the siren enticements of +pleasure, and his thorough emancipation from the trammels of a +domineering passion, make adequate amends for his previous unhappy +career.'(121) + +(121) Jesse, _George Selwyn and his Contemporaries_, ii. + + +Brave conquerors, for so ye are, Who war against your own affections, +And the huge army of the world's desires. + + +Lady Sarah Bunbury, writing to George Selwyn, in 1767, says:--'If you +are now at Paris with poor C. (evidently Carlisle), who I dare say is +now swearing at the French people, give my compliments to him. I call +him poor C. because I hope he is only miserable at having been such a +_PIGEON_ to Colonel Scott. I never can pity him for losing at play, and +I think of it as little as I can, because I cannot bear to be obliged to +abate the least of the good opinion I have always had of him.' + +Oddly enough the writer had no better account to give of her own +husband; she says, in the letter:--'Sir Charles games from morning till +night, but he has never yet lost L100 in one day.'(122) + + +(122) This Lady Sarah Bunbury was the wife of Sir Charles Bunbury, after +having had a chance of being Queen of England, as the wife of George +III., who was passionately in love with her, and would have married her +had it not been for the constitutional opposition of his privy council. +This charming and beautiful woman died in 1826, at the age of 82. +She was probably the last surviving great-granddaughter of Charles +II.--Jesse, _Ubi supra_. + + +About the year 1776 Lord Carlisle wrote the following letter to George +Selwyn:-- + +'MY DEAR GEORGE, 'I have undone myself, and it is to no purpose to +conceal from you my abominable madness and folly, though perhaps the +particulars may not be known to the rest of the world. I never lost so +much in five times as I have done to-night, and am in debt to the house +for the whole. You may be sure I do not tell you this with an idea that +you can be of the least assistance to me; it is a great deal more than +your abilities are equal to. Let me see you--though I shall be ashamed +to look at you after your goodness to me.' + + +This letter is endorsed by George Selwyn--'After the loss of L10,000.' +He tells Selwyn of a set which, at one point of the game, stood to win +L50,000. + +'Lord Byron, it is almost needless to remark, was nearly related to Lord +Carlisle. The mother of Lord Carlisle was sister to John, fourth Lord +Byron, the grandfather of the poet; Lord Carlisle and Lord Byron were +consequently first cousins once removed. Had they happened to have been +contemporaries, it would be difficult to form an idea of two individuals +who, alike from tastes, feelings, and habits of life, were more likely +to form a lasting and suitable intimacy. Both were men of high rank; +both united an intimate knowledge of society and the world with the +ardent temperament of a poet; and both in youth mingled a love of frolic +and pleasure with a graver taste for literary pursuits.' + + +CHARLES JAMES FOX. + + +In the midst of the infatuated votaries of the gaming god in England, +towers the mighty intellectual giant Charles James Fox. Nature had +fashioned him to be equally an object of admiration and love. In +addition to powerful eloquence, he was distinguished by the refinement +of his taste in all matters connected with literature and art; he was +deeply read in history; had some claims to be regarded as a poet; and +possessed a thorough knowledge of the classical authors of antiquity, +a knowledge of which he so often and so happily availed himself in his +seat in the House of Commons. To these qualities was added a good-humour +which was seldom ruffled,--a peculiar fascination of manner and +address,--the most delightful powers of conversation,--a heart perfectly +free from vindictiveness, ostentation, and deceit,--a strong sense of +justice,--a thorough detestation of tyranny and oppression,--and an +almost feminine tenderness of feeling for the sufferings of others. +Unfortunately, however, his great talents and delightful qualities +in private life rendered his defects the more glaring and lamentable; +indeed, it is difficult to think or speak with common patience of those +injurious practices and habits--that abandonment to self-gratification, +and that criminal waste of the most transcendent abilities which +exhausted in social conviviality and the gaming table what were formed +to confer blessings on mankind. + +So much for the character of Fox, as I have gathered from Mr Jesse;(123) +and I continue the extremely interesting subject by quoting from that +delightful book, 'The Queens of Society.'(124) 'With a father who +had made an enormous fortune, with little principle, out of a public +office--for Lord Holland owed the bulk of his wealth to his appointment +of paymaster to the forces,--and who spoiled him, in his boyhood, +Charles James Fox had begun life _AS A FOP OF THE FIRST WATER_, and +squandered L50,000 in debt before he became of age. Afterwards he +indulged recklessly and extravagantly in every course of licentiousness +which the profligate society of the day opened to him. At Brookes' and +the Thatched House Fox ate and drank to excess, threw thousands upon the +Faro table, mingled with blacklegs, and made himself notorious for his +shameless vices. Newmarket supplied another excitement. His back room +was so incessantly filled with Jew money-lenders that he called it his +Jerusalem Chamber. It was impossible that such a life should not destroy +every principle of honour; and there is nothing improbable in the story +that he appropriated to himself money which belonged to his dear friend +Mrs Crewe, as before related. + + +(123) George Selwyn and his Contemporaries, ii. + +(124) By Grace and Philip Wharton. + + +'Of his talents, which were certainly great, he made an affected +display. Of his learning he was proud--but rather as adding lustre +to his celebrity for universal tastes. He was not at all ashamed, but +rather gloried in being able to describe himself as a fool, as he does +in his verses to Mrs Crewe:-- + +"Is't reason? No; that my whole life will belie; For, who so at variance +as reason and I? Is't ambition that fills up each chink in my heart, Nor +allows any softer sensation a part? Oh! no; for in this all the world +must agree, _ONE FOLLY WAS NEVER SUFFICIENT FOR ME_." + + +'Sensual and self-indulgent--with a grossness that is even patent on his +very portrait (and bust), Fox had nevertheless a manner which enchanted +the sex, and he was the only politician of the day who thoroughly +enlisted the personal sympathies of women of mind and character, as well +as of those who might be captivated by his profusion. When he visited +Paris in later days, even Madame Recamier, noted for her refinement, and +of whom he himself said, with his usual coarse ideas of the sphere +of woman, that "she was the only woman who united the attractions of +pleasure to those of modesty," delighted to be seen with him! At the +time of which we are speaking the most celebrated beauties of England +were his most ardent supporters. + +'The election of 1784, in which he stood and was returned for +Westminster, was one of the most famous of the old riotous political +demonstrations..... Loving _hazard_ of all kinds for its own sake, +Fox had made party hostility a new sphere of gambling, had adopted the +character of a demagogue, and at a time when the whole of Europe was +undergoing, a great revolution in principles, was welcomed gladly as +"The Man of the People." In the beginning, of the year he had been +convicted of bribery, but in spite of this his popularity increased.... +The election for Westminster, in which Fox was opposed by Sir Cecil +Wray, was the most tempestuous of all. There were 20,000 votes to be +polled, and the opposing parties resorted to any means of intimidation, +or violence, or persuasion which political enthusiasm could suggest. On +the eighth day the poll was against the popular member, and he called +upon his friends to make a great effort on his behalf. It was then that +the "ladies' canvass" began. Lady Duncannon, the Duchess of Devonshire, +Mrs Crewe, and Mrs Damer dressed themselves in blue and buff--the +colours of the American Independents, which Fox had adopted and wore in +the House of Commons--and set out to visit the purlieus of Westminster. +Here, in their enthusiasm, they shook the dirty hands of honest workmen, +expressed the greatest interest in their wives and families, and even, +as in the case of the Duchess of Devonshire and the butcher, submitted +their fair cheeks to be kissed by the possessors of votes! At the +butcher's shop, the owner, in his apron and sleeves, stoutly refused his +vote, except on one condition--"Would her Grace give him a kiss?" The +request was granted; and the vote thus purchased went to swell the +majority which finally secured the return of "The Man of the People." + +'The colouring of political friends, which concealed his vices, or +rather which gave them a false hue, has long since faded away. We now +know Fox as he _WAS_. In the latest journals of Horace Walpole his +inveterate gambling, his open profligacy, his utter want of honour, is +disclosed by one of his own opinion. Corrupted ere yet he had left his +home, whilst in age a boy, there is, however, the comfort of reflecting +that he outlived his vices which seem to have "cropped out" by his +ancestral connection in the female line with the reprobate Charles II., +whom he was thought to resemble in features. Fox, afterwards, with a +green apron tied round his waist, pruning and nailing up his fruit trees +at St Ann's Hill, or amusing himself innocently with a few friends, is +a pleasing object to remember, even whilst his early career occurs +forcibly to the mind.' + +Peace, then, to the shade of Charles James Fox! The three last public +acts which he performed were worthy of the man, and should suffice to +prove that, in spite of his terrible failings, he was most useful in his +generation. By one, he laboured to repair the outrages of war--to obtain +a breathing time for our allies; and, by an extension of our commerce, +to afford, if necessary, to his country all the advantages of a +renovated contest, without the danger of drying up our resources. By +another, he attempted to remove all legal disabilities arising out of +religion--to unite more closely _THE INTERESTS OF IRELAND WITH THOSE +OF ENGLAND;_ and thus, by an extension of common rights, and a +participation of common benefits, wisely to render that which has always +been considered the weakest and most troublesome portion of our empire, +at least a useful and valuable part of England's greatness among the +nations. Queen Elizabeth's Minister, Lord Burleigh, in the presence of +the 'Irish difficulty' in his day, wished Ireland at the bottom of +the sea, and doubtless many at the present time wish the same; but Fox +endeavoured to grapple with it manfully and honestly, and it was not his +fault that he did not settle it. The vices of Fox were those of the age +in which he lived; had he been reserved for the present epoch, what a +different biography should we have to write of him! What a helmsman he +might be at the present time, when the ship of Old England is at sea and +in peril! + +It appears from a letter addressed by Lord Carlisle to Lady Holland +(Fox's mother) in 1773, that he had become security for Fox to the +amount of fifteen or sixteen thousand pounds; and a letter to Selwyn +in 1777, puts the ruinous character of their gaming transactions in +the strongest light. Lord Ilchester (Fox's cousin) had lost thirteen +thousand pounds at one sitting to Lord Carlisle, who offered to take +three thousand pounds down. Nothing was paid. But ten years afterwards, +when Lord Carlisle pressed for his money, he complained that an attempt +was made to construe the offer into a _remission_ of the ten thousand +pounds:--'The only way, in honour, that Lord Ilchester could have +accepted my offer, would have been by taking some steps to pay the +L3000. I remained in a state of uncertainty, I think, for nearly three +years; but his taking no notice of it during that time, convinced me +that he had no intention of availing himself of it. Charles Fox was also +at a much earlier period clear that he never meant to accept it. There +is also great injustice in the behaviour of the family in passing by the +instantaneous payment of, I believe, five thousand pounds, to Charles, +won at the same sitting, without any observations. _At one period of the +play I remember there was a balance in favour of one of these gentlemen +(but which I protest I do not remember) of about fifty thousand_.' + +At the time in question Fox was hardly eighteen. The following letter +from Lord Carlisle, written in 1771, contains highly interesting +information respecting the youthful habits and already vast intellectual +pre-eminence of this memorable statesman:--'It gives me great pain to +hear that Charles begins to be unreasonably impatient at losing. I fear +it is the prologue to much fretfulness of temper, for disappointment in +raising money, and any serious reflections upon his situation, will +(in spite of his affected spirits and dissipation) occasion him many +disagreeable moments.' Lord Carlisle's fears proved groundless in this +respect. As before stated, Fox was always remarkable for his sweetness +of temper, which remained with him to the last; but it is most painful +to think how much mankind has lost through his recklessness. + +Gibbon writes to Lord Sheffield in 1773, 'You know Lord Holland is +paying Charles Fox's debts. They amount to L140,000.'(125) + +(125) Timbs, _Club Life in London_. + + +His love of play was desperate. A few evenings before he moved the +repeal of the Marriage Act, in February, 1772, he had been at Brompton +on two errands,--one to consult Justice Fielding on the penal laws, the +other to borrow L10,000, which he brought to town at the hazard of being +robbed. He played admirably both at Whist and Piquet,--with such skill, +indeed, that by the general admission of Brookes' Club, he might have +made four thousand pounds a-year, as they calculated, at these games, +if he could have confined himself to them. But his misfortune arose from +playing games of chance, particularly at Faro. + +After eating and drinking plentifully, he would sit down at the Faro +table, and invariably rose a loser. Once, indeed, and once only, he won +about eight thousand pounds in the course of a single evening. Part of +the money he paid to his creditors, and the remainder he lost almost +immediately. + +Before he attained his thirtieth year he had completely dissipated +everything that he could either command or could procure by the most +ruinous expedients. He had even undergone, at times, many of the +severest privations incidental to the vicissitudes that attend a +gamester's progress; frequently wanting money to defray the common daily +wants of the most pressing nature. Topham Beauclerc, who lived much +in Fox's society, declared that no man could form an idea of the +extremities to which he had been driven to raise money, often losing +his last guinea at the Faro table. The very sedan-chairmen, whom he +was unable to pay, used to dun him for arrears. In 1781, he might be +considered as an extinct volcano,--for the pecuniary aliment that had +fed the flame was long consumed. Yet he even then occupied a house or +lodgings in St James's Street, close to Brookes', where he passed almost +every hour which was not devoted to the House of Commons. Brookes' was +then the rallying point or rendezvous of the Opposition, where Faro, +Whist, and supper prolonged the night, the principal members of the +minority in both Houses met, in order to compare their information, or +to concert and mature their parliamentary measures. Great sums were then +borrowed of Jews at exorbitant premiums. + +His brother Stephen was enormously fat; George Selwyn said he was in the +right to deal with Shylocks, as he could give them pounds of flesh. + +Walpole, in 1781, walking up St James's Street, saw a cart at Fox's +door, with copper and an old chest of drawers, loading. His success at +Faro had awakened a host of creditors; but, unless his bank had +swelled to the size of the Bank of England, it could not have yielded +a half-penny apiece for each. Epsom too had been unpropitious; and one +creditor had actually seized and carried off Fox's goods, which did not +seem worth removing. Yet, shortly after this, whom should Walpole find +sauntering by his own door but Fox, who came up and talked to him at the +coach window, on the Marriage Bill, with as much _sang-froid_ as if he +knew nothing of what had happened. Doubtless this indifference was to be +attributed quite as much to the callousness of the reckless gambler as +to anything that might be called 'philosophy.' + +It seems clear that the ruling passion of Fox was partly owing to the +lax training of his father, who, by his lavish allowances, not only +fostered his propensity to play, but had also been accustomed to give +him, when a mere boy, money to amuse himself at the gaming table. +According to Chesterfield, the first Lord Holland 'had no fixed +principles in religion or morality,' and he censures him to his son for +being 'too unwary in ridiculing and exposing them.' He gave full swing +to Charles in his youth. 'Let nothing be done,' said his lordship, 'to +break his spirit, the world will do that for him.' At his death, in +1774, he left him L154,000 to pay his debts; it was all 'bespoke,' and +Fox soon became as deeply pledged as before.(126) + + +(126) Timbs, ubi supra. There is a mistake in the anecdote respecting +Fox's duel with Mr Adam (not Adams), as related by Mr Timbs in his +amusing book of the Clubs. The challenge was in consequence of some +words uttered by Fox in parliament, and not on account of some remark +on Government powder, to which Fox wittily alluded, after the duel, +saying--'Egad, Adam, you would have killed me if it had not been +Government powder.' See Gilchrist, Ordeals, Millingen, Hist. of +Duelling, ii., and Steinmetz, Romance of Duelling, ii. + + +The following are authentic anecdotes of Fox, as a gambler. + +Fox had a gambling debt to pay to Sir John Slade. Finding himself in +cash, after a lucky run at Faro, he sent a complimentary card to the +knight, desiring to discharge the claim. Sir 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 James, and pocketed the cash, adding--'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.' + +Fox once played cards with Fitzpatrick at Brookes' from ten o'clock at +night till near six o'clock the next morning--a waiter standing by to +tell them 'whose deal it was'--they being too sleepy to know. + +On another occasion he won about L8000; and one of his bond-creditors, +who soon heard of his good luck, presented himself and asked for +payment. 'Impossible, sir,' replied Fox; 'I must first discharge my +debts of honour.' The bond-creditor remonstrated, and finding Fox +inflexible, tore the bond to pieces and flung it into the fire, +exclaiming--'Now, sir, your debt to me is a _debt of honour_.' Struck by +the creditor's witty rejoinder, Fox instantly paid the money.(127) + + +(127) The above is the version of this anecdote which I remember as +being current in my young days. Mr Timbs and others before him relate +the anecdote as follows:--'On another occasion he won about L8000; and +one of his bond-creditors, who soon heard of his good luck, presented +himself and asked for payment.' + +'Impossible, sir,' replied Fox 'I must first discharge my debts of +honour.' The bond-creditor remonstrated. 'Well, sir, give me your bond.' +It was delivered to Fox, who tore it in pieces and threw it into the +fire. 'Now, sir,' said Fox, 'my debt to you is a debt of honour;' and +immediately paid him. + +Now, it is evident that Fox could not destroy the document without +rendering himself still more 'liable' in point of law. I submit that +the version in the text is the true one, conforming with the legal +requirement of the case and influencing the debtor by the originality of +the performance of the creditor. + + +Amidst the wildest excesses of youth, even while the perpetual victim +of his passion for play, Fox eagerly cultivated his taste for letters, +especially the Greek and Roman historians and poets; and he found +resources in their works under the most severe depressions occasioned by +ill-successes at the gaming table. One morning, after Fox had passed the +whole night in company with Topham Beauclerc at Faro, the two friends +were about to separate. + +Fox had lost throughout the night, and was in a frame of mind +approaching to desperation. Beauclerc's anxiety for the consequences +which might ensue led him to be early at Fox's lodgings; and on arriving +he inquired, not without apprehension, whether he had risen. The servant +replied that Mr Fox was in the drawing-room, when Beauclerc walked +up-stairs and cautiously opened the door, expecting to behold a frantic +gamester stretched on the floor, bewailing his losses, or plunged +in moody despair; but he was astonished to find him reading a Greek +Herodotus. + +On perceiving his friend's surprise, Fox exclaimed, 'What would you have +me do? I have lost my last shilling.' + +Upon other occasions, after staking and losing all that he could raise +at Faro, instead of exclaiming against fortune, or manifesting the +agitation natural under such circumstances, he would lay his head on the +table and retain his place, but, exhausted by mental and bodily fatigue, +almost immediately fall into a profound sleep. + +Fox's best friends are said to have been half ruined in annuities given +by them as securities for him to the Jews. L500,000 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, February 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 L12,000 that he had lost; and by dinner, which +was at five o'clock, he had ended losing L11,000! On the Thursday he +spoke in the above debate, went to dinner at past eleven at night; from +thence to White's, where he drank till seven the next morning; thence +to Almack's, where he won L6000; and between three and four in the +afternoon he set out for Newmarket. His brother Stephen lost L11,000 +two nights after, and Charles L10,000 more on the 13th; so that in three +nights the two brothers--the eldest not _twenty-five_ years of age--lost +L32,000!(128) + + +(128) Timbs, _ubi supra._ + + +On one occasion Stephen Fox was dreadfully fleeced at a gaming house at +the West End. He entered it with L13,000, and left without a farthing. + +Assuredly these Foxes were misnamed. _Pigeons_--dupes of sharpers at +play--would have been a more appropriate cognomen. + + +WILBERFORCE AND PITT. + + +These eminent statesmen were gamesters at one period of their lives. +When Wilberforce came to London in 1780, after his return to Parliament, +his great success signalized his entry into public life, and he was at +once elected a member of the leading clubs--Miles' and Evans', Brookes', +Boodle's, White's, and Goosetree's. The latter was Wilberforce's usual +resort, where his friendship with Pitt--who played with characteristic +and intense eagerness, and whom he had slightly known at +Cambridge--greatly increased. He once lost L100 at the Faro table. + +'We played a good deal at Goosetree's,' he states, and I well remember +the intense earnestness which Pitt displayed when joining in these games +of chance. He perceived their increasing fascination, and soon after +abandoned them for ever.' + +Wilberforce's own case is thus recorded by his biographers, on the +authority of his private Journal:--'We can have no play to-night,' +complained some of the party at the club, 'for St Andrew is not here to +keep bank.' 'Wilberforce,' said Mr Bankes, who never joined himself, 'if +you will keep it I will give you a guinea.' The playful challenge was +accepted, but as the game grew deep he rose the winner of L600. Much of +this was lost by those who were only heirs to fortunes, and therefore +could not meet such a call without inconvenience. The pain he felt at +their annoyance cured him of a taste which seemed but too likely to +become predominant. + +Goosetree's being then almost exclusively composed of incipient orators +and embryo statesmen, the call for a gambling table there may be +regarded as a decisive proof of the universal prevalence of the vice. + +'The first time I was at Brookes',' says Wilberforce, 'scarcely knowing +any one, I joined, from mere shyness, in play at the Faro tables, +where George Selwyn kept bank. A friend, who knew my inexperience, and +regarded me as a victim decked out for sacrifice, called to me--"What, +Wilberforce, is that you?" Selwyn quite resented the interference, +and, turning to him, said in his most expressive tone, "Oh, sir, don't +interrupt Mr Wilberforce, he could not be better employed." + +Again: 'The very first time I went to Boodle's I won twenty-five guineas +of the Duke of Norfolk. I belonged at this time to five clubs--Miles' +and Evans', Brookes', Boodle's, White's, and Goosetree's.' + + +SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. + + +Sir Philip Francis, the eminent politician and supposed author of +the celebrated 'Letters of Junius,' was a gambler, and the convivial +companion of Fox. During the short administration of that statesman he +was made a Knight of the Bath. One evening, Roger Wilbraham came up to +the Whist table, at Brookes', where Sir Philip, who for the first time +wore the ribbon of the Order, was engaged in a rubber, and thus accosted +him. Laying hold of the ribbon, and examining it for some time, he +said:--'So, this is the way they have rewarded you at last; they have +given you a little bit of red ribbon for your services, Sir Philip, +have they? A pretty bit of red ribbon to hang about your neck; and that +satisfies you, does it? Now, I wonder what I shall have. What do you +think they will give me, Sir Philip?' The newly-made knight, who had +twenty-five guineas depending on the rubber, and who was not very well +pleased at the interruption, suddenly turned round, and looking at him +fiercely, exclaimed, 'A halter, and be,' &c. + + +THE REV. CALEB C. COLTON. + + +Unquestionably this reverend gentleman was one of the most lucky of +gamesters--having died in full possession of the gifts vouchsafed to him +by the goddess of fortune. + +He was educated at Eton, graduated at King's College, Cambridge, as +Bachelor of Arts in 1801, and Master of Arts in 1804, and obtained a +fellowship, having also a curacy at Tiverton, held conjointly. Some six +years after he appeared in print as a denouncer of a 'ghost story,' and +in 1812, as the author of 'Hypocrisy,' a satirical poem, and 'Napoleon,' +a poem. In 1818 he was presented by his college to the vicarage of Kew +with Petersham, in Surrey. Two years after he established a literary +reputation--lasting to the present time--by the publication of a volume +of aphorisms or maxims, under the title of 'LACON; or, Many Things in +Few Words.' This work is very far from original, being founded mainly on +Lord Bacon's celebrated Essays, and Burdon's 'Materials for Thinking,' +La Bruyiere, and De la Rochefoucault; still it is highly creditable to +the abilities of the writer. It has passed through several editions; +and even at the present time its only rival is, 'The Guesses at Truth,' +although we have numerous collections of apothegmatic extracts from +authors, a class of works which is not without its fascination, if +readers are inclined to _THINK._(129) + + +(129) The first work I published was of this kind, and entitled, 'Gems +of Genius; or, Words of the Wise, with extracts from the Diary of a +Young Man,' in 1838. + + +Two years after he returned to his 'Napoleon,' which he republished, +with extensive additions, under the new title of 'The Conflagration of +Moscow. + +It would appear that Colton at this period gave in to the fashionable +gaming of the day; at any rate, he dabbled deeply in Spanish bonds, +became involved in pecuniary difficulties, and, without investigating +his affairs closely--which might have been easily arranged--he +absconded. + +He subsequently made appearance, in order to retain his living; but in +1828 he lost it, a successor being appointed by his college. He then +went to the United States of America; what he did there is not on +record; but he subsequently returned to Europe, went to Paris, took up +his abode in the Palais Royal, and--devoted his talents to the mysteries +of the gaming table, by which he was so successful that in the course of +a year or two he won L25,000! + +Oddly enough, one of his 'maxims' in his Lacon runs as follows: 'The +gamester, if he die a martyr to his profession, is doubly ruined. He +adds his soul to every other loss, and, by the act of suicide, renounces +earth, to forfeit heaven.' + +It has been suggested that this was writing his own epitaph, and it +would appear so from the notices of the man in most of the biographies; +but nothing could be further from the fact. Caleb Colton managed to +_KEEP_ his gambling fortune, and what is more, devoted it to a worthy +purpose. Part of his wealth he employed in forming a picture-gallery; +and he printed at Paris, for private distribution, an ode on the death +of Lord Byron. He certainly committed suicide, but the act was not the +gamester's martyrdom. He was afflicted by a disease which necessitated +some painful surgical operation, and rather than submit to it, he +blew out his brains, at the house of a friend, at Fontainebleau, in +1832.(130) + + +(130) Gent. Mag. New Month. Mag. Gorton's Gen. Biograph. Dict. + + +BEAU BRUMMELL. + + +This singular man was an inveterate gambler, and for some time very +'lucky;' but the reaction came at last; the stakes were too high, and +the purses of his companions too long for him to stand against any +continued run of bad luck; indeed, the play at Wattier's, which was very +deep, eventually ruined the club, as well as Brummell and several other +members of it; a certain baronet now living, according to Captain Jesse, +is asserted to have lost ten thousand pounds there at _Ecarte_ at one +sitting.(131) + + +(131) Life of Beau Brummell. + + +The season of 1814 saw Brummell a winner, and a loser likewise--and this +time he lost not only his winnings, but 'an unfortunate ten thousand +pounds,' which, when relating the circumstance to a friend many +years afterwards, he said was all that remained at his banker's. One +night--the fifth of a most relentless run of ill-luck--his friend +Pemberton Mills heard him exclaim that he had lost every shilling, and +only wished some one would bind him never to play again:--'I will,' +said Mills; and taking out a ten-pound note he offered it to Brummell +on condition that he should forfeit a thousand if he played at White's +within a month from that evening. The Beau took it, and for a few days +discontinued coming to the club; but about a fortnight after Mills, +happening to go in, saw him hard at work. Of course the thousand pounds +was forfeited; but his friend, instead of claiming it, merely went up to +him and, touching him gently on the shoulder, said--'Well, Brummell, you +may at least give me back the ten pounds you had the other night.' + +Among the members who indulged in high play at Brookes' Club was +Alderman Combe, the brewer, who is said to have made as much money in +this way as he did by brewing. One evening whilst he filled the office +of Lord Mayor, he was busy at a full Hazard table at Brookes', where the +wit and the dice-box circulated together with great glee, and where Beau +Brummell was one of the party. 'Come, Mash-tub,' said Brummell, who was +the _caster_, 'what do you _set?_' 'Twenty-five guineas,' answered the +Alderman. 'Well, then,' returned the Beau, 'have at the mare's pony' (a +gaming term for 25 guineas). He continued to throw until he drove home +the brewer's twelve ponies running; and then getting up, and making him +a low bow, whilst pocketing the cash, he said--'Thank you, Alderman; +for the future I shall never drink any porter but yours.' 'I wish, sir,' +replied the brewer, 'that every other blackguard in London would tell me +the same.'(132) + + +(132) Jesse, _ubi supra_. + + +The following occurrence must have caused a 'sensation' to poor +Brummell. + +Among the members of Wattier's Club was Bligh, a notorious madman, of +whom Mr Raikes relates:--'One evening at the Macao table, when the play +was very deep, Brummell, having lost a considerable stake, affected, in +his farcical way, a very tragic air, and cried out--"Waiter, bring me +a flat candlestick and a pistol." Upon which Bligh, who was sitting +opposite to him, calmly produced two loaded pistols from his coat +pocket, which he placed on the table, and said, "Mr Brummell, if you are +really desirous to put a period to your existence, I am extremely happy +to offer you the means without troubling the waiter." The effect upon +those present may easily be imagined, at finding themselves in the +company of a known madman who had loaded weapons about him.' + +Brummell was at last completely beggared, though for some time he +continued to hold on by the help of funds raised on the mutual security +of himself and his friends, some of whom were not in a much more +flourishing condition than himself; their names, however, and still +more, their expectations, lent a charm to their bills, in the eyes of +the usurers, and money was procured, of course at ruinous interest. It +is said that some unpleasant circumstances, connected with the division +of one of these loans, occasioned the Beau's expatriation, and that a +personal altercation took place between Brummell and a certain Mr M--, +when that gentleman accused him of taking the lion's share. + +He died in utter poverty, and an idiot, at Caen, in the year 1840, aged +62 years. Brummell had a very odd way of accounting for the sad change +which took place in his affairs. He said that up to a particular period +of his life everything prospered with him, and that he attributed good +luck to the possession of a certain silver sixpence with a hole in it, +which somebody had given him years before, with an injunction to take +good care of it, as everything would go well with him so long as he +did, and the reverse if he happened to lose it. The promised prosperity +attended him for many years, whilst he held the sixpence fast; but +having at length, in an evil hour, unfortunately given it by mistake +to a hackney-coachman, a complete reverse of his previous good fortune +ensued, till actual ruin overtook him at last, and obliged him to +expatriate himself. 'On my asking him,' says the narrator, 'why he did +not advertise and offer a reward for the lost treasure; he said, "I did, +and twenty people came with sixpences having holes in them to obtain +the promised reward, but mine was not amongst them!" And you never +afterwards,' said I, 'ascertained what became of it? "Oh yes," he +replied, "no doubt that rascal Rothschild, or some of his set, got hold +of it."' Whatever poor Brummell's supernatural tendencies may have +generally been, he had unquestionably a superstitious veneration for his +lost sixpence. + + +TOM DUNCOMBE. + + +Tom Duncombe graduated and took honours among the greatest gamblers of +the day. Like Fox, he was heir to a good fortune--ten or twelve thousand +a year--the whole of which he managed to anticipate before he was +thirty. 'Tom Duncombe ran Charles Fox close. When Mr Duncombe, sen., of +Copgrove, caused his prodigal son's debts to be estimated with a view +to their settlement, they were found to exceed L135,000;(133) and the +hopeful heir went on adding to them till all possibility of extrication +was at an end. But he spent his money (or other people's money), so long +as he had any, like a gentleman; his heart was open like his hand; he +was generous, cordial, high-spirited; and his expectations--till they +were known to be discounted to the uttermost farthing--kept up his +credit, improved his social position, and gained friends. "Society" +(says his son) "opened its arms to the possessor of a good name and the +inheritor of a good estate. Paterfamiliases and Materfamiliases rivalled +each other in endeavouring to make things pleasant in their households +for his particular delectation, especially if they had grown-up +daughters; hospitable hosts invited him to dinner, fashionable matrons +to balls; political leaders sought to secure him as a partisan; +_DEBUTANTES_ of the season endeavoured to attract him as an admirer; +_TRADESMEN THRONGED TO HIS DOORSTEPS FOR HIS CUSTOM_, and his table was +daily covered with written applications for his patronage." _Noblesse +oblige;_ and so does fashion. The aspirant had confessedly a hard time +of it. "He must be seen at Tattersall's as well as at Almack's; be +more frequent in attendance in the green-room of the theatre than at +a _levee_ in the palace; show as much readiness to enter into a +pigeon-match at Battersea Red House, as into a flirtation in May Fair; +distinguish himself in the hunting-field as much as at the dinner-table; +and make as effective an appearance in the park as in the senate; in +short, he must be everything--not by turns, but all at once--sportsman, +exquisite, gourmand, rake, senator, and at least a dozen other +variations of the man of fashion,--his changes of character being often +quicker than those attempted by certain actors who nightly undertake the +performance of an entire _dramatis personae_."' + +(133) It will be remembered that when Fox's debts were in like manner +estimated they amounted to L140,000: the coincidence is curious. See +ante. + + +Tommy Duncombe was not only indefatigable at Crockford's, but at every +other rendezvous of the votaries of fortune; a skilful player withal, +and not unfrequently a winner beyond expectation. One night at +Crockford's he astonished the house by carrying off sixteen hundred +pounds. He frequently played at cards with Count D'Orsay, from whom, it +is said, he invariably managed to win--the Count persisting in playing +with his pleasant companion, although warned by others that he would +never be a match for 'Honest Tommy Duncombe.' + +Tom Duncombe died poor, but, says his son, 'rich in the memory of those +who esteemed him, as Honest Tom Duncombe.' + +Perhaps the best thing the son could have done was to leave his father's +memory at rest in the estimation of 'those who esteemed him;' but having +dragged his name once more, and prominently, before a censorious world, +he can scarcely resent the following estimate of Tom Duncombe, by +a well-informed reviewer in the _Times_. Alluding to the concluding +summary of the father's character and doings, this keen writer passes a +sentence which is worth preserving:-- + +'Much of this would do for a patriot and philanthropist of the highest +class--for a Pym, a Hampden, or a Wilberforce; or, we could fancy, a son +of Andrew Marvell, vowing over his grave "to endeavour to imitate the +virtues and emulate the self-sacrificing patriotism of so estimable a +parent, and so good a man." But we can hardly fancy, we cannot leave, a +son of Duncombe in such a frame of mind. We cannot say to _HIM_-- + +Macte nova virtute, puer; sic itur ad astra. "In virtue renewed go on; +thus to the skies we go." + +We are unfeignedly reluctant to check a filial effusion, or to tell +disagreeable truths; but there are occasions when a sense of public duty +imperatively requires them to be told. + +'Why did this exemplary parent die poor? When did he abandon the +allurements of a patrician circle? He died poor because he wasted a fine +fortune. If he abandoned a patrician circle, it was because he was +tired of it, or thought he could make a better thing of democracy. If he +conquered his passions, it was, like St Evremond--by indulging them. + +'"Honest Tom Duncombe!" We never heard him so designated before except +in pleasantry. "As honest as any man living, that is an old man, and not +honester than I." We cannot go further than Verges; it is a stretch of +charity to go so far when we call to mind the magnificent reversion and +the French jobs. A ruined spendthrift, although he may have many good +qualities, can never, strictly speaking, be termed honest. It is absurd +to say of him that he is nobody's enemy but his own--with family, +friends, and tradespeople paying the penalty for his self-indulgence. +He must be satisfied to be called honourable--to be charged with no +transgression of the law of honour; which Paley defines as "a system +of rules constructed by people of fashion, and calculated to facilitate +their intercourse with one another, _AND FOR NO OTHER PURPOSE_." + +'There was one quality of honesty, however, which "honest Tom Duncombe" +did possess. He was not a hypocrite. He was not devoid of right feeling. +He had plenty of good sense; and it would have given him a sickening +pang on his death-bed to think that his frailties were to be perpetuated +by his descendants; that he was to be pointed out as a shining star to +guide, instead of a beacon-fire to warn. "No," he would have said, if he +could have anticipated this most ill-chosen, however well-intentioned, +tribute, "spare me this terrible irony. Do not provoke the inevitable +retort. Say of me, if you must say anything, that I was not a bad +man, though an erring one; that I was kindly disposed towards my +fellow-creatures; that I did some good in my generation, and was able +and willing to do more, but that I heedlessly wasted time, money, +health, intellect, personal gifts, social advantages and opportunities; +that my career was a failure, and my whole scheme of life a melancholy +mistake."'(134) + + +(134) _Times_, Jan. 7, 1868. + + +This is a terrible rejoinder to a son endeavouring to raise a monument +to his beloved and respected parent. But, if we will rake up rottenness +from the grave--rottenness in which we are interested--we must take our +chance whether we shall find a Hamlet who will say, 'Alas! poor Yorick!' +and say _NO MORE_ than the musing Dane upon the occasion. + + +WAS THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON A GAMESTER? + + +A few years after the battle of Waterloo there appeared a French +work entitled '_L'Academie des Jeux_, par Philidor,' which was soon +translated into English, and here published under the title of 'Rouge et +Noir; or, the Academies.' It was a denunciation of gambling in all its +varieties, and was, no doubt, well-intentioned. There was, however, in +the publication the following astounding statement:-- + +'Not long ago the carriage of the heir-apparent to the T***** of +England, in going to his B****'s levee, was arrested for debt in the +open street. That great captain, who gained, if not laurels, an immense +treasure, on the plains of Wa****oo, besides that fortune transmitted +to him by the English people, was impoverished in a few months by this +ignoble passion.' + +There can be no doubt that the alleged gambling of the great warrior and +statesman was the public scandal of the day, as appears by the duke's +own letters on the subject, published in the last volume of his +_Dispatches_. Even the eminent counsel, Mr Adolphus, thought proper +to allude to the report in one of his speeches at the bar. This called +forth the following letter from the duke to Mr Adolphus:-- + +'17 Sept., 1823. 'The Duke of Wellington presents his compliments to Mr +Adolphus, and encloses him the "Morning Chronicle" of Friday, the 12th +instant, to which the duke's attention has just been called, in which Mr +Adolphus will observe that he is stated to have represented the duke as +a person _KNOWN SOMETIMES TO PLAY AT HAZARD, WHO MIGHT BE COMMITTED AS A +ROGUE AND VAGABOND_. + +'The duke concludes that this paper contains a correct statement of what +Mr Adolphus said upon the occasion, and he assures Mr Adolphus that he +would not trouble him upon the subject if circumstances did not exist +which rendered this communication desirable. + +'Some years have elapsed since the public have been informed, _FROM THE +VERY BEST AUTHORITY_, that the duke had totally ruined himself at play; +and Mr Adolphus was present upon one occasion when a witness swore that +he had heard the duke was constantly obliged to sell the offices in the +Ordnance himself, instead of allowing them to be sold by others!! The +duke has suffered some inconvenience from this report in a variety of +ways, and he is anxious that at least it should not be repeated by a +gentleman of such celebrity and authority as Mr Adolphus. + +'He therefore assures Mr Adolphus that in the whole course of his +life he never won or lost L20 at any game, and that he never played at +Hazard, or any game of chance, in any public place or club, nor been for +some years at all at any such place. + +'From these circumstances, Mr Adolphus will see that there is no ground +for making use of the duke's name as an example of a person _KNOWN +SOMETIMES TO PLAY AT HAZARD, WHO MIGHT BE COMMITTED AS A ROGUE AND +VAGABOND_.' + +_Mr Adolphus to Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington_. + +'Percy Street, 21st Sept., 1823. + +'Mr Adolphus has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of a note from +his Grace the Duke of Wellington, and would have done so yesterday, but +was detained in court till a late hour in the evening. Mr Adolphus is +extremely sorry that any expression used by him should have occasioned +a moment's uneasiness to the Duke of Wellington. Mr Adolphus cannot deny +that the report in the "Chronicle" is accurate, so far as it recites his +mere words; but the scope of his argument, and the intended sense of his +expression, was, that if the Vagrant Act were to receive the extensive +construction contended for, the most illustrious subject of the realm +might be degraded to the condition of the most abject and worthless, for +an act in itself indifferent--and which, until the times had assumed a +character of affected rigour, was considered rather as a proof of good +society than as an offence against good order. Mr Adolphus is, however, +perfectly sensible that his illustration in his Grace's person was in +all respects improper, and, considering the matters to which his Grace +has adverted, peculiarly unfortunate Mr Adolphus feels with regret +that any public expression of his sentiments on this subject in the +newspapers would not abate, but much increase, the evil. Should an +opportunity ever present itself of doing it naturally and without +affectation, Mr Adolphus would most readily explain, in speaking at +the bar, the error he had committed; but it is very unlikely that there +should exist an occasion of which he can avail himself with a due regard +to delicacy. Mr Adolphus relies, however, on the Duke of Wellington's +exalted mind for credit to his assurance that he never meant to treat +his name but with the respect due to his Grace's exalted rank and +infinitely higher renown.' + +_To Mr Adolphus_. + +'Woolford, 23rd Sept., 1823. + +'The Duke of Wellington presents his compliments to Mr Adolphus, and +assures Mr Adolphus that he is convinced that Mr Adolphus never intended +to reflect injuriously upon him. If the duke had believed that Mr +Adolphus could have entertained such an intention he would not have +addressed him. The duke troubles Mr Adolphus again upon this subject, +as, in consequence of the editor of the "Morning Chronicle" having +thought proper to advert to this subject in a paragraph published on the +18th instant, the duke has referred the paper of that date and that of +the 12th to the Attorney and Solicitor-general, his counsel, to consider +whether the editor ought not to be prosecuted. + +'The duke requests, therefore, that Mr Adolphus will not notice the +subject in the way he proposes until the gentlemen above mentioned will +have decided upon the advice which they will give the duke.'(135) + + +(135) 'Dispatches,' vol. ii. part i. + + +The result was, however, that the matter was allowed to drop, as the +duke was advised by his counsel that the paragraph in the "Morning +Chronicle," though vile, was not actionable. The positive declaration of +the duke, 'that in the whole course of his life he never won or lost L20 +at any game, and that he never played at Hazard, or any game of chance, +in any public place or club, nor been for some years at all at any such +place,' should set the matter at rest. Certainly the duke was afterwards +an original member of Crockford's Club, founded in 1827, but, unlike +Blucher, who repeatedly lost everything at play, 'The Great Captain,' as +Mr Timbs puts it, 'was never known to play deep at any game but war or +politics.'(136) + + +(136) Club Life in London. + + +This remarkable deference to private character and public opinion, on +the part of the Duke of Wellington, is in wonderful contrast with the +easy morality of the Old Bailey advocate, Mr Adolphus, who did not +hesitate to declare gambling 'an act in itself indifferent--and which, +until the times had assumed a character of _AFFECTED_ rigour, was +considered rather as a proof of good society than as an offence against +good order.' This averment of so distinguished a man may, perhaps, +mitigate the horror we now feel of the gambling propensities of our +ancestors; and it is a proof of some sort of advancement in morals, or +good taste, to know that no modern advocate would dare to utter such a +sentiment. + +Other great names have been associated with gambling; thus Mr T. H. +Duncombe says, speaking of Crockford's soon after its foundation:--'Sir +St Vincent Cotton (Lord Combermere), Lord Fitzroy Somerset (Raglan), +the Marquis of Anglesey, Sir Hussey Vivian, Wilson Croker, _Disraeli_, +Horace Twiss, Copley, George Anson, and George Payne _WERE PRETTY SURE +OF BEING PRESENT_, many of them playing high.' + +Respecting this statement the _Times'_(137) reviewer observes:--'We +do not know what the Chancellor of the Exchequer will say to this. Mr +Wilson Croker (who affected great strictness) would have fainted away. +But the authority of a writer who does not know Sir St Vincent Cotton +(the ex-driver of the Brighton coach) from Sir _Stapleton_ Cotton (the +Peninsular hero) will go for little in such matters; and as for Copley, +Lord Lyndhurst (just then promoted from the Rolls to the Woolsack), why +not say at once that he attended the nocturnal sittings at Crockford's +in his robes.' + + +(137) Jan. 7, 1868. + + + +CHAPTER XII. REMARKABLE GAMESTERS. ----MONSIEUR CHEVALIER. + +Monsieur CHevalier, Captain of the Grenadiers in the first regiment +of Foot Guards, in the time of Charles II. of England, was a native of +Normandy. In his younger days he was page to the Duchess of Orleans; +but growing too big for that service, he came to England to seek his +fortune, and by some good luck and favour became an ensign in the +first regiment of Foot Guards. His pay, however, being insufficient +to maintain him, he felt compelled to become a gamester, or rather to +resort to a practice in which doubtless he had been early initiated at +the Court of France; and he managed so well that he was soon enabled to +keep up an equipage much above his station. + +Among the 'bubbles' who had the misfortune to fall into Chevalier's +hands, was a certain nobleman, who lost a larger sum to him than he +could conveniently pay down, and asked for time, to which Chevalier +assented, and in terms so courteous and obliging that the former, +a fortnight after, in order to let him see that he remembered his +civility, came one morning and told Chevalier that he had a company of +Foot to dispose of, and if it was worth his while, it should be at his +service. Nothing could be more acceptable to Chevalier, who at once +closed for the bargain, and got his commission signed the same day. +Besides the fact that it was a time of peace, Chevalier knew well that +the military title of Captain was a very good cloak to shelter under. + +He knew that a man of no employment or any visible income, who appears +and lives like a gentleman, and makes gaming his constant business, is +always suspected of not playing for diversion only; and, in short, of +knowing and practising more than he should do. + +Chevalier once won 20 guineas from mad Ogle, the Life-guardsman, who, +understanding that the former had bit him, called him to account, +demanding either his money back, or satisfaction in the field. +Chevalier, having always courage enough to maintain what he did, chose +the latter. Ogle fought him in Hyde Park, and wounded him through the +sword arm, and got back his money. After this they were always good +friends, playing several comical tricks, one of which is as follows, +strikingly illustrating the manners of the times. + +Chevalier and Ogle meeting one day in Fleet Street jostled for the wall, +which they strove to take of each other, whereupon words arising between +them, they drew swords, and pushed very hard at one another; but were +prevented, by the great crowd which gathered about them, from doing any +mischief. Ogle, seeming still to resent the affront, cried to Chevalier, +'If you are a gentleman, pray follow me.' The French hero accepted the +challenge; so going together up Bell Yard and through Lincoln's Inn, +with some hundreds of the mob at their heels, as soon as the seeming +adversaries were got into Lincoln's Inn Fields, they both fell a running +as fast as they could, with their swords drawn, up towards Lord Powis's +house, which was then building, and leaped into a saw-pit. The rabble +presently ran after them, to part them again, and feared mischief would +be done before they could get up to them, but when they arrived at the +saw-pit, they saw Chevalier at one side of it and Ogle at the other, +sitting together as lovingly as if they had never fallen out at all. And +then the mob was so incensed at this trick put upon them, that had not +some gentlemen accidentally come by, they would have knocked them both +on the head with brickbats. + +Chevalier had an excellent knack at cogging a die, and such command in +the throwing, that, chalking a circle on a table, with its circumference +no bigger than a shilling, he would, at above the distance of one foot, +throw a die exactly into it, which should be either ace, deuce, trey, or +what he pleased. + +Aubrey de Vere, Earl of Oxford, was a great gambler of the time, and +often practised dice-throwing in his shirt during the morning until he +fancied himself in luck, when he would proceed to try his fortune with +Chevalier; but the dexterity of the latter always convinced the earl +that no certainty lies on the good success which may be fancied as +likely to result from play in jest. Chevalier won a great deal of money +from that peer, 'who lost most of his estate at gaming before he died, +and which ought to be a warning to all noblemen.' + +Chevalier was a skilful sharper, and thoroughly up in the art and +mystery of loading dice with quicksilver; but having been sometimes +detected in his sharping tricks, he was obliged 'to look on the point +of the sword, with which being often wounded, latterly he declined +fighting, if there were any way of escape.' Having once 'choused,' or +cheated, a Mr Levingstone, page of honour to King James II., out of 50 +guineas, the latter gave the captain a challenge to fight him next day +behind Montague House--a locality long used for the purpose of +duelling. Chevalier seemingly accepted the challenge, and next morning, +Levingstone going to Chevalier's lodging, whom he found in bed, put him +in mind of what he was come about. Chevalier, with the greatest air +of courage imaginable, rose, and having dressed himself, said to +Levingstone--'Me must beg de favour of you to stay a few minutes, sir, +while I step into my closet dere, for as me be going about one desperate +piece of work, it is very requisite for me to say a small prayer or +two.' Accordingly Mr Levingstone consented to wait whilst Chevalier +retired to his closet to pray; but hearing the conclusion of his prayer +to end with these words--'Me verily believe spilling man's blood is +one ver' great sin, wherefore I hope all de saints will interced vid +de Virgin for my once killing Monsieur de Blotieres at Rochelle,--my +killing Chevalier de Cominge at Brest,--killing Major de Tierceville +at Lyons,--killing Lieutenant du Marche Falliere at Paris, with half a +dozen other men in France; so, being also sure of killing him I'm now +going to fight, me hope his forcing me to shed his blood will not be +laid to my charge;'--quoth Levingstone to himself--'And are you then so +sure of me? But I'll engage you shan't--for if you are such a devil at +killing men, you shall go and fight yourself and be ----.' Whereupon he +made what haste he could away, and shortly Chevalier coming out of the +closet and finding Levingstone not in the room, was very glad of his +absence.' + +Some time after, Chevalier was called to account by another gentleman. +They met at the appointed hour in Chelsea Fields, when Chevalier said +to his adversary--'Pray, sir, for what do we fight?' The gentleman +replied--'For honour and reputation.' Thereupon Chevalier pulling +a halter out of his pocket, and throwing it between him and his +antagonist, exclaimed--'Begar, sir, we only fight for dis one piece +of rope--so e'en _WIN IT AND WEAR IT_.' The effect of this jest was +so great on his adversary that swords were put up, and they went home +together good friends. + +Chevalier continued his sharping courses for about fourteen years, +running a reckless race, 'sometimes with much money, sometimes with +little, but always as lavish in spending as he was covetous in getting +it; until at last King James ascending the throne, the Duke of Monmouth +raised a rebellion in the West of England, where, in a skirmish between +the Royalists and Rebels, he was shot in the back, and the wound thought +to be given by one of his own men, to whom he had always been a most +cruel, harsh officer, whilst a captain of the Grenadiers of the Foot +Guards. He was sensible himself how he came by this misfortune; for when +he was carried to his tent mortally wounded, and the Duke of Albemarle +came to visit him, he said to his Grace--'Dis was none of my foe dat +shot me in the back.' 'He was none of your friend that shot you,' the +duke replied. + +So dying within a few hours after, he was interred in a field near +Philip Norton Lane, as the old chronicler says--'much _UN_lamented by +all who knew him.'(138) + + +(138) Lucas, _Memoirs of Gamesters and Sharpers_. + + +JOHN HIGDEN. + + +This gambler, who flourished towards the end of the 17th century, was +descended from a very good family in the West of England. In his younger +days he was a member of the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, but +his inclinations being incompatible with close study of the law, he soon +quitted the inns of court and went into the army. He obtained not only a +commission in the first regiment of Boot Guards, but a commission of the +peace for the county of Middlesex, in which he continued for three or +four years as Justice Higden. He was very great at dice; and one night +he and another of his fraternity going to a gaming house, Higden drew +a chair and sat down, but as often as the box came to him he passed it, +and remained only as a spectator; but at last one of the players said +to him pertly, 'Sir, if you won't play, what do you sit there for?' Upon +which Higden snatched up the dice-box and said, 'Set me what you will +and I'll throw at it.' One of the gentlemen set him two guineas, which +he won, and then set him four, which he 'nicked' also. The rest of the +gentlemen took the part of the loser, and set to Higden, who, by some +art and some good luck, won 120 guineas; and presently, after throwing +out, rose from the table and went to his companion by the fireside, who +asked him how he durst be so audacious as to play, knowing he had not +a shilling in his pocket? One of the losers overhearing what was said, +exclaimed, 'How's that--you had no money when you began to play?' +'That's no matter,' replied Higden, 'I have enough _NOW;_ and if you +had won of me, you must have been contented to have kicked, buffeted, +or pumped me, and you would have done it as long as you liked. Besides, +sir, I am a soldier, and have often faced the mouths of thundering +cannons for _EIGHT SHILLINGS A DAY_, and do you think I would not hazard +the tossing of a blanket for the money I have won to-night?' + +'All the parties wondered at his confidence, but he laughed heartily at +their folly and his good fortune, and so marched off with a light heart +and a heavy purse.' Afterwards, 'to make himself as miserable as he +could, he turned poet, went to Ireland, published a play or two, and +shortly after he died very poor, in 1703.'(139) + + +(139) _ubi supra._ + + +MONSIEUR GERMAIN. + + +This gambler was of low birth, his parents keeping an ordinary in +Holland, where he was born, as stated by the old chronicler, 'in the +happy Revolution of 1688.' + +His career is remarkable on account of his connection with Lady Mary +Mordaunt, wife of 'the Duke of Norfolk, who, proving her guilty of +adultery, was divorced from her. She then lived publicly with Germain.' + +This Germain was the first to introduce what was called the _Spanish +Whist_, stated to be 'a mere bite, performed after this manner:--Having +a pack of cards, the four treys are privately laid on the top of +them, under them an ace, and next to that a deuce; then, letting your +adversary cut the cards, you do not pack them, but deal all of them +that are cut off, one at a time, between you; then, taking up the other +parcel of cards, you deal more cards, giving yourself two treys and a +deuce, and to the other persons two treys and an ace, when, laying the +remainder of the cards down--wherein are allowed no trumps, but only +the highest cards win--so they are but of the same suit, whilst you are +playing, giving your antagonist all you can, as though it is not in +your power to prevent him. You seem to fret, and cry you have good +_put-cards;_ he, having two treys and an ace, will be apt to lay a +wager with you that you cannot have better than he; then you binding the +wager, he soon sees his mistake. But in this trick you must observe to +put the other three deuces under yours when you deal.' + +It seems that this Monsieur Germain is not only remarkable for the +above precious addition to human knowledge, but also on account of his +expertness at the game of _Ombre_, celebrated and so elegantly described +by Pope in his 'Rape of the Lock.' + +He appears to have lived with the Duchess of Norfolk ever after +the divorce; and he died a little after Lady Mary, in 1712, aged 46 +years.(140) + + +(140) _ubi supra_. + + +TOM HUGHES. + + +This Irishman was born in Dublin, and was the son of a respectable +tradesman. Falling into dissipated company, he soon left the city to try +his fortune in London, where he played very deep and very successfully. + +He threw away his gains as fast as he made them, chiefly among the frail +sisterhood, at a notorious house in those days, in the Piazza, +Covent Garden. He frequented Carlisle House in Soho Square, and was a +proprietor of E O tables kept by a Dr Graham in Pall Mall. + +He had a rencontre, in consequence of a dispute at play, and was +wounded. The meeting took place under the Piazza, and his antagonist's +sword struck a rib, which counteracted its dangerous effect. + +Soon afterwards he won L3000 from a young man just of age, who made over +to him a landed estate for the amount, and he was shortly after admitted +a member of the Jockey Club. + +His fortune now changed, and falling into the hands of Old Pope, the +money-lender, he was not long before he had to transfer his estate to +him. + +After many ups and downs he became an inmate of the spunging-house of +the infamous Scoldwell, who was afterwards transported. He actually used +his prison as a gaming house, to which his infatuated friends resorted; +but his means failed, his friends cooled, and he was removed 'over the +water,' from which he was only released by the Insolvent Act, with a +broken constitution. Arrest soon restored him to his old habitation, +a lock-up house, where he died so poor, a victim to grief, misery, and +disease, that he did not leave enough to pay for a coffin, which was +procured by his quondam friend, Mr Thornton, at whose cost he was +buried. Perhaps more than half a million of money had 'passed through +his hands.' + + +ANDREWS, THE GREAT BILLIARD-PLAYER. + + +Andrews was reckoned so theoretically and practically perfect at the +game of Billiards that he had no equal except Abraham Carter, who kept +the tables at the corner of the Piazza, Russell Street, Covent Garden. + +He one night won of Colonel W----e about a thousand pounds; and +the Colonel appointed to meet him next day to transact for stock +accordingly. Going in a hackney-coach to the Bank of England for this +purpose, they tossed up who should pay for the coach. Andrews lost--and +positively on this small beginning he was excited to continue betting, +until he lost the whole sum he had won the night before! When the +coachman stopped he was ordered to drive them back again, as they had no +occasion to get out! + +Thus, in a few years, Hazard and other games of chance stripped him of +his immense winnings at Billiards, and he had nothing left but a small +annuity, fortunately for him so settled that he could not dispose of +it--though he made every effort to do so! + +He afterwards retired in the county of Kent, and was heard to declare +that he never knew contentment when wallowing in riches; but that +since he was compelled to live on a scanty pittance, he was one of the +happiest men in the world. + + +WHIG MIDDLETON. + + +Whig Middleton was a tall, handsome, fashionable man, with an adequate +fortune. He one night had a run of ill-luck at Arthur's, and lost about +a thousand guineas. Lord Montford, in the gaming phrase, asked him what +he would do or what he would not do, to get home? 'My lord,' said he, +'prescribe your own terms.' + +'Then,' resumed Lord Montford, 'dress directly opposite to the fashion +for ten years. Will you agree to it?' Middleton said that he would, and +kept his word. Nay, he died nine years afterwards so unfashionably +that he did not owe a tradesman a farthing--left some playing debts +unliquidated, and his coat and wig were of the cut of Queen Anne's +reign. + +Lord Montford is said to have died in a very different but quite +fashionable manner. + + +CAPTAIN CAMPBELL. + + +Captain Campbell, of the Guards, was a natural son of the Duke of ----. +He lost a thousand guineas to a Shark, which he could not pay. Being +questioned by the duke one day at dinner as to the cause of his +dejection, he reluctantly confessed the fact. 'Sir,' said his Grace, +'you do not owe a farthing to the blackguard. My steward settled with +him this morning for _TEN_ guineas, and he was glad to take them, only +saying--"I was damned far North, and it was well it was no worse."' + + +WROTHESLY, DUKE OF BEDFORD. + + +Wrothesly, Duke of Bedford, was the subject of a conspiracy at Bath, +formed by several first-rate sharpers, among whom were the manager of a +theatre, and Beau Nash, master of the ceremonies. After being plundered +of above L70,000 at Hazard, his Grace rose in a passion, put the dice +in his pocket, and intimated his resolution to inspect them. He then +retired into another room, and, flinging himself upon a sofa, fell +asleep. + +The winners, to escape disgrace, and obtain their money, cast lots who +should pick his pockets of the loaded dice, and introduce fair ones in +their place. The lot fell on the manager of the theatre, who performed +his part without discovery. The duke inspected the dice when he awoke, +and finding them correct, renewed his party, and lost L30,000 more. + +The conspirators had received L5000, but disagreed on its division, and +Beau Nash, thinking himself ill-used, divulged the fact to his Grace, +who saved thereby the remainder of the money. He made Nash a handsome +present, and ever after gave him his countenance, supposing that the +secret had been divulged through pure friendship. + + +THE DUKE OF NORFOLK. + + +A similar anecdote is told of another gamester. 'The late Duke of +Norfolk,' says the author of 'Rouge et Noir,' writing in 1823, 'in one +evening lost the sum of L70,000 in a gaming house on the right side of +St James's Street: suspecting foul play, he put the dice in his pocket, +and, as was his custom when up late, took a bed in the house. The +blacklegs were all dismayed, till one of the worthies, who is believed +to have been a principal in poisoning the horses at Newmarket, for which +Dan Dawson was hanged, offered for L5000 to go to the duke's room with +a brace of pistols and a pair of dice, and, if the duke was awake, to +shoot him, if asleep to change the dice! Fortunately for the gang, the +duke "snored," as the agent stated, "like a pig;" the dice were changed. +His Grace had them broken in the morning, when, finding them good, he +paid the money, and left off gambling.'(141) + + +(141) Rouge et Noir; the Academicians of 1823. + + +GENERAL OGLE: A BOLD STROKE. + + +A few weeks before General Ogle was to sail for India, he constantly +attended Paine's, in Charles Street, St James's Square. One evening +there were before him two wooden bowls full of gold, which held L1500 +guineas each, and L4000 in rouleaus, which he had won. + +When the box came to him, he shook the dice and with great coolness and +pleasantry said--'Come, I'll either win or lose seven thousand upon this +hand. Will any gentleman set on the whole? _SEVEN_ is the main.' Then +rattling the dice once more, cast the box from him and quitted it, the +dice remaining uncovered. + +Although the General did not think this too large a sum for one man to +risk at a single throw, the rest of the gentlemen did, and for some time +the bold gamester remained unset. + +He then said--'Well, gentlemen, will you make it up amongst you?' + +One set him 500 guineas, another 500. 'Come,' said he, 'whilst you +are making up the money I'll tell you a story.' Here he began--but +perceiving that he was at last completely set for the cast, stopt +short--laid his hand on the box, saying--'I believe I am completely +set, gentlemen?' 'Yes, sir, and Seven is the main,' was the reply. The +General threw out, and lost! Seven thousand guineas! + +Then with astonishing coolness he took up his snuff-box and smiling +exclaimed--'Now, gentlemen, if you please, I'll finish my story.' + + +HORACE WALPOLE. + + +There can be no doubt that Horace Walpole was an inveterate gambler, +although he managed to keep always afloat and merrily sailing--for he +says himself:--'A good lady last year was delighted at my becoming peer, +and said--"I hope you will get an Act of Parliament for putting down +Faro." As if I could make Acts of Parliament! and could I, it would be +very consistent too in me, who for some years played more at Faro than +anybody.'(142) + + +(142) Letters, IX. + + +THE EARL OF MARCH. + + +This extraordinary and still famous personage, better known as the Duke +of Queensberry, was the 'observed of all observers' almost from his +boyhood to extreme old age. His passions were for women and the turf; +and the sensual devotedness with which he pursued the one, and the +eccentricity which he displayed in the enjoyment of both, added to the +observation which he attracted from his position as a man of high rank +and princely fortune, rendered him an object of unceasing curiosity. He +was deeply versed in the mysteries of the turf, and in all practical and +theoretical knowledge connected with the race-course was acknowledged +to be the most accomplished adept of his own time. He seems also to +have been a skilful gamester and player of billiards. Writing to George +Selwyn from Paris in 1763, he says:--'I won the first day about L2000, +of which I brought off about L1500. All things are exaggerated, I am +supposed to have won at least twice as much.' In 1765 he is said to +have won two thousand louis of a German at billiards. Writing to Selwyn, +Gilly Williams says of him: 'I did not know he was more an adept at +that game than you are at any other, but I think you are both said to be +losers on the whole, at least Betty says that her letters mention you as +pillaged.' + +Among the numerous occasions on which the name of the Duke of +Queensberry came before the public in connection with sporting matters, +may be mentioned the circumstance of the following curious trial, which +took place before Lord Mansfield in the Court of King's Bench, in 1771. +The Duke of Queensberry, then Lord March, was the plaintiff, and a Mr +Pigot the defendant. The object of this trial was to recover the sum of +five hundred guineas, being the amount of a wager laid by the duke With +Mr Pigot--whether Sir William Codrington or _OLD_ Mr Pigot should die +first. It had singularly happened that Mr Pigot died suddenly the _SAME +MORNING_, of the gout in his head, but before either of the parties +interested in the result of the wager could by any possibility have +been made acquainted with the fact. In the contemporary accounts of the +trial, the Duke of Queensberry is mentioned as having been accommodated +with a seat on the bench; while Lord Ossory, and several other noblemen, +were examined on the merits of the case. By the counsel for the +defendant it was argued that (as in the case of a horse dying before the +day on which he was to be run) the wager was invalid and annulled. Lord +Mansfield, however, was of a different opinion; and after a brief charge +from that great lawyer, the jury brought in a verdict for the plaintiff +for five hundred guineas, and he sentenced the defendant to defray the +costs of the suit.(143) + + +(143) Jesse, George Selwyn and his Contemporaries, vol. i. p. 194. + + +This prince of debauchees seems to have surpassed every model of +the kind, ancient or modern. In his prime he reproduced in his own +drawing-room the scene of Paris and the Goddesses, exactly as we see +it in classic pictures, three of the most beautiful women of London +representing the divinities as they appeared to Paris on Mount Ida, +while he himself, dressed as the Dardan shepherd holding a _GILDED_ +apple (it should have been really golden) in his hand, conferred the +prize on her whom he deemed the fairest. In his decrepit old age it was +his custom, in fine sunny weather, to seat himself in his balcony in +Piccadilly, where his figure was familiar to every person who was in the +habit of passing through that great thoroughfare. Here (his emaciated +figure rendered the more conspicuous from his custom of holding a +parasol over his head) he was in the habit of watching every attractive +female form, and ogling every pretty face that met his eye. He is said, +indeed, to have kept a pony and a servant in constant readiness, in +order to follow and ascertain the residence of any fair girl whose +attractions particularly caught his fancy! At this period the old +man was deaf with one ear, blind with one eye, nearly toothless, and +labouring under multiplied infirmities. But the hideous propensities of +his prime still pursued him when all enjoyment was impossible. Can there +be a greater penalty for unbridled licentiousness? + + +MR LUMSDEN. + + +Mr Lumsden, whose inveterate love of gambling eventually caused his +ruin, was to be seen every day at Frascati's, the celebrated gambling +house kept by Mme Dunan, where some of the most celebrated women of the +_demi-monde_ usually congregated. He was a martyr to the gout, and his +hands and knuckles were a mass of chalk-stones. He stuck to the _Rouge +et Noir_ table until everybody had left; and while playing would take +from his pocket a small slate, upon which he would rub his chalk-stones +until blood flowed. 'Having on one occasion been placed near him at the +_Rouge et Noir_ table, I ventured,' says Captain Gronow, 'to expostulate +with him for rubbing his knuckles against his slate. He coolly answered, +"I feel relieved when I see the blood ooze out."' + +Mr Lumsden was remarkable for his courtly manners; but his absence of +mind was astonishing, for he would frequently ask his neighbour _WHERE +HE WAS_! Crowds of men and women would congregate behind his chair, to +look at 'the mad Englishman,' as he was called; and his eccentricities +used to amuse even the croupiers. After losing a large fortune at this +den of iniquity, Mr Lumsden encountered every evil of poverty, and died +in a wretched lodging in the Rue St Marc.(144) + + +(144) Gronow, _Last Recollections._ + + +GENERAL SCOTT, THE HONEST WINNER OF L200,000. + + +General Scott, the father-in-law of George Canning and the Duke of +Portland, was known to have won at White's L200,000, 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 of judgment, he was able honestly to win the enormous sum of +L200,000. + + +RICHARD BENNET. + + +Richard Bennet had gone through every walk of a blackleg, from being a +billiard sharper at a table in Bell Alley until he became a keeper or +partner in all the 'hells' in St James's. In each stage of his journey +he had contrived to have so much the better of his competitors, that +he was enabled to live well, to bring up and educate a large legitimate +family, and to gratify all his passions and sensuality. But besides all +this, he accumulated an ample fortune, which this inveterate gamester +did actually possess when the terriers of justice overtook and hunted +him into the custody of the Marshal of the Court of Queen's Bench. +Here he was sentenced to be imprisoned a certain time, on distinct +indictments, for keeping different gaming houses, and was ordered to be +kept in custody until he had also paid fines to the amount, we believe, +of L4000. Bennet, however, after undergoing the imprisonment, managed to +get himself discharged without paying the fines. + + +DENNIS O'KELLY. + +Dennis O'Kelly was the Napoleon of the turf and the gaming table. Ascot +was his elysium. His horses occupied him by day and the Hazard table +by night. At the latter one night he was seen repeatedly turning over +a _QUIRE OF BANK NOTES_, and a gentleman asked him what he was looking +for, when he replied, 'I am looking for a _LITTLE ONE_.' The inquirer +said he could accommodate him, and desired to know for what sum. Dennis +O'Kelly answered, 'I want a FIFTY, or something of _THAT SORT_, just to +set the _CASTER_. At this moment it was supposed he had seven or eight +_THOUSAND_ pounds in notes in his hand, but not one for less than a +_HUNDRED!