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@@ -0,0 +1,9648 @@ +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: 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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