Chapter LV: Part I: 5th May to 13th 8 (17)

_Frivolous._ I suppose, _Squire Lottery_, you must remember the Kentish Squire in the Blue Coat, that you won the six hundred Pound _per Annum_ of, in less than five months. You remember the Lord’ Steward that lost an Estate of his own of three hundred Pound _per Annum_, and run four thousand Pound in Arrears to his Lord beside. You remember, I suppose, the West-India Widow, that lost the Cargo of two Ships, valued at fifteen hundred Pound, in less than a month. I know you can’t forget the honest Lady at _St. James’s_, that sold all her Goods, Plate, and China, for about seven hundred Pound, and paid it all away to you, as near as I remember, in three mornings. I know you can’t forget the three Merchants’ Daughters that play’d away their whole Fortunes, _viz._ fifteen hundred Pounds apiece in less than two months. You remember the Silkman from _Ludgate-hill_; the young Draper in _Cornhil_; the Country Parson; the Doctor of Physick’s Daughter; the Lady’s Woman; the Merchant’s Apprentice; the Marine Captain; the Ensign of the Guards; the Coffeeman’s Neece; the old Justice’s Nephew; and abundance of others, which I have in my Catalogue, that you have cheated out of large Sums, and utterly ruin’d.

_Lottery._ I desire that he may be ask’d, what it was that influenc’d him at first to make such a Catalogue?

_Man._ He desires to know upon what account it was that you made this Collection of Names?

_Frivolous._ I had once a design to have him call’d to an Account, and forc’d to a Restitution; in which case I thought the Names of these Persons might be of some use to me.

_Man._ What Method did you propose to your self to bring him to a Restitution?

_Frivolous._ I had a Notion, that if I drew up the Case, and got it recommended to the Honourable House of Commons, they would have thought the Prisoner worth their correction: But this he got intelligence of, and employ’d one of his Agents to make up the matter with me.

_Man._ What, I suppose you mean he brib’d you with a Sum of Money to decline the Prosecution?

_Frivolous._ Truly you have hit of the very thing; he knew that I was poor, and he was guilty, and so compounded with me for a few Guineas to let the thing fall: And indeed, if I am not misinform’d, his Art of Bribing, &c. has guarded him so long from the Punishments which the Laws of the Land, and common Justice, have provided for such notorious Offenders.

Other witnesses having been called, the arraigned defended himself as follows:--

_Lottery._ Sir, I intend to spend as little of your time as I can: I perceive, that, let me say what I will, you are prepar’d to over-rule it, and so I’ll only say a few words, and call three or four Witnesses to prove my reputation, and then leave the good Men and true of the Jury, upon whose Verdict I must stand or fall, to use me as they shall best judg the nature of my Case deserves.

I know, Gentlemen, the tide of Prejudice runs very fierce against me; so that let me say what I will, I’m satisfy’d it will be all to very little purpose; an ill Name to a Person in my condition is certain Death, which indeed makes me a little more indifferent in making my defence.

But, Gentlemen, look upon me, I am the very Image of some of you, a married Protestant; upon which account I’m confident I may rely upon a little of your Justice, if not your Favour.

The Crimes I am charged with are indeed very great, and, what’s worse, there’s some of ’em I can never expect to evince. But then, Gentlemen, I hope you’l consider, that whatever I did, was purely in the prosecution of my occupation; and you know withal what Authority I had for it; so that if by chance, in this long tract of time, every thing should not be so nicely conformable as you expect, I hope you’l take care to lay the Saddle upon the right Horse.

You all know that Covetousness and Cheating are the inseparable Companions of a Gamester; divide him from them, and he’s the most insignificant Creature in Nature. And, Gentlemen, I appeal to your selves, if a little useful lying and falshood be not (in some cases) not only tolerable, but commendable. I dare say you will agree with me in this, that if all the Knaves and Cheats of the Nation were call’d to the Bar and executed, there would only be a few Fools left to defend the Commonwealth.

But, Gentlemen, as I told you before, I won’t spend your time, and therefore I’ll call my Witnesses. Call Captain _Quondam_.

_Cryer._ Call Capt. _Quondam_.

_Lottery._ Sir, I desire you would give the Court an account what you know of me, as to Life and Conversation.

_Quondam._ I have known the Prisoner for several years, and have been often in his company upon particular occasions and never saw any thing that was rude or unhandsome by him.

_Man._ Pray, noble Captain, what Countryman are you?

_Quondam._ Sir, I am a West-Countryman.

_Man._ An English West-Country, or a _West-India_ Man? or what?

_Quondam._ I am a West-Countryman of his Majesty’s own Dominions, of the Kingdom of _Ireland_, in the County of _Cork_, and Parish of _Durrus_ in the Barony of _West-Carbury_, near the great Bogg of _Longuar_, Gent.

_Man._ You’re a West-Countryman with a Witness. And, pray, how long have you been in _England_?

_Quondam._ Ever since the last year of my Soveraign Lord King _James_.

_Man._ And, pray, how long have you been a Captain?

_Quondam._ I was born so; my Father, my Grandfather, great Grandfather, and most of my Kin, were all Captains before me.

_Man._ You say you have been often in the Prisoner’s Company; pray where have you been in his Company, and upon what account?

_Quondam._ I have been in his Company at _Epsom_, _Tunbridge_, _Lambeth_, _Islington_, and at several other places both in Town and Country.

_Man._ Well, but you ha’n’t told what was the occasion that brought you so oft into his Company.

_Quondam._ He desired me to go along with him to help him to divert and entertain his Guests, especially the Ladies that us’d to visit him.

_Man._ I suppose you’re one of his Dependents: had you never no salary from him?