_ + +Dennis O'Kelly always threw with great success; and when he held the box +he was seldom known to refuse throwing for _ANY SUM_ that the company +chose to set him. He was always liberal in _SETTING THE CASTER_, and +preventing a stagnation of trade at the _TABLE_, which, from the great +property always about him, it was his good fortune very frequently +to deprive of its last floating guinea, when the box of course became +dormant for want of a single adventurer. + +It was his custom to carry a great number of bank notes in his waistcoat +pocket, twisted up together, with the greatest indifference; and on one +occasion, in his attendance at a Hazard table at Windsor, during the +races, being a _STANDING_ better 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 instantly withdrawn, and the notes +left sticking out. The company became clamorous for taking the offender +before a magistrate, and many attempted to secure him for the purpose; +but Captain Dennis O'Kelly very philosophically seized him by the +collar, kicked him down-stairs, and exultingly exclaimed, ''Twas a +_SUFFICIENT PUNISHMENT_ to be deprived of the pleasure of keeping +company with _JONTLEMEN_.' + +A bet for a large sum was once proposed to this 'Admirable Crichton' of +the turf and the gaming table, and accepted. The proposer asked O'Kelly +where lay his _ESTATES_ to answer for the amount if he lost?' 'My +estates!' cried O'Kelly. 'Oh, if that's what you _MANE_, I've a _MAP_ of +them here'--and opening his pocket-book he exhibited bank notes to +_TEN TIMES_ the sum in question, and ultimately added the _INQUIRER'S_ +contribution to them. + +Such was the wonderful son of Erin, 'Captain' or 'Colonel' Dennis +O'Kelly. One would like to know what ultimately became of him. + + +DICK ENGLAND. + + +Jack Tether, Bob W--r, Tom H--ll, Captain O'Kelly, and others, spent +with Dick England a great part of the plunder of poor Clutterbuck, a +clerk of the Bank of England, who not only lost his all, but robbed the +Bank of an immense sum to pay his 'debts of honour.' + +A Mr B--, a Yorkshire gentleman, proposed to his brother-in-law, who was +with him, to put down ten pounds each and try their luck at the 'Hell' +kept by 'the Clerks of the Minster,' in the Minster Yard, next the +Church. It was the race-week. There were about thirteen Greeks there, +Dick England at their head. Mr B-- put down L10. England then called +'Seven the main--if seven or eleven is thrown next, the Caster wins.' +Of course Dick intended to win; but he blundered in his operation; +he _LANDED_ at six and the other did not answer his hopes. Yet, with +matchless effrontery, he swore he had called _SIX_ and not seven; and as +it was referred to the majority of the goodly company, thirteen _HONEST +GENTLEMEN_ gave it in Dick England's favour, and with him divided the +spoil. + +A Mr D--, a gentleman of considerable landed property in the North, +proposed passing a few days at Scarborough. Dick England saw his +carriage enter the town, and contrived to get into his company and go +with him to the rooms. When the assembly was over, he prevailed on Mr +D-- to sup with him. After supper Mr D-- was completely intoxicated, and +every effort to make him play was tried in vain. + +This was, of course, very provoking; but still something must be done, +and a very clever scheme they hit upon to try and 'do' this 'young man +from the country.' Dick England and two of his associates played for +five minutes, and then each of them marked a card as follows:--'D-- owes +me one hundred guineas,' 'D-- owes me eighty guineas;' but Dick marked +_HIS_ card--'I owe D--thirty guineas.' + +The next day, Mr D-- met Dick England on the cliff and apologized for +his excess the night before, hoping he had given no offence 'when drunk +and incapable.' Having satisfied the gentleman on this point, Dick +England presented him with a thirty-guinea note, which, in spite of +contradiction, remonstrance, and denial of any play having taken place, +he forced on Mr D-- as his _FAIR WINNING_--adding that he had paid +hundreds to gentlemen in liquor, who knew nothing of it till he had +produced the account. Of course Mr D-- could not help congratulating +himself at having fallen in with a perfect gentleman, as well as +consoling himself for any head-ache or other inconvenience resulting +from his night's potation. They parted with gushing civilities between +them. + +Soon afterwards, however, two other gentlemen came up to Mr D--, whom +the latter had some vague recollection of having seen the evening +before, in company with Dick England; and at length, from what the +two gentlemen said, he had no doubt of the fact, and thought it a fit +opportunity to make a due acknowledgment of the gentlemanly conduct +of their friend, who had paid him a bet which he had no remembrance of +having made. + +No mood could be better for the purpose of the meeting; so the two +gentlemen not only approved of the conduct of Dick, and descanted on the +propriety of paying drunken men what they won, but also declared that +no _GENTLEMAN_ would refuse to pay a debt of honour won from him when +drunk; and at once begged leave to 'remind' Mr D-- that he had lost to +them 180 guineas! In vain the astounded Mr D-- denied all knowledge +of the transaction; the gentlemen affected to be highly indignant, and +talked loudly of injured honour. Besides, had he not received 30 guineas +from their friend? So he assented, and appointed the next morning to +settle the matter. + +Fortunately for Mr D--, however, some intelligent friends of his arrived +in the mean time, and having heard his statement about the whole affair, +they 'smelt a rat,' and determined to ferret it out. They examined the +waiter--previously handing him over five guineas--and this man declared +the truth that Mr D-- did not play at all--in fact, that he was in such +a condition that there could not be any real play. Dick England was +therefore 'blown' on this occasion. Mr D-- returned him his thirty +guineas, and paid five guineas for his share of the supper; and well he +might, considering that it very nearly cost him 150 guineas--that +is, having to receive 30 guineas and to pay 180 guineas to the +Greeks--profit and loss with a vengeance. + +Being thus 'blown' at Scarborough, Dick England and his associates +decamped on the following morning. + +He next formed a connection with a lieutenant on half pay, nephew to an +Irish earl. With this lieutenant he went to Spa, and realized something +considerable; but not without suspicion--for a few dice were missed. + +Dick England returned to London, where he shortly disagreed with the +lieutenant. The latter joined the worthy before described, Captain +O'Kelly, who was also at enmity with Dick England; and the latter took +an opportunity of knocking their heads together in a public coffee-room, +and thrashing them both till they took shelter under the tables. Dick +had the strength of an ox, the ferocity of a bull-dog, and 'the cunning +of the serpent,' although what the latter is no naturalist has ever yet +discovered or explained. + +The lieutenant determined on revenge for the thrashing. He had joined +his regiment, and he 'peached' against his former friend, disclosing to +the officers the circumstance of the dice at Spa, before mentioned; and, +of course, upset all the designs of Dick England and his associates. +This enraged all the blacklegs; a combination was formed against the +lieutenant; and he was shot through the head by 'a brother officer,' who +belonged to the confraternity. + +The son of an earl lost forty thousand pounds in play to Dick England; +and shot himself at Stacie's Hotel in consequence--the very night before +his honourable father sent his steward to pay the 'debt of honour' in +full--though aware that his son had been cheated out of it. + +But the most extraordinary 'pass' of Dick England's career is still to +be related--not without points in it which make it difficult to believe, +in spite of the evidence, that it is the same 'party' who was concerned +in it. Here it is. + +In the _Gentleman's Magazine_, in Gilchrist's Collection of British +Duels, in Dr Millingen's reproduction of the latter, the following +account occurs:-- + +'Mr Richard England was put to the bar at the Old Bailey, charged with +the "wilful murder" of Mr Rowlls, brewer, of Kingston, in a duel at +Cranford-bridge, June 18, 1784. + +'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. + +'Lord Dartrey, afterwards Lord Cremorne, and his lady, with a gentleman, +were at the inn at the time the duel was fought. They went into the +garden and endeavoured to prevent the duel; several other persons were +collected in the garden. 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, _the Earl of Derby, the Marquis of +Hertford, Sir Whitbread, jun., Colonel Bishopp, and other gentlemen_, +were called to his character. They all spoke of him as a man of _decent +gentlemanly deportment_, 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. + +'Mr Justice Rooke summoned up the evidence; after which the jury retired +for about three quarters of an hour, when they returned a verdict of +"manslaughter." + +'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 twelve months.' + +This trial took place in the year 1796, and the facts in evidence give a +strange picture of the times. A duel actually fought in the garden of +an inn, a noble lord close by in a bower therein, and his lady certainly +within _HEARING_ of the shots, and doubtless a spectator of the bloody +spectacle. But this is not the point,--the incomprehensible point,--to +which I have alluded--which is, how Lord Derby and the other gentlemen +of the highest standing could come forward to speak to the character of +_DICK ENGLAND_, if he was the same man who killed the unfortunate brewer +of Kingston? + +Here is _ANOTHER_ account of the matter, which warrants the doubt, +although it is fearfully circumstantial, as to the certain identity:-- + +'Mr William Peter le Rowles, of Kingston, brewer, was habitually fond +of play. On one occasion he was induced--when in a state of +intoxication--to play with Dick England, who claimed, in consequence, +winnings to the amount of two hundred guineas. Mr le Rowles utterly +denied the debt, and was in consequence pursued by England until he +was compelled to a duel, in which Mr le Rowles fell. Lord Dartrey, +afterwards Lord Cremorne, was present at Ascot Heath races on the fatal +occasion, which happened in 1784; and his evidence before the coroner's +inquest produced a verdict of wilful murder against Dick England, who +fled at the time, but returned twelve years afterwards, was tried, and +found guilty of manslaughter only. He was imprisoned for twelve months. +England was strongly suspected of highway robberies; particularly on +one occasion, when his associate, F--, was shot dead by Col. P-- on +his return from the Curragh races to the town of Naas. The Marquis of +Hertford, Lords Derby and Cremorne, Colonels Bishopp and Wollaston, and +Messrs Whitbread, Breton, &c., were evidences in the trial.'(145) + + +(145) _The Gaming Calendar_, by Seymour Harcourt. + + +It may seem strange that such a man as Dick England could procure such +distinguished 'witnesses to character.' The thing is easily explained, +however. They knew the man only as a turf companion. We can come to no +other conclusion,--remembering other instances of the kind. For example, +the case of Palmer, convicted for the poisoning of Cooke. Had Palmer +been on his trial merely for fighting a fatal duel; there can be no +doubt that several noblemen would have come forward to give him a good +character. I was present at his trial, and saw him _BOW TO ONE, AT +LEAST, OF OUR MOST DISTINGUISHED NOBLEMEN_ when the latter took his +seat near the judge, at the trial. There was a _TURF ACQUAINTANCESHIP_ +between them, and, of course, all 'acquaintanceship' may be presumed +upon, if we lay ourselves open to the degradation. + +The following is a curious case in point. A gentleman of the highest +standing and greatest respectability was accosted by a stranger to whom +he said--'Sir, you have the advantage of me.' 'Oh!' rejoined the former, +'don't you remember when we used to meet at certain parties at Bath many +years ago?' 'Well, sir,' exclaimed the gentleman, 'you may speak to me +should you ever again meet me at certain parties at Bath, but nowhere +else.' + + +MAJOR BAGGS. + + +This famous gamester died in 1792, by a cold caught in 'a round-house,' +or place of detention, to which he had been taken by Justice Hyde, from +a gaming table. + +When too ill to rise out of his chair, he would be carried in that chair +to the Hazard table. + +He was supposed to have been the utter ruin of above forty persons at +play. He fought eleven duels. + + +THE DUC DE MIREFOIX. + + +The Duc de Mirefois was ambassador at the British Court, and was +extremely fond of chess. A reverend gentleman being nearly his equal, +they frequently played together. At that time the clergyman kept a petty +day-school in a small village, and had a living of not more than twenty +pounds a-year. The French nobleman made uncommon interest with a noble +duke, through whose favour he obtained for his reverend protege a living +of about L600 per annum--an odd way of obtaining the 'cure of souls!' + + +A RECLAIMED GAMBLER'S ACCOUNT OF HIS CAREER. + + +'Some years since I was lieutenant in a regiment, which the alarm and +policy of administration occasioned to be quartered in the vicinity of +the metropolis, where I was for the first time. A young nobleman of very +distinguished family undertook to be my conductor. Alas! to what scenes +did he introduce me! To places of debauchery and dens of destruction. I +need not detail particulars. From the lures of the courtesan we went +to an adjoining gaming room. Though I thought my knowledge of cards +superior to those I saw play that night, I touched no card nor dice. +From this my conductor, a brother officer, and myself adjourned to Pall +Mall. We returned to our lodgings about six o'clock in the morning. + +'I could think of nothing but Faro's magic centre, and longed for the +next evening, when I determined to enter that path which has led so many +to infamy, beggary, and suicide. I began cautiously, and for some +time had reason to be satisfied with my success. It enabled me to +live expensively. I made golden calculations of my future fortune as I +improved in skill. My manuals were treatises on gaming and chances, and +no man understood this doctrine better than I did. I, however, did +not calculate the disparity of resisting powers--my purse with _FIFTY_ +guineas, and the Faro bank with a hundred thousand. It was ruin only +which opened my eyes to this truism at last. + +'Good meats, good cooking, and good wines, given gratis and plenteously, +at these houses, drew many to them at first, for the sake of the +society. Among them I one evening chanced to see a clerical prig, who +was incumbent of a parish adjoining that in which my mother lived. I was +intoxicated with wine and pleasure, when I, on this occasion, entered a +haunt of ruin and enterprising avarice in Pall Mall. I played high and +lost in proportion. + +'The spirit of adventure was now growing on me every day. I was +sometimes very successful. Yet my health was impaired, and my temper +soured by the alternation of good and bad fortune, and my pity or +contempt for those with whom I associated. From the nobleman, whose +acres were nightly melting in the dice box, there were adventurers +even to the _UNFLEDGED APPRENTICE_, who came with the pillage of his +unsuspecting master's till, to swell the guilty bank of Dame N-- and +Co. Were the Commissioners of Bankruptcy to know how many citizens are +prepared for them at those houses, they would be bound to thank them. + +'Many a score of guineas have I won of tradesmen, who seemed only +to turn an honest penny in Leadenhall Street, Aldgate, Birchin Lane, +Cornhill, Cheapside, Holborn, the Borough, and other eastern spots of +industry; but I fleeced them only for the benefit of the Faro bank, +which is sure, finally, to absorb the gain of all. Some of the croupiers +would call their gold _GIFTS OF THE WISE MEN OF THE EAST;_ others termed +their guineas _COCKNEY COUNTERS!_ + +'One night I had such a run of luck in the Hazard room, which was rather +thinly attended, that I won everything, and with my load of treasure +collected from the East and West, nay, probably, some of it from +_Finchley Common_ and _Hounslow Heath_, I went, in the flush of success, +to attack the Faro bank. + +'It was my determination, however, if fortune favoured me through +the night, never to tempt her more. For some hours I proceeded in the +torture of suspense, alternately agitated by hope and fear--but by five +o'clock in the morning I attained a state of certainty similar to that +of a wretch ushered into the regions of the damned. I had lost L3500 +guineas, which I had brought with me from the Hazard table, together +with L2000 which the bank advanced me on my credit. There they stopped; +and, with an apathy peculiar to themselves, listened to a torrent of +puerile abuse which I vented against them in my despair. + +'Two days and two nights I shut myself up, to indulge in the most +racking reflections. I was ruined beyond repair, and I had, on the third +morning, worked myself up to resort for relief to a loaded pistol. I +rang for my servant to bring me some gunpowder, and was debating with +myself whether to direct its force to my brain or my heart, when he +entered with a letter. It was from Harriet ----. She had heard of my +misfortunes, and urged me with the soul and pen of a heroine, to fly the +destructive habits of the town, and to wait for nine months, when +her minority would expire, and she would come into the uncontrolled +possession of L1700. With that small sum she hoped my expenses, talents, +and domestic comfort, under her housewifery, would create a state of +happiness and independence which millions could not procure in the mad +career which I had pursued. + +'This was the voice of a guardian angel in the moment of despair. In her +next, at my request, she informed me that the channel of her early and +minute information was the clerical prig, her neighbour and admirer, who +was related to one of the croupiers at ----, and had from him a regular +detail of my proceedings. + +'Soothed by the magic influence of my virtuous Harriet, instead of +calling the croupier to account, I wrote to the proprietors of the bank, +stating my ruined condition, and my readiness to sell my commission and +pay them what I could. These gentlemen have friends in every department. +They completed the transfer of my lieutenancy in two days, and then, +in their superabundant humanity, offered me the place of croupier in +an inferior house which they kept near Hanover Square. This offer I +declined; and after having paid my tradesman's bill, I left London +with only eleven guineas in my pocket. I married the best of women, my +preserver, and have ever since lived in real comfort and happiness, on +an income less than one hundred pounds a year.' + + +A SURPRISE. + + +A stranger plainly dressed took his seat at a Faro table, when the bank +was richer than usual. After some little routine play, he challenged +the bank, and tossed his pocket-book to the banker that he might be +satisfied of his responsibility. It was found to contain bills to an +immense amount; and on the banker showing reluctance to accept the +challenge, the stranger sternly demanded compliance with the laws of +the game. The card soon turned up which decided the ruin of the banker. +'Heaven!' exclaimed an old infirm Austrian officer, who had sat next +to the stranger--'the twentieth part of your gains would make me the +happiest man in the universe!' The stranger briskly answered--'You shall +have it, then;' and quitted the room. A servant speedily returned, and +presented the officer with the twentieth part of the bank, adding--'My +master requires no answer, sir,' and went out. The successful stranger +was soon recognized to be the great King of Prussia in disguise. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. THE LOTTERIES AND THEIR BEWILDERMENTS. + +If we are to believe Pere Menestrier, the institution of Lotteries is to +be found in the Bible, in the words--'The _LOT_ causeth contentions to +cease, and parteth between the mighty,' Prov. xviii. 18. Be that as it +may, it is certain that lotteries were in use among the ancient Romans, +taking place during the _Saturnalia_, or festivities in honour of the +god Saturn, when those who took part in them received a numbered ticket, +which entitled the bearer to a prize. During the reign of Augustus the +thing became a means of gratifying the cupidity of his courtiers; +and Nero used it as the method of distributing his gifts to the +people,--granting as many as a thousand tickets a day, some of them +entitling the bearers to slaves, ships, houses, and lands. Domitian +compelled the senators and knights to participate in the lotteries, in +order to debase them; and Heliogabalus, in his fantastic festivities, +distributed tickets which entitled the bearers to camels, flies, and +other odd things suggested by his madness. In all this, however, the +distinctive character of modern lotteries was totally absent: the +tickets were always gratuitous; so that if the people did not win +anything, they never lost. + +In the Middle Ages the same practice prevailed at the banquets of feudal +princes, who apportioned their presents economically, and without the +fear of exciting jealousy among the recipients, by granting lottery +tickets indiscriminately to their friends. The practice afterwards +descended to the merchants; and in Italy, during the 16th century, it +became a favourite mode of disposing of their wares. + +The application of lotteries by paid tickets to the service of the state +is said to have originated at Florence, under the name of 'Lotto,' in +1530; others say at Genoa, under the following circumstances:--It had +long been customary in the latter city to choose annually, by ballot, +five members of the Senate (composed of 90 persons) in order to form a +particular council. Some persons took this opportunity of laying bets +that the lot would fall on such or such senators. The government, seeing +with what eagerness the people interested themselves in these bets, +conceived the idea of establishing a lottery on the same principle, +which was attended with such great success, that all the cities of Italy +wished to participate in it, and sent large sums of money to Genoa for +that purpose. + +To increase the revenues of the Church, the Pope also was induced to +establish a lottery at Rome; the inhabitants of which place became so +fond of this species of gambling, that they often deprived themselves +and their families of the necessaries of life, that they might have +money to lay out in this speculation. + +The French borrowed the idea from the Italians. In the year 1520, +under Francis I., lotteries were permitted by edict under the name of +_Blanques_, from the Italian _bianca carta_, 'white tickets,'-- because +all the losing tickets were considered _BLANKS;_--hence the introduction +of the word into common talk, with a similar meaning. From the year 1539 +the state derived a revenue from the lotteries, although from 1563 to +1609 the French parliament repeatedly endeavoured to suppress them as +social evils. At the marriage of Louis XIV. a lottery was organized to +distribute the royal presents to the people--after the fashion of the +Roman emperor. Lotteries were multiplied during this reign and that of +Louis XV. In 1776 the Royal Lottery of France was established. This was +abolished in 1793, re-established at the commencement of the Republic; +but finally all lotteries were prohibited by law in 1836,--excepting +'for benevolent purposes.' One of the most remarkable of these lotteries +'for benevolent purposes' was the 'Lottery of the Gold Lingots,' +authorized in 1849, to favour emigration to California. In this lottery +the grand prize was a lingot of gold valued at about L1700. + +The old French lottery consisted of 90 numbers, that is, from No. 1 to +No. 90, and the drawing was five numbers at a time. Five wheels were +established at Paris, Lyons, Strasbourg, Bordeaus, and Lille. A drawing +took place every ten days at each city. The exit of a single number was +called _extrait_, and it won 15 times the amount deposited, and 70 times +if the number was determined; the exit of two numbers was called the +_ambe_, winning 270 times the deposit, and 5100 times if the number was +determined;--the exit of three numbers was called the _terne_, winning +5500 times; the _quaterne_, or exit of four numbers, won 75,000 times +the deposit. In all this, however, the chances were greatly in favour +of the state banker;--in the _extrait_ the chances were 18 to 15 in +his favour, vastly increasing, of course, in the remainder; thus in the +_ambe_ it was 1602 against 270; and so on. + +The first English lottery mentioned in history was drawn in the year +1569. It consisted of 400,000 lots, at 10_s_. each lot. The prizes were +plate; and the profits were to go towards repairing the havens or ports +of this kingdom. It was drawn at the west door of St Paul's Cathedral. +The drawing began on the 10th of January, 1569, and continued +incessantly, _DAY AND NIGHT_, till the 6th of May following.(146) +Another lottery was held at the same place in 1612, King James having +permitted it in favour of 'the plantation of English colonies in +Virginia.' One Thomas Sharplys, a tailor of London, won the chief prize, +which was '4000 crowns in fair plate.' + + +(146) The printed scheme of this lottery is still in the possession of +the Antiquarian Society of London. + + +In 1680, a lottery was granted to supply London with water. At the end +of the 17th century, the government being in want of money to carry on +the war, resorted to a lottery, and L1,200,000 was set apart or _NAMED_ +for the purpose. The tickets were all disposed of in less than six +months, friends and enemies joining in the speculation. It was a great +success; and when right-minded people murmured at the impropriety of +the thing, they were told to hold their tongues, and assured that this +lottery was the very queen of lotteries, and that it had just taken +Namur!(147) + + +(147) This town was captured in 1695, by William III. + + +At the same time the Dutch gave in to the infatuation with the utmost +enthusiasm; lotteries were established all over Holland; and learned +professors and ministers of the gospel spoke of nothing else but the +lottery to their pupils and hearers. + +From this time forward the spirit of gambling increased so rapidly +and grew so strong in England, that in the reign of Queen Anne private +lotteries had to be suppressed as public nuisances. + +The first _parliamentary_ lottery was instituted in 1709, and from this +period till 1824 the passing of a lottery bill was in the programme +of every session. Up to the close of the 18th century the prizes were +generally paid in the form of terminable, and sometimes of perpetual, +annuities. Loans were also raised by granting a bonus of lottery tickets +to all who subscribed a certain amount. + +This gambling of annuities, despite the restrictions of an act passed in +1793, soon led to an appalling amount of vice and misery; and in 1808, a +committee of the House of Commons urged the suppression of this ruinous +mode of filling the national exchequer. The last public lottery in Great +Britain was drawn in October, 1826. + +The lotteries exerted a most baneful influence on trade, by relaxing the +sinews of industry and fostering the destructive spirit of gaming +among all orders of men. Nor was that all. The stream of this evil was +immensely swelled and polluted, in open defiance of the law, by a set of +artful and designing men, who were ever on the watch to allure and +draw in the ignorant and unwary by the various modes and artifices of +'_insurance_,' which were all most flagrant and gross impositions on the +public, as well as a direct violation of the law. One of the most common +and notorious of these schemes was the insuring of numbers for the next +day's drawing, at a _premium_ which (if legal) was much greater than +adequate to the risk. Thus, in 1778, when the just premium of the +lottery was only 7_s_. 6_d_., the office-keepers charged 9_s_., which +was a certain gain of nearly 30 per cent.; and they aggravated the fraud +as the drawing advanced. + +On the sixteenth day of drawing the just premium was not quite 20_s_., +whereas the office-keepers charged L1 4_s_. 6_d_., which clearly +shows the great disadvantage that every person laboured under who was +imprudent enough to be concerned in the insurance of numbers.(148) + + +(148) Public Ledger, Dec. 3, 1778. + + +In every country where lotteries were in operation numbers were ruined +at the close of each drawing, and of these not a few sought an oblivion +of their folly ill self-murder--by the rope, the razor, or the river. + +A more than usual number of adventurers were said to have been ruined in +the lottery of 1788, owing to the several prizes continuing long in the +wheel (which gave occasion to much gambling), and also to the desperate +state of certain branches of trade, caused by numerous and important +bankruptcies. The suicides increased in proportion. Among them one +person made herself remarkable by a thoughtful provision to prevent +disappointment. A woman, who had scraped everything together to put into +the lottery, and who found herself ruined at its close, fixed a rope to +a beam of sufficient strength; but lest there should be any accidental +failure in the beam or rope, she placed a large tub of water underneath, +that she might drop into it; and near her also were two razors on a +table ready to be used, if hanging or drowning should prove ineffectual. + +A writer of the time gives the following account of the excitement that +prevailed during the drawing of the lottery:--'Indeed, whoever wishes to +know what are the "blessings" of a lottery, should often visit Guildhall +during the time of its drawing,--when he will see thousands of workmen, +servants, clerks, apprentices, passing and repassing, with looks full of +suspense and anxiety, and who are stealing at least from their master's +time, if they have not many of them also robbed him of his property, in +order to enable them to become adventurers. In the next place, at the +end of the drawing, let our observer direct his steps to the shops of +the pawnbrokers, and view, as he may, the stock, furniture, and clothes +of many hundred poor families, servants, and others, who have been +ruined by the lottery. If he wish for further satisfaction, let him +attend at the next Old Bailey Sessions, and hear the death-warrant of +many a luckless gambler in lotteries, who has been guilty of subsequent +theft and forgery; or if he seek more proof, let him attend to the +numerous and horrid scenes of self-murder, which are known to accompany +the closing of the wheels of fortune each year:(149) and then let him +determine on "the wisdom and policy" of lotteries in a commercial city.' + + +(149) A case is mentioned of two servants who, having lost their all in +lotteries, robbed their master; and in order to prevent being seized and +hanged in public, murdered themselves in private. + + +The capital prizes were so large that they excited the eagerness of +hope; but the sum secured by the government was small when compared with +the infinite mischief it occasioned. On opening the budget of 1788, the +minister observed in the House of Commons, 'that the bargain he had +this year for the lottery was so very good for the public, that it would +produce a gain of L270,000, from which he would deduct L12,000 for the +expenses of drawing, &c., and then there would remain a net produce of +L258,000.' This result, therefore, was deemed extraordinary; but what +was that to the extraordinary mischief done to the community by the +authorization of excessive gambling! + +Some curious facts are on record relating to the lotteries. + +Until the year 1800 the drawing of the lottery (which usually consisted +of 60,000 tickets for England alone) occupied forty-two days in +succession; it was, therefore, about forty-two to one against any +particular number being drawn the first day; if it remained in the +wheel, it was forty-one to one against its being drawn on the second, +&;c.; the adventurer, therefore, who could for eight-pence insure the +return of a guinea, if a given number came up the first day, would +naturally be led, if he failed, to a small increase of the deposit +according to the decrease of the chance against him, until his number +was drawn, or the person who took the insurance money would take it no +longer. + +In the inquiry respecting the mendicity of London, in 1815, Mr Wakefield +declared his opinion that the lottery was a cause of mendicity; and +related an instance--the case of an industrious man who applied to the +Committee of Spitalfields Soup Society for relief; and when, on +being asked his profession, said he was a '_Translator_'--which, when +_TRANSLATED_, signifies, it seems, the art of converting old boots and +shoes into wearable ones; 'but the lottery is about to draw, and,' says +he, 'I have no sale for boots or shoes during the time that the lottery +draws'--the money of his customers being spent in the purchase of +tickets, or the payment of 'insurances.' The 'translator' may have been +mistaken as to the cause of his trade falling off; but there can be no +doubt that the system of the lottery-drawing was a very infatuating mode +of gambling, as the passion was kept alive from day to day; and though, +perhaps, it did not create mendicity, yet it mainly contributed, with +the gin-shops, night-cellars, obscure gambling houses, and places of +amusement, to fill the _PAWNBROKERS_' shops, and diminish the profits of +the worthy 'translator of old shoes.'(150) + + +(150) This term is still in use. I recently asked one of the craft if he +called himself a translator. 'Yes, sir, not of languages, but old boots +and shoes,' was the reply. + + +This reasoning, however, is very uncertain. + +The sixteenth of a lottery ticket, which is the smallest share that can +be purchased, has not for many years been sold under thirty shillings, +a sum much too large for a person who buys old shoes 'translated,' and +even for the 'translator' himself, to advance; we may therefore safely +conclude that the purchase of tickets is not the mode of gambling by +which Crispin's customers are brought to distress. + +A great number of foreign lotteries still exist in vigorous operation. +Some are supported by the state, and others are only authorized; most +of them are flourishing. In Germany, especially, lotteries are abundant; +immense properties are disposed of by this method. The 'bank' gains, of +course, enormously; and, also of course, a great deal of trickery and +swindling, or something like it, is perpetrated. + +Foreign lottery tickets are now and then illegally offered in England. A +few years ago there appeared an advertisement in the papers, offering a +considerable income for the payment of one or two pounds. Upon inquiry +it was found to be the agency of a foreign lottery! These tempting +offers of advertising speculators are a cruel addition to the miseries +of misfortune. + +The Hamburg lottery seems to afford the most favourable representation +of the system--as such--because in it all the money raised by the +sale of tickets is redistributed in the drawing of the lots, with +the exception of 10 per cent. deducted in expenses and otherwise; but +nothing can compensate for the pernicious effects of the spirit of +gambling which is fostered by lotteries, however fairly conducted. They +are an unmitigated evil. + +In the United States lotteries were established by Congress in 1776, +but, save in the Southern States, heavy penalties are now imposed on +persons attempting to establish them. + +I need scarcely say that lotteries, whether foreign or British, are +utterly forbidden by law, excepting those of Art Unions. The operations +of these associations were indeed suspended in 1811; but in the +following year an act indemnified those who embarked in them for losses +which they had incurred by the arrest of their proceedings; and since +that time they have been _TOLERATED_ under the eye of the law without +any express statute being framed for their exemption. It is thought, +however, that they tend to keep up the spirit of gambling, and therefore +ought not to be allowed even on the specious plea of favouring 'art.' + +_PRIVATE_ lotteries are now illegal at Common Law in Great Britain and +Ireland; and penalties are also incurred by the advertisers of _FOREIGN_ +lotteries. Some years ago it became common in Scotland to dispose of +merchandise by means of lotteries; but this is specially condemned +in the statute 42 Geo. III. c. 119. An evasion of the law has been +attempted by affixing a prize to every ticket, so as to make the +transaction resemble a legal sale; but this has been punished as a +fraud, even where it could be proved that the prize equalled in value +the price of the ticket. The decision rested upon the plea that in such +a transaction there was no definite sale of a specific article. Even +the lotteries; for Twelfth Cakes, &c., are illegal, and render their +conductors liable to the penalties of the law. Decisive action has been +taken on this law, and the usual Christmas lotteries have been this year +(1870) rigorously prohibited throughout the country. It is impossible +to doubt the soundness of the policy that strives to check the spirit +of gambling among the people; but still there may be some truth in the +following remarks which appeared on the subject, in a leading journal:-- + +'We hear that the police have received directions to caution the +promoters of lotteries for the distribution of game, wine, spirits, and +other articles of this description, that these schemes are illegal, and +that the offenders will be prosecuted. These attempts to enforce rigidly +the provisions of the 10 and 11 William III., c. 17, 42 George III., +c. 119, and to check the spirit of speculation which pervades so many +classes in this country may possibly be successful, but as a mere +question of morality there can be no doubt that Derby lotteries, and, in +fact, all speculations on the turf or Stock Exchange, are open to quite +as much animadversion as the Christmas lotteries for a little pig or an +aged goose, which it appears are to be suppressed in future. Is it not +also questionable policy to enforce every law merely because it is a +law, unless its breach is productive of serious evil to the community? +If every old Act of Parliament is rummaged out and brought to bear upon +us, we fear we shall find ourselves in rather an uncomfortable position. + +We cannot say whether or not the harm produced by these humble +lotteries is sufficient to render their forcible suppression a matter of +necessity. They certainly do produce an amount of indigestion which of +itself must be no small penalty to pay for those whose misfortune it is +to win the luxuries raffled for, but we never yet heard of any one being +ruined by raffling for a pig or goose; and if our Government is going +to be paternal and look after our pocket-money, we hope it will also be +maternal and take some little interest in our health. The sanitary +laws require putting into operation quite as much as the laws against +public-house lotteries and skittles.' + +No 'extenuating circumstances,' however, can be admitted respecting the +notorious racing lotteries, in spite of the small figure of the tickets; +nay this rather aggravates the danger, being a temptation to the +thoughtless multitude. One of these lotteries, called the Deptford +Spec., was not long ago suppressed by the strong arm of the law; but +others still exist under different names. In one of these the law is +thought to be evaded by the sale of a number of photographs; in another, +a chance of winning on a horse is secured by the purchase of certain +numbers of a newspaper struggling into existence; but the following is, +perhaps, the drollest phase of the evasion as yet attempted: + +'Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding _count the number of +the beast_.'--Rev., chap. xiii. + +'NICKOLAS REX.--"LUCKY" BANQUETS. + +'HIS SATANIC MAJESTY purposes holding a series of Banquets, Levees, and +DRAWING ROOMS at Pandemonium during the ensuing autumn, to each of which +about 10,000 of his faithful disciples will be invited. H. S. M. will, +at those drawing-rooms and receptions, _NUMBER_ a lot of beasts, and +distribute a series of REWARDS, varying in value from L100 to 10_s_. of +her Britannic Majesty's money. + +'Tickets One Shilling each, application for which must be made _BY +LETTER_ to His S. Majesty's Chamberlain, &c. &c. The LAST _DRAWING-ROOM_ +of this season will be held a few days before the Feast of the CROYDON +STEEPLECHASES, &c. &c. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. THE LAWS AGAINST GAMING IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES. + +1. ANCIENT ROME. + +In ancient Rome all games of chance, with the exception of five which +had relation to bodily vigour, were absolutely prohibited in public or +private. The loser could not be sued for moneys lost, and could recover +what he might have paid, such right being secured to his heirs against +the heirs of the winner, even after the lapse of 30 years' prescription. +During 50 years after the loss, should the loser or his heirs neglect +their action, it was open to any one that chose to prosecute, and +chiefly to the municipal authorities, the sum recovered to be expended +in that case for public purposes. No surety for the payment of money for +gambling purposes was bound. The betting on lawful games was restricted +to a certain amount, beyond which the loser could recover moneys paid, +and could not be sued for the amount. A person in whose house gambling +had taken place, if struck or injured, or if robbed on the occasion +thereof, was denied redress; but offences of gamblers among themselves +were punishable. Blows or injuries might be inflicted on the gambling +house keeper at any time and anywhere without being penal as against any +person; but theft was not exempted from punishment, unless committed at +the time of gambling--and not by a gambler. Children and freedmen could +recover their losses as against their parents and patrons. + +Cicero, in his second Philippic, speaks of a criminal process (_publicum +judicium_) then in force against gamblers. + +The laws of ancient Rome were, therefore, very stringent on this +subject, although, there can be no doubt, without much effect. + + +2. FRANCE. + + +At the time of the French Revolution warlike games alone conferred the +right of action, restricted, however, in cases of excessive losses; +games of strength and skill generally were lawful, but were considered +as not giving any right of action; games of mere chance were prohibited, +but minors alone were allowed to recover moneys lost. + +By the present law of France no judicial action is allowed for gambling +debts and wagers, except in the case of such games as depend upon bodily +skill and effort, foot, horse, and chariot races, and others of the like +nature: the claim may be rejected if the court considers it excessive; +but moneys paid can never be recovered unless on the ground of fraud. +The keepers of gaming houses, their managers or agents, are punishable +with fine (100 to 6000 francs) and imprisonment (two to six months), and +may be deprived of most of their civil rights. + + +3. PRUSSIA. + + +By the Prussian Code all games of chance, except when licensed by the +state, are prohibited. Gaming debts are not the subjects of action; but +moneys paid cannot be sued for by losers. Wagers give a right of action +when the stakes consist of cash in the hands of a third person; they +are void if the winner had a knowledge of the event, and concealed it. +Moneys lent for gambling or betting purposes, or to pay gambling or +betting debts, cannot be sued for. Gaming house keepers and gamblers are +punishable with fine; professed gamblers with imprisonment. Occasional +cheating at play obliges to compensation; professed swindlers at play +are punishable as for theft, and banished afterwards. Moneys won from a +drunken man, if to a considerable amount, must be returned, and a fine +paid of equal value. + + + +4. AUSTRIA. + + +In Austria no right of action is given either to the winner or the +loser. All games of chance are prohibited except when licensed by the +state. Cheating at play is punished with imprisonment, according to the +amount of fraudulent gain. Playing at unlawful games, or allowing such +to take place in one's house, subjects the party to a heavy fine, or in +default, to imprisonment. + + + +5. ITALY. + + +The provisions of the Sardinian Civil Code are similar to those of +the French, giving an action for moneys won at games of strength or +skill--when not excessive in amount; but not allowing the recovery of +moneys lost, except on the ground of fraud or _MINORITY_, a provision +taken from the _OLD_ French law. + + +6. BAVARIA. + + +By the Bavarian Code games of skill, and of mixed skill and chance, are +not forbidden. The loser cannot refuse to pay, nor can he recover his +losses, provided the sport be honestly conducted, and the stakes not +excessive, having regard to the rank, character, and fortune of the +parties. In cases of fraudulent and excessive gaming, and in all games +of mere chance, the winner cannot claim his winnings, but must repay the +loser on demand. In the two latter cases (apparently) both winner and +loser are liable to a fine, equal in amount,--for the first time +of conviction, to one-third of the stakes; for the second time, to +two-thirds; and for the third time, to the whole: in certain cases the +bank is to be confiscated. Hotel and coffee-house keepers, &c., who +allow gambling on their premises, are punished for the first offence by +a fine of 50 florins; for the second, with one of 100 florins; for the +third, with the loss of the license. The punishment of private persons +for the like offence is left to the discretion of the judge. _UNLAWFUL_ +games may be _LEGALIZED_ by authority; but in such case, fraud or gross +excess disables the winner from claiming moneys won, renders him liable +to repayment, and subjects him to arbitrary punishment. _IMMORAL_ wagers +are void; and _EXCESSIVE_ wagers are to be reduced in amount. Betting on +indifferent things is not prohibited, nor even as to a known and certain +thing--when there is no deception. No wager is void on account of mere +disparity of odds. Professed gamblers, who also cheat at play, and their +accomplices, and the setters-up and collectors of fictitious lotteries, +are subject to imprisonment, with hard labour, for a term of from four +to eight years. + +Although, therefore, cheating gamblers are liable to punishment in +Bavaria, it is evident that gambling is there tolerated to the utmost +extent required by the votaries of Fortune. + + +7. SPAIN. + + +Wagers appear to be lawful in Spain, when not in themselves fraudulent, +or relating to anything illegal or immoral. + + +8. ENGLAND. + + +In England some of the forms of gambling or gaming have been absolutely +forbidden under heavy penalties, whilst others have been tolerated, but +at the same time discouraged; and the reasons for the prohibition were +not always directed against the impropriety or iniquity of the practice +in itself;--thus it was alleged in an Act passed in 1541, that for the +sake of the games the people neglected to practise _ARCHERY_, through +which England had become great--'to the terrible dread and fear of all +strange nations.' + +The first of the strictly-called Gaming Acts is one of Charles II.'s +reign, which was intended to check the habit of gambling so prevalent +then, as before stated. By this Act it was ordered that, if any one +shall play at any pastime or game, by gaming or betting with those who +game, and shall lose more than one hundred pounds on credit, he shall +not be bound to pay, and any contract to do so shall be void. In +consequence of this Act losers of a less amount--whether less wealthy +or less profligate--and the whole of the poorer classes, remained +unprotected from the cheating of sharpers, for it must be presumed that +nobody has a right to refuse to pay a fair gambling debt, since he would +evidently be glad to receive his winnings. No doubt much misery followed +through the contrivances of sharpers; still it was a salutary warning to +gamesters of the poorer classes--whilst in the higher ranks the 'honour' +of play was equally stringent, and, I may add, in many cases ruinous. +By the recital of the Act it is evident that the object was to check +and put down gaming as a business profession, 'to gain a living;' and +therefore it specially mulcted the class out of which 'adventurers' in +this line usually arise. + +The Act of Queen Anne, by its sweeping character, shows that gaming had +become very virulent, for by it not only were all securities for money +lost at gaming void, but money actually paid, if more than L10, might be +recovered in an action at law; not only might this be done, within three +months, by the loser himself, but by any one else--together with treble +the value--half for himself, and half for the poor of the parish. +Persons winning, by fraudulent means, L10 and upwards at any game were +condemned by this Act to pay five times the amount or value of the thing +won, and, moreover, they were to 'be deemed infamous, and suffer +such corporal punishment as in cases of wilful perjury.' The Act went +further:--if persons were suspected of getting their living by gaming, +they might be summoned before a magistrate, required to show that the +greater portion of their income did not depend upon gaming, and to find +sureties for their good behaviour during twelve months, or be committed +to gaol. + +There were, besides, two curious provisions;--any one assaulting or +challenging another to a duel on account of disputes over gaming, should +forfeit all his goods and be imprisoned for two years; secondly, +the royal palaces of St James's and Whitehall were exempted from +the operation of this statute, so long as the sovereign was actually +resident within them--which last clause probably showed that the entire +Draconian enactment was but a farce. It is quite certain that it was +inoperative, and that it did no more than express the conscience of the +legislature--in deference to _PRINCIPLE_, 'which nobody could deny.' + +After the lapse of many years--the evil being on the increase--the +legislature stirred again during the reign of George II., and passed +several Acts against gaming. The games of Faro, Basset, Hazard, &c., +in fact, all games with dice, were proscribed under a penalty of L200 +against the provider of the game, and L50 a time for the players. +Roulette or Roly Poly, termed in the Act 'a certain pernicious game,' +was interdicted, under the penalty of five times the value of the thing +or sum lost at it. + +Thus stood the statute law against gaming down to the year 1845, when, +in consequence of the report of the select committee which sat on the +subject, a new enactment was promulgated, which is in force at the +present time. + +It was admitted that the laws in force against gaming were 'of no avail +to prevent the mischiefs which may happen therefrom;' and the lawgivers +enacted a comprehensive measure on the subject. Much of the old law--for +instance, the prohibition of games which interfered with the practice +of _ARCHERY_--was repealed; also the Acts of Charles II., of Queen Anne, +and a part of that of George II.--Gaming houses, in which a bank is kept +by one or more of the players, or in which the chances of play are not +alike favourable to the players--being declared unlawful, as of old. +Billiards, bagatelle, or 'any game of the kind' (open, of course, to +legal discussion), may be played in private houses, or in licensed +houses; but still, in the case of licensed houses of public resort, +the police may enter at any time to see that the law is complied with. +'Licensed for Billiards' must be legibly printed on some conspicuous +place near the door and outside a licensed house. Billiards and like +games may not be played in public rooms after one, and before eight, +o'clock in the morning of any day, nor on Sundays, Christmas Day, Good +Friday, nor on any public fast or thanksgiving. Publicans whose houses +are licensed for billiards must not allow persons to play at any time +when public-houses are not allowed to be open. + +'In order to constitute the house a common gaming house, it is not +necessary to prove that any person found playing at any game was playing +for any money, wager, or stake. The police may enter the house on the +report of a superintendent, and the authority of a commissioner, without +the necessity of an allegation of two householders; and if any cards, +dice, balls, counters, tables, or other instruments of gaming be found +in the house, or about the person of any of those who shall be found +therein, such discovery shall be evidence against the establishment +until the contrary be made to appear. Those who shall appear as +witnesses, moreover, are protected from the consequences of having been +engaged in unlawful gaming.'(151) + + +(151) Chambers's Cyclopaedia, Art. Gambling. + + +The penalty of cheating at any game is liability to penal servitude for +three years--the delinquent being proceeded against as one who obtains +money under false pretences. Wagers and bets are not recoverable by law, +whether from the loser or from the wager-holder; and money paid for bets +may be recovered in an action 'for money received to the defendant's +use.' All betting houses are gaming houses within the meaning of +the Act, and the proprietors and managers of them are punishable +accordingly. + +The existing law on the gaming of horse-racing is as follows. Bets on +horse-races are illegal; and therefore are not recoverable by law. In +order to prevent the nuisance which betting houses, disguised under +other names, occasioned, a law was passed in 1853, forbidding the +maintenance of any house, room, or other place, for betting; and by the +new Metropolitan Traffic Regulation Act, now in force, any three +persons found betting in the street may be fined five pounds each 'for +obstructing the thoroughfare'--a very odd reason, certainly, since it +is the _BETTING_ that we wish to prevent, as we will not permit it to be +carried on in any house, &c. These _LEGAL_ reasons are too often sadly +out of place. Any constable, however, may, without a warrant, arrest +anybody he may see in the act of betting in the street. + +The laws relating to horse-racing have undergone curious revisions and +interpretations. 'The law of George II.'s reign, declaring horse-racing +to be good, as tending to promote the breed of fine horses, exempted +horse-races from the list of unlawful games, provided that the sum +of money run for or the value of the prize should be fifty pounds and +upwards, that certain weights only might be used, and that no owner +should run more than one horse for the same prize, under pain of +forfeiting all horses except the first. Newmarket, and Black Hambledon +in Yorkshire, are the only places licensed for races in this Act, which, +however, was also construed to legalize any race at any place whatever, +so long as the stakes were worth fifty pounds and upwards, and the +weights were of the regulated standard. An Act passed five years +afterwards removed the restrictions as to the weights, and declared that +any one anywhere might start a horse-race with any weights, so long as +the stakes were fifty pounds or more. The provision for the forfeiture +of all horses but one belonging to one owner and running in the same +race was overlooked or forgotten, and owners with perfect impunity +ran their horses, as many as they pleased, in the same race. In 1839, +however, informations were laid against certain owners, whose horses +were claimed as forfeits; and then everybody woke up to the fact that +this curious clause of the Act of George II. was still unrepealed. The +Legislature interfered in behalf of the defendants, and passed an Act, +repealing in their eagerness not merely the penal clauses of the Act, +but the Act itself, so far as it related to horse-racing. Now, it was +supposed that upon the Act of the thirteenth of George II. depended the +whole legality of horse-racing, that the Act of the eighteenth of George +II. was merely explanatory of that statute, which, being repealed, +brought the practice again within the old law, according to which it +was illegal. By a judgment of the Court of Common Pleas it was decided, +however, that the words of the eighteenth of George II. were large +enough to legalize all races anywhere for fifty pounds and upwards, and +that the Act was not merely an explanatory one. Upon this basis rests +the existing law on the subject of horse-racing. Bets, however, as +before stated, on horse-races are still as illegal as they are on any of +the forbidden games--that is to say, they are outside the law; the law +will not lend its assistance to recover them.'(152) + + +(152) _Ubi Supra_. + + +The extent to which gambling has been carried on in the street by boys +was shown by the following summary laid before the Committee of the +House of Commons on Gaming, in 1844:-- + +Boys apprehended for gaming in the streets-- + + Convicted. Discharged. + 1841.... 305.... 68.... 237 + 1842.... 245.... 66.... 179 + 1813.... 329.... 114.... 185 + ---- ---- ---- + 879 278 601 + + +Only recently has any effectual check been put to this pernicious +practice. It is however enacted by the New Gaming Act, that--'Every +person playing or betting by way of wagering or gaming in any street, +road, highway, or other open and public place to which the public have +or are permitted to have access, at or with any table or instrument of +gaming, or any coin, card, token, or other article used as an instrument +of gaming or means of such wagering or gaming, at any game or pretended +game of chance, shall be deemed a rogue and vagabond within the true +intent and meaning of the recited Act, and as such may be punished under +the provision of that Act.' + +On this provision a daily paper justly remarks:--'A statute very much +needed has come into force. Persons playing or betting in the streets +with coins or cards are now made amenable to the 5th George IV., c. +83, and may be committed to gaol as rogues and vagabonds. The statutes +already in force against such rogues and vagabonds subject them, we +believe, not only to imprisonment with hard labour, but also to corporal +punishment. In any case the New Act should, if stringently administered, +speedily put a stop to the too common and quite intolerable nuisance of +young men and boys sprawling about the pavement, or in corners of +the wharves by the waterside, and playing at "pitch-and-toss," +"shove-halfpenny," "Tommy Dodd," "coddams," and other games of chance. +Who has not seen that terrible etching in Hogarth's "Industry and +Idleness," where the idle apprentice, instead of going devoutly to +church and singing out of the same hymn-book with his master's pretty +daughter, is gambling on a tombstone with a knot of dissolute boys? A +watchful beadle has espied the youthful gamesters, and is preparing +to administer a sounding thwack with a cane on the shoulders of Thomas +Idle. But the race of London beadles is now well-nigh extinct; and the +few that remain dare not use their switches on the small vagabonds, for +fear of being summoned for assault. It is to be hoped that the +police will be instructed to put the Act sharply in force against the +pitch-and-toss players; and, in passing, we might express a wish that +they would also suppress the ragged urchins who turn "cart-wheels" in +the mud, and the half-naked girls who haunt the vicinity of railway +stations and steamboat piers, pestering passengers to buy cigar-lights.' + + +END OF VOL. I. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and +Victims, by Andrew Steinmetz + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GAMING TABLE *** + +***** This file should be named 466.txt or 466.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/6/466/ + +Produced by Mike Lough + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Scanned with OmniPage Professional OCR software +donated by Caere Corporation, 1-800-535-7226. +Contact Mike Lough <Mikel@caere.com> + + + + + +THE GAMING TABLE: +ITS VOTARIES AND VICTIMS, + + + + + +In all Times and Countries, especially in England +and in France. + + + + +BY +ANDREW STEINMETZ, ESQ., + + + + +OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE, BARRISTER-AT-LAW; +FIRST-CLASS EXTRA CERTIFICATE SCHOOL OF MUSKETRY, HYTHE; +LATE OFFICER INSTRUCTOR MUSKETRY, THE QUEENS OWN LIGHT INFANTRY MILITIA. + + +AUTHOR OF `THE HISTORY OF THE JESUITS,' `JAPAN AND HER PEOPLE,' +`THE ROMANCE OF DUELLING,' &c., &c. + + + +`The sharp, the blackleg, and the knowing one, +Livery or lace, the self-same circle, run; +The same the passion, end and means the same-- +Dick and his Lordship differ but in name.' + + + + + +IN TWO VOLUMES.--VOL. I. + + + +TO HIS GRACE + +The Duke of Wellington, K.G. +THIS WORK IS DEDICATED, +WITH PERMISSION, +BY HIS GRACE'S MOST DEVOTED SERVANT + +THE AUTHOR. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +To the readers of the present generation much of this book will, +doubtless, seem incredible. Still it is a book of facts--a +section of our social history, which is, I think, worth writing, +and deserving of meditation. + +Forty or fifty years ago--that is, within the memory of many a +living man--gambling was `the rage' in England, especially in the +metropolis. Streets now meaningless and dull--such as Osendon +Street, and streets and squares now inhabited by the most +respectable in the land--for instance, St James's Square, THEN +opened doors to countless votaries of the fickle and capricious +goddess of Fortune; in the rooms of which many a nobleman, many a +gentleman, many an officer of the Army and Navy, clergymen, +tradesmen, clerks, and apprentices, were `cleaned out'--ruined, +and driven to self-murder, or to crimes that led to the gallows. +`I have myself,' says a writer of the time, `seen hanging in +chains a man whom a short time before I saw at a Hazard table!' + +History, as it is commonly written, does not sufficiently take +cognizance of the social pursuits and practices that sap the +vitality of a nation; and yet these are the leading influences in +its destiny--making it what it is and will be, at least through +many generations, by example and the inexorable laws that preside +over what is called `hereditary transmission.' + +Have not the gambling propensities of our forefathers +influenced the present generation? . . . . + +No doubt gambling, in the sense treated of in this book, has +ceased in England. If there be here and there a Roulette or +Rouge et Noir table in operation, its existence is now known +only to a few `sworn-brethren;' if gambling at cards `prevails' +in certain quarters, it is `kept quiet.' The vice is not +barefaced. It slinks and skulks away into corners and holes, +like a poisoned rat. Therefore, public morality has triumphed, +or, to use the card-phrase, `trumped' over this dreadful abuse; +and the law has done its duty, or has reason to expect +congratulation for its success, in `putting down' gaming houses. + +But we gamble still. The gambling on the Turf (now the most +uncertain of all `games of chance') was, lately, something that +rang through and startled the entire nation. We gamble in the +funds. We gamble in endless companies (limited)--all resulting +from the same passion of our nature, which led to the gambling of +former times with cards, with dice, at Piquet, Basset, Faro, +Hazard, E O, _Roulette_, and _Rouge et Noir_. At a recent +memorable trial, the Lord Chief Justice of England exclaimed-- +`There can be no doubt--any one who looks around him cannot fail +to perceive--that a spirit of speculation and gambling has taken +hold of the minds of large classes of the population. Men who +were wont to be satisfied with moderate gain and safe investments +seem now to be animated by a spirit of greed after gain, which +makes them ready to embark their fortunes, however hardly gained, +in the vain hope of realizing immense returns by premiums upon +shares, and of making more than safe and reasonable gains. We +see that continually.' In fact, we may not be a jot better +morally than our forefathers. But that is no reason why we +should not frown over the story of their horrid sins, and, +`having a good conscience,' think what sad dogs they were in +their generation--knowing, as we do, that none of us at the +present day lose _FIFTY OR A HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS_ at play, +at a sitting, in one single night--as was certainly no very +uncommon `event' in those palmy days of gaming; and that we could +not--as was done in 1820--produce a list of _FIVE HUNDRED_ names +(in London alone) of noblemen, gentlemen, officers of the Army +and Navy, and clergymen, who were veteran or indefatigable +gamesters, besides `clerks, grocers, horse-dealers, linen- +drapers, silk-mercers, masons, builders, timber-merchants, +booksellers, &c., &c., and men of the very lowest walks of life,' +who frequented the numerous gaming houses throughout the +metropolis--to their ruin and that of their families more or less +(as deploringly lamented by Captain Gronow), and not a few of +them, no doubt, finding themselves in that position in which they +could exclaim, at _OUR_ remonstrance, as feelingly as did King +Richard-- + +`Slave! I have set my life upon a _CAST_, +And I will stand the _HAZARD OF THE DIE!_' + + +Nor is gaming as yet extinct among us. Every now and then a +batch of youngsters is brought before the magistrates charged +with vulgar `tossing' in the streets; and every now and then we +hear of some victim of genteel gambling, as recently--in the +month of February, 1868--when `a young member of the aristocracy +lost L10,000 at Whist.' + +Nay, at the commencement of the present year there appeared in a +daily paper the following startling announcement to the editor:-- + + +`Sir,--Allow me, through the columns of your paper, to call the +attention of the parents and friends of the young officers in the +Channel-fleet to the great extent gambling is carried on at +Lisbon. Since the fleet has been there another gambling house +has been opened, and is filled every evening with young officers, +many of whom are under 18 years of age. On the 1st of January it +is computed that upwards of L800 was lost by officers of the +fleet in the gambling houses, and if the fleet is to stay there +three months there will soon be a great number of the officers +involved in debt. I will relate one incident that came under my +personal notice. A young midshipman, who had lately joined the +Channel fleet from the Bristol, drew a half-year's pay in +December, besides his quarterly allowance, and I met him on shore +the next evening without money enough to pay a boat to go off to +his ship, having lost all at a gambling house. + +Hoping that this may be of some use in stopping the gambling +among the younger officers, I remain, yours respectfully, +AN OFFICER.'[1] + + +[1] Standard, Jan. 12, 1870. + + +In conclusion, I have contemplated the passion of gaming in all +its bearings, as will be evident from the range of subjects +indicated by the table of contents and index. I have ransacked +(and sacked) hundreds of volumes for entertaining, amusing, +curious, or instructive matter. + +Without deprecating criticism on my labours, perhaps I may state +that these researches have probably terminated my career as an +author. Immediately after the completion of this work I was +afflicted with a degree of blindness rendering it impossible for +me to read any print whatever, and compelling me to write only by +dictation. + +ANDREW STEINMETZ. + + + +CONTENTS OF VOL. I. + + +CHAP. + +I +THE UNIVERSAL PASSION OF GAMING; OR, GAMING ALL THE WORLD OVER + +II +GAMBLING AMONG THE ANCIENT HINDOOS-- +A HINDOO LEGEND AND ITS MODERN PARALLEL + +III +GAMBLING AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, PERSIANS AND GREEKS + +IV +GAMING AMONG THE ANCIENT ROMAN EMPERORS + +V +GAMBLING IN FRANCE IN ALL TIMES + +VI +THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF MODERN GAMING IN ENGLAND + +VII +GAMBLING IN BRIGHTON IN 1817 + +VIII +GAMBLING AT THE GERMAN BATHING-PLACES + +IX +GAMBLING IN THE UNITED STATES + +X +LADY GAMESTRESSES + +XI +GAMBLING POETS, SAVANTS, PHILOSOPHERS, WITS, AND STATESMEN + +XII +REMARKABLE GAMESTERS + +XIII +THE LOTTERIES AND THEIR BEWILDERMENTS + +XIV THE LAWS AGAINST GAMING IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES + + + + +THE GAMING TABLE. + +CHAPTER I. + +THE UNIVERSAL PASSION OF GAMING; OR, GAMING ALL THE WORLD OVER. + +A very apt allegory has been imagined as the origin of Gaming. +It is said that the Goddess of Fortune, once sporting near the +shady pool of Olympus, was met by the gay and captivating God of +War, who soon allured her to his arms. They were united; but the +matrimony was not holy, and the result of the union was a +misfeatured child named Gaming. From the moment of her birth +this wayward thing could only be pleased by cards, dice, or +counters. + +She was not without fascinations, and many were her admirers. As +she grew up she was courted by all the gay and extravagant of +both sexes, for she was of neither sex, and yet combining the +attractions of each. At length, however, being mostly beset by +men of the sword, she formed an unnatural union with one of them, +and gave birth to twins--one called DUELLING, and the other a +grim and hideous monster named SUICIDE. These became their +mother's darlings, nursed by her with constant care and +tenderness, and her perpetual companions. + +The Goddess Fortune ever had an eye on her promising daughter-- +Gaming; and endowed her with splendid residences, in the most +conspicuous streets, near the palaces of kings. They were +magnificently designed and elegantly furnished. Lamps, always +burning at the portals, were a sign and a perpetual invitation +unto all to enter; and, like the gates of the Inferno, they were +ever open to daily and nightly visitants; but, unlike the latter, +they permitted _EXIT_ to all who entered--some exulting with +golden spoil,--others with their hands in empty pockets,--some +led by her half-witted son Duelling,--others escorted by her +malignant monster Suicide, and his mate, the demon Despair. + +`Religion, morals, virtue, all give way, +And conscience dies, the prostitute of play. +Eternity ne'er steals one thought between, +Till suicide completes the fatal scene.' + + +Such is the _ALLEGORY_;[2] and it may serve well enough to +represent the thing in accordance with the usages of civilized or +modern life; but Gaming is a _UNIVERSAL_ thing--the +characteristic of the human biped all the world over. + + +[2] It appeared originally, I think, in the Harleian +Miscellany. I have taken the liberty to re-touch it here and +there, with the view to improvement. + + +The determination of events by `lot' was a practice frequently +resorted to by the Israelites; as, by lot it was determined which +of the goats should be offered by Aaron; by lot the land of +Canaan was divided; by lot Saul was marked out for the Hebrew +kingdom; by lot Jonah was discovered to be the cause of the +storm. It was considered an appeal to Heaven to determine the +points, and was thought not to depend on blind chance, or that +imaginary being called Fortune, who, + +`----With malicious joy, +Promotes, degrades, delights in strife, +And makes a _LOTTERY_ of life.' + + +The Hindoo Code--a promulgation of very high antiquity-- +denounces gambling, which proves that there were desperate +gamesters among the Hindoos in the earliest times. Men gamed, +too, it would appear, after the example set them by the gods, who +had gamesters among them. The priests of Egypt assured Herodotus +that one of their kings visited alive the lower regions called +infernal, and that he there joined a gaming party, at which he +both lost and won.[3] Plutarch tells a pretty Egyptian story to +the effect, that Mercury having fallen in love with Rhea, or the +Earth, and wishing to do her a favour, gambled with the Moon, and +won from her every seventieth part of the time she illumined the +horizon--all which parts he united together, making up _FIVE +DAYS_, and added them to the Earth's year, which had previously +consisted of only 360 days.[4] + + +[3] Herod. 1. ii. + +[4] Plutarch, _De Isid. et Osirid._ + + +But not only did the gods play among themselves on Olympus, but +they gambled with mortals. According to Plutarch, the priest of +the temple of Hercules amused himself with playing at dice with +the god, the stake or conditions being that if he won he should +obtain some signal favour, but if he lost he would procure a +beautiful courtesan for Hercules.[5] + + +[5] _In Vita Romuli_. + + +By the numerous nations of the East dice, and that pugnacious +little bird the cock, have been and are the chief instruments +employed to produce a sensation--to agitate their minds and to +ruin their fortunes. The Chinese have in all times, we suppose, +had cards--hence the absurdity of the notion that they were +`invented' for the amusement of Charles VI. of France, in his +`lucid intervals,' as is constantly asserted in every collection +of historic facts. The Chinese invented cards, as they invented +almost everything else that administers to our social and +domestic comfort.[6] + + +[6] Observations on Cards, by Mr Gough, in Archaeologia, vol. +viii. 1787. + + +The Asiatic gambler is desperate. When all other property is +played away, he scruples not to stake his wife, his child, on the +cast of a die or on the courage of the martial bird before +mentioned. Nay more, if still unsuccessful, the last venture he +makes is that of his limbs--his personal liberty--his life--which +he hazards on the caprice of chance, and agrees to be at the +mercy, or to become the slave, of his fortunate antagonist. + +The Malayan, however, does not always tamely submit to this last +stroke of fortune. When reduced to a state of desperation by +repeated ill-luck, he loosens a certain lock of hair on his head, +which, when flowing down, is a sign of war and destruction. He +swallows opium or some intoxicating liquor, till he works himself +up into a fit of frenzy, and begins to bite and kill everything +that comes in his way; whereupon, as the aforesaid lock of hair +is seen flowing, it is lawful to fire at and destroy him as +quickly as possible--he being considered no better than a mad +dog. A very rational conclusion. + +Of course the Chinese are most eager gamesters, or they would not +have been capable of inventing those dear, precious killers of +time--cards, the EVENING solace of so many a household in the +most respectable and `proper' walks of life. Indeed, they play +night and day--until they have lost all they are worth, and then +they usually go--and hang themselves. + +If we turn our course northward, and penetrate the regions of ice +perpetual, we find that the driven snow cannot effectually quench +the flames of gambling. They glow amid the regions of the +frozen pole. The Greenlanders gamble with a board, which has a +finger-piece upon it, turning round on an axle; and the person to +whom the finger points on the stopping of the board, which is +whirled round, `sweeps' all the `stakes' that have been +deposited. + +If we descend thence into the Western hemisphere, we find that +the passion for gambling forms a distinguishing feature in the +character of all the rude natives of the American continent. +Just as in the East, these savages will lose their aims (on which +subsistence depends), their apparel, and at length their personal +liberty, on games of chance. There is one thing, however, which +must be recorded to their credit--and to our shame. When they +have lost their `all,' they do not follow the example of our +refined gamesters. They neither murmur nor repine. Not a +fretful word escapes them. They bear the frowns of fortune with +a philosophic composure.[7] + + +[7] Carver, _Travels_. + + +If we cross the Atlantic and land on the African shore, we find +that the `everlasting Negro' is a gambler--using shells as dice-- +and following the practice of his `betters' in every way. He +stakes not only his `fortune,' but also his children and liberty, +which he cares very little about, everywhere, until we incite him +to do so--as, of course, we ought to do, for every motive `human +and divine.' + +There is no doubt, then, that this propensity is part and parcel +of `the unsophisticated savage.' Let us turn to the eminently +civilized races of antiquity--the men whose example we have more +or less followed in every possible matter, sociality, politics, +religion--they were all gamblers, more or less. Take the grand +prototypes of Britons, the Romans of old. That gamesters they +were! And how gambling recruited the ranks of the desperadoes +who gave them insurrectionary trouble! Catiline's `army of +scoundrels,' for instance. `Every man dishonoured by +dissipation,' says Sallust, `who by his follies or losses at the +gaming table had consumed the inheritance of his fathers, and all +those who were sufferers by such misery, were the friends of this +perverse man.' Horace, Juvenal, Persius, Cicero, and other +writers, attest the fact of Roman gambling most eloquently, most +indignantly. + +The Romans had `lotteries,' or games of chance, and some of +their prizes were of great value, as a good estate and slaves, or +rich vases; others of little value, as vases of common earth, but +of this more in the sequel. + +Among the Gothic kings who, in the fulness of time and +accomplishments, `succeeded' to that empire, we read of a +Theodoric, `a wise and valiant prince,' who was `great lover of +dice;' his solicitude in play was only for victory; and his +companions knew how to seize the moment of his success, as +consummate courtiers, to put forward their petitions and to make +their requests. `When I have a petition to prefer,' says one of +them, `I am easily beaten in the game that I may win my +cause.'[8] What a clever contrivance! But scarcely equal to +that of the _GREAT_ (in politeness) Lord Chesterfield, who, to +gain a vote for a parliamentary friend, actually submitted to be +_BLED!_ It appears that the voter was deemed very difficult, but +Chesterfield found out that the man was a doctor, who was a +perfect Sangrado, recommending bleeding for every ailment. He +went to him, as in consultation, agreed with the man's arguments, +and at once bared his arm for the operation. On the point of +departure his lordship `edged' in the question about the vote for +his friend, which was, of course, gushingly promised and given. + + +[8] Sed ego aliquid obsecraturus facile vincor; et mihi tabula +perit ut causa salvetur.