Chapter I (4)

Among the various advantages which may thus be expected to result to the Community from the arrangements recommended in this work, would be _the suppression of Highway Robberies_. A desideratum impracticable in the present state of the Police, although easy and certain under a Police Board; having a general superintendance competent to look at every point of danger, and with pecuniary resources equal to an object so interesting to the inhabitants of this Metropolis.[28] Upon the adoption of this important measure, therefore, (a measure so strongly recommended by the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Finance[29]) depends in a great degree, that security to travellers on the highways in the vicinity of the Metropolis; the want of which, and of many other valuable regulations, for the prevention of crimes, has long been a reproach to the Criminal Jurisprudence, as well as the Police, of the Country.

[Footnote 28: Hints have been submitted to the Author for establishing a plan of _Travelling Police_, to extend 20 miles round the Metropolis; by means of Patroles well armed and mounted, who should be on the road at all hours; the expence to be defrayed by the produce of a toll to be raised for the purpose. This scheme might in all probability be much improved under the sanction of a General Police Board, without the additional expence of the proposed toll.]

[Footnote 29: See the 28th Report of that Committee.]

CHAP. V.

_Reasons assigned why forgeries and frauds must prevail in a
certain degree, wherever the interchange of property is
extensive.--A considerable check already given to the higher
class of Forgeries, by shutting out all hopes of Royal
Mercy:--Petty Forgeries have however increased:--The Reason
assigned.--The qualifications of a Cheat, Swindler, and
Gambler explained.--This mischievous class of men extremely
numerous in the Metropolis.--The Common and Statute Law
applicable to offences of this nature explained.--The
different classes of Cheats and Swindlers, and the various
tricks and devices they pursue, to enable them to live in
idleness, by their wits.--Sharpers, Cheats, and Swindlers,
divided into eighteen different Classes--1st. Sharpers who
become Pawnbrokers.--2d. Sharpers who obtain Licence as
Hawkers and Pedlars.--3d. Swindlers who open shops as
Auctioneers.--4th. Swindlers who pretend to discount
Bills.--5th. Itinerate Jews.--6th. Cheats who sell by false
Weights and Measures.--7th. Swindlers who defraud Tradesmen
of Goods.--8th. Cheats who take Genteel Lodgings with false
Names, &c.--9th. Cheats who personate former Masters to
defraud their Tradesmen.--10th. Cheats who personate
Footmen, and order Goods from Tradesmen.--11th. Cheats and
Sharpers who deceive Persons from the Country.--12th. Cheats
and Sharpers who trick Shopmen and Boys out of
Parcels.--13th. Sharpers who attend Inns to pick up Parcels
by various tricks and devices.--14th. Cheats who go from
door to door, begging on false Pretences.--15th. Sharpers
selling smuggled Goods; known by the name of Duffers.--16th.
Female Sharpers, who attend Court and Public Places.--17th.
Female Bankers who lend money to Barrow-Women at 6d. a day
for Five Shillings.--18th. Cheats who pretend to tell
Fortunes.--Various Remedies suggested._

In a great Metropolis, like London, where trade and commerce have arrived at such an astonishing height, and where from the extensive transactions in the Funds, and the opulence of the People, the interchange of property is so expanded, it ceases to be a matter of wonder that Forgeries and Frauds should prevail, in a certain degree:--the question of difficulty is, _why the Laws and the means of prevention, have not kept pace with the progressive advancement of the Country; so as to check and keep within bounds those nefarious practices_?

Forgeries of the higher class, so dangerous in a commercial country, have by the wise policy of the Executive Government, in shutting out all hopes of the extension of the Royal Mercy to the guilty, received a most severe check: beneficial in the highest degree to the country, and clearly manifested by the records of the Old Bailey, where trial for offences of this nature certainly do not increase in number.

But it is to be lamented, that, with regard to petty forgeries and frauds, this is by no means the case, for they seem to multiply and advance with the opulence and luxury of the country; and to branch out into innumerable different shades, varying as the fashions of the year, and as the resources for the perpetration of this species of fraud change their aspect.

When those depraved people who (to use a vulgar phrase) _live entirely by their wits_--find that any tricks which they have practised for a certain length of time become stale, (such as _pricking the belt for a wager_, or _dropping the ring_) they abandon these; and have recourse to other devices more novel, and more likely to be effectual in cheating and defrauding the unwary.

One of the most prevailing and successful of these, is the fraud practised upon shop-keepers, tradesmen, publicans, and others, by the circulation of forged copper-plate notes and bills for small sums, of L5. and L10. the latter purporting to be drawn, by bankers in the manufacturing and sea-port towns, on different banking-houses in London.

This species of forgery has been carried to a considerable extent suggested no doubt by the confidence which is established from the extensive circulation of country bankers' notes and bills, now made payable in London; by which the deception is, in some degree, covered, and detection rendered more difficult.

The great qualifications, or leading and indispensable attributes of a _Sharper_, a _Cheat_, a _Swindler_, or a _Gambler_, are, to possess a genteel exterior, a demeanor apparently artless, and a good address.

Like the more violent depredators upon the public, this class (who are extremely numerous) generally proceed upon a regular system, and study as a _trade_ all those infamous tricks and devices by which the thoughtless, the ignorant, and the honest are defrauded of their property.

The common law has defined the offence of cheating--to be _a deceitful practice in defrauding, or endeavouring to defraud, another of his own right, by means of some artful device, contrary to the plain rules of common honesty_.