_Quondam._ I have had several Favours from him, and I must own I love him very well; and, by my Shoul, I believe he’s a very honest Man, and a good Christian.

_Man._ Who’s your next evidence?

_Lottery._ I desire Mr. _Scamper_ may be call’d.

_Cry._ Call Mr. _Scamper_.

_Lottery._ Pray, Mr. _Scamper_, give the Court an Account what you know of me, as to my manner of living and behaviour in the World.

_Scamper._ You know, _Squire Lottery_, your Acquaintance and mine is but of a late Date; I never saw you till last _May_ at _Lambeth Wells_, and then ’twas but by accident too.

After other witnesses called in his behalf, whose testimony, however, tended to inculpate Squire “Royal Oak,” the evidence was summed up.

“Then the jury withdrew to consider of their verdict, and afterwards they returned into the court, and the prisoner was brought again to the bar and found guilty, according to the indictment, and afterwards received sentence, together with Mr. _Auction_ and Dr. _Land-Bank_, who were both tryed, convicted, and condemned; and their trials will be published with all possible speed. FINIS.”

There is no reason to doubt, that the representations in the preceding satire are substantially correct. Private and fallacious lotteries were at this time become so general, not only in London, but in most other great cities and towns of England, whereby the lower people and the servants and children of good families were defrauded, that an act of parliament was therefore passed 10 and 11 William III. c. 17, for suppressing such lotteries; “even although they might be set up under colour of patents or grants under the great seal. Which said grants or patents,” says the preamble “are against the common good, welfare, and peace of the kingdom, and are void and against law.” A penalty therefore of five hundred pounds was laid on the proprietors of any such lotteries, and of twenty pounds on every adventurer in them. Notwithstanding this, the like disposition to fraud and gaining prevailed again, till fresh laws were enacted for their suppression.[441]

* * * * *

It is observed, that if the lottery office keepers of the present century could be credited, their adventurers enjoyed greater gaming privileges than the world ever produced; and yet it is an indubitable fact, that in the early state lotteries the advantages offered were eminently superior to those of recent times.

The Post Boy of December 27 says, “We are informed that the parliamentary lottery will be fixed in this manner:--150,000 tickets will be delivered out at 10_l._ each ticket, making in all the sum of 1,500,000_l._ sterling; the principal whereof is to be sunk, the parliament allowing nine per cent. interest for the whole during the term of thirty-two years, which interest is to be divided as follows: 3750 tickets will be prizes from 1000_l._ to 5_l._ per annum during the said thirty-two years; all the other tickets will be blanks, so that there will be thirty-nine of these to one prize, but then each blank ticket will be entitled to fourteen shillings a year for the term of thirty-two years, which is better than an annuity for life at ten per cent. over and above the chance of getting a prize.” Such was the eagerness of the public in subscribing to the above profitable scheme, that Mercers-hall was literally crowded, and the clerks were found incompetent to receive the influx of names. 600,000_l._ was subscribed January 21; and on the 28th of February the sum of 1,500,000_l._ was completed.

* * * * *

The rage for lotteries reigned uncontrolled; and the newspapers of the day teemed with proposals issued by every ravenous adventurer who could collect a few valuable articles; and from those, shopkeepers took the hint, and goods of every description were converted into prizes, even neckcloths, snuff-boxes, toothpick-cases, linen, muslin, and plate. The prices of tickets were generally sixpence, a shilling, half a crown, &c. At the latter end of the year just mentioned, the magistrates, being alarmed, declared their intention of putting the act of William and Mary in force, which levied a penalty of 500_l._ on the proprietor, and 20_l._ on each purchaser.

Matthew West, a goldsmith, of Clare-street, Clare-market, appears to have been the man who first divided lottery tickets into shares. He advertised, in 1712, that he had sold 100 tickets in the million and an half lottery in twentieths, and purposed pursuing his plan, which was well received.

The lottery for 1714 contained 50,000 tickets at 10_l._ each, with 6982 prizes and 43,018 blanks; two of the former were 10,000_l._, with one of 5, another of 4000_l._, a third of 3000_l._, and a fourth of 2000_l._, five of 1000_l._, ten of 500_l._, twenty of 200_l._, fifty of 100_l._, four hundred of 50_l._, and six thousand, four hundred, and ninety-one of 20_l._

Besides the drawing for prizes and blanks, there was another for the course of payment, and each 1000 tickets was called a course. The payments to the receivers were on the 10th of November and 10th of December, 1713. When the tickets were drawn, they were exchanged for standing orders, and thus rendered assignable by endorsement; all the blanks were repaid the 10_l._ per ticket at one payment, in the order their course of payment happened to fall, and they bore an interest of four per cent. from Michaelmas 1713. The prizes were payable in the same manner: the first drawn ticket had 500_l._; the last 1000_l._ besides the general chance; 35,000_l._ per annum was payable weekly from the Exchequer to the paymaster for the discharge of the principal and interest, and the whole funds of the civil list were chargeable for thirty-two years for 35,000_l._ per annum.[442]

* * * * *

One of the schemes which preceded the bubbles of 1720 was an insurance-office for lottery tickets, opened at Mercers-hall; and 120,000_l._ was actually subscribed on the following terms: for every ninety-six tickets insured, the proprietors agreed to allow to the company (after the tickets were drawn) 16_s._ per ticket, and five per cent. on such prizes as occurred to the ninety-six tickets, the company returning the tickets, and in case the prizes did not amount to 288_l._ valuing the prizes at par; the company to make up the money 3_l._ for every ticket. For every forty-eight tickets the proprietors agreed to allow 19_s._ per ticket, and five per cent. on the prizes as above; the company making up the tickets 144_l._ or 3_l._ per ticket, and so on down to twelve tickets. The proprietors of the tickets to advance no money for this security; but, when drawn, to allow as above; the tickets to be deposited with the company, and placed by them under seal in the bank of England; if not called for in ninety days after the drawing, to be forfeited.[443]