--Sidonius Apollinaris, _Epist_. + + + +Although there may not be much Gothic blood among us, it is quite +certain that there is plenty of German mixture in our nation-- +taking the term in its very wide and comprehensive ethnology. +Now, Tacitus describes the ancient stout and valiant Germans as +`making gaming with a die a very serious occupation of their +sober hours.' Like the `everlasting Negro,' they, too, made +their last throw for personal liberty, the loser going into +voluntary slavery, and the winner selling such slaves as soon as +possible to strangers, in order not to have to blush for such a +victory! If the `nigger' could blush, he might certainly do so +for the white man in such a conjuncture. + +At Naples and other places in Italy, at least in former times, +the boatmen used thus to stake their liberty for a certain number +of years. According to Hyde,[9] the Indians stake their fingers +and cut them off themselves to pay the debt of honour. +Englishmen have cut off their ears, both as a `security' for +a gambling loan, and as a stake; others have staked their lives +by hanging, in like manner! Instances will be given in the +sequel. + + +[9] De Ludis Orient. + + +But leaving these savages and the semi-savages of the very olden +time, let us turn to those nearer to our times, with just as much +religious truth and principle among them as among ourselves. + +The warmth with which `dice-playing' is condemned in the writings +of the _Fathers_, the venerable expounders of Christianity, as +well as by `edicts' and `canons' of the Church, is unquestionably +a sufficient proof of its general and excessive prevalence +throughout the nations of Europe. When cards were introduced, in +the fourteenth century, they only added fuel to the infernal +flame of gambling; and it soon became as necessary to restrain +their use as it had been that of dice. The two held a joint +empire of ruin and desolation over their devoted victims. A king +of France set the ruinous example--Henry IV., the roue, the +libertine, the duellist, the gambler,--and yet (historically) the +_Bon Henri_, the `good king,' who wished to order things so that +every Frenchman might have a _pot-au-feu_, or dish of flesh +savoury, every Sunday for dinner. The money that Henry IV. lost +at play would have covered great public expenses. + +There can be no doubt that the spirit of gaming went on acquiring +new strength and development throughout every subsequent reign in +France; and we shall see that under the Empire the thing was a +great national institution, and made to put a great deal of money +as `revenue' into the hands of Fouche. + +But the Spaniards have always been, of all nations, the most +addicted to gambling. A traveller says:--`I have wandered +through all parts of Spain, and though in many places I have +scarcely been able to procure a glass of wine, or a bit of bread, +or any of the first conveniences of life, yet I never went +through a village so mean and out of the way, in which I could +not have purchased a pack of cards.' This was in the middle of +the seventeenth century, but I have no doubt it is true at the +present moment. + +If we can believe Voltaire, the Spaniards were formerly very +generous in their gaming. `The grandees of Spain,' he says, `had +a generous ostentation; this was to divide the money won at +play among all the bystanders, of whatever condition. + +Montrefor relates that when the Duke of Lerma, the Spanish +minister, entertained Gaston, brother of Louis XIII., with all +his retinue in the Netherlands, he displayed a magnificence of an +extraordinary kind. The prime minister, with whom Gaston spent +several days, used to put two thousand louis d'ors on a large +gaming-table after dinner. With this money Gaston's attendants +and even the prince himself sat down to play. It is probable, +however, that Voltaire extended a single instance or two into a +general habit or custom. That writer always preferred to deal +with the splendid and the marvellous rather than with plain +matter of fact. + +There can be little doubt that the Spaniards pursued gaming in +the vulgar fashion, just as other people. At any rate the +following anecdote gives us no very favourable idea of Spanish +generosity to strangers in the matter of gambling in modern +times; and the worst of it is the suitableness of its application +to more capitals than one among the kingdoms of Europe. `After +the bull-feast I was invited to pass the evening at the hotel of +a lady, who had a public card-assembly. . . . This vile +method of subsisting on the folly of mankind is confined in Spain +to the nobility. None but women of quality are permitted to hold +banks, and there are many whose faro-banks bring them in a clear +income of a thousand guineas a year. The lady to whom I was +introduced is an old countess, who has lived nearly thirty years +on the profits of the card-tables in her house. They are +frequented every day, and though both natives and foreigners are +duped of large sums by her, and her cabinet-junto, yet it is the +greatest house of resort in all Madrid. She goes to court, +visits people of the first fashion, and is received with as much +respect and veneration as if she exercised the most sacred +functions of a divine profession. Many widows of great men keep +gaming-houses and live splendidly on the vices of mankind. If +you be not disposed to play, be either a sharper or a dupe, you +cannot be admitted a second time to their assemblies. I was no +sooner presented to the lady than she offered me cards; and on my +excusing myself, because I really could not play, she made a very +wry face, turned from me, and said to another lady in my hearing, +that she wondered how any foreigner could have the +impertinence to come to her house for no other purpose than to +make an apology for not playing. My Spanish conductor, +unfortunately for himself, had not the same apology. He played +and lost his money--two circumstances which constantly follow in +these houses. While my friend was thus playing _THE FOOL_, I +attentively watched the countenance and motions of the lady of +the house. Her anxiety, address, and assiduity were equal to +that of some skilful shopkeeper, who has a certain attraction to +engage all to buy, and diligence to take care that none shall +escape the net. I found out all her privy-counsellors, by her +arrangement of her parties at the different tables; and whenever +she showed an extraordinary eagerness to fix one particular +person with a stranger, the game was always decided the same way, +and her good friend was sure to win the money. + +`In short, it is hardly possible to see good company at Madrid +unless you resolve to leave a purse of gold at the card- +assemblies of their nobility.'[10] + + +[10] `Observations in a Tour through Spain.' + + +We are assured that this state of things is by no means +`obsolete' in Spain, even at the present time. At the time +in question, however, the beginning of the present century, there +was no European nation among which gaming did not constitute one +of its polite and fashionable amusements--with the exception of +the _Turks_, who, to the shame of Christians, strictly obeyed the +precepts of Mahomet, and scrupulously avoided the `gambling itch' +of our nature. + +In England gambling prevailed during the reign of Henry VIII.; +indeed, it seems that the king was himself a gamester of the most +unscrupulous sort; and there is ample evidence that the practice +flourished during the reign of Elizabeth, James I., and +subsequently, especially in the times of Charles II. Writing on +the day when James II. was proclaimed king, Evelyn says, `I can +never forget the inexpressible luxury and profaneness, gaming and +all dissoluteness, and as it were total forgetfulness of God (it +being Sunday evening) which this day se'nnight I was witness of, +the king sitting and toying with his concubines, Portsmouth, +Cleaveland, and Mazarine, &c., a French boy singing love-songs, +in that glorious gallery, whilst about twenty of the great +courtiers and other dissolute persons were at Basset round a +large table; a bank of at least L2000 in gold before them, +upon which two gentlemen who were with me made reflections with +astonishment. Six days after all was in the dust!' + +The following curious observations on the gaming in vogue during +the year 1668 are from the Harleian Miscellany: + +`One propounded this question, "Whether men in ships at sea were +to be accounted amongst the living or the dead--because there +were but few inches betwixt them and drowning?" The same query +may be made of gamesters, though their estates be never so +considerable--whether they are to be esteemed rich or poor, since +there are but a few casts at dice betwixt a person of fortune (in +that circumstance) and a beggar. + +`Betwixt twelve and one of the clock a good dinner is prepared by +way of ordinary, and some gentlemen of civility and condition +oftentimes eat there, and play a while for recreation after +dinner, both moderately and most commonly without deserving +reproof. Towards night, when ravenous beasts usually seek their +prey, there come in shoals of hectors, trepanners, gilts, pads, +biters, prigs, divers, lifters, kidnappers, vouchers, mill kens, +piemen, decoys, shop-lifters, foilers, bulkers, droppers, +gamblers, donnakers, crossbiters, &c., under the general +appellation of "rooks;" and in this particular it serves as a +nursery for Tyburn, for every year some of this gang march +thither. + +`Would you imagine it to be true--that a grave gentleman, well +stricken in years, insomuch as he cannot see the pips of the +dice, is so infatuated with this witchery as to play here with +others' eyes,--of whom this quibble was raised, "Mr Such a one +plays at dice by the ear." Another gentleman, stark blind, I +have seen play at Hazard, and surely that must be by the ear too. + +`Late at night, when the company grows thin, and your eyes dim +with watching, false dice are often put upon the ignorant, or +they are otherwise cozened, with topping or slurring, &;c.; and, +if you be not vigilant, 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. + +`There are yet some genteeler and more subtle rooks, whom you +shall not distinguish by their outward demeanour from persons of +condition; and who will sit by a whole evening, and observe who +wins; and then, if the winner be "bubbleable," they will +insinuate themselves into his acquaintance, and civilly invite +him to drink a glass of wine,--wheedle him into play, and win all +his money, either by false dice, as high fulhams,[11] low +fulhams, or by palming, topping, &c. Note by the way, that +when they have you at the tavern and think you a sure "bubble," +they will many times purposely lose some small sum to you the +first time, to engage you more freely to _BLEED_ (as they call +it) at the second meeting, to which they will be sure to invite +you. + + +[11] It appears that false dice were originally made at +_Fulham;_ hence so called, high and low fulhams; the high ones +were the numbers 4, 5, 6. + + +`A gentleman whom ill-fortune had hurried into passion, took a +box and dice to a side-table, and then fell to throwing by +himself; at length he swears with an emphasis, "D--e, now I +throw for nothin;, I can win a thousand pounds; but when I lay +for money I lose my all." + +`If the house find you free to box, and a constant caster, you +shall be treated below with suppers at night, and caudle in the +morning, and have the honour to be styled, "a lover of the +house," whilst your money lasts, which certainly will not be +long. + +`Most gamesters begin at small games, and by degrees, if their +money or estates hold out, they rise to great sums; some have +played first 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, 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 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.[12] + + +[12] The clochier in Paul's Churchyard--a bell-house, four +square, builded of stone, with four bells; these were called +_Jesus_ Bells. The same had a great spire of timber, covered +with lead, with the image of St Paul on the top, but was pulled +down by Sir Miles Partridge, Kt, in the reign of Henry VIII. The +common speech then was that he did set L100 upon a cast at +dice against it, and so won the said clochier and bells of the +king. And then causing the bells to be broken as they hung, the +rest was pulled down, and broken also. This man was afterwards +executed on Tower Hill, for matters concerning the Duke of +Somerset, in the year 1551, the 5th of Edward VI.--Stowe, B. iii. +148. + + +`Sir Arthur Smithhouse 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_. + +`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 +_rara avis_, for if you once "break bulk," as they phrase it, +you are in again for all. Sir Humphry Foster had lost the +greatest part of his estate, and then playing, as it is said, +_FOR A DEAD HORSE_, did, by happy fortune, recover it again; then +gave over, and wisely too.'[13] + + +[13] Harleian Misc. ii. 108. + +The sequel will show the increase of gambling in our country +during the subsequent reigns, up to a recent period. + +Thus, then, the passion of gaming is, and has ever been, +universal. It is said that two Frenchmen could not exist even in +a desert without _QUARRELLING;_ and it is quite certain that no +two human beings can be anywhere without ere long offering to +`bet' upon something. Indolence and want of employment-- +`vacuity,' as Dr Johnson would call it--is the cause of the +passion. It arises from a want of habitual employment in some +material and regular line of conduct. Your very innocent card- +parties at home--merely to kill _TIME_ (what a murder!) explains +all the apparent mystery! Something must be substituted to call +forth the natural activity of the mind; and this is in no way +more effectually accomplished, in all indolent pursuits, than by +those _EMOTIONS AND AGITATIONS_ which gambling produces. + +Such is the source of the thing in our _NATURE;_ but then comes +the furious hankering after wealth--the desire to have it without +_WORKING_ for it--which is the wish of so many of us; and +_THIS_ is the source of that hideous gambling which has +produced the contemptible characters and criminal acts which +are the burthen of this volume. + +We love play because it satisfies our avarice,--that is to say, +our desire of having more; it flatters our vanity by the idea of +preference that fortune gives us, and of the attention that +others pay to our success; it satisfies our curiosity, giving us +a spectacle; in short, it gives us the different pleasures of +surprise. + +Certain it is that the passion for gambling easily gets deeply +rooted, and that it cannot be easily eradicated. The most +exquisite melody, if compared with the music of dice, is then but +discord; and the finest prospect in nature only a miserable blank +when put in competition with the attractions of the `honours' at +a rubber of Whist. + +Wealth is the general centre of inclination. Whatever is the +ultimate design, the immediate care is to be rich. No desire can +be formed which riches do not assist to gratify. They may be +considered as the elementary principles of pleasure, which may be +combined with endless diversity. There are nearer ways to profit +than up the steeps of labour. The prospect of gaining speedily +what is ardently desired, has so far prevailed upon the +passions of mankind, that the peace of life is destroyed by a +general and incessant struggle for riches. It is observed of +gold by an old epigrammatist, that to have is to be in fear; and +to want it is to be in sorrow. There is no condition which is +not disquieted either with the care of gaining or keeping money. + +No nation has exceeded ours in the pursuit of gaming. In former +times--and yet not more than 30 or 40 years ago--the passion for +play was predominant among the highest classes. + +Genius and abilities of the highest order became its votaries; +and the very framers of the laws against gambling were the first +to fall under the temptation of their breach! The spirit of +gambling pervaded every inferior order of society. The gentleman +was a slave to its indulgence; the merchant and the mechanic were +the dupes of its imaginary prospects; it engrossed the citizen +and occupied the rustic. Town and country became a prey to its +despotism. There was scarcely an obscure village to be found +wherein this bewitching basilisk did not exercise its powers of +fascination and destruction. + +Gaming in England became rather a science than an amusement +of social intercourse. The `doctrine of chances' was studied +with an assiduity that would have done honour to better subjects; +and calculations were made on arithmetical and geometrical +principles, to determine the degrees of probability attendant on +games of mixed skill and chance, or even on the fortuitous throws +of dice. Of course, in spite of all calculations, there were +miserable failures--frightful losses. The polite gamester, like +the savage, did not scruple to hazard the dearest interests of +his family, or to bring his wife and children to poverty, misery, +and ruin. He could not give these over in liquidation of a +gambling debt; indeed, nobody would, probably, have them at a +gift; and yet there were instances in which the honour of a wife +was the stake of the infernal game! . . . . Well might the +Emperor Justinian exclaim,--`Can we call _PLAY_ that which +causes crime?'[14] + + +[14] Quis enim ludos appellet eos, ex quibus crimina +oriuntur?--_De Concept. Digest_. II. lib. iv. Sec. 9. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +GAMBLING AMONG THE ANCIENT HINDOOS.--A HINDOO +LEGEND AND ITS MODERN PARALLEL. + +The recent great contribution to the history of India, published +by Mr Wheeler,[15] gives a complete insight into this interesting +topic; and this passage of the ancient Sanskrit epic forms one of +the most wonderful and thrilling scenes in that most acceptable +publication. + + +[15] The History of India from the Earliest Ages. By J. +Talboys Wheeler. Vol. I.--The Vedic Period and the Maha Bharata. + + +As Mr Wheeler observes, the specialties of Hindoo gambling are +worthy of some attention. The passion for play, which has ever +been the vice of warriors in times of peace, becomes a madness +amidst the lassitude of a tropical climate; and more than one +Hindoo legend has been preserved of Rajas playing together for +days, until the wretched loser has been deprived of +everything he possessed and reduced to the condition of an exile +or a slave. + +But gambling amongst the Hindoos does not appear to have been +altogether dependent upon chance. The ancient Hindoo dice, known +by the name of coupun, are almost precisely similar to the modern +dice, being thrown out of a box; but the practice of loading is +plainly alluded to, and some skill seems to have been +occasionally exercised in the rattling of the dice-box. In the +more modern game, known by the name of pasha, the dice are not +cubic, but oblong; and they are thrown from the hand either +direct upon the ground, or against a post or board, which will +break the fall, and render the result more a matter of chance. + +The great gambling match of the Hindoo epic was the result of a +conspiracy to ruin Yudhishthira, a successful warrior, the +representative of a mighty family--the Pandavas, who were +incessantly pursued by the envy of the Kauravas, their rivals. +The fortunes of the Pandavas were at the height of human +prosperity; and at this point the universal conception of an +avenging Nemesis that humbles the proud and casts down the +mighty, finds full expression in the Hindoo epic. The grandeur +of the Pandavas excited the jealousy of Duryodhana, and +revived the old feud between the Kauravas and the former. +Duryodhana plotted with his brother Duhsasana and his uncle +Sakuni, how they might dispossess the Pandavas of their newly- +acquired territory; and at length they determined to invite their +kinsmen to a gambling match, and seek by underhand means to +deprive Yudhishthira of his Raj, or kingdom.[16] + + +[16] The old Sanskrit words _Raj_, `kingdom,' and Raja, +`king,' are evidently the origin of the Latin _reg-num, reg-o, +rex, regula_, `rule,' &c, reproduced in the words of that ancient +language, and continued in the derivative vernaculars of modern +names--_re, rey, roy, roi, regal, royal, rule_, &c. &c. + + +It appears from the poem that Yudhishthira was invited to a game +at coupun; and the legend of the great gambling match, which took +place at Hastinapur, is related as follows: + +`And it came to pass that Duryodhana was very jealous of the +_Rajasuya_ or triumph that his cousin Yudhishthira had performed, +and he desired in his heart to destroy the Pandavas, and gain +possession of their Raj. Now Sakuni was the brother of Gandhari, +who was the mother of the Kauravas; and he was very skilful in +throwing dice, and in playing with dice that were loaded; +insomuch that whenever he played he always won the game. So +Duryodhana plotted with his uncle, that Yudhishthira should be +invited to a match at gambling, and that Sakuni should challenge +him to a game, and win all his wealth and lands. + +`After this the wicked Duryodhana proposed to his father the +Maharaja, that they should have a great gambling match at +Hastinapur, and that Yudhishthira and his brethren should be +invited to the festival. And the Maharaja was glad in his heart +that his sons should be friendly with the sons of his deceased +brother, Pandu; and he sent his younger brother, Vidura, to the +city of Indra-prastha to invite the Pandavas to the game. And +Vidura went his way to the city of the Pandavas, and was received +by them with every sign of attention and respect. And +Yudhishthira inquired whether his kinsfolk and friends at +Hastinapur were all well in health, and Vidura replied, "They +are all well." Then Vidura said to the Pandavas:--"Your uncle, +the Maharaja, is about to give a great feast, and he has sent me +to invite you and your mother, and your joint wife, to come to +his city, and there will be a great match at dice-playing." +When Yudhishthira heard these words he was troubled in mind, +for he knew that gaming was a frequent cause of strife, and that +he was in no way skilful in throwing the dice; and he likewise +knew that Sakuni was dwelling at Hastinapur, and that he was a +famous gambler. But Yudhishthira remembered that the invitation +of the Maharaja was equal to the command of a father, and that no +true Kshatriya could refuse a challenge either to war or play. +So Yudhishthira accepted the invitation, and gave commandment +that on the appointed day his brethren, and their mother, and +their joint wife should accompany him to the city of Hastinapur. + +`When the day arrived for the departure of the Pandavas they took +their mother Kunti, and their joint wife Draupadi, and journeyed +from Indra-prastha to the city of Hastinapur. And when they +entered the city they first paid a visit of respect to the +Maharaja, and they found him sitting amongst his Chieftains; and +the ancient Bhishma, and the preceptor Drona, and Karna, who was +the friend of Duryodhana, and many others, were sitting there +also. + +`And when the Pandavas had done reverence to the Maharaja, and +respectfully saluted all present, they paid a visit to their +aunt Gandhari, and did her reverence likewise. + +`And after they had done this, their mother and joint wife +entered the presence of Gandhari, and respectfully saluted her; +and the wives of the Kauravas came in and were made known to +Kunti and Draupadi. And the wives of the Kauravas were much +surprised when they beheld the beauty and fine raiment of +Draupadi; and they were very jealous of their kinswoman. And +when all their visits had been paid, the Pandavas retired with +their wife and mother to the quarters which had been prepared for +them, and when it was evening they received the visits of all +their friends who were dwelling at Hastinapur. + +`Now, on the morrow the gambling match was to be played; so when +the morning had come, the Pandavas bathed and dressed, and left +Draupadi in the lodging which had been prepared for her, and went +their way to the palace. And the Pandavas again paid their +respects to their uncle the Maharaja, and were then conducted to +the pavilion where the play was to be; and Duryodhana went with +them, together with all his brethren, and all the chieftains of +the royal house. And when the assembly had all taken their +seats, Sakuni said to Yudhishthira:--"The ground here has all +been prepared, and the dice are all ready: Come now, I pray you, +and play a game." But Yudhishthira was disinclined, and +replied:--"I will not play excepting upon fair terms; but if you +will pledge yourself to throw without artifice or deceit, I will +accept your challenge." Sakuni said,--"If you are so fearful +of losing, you had better not play at all." At these words +Yudhishthira was wroth, and replied:--"I have no fear either in +play or war; but let me know with whom I am to play, and who is +to pay me if I win." So Duryodhana came forward and said:--"I +am the man with whom you are to play, and I shall lay any stakes +against your stakes; but my uncle Sakuni will throw the dice for +me." Then Yudhishthira said,--"What manner of game is this, +where one man throws and another lays the stakes?" Nevertheless +he accepted the challenge, and he and Sakuni began to play. + +`At this point in the narrative it may be desirable to pause, and +endeavour to obtain a picture of the scene. The so-called +pavilion was probably a temporary booth constructed of bamboos +and interlaced with basket-work; and very likely it was +decorated with flowers and leaves after the Hindoo fashion, +and hung with fruits, such as cocoa-nuts, mangoes, plantains, and +maize. The Chieftains present seem to have sat upon the ground, +and watched the game. The stakes may have been pieces of gold or +silver, or cattle, or lands; although, according to the legendary +account which follows, they included articles of a far more +extravagant and imaginative character. With these passing +remarks, the tradition of the memorable game may be resumed as +follows:-- + +`So Yudhishthira and Sakuni sat down to play, and whatever +Yudhishthira laid as stakes, Duryodhana laid something of equal +value; but Yudhishthira lost every game. He first lost a very +beautiful pearl; next a thousand bags, each containing a thousand +pieces of gold; next a piece of gold so pure that it was as soft +as wax; next a chariot set with jewels and hung all round with +golden bells; next a thousand war elephants with golden howdahs +set with diamonds; next a lakh of slaves all dressed in good +garments; next a lakh of beautiful slave girls, adorned from head +to foot with golden ornaments; next all the remainder of his +goods; next all his cattle; and then the whole of his Raj, +excepting only the lands which had been granted to the +Brahmans.[17] + + +[17]`A lakh is a hundred thousand, and a crore is a hundred +lakhs, or ten millions. The Hindoo term might therefore have +been converted into English numerals, only that it does not seem +certain that the bards meant precisely a hundred thousand slaves, +but only a very large number. The exceptional clause in favour +of the Brahmans is very significant. When the little settlement +at Indra-prastha had been swelled by the imagination of the later +bards into an extensive Raj, the thought may have entered the +minds of the Brahmanical compilers that in losing the Raj, the +Brahmans might have lost those free lands, known as inams or +jagheers, which are frequently granted by pious Rajas for the +subsistence of Brahmans. Hence the insertion of the clause.' + + +`Now when Yudhishthira had lost his Raj, the Chieftains present +in the pavilion were of opinion that he should cease to play, but +he would not listen to their words, but persisted in the game. +And he staked all the jewels belonging to his brothers, and he +lost them; and he staked his two younger brothers, one after the +other, and he lost them; and he then staked Arjuna, and Bhima, +and finally himself; and he lost every game. Then Sakuni said to +him:--"You have done a bad act, Yudhishthira, in gaming away +yourself and becoming a slave. But now, stake your wife, +Draupadi, and if you win the game you will again be free." And +Yudhishthira answered and said:--"I will stake Draupadi!" +And all assembled were greatly troubled and thought evil of +Yudhishthira; and his uncle Vidura put his hand to his head and +fainted away, whilst Bhishma and Drona turned deadly pale, and +many of the company were very sorrowful; but Duryodhana and his +brother Duhsasana, and some others of the Kauravas, were glad in +their hearts, and plainly manifested their joy. Then Sakuni +threw the dice, and won Draupadi for Duryodhana. + +`Then all in that assembly were in great consternation, and the +Chieftains gazed upon one another without speaking a word. And +Duryodhana said to his uncle Vidura:--"Go now and bring Draupadi +hither, and bid her sweep the rooms." But Vidura cried out +against him with a loud voice, and said:--"What wickedness is +this? Will you order a woman who is of noble birth, and the wife +of your own kinsman, to become a household slave? How can you +vex your brethren thus? But Draupadi has not become your slave; +for Yudhishthira lost himself before he staked his wife, and +having first become a slave, he could no longer have power to +stake Draupadi." Vidura then turned to the assembly and said:-- +"Take no heed to the words of Duryodhana, for he has lost +his senses this day." Duryodhana then said:--"A curse be upon +this Vidura, who will do nothing that I desire him." + +`After this Duryodhana called one of his servants, and desired +him to go to the lodgings of the Pandavas, and bring Draupadi +into the pavilion. And the man departed out, and went to the +lodgings of the Pandavas, and entered the presence of Draupadi, +and said to her:--"Raja Yudhishthira has played you away, and +you have become the slave of Raja Duryodhana: So come now and do +your duty like his other slave girls." And Draupadi was +astonished at these words, and exceedingly wroth, and she +replied:--"Whose slave was I that I could be gambled away? And +who is such a senseless fool as to gamble away his own wife?" +The servant said:--"Raja Yudhishthira has lost himself, and his +four brothers, and you also, to Raja Duryodhana, and you cannot +make any objection: Arise, therefore, and go to the house of the +Raja!" + +`Then Draupadi cried out:--"Go you now and inquire whether Raja +Yudhishthira lost me first or himself first; for if he played +away himself first, he could not stake me." So the man returned +to the assembly, and put the question to Yudhishthira; but +Yudhishthira hung down his head with shame, and answered not a +word. + +`Then Duryodhana was filled with wrath, and he cried out to his +servant:--"What waste of words is this? Go you and bring +Draupadi hither, that if she has aught to say, she may say it in +the presence of us all." And the man essayed to go, but he +beheld the wrathful countenance of Bhima and he was sore afraid, +and he refused to go, and remained where he was. Then Duryodhana +sent his brother Duhsasana; and Duhsasana went his way to the +lodgings of Draupadi and said:--"Raja Yudhishthira has lost you +in play to Raja Duryodhana, and he has sent for you: So arise +now, and wait upon him according to his commands; and if you have +anything to say, you can say it in the presence of the +assembly." Draupadi replied:--"The death of the Kauravas is +not far distant, since they can do such deeds as these." And +she rose up in great trepidation and set out, but when she came +near to the palace of the Maharaja, she turned aside from the +pavilion where the Chieftains were assembled, and ran away with +all speed towards the apartments of the women. And Duhsasana +hastened after her, and seized her by her hair, which was +very dark and long, and dragged her by main force into the +pavilion before all the Chieftains. + +`And she cried out:--"Take your hands from off me!" But +Duhsasana heeded not her words, and said:--"You are now a slave +girl, and slave girls cannot complain of being touched by the +hands of men." + +`When the Chieftains thus beheld Draupadi, they hung down their +heads from shame; and Draupadi called upon the elders amongst +them, such as Bhishma and Drona, to acquaint her whether or no +Raja Yudhishthira had gamed away himself before he had staked +her; but they likewise held down their heads and answered not a +word. + +`Then she cast her eye upon the Pandavas, and her glance was like +the stabbing of a thousand daggers, but they moved not hand or +foot to help her; for when Bhima would have stepped forward to +deliver her from the hands of Duhsasana, Yudhishthira commanded +him to forbear, and both he and the younger Pandavas were obliged +to obey the command of their elder brother. + +`And when Duhsasana saw that Draupadi looked towards the +Pandavas, he took her by the hand, and drew her another way, +saying:--"Why, O slave, are you turning your eyes about you?" +And when Karna and Sakuni heard Duhsasana calling her a slave, +they cried out:--"Well said! well said!" + +`Then Draupadi wept very bitterly, and appealed to all the +assembly, saying:--"All of you have wives and children of your +own, and will you permit me to be treated thus? I ask you one +question, and I pray you to answer it.' Duhsasana then broke in +and spoke foul language to her, and used her rudely, so that her +veil came off in his hands. And Bhima could restrain his wrath +no longer, and spoke vehemently to Yudhishthira; and Arjuna +reproved him for his anger against his elder brother, but Bhima +answered:--"I will thrust my hands into the fire before these +wretches shall treat my wife in this manner before my eyes." + +`Then Duryodhana said to Draupadi:--"Come now, I pray you, and +sit upon my thigh!" And Bhima gnashed his teeth, and cried out +with a loud voice:--"Hear my vow this day! If for this deed I +do not break the thigh of Duryodhana, and drink the blood of +Duhsasana, I am not the son of Kunti!" + +`Meanwhile the Chieftain Vidura had left the assembly, and +told the blind Maharaja Dhritarashtra all that had taken place +that day; and the Maharaja ordered his servants to lead him into +the pavilion where all the Chieftains were gathered together. +And all present were silent when they saw the Maharaja, and the +Maharaja said to Draupadi:--"O daughter, my sons have done evil +to you this day: But go now, you and your husbands, to your own +Raj, and remember not what has occurred, and let the memory of +this day be blotted out for ever." So the Pandavas made haste +with their wife Draupadi, and departed out of the city of +Hastinapur. + +`Then Duryodhana was exceedingly wroth, and he said to his +father, "O Maharaja, is it not a saying that when your enemy +hath fallen down, he should be annihilated without a war? And +now that we had thrown the Pandavas to the earth, and had taken +possession of all their wealth, you have restored them all their +strength, and permitted them to depart with anger in their +hearts; and now they will prepare to make war that they may +revenge themselves upon us for all that has been done, and they +will return within a short while and slay us all: Give us +leave then, I pray you, to play another game with these Pandavas, +and let the side which loses go into exile for twelve years; for +thus and thus only can a war be prevented between ourselves and +the Pandavas." And the Maharaja granted the request of his son, +and messengers were sent to bring back the brethren; and the +Pandavas obeyed the commands of their uncle, and returned to his +presence; and it was agreed upon that Yudhishthira should play +one game more with Sakuni, and that if Yudhishthira won the +Kauravas were to go into exile, and that if Sakuni won, the +Pandavas were to go into exile; and the exile was to be for +twelve years, and one year more; and during that thirteenth year +those who were in exile were to dwell in any city they pleased, +but to keep themselves so concealed that the others should never +discover them; and if the others did discover them before the +thirteenth year was over, then those who were in exile were to +continue so for another thirteen years. So they sat down again +to play, and Sakuni had a set of cheating dice as before, and +with them he won the game. + +`When Duhsasana saw that Sakuni had won the game, he danced +about for joy; and he cried out:--"Now is established the Raj of +Duryodhana." But Bhima said, "Be not elated with joy, but +remember my words: The day will come when I will drink your +blood, or I am not the son of Kunti." And the Pandavas, seeing +that they had lost, threw off their garments and put on deer- +skins, and prepared to depart into the forest with their wife and +mother, and their priest Dhaumya; but Vidura said to +Yudhishthira:--"Your mother is old and unfitted to travel, so +leave her under my care;" and the Pandavas did so. And the +brethren went out from the assembly hanging down their heads with +shame, and covering their faces with their garments; but Bhima +threw out his long arms and looked at the Kauravas furiously, and +Draupadi spread her long black hair over her face and wept +bitterly. And Draupadi vowed a vow, saying:-- + +` "My hair shall remain dishevelled from this day, until Bhima +shall have slain Duhsasana and drank his blood; and then he shall +tie up my hair again whilst his hands are dripping with the blood +of Duhsasana." ' + +Such was the great gambling match at Hastinapur in the heroic age +of India. It appears there can be little doubt of the truth +of the incident, although the verisimilitude would have been more +complete without the perpetual winning of the cheat Sakuni--which +would be calculated to arouse the suspicion of Yudhishthira, and +which could scarcely be indulged in by a professional cheat, +mindful of the suspicion it would excite. + +Throughout the narrative, however, there is a truthfulness to +human nature, and a truthfulness to that particular phase of +human nature which is pre-eminently manifested by a high-minded +race in its primitive stage of civilization. + +To our modern minds the main interest of the story begins from +the moment that Draupadi was lost; but it must be remembered that +among that ancient people, where women were chiefly prized on +sensual grounds, such stakes were evidently recognized. + +The conduct of Draupadi herself on the occasion shows that she +was by no means unfamiliar with the idea: she protested--not on +the ground of sentiment or matrimonial obligation--but solely on +what may be called a technical point of law, namely, `Had +Yudhishthira become a slave before he staked his wife upon the +last game?' For, of course, having ceased to be a freeman, +he had no right to stake her liberty. + +The concluding scene of the drama forms an impressive figure in +the mind of the Hindoo. The terrible figure of Draupadi, as she +dishevels her long black hair, is the very impersonation of +revenge; and a Hindoo audience never fails to shudder at her +fearful vow--that the straggling tresses shall never again be +tied up until the day when Bhima shall have fulfilled his vow, +and shall then bind them up whilst his fingers are still dripping +with the blood of Duhsasana. + +The avenging battle subsequently ensued. Bhima struck down +Duhsasana with a terrible blow of his mace, saying,--`This day I +fulfil my vow against the man who insulted Draupadi!' Then +setting his foot on the breast of Duhsasana, he drew his sword, +and cut off the head of his enemy; and holding his two hands to +catch the blood, he drank it off, crying out, `Ho! ho! Never did +I taste anything in this world so sweet as this blood.' + +This staking of wives by gamblers is a curious subject. The +practice may be said to have been universal, having furnished +cases among civilized as well as barbarous nations. Of course +the Negroes of Africa stake their wives and children; +according to Schouten, a Chinese staked his wife and +children, and lost them; Paschasius Justus states that a +Venetian staked his wife; and not a hundred years ago certain +debauchees at Paris played at dice for the possession of a +celebrated courtesan. But this is an old thing. Hegesilochus, +and other rulers of Rhodes, were accustomed to play at dice for +the honour of the most distinguished ladies of that island--the +agreement being that the party who lost had to bring to the arms +of the winner the lady designated by lot to that indignity.[18] + + +[18] Athen. lib. XI. cap. xii. + + +There are traditions of such stakes having been laid and lost by +husbands in _England;_ and a remarkable case of the kind will be +found related in Ainsworth's `Old Saint Paul's,' as having +occurred during the Plague of London, in the year 1665. There +can be little doubt that it is founded on fact; and the conduct +of the English wife, curiously enough, bears a striking +resemblance to that of Draupadi in the Indian narrative. + +A Captain Disbrowe of the king's body-guard lost a large sum of +money to a notorious debauchee, a gambler and bully, named Sir +Paul Parravicin. The latter had made an offensive allusion +to the wife of Captain Disbrowe, after winning his money; and +then, picking up the dice-box, and spreading a large heap of gold +on the table, he said to the officer who anxiously watched his +movements:--`I mentioned your wife, Captain Disbrowe, not with +any intention of giving you offence, but to show you that, +although you have lost your money, you have still a valuable +stake left.' + +`I do not understand you, Sir Paul,' returned Disbrowe, with a +look of indignant surprise. + +`To be plain, then,' replied Parravicin, `I have won from you two +hundred pounds--all you possess. You are a ruined man, and as +such, will run any hazard to retrieve your losses. I give you a +last chance. I will stake all my winnings--nay, double the +amount--against your wife. You have a key of the house you +inhabit, by which you admit yourself at all hours; so at least I +am informed. If I win, that key shall be mine. I will take my +chance of the rest. Do you understand me now?' + +`I do,' replied the young man, with concentrated fury. `I +understand that you are a villain. You have robbed me of my +money, and would rob me of my honour.' + +`These are harsh words, sir,' replied the knight calmly; `but +let them pass. We will play first, and fight afterwards. But +you refuse my challenge?' + +`It is false!' replied Disbrowe, fiercely, `I accept it.' And +producing a key, he threw it on the table. `My life is, in +truth, set on the die,' he added, with a desperate look; `for if +I lose, I will not survive my shame.' + +`You will not forget our terms,' observed Parravicin. `I am to +be your representative to-night. You can return home to-morrow.' + +`Throw, sir,--throw,' cried the young man, fiercely. + +`Pardon me,' replied the knight; `the first cast is with you. A +single main decides it.' + +`Be it so,' returned Disbrowe, seizing the bow. And as he shook +the dice with a frenzied air, the bystanders drew near the table +to watch the result. + +`Twelve!' cried Disbrowe, as he removed the box. `My honour is +saved! My fortune retrieved--Huzza!' + +`Not so fast,' returned Parravicin, shaking the box in his turn. +`You were a little hasty,' he added, uncovering the dice. `I +am twelve too. We must throw again.' + +`This is to decide,' cried the young officer, rattling the +dice,--`Six!' + +Parravicin smiled, took the box, and threw _TEN_. + +`Perdition!' ejaculated Disbrowe, striking his brow with his +clenched hand. `What devil tempted me to my undoing? . . . My +wife trusted to this profligate! . . . Horror! It must not be!' + +`It is too late to retract,' replied Parravicin, taking up the +key, and turning with a triumphant look to his friends. + +Disbrowe noticed the smile, and, stung beyond endurance, drew his +sword, and called to the knight to defend himself. In an instant +passes were exchanged. But the conflict was brief. Fortune, as +before, declared herself in favour of Parravicin. He disarmed +his assailant, who rushed out of the room, uttering the wildest +ejaculations of rage and despair. + + +* * * * * * +The winner of the key proceeded at once to use. He gained +admittance to the captain's house, and found his way to the +chamber of his wife, who was then in bed. At first mistaken for +her husband Parravicin heard words of tender reproach for his +lateness; and then, declaring himself, he belied her husband, +stating that he was false to her, and had surrendered her to him. + +At this announcement Mrs Disbrowe uttered a loud scream, and fell +back in the bed. Parravicin waited for a moment; but not hearing +her move, brought the lamp to see what was the matter. She had +fainted, and was lying across the pillow, with her night-dress +partly open, so as to expose her neck and shoulders. The knight +was at first ravished with her beauty; but his countenance +suddenly fell, and an expression of horror and alarm took +possession of it. He appeared rooted to the spot, and instead of +attempting to render her any assistance, remained with his gaze +fixed upon her neck. Rousing himself at length, he rushed out of +the room, hurried down-stairs, and without pausing for a moment, +threw open the street door. As he issued from it his throat was +forcibly griped, and the point of a sword was placed at his +breast. + +It was the desperate husband, who was waiting to avenge his +wife's honour. + +`You are in my power, villain,' cried Disbrowe, `and shall not +escape my vengeance.' + +`You are already avenged,' replied Parravicin, shaking off +his assailant--`_YOUR WIFE HAS THE PLAGUE_.' + +The profligate had been scared away by the sight of the `plague +spot' on the neck of the unfortunate lady. + +The husband entered and found his way to his wife's chamber. +Instantaneous explanations ensued. `He told me you were false-- +that you loved another--and had abandoned me,' exclaimed the +frantic wife. + +`He lied!' shouted Disbrowe, in a voice of uncontrollable fury. +`It is true that, in a moment of frenzy, I was tempted to set +you--yes, _YOU_, Margaret--against all I had lost at play, and +was compelled to yield up the key of my house to the winner. But +I have never been faithless to you--never.' + +`Faithless or not,' replied his wife bitterly, `it is plain you +value me less than play, or you would not have acted thus.' + +`Reproach me not, Margaret,' replied Disbrowe. `I would give +worlds to undo what I have done.' + +`Who shall guard me against the recurrence of such conduct?' said +Mrs Disbrowe, coldly. `But you have not yet informed me how I +was saved!' + +Disbrowe averted his head. + +`What mean you?' she cried, seizing his arm. `What has happened? +Do not keep me in suspense? Were you my preserver?' + +`Your preserver was the plague,' rejoined Disbrowe, mournfully. + +The unfortunate lady then, for the first time, perceived that she +was attacked by the pestilence, and a long and dreadful pause +ensued, broken only by exclamations of anguish from both. + +`Disbrowe!' cried Margaret at length, raising herself in bed, +`you have deeply, irrecoverably injured me. But promise me one +thing.' + +`I swear to do whatever you may desire,' he replied. + +`I know not, after what I have heard, whether you have courage +for the deed,' she continued. `But I would have you kill this +man.' + +`I will do it,' replied Disbrowe. + +`Nothing but his blood can wipe out the wrong he has done me,' +she rejoined. `Challenge him to a duel--a mortal duel. If he +survives, by my soul, I will give myself to him.' + +`Margaret!' exclaimed Disbrowe. + +`I swear it,' she rejoined,' and you know my passionate +nature too well to doubt I will keep my word.' + +`But you have the plague!' + +`What does that matter? I may recover.' + +`Not so,' muttered Disbrowe. `If I fall, I will take care you do +not recover. . . . I will fight him to-morrow,' he added aloud. + +About noon on the following day Disbrowe proceeded to the Smyrna +Coffee-house, where, as he expected, he found Parravicin and his +companions. The knight instantly advanced towards him, and +laying aside for the moment his reckless air, inquired, with a +look of commiseration, after his wife. + +`She is better,' replied Disbrowe, fiercely. `I am come to +settle accounts with you.' + +`I thought they were settled long ago,' returned Parravicin, +instantly resuming his wonted manner. `But I am glad to find you +consider the debt unpaid.' + +Disbrowe lifted the cane he held in his hand, and struck the +knight with it forcibly on the shoulder. `Be that my answer,' he +said. + +`I will have your life first, and your wife afterwards,' replied +Parravicin fiercely. + +`You shall have her if you slay me, but not otherwise,' +retorted Disbrowe. `It must be a mortal duel.' + +`It must,' replied Parravicin. `I will not spare you this time. +I shall instantly proceed to the west side of Hyde Park, beneath +the trees. I shall expect you there. On my return I shall call +on your wife.' + +`I pray you do so, sir,' replied Disbrowe, disdainfully. + +Both then quitted the Coffee-house, Parravicin attended by his +companions, and Disbrowe accompanied by a military friend, whom +he accidentally encountered. Each party taking a coach, they +soon reached the ground, a retired spot completely screened from +observation by trees. The preliminaries were soon arranged, for +neither would admit of delay. The conflict then commenced with +great fury on both sides; but Parravicin, in spite of his +passion, observed far more caution than his antagonist; and +taking advantage of an unguarded movement, occasioned by the +other's impetuosity, passed his sword through his body. Disbrowe +fell. + +`You are again successful,' he groaned, `but save my wife--save +her!' + +`What mean you?' cried Parravicin, leaning over him, as he +wiped his sword. + +But Disbrowe could make no answer. His utterance was choked by a +sudden effusion of blood on the lungs, and he instantly expired. + +Leaving the body in care of the second, Parravicin and his +friends returned to the coach, his friends congratulating him on +the issue of the conflict; but the knight looked grave, and +pondered upon the words of the dying man. After a time, however, +he recovered his spirits, and dined with his friends at the +Smyrna; but they observed that he drank more deeply than usual. +His excesses did not, however, prevent him from playing with his +usual skill, and he won a large sum from one of his companions at +Hazard. + +Flushed with success, and heated with wine, he walked up to +Disbrowe's residence about an hour after midnight. As he +approached the house, he observed a strangely-shaped cart at the +door, and, halting for a moment, saw a body, wrapped in a shroud, +brought out. Could it be Mrs Disbrowe? Rushing forward to one +of the assistants in black cloaks, he asked whom he was about to +inter. + +`It is a Mrs Disbrowe,' replied the coffin-maker. `She died +of grief, because her husband was killed this morning in a duel; +but as she had the plague, it must be put down to that. We are +not particular in such matters, and shall bury her and her +husband together; and as there is no money left to pay for +coffins, they must go to the grave without them.' + +And as the body of his victim also was brought forth, Parravicin +fell against the wall in a state of stupefaction. At this +moment, Solomon Eagle, the weird plague-prophet, with his burning +brazier on his head, suddenly turned the corner of the street, +and, stationing himself before the dead-cart, cried in a voice of +thunder--`Woe to the libertine! Woe to the homicide! for he +shall perish in everlasting fire! Woe! woe!' + +Such is this English legend, as related by Ainsworth, but which I +have condensed into its main elements. I think it bids fair to +equal in interest that of the Hindoo epic; and if it be not true +in every particular, so much the better for the sake of human +nature. + + + +CHAPTER III. +GAMBLING AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, PERSIANS, AND GREEKS. + +Concerning the ancient Egyptians we have no particular facts to +detail in the matter of gambling; but it is sufficient to +determine the existence of any special vice in a nation to find +that there are severe laws prohibiting and punishing its +practice. Now, this testimony not only exists, but the penalty +is of the utmost severity, from which may be inferred both the +horror conceived of the practice by the rulers of the Egyptians, +and the strong propensity which required that severity to +suppress or hold it in check. In Egypt, `every man was easily +admitted to the accusation of a gamester or dice-player; and if +the person was convicted, he was sent to work in the +quarries.'[19] Gambling was, therefore, prevalent in Egypt +in the earliest times. + + +[19] Taylor, _Ductor Dubitantium_, B. iv. c. 1. + + +That gaming with dice was a usual and fashionable species of +diversion at the Persian court in the times of the younger Cyrus +(about 400 years before the Christian era), to go no higher, is +evident from the anecdote related by some historians of those +days concerning Queen Parysatis, the mother of Cyrus, who used +all her art and skill in gambling to satiate her revenge, and to +accomplish her bloodthirsty projects against the murderers of her +favourite son. She played for the life or death of an +unfortunate slave, who had only executed the commands of his +master. The anecdote is as follows, as related by Plutarch, in +the Life of Artaxerxes. + +`There only remained for the final execution of Queen Parysatis's +projects, and fully to satiate her vengeance, the punishment of +the king's slave Mesabetes, who by his master's order had cut off +the head and hand of the young Cyrus, who was beloved by +Parysatis (their common mother) above Artaxerses, his elder +brother and the reigning monarch. But as there was nothing to +take hold of in his conduct, the queen laid this snare for him. +She was a woman of good address, had abundance of wit, and +_EXCELLED AT PLAYING A CERTAIN GAME WITH DICE_. She had +been apparently reconciled to the king after the death of Cyrus, +and was present at all his parties of pleasure and gambling. One +day, seeing the king totally unemployed, she proposed playing +with him for a thousand _darics_ (about L500), to which he +readily consented. She suffered him to win, and paid down the +money. But, affecting regret and vexation, she pressed him to +begin again, and to play with her--_FOR A SLAVE_. The king, who +suspected nothing, complied, and the stipulation was that the +winner was to choose the slave. + +`The queen was now all attention to the game, and made use of her +utmost skill and address, which as easily procured her victory, +as her studied neglect before had caused her defeat. She won-- +and chose Mesabetes--the slayer of her son--who, being delivered +into her hands, was put to the most cruel tortures and to death +by her command. + +`When the king would have interfered, she only replied with a +smile of contempt--"Surely you must be a great loser, to be so +much out of temper for giving up a decrepit old slave, when I, +who lost a thousand good _darics_, and paid them down on the +spot, do not say a word, and am satisfied." ' + +Thus early were dice made subservient to the purposes of +cruelty and murder. The modern Persians, being Mohammedans, are +restrained from the open practice of gambling. Yet evasions are +contrived in favour of games in the tables, which, as they are +only liable to chance on the `throw of the dice,' but totally +dependent on the `skill' in `the management of the game,' cannot +(they argue) be meant to be prohibited by their prophet any more +than chess, which is universally allowed to his followers; and, +moreover, to evade the difficulty of being forbidden to play for +money, they make an alms of their winnings, distributing them to +the poor. This may be done by the more scrupulous; but no doubt +there are numbers whose consciences do not prevent the disposal +of their gambling profits nearer home. All excess of gaming, +however, is absolutely prohibited in Persia; and any place +wherein it is much exercised is called `a habitation of corrupted +carcases or carrion house.'[20] + + +[20] Hyde, _De Ludis Oriental_. + + +In ancient Greece gambling prevailed to a vast extent. Of this +there can be no doubt whatever; and it is equally certain that it +had an influence, together with other modes of dissipation and +corruption, towards subjugating its civil liberties to the +power of Macedon. + +So shamelessly were the Athenians addicted to this vice, that +they forgot all public spirit in their continued habits of +gaming, and entered into convivial associations, or formed +`clubs,' for the purposes of dicing, at the very time when Philip +of Macedon was making one grand `throw' for their liberties at +the Battle of Chaeronea. + +This politic monarch well knew the power of depravity in +enervating and enslaving the human mind; he therefore encouraged +profusion, dissipation, and gambling, as being sure of meeting +with little opposition from those who possessed such characters, +in his projects of ambition--as Demosthenes declared in one of +his orations.[21] Indeed, gambling had arrived at such a height +in Greece, that Aristotle scruples not to rank gamblers `with +thieves and plunderers, who for the sake of gain do not scruple +to despoil their best friends;'[22] and his pupil Alexander set a +fine upon some of his courtiers because he did not perceive they +made a sport or pastime of dice, but seemed to be employed as +in a most serious business.[23] + + +[21] First Olynthia. See also Athenaeus, lib. vi. 260. + +[22] Ethic. Ad Nicomachum, lib. iv. + +[23] Plutarch, _in Reg. et Imp. Apothegm_ + + +The Greeks gambled not only with dice, and at their equivalent +for _Cross and Pile_, but also at cock-fighting, as will appear +in the sequel. + +From a remark made by the Athenian orator Callistratus, it is +evident that desperate gambling was in vogue; he says that the +games in which the losers go on doubling their stakes resemble +ever-recurring wars, which terminate only with the extinction of +the combatants.[24] + + +[24] Xenophon, _Hist. Graec_. lib. VI. c. iii. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +GAMING AMONG THE ANCIENT ROMAN EMPERORS. + +In spite of the laws enacted against gaming, the court of the +Emperor Augustus was greatly addicted to that vice, and gave it +additional stimulus among the nation. Although, however, he was +passionately fond of gambling, and made light of the imputation +on his character,[25] it appears that in frequenting the gambling +table he had other motives besides mere cupidity. Writing to his +daughter he said, `I send you a sum with which I should have +gratified my companions, if they had wished to play at dice or +_odds and evens_.' On another occasion he wrote to Tiberius:-- +`If I had exacted my winnings during the festival of Minerva; if +I had not lavished my money on all sides; instead of losing +twenty thousand sestercii [about L1000], I should have gained +one hundred and fifty thousand [L7500]. I prefer it thus, +however; for my bounty should win me immense glory.'[26] + + +[25] Aleae rumorem nullo modo expavit. Suet. in Vita Augusti. + +[26] Sed hoc malo: benignitas enim mea me ad coelestem gloriam +efferet. _Ubi supra_. + + +This gambling propensity subjected Augustus to the lash of +popular epigrams; among the rest, the following: + +Postquam bis classe victus naves perdidit, +Aliquando ut vincat, ludit assidud aleam. + +`He lost at sea; was beaten twice, +And tries to win at least with dice.' + + +But although a satirist by profession, the sleek courtier Horace +spared the emperor's vice, contenting himself with only declaring +that play was forbidden.[27] The two following verses of his, +usually applied to the effects of gaming, really refer only to +_RAILLERY._ + + +[27] Carm. lib. III. Od. xxiv. + + +Ludus enim genuit trepidum certamen et iram; +Ira truces inimicitias et funebre bellum.[28] + + +[28] Epist. lib. I. xix. + + +He, however, has recorded the curious fact of an old Roman +gambler, who was always attended by a slave, to pick up his +dice for him and put them in the box.[29] Doubtless, Horace +would have lashed the vice of gambling had it not been the +`habitual sin' of his courtly patrons. + + +[29] Lib. II. Sat. vii. v. 15. + + +It seems that Augustus not only gambled to excess, but that he +gloried in the character of a gamester. Of himself he says, +`Between meals we played like old crones both yesterday and +today.'[30] + + +[30] Inter coenam lusimus <gr gerontikws> et heri et hodie. + + +When he had no regular players near him, he would play with +children at dice, at nuts, or bones. It has been suggested that +this emperor gave in to the indulgence of gambling in order to +stifle his remorse. If his object in encouraging this vice was +to make people forget his proscriptions and to create a diversion +in his favour, the artifice may be considered equal to any of the +political ruses of this astute ruler, whose false virtues were +for a long time vaunted only through ignorance, or in order to +flatter his imitators. + +The passion of gambling was transmitted, with the empire, to the +family of the Caesars. At the gaming table Caligula stooped +even to falsehood and perjury. It was whilst gambling that +he conceived his most diabolical projects; when the game was +against him he would quit the table abruptly, and then, monster +as he was, satiated with rapine, would roam about his palace +venting his displeasure. + +One day, in such a humour, he caught a glimpse of two Roman +knights; he had them arrested and confiscated their property. +Then returning to the gaming table, he exultingly exclaimed that +he had never made a better throw![31] On another occasion, after +having condemned to death several Gauls of great opulence, he +immediately went back to his gambling companions and said:--`I +pity you when I see you lose a few sestertii, whilst, with a +stroke of the pen, I have just won six hundred millions.'[32] + + +[31] Exultans rediit, gloriansque se nunquam prosperiore +alea usum. Suet. in _Vita Calig_. + +[32] Thirty millions of pounds sterling. The sestertius +was worth 1_s_. 3 3/4_d_. + + +The Emperor Claudius played like an imbecile, and Nero like a +madman. The former would send for the persons whom he had +executed the day before, to play with him; and the latter, +lavishing the treasures of the public exchequer, would stake four +hundred thousand sestertii (L20,000) on a single throw of the +dice. + +Claudius played at dice on his journeys, having the interior +of his carriage so arranged as to prevent the motion from +interfering with the game. + +From that period the title of courtier and gambler became +synonymous. Gaming was the means of securing preferment; it was +by gambling that Vitellius opened to himself so grand a career; +gaming made him indispensable to Claudius.[33] + + +[33] Claudio per aleae studium familiaris. Suet.in Vita Vitelli. + + +Seneca, in his Play on the death of Claudius, represents him as +in the lower regions condemned to pick up dice for ever, putting +them into a box without a bottom![34] + + +[34] Nam quotiens missurus erat resonante fritillo, +Utraque subducto fugiebat tessera fundo. +_Lusus de Morte Claud. Caesar_. + + +Caligula was reproached for having played at dice on the day of +his sister's funeral; and Domitian was blamed for gaming from +morning to night, and without excepting the festivals of the +Roman calendar; but it seems ridiculous to note such +improprieties in comparison with their habitual and atrocious +crimes. + +The terrible and inexorable satirist Juvenal was the contemporary +of Domitian and ten other emperors; and the following is his +description of the vice in the gaming days of Rome: + +`When was the madness of games of chance more furious? Now-a- +days, not content with carrying his purse to the gaming table, +the gamester conveys his iron chest to the play-room. It is +there that, as soon as the gaming instruments are distributed, +you witness the most terrible contests. Is it not mere madness +to lose one hundred thousand sestertii and refuse a garment to a +slave perishing with cold?'[35] + + +[35] Sat. I. 87. + + +It seems that the Romans played for ready money, and had not +invented that multitude of signs by the aid of which, without +being retarded by the weight of gold and silver, modern gamblers +can ruin themselves secretly and without display. + +The rage for gambling spread over the Roman provinces, and among +barbarous nations who had never been so much addicted to the vice +as after they had the misfortune to mingle with the Romans. + +The evil continued to increase, stimulated by imperial example. +The day on which Didius Julianus was proclaimed Emperor, he +walked over the dead and bloody body of Pertinax, and began +to play at dice in the next room.[36] + + +[36] Dion Cass. _Hist. Rom_. l. lxxiii. + + +At the end of the fourth century, the following state of things +at Rome is described by Gibbon, quoting from Ammianus +Marcellinus: + +`Another method of introduction into the houses and society of +the "great," is derived from the profession of gaming; or, as +it is more politely styled, of play. The confederates are united +by a strict and indissoluble bond of friendship, or rather of +conspiracy; a superior degree of skill in the "tessarian" art, +is a sure road to wealth and reputation. A master of that +sublime science who, in a supper or assembly, is placed below a +magistrate, displays in his countenance the surprise and +indignation which Cato might be supposed to feel when he was +refused the praetorship by the votes of a capricious +people.'[37] + + +[37] Amm. Marcellin. lib. XIV. c. vi. + + +Finally, at the epoch when Constantine abandoned Rome never to +return, every inhabitant of that city, down to the populace, was +addicted to gambling. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +GAMBLING IN FRANCE IN ALL TIMES. + +CHARLES VI. and CHARLES VII.--The early French annals record the +deeds of haughty and idle lords, whose chief occupations were +tormenting their vassals, drinking, fighting, and gaming; for +most of them were desperate gamblers, setting at defiance all the +laws enacted against the practice, and outraging all the +decencies of society. The brother of Saint Louis played at dice +in spite of the repeated prohibitions of that virtuous prince. +Even the great Duguesclin gamed away all his property in +prison.[38] The Duc de Touraine, brother of Charles VI., `set to +work eagerly to win the king's money,' says Froissart; and +transported with joy one day at having won five thousand livres, +his first cry was--_Monseigneur, faites-moi payer_, `Please to +pay, Sire.' + + +[38] Hist. de Dugueselin, par Menard. + + +Gaming went on in the camp, and even in the presence of the +enemy. Generals, after having ruined their own fortunes, +compromised the safety of the country. Among the rest, Philibert +de Chalon, Prince d'Orange, who was in command at the siege of +Florence, under the Emperor Charles the Fifth, gambled away the +money which had been confided to him for the pay of the soldiers, +and was compelled, after a struggle of eleven months, to +capitulate with those whom he might have forced to surrender.[39] + + +[39] Paul. Jov. _Hist_. lib. xxix. + + +In the reign of Charles VI. we read of an Hotel de Nesle which +was famous for terrible gaming catastrophes. More than one of +its frequenters lost their lives there, and some their honour, +dearer than life. This hotel was not accessible to everybody, +like more modern gaming _salons_, called _Gesvres_ and +_Soissons;_ its gate was open only to the nobility, or the most +opulent gentlemen of the day. + +There exists an old poem which describes the doings at this +celebrated Hotel de Nesle.[40] The author, after describing +the convulsions of the players and recording their blasphemies, +says:-- + + +[40] The title of this curious old poem is as follows:-- +`C'est le dit du Gieu des Dez fait par Eustace, et la maniere +et contenance des Joueurs qui etoient a Neele, ou +etoient Messeigneurs de Berry, de Bourgogne, et plusieurs +autres.' + +Que maints Gentils-hommes tres haulx +Y ont perdu armes et chevaux, +Argent, honour, et Seignourie, +Dont c'etoit horrible folie. + + +`How many very eminent gentlemen have there lost their arms and +horses, their money and lordship--a horrible folly.' + +In another part of the poem he says:-- + +Li jeune enfant deviennent Rufien, +Joueurs de Dez, gourmands et plains d'yvresse, +Hautains de cuer, et ne leur chant en rien +D'onneur, &c. + + +`There young men become ruffians, dice-players, gluttons, and +drunkards, haughty of heart, and bereft of honour.' + +Still it seems that gaming had not then confounded all +conditions, as at a later period. It is evident, from the +history and memoirs of the times, that the people were more given +to games of skill and exercise than games of chance. Before +the introduction of the arquebus and gunpowder, they applied +themselves to the practice of archery, and in all times they +played at quoits, ninepins, bowls, and other similar games of +skill.[41] + + +[41] Sauval, _Antiquites de Paris_, ii. + + +The invention of cards brought about some change in the mode of +amusement. The various games of this kind, however, cost more +time than money; but still the thing attracted the attention of +the magistrates and the clergy. An Augustinian friar, in the +reign of Charles VII., effected a wonderful reformation in the +matter by his preaching. At his voice the people lit fires in +several quarters of the city, and eagerly flung into them their +cards and billiard-balls.[42] + + +[42] Pasquier, _Recherche des Recherches_. + + +With the exception of a few transient follies, nothing like a +rage for gambling can be detected at that period among the lower +ranks and the middle classes. The vice, however, continued to +prevail without abatement in the palaces of kings and the +mansions of the great. + +It is impossible not to remark, in the history of nations, that +delicacy and good faith decline in proportion to the spread +of gambling. However select may be the society of gamesters, it +is seldom that it is exempt from all baseness. We have seen a +proof of the practice of cheating among the Hindoos. It existed +also among the Romans, as proved by the `cogged' or loaded dice +dug up at Herculaneum. The fact is that cheating is a natural, +if not a necessary, incident of gambling. It may be inferred +from a passage in the old French poet before quoted, that cheats, +during the reign of Charles VI., were punished with +`bonnetting,'[43] but no instance of the kind is on record; on +the contrary, it is certain that many of the French kings +patronized and applauded well-known cheats at the gaming table. + + +[43] Se votre ami qui bien vous sert +En jouant vous changeoit les Dez, +Auroit-il pas _Chapeau de vert_. + + +LOUIS XI.--Brantome says that Louis XI., who seems not to have +had a special secretary, being one day desirous of getting +something written, perceived an ecclesiastic who had an inkstand +hanging at his side; and the latter having opened it at the +king's request, a set of dice fell out. `What kind of _SUGAR- +PLUMS_ are these?' asked his Majesty. `Sire,' replied the +priest, `they are a remedy for the Plague.' `Well said,' +exclaimed the king, `you are a fine _Paillard_ (a word he often +used); `_YOU ARE THE MAN FOR ME_,' and took him into his +service; for this king was fond of bon-mots and sharp wits, and +did not even object to thieves, provided they were original and +provocative of humour, as the following very funny anecdote will +show. `A certain French baron who had lost everything at play, +even to his clothes, happening to be in the king's chamber, +quietly laid hands on a small clock, ornamented with massive +gold, and concealed it in his sleeve. Very soon after, whilst he +was among the troop of lords and gentlemen, the clock began to +strike the hour. We can well imagine the consternation of the +baron at this contretemps. Of course he blushed red-hot, and +tightened his arm to try and stifle the implacable sound of +detection manifest--the _flagrans delictum_--still the clock went +on striking the long hour, so that at each stroke the bystanders +looked at each other from head to foot in utter bewilderment. + +`The king, who, as it chanced, had detected the theft, burst out +laughing, not only at the astonishment of the gentlemen present, +who were at a loss to account for the sound, but also at the +originality of the stunning event. At length Monsieur le Baron, +by his own blushes half-convicted of larceny, fell on his knees +before the king, humbly saying:--"Sire, the pricks of gaming are +so powerful that they have driven me to commit a dishonest +action, for which I beg your mercy." And as he was going on in +this strain, the king cut short his words, exclaiming:--"The +_PASTIME_ which you have contrived for us so far surpasses the +injury you have done me that the clock is yours: I give it you +with all my heart." '[44] + + +[44] Duverdier, _Diverses Lecons_. + + +HENRY III.--In the latter part of the sixteenth century Paris was +inundated with brigands of every description. A band of Italian +gamesters, having been informed by their correspondents that +Henry III. had established card-rooms and dice-rooms in the +Louvre, got admission at court, and won thirty thousand crowns +from the king.[45] + + +[45] Journal de Henri III. + + +If all the kings of France had imitated the disinterestedness of +Henry III., the vice of gaming would not have made such progress +as became everywhere evident. + +Brantome gives a very high idea of this king's generosity, +whilst he lashes his contemporaries. Henry III. played at tennis +and was very fond of the game--not, however, through cupidity or +avarice, for he distributed all his winnings among his +companions. When he lost he paid the wager, nay, he even paid +the losses of all engaged in the game. The bets were not higher +than two, three, or four hundred crowns--never, as subsequently, +four thousand, six thousand, or twelve thousand--when, however, +payment was not as readily made, but rather frequently compounded +for.[46] + + +[46] Henry III. was also passionately fond of the childish +toy _Bilboquet_, or `Cup and Ball,' which he used to play even +whilst walking in the street. Journal de Henri III., i. + + +There was, indeed, at that time a French captain named La Roue, +who played high stakes, up to six thousand crowns, which was then +deemed exorbitant. This intrepid gamester proposed a bet of +twenty thousand crowns against one of Andrew Doria's war-galleys. + +Doria took the bet, but he immediately declared it off, in +apprehension of the ridiculous position in which he would be +placed if he lost, saying,--`I don't wish that this young +adventurer, who has nothing worth naming to lose, should win +my galley to go and triumph in France over my fortune and my +honour.' + +Soon, however, high stakes became in vogue, and to such an extent +that the natural son of the Duc de Bellegarde was enabled to pay, +out of his winnings, the large sum of fifty thousand crowns to +get himself legitimated. Curiously enough, it is said that the +greater part of this sum had been won in England.[47] + + +[47] Amelot de la Houss. _Mem. Hist_. iii. + + +HENRY IV.--Henry IV. early evinced his passion for gaming. When +very young and stinted in fortune, he contrived the means of +satisfying this growing propensity. When in want of money he +used to send a promissory note, written and signed by himself, to +his friends, requesting them to return the note or cash it--an +expedient which could not but succeed, as every man was only too +glad to have the prince's note of hand.[48] + + +[48] Mem. de Nevers. ii. + + +There can be no doubt that the example of Henry IV. was, in the +matter of gaming, as in other vices, most pernicious. `Henry +IV.,' says Perefixe, `was not a skilful player, but greedy +of gain, timid in high stakes, and ill-tempered when he +lost.' He adds rather naively, `This great king was not without +spots any more than the sun.'[49] + + +[49] Hist. de Henri le Grand. + + +Under him gambling became the rage. Many distinguished families +were utterly ruined by it. The Duc de Biron lost in a single +year more than five hundred thousand crowns (about L250,000). +`My son Constant,' says D'Aubigne, `lost twenty times more +than he was worth; so that, finding himself without resources, he +abjured his religion.' + +It was at the court of Henry IV. that was invented the method of +speedy ruin by means of written vouchers for loss and gain--which +simplified the thing in all subsequent times. It was then also +that certain Italian masters of the gaming art displayed their +talents, their suppleness, and dexterity. One of them, named +Pimentello, having, in the presence of the Duc de Sully, appealed +to the honour which he enjoyed in having often played with Henry +IV., the duke exclaimed,--`By heavens! So you are the Italian +blood-sucker who is every day winning the king's money! You have +fallen into the wrong box, for I neither like nor wish to have +anything to do with such fellows.' Pimentello got warm. `Go +about your business,' said Sully, giving him a shove; `your +infernal gibberish will not alter my resolve. Go!'[50] + + +[50] Mem. de Sully. + + +The French nation, for a long time agitated by civil war, settled +down at last in peace and abundance--the fruits of which +prosperity are often poisoned. They were so by the gambling +propensity of the people at large, now first manifested. The +warrior, the lawyer, the artisan, in a word, almost all +professions and trades, were carried away by the fury of gaming. +Magistrates sold for a price the permission to gamble--in the +face of the enacted laws against the practice. + +We can scarcely form an idea of the extent of the gaming at this +period. Bassompierre declares, in his Memoirs, that he won +more than five hundred thousand livres (L25,000) in the course +of a year. `I won them,' he says, `although I was led away by a +thousand follies of youth; and my friend Pimentello won more than +two hundred thousand crowns (L100,000). Evidently this +Pimentello might well be called a _blood-sucker_ by Sully.