The Statute of the 33d of Henry the Eighth, _cap._ 1. entered into a more specific explanation of what might constitute such an offence, and fixed the mode of punishment; by declaring, "_that if any persons shall falsely or deceitfully obtain, or get into his hands or possession, any money, goods, &c. of any other person_, by colour or means of any false privy token, or counterfeit letter, _&c.--he shall, on conviction, be punished by imprisonment, the pillory, or whipping--saving to the party aggrieved the same power of recovering the property as he might have had at Common Law, &c._"

From this remote period, until the 30th of George the Second, the Legislature does not appear to have seen the necessity of enacting any new Law, applicable to this species of offence.

In the progress however of Society and Commerce, joined to the consequent influx of riches, producing luxury and extravagance, a larger field opened for cheats and sharpers of every description; insomuch, that the evil became so great, and the existing Laws were found so insufficient, as to render it necessary to provide a legislative remedy.

In applying this remedy, it seems that the great increase of a new species of cheating, practised by persons known in modern times by the name of _Swindlers_, had suggested the propriety of defining the offence, in a more applicable and specific manner, and of rendering the punishment more severe. By the act of 30 Geo. II. _cap._ 24. it is declared, "_that all persons obtaining money, goods, wares, or merchandise_, by false pretences, _shall be deemed offenders against the Law and the public peace; and the Court, before whom any such offender shall be tried, shall on conviction, order them to be put in the pillory, or publicly whipped, or transported for seven years_."

Thus stand the Laws at present with regard to Swindlers.[30] They ought certainly to embrace a wider field, so as to reach those artifices by which sharpers and persons of depraved minds, obtain money from the ignorant and unwary, by assuming false characters, taking genteel lodgings, and cheating innocent tradesmen, who lose large sums annually by such depredations.

[Footnote 30: There appears to be a deficiency in the Act of 30th George the Second, cap. 24. in omitting to add _Bank Notes_ after the word _Money_, and also _Horses, Cattle, Sheep, or other Animals_, after goods, wares, and merchandise; since, (as has already been noticed, ante page 9,) it has been held that Bank Notes are not Money, nor are horses, cattle, &c. considered as goods, wares, or merchandise, according to the legal construction of any existing Statute.--An amendment of the Law with regard to these and other objects is the more necessary, as _Bank Notes_ and _Horses_ are, perhaps, more the objects of swindling, than other species of property.]

We shall next proceed to particularize the various classes of Sharpers who thus prey upon the public: reserving all that relates to those more immediately connected with _Gaming Houses_ and _Lottery Insurances_ to the subsequent chapter.

I. _Sharpers who obtain Licences to become Pawnbrokers_,[31] and bring disgrace upon the reputable part of the trade, by every species of fraud which can add to the distresses of those who are compelled to raise money in this way; for which purpose there are abundance of opportunities.--Swindling Pawnbrokers, of this Class, are uniformly receivers of stolen goods; and under the cover of their licence do much mischief to the Public. The evil arising from them might, in a great measure, be prevented by placing the power of granting licences in a general Board of Police; and rendering it necessary for all persons to produce a Certificate of character, before they can obtain such licence; and also to enter into recognizance for good behaviour.[32]

[Footnote 31:

Number of Pawnbrokers within the Bills of } Persons L.
Mortality, paying a licence of L10. a year. } 213 2130

In the Country, paying L5. a year. 432 2160
--- ----
Total 644 4290
--- ----]

[Footnote 32: A regulation of this kind is of great importance; as the property of the poorest and most distressed part of the community, to the amount of nearly one million sterling, is constantly in the hands of Pawnbrokers in the Metropolis alone! and although it is of the utmost consequence that they, above all others, should be _honest, correct_ and even _humane_ characters, (and it is to be hoped many of them are of that description,) yet certain it is that any person, even the most notorious rogue or vagabond, who can raise ten pounds to pay for a licence, may at present set up the trade of Pawnbroker; and it is even said that some have got licences who have actually been on board the Hulks!--a thing unavoidable under the present circumstances.]

II. _Sharpers and Swindlers who obtain Licences to be Hawkers and Pedlars_; under the cover of which every species of villainy is practised upon the country people, as well as upon the unwary in the Metropolis, and all the great towns in the kingdom.--The artifices by which they succeed, are various, as for example;--By fraudulent raffles, where plated goods are exhibited as silver, and where the chances are exceedingly against the adventurers;--By selling and uttering base money, and frequently forged Bank Notes, which make one of the most profitable branches of their trade;--By dealing in smuggled goods, thereby promoting the sale of articles injurious to the Revenue, besides cheating the ignorant with regard to the value;--By receiving stolen goods to be disposed of in the country, by which discoveries are prevented, and assistance afforded to common thieves and stationary receivers;--By purchasing stolen horses in one part of the country, and disposing of them in another, in the course of their journies; in accomplishing which, so as to elude detection, they have great opportunities;--By gambling with EO Tables at Fairs and Horse-races.

A number of other devices might be pointed out, which render this class of men great nuisances in Society; and shew the necessity of either suppressing them totally, (for in fact they are of little use to the Public;) or of limiting the licences only to men of good character; to be granted by a general Board of Police under whose controul they should be placed, while they enter at the same time into a recognizance in a certain sum, with one surety for good behaviour; by which the honest part would be retained, to the exclusion of the fraudulent.