* * * * *

In 1712, gambling prevailed in smaller private and unlawful lotteries, under the denomination of sales of gloves, fans, cards, plate, &c.; also offices were opened for insurances on marriages, births, christenings, services, &c. and daily advertisements thereof were published in the newspapers. By an act of the tenth of queen Anne, keepers of these lotteries and offices were subjected to a penalty of 500_l._ In 1716, the spirit of adventure was excited by the sale of chances and parts of chances of tickets, which occasioned parliament again to interfere: all such practices, and all undertakings resembling lotteries, or founded on the state lottery, were declared illegal, and prohibited under a penalty of 100_l._ beyond the penalties previously enacted against private lotteries.[444]

LUCKY NUMBERS.

The attention of “the Spectator” was directed to the lottery mania prevailing at this period. One of its writers observing, on the predilection for particular numbers, ranks it among the pastimes and extravagancies of human reason, which is of so busy a nature, that it will exert itself on the meanest trifles, and work even when it wants materials. He instances, that when a man has a mind to adventure his money in a lottery, every figure of it appears equally alluring, and as likely to succeed as any of its fellows. They all of them have the same pretensions to goodluck, stand upon the same foot of competition; and no manner of reason can be given, why a man should prefer one to the other, before the lottery is drawn. In this case therefore, caprice very often acts in the place of reason, and forms to itself some groundless imaginary motive, where real and substantial ones are wanting. I know a well-meaning man that is very well pleased to risk his good fortune upon the number 1711, because it is the year of our Lord. I am acquainted with a tacker that would give a good deal for the number 134. On the contrary, I have been told of a certain zealous dissenter, who being a great enemy to popery, and believing that bad men are the most fortunate in this world, will lay two to one on the number 666 against any other number; because, says he, it is the number of the beast. Several would prefer the number 12000 before any other, as it is the number of the pounds in the great prize. In short, some are pleased to find their own age in their number; some that they have got a number which makes a pretty appearance in the cyphers; and others, because it is the same number that succeeded in the last lottery. Each of these, upon no other grounds, thinks he stands fairest for the great lot, and that he is possessed of what may not be improperly called the _golden number_.

I remember among the advertisements in the “Post Boy” of September the 27th, I was surprised to see the following one:

_This is to give notice, that ten shillings over and above the
market-price will be given for the ticket in the 1500000l. Lottery_,
N^{o} 132, _by Nath. Cliff, at the Bible and Three Crowns in
Cheapside_.

This advertisement has given great matter of speculation to coffee-house theorists. Mr. Cliff’s principles and conversation have been canvassed upon this occasion, and various conjectures made, why he should thus set his heart upon N^{o} 132. I have examined all the powers in those numbers, broken them into fractions, extracted the square and cube root, divided and multiplied them all ways, but could not arrive at the secret till about three days’ ago, when I received the following letter from an unknown hand, by which I find that Mr. Nathaniel Cliff is only the agent, and not the principal, in this advertisement.

“Mr. Spectator,

“I am the person that lately advertised I would give ten shillings more than the current price for the ticket N^{o} 132 in the lottery now drawing; which is a secret I have communicated to some friends, who rally me incessantly upon that account. You must know I have but one ticket, for which reason, and a certain dream I have lately had more than once, I was resolved it should be the number I most approved. I am so positive I have pitched upon the great lot, that I could almost lay all I am worth of it. My visions are so frequent and strong upon this occasion, that I have not only possessed the lot, but disposed of the money which in all probability it will sell for. This morning, in particular, I set up an equipage which I look upon to be the gayest in the town; the liveries are very rich, but not gaudy. I should be very glad to see a speculation or two upon lottery subjects, in which you would oblige all people concerned, and in particular

“Your most humble servant,

“George Gosling.”

“P.S. Dear Spec, if I get the 12000_l._ I’ll make thee a handsome present.”

After having wished my correspondent good luck, and thanked him for his intended kindness, I shall for this time dismiss the subject of the lottery, and only observe, that the greatest part of mankind are in some degree guilty of my friend Gosling’s extravagance. We are apt to rely upon future prospects, and become really expensive while we are only rich in possibility. We live up to our expectations, not to our possessions, and make a figure proportionable to what we may be, not what we are. We outrun our present income, as not doubting to disburse ourselves out of the profits of some future place, project, or reversion that we have in view. It is through this temper of mind, which is so common among us, that we see tradesmen break, who have met with no misfortunes in their business; and men of estates reduced to poverty, who have never suffered from losses or repairs, tenants, taxes, or law-suits. In short, it is this foolish sanguine temper, this depending upon contingent futurities, that occasions romantic generosity, chimerical grandeur, senseless ostentation, and generally ends in beggary and ruin. The man who will live above his present circumstances is in great danger of living in a little time much beneath them, or, as the _Italian_ proverb runs, the man who lives by hope will die by hunger.

It should be an indispensable rule in life, to contract our desires to our present condition, and whatever may be our expectations, to live within the compass of what we actually possess. It will be time enough to enjoy an estate when it comes into our hands; but if we anticipate our good fortune, we shall lose the pleasure of it when it arrives, and may possibly never possess what we have so foolishly counted upon.[445]

This engraving is slipped on here for the sake of readers who are fond of _cuts_, rather than as an illustration of any thing immediately preceding. An explanation of it will occur in the ensuing sheet, with several amusing prints relating to the present subject.