[51] +He is even said to have got all the dice-sellers in Paris to +substitute loaded dice instead of fair ones, in order to aid his +operations. + + +[51] In the original, however, the word is piffre, (vulgo) +`greedy-guts.' + + +Nothing more forcibly shows the danger of consorting with such +bad characters than the calumny circulated respecting the +connection between Henry IV. and this infamous Italian:--it was +said that Henry was well aware of Pimentello's manoeuvres, and +that he encouraged them with the view of impoverishing his +courtiers, hoping thereby to render them more submissive! Nero +himself would have blushed at such a connivance. Doubtless the +calumny was as false as it was stupid. + +The winnings of the courtier Bassompierre were enormous. He +won at the Duc d'Epernon's sufficient to pay his debts, to dress +magnificently, to purchase all sorts of extravagant finery, a +sword ornamented with diamonds--`and after all these expenses,' +he says, `I had still five or six thousand crowns (two to three +thousand pounds) left, _TO KILL TIME WITH_, pour tuer le temps.' + +On another occasion, and at a more advanced age, he won one +hundred thousand crowns (L50,000) at a single sitting, from M. +De Guise, Joinville, and the Marechal d'Ancre. + +In reading his Memoirs we are apt to get indignant at the +fellow's successes; but at last we are tempted to laugh at his +misery. He died so poor that he did not leave enough to pay the +twentieth part of his debts! Such, doubtless, is the end of most +gamblers. + +But to return to Henry IV., the great gambling exemplar of the +nation. The account given of him at the gaming table is most +afflicting, when we remember his royal greatness, his sublime +qualities. His only object was to _WIN_, and those who played +with him were thus always placed in a dreadful dilemma--either to +lose their money or offend the king by beating him! The Duke of +Savoy once played with him, and in order to suit his humour, +dissimulated his game--thus sacrificing or giving up forty +thousand pistoles (about L28,000). + +When the king lost he was most exacting for his `revanche,' or +revenge, as it is termed at play. After winning considerably +from the king, on one occasion, Bassompierre, under the +pretext of his official engagements, furtively decamped: the king +immediately sent after him; he was stopped, brought back, and +allowed to depart only after giving the `revanche' to his +Majesty. This `good Henri,' who was incapable of the least +dissimulation either in good or in evil, often betrayed a degree +of cupidity which made his minister, Sully, ashamed of him;--in +order to pay his gaming debts, the king one day deducted seventy- +two thousand livres from the proceeds of a confiscation on which +he had no claim whatever. + +On another occasion he was wonderfully struck with some gold- +pieces which Bassompierre brought to Fontainebleau, called +_Portugalloises_. He could not rest without having them. Play +was necessary to win them, but the king was also anxious to be in +time for a hunt. In order to conciliate the two passions, he +ordered a gaming party at the Palace, left a representative of +his game during his absence, and returned sooner than usual, to +try and win the so much coveted _Portugalloises_. + +Even love--if that name can be applied to the grovelling passion +of Henry IV., intensely violent as it was--could not, with its +sensuous enticements, drag the king from the gaming table or +stifle his despicable covetousness. On one occasion, whilst at +play, it was whispered to him that a certain princess whom he +loved was likely to fall into other arms:--`Take care of my +money,' said he to Bassompierre, `and keep up the game +whilst I am absent on particular business.' + +During this reign gamesters were in high favour, as may well be +imagined. One of them received an honour never conceded even to +princes and dukes. `The latter,' says Amelot de la Houssaie, +`did not enter the court-yard of the royal mansions in a carriage +before the year 1607, and they are indebted for the privilege to +the first Duc d'Epernon, the favourite of the late king, Henry +III., who being wont to go every day to play with the queen, +Marie de Medicis, took it into his head to have his carriage +driven into the court-yard of the Louvre, and had himself carried +bodily by his footmen into the very chamber of the queen--under +the pretext of being dreadfully tormented with the gout, so as +not to be able to stand on his legs.'[52] + + +[52] Mem. Hist. iii. + + +It is said, however, that Henry IV. was finally cured of +gambling. _Credat Judaeus!_ But the anecdote is as follows. +The king lost an immense sum at play, and requested Sully to let +him have the money to pay it. The latter demurred, so that the +king had to send to him several times. At last, however, +Sully took him the money, and spread it out before him on the +table, exclaiming--`There's the sum.' Henry fixed his eyes on +the vast amount. It is said to have been enough to purchase +Amiens from the Spaniards, who then held it. The king thereupon +exclaimed:--`I am corrected. I will never again lose my money at +gaming.' + +During this reign Paris swarmed with gamesters. Then for the +first time were established _Academies de Jeu_, `Gaming +Academies,' for thus were termed the gaming houses to which all +classes of society beneath the nobility and gentility, down to +the lowest, rushed in crowds and incessantly. Not a day passed +without the ruin of somebody. The son of a merchant, who +possessed twenty thousand crowns, lost sixty thousand. It +seemed, says a contemporary, that a thousand pistoles at that +time were valued less than a _sou_ in the time of Francis I. + +The result of this state of things was incalculable social +affliction. Usury and law-suits completed the ruin of gamblers. + +The profits of the keepers of gaming houses must have been +enormous, to judge from the rents they paid. A house in the +Faubourg Saint-Germain was secured at the rental of about L70 +for a fortnight, for the purpose of gambling during the time of +the fair. Small rooms and even closets were hired at the rate of +many pistoles or half-sovereigns per hour; to get paid, however, +generally entailed a fight or a law-suit. + +All this took place in the very teeth of the most stringent laws +enacted against gaming and gamesters. The fact was, that among +the magistrates some closed their eyes, and others held out their +hands to receive the bribe of their connivance. + +LOUIS XIII.--At the commencement of the reign of Louis XIII. the +laws against gaming were revived, and severer penalties were +enacted. Forty-seven gaming houses at Paris, which had been +licensed, and from which several magistrates drew a perquisite of +a pistole or half a sovereign a day, were shut up and suppressed. + +These stringent measures checked the gambling of the `people,' +but not that of `the great,' who went on merrily as before. + +Of course they `kept the thing quiet'--gambled in secret--but +more desperately than ever. The Marechal d'Ancre commonly +staked twenty thousand pistoles (L10,000). + +Louis XIII. was not a gambler, and so, during this reign, the +court did not set so bad an example. The king was averse to all +games of chance. He only liked chess, but perhaps rather too +much, to judge from the fact that, in order to enable him to play +chess on his journeys, a chessboard was fitted in his carriage, +the pieces being furnished with pins at the bottom so as not to +be deranged or knocked down by the motion. The reader will +remember that, as already stated, a similar gaming accommodation +was provided for the Roman Emperor Claudius. + +The cup and ball of Henry III. and the chessboard of Louis XIII. +are merely ridiculous. We must excuse well-intentioned monarchs +when they only indulge themselves with frivolous and childish +trifles. It is something to be thankful for if we have not to +apply to them the adage--Quic-quid delirant reges plectuntur +Achivi--`When kings go mad their people get their blows.' + +LOUIS XIV.--The reign of Louis XIV. was a great development in +every point of view, gaming included. + +The revolutions effected in the government and in public +morals by Cardinal Richelieu, who played a game still more +serious than those we are considering, had very considerably +checked the latter; but these resumed their vigour, with +interest, under another Cardinal, profoundly imbued with the +Italian spirit--the celebrated Mazarin. This minister, +independently of his particular taste that way, knew how to ally +gaming with his political designs. By means of gaming he +contrived to protract the minority of the king under whom he +governed the nation. + +`Mazarin,' says St Pierre, `introduced gaming at the court of +Louis XIV. in the year 1648. He induced the king and the queen +regent to play; and preference was given to games of chance. The +year 1648 was the era of card-playing at court. Cardinal Mazarin +played deep and with finesse, and easily drew in the king and +queen to countenance this new entertainment, so that every one +who had any expectation at court learned to play at cards. Soon +after the humour changed, and games of chance came into vogue--to +the ruin of many considerable families: this was likewise very +destructive to health, for besides the various violent +passions it excited, whole nights were spent at this execrable +amusement. The worst of all was that card-playing, which the +court had taken from the army, soon spread from the court into +the city, and from the city pervaded the country towns. + +`Before this there was something done for improving conversation; +every one was ambitious of qualifying himself for it by reading +ancient and modern books; memory and reflection were much more +exercised. But on the introduction of gaming men likewise left +of tennis, billiards, and other games of skill, and consequently +became weaker and more sickly, more ignorant, less polished, and +more dissipated. + +`The women, who till then had commanded respect, accustomed men +to treat them familiarly, by spending the whole night with them +at play. They were often under the necessity of borrowing either +to play, or to pay their losings; and how very ductile and +complying they were to those of whom they had to borrow was well +known.' + +From that time gamesters swarmed all over France; they multiplied +rapidly in every profession, even among the magistracy. The +Cardinal de Retz tells us, in his Memoirs, that in 1650 the +oldest magistrate in the parliament of Bordeaus, and one who +passed for the wisest, was not ashamed to stake all his property +one night at play, and that too, he adds, without risking his +reputation--so general was the fury of gambling. It became very +soon mixed up with the most momentous circumstances of life and +affairs of the gravest importance. The States-general, or +parliamentary assemblies, consisted altogether of gamblers. `It +is a game,' says Madame de Sevigne, `it is an entertainment, a +liberty-hall day and night, attracting all the world. I never +before beheld the States-general of Bretagne. The States-general +are decidedly a very fine thing.' + +The same delightful correspondent relates that one of her +amusements when she went to the court was to admire Dangeau at +the card-table; and the following is the account of a gaming +party at which she was present:-- + +`29th July, 1676. + +`I went on Saturday with Villars to Versailles. I need not tell +you of the queen's toilette, the mass, the dinner--you know it +all; but at three o'clock the king rose from table, and he, the +queen, Monsieur, Madame, Mademoiselle, all the princes and +princesses, Madame de Montespan, all her suite, all the +courtiers, all the ladies, in short, what we call the court of +France, were assembled in that beautiful apartment which you +know. It is divinely furnished, everything is magnificent; one +does not know what it is to be too hot; we walk about here and +there, and are not incommoded anywhere:--at last a table of +reversi[53] gives a form to the crowd, and a place to every one. +_THE KING IS NEXT TO MADAME DE MONTESPAN_, who deals; the Duke +of Orleans, the queen, and Madame de Soubise; Dangeau and Co.; +Langee and Co.; a thousand louis are poured out on the cloth-- +there are no other counters. I saw Dangeau play!--what fools we +all are compared to him--he minds nothing but his business, and +wins when every one else loses: he neglects nothing, takes +advantage of everything, is never absent; in a word, his skill +defies fortune, and accordingly 200,000 francs in ten days, +100,000 crowns in a fortnight, all go to his receipt book. + + +[53] A kind of game long since out of fashion, and now almost +forgotten; it seems to have been a compound of Loo and Commerce-- +the _Quinola_ or _Pam_ was the knave of hearts. + +`He was so good as to say I was a partner in his play, by +which I got a very convenient and agreeable place. I saluted the +king in the way you taught me, which he returned as if I had been +young and handsome--I received a thousand compliments--you know +what it is to have a word from everybody! This agreeable +confusion without confusion lasts from three o'clock till six. +If a courtier arrives, the king retires for a moment to read his +letters, and returns immediately. There is always some music +going on, which has a very good effect; the king listens to the +music and chats to the ladies about him. At last, at six +o'clock, they stop playing--they have no trouble in settling +their reckonings--there are no counters--the lowest pools are +five, six, seven hundred louis, the great ones a thousand, or +twelve hundred; they put in five each at first, that makes one +hundred, and the dealer puts in ten more--then they give four +louis each to whoever has Quinola--some pass, others play, but +when you play without winning the pool, you must put in sixteen +to teach you how to play rashly: they talk all together, and for +ever, and of everything. "How many hearts?" "Two!" "I +have three!" "I have one!" "I have four!" "He has +only three!" and Dangeau, delighted with all this prattle, turns +up the trump, makes his calculations, sees whom he has against +him, in short--in short, I was glad to see such an excess of +skill. He it is who really knows "le dessous des cartes." + +`At ten o'clock they get into their carriages: _THE KING, MADAME +DE MONTESPAN_, the Duke of Orleans, and Madame de Thianges, and +the good Hendicourt on the dickey, that is as if one were in the +upper gallery. You know how these calashes are made. + +`The queen was in another with the princesses; and then everybody +else, grouped as they liked. Then they go on the water in +gondolas, with music; they return at ten; the play is ready, it +is over; twelve strikes, supper is brought in, and so passes +Saturday.' + +This lively picture of such frightful gambling, of the adulterous +triumph of Madame de Montespan, and of the humiliating part to +which the queen was condemned, will induce our readers to concur +with Madame de Sevigne, who, amused as she had been by the scene +she has described, calls it nevertheless, with her usual pure +taste and good judgment, _l'iniqua corte_, `the iniquitous +court.' + +Indeed, Madame de Sevigne had ample reason to denounce this +source of her domestic misery. Writing to her son and daughter, +she says:--`You lose all you play for. You have paid five or six +thousand francs for your amusement, and to be abused by fortune.' + +If she had at first been fascinated by the spectacle which she so +glowingly describes, the interest of her children soon opened her +eyes to the yawning gulf at the brink of the flowery surface. + +Sometimes she explains herself plainly:--`You believe that +everybody plays as honestly as yourself? Call to mind what took +place lately at the Hotel de la Vieuville. Do you remember +that _ROBBERY?_' + +The favour of that court, so much coveted, seemed to her to be +purchased at too high a price if it was to be gained by ruinous +complaisances. She trembled every time her son left her to go to +Versailles. She says:--`He tells me he is going to play with his +young master;[54] I shudder at the thought. Four hundred +pistoles are very easily lost: _ce n'est rien pour Admete et +c'est beaucoup pour lui_.[55] If Dangeau is in the game he +will win all the pools: he is an eagle. Then will come to pass, +my daughter, all that God may vouchsafe--_il en arivera, ma +fille, tout ce qu'il plaira a Dieu_.' + + +[54] The Dauphin. + +[55] `It is nothing for Admetus, but 'tis much for him.' + + +And again, `The game of _Hoca_ is prohibited at Paris _UNDER THE +PENALTY OF DEATH_, and yet it is played at court. Five thousand +pistoles before dinner is nothing. That game is a regular cut- +throat.' + +Hoca was prodigiously unfavourable to the players; the latter had +only twenty-eight chances against thirty. In the seventeenth +century this game caused such disorder at Rome that the Pope +prohibited it and expelled the bankers. + +The Italians whom Mazarin brought into France obtained from the +king permission to set up _Hoca_ tables in Paris. The parliament +launched two edicts against them, and threatened to punish them +severely. The king's edicts were equally severe. Every of +offender was to be fined 1000 livres, and the person in whose +house Faro, Basset, or any such game was suffered, incurred the +penalty of 6000 livres for each offence. The persons who played +were to be imprisoned. Gaming was forbidden the French cavalry +under the penalty of death, and every commanding officer who +should presume to set up a Hazard table was to be cashiered, and +all concerned to be rigorously imprisoned. These penalties might +show great horror of gaming, but they were too severe to be +steadily inflicted, and therefore failed to repress the crime +against which they were directed. The severer the law the less +the likelihood of its application, and consequently its power of +repression. + +Madame de Sevigne had beheld the gamesters only in the +presence of their master the king, or in the circles which were +regulated with inviolable propriety; but what would she have said +if she could have seen the gamblers at the secret suppers and in +the country-houses of the Superintendent Fouquet, where twenty +`qualified' players, such as the Marshals de Richelieu, de +Clairembaut, &c., assembled together, with a dash of bad company, +to play for lands, houses, jewels, even for point-lace and +neckties? There she would have seen something more than gold +staked, since the players debased themselves so low as to +circumvent certain opulent dupes, who were the first invited. To +leave one hundred pistoles, ostensibly for `the cards,' but +really as the perquisite of the master of the lordly house; +to recoup him when he lost; and, when they had to deal with some +unimportant but wealthy individual, to undo him completely, +compelling him to sign his ruin on the gaming table-- such was +the conduct which rendered a man _recherche_, and secured the +title of a fine player! + +It was precisely thus that the famous (or infamous) Gourville, +successively valet-de-chambre to the Duc de la Rochefoucault, +hanged in effigy at Paris, king's envoy in Germany, and +afterwards proposed to replace Colbert--it was thus precisely, I +say, that Gourville secured favour, `consideration,' fortune; for +he declares, in his Memoirs, that his gains in a few years +amounted to more than a million. And fortune seems to have +cherished and blessed him throughout his detestable career. +After having made his fortune, he retired to write the scandalous +Memoirs from which I have been quoting, and died out of debt![56] + + +[56] Mem. de Gourville, i. + + +France became too narrow a theatre for the chevaliers d'industrie +and all who were a prey to the fury of gambling. The Count de +Grammont, a very suspicious player, turned his talents to account +in England, Italy, and Spain. + +This same Count de Grammont figured well at court on one +occasion when Louis XIV. seemed inclined to cheat or otherwise +play unfairly. Playing at backgammon, and having a doubtful +throw, a dispute arose, and the surrounding courtiers remained +silent. The Count de Grammont happening to come in, the king +desired him to decide it. He instantly answered--`Sire, your +Majesty is in the wrong.' `How,' said the king, `can you decide +before you know the question?' `Because,' replied the count, +`had there been any doubt, all these gentlemen would have given +it in favour of your Majesty.' The plain inference is that this +(at the time) great world's idol and Voltaire's god, was `up to a +little cheating.' It was, however, as much to the king's credit +that he submitted to the decision, as it was to that of the +courtier who gave him such a lesson. + +The magnanimity of Louis XIV. was still more strikingly shown on +another gambling occasion. Very high play was going on at the +cardinal's, and the Chevalier de Rohan lost a vast sum to the +king. The agreement was to pay only in _louis d'ors;_ and the +chevalier, after counting out seven or eight hundred, proposed to +continue the payment in Spanish pistoles. `You promised me +_louis d'ors_, and not pistoles,' said the king. `Since your +Majesty refuses them,' replied the chevalier, `I don't want them +either;' and thereupon he flung them out of the window. The king +got angry, and complained to Mazarin, who replied:--`The +Chevalier de Rohan has played the king, and you the Chevalier de +Rohan.' The king acquiesced.[57] + + +[57] Mem. et Reflex., &e., par M. L. M. L. F. (the Marquis de la +Fare). + + +As before stated, the court of the Roman Emperor Augustus, in +spite of the many laws enacted against gambling, diffused the +frenzy through Rome; in like manner the court of Louis XIV., +almost in the same circumstances, infected Paris and the entire +kingdom with the vice. + +There is this difference between the French monarch and the Roman +emperor, that the latter did not teach his successors to play +against the people, whereas Louis, after having denounced gaming, +and become almost disgusted with it, finished with established +lotteries. High play was always the etiquette at court, but the +sittings became less frequent and were abridged. `The king,' +says Madame de Sevigne, `has not given over playing, but the +sittings are not so long.' + +LOUIS XV.--At the death of Louis XIV. three-fourths of the nation +thought of nothing but gambling. Gambling, indeed, became itself +an object of speculation, in consequence of the establishment and +development of lotteries--the first having been designed to +celebrate the restoration of peace and the marriage of Louis XIV. + +The nation seemed all mad with the excitement of play. During +the minority of Louis XV. a foreign gamester, the celebrated +Scotchman, John Law, having become Controller-General of France, +undertook to restore the finances of the nation by making every +man a player or gamester. He propounded a _SYSTEM;_ he +established a bank, which nearly upset the state; and seduced +even those who had escaped the epidemic of games of chance. He +was finally expelled like a foul fog; but they ought to have +hanged him as a deliberate corrupter. And yet this is the man of +whom Voltaire wrote as follows: `We are far from evincing the +gratitude which is due to John Law.[58] Voltaire's praise +was always as suspicious as his blame. Just let us consider the +tendency of John Law's `system.' However general may be the fury +of gambling, _EVERYBODY_ does not gamble; certain professions +impose a certain restraint, and their members would blush to +resort to games the turpitude of which would subject them to +unanimous condemnation. But only change the _NAMES_ of these +games--only change their _FORM_, and let the bait be presented +under the sanction of the legislature: then, although the +_THING_ be not less vicious, nor less repugnant to true +principle, then we witness the gambling ardour of savages, such +as we have described it, manifesting itself with more risk, and +communicated to the entire nation--the ministers of the altar, +the magistracy, the members of every profession, fathers, mothers +of families, without distinction of rank, means, or +duties. . . . Let this short generalization be well pondered, +and the conclusion must be reached that this Scotch adventurer, +John Law, was guilty of the crime of treason against humanity. + + +[57] Nous sommes loin de la reconnoissance qui est due a +Jean Law. Mel. de Litt., d'Hist., &c. ii. + + +John Law, whom the French called _Jean Lass_, opened a gulf into +which half the nation eagerly poured its money. Fortunes were +made in a few days--in a few _HOURS_. Many were enriched +by merely lending their signatures. A sudden and horrible +revolution amazed the entire people--like the bursting of a bomb- +shell or an incendiary explosion. Six hundred thousand of the +best families, who had taken _PAPER_ on the faith of the +government, lost, together with their fortunes, their offices and +appointments, and were almost annihilated. Some of the stock- +jobbers escaped; others were compelled to disgorge their gains-- +although they stoutly and, it must be admitted, consistently +appealed to the sanction of the court. + +Oddly enough, whilst the government made all France play at this +John Law game--the most seductive and voracious that ever +existed--some thirty or forty persons were imprisoned for having +broken the laws enacted against games of chance! + +It may be somewhat consolatory to know that the author of so much +calamity did not long enjoy his share of the infernal success-- +the partition of a people's ruin. After extorting so many +millions, this famous gambler was reduced to the necessity of +selling his last diamond in order to raise money to gamble on. + +This great catastrophe, the commotion of which was felt even +in Holland and in England, was the last sigh of true honour among +the French. Probity received a blow. Public morality was +abashed. More gaming houses than ever were opened, and then it +was that they received the name of _Enfers_, or `Hells,' by which +they were designated in England. `The greater number of those +who go to the watering-places,' writes a contemporary, `under the +pretext of health, only go after gamesters. In the States- +general it is less the interest of the people than the attraction +of terrible gambling, that brings together a portion of the +nobility. The nature of the play may be inferred from the name +of the place at which it takes place in one of the provinces-- +namely, _Enfer_. This salon, so appropriately called, was in the +Hotel of the king's commissioners in Bretagne. I have been told +that a gentleman, to the great disgust of the noblemen present, +and even of the bankers, actually offered to stake his sword. + +`This name of _Enfers_ has been given to several gaming houses, +some them situated in the interior of Paris, others in the +environs. + +`People no longer blush, as did Caligula, at gambling on their +return from the funeral of their relatives or friends. A +gamester, returning from the burial of his brother, where he had +exhibited the signs of profound grief, played and won a +considerable sum of money. "How do you feel now?" he was +asked. "A little better," he replied, "this consoles me." + +`All is excitement whilst I write. Without mentioning the base +deeds that have been committed, I have counted four suicides and +a great crime. + +`Besides the licensed gaming houses, new ones are furtively +established in the privileged mansions of the ambassadors and +representatives of foreign courts. Certain chevaliers +d'industrie recently proposed to a gentleman of quality, who had +just been appointed plenipotentiary, to hire an hotel for him, +and to pay the expenses, on condition that he would give up to +them an apartment and permit them to have valets wearing his +livery! This base proposal was rejected with contempt, because +the Baron de---- is one of the most honourable and enlightened +men of the age. + +`The most difficult bargains are often amicably settled by a +game. I have seen persons gaming whilst taking a walk and whilst +travelling in their carriages. People game at the doors of +the theatres; of course they gamble for the price of the ticket. +In every possible manner, and in every situation, the true +gamester strives to turn every instant to profit. + +`If I relate what I have seen in the matter of play during sleep, +it will be difficult to understand me. A gamester, exhausted by +fatigue, could not give up playing because he was a loser; so he +requested his adversary to play for him with his left hand, +whilst he dozed off and slept! Strange to say, the left hand of +his adversary incessantly won, whilst he snored to the sound of +the dice! + +`I have just read in a newspaper,[59] that two Englishmen, who +left their country to fight a duel in a foreign land, +nevertheless played at the highest stakes on the voyage; and +having arrived on the field, one of them laid a wager that he +would kill his adversary. It is stated that the spectators of +the affair looked upon it as a gaming transaction. + + +[59] Journal de Politique, Dec. 15, 1776. + + +`In speaking of this affair I was told of a German, who, being +compelled to fight a duel on account of a quarrel at the gaming +table, allowed his adversary to fire at him. He was missed. + +he said to his opponent, "I never miss. I bet +you a hundred ducats that I break your right or left arm, just as +you please." The bet was taken, and he won. + +`I have found cards and dice in many places where people were in +want of bread. I have seen the merchant and the artisan staking +gold by handfuls. A small farmer has just gamed away his +harvest, valued at 3000 francs.'[60] + + +[60] Dusaulx, _De la Passion du Jeu_, 1779. + + +Gaming houses in Paris were first licensed in 1775, by the +lieutenant of police, Sartines, who, to diminish the odium of +such establishments, decreed that the profit resulting from them +should be applied to the foundation of hospitals. Their number +soon amounted to twelve; and women were allowed to resort to them +two days in the week. Besides the licensed establishments, +several illegal ones were tolerated, and especially styled +_enfers_, or `hells.' + +Gaming having been found prolific in misfortunes and crimes, was +prohibited in 1778; but it was still practised at the court and +in the hotels of ambassadors, where police-officers could not +enter. By degrees the public establishments resumed their +wonted activity, and extended their pernicious effects. The +numerous suicides and bankruptcies which they occasioned +attracted the attention of the _Parlement_, who drew up +regulations for their observance, and threatened those who +violated them with the pillory and whipping. The licensed +houses, as well as those recognized, however, still continued +their former practices, and breaches of the regulations were +merely visited with trivial punishment. + +At length, the passion for play prevailing in the societies +established in the Palais Royal, under the title of _clubs_ or +_salons_, a police ordinance was issued in 1785, prohibiting them +from gaming. In 1786, fresh disorder having arisen in the +unlicensed establishments, additional prohibiting measures were +enforced. During the Revolution the gaming-houses were +frequently prosecuted, and licenses withheld; but notwithstanding +the rigour of the laws and the vigilance of the police, they +still contrived to exist. + +LOUIS XVI. TILL THE PRESENT TIME.--In the general corruption of +morals, which rose to its height during the reign of Louis XVI., +gambling kept pace with, if it did not outstrip, every other +licentiousness of that dismal epoch.[61] Indeed, the +universal excitement of the nation naturally tended to develope +every desperate passion of our nature; and that the revolutionary +troubles and agitation of the empire helped to increase the +gambling propensity of the French, is evident from the magnitude +of the results on record. + + +[61] It will be seen in the sequel that gambling was vastly +increased in England by the French `emigres' who sought refuge +among us, bringing with them all their vices, unchastened by +misfortune. + + +Fouche, the minister of police, derived an income of +L128,000 a year for licensing or `privileging' gaming houses, +to which cards of address were regularly furnished. + +Besides what the `farmers' of the gaming houses paid to +Fouche, they were compelled to hire and pay 120,000 persons, +employed in those houses as _croupiers_ or attendants at the +gaming table, from half-a-crown to half-a-guinea a day; and all +these 120,000 persons were _SPIES OF FOUCHE!_ A very clever +idea no doubt it was, thus to draw a revenue from the proceeds of +a vice, and use the institution for the purposes of government; +but, perhaps, as Rousseau remarks, `it is a great error in +domestic as well as civil economy to wish to combat one vice +by another, or to form between them a sort of equilibrium, as if +that which saps the foundations of order can ever serve to +establish it.'[62] A minister of the Emperor Theodosius II., in +the year 431, the virtuous Florentius, in order to teach his +master that it was wrong to make the vices contribute to the +State, because such a procedure authorizes them, gave to the +public treasury one of his lands the revenue of which equalled +the product of the annual tax levied on prostitution.[63] + + +[62] Nouv. Heloise, t. iv. + +[63] Novel. Theodos. 18. + + +After the restoration of the Bourbons, it became quite evident +that play in the Empire had been quite as Napoleonic in its +vigour and dimensions as any other `idea' of the epoch. + +The following detail of the public gaming tables of Paris was +published in a number of the _Bibliotheque Historique_, 1818, +under the title of `Budget of Public Games.' + +STATE OF THE ANNUAL EXPENSES OF THE GAMES OF PARIS. + + +Under the present Administration, there are:-- +7 Tables of Trente-et-un. +9 ditto of Roulette. +1 ditto of Passe-Dix. +1 Table of Craps. +1 ditto of Hazard. +1 ditto of Biribi. +-- +20 + + +These 20 Tables are divided into nine houses, four of which are +situated in the Palais Royal. + + +To serve the seven tables of _Trente-et-un_, there are:--francs +28 Dealers, at 550 fr. a month, making . . . . 15,400 +28 Croupiers, at 380. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,640 +42 Assistants, at 200. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,400 + +SERVICE FOR THE NINE ROULETTES AND ONE PASSE-DIX. + +80 Dealers, at 275 fr. a month . . . . . . . . 22,000 +60 Assistants, at 150. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,000 + +SERVICE OF THE CRAPS, BIRIBI, AND HAZARD, +12 Dealers, at 300 fr. a month. . . . . . . . . 3,600 +12 Inspectors, at 120 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,440 +10 Aids, at 100. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,000 +6 Chefs de Partie at the principal houses, at +700 fr. a month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,200 + +3 Chefs de Partie for the Roulettes, at +500 fr. a month. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,500 +20 Secret Inspectors, at 200 fr. a month. . . . . .4,000 +1 Inspector-General, at . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,000 +130 Waiters, at 75 fr. a month. . . . . . . . . . .9,750 +Cards a month . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,500 +Beer and refreshments, a month. . . . . . . . . . .3,000 +Lights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5,500 +Refreshment for the grand saloon, including two +dinners every week, per month . . . . . . . . . 12,000 +Total expense of each month . . . .113,930 +--------- +Multiplied by twelve, is. . . . . . . . . . . .1,367,160 +Rent of 10 Houses, per annum. . . . . . . . . . .130,000 +Expense of Offices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,000 +--------- +Total per annum. . . . . . . . . 1,547,160 +If the `privilege' or license is . . . . . . . 6,000,000 +If a bonus of a million is given for six years, the +sixth part, or one year, will be . . . . . . . 166,666 + +--------- +Total expenditure . . . . . . . .7,713,826 +The profits are estimated at, per month,. . . . .800,000 +--------- +Which yield, per annum, . . . . . . . . . . . .9,600,000 +Deducting the expenditure . . . . . . . . . . .7,713,826 +--------- +The annual profits are. . . . . . . . . . . fr.1,886,174 +--------- +Thus giving the annual profit at L7860 sterling. + +We omit the profits resulting from the watering-places, +amounting to fr. 200,000. + +One of the new conditions imposed on the Paris gaming houses is +the exclusion of females. + +Thus, at Paris, the Palais Royal, Frascati, and numerous other +places, presented gaming houses, whither millions of wretches +crowded in search of fortune, but, for the most part, to find +only ruin or even death by suicide or duelling, so often +resulting from quarrels at the gaming table. + +This state of things was, however, altered in the year 1836, +at the proposition of M. B. Delessert, and all the gaming houses +were ordered to be closed from the 1st of January, 1838, so that +the present gambling in France is on the same footing as gambling +in England,--utterly prohibited, but carried on in secret. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF MODERN GAMING IN ENGLAND. + +It seems that the rise of modern gaming in England may be dated +from the year 1777 or 1778. + +Before this time gaming appears never to have assumed an alarming +aspect. The methodical system of partnership, enabling men to +embark large capital in gambling establishments, was unknown; +though from that period this system became the special +characteristic of the pursuit among all classes of the community. + +The development of the evil was a subject of great concern to +thoughtful men, and one of these, in the year 1784, put forth a +pamphlet, which seems to give `the very age and body of the time, +his form and pressure.'[64] + + +[64] The pamphlet (in the Library of the British Museum) is +entitled:--`Hints for a Reform, particularly of the Gaming Clubs. +By a Member of Parliament. 1784.' + +`About thirty years ago,' says this writer, `there was but +one club in the metropolis. It was regulated and respectable. +There were few of the members who betted high. Such stakes at +present would be reckoned very low indeed. There were then +assemblies once a week in most of the great houses. An agreeable +society met at seven o'clock; they played for crowns or half- +crowns; and reached their own houses about eleven. + +`There was but one lady who gamed deeply, and she was viewed in +the light of a phenomenon. Were she now to be asked her real +opinion of those friends who were her former _PLAY_-fellows, +there can be no doubt but that they rank very low in her +esteem. + +`In the present era of vice and dissipation, how many females +attend the card-tables! What is the consequence? The effects +are too clearly to be traced to the frequent _DIVORCES_ which +have lately disgraced our country, and they are too visible in +the shameful conduct of many ladies of fashion, since gambling +became their chief amusement. + +`There is now no society. The routs begin at midnight. +They are painful and troublesome to the lady who receives +company, and they are absolutely a nuisance to those who are +honoured with a card of invitation. It is in vain to attempt +conversation. The social pleasures are entirely banished, and +those who have any relish for them, or who are fond of early +hours, are necessarily excluded. Such are the companies of +modern times, and modern people of fashion. Those who are not +invited fly to the _Gaming Clubs_-- + +"To kill their idle hours and cure _ennui!_" + +`To give an account of the present encumbered situation of many +families, whose property was once large and ample, would fill a +volume. Whence spring the difficulties which every succeeding +day increases? From the _GAMBLING CLUBS_. Why are they +continually hunted by their creditors? The reply is--the +_GAMBLING CLUBS_. Why are they obliged continually to rack their +invention in order to save appearances? The answer still is--the +_GAMBLING CLUBS!_ + +`The father frequently ruins his children; and sons, and +even grandsons, long before the succession opens to them, are +involved so deeply that during their future lives their +circumstances are rendered narrow; and they have rank or family +honours, without being able to support them. + +`How many infamous villains have amassed immense estates, by +taking advantage of unfortunate young men, who have been first +seduced and then ruined by the Gambling Clubs! + +`It is well known that the old members of those gambling +societies exert every nerve to enlist young men of fortune; and +if we take a view of the principal estates on this island, we +shall find many infamous _CHRISTIAN_ brokers who are now living +luxuriously and in splendour on the wrecks of such unhappy +victims. + +`At present, when a boy has learned a little from his father's +example, he is sent to school, to be _INITIATED_. In the course +of a few years he acquires a profound knowledge of the science of +gambling, and before he leaves the University he is perfectly +fitted for a member of the _GAMING CLUBS_, into which he is +elected before he takes his seat in either House of Parliament. +There is no necessity for his being of age, as the sooner he is +ballotted for, the more advantageous his admission will +prove to the _OLD_ members. + +`Scarcely is the hopeful youth enrolled among these _HONOURABLE_ +associates, than he is introduced to Jews, to annuity-brokers, +and to the long train of money-lenders. They take care to answer +his pecuniary calls, and the greater part of the night and +morning is consumed at the _CLUB_. To his creditors and +tradesmen, instead of paying his bills, he offers a _BOND_ or +_ANNUITY_. He rises just time enough to ride to Kensington +Gardens; returns to dress; dines late; and then attends the party +of gamblers, as he had done the night before, unless he allows +himself to be detained for a few moments by the newspaper, or +some political publication. + +`Such do we find the present fashionable style of life, from +"his Grace" to the "Ensign" in the Guards. Will this mode of +education rear up heroes, to lead forth our armies, or to conduct +our fleets to victory? Review the conduct of your generals +abroad, and of your statesmen at home, during the late +unfortunate war, and these questions are answered.[65] + + +[65] Of course this is an allusion to the American War of +Independence and the political events at home, from 1774 to 1784. + + +`At present, tradesmen must themselves be gamblers before +they give credit to a member of these clubs; but if a reform +succeeds they will be placed in a state of security. At present +they must make _REGULAR_ families pay an enormous price for +their goods, to enable them to run the risk of never receiving a +single shilling from their gambling customers.' + +Such is the picture of the times in question, drawn by a +contemporary; and it may be said that private reckless and +unscrupulous political machinations were the springs and +fountains of all the calamities that subsequently overflowed, as +it were, the `opening of the seals' of doom upon the nation. + +Notwithstanding the purity of morals enjoined by the court of +George III., the early part of his reign presents a picture of +dissolute manners as well as of furious party spirit. The most +fashionable of our ladies of rank were immersed in play, or +devoted to politics: the same spirit carried them into both. The +Sabbath was disregarded, spent often in cards, or desecrated by +the meetings of partisans of both factions; moral duties were +neglected and decorum outraged. The fact was, that a minor +court had become the centre of all the bad passions and +reprehensible pursuits in vogue. Carlton House, in Pall Mall, +which even the oldest of us can barely remember, with its elegant +open screen, the pillars in front, its low exterior, its many +small rooms, its decorations in vulgar taste, and, to crown the +whole, its associations of a corrupting revelry,--Carlton House +was, in the days of good King George, almost as great a scandal +to the country as Whitehall in the time of improper King Charles +II.[66] The influence which the example of a young prince, of +manners eminently popular, produced upon the young nobility of +the realm was most disastrous in every way and ruinous to public +morality. + + +[66] Wharton, `The Queens of Society.' Mem. of +_Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire._ + + +After that period, the vast license given to those abominable +engines of fraud, the E.O. tables,[67] and the great length of +time which elapsed before they met with any check from the +police, afforded a number of dissolute and abandoned characters +an opportunity of acquiring property. This they afterwards +increased in the low gaming houses, and by following up the same +system at Newmarket and the other fashionable places of resort, +and finally by means of the lottery, that mode of insensate +gambling; till at length they acquired a sum of money nothing +short of _ONE MILLION STERLING_. + +[67] So called from the letters E and O, the turning up of +which decided the bet. They were otherwise called _Roulette_ and +_Roly Poly_, from the balls used in them. They seem to have been +introduced in England about the year 1739. The first was set up +at Tunbridge and proved extremely profitable to the proprietors. + + +This enormous wealth was then used as an efficient capital in +carrying on various illegal establishments, particularly gaming +houses, the expenses of a first-rate house being L7000 per +annum, which were again employed as the means of increasing these +ill-gotten riches. + +The system was progressive but steady in its development. +Several of these conspicuous members of the world of fashion, +rolling in their gaudy carriages and associating with men of high +rank and influence, might be found on the registers of the Old +Bailey, or had been formerly occupied in turning, with their own +hands, E.O. tables in the public streets. + +The following _Queries_, which are extracted from the _Morning +Post_ of July the 5th, 1797, throw considerable light upon this +curious subject, and show how seriously the matter was regarded +when so public a denunciation was deemed necessary and +ventured upon:-- + +`Is Mr Ogden (now the Newmarket oracle) the same person who, +five-and-twenty years since, was an annual pedestrian to Ascot, +covered with dust, amusing himself with "_PRICKING in the_ +belt," "_HUSTLING_ in the hat," &c., among the lowest class +of rustics, at the inferior booths of the fair? + +'Is D-k-y B--n who now has his snug farm, the same person who, +some years since, _DROVE A POST CHAISE_ for T--y, of Bagshot, +could neither read nor write, and was introduced to _THE FAMILY_ +only by his pre-eminence at cribbage? + +`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., +_secundum artem?_ + +`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 _family +entre_ in the metropolis, by his superiority at _Billiards_ +(with Captain Wallace, Orrell, &c.) at Cropley's, in Bow Street? + +`Was poor carbuncled P--e (so many years the favourite decoy +duck of _THE FAMILY_) 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, the +_bones_, the _box_, and the _Cockpit?_' + +Capital was not the only qualification for admission into the +Confederacy of Gambling. Some of the members were taken into +partnership on account of their dexterity in `securing' dice or +`dealing' cards. One is said to have been actually a sharer in +every `Hell' at the West-End of the Town, because he was feared +as much as he was detested by the firms, who had reason to know +that he would `peach' if not kept quiet. Informers against the +illegal and iniquitous associations were arrested and imprisoned +upon writs, obtained by perjury--to deter others from similar +attacks; witnesses were suborned; officers of justice bribed; +ruffians and bludgeon-men employed, where gratuities failed; +personal violence and even assassination threatened to all who +dared to expose the crying evil--among others, to Stockdale, the +well-known publisher of the day, in Piccadilly. + +Then came upon the nation the muddy flood of French +emigrants, poured forth by the Great Revolution--a set of men, +speaking generally, whose vices contaminated the very atmosphere. + +Before the advent of these worthies the number of gambling houses +in the metropolis, exclusive of those so long established by +subscription, was not more than half-a-dozen; but by the year +1820 they had increased to nearly fifty. Besides _Faro_ and +_Hazard_, the foreign games of _Macao, Roulette, Rouge et Noir_, +&c., were introduced, and there was a graduated accommodation for +all ranks, from the Peer of the Realm to the Highwayman, the +Burglar, and the Pick et. + +At one of the watering-places, in 1803, a baronet lost L20,000 +at play, and a bond for L7000. This will scarcely surprise us +when we consider that at the time above five hundred notorious +characters supported themselves in the metropolis by this species +of robbery, and in the summer spread themselves through the +watering-places for their professional operations. Some of them +kept bankers, and were possessed of considerable property in the +funds and in land, and went their _circuits_ as regularly as the +judges. Most excellent judges they were, too, of the +condition of a `pigeon.' + +In a great commercial city where, from the extent of its trade, +manufacture, and revenue, there must be an immense circulation of +property, the danger is not to be conceived of the allurements +which were thus held out to young men in business having the +command of money, as well as the clerks of merchants, bankers, +and others. In fact, too many of this class proved, at the bar +of justice, the consequence of their resort to these complicated +scenes of vice, idleness, extravagance, misfortune, and crime. +Among innumerable instances are the following:--In 1796, a +shopman to a grocer in the city was seduced into a gaming party, +where he first lost all his own money, and ultimately what his +master had intrusted him with. He hanged himself in his bed-room +a few hours afterwards. + +In the same year, Lord Kenyon in summing up a case of the kind +said:--`It was extremely to be lamented that the vice of gambling +had descended to the very lowest orders of the people. It was +prevalent among the highest ranks of society, who had set the +example to their inferiors, and who, it seemed, were too great +for the law. I wish they could be punished. If any +prosecutions are fairly brought before me, and the parties are +justly convicted, whatever may be their rank or station in the +country--though they should be the first ladies in the land--they +shall certainly exhibit themselves in the pillory.' + +In 1820, James Lloyd, one of the harpies who practised on the +credulity of the lower orders by keeping a _Little Go_, or +illegal lottery, was brought up for the twentieth time, to answer +for that offence. This man was a methodist preacher, and +assembled his neighbours together at his dwelling on a Saturday +to preach the gospel to them, and the remainder of the week he +was to be found, with an equally numerous party, instructing them +in the ruinous vice of gambling. The charge was clearly proved, +and the prisoner was sentenced to three months' imprisonment with +hard labour. + +In the same year numbers of young persons robbed their masters to +play at a certain establishment called Morley's Gambling House, +in the City, and were ruined there. Some were brought to justice +at the Old Bailey; others, in the madness caused by their losses, +destroyed themselves; and some escaped to other countries, by +their own activity, or through the influence of their +friends. + +A traveller of the coachmakers, Messrs Houlditch of Long Acre, +embezzled or applied to his own use considerable sums of money +belonging to them. It appeared in evidence that the prisoner was +sent by his employers to the Continent to take orders for +carriages; he was allowed a handsome salary, and was furnished +with carriages for sale. The money he received for them he was +to send to his employers, after deducting his expenses; but +instead of so doing, he gambled nearly the whole of it away. The +following letter to his master was put in by way of explanation +of his career:--`Sir,--The errors into which I have fallen have +made me so hate myself that I have adopted the horrible +resolution of destroying myself. I am sensible of the crime I +commit against God, my family, and society, but have not courage +to live dishonoured. The generous confidence you placed in me I +have basely violated; I have robbed you, and though not to enrich +myself, the consciousness of it destroys me. Bankruptcy, +poverty, beggary, and want I could bear--conscious integrity +would support me: but the ill-fated acquaintance I formed led me +to those earthly hells--gambling houses; and then commenced +my villainies and deceptions to you. My losses were not large at +first; and the stories that were told me of gain made me hope +they would soon be recovered. At this period I received the +order to go to Vienna, and on settling at the hotel I found my +debts treble what I had expected. I was in consequence compelled +to leave the two carriages as a guarantee for part of the debt, +which I had not in my power to discharge. I had hoped such +success at Vienna as would enable me to state all to you; but +disappointment blasted every hope, and despair, on my return to +Paris, began to generate the fatal resolution which, at the +moment you read this, will have matured itself to consummation. +I feel that my reputation is blasted; no way left of re-imbursing +the money wasted, your confidence in me totally destroyed, and +nothing left to me but to see my wife and children, and die. +Affection for them holds me in existence a little longer. The +gaming table again presented itself to my imagination as the only +possible means of extricating myself. Count Montoni's 3000 +francs, which I received before you came to Paris, furnished me +with the means--my death speaks the result! After robbery so +base as mine, I fear it will be of no use for me to solicit +your kindness for my wretched wife and forlorn family. Oh, Sir, +if you have pity on them and treat them kindly, and do not leave +them to perish in a foreign land, the consciousness of the act +will cheer you in your last moments, and God will reward you and +yours for it tenfold. Their sensibilities will not cause them to +need human aid. Thus I shall be threefold the murderer. I thank +you for the kindness you have rendered me; and I assure your +brother that he has, in this dreadful moment, my ardent wishes +for his welfare here and hereafter. I have so contrived it that +you will see a person at the Prince's tomorrow, who will +interpret for you. In mentioning my fate to him, you will not +much serve your own interest by blackening my character and +memory. I subjoin the reward of my villainies and the correct +balance of the account. Count Edmond's regular bills I have not +received; his valet will give you them; the others are in a +pocket-book, which will be found on my corpse somewhere in the +wood of Boulogne. + +`Signed, W. KINSBY.' + + +It appears, however, that the gentleman changed his mind and +did not commit suicide, but surrendered at the Insolvent Debtor's +Court to be dealt with according to law, which was a much wiser +resolution. + +To the games of Faro, Hazard, Macao, Doodle-do, and Rouge et +Noir, more even than to horse-racing, many tradesmen, once +possessing good fortunes and great business, owed their +destruction. Thousands upon thousands have been ruined in the +vicinity of St James's. It was not confined to youths of fortune +only, but the decent and respectable tradesman, as well as the +dashing clerk of the merchant and banker, was ingulfed in its +vortes. + +The proprietors of gaming houses were also concerned in +fraudulent insurances, and employed a number of clerks while the +lotteries were drawing, who conducted the business without risk, +in counting-houses, where no insurances were taken, but to which +books were carried, as well as from the different offices in +every part of the town, as from the _Morocco-men_, who went from +door to door taking insurances and enticing the poor and middling +ranks to adventure. + +It was gambling, and not the burdens of the long war, nor the +revulsion from war to peace, that made so many bankruptcies +in the few years succeeding the Battle of Waterloo. It was the +plunderers at gaming tables that filled the gazettes and made the +gaols overflow with so many victims. + +A foreigner has advanced an opinion as to the source of the +gambling propensity of Englishmen. `The English,' says M. +Dunne,[68] `the most speculative nation on earth, calculate even +upon future contingences. Nowhere else is the adventurous rage +for stock-jobbing carried on to so great an extent. The fury of +gambling, so common in England, is undoubtedly a daughter of this +speculative genius. The _Greeks_ of Great Britain are, however, +much inferior to those of France in cunning and industry. A +certain Frenchman who assumed in London the title and manners of +a baron, has been known to surpass all the most dexterous rogues +of the three kingdoms in the art of robbing. His aide-de-camp +was a kind of German captain, or rather _chevalier d'industrie_, +a person who had acted the double character of a French spy and +an English officer at the same time. Their tactics being at +length discovered, the baron was obliged to quit the country; +and he is said to have afterwards entered the monastery of +La Trappe,' where doubtless, in the severe and gloomy religious +practices of that terrible penitentiary, he atoned for his past +enormities. + + +[68] `Refexions sur l'Homme.' + + +`Till near the commencement of the present century the favourite +game was Faro, and as it was a decided advantage to hold the +Bank, masters and mistresses, less scrupulous than Wilberforce, +frequently volunteered to fleece and amuse the company. But +scandal having made busy with the names of some of them, it +became usual to hire a professed gamester at five or ten guineas +a night, to set up a table for the evening, just as any operatic +professional might now-a-days be hired for a concert, or a band- +master for a ball. + +`Faro gradually dropped out of fashion; Macao took its place; +Hazard was never wanting; and Whist began to be played for stakes +which would have satisfied Fox himself, who, though it was +calculated that he might have netted four or five thousand a year +by games of skill, complained that they afforded no excitement. + +`Wattier's Club, in Piccadilly, was the resort of the Macao +players. It was kept by an old _maitre d'hotel_ of +George IV., a character in his way, who took a just pride in the +cookery and wines of his establishment. + +`All the brilliant stars of fashion (and fashion was power then) +frequented Wattier's, with Beau Brummell for their sun. `Poor +Brummell, dead, in misery and idiotcy, at Caen! and I remember +him in all his glory, cutting his jokes after the opera, at +White's, in a black velvet great-coat, and a cocked hat on his +well-powdered head. + +`Nearly the same turn of reflection is suggested as we run over +the names of his associates. Almost all of them were ruined-- +three out of four irretrievably. Indeed, it was the forced +expatriation of its supporters that caused the club to be broken +up. + +`During the same period (from 1810 to 1815 or thereabouts) there +was a great deal of high play at White's and Brookes', +particularly at Whist. At Brookes' figured some remarkable +characters--as Tippoo Smith, by common consent the best Whist- +player of his day; and an old gentleman nicknamed Neptune, from +his having once flung himself into the sea in a fit of despair at +being, as he thought, ruined. He was fished out in time, found +he was not ruined, and played on during the remainder of his +life. + +`The most distinguished player at White's was the nobleman who +was presented at the Salons in Paris as Le Wellington des Joueurs +(Lord Rivers); and he richly merited the name, if skill, temper, +and the most daring courage are titles to it. The greatest +genius, however, is not infallible. He once lost three thousand +four hundred pounds at Whist by not remembering that the seven of +hearts was in! He played at Hazard for the highest stakes that +any one could be got to play for with him, and at one time was +supposed to have won nearly a hundred thousand pounds; but _IT +ALL WENT_, along with a great deal more, at Crockford's. + +`There was also a great deal of play at Graham's, the Union, the +Cocoa Tree, and other clubs of the second order in point of +fashion. Here large sums were hazarded with equal rashness, and +remarkable characters started up. Among the most conspicuous was +the late Colonel Aubrey, who literally passed his life at play. +He did nothing else, morning, noon, and night; and it was +computed that he had paid more than sixty thousand pounds for +card-money. He was a very fine player at all games, and a +shrewd, clever man. He had been twice to India and made two +fortunes. It was said that he lost the first on his way home, +transferred himself from one ship to another without landing, +went back, and made the second. His life was a continual +alternation between poverty and wealth; and he used to say, the +greatest pleasure in life is winning at cards--the next greatest, +losing! + +`For several years deep play went on at all these clubs, +fluctuating both as to amount and locality, till by degrees it +began to flag. It had got to a low ebb when Mr Crockford came to +London and established the celebrated club which bore his name. + +`Some good was certainly produced by the system. In the first +place, private gambling (between gentleman and gentleman), with +its degrading incidents, is at an end. In the second place, this +very circumstance brings the worst part of the practice within +the reach of the law. Public gambling, which only existed by and +through what were popularly termed _hells_, might be easily +suppressed. There were, in 1844, more than twenty of these +establishments in Pall Mall, Piccadilly, and St James's, +called into existence by Crockford's success.'[69] + + +[69] Private MS. (Edinburgh Review, vol. LXXX). + + +Whilst such was the state of things among the aristocracy and +those who were able to consort with them, it seems that the lower +orders were pursuing `private gambling,' in their `ungenteel' +fashion, to a very sad extent. In 1834 a writer in the +`Quarterly' speaks as follows:-- + +`Doncaster, Epsom, Ascot, and 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.'[70] + + +[70] Quarterly Review, vol. LII. + + +I fear that something similar may be suggested at the present +day, as to the same notorious localities. + +Mr Sala, writing some years ago on gambling in England, said:-- + +`The passion for gambling is, I believe, innate; but there is, +happily, a very small percentage of the population who are born +with a propensity for high play. We are speculative and eagerly +commercial; but it is rare to discover among us that inveterate +love for gambling, as gambling, which you may find among the +Italians, the South American Spaniards, the Russians, and the +Poles. Moro, Baccara, Tchuka--these are games at which +continental peasants will wager and lose their little fields, +their standing crops, their harvest in embryo, their very wives +even. The Americans surpass us in the ardour of their +propitiation of the gambling goddess, and on board the +Mississippi steamboats, an enchanting game, called _Poker_, is +played with a delirium of excitement, whose intensity can only be +imagined by realizing that famous bout at "catch him who can," +which took place at the horticultural _fete_ immortalized by +Mr Samuel Foote, comedian, at which was present the great +_Panjandrum_ himself, with the little round button at top, the +festivities continuing till the gunpowder ran out at the heels of +the company's boots. + +`When I was a boy, not so very long--say twenty years-- +since, the West-end of London swarmed with illicit gambling +houses, known by a name I will not offend your ears by repeating. + +On every race-course there was a public gambling booth and an +abundance of thimble-riggers' stalls. These, I am happy to +state, exist no longer; and the fools who are always ready to be +plucked, can only, in gambling, fall victims to the commonest and +coarsest of swindlers; skittle sharps, beer-house rogues and +sharpers, and knaves who travel to entrap the unwary in railway +carriages with loaded dice, marked cards, and little squares of +green baize for tables, and against whom the authorities of the +railway companies very properly warn their passengers. A +notorious gambling house in St James's Street--Crockford's,-- +where it may be said, without exaggeration, that millions of +pounds sterling have been diced away by the fools of fashion, is +now one of the most sumptuous and best conducted dining +establishments in London--the "Wellington." The semipatrician +Hades that were to be found in the purlieus of St James's, such +as the "Cocoa Tree," the "Berkeley," and the "stick-shop," +at the corner of Albemarle Street--a whole Pandemonium of +rosewood and plate-glass dens--never recovered from a razzia made +on them simultaneously one night by the police, who were +organized on a plan of military tactics, and under the command of +Inspector Beresford; and at a concerted signal assailed the +portals of the infamous places with sledge-hammers. At the time +to which I refer, in Paris, the Palais Royal, and the environs of +the Boulevards des Italiens, abounded with magnificent gambling +rooms similar to those still in existence in Hombourg, which were +regularly licensed by the police, and farmed under the +municipality of the Ville de Paris; a handsome per-centage of the +iniquitous profits being paid towards the charitable institutions +of the French metropolis. There are very many notabilities of +the French Imperial Court, who were then _fermiers des jeux_, or +gambling house contractors; and only a year or two since Doctor +Louis Veron, ex-dealer in quack medicines, ex-manager of the +Grand Opera, and ex-proprietor of the "Constitutionnel" +newspaper, offered an enormous royalty to Government for the +privilege of establishing a gambling house in Paris. But the +Emperor Napoleon--all ex-member of Crockford's as he is-- +sensibly declined the tempting bait. A similarly +"generous" offer was made last year to the Belgian Government +by a joint-stock company who wanted to establish public gaming +tables at the watering-places of Ostend, and who offered to +establish an hospital from their profits; but King Leopold, the +astute proprietor of Claremont, was as prudent as his Imperial +cousin of France, and refused to soil his hands with cogged dice. + +The lease of the Paris authorized gaming houses expired in 1836- +7; and the municipality, albeit loath to lose the fat annual +revenue, was induced by governmental pressure not to renew it; +and it is asserted that from that moment the number of annual +suicides in Paris very sensibly decreased. "It is not generally +known," as the penny-a-liners say, "that the Rev. Caleb Colton, +a clergyman of the Church of England, and the author of +"Lacon," a book replete with aphoristic wisdom, blew his brains +out in the forest of St Germains, after ruinous losses at +Frascati's, at the corner of the Rue Richelieu and the +Boulevards, one of the most noted of the _Maisons des Jeux_, and +which was afterwards turned into a _restaurant_, and is now a +shawl-shop.[71] Just before the revolution of 1848, nearly +all the watering-places in the Prusso-Rhenane provinces, and in +Bavaria, and Hesse, Nassau, and Baden, contained Kursaals, where +gambling was openly carried on. These existed at Aix-la- +Chapelle, Baden-Baden, Wiesbaden, Ems, Kissengen, and at Spa, +close to the Prussian frontier, in Belgium. It is due to the +fierce democrats who revolted against the monarchs of the defunct +Holy Alliance, to say that they utterly swept away the gambling- +tables in Rhenish-Prussia, and in the Grand Duchy of Baden. Herr +Hecker, of the red republican tendencies, and the astounding +wide-awake hat, particularly distinguished himself in the latter +place by his iconoclastic animosity to _Roulette_ and _Rouge et +Noir_. When dynastic "order" was restored the Rhine gaming +tables were re-established. The Prussian Government, much to its +honour, has since shut up the gambling houses at that resort for +decayed nobility and ruined livers, Aix-la-Chapelle. A motion +was made in the Federal Diet, sitting at Frankfort, to constrain +the smaller governments, in the interest of the Germanic good +name generally, to close their _tripots_, and in some +measure the Federal authorities succeeded. The only existing +continental gaming houses authorized by government are now the +two Badens, Spa (of which the lease is nearly expired, and will +not be renewed), Monaco (capital of the ridiculous little Italian +principality, of which the suzerain is a scion of the house of +"Grimaldi"), Malmoe, in Sweden, too remote to do much harm, +and HOMBOURG. This last still flourishes greatly, and I am +afraid is likely to flourish, though happily in isolation; for, +as I have before remarked, the "concession" or privilege of the +place has been guaranteed for a long period of years to come by +the expectant dynasty of Hesse-Darmstadt. "_C'est fait_," "It +is all settled," said the host of the Hotel de France to me, +rubbing his hands exultingly when I mentioned the matter. But, +_Quis custodiet custodes?_ Hesse-Darmstadt has guaranteed the +"administration of Hesse-Hombourg, but who is to guarantee +Hesse-Darmstadt? A battalion of French infantry would, it seems +to me, make short work of H. D., lease guarantees, Federal +contingent, and all. I must mention, in conclusion, that within +a very few years we had, if we have not still, a licensed +gaming house in our exquisitely moral British dominions. +This was in that remarkably "tight little island" at the mouth +of the Elbe, Heligoland, which we so queerly possess--Puffendorf, +Grotius, and Vattel, or any other writers on the _Jus gentium_, +would be puzzled to tell why, or by what right. I was at Hamburg +in the autumn of 1856, crossed over to Heligoland one day on a +pleasure trip, and lost some money there, at a miniature +_Roulette_ table, much frequented by joyous Israelites from the +mainland, and English "soldier officers" in mufti. I did not +lose much of my temper, however, for the odd, quaint little place +pleased me. Not so another Roman citizen, or English travelling +gent., who losing, perhaps, seven-and-sixpence, wrote a furious +letter to the "Times," complaining of such horrors existing +under the British flag, desecration of the English name, and so +forth. Next week the lieutenant-governor, by "order," put an +end to _Roulette_ at Heligoland; but play on a diminutive scale +has since, I have been given to understand, recommenced there +without molestation. + + +[71] Mr Sala is here in error. Colton was a prosperous gambler +throughout, and committed suicide to avoid a surgical operation. +A notice of the Rev. C. Colton will be found in the sequel. + + +`We gamble in England at the Stock Exchange, we gamble on horse- +races all the year round; but there is something more than the +mere eventuality of a chance that prompts us to the _enjeu;_ +there is mixed up with our eagerness for the stakes the most +varied elements of business and pleasure; cash-books, ledgers, +divident-warrants, indignation meetings of Venezuelan bond- +holders, coupons, cases of champagne, satin-skinned horses with +plaited manes, grand stands, pretty faces, bright flags, lobster +salads, cold lamb, fortune-telling gipsies, barouches-and-four, +and "our Aunt Sally." High play is still rife in some +aristocratic clubs; there are prosperous gentlemen who wear clean +linen every day, and whose names are still in the Army List, who +make their five or six hundred a year by Whist-playing, and have +nothing else to live upon; in East-end coffee-shops, sallow-faced +Jew boys, itinerant Sclavonic jewellers, and brawny German sugar- +bakers, with sticky hands, may be found glozing and wrangling +over their beloved cards and dominoes, and screaming with +excitement at the loss of a few pence. There are yet some occult +nooks and corners, nestling in unsavoury localities, on passing +which the policeman, even in broad daylight, cannot refrain from +turning his head a little backwards--as though some bedevilments +must necessarily be taking place directly he has passed-- +where, in musty back parlours, by furtive lamplight, with +doors barred, bolted, and sheeted with iron, some wretched, +cheating gambling goes on at unholy hours. Chicken-hazard is +scotched, not killed; but a poor, weazened, etiolated biped is +that once game-bird now. And there is Doncaster, every year-- +Doncaster, with its subscription-rooms under authority, winked at +by a pious corporation, patronized by nobles and gentlemen +supporters of the turf, and who are good enough, sometimes, to +make laws for us plebeians in the Houses of Lords and Commons. +There is Doncaster, with policemen to keep order, and admit none +but "respectable" people--subscribers, who fear Heaven and +honour the Queen. Are you aware, my Lord Chief-Justice, are you +aware, Mr Attorney, Mr Solicitor-General, have you the slightest +notion, ye Inspectors of Police, that in the teeth of the law, +and under its very eyes, a shameless gaming-house exists in moral +Yorkshire, throughout every Doncaster St Leger race-week? Of +course you haven't; never dreamed of such a thing--never could, +never would. Hie you, then, and prosecute this wretched gang of +betting-touts, congregating at the corner of Bride Lane, Fleet +Street; quick, lodge informations against this publican who +has suffered card-playing to take place, raffles, or St Leger +sweeps to be held in his house. "You have seen a farmer's dog +bark at a beggar, and the creature run from the cur. There thou +might'st behold the great image of authority: a dog's obeyed in +office." You have--very well. Take crazy King Lear's words as +a text for a sermon against legislative inconsistencies, and come +back with me to Hombourg Kursaal.' + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +GAMBLING IN BRIGHTON IN 1817. + +The subject of English gambling may be illustrated by a series of +events which happened at Brighton in 1817, when an inquiry +respecting the gaming carried on at the libraries led to many +important disclosures. + +It appears that a warrant was granted on the oath of a Mr William +Clarke, against William Wright and James Ford, charged with +feloniously stealing L100. But the prosecutor did not appear +in court to prove the charge. It was quite evident, therefore, +that the law had been abused in the transaction, and the +magistrate, Sergeant Runnington, directed warrants to be issued +for the immediate appearance of the prosecutor and Timothy +O'Mara, as an evidence; but they absconded, and the learned +Sergeant discharged the prisoners. + +The matter then took a different turn. The same William Wright, +before charged with `stealing' the L100, was now examined as a +witness to give evidence upon an examination against Charles +Walker, of the Marine Library, for keeping an unlawful Gaming +House. + +This witness stated that he was engaged, about five weeks before, +to act as _punter_ or player (that is, in this case, a sham +player or decoy) to a table called _Noir, rouge, tout le deux_ +(evidently a name invented to evade the statute, if possible), by +William Clarke, the prosecutor, before-mentioned; that the table +was first carried to the back room of Donaldson's Library, where +it continued for three or four days, when Donaldson discharged it +from his premises. + +He said he soon got into the confidence of Clarke, who put him up +to the secrets of playing. The firm consisted of O'Mara, +Pollett, Morley, and Clarke. There was not much playing at +Donaldson's. Afterwards the table was removed into Broad Street, +but the landlady quickly sent it away. It was then carried to a +room over Walker's Library, where a rent was paid of _twelve +guineas per week, showing plainly the profits of the +speculation. + +Several gentlemen used to frequent the table, among whom was one +who lost L125. + +Clarke asked the witness if he thought the person who lost his +money was rich? And being answered in the affirmative, it was +proposed that he, William Wright, should invite the gentleman to +dinner, to let him have what wine he liked, and to spare no +expense to get him drunk. + +The gentleman was induced to play again, and endeavour to recover +his money. As he had nothing but large bills, to a considerable +amount, he was prevailed on to go to London, in company with the +witness, who was to take care and bring him back. One of the +firm, Pollett, wrote a letter of recommendation to a Mr Young, to +get the bills discounted at his broker's. They returned to +Brighton, and the witness apprized the firm of his arrival. They +wanted him to come that evening, but the witness _TOLD THE +GENTLEMAN OF HIS SUSPICIONS_--that during their absence a _FALSE +TABLE_ had been substituted. + +The witness, however, returned to his employers that evening, +when the firm advanced him L100, and Ford, another punter +of the sort, L100, to back with the gentleman as a blind--so +that when the signal was given to put upon black or red, they +were to put their stakes--by which means the gentleman would +follow; and they calculated upon fleecing him of five or six +thousand pounds in the course of an hour. According to his own +account, the witness told the gentleman of this trick; and the +following morning the latter went with him, to know if this +nefarious dealing has been truly represented. + +On entering the library they met Walker, who wished them better +success, but trembled visibly. At the door leading into the room +porters were stationed; and, as soon as they entered, Walker +ordered it to be bolted, for the sake of privacy; but as soon as +the gentleman ascended the dark staircase, he became alarmed at +the appearance of men in the room, and returned to the porter, +and, by a timely excuse, was allowed to pass. + +At this table Clarke generally dealt, and O'Mara played. It was +for not restoring the L100 to the firm that the charge of +felony was laid against the witness--after the escape of the +gentleman; but an offer of L100 was made to him, after +his imprisonment, if he would not give his evidence of the +above facts and transactions. + +The evidence of the other witness, Ford, confirmed all the +material facts of the former, and the gentleman himself, the +intended victim, substantiated the evidence of Wright--as to +putting him in possession of their nefarious designs. + +When the gentleman found that he had been cheated of the L125, +he went to Walker to demand back his money. Walker, in the +utmost confusion, went into the room, and returned with a +proposal to allow L100. This he declined to take, and +immediately laid the information before Mr Sergeant Runnington. + +The learned Sergeant forcibly recapitulated the evidence, and +declared that in the whole course of his professional duties he +had never heard such a disclosure of profligacy and villainy, +combined with every species of wickedness. In a strain of +pointed animadversion he declared it to be an imperative duty,-- +however much his private feelings might be wounded in seeing a +reputable tradesman of the town convicted of such nefarious +pursuits,--to order warrants to be issued against all parties +concerned as rogues and vagrants. + +At the next hearing of the case the court was crowded to +excess; and the mass of evidence deposed before the magistrates +threw such a light on the system of gambling, that they summarily +put a stop to the Cobourg and Loo tables at the various public +establishments. + +At the first examination, the `gentleman' before mentioned, a Mr +Mackenzie, said he had played _Rouge et Noir_ at Walker's, and +had lost L125. He saw O'Mara there, but he appeared as a +player, not a banker; the only reason for considering him as one +of the proprietors of the table, arose from the information of +the witnesses Wright and Ford. + +On this evidence, Mr Sergeant Runnington called on O'Mara and +Walker for their defence, observing that, according to the +statements before him, there appeared sufficient ground for +considering O'Mara as a rogue and vagabond; and for subjecting Mr +Walker to penalties for keeping a house or room wherein he +permitted unlawful games to be played. O'Mara affirmed that the +whole testimony of Wright and Ford with respect to him was false; +that he had been nine years a resident housekeeper in Brighton, +and was known by, and had rendered essential services to, +many respectable individuals who lived in the town, and to many +noble persons who were occasional visitors. He seemed deeply +penetrated by the intimation that he could be whipped, or +otherwise treated as a vagabond; and said, that if time were +allowed him to collect evidence, and obtain legal assistance, he +could disprove the charge, or at least invalidate the evidence of +the two accusers. + +In consequence of these representations, the case was adjourned +to another day, when, so much was the expectation excited by the +rumour of the affair, that at the opening of the court the hall +was crowded almost to suffocation, and all the avenues were +completely beset. + +O'Mara appeared, with his counsel, the celebrated Mr Adolphus-- +the Ballantyne of his day--of Old Bailey renown and forensic +prowess. + +Mr Sergeant Runnington very obligingly stated to Mr Adolphus the +previous proceeding, directed the depositions to be laid before +him, and allowed him time to peruse them. Mr Adolphus having +gone through the document, requested that the witnesses might be +brought into court, that he might cross-question them separately; +which being ordered, Wright was first put forward--the man +who had received the L100, enlightened the Mr Mackenzie, and +who was charged with feloniously stealing the above amount. + +After the usual questions, very immaterial in the present case, +but answered, the witness went on to say that, O'Mara called at +his lodgings and said, if he (Wright) could not persuade Mr +Mackenzie to come from London, he was not to leave him, but write +to him (O'Mara), and he would go to town, and win all his money. +He had, on a former occasion, told the witness, that he could win +all Mackenzie's money at child's play--that he could toss up and +win ninety times out of one hundred; he had told both him and +Ford, that if they met with any gentleman who did not like the +game of _Rouge et Noir_, and would bring them to his house, he +was always provided with cards, dice, and backgammon tables, to +win their money from them. + +The learned counsel then cross-questioned the witness as to +various matters, in the usual way, but tending, of course, to +damage him by the answers which the questions necessitated--a +horrible, but, perhaps, necessary ordeal perpetuated in our law- +procedure. In these answers there was something like +prevarication; so that the magistrate, Mr Sergeant Runnington, +asked the witness at the close of the examination, whether he had +any previous acquaintance with the gentlemen who had engaged him +at half-a-crown a game, and then so candily communicated to him +all their schemes? He said, none whatever. `But,' said the +Sergeant, `you were in the daily habit of playing at this public +table for the purpose of deceiving the persons who might come +there?' The witness answered--`I was.' + +The witness Ford fared no better in the cross-examination, and Mr +Sergeant Runnington, at its close, asked him the same question +that he had addressed to Wright, respecting his playing at the +table, and received the same answer. + +Mr Mackenzie did not appear, and there was no further evidence. +Mr Adolphus said that if he were called upon to make any defence +for his client upon a charge so supported, he was ready to do it; +but, as he must make many observations, not only on the facts, +but on the _LAW_, he was anxious if possible to avoid doing so, +as he did not wish to say too much about the law respecting +gaming before so large and mixed an audience.