III. _Swindlers who take out Licences as Auctioneers_, and open shops in different parts of the Metropolis, with persons at the doors, usually denominated _Barkers_, inviting strangers to walk in. In these places, various articles of silver plate and household goods are exposed to sale, made up on a slight principle, and of little intrinsic value; associates, generally denominated _Puffers_, are in waiting to bid up the article to a sum greatly beyond its value, when, upon the first bidding of the stranger, it is knocked down to him, and the money instantly demanded; the goods, however, on being carried home and examined, are generally found to be very different in reality, from what their appearance exhibited, and upon a close examination the fraud is discovered.

Neither the common Law, nor the Act of the 30th George II. cap. 24, seem to be sufficiently _broad_ and explanatory to include this species of offence; and hence it is, that this mode of selling goods continues with impunity, and seems to increase. It is not, however, meant here to insinuate that all petty auctions are fraudulent.--It is to be hoped there may be some exceptions, although probably, they are not numerous. A licence from a general Board of Police, and to be subject to certain restrictions only burdensome to the dishonest, and obliging the parties to find security, would, in a great measure, regulate this kind of business, in a proper manner.

IV. _Swindlers who raise money, by pretending to be Discounters of Bills, and Money Brokers_; These chiefly prey upon young men of property, who have lost their money at play, or spent it in expensive amusements, and are obliged to raise more upon any terms, until their rents or incomes become payable; or who have fortunes in prospect, as being heirs apparent to estates, but who require assistance in the mean time.

Availing themselves of the credit, or the ultimate responsibility, of such thoughtless and giddy young men, in the eager pursuit of criminal pleasures, and under the influence of those allurements which the Faro Tables, and other places of fashionable resort hold out--these Swindlers seldom fail to obtain from them securities and obligations for large sums; upon the credit of which they are enabled, perhaps, at usurious interest, to borrow money, or discount bills; and thus supply their unfortunate customers upon the most extravagant terms.

Another class, having some capital, advance money upon bonds, title-deeds, and other specialities, or upon the bond of the parties having estates in reversion: by these and other devices too tedious to detail, large sums of money are, most unwarrantably and illegally, wrested from the dissipated and thoughtless: and misery and distress are thus entailed upon them, as long as they live; or they are driven, by utter ruin, to acts of desperation or to crimes.

A Law seems absolutely necessary to be pointed at this particular mischief, which is certainly an increasing evil.--Humanity pleads for it; and _Policy_ points out the necessity of some effectual guard against those miseries which it generates; and which could not exist in so great a degree, were it not for the opportunities held out by these blood-suckers, in affording money to the young and inexperienced, to be expended in scenes of gambling and debauchery.

V. _A Class of Cheats of the Society of Jews, who are to be found in every street, lane and alley in and near the Metropolis, under the pretence of purchasing old clothes, and metals of different sorts_; Their chief business really is to prowl about the houses and stables of men of rank and fortune, for the purpose of holding out temptations to the servants to pilfer and steal small articles, not likely to be missed, which these Jews purchase at about one third of the real value.--It is supposed that upwards of fifteen hundred of these depraved people are employed in diurnal journies of this kind; by which, through the medium of bad money, and other fraudulent dealings, many of them acquire property, and then set up shops and become Receivers of stolen Goods.

It is estimated that there are from fifteen to twenty thousand Jews in the city of London, besides, perhaps, about five or six thousand more in the great provincial and sea-port towns; (where there are at least twenty synagogues, besides six in the Metropolis;) most of the lower classes of those distinguished by the name of German or Dutch Jews, live chiefly by their wits, and establish a system of mischievous intercourse all over the country, the better to carry on their fraudulent designs in the circulation of base money,--the sale of stolen goods, and in the purchase of metals of various kinds; as well as other articles pilfered from the Dock-Yards, and stolen in the provincial towns, which they bring to the Metropolis to elude detection,--and _vice versa_.

Educated in idleness from their earliest infancy, they acquire every debauched and vicious principle which can fit them for the most complicated arts of fraud and deception; to which they seldom fail to add the crime of perjury, whenever it can be of use, in shielding themselves or their associates from the punishment of the law.--From the orange boy, and the retailer of seals, razors, glass, and other wares, in the public streets, to the shop-keeper, dealer in wearing apparel, or in silver and gold, the same principles of conduct too generally prevail.

The itinerants utter base money to enable them, by selling cheap, to dispose of their goods; while those that are stationary, with very few exceptions, receive and purchase, at an under-price, whatever is brought them, without asking questions.

VI. _Cheats who sell provisions and other articles by means of false weights and measures._ Nothing requires the assistance of the Legislature in a greater degree than this evil; to shield the Poor against the numerous tricks thus practised upon them, by low and inferior shop-keepers and itinerants.

The ancient System of regulating this useful branch of Police by the Juries of the Court-Leet, having been found ineffectual, and in many respects inapplicable to the present state of Society, an act passed the 35th of his present Majesty, (_cap._ 102,) to remedy the inconvenience with regard to fraudulent weights; but difficulties having occurred on account of the expence of carrying it into execution, certain amendments were made by another act, (37 Geo. III. _c._ 143,) and the Magistrates in Petty Sessions have now power to appoint Examiners of weights, and to authorize them to visit shops, seize false weights, &c.

This plan, if pursued as steadily as that which already prevails in regulating Bakers, promises to produce very valuable benefits to the lower ranks of people at a very small expence.