In “_The Examiner_”[446] there is an article on Lotteries by Mr. George Smeeton, of Bermondsey: wherein he says, “I am glad to see that Mr. Hone has taken up the subject in his _Every-Day Book_, by giving us a view of the drawing of the lottery, 1751; and this month (October) I hope he will treat us with a continuation of it. The print by N. Parr, in six compartments, entitled _Les Divertissements de la Loterie_, is worthy of his attention: it is a lively and true picture of the folly, infatuation, and roguery of the times. If he has not the print (which is rather scarce) I can furnish him with it out of my portfolio.” Mr. Smeeton has obligingly communicated the loan of his engraving, from whence the representation on this page has been selected. The original print, designed by J. Marchant, drawn by H. Gravelot, and engraved by Parr, was “published by E. Ryland, in Ave Mary-lane,” in the year 17-- hundred odd; the scissars having snipped away from this copy of the engraving the two figures which particularized the year, it cannot be specified, though from the costume it appears to have been in the reign of George II.

Parr’s print is in six compartments: the four corner ones represent, 1. “Good Luck--£1000 prize;” a scene of rejoicing at the news. 2. “Bad Luck--what, all blanks?” a scene of social disturbance. 3. “Oh--let Fortune be kind;” the desires of a female party in conference with an old woman, who divines by coffee-grounds. 4. “Dear Doctor! consult the stars;” another female party waiting on a fortune-teller for a cast of his office. The middle compartment at the bottom has a view of “Exchange-alley,” with its frequenters, in high business. The middle compartment, above it, is the drawing of the lottery in the view now placed before the reader, wherein it may be perceived that the female visitants are pewed off on one side and the men on the other; and that the pickpockets dextrously exercise their vocation among the promiscuous crowd at the moment when the drawing of a thousand pound prize excites a strong interest, and a female attracts attention by proclaiming herself the holder of the lucky “No. 765.”

To this eager display of the ticket by the fortunate lady, a representation of a scene at the drawing of “the very last lottery that will ever be drawn in England” might be a collateral illustration.

THE UNFORTUNATE LADY.

On the 2d of November, 1826, a lady named Free, who had come up from the country to try her fortune in the lottery, complained to the Lord Mayor, at the Mansion-house, that she had been deprived of her property, the sixteenth share of a 30,000_l._ prize, by the misconduct of those engaged in conducting the drawing. She stated, that she chose the ticket No. 17,092.

The _Lord Mayor_.--You had some particular reason, then, for selecting that number?

The _Complainant_ replied, it was true, she had; she wished to have a ticket with the number of the year in which she was born, and finding that she could not get that precise number, she took one of 17,000, instead of 1700, as the most fortunate approach. So indeed it turned out to be; for she was sitting in the hall where the lottery was drawn, and heard her number distinctly cried out as one of the 30,000_l._ prizes, and with her own eyes she distinctly saw the officer stamp it. Nevertheless, another ticket had been returned as the prize.

The _Lord Mayor_ doubted, from the manner in which the tickets were well known to be drawn, whether the complainant’s anxiety had not made her mistake a similar number for her own.

The _Complainant_.--“Oh no, my lord; it is impossible that I can be mistaken, though other people say I am. I shall not give up my claim, on the word of lottery-office clerks. If there’s any mistake, it is on their part; I trust to my own _senses_.”

The _Lord Mayor_ observed, that there was scarcely any trusting even to the “senses” on such occasions; and asked her, whether she did not almost feel the money in her pockets at the very time she fancied she heard her number announced?

The _Complainant_ assured his lordship, that she heard the announcement as calmly as could be expected, and that she by no means fainted away. She certainly made sure of having the property; she sat in the hall, and went out when the other expectants came away.

Mr. Cope, the marshal, who stated that he was in attendance officially at the drawing, to keep the peace, declared that he heard all the fortunate numbers announced, and he was sorry to be compelled to state his conviction that this belonging to the lady was not one of them.

The _Lord Mayor_ said, he was afraid the complainant had deceived herself. He dismissed the application, recommending her to go to the stamp-office, and apply to the commissioners, who would do any thing except pay the money to satisfy her.[447]

In allusion to the lady’s name, and his decision on her case, his lordship is said to have observed on her departure, “not Free and _Easy_.”

* * * * *

Reverting to a former period, for the sake of including some remarkable notices of lotteries adduced by Mr. Smeeton, we find him saying, on the authority of the “London Gazette,” May 17, 1688, that, besides the lottery at the Vere-street theatre, “Ogilby, the better to carry on his _Britannia_, had a lottery of books at _Garraway’s Coffee-house_, in ‘Change-alley.”

Mr. Smeeton has the following three paragraphs:--

Lotteries of various kinds seem to have been very general about this period; indeed so much so, that government, issued a notice in the _London Gazette_, Sept. 27, 1683, to prevent the drawing of any lotteries (and especially a newly-invented lottery, under the name of the riffling, or raffling lottery) except those under his majesty’s letters patent for thirteen years, granted to persons for their sufferings, and have their seal of office with this inscription--‘_Meliora Designavi_.’