[72] + + +[72] See Chapter XI. for the views of Mr Adolphus here +alluded to. + + +Two witnesses were called, who gave evidence which was +damaging to the character of Ford, stating that he told them he +was in a conspiracy against O'Mara and some other moneyed men, +from whom they should get three or four hundred pounds, and if +witness would conceal from O'Mara his (Ford's) real name, he +should have his share of the money, and might go with him and +Wright to Brussels. + +After hearing these witnesses, Mr Sergeant Runnington, without +calling on Mr Adolphus for any further defence of his client, +pronounced the judgment of the Bench. + +He reviewed the transaction from its commencement, and stated the +impression, to the disadvantage of O'Mara, which the tale +originally told by the two witnesses was calculated to make. +But, on hearing the cross-examination of those witnesses, and +seeing no evidence against the defendant but from sources so +impure and corrupt--recollecting the severe penalties of the +Vagrant Acts, and sitting there not merely as a judge, but also +exercising the functions of a jury, he could not bring himself to +convict on such evidence. The witnesses, impure as they were, +were _NOT SUPPORTED BY MR MACKENZIE IN ANY PARTICULAR_, +except the fact of his losing money, at a time when O'Mara did +not appear as a proprietor of the table, but as a player like +himself. O'Mara must therefore be discharged; but the two +witnesses would not be so fortunate. From their own mouths it +appeared that they had been using subtle craft to deceive and +impose upon his Majesty's subjects, by playing or betting at +unlawful games, and had no legal or visible means of gaining a +livelihood; the court, therefore, adjudged them to be rogues and +vagabonds, and committed them, in execution, to the gaol at +Lewes, there to remain till the next Quarter Sessions, and then +to be further dealt with according to law. A short private +conference followed between the magistrates and Mr Adolphus, the +result of which was that Mr Walker was not proceeded against, but +entered into a recognizance not to permit any kind of gaming to +be carried on in his house. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +GAMBLING AT THE GERMAN BATHING-PLACES. +---- + +BADEN AND ITS CONVERSATION HOUSE. + +Baden-Baden in the season is full of the most exciting +contrasts--gay restaurants and brilliant saloons, gaming-tables, +promenades, and theatres crammed with beauty and rank, in the +midst of lovely natural scenery, and under the shade of the pine- +clad heights of the Hercynian or Black Forest--the scene of so +many weird tales of old Germany--as for instance of the charming +_Undine_ of De la Mothe Fouque. + +But among the seducing attractions of Baden-Baden, and of all +German bathing-places, the Rouge-et-noir and Roulette-table hold +a melancholy pre-eminence,--being at once a shameful source of +revenue to the prince,--a rallying point for the gay, the +beautiful, the professional blackleg, the incognito duke or +king,--and a vortex in which the student, the merchant, and the +subaltern officer are, in the course of the season, often +hopelessly and irrevocably ingulfed. Remembering the gaming +excitement of the primitive Germans, we can scarcely be surprised +to find that the descendants of these northern races poison the +pure stream of pleasure by the introduction of this hateful +occupation. It is, however, rather remarkable that all foreign +visitors, whether Dutch, Flemish, Swede, Italian, or even +English, of whatever age or disposition or sex, `catch the +frenzy' during the (falsely so-called) _Kurzeit_, that is, _Cure- +season_, at Baden, Ems, and Ais. + +Princes and their subjects, fathers and sons, and even, horrible +to say, mothers and daughters, are hanging, side by side, for +half the night over the green table; and, with trembling hands +and anxious eyes, watching their chance-cards, or thrusting +francs and Napoleons with their rakes to the red or the black +cloth. + +No spot in the whole world draws together a more distinguished +society than may be met at Baden; its attractions are felt and +acknowledged by every country in Europe. Many of the +_elite_ of each nation may yearly be found there during the +months of summer, and, as a natural consequence, many of the +worst and vilest follow them, in the hope of pillage. + +Says Mrs Trollope:--`I doubt if anything less than the evidence +of the senses can enable any one fully to credit and comprehend +the spectacle that a gaming-table offers. I saw women +distinguished by rank, elegant in person, modest, and even +reserved in manner, sitting at the Rouge-et-noir table with their +rateaux, or rakes, and marking-cards in their hands;--the +former to push forth their bets, and draw in their winnings, the +latter to prick down the events of the game. I saw such at +different hours through the whole of Sunday. To name these is +impossible; but I grieve to say that two English women were among +them.' + +The Conversationshaus, where the gambling takes place, is let out +by the Government of Baden to a company of speculators, who pay, +for the exclusive privilege of keeping the tables, L11,000 +annually, and agree to spend in addition 250,000 florins +(L25,000) on the walks and buildings, making altogether about +L36,000. Some idea may be formed from this of the vast +sums of money which must be yearly lost by the dupes who frequent +it. The whole is under the direction of M. Benazet, who formerly +farmed the gambling houses of Paris. + +`On trouve ici le jeu, les livres, la musique, + Les cigarres, l'amour, les orangers, +Le monde tantot gai, tantot melancholique, + Les glaces, la danse, et les cochers; + De la biere, de bons diners, +A cote d'arbre une boutique, + Et la vue de hauts rochers. + Ma foi!' + + +`We find here gambling, books, and music, + Cigars, love-making, orange-trees; +People or gay or melancholic, + Ices, dancing, and coachmen, if you please; + Beer, and good dinners; besides these, +Shops where they sell not _on tic;_ + And towering rocks one ever sees.' + + +`How shall I describe,' says Mr Whitelocke, `to my readers in +language sufficiently graphic, one of the resorts the most +celebrated in Europe; a place, if not competing with Crockford's +in gorgeous magnificence and display, at least surpassing it in +renown, and known over a wider sphere? The metropolitan pump- +room of Europe, conducted on the principle of gratuitous +admittance to all bearing the semblance of gentility and +conducting themselves with propriety, opens its Janus doors to +all the world with the most laudable hospitality and with a +perfect indifference to exclusiveness, requiring only the hat to +be taken off upon entering, and rejecting only short jackets, +cigar, pipe, and meerschaum. A room of this description, a +temple dedicated to fashion, fortune, and flirtation, requires a +pen more current, a voice more eloquent, than mine to trace, +condense, vivify, and depict. Taking everything, therefore, +for granted, let us suppose a vast saloon of regular proportions, +rather longer than broad, at either end garnished by a balcony; +beneath, doors to the right and left, and opposite to the main +entrance, conduct to other apartments, dedicated to different +purposes. On entering the eye is at once dazzled by the blaze of +lights from chandeliers of magnificent dimensions, of lamps, +lustres, and sconces. The ceiling and borders set off into +compartments, showered over with arabesques, the gilded pillars, +the moving mass of promenaders, the endless labyrinth of human +beings assembled from every region in Europe, the costly dresses, +repeated by a host of mirrors, all this combined, which the eye +conveys to the brain at a single glance, utterly fails in +description. As with the eye, so it is with the ear; at every +step a new language falls upon it, and every tongue with +different intonation, for the high and the low, the prince, peer, +vassal, and tradesman, the proud beauty, the decrepit crone, some +fresh budding into the world, some standing near the grave, the +gentle and the stern, the sombre and the gay, in short, every +possible antithesis that the eye, ear, heart can perceive, hear, +or respond to, or that the mind itself can imagine, is here to be +met with in two minutes. And yet all this is no Babel; for all, +though concentrated, is admirably void of confusion; and evil or +strong passions, if they do exist, are religiously suppressed--a +necessary consequence, indeed, where there can be no sympathy, +and where contempt and ridicule would be the sole reciprocity. +In case, however, any such display should take place, a gendarme +keeps constant watch at the door, appointed by government, it is +true, but resembling our Bow-street officers in more respects +than one. + +`Now that we have taken a survey of the brilliant and moving +throng, let us approach the stationary crowd to the left hand, +and see what it is that so fascinates and rivets their +attention. They are looking upon a long table covered with green +cloth, in the centre of which is a large polished wooden basin +with a moveable rim, and around it are small compartments, +numbered to a certain extent, namely 38, alternately red and +black in irregular order, numbered from one to 36, a nought or +zero in a red, and a double zero upon the black, making up the +38, and each capable of holding a marble. The moveable rim is +set in motion by the hand, and as it revolves horizontally from +east to west round its axis, the marble is caused by a jerk of +the finger and thumb to fly off in a contrary movement. The +public therefore conclude that no calculation can foretell where +the marble will fall, and I believe they are right, inasmuch as +the bank plays a certain and sure game, however deep, runs no +risk of loss, and consequently has no necessity for superfluously +cheating or deluding the public. It also plays double, that is, +on both sides of the wheel of fortune at once. + +`When the whirling of both rim and marble cease, the latter +falls, either simultaneously or after some coy uncertainty, into +one of the compartments, and the number and colour, &c., are +immediately proclaimed, the stakes deposited are dexterously +raked up by the croupier, or increased by payment from the bank, +according as the colour wins or loses. Now, the two sides or +tables are merely duplicates of one another, and each of them is +divided something like a chess-board into three columns of +squares, which amount to 36; the numbers advance arithmetically +from right to left, and consequently there are 12 lines down, so +as to complete the rectangle; as one, therefore, stands at the +head, four stands immediately under it, and so on. At the bottom +lie three squares, with the French marks 12 p--12 m--12 d, that +is, first, middle, third dozen. The three large meadows on +either side are for red and black, pair and odd, miss and pass-- +which last signify the division of the numbers into the first and +second half, from 1 to 18, and from 19 to 36, inclusive. If a +number be staked upon and wins, the stake is increased to six +times its amount, and so on, always less as the stake is placed +in different positions, which may be effected in the following +ways--by placing the piece of gold or silver on the line (_a +cheval_, as it is called), partly on one and partly on its +neighbour, two numbers are represented, and should one win, +the piece is augmented to eighteen times the sum; three +numbers are signified upon the stroke at the end or beginning of +the numbers that go across; six, by placing the coin on the +border of a perpendicular and a horizontal line between two +strokes; four, where the lines cross within; twelve numbers are +signified in a two-fold manner, either upon the column where the +figures follow in the order of one, four, seven, and so on, or on +the side-fields mentioned above; these receive the stake trebled; +and those who stake solely upon the colour, the two halves, or +equal and odd, have their stake doubled when they win. Now, the +two zeros, that is, the simple and compound, stand apart and may +be separately staked upon; should either turn up, the stake is +increased in a far larger proportion. + +`To render the game equal, without counting in the zeros and +other trifles, the winner ought to receive the square of 36, +instead of 36. + +`It is a melancholy amusement to any rational being not +infatuated by the blind rage of gold, to witness the incredible +excitement so repeatedly made to take the bank by storm, +sometimes by surprise, anon by stealth, and not rarely by digging +a mine, laying intrenchments and opening a fire of field- +pieces, heavy ordnance, and flying artillery; but the fortress, +proud and conscious of its superior strength, built on a rock of +adamant, laughs at the fiery attacks of its foes, nay, itself +invites the storm. + +`For those classes of mankind who possess a little more prudence, +the game called _Trente-et-un_, and _Quarante_, or _Rouge et +Noir_ are substituted. + +`The lord of the temple or establishment pays, I believe, to +government a yearly sum of 35,000 florins (about L3000) for +permission to keep up the establishment. He has gone to immense +expense in decorating the building; he pays a crowd of croupiers +at different salaries, and officers of his own, who superintend +and direct matters; he lights up the building, and he presides +over the festivities of the town--in short, he is the patron of +it all. With all this liberality he himself derives an enormous +revenue, an income as sure and determined as that of my Lord +Mayor himself.'[73] + + +[73] City of the Fountains, or Baden-Baden. By R. H. +Whitelocke. Carlsruhe, 1840. + + +The Baden season begins in May; the official opening takes place +towards the close of the spring quarter, and then the fashionable +world begins to arrive at the rendezvous. + +It cannot be denied that everything is right well regulated, +and apart from the terrible dangers of gambling, the place does +very great credit to the authorities who thrive on the nefarious +traffic. Perfect order and decency of deportment, with all the +necessary civilities of life, are rigorously insisted on, and +summary expulsion is the consequence of any intolerable conduct. +If it so happens that any person becomes obnoxious in any way, +whatever may be his or her rank, the first intimation will be-- +`Sir, you are not in your place here;' or, `Madame, the air of +Baden does not suit you.' If these words are disregarded, there +follows a summary order--`You must leave Baden this very day, and +cross the frontiers of the Grand Duchy within twenty-four hours.' + +Mr Sala, in his novel `Make your Game,'[74] has given a spirited +description of the gambling scenes at Baden. + + +[74] Originally published in the `Welcome Guest.' + + +Whilst I write there is exhibited at the Egyptian Hall, London, +Dore's magnificent picture of the _Tapis Vert_, or Life in +Baden-Baden, of which the following is an accurate description:-- + +`The _Tapis Vert_ is a moral, and at the same time an +exceedingly clever, satire. It is illustrative of the life, +manners, and predilections and pursuits of a class of society +left hereafter to enjoy the manifold attractions of fashionable +watering-places, without the scourge that for so many years held +its immoral and degrading sway in their sumptuous halls. + +`In one of these splendid salons the fashionable crowd is eagerly +pressing round an oblong table covered with green cloth (_le +tapis vert_), upon which piles of gold and bank-notes tell the +tale of "_noir perd et la couleur gagne_," and vice versa. The +principal group, upon which Dore has thrown one of his +powerful effects of light, is lifelike, and several of the actors +are at once recognized. Both croupiers are well-known +characters. There is much life and movement in the silent scene, +in which thousands of pounds change hands in a few seconds. To +the left of the croupier (dealer), who turns up the winning card, +sits a finely-dressed woman, who cares for little else but gold. +There is a remarkable expression of eagerness and curiosity upon +the countenance of the lady who comes next, and who endeavours, +with the assistance of her eye-glass, to find out the state of +affairs. The gentleman next to her is an inveterate +_blase_. The countenance of the old man reckoning up needs no +description. Near by stands a lady with a red feather in her +hat, and whose lace shawl alone is worth several hundred pounds-- +for Dore made it. The two female figures to the left are +splendidly painted. The one who causes the other croupier to +turn round seems somewhat extravagantly dressed; but these +costumes have been frequently worn within the last two years both +at Baden and Hombourg. The old lady at the end of the table, to +the left, is a well-known habituee at both places. The +bustling and shuffling eagerness of the figures in the background +is exceedingly well rendered. + +`As a whole, the _Tapis Vert_ is a very fine illustration of real +life, as met with in most of the leading German watering- +places.'[75] + + +[75] `Illustrated Times.' + + +`At the present moment,' says another authority, writing more +than a year ago, `there are three very bold female gamblers at +Baden. One is the Russian Princess ----, who plays several hours +every day at _Rouge et Noir_, and sometimes makes what in our +money would be many hundreds, and at others goes empty away. She +wins calmly enough, but when luck is against her looks +anxious. The second is the wife of an Italian ex-minister, who +is well known both as an authoress and politician. She +patronizes _Roulette_, and at every turn of the wheel her money +passes on the board. She is a good gambler--smirking when she +wins, and smirking when she loses. She dresses as splendidly as +any of the dames of Paris. The other night she excited a flutter +among the ladies assembled in the salons of the "Conversation" +by appearing in a robe flaming red with an exaggerated train +which dragged its slow length along the floor. But the greatest +of the feminine players is the Leonie Leblanc. When she is at +the _Rouge et Noir_ table a larger crowd than usual is collected +to witness her operation. The stake she generally risks is 6000 +francs (L240), which is the maximum allowed. Her chance is +changing: a few days back she won L4000 in one sitting; some +days later she lost about L2000, and was then reduced to the, +for her, indignity of playing for paltry sums--L20 or +thereabouts.' + +Among the more recent chronicles, the _Figaro_ gives the +following account of the close of the campaign of a gaming hero, +M. Edgar de la Charme, who, for a number of days together, +never left the gaming-room without carrying off the sum of 24,000 +francs. + +`The day before yesterday, M. de la Charme, reflecting that there +must be an end even to the greatest run of luck, locked his +portmanteau, paid his bill, and took the road to the railway +station, accompanied by some of his friends. On reaching the +wicket he found it closed; there were still three-quarters of an +hour to pass before the departure of the train. "I will go and +play my parting game," he exclaimed, and, turning to the +coachman, bade him drive to the Kursaal. His friends surrounded +him, and held him back; he should not go, he would lose all his +winnings. But he was resolute, and soon reached the Casino, +where his travelling dress caused a stir of satisfaction among +the croupiers. He sat down at the _Trente-et-quarante_, broke +the bank in 20 minutes, got into his cab again, and seeing the +inspector of the tables walking to and fro under the arcades, he +said to him, in a tone of exquisite politeness, "I could not +think of going away without leaving you my P.P.C." ' + + +SPA. + + +`The gambling houses of Spa are in the Redoute, where _Rouge et +Noir_ and _Roulette_ are carried on nearly from morning to night. + +The profits of these establishments exceed L40,000 a year. In +former times they belonged to the Bishop of Liege, who was a +partner in the concern, and derived a considerable revenue from +his share of the ill-gotten gains of the manager of the +establishment, and no gambling tables could be set up without his +permission.'[76] + + +[76] Murray's Handbook for Travellers on the Continent. + + +`The gambling in Spa is in a lower style than elsewhere. The +croupiers seem to be always on the look-out for cheating. You +never see here a pile of gold or bank notes on the table, as at +Hombourg or Wiesbaden, with the player saying, "Cinquante louis +aux billet," "Cent-vingt louis a la masse," and the +winnings scrupulously paid, or the losings raked carefully away +from the heap. They do not allow that at Spa; there is an order +against it on the wall. They could not trust the people that +play, I suppose, and it is doubtful if the people could trust the +croupiers. The ball spins more slowly at _Roulette_--the +cards are dealt more gingerly at _Trente-et-quarante_ here than +elsewhere. Nothing must be done quickly, lest somebody on one +side or other should try to do somebody else. Altogether Spa is +not a pleasant place to play in, and as, moreover, the odds are +as great against you as at Ems, it is better to stick to the +promenade _de sept heures_ and the ball-room, and leave the two +tables alone. Outside it is cheery and full of life. The Queen +of the Belgians is here, the Duke of Aumale, and other nice +people. The breeze from the hills is always delicious; the +Promenade Meyerbeer as refreshing on a hot day as a draught of +iced water. But the denizens, male and female, of the _salons de +jeu_ are often obnoxious, and one wishes that the old Baden law +could be enforced against some of the gentler sex. + +`By way of warning to any of your readers who propose to visit +the tables this summer, will you let me tell a little anecdote, +from personal experience, of one of these places--which one I had +perhaps better not say. I took a place at the Roulette table, +and had not staked more than once or twice, when two handsomely +dressed ladies placed themselves one on either side of me, and +commenced playing with the smallest coins allowed, wedging +me in rather unpleasantly close between them. At my third or +fourth stake I won on both the colour and a number, and my +neighbour on the right quietly swept up my coins from the colour +the instant they were paid. I remonstrated, and she very +politely argued the point, ending by restoring my money. But +during our discussion my far larger stake, paid in the mean +while, on the winning number, had disappeared into the pocket of +my neighbour on the left, who was not so polite, and was very +indignant at my suggestion that the stake was mine. An appeal to +the croupier only produced a shrug of the shoulders and regret +that he had not seen who staked the money, an offer to stop the +play, and a suggestion that I should find it very difficult to +prove it was my stake. The "plant" between the two women was +evident. The whole thing was a systematically-planned robbery, +and very possibly the croupier was a confederate. I detected the +two women in communication, and I told them that I should change +my place to the other side of the table where I would trouble +them not to come. They took the hint very mildly, and could +afford to do so, for they had got my money. The affair was +very neatly managed, and would succeed in nearly every case, +especially if the croupier is, as is most probable, always on the +side of the ladies.' + + +HOMBOURG. + + +`In 1842 Hombourg was an obscure village, consisting of the +castle of the Landgraf, and of a few hundred houses which in the +course of ages had clustered around it. Few would have known of +its existence except from the fact of its being the capital of +the smallest of European countries. Its inhabitants lived poor +and contented--the world forgetting, by the world forgot. It +boasted only of one inn--the "Aigle"--which in summer was +frequented by a few German families, who came to live cheaply and +to drink the waters of a neighbouring mineral spring. That same +year two French brothers of the name of Blanc arrived at +Frankfort. They were men of a speculative turn, and a recent and +somewhat daring speculation in France, connected with the old +semaphore telegraph, had rendered it necessary for them to +withdraw for a time from their native land. Their stock-in-trade +consisted in a Roulette wheel, a few thousand francs, and an +old and skilful croupier of Frascati, who knew a great deal about +the properties of cards. The authorities of the town of +Frankfort, being dull traders, declined to allow them to initiate +their townsmen into the mysteries of cards and Roulette, so +hearing that there were some strangers living at Hombourg, they +put themselves into an old diligence, and the same evening +disembarked at the "Aigle." The next day the elder brother +called upon the prime minister, an ancient gentleman, who, with a +couple of clerks, for some L60 a year governed the Landgrafate +of Hombourg to his own and the general satisfaction. After a +private interview with this statesman the elder Blanc returned +poorer in money, but with a permission in his pocket to put up +his Roulette wheel in one of the rooms of the inn. In a few +months the money of the innocent water-drinkers passed from their +pockets into those of the brothers Blanc. The ancient man of +Frascati turned the wheel, and no matter on what number the +water-drinkers risked their money, that number did not turn up. +At the close of the summer season a second visit was made to the +prime minister, and the Blancs returned to Frankfort with an +exclusive concession to establish games of hazard within the wide +spreading dominions of the Landgraf. For this they had agreed to +build a kursaal, to lay out a public garden, and to pay into the +national exchequer 40,000 florins (a florin is worth one shilling +and eight-pence) per annum. Having obtained this concession, the +next step was to found a company. Frankfort abounds in Hebrew +speculators, who are not particular how they make money, and as +the speculation appeared a good one, the money was soon +forthcoming. It was decided that the nominal capital was to be +400,000 florins, divided into shares of 100 florins each. Half +the shares were subscribed for by the Hebrew financialists, and +the other half was credited to the Blancs as the price of their +concession. During the winter a small kursaal was built and a +small garden planted; the mineral well was deepened, and flaming +advertisements appeared in all the German newspapers announcing +to the world that the famous waters of Hombourg were able to cure +every disease to which flesh is heir, and that to enable visitors +to while away their evenings agreeably a salon had been opened, +in which they would have an opportunity to win fabulous sums +by risking their money either at the game of _Trente et Quarante_ +or at _Roulette_. From these small beginnings arose the +"company" whose career has been so notorious. It has enjoyed +uninterrupted good fortune. During the twenty-six years that +have elapsed since its foundation, a vast palace dedicated to +gambling has been built, the village has become a town, well +paved, and lighted with gas; the neighbouring hills are covered +with villas; about eighty acres have been laid out in pleasure- +grounds; roads have been made in all directions through the +surrounding woods; the visitors are numbered by tens of +thousands; there are above twenty hotels and many hundred +excellent lodging-houses.'[77] + + +[77] Correspondent of _Daily News._ + + +`Let those who are disposed to risk their money inquire what is +the character of the managers, and be on their guard. The +expenses of such an enormous and splendid establishment amount to +L10,000, and the shares have for some years paid a handsome +dividend--the whole of which must be paid out of the pockets of +travellers and visitors.'[78] + + +[78] Murray, _ubi supra_. + + +Mr Sala in his interesting work, already quoted, furnishes the +completest account of Hombourg, its Kursaal, and gambling, +which I have condensed as follows:-- + +`In Hombourg the Kursaal is everything, and the town nothing. +The extortionate hotel-keepers, the "snub-nosed rogues of +counter and till," who overcharge you in the shops, make their +egregious profits from the Kursaal. The major part of the +Landgrave's revenue is derived from the Kursaal; he draws +L5000 a year from it. He and his house are sold to the +Kursaal; and the Board of Directors of the Kursaal are the real +sovereigns and land-graves of Hesse Hombourg. They have +metamorphosed a miserable mid-German townlet into a city of +palaces. Their stuccoed and frescoed palace is five hundred +times handsomer than the mouldy old Schloss, built by William +with the silver leg. They have planted the gardens; they have +imported the orange-trees; they have laid out the park, and +enclosed the hunting-grounds; they board, lodge, wash, and tax +the inhabitants; and I may say, without the slightest attempt at +punning, that the citizens are all _Kursed_. + +`In the Kursaal is the ball or concert-room, at either end of +which is a gallery, supported by pillars of composition marble. +The floors are inlaid, and immense mirrors in sumptuous +frames hang on the walls. Vice can see her own image all over +the establishment. The ceiling is superbly decorated with bas- +reliefs in _carton-pierre_, like those in Mr Barry's new +Covent Garden Theatre; and fresco paintings, executed by Viotti, +of Milan, and Conti, of Munich; whilst the whole is lighted up by +enormous and gorgeous chandeliers. The apartment to the right is +called the _Salle Japanese_, and is used as a dining-room for a +monster _table d'hote_, held twice a day, and served by the +famous Chevet of Paris. + +`There is a huge Cafe Olympique, for smoking and imbibing +purposes, private cabinets for parties, the monster saloon, and +two smaller ones, where _FROM ELEVEN IN THE FORENOON TO ELEVEN +AT NIGHT, SUNDAYS NOT EXCEPTED, ALL THE YEAR ROUND_, and year +after year--(the "administration" have yet a "_jouissance_" +of eighty-five years to run out, guaranteed by the incoming +dynasty of Hesse Darmstadt), knaves and fools, from almost every +corner of the world, gamble at the ingenious and amusing games of +_Roulette_, and _Rouge et Noir_, otherwise _Trente et Quarante_. + +`There is one table covered with green baize, tightly +stretched as on a billiard-field. In the midst of the table +there is a circular pit, coved inwards, but not bottomless, and +containing the Roulette wheel, a revolving disc, turning with an +accurate momentum on a brass pillar, and divided at its outer +edge into thirty-seven narrow and shallow pigeon-hole +compartments, coloured alternately red and black, and numbered-- +not consecutively--up to thirty-six. The last is a blank, and +stands for _Zero_, number _Nothing_. Round the upper edge, too, +run a series of little brass hoops, or bridges, to cause the ball +to hop and skip, and not at once into the nearest compartment. +This is the regimen of Roulette. The banker sits before the +wheel,--a croupier, or payer-out of winnings to and raker in of +losses from the players, on either side. Crying in a voice +calmly sonorous, "_Faites le Jeu, Messieurs_,"--"Make your +game, gentlemen!" the banker gives the wheel a dexterous twirl, +and ere it has made one revolution, casts into its Maelstrom of +black and red an ivory ball. The interval between this and the +ball finding a home is one of breathless anxiety. Stakes are +eagerly laid; but at a certain period of the revolution the +banker calls out--"_Le Jeu est fait. Rien ne va plus_,"-- +and after that intimation it is useless to lay down money. +Then the banker, in the same calm and impassable voice, declares +the result. It may run thus:--"_Vingt-neuf, Noir, Impair, et +Passe," "Twenty-nine, Black, Odd, and Pass the Rubicon_" (No. +18); or, "_Huit, Rouge, Pair, et Manque_," "Eight, Red, Even, +and _NOT_ Pass the Rubicon." + +`Now, on either side of the wheel, and extending to the extremity +of the table, run, in duplicate, the schedule of _mises_ or +stakes. The green baize first offers just thirty-six square +compartments, marked out by yellow threads woven in the fabric +itself, and bearing thirty-six consecutive numbers. If you place +a florin (one and eight-pence)--and no lower stake is permitted-- +or ten florins, or a Napoleon, or an English five-pound note, or +any sum of money not exceeding the maximum, whose multiple is the +highest stake which the bank, if it loses, can be made to pay, in +the midst of compartment 29, and if the banker, in that calm +voice of his, has declared that 29 has become the resting place +of the ball, the croupier will push towards you with his rake +exactly thirty-three times the amount of your stake, whatever it +might have been. You must bear in mind, however, that the bank's +loss on a single stake is limited to eight thousand francs. +Moreover, if you have placed another sum of money in the +compartment inscribed, in legible yellow colours, "_Impair_," +or Odd, you will receive the equivalent to your stake--twenty- +nine being an odd number. If you have placed a coin on _Passe_, +you will also receive this additional equivalent to your stake, +twenty-nine being "Past the Rubicon," or middle of the table of +numbers--18. Again, if you have ventured your money in a +compartment bearing for device a lozenge in outline, which +represents black, and twenty-nine being a black number, you will +again pocket a double stake, that is, one in addition to your +original venture. More, and more still,--if you have risked +money on the columns--that is, betted on the number turning up +corresponding with some number in one of the columns of the +tabular schedule, and have selected the right column--you have +your own stake and two others;--if you have betted on either of +these three eventualities, _douze premier, douze milieu_, or +_douze dernier_, otherwise "first dozen," "middle dozen," or +"last dozen," as one to twelve, thirteen to twenty-four, +twenty-five to thirty-six, all inclusive, and have chanced to +select _douze dernier_, the division in which No. 29 occurs, +you also obtain a treble stake, namely, your own and two more +which the bank pays you, your florin or your five-pound note-- +benign fact!--metamorphosed into three. But, woe to the wight +who should have ventured on the number "eight," on the red +colour (compartment with a crimson lozenge), on "even," and on +"not past the Rubicon;" for twenty-nine does not comply with +any one of these conditions. He loses, and his money is coolly +swept away from him by the croupier's rake. With reference to +the last chances I enumerated in the last paragraph, I should +mention that the number _EIGHT_ would lie in the second column-- +there being three columns,--and in the first dozen numbers. + +`There are more chances, or rather subdivisions of chances, to +entice the player to back the "numbers;" for these the stations +of the ball are as capricious as womankind; and it is, of course, +extremely rare that a player will fix upon the particular number +that happens to turn up. But he may place a piece of money _a +cheval_, or astride, on the line which divides two numbers, in +which case (either of the numbers turning up) he receives +sixteen times his stake. He may place it on the cross lines +that divide four numbers, and, if either of the four wins, he +will receive eight times the amount of his stake. A word as to +_Zero_. Zero is designated by the compartment close to the +wheel's diameter, and zero, or blank, will turn up, on an +average, about once in seventy times. If you have placed money +in zero, and the ball seeks that haven, you will receive thirty- +three times your stake.' + +The twin or elder brother of _Roulette_, played at Hombourg, +_Rouge et Noir_, or _Trente et Quarante_, is thus described by Mr +Sala:-- + +`There is the ordinary green-cloth covered table, with its +brilliant down-coming lights. In the centre sits the banker, +gold and silver in piles and _rouleaux_, and bank-notes before +him. On either hand, the croupier, as before, now wielding the +rakes and plying them to bring in the money, now balancing them, +now shouldering them, as soldiers do their muskets, half-pay +officers their canes, and dandies their silk umbrellas. The +banker's cards are, as throughout all the Rhenish gaming-places, +of French design; the same that were invented, or, at least, +first used in Europe, for crazy Charles the Simple. These +cards are placed on an inclined plane of marble, called a +_talon_. + +`The dealer first takes six packs of cards, shuffles them, and +distributes them in various parcels to the various punters or +players round the table, to shuffle and mix. He then finally +shuffles them, and takes and places the end cards into various +parts of the three hundred and twelve cards, until he meets with +a _court card_, which he must place upright at the end. This +done, he presents the pack to one of the players to cut, who +places the pictured card where the _dealer_ separates the pack, +and that part of the pack beyond the pictured card he places at +the end nearest him, leaving the pictured card at the bottom of +the pack. + +`The dealer then takes a certain number of cards, about as many +as would form a pack, and, looking at the first card, to know its +colour, puts it on the table with its face downwards. He then +takes two cards, one red and the other black, and sets them back +to back. These cards are turned, and displayed conspicuously, as +often as the colour varies, for the information of the company. + +`The gamblers having staked their money on either of the colours, +the dealer asks, "_Votre jeu est-il fait?_" "Is your game +made?" or, "_Votre jeu est-il piet?_" "Is your game +ready?" or, "_Le jeu est pret, Messieurs_," "The game is +ready, gentlemen." He then deals the first card with its face +upwards, saying "_Noir;_' and continues dealing until the cards +turned exceed thirty points or pips in number, which number he +must mention, as "_Trente-et-un_," or "_Trente-six_," as the +case may be. + +`As the aces reckon but for one, no card after thirty can make up +forty; the dealer, therefore, does not declare the _tens_ after +_thirty-one_, or upwards, but merely the units, as one, two, +three; if the number of points dealt for _Noir_ are thirty-five +he says "_Cinq_." + +`Another parcel is then dealt for _rouge_, or _red_, and with +equal deliberation and solemnity; and if the players stake beyond +the colour that comes to _thirty-one_ or nearest to it, he wins, +which happy eventuality is announced by the dealer crying-- +"_Rouge gagne_," "Red wins," or "_Rouge perd_," "Red +loses." These two parcels, one for each colour, make a _coup_. +The same number of parcels being dealt for each colour, the +dealer says, "_Apres_," "After." This is a "doublet," +called in the amiable French tongue, "_un refait_," by which +neither party wins, unless both colours come to _thirty- +one_, which the dealer announces by saying, "_Un refait Trente- +et-un_, and he wins half the stakes posted on both colours. He, +however, does not take the money, but removes it to the middle +line, and the players may change the _venue_ of their stakes if +they please. This is called the first "prison," or _la +premiere prison_, and, if they win their next event, they draw +the entire stake. In case of another "_refait_," the money is +removed into the third line, which is called the second prison. +So you see that there are wheels within wheels, and Lord +Chancellor King's dictum, that walls can be built higher, but +there should be no prison within a prison, is sometimes reversed. + +When this happens the dealer wins all. + +`The cards are sometimes cut for which colour shall be dealt +first; but, in general, the first parcel is for _black_, and the +second for _red_. The odds against a "_refait_" turning up are +usually reckoned as 63 to 1. The bankers, however, acknowledge +that they expect it twice in three deals, and there are generally +from twenty-nine to thirty-two coups in each deal. The odds in +favour of winning several times are about the same as in the +game of Pharaon, and are as delusive. `He who goes to Hombourg +and expects to see any melodramatic manifestation of rage, +disappointment, and despair in the losing players, reckons +without his host. Winners or losers seldom speak above a +whisper; and the only sound that is heard above the suppressed +buzz of conversation, the muffled jingle of the money on the +green cloth, the "sweep" of the croupiers' rakes, and the +ticking of the very ornate French clocks on the mantel-pieces, is +the impassibly metallic voice of the banker, as he proclaims his +"_Rouge perd_," or "_Couleur gagne_." People are too genteel +at Hombourg-von-der-Hohe to scream, to yell, to fall into +fainting fits, or go into convulsions, because they have lost +four or five thousand francs or so in a single coup. + +`I have heard of one gentleman, indeed, who, after a ruinous +loss, put a pistol to his head, and discharging it, spattered his +brains over the Roulette wheel. It was said that the banker, +looking up calmly, called out--`_Triple Zero,' `Treble +Nothing_,'--a case as yet unheard of in the tactics of Roulette, +but signifying annihilation,--and that, a cloth being thrown over +the ensanguined wheel, the bank of that particular table was +declared to be closed for the day. Very probably the whole story +is but a newspaper _canard_, devised by the proprietors of some +rival gaming establishment, who would have been delighted to see +the fashionable Hombourg under a cloud. + +`When people want to commit suicide at Hombourg, they do it +genteelly; early in the morning, or late at night, in the +solitude of their own apartments at the hotels. It would be +reckoned a gross breach of good manners to scandalize the refined +and liberal administration of the Kursaal by undisguised _felo- +de-se_. The devil on two _croupes_ at Hombourg is the very +genteelest of demons imaginable. He ties his tail up with +cherry-coloured ribbon, and conceals his cloven foot in a patent- +leather boot. All this gentility and varnish, and elegant +veneering of the sulphurous pit, takes away from him, if it does +not wholly extinguish, the honour and loathing for a common +gaming-house, with which the mind of a wellured English +youth has been sedulously imbued by his parents and guardians. +He has very probably witnessed the performance of the +"Gamester" at the theatre, and been a spectator of the +remorseful agonies of Mr Beverly, the virtuous sorrows of +Mrs B., and the dark villanies of Messieurs Dawson and Bates. + +`The first visit of the British youth to the Kursaal is usually +paid with fear and trembling. He is with difficulty persuaded to +enter the accursed place. When introduced to the saloons-- +delusively called _de conversation_, he begins by staring fixedly +at the chandeliers, the ormolu clocks, and the rich draperies, +and resolutely averts his eyes from the serried ranks of punters +or players, and the Pactolus, whose sands are circulating on the +green cloth on the table. Then he thinks there is no very great +harm in looking on, and so peeps over the shoulder of a +moustached gamester, who perhaps whispers to him in the interval +between two coups, that if a man will only play carefully, and be +content with moderate gains, he may win sufficient--taking the +good days and the evil days in a lump--to keep him in a decent +kind of affluence all the year round. Indeed, I once knew a +croupier--we used to call him Napoleon, from the way he took +snuff from his waistcoat pocket, who was in the way of expressing +a grave conviction that it was possible to make a capital +living at Roulette, so long as you stuck to the colours, and +avoided the Scylla of the numbers and the Charybdis of the Zero. +By degrees, then, the shyness of the neophyte wears off. Perhaps +in the course of his descent of Avernus, a revulsion of feeling +takes place, and, horror-struck and ashamed, he rushes out of the +Kursaal, determined to enter its portals no more. Then he +temporizes; remembers that there is a capital reading-room, +provided with all the newspapers and periodicals of civilized +Europe, attached to the Kursaalian premises. There can be no +harm, he thinks, in glancing over "Galignani" or the +"Charivari," although under the same roof as the abhorred +_Trente et Quarante;_ but, alas! he finds _Galignani_ engaged by +an acrid old lady of morose countenance, who has lost all her +money by lunch-time, and is determined to "take it out in +reading," and the _Charivari_ slightly clenched in one hand by +the deaf old gentleman with the dingy ribbon of the Legion of +Honour, and the curly brown wig pushed up over one ear, who +always goes to sleep on the soft and luxurious velvet couches of +the Kursaal reading-room, from eleven till three, every day, +Sundays not excepted. The disappointed student of home or +foreign news wanders back to one of the apartments where +play is going, on. In fact, he does not know what to do +with himself until table-d'hote time. You know what the moral +bard, Dr Watts says:-- + +"Satan finds some mischief still, +For idle hands to do." + +The unfledged gamester watches the play more narrowly. A stout +lady in a maroon velvet mantle, and a man with a bald head, a +black patch on his occiput, and gold spectacles, obligingly makes +way for him. He finds himself pressed against the very edge of +the table. Perhaps a chair--one of those delightfully +comfortable Kursaal chairs--is vacant. He is tired with doing +nothing, and sinks into the emolliently-cushioned _fauteuil_. He +fancies that he has caught the eye of the banker, or one of the +gentlemen of the _croupe_, and that they are meekly inviting him +to try his luck. "Well, there can't be much harm in risking a +florin," he murmurs. He stakes his silver-piece on a number or +a colour. He wins, we will say, twice or thrice. Perhaps he +quadruples his stake, nay, perchance, hits on the lucky number. +It turns up, and he receives thirty-five times the amount of his +_mise_. Thenceforth it is all over with that ingenuous +British youth. The Demon of Play has him for his own, and he may +go on playing and playing until he has lost every florin of his +own, or as many of those belonging to other people as he can beg +or borrow. Far more fortunate for him would it be in the long +run, if he met in the outset with a good swinging loss. The +burnt child _DOES_ dread the fire as a rule; but there is this +capricious, almost preternatural, feature of the physiology of +gaming, that the young and inexperienced generally win in the +first instance. They are drawn on and on, and in and in. They +begin to lose, and continue to lose, and by the time they have +cut their wise teeth they have neither sou nor silver to make +their dearly-bought wisdom available. + +`At least one-half of the company may be assumed to be arrant +rascals--rascals male and rascals female--_chevaliers +d'industrie_, the offscourings of all the shut-up gambling-houses +in Europe, demireps and _lorettes_, single and married women +innumerable.' + +In the course of the three visits he has paid to Hombourg, Mr +Sala has observed that `nine-tenths of the English visitors to +the Kursaal, play;' and he does not hesitate to say that the +moths who flutter round the garish lamps at the Kursaal Van +der Hohe, and its kindred Hades, almost invariably singe their +wings; and that the chaseer at _Roulette_ and _Rouge_, generally +turn out edged tools, with which those incautious enough to play +with them are apt to cut their fingers, sometimes very +dangerously. + +The season of 1869 in Hombourg is thus depicted in a high class +newspaper. + +`Never within the memory of the oldest inhabitant (who in this +instance must undoubtedly be that veteran player Countess +Kisselef) has the town witnessed such an influx of tourists of +every class and description. Hotels and lodging-houses are +filled to overflowing. Every day imprudent travellers who have +neglected the precaution of securing rooms before their arrival +return disconsolately to Frankfort to await the vacation of some +apartment which a condescending landlord has promised them after +much negotiation for the week after next. The morning promenade +is a wonderful sight; such a host of bilious faces, such an +endless variety of eccentric costumes, such a Babel of tongues, +among which the shrill twang of our fair American cousins is +peculiarly prominent, could be found in no other place in +the civilized world. A moralist would assuredly find here +abundant food for reflection on the wonderful powers of self- +deception possessed by mankind. We all get up at most +inconvenient hours, swallow a certain quantity of a most nauseous +fluid, and then, having sacrificed so much to appearances, soothe +our consciences with the unfounded belief that a love of early +rising and salt water was our real reason for coming here, and +that the gambling tables had nothing whatever to do with it. +Perhaps, in some few instances, this view may be the correct one; +some few invalids, say one in a hundred, may have sought Hombourg +solely in the interest of an impaired digestion, but I fear that +such cases are few and far between; and, as a friend afflicted +with a mania for misquotation remarked to me the other day, even +"those who come to drink remain to play." + +`Certainly the demon of Rouge et Noir has never held more +undisputed sway in Hombourg than in the present season; never +have the tables groaned under such a load of notes and rouleaux. +It would seem as if the gamblers, having only two or more years +left in which to complete their ruin, were hurrying on with +redoubled speed to that desirable consummation, and where a stake +of 12,000 francs is allowed on a single coup the pace can be made +very rapid indeed. High play is so common that unless you are +lucky enough to win or rich enough to lose a hundred thousand +francs at least, you need not hope to excite either envy or +commiseration. One persevering Muscovite, who has been punting +steadily for six weeks, has actually succeeded in getting rid of +a million of florins. As yet there have been no suicides to +record, owing probably to the precautionary measures adopted by a +paternal Administration. As soon as a gambler is known to be +utterly cleared out he at once receives a visit from one of M. +Blanc's officials, who offers him a small sum on condition he +will leave the town forthwith; which viaticum, however, for fear +of accidents, is only handed to him when fairly seated in the +train that bears him away, to blow out his brains, should he feel +so inclined, elsewhere. One of the most unpleasant facts +connected with the gambling is the ardour displayed by many +ladies in this very unfeminine pursuit: last night out of twenty- +five persons seated at the Roulette table I counted no fewer than +fifteen ladies, including an American lady with her two +daughters! + +`The King of Prussia has arrived, and, with due deference to the +official editors who have described in glowing paragraphs the +popular demonstrations in his honour, I am bound to assert that +he was received with very modified tokens of delight. There was +not even a repetition of the triumphal arch of last year; those +funereal black and white flags, whose sole aspect is enough to +repress any exuberance of rejoicing, were certainly flapping +against the hotel windows and the official flagstaffs, but little +else testified to the joy of the Hombourgers at beholding their +Sovereign. They manage these things better in France. Any +French _prefet_ would give the German authorities a few useful +hints concerning the cheap and speedy manufacture of loyal +enthusiasm. The foreigners, however, seem determined to atone +amply for any lack of proper feeling on the part of the +townspeople. They crowd round his Majesty as soon as he appears +in the rooms or gardens, and mob the poor old gentleman with a +vigour which taxes all the energies of his aides-de-camp to save +their Royal master from death by suffocation. Need I add +that our old friend the irrepressible "'Arry" is ever foremost +in these gentlemanlike demonstrations? + +`Of course the town swarms with well-known English faces; indeed, +the Peers and M.P.s here at present would form a very respectable +party in the two Houses. We are especially well off for dukes; +the _Fremdenliste_ notifies the presence of no fewer than five of +those exalted personages. A far less respectable class of London +society is also, I am sorry to say, strongly represented: I +allude to those gentlemen of the light-fingered persuasion whom +the outer world rudely designate as pickpockets. This morning +two gorgeously arrayed members of the fraternity were marched +down to the station by the police, each being decorated with a +pair of bright steel handcuffs; seventeen of them were arrested +last week in Frankfort at one fell swoop, and at the tables the +row of lookers-on who always surround the players consists in +about equal proportions of these gentry and their natural +enemies--the detectives. Their booty since the beginning of the +season must be reckoned by thousands. Mustapha Fazyl Pasha had +his pocket picked of a purse containing L600, and a Russian +lady was lately robbed of a splendid diamond brooch valued +at 75,000 francs.[79] + + +[79] Pall Mall Gazette, Aug. 1869. + + +But the days of the Kursaal are numbered, and the glories or +infamies of Hombourg are doomed. + +`The fiat has gone forth. In five years[80] from this time the +"game will be made" no longer--the great gambling establishment +of Hombourg will be a thing of the past. The town will be +obliged to contend on equal terms with other watering-places for +its share of the wool on the backs of summer excursionists. + + +[80] In 1872. + + +`As most of the townspeople are shareholders in this thriving +concern, and as all of them gain either directly or indirectly by +the play, it was amusing to watch the anxiety of these worthies +during the war between Austria and Prussia. Patriotism they had +none; they cared neither for Austrian nor Prussian, for a great +Germany nor for a small Germany. The "company" was their god +and their country. All that concerned them was to know whether +the play was likely to be suppressed. When they were annexed to +Prussia, at first they could not believe that Count Bismarck, +whatever he might do with kings, would venture to interfere +with the "bank." It was to them a divine institution-- +something far superior to dynasties and kingdoms. . . . + +`For a year the Hombourgers were allowed to suppose that their +"peculiar institution" was indeed superior to fate, to public +opinion, and to Prussia; but at the commencement of the present +year they were rudely awakened from their dreams of security. +The sword that had been hanging over them fell. The directors of +the company were ordered to appear before the governor of the +town, and they were told that they and all belonging to them were +to cease to exist in 1872, and that the following arrangement was +to be made respecting the plunder gained until that date. The +shareholders were to receive 10 per cent. on their money; 5000 +shares were to be paid off at par each year, and if this did not +absorb all the profits, the surplus was to go towards a fund for +keeping up the gardens after the play had ceased. By this means, +as there are now 36,000 shares, 25,000 will be paid off at par, +and the remaining 11,000 will be represented by the buildings and +the land belonging to the company, which it will be at liberty to +sell to the highest bidder. Since this decree has been +promulgated the Hombourgers are in despair. The croupiers +and the clerks, the Jews who lend money at high interest, the +Christians who let lodgings, all the rogues and swindlers who one +way or another make a living out of the play, fill the air with +their complaints. + +`Although no doubt individuals will suffer by the suppression of +public play here, it is by no means certain that the town itself +will not be a gainer by it. Holiday seekers must go somewhere. +The air of Hombourg is excellent; the waters are invigorating; +the town is well situated and easy of access by rail; living is +comparatively cheap--a room may be had for about 18_s_. a week, +an excellent dinner for 2_s_.; breakfast costs less than a +shilling. Hombourg is now a fixed fact, and if the townspeople +take heart and grapple with the new state of things--if they buy +up the Kursaal, and throw open its salons to visitors; if they +keep up the opera, the cricket club, and the shooting; if they +have good music, and balls and concerts for those who like them, +there is no reason why they should not attract as many visitors +to their town as they do now.'[81] + + +[81] Correspondent of _Daily News._ + + +AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. + + +The gaming at Aix-la-Chapelle is equally desperate and +destructive. `A Russian officer of my acquaintance,' says a +writer in the Annual Register for 1818, `was subject, like many +of his countrymen whom I have known, to the infatuation of play +to a most ridiculous excess. His distrust of himself under the +assailments which he anticipated at a place like Aix-la-Chapelle, +had induced him to take the prudent precaution of paying in +advance at his hotel for his board and lodging, and at the +bathing-house for his baths, for the time he intended to stay. +The remaining contents of his purse he thought fairly his own; +and he went of course to the table all the gayer for the license +he had taken of his conscience. On fortune showing him a few +favours, he came to me in high spirits, with a purse full of +Napoleons, and a resolute determination to keep them by venturing +no more; but a gamester can no more be stationary than the tide +of a river, and on the evening he was put out of suspense by +having not a Napoleon left, and nothing to console but +congratulation on his foresight, and the excellent supper +which was the fruit of it.' + +Towards the end of the last century Aix-la-Chapelle was a great +rendezvous of gamblers. The chief banker there paid a thousand +louis per annum for his license. A little Italian adventurer +once went to the place with only a few louis in his pocket, and +played crown stakes at Hazard. Fortune smiled on him; he +increased his stakes progressively; in twenty-four hours won +about L4000. On the following day he stripped the bank +entirely, pocketing nearly L10,000. He continued to play for +some days, till he was at last reduced to a single louis! He now +obtained from a friend the loan of L30, and once more resumed +his station at the gaming table, which he once more quitted with +L10,000 in his pocket, and resolved to leave it for ever. The +arguments of one of the bankers, however, who followed him to his +inn, soon prevailed over his resolution, and on his return to the +gaming table he was stripped of his last farthing. He went to +his lodgings, sold his clothes, and by that means again appeared +at his old haunt, for the half-crown stakes, by which he +honourably repaid his loan of L30. His end was unknown to the +relater of the anecdote, but `ten to one,' it was ruin. + +At the same place, in the year 1793, the heir-apparent of an +Irish Marquis lost at various times nearly L20,000 at a +billiard table, partly owing to his antagonist being an excellent +calculator, as well as a superior player. + +A French emigrant at Aix-la-Chapelle, who carried a basket of +tarts, liqueurs, &c., for regaling the gamesters, put down +twenty-five louis at _Rouge et Noir_. He lost. He then put down +fifteen, and lost again; at the third turn he staked ten; but +while the cards were being shuffled, seeming to recollect +himself, he felt all his pockets, and at length found two large +French crowns, and a small one, which he also ventured. The deal +was determined at the ninth card; and the poor wretch, who had +lost his all, dashed down his basket, started from his seat, +overturning two chairs as he forced the circle, tore off his +hair, and with horrid blasphemies, burst the folding doors, and +rushing out like a madman, was seen no more. + +Another emigrant arrived here penniless, but meeting a friend, +obtained the loan of a few crowns, nearly his all. With these he +went to the rooms, put down his stake, and won. He then +successively doubled his stakes till he closed the evening with a +hundred louis in his pocket. He went to his friend, and with +mutual congratulations they resolved to venture no more, and +calculated how long their gains would support them from absolute +want, and thus seemed to strengthen their wise resolution. + +The next night, however, the lucky gambler returned to the room-- +but only to be a spectator, as he firmly said. Alas! his +resolution failed him, and he quitted the tables indebted to a +charitable bystander for a livre or two, to pay for his petty +refreshments. + +It is said that the annual profit to the bankers was 120,000 +florins, or L14,000. + +`The very name of Aix-la-Chapelle,' says a traveller, `makes one +think (at least, makes me think) of cards and dice,--sharks and +pigeons. It has a "professional odour" upon it, which is +certainly not that of sanctity. I entered the Redoute with my +head full of sham barons, German Catalinas, and the thousand-and- +one popular tales of renowned knights of the green cloth,--their +seducing confederates, and infatuated dupes. + +`The rooms are well distributed; the saloons handsome. A +sparkling of ladies, apparently (and really, as I understood) of +the best water, the _elite_, in short, of Aix-la-Chapelle, +were lounging on sofas placed round the principal saloon, or +fluttering about amidst a crowd of men, who filled up the centre +of the room, or thronged round the tables that were ranged on one +side of it. + +`The players continued their occupation in death-like silence, +undisturbed by the buzz or the gaze of the lookers-on; not a +sound was heard but the rattle of the heaped-up money, as it was +passed from one side of the table to the other; nor was the +smallest anxiety or emotion visible on any countenance. + +`The scene was unpleasing, though to me curious from its novelty. + +Ladies are admitted to play, but there were none occupied this +morning. I was glad of it; indeed, though English travellers are +accused of carrying about with them a portable code of morality, +which dissolves or stiffens like a soap-cake as circumstances may +affect its consistency, yet I sincerely believe that there are +few amongst us who would not feel shocked at seeing one of the +gentler sex in so unwomanly a position.'[82] + + +[82] Reminiscences of the Rhine, &c. Anon. + + +WIESBADEN. + + +The gambling here in 1868 has been described in a very vivid +manner. + +`Since the enforcement of the Prussian Sunday observance +regulations, Monday has become the great day of the week for the +banks of the German gambling establishments. Anxious to make up +for lost time, the regular contributors to the company's +dividends flock early on Monday forenoon to the play-rooms in +order to secure good places at the tables, which, by the +appointed hour for commencing operations (eleven o'clock), are +closely hedged round by persons of both sexes, eagerly waiting +for the first deal of the cards or the initial twist of the brass +wheel, that they may try another fall with Fortune. Before each +seated player are arranged precious little piles of gold and +silver, a card printed in black and red, and a long pin, +wherewith to prick out a system of infallible gain. The +croupiers take their seats and unpack the strong box; rouleaux-- +long metal sausages composed of double and single florins,-- +wooden bowls brimming over with gold Frederics and Napoleons, +bank notes of all sizes and colours, are arranged upon the +black leather compartment, ruled over by the company's officers; +half-a-dozen packs of new cards are stripped of their paper +cases, and swiftly shuffled together; and when all these +preliminaries, watched with breathless anxiety by the surrounding +speculators, have been gravely and carefully executed, the chief +croupier looks round him--a signal for the prompt investment of +capital on all parts of the table--chucks out a handful of cards +from the mass packed together convenient to his hand--ejaculates +the formula, "Faites le jeu!" and, after half a minute's pause, +during which he delicately moistens the ball of his dealing +thumb, exclaims "Le jeu est fait, rien ne va plus," and +proceeds to interpret the decrees of fate according to the +approved fashion of Trente et Quarante. A similar scene is +taking place at the Roulette table--a goodly crop of florins, +with here and there a speck of gold shining amongst the silver +harvest, is being sown over the field of the cloth of green, soon +to be reaped by the croupier's sickle, and the pith ball is being +dropped into the revolving basin that is partitioned off into so +many tiny black and red niches. For the next twelve hours the +processes in question are carried on swiftly and steadily, +without variation or loss of time; relays of croupiers are laid +on, who unobtrusively slip into the places of their fellows when +the hours arrive for relieving guard; the game is never stopped +for more than a couple of minutes at a time, viz., when the cards +run out and have to be re-shuffled. This brief interruption is +commonly considered to portend a break in the particular vein +which the game may have happened to assume during the deal--say a +run upon black or red, an alternation of coups (in threes or +fours) upon either colour, two reds and a black, or _vice +versa_, all equally frequent eccentricities of the cards; and +the heavier players often change their seats, or leave the table +altogether for an hour or so at such a conjuncture. Curiously +enough, excepting at the very commencement of the day's play, the +_habitues_ of the Trente et Quarante tables appear to +entertain a strong antipathy to the first deal or two after the +cards have been "re-made." I have been told by one or two +masters of the craft that they have a fancy to see how matters +are likely to go before they strike in, as if it were possible to +deduce the future of the game from its past! That it is possible +appears to be an article of faith with the old stagers, and, +indeed, every now and then odd coincidences occur which tend to +confirm them in their creed. I witnessed an occurrence which was +either attributable (as I believe) to sheer chance, or (as its +hero earnestly assured me) to instinct. A fair and frail Magyar +was punting on numbers with immense pluck and uniform ill +fortune. Behind her stood a Viennese gentleman of my +acquaintance, who enjoys a certain renown amongst his friends for +the faculty of prophecy, which, however, he seldom exercises for +his own benefit. Observing that she hesitated about staking her +double florin, he advised her to set it on the number 3. Round +went the wheel, and in twenty seconds the ball tumbled into +compartment 3 sure enough. At the next turn she asked his +advice, and was told to try number 24. No sooner said than done, +and 24 came up in due course, whereby Mdlle L. C. won 140 odd +gulden in two coups, the amount risked by her being exactly four +florins. Like a wise girl, she walked off with her booty, and +played no more that day at Roulette. A few minutes later I saw +an Englishman go through the performance of losing four thousand +francs by experimentalizing on single numbers. Twenty times +running did he set ten louis-d'ors on a number (varying the +number at each stake), and not one of his selection proved +successful. At the "Thirty and Forty" I saw an eminent +diplomatist win sixty thousand francs with scarcely an +intermission of failure; he played all over the table, pushing +his rouleaux backwards and forwards, from black to red, without +any appearance of system that I could detect, and the cards +seemed to follow his inspiration. It was a great battle; as +usual, three or four smaller fish followed in his wake, till they +lost courage and set against him, much to their discomfiture and +the advantage of the bank; but from first to last--that is, till +the cards ran out, and he left the table--he was steadily +victorious. In the evening he went in again for another heavy +bout, at which I chanced to be present; but fortune had forsaken +him; and he not only lost his morning's winnings, but eight +thousand francs to boot. I do not remember to have ever seen the +tables so crowded--outside it was thundering, lightening, and +raining as if the world were coming to an end, and the whole +floating population of Wiesbaden was driven into the Kursaal by +the weather. A roaring time of it had the bank; when play +was over, about which time the rain ceased, hundreds of hot and +thirsty gamblers streamed out of the reeking rooms to the glazed- +in terrace, and the next hour, always the pleasantest of the +twenty-four here and in Hombourg--at Ems people go straight from +the tables to bed,--was devoted to animated chat and unlimited +sherry-cobbler; all the "events" of the day were passed in +review, experiences exchanged, and confessions made. Nobody had +won; I could not hear of a single great success--the bank had had +it all its own way, and most of the "lions," worsted in the +fray, had evidently made up their minds to "drown it in the +bowl." The Russian detachment--a very strong one this year--was +especially hard hit; Spain and Italy were both unusually low- +spirited; and there was an extra solemnity about the British +Isles that told its own sad tale. Englishmen, when they have +lost more than they can afford, generally take it out of +themselves in surly, brooding self-reproach. Frenchmen give vent +to their disgust and annoyance by abusing the game and its +myrmidons. You may hear them, loud and savage, on the terrace, +"Ah! le salle jeu! comment peut-on se laisser eplucher par +des brigands de la sorte! Tripot, infame, va! je te +donne ma malediction!" Italians, again, endeavour to conceal +their discomfiture under a flow of feverish gaiety. Germans +utter one or two "Gotts donnerwetterhimmelsapperment!" light up +their cigars, drink a dozen or so "hocks," and subside into +their usual state of ponderous cheerfulness. Russians betray no +emotion whatever over their calamities, save, perhaps, that they +smoke those famous little `Laferme' cigarettes a trifle faster +and more nervously than at other times; but they are excellent +winners and magnificent losers, only to be surpassed in either +respect by their old enemy the Turk, who is _facile princeps_ in +the art of hiding his feelings from the outer world. + +`The great mass of visitors at Wiesbaden this season, as at +Hombourg, belong to the middle and lower middle classes, leavened +by a very few celebrities and persons of genuine distinction. +There are a dozen or two eminent men here, not to be seen in the +play-rooms, who are taking the waters--Lord Clarendon, Baron +Rothschild, Prince Souvarof, and a few more--but the general run +of guests is by no means remarkable for birth, wealth, or +respectability; and we are shockingly off for ladies. As a +set-off against this deficiency, it would seem that all the aged, +broken-down courtesans of Paris, Vienna, and Berlin have agreed +to make Wiesbaden their autumn rendezvous. Arrayed in all the +colours of the rainbow, painted up to the roots of their dyed +hair, shamelessly _decolletees_, prodigal of "free" talk +and unseemly gesture, these ghastly creatures, hideous +caricatures of youth and beauty, flaunt about the play-rooms and +gardens, levying black-mail upon those who are imprudent enough +to engage them in "chaff" or badinage, and desperately +endeavouring to hook themselves on to the wealthier and younger +members of the male community. They poison the air round them +with sickly perfumes; they assume titles, and speak of one +another as "cette chere comtesse;" their walk is something +between a prance and a wriggle; they prowl about the terrace +whilst the music is playing, seeking whom they may devour, or +rather whom they may inveigle into paying for their devouring: +and, _bon Dieu!_ how they do gorge themselves with food and drink +when some silly lad or aged roue allows himself to be bullied +or wheedled into paying their scot! Their name is legion; and +they constitute the very worst feature of a place which, +naturally a Paradise, is turned into a seventh hell by the +uncontrolled rioting of human passions. They have no friends--no +"protectors;" they are dependent upon accident for a meal or a +piece of gold to throw away at the tables; they are plague-spots +upon the face of society; they are, as a rule, crassly ignorant +and horribly cynical; and yet there are many men here who are +proud of their acquaintance, always ready to entertain them in +the most expensive manner, and who speak of them as if they were +the only desirable companions in the world! + +`Amongst our notabilities of the eccentric sort, not the least +singular in her behaviour is the Countess C----o, an aged +patrician of immense fortune, who is as constant to Wiesbaden as +old Madame de K----f is to Hombourg on the Heights. Like the +last-named lady, she is daily wheeled to her place in the Black +and Red temple, and plays away for eight or nine hours with +wonderful spirit and perseverance. She has with her a _suite_ of +eight domestics; and when she wins (which is not often), on +returning to her hotel at night, she presents each member of her +retinue with--twopence! "not," as she naively avows, "from +a feeling of generosity, but to propitiate Fortune." When +she loses, none of them, save the man who wheels her home, get +anything but hard words from her; and he, happy fellow, receives +a donation of six kreutzers. She does not curse the croupiers +loudly for her bad luck, like her contemporary, the once lovely +Russian Ambassadress; but, being very far advanced in years, and +of a tender disposition, sheds tears over her misfortunes, +resting her chin on the edge of the table. An edifying sight is +this venerable dame, bearing an exalted title, as she mopes and +mouths over her varying luck, missing her stake twice out of +three times, when she fain would push it with her rake into some +particular section of the table! She is very intimate with one +or two antediluvian diplomatists and warriors, who are here +striving to bolster themselves up for another year with the +waters, and may be heard crowing out lamentations over her fatal +passion for play, interspersed with bits of moss-grown scandal, +disinterred from the social ruins of an age long past: Radetzky, +Wratislaw (le beau sabreur), the two Schwarzenbergs (he of +Leipsic, and the former Prime Minister), Paul Eszterhazy, +Wrangel, and Blucher were friends of her youth; judging from +her appearance, one would not be surprised to hear that she +had received a "poulet" from Baron Trenck, or played whist with +Maria Theresa. She has outlived all human friendships or +affections, and exists only for the chink of the gold as it +jingles on the gaming table. I cannot help fancying that her +last words will be "Rien ne va plus!" She is a great and +convincing moral, if one but interpret her rightly.'