VII. _Cheats and Swindlers who associate together, and enter into a conspiracy for the purpose of defrauding Tradesmen of their goods._--One of these sharpers generally assumes the character of a Merchant;--hires a genteel house, with a counting-house, and every appearance of business.--One or two associates take upon them the appearance of Clerks, while others occasionally wear a livery: and sometimes a carriage is set up, in which the ladies of the party visit the shops, in the stile of persons of fashion, ordering goods to their apartments.--Thus circumstanced, goods are obtained on credit, which are immediately pawned or sold, and the produce used as a means of deception to obtain more, and procure recommendations, by offering to pay ready money,--or discount bills.

When confidence is once established in this way, notes and bills are fabricated by these conspirators, as if remitted from the country, or from foreign parts; and application is made to their newly acquired friends, the tradesmen, to assist in discounting them. Sometimes money and bills upon one another are lodged at the bankers for the purpose of extending their credit, by referring to some respectable name for a character.

After circulating notes to a considerable amount, and completing their system of fraud by possessing as much of the property of others as is possible, without risk of detection, they move off; assume new characters; and when the bills and notes are due, the parties are not to be found.

Offences of this sort, where an actual conspiracy cannot be proved, which is generally very difficult, are not easily punished; and it seems of importance that frauds and impositions of this sort, and others of the same nature, where the confidence of tradesmen and manufacturers is abused by misrepresentation and falsehood, should be defined, so as to render it difficult for the parties to escape punishment.

VIII. _Cheats who take genteel Lodgings, dress elegantly, assume false names_:--pretend to be related to persons of credit and fashion--produce letters familiarly written to prove an intimacy,--enter into conversation, and shew these letters to tradesmen and others, upon whom they have a design--get into their good graces, purchase wearing apparel and other articles, and disappear with the booty.

This species of offence would be very difficult to reach by any existing Law, and yet it is practised in various shapes in the Metropolis, whereby tradesmen are defrauded to a very considerable extent.--Some legislative guards would certainly be very desirable to define and punish these offences also.

IX. _Cheats, who have been formerly in the service of Milliners, Mantua-Makers, Taylors, and other Traders, who have occasion to send to shop-keepers and warehousemen for goods_;--These, after being discharged from their service, getting into the company of sharpers and thieves, while out of place, teach them how to personate their former employers; in whose names they too frequently succeed in obtaining considerable quantities of goods before the fraud is discovered.

It would certainly be a good rule at no time to deliver goods upon a verbal message; and it would be useful if all persons discharging servants, would give notice of it to every tradesmen with whom they deal.

X. _Cheats who personate Gentlemen's footmen_; These order goods to be sent to a genteel lodging, where the associate is waiting, who draws upon some banker in a distant part of the town for the money; or, if the check is refused, a country bank-note (the gentleman just being arrived in town) is offered to be changed, which, although a forgery, often succeeds: if this should also fail, this mischievous class of people, from habit and close attention to the means of deception, are seldom at a loss in finding out some other expedient; and before the fraud is discovered, the parties are off; and the master transformed into the livery-servant, to practise in his turn the same trick upon some other person.

XI. _Cheats who associate systematically together, for the purpose of finding out and making a prey of every person from the country, or any ignorant person who is supposed to have money, or who has come to London for the purpose of selling goods._--It is usual in such cases for one of them to assume the character of a young 'Squire, just come to his estate; to appear careless and prodigal, and to shew handfuls of bank-notes, all of which are false and fabricated for the purpose.

Another personates the guardian of the 'Squire, while a part of the associates pretend to sit down to play, and having won money of the young spendthrift, who appears extremely ignorant and profuse, the stranger's avarice gets the better of his prudence, and he is induced at length to try his luck,--the result is that he is soon left without a penny.

XII. _Cheats who prowl about in all the streets and lanes of the trading part of the Metropolis, where shopmen and boys are carrying parcels_: These, by means of various stratagems, find out where the parcels are going, and regulating their measures accordingly, seldom fail by some trick or other, (such as giving the lad a shilling to run and call a coach,) to get hold of the property.--Porters and young men from the country should be particularly cautious never to quit any property intrusted to their care, until delivered (not at the door) but within the house to which it is directed.

XIII. _Cheats who attend Inns, at the time that coaches and waggons are loading or unloading._ These by personating _porters_ with aprons and knots, or _clerks_ with pens stuck in their wigs or hair, and by having recourse to a variety of stratagems, according to the peculiar circumstances of the case, aided by their having previously noticed the address of several of the parcels, seldom fail of success, in the general hurry and confusion which prevails at such places. This proves how necessary it is at all times to have one or two intelligent officers of justice, who know the faces of thieves, in attendance, while goods are receiving and delivering.

XIV. _Cheats who go from door to door collecting money; under pretence of soliciting for a charitable establishment_, for the benefit of poor children, and other purposes. But the money, instead of being so applied, is generally spent in eating and drinking; and the most infamous imposition is thus practised upon the charitable and humane, who are the dupes of this species of fraud in too many instances.

XV. _Sharpers who are known by the name of Duffers._ These go about from house to house, and attend public houses, inns, and fairs, pretending to sell smuggled goods, such as India handkerchiefs, waistcoat patterns, muslins, &c. By offering their goods for sale, they are enabled to discover the proper objects, who may be successfully practised upon in various ways; and if they do not succeed in promoting some gambling scheme, by which the party is plundered of his money, they seldom fail passing forged country bank notes, or base silver and copper in the course of their dealings.

XVI. _Female Sharpers who dress elegantly, personate women of fashion, attend masquerades, and even go to St. James's._ These, from their effrontery, actually get into the circle; where their wits and hands are employed in obtaining diamonds, and whatever other articles of value, capable of being concealed, are found to be most accessible.