In 1683, prince Rupert dying rather poor, a plan was devised to “raise the wind” by disposing of all his jewels; but as the public were not satisfied with the mode of drawing the lotteries, on account of the many cheats practised on them, they would not listen to any proposals, until the _king himself_ guaranteed to see that all was fair, and also, that Mr. Francis Child, the goldsmith, at Temple-bar, London, would be answerable for their several adventures; as appears by the _London Gazette_, Oct. 1, 1683:--“These are to give notice, that the jewels of his late royal highness prince Rupert have been particularly valued and appraised by Mr. Isaac Legouch, Mr. Christopher Rosse, and Mr. Richard Beauvoir, jewellers, the whole amounting to twenty thousand pounds, and will be sold by way of lottery, each lot to be five pounds. The biggest prize will be a great pearl necklace, valued at 8,000_l._, and none less than 100_l._ A printed particular of the said appraisement, with their divisions into lots, will be delivered gratis, by Mr. Francis Child, at Temple-bar, London, into whose hands such as are willing to be adventurers are desired to pay their money, on or before the first day of November next. As soon as the whole sum is paid in, a short day will be appointed (which, it is hoped, will be before Christmas) and notified in the _Gazette_, for the drawing thereof, which will be done in his majesty’s presence, who is pleased to declare, that _he himself will see all the prizes put in amongst the blanks_, and that the whole will be managed with equity and fairness, nothing being intended but the sale of the said jewels at a moderate value. And it is further notified, for the satisfaction of all as shall be adventurers, that the said Mr. Child shall and will stand obliged to each of them for their several adventures. And that each adventurer shall receive their money back if the said lottery be not drawn and finished before the first day of February next.”--Mr. Child was the first regular banker: he began business soon after the Restoration, and received the honour of knighthood. He lived in Fleet-street, where the shop still continues in a state of the highest respectability. A subsequent notice says, “that the king will probably, tomorrow, in the Banquetting-house, see all the blanks told over, that they may not exceed their number; and that the papers on which the prizes are to be written shall be rolled up in his presence; and that a child, appointed either by his majesty or the adventurers, shall draw the prizes.”--What would be said now, if his present majesty were to be employed in sorting, folding, and counting the blanks and prizes in the present lottery?

About 1709, there was the _Greenwich Hospital Adventure_, sanctioned by an act of parliament, which the managers describe as “liable to none of the objections made against other lotteries, _as to the fairness_ of the drawing, it not being possible there should be any deceit in it, _as it has been suspected in others_.”--Likewise there was Mr. Sydenham’s _Land Lottery_, who declared it was “found very difficult and troublesome for the adventurers for to search and find out what prizes they have come up in their number-tickets, _from the badness of the print_, the _many errors in them_, and the _great quantity of prizes_.”--The _Twelve-penny_, or _Nonsuch_, and the _Fortunatus_ lotteries, also flourished at the commencement of the eighteenth century.[448]

LOTTERY OF DEER.

In May, 1715, the proprietors of Sion gardens advertised the following singular method of selling deer from their park. They appointed the afternoons of Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, for killing those animals; when the public were admitted at one shilling each to see the operation, or they might purchase tickets from four to ten shillings, which entitled them, it is supposed, by way of _lottery_, to different parts of the beast,--as they say the quantity killed was to be divided into sixteen lots, and the first choice to be governed by the numbers on the tickets: a ten shilling ticket was entitled to a fillet; eight, a shoulder; seven, a loin, &c. If the full price of the deer was not received on a given day, the keeper held the money till that sum was obtained. They offered to sell whole deer, and to purchase as many as might be offered.[449]

HARBURGH LOTTERY.

In 1723, the resentment of the house of commons was directed against the scheme of a lottery to be drawn at Harburgh, a town of Hanover on the Elbe, opposite Hamburgh, in the king’s German dominions. A committee inquired into this and other lotteries at that time on foot in London. The scheme pretended to raise a subscription for maintaining a trade between Great Britain and the king’s territories on the Elbe. It was a mysterious scene of iniquity, which the committee, with all their penetration, could not fully discover; but they reported, that it was an infamous, fraudulent undertaking, whereby many unwary persons had been drawn in, to their great loss: that the manner of carrying it on had been a manifest violation of the laws of the kingdom: that the managers and agents of this lottery had, without any authority, made use of his majesty’s royal name to countenance the infamous project, and induce his majesty’s subjects to engage or be concerned therein. A bill was brought in to suppress this lottery, and to oblige its managers to make restitution of the money they had received from the contributors. At the same time the house resolved, That John lord viscount Barrington had been notoriously guilty of promoting, abetting, and carrying on the fraudulent undertaking; for which offence he should be expelled the house.[450]

BANK CLERKS’ FINESSE.

On the 31st of August, 1731, a scene was presented which strongly marks the infatuation and ignorance of lottery adventurers. The tickets for the State Lottery were delivered out to the subscribers at the Bank of England; when the crowd becoming so great as to obstruct the clerks, they told them, “We deliver blanks to-day, but to-morrow we shall deliver prizes;” upon which many, who were by no means for blanks, retired, and by this bold stratagem the clerks obtained room to proceed in their business. In this lottery “her majesty presented his royal highness the duke with ten tickets.”[451]

LOVE, DEATH, AND THE LOTTERY.

Early in the reign of George II., the footman of a lady of quality, under the absurd infatuation of a dream, disposed of the savings of the last twenty years of his life in two lottery tickets, which proving blanks, after a few melancholy days, he put an end to his life. In his box was found the following plan of the manner in which he should spend the five thousand pound prize, which his mistress preserved as a curiosity:--

“As soon as I have received the money, I will marry Grace Towers; but, as she has been cross and coy, I will use her as a servant. Every morning she shall get me a mug of strong beer, with a toast, nutmeg, and sugar in it; then I will sleep till ten, after which I will have a large sack posset. My dinner shall be on table by one, and never without a good pudding. I will have a stock of wine and brandy laid in. About five in the afternoon I will have tarts and jellies, and a gallon bowl of punch; at ten, a hot supper of two dishes. If I am in a good-humour, and Grace _behaves herself_, she shall sit down with me. To bed about twelve.”[452]

FIELDING’S FARCE.