[83] + + +[83] Daily Telegraph, Aug. 15, 1868. + + +The doom of the German gaming houses seems to be settled. They +will all be closed in 1872, as appears by the following +announcement:-- + +`The Prussian government, not having been able to obtain from the +lessees of the gaming tables at Wiesbaden, Ems, and Hombourg +their consent to their cancelling of their contracts, has +resolved to terminate their privileges by a legislative measure. +It has presented a bill to the Chamber of Deputies at Berlin, +fixing the year 1872 as the limit to the existence of these +establishments, and even authorizing the government to suppress +them at an earlier period by a royal ordinance. No indemnity is +to be allowed to the persons holding concessions.'--_Feb_. 23, +1868. + +A London newspaper defends this measure in a very successful +manner. + +`Prussia has declared her purpose to eradicate from the +territories subject to her increased sway, and from others +recognizing her influence, the disgrace of the _Rouge et Noir_ +and the Roulette table as public institutions. Her reasoning is +to the effect that they bring scandal upon Germany; that they +associate with the names of its favourite watering-places the +appellation of "hells;" that they attract swindlers and +adventurers of every degree; and that they have for many a year +past been held up to the opprobrium of Europe. For why should +this practice be a lawful practice of Germany and of no other +country in Europe? Why not in France, in Spain, in Italy, in the +Northern States, in Great Britain itself? Let us not give to +this last proposition more importance than it is worth. The +German watering-places are places of leisure, of trifling, of +_ennui_. That is why, originally, they were selected as +encampments by the tribes which fatten upon hazards. But there +was another reason: they brought in welcome revenues to needy +princes. Even now, in view of the contemplated expurgation, +Monaco is named, with Geneva, as successor to the perishing +glories of Hombourg, Wiesbaden, and the great Baden itself. That +is to say, the gamblers, or, rather, the professionals who live +upon the gambling propensities of others, having received from +Prussia and her friends notice to quit, are in search of new +lodgings. + +`The question is, they being determined, and the accommodation +being not less certainly ready for them than the sea is for the +tribute of a river, will the reform designed be a really +progressive step in the civilization of Europe? Prussia says-- +decidedly so; because it will demolish an infamous privilege. +She affirms that an institution which might have been excusable +under a landgrave, with a few thousand acres of territory, is +inconsistent with the dignity and, to quote continental +phraseology, the mission of a first-class state. Here again the +reasoning is incontrovertible. Of one other thing, moreover, we +may feel perfectly sure, that Prussia having determined to +suppress these centres and sources of corruption, they will +gradually disappear from Europe. Concede to them a temporary +breathing-time at Monaco; the time left for even a nominally +independent existence to Monaco is short: imagine that they +find a fresh outlet at Geneva; Prussia will have represented the +public opinion of the age, against which not even the +Republicanism of Switzerland can long make a successful stand. +Upon the whole, history can never blame Prussia for such a use +either of her conquests or her influence. Say what you will, +gambling is an indulgence blushed over in England; abroad, +practised as a little luxury in dissipation, it may be pardoned +as venial; habitually, however, it is a leprosy. And as it is by +habitual gamblers that these haunts are made to flourish, this +alone should reconcile the world of tourists to a deprivation +which for them must be slight; while to the class they imitate, +without equalling, it will be the prohibition of an abominable +habit.'[84] + + +[84] Extracts from a `leader' in the Standard of Sept. 4, 1869. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +GAMBLING IN THE UNITED STATES. + +It is not surprising that a people so intensely speculative, +excitable, and eager as the Americans, should be desperately +addicted to gambling. Indeed, the spirit of gambling has +incessantly pervaded all their operations, political, commercial, +and social.[85] It is but one of the manifestations of that +thorough license arrogated to itself by the nation, finding its +true expression in the American maxim recorded by Mr Hepworth +Dixon, so coarsely worded, but so significant,--`Every man +has a right to do what he _DAMNED_ pleases.'[86] + + +[85] In the American correspondence of the Morning Advertiser, +Feb. 6, 1868, the writer says:--`It was only yesterday (Jan. 24) +that an eminent American merchant of this city (New York) said, +in referring to the state of affairs--"we are socially, +politically, and commercially demoralized." ' + + +[86] `Spiritual Wives.'--A work the extraordinary disclosures +of which tend to show that a similar spirit, destined, perhaps, +to bring about the greatest social changes, is gaining ground +elsewhere than in America. + + +Although laws similar to those of England are enacted in America +against gambling, it may be said to exist everywhere, but, of +course, to the greatest extent in the vicinity of the fashionable +quarters of the large cities. In New York there is scarcely a +street without its gambling house--`private,' of course, but well +known to those who indulge in the vice. The ordinary public game +is Faro. + +High and low, rich and poor, are perfectly suited in their +requirements; whilst at some places the stakes are unlimited, at +others they must not exceed one dollar, and a player may wager as +low as five cents, or twopence-halfpenny. These are for the +accommodation of the very poorest workmen, discharged soldiers, +broken-down gamblers, and street-boys. + +`I think,' says a recent writer,[87] `of all the street-boys in +the world, those of New York are the most precocious. I have +seen a shoe-black, about three feet high, walk up to the +table or `Bank,' as it is generally called, and stake his money +(five cents) with the air of a young spendthrift to whom "money +is no object." ' + + +[87] `St James's Magazine,' Sept., 1867. + + +The chief gambling houses of New York were established by men who +are American celebrities, and among these the most prominent have +been Pat Hern and John Morrissey. + + +PAT HERN. + + +Some years ago this celebrated Irishman kept up a splendid +establishment in Broadway, near Hauston Street. At that time his +house was the centre of attraction towards which `all the world' +gravitated, and did the thing right grandly--combining the +Apicius with the Beau Nash or Brummell. He was profusely lavish +with his wines and exuberant in his suppers; and it was generally +said that the game in action there, _Faro_, was played in all +fairness. Pat Hern was a man of jovial disposition and genial +wit, and would have adorned a better position. During the trout- +fishing season he used to visit a well-known place called Islip +in Long Island, much frequented by gentlemen devoted to angling +and fond of good living. + +At Islip the equally renowned Oby Snedecker kept the tavern +which was the resort of Pat Hern and his companions. It had +attached to it a stream and lake to which the gentlemen who had +the privilege of the house were admitted. Mrs Obadiah Snedecker, +the buxom wife of `mine host,' was famous for the exquisite way +in which she cooked veal cutlets. There were two niggers in the +establishment, named Steve and Dick, who accompanied the +gentlemen in their angling excursions, amusing them with their +stolidity and the enormous quantity of gin they could imbibe +without being more than normally fuddled. + +After fishing, the gentlemen used to take to gambling at the +usual French games; but here Pat Hern appeared not in the +character of gambler, but as a private gentleman. He was always +well received by the visitors, and caused them many a hearty +laugh with his overflowing humour. He died about nine years ago, +I think tolerably well off. + + +JOHN MORRISSEY. + + +John Morrissey was originally a prize-fighter,--having fought +with Heenan and also with Yankee Sullivan, and lived by +teaching the young Americans the noble art of self-defence. He +afterwards set up a `Bar,' or public-house, and over this he +established a small Faro bank, which he enlarged and improved by +degrees until it became well known, and was very much frequented +by the gamblers of New York. He is now, I believe, a member of +Congress for that city, and immensely wealthy. Not content with +his successful gambling operations in New York, he has opened a +splendid establishment at the fashionable summer resort of +Saratoga, consisting of an immense hotel, ballrooms, and +gambling-rooms, and is said to have a profit of two millions of +dollars (about L400,000) during the season.[88] He is +mentioned as one of those who pay the most income tax. + + +[88] _Ubi supra_. + + +Morrissey's gambling house is in Union Square, and is said to be +magnificently furnished and distinguished by the most princely +hospitality. At all hours of the day or night tables are laid +out with every description of refreshment, to which all who visit +the place are welcome. + +This is a remarkable feature in the American system. At all +`Bars,' or public-houses, you find provided, free of charge, +supplies of cheese, biscuits, &c., and sometimes even some +savoury soup--which are often resorted to by those unfortunates +who are `clean broke' or `used up,' with little else to assuage +the pangs of hunger but the everlasting quid of tobacco, +furiously `chawed.' Another generous feature of the American +system is that the bar-man does not measure out to you, after our +stingy fashion, what drink you may require, but hands you the +tumbler and bottle to help yourself, unless in the case of made +drinks, such as `mint-juleps,' &c. However, you must drink your +liquor at a gulp, after the Yankee fashion; for if you take a sip +and turn your back to the counter, your glass will disappear--as +it is not customary to have glasses standing about. Morrissey's +wines are very good, and always supplied in abundance. + +Almost every game of chance is played at this establishment, and +the stakes are very high and unlimited. The visitors are the +wealthy and wild young men of New York, and occasionally a +Southern-looking man who, perhaps, has saved some of his +property, being still the same professional gambler; for it may +be affirmed that all the Southern planters were addicted to +gambling. + +`The same flocks of well-dressed and fashionable-looking men +of all ages pass in and out all through the day and night; tens +of thousands of dollars are lost and won; the "click" of the +markers never ceases; all speak in a low tone; everything has a +serious, quiet appearance. The dealers seem to know every one, +and nod familiarly to all who approach their tables. John +Morrissey is occasionally to be seen, walking through the rooms, +apparently a disinterested spectator. He is a short, thick-set +man, of about 40 years, dark complexion, and wears a long beard, +dresses in a slovenly manner, and walks with a swagger. Now and +then he approaches the table; makes a few bets, and is then lost +in the crowd.'[89] + + +[89] _Ubi supra_. + + +OTHER GAMING-HOUSES. + + +The same writer furnishes other very interesting facts. + +`After the opera-house and theatres are closed, Morrissey's +gambling house becomes very full; in fact, the best time to see +it to advantage is about two or three o'clock in the morning. + +`A little below the New York Hotel, and on the opposite side +of Broadway, there is a gambling house, not quite so +"respectable" as the one I have been describing; here the +stakes are not below a dollar, and not more than twenty-five; +there are no refreshments gratis, and the rooms are not so well +furnished. The men to be seen gaming in this house differ but +very little in appearance from those in Union Square, but there +seems to be less discipline amongst them, and more noise and +confusion. It is a rare thing to see an intoxicated man in a +gambling house; the door-keepers are very particular as to whom +they admit, and any disturbance which might call for the +interference of the police would be ruinous to their business. +The police are undoubtedly aware of everything going on in these +houses, and do not interfere as long as everything goes on +quietly. + +`Now and then a clerk spends his employer's money, and if it is +discovered where he lost it then a _RAID_ is made by the police +in force, the tables and all the gaming paraphernalia are carried +off, and the proprietors heavily fined. + +`I witnessed a case of this: a young man in the employment of a +commission merchant appropriated a large sum of his +employer's money, and lost it at Faro. He was arrested, and +confessed what he had done with it. The police at once proceeded +to the house where the Faro bank was kept, and the scene, when it +was known that the police were below, beggars description. The +tables were upset, and notes and markers were flying about in all +directions. Men, sprawling and scrambling on the floor, fought +with one another for whatever they could seize; then the police +entered and cleared the house, having arrested the owners of the +bank. This was in one of the lowest gaming houses, where +"skin" games (cheating games) are practised. + +`In the gambling house in Broadway, near the New York Hotel, I +have often noticed a young man, apparently of some 18 or 20 years +of age, fashionably dressed, and of prepossessing appearance. On +some days he would play very high, and seemed to have most +remarkable luck; but he always played with the air of an old +gamester, seeming careless as to whether he won or lost. One +night he lost so heavily that he attracted the notice of all the +players; every stake of his was swept away; and he still played +on until his last dollar was lost; then he quietly walked out, +whistling a popular Yankee air. He was there next day +_MINUS_ his great-coat and watch and chain--he lost again, went +out and returned in his shirt sleeves, having pawned his coat, +studs, and everything he could with decency divest himself of. +He lost everything; and when I next saw him he was selling +newspapers in front of the post-office! + +`The mania for gambling is a most singular one. I have known a +man to win a thousand dollars in a few hours, and yet he would +not spend a dollar to get a dinner, but when he felt hungry he +went to a baker's shop and bought a loaf of bread, and that same +night lost all his money at Roulette. + +`There is another house on the corner of Centre and Grand +Streets, open during night and day. The stakes here are the same +as in the one in Broadway, and the people who play are very much +the same--in fact, the same faces are constantly to be met with +in all the gambling houses, from the highest to the lowest. When +a gambler has but small capital, he will go to a small house, +where small stakes are admissible. I saw a man win 50 or 60 +dollars at this place, and then hand in his checks (markers) to +be cashed. The dealer handed him the money, and said--"Now +you go off, straight away to Union Square, and pay away all you +have won from here to John Morrissey. This is the way with all +of them; they never come here until they are dead broke, and have +only a dirty dollar or so to risk." There was some truth in +what he said, but notwithstanding he managed to keep the bank +going on. There is a great temptation to a man who has won a sum +of money at a small gambling house to go to a higher one, as he +may then, at a single stake, win as much as he could possibly win +if he had a run of luck in a dozen stakes at the smaller bank. + +`In No. 102, in the Bowery, there is one of the lowest of the +gaming houses I have seen in the Empire city. The proprietor is +an Irishman; he employs three men as dealers, and they relieve +one another every four hours during the day and night. The +stakes here are of the lowest, and the people to be seen here of +the roughest to be found in the city. The game is Faro, as +elsewhere. + +`In this place I met an old friend with whom I had served in the +army of Northern Virginia, under General Lee, in his Virginia +campaign of 1865. He told me he had been in New York since +the end of the war, and lived a very uncertain sort of life. +Whatever money he could earn he spent at the gaming table. +Sometimes he had a run of luck, and whilst it lasted he dressed +well, and stopped at the most expensive hotels. One night he +would sleep at the Astor House; and perhaps the next night he +would not be able to pay for his bed, and would stay all night in +the parks. Strange to say, hundreds live in this way, which is +vulgarly called "scratching" in New York. I afterwards saw my +friend driving an omnibus; and when I could speak to him, I found +that he was still attending the banks with every cent he earned! + +`It is amusing to watch the proprietor of this place at the +Bowery; he has a joke for every one he sees. "Hallo, old +sport!" he cries, "come and try your luck--you look lucky this +evening; and if you make a good run you may sport a gold watch +and chain, and a velvet vest, like myself." Then to another, +"Young clear-the-way, you look down at the mouth to-night! Come +along and have a turn--and never mind your supper tonight.' In +this way the days and nights are passed in those gambling +houses.' + +There is also in New York an association for the prevention +of gambling. The society employs detectives to visit the +gambling saloons, and procure evidence for the suppression of the +establishments. + +It is the business of these agents also to ascertain the names +and occupations of those who frequent the gambling rooms, and a +list of the persons thus detected is sent periodically to the +subscribers to the society, that they may know who are the +persons wasting their money, or perhaps the money of their +employers, in gambling. Many large houses of business subscribe. + +In the month of August the society's agents detected among the +gamblers 68 clerks of mercantile houses, and in the previous six +months reported 623 cases. It is stated that there are in New +York and Brooklyn 1017 policy and lottery offices, and 163 Faro +banks, and that their net annual gains are not less than +36,000,000 dollars. + + +AMERICAN GAMBLERS. + + +At American gambling houses `it is very easy,' says the same +writer, `to distinguish the professional from the ordinary +gambler. The latter has a nervous expression about the +mouth, and an intense gaze upon the cards, and altogether a very +serious nervous appearance; while the professional plays in a +very quiet manner, and seems to care but little how the game +goes; and his desire to appear as if the game was new to him is +almost certain to expose him to those who know the manoeuvre. + +`Previous to the struggle for independence in the South, there +were many hundreds of gamblers scattered through the Southern +towns, and the Mississippi steam-boats used to abound with them. +In the South, a gambler was regarded as outside the pale of +society, and classed with the slave-trader, who was looked upon +with loathing by the very same men who traded with him; such was +the inconsistency of public opinion. + +`The American gambler differs from his European brethren in many +respects. He is very frequently, in education, appearance, and +manner, a gentleman, and if his private history were known, it +would be found that he was of good birth, and was at one time +possessed of considerable fortune; but having lost all at the +gambling table, he gradually came down to the level of those who +proved his ruin, and having no profession nor means of +livelihood left to him, he adopted their mode of life. + +`On one occasion I met a brother of a Southern General (very +famous in the late war and still a wealthy man) who, at one time, +was one of the richest planters in the State of Louisiana, and is +now acting as an agent for a set of gamblers to their gaming +houses. After losing everything he had, he became a croupier to +a gambling house in New Orleans, and afterwards plied his trade +on the Mississippi for some years; then he went into Mexico, and +finally to New York, where he opened a house on his own account. + +`During the war he speculated in "greenbacks," and lost all his +ill-gotten gains, and had to descend to his present +position.'[90] + + +[90] _Ubi supra_. + + +AMERICAN GAMES:--DRAW POKER, OR BLUFF. + + +Draw Poker, or Bluff, is a favourite game with the Americans. It +is played by any number of persons, from four to seven; four, +five, or six players are preferred; seven are only engaged +where a party of friends consists of that number, and all +require to be equally amused. + +The deal is usually determined by fixing on a card, and dealing +round, face upwards, until such card appears. The dealer then +places in the pool an _Ante_, or certain agreed-upon sum, and +proceeds to deal to each person five cards. The player next to +the dealer, before looking at his cards, has the option of +staking a certain sum. This is called the `blind,' and makes him +the elder hand, or last player; and when his turn comes round he +can, by giving up his first stake, withdraw from the game, or, if +he pleases, by making good any sum staked by a previous player, +raise the stakes to any sum he pleases, provided, of course, that +no limit has been fixed before sitting down. The privilege of +raising or doubling on the _blind_ may be exercised by any one +round the table, provided he has not looked at his cards. If no +intervening player has met the original _blind_, that is, staked +double the sum, this must be done by all who wish to play, and, +of course, must be made good by the last player. Each person +then looks at his cards, and decides on his plan of action. It +should be understood that every one, except the _blind_, may +look at his cards in his turn before deciding if he will +meet the _blind_. Before speaking of the manner of drawing it +will be better to give the relative value of the hands, which +will much simplify the matter, and make it more easily +understood. Thus: four aces are the best cards that can be held; +four kings next, and so on, down to four twos; four cards of the +same value beating anything except four of a higher denomination. + +The next best hand is called a _full_, and is made up thus:-- +three aces and a pair of sixes; three nines and pair of twos; in +fact, any three cards of the same value and a pair constitute a +full hand, and can only be beaten by a full hand of a higher +denomination or fours. The next hand that takes precedence is a +_flush_, or five cards of one colour; after this comes _threes_, +vis., three cards all of the same value, say, three aces, kings, +queens, and so on, downwards (the two remaining, being odd ones, +are of no value). The next is a sequence, as five following +cards, for instance, nine. eight, seven, six, five; it is not +necessary they should all be of one colour, as this, of course, +would constitute a _flush_. Next come two pairs, say, two knaves +and two fives; and, last of all, is a single pair of cards. +Having explained the value of the hands, let us show how you +endeavour to get them. The bets having been made, and the +_blind_ made good or abandoned, or given up, the dealer proceeds +to ask each player in his turn how many cards he wants; and here +begins the first study of the game--_TO KNOW WHAT TO THROW AWAY_ +in order to get in others to make the hand better if possible. +Your hand may, of course, be so utterly bad as to make it +necessary to throw away the whole five and draw five new ones; +this is not very likely, as few players will put a stake in the +pool unless, on looking first at his cards, he has seen +something, say a pair, to start with. We will suppose he has +this, and, of course, he throws away three cards, and draws three +in place of them. To describe the proper way to fill up a hand +is impossible; we can but give an instance here and there to show +the varying interest which attaches to the game;--thus, you may +have threes in the original hand dealt; some players will throw +away the two odd cards and draw two more, to try and make the +hand fours, or, at least, a full; while a player knowing that his +is not a very good hand, will endeavour to _DECEIVE_ the rest by +standing out, that is, not taking any fresh cards; of course +all round the table make remarks as to what he can possibly have. + +It is usually taken to be a sequence, as this requires no +drawing, if originally dealt. The same remark applies to a +_flush;_ two pairs or four to a flush, of course, require one +card to make them into good hands, a player being only entitled +to draw once; and the hands being made good, the real and +exciting part of the game begins. Each one endeavours to keep +his real position a secret from his neighbours. Some put on a +look of calm indifference, and try to seem self-possessed; some +will grin and talk all sorts of nonsense; some will utter sly +bits of _badinage;_ while others will study intently their cards, +or gaze at the ceiling--all which is done merely to distract +attention, or to conceal the feelings, as the chance of success +or failure be for or against; and then begins the betting or +gambling part of the game. The player next the _blind_ is the +first to declare his bet; in which, of course, he is entirely +governed by circumstances. Some, being the first to bet, and +having a very good card indeed, will `bet small,' in hopes that +some one else will see it, and `go better,' that is, bet more, so +that when it comes round to his turn again he may see all +previous bets, and bet as much higher as he thinks proper; for it +must be borne in mind that a player's first bet does not preclude +him from coming in again if his first bet has been raised upon by +any player round the table in his turn; but if once the original +bet goes round and comes to the _blind_, or last player, without +any one going better, the game is closed, and it becomes a _show +of hands_, to see who takes the pool and all the bets. This does +not often happen, as there is usually some one round the table to +raise it; but my informant has seen it occur, and has been highly +amused at watching the countenance of the expectant _small +better_ at having to show a fine hand for a mere trifle. Some +players will, in order to conceal their method of play, +occasionally throw their cards among the waste ones and abandon +their stakes; this is not often done; but it sometimes happens +where the stakes have been small, or the player has been _trying +a bluff_, and has found some one whom he could not _bluff off_. +The foregoing is a concise account of the game, as played in +America, where it is of universal interest, and exercises great +fascination. It is often played by parties of friends who +meet regularly for the purpose, and instances can be found where +fortunes have been lost in a night. + +The game of Pokers differs from the one just described, in so far +that the players receive only the original five cards dealt +without drawing fresh ones, and must either play or refuse on +them. In this game, as there are more cards, as many as ten +persons can play. + + +LANSQUENET.[91] + + +Lansquenet is much played by the Americans, and is one of the +most exciting games in vogue. + +The dealer or banker stakes a certain sum, and this must be met +by the nearest to the dealer first, and so on. When the stake is +met, the dealer turns up two cards, one to the right,--the latter +for himself, the former for the table or the players. He then +keeps on turning up the cards until either of the cards is +matched, which constitutes the winning,--as, for instance, +suppose the five of diamonds is his card, then should the five of +any other suit turn up, he wins. If he loses, then the next +player on the left becomes banker and proceeds in the same +way. + + +[91] This name is derived from the German `_landsknecht_' +(`valet of the fief'), applied to a mercenary soldier. + + +When the dealer's card turns up, he may take the stake and pass +the bank; or he may allow the stake to remain, whereat of course +it becomes doubled if met. He can continue thus as long as the +cards turn up in his favour--having the option at any moment of +giving up the bank and retiring for that time. If he does that, +the player to whom he passes the bank has the option of +continuing it at the same amount at which it was left. The pool +may be made up by contributions of all the players in certain +proportions. The terms used respecting the standing of the stake +are, `I'll see' (_a moi le tout)_ and _Je tiens_. When +_jumelle_ (twins), or the turning up of similar cards on both +sides, occurs, then the dealer takes half the stake. + +Sometimes there is a run of several consecutive winnings; but on +one occasion, on board one of the Cunard steamers, a banker at +the game turned up in his own favour I think no less than +eighteen times. The original stake was only six-pence; but had +each stake been met as won, the final doubling would have +amounted to the immense sum of L3,236 16_s_.! This will +appear by the following scheme:-- + +L s. d. L s. d. +1st turn up 0 0 6 10th turn up 12 16 0 +2nd ,, 0 1 0 11th ,, 25 12 0 +3rd ,, 0 2 0 12th ,, 51 4 0 +4th ,, 0 4 0 13th ,, 102 8 0 +5th ,, 0 8 0 14th ,, 204 16 0 +6th ,, 0 16 0 15th ,, 409 12 0 +7th ,, 1 12 0 16th ,, 819 4 0 +8th ,, 3 4 0 17th ,, 1,618 8 0 +9th ,, 6 8 0 18th ,, 3,236 16 0 + + +In fair play, as this is represented to have been, such a long +sequence of matches must be considered very remarkable, although +six or seven is not unfrequent. + +Unfortunately, however, there is a very easy means by which card +sharpers manage the thing to perfection. They prepare beforehand +a series of a dozen cards arranged as follows:-- + +1st Queen 6th Nine +2nd Queen 7th Nine +3rd Ten 8th Ace +4th Seven 9th Eight +5th Ten 10th Ace + +Series thus arranged are placed in side pockets outside the +waistcoat, just under the left breast. When the sharper becomes +banker he leans negligently over the table, and in this position +his fingers are as close as possible to the prepared cards, +termed _portees_. At the proper moment he seizes the cards +and places them on the pack. The trick is rendered very easy by +the fact that the card-sharper has his coat buttoned at the top, +so that the lower part of it lies open and permits the +introduction of the hand, which is completely masked. + +Some sharpers are skilful enough to take up some of the matches +already dealt, which they place in their _costieres_, or side- +pockets above described, in readiness for their next operation; +others keep them skilfully hidden in their hand, to lay them, at +the convenient moment, upon the pack of cards. By this means, +the pack is not augmented.[92] + + +[92] Robert Houdin, `Les Tricheries des Grecs devoilees.' + + +In France the stakes commence at 5 francs; and it may be easily +imagined how soon vast sums of money may change hands if the +players are determined and reckless. + + +EUCHRE. + + +This is also a game much played in the States. I suppose it is a +Yankee invention, named by one of their learned professors, from +the Greek <gr euceis> (eucheir), meaning `well in the hand ' +or `strong'--a very appropriate designation of the game, which is +as follows:-- + +In this game all the cards are excluded up to the sixes,--seven +being the lowest in the Euchre pack. Five cards are dealt out, +after the usual shuffling and cutting, with a turn-up, or trump. +The dealer has the privilege of discarding one of his cards and +taking up the trump--not showing, however, the one he discards. +The Knave is the best card in the game--a peculiar Yankee +`notion.' The Knave of trumps is called the Right Bower, and the +other Knave of the _same colour_ is the Left Bower. Hence it +appears that the nautical propensity of this great people is +therein represented--`bower' being in fact a sheet anchor. If +both are held, it is evident that the _point_ of the deal is +decided--since it results from taking three tricks out of the +five; for, of course, the trump card appropriated by the dealer +will, most probably, secure a trick, and the two Knaves must +necessarily make two. The game may be five or seven points, as +agreed upon. Euchre is rapid and decisive, and, therefore, +eminently American. + + +FLY LOO. + + +Some of the games played by the Americans are peculiar to +themselves. For instance, vast sums of money change hands over +Fly Loo, or the attraction existing between lumps of sugar and +adventurous flies! This game is not without its excitement. The +gamblers sit round a table, each with a lump of sugar before him, +and the player upon whose lump a fly first perches carries off +the pool--which is sometimes enormous. + +They tell an anecdote of a 'cute Yankee, who won invariably and +immensely at the game. There seemed to be a sort of magical or +mesmeric attraction for the flies to his lump. At length it was +ascertained that he touched the lump with his finger, after +having smeared it with something that naturally and irresistibly +attracts flies whenever they can get at it. I am told that this +game is also played in England; if so, the parties must insist +upon fresh lumps of sugar, and prevent all touching. + +The reader will probably ask--what next will gamblers think +of betting on? But I can tell of a still more curious source of +gambling infatuation. In the _Oxford Magazine_,[93] is the +following statement:-- + + +[93] Vol. V. + + +`A few days ago, as some sprigs of nobility were dining together +at a tavern, they took the following conceit into their heads +after dinner. One of them observing a maggot come from a +filbert, which seemed to be uncommonly large, attempted to get it +from his companion, who, not choosing to let it go, was +immediately offered five guineas for it, which was accepted. He +then proposed to run it against any other two maggots that could +be produced at table. Matches were accordingly made, and these +poor reptiles were the means of L500 being won and lost in a +few minutes!' + + +THE CRIMES OF AMERICAN GAMBLERS. + + +Suicides, duels, and murders have frequently resulted from +gambling here as elsewhere. Many of the duels in dark rooms +originate in disputes at the gaming table. The combatants rush +from play to an upper or adjoining room, and settle their +difference with revolver-shots, often fatal to both. + +One of these was a serio-comic affair which is perhaps worth +relating. Two players had a gambling dispute, and resolved to +settle it in a dark room with pistols. The door was locked and +one of them fired, but missed. On this the other exclaimed-- +`Now, you rascal, I'll finish you at my leisure.' He then began +to search for his opponent. Three or four times he walked +stealthily round the room--but all in vain--he could not find his +man; he listened; he could not hear him breathe. What had become +of him? `Oh!' at length he exclaimed--`Now I've got you, +you ---- sneak--here goes!' `Hold! Hold!' cried a voice from the +chimney, `Don't fire! I'll pay you anything.--Do take away +that ---- pistol.' In effect his adversary held the muzzle of +his pistol close to the seat of honour as the fellow stood +stuffed up the chimney! + +`You'll pay, will you?' said the former; `Very well--800 +dollars--is 't a bargain?' + +`Yes, yes!' gasped the voice in the chimney. + +`Very well,' rejoined the tormentor, `but just wait a bit; I must +have a voucher. I'll just cut off the bottom of your breeches by +way of voucher.' So saying he pulled out his knife and +suited the action to the words. + +`Now get down,' he said, `and out with the money;' which was +paid, when the above-named voucher was returned to the chimney- +groper. + +The town of Vicksburg, on the Mississippi, was formerly notorious +as the rendezvous of all sorts of desperadoes. It was a city of +men; you saw no women, except at night; and never any children. +Vicksburg was a sink of iniquity; and there gambling raged with +unrestricted fury. It was always after touching at Vicksburg +that the Mississippi boats became the well-known scene of +gambling--some of the Vicksburghers invariably getting on board +to ply their profession. + +On one occasion, one of these came on board, and soon induced +some of the passengers to proceed to the upper promenade-deck for +gambling. Soon the stakes increased and a heap of gold was on +the table, when a dispute arose, in the midst of which one of the +players placed his hand on the stake. Thereupon the Vicksburg +gambler drew his knife and plunged it into the hand of the +former, with a terrible imprecation. + +Throughout the Southern States, as before observed, gambling +prevailed to a very great extent, and its results were often +deplorable. + +A planter went to a gambling house, accompanied by one of his +negroes, whom he left at the door to wait his return. Whilst the +master was gambling the slave did the same with another whom he +found at the door. Meanwhile a Mexican came up and stood by +looking at the game of the negroes. By-and-by one of them +accused the other of cheating, which was denied, when the Mexican +interposed and told the negro that he saw him cheat. The latter +told the Mexican that he lied--whereupon the Mexican stabbed him +to the heart, killing him on the spot. + +Soon the negro's master came out, and on being informed of the +affair, turned to the Mexican, saying--`Now, sir, we must settle +the matter between us--my negro's quarrel is mine.' `Agreed,' +said the Mexican; they entered the house, proceeded to a dark +room, fired at each other, and both were killed. + +About six and twenty years ago there lived in New York a well-to- +do merchant, of the name of Osborne, who had an only son, who was +a partner in the concern. The young man fell in love with +the daughter of a Southern planter, then on a visit at New +York, to whom he engaged himself to be married, with the perfect +consent of all parties concerned. + +On the return of the planter and his daughter, young Osborne +accompanied them to Mobile. On the very night of their arrival, +the planter proposed to his intended son-in-law to visit the +gaming table. They went; Osborne was unlucky; and after some +hours' play lost an immense amount to the father of his +sweetheart. He gave bills, drawn on his house, in payment of the +debt of honour. + +On the following morning the planter referred to the subject, +hinting that Osborne must be ruined. + +`Indeed, I am!' said the young man; `but the possession of your +daughter will console me for the calamity, which, I doubt not, I +shall be able to make up for by industry and exertion.' + +`The possession of _MY_ daughter?' exclaimed the planter; `do +you think I would marry my daughter to a beggar? No, no, sir, +the affair is ended between you--and I insist upon its being +utterly broken off.' Such was the action of the heartless +gambler, rendered callous to all sentiments of real honour by his +debasing pursuit. + +Young Osborne was equal to the occasion. Summoning all his +powers to manfully bear this additional shock of fate, he calmly +replied:-- + +`So be it, sir, as you wish it. Depend upon it, however, that my +bills will be duly honoured'--and so saying he bowed and +departed, without even wishing to take leave of his betrothed. + +On returning to New York Osborne immediately disclosed the +transaction to his father, who, in spite of the utter ruin which +impended, and the brutality of the cause of the ruin, resolved to +meet the bills when due, and maintain the honour of his son-- +whatever might be the consequences to himself. + +The bills were paid; the concern was broken up; old Mr Osborne +soon died broken-hearted; and young Osborne went as clerk to some +house of business in Wall Street. + +A year or so passed away, and one day a lady presented herself at +the old house of Osborne--now no longer theirs--inquiring for +young Osborne. She was directed to his new place of business; +being no other than his betrothed, who loved him as passionately +as ever, and to whom her father had accounted for the non- +fulfilment of the engagement in a very unsatisfactory +manner. Of course Osborne could not fail to be delighted at this +proof of her devotedness; the meeting was most affectionate on +both sides; and, with the view of coming to a decision respecting +their future proceedings, they adjourned to an hotel in the +vicinity. Here, whilst seated at a table and in earnest +conversation, the young lady's father rushed in, and instantly +shot down Osborne, who expired at his feet. With a frantic +shriek the poor girl fell on the body of her betrothed, and +finding a poniard or a knife concealed in his breast, she seized +it, instantly plunged it into her heart, and was soon a corpse +beside her lover. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +LADY GAMESTRESSES. + +The passions of the two sexes are similar in the main; the +distinctions between them result less from nature than from +education. Often we meet with women, especially the literary +sort, who seem veritable men, if not so, as the lawyers say, `to +all intents and purposes;' and often we meet with men, especially +town-dandies, who can only be compared to very ordinary women. + +Almost all the ancients had the bad taste to speak ill of women; +among the rest even that delightful old Father `of the golden +mouth,' St Chrysostom.[94] So that, evidently, Dr Johnson's +fierce dictum cannot apply universally--`Only scoundrels speak +ill of women.' + + +[94] Hom. II. + + +Seneca took the part of women, exclaiming:-- `By no means +believe that their souls are inferior to ours, or that they are +less endowed with the virtues. As for honour, it is equally +great and energetic among them.' + +A foreign lady was surprised at beholding the equality +established between the men and women at Sparta; whereupon the +wife of Leonidas, the King of Sparta, said to her:--`Do you not +know that it is we who bring forth the men? It is not the +fathers, but the mothers, that effectually form the heart.' + +Napoleon seems to have formed what may be called a professional +estimate of women. When the demonstrative Madame de Stael +asked him--evidently expecting him to pay her a compliment--`Whom +do you think the greatest woman dead or alive?' Napoleon +replied, `Her, Madame, _WHO HAS BORNE MOST SONS_.' Nettled by +this sarcastic reply, she returned to the charge, observing, `It +is said you are not friendly to the sex.' Napoleon was her match +again; `Madame,' he exclaimed, `I am passionately fond of my +wife;' and off he walked. Assuredly it would not mend matters in +this world (or the next) if all men were Napoleons and all women +de Staels. + +If we consider the question in other points of view, have +there been, proportionally, fewer celebrated women than +illustrious men? fewer great queens than truly great kings? +Compare, on all sides, the means and the circumstances; count the +reigns, and decide. + +The fact is that this question has been argued only by tyrannical +or very silly men, who found it difficult to get rid of the +absurd prejudices which retain the finest half of human nature in +slavery, and condemn it to obscurity under the pretext that it is +essentially corrupted. Towards the end of the 15th century a +certain demented writer attempted to prove that women do not even +deserve the title of reasonable creatures, which in the original +sounds oddly enough, namely, _probare nititur mulieres non +homines esse_. Another, a very learned Jesuit, endeavoured to +demonstrate that women have no souls! Some say that women +surpass us in wickedness; others, that they are both worse and +better than men. + +That morbid wretch, Alexander Pope, said, `Every woman is at +heart a rake;' and a recent writer in the _Times_ puts more venom +in the dictum by saying, `Every woman is (or likes) at heart a +rake.' Both these opinions may be set down as mere +claptrap, witty, but vile. + +But a truce to such insults against those who beautify the earth; +_THEIR_ vices cannot excuse ours. It is we who have depraved +them by associating them with excesses which are repugnant to +their delicacy. The contagion, however, has not affected all of +them. Among our `plebeians,' and even among nobility, many women +remind us of the modesty and courage of those ancient republican +matrons, who, so to speak, founded, the manners and morals of +their country; and among all classes of the community there are +thousands who inspire their husbands with generous impulses in +the battle of life, either by cheering words of comfort, or by +that mute eloquence of duties well fulfilled, which nothing can +resist if we are worthy of the name of men. How many a gambler +has been reformed by the tender appeals of a good and devoted +wife. `Venerable women!' one of them exclaims, `in whatever rank +Heaven has placed you, receive my homage.' The gentleness of +your souls smooths down the roughness of ours and checks its +violence. Without your virtues what would we be? Without +YOU, my dear wife, what would have become of me? You +beheld the beginning and the end of the gaming fury in me, which +I now detest; and it is not to me, but to you alone, that the +victory must be ascribed.'[95] + + +[95] Dusaulx, _De la Passion du Jeu_. + + +A very pretty anecdote is told of such a wife and a gaming +husband. + +In order to simplify the signs of loss and gain, so as not to be +overburdened with the weight of gold and silver, the French +players used to carry the representation of their fortunes in +small boxes, more or less elegant. A lady (who else could have +thought of such a device?), trembling for the fate of her +husband, made him a present of one of these dread boxes. This +little master-piece of conjugal and maternal affection +represented a wife in the attitude of supplication, and weeping +children, seeming to say to their father--_THINK OF US!_ . . . . + +It is, therefore, only with the view of avenging good and +honourable women, that I now proceed to speak of those who have +disgraced their sex. + +I have already described a remarkable gamestress--the Persian +Queen Parysatis.[96] + + +[96] Chapter III. + + +There were no gamestresses among the Greeks; and the Roman +women were always too much occupied with their domestic affairs +to find time for play. What will our modern ladies think, when I +state that the Emperor Augustus scarcely wore a garment which had +not been woven by his wife, his sister, or grand-daughters.[97] + + +[97] Veste non temere alia quam domestica usus est, ab +uxore et filia nepotibusque confecta. Suet. in Vita Augusti. + + +Although deeply corrupted under Nero and the sovereigns that +resembled him, the Roman women never gambled among themselves +except during the celebration of the festival of the Bona Dea. +This ceremonial, so often profaned with licentiousness, was not +attended by desperate gambling. The most depraved women +abstained from it, even when that mania was at its height, not +only around the Capitol, but even in the remainder of the Empire. + +Contemporary authors, who have not spared the Roman ladies, never +reproached them with this vice, which, in modern times, has been +desperately practised by women who in licentiousness vied with +Messalina. + +In France, women who wished to gamble were, at first, obliged to +keep the thing secret; for if it became known they lost +caste. In the reign of Louis XIV., and still more in that of +Louis XV., they became bolder, and the wives of the great engaged +in the deepest play in their mansions; but still a gamestress was +always denounced with horror. `Such women,' says La Bruyiere, +`make us chaste; they have nothing of the sex but its garments.' + +By the end of the 18th century, gamestresses became so numerous +that they excited no surprise, especially among the higher +classes; and the majority of them were notorious for unfair play +or downright cheating. A stranger once betted on the game of a +lady at a gaming-table, who claimed a stake although on a losing +card. Out of consideration for the distinguished trickstress, +the banker wished to pay the stranger as well; but the latter +with a blush, exclaimed--`Possibly madame won, but as for myself, +I am quite sure that I lost.' + +But if women cheated at play, they also frequently lost; and were +often reduced to beggary, or to what is far viler, to sacrifice, +not only their own honour, but that of their daughters. + +Gaming sometimes led to other crimes. The Countess of +Schwiechelt, a young and beautiful lady from Hanover, was much +given to gambling, and lost 50,000 livres at Paris. In order to +repair this great loss, she planned and executed the robbery of a +fine coronet of emeralds, the property of Madame Demidoff. She +had made herself acquainted with the place where it was kept, and +at a ball given by its owner the Hanoverian lady contrived to +purloin it. Her youth and rank in life induced many persons to +solicit her pardon; but Buonaparte left her to the punishment to +which she was condemned. This occurred in 1804. + +In England, too, the practice of gambling was fraught with the +worst consequences to the finest feelings and best qualities of +the sex. The chief danger is very plainly hinted at in the +comedy of _The Provoked Husband_. + + +_Lord Townley_.--'Tis not your ill hours that always distract me, +but, as often, the ill company that occasions those hours. + +_Lady Townley_.--Sure I don't understand you now, my lord. What +ill company do I keep? + +_Lord Townley_.--Why, at best, women that lose their money, and +men that win it; _or, perhaps, men that are voluntary bubbles at +one game, in hopes a lady will give them fair play at another._ + + +`The facts,' says Mr Massey,[98] `confirm the theory. +Walpole's Letters and Mr Jesse's volumes on George Selwyn and his +Contemporaries, teem with allusions to proved or understood cases +of matrimonial infidelity; and the manner in which notorious +irregularities were brazened out, shows that the offenders did +not always encounter the universal reprobation of society. + + +[98] History of England, ii. + + +`Whist was not much in vogue until a later period, and was far +too abstruse and slow to suit the depraved taste which required +unadulterated stimulants.' + +The ordinary stakes at these mixed assemblies would, at the +present day, be considered high, even at the clubs where a rubber +is still allowed. + +`The consequences of such gaming were often still more lamentable +than those which usually attended such practices. It would +happen that a lady lost more than she could venture to confess to +her husband or father. Her creditor was probably a fine +gentleman, or she became indebted to some rich admirer for the +means of discharging her liabilities. In either event, the +result may be guessed. In the one case, the debt of honour was +liquidated on the old principle of the law-merchant, according to +which there was but one alternative to payment in purse. In +the other, there was likewise but one mode in which the +acknowledgment of obligation by a fine woman would be acceptable +to a man of the world.' + +`The pernicious consequences of gambling to the nation at large,' +says another writer, `would have been intolerable enough had they +been confined to the stronger sex; but, unfortunately, the women +of the day were equally carried away by this criminal +infatuation. The disgusting influence of this sordid vice was so +disastrous to female minds, that they lost their fairest +distinction and privileges, together with the blushing honours of +modesty. Their high gaming was necessarily accompanied with +great losses. If all their resources, regular and irregular, +honest and fraudulent, were dissipated, still, _GAME-DEBTS MUST +BE PAID!_ The cunning winner was no stranger to the necessities +of the case. He hinted at _commutations_--which were not to be +refused. + +"So tender these,--if debts crowd fast upon her, +She'll pawn her _VIRTUE_ to preserve her _HONOUR!_" + + +Thus, the last invaluable jewel of female possession was +unavoidably resigned. That was indeed the forest of all +evils, but an evil to which every deep gamestress was +inevitably exposed.' + +Hogarth strikingly illustrated this phase of womanhood in +England, in his small picture painted for the Earl of Charlemont, +and entitled `_Picquet, or Virtue in Danger_.' It shows a young +lady, who, during a _tete-a-tete_, had just lost all her +money to a handsome officer of her own age. He is represented in +the act of returning her a handful of bank-bills, with the hope +of exchanging them for another acquisition and more delicate +plunder. On the chimney-piece are a watch-case and a figure of +Time, over it this motto--_Nunc_, `Now!' Hogarth has caught his +heroine during this moment of hesitation--this struggle with +herself--and has expressed her feelings with uncommon success. + +But, indeed, the thing was perfectly understood. In the +_Guardian_ (No. 120) we read:--`All play-debts must be paid in +specie or by equivalent. The "man" that 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. Now when the female +body is once dipped, if the creditor be very importunate, I +leave my reader to consider the consequences.' . . . . + +A lady was married when very young to a noble lord, the honour +and ornament of his country, who hoped to preserve her from the +contagion of the times by his own example, and, to say the truth, +she had every good quality that could recommend her to the bosom +of a man of discernment and worth. But, alas! how frail and +short are the joys of mortals! One unfortunate hour ruined his +darling visionary scheme of happiness: she was introduced to an +infamous woman, was drawn into play, liked it, and, as the +unavoidable consequence, she was ruined,--having lost more in one +night than would have maintained a hundred useful families for a +twelvemonth; and, dismal to tell, she felt compelled to sacrifice +her virtue to the wretch who had won her money, in order to +recover the loss! From this moment she might well exclaim-- + +`Farewell the tranquil mind! farewell content!' + +The affectionate wife, the agreeable companion, the indulgent +mistress, were now no more. In vain she flattered herself that +the injury she had done her husband would for ever remain one of +those secrets which can only be disclosed at the last day. +Vengeance pursued her steps, she was lost; the villain to whom +she had sacrificed herself boasted of the favours he had +received. The fatal report was conveyed to her injured husband. +He refused to believe what he thought impossible, but honour +obliged him to call the boaster to the field. The wretch +received the challenge with much more contentment than concern; +as he had resolution enough to murder any man whom he had +injured, so he was certain, if he had the good fortune to conquer +his antagonist, he should be looked upon as the head of all +modern bucks and bloods--esteemed by the men as a brave fellow, +and admired by the ladies as a fine gentleman and an agreeable +rake. The meeting took place--the profligate gambler not content +with declaring, actually exulted in his guilt. But his triumph +was of short date--a bullet through the head settled his account +with this world. + +The husband, after a long conflict in his bosom, between justice +and mercy, tenderness and rage, resolved--on what is very seldom +practised by an English husband--to pardon his wife, conceal her +crime, and preserve her, if possible, from utter destruction. +But the gates of mercy were opened in vain-- the offender refused +to receive forgiveness because she had offended. The lust of +gambling had absorbed all her other desires. She gave herself up +entirely to the infamous pursuit and its concomitants, whilst her +husband sank by a quick decay, and died the victim of grief and +anguish.[99] + + +[99] Doings in London. + + +Of other English gamestresses, however, nothing but the ordinary +success or inconveniences of gambling are recorded. In the year +1776, a lady at the West End lost one night, at a sitting, 3000 +guineas at Loo.[100] Again, a lady having won a rubber of 20 +guineas from a city merchant, the latter pulled out his pocket- +book, and tendered L21 in bank notes. The fair gamestress, +with a disdainful toss of the head, observed--`In the great +houses which I frequent, sir, we always use gold.' `That may be, +madam,' said the gentleman, `but, in the _LITTLE_ houses which I +frequent, we always use paper.' + + +[100] Annual Register. + + +Goldsmith mentions an old lady in the country who, having been +given over by her physician, played with the curate of the parish +to pass the time away. Having won all his money, she next +proposed playing for the funeral charges to which she would be +liable. Unfortunately, the lady expired just as she had taken up +the game! + +A lady who was desperately fond of play was confessing herself. +The priest represented, among other arguments against gaming, the +great loss of time it occasioned. `Ah!' said the lady, `that is +what vexes me--so much time lost in shuffling the cards!' + +The celebrated Mrs Crewe seems to have been fond of gaming. +Charles James Fox ranked among her admirers. A gentleman lost a +considerable sum to this lady at play; and being obliged to leave +town suddenly, he gave Fox the money to pay her, begging him to +apologize 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, you did, sir?' +said Mrs Crewe good-naturedly, `then probably he paid me and I +forgot it.' + +This famous Mrs Crewe was the wife of Mr Crewe, who was +created, in 1806, Lord Crewe. She was as remarkable for her +accomplishments and her worth as for her beauty; nevertheless she +permitted the admiration of the profligate Fox, who was in the +rank of her admirers, and she was a gamestress, as were most of +the grand ladies in those days. The lines Fox wrote on her were +not exaggerated. They began thus:-- + +`Where the loveliest expression to features is join'd, +By Nature's most delicate pencil design'd; +Where blushes unhidden, and smiles without art, +Speak the softness and feeling that dwell in the heart, +Where in manners enchanting no blemish we trace, +But the soul keeps the promise we had from the face; +Sure philosophy, reason, and coldness must prove +Defences unequal to shield us from love.' + + +`Nearly eight years after the famous election at Westminster, +when she personally canvassed for Fox, Mrs Crewe was still in +perfection, with a son one-and-twenty, who looked like her +brother. The form of her face was exquisitely lovely, her +complexion radiant. "I know not," Miss Burney writes, "any +female in her first youth who could bear the comparison. She +_uglifies_ every one near her." + +`This charming partisan of Fox had been active in his cause; +and her originality of character, her good-humour, her +recklessness of consequences, made her a capital canvasser.'[101] + + +[101] Wharton, _The Queens of Society._ + + +THE GAMBLING BARROW-WOMEN. + + +In 1776 the barrow-women of London used generally to carry dice +with them, and children were induced to throw for fruit and nuts. + +However, the pernicious consequences of the practice beginning to +be felt, the Lord Mayor issued an order to apprehend all such +offenders, which speedily put an end to such street-gambling. At +the present day a sort of roulette is used for the same purpose +by the itinerant caterers to the sweetmeat and fruit-loving +little ones. + + +GAMESTRESSES AT BADEN-BADEN. + + +Mrs Trollope has described two specimens of the modern +gamestresses at the German watering-places, one of whom seems to +have specially attracted her notice:-- + +`There was one of this set,' she says, `whom I watched, day after +day, during the whole period of our stay, with more interest +than, I believe, was reasonable; for had I studied any other as +attentively I might have found less to lament. + +`She was young--certainly not more than twenty-five--and, though +not regularly nor brilliantly handsome, most singularly winning +both in person and demeanour. Her dress was elegant, but +peculiarly plain and simple,--a close white silk bonnet and gauze +veil; a quiet-coloured silk gown, with less of flourish and +frill, by half, than any other person; a delicate little hand +which, when ungloved, displayed some handsome rings; a jewelled +watch, of peculiar splendour; and a countenance expressive of +anxious thoughtfulness--must be remembered by many who were at +Baden in August, 1833. They must remember, too, that, enter the +rooms when they would, morning, noon, or night, still they found +her nearly at the same place at the _Rouge et Noir_ table. + +`Her husband, who had as unquestionably the air of a gentleman as +she had of a lady, though not always close to her, was never very +distant. He did not play himself, and I fancied, as he hovered +near her, that his countenance expressed anxiety. But he +returned her sweet smile, with which she always met his eye, +with an answering smile; and I saw not the slightest indication +that he wished to withdraw her from the table. + +`There was an expression in the upper part of her face that my +blundering science would have construed into something very +foreign to the propensity she showed; but there she sat, hour +after hour, day after day, not even allowing the blessed sabbath, +that gives rest to all, to bring it to her;--there she sat, +constantly throwing down handfuls of five-franc pieces, and +sometimes drawing them back again, till her young face grew rigid +from weariness, and all the lustre of her eye faded into a glare +of vexed inanity. Alas! alas! is that fair woman a mother? God +forbid! + +`Another figure at the gaming table, which daily drew our +attention, was a pale, anxious old woman, who seemed no longer to +have strength to conceal her eager agitation under the air of +callous indifference, which all practised players endeavour to +assume. She trembled, till her shaking hand could hardly grasp +the instrument with which she pushed or withdrew her pieces; the +dew of agony stood upon her wrinkled brow; yet, hour after hour, +and day after day, she too sat in the enchanted chair. I +never saw age and station in a position so utterly beyond the +pale of respect. I was assured she was a person of rank; and my +informant added, but I trust she was mistaken, that she was an +_ENGLISH_ woman.'[102] + + +[102] Belgium and Western Germany, in 1833. + + +GAMING HOUSES KEPT BY LADIES. + + +There is no doubt that during the last half of the last century +many titled ladies not only gambled, but kept gaming houses. +There is even evidence that one of them actually appealed to the +House of Lords for protection against the intrusion of the peace +officers into her establishment in Covent Garden, on the plea of +her Peerage! All this is proved by a curious record found in the +Journals of the House of Lords, by the editor of the +_Athenaeum_. It is as follows:-- + +`Die Lunae, 29 Aprilis, 1745.--_Gaming_. A Bill for +preventing the excessive and deceitful use of it having been +brought from the Commons, and proceeded on so far as to be agreed +to in a Committee of the whole House with amendments,-- +information was given to the House 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; +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. 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 her +said gaming house. And then they were directed to withdraw. And +the said instrument was read as follows:--"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. M. MORDINGTON. Dated 8th Jan., 1744." + +`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.' + +That such practice continued in vogue is evident from the police +proceedings subsequently taken against + + +THE FAMOUS LADY BUCKINGHAMSHIRE. + + +This notorious gamestress of St James's Square, at the close of +the last century, actually slept with a blunderbuss and a pair of +pistols at her side, to protect her Faro bank. + +On the 11th of March, 1797, her Ladyship, together with Lady +E. Lutterell and a Mrs Sturt, were convicted at the Marlborough +Street Police-court, in the penalty of L50, for playing at the +game of Faro; and Henry Martindale was convicted in the sum of +L200, for keeping the Faro table at Lady Buckinghamshire's. +The witnesses had been servants of her Ladyship, recently +discharged on account of a late extraordinary loss of 500 guineas +from her Ladyship's house, belonging to the Faro bank.[103] + + +[103] The case is reported in the Times of March 13th, 1797. +One cannot help being struck with the appearance of the Times +newspaper at that period--70 years ago. It was printed on one +small sheet, about equal to a single page of the present issue, +and contained four pages, two of which were advertisements, while +the others gave only a short summary of news--no leader at all. + + +In the same year, the croupier at the Countess of +Buckinghamshire's one night announced the unaccountable +disappearance of the cash-box of the Faro bank. All eyes were +turned towards her Ladyship. Mrs Concannon said she once lost a +gold snuff-box from the table, while she went to speak to Lord +C--. Another lady said she lost her purse there last winter. +And a story was told that a certain lady had taken, _BY +MISTAKE_, a cloak which did not belong to her, at a rout +given by the Countess of ----. Unfortunately a discovery of the +cloak was made, and when the servant knocked at the door to +demand it, some very valuable lace which it was trimmed with had +been taken off. Some surmised that the lady who stole the cloak +might also have stolen the Faro bank cash-box. + +Soon after, the same Martindale, who had kept the Faro bank at +Lady Buckinghamshire's, became a bankrupt, and his debts amounted +to L328,000, besides `debts of honour,' which were struck off +to the amount of L150,000. His failure is said to have been +owing to misplaced confidence in a subordinate, who robbed him of +thousands. The first suspicion was occasioned by his purchasing +an estate of L500 a year; but other purchases followed to a +considerable extent; and it was soon discovered that the Faro +bank had been robbed sometimes of 2000 guineas a week! On the +14th of April, 1798, other arrears, to a large amount, were +submitted to, and rejected by, the Commissioners in Bankruptcy, +who declared a first dividend of one shilling and five-pence in +the pound.[104] + + +[104] Seymour Harcourt, _Gaming Calendar._ + + +This chapter cannot be better concluded than with quoting +the _Epilogue_ of `The Oxonian in Town,' 1767, humorously +painting some of the mischiefs of gambling, and expressly +addressed to the ladies:-- + +`Lo! next, to my prophetic eye there starts +A beauteous gamestress in the Queen of Hearts. +The cards are dealt, the fatal pool is lost, +And all her golden hopes for ever cross'd. +Yet still this card-devoted fair I view-- +Whate'er her luck, to "_honour_" ever true. +So tender there,--if debts crowd fast upon her, +She'll pawn her "virtue" to preserve her "honour." +Thrice happy were my art, could I foretell, +Cards would be soon abjured by every belle! +Yet, I pronounce, who cherish still the vice, +And the pale vigils keep of cards and dice-- +'Twill in their charms sad havoc make, ye fair! +Which "rouge" in vain shall labour to repair. +Beauties will grow mere hags, toasts wither'd jades, +Frightful and ugly as--the _QUEEN OF SPADES_.' + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +GAMBLING POETS, SAVANTS, PHILOSOPHERS, WITS, AND STATESMEN. + +Perhaps the stern moralist who may have turned over these pages +has frowned at the facts of the preceding chapter. If so, I know +not what he will do at those which I am about to record. + +If it may be said that gamesters must be madmen, or rogues, how +has it come to pass that men of genius, talent, and virtue +withal, have been gamesters? + +Men of genius, `gifted men,' as they are called, are much to be +pitied. One of them has said--`Oh! if my pillow could reveal my +sufferings last night!' His was true grief--for it had no +witness.[105] The endowments of this nature of ours are so +strangely mixed--the events of our lives are so unexpectedly +ruled, that one might almost prefer to have been fashioned after +those imaginary beings who act so _CONSISTENTLY_ in the nursery +tales and other figments. Most men seem to have a double soul; +and in your men of genius--your celebrities--the battle between +the two seems like the tremendous conflict so grandly (and +horribly) described by Milton. Who loved his country more than +Cato? Who cared more for his country's honour? And yet Cato was +not only unable to resist the soft impeachments of alcohol-- + +Narratur et prisci Catonis +Saepe mero caluisse virtus-- + +but he was also a dice-player, a gambler.[106] + + +[105] Ille dolet vere qui sine teste dolet. Martial, lib. I. + +[106] Plutarch, _Cato._ + + +Julius Caesar did not drink; but what a profligate he was! And +I have no doubt that he was a gambler: it is certain that he got +rid of millions nobody knew how. + +I believe, however, that the following is an undeniable fact. +You may find suspicious gamesters in every rank of life, but +among men of genius you will generally, if not always, find only +victims resigned to the caprices of fortune. The +professions which imply the greatest enthusiasm naturally +furnish the greater number of gamesters. Thus, perhaps, we may +name ten poet-gamesters to one savant or philosopher who deserved +the title or infamy. + +Coquillart, a poet of the 15th century, famous for his satirical +verses against women, died of grief after having ruined himself +by gaming. The great painter Guido--and a painter is certainly a +poet--was another example. By nature gentle and honourable, he +might have been the most fortunate of men if the demon of +gambling had not poisoned his existence, the end of which was +truly wretched. + +Rotrou, the acknowledged master of Corneille, hurried his +poetical effusions in order to raise money for gambling. This +man of genius was but a spoilt child in the matter of play. He +once received two or three hundred _louis_, and mistrusting +himself, went and hid them under some vine-branches, in order not +to gamble all away at once. Vain precaution! On the following +night his bag was empty. + +The poet Voiture was the delight of his contemporaries, +conspicuous as he was for the most exquisite polish and +inexhaustible wit; but he was also one of the most desperate +gamesters of his time. Like Rotrou, he mistrusted his folly, and +sometimes refrained. `I have discovered,' he once wrote to a +friend, `as well as Aristotle, that there is no beatitude in +play; and in fact I have given over gambling; it is now seven +months since I played--which is very important news, and which I +forgot to tell you.' He would have died rich had he always +refrained. His relapses were terrible; one night he lost fifteen +hundred pistoles (about L750). + +The list of foreign poets ruined by gambling might be extended; +whilst, on the other hand, it is impossible, I believe, to quote +a single instance of the kind among the poets of England,-- +perhaps because very few of them had anything to lose. The +reader will probably remember Dr Johnson's exclamation on hearing +of the large debt left unpaid by poor Goldsmith at his death-- +`Was ever poet so trusted before!' . . . + +The great philosophers Montaigne and Descartes, seduced at an +early age by the allurements of gambling, managed at length to +overcome the evil, presenting examples of reformation--which +proves that this mania is not absolutely incurable. +Descartes became a gamester in his seventeenth year; but it is +said that the combinations of cards, or the doctrine of +probabilities, interested him more than his winnings.[107] + + +[107] Hist. des Philos. Modernes: _Descartes_. + + +The celebrated Cardan, one of the most universal and most +eccentric geniuses of his age, declares in his autobiography, +that the rage for gambling long entailed upon him the loss of +reputation and fortune, and that it retarded his progress in the +sciences. `Nothing,' says he, `could justify me, unless it was +that my love of gaming was less than my horror of privation.' A +very bad excuse, indeed; but Cardan reformed and ceased to be a +gambler. + +Three of the greatest geniuses of England--Lords Halifax, +Anglesey, and Shaftesbury--were gamblers; and Locke tells a very +funny story about one of their gambling bouts. This philosopher, +who neglected nothing, however eccentric, that had any relation +to the working of the human understanding, happened to be present +while my Lords Halifax, Anglesey, and Shaftesbury were playing, +and had the patience to write down, word for word, all their +discordant utterances during the phases of the game; the result +being a dialogue of speakers who only used exclamations--all +talking in chorus, but more to themselves than to each other. +Lord Anglesey observing Locke's occupation, asked him what he was +writing. `My Lord,' replied Locke, `I am anxious not to lose +anything you utter.' This irony made them all blush, and put an +end to the game. + +M. Sallo, Counsellor to the Parliament of Paris, died, says +Vigneul de Marville, of a disease to which the children of the +Muses are rarely subject, and for which we find no remedy in +Hippocrates and Galen;--he died of a lingering disease after +having lost 100,000 crowns at the gaming table--all he possessed. + +By way of diversion to his cankering grief, he started the well- +known _Journal des Savans_, but lived to write only 13 sheets of +it, for he was wounded to the death.[108] + + +[108] Melanges, d'Hist. et de Litt. i. + + +The physician Paschasius Justus was a deplorable instance of an +incorrigible gambler. This otherwise most excellent and learned +man having passed three-fourths of his life in a continual +struggle with vice, at length resolved to cure himself of +the disease by occupying his mind with a work which might be +useful to his contemporaries and posterity.[109] He began his +book, but still he gamed; he finished it, but the evil was still +in him. `I have lost everything but God!' he exclaimed. He +prayed for delivery from his soul's disease;[110] but his prayer +was not heard; he died like any gambler--more wretched than +reformed. + +[109] `De Alea, sive de curanda in pecuniam cupiditate,' pub. in +1560. + +[110] Illum animi morbum, ut Deus tolleret, serio et +frequenter optavit. + + +M. Dusaulx, author of a work on Gaming, exclaims therein--`I have +gambled like you, Paschasius, perhaps with greater fury. Like +you I write against gaming. Can I say that I am stronger than +you, in more critical circumstances?'[111] + + +[111] La Passion du Jeu. + + +What, then, is that mania which can be overcome neither by the +love of glory nor the study of wisdom! + +The literary men of Greece and Rome rarely played any games but +those of skill, such as tennis, backgammon, and chess; and even +in these it was considered `indecent' to appear too skilful. +Cicero stigmatizes two of his contemporaries for taking too +great a delight in such games, on account of their skill in +playing them.[112] + + +[112] Ast alii, quia praeclare faciunt, vehementius quam causa +postulat delectantur, ut Titius pila, Brulla talis. De Orat. +lib. iii. + + +Quinctilian advised his pupils to avoid all sterile amusements, +which, he said, were only the resource of the ignorant. + +In after-times men of merit, such as John Huss and Cardinal +Cajetan, bewailed both the time lost in the most innocent games, +and the disastrous passions which are thereby excited. Montaigne +calls chess a stupid and childish game. `I hate and shun it,' he +says, `because it occupies one too seriously; I am ashamed of +giving it the attention which would be sufficient for some useful +purpose.' King James I., the British Solomon, forbade chess to +his son, in the famous book of royal instruction which he wrote +for him. + +As to the plea of `filling up time,' Addison has made some very +pertinent observations:--`Whether any kind of gaming has ever +thus much to say for itself, I shall not determine; but I think +it is very wonderful to see persons of the best sense passing +away a dozen hours together in shuffling and dividing a pack of +cards, with no other conversation but what is made up of a +few game-phrases, and no other ideas but those of black or red +spots ranged together in different figures. Would not a man +laugh to hear any one of his species complaining that life is +short?' + +Men of intellect may rest assured that whether they win or lose +at play, it will always be at the cost of their genius; the soul +cannot support two passions together. The passion of play, +although fatigued, is never satiated, and therefore it always +leaves behind protracted agitation. The famous Roman lawyer +Scaevola suffered from playing at backgammon; his head was +always affected by it, especially when he lost the game, in fact, +it seemed to craze him. One day he returned expressly from the +country merely to try and convince his opponent in a game which +he had lost, that if he had played otherwise he would have won! +It seems that on his journey home he mentally went through the +game again, detected his mistake, and could not rest until he +went back and got his adversary to admit the fact--for the sake +of his _amour propre_.