The wife of a well-known sharper, lately upon the town, is said to have appeared at Court, dressed in a stile of peculiar elegance: while the sharper himself is supposed to have gone in the dress of a clergyman.--According to the information of a noted receiver, they pilfered to the value of L1700. on the King's birth-day (1795,) without discovery or suspicion.

Houses are kept where female Cheats dress and undress for public places.--Thirty or forty of these sharpers generally attend all masquerades, in different characters, where they seldom fail to get clear off with a considerable booty.

XVII. _Among the classes of Cheats may be ranked a species of Female Bankers._ These accommodate barrow-women and others, who sell fish, fruit, vegetables, &c. in the streets, with five shillings a day; (the usual diurnal stock in trade in such cases;) for the use of which, for twelve hours, they obtain a premium of _six-pence_, when the money is returned in the evening, receiving thereby at this rate, about _seven pounds ten shillings a year_ for every five shillings they lend out!

The Author, in the course of his Magisterial duty, having discovered this extraordinary species of fraud, attempted to explain to a barrow-woman on whom it was practised, that by saving up a single _five shillings_, and not laying any part of it out in gin, but keeping the whole, she would save L7. 10_s._ a year, which seemed to astonish her, and to stagger her belief.--It is to be feared, however, that it had no effect upon her future conduct, since it is evident that this improvident and dissolute class of females have no other idea than that of making the day and the way alike long.--Their profits (which are often considerably augmented by dealing in base money, as well as fruit, vegetables, &c.) seldom last over the day, for they never fail to have a luxurious dinner and a hot supper, with abundance of gin and porter:--looking in general no farther than to keep whole the original stock, with the _six-pence_ interest, which is paid over to the female banker in the evening; and a new loan obtained on the following morning, of the same number of shillings again to go to market.

In contemplating this curious system of Banking, (trifling as it seems to be) it is impossible not to be forcibly struck with the immense profits that arise from it. It is only necessary for one of these female sharpers to possess a capital of _seventy shillings_, or three pounds ten shillings, with fourteen steady and regular customers, in order to realize an income of ONE HUNDRED GUINEAS a year!

XVIII. _Cheats who pretend to tell fortunes._ These impose on the credulity of the public, by advertisements and cards; pretending a power, from their knowledge of astrology, to foretell future events, to discover stolen property, lucky numbers in the Lottery, &c.

The extent to which this mischief goes in the Metropolis is almost beyond belief; particularly during the drawing of the Lottery.--The folly and phrenzy which prevail in vulgar life, lead ignorant and deluded people into the snare of adding to the misfortunes which the Lottery occasions, by additional advances of money (obtained generally by pawning goods or apparel) paid to pretended astrologers for suggesting _lucky numbers_, upon which they are advised to make insurances; and under the influence of this unaccountable delusion, they are too often induced to increase their risks, and ruin their families.

One of these impostors who lived long in the Curtain-Road, Shoreditch, is said, in conjunction with his associates, to have made near L300. a year by practising upon the credulity of the lower orders of the people.--He stiled himself (in his circulating cards) an _Astronomer and Astrologer_; and stated, _That he gave advice to Gentlemen and Ladies on business, trade, contracts, removals, journies by land or water, marriages, children, law-suits, absent friends, &c._ And further, that _he calculated nativities accurately_,--His fee was half-a-crown.

An instance of mischievous credulity, occasioned by consulting this impostor, once fell under the review of the Author. A person having property stolen from him, went to consult the conjuror respecting the thief; who having described something like the person of a man whom he suspected, his credulity and folly so far got the better of his reason and reflection, as to induce him upon the authority of this impostor _actually to charge his neighbour with a felony_, and to cause him to be apprehended. The Magistrate settled the matter by discharging the prisoner; reprimanding the accuser severely, and ordering the conjuror to be taken into custody, according to law, _as a Rogue and Vagabond_.

But the delusion with regard to Fortune-tellers is not confined to vulgar life, since it is known, that ladies of rank, fashion, and fortune, contribute to the encouragement of this fraudulent profession in particular, by their visits to a pretended Astrologer of their own sex in the neighbourhood of Tottenham-Court Road: This woman, to the disgrace of her votaries, whose education ought to have taught them the folly and weakness of countenancing such gross impositions, found the practice of it extremely productive.[33]

[Footnote 33: The encouragement which this impostor received from the weaker part of the females of rank and fortune in the Metropolis, raised up others; who had the effrontery to insult the understanding of the Public, by advertising in the News-papers.]

The act of the 9th George the Second, _cap._ 5, _punishes all persons pretending skill in any crafty science; or telling fortunes, or where stolen goods may be found; with a year's imprisonment, and standing four times in the pillory_ (once every quarter) _during the term of such imprisonment. The act called the Vagrant Act, made the 17th year of the same reign, (cap. 5,) declares such persons to be rogues and vagabonds, and liable to be punished as such._

It is sincerely to be hoped that those at least who are convinced from having suffered by the gross imposition practised upon the credulity of the people by these pests of Society, will enable the civil Magistrate, by proper informations, to suppress so great an evil.

Innumerable almost are the other tricks and devices which are resorted to by the horde of Cheats, Swindlers, and Sharpers, who infest the Metropolis.

The great increase of commerce, and the confidence resulting from an intercourse so wide and extended, frequently lays men of property and tradesmen open to a variety of frauds; credit is obtained by subterfuges and devices contrary to the plain rules of common honesty, against which, however, there is no remedy but by an action of common law.