In 1731, Henry Fielding wrote a farce for Drury-lane Theatre, called “The Lottery,” to which, in 1732, he added a new scene. This pleasant representation of characters usually influenced to speculate in such schemes, was acted with considerable success, especially about the time when the lottery was drawn at Guildhall, and may well be conceived as calculated to abate the popular furor. It opens with a lottery-office keeper--

_Mr._ Stocks, _alone_.

AIR.

A Lottery is a Taxation,
Upon all the Fools in Creation;
And, Heaven be prais’d,
It is easily rais’d,
Credulity’s always in Fashion:
For Folly’s a Fund
Will never lose Ground,
While Fools are so rife in the Nation.

[_Knocking without._

_Enter_ 1 Buyer.

_1 Buy._ Is not this a House where People buy _Lottery Tickets_?

_Stoc._ Yes, Sir--I believe I can furnish you with as good Tickets as
any one.

_1 Buy._ I suppose, Sir, ’tis all one to you what Number a Man fixes
on.

_Stoc._ Any of my Numbers.

_1 Buy._ Because I would be glad to have it, Sir, the Number of my own
Years, or my Wife’s; or, if I cou’d not have either of those, I wou’d
be glad to have it the Number of my Mother’s.

_Stoc._ Ay, or suppose, now, it was the Number of your Grandmother’s?

_1 Buy._ No, no! She has no Luck in Lotteries: She had a whole Ticket
once, and got but fifty Pounds by it.

_Stoc._ A very unfortunate Person, truly. Sir, my Clerk will furnish
you, if you’ll walk that way up to the office. Ha, ha, ha!--There’s
one 10,000_l._ got!--What an abundance of imaginary rich men will one
month reduce to their former Poverty. [_Knocking without._] Come in.

_Enter_ 2 Buyer.

_2 Buy._ Does not your Worship let Horses, Sir?

_Stoc._ Ay, Friend.

_2 Buy._ I have got a little Money by driving a Hackney-Coach, and I
intend to ride it out in the Lottery.

_Stoc._ You are in the right, it is the way to drive your own Coach.

_2 Buy._ I don’t know, Sir, that--but I am willing to be in
_Fortune’s_ way, as the saying is.

_Stoc._ You are a wise Man, and it is not impossible but you may be a
rich one--’tis not above--no matter, how many to one, but that you are
this Night worth 10,000_l._

_2 Buy._ An belike you, Sir, I wou’d willingly ride upon the Number of
my Coach.

_Stoc._ Mr. _Trick_, let that Gentleman the Number of his
Coach--[_Aside._] No matter whether we have it, or no.--As the
Gentleman is riding to a Castle in the Air, an airy Horse is the
properest to carry him. [_Knocking hard without._] Heyday! this is
some Person of Quality, by the Impudence of the Footman.

_Enter_ Lady.

_Lady._ Your Servant, Mr. _Stocks_.

_Stoc._ I am your Ladyship’s most obedient Servant.

_Lady._ I am come to buy some Tickets, and hire some Horses, Mr.
_Stocks_--I intend to have twenty Tickets, and ten Horses every Day.

_Stoc._ By which, if your Ladyship has any Luck, you may very easily
get 30 or 40,000_l._

_Lady._ Please to look at those Jewels, Sir--they cost my Lord upwards
of 6000_l._--I intend to lay out what you will lend upon ’em.

[_Knocking without._

_Stoc._ If your Ladyship pleases to walk up into the Dining-Room, I’ll
wait on you in a Moment.

[_Chloe, a lady, holding an undrawn Lottery Ticket, which, from what a
fortune-teller told her, what she saw in a coffee dish, and what she
dreamt every night, she is confident would come up a prize of ten
thousand pounds, desires to consult Mr. Stocks as to how she should
lay out the money._]

_Enter_ Stocks.

_Stoc._ I had the Honour of receiving your Commands, Madam.

_Chloe._ Sir, your humble Servant--Your Name is Mr. _Stocks_, I
suppose.

_Stoc._ So I am call’d in the Alley, Madam; a Name, tho’ I say it,
which wou’d be as well receiv’d at the Bottom of a Piece of Paper, as
any He’s in the Kingdom. But if I mistake not, Madam, you wou’d be
instructed how to dispose of 10,000_l._

_Chloe._ I wou’d so, Sir.

_Stoc._ Why, Madam, you know, at present, Publick Interest is very
low, and private Securities very difficult to get--and I am sorry to
say, I am afraid there are some in the Alley who are not the honestest
Men in the Kingdom. In short, there is one way to dispose of Money
with Safety and Advantage, and that is--to put it into the _Charitable
Corporation_.

_Chloe._ The _Charitable Corporation_! pray what is that?

_Stoc._ That is, Madam, a method, invented by some very wise Men, by
which the Rich may be charitable to the Poor, and be Money in Pocket
by it.

THE CHARITABLE CORPORATION.

This company, erected in 1707, professed to lend money at legal interest to the poor upon small pledges; and to persons of better rank upon security of goods impawned. Their capital, at first limited to £30,000, was by licenses from the crown increased to £600,000, though their charter was never confirmed by act of parliament. In 1731, George Robinson, esquire, member for Marlow, the cashier, and John Thompson, warehouse-keeper of the corporation, disappeared in one day. The alarmed proprietors held several general courts, and appointed a committee to inspect their affairs, who reported, that for a capital of above £500,000 no equivalent was found; inasmuch as their effects did not amount to the value of £30,000, the remainder having been embezzled. The proprietors, in a petition to the house of commons, represented that, by a notorious breach of trust, the corporation had been defrauded of the greatest part of their capital; and that many of the petitioners were reduced to the utmost misery and distress: they therefore prayed parliament to inquire into the state of the corporation, and the conduct of their managers, and extend relief to the petitioners. On this petition a secret committee was appointed, who soon discovered a most iniquitous scene of fraud, perpetrated by Robinson and Thompson, in concert with some of the directors, for embezzling the capital, and cheating the proprietors. Many persons of rank and quality were concerned in this infamous conspiracy. Sir Robert Sutton and sir Archibald Grant were expelled the house of commons, as having had a considerable share in those fraudulent practices, and a bill was brought in to restrain them and other delinquents from leaving the kingdom, or alienating their effects.[453] In 1733, parliament granted a lottery in behalf of the sufferers. On the 1st of August in that year, books were opened at the bank to receive, from those who had given in their names, the first payment of one pound per ticket in the “Lottery for the relief of the Charitable Corporation;”[454] and in 1734 “it was distributed among them, amounting to nine shillings and ninepence in the pound on their loss.”[455]