[113] + + +[113] Quinctil., _Instit. Orat_. lib. XI. cap. ii. + + +`It is rare,' says Rousseau, `that thinkers take much +delight in play, which suspends the habit of thinking or diverts +it upon sterile combinations; and so one of the benefits--perhaps +the only benefit conferred by the taste for the sciences, is that +it somewhat deadens that sordid passion of play.' + +Unfortunately such was not the result among the literary and +scientific men, in France or England, during the last quarter of +the last century. Many of them bitterly lamented that they ever +played, and yet played on,--going through all the grades and +degradations appointed for his votaries by the inexorable demon +of gambling. + + +BEAU NASH. + + +Nature had by no means formed Nash for _beau_. His person was +clumsy, large, and awkward; his features were harsh, strong, and +peculiarly irregular; yet even with these disadvantages he made +love, became an universal admirer of the sex, and was in his turn +universally admired. The fact is, he was possessed of, at least, +some requisites of a `lover.' He had assiduity, flattery, fine +clothes--and as much wit as the ladies he addressed. Accordingly +he used to say--`Wit, flattery, and fine clothes are enough +to debauch a nunnery!' This is certainly a fouler calumny of +women than Pope's + +`Every woman is at heart a rake.' + + +Beau Nash was a barrister, and had been a remarkable, a +distinguished one in his day--although not at the bar. He had +the honour to organize and direct the last grand `revel and +pageant' before a king, in the Hall of the Middle Temple, of +which he was a member. + +It had long been customary for the Inns of Court to entertain our +monarchs upon their accession to the crown with a revel and +pageant, and the last was exhibited in honour of King William, +when Nash was chosen to conduct the whole with proper decorum. +He was then a very young man, but succeeded so well in giving +satisfaction, that the king offered to give him the honour of +knighthood, which, however, Nash declined, saying:--`Please your +Majesty, if you intend to make me a knight, I wish it may be one +of your poor knights of Windsor; and then I shall have a fortune +at least able to support my title.' + +In the Middle Temple he managed to rise `to the very summit of +second-rate luxury,' and seems to have succeeded in becoming +a fashionable _recherche_, being always one of those who were +called good company--a professed dandy among the elegants. + +No wonder, then, that we subsequently find him Master of the +Ceremonies at Bath, then the theatre of summer amusements for all +people of fashion. It was here that he took to gambling, and was +at first classed among the needy adventurers who went to that +place; there was, however, the great difference between him and +them, that his heart was not corrupt; and though by profession a +gamester, he was generous, humane, and honourable. + +When he gave in his accounts to the Masters of the Temple, among +other items he charged was one--`For making one man happy, +L10.' Being questioned about the meaning of so strange an +item, he frankly declared that, happening to overhear a poor man +declare to his wife and large family of children that L10 +would make him happy, he could not avoid trying the experiment. +He added, that, if they did not choose to acquiesce in his +charge, he was ready to refund the money. The Masters, struck +with such an uncommon instance of good nature, publicly +thanked him for his benevolence, and desired that the sum might +be doubled as a proof of their satisfaction. + +`His laws were so strictly enforced that he was styled "King of +Bath:" no rank would protect the offender, nor dignity of +station condone a breach of the laws. Nash desired the Duchess +of Queensberry, who appeared at a dress ball in an apron of +point-lace, said to be worth 500 guineas, to take it off, which +she did, at the same time desiring his acceptance of it; and when +the Princess Amelia requested to have one dance more after 11 +o'clock, Nash replied that the laws of Bath, like those of +Lycurgus, were unalterable. Gaming ran high at Bath, and +frequently led to disputes and resort to the sword, then +generally worn by well-dressed men. Swords were, therefore, +prohibited by Nash in the public rooms; still they were worn in +the streets, when Nash, in consequence of a duel fought by +torchlight, by two notorious gamesters, made the law absolute, +"That no swords should, on any account, be worn in +Bath." '[114] + + +[114] The Book of Days, Feb. 3. + + +About the year 1739 the gamblers, in order to evade the laws +against gaming, set up E O tables; and as these proved very +profitable to the proprietors at Tunbridge, Nash determined to +introduce them at Bath, having been assured by the lawyers that +no law existed against them. He therefore set up an E O table, +and the speculation flourished for a short time; but the +legislature interfered in 1745, and inflicted severe penalties on +the keepers of such tables. This was the ruin of Nash's gambling +speculation; and for the remaining sixteen years of his life he +depended solely on the precarious products of the gaming table. +He died at Bath, in 1761, in greatly reduced circumstances, being +represented as `poor, old, and peevish, yet still incapable of +turning from his former manner of life.' + +`He was buried in the Abbey Church with great ceremony: a solemn +hymn was sung by the charity-school children, three clergymen +preceded the coffin, the pall was supported by aldermen, and the +Masters of the Assembly-Rooms followed as chief mourners; while +the streets were filled and the housetops covered with +spectators, anxious to witness the respect paid to the venerable +founder of the prosperity of the city of Bath.'[115] + + +[115] The Book of Days, Feb. 3. + + +The following are the chief anecdotes told of Beau Nash. + +A giddy youth, who had resigned his fellowship at Oxford, brought +his fortune to Bath, and, without the smallest skill, won a +considerable sum; and following it up, in the next October added +four thousand pounds to his former capital. Nash one night +invited him to supper, and offered to give him fifty guineas to +forfeit twenty every time he lost two hundred at one sitting. +The young man refused, and was at last undone. + +The Duke of B---- loved play to distraction. One night, +chagrined at a heavy loss, he pressed Nash to tie him up from +deep play in future. The beau accordingly gave his Grace one +hundred guineas on condition to receive ten thousand whenever he +lost that amount at one sitting. The duke soon lost eight +thousand at Hazard, and was going to throw for three thousand +more, when Nash caught the dice-box, and entreated the peer to +reflect on the penalty if he lost. The duke desisted for that +time; but ere long, losing considerably at Newmarket, he +willingly paid the penalty. + +When the Earl of T---- was a youth he was passionately fond +of play. Nash undertook to cure him. Conscious of his superior +skill, he engaged the earl in single play. His lordship lost his +estate, equipage, everything! Our generous gamester returned +all, only stipulating for the payment of L5000 whenever he +might think proper to demand it. Some time after his lordship's +death, Nash's affairs being on the wane, he demanded it of his +heirs, _WHO PAID IT WITHOUT HESITATION_. + +Nash one day complained of his ill luck to the Earl of +Chesterfield, adding that he had lost L500 the last night. +The earl replied, `I don't wonder at your _LOSING_ money, Nash, +but all the world is surprised where you get it to lose.' + +`The Corporation of Bath so highly respected Nash, that the +Chamber voted a marble statue of him, which was erected in the +Pump-room, between the busts of Newton and Pope; this gave rise +to a stinging epigram by Lord Chesterfield, concluding with these +lines: + +"The _STATUE_ placed these busts between + Gives satire all its strength; +_WISDOM_ and _WIT_ are little seen, + But _FOLLY_ at full length." '[116] + + +[116] The Book of Days, Feb. 3. + + +THE EARL OF CHESTERFIELD. + + +Walpole tells us that the celebrated Earl of Chesterfield +_LIVED_ at White's Club, gaming, and uttering witticisms among +the boys of quality; `yet he says to his son, that a member of a +gaming club should be a cheat, or he will soon be a beggar;' an +inconsistency which reminds one of old Fuller's saw--`A father +that whipt his son for swearing, and swore himself whilst he +whipt him, did more harm by his example than good by his +correction.' + + +GEORGE SELWYN. + + +The character of Selwyn,' says Mr Jesse, `was in many respects a +remarkable one. With brilliant wit, a quick perception of the +ridiculous, and a thorough knowledge of the world and human +nature, he united classical knowledge and a taste for the fine +arts. To these qualities may be added others of a very +contradictory nature. With a thorough enjoyment of the pleasures +of society, an imperturbable good-humour, a kind heart, and a +passionate fondness for children, he united a morbid interest in +the details of human suffering, and, more especially, a +taste for witnessing criminal executions. Not only was he a +constant frequenter of such scenes of horror, but all the details +of crime, the private history of the criminal, his demeanour at +his trial, in the dungeon, and on the scaffold, and the state of +his feelings in the hour of death and degradation, were to Selwyn +matters of the deepest and most extraordinary interest. Even the +most frightful particulars relating to suicide and murder, the +investigation of the disfigured corpse, the sight of an +acquaintance lying in his shroud, seem to have afforded him a +painful and unaccountable pleasure. When the first Lord Holland +was on his death-bed he was told that Selwyn, who had lived on +terms of the closest intimacy with him, had called to inquire +after his health. "The next time Mr Selwyn calls," he said, +"show him up; if I am alive I shall be delighted to see him, and +if I am dead he will be glad to see me." When some ladies +bantered him on his want of feeling in attending to see the +terrible Lord Lovat's head cut off--"Why," he said, "I made +amends by going to the undertaker's to see it sewed on again." +And yet this was the same individual who delighted in the first +words and in the sunny looks of childhood; whose friendship +seems to have partaken of all the softness of female affection; +and whose heart was never hardened against the wretched and +depressed. Such was the "original" George Selwyn.' + +This celebrated conversational wit was a devoted frequenter of +the gaming table. Writing to Selwyn, in 1765, Lord Holland +said:--`All that I can collect from what you say on the subject +of money is, that fortune has been a little favourable lately; or +may be, the last night only. Till you leave off play entirely +you must be--in earnest, and without irony--_en verite le +serviteur tres-humble des evenements_, "in truth, the +very humble servant of events." ' + +His friend the Lord Carlisle, although himself a great gambler, +also gave him good advice. `I hope you have left off Hazard,' he +wrote to Selwyn; `if you are still so foolish, and will play, the +best thing I can wish you is, that you may win and never throw +crabs.[117] You do not put it in the power of chance to +make you them, as we all know; and till the ninth miss is born I +shall not be convinced to the contrary.' + + +[117] That is, aces, or ace and deuce, twelve, or seven. With +false dice, as will appear in the sequel, it was impossible to +throw any of these numbers, and as the caster always called the +main, he was sure to win, as he could call an impossible number: +those who were in the secret of course always took the odds. + + +Again:--`As you have played I am happy to hear you have won; but +by this time there may be a triste revers de succes_.' + +Selwyn had taken to gaming before his father's death--probably +from his first introduction to the clubs. His stakes were high, +though not extravagantly so, compared with the sums hazarded by +his contemporaries. In 1765 he lost L1000 to Mr Shafto, who +applied for it in the language of an `embarrassed tradesman.' + +`July 1, 1765. + +`DEAR SIR,--I have this moment received the favour of your +letter. I intended to have gone out of town on Thursday, but as +you shall not receive your money before the end of this week, I +must postpone my journey till Sunday. A month would have made no +difference to me, had I not had others to pay before I leave +town, and must pay; therefore must beg that you will leave the +whole before this week is out, at White's, as it is to be paid +away to others to whom I have lost, and do not choose to leave +town till that is done. Be sure you could not wish an +indulgence I should not be happy to grant, if it my power.' + +Nor was this the only dun of the kind that Selwyn had `to put up +with' on account of the gaming table. He received the following +from Edward, Earl of Derby.[118] + + +[118] Edward, twelfth Earl of Derby, was born September 12, 1752, +and died October 21, 1834. He married first, Elizabeth, daughter +of James, sixth Duke of Hamilton, who died in 1799, and secondly, +the celebrated actress, Miss Farren, who died April 23, 1829. + + +_The Earl of Derby to George Selwyn_. + +`Nothing could equal what I feel at troubling you with this +disagreeable note; but having lost a very monstrous sum of money +last night, I find myself under the necessity of entreating your +goodness to excuse the liberty I am taking of applying to you for +assistance. If it is not very inconvenient to you, I should be +glad of the money you owe me. If it is, I must pay what I can, +and desire Brookes to trust me for the remainder. I repeat again +my apologies, to which I shall beg leave to add how very +sincerely I have the honour to be, my dear sir, + +`Your most obedient humble servant, +`DEBBY. + +This is the very model of a dun, and proves how handsomely +such ugly things can be done when one has to deal with a noble +instead of a plebeian creditor. + +But Selwyn had not only to endure such indignities, but also to +inflict them, as appears by the following letter to him from the +Honourable General Fitzpatrick, in answer to a dun, which, we are +assured, was `gentle and moderate.' + + +`I am very sorry to hear the night ended so ill; but to give you +some idea of the utter impossibility of my being useful on the +occasion, I will inform you of the state of my affairs. I won +L400 last night, which was immediately appropriated by Mr +_Martindale_, to whom I still owe L300, and I am in Brookes' +book for thrice that sum. Add to all this, that at Christmas I +expect an inundation of clamorous creditors, who, unless I +somehow or other scrape together some money to satisfy them, will +overwhelm me entirely. What can be done? If I could coin my +heart, or drop my blood into drachms, I would do it, though by +this time I should probably have neither heart nor blood left. I +am afraid. you will find Stephen in the same state of +insolvency. Adieu! I am obliged to you for the gentleness and +moderation of your dun, considering how long I have been your +debtor. + +`Yours most sincerely, +`R. F.'[119] + + +[119] Apud _Selwyn and his Contemporaries_ by Jesse. + + +Selwyn is said to have been a loser on the whole, and often +pillaged. Latterly he appears to have got the better of his +propensity for play, if we may judge from the following wise +sentiment:--`It was too great a consumer,' he said, `of four +things--time, health, fortune, and thinking.' But a writer in +the _Edinburgh Review_ seems to doubt Selwyn's reformation; for +his initiation of Wilberforce occurred in 1782, when he was 63; +and previously, in 1776, he underwent the process of dunning from +Lord Derby, before-mentioned, and in 1779 from Mr Crawford (`Fish +Crawford,' as he was called), each of whom, like Mr Shafto, `had +a sum to make up'--in the infernal style so horridly provoking, +even when we are able and willing to pay. However, as Selwyn +died comparatively rich, it may be presumed that his fortune +suffered to no great extent by his indulgence in the vice of +gaming. + +The following are some of George Selwyn's jokes relating to +gambling:-- + +One night, at White's, observing the Postmaster-General, Sir +Everard Fawkener, losing a large sum of money at Piquet, Selwyn, +pointing to the successful player, remarked--`See now, he is +robbing the _MAIL!_' + +On another occasion, in 1756, observing Mr Ponsonby, the Speaker +of the Irish House of Commons, tossing about bank-bills at a +Hazard table at Newmarket--`Look,' he said, `how easily the +Speaker passes the money-bills!' + +A few months afterwards (when the public journals were daily +containing an account of some fresh town which had conferred the +freedom of its corporation in a gold box on Mr Pitt, afterwards +Earl of Chatham, and the Right Honourable Henry Bilson Legge, his +fellow-patriot and colleague), Selwyn, who neither admired their +politics nor respected their principles, proposed to the old and +new club at Arthur's, that he should be deputed to present to +them the freedom of each club in a _dice-box_. + +On one of the waiters at Arthur's club having been committed +to prison for a felony--`What a horrid idea,' said Selwyn, `he +will give of us to the people in Newgate!' + +When the affairs of Charles Fox were in a more than usually +embarrassed state, chiefly through his gambling, his friends +raised a subscription among themselves for his relief. One of +them remarking that it would require some delicacy in breaking +the matter to him, and adding that `he wondered how Fox would +take it.' `Take it?' interrupted Selwyn, `why, _QUARTERLY_, to +be sure.'[120] + + +[120] Jesse, _George Selwyn and his Contemporaries._ + + +LORD CARLISLE. + + +This eminent statesman was regarded by his contemporaries as an +able, an influential, and occasionally a powerful speaker. + +Though married to a lady for whom in his letters he ever +expresses the warmest feelings of admiration and esteem; and +surrounded by a young and increasing family, who were evidently +the objects of his deepest affection, Lord Carlisle, +nevertheless, at times appears to have been unable to extricate +himself from the dangerous enticements to play to which he +was exposed. His fatal passion for play--the source of +adventitious excitement at night, and of deep distress in the +morning--seems to have led to frequent and inconvenient losses, +and eventually to have plunged him into comparative distress. + +`In recording these failings of a man of otherwise strong sense, +of a high sense of honour, and of kindly affections, we have said +the worst that can be adduced to his disadvantage. Attached, +indeed, as Lord Carlisle may have been to the pleasures of +society, and unfortunate as may have been his passion for the +gaming table, it is difficult to peruse those passages in his +letters in which he deeply reproaches himself for yielding to the +fatal fascination of play, and accuses himself of having +diminished the inheritance of his children, without a feeling of +commiseration for the sensations of a man of strong sense and +deep feeling, while reflecting on his moral degradation. It is +sufficient, however, to observe of Lord Carlisle, that the deep +sense which he entertained of his own folly; the almost maddening +moments to which he refers in his letters of self-condemnation +and bitter regret; and subsequently his noble victory over the +siren enticements of pleasure, and his thorough emancipation +from the trammels of a domineering passion, make adequate amends +for his previous unhappy career.'[121] + +[121] Jesse, _George Selwyn and his Contemporaries_, ii. + + +Brave conquerors, for so ye are, +Who war against your own affections, +And the huge army of the world's desires. + + +Lady Sarah Bunbury, writing to George Selwyn, in 1767, says:--`If +you are now at Paris with poor C. [evidently Carlisle], who I +dare say is now swearing at the French people, give my +compliments to him. I call him poor C. because I hope he is +only miserable at having been such a _PIGEON_ to Colonel Scott. +I never can pity him for losing at play, and I think of it as +little as I can, because I cannot bear to be obliged to abate the +least of the good opinion I have always had of him.' + +Oddly enough the writer had no better account to give of her own +husband; she says, in the letter:--`Sir Charles games from +morning till night, but he has never yet lost L100 in one +day.'[122] + + +[122] This Lady Sarah Bunbury was the wife of Sir Charles +Bunbury, after having had a chance of being Queen of England, as +the wife of George III., who was passionately in love with her, +and would have married her had it not been for the constitutional +opposition of his privy council. This charming and beautiful +woman died in 1826, at the age of 82. She was probably the last +surviving great-granddaughter of Charles II.--Jesse, _Ubi supra_. + + +About the year 1776 Lord Carlisle wrote the following letter +to George Selwyn:-- + +`MY DEAR GEORGE, +`I have undone myself, and it is to no purpose to conceal +from you my abominable madness and folly, though perhaps the +particulars may not be known to the rest of the world. I never +lost so much in five times as I have done to-night, and am in +debt to the house for the whole. You may be sure I do not tell +you this with an idea that you can be of the least assistance to +me; it is a great deal more than your abilities are equal to. +Let me see you--though I shall be ashamed to look at you after +your goodness to me.' + + +This letter is endorsed by George Selwyn--`After the loss of +L10,000.' He tells Selwyn of a set which, at one point of the +game, stood to win L50,000. + +`Lord Byron, it is almost needless to remark, was nearly related +to Lord Carlisle. The mother of Lord Carlisle was sister to +John, fourth Lord Byron, the grandfather of the poet; Lord +Carlisle and Lord Byron were consequently first cousins once +removed. Had they happened to have been contemporaries, it would +be difficult to form an idea of two individuals who, alike from +tastes, feelings, and habits of life, were more likely to form a +lasting and suitable intimacy. Both were men of high rank; both +united an intimate knowledge of society and the world with the +ardent temperament of a poet; and both in youth mingled a love of +frolic and pleasure with a graver taste for literary pursuits.' + + +CHARLES JAMES FOX. + + +In the midst of the infatuated votaries of the gaming god in +England, towers the mighty intellectual giant Charles James Fox. +Nature had fashioned him to be equally an object of admiration +and love. In addition to powerful eloquence, he was +distinguished by the refinement of his taste in all matters +connected with literature and art; he was deeply read in history; +had some claims to be regarded as a poet; and possessed a +thorough knowledge of the classical authors of antiquity, a +knowledge of which he so often and so happily availed +himself in his seat in the House of Commons. To these qualities +was added a good-humour which was seldom ruffled,--a peculiar +fascination of manner and address,--the most delightful powers of +conversation,--a heart perfectly free from vindictiveness, +ostentation, and deceit,--a strong sense of justice,--a thorough +detestation of tyranny and oppression,--and an almost feminine +tenderness of feeling for the sufferings of others. +Unfortunately, however, his great talents and delightful +qualities in private life rendered his defects the more glaring +and lamentable; indeed, it is difficult to think or speak with +common patience of those injurious practices and habits--that +abandonment to self-gratification, and that criminal waste of the +most transcendent abilities which exhausted in social +conviviality and the gaming table what were formed to confer +blessings on mankind. + +So much for the character of Fox, as I have gathered from Mr +Jesse;[123] and I continue the extremely interesting subject by +quoting from that delightful book, `The Queens of +Society.'[124] `With a father who had made an enormous fortune, +with little principle, out of a public office--for Lord Holland +owed the bulk of his wealth to his appointment of paymaster to +the forces,--and who spoiled him, in his boyhood, Charles James +Fox had begun life _AS A FOP OF THE FIRST WATER_, and squandered +L50,000 in debt before he became of age. Afterwards he +indulged recklessly and extravagantly in every course of +licentiousness which the profligate society of the day opened to +him. At Brookes' and the Thatched House Fox ate and drank to +excess, threw thousands upon the Faro table, mingled with +blacklegs, and made himself notorious for his shameless vices. +Newmarket supplied another excitement. His back room was so +incessantly filled with Jew money-lenders that he called it his +Jerusalem Chamber. It was impossible that such a life should not +destroy every principle of honour; and there is nothing +improbable in the story that he appropriated to himself money +which belonged to his dear friend Mrs Crewe, as before related. + + +[123] George Selwyn and his Contemporaries, ii. + +[124] By Grace and Philip Wharton. + + +`Of his talents, which were certainly great, he made an affected +display. Of his learning he was proud--but rather as adding +lustre to his celebrity for universal tastes. He was not at all +ashamed, but rather gloried in being able to describe himself as +a fool, as he does in his verses to Mrs Crewe:-- + +"Is't reason? No; that my whole life will belie; +For, who so at variance as reason and I? +Is't ambition that fills up each chink in my heart, +Nor allows any softer sensation a part? +Oh! no; for in this all the world must agree, +_ONE FOLLY WAS NEVER SUFFICIENT FOR ME_." + + +`Sensual and self-indulgent--with a grossness that is even patent +on his very portrait [and bust], Fox had nevertheless a manner +which enchanted the sex, and he was the only politician of the +day who thoroughly enlisted the personal sympathies of women of +mind and character, as well as of those who might be captivated +by his profusion. When he visited Paris in later days, even +Madame Recamier, noted for her refinement, and of whom he +himself said, with his usual coarse ideas of the sphere of woman, +that "she was the only woman who united the attractions of +pleasure to those of modesty," delighted to be seen with him! +At the time of which we are speaking the most celebrated beauties +of England were his most ardent supporters. + +`The election of 1784, in which he stood and was returned +for Westminster, was one of the most famous of the old riotous +political demonstrations. . . . . Loving _hazard_ of all kinds +for its own sake, Fox had made party hostility a new sphere of +gambling, had adopted the character of a demagogue, and at a time +when the whole of Europe was undergoing, a great revolution in +principles, was welcomed gladly as "The Man of the People." In +the beginning, of the year he had been convicted of bribery, but +in spite of this his popularity increased. . . . The election +for Westminster, in which Fox was opposed by Sir Cecil Wray, was +the most tempestuous of all. There were 20,000 votes to be +polled, and the opposing parties resorted to any means of +intimidation, or violence, or persuasion which political +enthusiasm could suggest. On the eighth day the poll was against +the popular member, and he called upon his friends to make a +great effort on his behalf. It was then that the "ladies' +canvass" began. Lady Duncannon, the Duchess of Devonshire, Mrs +Crewe, and Mrs Damer dressed themselves in blue and buff--the +colours of the American Independents, which Fox had adopted and +wore in the House of Commons--and set out to visit the +purlieus of Westminster. Here, in their enthusiasm, they shook +the dirty hands of honest workmen, expressed the greatest +interest in their wives and families, and even, as in the case of +the Duchess of Devonshire and the butcher, submitted their fair +cheeks to be kissed by the possessors of votes! At the butcher's +shop, the owner, in his apron and sleeves, stoutly refused his +vote, except on one condition--"Would her Grace give him a +kiss?" The request was granted; and the vote thus purchased +went to swell the majority which finally secured the return of +"The Man of the People." + +`The colouring of political friends, which concealed his vices, +or rather which gave them a false hue, has long since faded away. +We now know Fox as he _WAS_. In the latest journals of Horace +Walpole his inveterate gambling, his open profligacy, his utter +want of honour, is disclosed by one of his own opinion. +Corrupted ere yet he had left his home, whilst in age a boy, +there is, however, the comfort of reflecting that he outlived his +vices which seem to have "cropped out" by his ancestral +connection in the female line with the reprobate Charles II., +whom he was thought to resemble in features. Fox, +afterwards, with a green apron tied round his waist, pruning and +nailing up his fruit trees at St Ann's Hill, or amusing himself +innocently with a few friends, is a pleasing object to remember, +even whilst his early career occurs forcibly to the mind.' + +Peace, then, to the shade of Charles James Fox! The three last +public acts which he performed were worthy of the man, and should +suffice to prove that, in spite of his terrible failings, he was +most useful in his generation. By one, he laboured to repair the +outrages of war--to obtain a breathing time for our allies; and, +by an extension of our commerce, to afford, if necessary, to his +country all the advantages of a renovated contest, without the +danger of drying up our resources. By another, he attempted to +remove all legal disabilities arising out of religion--to unite +more closely _THE INTERESTS OF IRELAND WITH THOSE OF ENGLAND;_ +and thus, by an extension of common rights, and a participation +of common benefits, wisely to render that which has always been +considered the weakest and most troublesome portion of our +empire, at least a useful and valuable part of England's +greatness among the nations. Queen Elizabeth's Minister, +Lord Burleigh, in the presence of the `Irish difficulty' in his +day, wished Ireland at the bottom of the sea, and doubtless many +at the present time wish the same; but Fox endeavoured to grapple +with it manfully and honestly, and it was not his fault that he +did not settle it. The vices of Fox were those of the age in +which he lived; had he been reserved for the present epoch, what +a different biography should we have to write of him! What a +helmsman he might be at the present time, when the ship of Old +England is at sea and in peril! + +It appears from a letter addressed by Lord Carlisle to Lady +Holland (Fox's mother) in 1773, that he had become security for +Fox to the amount of fifteen or sixteen thousand pounds; and a +letter to Selwyn in 1777, puts the ruinous character of their +gaming transactions in the strongest light. Lord Ilchester +(Fox's cousin) had lost thirteen thousand pounds at one sitting +to Lord Carlisle, who offered to take three thousand pounds down. +Nothing was paid. But ten years afterwards, when Lord Carlisle +pressed for his money, he complained that an attempt was made to +construe the offer into a _remission_ of the ten thousand +pounds:--`The only way, in honour, that Lord Ilchester could +have accepted my offer, would have been by taking some steps to +pay the L3000. I remained in a state of uncertainty, I think, +for nearly three years; but his taking no notice of it during +that time, convinced me that he had no intention of availing +himself of it. Charles Fox was also at a much earlier period +clear that he never meant to accept it. There is also great +injustice in the behaviour of the family in passing by the +instantaneous payment of, I believe, five thousand pounds, to +Charles, won at the same sitting, without any observations. _At +one period of the play I remember there was a balance in favour +of one of these gentlemen (but which I protest I do not remember) +of about fifty thousand_.' + +At the time in question Fox was hardly eighteen. The following +letter from Lord Carlisle, written in 1771, contains highly +interesting information respecting the youthful habits and +already vast intellectual pre-eminence of this memorable +statesman:--`It gives me great pain to hear that Charles begins +to be unreasonably impatient at losing. I fear it is the +prologue to much fretfulness of temper, for disappointment in +raising money, and any serious reflections upon his +situation, will (in spite of his affected spirits and +dissipation) occasion him many disagreeable moments.' Lord +Carlisle's fears proved groundless in this respect. As before +stated, Fox was always remarkable for his sweetness of temper, +which remained with him to the last; but it is most painful to +think how much mankind has lost through his recklessness. + +Gibbon writes to Lord Sheffield in 1773, `You know Lord Holland +is paying Charles Fox's debts. They amount to L140,000.'[125] + +[125] Timbs, _Club Life in London_. + + +His love of play was desperate. A few evenings before he moved +the repeal of the Marriage Act, in February, 1772, he had been at +Brompton on two errands,--one to consult Justice Fielding on the +penal laws, the other to borrow L10,000, which he brought to +town at the hazard of being robbed. He played admirably both at +Whist and Piquet,--with such skill, indeed, that by the general +admission of Brookes' Club, he might have made four thousand +pounds a-year, as they calculated, at these games, if he could +have confined himself to them. But his misfortune arose from +playing games of chance, particularly at Faro. + +After eating and drinking plentifully, he would sit down at +the Faro table, and invariably rose a loser. Once, indeed, and +once only, he won about eight thousand pounds in the course of a +single evening. Part of the money he paid to his creditors, and +the remainder he lost almost immediately. + +Before he attained his thirtieth year he had completely +dissipated everything that he could either command or could +procure by the most ruinous expedients. He had even undergone, +at times, many of the severest privations incidental to the +vicissitudes that attend a gamester's progress; frequently +wanting money to defray the common daily wants of the most +pressing nature. Topham Beauclerc, who lived much in Fox's +society, declared that no man could form an idea of the +extremities to which he had been driven to raise money, often +losing his last guinea at the Faro table. The very sedan- +chairmen, whom he was unable to pay, used to dun him for arrears. +In 1781, he might be considered as an extinct volcano,--for the +pecuniary aliment that had fed the flame was long consumed. Yet +he even then occupied a house or lodgings in St James's Street, +close to Brookes', where he passed almost every hour which +was not devoted to the House of Commons. Brookes' was then the +rallying point or rendezvous of the Opposition, where Faro, +Whist, and supper prolonged the night, the principal members of +the minority in both Houses met, in order to compare their +information, or to concert and mature their parliamentary +measures. Great sums were then borrowed of Jews at exorbitant +premiums. + +His brother Stephen was enormously fat; George Selwyn said he was +in the right to deal with Shylocks, as he could give them pounds +of flesh. + +Walpole, in 1781, walking up St James's Street, saw a cart at +Fox's door, with copper and an old chest of drawers, loading. +His success at Faro had awakened a host of creditors; but, unless +his bank had swelled to the size of the Bank of England, it could +not have yielded a half-penny apiece for each. Epsom too had +been unpropitious; and one creditor had actually seized and +carried off Fox's goods, which did not seem worth removing. Yet, +shortly after this, whom should Walpole find sauntering by his +own door but Fox, who came up and talked to him at the coach +window, on the Marriage Bill, with as much _sang-froid_ as +if he knew nothing of what had happened. Doubtless this +indifference was to be attributed quite as much to the +callousness of the reckless gambler as to anything that might be +called `philosophy.' + +It seems clear that the ruling passion of Fox was partly owing to +the lax training of his father, who, by his lavish allowances, +not only fostered his propensity to play, but had also been +accustomed to give him, when a mere boy, money to amuse himself +at the gaming table. According to Chesterfield, the first Lord +Holland `had no fixed principles in religion or morality,' and he +censures him to his son for being `too unwary in ridiculing and +exposing them.' He gave full swing to Charles in his youth. +`Let nothing be done,' said his lordship, `to break his spirit, +the world will do that for him.' At his death, in 1774, he left +him L154,000 to pay his debts; it was all `bespoke,' and Fox +soon became as deeply pledged as before.[126] + + +[126] Timbs, ubi supra. There is a mistake in the +anecdote respecting Fox's duel with Mr Adam (not Adams), as +related by Mr Timbs in his amusing book of the Clubs. The +challenge was in consequence of some words uttered by Fox in +parliament, and not on account of some remark on Government +powder, to which Fox wittily alluded, after the duel, +saying--`Egad, Adam, you would have killed me if it had not been +Government powder.' See Gilchrist, Ordeals, Millingen, Hist. +of Duelling, ii., and Steinmetz, Romance of Duelling, ii. + + +The following are authentic anecdotes of Fox, as a gambler. + +Fox had a gambling debt to pay to Sir John Slade. Finding +himself in cash, after a lucky run at Faro, he sent a +complimentary card to the knight, desiring to discharge the +claim. Sir 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 James, and pocketed the cash, adding--`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.' + +Fox once played cards with Fitzpatrick at Brookes' from ten +o'clock at night till near six o'clock the next morning--a waiter +standing by to tell them `whose deal it was'--they being too +sleepy to know. + +On another occasion he won about L8000; and one of his bond- +creditors, who soon heard of his good luck, presented +himself and asked for payment. `Impossible, sir,' replied Fox; +`I must first discharge my debts of honour.' The bond-creditor +remonstrated, and finding Fox inflexible, tore the bond to pieces +and flung it into the fire, exclaiming--`Now, sir, your debt to +me is a _debt of honour_.' Struck by the creditor's witty +rejoinder, Fox instantly paid the money.[127] + + +[127] The above is the version of this anecdote which I +remember as being current in my young days. Mr Timbs and others +before him relate the anecdote as follows:--`On another occasion +he won about L8000; and one of his bond-creditors, who soon +heard of his good luck, presented himself and asked for payment.' + +`Impossible, sir,' replied Fox `I must first discharge my debts +of honour.' The bond-creditor remonstrated. `Well, sir, give me +your bond.' It was delivered to Fox, who tore it in pieces and +threw it into the fire. `Now, sir,' said Fox, `my debt to you is +a debt of honour;' and immediately paid him . + +Now, it is evident that Fox could not destroy the document +without rendering himself still more `liable' in point of law. I +submit that the version in the text is the true one, conforming +with the legal requirement of the case and influencing the debtor +by the originality of the performance of the creditor. + + +Amidst the wildest excesses of youth, even while the perpetual +victim of his passion for play, Fox eagerly cultivated his taste +for letters, especially the Greek and Roman historians and poets; +and he found resources in their works under the most severe +depressions occasioned by ill-successes at the gaming table. One +morning, after Fox had passed the whole night in company with +Topham Beauclerc at Faro, the two friends were about to separate. + +Fox had lost throughout the night, and was in a frame of mind +approaching to desperation. Beauclerc's anxiety for the +consequences which might ensue led him to be early at Fox's +lodgings; and on arriving he inquired, not without apprehension, +whether he had risen. The servant replied that Mr Fox was in the +drawing-room, when Beauclerc walked up-stairs and cautiously +opened the door, expecting to behold a frantic gamester stretched +on the floor, bewailing his losses, or plunged in moody despair; +but he was astonished to find him reading a Greek Herodotus. + +On perceiving his friend's surprise, Fox exclaimed, `What would +you have me do? I have lost my last shilling.' + +Upon other occasions, after staking and losing all that he could +raise at Faro, instead of exclaiming against fortune, or +manifesting the agitation natural under such circumstances, he +would lay his head on the table and retain his place, but, +exhausted by mental and bodily fatigue, almost immediately +fall into a profound sleep. + +Fox's best friends are said to have been half ruined in annuities +given by them as securities for him to the Jews. L500,000 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, February 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 L12,000 that he had lost; and by dinner, +which was at five o'clock, he had ended losing L11,000! On +the Thursday he spoke in the above debate, went to dinner at past +eleven at night; from thence to White's, where he drank till +seven the next morning; thence to Almack's, where he won +L6000; and between three and four in the afternoon he set out +for Newmarket. His brother Stephen lost L11,000 two nights +after, and Charles L10,000 more on the 13th; so that in +three nights the two brothers--the eldest not _twenty-five_ +years of age--lost L32,000![128] + + +[128] Timbs, _ubi supra._ + + +On one occasion Stephen Fox was dreadfully fleeced at a gaming +house at the West End. He entered it with L13,000, and left +without a farthing. + +Assuredly these Foxes were misnamed. _Pigeons_--dupes of +sharpers at play--would have been a more appropriate cognomen. + + +WILBERFORCE AND PITT. + + +These eminent statesmen were gamesters at one period of their +lives. When Wilberforce came to London in 1780, after his return +to Parliament, his great success signalized his entry into public +life, and he was at once elected a member of the leading clubs-- +Miles' and Evans', Brookes', Boodle's, White's, and Goosetree's. +The latter was Wilberforce's usual resort, where his friendship +with Pitt--who played with characteristic and intense eagerness, +and whom he had slightly known at Cambridge--greatly increased. +He once lost L100 at the Faro table. + +`We played a good deal at Goosetree's,' he states,; and I +well remember the intense earnestness which Pitt displayed when +joining in these games of chance. He perceived their increasing +fascination, and soon after abandoned them for ever.' + +Wilberforce's own case is thus recorded by his biographers, on +the authority of his private Journal:--`We can have no play to- +night,' complained some of the party at the club, `for St Andrew +is not here to keep bank.' `Wilberforce,' said Mr Bankes, who +never joined himself, `if you will keep it I will give you a +guinea.' The playful challenge was accepted, but as the game +grew deep he rose the winner of L600. Much of this was lost +by those who were only heirs to fortunes, and therefore could not +meet such a call without inconvenience. The pain he felt at +their annoyance cured him of a taste which seemed but too likely +to become predominant. + +Goosetree's being then almost exclusively composed of incipient +orators and embryo statesmen, the call for a gambling table there +may be regarded as a decisive proof of the universal prevalence +of the vice. + +`The first time I was at Brookes',' says Wilberforce, +`scarcely knowing any one, I joined, from mere shyness, in play +at the Faro tables, where George Selwyn kept bank. A friend, who +knew my inexperience, and regarded me as a victim decked out for +sacrifice, called to me--"What, Wilberforce, is that you?" +Selwyn quite resented the interference, and, turning to him, said +in his most expressive tone, "Oh, sir, don't interrupt Mr +Wilberforce, he could not be better employed." + +Again: `The very first time I went to Boodle's I won twenty-five +guineas of the Duke of Norfolk. I belonged at this time to five +clubs--Miles' and Evans', Brookes', Boodle's, White's, and +Goosetree's.' + + +SIR PHILIP FRANCIS. + + +Sir Philip Francis, the eminent politician and supposed author of +the celebrated `Letters of Junius,' was a gambler, and the +convivial companion of Fox. During the short administration of +that statesman he was made a Knight of the Bath. One evening, +Roger Wilbraham came up to the Whist table, at Brookes', where +Sir Philip, who for the first time wore the ribbon of the Order, +was engaged in a rubber, and thus accosted him. Laying hold +of the ribbon, and examining it for some time, he said:--`So, +this is the way they have rewarded you at last; they have given +you a little bit of red ribbon for your services, Sir Philip, +have they? A pretty bit of red ribbon to hang about your neck; +and that satisfies you, does it? Now, I wonder what I shall +have. What do you think they will give me, Sir Philip?' The +newly-made knight, who had twenty-five guineas depending on the +rubber, and who was not very well pleased at the interruption, +suddenly turned round, and looking at him fiercely, exclaimed, `A +halter, and be,' &c. + + +THE REV. CALEB C. COLTON. + + +Unquestionably this reverend gentleman was one of the most lucky +of gamesters--having died in full possession of the gifts +vouchsafed to him by the goddess of fortune. + +He was educated at Eton, graduated at King's College, Cambridge, +as Bachelor of Arts in 1801, and Master of Arts in 1804, and +obtained a fellowship, having also a curacy at Tiverton, held +conjointly. Some six years after he appeared in print as a +denouncer of a `ghost story,' and in 1812, as the author of +`Hypocrisy,' a satirical poem, and `Napoleon,' a poem. In 1818 +he was presented by his college to the vicarage of Kew with +Petersham, in Surrey. Two years after he established a literary +reputation--lasting to the present time--by the publication of a +volume of aphorisms or maxims, under the title of `LACON; or, +Many Things in Few Words.' This work is very far from original, +being founded mainly on Lord Bacon's celebrated Essays, and +Burdon's `Materials for Thinking,' La Bruyiere, and De la +Rochefoucault; still it is highly creditable to the abilities of +the writer. It has passed through several editions; and even at +the present time its only rival is, `The Guesses at Truth,' +although we have numerous collections of apothegmatic extracts +from authors, a class of works which is not without its +fascination, if readers are inclined to _THINK._[129] + + +[129] The first work I published was of this kind, and +entitled, `Gems of Genius; or, Words of the Wise, with extracts +from the Diary of a Young Man,' in 1838. + + +Two years after he returned to his `Napoleon,' which he +republished, with extensive additions, under the new title of +`The Conflagration of Moscow. + +It would appear that Colton at this period gave in to the +fashionable gaming of the day; at any rate, he dabbled deeply in +Spanish bonds, became involved in pecuniary difficulties, and, +without investigating his affairs closely--which might have been +easily arranged--he absconded. + +He subsequently made appearance, in order to retain his living; +but in 1828 he lost it, a successor being appointed by his +college. He then went to the United States of America; what he +did there is not on record; but he subsequently returned to +Europe, went to Paris, took up his abode in the Palais Royal, +and--devoted his talents to the mysteries of the gaming table, by +which he was so successful that in the course of a year or two he +won L25,000! + +Oddly enough, one of his `maxims' in his Lacon runs as follows: +`The gamester, if he die a martyr to his profession, is doubly +ruined. He adds his soul to every other loss, and, by the act of +suicide, renounces earth, to forfeit heaven.' + +It has been suggested that this was writing his own epitaph, and +it would appear so from the notices of the man in most of the +biographies; but nothing could be further from the fact. Caleb +Colton managed to _KEEP_ his gambling fortune, and what is +more, devoted it to a worthy purpose. Part of his wealth he +employed in forming a picture-gallery; and he printed at Paris, +for private distribution, an ode on the death of Lord Byron. He +certainly committed suicide, but the act was not the gamester's +martyrdom. He was afflicted by a disease which necessitated some +painful surgical operation, and rather than submit to it, he blew +out his brains, at the house of a friend, at Fontainebleau, in +1832.[130] + + +[130] Gent. Mag. New Month. Mag. Gorton's Gen. Biograph. Dict. + + +BEAU BRUMMELL. + + +This singular man was an inveterate gambler, and for some time +very `lucky;' but the reaction came at last; the stakes were too +high, and the purses of his companions too long for him to stand +against any continued run of bad luck; indeed, the play at +Wattier's, which was very deep, eventually ruined the club, as +well as Brummell and several other members of it; a certain +baronet now living, according to Captain Jesse, is asserted to +have lost ten thousand pounds there at _Ecarte_ at one +sitting.[131] + + +[131] Life of Beau Brummell. + + +The season of 1814 saw Brummell a winner, and a loser +likewise--and this time he lost not only his winnings, but `an +unfortunate ten thousand pounds,' which, when relating the +circumstance to a friend many years afterwards, he said was all +that remained at his banker's. One night--the fifth of a most +relentless run of ill-luck--his friend Pemberton Mills heard him +exclaim that he had lost every shilling, and only wished some one +would bind him never to play again:--`I will,' said Mills; and +taking out a ten-pound note he offered it to Brummell on +condition that he should forfeit a thousand if he played at +White's within a month from that evening. The Beau took it, and +for a few days discontinued coming to the club; but about a +fortnight after Mills, happening to go in, saw him hard at work. +Of course the thousand pounds was forfeited; but his friend, +instead of claiming it, merely went up to him and, touching him +gently on the shoulder, said--`Well, Brummell, you may at least +give me back the ten pounds you had the other night.' + +Among the members who indulged in high play at Brookes' Club was +Alderman Combe, the brewer, who is said to have made as much +money in this way as he did by brewing. One evening whilst +he filled the office of Lord Mayor, he was busy at a full Hazard +table at Brookes', where the wit and the dice-box circulated +together with great glee, and where Beau Brummell was one of the +party. `Come, Mash-tub,' said Brummell, who was the _caster_, +`what do you _set?_' `Twenty-five guineas,' answered the +Alderman. `Well, then,' returned the Beau, `have at the mare's +pony' (a gaming term for 25 guineas). He continued to throw +until he drove home the brewer's twelve ponies running; and then +getting up, and making him a low bow, whilst pocketing the cash, +he said--`Thank you, Alderman; for the future I shall never drink +any porter but yours.' `I wish, sir,' replied the brewer, `that +every other blackguard in London would tell me the same.'[132] + + +[132] Jesse, _ubi supra_. + + +The following occurrence must have caused a `sensation' to poor +Brummell. + +Among the members of Wattier's Club was Bligh, a notorious +madman, of whom Mr Raikes relates:--`One evening at the Macao +table, when the play was very deep, Brummell, having lost a +considerable stake, affected, in his farcical way, a very +tragic air, and cried out--"Waiter, bring me a flat candlestick +and a pistol." Upon which Bligh, who was sitting opposite to +him, calmly produced two loaded pistols from his coat pocket, +which he placed on the table, and said, "Mr Brummell, if you are +really desirous to put a period to your existence, I am extremely +happy to offer you the means without troubling the waiter." The +effect upon those present may easily be imagined, at finding +themselves in the company of a known madman who had loaded +weapons about him.' + +Brummell was at last completely beggared, though for some time he +continued to hold on by the help of funds raised on the mutual +security of himself and his friends, some of whom were not in a +much more flourishing condition than himself; their names, +however, and still more, their expectations, lent a charm to +their bills, in the eyes of the usurers, and money was procured, +of course at ruinous interest. It is said that some unpleasant +circumstances, connected with the division of one of these loans, +occasioned the Beau's expatriation, and that a personal +altercation took place between Brummell and a certain Mr M--, +when that gentleman accused him of taking the lion's share. + +He died in utter poverty, and an idiot, at Caen, in the year +1840, aged 62 years. Brummell had a very odd way of accounting +for the sad change which took place in his affairs. He said that +up to a particular period of his life everything prospered with +him, and that he attributed good luck to the possession of a +certain silver sixpence with a hole in it, which somebody had +given him years before, with an injunction to take good care of +it, as everything would go well with him so long as he did, and +the reverse if he happened to lose it. The promised prosperity +attended him for many years, whilst he held the sixpence fast; +but having at length, in an evil hour, unfortunately given it by +mistake to a hackney-coachman, a complete reverse of his previous +good fortune ensued, till actual ruin overtook him at last, and +obliged him to expatriate himself. `On my asking him,' says the +narrator, `why he did not advertise and offer a reward for the +lost treasure; he said, "I did, and twenty people came with +sixpences having holes in them to obtain the promised reward, but +mine was not amongst them!" And you never afterwards,' said I, +`ascertained what became of it? "Oh yes," he replied, +"no doubt that rascal Rothschild, or some of his set, got hold +of it." ' Whatever poor Brummell's supernatural tendencies may +have generally been, he had unquestionably a superstitious +veneration for his lost sixpence. + + +TOM DUNCOMBE. + + +Tom Duncombe graduated and took honours among the greatest +gamblers of the day. Like Fox, he was heir to a good fortune-- +ten or twelve thousand a year--the whole of which he managed to +anticipate before he was thirty. `Tom Duncombe ran Charles Fox +close. When Mr Duncombe, sen., of Copgrove, caused his prodigal +son's debts to be estimated with a view to their settlement, they +were found to exceed L135,000;[133] and the hopeful heir went +on adding to them till all possibility of extrication was at an +end. But he spent his money (or other people's money), so long +as he had any, like a gentleman; his heart was open like his +hand; he was generous, cordial, high-spirited; and his +expectations--till they were known to be discounted to the +uttermost farthing--kept up his credit, improved his social +position, and gained friends. "Society" (says his son) +"opened its arms to the possessor of a good name and the +inheritor of a good estate. Paterfamiliases and Materfamiliases +rivalled each other in endeavouring to make things pleasant in +their households for his particular delectation, especially if +they had grown-up daughters; hospitable hosts invited him to +dinner, fashionable matrons to balls; political leaders sought to +secure him as a partisan; _DEBUTANTES_ of the season endeavoured +to attract him as an admirer; _TRADESMEN THRONGED TO HIS +DOORSTEPS FOR HIS CUSTOM_, and his table was daily covered with +written applications for his patronage." _Noblesse oblige;_ +and so does fashion. The aspirant had confessedly a hard time of +it. "He must be seen at Tattersall's as well as at Almack's; be +more frequent in attendance in the green-room of the theatre than +at a _levee_ in the palace; show as much readiness to enter +into a pigeon-match at Battersea Red House, as into a flirtation +in May Fair; distinguish himself in the hunting-field as much as +at the dinner-table; and make as effective an appearance in the +park as in the senate; in short, he must be everything--not by +turns, but all at once--sportsman, exquisite, gourmand, +rake, senator, and at least a dozen other variations of the man +of fashion,--his changes of character being often quicker than +those attempted by certain actors who nightly undertake the +performance of an entire _dramatis personae_." ' + +[133] It will be remembered that when Fox's debts were in +like manner estimated they amounted to L140,000: the +coincidence is curious. See ante. + + +Tommy Duncombe was not only indefatigable at Crockford's, but at +every other rendezvous of the votaries of fortune; a skilful +player withal, and not unfrequently a winner beyond expectation. +One night at Crockford's he astonished the house by carrying off +sixteen hundred pounds. He frequently played at cards with Count +D'Orsay, from whom, it is said, he invariably managed to win--the +Count persisting in playing with his pleasant companion, although +warned by others that he would never be a match for `Honest Tommy +Duncombe.' + +Tom Duncombe died poor, but, says his son, `rich in the memory of +those who esteemed him, as Honest Tom Duncombe.' + +Perhaps the best thing the son could have done was to leave his +father's memory at rest in the estimation of `those who esteemed +him;' but having dragged his name once more, and +prominently, before a censorious world, he can scarcely +resent the following estimate of Tom Duncombe, by a well-informed +reviewer in the _Times_. Alluding to the concluding summary of +the father's character and doings, this keen writer passes a +sentence which is worth preserving:-- + +`Much of this would do for a patriot and philanthropist of the +highest class--for a Pym, a Hampden, or a Wilberforce; or, we +could fancy, a son of Andrew Marvell, vowing over his grave "to +endeavour to imitate the virtues and emulate the self-sacrificing +patriotism of so estimable a parent, and so good a man." But we +can hardly fancy, we cannot leave, a son of Duncombe in such a +frame of mind. We cannot say to _HIM_-- + +Macte nova virtute, puer; sic itur ad astra. +"In virtue renewed go on; thus to the skies we go." + +We are unfeignedly reluctant to check a filial effusion, or to +tell disagreeable truths; but there are occasions when a sense of +public duty imperatively requires them to be told. + +`Why did this exemplary parent die poor? When did he abandon the +allurements of a patrician circle? He died poor because he +wasted a fine fortune. If he abandoned a patrician circle, +it was because he was tired of it, or thought he could make a +better thing of democracy. If he conquered his passions, it was, +like St Evremond--by indulging them. + +` "Honest Tom Duncombe!" We never heard him so designated +before except in pleasantry. "As honest as any man living, that +is an old man, and not honester than I." We cannot go further +than Verges; it is a stretch of charity to go so far when we call +to mind the magnificent reversion and the French jobs. A ruined +spendthrift, although he may have many good qualities, can never, +strictly speaking, be termed honest. It is absurd to say of him +that he is nobody's enemy but his own--with family, friends, and +tradespeople paying the penalty for his self-indulgence. He must +be satisfied to be called honourable--to be charged with no +transgression of the law of honour; which Paley defines as "a +system of rules constructed by people of fashion, and calculated +to facilitate their intercourse with one another, _AND FOR NO +OTHER PURPOSE_." + +`There was one quality of honesty, however, which "honest Tom +Duncombe" did possess. He was not a hypocrite. He was not +devoid of right feeling. He had plenty of good sense; and it +would have given him a sickening pang on his death-bed to think +that his frailties were to be perpetuated by his descendants; +that he was to be pointed out as a shining star to guide, instead +of a beacon-fire to warn. "No," he would have said, if he +could have anticipated this most ill-chosen, however well- +intentioned, tribute, "spare me this terrible irony. Do not +provoke the inevitable retort. Say of me, if you must say +anything, that I was not a bad man, though an erring one; that I +was kindly disposed towards my fellow-creatures; that I did some +good in my generation, and was able and willing to do more, but +that I heedlessly wasted time, money, health, intellect, personal +gifts, social advantages and opportunities; that my career was a +failure, and my whole scheme of life a melancholy +mistake." '[134] + + +[134] _Times_, Jan. 7, 1868. + + +This is a terrible rejoinder to a son endeavouring to raise a +monument to his beloved and respected parent. But, if we will +rake up rottenness from the grave--rottenness in which we are +interested--we must take our chance whether we shall find a +Hamlet who will say, `Alas! poor Yorick!' and say _NO MORE_ than +the musing Dane upon the occasion. + + +WAS THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON A GAMESTER? + + +A few years after the battle of Waterloo there appeared a French +work entitled `_L'Academie des Jeux_, par Philidor,' which was +soon translated into English, and here published under the title +of `Rouge et Noir; or, the Academies.' It was a denunciation of +gambling in all its varieties, and was, no doubt, well- +intentioned. There was, however, in the publication the +following astounding statement:-- + +`Not long ago the carriage of the heir-apparent to the T***** +of England, in going to his B****'s levee, was arrested for +debt in the open street. That great captain, who gained, if not +laurels, an immense treasure, on the plains of Wa****oo, +besides that fortune transmitted to him by the English people, +was impoverished in a few months by this ignoble passion.' + +There can be no doubt that the alleged gambling of the great +warrior and statesman was the public scandal of the day, as +appears by the duke's own letters on the subject, published +in the last volume of his _Dispatches_. Even the eminent +counsel, Mr Adolphus, thought proper to allude to the report in +one of his speeches at the bar. This called forth the following +letter from the duke to Mr Adolphus:-- + +`17 Sept., 1823. +`The Duke of Wellington presents his compliments to Mr +Adolphus, and encloses him the "Morning Chronicle" of Friday, +the 12th instant, to which the duke's attention has just been +called, in which Mr Adolphus will observe that he is stated to +have represented the duke as a person _KNOWN SOMETIMES TO PLAY +AT HAZARD, WHO MIGHT BE COMMITTED AS A ROGUE AND VAGABOND_. + +`The duke concludes that this paper contains a correct statement +of what Mr Adolphus said upon the occasion, and he assures Mr +Adolphus that he would not trouble him upon the subject if +circumstances did not exist which rendered this communication +desirable. + +`Some years have elapsed since the public have been informed, +_FROM THE VERY BEST AUTHORITY_, that the duke had totally ruined +himself at play; and Mr Adolphus was present upon one occasion +when a witness swore that he had heard the duke was +constantly obliged to sell the offices in the Ordnance himself, +instead of allowing them to be sold by others! ! The duke has +suffered some inconvenience from this report in a variety of +ways, and he is anxious that at least it should not be repeated +by a gentleman of such celebrity and authority as Mr Adolphus. + +`He therefore assures Mr Adolphus that in the whole course of his +life he never won or lost L20 at any game, and that he never +played at Hazard, or any game of chance, in any public place or +club, nor been for some years at all at any such place. + +`From these circumstances, Mr Adolphus will see that there is no +ground for making use of the duke's name as an example of a +person _KNOWN SOMETIMES TO PLAY AT HAZARD, WHO MIGHT BE +COMMITTED AS A ROGUE AND VAGABOND_.' + +_Mr Adolphus to Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington_. + +`Percy Street, 21st Sept., 1823. + +`Mr Adolphus has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of a note +from his Grace the Duke of Wellington, and would have done so +yesterday, but was detained in court till a late hour in the +evening. Mr Adolphus is extremely sorry that any expression used +by him should have occasioned a moment's uneasiness to the Duke +of Wellington. Mr Adolphus cannot deny that the report in the +"Chronicle" is accurate, so far as it recites his mere words; +but the scope of his argument, and the intended sense of his +expression, was, that if the Vagrant Act were to receive the +extensive construction contended for, the most illustrious +subject of the realm might be degraded to the condition of the +most abject and worthless, for an act in itself indifferent--and +which, until the times had assumed a character of affected +rigour, was considered rather as a proof of good society than as +an offence against good order. Mr Adolphus is, however, +perfectly sensible that his illustration in his Grace's person +was in all respects improper, and, considering the matters to +which his Grace has adverted, peculiarly unfortunate Mr Adolphus +feels with regret that any public expression of his sentiments on +this subject in the newspapers would not abate, but much +increase, the evil. Should an opportunity ever present itself of +doing it naturally and without affectation, Mr Adolphus +would most readily explain, in speaking at the bar, the error he +had committed; but it is very unlikely that there should exist an +occasion of which he can avail himself with a due regard to +delicacy. Mr Adolphus relies, however, on the Duke of +Wellington's exalted mind for credit to his assurance that he +never meant to treat his name but with the respect due to his +Grace's exalted rank and infinitely higher renown.' + +_To Mr Adolphus_. + +`Woolford, 23rd Sept., 1823. + +`The Duke of Wellington presents his compliments to Mr Adolphus, +and assures Mr Adolphus that he is convinced that Mr Adolphus +never intended to reflect injuriously upon him. If the duke had +believed that Mr Adolphus could have entertained such an +intention he would not have addressed him. The duke troubles Mr +Adolphus again upon this subject, as, in consequence of the +editor of the "Morning Chronicle" having thought proper to +advert to this subject in a paragraph published on the 18th +instant, the duke has referred the paper of that date and that of +the 12th to the Attorney and Solicitor-general, his counsel, +to consider whether the editor ought not to be prosecuted. + +`The duke requests, therefore, that Mr Adolphus will not notice +the subject in the way he proposes until the gentlemen above +mentioned will have decided upon the advice which they will give +the duke.'[135] + + +[135] `Dispatches,' vol. ii. part i. + + +The result was, however, that the matter was allowed to drop, as +the duke was advised by his counsel that the paragraph in the +"Morning Chronicle," though vile, was not actionable. The +positive declaration of the duke, `that in the whole course of +his life he never won or lost L20 at any game, and that he +never played at Hazard, or any game of chance, in any public +place or club, nor been for some years at all at any such place,' +should set the matter at rest. Certainly the duke was afterwards +an original member of Crockford's Club, founded in 1827, but, +unlike Blucher, who repeatedly lost everything at play, `The +Great Captain,' as Mr Timbs puts it, `was never known to play +deep at any game but war or politics.'[136] + + +[136] Club Life in London. + + +This remarkable deference to private character and public +opinion, on the part of the Duke of Wellington, is in wonderful +contrast with the easy morality of the Old Bailey advocate, Mr +Adolphus, who did not hesitate to declare gambling `an act in +itself indifferent--and which, until the times had assumed a +character of _AFFECTED_ rigour, was considered rather as a proof +of good society than as an offence against good order.' This +averment of so distinguished a man may, perhaps, mitigate the +horror we now feel of the gambling propensities of our ancestors; +and it is a proof of some sort of advancement in morals, or good +taste, to know that no modern advocate would dare to utter such a +sentiment. + +Other great names have been associated with gambling; thus Mr T. +H. Duncombe says, speaking of Crockford's soon after its +foundation:--`Sir St Vincent Cotton (Lord Combermere), Lord +Fitzroy Somerset (Raglan), the Marquis of Anglesey, Sir Hussey +Vivian, Wilson Croker, _Disraeli_, Horace Twiss, Copley, George +Anson, and George Payne _WERE PRETTY SURE OF BEING PRESENT_, +many of them playing high.' + +Respecting this statement the _Times'_[137] reviewer +observes:--`We do not know what the Chancellor of the Exchequer +will say to this. Mr Wilson Croker (who affected great +strictness) would have fainted away. But the authority of a +writer who does not know Sir St Vincent Cotton (the ex-driver of +the Brighton coach) from Sir _Stapleton_ Cotton (the Peninsular +hero) will go for little in such matters; and as for Copley, Lord +Lyndhurst (just then promoted from the Rolls to the Woolsack), +why not say at once that he attended the nocturnal sittings at +Crockford's in his robes.' + + +[137] Jan. 7, 1868. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +REMARKABLE GAMESTERS. + +---- +MONSIEUR CHEVALIER. + +Monsieur CHevalier, Captain of the Grenadiers in the first +regiment of Foot Guards, in the time of Charles II. of England, +was a native of Normandy. In his younger days he was page to the +Duchess of Orleans; but growing too big for that service, he came +to England to seek his fortune, and by some good luck and favour +became an ensign in the first regiment of Foot Guards. His pay, +however, being insufficient to maintain him, he felt compelled to +become a gamester, or rather to resort to a practice in which +doubtless he had been early initiated at the Court of France; and +he managed so well that he was soon enabled to keep up an +equipage much above his station. + +Among the `bubbles' who had the misfortune to fall into +Chevalier's hands, was a certain nobleman, who lost a larger sum +to him than he could conveniently pay down, and asked for time, +to which Chevalier assented, and in terms so courteous and +obliging that the former, a fortnight after, in order to let him +see that he remembered his civility, came one morning and told +Chevalier that he had a company of Foot to dispose of, and if it +was worth his while, it should be at his service. Nothing could +be more acceptable to Chevalier, who at once closed for the +bargain, and got his commission signed the same day. Besides the +fact that it was a time of peace, Chevalier knew well that the +military title of Captain was a very good cloak to shelter under. + +He knew that a man of no employment or any visible income, who +appears and lives like a gentleman, and makes gaming his constant +business, is always suspected of not playing for diversion only; +and, in short, of knowing and practising more than he should do. + +Chevalier once won 20 guineas from mad Ogle, the Life-guardsman, +who, understanding that the former had bit him, called him to +account, demanding either his money back, or satisfaction in the +field. Chevalier, having always courage enough to maintain +what he did, chose the latter. Ogle fought him in Hyde Park, and +wounded him through the sword arm, and got back his money. After +this they were always good friends, playing several comical +tricks, one of which is as follows, strikingly illustrating the +manners of the times. + +Chevalier and Ogle meeting one day in Fleet Street jostled for +the wall, which they strove to take of each other, whereupon +words arising between them, they drew swords, and pushed very +hard at one another; but were prevented, by the great crowd which +gathered about them, from doing any mischief. Ogle, seeming +still to resent the affront, cried to Chevalier, `If you are a +gentleman, pray follow me.' The French hero accepted the +challenge; so going together up Bell Yard and through Lincoln's +Inn, with some hundreds of the mob at their heels, as soon as the +seeming adversaries were got into Lincoln's Inn Fields, they both +fell a running as fast as they could, with their swords drawn, up +towards Lord Powis's house, which was then building, and leaped +into a saw-pit. The rabble presently ran after them, to part +them again, and feared mischief would be done before they +could get up to them, but when they arrived at the saw-pit, they +saw Chevalier at one side of it and Ogle at the other, sitting +together as lovingly as if they had never fallen out at all. And +then the mob was so incensed at this trick put upon them, that +had not some gentlemen accidentally come by, they would have +knocked them both on the head with brickbats. + +Chevalier had an excellent knack at cogging a die, and such +command in the throwing, that, chalking a circle on a table, with +its circumference no bigger than a shilling, he would, at above +the distance of one foot, throw a die exactly into it, which +should be either ace, deuce, trey, or what he pleased. + +Aubrey de Vere, Earl of Oxford, was a great gambler of the time, +and often practised dice-throwing in his shirt during the morning +until he fancied himself in luck, when he would proceed to try +his fortune with Chevalier; but the dexterity of the latter +always convinced the earl that no certainty lies on the good +success which may be fancied as likely to result from play in +jest. Chevalier won a great deal of money from that peer, `who +lost most of his estate at gaming before he died, and which +ought to be a warning to all noblemen.' + +Chevalier was a skilful sharper, and thoroughly up in the art and +mystery of loading dice with quicksilver; but having been +sometimes detected in his sharping tricks, he was obliged `to +look on the point of the sword, with which being often wounded, +latterly he declined fighting, if there were any way of escape.' +Having once `choused,' or cheated, a Mr Levingstone, page of +honour to King James II., out of 50 guineas, the latter gave the +captain a challenge to fight him next day behind Montague House-- +a locality long used for the purpose of duelling. Chevalier +seemingly accepted the challenge, and next morning, Levingstone +going to Chevalier's lodging, whom he found in bed, put him in +mind of what he was come about. Chevalier, with the greatest air +of courage imaginable, rose, and having dressed himself, said to +Levingstone--`Me must beg de favour of you to stay a few minutes, +sir, while I step into my closet dere, for as me be going about +one desperate piece of work, it is very requisite for me to say a +small prayer or two.' Accordingly Mr Levingstone consented to +wait whilst Chevalier retired to his closet to pray; but +hearing the conclusion of his prayer to end with these words--`Me +verily believe spilling man's blood is one ver' great sin, +wherefore I hope all de saints will interced vid de Virgin for my +once killing Monsieur de Blotieres at Rochelle,--my killing +Chevalier de Cominge at Brest,--killing Major de Tierceville at +Lyons,--killing Lieutenant du Marche Falliere at Paris, with half +a dozen other men in France; so, being also sure of killing him +I'm now going to fight, me hope his forcing me to shed his blood +will not be laid to my charge;'--quoth Levingstone to himself-- +`And are you then so sure of me? But I'll engage you shan't--for +if you are such a devil at killing men, you shall go and fight +yourself and be ----.' Whereupon he made what haste he could +away, and shortly Chevalier coming out of the closet and finding +Levingstone not in the room, was very glad of his absence.' + +Some time after, Chevalier was called to account by another +gentleman. They met at the appointed hour in Chelsea Fields, +when Chevalier said to his adversary--`Pray, sir, for what do we +fight?' The gentleman replied--`For honour and reputation.' +Thereupon Chevalier pulling a halter out of his pocket, and +throwing it between him and his antagonist, exclaimed--`Begar, +sir, we only fight for dis one piece of rope--so e'en _WIN IT +AND WEAR IT_.' The effect of this jest was so great on his +adversary that swords were put up, and they went home together +good friends. + +Chevalier continued his sharping courses for about fourteen +years, running a reckless race, `sometimes with much money, +sometimes with little, but always as lavish in spending as he was +covetous in getting it; until at last King James ascending the +throne, the Duke of Monmouth raised a rebellion in the West of +England, where, in a skirmish between the Royalists and Rebels, +he was shot in the back, and the wound thought to be given by one +of his own men, to whom he had always been a most cruel, harsh +officer, whilst a captain of the Grenadiers of the Foot Guards. +He was sensible himself how he came by this misfortune; for when +he was carried to his tent mortally wounded, and the Duke of +Albemarle came to visit him, he said to his Grace--`Dis was none +of my foe dat shot me in the back.' `He was none of your friend +that shot you,' the duke replied. + +So dying within a few hours after, he was interred in a +field near Philip Norton Lane, as the old chronicler says--`much +_UN_lamented by all who knew him.'[138] + + +[138] Lucas, _Memoirs of Gamesters and Sharpers_. + + +JOHN HIGDEN. + + +This gambler, who flourished towards the end of the 17th century, +was descended from a very good family in the West of England. In +his younger days he was a member of the Honourable Society of the +Middle Temple, but his inclinations being incompatible with close +study of the law, he soon quitted the inns of court and went into +the army. He obtained not only a commission in the first +regiment of Boot Guards, but a commission of the peace for the +county of Middlesex, in which he continued for three or four +years as Justice Higden. He was very great at dice; and one +night he and another of his fraternity going to a gaming house, +Higden drew a chair and sat down, but as often as the box came to +him he passed it, and remained only as a spectator; but at last +one of the players said to him pertly, `Sir, if you won't play, +what do you sit there for?' Upon which Higden snatched up +the dice-box and said, `Set me what you will and I'll throw at +it.' One of the gentlemen set him two guineas, which he won, and +then set him four, which he `nicked' also. The rest of the +gentlemen took the part of the loser, and set to Higden, who, by +some art and some good luck, won 120 guineas; and presently, +after throwing out, rose from the table and went to his companion +by the fireside, who asked him how he durst be so audacious as to +play, knowing he had not a shilling in his pocket? One of the +losers overhearing what was said, exclaimed, `How's that--you had +no money when you began to play?' `That's no matter,' replied +Higden, `I have enough _NOW;_ and if you had won of me, you must +have been contented to have kicked, buffeted, or pumped me, and +you would have done it as long as you liked. Besides, sir, I am +a soldier, and have often faced the mouths of thundering cannons +for _EIGHT SHILLINGS A DAY_, and do you think I would not hazard +the tossing of a blanket for the money I have won to-night?' + +`All the parties wondered at his confidence, but he laughed +heartily at their folly and his good fortune, and so marched off +with a light heart and a heavy purse.' Afterwards, `to make +himself as miserable as he could, he turned poet, went to +Ireland, published a play or two, and shortly after he died very +poor, in 1703.'