If it were possible to look accurately at the different evils arising from fraudulent and swindling practices, so as to frame a statute that would generally reach all the cases that occur, whenever the barrier of common honesty is broken down, it would certainly be productive of infinite benefit to the community; for, in spite of the laudable exertions of the Society established for prosecuting swindlers, it is to be lamented that the evil has not diminished. On the contrary, it has certainly encreased, and must continue to do so, until the Legislature, by applicable Laws and an improved System of Police, either directly or collaterally attaching to these offences, shall find the means of suppressing them.

CHAP. VI.

_The great anxiety of the Legislature to suppress the evils
of Gaming:--The Misery and Wretchedness entailed on many
respectable Families from this fatal propensity:--Often
arising from the foolish vanity of mixing in what is stiled,
Genteel Company; where Faro is introduced.--Games of Chance,
though stigmatized by the Legislature, encouraged by
high-sounding names, whose houses are opened for purposes
odious and unlawful:--The Civil Magistrate called upon by
his public duty, as well as by the feelings of humanity, to
suppress such mischiefs.--The danger arising from such
seminaries--No probability of any considerations of their
illegality, or inhumanity, operating as a check, without the
efforts of the Magistracy.--The evil tendency of such
examples to servants in fashionable Families, who carry
these vices into vulgar life; and many of whom, as well as
persons of superior education, become Sharpers, Cheats, and
Swindlers, from the habits they acquire.--A particular
Statement of the proceedings of persons who have set up
Gaming Houses as regular Partnership-Concerns; and of the
Evils resulting therefrom.--Of Lottery Insurers of the
Higher Class.--Of Lottery Offices opened for
Insurance--Proposed Remedies.--Three Plans suggested to the
Author by Correspondents._

Gaming is the source from which has sprung up all that race of cheats, swindlers, and sharpers, some of whose nefarious practices have already been noticed, and the remainder of which it is the object of the Author to develope in this chapter.

Such has been the anxiety of the Legislature to suppress this evil, that so early as the reign of Queen Anne, this abandoned and mischievous race of men seems to have attracted its notice in a very particular degree; for the act of the 9th year of that reign (cap. 14. Sec.Sec. 6, 7,) after reciting, "_that divers lewd and dissolute persons live at great expences, having no visible estate, profession, or calling, to maintain themselves; but support these expences by Gaming only_; Enacts, _that any two Justices may cause to be brought before them, all persons within their limits whom they shall have just cause to suspect to have no visible estate, profession, or calling, to maintain themselves by; but do for the most part support themselves by Gaming; and if such persons shall not make it appear to such Justices that the principal part of their expences is not maintained by gaming, they are to be bound to their good behaviour for a twelve-month; and in default of sufficient security, to be committed to prison, until they can find the same; and if security shall be given, it will be forfeited on their playing or betting at any one time, for more than the value of twenty shillings_."

If, in conformity to the _spirit_ of this wise statute, sharpers of every denomination, who support themselves by a variety of cheating and swindling practices, without having any visible means of living, were in like manner to be called upon to find security for their good behaviour, in all cases where they cannot shew they have the means of subsisting themselves honestly, the number of these Pests of Society, under a general Police and an active and zealous Magistracy, would soon be diminished, if not totally annihilated.

By the 12th of George the Second, (cap. 28. Sec. 2, 3,) "_the Games of Faro, Hazard, &c. are declared to be Lotteries, subjecting the persons who keep them to a penalty of two hundred pounds, and those who play to fifty pounds_."--_One_ witness only is necessary to prove the offence before any Justice of the Peace; _and the Justice forfeits ten pounds if he neglects to do his duty under the Act_:--and under this Act, which is connected with the statute 8th of George I. cap. 2, it seems that "_the keeper of a Faro Table may be prosecuted even for a penalty of five hundred pounds_."

Notwithstanding these salutary laws, to the reproach of the Police of the Metropolis, houses have been opened, even under the sanction of high-sounding names, where an indiscriminate mixture of all ranks was to be found, from the _finished sharper_ to the _raw inexperienced youth_. And where all those evils existed in full force, which it was the object of the Legislature to remove.

Though it is hoped that this iniquitous System of plunder, has of late been somewhat restrained by the wholesome administration of the Laws, under the excellent Chief Justice who presides in the High Criminal Department of the Country, in consequence of the detection of Criminals, through the meritorious vigilance and attention of the Magistrates; to which the Author of this work, by bringing the evil so prominently under the view of the Public, may flatter himself in having been in some small degree instrumental: Still it is much to be feared, that the time is not yet arrived which would induce him to withhold the following narrative.

GAMING, although at all times an object highly deserving attention, and calling for the exertions of Magistrates, never appeared either to have assumed so alarming an aspect, or to have been conducted upon the methodized system of _Partnership-Concerns_, wherein pecuniary capitals were embarked, till about the years 1777 and 1778, when the vast licence which was given to those abominable engines of fraud, EO Tables, and the great length of time which elapsed before a check was given to them by the Police, afforded a number of dissolute and abandoned characters, who resorted to these baneful subterfuges for support, an opportunity of acquiring property: This was afterwards increased in low Gaming Houses, and by following up the same system at Newmarket, and other places of fashionable resort, and in the Lottery; until at length, without any property at the outset, or any visible means of lawful support, a sum of money, little short of _One Million Sterling_, is said to have been acquired by a class of individuals originally (with some few exceptions) of the lowest and most depraved order of Society. This enormous mass of wealth (acquired no doubt by entailing misery on many worthy and respectable Families, and driving the unhappy victims to acts of desperation and suicide,) is said to have been afterwards engaged as a great and an efficient capital for carrying on various illegal Establishments; particularly Gaming-Houses, and Shops for fraudulent Insurances in the Lottery; together with such objects of dissipation as the Races at Newmarket and other places of _fashionable_ resort, held out: all which were employed as the means of increasing and improving the ill-gotten wealth of the parties engaged in these nefarious pursuits.