* * * * *

The “London Journal” of October 30, 1731, observing on the general disposition to adventure says:--

The _natural life_ of man is _labour or business_; riches is an _unnatural_ state; and therefore generally a _state of misery_. Life, which is a drug in the hands of _idle men_, never hangs heavily on the hands of merchants and tradesmen, who judiciously divide their time between the city and country.

This is so true, that a wise man would never leave his children so much money as to put them _beyond industry_; for that is too often putting them _beyond happiness_. The _heaping up riches_ for posterity is, generally speaking, _heaping up destruction_; and entailing of _large estates_, entailing _vice and misery_.

These thoughts were occasioned by the present _state lottery_; which plainly discovers that the people would run into the excesses of the _South Sea_ year, had they the same opportunities. The spring and source of this _unreasonable passion_, is the _luxury of the age_. _Tradesmen_ commence gentlemen and _men of pleasure_, when they should be _men of business_; and _begin_ where they should _end_. This sets them a madding after _lotteries_; business is neglected, and poverty, vice, and misery spread among the people. It is hoped that the _Parliament_ will never come into another _lottery_. All other gaming should be also discouraged. Who but laments that unfortunate young lady at the _Bath_, who was ruined by gaming, and rather than submit to a _mean dependance_, thought it best to resign her life?[456]

The tone of dissuasion from lotteries and gambling in the year 1731, prevails through the writings of the different persons who opposed such schemes and practices. The story of the “unfortunate young lady at the Bath, who was ruined by gaming,” referred to in the last paragraph, and already related in this work, is exceedingly affecting.

WESTMINSTER BRIDGE LOTTERY.

In the 9th year of George II. parliament passed an act for building this bridge by a lottery, and the following scheme was issued to the public:--

LOTTERY 1736, _for raising 100000l. for building a Bridge at_
Westminster, _consisting of 125000 Tickets, at 5l. each_.

Prizes 1 -- of -- 20000_l._ -- is -- 20000_l._
2 -------- 10000 -------- 20000
3 -------- 5000 -------- 15000
10 -------- 3000 -------- 30000
40 -------- 1000 -------- 40000
60 -------- 500 -------- 30000
100 -------- 200 -------- 20000
200 -------- 100 -------- 20000
400 -------- 50 -------- 20000
1000 -------- 20 -------- 20000
28800 -------- 10 -------- 288000
----- ------
30616 Prizes, amounting to -- -- 523000
94384 Blanks.
First Drawn -- -- -- -- 1000
Last Drawn -- -- -- -- 1000
------ ------
125000 525000
------ ------

The Prizes to be paid at the Bank in 40 Days after Drawing, without
Deduction. _N.B._ _There is little more than Three_ Blanks _to a_
Prize.[457]

Parliament granted successive lotteries for the building and completion of Westminster-bridge.

AN ORGAN LOTTERY.

In 1737, Horace Walpole (Lord Orford) says, “I am now in pursuit of getting the finest piece of music that ever was heard; it is a thing that will play eight tunes. Handel and all the great musicians say, that it is beyond any thing they can do; and this may be performed by the most ignorant person; and when you are weary of those eight tunes, you may have them changed for any other that you like. This I think much better than going to an Italian opera, or an assembly. This performance has been lately put into a _Lottery_, and all the royal family chose to have a great many tickets, rather than to buy it, the price being I think 1000_l._, infinitely a less sum than some bishopricks have been sold for. And a gentleman won it, who I am in hopes will sell it, and if he will, I will buy it, for I cannot live to have another made, and I will carry it into the country with me.”

* * * * *

In the State Lottery of 1739, tickets, chances, and shares were “bought and sold by Richard Shergold, printer to the honourable the commissioners of the Lottery, at his office at the Union Coffee-house over and against the Royal Exchange, Cornhill.” He advertised, that he kept numerical books during the drawing, and a book wherein buyers might register their numbers at sixpence each; that 15 _per cent. was to be deducted_ out of the prizes, which were to be paid at the bank in fifty days after the drawing was finished; and that “schemes in French and English” were given gratis.[458]

The per centage to be deducted from the prizes in this lottery occasioned the following

EPIGRAM.

This lottery can never thrive,
Was broker heard to say,
For who but fools will ever give
_Fifteen per cent_ to play.

A sage, with his accustomed grin,
Replies, I’ll stake my doom,
That if but half the fools come in
The wise will find no room.[459]

LOTTERY AT STATIONERS’ HALL.

On the 23d of November, 1741, “the drawing of the Bridge Lottery began at _Stationers’ Hall_.--_The Craftsman_ of the 28th says, that every 100,000_l._ laid out in a lottery puts a stop to the circulation of at least 300,000_l._, and occasions almost a total suppression of trade.”[460]

* * * * *

In June, 1743, “the price of lottery tickets having risen from 10_l._ to 11_l._ 10_s._ some persons, who probably wanted to purchase, published a hint to the _unwary_ adventurers, that they gamed at 50 _per cent._ loss; paying, at that price, 2_s._ 6_d._ to play for 5_s._; the money played for being only three pound, besides discount and deductions.”[461]

TICKET STUCK IN THE WHEEL.