[139] + + +[139] _ubi supra._ + + +MONSIEUR GERMAIN. + + +This gambler was of low birth, his parents keeping an ordinary in +Holland, where he was born, as stated by the old chronicler, `in +the happy Revolution of 1688.' + +His career is remarkable on account of his connection with Lady +Mary Mordaunt, wife of `the Duke of Norfolk, who, proving her +guilty of adultery, was divorced from her. She then lived +publicly with Germain.' + +This Germain was the first to introduce what was called the +_Spanish Whist_, stated to be `a mere bite, performed after this +manner:--Having a pack of cards, the four treys are privately +laid on the top of them, under them an ace, and next to that a +deuce; then, letting your adversary cut the cards, you do not +pack them, but deal all of them that are cut off, one at a time, +between you; then, taking up the other parcel of cards, you deal +more cards, giving yourself two treys and a deuce, and to +the other persons two treys and an ace, when, laying the +remainder of the cards down--wherein are allowed no trumps, but +only the highest cards win--so they are but of the same suit, +whilst you are playing, giving your antagonist all you can, as +though it is not in your power to prevent him. You seem to fret, +and cry you have good _put-cards;_ he, having two treys and an +ace, will be apt to lay a wager with you that you cannot have +better than he; then you binding the wager, he soon sees his +mistake. But in this trick you must observe to put the other +three deuces under yours when you deal.' + +It seems that this Monsieur Germain is not only remarkable for +the above precious addition to human knowledge, but also on +account of his expertness at the game of _Ombre_, celebrated and +so elegantly described by Pope in his `Rape of the Lock.' + +He appears to have lived with the Duchess of Norfolk ever after +the divorce; and he died a little after Lady Mary, in 1712, aged +46 years.[140] + + +[140] _ubi supra_. + + +TOM HUGHES. + + +This Irishman was born in Dublin, and was the son of a +respectable tradesman. Falling into dissipated company, he soon +left the city to try his fortune in London, where he played very +deep and very successfully. + +He threw away his gains as fast as he made them, chiefly among +the frail sisterhood, at a notorious house in those days, in the +Piazza, Covent Garden. He frequented Carlisle House in Soho +Square, and was a proprietor of E O tables kept by a Dr Graham in +Pall Mall. + +He had a rencontre, in consequence of a dispute at play, and was +wounded. The meeting took place under the Piazza, and his +antagonist's sword struck a rib, which counteracted its dangerous +effect. + +Soon afterwards he won L3000 from a young man just of age, who +made over to him a landed estate for the amount, and he was +shortly after admitted a member of the Jockey Club. + +His fortune now changed, and falling into the hands of Old Pope, +the money-lender, he was not long before he had to transfer his +estate to him. + +After many ups and downs he became an inmate of the +spunging-house of the infamous Scoldwell, who was afterwards +transported. He actually used his prison as a gaming house, to +which his infatuated friends resorted; but his means failed, his +friends cooled, and he was removed `over the water,' from which +he was only released by the Insolvent Act, with a broken +constitution. Arrest soon restored him to his old habitation, a +lock-up house, where he died so poor, a victim to grief, misery, +and disease, that he did not leave enough to pay for a coffin, +which was procured by his quondam friend, Mr Thornton, at whose +cost he was buried. Perhaps more than half a million of money +had `passed through his hands.' + + +ANDREWS, THE GREAT BILLIARD-PLAYER. + + +Andrews was reckoned so theoretically and practically perfect at +the game of Billiards that he had no equal except Abraham Carter, +who kept the tables at the corner of the Piazza, Russell Street, +Covent Garden. + +He one night won of Colonel W----e about a thousand pounds; and +the Colonel appointed to meet him next day to transact for stock +accordingly. Going in a hackney-coach to the Bank of England +for this purpose, they tossed up who should pay for the coach. +Andrews lost--and positively on this small beginning he was +excited to continue betting, until he lost the whole sum he had +won the night before! When the coachman stopped he was ordered +to drive them back again, as they had no occasion to get out! + +Thus, in a few years, Hazard and other games of chance stripped +him of his immense winnings at Billiards, and he had nothing left +but a small annuity, fortunately for him so settled that he could +not dispose of it--though he made every effort to do so! + +He afterwards retired in the county of Kent, and was heard to +declare that he never knew contentment when wallowing in riches; +but that since he was compelled to live on a scanty pittance, he +was one of the happiest men in the world. + + +WHIG MIDDLETON. + + +Whig Middleton was a tall, handsome, fashionable man, with an +adequate fortune. He one night had a run of ill-luck at +Arthur's, and lost about a thousand guineas. Lord Montford, in +the gaming phrase, asked him what he would do or what he +would not do, to get home? `My lord,' said he, `prescribe your +own terms.' + +`Then,' resumed Lord Montford, `dress directly opposite to the +fashion for ten years. Will you agree to it?' Middleton said +that he would, and kept his word. Nay, he died nine years +afterwards so unfashionably that he did not owe a tradesman a +farthing--left some playing debts unliquidated, and his coat and +wig were of the cut of Queen Anne's reign. + +Lord Montford is said to have died in a very different but quite +fashionable manner. + + +CAPTAIN CAMPBELL. + + +Captain Campbell, of the Guards, was a natural son of the Duke +of ----. He lost a thousand guineas to a Shark, which he could +not pay. Being questioned by the duke one day at dinner as to +the cause of his dejection, he reluctantly confessed the fact. +`Sir,' said his Grace, `you do not owe a farthing to the +blackguard. My steward settled with him this morning for _TEN_ +guineas, and he was glad to take them, only saying--"I was +damned far North, and it was well it was no worse." ' + + +WROTHESLY, DUKE OF BEDFORD. + + +Wrothesly, Duke of Bedford, was the subject of a conspiracy at +Bath, formed by several first-rate sharpers, among whom were the +manager of a theatre, and Beau Nash, master of the ceremonies. +After being plundered of above L70,000 at Hazard, his Grace +rose in a passion, put the dice in his pocket, and intimated his +resolution to inspect them. He then retired into another room, +and, flinging himself upon a sofa, fell asleep. + +The winners, to escape disgrace, and obtain their money, cast +lots who should pick his pockets of the loaded dice, and +introduce fair ones in their place. The lot fell on the manager +of the theatre, who performed his part without discovery. The +duke inspected the dice when he awoke, and finding them correct, +renewed his party, and lost L30,000 more. + +The conspirators had received L5000, but disagreed on its +division, and Beau Nash, thinking himself ill-used, divulged the +fact to his Grace, who saved thereby the remainder of the money. +He made Nash a handsome present, and ever after gave him his +countenance, supposing that the secret had been divulged through +pure friendship. + + +THE DUKE OF NORFOLK. + + +A similar anecdote is told of another gamester. `The late Duke +of Norfolk,' says the author of `Rouge et Noir,' writing in 1823, +`in one evening lost the sum of L70,000 in a gaming house on +the right side of St James's Street: suspecting foul play, he put +the dice in his pocket, and, as was his custom when up late, took +a bed in the house. The blacklegs were all dismayed, till one of +the worthies, who is believed to have been a principal in +poisoning the horses at Newmarket, for which Dan Dawson was +hanged, offered for L5000 to go to the duke's room with a +brace of pistols and a pair of dice, and, if the duke was awake, +to shoot him, if asleep to change the dice! Fortunately for the +gang, the duke "snored," as the agent stated, "like a pig;" +the dice were changed. His Grace had them broken in the morning, +when, finding them good, he paid the money, and left off +gambling.'[141] + + +[141] Rouge et Noir; the Academicians of 1823. + + +GENERAL OGLE: A BOLD STROKE. + + +A few weeks before General Ogle was to sail for India, he +constantly attended Paine's, in Charles Street, St James's +Square. One evening there were before him two wooden bowls full +of gold, which held L1500 guineas each, and L4000 in +rouleaus, which he had won. + +When the box came to him, he shook the dice and with great +coolness and pleasantry said--`Come, I'll either win or lose +seven thousand upon this hand. Will any gentleman set on the +whole? _SEVEN_ is the main.' Then rattling the dice once more, +cast the box from him and quitted it, the dice remaining +uncovered. + +Although the General did not think this too large a sum for one +man to risk at a single throw, the rest of the gentlemen did, and +for some time the bold gamester remained unset. + +He then said--`Well, gentlemen, will you make it up amongst you?' + +One set him 500 guineas, another 500. `Come,' said he, `whilst +you are making up the money I'll tell you a story.' Here he +began--but perceiving that he was at last completely set for the +cast, stopt short--laid his hand on the box, saying--`I believe I +am completely set, gentlemen?' `Yes, sir, and Seven is the +main,' was the reply. The General threw out, and lost! +Seven thousand guineas! + +Then with astonishing coolness he took up his snuff-box and +smiling exclaimed--`Now, gentlemen, if you please, I'll finish my +story.' + + +HORACE WALPOLE. + + +There can be no doubt that Horace Walpole was an inveterate +gambler, although he managed to keep always afloat and merrily +sailing--for he says himself:--`A good lady last year was +delighted at my becoming peer, and said--"I hope you will get an +Act of Parliament for putting down Faro." As if I could make +Acts of Parliament! and could I, it would be very consistent too +in me, who for some years played more at Faro than anybody.'[142] + + +[142] Letters, IX. + + +THE EARL OF MARCH. + + +This extraordinary and still famous personage, better known as +the Duke of Queensberry, was the `observed of all observers' +almost from his boyhood to extreme old age. His passions were +for women and the turf; and the sensual devotedness with which he +pursued the one, and the eccentricity which he displayed in the +enjoyment of both, added to the observation which he +attracted from his position as a man of high rank and princely +fortune, rendered him an object of unceasing curiosity. He was +deeply versed in the mysteries of the turf, and in all practical +and theoretical knowledge connected with the race-course was +acknowledged to be the most accomplished adept of his own time. +He seems also to have been a skilful gamester and player of +billiards. Writing to George Selwyn from Paris in 1763, he +says:--`I won the first day about L2000, of which I brought +off about L1500. All things are exaggerated, I am supposed to +have won at least twice as much.' In 1765 he is said to have won +two thousand louis of a German at billiards. Writing to Selwyn, +Gilly Williams says of him: `I did not know he was more an adept +at that game than you are at any other, but I think you are both +said to be losers on the whole, at least Betty says that her +letters mention you as pillaged.' + +Among the numerous occasions on which the name of the Duke of +Queensberry came before the public in connection with sporting +matters, may be mentioned the circumstance of the following +curious trial, which took place before Lord Mansfield in the +Court of King's Bench, in 1771. The Duke of Queensberry, then +Lord March, was the plaintiff, and a Mr Pigot the defendant. The +object of this trial was to recover the sum of five hundred +guineas, being the amount of a wager laid by the duke With Mr +Pigot--whether Sir William Codrington or _OLD_ Mr Pigot should +die first. It had singularly happened that Mr Pigot died +suddenly the _SAME MORNING_, of the gout in his head, but before +either of the parties interested in the result of the wager could +by any possibility have been made acquainted with the fact. In +the contemporary accounts of the trial, the Duke of Queensberry +is mentioned as having been accommodated with a seat on the +bench; while Lord Ossory, and several other noblemen, were +examined on the merits of the case. By the counsel for the +defendant it was argued that (as in the case of a horse dying +before the day on which he was to be run) the wager was invalid +and annulled. Lord Mansfield, however, was of a different +opinion; and after a brief charge from that great lawyer, the +jury brought in a verdict for the plaintiff for five hundred +guineas, and he sentenced the defendant to defray the costs of +the suit.[143] + + +[143] Jesse, George Selwyn and his Contemporaries, vol. i. p. +194. + + +This prince of debauchees seems to have surpassed every +model of the kind, ancient or modern. In his prime he reproduced +in his own drawing-room the scene of Paris and the Goddesses, +exactly as we see it in classic pictures, three of the most +beautiful women of London representing the divinities as they +appeared to Paris on Mount Ida, while he himself, dressed as the +Dardan shepherd holding a _GILDED_ apple (it should have been +really golden) in his hand, conferred the prize on her whom he +deemed the fairest. In his decrepit old age it was his custom, +in fine sunny weather, to seat himself in his balcony in +Piccadilly, where his figure was familiar to every person who was +in the habit of passing through that great thoroughfare. Here +(his emaciated figure rendered the more conspicuous from his +custom of holding a parasol over his head) he was in the habit of +watching every attractive female form, and ogling every pretty +face that met his eye. He is said, indeed, to have kept a pony +and a servant in constant readiness, in order to follow and +ascertain the residence of any fair girl whose attractions +particularly caught his fancy! At this period the old man was +deaf with one ear, blind with one eye, nearly toothless, and +labouring under multiplied infirmities. But the hideous +propensities of his prime still pursued him when all enjoyment +was impossible. Can there be a greater penalty for unbridled +licentiousness? + + +MR LUMSDEN. + + +Mr Lumsden, whose inveterate love of gambling eventually caused +his ruin, was to be seen every day at Frascati's, the celebrated +gambling house kept by Mme Dunan, where some of the most +celebrated women of the _demi-monde_ usually congregated. He was +a martyr to the gout, and his hands and knuckles were a mass of +chalk-stones. He stuck to the _Rouge et Noir_ table until +everybody had left; and while playing would take from his pocket +a small slate, upon which he would rub his chalk-stones until +blood flowed. `Having on one occasion been placed near him at +the _Rouge et Noir_ table, I ventured,' says Captain Gronow, `to +expostulate with him for rubbing his knuckles against his slate. +He coolly answered, "I feel relieved when I see the blood ooze +out." ' + +Mr Lumsden was remarkable for his courtly manners; but his +absence of mind was astonishing, for he would frequently ask +his neighbour _WHERE HE WAS_! Crowds of men and women would +congregate behind his chair, to look at `the mad Englishman,' as +he was called; and his eccentricities used to amuse even the +croupiers. After losing a large fortune at this den of iniquity, +Mr Lumsden encountered every evil of poverty, and died in a +wretched lodging in the Rue St Marc.[144] + + +[144] Gronow, _Last Recollections._ + + +GENERAL SCOTT, THE HONEST WINNER OF L200,000. + + +General Scott, the father-in-law of George Canning and the Duke +of Portland, was known to have won at White's L200,000, 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 of judgment, he was +able honestly to win the enormous sum of L200,000. + + +RICHARD BENNET. + + +Richard Bennet had gone through every walk of a blackleg, from +being a billiard sharper at a table in Bell Alley until he became +a keeper or partner in all the `hells' in St James's. In each +stage of his journey he had contrived to have so much the better +of his competitors, that he was enabled to live well, to bring up +and educate a large legitimate family, and to gratify all his +passions and sensuality. But besides all this, he accumulated an +ample fortune, which this inveterate gamester did actually +possess when the terriers of justice overtook and hunted him into +the custody of the Marshal of the Court of Queen's Bench. Here +he was sentenced to be imprisoned a certain time, on distinct +indictments, for keeping different gaming houses, and was ordered +to be kept in custody until he had also paid fines to the amount, +we believe, of L4000. Bennet, however, after undergoing the +imprisonment, managed to get himself discharged without paying +the fines. + + +DENNIS O'KELLY. + +Dennis O'Kelly was the Napoleon of the turf and the gaming +table. Ascot was his elysium. His horses occupied him by day +and the Hazard table by night. At the latter one night he was +seen repeatedly turning over a _QUIRE OF BANK NOTES_, and a +gentleman asked him what he was looking for, when he replied, `I +am looking for a _LITTLE ONE_.' The inquirer said he could +accommodate him, and desired to know for what sum. Dennis +O'Kelly answered, `I want a FIFTY, or something of _THAT SORT_, +just to set the _CASTER_. At this moment it was supposed he had +seven or eight _THOUSAND_ pounds in notes in his hand, but not +one for less than a _HUNDRED!_ + +Dennis O'Kelly always threw with great success; and when he held +the box he was seldom known to refuse throwing for _ANY SUM_ +that the company chose to set him. He was always liberal in +_SETTING THE CASTER_, and preventing a stagnation of trade at +the _TABLE_, which, from the great property always about him, it +was his good fortune very frequently to deprive of its last +floating guinea, when the box of course became dormant for want +of a single adventurer. + +It was his custom to carry a great number of bank notes in his +waistcoat pocket, twisted up together, with the greatest +indifference; and on one occasion, in his attendance at a Hazard +table at Windsor, during the races, being a _STANDING_ better +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 instantly withdrawn, and the notes left +sticking out. The company became clamorous for taking the +offender before a magistrate, and many attempted to secure him +for the purpose; but Captain Dennis O'Kelly very philosophically +seized him by the collar, kicked him down-stairs, and exultingly +exclaimed, `'Twas a _SUFFICIENT PUNISHMENT_ to be deprived of +the pleasure of keeping company with _JONTLEMEN_.' + +A bet for a large sum was once proposed to this `Admirable +Crichton' of the turf and the gaming table, and accepted. The +proposer asked O'Kelly where lay his _ESTATES_ to answer for the +amount if he lost?' `My estates!' cried O'Kelly. `Oh, if that's +what you _MANE_, I've a _MAP_ of them here'--and opening his +pocket-book he exhibited bank notes to _TEN TIMES_ the sum in +question, and ultimately added the _INQUIRER'S_ contribution to +them. + +Such was the wonderful son of Erin, `Captain' or `Colonel' +Dennis O'Kelly. One would like to know what ultimately became of +him. + + +DICK ENGLAND. + + +Jack Tether, Bob W--r, Tom H--ll, Captain O'Kelly, and others, +spent with Dick England a great part of the plunder of poor +Clutterbuck, a clerk of the Bank of England, who not only lost +his all, but robbed the Bank of an immense sum to pay his `debts +of honour.' + +A Mr B--, a Yorkshire gentleman, proposed to his brother-in-law, +who was with him, to put down ten pounds each and try their luck +at the `Hell' kept by `the Clerks of the Minster,' in the Minster +Yard, next the Church. It was the race-week. There were about +thirteen Greeks there, Dick England at their head. Mr B-- put +down L10. England then called `Seven the main--if seven or +eleven is thrown next, the Caster wins.' Of course Dick intended +to win; but he blundered in his operation; he _LANDED_ at six +and the other did not answer his hopes. Yet, with matchless +effrontery, he swore he had called _SIX_ and not seven; and as +it was referred to the majority of the goodly company, +thirteen _HONEST GENTLEMEN_ gave it in Dick England's +favour, and with him divided the spoil. + +A Mr D--, a gentleman of considerable landed property in the +North, proposed passing a few days at Scarborough. Dick England +saw his carriage enter the town, and contrived to get into his +company and go with him to the rooms. When the assembly was +over, he prevailed on Mr D-- to sup with him. After supper Mr +D-- was completely intoxicated, and every effort to make him play +was tried in vain. + +This was, of course, very provoking; but still something must be +done, and a very clever scheme they hit upon to try and `do' this +`young man from the country.' Dick England and two of his +associates played for five minutes, and then each of them marked +a card as follows:--`D-- owes me one hundred guineas,' `D-- owes +me eighty guineas;' but Dick marked _HIS_ card--`I owe D-- +thirty guineas.' + +The next day, Mr D-- met Dick England on the cliff and apologized +for his excess the night before, hoping he had given no offence +`when drunk and incapable.' Having satisfied the gentleman on +this point, Dick England presented him with a thirty-guinea +note, which, in spite of contradiction, remonstrance, and denial +of any play having taken place, he forced on Mr D-- as his _FAIR +WINNING_--adding that he had paid hundreds to gentlemen in +liquor, who knew nothing of it till he had produced the account. +Of course Mr D-- could not help congratulating himself at having +fallen in with a perfect gentleman, as well as consoling himself +for any head-ache or other inconvenience resulting from his +night's potation. They parted with gushing civilities between +them. + +Soon afterwards, however, two other gentlemen came up to Mr D--, +whom the latter had some vague recollection of having seen the +evening before, in company with Dick England; and at length, from +what the two gentlemen said, he had no doubt of the fact, and +thought it a fit opportunity to make a due acknowledgment of the +gentlemanly conduct of their friend, who had paid him a bet which +he had no remembrance of having made. + +No mood could be better for the purpose of the meeting; so the +two gentlemen not only approved of the conduct of Dick, and +descanted on the propriety of paying drunken men what they won, +but also declared that no _GENTLEMAN_ would refuse to pay a +debt of honour won from him when drunk; and at once begged +leave to `remind' Mr D-- that he had lost to them 180 guineas! +In vain the astounded Mr D-- denied all knowledge of the +transaction; the gentlemen affected to be highly indignant, and +talked loudly of injured honour. Besides, had he not received 30 +guineas from their friend? So he assented, and appointed the +next morning to settle the matter. + +Fortunately for Mr D--, however, some intelligent friends of his +arrived in the mean time, and having heard his statement about +the whole affair, they `smelt a rat,' and determined to ferret it +out. They examined the waiter--previously handing him over five +guineas--and this man declared the truth that Mr D-- did not play +at all--in fact, that he was in such a condition that there could +not be any real play. Dick England was therefore `blown' on this +occasion. Mr D-- returned him his thirty guineas, and paid five +guineas for his share of the supper; and well he might, +considering that it very nearly cost him 150 guineas--that is, +having to receive 30 guineas and to pay 180 guineas to the +Greeks--profit and loss with a vengeance. + +Being thus `blown' at Scarborough, Dick England and his +associates decamped on the following morning. + +He next formed a connection with a lieutenant on half pay, nephew +to an Irish earl. With this lieutenant he went to Spa, and +realized something considerable; but not without suspicion--for a +few dice were missed. + +Dick England returned to London, where he shortly disagreed with +the lieutenant. The latter joined the worthy before described, +Captain O'Kelly, who was also at enmity with Dick England; and +the latter took an opportunity of knocking their heads together +in a public coffee-room, and thrashing them both till they took +shelter under the tables. Dick had the strength of an ox, the +ferocity of a bull-dog, and `the cunning of the serpent,' +although what the latter is no naturalist has ever yet discovered +or explained. + +The lieutenant determined on revenge for the thrashing. He had +joined his regiment, and he `peached' against his former friend, +disclosing to the officers the circumstance of the dice at Spa, +before mentioned; and, of course, upset all the designs of Dick +England and his associates. This enraged all the blacklegs; a +combination was formed against the lieutenant; and he was +shot through the head by `a brother officer,' who belonged to the +confraternity. + +The son of an earl lost forty thousand pounds in play to Dick +England; and shot himself at Stacie's Hotel in consequence--the +very night before his honourable father sent his steward to pay +the `debt of honour' in full--though aware that his son had been +cheated out of it. + +But the most extraordinary `pass' of Dick England's career is +still to be related--not without points in it which make it +difficult to believe, in spite of the evidence, that it is the +same `party' who was concerned in it. Here it is. + +In the _Gentleman's Magazine_, in Gilchrist's Collection of +British Duels, in Dr Millingen's reproduction of the latter, the +following account occurs:-- + +`Mr Richard England was put to the bar at the Old Bailey, charged +with the "wilful murder" of Mr Rowlls, brewer, of Kingston, in +a duel at Cranford-bridge, June 18, 1784. + +`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. + +`Lord Dartrey, afterwards Lord Cremorne, and his lady, with a +gentleman, were at the inn at the time the duel was fought. They +went into the garden and endeavoured to prevent the duel; several +other persons were collected in the garden. 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, _the Earl of Derby, the Marquis of Hertford, Sir +Whitbread, jun., Colonel Bishopp, and other gentlemen_, were +called to his character. They all spoke of him as a man of +_decent gentlemanly deportment_, 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. + +`Mr Justice Rooke summoned up the evidence; after which the jury +retired for about three quarters of an hour, when they returned a +verdict of "manslaughter." + +`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 twelve months.' + +This trial took place in the year 1796, and the facts in evidence +give a strange picture of the times. A duel actually fought in +the garden of an inn, a noble lord close by in a bower therein, +and his lady certainly within _HEARING_ of the shots, and +doubtless a spectator of the bloody spectacle. But this is not +the point,--the incomprehensible point,--to which I have +alluded--which is, how Lord Derby and the other gentlemen of the +highest standing could come forward to speak to the character of +_DICK ENGLAND_, if he was the same man who killed the +unfortunate brewer of Kingston? + +Here is _ANOTHER_ account of the matter, which warrants the +doubt, although it is fearfully circumstantial, as to the certain +identity:-- + +`Mr William Peter le Rowles, of Kingston, brewer, was habitually +fond of play. On one occasion he was induced--when in a state of +intoxication--to play with Dick England, who claimed, in +consequence, winnings to the amount of two hundred guineas. Mr +le Rowles utterly denied the debt, and was in consequence pursued +by England until he was compelled to a duel, in which Mr le +Rowles fell. Lord Dartrey, afterwards Lord Cremorne, was present +at Ascot Heath races on the fatal occasion, which happened in +1784; and his evidence before the coroner's inquest produced a +verdict of wilful murder against Dick England, who fled at +the time, but returned twelve years afterwards, was tried, and +found guilty of manslaughter only. He was imprisoned for twelve +months. England was strongly suspected of highway robberies; +particularly on one occasion, when his associate, F--, was shot +dead by Col. P-- on his return from the Curragh races to the town +of Naas. The Marquis of Hertford, Lords Derby and Cremorne, +Colonels Bishopp and Wollaston, and Messrs Whitbread, Breton, +&c., were evidences in the trial.'[145] + + +[145] _The Gaming Calendar_, by Seymour Harcourt. + + +It may seem strange that such a man as Dick England could procure +such distinguished `witnesses to character.' The thing is easily +explained, however. They knew the man only as a turf companion. +We can come to no other conclusion,--remembering other instances +of the kind. For example, the case of Palmer, convicted for the +poisoning of Cooke. Had Palmer been on his trial merely for +fighting a fatal duel; there can be no doubt that several +noblemen would have come forward to give him a good character. I +was present at his trial, and saw him _BOW TO ONE, AT LEAST, OF +OUR MOST DISTINGUISHED NOBLEMEN_ when the latter took his +seat near the judge, at the trial. There was a _TURF +ACQUAINTANCESHIP_ between them, and, of course, all +`acquaintanceship' may be presumed upon, if we lay ourselves open +to the degradation. + +The following is a curious case in point. A gentleman of the +highest standing and greatest respectability was accosted by a +stranger to whom he said--`Sir, you have the advantage of me.' +`Oh!' rejoined the former, `don't you remember when we used to +meet at certain parties at Bath many years ago?' `Well, sir,' +exclaimed the gentleman, `you may speak to me should you ever +again meet me at certain parties at Bath, but nowhere else.' + + +MAJOR BAGGS. + + +This famous gamester died in 1792, by a cold caught in `a round- +house,' or place of detention, to which he had been taken by +Justice Hyde, from a gaming table. + +When too ill to rise out of his chair, he would be carried in +that chair to the Hazard table. + +He was supposed to have been the utter ruin of above forty +persons at play. He fought eleven duels. + + +THE DUC DE MIREFOIX. + + +The Duc de Mirefois was ambassador at the British Court, and was +extremely fond of chess. A reverend gentleman being nearly his +equal, they frequently played together. At that time the +clergyman kept a petty day-school in a small village, and had a +living of not more than twenty pounds a-year. The French +nobleman made uncommon interest with a noble duke, through whose +favour he obtained for his reverend protege a living of +about L600 per annum--an odd way of obtaining the `cure of +souls!' + + +A RECLAIMED GAMBLER'S ACCOUNT OF HIS CAREER. + + +`Some years since I was lieutenant in a regiment, which the alarm +and policy of administration occasioned to be quartered in the +vicinity of the metropolis, where I was for the first time. A +young nobleman of very distinguished family undertook to be my +conductor. Alas! to what scenes did he introduce me! To places +of debauchery and dens of destruction. I need not detail +particulars. From the lures of the courtesan we went to an +adjoining gaming room. Though I thought my knowledge of +cards superior to those I saw play that night, I touched no card +nor dice. From this my conductor, a brother officer, and myself +adjourned to Pall Mall. We returned to our lodgings about six +o'clock in the morning. + +`I could think of nothing but Faro's magic centre, and longed for +the next evening, when I determined to enter that path which has +led so many to infamy, beggary, and suicide. I began cautiously, +and for some time had reason to be satisfied with my success. It +enabled me to live expensively. I made golden calculations of my +future fortune as I improved in skill. My manuals were treatises +on gaming and chances, and no man understood this doctrine better +than I did. I, however, did not calculate the disparity of +resisting powers--my purse with _FIFTY_ guineas, and the Faro +bank with a hundred thousand. It was ruin only which opened my +eyes to this truism at last. + +`Good meats, good cooking, and good wines, given gratis and +plenteously, at these houses, drew many to them at first, for the +sake of the society. Among them I one evening chanced to see a +clerical prig, who was incumbent of a parish adjoining that +in which my mother lived. I was intoxicated with wine and +pleasure, when I, on this occasion, entered a haunt of ruin and +enterprising avarice in Pall Mall. I played high and lost in +proportion. + +`The spirit of adventure was now growing on me every day. I was +sometimes very successful. Yet my health was impaired, and my +temper soured by the alternation of good and bad fortune, and my +pity or contempt for those with whom I associated. From the +nobleman, whose acres were nightly melting in the dice box, there +were adventurers even to the _UNFLEDGED APPRENTICE_, who came +with the pillage of his unsuspecting master's till, to swell the +guilty bank of Dame N-- and Co. Were the Commissioners of +Bankruptcy to know how many citizens are prepared for them at +those houses, they would be bound to thank them. + +`Many a score of guineas have I won of tradesmen, who seemed only +to turn an honest penny in Leadenhall Street, Aldgate, Birchin +Lane, Cornhill, Cheapside, Holborn, the Borough, and other +eastern spots of industry; but I fleeced them only for the +benefit of the Faro bank, which is sure, finally, to absorb the +gain of all. Some of the croupiers would call their gold +_GIFTS OF THE WISE MEN OF THE EAST;_ others termed their guineas +_COCKNEY COUNTERS!_ + +`One night I had such a run of luck in the Hazard room, which was +rather thinly attended, that I won everything, and with my load +of treasure collected from the East and West, nay, probably, some +of it from _Finchley Common_ and _Hounslow Heath_, I went, in +the flush of success, to attack the Faro bank. + +`It was my determination, however, if fortune favoured me through +the night, never to tempt her more. For some hours I proceeded +in the torture of suspense, alternately agitated by hope and +fear--but by five o'clock in the morning I attained a state of +certainty similar to that of a wretch ushered into the regions of +the damned. I had lost L3500 guineas, which I had brought +with me from the Hazard table, together with L2000 which the +bank advanced me on my credit. There they stopped; and, with an +apathy peculiar to themselves, listened to a torrent of puerile +abuse which I vented against them in my despair. + +`Two days and two nights I shut myself up, to indulge in the most +racking reflections. I was ruined beyond repair, and I had, +on the third morning, worked myself up to resort for relief to a +loaded pistol. I rang for my servant to bring me some gunpowder, +and was debating with myself whether to direct its force to my +brain or my heart, when he entered with a letter. It was from +Harriet ----. She had heard of my misfortunes, and urged me with +the soul and pen of a heroine, to fly the destructive habits of +the town, and to wait for nine months, when her minority would +expire, and she would come into the uncontrolled possession of +L1700. With that small sum she hoped my expenses, talents, +and domestic comfort, under her housewifery, would create a state +of happiness and independence which millions could not procure in +the mad career which I had pursued. + +`This was the voice of a guardian angel in the moment of despair. +In her next, at my request, she informed me that the channel of +her early and minute information was the clerical prig, her +neighbour and admirer, who was related to one of the croupiers +at ----, and had from him a regular detail of my proceedings. + +`Soothed by the magic influence of my virtuous Harriet, +instead of calling the croupier to account, I wrote to the +proprietors of the bank, stating my ruined condition, and my +readiness to sell my commission and pay them what I could. These +gentlemen have friends in every department. They completed the +transfer of my lieutenancy in two days, and then, in their +superabundant humanity, offered me the place of croupier in an +inferior house which they kept near Hanover Square. This offer I +declined; and after having paid my tradesman's bill, I left +London with only eleven guineas in my pocket. I married the best +of women, my preserver, and have ever since lived in real comfort +and happiness, on an income less than one hundred pounds a year.' + + +A SURPRISE. + + +A stranger plainly dressed took his seat at a Faro table, when +the bank was richer than usual. After some little routine play, +he challenged the bank, and tossed his pocket-book to the banker +that he might be satisfied of his responsibility. It was found +to contain bills to an immense amount; and on the banker showing +reluctance to accept the challenge, the stranger sternly demanded +compliance with the laws of the game. The card soon turned +up which decided the ruin of the banker. `Heaven!' exclaimed an +old infirm Austrian officer, who had sat next to the stranger-- +`the twentieth part of your gains would make me the happiest man +in the universe!' The stranger briskly answered--`You shall have +it, then;' and quitted the room. A servant speedily returned, +and presented the officer with the twentieth part of the bank, +adding--`My master requires no answer, sir,' and went out. The +successful stranger was soon recognized to be the great King of +Prussia in disguise. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE LOTTERIES AND THEIR BEWILDERMENTS. + +If we are to believe Pere Menestrier, the institution of +Lotteries is to be found in the Bible, in the words--`The _LOT_ +causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty,' +Prov. xviii. 18. Be that as it may, it is certain that lotteries +were in use among the ancient Romans, taking place during the +_Saturnalia_, or festivities in honour of the god Saturn, when +those who took part in them received a numbered ticket, which +entitled the bearer to a prize. During the reign of Augustus the +thing became a means of gratifying the cupidity of his courtiers; +and Nero used it as the method of distributing his gifts to the +people,--granting as many as a thousand tickets a day, some of +them entitling the bearers to slaves, ships, houses, and +lands. Domitian compelled the senators and knights to +participate in the lotteries, in order to debase them; and +Heliogabalus, in his fantastic festivities, distributed tickets +which entitled the bearers to camels, flies, and other odd things +suggested by his madness. In all this, however, the distinctive +character of modern lotteries was totally absent: the tickets +were always gratuitous; so that if the people did not win +anything, they never lost. + +In the Middle Ages the same practice prevailed at the banquets of +feudal princes, who apportioned their presents economically, and +without the fear of exciting jealousy among the recipients, by +granting lottery tickets indiscriminately to their friends. The +practice afterwards descended to the merchants; and in Italy, +during the 16th century, it became a favourite mode of disposing +of their wares. + +The application of lotteries by paid tickets to the service of +the state is said to have originated at Florence, under the name +of `Lotto,' in 1530; others say at Genoa, under the following +circumstances:--It had long been customary in the latter city to +choose annually, by ballot, five members of the Senate (composed +of 90 persons) in order to form a particular council. Some +persons took this opportunity of laying bets that the lot would +fall on such or such senators. The government, seeing with what +eagerness the people interested themselves in these bets, +conceived the idea of establishing a lottery on the same +principle, which was attended with such great success, that all +the cities of Italy wished to participate in it, and sent large +sums of money to Genoa for that purpose. + +To increase the revenues of the Church, the Pope also was induced +to establish a lottery at Rome; the inhabitants of which place +became so fond of this species of gambling, that they often +deprived themselves and their families of the necessaries of +life, that they might have money to lay out in this speculation. + +The French borrowed the idea from the Italians. In the year +1520, under Francis I., lotteries were permitted by edict under +the name of _Blanques_, from the Italian _bianca carta_, `white +tickets,'-- because all the losing tickets were considered +_BLANKS;_--hence the introduction of the word into common talk, +with a similar meaning. From the year 1539 the state derived a +revenue from the lotteries, although from 1563 to 1609 the French +parliament repeatedly endeavoured to suppress them as social +evils. At the marriage of Louis XIV. a lottery was organized to +distribute the royal presents to the people--after the fashion of +the Roman emperor. Lotteries were multiplied during this reign +and that of Louis XV. In 1776 the Royal Lottery of France was +established. This was abolished in 1793, re-established at the +commencement of the Republic; but finally all lotteries were +prohibited by law in 1836,--excepting `for benevolent purposes.' +One of the most remarkable of these lotteries `for benevolent +purposes' was the `Lottery of the Gold Lingots,' authorized in +1849, to favour emigration to California. In this lottery the +grand prize was a lingot of gold valued at about L1700. + +The old French lottery consisted of 90 numbers, that is, from No. +1 to No. 90, and the drawing was five numbers at a time. Five +wheels were established at Paris, Lyons, Strasbourg, Bordeaus, +and Lille. A drawing took place every ten days at each city. +The exit of a single number was called _extrait_, and it won 15 +times the amount deposited, and 70 times if the number was +determined; the exit of two numbers was called the _ambe_, +winning 270 times the deposit, and 5100 times if the number was +determined;--the exit of three numbers was called the _terne_, +winning 5500 times; the _quaterne_, or exit of four numbers, won +75,000 times the deposit. In all this, however, the chances were +greatly in favour of the state banker;--in the _extrait_ the +chances were 18 to 15 in his favour, vastly increasing, of +course, in the remainder; thus in the _ambe_ it was 1602 against +270; and so on. + +The first English lottery mentioned in history was drawn in the +year 1569. It consisted of 400,000 lots, at 10_s_. each lot. +The prizes were plate; and the profits were to go towards +repairing the havens or ports of this kingdom. It was drawn at +the west door of St Paul's Cathedral. The drawing began on the +10th of January, 1569, and continued incessantly, _DAY AND +NIGHT_, till the 6th of May following.[146] Another lottery was +held at the same place in 1612, King James having permitted it in +favour of `the plantation of English colonies in Virginia.' One +Thomas Sharplys, a tailor of London, won the chief prize, which +was `4000 crowns in fair plate.' + + +[146] The printed scheme of this lottery is still in the +possession of the Antiquarian Society of London. + + +In 1680, a lottery was granted to supply London with water. +At the end of the 17th century, the government being in want of +money to carry on the war, resorted to a lottery, and +L1,200,000 was set apart or _NAMED_ for the purpose. The +tickets were all disposed of in less than six months, friends and +enemies joining in the speculation. It was a great success; and +when right-minded people murmured at the impropriety of the +thing, they were told to hold their tongues, and assured that +this lottery was the very queen of lotteries, and that it had +just taken Namur![147] + + +[147] This town was captured in 1695, by William III. + + +At the same time the Dutch gave in to the infatuation with the +utmost enthusiasm; lotteries were established all over Holland; +and learned professors and ministers of the gospel spoke of +nothing else but the lottery to their pupils and hearers. + +From this time forward the spirit of gambling increased so +rapidly and grew so strong in England, that in the reign of Queen +Anne private lotteries had to be suppressed as public nuisances. + +The first _parliamentary_ lottery was instituted in 1709, +and from this period till 1824 the passing of a lottery bill was +in the programme of every session. Up to the close of the 18th +century the prizes were generally paid in the form of terminable, +and sometimes of perpetual, annuities. Loans were also raised by +granting a bonus of lottery tickets to all who subscribed a +certain amount. + +This gambling of annuities, despite the restrictions of an act +passed in 1793, soon led to an appalling amount of vice and +misery; and in 1808, a committee of the House of Commons urged +the suppression of this ruinous mode of filling the national +exchequer. The last public lottery in Great Britain was drawn in +October, 1826. + +The lotteries exerted a most baneful influence on trade, by +relaxing the sinews of industry and fostering the destructive +spirit of gaming among all orders of men. Nor was that all. The +stream of this evil was immensely swelled and polluted, in open +defiance of the law, by a set of artful and designing men, who +were ever on the watch to allure and draw in the ignorant and +unwary by the various modes and artifices of `_insurance_,' which +were all most flagrant and gross impositions on the public, as +well as a direct violation of the law. One of the most +common and notorious of these schemes was the insuring of numbers +for the next day's drawing, at a _premium_ which (if legal) was +much greater than adequate to the risk. Thus, in 1778, when the +just premium of the lottery was only 7_s_. 6_d_., the office- +keepers charged 9_s_., which was a certain gain of nearly 30 per +cent.; and they aggravated the fraud as the drawing advanced. + +On the sixteenth day of drawing the just premium was not quite +20_s_., whereas the office-keepers charged L1 4_s_. 6_d_., +which clearly shows the great disadvantage that every person +laboured under who was imprudent enough to be concerned in the +insurance of numbers.[148] + + +[148] Public Ledger, Dec. 3, 1778. + + +In every country where lotteries were in operation numbers were +ruined at the close of each drawing, and of these not a few +sought an oblivion of their folly ill self-murder--by the rope, +the razor, or the river. + +A more than usual number of adventurers were said to have been +ruined in the lottery of 1788, owing to the several prizes +continuing long in the wheel (which gave occasion to much +gambling), and also to the desperate state of certain branches +of trade, caused by numerous and important bankruptcies. +The suicides increased in proportion. Among them one person made +herself remarkable by a thoughtful provision to prevent +disappointment. A woman, who had scraped everything together to +put into the lottery, and who found herself ruined at its close, +fixed a rope to a beam of sufficient strength; but lest there +should be any accidental failure in the beam or rope, she placed +a large tub of water underneath, that she might drop into it; and +near her also were two razors on a table ready to be used, if +hanging or drowning should prove ineffectual. + +A writer of the time gives the following account of the +excitement that prevailed during the drawing of the lottery:-- +`Indeed, whoever wishes to know what are the "blessings" of a +lottery, should often visit Guildhall during the time of its +drawing,--when he will see thousands of workmen, servants, +clerks, apprentices, passing and repassing, with looks full of +suspense and anxiety, and who are stealing at least from their +master's time, if they have not many of them also robbed him of +his property, in order to enable them to become adventurers. In +the next place, at the end of the drawing, let our observer +direct his steps to the shops of the pawnbrokers, and view, as he +may, the stock, furniture, and clothes of many hundred poor +families, servants, and others, who have been ruined by the +lottery. If he wish for further satisfaction, let him attend at +the next Old Bailey Sessions, and hear the death-warrant of many +a luckless gambler in lotteries, who has been guilty of +subsequent theft and forgery; or if he seek more proof, let him +attend to the numerous and horrid scenes of self-murder, which +are known to accompany the closing of the wheels of fortune each +year:[149] and then let him determine on "the wisdom and +policy" of lotteries in a commercial city.' + + +[149] A case is mentioned of two servants who, having lost their +all in lotteries, robbed their master; and in order to prevent +being seized and hanged in public, murdered themselves in +private. + + +The capital prizes were so large that they excited the eagerness +of hope; but the sum secured by the government was small when +compared with the infinite mischief it occasioned. On opening +the budget of 1788, the minister observed in the House of +Commons, `that the bargain he had this year for the lottery was +so very good for the public, that it would produce a gain of +L270,000, from which he would deduct L12,000 for the +expenses of drawing, &c., and then there would remain a net +produce of L258,000.' This result, therefore, was deemed +extraordinary; but what was that to the extraordinary mischief +done to the community by the authorization of excessive gambling! + +Some curious facts are on record relating to the lotteries. + +Until the year 1800 the drawing of the lottery (which usually +consisted of 60,000 tickets for England alone) occupied forty-two +days in succession; it was, therefore, about forty-two to one +against any particular number being drawn the first day; if it +remained in the wheel, it was forty-one to one against its being +drawn on the second, &;c.; the adventurer, therefore, who could +for eight-pence insure the return of a guinea, if a given number +came up the first day, would naturally be led, if he failed, to a +small increase of the deposit according to the decrease of the +chance against him, until his number was drawn, or the person who +took the insurance money would take it no longer. + +In the inquiry respecting the mendicity of London, in 1815, Mr +Wakefield declared his opinion that the lottery was a cause of +mendicity; and related an instance--the case of an +industrious man who applied to the Committee of Spitalfields Soup +Society for relief; and when, on being asked his profession, said +he was a `_Translator_'--which, when _TRANSLATED_, signifies, it +seems, the art of converting old boots and shoes into wearable +ones; `but the lottery is about to draw, and,' says he, `I have +no sale for boots or shoes during the time that the lottery +draws'--the money of his customers being spent in the purchase of +tickets, or the payment of `insurances.' The `translator' may +have been mistaken as to the cause of his trade falling off; but +there can be no doubt that the system of the lottery-drawing was +a very infatuating mode of gambling, as the passion was kept +alive from day to day; and though, perhaps, it did not create +mendicity, yet it mainly contributed, with the gin-shops, night- +cellars, obscure gambling houses, and places of amusement, to +fill the _PAWNBROKERS_' shops, and diminish the profits of the +worthy `translator of old shoes.'[150] + + +[150] This term is still in use. I recently asked one of +the craft if he called himself a translator. `Yes, sir, not of +languages, but old boots and shoes,' was the reply. + + +This reasoning, however, is very uncertain. + +The sixteenth of a lottery ticket, which is the smallest +share that can be purchased, has not for many years been sold +under thirty shillings, a sum much too large for a person who +buys old shoes `translated,' and even for the `translator' +himself, to advance; we may therefore safely conclude that the +purchase of tickets is not the mode of gambling by which +Crispin's customers are brought to distress. + +A great number of foreign lotteries still exist in vigorous +operation. Some are supported by the state, and others are only +authorized; most of them are flourishing. In Germany, +especially, lotteries are abundant; immense properties are +disposed of by this method. The `bank' gains, of course, +enormously; and, also of course, a great deal of trickery and +swindling, or something like it, is perpetrated. + +Foreign lottery tickets are now and then illegally offered in +England. A few years ago there appeared an advertisement in the +papers, offering a considerable income for the payment of one or +two pounds. Upon inquiry it was found to be the agency of a +foreign lottery! These tempting offers of advertising +speculators are a cruel addition to the miseries of +misfortune. + +The Hamburg lottery seems to afford the most favourable +representation of the system--as such--because in it all the +money raised by the sale of tickets is redistributed in the +drawing of the lots, with the exception of 10 per cent. deducted +in expenses and otherwise; but nothing can compensate for the +pernicious effects of the spirit of gambling which is fostered by +lotteries, however fairly conducted. They are an unmitigated +evil. + +In the United States lotteries were established by Congress in +1776, but, save in the Southern States, heavy penalties are now +imposed on persons attempting to establish them. + +I need scarcely say that lotteries, whether foreign or British, +are utterly forbidden by law, excepting those of Art Unions. The +operations of these associations were indeed suspended in 1811; +but in the following year an act indemnified those who embarked +in them for losses which they had incurred by the arrest of their +proceedings; and since that time they have been _TOLERATED_ +under the eye of the law without any express statute being framed +for their exemption. It is thought, however, that they tend to +keep up the spirit of gambling, and therefore ought not to +be allowed even on the specious plea of favouring `art.' + +_PRIVATE_ lotteries are now illegal at Common Law in Great +Britain and Ireland; and penalties are also incurred by the +advertisers of _FOREIGN_ lotteries. Some years ago it became +common in Scotland to dispose of merchandise by means of +lotteries; but this is specially condemned in the statute 42 Geo. +III. c. 119. An evasion of the law has been attempted by +affixing a prize to every ticket, so as to make the transaction +resemble a legal sale; but this has been punished as a fraud, +even where it could be proved that the prize equalled in value +the price of the ticket. The decision rested upon the plea that +in such a transaction there was no definite sale of a specific +article. Even the lotteries; for Twelfth Cakes, &c., are +illegal, and render their conductors liable to the penalties of +the law. Decisive action has been taken on this law, and the +usual Christmas lotteries have been this year (1870) rigorously +prohibited throughout the country. It is impossible to doubt the +soundness of the policy that strives to check the spirit of +gambling among the people; but still there may be some truth in +the following remarks which appeared on the subject, in a +leading journal:-- + +`We hear that the police have received directions to caution the +promoters of lotteries for the distribution of game, wine, +spirits, and other articles of this description, that these +schemes are illegal, and that the offenders will be prosecuted. +These attempts to enforce rigidly the provisions of the 10 and 11 +William III., c. 17, 42 George III., c. 119, and to check the +spirit of speculation which pervades so many classes in this +country may possibly be successful, but as a mere question of +morality there can be no doubt that Derby lotteries, and, in +fact, all speculations on the turf or Stock Exchange, are open to +quite as much animadversion as the Christmas lotteries for a +little pig or an aged goose, which it appears are to be +suppressed in future. Is it not also questionable policy to +enforce every law merely because it is a law, unless its breach +is productive of serious evil to the community? If every old Act +of Parliament is rummaged out and brought to bear upon us, we +fear we shall find ourselves in rather an uncomfortable position. + +We cannot say whether or not the harm produced by these humble +lotteries is sufficient to render their forcible suppression +a matter of necessity. They certainly do produce an amount of +indigestion which of itself must be no small penalty to pay for +those whose misfortune it is to win the luxuries raffled for, but +we never yet heard of any one being ruined by raffling for a pig +or goose; and if our Government is going to be paternal and look +after our pocket-money, we hope it will also be maternal and take +some little interest in our health. The sanitary laws require +putting into operation quite as much as the laws against public- +house lotteries and skittles.' + +No `extenuating circumstances,' however, can be admitted +respecting the notorious racing lotteries, in spite of the small +figure of the tickets; nay this rather aggravates the danger, +being a temptation to the thoughtless multitude. One of these +lotteries, called the Deptford Spec., was not long ago suppressed +by the strong arm of the law; but others still exist under +different names. In one of these the law is thought to be evaded +by the sale of a number of photographs; in another, a chance of +winning on a horse is secured by the purchase of certain numbers +of a newspaper struggling into existence; but the following is, +perhaps, the drollest phase of the evasion as yet attempted: + +`Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding _count the +number of the beast_.'--Rev., chap. xiii. + +`NICKOLAS REX.--"LUCKY" BANQUETS. + +`HIS SATANIC MAJESTY purposes holding a series of Banquets, +Levees, and DRAWING ROOMS at Pandemonium during the ensuing +autumn, to each of which about 10,000 of his faithful disciples +will be invited. H. S. M. will, at those drawing-rooms and +receptions, _NUMBER_ a lot of beasts, and distribute a series of +REWARDS, varying in value from L100 to 10_s_. of her Britannic +Majesty's money. + +`Tickets One Shilling each, application for which must be made +_BY LETTER_ to His S. Majesty's Chamberlain, &c. &c. The LAST +_DRAWING-ROOM_ of this season will be held a few days before the +Feast of the CROYDON STEEPLECHASES, &c. &c. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE LAWS AGAINST GAMING IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES. + +1. ANCIENT ROME. + +In ancient Rome all games of chance, with the exception of five +which had relation to bodily vigour, were absolutely prohibited +in public or private. The loser could not be sued for moneys +lost, and could recover what he might have paid, such right being +secured to his heirs against the heirs of the winner, even after +the lapse of 30 years' prescription. During 50 years after the +loss, should the loser or his heirs neglect their action, it was +open to any one that chose to prosecute, and chiefly to the +municipal authorities, the sum recovered to be expended in that +case for public purposes. No surety for the payment of money for +gambling purposes was bound. The betting on lawful games +was restricted to a certain amount, beyond which the loser could +recover moneys paid, and could not be sued for the amount. A +person in whose house gambling had taken place, if struck or +injured, or if robbed on the occasion thereof, was denied +redress; but offences of gamblers among themselves were +punishable. Blows or injuries might be inflicted on the gambling +house keeper at any time and anywhere without being penal as +against any person; but theft was not exempted from punishment, +unless committed at the time of gambling--and not by a gambler. +Children and freedmen could recover their losses as against their +parents and patrons. + +Cicero, in his second Philippic, speaks of a criminal process +(_publicum judicium_) then in force against gamblers. + +The laws of ancient Rome were, therefore, very stringent on this +subject, although, there can be no doubt, without much effect. + + +2. FRANCE. + + +At the time of the French Revolution warlike games alone +conferred the right of action, restricted, however, in cases of +excessive losses; games of strength and skill generally were +lawful, but were considered as not giving any right of action; +games of mere chance were prohibited, but minors alone were +allowed to recover moneys lost. + +By the present law of France no judicial action is allowed for +gambling debts and wagers, except in the case of such games as +depend upon bodily skill and effort, foot, horse, and chariot +races, and others of the like nature: the claim may be rejected +if the court considers it excessive; but moneys paid can never be +recovered unless on the ground of fraud. The keepers of gaming +houses, their managers or agents, are punishable with fine (100 +to 6000 francs) and imprisonment (two to six months), and may be +deprived of most of their civil rights. + + +3. PRUSSIA. + + +By the Prussian Code all games of chance, except when licensed by +the state, are prohibited. Gaming debts are not the subjects of +action; but moneys paid cannot be sued for by losers. Wagers +give a right of action when the stakes consist of cash in the +hands of a third person; they are void if the winner had a +knowledge of the event, and concealed it. Moneys lent for +gambling or betting purposes, or to pay gambling or betting +debts, cannot be sued for. Gaming house keepers and gamblers are +punishable with fine; professed gamblers with imprisonment. +Occasional cheating at play obliges to compensation; professed +swindlers at play are punishable as for theft, and banished +afterwards. Moneys won from a drunken man, if to a considerable +amount, must be returned, and a fine paid of equal value. + + + +4. AUSTRIA. + + +In Austria no right of action is given either to the winner or +the loser. All games of chance are prohibited except when +licensed by the state. Cheating at play is punished with +imprisonment, according to the amount of fraudulent gain. +Playing at unlawful games, or allowing such to take place in +one's house, subjects the party to a heavy fine, or in default, +to imprisonment. + + + +5. ITALY. + + +The provisions of the Sardinian Civil Code are similar to those +of the French, giving an action for moneys won at games of +strength or skill--when not excessive in amount; but not +allowing the recovery of moneys lost, except on the ground of +fraud or _MINORITY_, a provision taken from the _OLD_ French +law. + + +6. BAVARIA. + + +By the Bavarian Code games of skill, and of mixed skill and +chance, are not forbidden. The loser cannot refuse to pay, nor +can he recover his losses, provided the sport be honestly +conducted, and the stakes not excessive, having regard to the +rank, character, and fortune of the parties. In cases of +fraudulent and excessive gaming, and in all games of mere chance, +the winner cannot claim his winnings, but must repay the loser on +demand. In the two latter cases (apparently) both winner and +loser are liable to a fine, equal in amount,--for the first time +of conviction, to one-third of the stakes; for the second time, +to two-thirds; and for the third time, to the whole: in certain +cases the bank is to be confiscated. Hotel and coffee-house +keepers, &c., who allow gambling on their premises, are punished +for the first offence by a fine of 50 florins; for the second, +with one of 100 florins; for the third, with the loss of the +license. The punishment of private persons for the like +offence is left to the discretion of the judge. _UNLAWFUL_ +games may be _LEGALIZED_ by authority; but in such case, fraud +or gross excess disables the winner from claiming moneys won, +renders him liable to repayment, and subjects him to arbitrary +punishment. _IMMORAL_ wagers are void; and _EXCESSIVE_ wagers +are to be reduced in amount. Betting on indifferent things is +not prohibited, nor even as to a known and certain thing--when +there is no deception. No wager is void on account of mere +disparity of odds. Professed gamblers, who also cheat at play, +and their accomplices, and the setters-up and collectors of +fictitious lotteries, are subject to imprisonment, with hard +labour, for a term of from four to eight years. + +Although, therefore, cheating gamblers are liable to punishment +in Bavaria, it is evident that gambling is there tolerated to the +utmost extent required by the votaries of Fortune. + + +7. SPAIN. + + +Wagers appear to be lawful in Spain, when not in themselves +fraudulent, or relating to anything illegal or immoral. + + +8. ENGLAND. + + +In England some of the forms of gambling or gaming have been +absolutely forbidden under heavy penalties, whilst others have +been tolerated, but at the same time discouraged; and the reasons +for the prohibition were not always directed against the +impropriety or iniquity of the practice in itself;--thus it was +alleged in an Act passed in 1541, that for the sake of the games +the people neglected to practise _ARCHERY_, through which +England had become great--`to the terrible dread and fear of all +strange nations.' + +The first of the strictly-called Gaming Acts is one of Charles +II.'s reign, which was intended to check the habit of gambling so +prevalent then, as before stated. By this Act it was ordered +that, if any one shall play at any pastime or game, by gaming or +betting with those who game, and shall lose more than one hundred +pounds on credit, he shall not be bound to pay, and any contract +to do so shall be void. In consequence of this Act losers of a +less amount--whether less wealthy or less profligate--and the +whole of the poorer classes, remained unprotected from the +cheating of sharpers, for it must be presumed that nobody has a +right to refuse to pay a fair gambling debt, since he would +evidently be glad to receive his winnings. No doubt much misery +followed through the contrivances of sharpers; still it was a +salutary warning to gamesters of the poorer classes--whilst in +the higher ranks the `honour' of play was equally stringent, and, +I may add, in many cases ruinous. By the recital of the Act it +is evident that the object was to check and put down gaming as a +business profession, `to gain a living;' and therefore it +specially mulcted the class out of which `adventurers' in this +line usually arise. + +The Act of Queen Anne, by its sweeping character, shows that +gaming had become very virulent, for by it not only were all +securities for money lost at gaming void, but money actually +paid, if more than L10, might be recovered in an action at +law; not only might this be done, within three months, by the +loser himself, but by any one else--together with treble the +value--half for himself, and half for the poor of the parish. +Persons winning, by fraudulent means, L10 and upwards at any +game were condemned by this Act to pay five times the amount +or value of the thing won, and, moreover, they were to `be deemed +infamous, and suffer such corporal punishment as in cases of +wilful perjury.' The Act went further:--if persons were +suspected of getting their living by gaming, they might be +summoned before a magistrate, required to show that the greater +portion of their income did not depend upon gaming, and to find +sureties for their good behaviour during twelve months, or be +committed to gaol. + +There were, besides, two curious provisions;-- any one assaulting +or challenging another to a duel on account of disputes over +gaming, should forfeit all his goods and be imprisoned for two +years; secondly, the royal palaces of St James's and Whitehall +were exempted from the operation of this statute, so long as the +sovereign was actually resident within them--which last clause +probably showed that the entire Draconian enactment was but a +farce. It is quite certain that it was inoperative, and that it +did no more than express the conscience of the legislature--in +deference to _PRINCIPLE_, `which nobody could deny.' + +After the lapse of many years--the evil being on the increase-- +the legislature stirred again during the reign of George +II., and passed several Acts against gaming. The games of Faro, +Basset, Hazard, &c., in fact, all games with dice, were +proscribed under a penalty of L200 against the provider of the +game, and L50 a time for the players. Roulette or Roly Poly, +termed in the Act `a certain pernicious game,' was interdicted, +under the penalty of five times the value of the thing or sum +lost at it. + +Thus stood the statute law against gaming down to the year 1845, +when, in consequence of the report of the select committee which +sat on the subject, a new enactment was promulgated, which is in +force at the present time. + +It was admitted that the laws in force against gaming were `of no +avail to prevent the mischiefs which may happen therefrom;' and +the lawgivers enacted a comprehensive measure on the subject. +Much of the old law--for instance, the prohibition of games which +interfered with the practice of _ARCHERY_--was repealed; also +the Acts of Charles II., of Queen Anne, and a part of that of +George II.--Gaming houses, in which a bank is kept by one or more +of the players, or in which the chances of play are not alike +favourable to the players--being declared unlawful, as of old. +Billiards, bagatelle, or `any game of the kind' (open, of +course, to legal discussion), may be played in private houses, or +in licensed houses; but still, in the case of licensed houses of +public resort, the police may enter at any time to see that the +law is complied with. `Licensed for Billiards' must be legibly +printed on some conspicuous place near the door and outside a +licensed house. Billiards and like games may not be played in +public rooms after one, and before eight, o'clock in the morning +of any day, nor on Sundays, Christmas Day, Good Friday, nor on +any public fast or thanksgiving. Publicans whose houses are +licensed for billiards must not allow persons to play at any time +when public-houses are not allowed to be open. + +`In order to constitute the house a common gaming house, it is +not necessary to prove that any person found playing at any game +was playing for any money, wager, or stake. The police may enter +the house on the report of a superintendent, and the authority of +a commissioner, without the necessity of an allegation of two +householders; and if any cards, dice, balls, counters, tables, or +other instruments of gaming be found in the house, or about the +person of any of those who shall be found therein, such +discovery shall be evidence against the establishment until the +contrary be made to appear. Those who shall appear as witnesses, +moreover, are protected from the consequences of having been +engaged in unlawful gaming.'[151] + + +[151] Chambers's Cyclopaedia, Art. Gambling. + + +The penalty of cheating at any game is liability to penal +servitude for three years--the delinquent being proceeded against +as one who obtains money under false pretences. Wagers and bets +are not recoverable by law, whether from the loser or from the +wager-holder; and money paid for bets may be recovered in an +action `for money received to the defendant's use.' All betting +houses are gaming houses within the meaning of the Act, and the +proprietors and managers of them are punishable accordingly. + +The existing law on the gaming of horse-racing is as follows. +Bets on horse-races are illegal; and therefore are not +recoverable by law. In order to prevent the nuisance which +betting houses, disguised under other names, occasioned, a law +was passed in 1853, forbidding the maintenance of any house, +room, or other place, for betting; and by the new Metropolitan +Traffic Regulation Act, now in force, any three persons +found betting in the street may be fined five pounds each `for +obstructing the thoroughfare'--a very odd reason, certainly, +since it is the _BETTING_ that we wish to prevent, as we will +not permit it to be carried on in any house, &c. These _LEGAL_ +reasons are too often sadly out of place. Any constable, +however, may, without a warrant, arrest anybody he may see in the +act of betting in the street. + +The laws relating to horse-racing have undergone curious +revisions and interpretations. `The law of George II.'s reign, +declaring horse-racing to be good, as tending to promote the +breed of fine horses, exempted horse-races from the list of +unlawful games, provided that the sum of money run for or the +value of the prize should be fifty pounds and upwards, that +certain weights only might be used, and that no owner should run +more than one horse for the same prize, under pain of forfeiting +all horses except the first. Newmarket, and Black Hambledon in +Yorkshire, are the only places licensed for races in this Act, +which, however, was also construed to legalize any race at any +place whatever, so long as the stakes were worth fifty pounds and +upwards, and the weights were of the regulated standard. An +Act passed five years afterwards removed the restrictions as to +the weights, and declared that any one anywhere might start a +horse-race with any weights, so long as the stakes were fifty +pounds or more. The provision for the forfeiture of all horses +but one belonging to one owner and running in the same race was +overlooked or forgotten, and owners with perfect impunity ran +their horses, as many as they pleased, in the same race. In +1839, however, informations were laid against certain owners, +whose horses were claimed as forfeits; and then everybody woke up +to the fact that this curious clause of the Act of George II. was +still unrepealed. The Legislature interfered in behalf of the +defendants, and passed an Act, repealing in their eagerness not +merely the penal clauses of the Act, but the Act itself, so far +as it related to horse-racing. Now, it was supposed that upon +the Act of the thirteenth of George II. depended the whole +legality of horse-racing, that the Act of the eighteenth of +George II. was merely explanatory of that statute, which, being +repealed, brought the practice again within the old law, +according to which it was illegal. By a judgment of the Court of +Common Pleas it was decided, however, that the words of the +eighteenth of George II. were large enough to legalize all races +anywhere for fifty pounds and upwards, and that the Act was not +merely an explanatory one. Upon this basis rests the existing +law on the subject of horse-racing. Bets, however, as before +stated, on horse-races are still as illegal as they are on any of +the forbidden games--that is to say, they are outside the law; +the law will not lend its assistance to recover them.'[152] + + +[152] _Ubi Supra_. + + +The extent to which gambling has been carried on in the street by +boys was shown by the following summary laid before the Committee +of the House of Commons on Gaming, in 1844:-- + +Boys apprehended for gaming in the streets-- + + Convicted. Discharged. +1841 .. .. 305 .. .. 68 .. .. 237 +1842 .. .. 245 .. .. 66 .. .. 179 +1813 .. .. 329 .. .. 114 .. .. 185 + ---- ---- ---- + 879 278 601 + + +Only recently has any effectual check been put to this pernicious +practice. It is however enacted by the New Gaming Act, that-- +`Every person playing or betting by way of wagering or +gaming in any street, road, highway, or other open and public +place to which the public have or are permitted to have access, +at or with any table or instrument of gaming, or any coin, card, +token, or other article used as an instrument of gaming or means +of such wagering or gaming, at any game or pretended game of +chance, shall be deemed a rogue and vagabond within the true +intent and meaning of the recited Act, and as such may be +punished under the provision of that Act.' + +On this provision a daily paper justly remarks:--`A statute very +much needed has come into force. Persons playing or betting in +the streets with coins or cards are now made amenable to the 5th +George IV., c. 83, and may be committed to gaol as rogues and +vagabonds. The statutes already in force against such rogues and +vagabonds subject them, we believe, not only to imprisonment with +hard labour, but also to corporal punishment. In any case the +New Act should, if stringently administered, speedily put a stop +to the too common and quite intolerable nuisance of young men and +boys sprawling about the pavement, or in corners of the wharves +by the waterside, and playing at "pitch-and-toss," +"shove-halfpenny," "Tommy Dodd," "coddams," and other games +of chance. Who has not seen that terrible etching in Hogarth's +"Industry and Idleness," where the idle apprentice, instead of +going devoutly to church and singing out of the same hymn-book +with his master's pretty daughter, is gambling on a tombstone +with a knot of dissolute boys? A watchful beadle has espied the +youthful gamesters, and is preparing to administer a sounding +thwack with a cane on the shoulders of Thomas Idle. But the race +of London beadles is now well-nigh extinct; and the few that +remain dare not use their switches on the small vagabonds, for +fear of being summoned for assault. It is to be hoped that the +police will be instructed to put the Act sharply in force against +the pitch-and-toss players; and, in passing, we might express a +wish that they would also suppress the ragged urchins who turn +"cart-wheels" in the mud, and the half-naked girls who haunt +the vicinity of railway stations and steamboat piers, pestering +passengers to buy cigar-lights.' + + + + +END OF VOL. I. + + + + + +****End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Andrew Steinmetz's**** +**********The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims*********** + diff --git a/old/tgamt10.zip b/old/tgamt10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..21f877e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/tgamt10.zip |