A System, grown to such an enormous height, had, of course, its rise by progressive advances. Several of those who now roll in their gaudy carriages, and associate with some men of high rank and fashion, may be found upon the Registers of the Old Bailey; or traced to the vagrant pursuit of turning, with their own hands, EO Tables in the open streets; These mischievous Members of Society, through the wealth obtained by a course of procedure diametrically opposite to Law, are, by a strange perversion, sheltered from the operation of that Justice, which every act of their lives has offended: they bask in the sun-shine of prosperity; while thousands, who owe their distress and ruin to the horrid designs thus _executed_, _invigorated_ and _extended_, are pining in misery and want.

Certain it is, that the mischiefs arising from the rapid increase, and from the vast extent of capital employed in these Systems of ruin and depravity, have become great and alarming beyond calculation; as will be evinced by developing the nature of the very dangerous Confederacy which systematically moves and directs this vast Machine of destruction--composed in general of men who have been reared and educated under the influence of every species of depravity which can debase the human character.

Wherever Interest or resentment suggests to their minds a line of conduct calculated to gratify any base or illegal propensity; it is immediately indulged. Some are taken into this iniquitous Partnership for their dexterity in securing the dice; or in dealing cards at Faro.--Informers are apprehended and imprisoned upon writs, obtained, by perjury, to deter others from similar attacks. Witnesses are suborned--officers of justice are bribed, wherever it can be done, by large sums of money[34]--ruffians and bludgeon-men are employed to resist the Civil Power, where pecuniary gratuities fail--and houses are barricadoed and guarded by armed men: thereby offering defiance to the common exertions of the Laws, and opposing the regular authority of Magistrates.

[Footnote 34: An Affidavit, made not very long since in one of the superior Courts of Justice, illustrates this observation in a very striking degree. It is in these words--"That it is almost impossible to convict persons keeping Gaming-Houses before the Magistrates, by reason of the enormous wealth generally applied to the corruption of unwilling evidence brought forward to support the charge--That on an information exhibited against one of the Partners of a Gaming-House, he got himself discharged by deterring some of the witnesses from appearing, and by the perjury of another partner who was examined as a witness, and for which he then stood indicted--That divers of these Gaming-Houses were kept by practising attornies, who, by threatening indictments for pretended Conspiracies, and other infamous means, have deterred persons from prosecuting them."]

It is impossible to contemplate a Confederacy thus circumstanced, so powerful from its immense pecuniary resources, and so mischievous and oppressive from the depravity which directs these resources, without feeling an anxiety to see the strong arm of the Law still further and unremittingly exerted for the purpose of effectually destroying it.

Whilst one part of the immense property by which this confederacy was so strongly fortified was employed in the establishment of _Gaming-Houses_, holding out the most fascinating allurements to giddy young _men of fortune_, and others, having access to money, by means of splendid entertainments,[35] and regular suppers, with abundance of the choicest wines, so as to form a genteel lounge for the dissipated and unwary; another part of the capital was said to form the stock which composes the various Faro-Banks which were to be found at the routes of _Ladies of Fashion_: Thus drawing into this vortex of iniquity and ruin, not only the _males_, but also the _females_ of the thoughtless and opulent part of Society; who too easily became a prey to that idle vanity which frequently overpowers reason and reflection; and the delusion of which is seldom terminated till it is too late.

[Footnote 35: The expence of entertainments at a Gaming-House of the highest class, during eight months, has been said to exceed _Six Thousand Guineas_! What must the profits be to afford such a profusion?]

Evil example, when thus sanctioned by apparent respectability, and by the dazzling blandishment of rank and fashion, is so intoxicating to those who have either suddenly acquired riches, or who are young and inexperienced, that it almost ceases to be a matter of wonder that the fatal propensity to Gaming should become universal; extending itself over all ranks in Society in a degree scarcely to be credited, but by those who will attentively investigate the subject.

At the commencement of the troubles in France, and before this Country was visited by the hordes of Emigrants of all descriptions, who fixed a temporary or permanent residence in this Metropolis, the number of Gaming-Houses (exclusive of those that are select, and have long been established by Subscription,) did not exceed above _four_ or _five_: In the year 1797, not less than _thirty_ were said to be actually open; where, besides _Faro_ and _Hazard_, the foreign games of _Roulet_, and _Rouge et Noir_, were introduced, and where there existed a regular gradation of establishment, accommodating to all ranks; from the man of fashion, down to the thief, the burglar, and the pick-pocket--where immense sums of money were played for every evening, for eight months in the year.[36]

[Footnote 36: The latter part of the Affidavit, already mentioned, also illustrates these assertions, and proves that they are but too well founded: It states--"That Gaming-Houses have increased to such a degree, that there were lately not less than six in one street near the Hay-Market, at all which persons stood at the door to entice passengers to play--That the generality of persons keeping these houses are _prize-fighters_, and persons of a desperate description, who threaten assassination to any person who will molest them."]