On the 5th of January, 1774, at the conclusion of drawing the State Lottery at Guildhall, No. 11,053, as the last drawn ticket, was declared to be entitled to the 1000_l._, and was so printed in the paper of benefits by order of the commissioners. It was besides a prize of 100_l._ But after the wheels were carried back to Whitehall and there opened, the ticket No. 72,248 was found _sticking in a crevice_ of the wheel. And, being the next drawn ticket after all the prizes were drawn, was advertised by the commissioners’ order as entitled to the 1000_l._, as the _last drawn_ ticket: “which affair made a great deal of noise.”[462]

A PEER’S SUBSTITUTE FOR LOTTERIES.

On the bill, for a lottery to succeed the preceding, being brought into the house of lords, a peer said, that such measures always were censured by those that saw their nature and their tendency. “They have been considered as legal cheats, by which the ignorant and the rash are defrauded, and the subtle and avaricious often enriched. They have been allowed to divert the people from trade, and to alienate them from useful industry. A man who is uneasy in his circumstances, and idle in his disposition, collects the remains of his fortune, and buys tickets in a lottery, retires from business, indulges himself in laziness, and waits, in some obscure place, the event of his adventure. Another, instead of employing his stock in a shop or a warehouse, rents a garret in a private street, and make it his business, by false intelligence, and chimerical alarms, to raise and sink the price of tickets alternately, and takes advantage of the lies which he has himself invented. If I, my lords, might presume to recommend to our ministers the most probable method of raising a large sum for the payment of the troops of the electorate, I should, instead of the tax and lottery now proposed, advise them to establish a certain number of licensed wheel-barrows, on which the laudable trade of thimble and button might be carried on for the support of the war, and shoe-boys might contribute to the defence of the house of _Austria_, by raffling for apples.”

CHANCES OF TICKETS.

The State Lottery of 1751 seems to have encountered considerable opposition. There is a discouraging notice in the “Gentleman’s Magazine” on the 4th of July in that year, that “those inclined to become adventurers in the present lottery were cautioned in the papers to wait some time before they purchased tickets, whereby the jobbers would be disappointed of their market, and obliged to sell at a lower price. At the present rate of tickets the adventurer plays at 35 per cent. loss.”

In the next month, August, the “London Magazine” exhibited the following computation.

IN THE LOTTERY 1751, IT IS

69998 to 2 or 34999 to 1 against a £10000 prize.
69994 to 6 or 11665 to 1 against a 5000 or upwards.
69989 to 11 or 6363 to 1 against a 3000
69981 to 19 or 3683 to 1 against a 2000
69961 to 39 or 1794 to 1 against a 1000
69920 to 80 or 874 to 1 against a 500
69720 to 280 or 249 to 1 against a 100
69300 to 700 or 99 to 1 against a 50
60000 to 10000 or 6 to 1 against a 20 or any prize.

The writer says, I would beg the favour of all gentlemen, tradesmen, and others, to take the pains to explain to such as any way depend upon their judgment, that one must buy no less than seven tickets to have an even chance for any prize at all; that with only one ticket, it is six to one, and with half a ticket, twelve to one against any prize; and ninety-nine or a hundred to one that the prize, if it comes, will not be above fifty pounds; and no less than thirty-five thousand to one that the owner of a single ticket will not obtain one of the greatest prizes. No lottery is proper for persons of very small fortunes, to whom the loss of five or six pounds is of great consequence, besides the disturbance of their minds; much less is it advisable or desirable for either poor or rich to contribute to the exorbitant tax of more than two hundred thousand pounds, which the first engrossers of lottery tickets, and the brokers and dealers strive to raise, out of the pockets of the poor chiefly, and the silly rich partly, by artfully enhancing the price of tickets above the original cost.

The prices of tickets in this lottery was ten pounds. On their rise a Mr. Holland publicly offered to lay four hundred guineas, that four hundred tickets, when drawn, did not amount to nine pounds fifteen shillings on an average, prizes and blanks; his advertisement was never answered.

These animadversions on the scheme, and the resistance offered to the endeavours of the brokers and dealers to effect a rise in the price of tickets, appear, from the following lines published in October, to have been to a certain degree successful--

A NEW SONG

_From ‘Change-alley, occasioned by a stagnation of the sale of Lottery Tickets._

While guineas were plenty, we thought we might rise,
Nor dreamt of a magpye to pick out our eyes;
’Twas twelve would have satisfy’d all our desire,
Tho’ perhaps without pain we might see them mount higher.
Derry down, down, down derry, &c.

How sweet were the pickings we formerly gain’d,
From whence our fine daughters their fortunes obtain’d!
In our coaches can roll, at the public can smile,
Whose follies reward all our labour and toil.
Derry down, &c.

Then let them spin out their fine scheme as they will,
No horseshoe nor magpye shall baffle our skill;
In triumph we’ll ride, and, in spite of the rout,
Our point we’ll obtain without wheeling about.
Derry down, &c.

Tho’ sturdy these beggars, yet weak are their brains;
Who offer to check us, must smart for their pains;
In concert united, we’ll laugh at the tribe,
Who play off their engines to damp all our pride.
Derry down, &c.

Let Holland no longer appear with his brags,
His four hundred guineas keep safe in his bags,
Nor think we’re such fools to risque any thing down,
By way of a wager to humour the town.
Derry down, &c.[463]

* * * * *