In a commercial Country, and in a great Metropolis, where from the vast extent of its trade and manufactures, and from the periodical issue of above Twenty Millions annually, arising from dividends on funded security, there must be an immense circulation of property, the danger is not to be conceived, from the allurements which are thus held out to young men in business, having the command of money, as well as to the clerks of merchants, bankers, and others concerned in different branches of trade: In fact, it is well known, that too many of this class resort at present to these destructive scenes of vice, idleness, and misfortune.[37]

[Footnote 37: The same Affidavit further states--"That the principal Gaming Houses at the West end of the Town have stated days on which they have luxurious dinners, (Sunday being the chief day,) to which they contrive to get invited merchants' and bankers' clerks, and other persons intrusted with money; and that it has been calculated, (and the calculation was believed not to be over-rated,) that the expences attendant on such houses, amounted to L.150,000 yearly, and that the keepers of such houses, by means of their enormous wealth, bid defiance to all prosecutions, some of them having acquired from 50 to L.100,000 each; considerable estates have been frequently won by them in the course of one sitting."]

The mind shrinks with horror at the existence of a System in the Metropolis, unknown to our ancestors, even in the worst periods of their dissipation; when a _Ward_, a _Waters_, and a _Chartres_, insulted public morals by their vices and their crimes: for then no regular Establishments--no systematic concerns for carrying on this nefarious trade, were known.--No Partnerships in Gaming-Houses, were conducted with the regularity of Commercial Houses.

But these Partnerships have not been confined to Gaming-Houses alone. A considerable proportion of the immense capital which the conductors of the System possess, is employed periodically in the _two Lotteries_, in _Fraudulent Insurances_, where, like the Faro Bank, the chances are so calculated as to yield about 30 per cent. profit to the Gambling proprietors; and from the extent to which these transactions have been, and we fear still are carried, no doubt can be entertained that the annual gains must be immense.--It has, indeed, been stated, with an appearance of truth, that a single individual acquired no less than L.60,000 during one English Lottery!

Although it is impossible to be perfectly accurate in any estimate which can be formed; for in this, as in all other cases where calculations are introduced in this Work, accuracy to a point is not to be expected; yet when all circumstances are considered, there appear just grounds to suppose that the following Statement, placing the whole in one connected point of view, may convey to the Reader no very imperfect idea of the vast and unparalleled extent to which this horrid mischief had arrived; and to which, if not closely watched, it may yet rise once more.

GAMING.

Persons Money Yearly
attached. played aggregate
for lost and
nightly. won.
L. L.
1. 7 Subscription Houses
open one-third of the
Year, or 100 nights _suppose_ 1000 2000 1,400,000

2. 15 Houses of a
superior class
one-third of the Year,
or 100 nights ---- 3000 2000 3,000,000

3. 15 Houses of an
inferior class one-half
of the Year, or 150
Nights ---- 3000 1000 2,225,000

4. 6 Ladies' Gaming Houses
50 Nights ---- 1000 2000 600,000
---------
7,215,000

FRAUDULENT INSURANCES IN THE LOTTERY.

350 Insurance Offices at 100_l._
a day average, during the 33 days
of the Irish Lottery 1,155,000

400 Insurance Offices at 150_l._
a day average, during the 33
days[38] of the English Lottery 1,980,000
---------
3,135,000
----------
Total 10,460,000
----------

[Footnote 38: The longer the Lottery continues, the greater the evil. A Lottery of 60,000 Tickets is therefore a much greater evil than one of 50,000: and that in a ratio more than proportionate to the numbers in each.]

This aggregate is only to be considered as shewing the mere interchange of property from one hand to another; yet when it is recollected that the operation must progressively produce a certain loss, with not many exceptions, to all the innocent and unsuspecting adventurers either at Pharo or the Lottery, with an almost uniform gain to the proprietors; the result is shocking to reflect upon.--To individual families in easy circumstances where this unfortunate mania prevails, as well as to the mass of the people who are fascinated by the delusion of the Lottery Insurances, it is the worst of all misfortunes.--By seizing every opportunity to take advantage of this unhappy bias, it is no uncommon thing to see the pennyless miscreant of to-day become the opulent gambler of to-morrow: leaving the unhappy sufferers often no alternative but exile, beggary, or a prison; or perhaps, rendered desperate by reflecting on the folly of their conduct, to end their days by suicide,[39] while wives, children, and dependants are suddenly reduced from affluence to the lowest abyss of misery.

[Footnote 39: The Gambling and Lottery transactions of one individual in this great Metropolis, are said to be productive of from ten to fifteen suicides annually.]

In contemplating these vast establishments of regular and systematic fraud and depredation upon the Public, in all the hideous forms which they assume, nothing is so much to be lamented as the unconquerable spirit which draws such a multitude of the lower ranks of Society into the vortex of the Lottery.

The agents in this iniquitous System, availing themselves of the existence of the delusion, spare no pains to keep it alive; so that the evil extends far and wide, and the mischiefs, distresses, and calamities resulting from it, were it possible to detail them, would form a catalogue of sufferings of which the opulent and luxurious have no conception.

Of how much importance therefore is it to the Public at large, to see these evils suppressed; and above all, to have this novel System completely annihilated, by which Gambling Establishments have been formed upon commercial principles of methodical arrangements, with vast capitals employed for the most infamous and diabolical purposes.

Let those who have acquired wealth in this way be satisfied with what they have gotten, and with the misery their gains have occasioned to ruined thousands: let them abstain from employing it in channels calculated to extend these evils. The Law is generally slow in its operations: but it seldom fails to overtake the guilty at last.